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At Least 73 Dead in Shelling and Clashes across Syria
Today's Headlines
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Page 6: Politix
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8 22:49 Silentbrick - Schlumberger Squishy Mud Division [6]
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10 20:40 lotp [6]
Africa Horn
Newly trained Somali forces arrive at Beledweyne town
(Sh. M. Network)-Authorities in central Somalia say that undisclosed newly trained troops for TFG have arrived at Beledweyne town, the picturesque provincial capital of Hiiren region to boost up the security.

Adawe Elmi Nur, the deputy governor of Hiiran region for Somali government, told Shabelle Media by phone from Beledweyne that those forces reached this morning the town have recently completed their training course provided by Somali and Æthiopian military experts in a training camp located Junta-Kundisho area, on the outskirts of Beledweyne.

Beledweyne, a strategic town in central Somalia, lies just about 206 miles (332 km), north of Mogadishu fell to Somali and Æthiopian troops in last December after Al shabab fighters retreated, all without firing a single shot.

AU soldiers, mainly from Djibouti have dispatched the first troops in the town this month to take over the security from the current operating Æthiopian troops who are not part of African Union
...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful...
Mission in Somalia (AMISOM).
Posted by: Fred || 06/13/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab


EU,US asked to help wrest Kismayo from Shebab:Kenya
(Sh.M.Network)-- The EU and the US have been asked to help the African Union
...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful...
force in Somalia (AMISOM) to wrest theportof Kismayo from Somalia's Shebab Islamists, Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga said Tuesday.

"Our aim is to get to Kismayo by August," Odinga said, saying that taking the Shebab's last bastion would entail an "operation by land, sea and air."

"We have asked the EU to help us with the Atalanta forces that they have there; they are reluctant," Odinga told a meeting with international media.

Between five and 10 warships, depending on the period, are deployed off the Horn of Africa as part of the European Union's
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
Atalanta operation that was launched in 2008 to protect merchant vessels from Somali pirates.

Atalanta's mandate was expanded in March to include air-borne operations against pirate bases on the Somali coast.

However no mention was made of possible operations against the Shebab Islamists who are fighting the weak transitional government and who still control a large chunk of south and central Somalia.

"We have asked the Americans for assistance ... we are talking about financial assistance," he went on.

The assault on Kismayo "is going to be a joint effort," the prime minister said. "We are working with other international groups which are inSomalia," he said, citing Ugandan troops within AMISOM as well as Æthiopian forces.

Kenya rolled tanks and troops across the border intoSomaliain October. The Æthiopians went in one month later.

The Kenyan contingent, which according to Nairobi numbers 4,631 soldiers, was officially integrated into AMISOM in early June.

Burundian and Ugandan troops in AMISOM pressured the Shebab into abandoning fixed positions in Mogadishu in August.

The Islamists have lost other major towns such as Beledweyne and Baidoa but have so far held on to the port of Kismayo, from which they draw most of their revenue.

"Kismayo is the real major source of supply of the Shebab, without the control of Kismayo, it is very difficult to completely neutralise Shebab," Odinga said.
Posted by: Fred || 06/13/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab


Africa North
ICC Lawyer Could Be Freed if She Tells About Ismail
[Tripoli Post] A Libyan government front man has been reported saying that Australian lawyer Melinda Taylor, one of the four ICC personnel tossed in the clink
Please don't kill me!
in the town of Zintan last week after visiting Seif al-Islam could be freed if she were to lead the Libyan authorities to Qadaffy's former henchman, who is a key former regime figure linked to Seif.

She is currently held in "preventative detention" for allegedly trying to hand the son of the former Libyan dictator a coded letter from Mohammed Ismail.

Ms Taylor was in the town, where Seif is being held, with an International Criminal Court
... where Milosevich died of old age before being convicted ...
team to meet Seif ahead of his upcoming war crimes trial, but Libyan government front man Mohamad Al-Hereizi says they believe that the Australian lawyer knows where Mohammed Ismail is hiding.

