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Today: 64 articles and 147 comments as of 15:35.
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Area: WoT Background    Non-WoT    Opinion        Politix   
Turkish Diplomat Says Two More Syrian Generals Defect
Today's Headlines
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Good morning
Posted by: Fred || 03/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Happy Birthday/Daily Gam Shot

Theresa Russell aka Milena Flaherty in "Bad Timing: A Sensual Obsession (1980)" aka Catharine Petersen in "Black Widow (1987)" aka Lady Harriet Coal in "Gentlemen Don't Eat Poets (1995)" aka Emma Marko in "Spider-Man 3 (2007)" aka Sandra Van Ryan in "Wild Things (1998)" aka Lina Moebius in "The Believer (2001)" aka Gabriela in "Kafka (1991)" aka Cecilia Brady in "The Last Tycoon (1976)" (age 56)


Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 03/20/2012 1:53 Comments || Top||

#2  A scary woman in Black Widow.
Posted by: JohnQC || 03/20/2012 12:23 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
Shebab Fighters Kill 6 in Mog Mortar Attack
[An Nahar] Somalia's al-Qaeda allied Shebab hard boyz fired mortars at the presidential palace in the capital overnight, killing six civilians in a camp for displaced people nearby.

The hardline Islamist group said its salvo of "midnight mortar attacks" were targeted at the palace, and boasted of killing African Union
...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful...
and government soldiers.

But AU force front man Paddy Ankunda said only non-combatants were killed, adding the shells missed the presidency by about 300 meters and hit one of the many crowded camps.

"A father, mother and two of their children have all died, after a mortar shell smashed into their hut, and another round killed two other civilians," said Abdiwahid Mohamed, a witness.

"People were sleeping when the mortar shells started falling, it killed a number of civilians at a camp near the presidential palace," said Colonel Bare Mohamed, a government security official.

The presidency -- guarded by a 10,000-strong AU force -- has come under several recent attacks, including a jacket wallah attack claimed by the Shebab that killed five people last week.

"It's the second attack on the presidential palace in a week, demonstrating the sheer impotence that is surrounding the weak apostate regime," the hard boyz said in a message posted on Twitter.

"In every alley, every corner and every lane of Mogadishu, a mujahid (Islamist fighter) lies in wait for them," the rebels added.

Muktar Ali, another witness, said at least six mortar shells hit around the camp for displaced people in war-wracked Mogadishu and three inside. Seven other people were maimed.

"We are burying the dead at a cemetery not far away from the camp," he added.

The hardline Islamists have resorted to guerrilla tactics after the majority abandoned fixed bases in Mogadishu in August in what the Shebab claimed was a tactical retreat but the AU mission said represented a military defeat.

The Shehab last month also lost control of their strategic base of Baidoa to Ethiopian troops and pro-government Somali forces, the second major loss in six months.

However,
we can't all be heroes. Somebody has to sit on the curb and applaud when they go by...
experts warn the Shebab are far from defeated and remain a major threat, especially now they have switched to guerrilla tactics.

The Shebab and other militia groups have tried to exploit the power vacuum in Somalia, which has had no effective central authority since plunging into war 21 years ago when president Mohamed Siad Barre was toppled.

In recent months however, the Shebab have faced increasing pressure from the armies of Somalia's neighbors.

Kenya sent its troops into southern Somalia to fight them last October, blaming the Shebab for the abductions of several foreigners. Its troops have now been incorporated into the AU force.

Ethiopian forces entered Somalia a month later in the west, as international diplomatic, military and relief efforts focus on ending the conflict in the south.

At a London conference last month, international powers pledged to boost aid for Somalia to tackle Islamist militancy, piracy and political instability, warning that failure to help could hurt the rest of the world.

The mandate of the government expires in August and the fragile administration's international backers have ruled out any further extension, pressing for the formation of a new administration that can impose nationwide authority.
Posted by: Fred || 03/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab


Sudan denies two killed in South Kordofan bombing
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Two women have been killed by Sudanese aerial bombing in South Kordofan, rebels said on Monday after Hollywood star George Clooney accused the Khartoum regime of war crimes.
And who should know better than George Clooney?
Sudan's armed forces denied the latest allegations by the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N).
"No, no! Certainly not!"
"We didn't bomb any place," said the army front man, Sawarmi Khaled Saad.
"Maybe it was somebody else. Have you asked Ethiopia?"
One woman was killed in Kalkadda, near Kauda, while another died farther south when Antonov planes dropped their bombs, the rebels alleged.
"My wife!"
Several cattle were also killed, they said.
"My cow!"
To be fair, she was an exceptionally beautiful and well-behaved cow.
The bombing occurred even though there has been no combat between government and rebel forces in those areas of South Kordofan for three or four days, SPLM-N front man Arnu Ngutulu Lodi told AFP.

