[DAWN] Two C130 aircraft carrying relief goods were dispatched on Saturday (today) from the Nur Khan airbase in Rawalpindi to Afghanistan's Panjshir province for victims of a massive avalanche, said a statement issued by the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR).
The relief goods include tents, blankets, stoves, as well as eatables like rice, ready-to-eat meals and medicines.
More than 250 people have been killed in a series of avalanches triggered by heavy snowfall around Afghanistan this week,
The bulk of the deaths have come in Panjshir province, north of Kabul, where at least 186 people were killed, acting provincial governor Abdul Rahman Kabiri told AFP.
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[Libya Herald] Sudanese nationals are no longer barred from travelling to Libya. Prime Minister Abdullah Al-Thinni has lifted the ban, just one month after it was put in place.
The government clamped down on Sudanese, as well as Syrians and Paleostinians on 6 January because of supposed intelligence indicating that these countries were involved in "undermining" Libya's security and illusory sovereignty.
Libya's Foreign Ministry has said that the ban was lifted "as an expression of gratitude" because of Sudan's support and efforts to further the reconciliation process in Libya. The ministry also said that Sudanese in Libya have played a key role in Libya's development, working as doctors, engineers, professors, professionals and manual labourers.
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[Iran Press TV] Iran has reacted strongly after a court in Egypt labeled the Paleostinian resistance movement Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, a "terrorist" organization.
The poor darlings. They've been working and plotting for so long to complete the encirclement of Israel, and now Egypt is going to ruin everything by ruining Hamas.
Condemning the verdict, which was issued on Saturday by the Cairo Court of Urgent Matters, an Iranian deputy foreign minister said later in the day that "Hamas is not a terrorist organization."
"The Tel Aviv regime is the illegitimate and terrorist regime, which is incapable in the face of the resistance, including Hamas and the Islamic Jihad ...created after many members of the Egyptian Moslem Brotherhood decided the organization was becoming too moderate. Operations were conducted out of Egypt until 1981 when the group was exiled after the assassination 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... (another Paleostinian resistance movement)," said Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the Iranian deputy foreign minister for Arab and African affairs.
"The Islamic Theocratic Republic of Iran strongly condemns terrorism in all its forms anywhere, including in Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Africa, and Europe," the Iranian official also said,
Following the court's announcement on Saturday, the Paleostinian resistance group released a statement, describing the court's decision as "shocking and dangerous."
"The Egyptian court's decision to list the Hamas movement as a terror organization is shocking and is dangerous, and it targets the Paleostinian people and its factions of resistance," the statement added.
The court had also claimed in a lawsuit on January 31 that the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' military wing, was involved in recent attacks against Egypt's security forces.
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#1
a court in Egypt labeled the Paleostinian resistance movement Hamas...a "terrorist" organization.
[AnNahar] Hundreds of female religious guides have been at the forefront of Algeria's battle against Islamic radicalization since the civil war that devastated the North African country in the 1990s.
Their aim is to steer women away from false preachers promoting radical forms of Islam.
In WoT Background because nowadays all death sentences for Moslem Brotherhood types seem to get an automatic appeal, and are frequently overturned. But perhaps after fifteen or twenty years in an Egyptian prison some of these men will decide the MB approach to governance was, after all, unwise.
[AnNahar] An Egyptian court on Saturday sentenced to life imprisonment the head of the banned Moslem Brüderbund over the killing of protesters who stormed the group's Cairo headquarters in 2013.
Three co-defendants of Mohammed Badie -- the Islamist movement's spiritual leader who already faces three other life terms from other cases -- were sentenced to death in the same trial.
Fourteen others, including Badie's deputies Khairat al-Shater and Saad al-Katatni, were handed life terms.
All were convicted on charges of "murder" and "incitement to murder" as well as possessing arms, but can appeal the verdicts.
Badie and the other defendants present in court for the verdict denounced the sentence and shouted: "Down with military rule".
On June 30, 2013, protesters stormed and torched the Cairo headquarters of the Moslem Brüderbund as millions erupted into the streets of Egypt demanding the resignation of president Mohammed Morsi.
Morsi, who belongs to the Brotherhood, was ousted just days later by then army chief and now President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi after one year in office.
Prosecutors said 12 protesters were killed when they clashed with Morsi supporters during the storming of the Brotherhood offices, while more than 90 were maimed.
Badie has already been sentenced by three separate courts to three life terms, and he was also handed two death sentences that were later overturned on appeal.
Since Morsi's overthrow in July 2013, the authorities have launched a brutal crackdown against his supporters leaving hundreds dead and thousands tossed in the slammer Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit! after often speedy mass trials.