Mr al-Heriezi said authorities who searched Ms Taylor found GPS coordinates that they believe are linked to Ismail. He has now been was quoted telling ABC's AM programme that if they would let her go if she tells them where Mohammed Ismail is.

"She has paper from him. That means she see him. I don't know where. She saw him. Yes. We want this guy. It's very important to catch this guy because this guy is very, very, very dangerous for us," Mr al-Hereizi said.

Asked by AM whether he thought Ms Taylor understands how important Ismaili is to Libya, he replied that she knows, then added: "We don't have anything against this woman. Just we need some information from her, after that she will be free."

Overnight the ICC demanded her immediate release, along with that of the other three members of the ICC team. But Libyan officials say Ms Taylor and the three other ICC staffers have been put in what they describe as "preventive detention" for 45 days while they are investigated.
Posted by: Fred || 06/13/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring

#1  Call me Ismail...and get out of jail free!
Posted by: tu3031 || 06/13/2012 19:17 Comments || Top||


Arabia
Parties Which Did not Sign Transition Deal Agree to Participate in Yemen Dialogue
[Yemen Post] The Yemeni parties, which were not part of a West-backed power-transfer deal signed after the 2011 unrest, on Tuesday agreed to participate in a comprehensive national dialogue expected in coming months, Saba reported.

The statement was made at a meeting with the liaison team in charge with communication with these parties to bring them to the dialogue, for which preparations have got underway, according to the official agency.

At the meeting chaired by head of the liaison team, Yasin Saeed Noman, the representatives of the parties agreed to participate in the dialogue without conditions, stressing the importance of dialogue as the best way to lift Yemen out of the current situation, Saba said.

The dialogue liaison committee is currently preparing for meetings with the Southern Movement Harak and the youth-led protesters inside the change and freedom squares to convince them to participate in the dialogue. A dialogue preparatory committee is scheduled to be formed before June 30.

According to informed sources, meetings with opposition abroad, mainly those guiding the southern movement, have been held in the Egyptian capital Cairo.

The liaison committee met with the Shiite Houthi
...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is "God is Great, Death to America™", Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews" ...
Group based in Saada province in the far north, which agreed to participate in the dialogue, amid sporadic battles between its followers and Sunnis and the army.

In November, the General People's Congress and the Joint Meeting Parties, the main opposition bloc, signed the power transition deal, which was brokered by the GCC and backed by the UN.

The deal ended the political crisis and turmoil including the mass protests, which forced former president to sign it and resign after 33 years in office.

Under the deal, a power-sharing government from the GPC and the JMP was formed and the international community is now sponsoring its implementation, especially the terms over reforms in the army, preparations for the dialogue and tackling economic, political and security disorders.

Posted by: Fred || 06/13/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


China-Japan-Koreas
China Breaches Arms Embargo to N. Korea
Chinese firms are violating a UN embargo by supplying North Korea with key components to make weapons, the Daily Telegraph said. These include parts for ballistic missiles including launch vehicles, according to evidence provided by an Asian intelligence agency.
This is why you stop food aid. The Norks are buying Chinese weapons instead of food...
Classified documents seen by the paper show that Beijing has failed to act when confronted with evidence that Chinese companies are breaking UN Resolution 1874 and helping North Korea build long range missiles.

The intelligence agency found that North Korea companies continue to buy banned materials in China. The report said these entities "have been smuggling in or out controlled items by either setting up and operating a front company in China, or colluding with Chinese firms to forge documents and resorting to other masking techniques."
Posted by: Steve White || 06/13/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under:

#1  ULTERIOR = ALTERIOR? MOTIVES, above + beyond both countries' desire for Hard Currency???

Given ...

* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > US ROLE TO FADE [in Asia, World] WID CHINA AS CREDITOR: ECONOMIST.

Arvind Subramanian, Senior Fellow, Peterson Institute as well as the Center for Global Development.

* SAME > CHINA, JAPAN TENSIONS MAY RISE OVER ISLANDS [Japan Senkakus = Chinese Daoyus/Daoyutai].

ARTIC > Conservative Japanese Political-Activist Group holds Japan Coast Guard-protected "fishing derby" in disputed isles to demonstrate JAPANESE "SOVEREIGNTY" OER SAME.

