[AnNahar] 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... leader Abubakar Shekau directly ordered women to be killed in the northeast Nigeria ... a particularly crimson stretch of Islam's bloody border... n town of Gwoza, one man who was forcibly conscripted into the krazed killer ranks claimed on Friday.
Usman Ali said he witnessed the killing in the town, which the group's elusive leader proclaimed as part of a caliphate last year and which has generally been seen as the krazed killers' headquarters.
Another local man, Haruna Abubakar, also confirmed the massacre in the Borno state town but neither was able to say how many women were killed.
There has also been speculation that the 219 kidnapped schoolgirls from Chibok who have been held by Boko Haram since last April were in Gwoza but both said there was no sign of them.
Nigeria's military said on Friday that troops had recaptured Gwoza, the latest claimed success in a regional offensive involving Chad, Niger and Cameroon ...a long, narrow country that fills the space between Nigeria and Chad on the northeast, CAR to the southeast. Prior to incursions by Boko Haram nothing ever happened there... There has been increasing evidence that Boko Haram has committed atrocities as the coalition regains ground.
Residents who fled the town of Bama, also in Borno state, earlier this month, also reported that dozens of women forced into marriage with Boko Haram fighters were killed.
- 'We had no choice' -
Ali, a 35-year-old farmer, said the rebels came to his village of Kilekasa, 55 kilometers (34 miles) from Gwoza and about 15 kilometers from Chibok late on Friday March 13.
In the convoy of about 46 all-terrain pick-up trucks mounted with machine guns were two armored vehicles, he said, adding: "Shekau drove in a black Toyota jeep."
Shekau was taken to the village of Huyum about five kilometers away and the following morning all residents of Kilekasa were assembled and able-bodied men were given guns.
"We had no choice," he told Agence La Belle France-Presse, adding that one man who tried to flee was executed in front of them.
"On Sunday March 15, Shekau assembled his men including us, the new recruits, and addressed us. He said they should go back to Gwoza and kill all of their women they left behind.
"He said if they didn't kill them they would not join them in paradise. They took us along to Gwoza where we witnessed the carnage.
"They gathered the women who were in large number and opened fire on them.
"One of the women who was heavily pregnant asked to be spared until she delivered her baby but her request was turned down."
- Chibok girls -
Ali said he returned to Kilekasa later that day and fled at nightfall to Yola, the capital of neighboring Adamawa state.
"I don't know what has been the fate of the people in the village. When we went to Gwoza we didn't see any sign of the girls from Chibok. They must have been moved to another place," he added.
Abubakar, who fled Gwoza to a camp for internally displaced people in Yola, said his aunt left the town on March 16.
"She told me that Boko Haram moved out of the town three days earlier at night in several vehicles. They returned on Sunday and killed their wives, some of them pregnant," he said.
"They gathered them in one place and shot them dead. She said there were no Boko Haram gunnies when she left Gwoza. She didn't know where they moved to.
"When I asked her about the whereabouts of the Chibok girls she told me they were not in Gwoza."
Posted by: trailing wife ||
03/28/2015 00:00 ||
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Fascinating. It wasn't so long ago that then-Prime Minister Erdogan and Iran were the best of friends. Somewhere about the same time then-etc. Erdogan and Assad the Younger were best friends, too. How fickle the changes wrought by time!
[AnNahar] The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... could provide "logistical" support for 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... 's operation against Iran-allied Houthis in Yemen, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him... said Thursday, slamming Tehran's involvement in the region.
"We support Saudi Arabia's intervention," Erdogan told La Belle France 24 in an interview.
"Turkey may consider providing logistical support based on the evolution of the situation," he added, without giving further details.
Erdogan said "Iran and the terrorist groups must withdraw" from Yemen. Sunni-majority Saudi fears Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic... risks falling into the orbit of its arch-rival Iran.
The Turkish leader indicated suspicion of Iran's role in the region, saying its involvement in the campaign against 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.... (IS) rebels in Iraq was aimed at replacing them.
"The aim of Iran is to increase its influence in Iraq," said Erdogan.