Clooney, who recently made a clandestine trip to the oil-rich area bordering newly independent South Sudan, told a United States Senate hearing last week he saw hundreds of people running to the hills or hiding in caves because of the omnipresent drone of Antonovs which have left them living in fear.

The mountainous zone was on track for "a major humanitarian crisis" because of persistent bombings by government forces that have impeded agriculture, Princeton Lyman, the US special envoy on Sudan, told the same Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Posted by: Fred || 03/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Sudan


Africa North
Interpol issues warrant for Gaddafi spy chief
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Interpol said Sunday it had issued an international "red notice" warrant for Libya's ex-spy chief Abdullah Senussi at Tripoli's
...a confusing city, one end of thich 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...
request following his arrest in Mauritania.
Better late than never, I guess.
"At Libya's request, Interpol has issued a Red Notice for Colonel (Muammar) Qadaffy's former director of military intelligence, Abdullah al-Senussi, for fraud offenses including embezzling public funds and misuse of power for personal benefit," the organization based in Lyon, La Belle France, said in a statement.
He looks kinda like I always imagined Luca Brasi looked, only not as pleasant.
It said the request for the 62-year-old was in addition to another Red Notice issued by Interpol at the demand of the International Criminal Court
... where Milosevich died of old age before being convicted ...
for Senussi in September for crimes against humanity.

Senussi was tossed in the calaboose late Friday at Nouakchott airport as he arrived on a regular flight from Casablanca in Morocco carrying a fake Malian passport.

Both La Belle France and the ICC had filed formal requests to extradite him, a security source in Nouakchott said, but Tripoli has insisted that it should put him on trial.

Libya is determined to try the feared former right-hand man of fallen leader Qadaffy and a delegation from the ruling National Transitional Council was expected to visit Mauritania soon to discuss Senussi's handover.

"Interpol has committed itself to supporting Libya's efforts to achieve its goal of rebuilding their country and... their request for an Interpol Red Notice for al-Senussi is a clear demonstration of their commitment to international police cooperation and justice," Interpol Secretary General Ronald Noble said in the statement.
Posted by: Fred || 03/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Arabia
Heavy security presence around Central Prison In Aden
[Yemen Post] In anticipation of a potential attack, heavy security presence were witnessed on Sunday and Monday around the Central Prison in the southern port city of Aden, according to locals and eyewitnesses.

Yemeni Ministry of Interior revealed that it had gathered intelligence information, indicating that some cut-throats intend to launch an attack targeting the Central Prison in AL-Mansoura district of Aden. The purpose of such attacks is to set some of their imprisoned beturbanned goons free.

After receiving intelligence information that there was a potential terrorist attack on the facility, security forces took precautionary measures, intensified its presence in the vicinity of the prison, and would remain alert, said the Media Center at the Ministry.

Al-Mansoura prison has witnessed some riots and escape attempts by the inmates in December.

Last month, al-Qaeda beturbanned goons carried out a fierce attack on the central prison of Radda, some 170 km southeastern the Yemeni capital of Sana'a, killing the prison guards and releasing dozens of detainees.

Aden was the scene of terrorists' attacks as of late, undermining the security of the vital free zone.

Yemen-based al-Qaeda wing stepped up its attacks lately, taking an advantage of the current state of unrest the country is experiencing.

New President Abdu Rabu Mansoru Hadi vowed to eradicate the cut-throats and pursue them to their last hideout, but only hours after his inauguration speech the terror network attacked the Presidential Palace in Mukala, the quiet provincial capital of southern province of Hadramout, killing at least 25 soldiers and wounding dozens others.

Posted by: Fred || 03/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Arabia


Yemen tightens security after American killed
[Bangla Daily Star] Yemeni authorities said yesterday they had tightened security around the city of Taez, a day after an American was rubbed out there in an attack claimed by al-Qaeda.
Well, yeah. Now that they know they have a problem with al-Qaeda infestation they should.
The top security commission in Yemen's second city met in the wake of Sunday's attack and agreed to reinforce policing, according to Saba state news agency.
I mean, everything was so placid before this happened. How were they to know?
The measures include a ban on carrying weapons in the city,
"Yew boyz are gonna have to leave that Frog-7 with the bartender in this here town!"
as well as reducing the time during which cycles of violences are allowed to circulate, it said.
"Can'tcha read the sign, fellow? It distinctly says 'No exploding between 7pm and 7am! Are you blind?"
Two gunnies riding a motorbike on Sunday rubbed out the deputy director of the International Training Development Centre (ITDC), a US citizen, in the Sena neighbourhood.
... because training is un-Islamic...
A statement attributed to al-Qaeda affiliates in Yemen grabbed credit for the attack, saying the man had been proselytising for Christianity. ITDC director Waldemar Braun denied the charge of proselytising and named the victim as Joel Shrum, saying he was a development worker.
"Actually, he just hollered 'Holy Jeezis Christ!' a few times..."
"Unfortunately, Mr. Shrum has been accused of being a part of proselytising campaign, but the staff of ITDC, which consists of Mohammedans and Christians working together, has continually focused on human development, skill transfer and community development," Braun said in a statement. He described Shrum as a "very professional employee who highly respected the Islamic religion."
That and $3.95 woulda got him a cuppa coffee at Starbucks. In Yemen it got him a lead sandwich, hold the bread...
The US embassy in Sanaa said on Sunday it did not have any information about the killing and that it was investigating the report.
That's diplo talk for "What?"
Posted by: Fred || 03/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Arabia