* SAME > TIME IS ON CHINA'S SIDE IN [Daoyus = East China Sea] DISPUTES WID JAPAN: GLOBAL TIMES.

* CHINA DAILY FORUM > PLAN TO BUY DAOYU ISLANDS A FARCE.

* SAME > "THE TERRITORIAL DISPUTES IN THE SOUTH CHINA SEAS ARE OVER - CHINA HAS WON" | [Time.com] US TAKES A PASS - FOR NOW - ON CHINA SEA DISPUTE. AVOIDING A US-CHINA WAR.

ARTIC = US is saving its Powder = Mil Power, etc. to keep strategic sea lanes open.

* SAME > CHINESE CARRIER "VARYAG" [PLAN "Shileng"] MAY JOIN THE NORTH SEA FLEET, at the fleet's Qingdao base.

* DEFENCE FORUM INDIA > [IDSA Report]INTERNAL PUSH IN JAPAN TO NATIONALIZE ISLANDS IN EAST CHINA SEA.

* BHARAT RAKSHAK > CHINA CAN'T PROVIDE [sustained] LONG-DISTANCE SSBN PATROLS, outside of East China Sea, South China Sea coasts + littorals

* SAME > US PENTAGON CONQUERS SPACE WID ITS MYSTERIOUS SUPER-DRONE.

* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > [IBNLive] WHY DOES AMERICA WANT A [USN, USAF?]BASE IN BANGLADESH? ( + WHY INDIA IS NOT AMUSED].

ARTIC = possib new US Base at Chittagong can provide effective air-mission support [Refueling, CAP] for USAF's Next-Generation-Bomber, or even for its curren fleet of B-2's, on LR strike missions into central China = anti-US LR ICBM Bases from GUAM ANDOR DIEGO GARCIA; DANGEROUS FOR INDIA + OTHER REGIONAL NATIONS AS CHINA WILL LIKELY MAKE UNILATER PRESUMPTION(S) OF ALLIANCE BWTN THEM + US AGZ CHINA, VEE BOMBER OVERFLIGHTS.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 06/13/2012 0:48 Comments || Top||

#2  CDF POSTER = opined that the PHILIPPINES should become a formal part of China, or in lessor under China's sphere of influence, the latter comprised of CHINA-CONTROLLED OR DOMINATED TAIWAN, DAOYUS ISLANDS, + PERHAPS EVEN JAPAN ITSELF IN NE ASIA???

* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > PHILIPPINE LEADER [Pres. Aquino] SEEKS US ASSURANCE ON DEFENCE, in case of military attack by China in SCS.

* SAME > CHINA ASSURESMILITARY SUPPORT TO SRI LANKA IN ANY SITUATION [Natural or Military].

* TOPIX > CHINA'S BROODING "DRAGONS" [five Govt. Maritime Agencies] COMPLICATE STANDOFFS AT SEA.

* SAME > US TO DEPLOY MORE ATTACK HELICOPTERS, MISSLE ASSETS [TND-BMD] IN SOUTH KOREA.

USFK also asking the USDOD + WASH for Recce Aircraft-Drones.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 06/13/2012 1:12 Comments || Top||

#3  What!?

Does don-ki moon know about this?
Posted by: swksvolFF || 06/13/2012 10:21 Comments || Top||

#4  Johnson! Stop the presses!!
Posted by: tu3031 || 06/13/2012 19:13 Comments || Top||

#5  CHINESE MILITARY FORUM > RECENT VISIT TO WASHINGTON BY PINOY PRESIDENT [Aquino] DIDN'T SEEM TO GIVE HIM MUCH ASSURANCES | [Asia Times] MIXED SIGNALS IN US-PHILIPPINES BUILDUP.

DPK POSTER = as a Nuclear Weapons State, any US [military] help to the PHIL in SINO-PHIL SPAT could trigger China's unilateral = preemptive?use of 3.3-Megaton DF-3A IRBMS agz US, PHIL targets.