Morsi himself is facing several trials on charges that are punishable by death, while his Islamist movement has been designated a "terrorist group".
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[AnNahar] Bomb attacks in Nigerian towns and cities look likely to increase in the run-up to forthcoming elections, despite the military claiming increasing successes against Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... in captured territory.
At least 86 people were killed in kabooms blamed on Boko Haram this week alone, all of them at crowded bus stations in the northeast, wider north and also in the country's central region.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: trailing wife ||
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#1
What? Return to urban warfare and give up on all the good eating in the Magumeri forest ?
[AnNahar] Kuwaiti authorities are closely monitoring several relatives of "Jihadi John" who live and work in the Gulf emirate where the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... executioner was born, press reports said on Sunday.
A number of relatives of Mohammed Emwazi, named as the bully boy who has beheaded at least five Western hostages, are working in Kuwait and like him hold British citizenship, Al-Qabas newspaper reported.
"Security agencies have taken the necessary measures to monitor them round the clock," the paper said, citing an "informed source."
The daily did not say how many of Emwazi's relatives are in Kuwait. Authorities have remained silent on the issue.
Al-Rai newspaper cited security sources as saying that Emwazi's father, Jassem Abdulkareem, also a Brit, is currently in Kuwait and is expected to be summoned by authorities.
Emwazi visited Kuwait several times, the last of them between January 18 and April 26, 2010, Al-Qabas said.
He arrived from the United Arab Emirates using his British passport to obtain a Kuwaiti entry visa.
A year later, he was denied entry to Kuwait after his name came up during investigations into attacks in Britannia, the newspaper said.
Emwazi's visits to Kuwait were largely of a social nature and he was briefly engaged to a stateless Kuwaiti resident, the paper added.
The Gulf emirate has tens of thousands of stateless residents known as bidoons.
Emwazi's family, who are of Iraqi origin, were among them.
They applied for naturalization but their names were removed from the list of prospective citizens because of allegations that they collaborated with the Iraqi army during its seven-month occupation of Kuwait in 1990-1991, Al-Qabas said.
Emwazi was born in Kuwait but moved to London in the early 1990s when he was a child and attended school and university in the British capital.
The Daily Telegraph reported that he went to school with two other boys who went on to become forces of Evil -- Choukri Ellekhlifi, who was killed fighting in Syria, and Mohammed Sakr, killed fighting in Somalia.
It was also reported that Emwazi had contacts with the men responsible for failed attacks on London's public transport system in 2005, two weeks after suicide kabooms killed 52 people in the British capital.
The revelations add to the pressure on the security and intelligence agencies to explain why they did not act on their suspicions about Emwazi before he traveled to Syria.
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03/01/2015 07:44 ||
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[Libya Herald] Foreign Minister Mohammed Al-Dairi has claimed there are some 5,000 foreign combatants fighting alongside holy warriors in Libya.
Many terrorist leader in Libya are foreigners. The so-called Emir of the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... in Libya is a Yemeni. One of the men who carried out the bombing in Guba was Saudi, Dairi told AFP this week.
Indeed, Al-Dairi's number seems low. Many think there are many more imported muscle here. With Libya's mostly non-existent borders, it is not difficult for them to enter, especially in the south from Mali, Nigeria and Niger.
The Guba bombings was the second time IS has used imported muscle to carry out Libyan suicide kabooms in Libya. IS claimed the assault on Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... 's Corinthia hotel last month was carried out by a Tunisian and a Sudanese. A video that has recently surfaced showing the two men discussing and planning the attack seems by their accents, to confirm this.
Al-Dairi used repeated the government's call for the arms embargo to be lifted and for the international community to arm the Libyan National Army. He also warned that terrorism is a growing threat not only to Libya but also to the region and even Europe.
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[YEMENONLINE.INFO] Fears of economic collapse are causing Yemeni citizens to withdraw their US dollar savings from banks and keep the dollars at home. Yemen is facing economic collapse for several reasons:
The political chaos of the country having two capitals after the 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 ... seizure of Sanaa is preventing many businesses from operating.
The fighting has reduced oil exports, Yemen's main source of dollars. At the same time the price of oil has been falling, so even less money is coming in.
Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... used to provide aid to the Sunni-led government of Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, but that aid was cut off when the new Shia-led Houthi government took over.