#1  That's diplo talk for "we honestly don't give a shit about the lives of American citizens abroad and this whole thing is very inconvenient."
Posted by: gromky || 03/20/2012 5:06 Comments || Top||

#2  AQIY/AQAP-VS-CHRISTIANITY ...

versus

* TOPIX, CHINA DAILY FORUM > MALAYSIAN MUSLIM LEADERS SLAM CHRISTIAN CONVERSION ATTEMPTS [demand new enforced, pro-Islam Only Apostasy Laws].

CDF POSTERS = argues or claims that ITS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE MALAYSIA BECOMES A CHRISTIAN COUNTRY; CHRISTIANITY IS THE "SUPERIOR MEME"???

versus

* TOPIX > [Thailand] GLOBAL JIHAD: RELENTLESS WAR [Jihadi rampage], MEDIA SILENCE.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 03/20/2012 21:55 Comments || Top||


Caribbean-Latin America
Car bomb detonates in Tamaulipas

For a map, click here. For a map of Tamaulipas state, click here

By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

A car bomb exploded in Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas Monday afternoon, according to Mexican news accounts.

Ciudad Victoria is the capital of Tamaulipas.

The bomb was set in front of the offices of Expreso newspaper on Bulevar Adolfo Lopez Mateos in Almendros colony.

No one was reported hurt in the blast.

A kindergarten and a grocery store are also located nearby but were not affected by the explosion. Damage was limited to workshops in the building. Five vehicles parked nearby were also damaged by the explosion.

Several grenade attacks have been made in Ciudad Victoria in the last few days.

The latest took place Saturday night near the Ciudad Victoria city hall near the intersection of calles Morelos and Hidalgo in Zona Centro. Armed suspects aboard a sedan threw the grenade at the building.

No one was reported hurt in that attack.

Last Wednesday, several grenade attacks were made against a car dealership and a police academy building. One unidentified individual was killed in those attacks and another two were wounded.

Those attacks took place around the same time as two other small arms attacks in the city which killed two and wounded one.
To read the Rantburg.com report on last Wednesday's grenade and small arms attack in Ciudad Victoria, click here
Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com
Posted by: badanov || 03/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


March 19th Mayhem in Monterrey: 9 die
For a map, click here. For a map of Nuevo Leon state, click here. For a map of Monterrey, click here.

By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

Six unidentified individuals were shot to death in an apparent pursuit and ambush in Apodaca municipality, Nuevo Leon Monday afternoon, according to Mexican news accounts.

The victims were aboard their Nissan Sentra sedan in La Encarnacion colony when armed suspects, who had been following shot them. The attack took place on Calle Ignacio Sepulveda.

Three of the victims attempted to flee the gunfire but were hit a short distance away.

Three other individuals were murdered in ongoing drug and gang violence in Monterrey.

  • Two unidentified youths were shot to death Monday morning. The victims were near the intersection of Calles Lazaro Cardenas and Calle Praga in El Torre colony aboard a Jeep Patriot SUV when they were struck by gunfire. The victims were apparently pursued by their attackers before they were killed.

  • An unidentified individual was found dead aboard a vehicle in Arturo B. de la Garza colony in south Monterrey. The vehicle had been immolated.

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com
Posted by: badanov || 03/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


China-Japan-Koreas
China Raps N.Korea Over Rocket Launch Plans
China on Friday expressed unusually strong disapproval of its ally North Korea's plan to launch what it says is a satellite to mark the 100th anniversary of North Korean founder Kim Il-sung next month.
They'll need to do more than this to curb their dog...
Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun called in North Korean Ambassador Ji Jae-ryong on Friday night and expressed his concerns, according to the ministry Saturday. It is the first time in the year and three months since the North shelled South Korea's Yeonpyeong Island that the Chinese government has called in Ji.

Zhang reportedly said China is closely looking at North Korea's plans and the international community's reaction, and that the peace and stability in Northeast Asia are "the shared responsibility of the countries involved." He added China truly hopes to improve the current situation.

Experts see that is the strongest rebuke from China since the North's second nuclear test in 2009.