"Iran is trying to chase Daesh from the region only to take its place," he added, using the Arabic acronym for the group.
Turkey has sometimes been accused of providing tacit and even more concrete support to IS, claims it vehemently denies.
Erdogan said IS was a "terrorist group" and "has nothing to do with Islam and it is not a state."
He reaffirmed his opinion that a ground intervention, likely involving Syrian rebels opposing Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Supressor of the Damascenes... , would be needed to overcome IS.
"I have already said that I find the coalition air strikes to be insufficient," he said.
Erdogan's relations with Saudi Arabia chilled over Riyadh's role in the 2013 ousting of former Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi, an ally of Ankara.
However Erdogan in late February made the Umrah pilgrimage to Mecca and then went on to hold talks with new King Salman ...either the largest species of Pacific salmon or the current Sheikh of the Burnin' Sands, Cutodian of the Two Holy Mosquesand Lord of Most of the Arabians.... , in what observers saw as a cautious rapprochement with Riyadh.
The Iraqi army had lots of wonderful equipment not so long ago, too... [AnNahar] 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... has the best equipped armed forces in the Gulf region, while counting on its Western partners to guarantee its security, the International Institute for Strategic Studies says.
The Saudi military numbers 227,000 troops, including 75,000 in the army, 13,500 in the navy and 20,000 in the air force.
Some 16,000 personnel are committed to air defenses, 2,500 responsible for strategic missiles and 100,000 man the National Guard, according to the IISS Military Balance, 2015.
The kingdom also has 24,500 paramilitary forces.
The Saudi armed forces have close ties with foreign armies, particularly the United States, Britannia and La Belle France which gives them access to training and equipment.
The Saudi army regularly buys modern equipment, with the navy seeking to purchase submarines, according to the media.
Riyadh's appetite for arms, already high due to a perceived threat from Iran, is fed by regional instability, notably in Yemen, where Saudi Arabia on Thursday launched air strikes as part of a multinational coalition.
It is traditionally a customer of the U.S. and British arms industries, although Riyadh has also sealed contracts with La Belle France and Germany for its navy and has bought Eurofighter jets.
The Saudi army has 600 heavy tanks, 780 light armored vehicles and 1,423 armored troop carriers.
Its air force is equipped with 313 fighter jets, including F-15s, Tornados and Eurofighter Typhoons, as well as helicopters.
Considered a priority, air defenses and deterrents include 16 batteries of Patriot missiles, 17 batteries of Shahine missiles, 16 of Hawk missiles and 73 Crotale/Shahine missile units.
The National Guard is an autonomous force under its own ministry and plays a role both in internal security and conventional defense.
Mainly a mechanized force, it includes a large, tribal-based militia.
Modernization plans include orders for AT missiles, wheeled AFVs and CAESAR artillery. It is forming its own air wing with confirmed orders for U.S.-built AH6i, Apache and Black Hawk helicopters.
#1
An army ready for parade is not an army ready for the fight. An army ready for a fight is not an army ready for a parade. Most plans fail on first contact. Adapt, improvise, overcome. That requires sociological flexibility. If you live by micro management in garrison, you'll die by micro management in the fight.
[AnNahar] Yemeni President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, a former Socialist apparatchik and would-be consensus figure despite a lack of political guile, has overseen a slide into all-out conflict during his three-year rule.
After falling out with Yemen's ascendant Huthi Shiites and having to flee the capital, his weakened presidency has been rescued by an 11th-hour military intervention led by mighty neighbor 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... .
Continued on Page 49
Which is why it'll be the Egyptians and Paks sent in, while the Saudi troops guard the border of the homeland.
[AnNahar] Saudi-led Arclight airstrikes alone are unlikely to crush Iranian-backed Yemeni rebels but a ground incursion would risk a bloody "quagmire" and escalating tensions with Tehran, experts say.
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... pledged to do "whatever it takes" to defend its ally President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi after launching aerial raids against the Huthi Shiite fighters and their allies.
Continued on Page 49
#1
Of course ther may not be held to the same bullshit ROE as we are.
Posted by: chris ||
03/28/2015 0:53 Comments ||
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#2
"... Up the escalatory ladder toward Iran" > Yuup.