* SAME > ICG CONSIDERS POSSIBILITY OF MILITARY COUP IN BANGLADESH INCREASINGLY HIGH | INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUP [ICG]: BANGLADESH - BACK TO THE FUTURE.

* SAME > AUSTRALIA WILL SOON BE ASIA | INDONESIA CAN INVADE AUSTRALIA - WHO LET THE MUPPETS OUT?

ARTIC = AUS relatively small population of 22.0Milyuhn Western/White people + 2.0Milyuhn foreigners may not be enough to stop a dedicated military invasion from Muslim Indonesia [worst-case scenario], let alone from Rising China.
AUS doesn't even have enough Army-Police forces to stop illegal foreign workers from sneaking in.

* WORLD NEWS > AQUINO WARNS OF MORE "BREWING CONFLICTS" BETWEEN PHILIPPINES + CHINA FOLLOWING SCARBOROUGH SHOAL STANDOFF.

* SAME > CHINA-PHILIPPINES "BANANA WAR" [economic/trade war] MAY JUST BE A SIGN OF THINGS TO COME.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 06/13/2012 23:19 Comments || Top||


UN: N. Korea Aid Efforts 'Seriously Underfunded'
Alternate headline: UN documents too much food aid still going to N. Korea...
The United Nations is calling for the international community to put aside political differences and boost funding to help address what it says are the dire humanitarian needs of North Koreans.

The UN said Tuesday that aid efforts in North Korea remain "seriously underfunded," even as it unveiled a funding request for an additional $198 million to respond to "key humanitarian priorities" in the impoverished communist state in 2012.

International donors provided just over a third of the $218 million the UN requested for North Korean aid in 2011. Because of the lack of funds, the international body said it was unable to effectively address the humanitarian needs there.

The UN described serious humanitarian conditions in North Korea in its report, saying 16 million people continue to suffer from chronic food insecurity, high malnutrition rates, and deep-rooted economic problems. It said undernourished children are particularly at risk, with nearly a third of children under five showing signs of stunting and hundreds more dying from preventable conditions such as diarrhea.

UN Resident Coordinator Jerome Sauvage called on donors to separate political issues from humanitarian needs in North Korea, which has been under international sanctions because of its nuclear program.

"We think that humanitarian assistance should be not dependent on the ups and downs of the political situation," Sauvage said. "As we said, this [assistance] is going for the most vulnerable people, and certainly, if we see our funding going down for whatever reason, this is what is happening really to affect the population. We think that humanitarian aid should be separate from politics."

North Korea has suffered from chronic food shortages since a famine in the 1990s believed to have killed hundreds of thousands of people.

The United States and North Korea reached an agreement in February under which the North had agreed to suspend its nuclear weapons and missile programs, in exchange for a delivery of 240,000 tons of badly needed food aid.

But Washington scrapped the deal after North Korea's failed rocket launch in April. Pyongyang said the launch was to place a weather satellite into orbit, but the Obama administration argued it was a test of a long-range ballistic missile that could carry warheads.

Despite its political differences with North Korea, the U.S. has been the biggest single contributor of food aid to the communist state since the famine.
We need to stop. The aid goes to the army. The children starve anyway. Stop delaying the revolution!
Posted by: Steve White || 06/13/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  HHHMMMM, HMMMMM, well, on a not necessarily unrelated note the new Spanish Bailout cost the equivalent of US$125.0Bilyuhn [EU$100.0Bilyuhn], which is weirdly-n-mysteriously-n-.... also the amount of the most recent rise in the US Budget Deficit.

As per FREEREPUBLIC > US DEFICIT MORE THAN DOUBLES TO US$125.0BILYUHN.

Someone gains "125", someone loses "125".

Just sayin'.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 06/13/2012 1:21 Comments || Top||

#2  Ima wait 'til Pudgy looks emaciated, then we'll know for sure.
Posted by: Spot || 06/13/2012 7:57 Comments || Top||

#3  Well of course. After all, if they have to spend any money on food there won't be enough to buy those Chinese weapons.