China apparently does not accept North Korea's claim that it is launching a satellite for scientific purposes.
No one else does, either...
When North Korea unveiled its uranium enrichment program to the U.S. at the end of 2010, the Chinese Foreign Ministry backed North Korea, saying it has the right to use civilian nuclear power, but there was no such support for what is widely believed to be a test run for a long-range missile under the guise of a satellite launch.

The fact that North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho, who represents the North in six-party nuclear talks, is still in Beijing suggests that North Korea is concerned about China's strong opposition. Ri was originally scheduled to return to North Korea from Beijing on Saturday after concluding visits to the U.S. and Russia.

On Monday he will reportedly meet with Wu Dawei, China's special representative for Korean affairs, to hear Beijing's position on the rocket launch, and return to North Korea on Tuesday.
Posted by: Steve White || 03/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Why would anybody believe what the Chinese are reported to have said, about anything?
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/20/2012 9:06 Comments || Top||

#2  because credible reports about Chinese disapproval of NK behavior are important? That IS their little yappy dog
Posted by: Frank G || 03/20/2012 9:34 Comments || Top||

#3  Sorry, but Credible?

according to the ministry
suggests that North Korea is concerned about China's strong opposition
Experts see
China apparently
what is widely believed
still in Beijing suggests
he will reportedly

More like a Zombie opinion piece.
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/20/2012 11:16 Comments || Top||

#4  Mebbe zombies can be like stopped clocks too.
Posted by: Gabby Cussworth || 03/20/2012 18:00 Comments || Top||


Norks Tell Int'l Agency of Rocket Launch Plan
North Korea has told the International Civil Aviation Organization and the International Maritime Organization that its first stage of a rocket it is to fire next month will land in waters 140 km west of Byeonsan Peninsula and the second 190 km east of the Philippines.
On a southwest track. Uh-huh.
The rocket is ostensibly to carry a satellite into orbit to mark the centenary of nation founder Kim Il-sung
It's more of a demonstration of the usefulness of a three-stage rocket to throw payloads long distances...
in a plan that has drawn condemnation from the international community
Except Iran, Zimbabwe and Syria...
because it violates restrictions of North Korean missile activity.

The first stage of the rocket will drop around 450 km from a launch pad in Tongchang-ri, North Pyongan Province, and the second one will drop somewhere about 3,000 km away. The third stage is expected to carry the payload for another 1,000 km using its own booster rockets.

The waters where the first stage will fall are on the open sea and neither North Korean nor Chinese territorial waters. The closest coast is China's Weihai on the eastern tip of the Shandong Peninsula around 250 km away. But the government here worries that the first stage could fall on land. A senior government official said, "Given the level of North Korean technology, we cannot rule out that the rocket will veer off its scheduled trajectory and fall on the South Korean coast."
Depends on when the SM3s hit it. But the announced track of the missile is for it to fly to the southwest of the launch site: towards China. That's not in alignment with the usual orbital mechanics to launch something into orbit from the northern hemisphere.
Posted by: Steve White || 03/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Maybe there is some connection with 3dc's overflight warning.
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/20/2012 9:05 Comments || Top||


Down Under
Australia: Petrol-bomb attack on religious group
A petrol-bomb attack on a community centre has prompted fears among Melbourne's Alevi population they could be targeted with more violence on religious grounds.

Glass bottles containing petrol and set alight were thrown at the front and rear doors of the Alevi Community Council of Australia centre in North Coburg overnight.

No one was inside the centre at the time of the incident, but a centre spokeswoman said the building's rear door was badly burnt.

Surmeli Aydogan, the council's community liaison officer, said the centre's users were also concerned to find notes pinned to the fence threatening Alevis on religious grounds unless they "testified" that Allah was the only god to be worshipped.

Ms Aydogan said the centre had previously received threatening phone calls, but had dismissed them as pranks. However, she said the attack with petrol bombs had left the council's members shaken.

Alevi is a branch of the Sufi order of Shia Islam.
Posted by: tipper || 03/20/2012 10:39 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Here come the Muzzies in full on rant mode!!!!
Posted by: AlanC || 03/20/2012 11:14 Comments || Top||

#2  Guess we have to call them Petrol Bombs now because a Cocktail is evil.
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/20/2012 11:25 Comments || Top||

#3  Muslim on Muslim hate.
Posted by: Black Charlie Bonaparte7194 || 03/20/2012 16:04 Comments || Top||


Europe
German-Afghan man being tried on Qaeda charges
[Pak Daily Times] A German-Afghan man whose information prompted terrorism warnings across Europe in 2010 went on trial in western Germany on Monday; on charges he was a member of al Qaeda and another terrorist group. Ahmad Wali Siddiqui
I happen to know from experience that Germans are named Fritz, or Rudi, or Heinrich, or something like that, unless they're Helgas. No self-respecting Schweinehachsenfresser would be named Ahmad.
looked relaxed as his trial opened at a court in the western city of Koblenz. No pleas were entered under the German system and Siddiqui did not immediately address the charges against him, telling the court about his upbringing and how he immigrated to Germany as a teenager.