A Conventional andor [Limited] Nuclear Confrontation between US BFFS, i.e. long-time Ally KSA versus New Quasi-Ally Rising Iran, + ANTI-US US GLOBALIST OBAMA + ALIGNED is mix or recipe for unheralded US Foreign Policy + Geopol disaster iff there ever was one.
IMO the Bammer will likely continue wid his traditional, so-called "MINIMALIST" APPROACH vee any Saudi-Iran military confrontation + ultimately War. The KSA-GCC, etal. + Iran will be the ones to take the lead in resolving their common regional issues WHERE THE US WILL LIKELY BE HARSHLY OR SEVERELY CRITICIZED FOR NOT DOING ENOUGH TO SUPPORT EITHER BFF = REGIONAL ALLY.
FYO any possible Saudi-Iran MilPol struggle + mil conflict will be a long one.
IMO again SAUDI-VS-IRAN = CHINA-VS-JAPAN = "THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE" ALL-AROUND, UNCHALLENGED #1 AS PER FUTURE ISLAMIC/MIDDLE EAST = EAST ASIA/ASIA OWG GLOBAL FEDERAL UNION(S).
CAROLINE KENNEDY = may receive high US-World kudos for seemingly PCorrectly "PREVENTING" - IMO read more accurately, "DELAYING" - ANY CHINA-JAPAN WAR AT THE MOMENT, BUT ULTIMATELY TO N-O-T STOP ONE.
#4
Of course ther may not be held to the same bullshit ROE as we are.
Iraqis don't have the same ROE's, but they're still struggling with ISIS. Saudi ROE's are limited by the possibility of direct Iranian intervention and/or attacks on Saudi Arabia and the fact that wiping out the Houthis could lead to al Qaeda/ISIL becoming Yemen's government.
#6
...or, wait for it, you become a neo-colonial power. Remember its OK when its not white people doing it.
No good reason for it in the modern era, in a literal wasteland (i.e. unproductive desert) like Yemen. Even when resistance was minimal, it only ever made marginal economic sense. When wars of national resistance broke out, supported by significant chunks of the population, Europe left. And European GDP per capita increased after decolonization whereas those in the former colonies (even in countries with fertile land and abundant mineral resources in Africa) were either stagnant or slow-growing. No way the Saudis want to share their natural resource bounty with the Yemenis.
Even in antiquity, tax farming fishermen and pearl divers was a marginal source of revenue. And that was when armies of occupation needed only simple weaponry, food and water.
[VOA News]
President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi's decision to leave Yemen, as 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 ... rebels advanced on his complex in Aden, has raised concerns about the U.S. effort to fight al-Qaeda faceless myrmidons in the country.
Although the Houthi rebels who have gained control of large swaths of Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic... also oppose al-Qaeda, it is unlikely they would work with the U.S. to fight the terrorist group. The Houthis consider themselves "authentic Yemen" and beholden to no foreigners, said Charles Schmitz, an analyst at the Middle East Institute in Washington.
"They can not been seen as cooperating with the Americans," he said.
State Department front man Jeff Rathke said the U.S. has ways to make its views known to the Houthis, but "we have not had direct contacts with the Houthis."
Publicly, the U.S. has continued to support the Hadi government in Yemen.
Rathke said Yemen's conflict came up "briefly" Thursday in talks between 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 Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif at nuclear negotiations in Switzerland ...home of the Helvetians, famous for cheese, watches, yodeling, and William Tell... .
He said Kerry also spoke to Gulf Cooperation Council foreign ministers. The alliance of six Arab countries is leading an effort to bomb targets of the Iran-backed Houthis.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/28/2015 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... on Friday ordered the Pak mission in Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic... to take steps for the immediate evacuation of stranded Pak families in the troubled country.
According to a statement from the PM House, these instructions were issued keeping in view the deteriorating law and order environment in Yemen.
Nawaz said people living in Yemen are vulnerable to all sorts of crimes including kidnapping as the state system there has collapsed.
Foreign Office Spokesperson Tasneem Aslam had said on Thursday that the Pak mission in Yemen has been placed on alert and has been asked to keep in touch with the Pakistain community residing there.