It is possible that the Sanaa regime will soon be unable to pay salaries within a few weeks. The economic collapse represents a recruiting opportunity for Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula ...the latest incarnation of various Qaeda and Qaeda-allied groups, including the now-defunct Aden-Abyan Islamic Army that boomed the USS Cole in 2000... .(AQAP). Widespread protests and riots, as well as terrorist acts by AQAP, are expected to increase
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[AnNahar] Kuwait has joined its Gulf partners Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... and United Arab Emirates and decided to reopen its Yemeni embassy in Aden, instead of the militia-controlled capital Sanaa.
"In the framework of supporting constitutional legitimacy in Yemen represented in President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi... the state of Kuwait has decided to reopen its embassy in the city of Aden," the foreign ministry said, quoted by the official KUNA news agency.
The ministry said the decision was in accordance with an agreement by the foreign ministers of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council.
Aden was the capital of an independent south Yemen before the two Yemens were united in 1990.
Iran may well discover that taking half of Yemen, while exciting philosophically, is a net loss rather than a profit.
[Dhaka Tribune] BNP Chairperson the loathesome Khaleda Zia Three-term PM of Bangla, widow of deceased dictator Ziaur Rahman, head of the Bangla Nationalist Party, an apparent magnet for corruption ... should prepare herself for jail because her politics is over, Awami League Joint General Secretary Mahbubul Alam Hanif said yesterday.
"You [Khaleda] should prepare to be in prison, where you have to stay for the rest of your life," he said.
Speaking at a convention of the ruling party's Meherpur district chapter at Shaheed Shamsuzzoha Park in the town, Hanif said the BNP chief is waging a war with people.
"Khaleda is ecstatic with people burning to death in petrol kabooms. She should be brought to book for this. She is also attempting to turn Bangladesh into a failed state by imposing blockade for 54 consecutive days for no reason," Hanif said.
Hanif criticised Jamaat-e-Islami ...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... saying that no religion supports cutting people's tendons or beheading them, reports our Meherpur correspondent.
Meanwhile, ...back at the pond, the enormous newt was trying to decide if Gloria was edible... Prime Minister's Political Adviser HT Imam yesterday said if people do not eliminate BNP-Jamaat, the very existence of the country will be threatened.
As the BNP-Jamaat is run by Pakistain, they want to return to Pakistain, he said.
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[FOXNEWS] The German-based anti-Islam group PEGIDA has held its first rally in Britannia, sparking scuffles as police tried to keep the group away from counterdemonstrators. Five people have been jugged Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'! Police said Saturday that about 375 people joined the PEGIDA rally in Newcastle, 290 miles (465 kilometers) north of London. About 2,000 people joined the counterdemonstration.
Police say the arrests were isolated and the event was largely peaceful.
The leader of the Liberty GB political party Paul Weston told the gathering that Moslems will become a majority in Britannia in the coming decades and will "take over" the country.
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[Hurriyet Daily News] Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him... strongly criticized Austria on Feb. 28 for approving a controversial bill that revises the status of Moslems in the European country.
"On the one hand you tell about the EU acquis, but on the other hand you take steps which totally oppose the EU acquis," Erdogan said at a meeting in Istanbul before his departure to Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... for an official visit.
According to the Europa portal, the community acquis or acquis is "the body of common rights and obligations which bind all the member states together within the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... ... Applicant countries have to accept the Community acquis before they can join the Union."
The Austrian Parliament passed a law on Feb. 25, stirring a debate.
The updated "Law on Islam," which was prepared by the coalition of the Social Democratic Party and the People's Party, aims to regulate how Islam is managed inside the country, and includes provisions requiring imams to be able to speak German, standardizing the Koran in the German language, and banning Islamic organizations from receiving foreign funding.
The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... will make every effort to protect Moslems in Austria, especially those of Turkish descent, from being harmed due to a controversial recently approved bill regulating Islam in the country, Turkey's EU minister said on Feb. 26.
"We cannot accept any harm to Moslems because of this law and we will make every effort to prevent such harm," Minister Volkan Bozkir told Anadolu Agency during a visit to Finland's capital, Helsinki.
The president also referred to the recent incidents of Islamophobia ...the irrational fear that Moslems will act the way they usually do... and biases against Moslems in the West, especially Europe, "The incidents are shifting to a different ground. We have to stop these biases."
Islam has been an official religion in Austria since 1912.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/01/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
Of all the countries in the world, who woulda thunk it?
#5
'Religion of Peace'(tm) failed to conquer Vienna in 1683.
Apparently, back home in Istanbul they didn't even notice the crucial failure. It was the end of the conquering season so they went home, planning to come back in the spring. Only they got distrated with other things -- it was a big empire, after all -- and somehow never got round to finishing the job.
Much like the rest of the Ummah was completely oblivious the the Crusades until recently.