The 37-year-old was captured by US troops in Afghanistan in July 2010 and, while in jug, provided details on alleged al Qaeda plots supposedly targeting European cities. No attacks materialised. He is accused of membership in al Qaeda and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan and faces a possible 10 years in prison. Prosecutors alleged that Siddiqui trained with both terrorist groups in Pakistain and in the border region with Afghanistan in 2009 and 2010, with an aim of taking part in jihad, or holy war. Authorities had said he was one of about a dozen radical Mohammedans who left the northern German port city of Hamburg in 2009 to pursue terrorist training in the border region.

Another member of the group, German-Syrian dual national Rami Makanesi, was convicted last year in a Frankfurt state court of membership in al Qaeda and sentenced to four years and nine months. He was placed in durance vile in Pakistain in June 2010 and then extradited to Germany. Before going to Pakistain, Siddiqui and several other suspects met at Hamburg's al Quds mosque, the prayer house that had served as a gathering point for some of the September 11 attackers before they moved to the US to attend flight schools in 2000, German intelligence officials said.
This article starring:
Ahmad Wali Siddiqui
Rami Makanesi
Posted by: Fred || 03/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan


Home Front: WoT
Pentagon Finds Perils for U.S. if Israel Were to Strike Iran
"Far better to do nothing at all and hope it all goes away," is the considered opinion of the by-lined New York Times journalists, who very carefully managed to create two pages of beautifully written text without so much as a single actual quote, not even an anonymous one. But the editors published it on page A1 anyway
Posted by: Chique Unock2033 || 03/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  TOPIX > IRAN + NUCLEAR TERROR, espec agz US-West + CONUS targets.

versus

* SAME > WIPING SAUDI ARABIA OFF THE MAP | JEWS AND ARABS CAN AGREE NUCLEAR IRAN IS TO BE FEARED.

versus

* ZEROHEDGE > "WE ARE THIS FAR FROM A TURNKEY TOTALITARIAN STATE", in the US of A.

America = Amerika, the OWG Mighty USSA versus the OWG Weak USRoA Global SSR.

* SAME > [Russia Today] DID OBAMA SIGN MARTIAL LAW EXECUTIVE/PRESIDENTIAL ORDER?

D *** NGED NORTH KOREAN INVASION OF CONUS-NORAM [Red Dawn II].

Solar Flare? Asteroid? Peak Oil-Resources? All?

* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > BARACK OBAMA [quietly?] PREPARES US FOR WAR, LIKELY IN ANTICIPATION OF IRAN-ISRAEL BLOWUP | ED BLACK: BARACK OBAMA PREPARES [US] FOR WAR FOOTING.

Lest we fergit, NOSTRADAMUS = IRAN/PERSIA WILL NOT + NEVER EVAR! BE DEFEATED UNTIL CUSTER + 7TH CAVALRY "HOLD THE LINE", agz Enemy human waves.

[1960's GUAM TAOTAMONAS = OLIVER STONE'S "PLATOON", AL GORE + VIETNAM M-16, SLASH AS VAL KILMER in "THE DOORS", + TEXAS-SIZED ASTEROIDS here].

D *** NG IT, SO THE SWORD'S NAME IS "EXCALIBUR", WHATS THE BIG DEAL!?
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 03/20/2012 0:54 Comments || Top||

#2  Yea, that's too bad.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 03/20/2012 5:09 Comments || Top||

#3  DUH !!
Did Pentagon also find Perils in a nuclear Iran attacking the US with nukes 5 years from now ?
Classical case of "his master's voice" trying to win Champ some quiet time till after the elections, which IMHO will cost much more American blood being spilled after the elections and clearly jeopardize the success of any attack on the nuclear sites once the Iranians move them 200 meters below solid rock.
Typical Obama tactics of ignoring threats with the hope that they can be passed on to anyone suceeding him as POTUS.
Obambi will go down history dustbin as the POTUS who decided not to decide.
A veritable coward !
Posted by: Elder of Zion || 03/20/2012 7:29 Comments || Top||

#4  Does Google have a site for translating JM posts?
Posted by: Chique Unock2033 || 03/20/2012 8:09 Comments || Top||

#5  At this point, Israel should consider its ugly trump card. That is, concede that in a war with Iran, Israel's military would be so degraded that Israel would be vulnerable to its unstable neighbors, whose sole inclination would be to capitalize on that weakness and destroy Israel.

Therefore, during or after such a war, Israel will have no other choice but the use of nuclear weapons against any aggressor nation or even a heavily armed enemy living under the protection of another nation, such as Hezbollah.