"The Pak community has been asked to be ready for possible evacuation," she had said.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/28/2015 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] The Saudi-led intervention in Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic... is aimed at marking the kingdom's territory in the face of Iran's rising regional influence, analysts say, but Tehran could strike back elsewhere. One week of airstrikes doth not a hegemony make.
Backed by a coalition of Arab allies, 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... launched air strikes this week against Shia 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 Americaâ„¢, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews ... rebels who had been advancing on President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi's stronghold of Aden in southern Yemen.
Hadi fled to Aden last month after escaping house arrest in the rebel-held capital Sanaa, which the Houthis seized last year.
Supported by the West and Sunni Gulf Arab monarchies, Hadi's government has accused Tehran of backing the rebels in a bid to extend its influence in Yemen. As the main powers on the opposite sides of Islam's Sunni-Shia divide, Saudi Arabia and Iran are vying for influence in countries across the region.
But for the Saudis, the possibility of a Tehran-backed Shia minority seizing control of its southern neighbour was cause for enough concern to move beyond rhetoric and proxies, analysts say.
The intervention was "a last-minute move to prevent Yemen from becoming an Iranian colony," said Antoine Basbous, head of the Gay Paree-based Observatory of Arab Countries.
"The kingdom had no choice but to intervene," said London-based analyst Abdelwahab Badrkhan, adding that the intervention marked a "revival" of Saudi influence among Gulf Arab states, who have increasingly been charting their own path.
Saudi fears of a pro-Iran Yemen are shared by its fellow Sunni Arab nations, in particular Egypt whose air force and navy are taking part in the operation.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/28/2015 00:00 ||
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[AnNahar] An Argentine appeals court on Thursday upheld the decision to dismiss a case against President Cristina Kirchner on accusations that she shielded Iranian officials from prosecution over a 1994 Jewish center bombing.
Of course they did. It was long ago, and besides, the witness is now dead.
In a 2-1 decision, the court rejected an appeal from prosecutors who sought to revive the case against Kirchner being brought by their late colleague Alberto Nisman before he mysteriously died on the eve of congressional hearings where he was due to present his explosive allegations.
"The federal appeals chamber ratifies the decision by Judge Daniel Rafecas to reject prosecutor Nisman's accusation," said a justice ministry statement.
Nisman had accused Iran of ordering the bombing at the Argentine Jewish Mutual Association, a long-unsolved attack that killed 85 people, the deadliest in Argentina ...a country located on the other side of the Deep South. It is covered with Pampers and inhabited by Grouchos, who dance the Tangle. They used to have some islands called the Malvinas located where the Falklands are now. They're not supposed to cry for Evita... 's history.
He alleged Iranian officials ordered the bombing via Leb's Hizbullah ...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory... , a claim the government in Tehran denies.
He later concluded that a 2013 deal between Argentina and Iran for the suspects to be investigated by a joint commission was a conspiracy designed to ensure they would never be brought to justice.
In January he filed a report accusing Kirchner, Foreign Minister Hector Timerman and other figures close to the government of protecting high-ranking Iranian officials, including former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani ... the fourth President of Iran. He was a member of the Assembly of Experts until he was eased out in 2011 He continues, for the moment, as Chairman of the Expediency Discernment Council. In 2005 he ran for a third term as president, ultimately losing to rival Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was in Khamenei's graces back then. In 1980 Rafsanjani survived an assassination attempt, during which he was seriously injured. He has been described as a centrist and a pragmatic conservative without all that much reason. He is currently being eased out of any position of actual influence or power and may be dead by the end of 2012... , in exchange for oil and trade benefits.
Four days later, on January 18, the prosecutor was found dead in his bathroom with a bullet through the head.
Since his death, initially labeled a suicide, suspicion has fallen on Kirchner's government of orchestrating his murder.
The president, who took office in 2007 and steps down in December, has suggested the prosecutor was manipulated by disgruntled former intelligence agents who then killed him to smear her.
After his death, a team of prosecutors appointed to take over the case formally revived Nisman's accusations, which Kirchner's government denies.