#8
...and includes provisions requiring imams to be able to speak German, standardizing the Koran in the German language, and banning Islamic organizations from receiving foreign funding.
#9
Suleiman overstayed at Vienna, and early wintery weather ground his retreating troops all the way home. Suleiman tried again a number of years later, beginning in Hungary, but the army got bogged down and Suleiman died of age, prompting the end of that campaign. On the way back to occupied Constantinople, they had a body-double riding in a carraige to facilitate the naming of the new Sultan of the High Fives, rulers of the Black Sea hermit crabs, and turtle stacker supreme.
#10
Between the Hapsburg's and the Viking's successors dealing with the ROP-ers, there may be hope... Now to the 'speech' on Tuesday morning, to start to deal domestically with the metastases at 1600.
[AnNahar] The placed in durance vile Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please! leader of the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) on Saturday made a "historic" call to the separatists to hold a disarmament conference, a key step in efforts to end The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... 's 30-year Kurdish insurgency.
"As we are ushering the 30 years of conflict towards permanent peace, it is our primary goal to reach a democratic solution," Abdullah Ocalan said in a message relayed by Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) politician Sirri Sureyya Onder.
"I'm calling on the PKK to hold an extraordinary congress in spring to make a strategic and historic decision on disarmament," Onder quoted Ocalan as saying in a joint presser with Deputy Prime Minister Yalcin Akdogan.
"This is a historic call to replace armed struggle with democratic politics."
Onder said that both sides were "closer than ever to peace."
The message came after an HDP delegation met with PKK rebels for talks at their base in the Kandil Mountains in Iraq on February 23 and met Ocalan himself on his prison island of Imrali on the Marmara Sea on Friday.
The presser was of significant importance because it was the first time a message by Ocalan was read live on television and in the presence of Turkish government officials.
Akdogan emphasised the importance of a ceasefire and said: "We have reached an important and historical point in the grinding of the peace processor."
"Silencing arms will contribute to the development of democracy," he said.
In 2013 Ocalan called for a "historic" ceasefire, after many months of secret negotiations with the Turkish government aimed at ending a conflict that has killed more than 40,000 people since 1984.
But peace talks stalled in September 2013, when the holy warriors said they were suspending their pullout from Turkish soil after accusing Ankara of failing to deliver on promised reforms.
Government officials have recently stepped up efforts to restart talks with the Kurds and have met with their representatives in the hope of reaching a disarmament deal with separatist rebels by Kurdish New Year in March.
The new efforts come against the backdrop of a contentious security bill -- currently being debated in parliament -- boosting police powers to crack down on protest.
The bill, which was introduced after deadly pro-Kurdish protests in October, risks jeopardising the fragile grinding of the peace processor with the outlawed PKK if passed.
In which the Old Grey Lady fights yet another rear guard action against facts damaging to the Democrats at home, because her readers have been getting grief from conservative friends and relations who get their news elsewhere. Key paragraphs below.
[NewYorkTimes] Jeremy Bird,
...Mr. Obama’s national field director in 2012 and founding partner of the political consulting firm 270 Strategies...
the architect of the grass-roots and online organizing efforts that powered President B.O.'s presidential campaigns from reliably Democrat Chicago, aka The Windy City or Mobtown ... home of Al Capone, a succession of Daleys, Barak Obama, and Rahm Emmanuel,... , is advising a similar operation in Tel Aviv. But this time it is focused on ousting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel.
The talking point:
American strategists have for decades signed on to work in Israeli political campaigns, with Democrats usually aligned with the Labor Party and Republicans often backing Mr. Netanyahu's Likud party. There is no evidence to suggest that Mr. Obama or any of his senior aides had anything to do with the move by his former top campaign official, who has never worked at the White House, to join the effort to defeat Mr. Netanyahu.
"Everybody does it, and anyway you've got no proof."
But Mr. Bird's involvement in the elections is drawing attention when tensions between the two countries are so acute
Golly, why is that, d'you suppose?
that what is usually considered standard practice for American political consultants in Israel is now seen as a provocation.
They always demand the avoidance of even the appearance of misbehaviour. But it's odd that in this case the consultants weren't hired by a particular party, but are offering their work for the benefit of all Liberal/Left parties who want to take advantage of it.
"It's clearly a data point that people are looking to that indicates how the relationship has tanked," said Matthew Brooks, the executive director of the Republican Jewish Coalition. He added that Mr. Bird reflects "the hypocrisy of this White House, which wants to stand on the notion that they're not playing politics when in fact their fingerprints are all over this."