Compounding this, other nations that aid or assist, directly or indirectly, secondary attacks against Israel in that time frame, will also be held accountable, even if they are just unable or unwilling to control the violent impulses of their citizens or parts of their government that engage in belligerent acts.

If the Muslim world joins in solidarity to attack Israel, then the entire Muslim world could be forfeit. And consideration must even be given to those European powers offering weapons and aid to Muslim nations to destroy Israel.

Since the rest of the world has chosen to blather and procrastinate in subduing Pakistan and Iran's drive for nuclear weapons, now it must consider the very real prospect of medium scale nuclear war consuming much of the region.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 03/20/2012 9:31 Comments || Top||

#6  United States found it was pulled into the conflict after Iranian missiles struck a Navy warship in the Persian Gulf, killing about 200 Americans, according to officials

I wonder if the game has a "Gee, maybe it was all just a terrible mistake" option, wherein the POTUS refuses to retaliate?
Posted by: Bobby on the road || 03/20/2012 9:59 Comments || Top||

#7  Anonymoose,
I think this time we will indeed be forced to use nukes.
It is not clear what type of nukes and in what manner they will be used, but the situation may force us to use them.
In particular take into consideration the following:
1)A weak at the knees POTUS who might try to punish Israel for doing what he himself does not want to do.
2) A very serious chance that the destabilized Syria, Egypt and Lebanon will join the Hamas, Hizbullah the Iranians at an attempt to put an end to us once and for all. We will not be able to fight on four different fronts while sustaining a long range effort to defang the Mullah's (not for long anyhow). Therefore asction must be very quick and devastating in order to be able to finish the main goal and free the army for defending our borders from closer enwemies and the Iranian proxies.
3) The fact that the US will not supply us with the Big Bunker Busters, and what we have in stock may be inefficient against the Fordo fortifications may necessitate the use of one or more nukes (either Tactical nukes for penetration or a Dirty bomb that will bar access to the site for hundreds of years).
4) We have a long and sad experience with winning in the battlefield only to be forced to accept an armistice by either the US or the UN, instead of dictating the outcome on our own terms. We cannot have this happen in Iran !. Therefore, any attack on Iran must be quick and devastating to ensure that we erase their program in such a way so as to prevent them from doing anything nuclear in the next 20 years. - Nukes are the only way to guarantee that we achieve the military and political goals quickly enough before any of the Eurabs or some of our other "friends" will manage to force us to stop the operation short of achieving anything significant.
5) The political and economical cost of an Israeli operation will be so high (always convenient to blame the Jooooos for doing what you were afraid to do yourself), that we must ensure that the results will be immediate and long lasting - I think a three foot layer of highly radioactive glass over most of the sites might do wonders to guarantee good results that will certainly justify the political and economical high cost of such an attack.

I think that all rational military strategist will see this and take this into consideration !
Including the great world denuclearizer Hussein O'Bamba.
Posted by: Elder of Zion || 03/20/2012 10:11 Comments || Top||

#8  I think Moose hit the nail on the head.
Posted by: Hellfish || 03/20/2012 11:57 Comments || Top||

#9  Just hope all the fallout falls on Russia.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 03/20/2012 17:46 Comments || Top||

#10  *****'s for Elder of Zion an 'moose.........
Posted by: Uncle Phester || 03/20/2012 17:55 Comments || Top||

#11  Google? "As If..."

If you aren't still totally stunned,and can still speechify; "Was there any particular part of JM's previous comment you'd like to have interpreted? Perhaps I can help...
Posted by: Shamp Clong8416 || 03/20/2012 21:29 Comments || Top||

#12  E of Z,
A US Led/supported/ In-flight refueling-sips strategy should have been "Job One". Since Pharaoh had no idea of what that meant, He instead decided to use AF-1 to facilitate 20 more fund-raisers before TGIF (He's such a Rad Marxist, don't you think?).
Posted by: Shamp Clong8416 || 03/20/2012 21:53 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Roadside blast kills 5 in Khyber Agency
[Pak Daily Times] At least five persons, believed to be terrorists, were killed and one injured in a roadside kaboom blast in remote Tirah Valley of Khyber Agency on Monday. According to sources, the roadside kaboom hit the vehicle of the cut-throats in Dwa Thoi area of the valley, Bara tehsil, killing five of them. The injured was shifted to a hospital and was stated to be at death's door. The vehicle was also destroyed in the kaboom.
Posted by: Fred || 03/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Lashkar-e-Islami

#1  Interesting. Work accident? Internal dispute? Or do we have people re-directing their own weapons against them? Three flavors of goodness.
Posted by: Glenmore || 03/20/2012 11:58 Comments || Top||