In a scathing ruling on February 26, Judge Rafecas ruled the prosecution had failed to provide sufficient evidence that any crime was committed by Kirchner.
"It is clear that none of the alleged crimes presented by (lead prosecutor Gerardo) Pollicita in his petition to the court are demonstrated in the least," he said.
He roundly rejected the prosecution's allegations that Kirchner sought to have an Interpol wanted notice for the Iranian suspects annulled, which the international police body's director at the time, Ronald Noble, denies.
Thursday's appeals court ruling upheld the lower court's reasoning, again finding that there was no evidence any crime had been committed.
A separate inquiry has been opened into Nisman's death.
Nisman's family also commissioned its own unofficial investigation.
Earlier this month, his ex-wife, federal judge Sandra Arroyo Salgado, said the forensic experts hired by the family had found that Nisman was murdered.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
03/28/2015 00:00 ||
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[AnNahar] The Turkish parliament on Friday passed a stripped down version of its controversial homeland security bill that has enraged the opposition after a fractious 16-hour debate.
The bill was approved in the early morning after an all-night session by the parliament, where the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) holds the majority.
Out of 231 deputies present at the session, 199 voted for and 32 against, the Dogan news agency reported.
The opposition had said the bill would allow President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him... to turn The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... into a police state by giving the authorities new powers to crack down on protests.
The government had, in an attempt to compromise, put only a limited version of the bill up for vote.
Sixty-nine articles have been approved but the remaining 63 have been sent back to a parliamentary committee for further discussion.
However the articles voted on Friday include some of most contentious measures, including jail terms for protesters who carry Molotov cocktails and other such weapons.
The government put the bill before parliament following deadly pro-Kurdish protests in October and the wave of unrest against Erdogan in May-June 2013.
Nearly one of every five of the Corps' aircraft are unable to fly, making it difficult for Marines to train for deployments, the service's top aviator said.
Lt. Gen. Jon Davis, the deputy commandant of the Marine Corps for Aviation, testified before the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Seapower on Wednesday. He detailed the effect across-the-board spending cuts have had on Marine aviation, alongside to Navy admirals.
The shortfall spans across aircraft in the fleet, and it is largely caused by a backlog of aircraft stuck in depots for extensive work and overhauls. The problems date back to the 2013 defense budget cuts.
Davis said the problem in the Corps is most prevalent with F/A-18 Hornets, but also impacts CH-53E Super Stallions, AV-8B Harriers, MV-22B Ospreys, and H-1 Hueys.
Across the Navy and Marine Corps, the strike-fighter shortfall could reach as high as 134 aircraft. The gap is caused by a service life extension program that has caused a backlog of Hornets in short-staffed maintenance depots, Vice Adm. Paul Grosklags, the principal military deputy assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development and acquisitions, said.
Legacy Hornets were brought into depots to extend their service life from 6,000 flight hours to as long as 10,000 in order to keep them operational until the F-35B Joint Strike Fighter entered the fleet. The Hornets were only designed to last to 6,000 hours, and when engineers opened up the airframe to extend their service life, they found unexpected levels of corrosion that required extensive work.
Besides the additional work in depots, sequestration left depots understaffed, Grosklags said. Depots should have 6,800 artisans and engineers, but the workforce is short 700 artisans, with the most acute gap in the Hornet community.
Sequestration also made it tough to buy spare parts for aircraft, so even aircraft that are in the fleet sometimes can't fly, Davis said.
#2
US-LED ANTI-US OWG GLOBALISM + BUDGET, ECON WOES + "QUANTITAIVE EASING/QE" = iff a KSA-vs-Iran = China-vs-Japan War ever broke out, THE USMC + USDOD IN GENERAL WILL BE FIGHTING UNDER CONSTRAINTS OF SERIOUS TO NEAR-CATASTROPHIC MATERIEL + MANPOWER, ETC. NATIONAL SHORTAGES AND WARFIGHTING DEFICIENCIES.
A "1-1-1/2" REGIONAL WAR [Police Actions], NO LONGER A "2-2-1/2" OCEAN WAR.
It won't be your Father's, Grandfather's, or Great-Father's War = Program of Limited-vs-Full National Mobilization - DEM BE THE GOOD OLE' DAYS.
As Globalist Amerika PCorrectly self-retreats around the World, lucky iff the USDOD even has a "1/2" in their MilPlanning.
#4
Probably not. Accidents increase with a decrease in aviator flying time. It gets worse when one engages in maneuvers like nap-of-the-earth close air support.
#6
Another bambi/carter parallel: saw much the same when peanut boy was prez. What isn't mentioned is that OPTEMPO doesn't go down so the maintainers are cannibilizing the down birds to make the flight schedule.
#9
Accidents will increase when the aircraft start to filter back. Front line pilots will be ok but the ones that are staff pilots will need to get back up tactically. This will raise the risk level in training flights. Second point is the aircraft that are flying right now are accelerating toward overhaul at a faster pace. I'm sure they are consuming twice the maintenance efforts to keep them up as well.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
03/28/2015 12:35 Comments ||
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[Hotair] Initially, this looked like material for an update on my earlier post regarding the Saudi-GCC coalition and its decision to work around Obama, but it deserves its own thread for a couple of reasons. First, Engel reported this for NBC, and on MSNBC, the "Lean Forward" cable channel that usually acts as a clearinghouse for Barack Obama apologists (and the occasional slam on Middle America). Engel's not among the apologists; he's a first-class foreign correspondent whose reports follow no partisan agenda, and whose sources have usually provided him with highly accurate reporting.
I wonder if ValJar has a red phone that connects to Tehran...
More importantly, Engel's report advances this to an allegation of betrayal, not just incompetence. Clearly, Saudi Arabia has little confidence left in the Obama administration; that much is evident from their actions to cut the US out of the loop on this coalition. Engel's report strongly suggests that it's not just incompetence that has the Saudis and other US allies rattled, but a suspicion that they're being purposefully sold out by Obama to get a deal with Iran that will unleash their ambitions to dominate the region.
#5
Bank on it. Even if O leaves, no Foreign Ministry in its right mind will trust State with any info. Sharing with Klingons will be dubious at best. I suspect their foreign contacts are going to dry up rather quickly and any 'info' passed will be of limited value if not suspect from the start.
[Politico] Not everyone is so forgiving. "We're in a goddamn free fall here," said James Jeffrey, who served as Obama's ambassador to Iraq and was a top national security aide in the George W. Bush White House. So, I trust this qualifies it as a "bipartisian" observation?
#3
That's not even a good lie. Howzabout I was on a deep cover mission for the CIA to infiltrate the Taliban. Hence the note. But the op went south and now the CIA is hanging me out. Srsly, dude, you need a more creative defense lawyer.
#5
He also expressed overall anger and resentment about the U.S. mission in Afghanistan and the way it was being executed. "I am sorry for everything," he wrote. "The horror that is America is disgusting."
Fidell doesn’t deny Bergdahl wrote those e-mails, but argues in his memo that Bergdahl was a naïve and sometimes misguided young man.
Seems like he joined the Army to fix it. His father is probably still proud of him.
Posted by: Bobby ||
03/28/2015 8:25 Comments ||
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#6
U.S. Army smackdown and Presidential pardon in 5...4...3...2
#7
In the old days, if you kept your ID card, it was accepted as evidence of intent to return, reducing the charge from desertion to AWOL. No ticky, no washy.
[DAWN] BANNU: A jirga of tribal elders on Thursday expressed reservations over the draft of an agreement provided to them by the political administration in North Wazoo Agency, proposing several restrictions as well as responsibilities for them for maintaining peace in the once krazed killers-dominated tribal agency.
The administration is seeking an undertaking from local tribes to ensure peace in the area.
Sources told Dawn that the elders were told in categorical terms that return to their respective areas was condition to signing of the deal and furnishing the undertakings by them. The eight-page draft agreement handed over to all the tribes in North Waziristan Agency describes the roles of the government and the people to put brake on resurgent of militancy in the region.
