Winter Scramble; Refugees Will Freeze to Death Warns Juncker; Tony Blair Apologizes for Creation of ISIS

Scramble is On

November is less than a week away and nighttime temperatures are dropping rapidly.

What is Europe supposed to do with hundreds of thousands of migrants in need of shelter?

This is one of those things German chancellor Angela Merkel, Swedish prime minister Stefan Löfven, and EU head Jean-Claude Juncker should have thought about before welcoming economic migrants with open arms, essentially begging for this very crisis.

Those bureaucrats don't admit their own foolish policies helped create this crisis. Instead, the EU Scrambles to Shelter Migrants as Winter Looms.

Europe is scrambling for ideas on how to detain and process the hundreds of thousands of migrants winding through the continent, yet after months of effort officials are still struggling to make headway before the onset of winter.

Heads of government agreed to come up with 100,000 places in shelters along the so-called western Balkans route after European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker warned that refugee families could “perish miserably” during the journey from Greece through former Yugoslavia and into Austria and Germany without help.

At the moment, officials are suffering from a dearth of information on the ground as Greece and countries in former Yugoslavia — which often have strained diplomatic relations — either do not collect or fail to pass on information.

“I cannot tell you how many are on the move as we speak,” said one EU official.

Berlin has heaped pressure on its neighbours to deal with incoming asylum seekers before they reach German borders, as chancellor Angela Merkel attempts to quell a domestic backlash — among both voters and her own party — against the influx of refugees.

Under the proposals agreed on Sunday, Greece will become a temporary de facto refugee camp for the rest of the EU, with 30,000 places set up by the end of the year — despite vociferous opposition from Greek officials in the past.

Domestic Backlash

The domestic backlash is of primarily of Merkel's making. But blame also goes to Jean-Claude Juncker, Swedish prime minister Stefan Löfven, and anyone else who thought welcoming millions of migrants with open arms and free money was a good idea.

This past weekend, Poland elected a eurosceptic government and domestic backlash contributed to the blowout.

For details, please see Warning Shot: Poland Elects Rightwing Eurosceptic, Anti-Immigration Government.

Refugees will Freeze to Death Warns Juncker

Without assigning any blame to himself for the predicament, Juncker warns Refugees Will Freeze to Death.

Migrants crossing the Balkans will begin freezing to death as winter approaches, the head of European Union has said, as leaders warned the continent was "falling apart" trying to deal with the biggest refugee crisis since the Second World War.

As leaders of eastern European countries turned on each other at a foul-tempered emergency summit in Brussels, they said the Schengen visa-free zone and even the European Union itself could be pulled apart as states threw up borders to halt the influx.

Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European Commission, said a solution was urgently needed or thousands of refugee families facing winter temperature on the hillsides and freezing river-banks of Eastern Europe, would die.

"Every day counts," he said. "Otherwise we will soon see families in cold rivers in the Balkans perish miserably."

Miro Cerar, the Slovenian prime minister, said the EU was days from collapse as his country buckled under an “unbearable” influx of migrants.

"If we do not deliver some immediate and concrete actions on the ground in the next few days and weeks I believe the EU and Europe as a whole will start falling apart," he said.

In the worst refugee crisis since the second world war, more than 670,000 people have crossed into Europe this year. Some 56,000 people landed on Greek islands in just six days last week, a record influx as those fleeing Syria race to avoid spending another winter in the refugee camps along the country's border.

But poorly dressed and under-fed, there are mounting fears they will fall victim to rougher seas and the Balkan winter that can reach minus 15C as they attempt to reach Germany and Sweden.

Stupidity of the Day

The very best thing for the migrants and the EU would be if the civil war in Syria stopped.

However, as the Telegraph reports "The US and Saudi Arabia dramatically responded to Russian air-strikes in support of the Assad regime by agreeing to boost their own military and diplomatic support for the Syrian rebels, threatening an ever worsening downward spiral."

Hey, let's ensure the civil war continues and the migrant problem worsens. US policy has not changed under Obama. Here's the general idea: If it's good for war, it's good for the world.

Tony Blair Admits US, UK Policy Created ISIS

When looking to place blame for this mess, don't just look at Europe. President Bush and president Obama have their hands in this mess.

In a wishy-washy admission of guilt, former UK prime minister Tony Blair admitted that US and UK Mistakes Led to Formation of ISIS.

Blair acknowledged that there are "elements of truth" in the view that the 2003 invasion of Iraq was the principal cause of the rise of ISIS.

"Of course, you can't say that those of us who removed Saddam in 2003 bear no responsibility for the situation in 2015," he said.

Guilty as Charged

That is as big of a "We f*d up!" admission from a high ranking bureaucrat as you will ever see.

Don't expect the same admission from president Bush, even though Bush is the single person most responsible for that inane war and this mess.

Don't expect any apologies from president Obama either for his role in the mess. While we're at it, don't expect any apologies from warmonger Hillary Clinton either.

If I failed to offend you, then hopefully it's because you correctly understood from the beginning how stupid that rush to war really was.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock