Puppet Masters
The drills, with over 30,000 personnel from 24 nations participating, are the largest event of its kind since the end of the 20th-century Cold War. Following Kremlin observances that the maneuvers near Russian borders threaten regional security, the US called for a bigger military buildup.
US Army Europe Commander Gen. Ben Hodges lamented that the war games were not big enough, saying that all the troops involved in the drills would not fill an average soccer stadium.
The three missiles were launched from the North's east coast into the sea at between 5:45am and 6:20am local time.
Previously, South Korea's Ministry of Unification warned that the North was "fully prepared" and could conduct a fifth nuclear test.
"North Korea seems to be fully prepared to carry out a nuclear test at any time (when the order is given by its leader Kim Jong-un). South Korea is closely monitoring every move at the North's test site in close cooperation with the United States," unification ministry spokesman Jeong Joon-hee said at a regular press briefing.
The drone was reportedly spotted by Israeli air defenses as it was approaching Israeli airspace.
"Moments ago two Patriot air defense missiles were fired towards a drone which infiltrated Israeli airspace from Syria," the military said in a statement on Sunday.
Comment: The reason for the failure is simple: the Patriot system, like Iron Dome, doesn't work, plain and simple. This has been known from the beginning, but true to form, the U.S. and Israel went ahead with it. Profits over functionality. All it's good for is giving Israelis a false sense of security, and lack of security, as it can be used to defend against imaginary Hamas rockets, simultaneously demonizing Palestinians and keeping Israelis in a fearful, bunker mentality.
"Being part of a unique community of values, it is essential for Turkey, like all other Allies, to ensure full respect for democracy and its institutions, the constitutional order, the rule of law and fundamental freedoms," Stoltenberg's statement reads.
A similar statement was issued earlier by US Secretary of State John Kerry. "NATO also has a requirement with respect to democracy," Kerry said during a joint press conference with EU Foreign Policy chief Federica Mogherini on Monday.
Turkey is NATO's second largest member and its Ingirlik air base is used by the US and its allies to launch airstrikes on Islamic State (formerly known as IS, ISIL/ISIS).
Kerry reiterated his support for the legitimate Turkish government as well as its efforts "in bringing the perpetrators of the coup to justice," according to the Independent. He cautioned Ankara "against a reach that goes beyond that and stress the importance of the democratic rule being upheld," however.
Comment: Pepe Escobar nails it:
"This is obviously a badly-scripted joke. The only thing the figurehead Norwegian Wood cares about - his job is on the line - is to keep Incirlik."
Hainan's maritime administration said an area southeast of the island province would be closed from Monday to Thursday, but failed to give any details about the nature of the exercises, AP reported. The navy and Defense Ministry gave no immediate comment.
The announcement came during a three-day visit to China by US Chief of Naval Operations Admiral John Richardson to discuss the South China Sea dispute and ways to increase interaction between the two militaries, which continue to have a tense relationship.
Anonymous ex-Turkish officer claims rebel jets had Erdogan's plane in their sights, didn't open fire

Erdogan, after a funeral service for a victim of the coup, taken July 17.
The Turkish leader was returning to Istanbul from a holiday near the coastal resort of Marmaris after a faction in the military launched the coup attempt on Friday night, sealing off a bridge across the Bosphorus, trying to capture Istanbul's main airport and sending tanks to parliament in Ankara.
"At least two F-16s harassed Erdogan's plane while it was in the air and en route to Istanbul. They locked their radars on his plane and on two other F-16s protecting him," a former military officer with knowledge of the events told Reuters.
"Why they didn't fire is a mystery," he said.
Comment: Interesting story, if true. But who is this "former military officer"? Was he booted out of the military by Erdogan, by any chance? If true, it begs the question: why didn't they fire? Did they have orders to the contrary? Did they refuse to follow orders to shoot? Any other options?
The only problem for those army officers and their sponsors far away in Langley, Virginia and Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania - where Turkish political operator, Fetullah Gülen, hides in exile under CIA protection - is that they did not succeed. Behind the coup attempt is a far more dramatic story of the huge geopolitical shift that the often unpredictable political survivor, President (still) Recep Erdogan, was in the midst of making when Gülen's loyalists made their desperate, now apparently failed coup attempt.
What follows is a series of Q&A remarks to the background of the dramatic events unfolding in a pivotal part of the geopolitical order.
The Turkey Army used the Bashiqa Military Camp to allegedly train militiamen to fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS); however, the camp was often used to scope out members of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

Republican National Convention delegates yell and scream as the Republican National Committee Rules Committee announces that it will not hold a recorded vote on the Rules Committee's Report and rejects the efforts of anti-Trump forces to hold a roll-call vote, at the RNC in Cleveland, Ohio.
A majority of delegates from ten states are prepared to demand a floor vote over convention rules, according to Delegates Unbound, the group organizing the rebellion.
"Despite every obstacle thrown in our way, the movement of all the stakeholders involved in this effort have gained a majority of the delegates in 10 states," said M. Dane Waters, co-founder of Delegates Unbound, in a statement. "Now we take this fight to the floor."
The vote is less about preventing Trump from becoming the official nominee, and is more about upending the convention planning and forcing the party establishment to recognize that all is not well.
"There is no convention, the highest authority of the Republican Party, until the delegates arrive and effectively create it," Delegates Unbound said in a statement. "In the same way one Congress cannot bind a future Congress to adopt certain policies or programs, it defies all sense to suggest that the convention that creates and governs the Republican Party can somehow be bound by rules established by a previous convention."
"Two Turkish pilots who shot down a Russian Su-24 near the Syrian border were taken into custody, according to a senior Turkish official speaking on condition of anonymity," Bloomberg reports, citing a high-level Turkish official.
One of the pilot's responsible for downing the Russian jet reportedly took part in last week's failed Turkish coup attempt.













Comment: Looks like N. Korea is following up on its threats: Deployment of THAAD in South Korea: Reaction and potential consequences