The White House has repeatedly said its highest priority is keeping partisanship out of the relationship between the United States and Israel, citing that principle as Mr. Obama's rationale for refusing to meet with Mr. Netanyahu during his visit.
Does anyone at all actually believe this claim?
Asked about the suggestion that Mr. Obama was tacitly backing an effort to oust Mr. Netanyahu, Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary, said, "The long tradition of bipartisan support for the U.S.-Israel relationship has served both our countries well for generations, and President B.O. will continue to go to great lengths to shield our alliance from the smallness of party politics."
#2
Well, dems love it when foreigners interfere in American elections by, um, giving dems money (cf. Obooboo's "no security check on credit card donations from abroad" or all the baksheesh the Clintoon operation has been taking in from abroad. Or the importation of illegals who will vote dem in our elections.) This is how "citizens of the world" operate.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
03/01/2015 8:47 Comments ||
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[AnNahar] A U.S. court Friday denied a request by alleged Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev for his trial to be moved out of the city, just days ahead of opening statements.
"Plaaaaaaayyyyyy baaaaaalllllll!"
A three-judge panel came down in a two-to-one split decision against the move.
According to the ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit panel, Tsarnaev had "not met the well-established standards for such relief."
His lawyers, who have made multiple attempts to move the proceedings, claimed that pretrial publicity had so prejudiced potential jurors that a fair and impartial jury could not be formed in Boston, where the April 15, 2013, marathon attacks killed three people and maimed 264.
Move the trial to Amarillo. Or Knoxville. Or Provo. Or Tuscaloosa. Be careful what you wish for...
But, according to the two concurring judges, "any high-profile case will receive significant media attention."
"Knowledge, however, does not equate to disqualifying prejudice," Chief Judge Sandra Lynch and Circuit Judge Jeffrey Howard said, citing other high-profile trials that went forward in the communities where the events in question took place. These included trials for the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and that of Zacarias Moussaoui, known as the "20th hijacker" in the attacks of September 11, 2001.
Tsarnaev, 21, faces the death penalty if convicted over the Boston attacks -- the worst such incident in the United States since 9/11.
In his dissenting opinion, Circuit Judge Juan Torruella said that "given the impact of the bombing and subsequent press coverage on the entire city, it is absurd to suggest that Tsarnaev will receive a fair and impartial trial in the Eastern Division of the District of Massachusetts."
A court official has said a sufficient number of qualified jurors have been identified and anticipated that formal seating of the jury and opening statements will begin Wednesday.
The marathon attacks plunged Boston into mourning and revived fears of terrorism in the United States more than a decade after 9/11.
#4
A likely delaying tactic. My suspicion is, our betters are not at all eager to reveal the depth of knowledge they had on the Tsarnaev brothers prior to the deadly Boston bombing.
Once again, only my suspicion.... tin foil hatted, cynical, suspicious old bastid that I am.
[DAWN] A major terrorist attack in India might lead to a large-scale military assault on Pakistain, which then could lead to a nuclear war in one of the world's most populous regions, the US Congress was told. Good thinking, that. Since half the population of Pakistain consists of certifiable lunatics it's entirely likely.
Two US experts on South Asian affairs -- George Perkovich and Ashley Tellis -- presented the doom's day scenario before a Senate panel earlier this week.
The US Senate and the House of Representatives held a series of hearings this week to consider the B.O. regime's budget proposals for 2016.
While debating the US State Department's proposals for foreign aid, politicians invited senior US officials -- including Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State... -- and think-tank experts to explain the administration's foreign policy.
During one of these hearings, the two experts argued that Pakistain might use nuclear weapons against India if the latter launched a large-scale military assault in retaliation for a major terror attack from across the border.
"South Asia is the most likely place nuclear weapons could be detonated in the foreseeable future. This risk derives from the unusual dynamic of the India-Pakistain competition," said Mr Perkovich, of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/01/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
Would never happen with nuclear China so close.
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03/01/2015 0:33 Comments ||
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#2
Would you care to make a small long-term, friendly wager on that Chris? Make it small as I am easily economically embarrassed.
[DailyBeast] The U.S. military's goal to retake Iraq's second largest city from the self-proclaimed Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... has been pushed back several months at least, defense officials told The Daily Beast. That's a major shift for the Pentagon, which recently announced that the first major ground offensive in the war against ISIS could come in the next few weeks.
Defense officials once hoped that Iraqi troops could move into djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... by the Spring and reclaim the city from ISIS. Now, those officials say, Fall is more realistic. And even that date was tenuous.
"It is an Iraqi decision but we don't want to do anything until they are ready and can win decisively," a military official explained to the Daily Beast. "They cannot now."