Miranshah clashes leave eight dead
[Pak Daily Times] At least eight people were killed and 15 others maimed in festivities between security forces and faceless myrmidons in Federally Administered Tribal Areas, officials said on Monday. Four faceless myrmidons and one soldier were killed when faceless myrmidons stormed a security forces checkpoint late on Sunday in Miranshah
... headquarters of al-Qaeda in Pakistain and likely location of Ayman al-Zawahiri. The Haqqani network has established a ministate in centered on the town with courts, tax offices and lots of madrassas...
, the main town of restive North Wazoo Agency (NWA). The army retaliated with an assault early on Monday on suspected terrorist hideouts outside the town, but the attack left three civilians dead and 15 maimed, security officials said. "Militants attacked our checkpoint in Miranshah on Sunday evening and killed one soldier, we retaliated... and rubbed out four beturbanned goons," a security bigshot told AFP. On Monday morning "we fired shells and destroyed five shops in Datakhel near Miranshah" from where military convoys had recently come under attack, he said. Two security officials confirmed the civilian deaths in Monday's attack, but the military refused to do so. "Three non-combatants were killed and 15 were maimed when the security forces fired shells at the suspected beturbanned goon hideouts," one of the officials said on condition of anonymity. Terrorists have killed more than 4,800 people across Pakistain since government troops raided Lal Masjid (Red Mosque) in Islamabad in July 2007. US officials say Pakistain's tribal districts provide sanctuary to the Taliban fighting a 10-year war against foreign troops in neighbouring Afghanistan and to al Qaeda-linked faceless myrmidons plotting attacks on the West.
Posted by: Fred || 03/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan


Mangal Bagh is dead, claims KP IGP
[Pak Daily Times] Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central...
(KP) Inspector General (IG) Akbar Hoti claimed on Monday that Mangal Bagh,
...a former bus driver, now head of the Deobandi bandido group Lashkar-e-Islam and the Terror of Khyber Agency...
chief of a banned outfit, was killed in a military operation in Kurram Agency.
...home of an intricately interconnected web of poverty, ignorance, and religious fanaticism, where the laws of cause and effect are assumed to be suspended, conveniently located adjacent to Tora Bora...
Talking to news hounds, Hoti said the warlord was killed during a skirmish with security forces in the tribal region where a military offensive is underway. Bagh's banned Laskhar-e-Islam (LI) operates in Kurram and Orakzai agencies. At least 51 cut-throats and four soldiers have been killed in air strikes and festivities with security forces in Kurram and Orakzai over the past week, officials said on Sunday. On the other hand, the banned outfit rubbished the claims and said Bagh was alive and staying at a safe place.

LI commander Muhammad Hussain told a TV channel that Bagh was not killed in a military offensive. Bagh, a former bus driver, wais at the forefront of the increasing Talibanisation of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of the country's northwest. His forces mounted increasing attacks on Beautiful Downtown Peshawar and, in broad daylight, kidnapped residents for high sums of ransom. He was the leader (and according to some reports, founder) of LI, a paramilitary organization operating in Khyber and Orakzai agencies.
Posted by: Fred || 03/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Lashkar-e-Islami


Iraq
Spate of kabooms hits Diyala
BAQUBA, Iraq: Bombers struck five times in a province north of Baghdad yesterday evening, killing at least three people and wounding more than 30, police said.

Diyala province, a fertile agricultural region criss-crossed by canals where Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds live side by side, has long been one of the most volatile areas in Iraq. Monday’s bombings all took place after sunset in the provincial capital Baquba or towns and villages to the east.

A car bomb in the town of Balad Ruz, in a district occupied mainly by Shiite Kurds, killed one person and wounded 12 including four children police said. Balad Ruz is about 20 km east of Baquba.

A roadside bomb near a police station in Baquba wounded four policemen and 12 civilians, and another explosion 10 km to the east wounded three civilians.

Two bombs stuck to cars killed the drivers of the vehicles, one in Baquba and the other in a village 25 km to the east.
Posted by: Steve White || 03/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Sadrists flood Basra in million-strong demo on war anniversary
[Pak Daily Times] Around a million loyalists of holy man Moqtada Tater al-Sadr
... the Iranian catspaw holy man who was 22 years old in 2003 and was nearing 40 in 2010. He spends most of his time in Iran, safely out of the line of fire, where he's learning to be an ayatollah...
rallied in south Iraq on Monday decrying poor services and rampant graft on the ninth anniversary of the US-led invasion against Saddam Hussein.

Protesters flooded the centre of the southern port city of Basra for the rally, with demonstrators waving Iraqi flags and portraits of the anti-US Shia holy man and his father, Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Mohammed Sadiq al-Sadr, killed in 1999 by assailants thought to have been sent by Saddam.

The demonstration came just days before Iraq is due to host an Arab League
...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing...
summit, the first meeting of the 22-nation body since Saddam's 1990 invasion of neighbouring Kuwait. Reading remarks composed by Sadr, currently in Iran, Sadrist religious leader Sheikh Assad al-Nassari told the crowd: "We cannot rest when there is injustice against us." "Demand your rights, I will support you, and with our unity we will be strong. You must fight for a stable nation."