"In present circumstances, this deal is not acceptable to us as the state has been trying to overburden us with a lot of responsibilities including keeping the forces of Evil away but at the same time we will not be allowed to keep heavy weapons," said one of the elders.
The document says that in view of the endless terrorism, it is necessary to strike "agreement 2015" with the local tribes and make them responsible for maintaining peace in the area.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/28/2015 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has sent a summary to the Presidency asking for a 30-day stay on the execution of former Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) activist Saulat Mirza who was set to be hanged on April 1, according to a statement issued by Prime Minister House.
An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Karachi on Mar 24 had reissued death warrants for Saulat Mirza for execution on April 1.
Mirza was sentenced to death by an ATC in May 1999 for murdering the managing director of then Karachi Electric Supply Corporation (KESC) chief Shahid Hamid, his driver Ashraf Brohi and guard Khan Akbar in July 1997.
He was moved along with four high-profile prisoners to the Machh jail, Balochistan, in April 2014.
Last week Mirza's execution was postponed for 72 on a presidential order a few hours before he was to be executed. Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar had said the target killer’s execution was stayed as “he is not well enough to be executed”.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/28/2015 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf ...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations.... (PTI) chairman Imran Khan ... aka Taliban Khan, who is the lightweight's lightweight... categorically stated that his party will take to the streets if Pakistain Moslem League-Nawaz (PML-N) backtracks on the agreement to form a poll inquiry judicial commission. Since the last street demonstrations worked so well...
While addressing a presser in Lahore on Friday, Imran said PML-N is now putting pressure on PTI to change the memorandum of understanding (MoU) that lead to the consensus between the two parties on formation of a judicial commission to probe alleged rigging in the 2013 general election.
"The MoU was agreed upon by both the parties some three months back. The conflict of interest was on three terms of references (ToRs) of the proposed agreement which was later resolved, only after PTI showed some flexibility," explained Imran.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/28/2015 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] Muttahida Qaumi Movement ...English: United National Movement, generally known as MQM, is the 3rd largest political party and the largest secular political party in Pakistain with particular strength in Sindh. From 1992 to 1999, the MQM was the target of the Pak Army's Operation Cleanup leaving thousands of urdu speaking civilians dead... (MQM) leader Farooq Sattar on Friday said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... has vowed to investigate the matter of Saulat Mirza's video recording in a meeting held at PM House on MQM's request.
During the meeting, the premier assured MQM that the Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... operation was not aimed at a particular political party.
Answering MQM's concerns on how a death-row prisoner's video statement was recorded in prison and then leaked to media, the premier said he will look into the matter and provide details, Farooq Sattar said.
Sattar was talking to media personnel following an MQM delegation's meeting with Nawaz Sharif at the PM House on Friday.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/28/2015 00:00 ||
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[AnNahar] Marathon Iran nuclear talks headed Friday towards a critical weekend as Britannia said its foreign minister would join his U.S., Iranian and French counterparts in racing the clock to pin down a deal.
"The negotiations are difficult. They've been difficult since the beginning and they still are," Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told AFP on Friday after meeting in Switzerland ...home of the Helvetians, famous for cheese, watches, yodeling, and William Tell... with top U.S. diplomat John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: trailing wife ||
03/28/2015 00:00 ||
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[Algemeiner] The officials are convinced that President Obama is adamant on cementing a rapprochement with the Iranian regime, engaging them as a regional ally, according to the JC's report. Israel, which sees things differently, has been constantly pushing back on this reversal in the United States' approach towards the Islamic Republic, leading to friction between the sides.
Sources close to Netanyahu say that the tensions with the White House are "artificial and contrived," a manufactured crisis to suppress Israeli opposition to a possible Iranian deal, expected to be signed within the next few days.
"The Palestinian issue is a side show," said one Netanyahu aide. "The Americans know as well as we do that there is little hope of going forward with the diplomatic process -- not because of Israel but due to anarchy on the Palestinian side." The aide added that if the Americans "don't succeed in signing a deal with the Iranians, the crisis will quickly pass." However, if a deal were to be signed, "then nothing will help."