Any aid of any kind going to Nork should be stopped immediately.
Posted by: AlanC || 06/13/2012 10:47 Comments || Top||

#4  Gosh, that's too bad.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 06/13/2012 11:32 Comments || Top||

#5  I wouldn't piss on 'em if they were engulfed in a Sea of Fire...
Posted by: mojo || 06/13/2012 13:14 Comments || Top||

#6  Oh well.
Posted by: DarthVader || 06/13/2012 13:34 Comments || Top||

#7  More funding, more rakeoff
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 06/13/2012 14:29 Comments || Top||

#8  The U.N. can feel perfectly free to send funding from it's own Budget.

We will not, however, replace it.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 06/13/2012 15:00 Comments || Top||

#9  UN Word of the Day: "Humanitarian"
Posted by: tu3031 || 06/13/2012 19:14 Comments || Top||


Iran to Send Humanitarian Aid to N.Korea
Alternative headline: Iran sends more payments to N. Korea for missile and nuclear technology.
Iran will send more humanitarian aid to North Korea. Iran's semiofficial Fars news agency reported Monday that the country's Red Moon-Shaped Thingy Crescent told North Korea's Red Thingy Cross that it will ship food items, including powdered milk, as well as relief and medical supplies to the impoverished country.

An official with the North's Red Thingy Cross said Pyongyang has received blankets and tents from Iran, and that it may need more help as heavy rainfalls are forecast for the coming months.

Western countries have criticized both Iran and the North for their respective nuclear programs, and particularly for their alleged links on missile technology.
Posted by: Steve White || 06/13/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I heard Iran was about 2M tons of wheat short of fully feeding its people this year. I think I just figured out what they meant by that.
Posted by: gorb || 06/13/2012 3:15 Comments || Top||

#2  Tomorrow's headline: And Castro sent them cigars.
Posted by: American Delight || 06/13/2012 12:47 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Hamas: New US Officer To Enforce Palestinian Division
GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, on Saturday said the appointment of a new US security officer in the occupied West Bank was aimed at creating a coalition of three parties to protect Israel and enforce division.

The United States announced Friday that it had appointed a prominent Navy officer to the post of US security coordinator to the Paleostinian Authority and Israel, the Haaretz newspaper reported. Paul Bushong will replace Air Force Lt. Michael Moeller and will be responsible for strengthening Paleostinian Authority security forces.

Hamas front man Fawzi Barhoum said that by appointing the admiral, the US, Paleostinian Authority and Israel had created a three-member coalition to protect Israel and cement the Paleostinian split.

In a statement, Barhoum said the appointment was considered American intervention and revoking of authority in the West Bank. He called to end all forms of security coordination with Israel, and to allow for Paleostinian issues to be the priority.

He also urged the Paleostinian Authority to implement reconciliation and work on establishing a national strategy to protect Paleostinian interests against Israeli and American dictates.
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/13/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under: Hamas

#1  Bushong musta lost a bet or drew the short straw
Posted by: Frank G || 06/13/2012 8:20 Comments || Top||

#2  Seems RADM Bushong has done jobs like this before.
Posted by: Pappy || 06/13/2012 9:07 Comments || Top||

#3  Sounds like a really sh**y job.
Posted by: Fat Bob Unotch3711 || 06/13/2012 9:44 Comments || Top||

#4  Not like this, Pappy.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 06/13/2012 14:03 Comments || Top||

#5  Admittedly this will be a thankless assignment.

However, I suspect there aren't many flag officers with his type of experience. It's also likely a precursor to a 'sunset tour'. i.e., "take this job and we'll make your next one - the one prior to your retirement - worthwhile".
Posted by: Pappy || 06/13/2012 14:26 Comments || Top||

#6  "take this job and we'll make your next one - the one prior to your retirement - worthwhile"

envoy to Myanmar?
Posted by: Frank G || 06/13/2012 17:10 Comments || Top||

#7  "Sounds like a really sh**y job"

After reading his bio, seems he is a submariner, AKA sewer pipe sailor, so this should be right up his alley.
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 06/13/2012 23:19 Comments || Top||