Since December, when U.S. officials first suggested a spring timeline, the Iraqi government repeatedly pushed back publicly, saying its forces were not ready. And yet U.S. officials kept suggesting such a campaign was possible. The CENTCOM briefing outraged many in Baghdad who felt pressured. In a televised address last week, Iraqi Defense Minister Khaled Obeidi would not confirm the proposed timeline, but rather rejected the U.S. decision to name specific months for an operation.
"This is urban warfare and we have civilian populations. It is very important to take time and accuracy in setting the plan for this battle," Obeidi said. The more time you take to prepare, the more time your opponent has to prepare for you. Act decisively. Those civilians will likely not benefit from your delay.
All the while, there were inside the Pentagon that launching a plan too soon could have long term adverse affects on their seven-month air campaign against ISIS. Translation: We don't have enough air support available to conduct a Mosul offensive and sustain the larger, ongoing air campaign.
CENTCOM officials appeared eager to launch the campaign in anticipation of the summer and holy month of Ramadan, when troops would be fasting from sunrise and sunset, making such an offensive all but impossible. How about some good old fashiond common sense? Postpone the fast. What is more important, long-term victory or the temporary foregoing of a religious practice.
But as criticism of that plan mounted, defense officials increasingly began stressing readiness and not timelines. Rather than an American-pushed spring offensive, officials stressed, it was an Iraqi-led operation that would be decided by the government there.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
03/01/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
Well that will give you plenty of time to come up with a good plan and see if the enemy approves.
Posted by: chris ||
03/01/2015 0:31 Comments ||
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#2
Looks like someone that can actually assess readiness filed a report on the true condition and training of the Iraqi Army.
Kurds would likely be ready but they are primarily light infantry - and still need artillery. And too few of them for a major offensive in an urban area.
#3
God forbid anyone give the kurds adequate artillery or any support whatsoever. Think we all know if that happened might upset the usual mid eastern shit with a viable straight thinking power in the region.
Posted by: chris ||
03/01/2015 4:17 Comments ||
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#9
The Iraqi Army will never be ready - because it has been rebuiolt by Maliki and people like him. Our trainers ahnds were tied - and it takes a long time to root out the sort of bigotry, cultural rot, and corruption that the Shia Iraqis have embedded into their military and government. Even more importantly, it takes political will, something they do not have.
Had we left a full brigade (reinforced) combat team, and a training brigade, and forced Maliki from office, at covert gunpoint if necessary, then they might have stood a chance for reforms to kick in while we are still there to squash things like ISIS (as well as reaching out to the Sunnis, which was the real success of the Surge).
Obama's (And Sec State Clinton) failures have consequences, even if nobody in the press has the courage to call them out on it.
#10
Cant have shia officers commanding sunni troops on a old Soviet style army where there is no strong leadership from NCO's. Better to go to heavy armed territorial brigades. They would need arty and choppers and be fighting for their own homes. Set them up with ground support from a national air force and heavy reinforcement brigades.
#11
I'd like to think they are that clever Pappy. I would certainly like to think that, but I'm just not there yet.
The briefing was given on the last day of (and at) Mr. Obama's " summit on violent extremism."
The rump Iraqi government nor the Kurds were supposedly not briefed beforehand, yet their comments were quite mild. There were also no comments from the other members of the coalition.
It's safe to surmise that this (much like the summit itself) was political theater. Likely it was also a test-balloon to see how it would be received by US domestic factions.
My cynical opinion is that planning is being done and preparations are being made. However, most of this sturm und drang, for now, is for the US domestic political battlefield, and for the world's "muslim community" Mr. Obama seems so concerned about.
#12
I'll give you credit for the 'political theater.' Every move he makes is politically framed in one manner or another. His public affairs/relations apparatus is second to none.
#13
politically framed, but King Reverse-Midas turns everything to shit and blames others or waves it away as a "distraction". Think about the accomplishments Queen Hillary can run on next year: Egypt? Libya/Benghazi? Russia? Syria? Iraq?....
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/01/2015 15:37 Comments ||
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[IraqiNews.com] Belgium is to send 35 soldiers to Iraq to help train the Iraqi army in the fight against ISIS, AFP reported on Friday. The troops are expected to leave today on a six-month tour of duty in a "secure location", a government statement revealed.
According to a front man for Defence Minister Steven Vandeput, the Belgian soldiers will have no combat role and will focus on "training and advice".
Belgium has been a member of the international coalition against ISIS since last September. Six F-16 jets and 120 personnel of the Belgian Air Force are based in Jordan, from where they join air strikes against the ISIS myrmidons.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
03/01/2015 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iraq
#1
Members of the 32nd Chocolatiers.