[FREEBEACON] The B.O. regime is giving in to Iranian demands about the scope of its nuclear program as negotiators work to finalize a framework agreement in the coming days, according to sources familiar with the administration's position in the negotiations.
U.S. negotiators are said to have given up ground on demands that Iran be forced to disclose the full range of its nuclear activities at the outset of a nuclear deal, a concession experts say would gut the verification the B.O. regime has vowed would stand as the crux of a deal with Iran.
Until recently, the B.O. regime had maintained that it would guarantee oversight on Tehran's program well into the future, and that it would take the necessary steps to ensure that oversight would be effective. The issue has now emerged as a key sticking point in the talks.
Concern from sources familiar with U.S. concessions in the talks comes amid reports that Iran could be permitted to continue running nuclear centrifuges at an underground site once suspected of housing illicit activities.
This type of concession would allow Iran to continue work related to its nuclear weapons program, even under the eye of international inspectors. If Iran removes inspectors--as it has in the past--it would be left with a nuclear infrastructure immune from a strike by Western forces.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/28/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
Why not send Boehner & McConnell in to pick up the slack? They're good at caving, too...
[VOA News] The B.O. regime repeated its long-held policy Friday that Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Terror of Aleppo ... cannot be part of a political solution.
Assad told CBS television Thursday that he would be open to a dialogue with the U.S., but said it must be "based on mutual respect."
State Department front man Jeff Rathke said the Syrian president and his close associates have "blood on their hands." Rathke said they still have to prove they are willing to open meaningful talks with the opposition.
"He [ Assad ] has the ability to stop the torture and systematic murder, sexual violence, detainment, barrel bombings, Arclight airstrikes, and chlorine attacks," Rathke said. "He could stop rejecting the calls of his people for reform in freedom and dignity.......I think it's quite clear what needs to happen for progress in Syria."
Assad told CBS that he has seen nothing "concrete" regarding the U.S. political approach toward solving the Syrian crisis.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/28/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
How many more times are we gonna have to hesr this.
Posted by: chris ||
03/28/2015 0:54 Comments ||
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#2
Assad will be there, long after the The B.O. regime is gone.
[TIMESOFISRAEL] As Tehran hails ‘massive progress’ in talks, Jerusalem protests that regime ‘is working against American-Arab-Israeli interests without paying a price’
Posted by: Fred ||
03/28/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
Yea, well. Time to internalize the lesson of S. Vietnam.
[VOA News] 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.... fighter spoke softly, his voice unbroken by adolescence. A prisoner of Kurdish YPG (People's Protection Units) forces, he sent a message to his family asking for forgiveness. "I destroyed myself and I destroyed them along with me." Send money ! Now somebody explain why their heads haven't been chopped off...
The Syrian youth is among several IS detainees brought to a prison in al-Malikiyah, northeastern Syria. They were captured in a YPG offensive last month to regain Tal Hamis from IS control.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
03/28/2015 00:00 ||
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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.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
[Hotair] Initially, this looked like material for an update on my earlier post regarding the Saudi-GCC coalition and its decision to work around Obama, but it deserves its own thread for a couple of reasons. First, Engel reported this for NBC, and on MSNBC, the "Lean Forward" cable channel that usually acts as a clearinghouse for Barack Obama apologists (and the occasional slam on Middle America). Engel's not among the apologists; he's a first-class foreign correspondent whose reports follow no partisan agenda, and whose sources have usually provided him with highly accurate reporting.
[Politico] Not everyone is so forgiving. "We're in a goddamn free fall here," said James Jeffrey, who served as Obama's ambassador to Iraq and was a top national security aide in the George W. Bush White House.
[DAWN] BANNU: A jirga of tribal elders on Thursday expressed reservations over the draft of an agreement provided to them by the political administration in North 
[AnNahar] Marathon Iran nuclear talks headed Friday towards a critical weekend as 
[Algemeiner] The officials are convinced that President Obama is adamant on cementing a rapprochement with the Iranian regime, engaging them as a regional ally, according to the JC's report. Israel, which sees things differently, has been constantly pushing back on this reversal in the United States' approach towards the Islamic Republic, leading to friction between the sides.
[FREEBEACON] The 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