Gaza kindergartners want to 'blow up Zionists'
Kids at Islamic Jihad kindergarten celebrate end of year by demonstrating how Paleostinian prisoners are 'tortured' in Israel. Teacher: We educate them to love resistance, Paleostine
The photos at the link are about what one would expect of such adorable tykes.
[Ynet] Children attending a kindergarten in Gazoo that is run by Islamic Jihad
...created after many members of the Egyptian Mohammedan Brotherhood decided the organization was becoming too moderate. Operations were conducted out of Egypt until 1981 when the group was exiled after the liquidation of President Anwar Sadat. They worked out of Gaza until they were exiled to Lebanon in 1987, where they clove tightly to Hezbollah. In 1989 they moved to Damascus, where they remain a subsidiary of Hezbollah...
celebrated their graduation by dressing up in army attire, waving toy rifles and chanting anti-Israel slogans.

"It is our obligation to educate the children to love the resistance, Paleostine and Jerusalem, so they will recognize the importance of Paleostine and who its enemy is," the kindergarten's director said.  

The children were dressed up in uniforms of Jihad's armed-wing, the al-Quds Brigades, and each of them received a toy rifle. Some of them held up photos of Islamic Jihad founder Fathi Shaqaqi.

The event was attended by the children's relatives, some of whom belong to Islamic Jihad and other armed Paleostinian factions.

During the ceremony the children were asked to stand next to mock coffins draped with flags of the various armed factions. The flags bore the images of "shahids (deaders)."

One child, Hamza, said "When I grow up I'll join Islamic Jihad and the al-Quds Brigades. I'll fight the Zionist enemy and fire missiles at it until I die as a shahid and join my father in heaven.
 
"I love the resistance and the deaders and Paleostine, and I want to blow myself up on Zionists and kill them on a bus in a suicide kaboom," he said.
 
During the ceremony the children "demonstrated" how Israel treats Paleostinian prisoners. In the display, handcuffed children depicting inmates were placed in cages, with an "Israeli guard" standing nearby.
 
Another child depicting an Israeli prison guard placed the head of a "Paleostinian prisoner" in a bucket of water to demonstrate how Paleostinian prisoners are "tortured" in Israel.
 
"At every kindergarten graduation ceremony we focus on the children to represent the role of struggling and resistance in the way of Allah so they will grow up to love the resistance and serve the cause of Paleostine and Holy Jihad, as well as to make them leaders and fighters to defend the holy soil of Paleostine," one of the teachers said. 
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/13/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Islamic Jihad

#1  Gaza and North Korea. Separated at birth?
Posted by: Gabby Cussworth || 06/13/2012 16:39 Comments || Top||


Israel Begins Fortification Of Gaza-Vicinity Schools
[Ynet] During a tour of the south, Home Front Defense Minister Matan Vilnai officially kicked off a project to fortify educational institutions located in Israeli communities located between seven to 15 kilometers from Gazoo.
 
The project will cost NIS 90 million and is expected to be completed by September 2013.
Clearing the decks for action, and about bloody time, too.
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/13/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Hamas


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Syria now in Civil War status say UN bigshot
The 15-month-old conflict in Syria has grown into a full-scale civil war in which the government is attempting to recapture large swathes of urban territory it has lost to the opposition, the UN peacekeeping chief said on Tuesday.

"Yes, I think we can say that," UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Herve Ladsous said....
Posted by: Lord Garth || 06/13/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Ditto says Chucky Krauthammer oer at FOX NEWS AM.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 06/13/2012 0:14 Comments || Top||

#2  Boy Howdy!!! Nothing get's past these guys does it?
Posted by: AlanC || 06/13/2012 10:49 Comments || Top||

#3  Fellow Rantburgers, these are "for real" questions from me. Why is this such a big news story and the UN so worried about it? I dont understand. Am I missing something? Whats the difference between the Russians giving the Syrians copters and arms compared to us giving arms and and a proxy air force/navy to the Libyan Rebels? I would think its a good thing to let the Syrians go at each others throats instead of being a tool of Iran right now.
Posted by: Yosemite Sam || 06/13/2012 11:43 Comments || Top||

#4  Those are good questions, Yosemite.