Posted by: Steven ||
03/01/2015 3:11 Comments ||
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#2
Advance element of the Fighting 515th Heavy Barber Battalion...
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/01/2015 11:21 Comments ||
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[Ynet] US Secretary of State John Kerry said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is "obviously welcome to speak in the US" but added he hoped the prime minister's planned address to Congress would not turn into "some great political football." "Welcome to speak"....why are so many unwilling to listen ?
#7
A group who think that the crocodile will eat them last.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/01/2015 13:48 Comments ||
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#8
Empty House? What kind of deceptive BS is that? 435 house, 100 Senate = 535. 35 or so listed int he graphic. That many are missing nearly every day from Congress - and yet the assholes spin it as "empty".
#10
Frank G, you are correct. What our current regime has earned is not the benefit of the doubt but disrespect and the assured confidence that they will lie and work hard to sell Israel AND the US down the river to the communists and/or Islamic fanatics or some combination thereof.
#11
I lifted this from a comment on PJ. I suspect it pretty accurately describes, not only the Champ, but his cadre of followers as well:
CarthorisB
Obama's inborn nature is similar to that of a vampyroteuthis Infernalis, lit. "Vampire Squid from Hell", ramming his blood funnel into every part of America to suck dry all remaining individual freedoms and rule of law, not of men. His freedom killing blood lust and pyromania will not be satiated unless and until the United States Constitution, especially including it's Bill of Rights, is a withered corpse. As this throwback power mad and money hungry fascist monstrosity no longer has to concern himself with reelection the mask will now soon come completely off and he will go into a rabid freedom killing totalitarian frenzy such as this nation has never before even imagined.
#12
this regime hasn't earned the benefit of doubt
After the Arab Spring, the persecution of an innocent film maker, Libya, Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Ukraine and Afghanistan with its booming poppy crop Obama and his henchmen deserve nothing but contempt. They are perfectly willing to kiss ass in China, Soddy Arabia and Iran but they will not afford a staunch ally like Netanyahu the common courtesy of listening to his speech in Congress.
The "benefit of doubt"?
There is no doubt left. Obama hates America, hates Israel, hates Britain, hates capitalism, hates Western Civilization. He loves Islam and socialism. He loves power. He is not an African-American. We don't really know what or who he is because he's covered all his tracks and the MSM will not investigate. But all indications are he is an African muslim with an economic philosophy that would make Karl Marx proud.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
03/01/2015 16:34 Comments ||
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#13
Considering Obama told Israel they would shot their planes out of the sky if Israel attacks Iran nukes I do no think there is any doubt left.
[Daily Caller] The Republican Jewish Coalition is warning that a potential deal between the Obama administration and Iran could put the "fate of mankind" at stake.
In advance of Benjamin Netanyahu's Tuesday speech to Congress about the threat of a nuclear Iran, the RJC -- which is backed by prominent pro-Israel Republicans, including casino mogul and mega-GOP donor Sheldon Adelson
-- is launching a media campaign to press the importance of the Israeli leader's message.
In the New York Times Sunday, the RJC will place a full-page ad highlighting the eliminationist threats Iranian leaders have made against the State of Israel. The ad will be backed up by a YouTube video further emphasizing the RJC's message.
Damascus -- UN peace envoy Staffan de Mistura hopes to finalise a deal to freeze fighting in war-ravaged second city Aleppo during talks Saturday with the Syrian government, an official said.
De Mistura is due in Damascus in the afternoon just after lunch and “hopes to set in motion as soon as possible his project” to halt fighting in Aleppo for six weeks, said a member of his delegation who spoke on condition of anonymity. The envoy has met with government officials and opposition chiefs in recent weeks to promote his plan for a temporary truce in Aleppo in order to move aid into the northern city.
Once Syria’s commercial hub, Aleppo has been devastated by fighting that began in mid-2012, and the city is now split between loyalist forces and rebels.
Last week De Mistura said “the government of Syria has indicated to me its willingness to halt all aerial bombing and artillery shelling for a period of six weeks all over the city of Aleppo from a date we’ll announce from Damascus”.
Under the plan, rebels would be asked to suspend rocket and mortar fire in the city during the freeze.
What do the government forces do in response -- mop up?
De Mistura’s visit to Damascus coincides with a meeting of the main opposition National Coalition in the Turkish border town of Kilis to discuss the his plan, an alliance spokesman said. Those at the meeting — including coalition chief Khaled Khoja, opposition figures and representatives of Aleppo’s civil society — would declare a position on De Mistura’s plan.