One thing that seems apparent is that throughout this whole "Arab Spring" thingy our U.S. government has consistently sided with the "demonstrators" or "rebels" or whoever is opposed to the existing governments in the Arab Middle East. This has been in spite of indications that the anti-government folks in these countries are either unknown or else known to be just as bad if not worse than the existing governments.

One example would be Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood as opposed to Hosni Mubarak. After presiding over 30 years of peace with Israel, all of a sudden Mubarak was a bad guy who just had to go. I don't know why. It's almost as if Obama is hustling for votes from the Muslim Brotherhood types.

Another example would be Syria. How is it that we have dog in this fight? Why should we care?

Then, of course, there is Libya. If Ronald Reagan had gone all out after the Lockerbie bombing to terminate Qdaffy I would have thought that would be a good thing. But the way NATO did it this year for no apparent reason just seems chickenshit.

I don't get it and have yet to hear a credible explanation. There must be something that O'Bummer isn't telling us. Romney isn't calling him on it either which would seem to indicate that the Republicans are in on it, whatever "it" is. Dunno.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 06/13/2012 12:59 Comments || Top||

#5  IMHO the reason is that the Sunni/Salafi part of the Muzzie world (aka the rebels) are bankrolled by the Saudis and the other oil despots.

Think there might be a little baksheesh spread around to help get rid of the "infidel" Alawites?

The Saudis don't do the Russians who still see themselves as the counter weight to the US in the ME.
Posted by: AlanC || 06/13/2012 13:03 Comments || Top||

#6  Aren't WE sposed to be having a civil war? Or is that after obooboo gets cashiered?
Posted by: M. Murcek || 06/13/2012 13:23 Comments || Top||

#7  Great! Send both sides weapons and let them kill each other.
Posted by: DarthVader || 06/13/2012 13:35 Comments || Top||

#8  AlanC's explanation sounds a lot more believable than anything I've heard Bummer say. Might also explain Romney's silence.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 06/13/2012 13:42 Comments || Top||

#9  Think there might be a little baksheesh spread around to help get rid of the "infidel" Alawites?

It's the tranzi equivalent of crusades.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 06/13/2012 14:27 Comments || Top||

#10  One thing that seems apparent is that throughout this whole "Arab Spring" thingy our U.S. government has consistently sided with the "demonstrators" or "rebels" or whoever is opposed to the existing governments in the Arab Middle East.

Sunni Arab theocrats (i.e. the ones who'd like nothing but to kill us all) are great propagandists. In this respect, they resemble the communists, who were so successful that there was scarcely a communist movement that the media did not support, back in the days of the Cold War. A lot of politicians on both sides (GOP and Democrat) are uninformed, and prone to seeing these conflicts in black and white, David and Goliath terms. The side currently carrying out more atrocities is bad and the side with more power is bad. In truth, few people have had the luxury of using kid gloves to quell insurrections.

If Arabs living within Israel prior to the 1948 war had stayed, Israel would be a seething cauldron of insurrection, and continuous guerrilla warfare like Syria today. It's fashionable today to badmouth our Indian fighting forebears for using harsh tactics to subdue the natives during the Indian Wars over a century ago. However, if these tactics hadn't been employed, we'd be fighting them today.

The amusing thing about this selective outrage over Syria is that nothing comparable has been expressed over Sunni Arab-ruled Sudan, which hosted al Qaeda and has killed over 200K Christians and animists, and is continuing to kill 1000 people a month. Where are the calls for a no-fly zone over Sudan? My impression is that we have become the mamluks, Sunni Islam's military slaves, of the 20th century.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 06/13/2012 14:35 Comments || Top||

#11  At the margin, I agree that the civil war in Syria isn't something the US should try unwind and, in any event, without use of military force our options are minimal (a few more economic measure and a few more diplomatic ones).

However, there are real problems here.

1/ stocks of bio/chem stuff in Syria that could go to terror groups if the Civil War continues.

2/ the remaining Christian communities in Syria are more in danger every week

3/ ditto the Kurds

4/ ditto any remaining secular liberals
Posted by: Lord Garth || 06/13/2012 15:04 Comments || Top||

#12  Lord Garth, those all sound like reasons why we should support Assad.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 06/13/2012 16:42 Comments || Top||

#13  ebbang,

I was thinking those are reasons to favor a cease fire. However, as I implied, there is little chance of that.
Posted by: Lord Garth || 06/13/2012 16:51 Comments || Top||

#14  One of his favorite restaurants get blown up?
Posted by: tu3031 || 06/13/2012 19:18 Comments || Top||

#15  IIRC wasn't it bin Laden's master plan to start a war with the U.S. / west so we would go after the "terrorists" and show how the respective current M.E. regimes were in cahoots with us? That way the Muslim proletariat would rise up to overthrow said regimes and begin to form a new pan-Muslim caliphate. Smells like Arab spring to me. That just begs the above questions on why we are supporting the actors that we are supporting. Fishy. Very fishy.
Posted by: Lowspark || 06/13/2012 20:55 Comments || Top||

#16  "It's almost as if Obama is hustling for votes money from the Muslim Brotherhood types."

FTFY, EU.
Posted by: Barbara || 06/13/2012 21:43 Comments || Top||

#17  CHINESE MILITARY FORUM > THE BEAR WARNS WAR IS COMING UNLESS THE SYRIAN REBELS COULD BE CRUSHED IN 4-6 WEEKS | [WND.com] RUSSIA WARNS [Assad = Syria] WAR IS COMING, SOURCE REVEALS GOVERNMENT GIVEN 4-6 WEEKS TO CRUSH OPPOSITION.

ARTIC = Mama Russia repor did not elaborate on what kind of war was specifically coming or could break out.

* INDIAN DEFENCE FORUM > ISRAEL TO "EVACUATE TEL AVIV" IN CASE OF MISSLE ATTACK, espec by LRBMS, Rocket Arty wid Unconventional Warheads.

* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > US, IRAN RACE TO LIMIT EACH OTHER'S INFLUENCE AFTER ASSAD FALLS.

* WAFF > ANKARA'S RED LINE.

Syrian mil buildup detected near Aleppo may have serious implications or effects for Turkey's national, geopol security which it may not be able to ignore or alleviate short of Turkey-specific mil intervention agz Syria???

* SAME > THE RISE OF TURKEY IN THE BALKANS.

Posted by: JosephMendiola || 06/13/2012 23:00 Comments || Top||


Terror Networks
'Dead' Al Qaeda Leader Appears In 'New' Video
US officials say Abu Yahya al-Libi killed in drone strike; unclear when video was made.
Video was trumpeted two days ago -- see here.
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/13/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan

#1  Since that Tupac show last month this holograms of dead guy thing has really taken off.
Posted by: Penguin || 06/13/2012 0:05 Comments || Top||



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Two weeks of WOT
Wed 2012-06-13
  At Least 73 Dead in Shelling and Clashes across Syria
Tue 2012-06-12
  Helicopter Gunships Deployed as More Than 100 Dead in Syria
Mon 2012-06-11
  Church Bombing Kills 15 in Nigeria
Sun 2012-06-10
  Syria Army Kills 70 Civilians in Protest Cities
Sat 2012-06-09
  Tuareg Rebels, Islamists, Clash in Northern Mali
Fri 2012-06-08
  UN monitors shot at trying to get to Syria massacre
Thu 2012-06-07
  47 Die in Hama Countryside 'Massacre' as Clashes Rock Damascus
Wed 2012-06-06
  Armed groups kill 15 Syrian soldiers in Latakia
Tue 2012-06-05
  U.S. Official: Al-Qaeda's No. 2 Killed In Drone Strike
Mon 2012-06-04
  US drone strike kills 10 in NW Pakistan
Sun 2012-06-03
  At least 12 dead in Nigerian church bombing
Sat 2012-06-02
  US drone strike kills three militants in Pakistan: officials
Fri 2012-06-01
  SCAF says it is going to end Egypt's state of emergency after 31 years
Thu 2012-05-31
  Somalia forces capture key al-Shabab town of Afmadow
Wed 2012-05-30
  19 Killed in Syria Violence


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