It would run into Sunday and conclude “with an announcement on the creation of a follow-up committee that will make contact with De Mistura about his project,” said the spokesman.
When he revealed his plan this month, De Mistura said he had asked the Syrian government to allow a UN team into Aleppo to identify a district for a trial ceasefire.
Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Muqdad told Al Watan newspaper that the envoy suggested the trial begin simultaneously in Salaheddin and Saif Al Dawla neighbourhoods. Located in southwestern Aleppo city, the two battleground districts are divided between loyalist forces and rebels.
French parliamentarians who met Syrian President Bashar Al Assad on Wednesday have said the embattled leader expressed support for the plan which De Mistura has been mulling since his appointment in July.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/01/2015 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
For a given value of safe that means only until the nearest IS idiot decides to follow Mohammed's example.
[AnNahar] Two Orthodox bishops kidnapped in Syria in April 2013 are doing well and in a safe area away from the intense festivities between the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... group, rebels and the forces of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Light of the Alawites... 's regime.
According to a report published in al-Akhbar newspaper on Saturday, the whereabouts of the two bishops, Yohanna Ibrahim and Boulos Yaziji, remain unknown as the IS holy warriors continuously changed their location "for reasons related to secrecy and to protect them from the surrounding fighting and shelling."
However, women are made to be loved, not understood... a source confirmed to the daily that they are "in an area under the control of the IS."
The two bishops were kidnapped at the end of April, reportedly near the rebel-held town of Kafr Dael, near Aleppo in northern Syria.
The al-Qaeda-affiliated Asbat al-Ansar was allegedly the group behind the abduction of the two bishops.
Media reports had said that the group, which was loyal to al-Nusra ...the current nom de guerre of al-Qaeda in the Levant, which isn't to be confused with al-Qaeda in Iraq and the Levant... Front, became discreetly loyal to ISIL.
No group has officially grabbed credit for their kidnap.
A committee was recently established by Ignatius Aphrem II, patriarch of the Syriac Orthodox Church, to follow up the case.
The daily reported that some agents "contacted the committee claiming to have valuable information on the two bishops and demanded approximately $100,000 in return."
The newspaper said that the committee dealt seriously with the agents, who failed to answer personal questions about the two bishops, indicating that they are lying.
It assumed that the IS considers the bishops a chance to receive funding, however, the group didn't attempt to make any demands so far.
Christians constitute some five percent of Syria's population, a patchwork of religious and ethnic groups.
Rights groups say Christians are especially vulnerable in the chaos that has engulfed Syria ever since the outbreak of a conflict in March 2011.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
03/01/2015 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
[AnNahar] Relative calm prevailed on Saturday across the outskirts of the northeastern border village of Ras Baalbek in the Bekaa after the army fortified its posts in the area.
Sources said in comments published in As Safir newspaper that the "pre-emptive strike by the Lebanese army against the gangs, which were preparing to attack weak posts in the area, had a harsh impact on them."
"The hard boyz were confused by the military's attack on its positions (on the outskirts of Ras Baalbek," sources said basing its statement on the wiretapping that the army and security forces, which are heavily deployed in the area, are carrying out.
The source estimated that the hard boyz are preparing for a swift retaliation to reclaim the land that the army controlled.
The army continued to target on Friday turban posts on the outskirts of Ras Baalbek, a day after it seized two hilltop positions.
Army Commander Gen. Jean Qahwaji and Defense Minister Samir Moqbel toured the area of operation to inspect the progress of military.
The army command said in a communique that the operation was in line with efforts to secure villages near the eastern border with neighboring Syria.
The statement did not name the turbans, but most are believed to be from the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... group, who together with the al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front have been holding around 20 Lebanese soldiers and coppers hostage since August.
The army frequently clashed with the hard boyz in their hideouts near the Syria border.
[Independent Sentinel] "They're not natural allies, but Iran can provide three components that al-Qaeda desperately needs to launch a high-profile attack -- an attack that would avenge the death of Osama bin Laden and bring about the devastation of the Great Satan."
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[YEMENONLINE.INFO] Fears of economic collapse are causing Yemeni citizens to withdraw their US dollar savings from banks and keep the dollars at home. Yemen is facing economic collapse for several reasons:
[DAWN] A major terrorist attack in India might lead to a large-scale military assault on Pakistain, which then could lead to a nuclear war in one of the world's most populous regions, the US Congress was told.
[Ynet] US Secretary of State John Kerry said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is "obviously welcome to speak in the US" but added he hoped the prime minister's planned address to Congress would not turn into "some great political football."
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