Two officers in the police and army in Basra put the number of protesters at one million, while Sadrist officials claimed 1.5 million attended. An AFP journalist put the number of protesters at several hundred thousand. Demonstrators, many of whom came from different provinces to take part in what was dubbed the "Day to Support Oppressed Iraqis", shouted: "Yes to rights! Yes to humanity! No to injustice! No to poverty! No to corruption!"

Some protesters held aloft electrical cables, water canisters and shovels to symbolise the poor services that plague Iraq. Others carried empty coffins with words plastered on them such as 'democracy', 'electricity', 'education' and 'services'. Despite increasing oil production, Iraq suffers from electricity shortages, with power cuts multiplying during the boiling summer, poor clean water provision, widespread corruption and high unemployment.

Sadr's movement, which counts around 40 MPs and several ministers as part of its political bloc, organised the demonstration to coincide with the ninth anniversary of the US-led invasion that overthrew Saddam.

The rally had no widespread anti-American message, though some protesters held aloft placards that read "No to America" and "No to Israel". US forces, who numbered nearly 170,000 at their peak in Iraq, withdrew from the country in December, and now just 157 soldiers remain under the charge of the US embassy in addition to a marine detachment responsible for the diplomatic mission's security. In recent years, the Sadrist movement had organised demonstrations on April 9, to coincide with the day the US officially ousted Saddam.

Meanwhile,
...back at the dirigible, Jack stuck the cigar in his mouth, stepped onto the gantry, and asked Got a light, Mac?
Von Schtinken stopped short, lowering the dagger and trying to control his features.
If you light that thing, Herr Armschtröng, he pointed out, his voice tense, we all die!...

Iraq has agreed to repatriate Saudi prisoners who fought alongside hard boyz against US-led forces under a deal that signals further improvement of relations between the two major Arab countries.

The prisoner exchange deal comes less than a month after Soddy Arabia named an ambassador to Storied Baghdad
...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate...
for the first time since Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in 1990. It also comes ahead of an Arab summit in Storied Baghdad on March 29 which has been delayed twice by regional turmoil and acrimony between Storied Baghdad and some Sunni Moslem Gulf Arab states over a crackdown by Bahrain's Sunni rulers on Shia protesters.

"The agreement emanates from the strong relations between the two brotherly people and in the interest of strengthening friendship and cooperation between them," the Saudi Justice Ministry said in a statement. It was issued after the accord was signed in Riyadh by Justice Minister Muhammad al-Eissa and his Iraqi counterpart Hassan al-Shimari.

An Iraqi Justice Ministry front man said the deal was part of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's efforts to strengthen ties with Soddy Arabia. "The two sides agreed that this will be effective as soon as possible," front man Haider Al-Saadi said.
Posted by: Fred || 03/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  Maybe the OWS kids should set up a Baghdad Branch.
Posted by: Bobby on the road || 03/20/2012 10:05 Comments || Top||

#2  Sometimes I wish we'd left Saddam in power.
Posted by: Glenmore || 03/20/2012 12:07 Comments || Top||

#3  Dey be Shias Power-ists.

OCCUPY BASRA???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 03/20/2012 23:34 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Indonesia police shoot dead 5 terrs in Bali
DENPASAR, Indonesia: Indonesian police shot dead five suspected terrorists militants planning attacks on the resort island of Bali, including an assault on a night club popular with foreign tourists, the national counter-terrorism agency and police said on Monday.
Good going, police!
The five terrorists men, who were shot dead in overnight raids on the island, were linked to the banned Jemaah Islamiah group, which carried out nightclub bombings on Bali in 2002 that killed 202 people, most of them Australian tourists, officials said.

The five terrorists arrived on Bali on March 17 and surveyed La Vida Loca nightclub in the Seminyak beach resort, about 2.5 miles (4 km) northwest of Kuta where the 2002 attack took place.

"Last night we have paralyzed five terrorists criminal perpetrators who were planning to commit terrorist acts ... All the terrorists suspects died during the raids because they defied or shot back with pistols at the police officers," national police spokesman Boy Rafli Amar said.

"The terrorists perpetrators have surveyed several places and among them are a gold shop in Jimbaran, a money changer and cafe La Vida Loca," he said.

It was not clear how advanced the preparations for attacks were. Authorities declined to give more details of the threat or say when the attacks were scheduled.
"We will say no more!"
National police spokesman Saud Usman Nasution said some terrorist members of the terrorist group were still at large.

"They have made drawings of these locations as their targets," he told a news conference.

Three people were killed in the beach resort area of Sanur and two in the island's capital, Denpasar, and police said they recovered two rifles, two ammunition magazines, 48 bullets and a balaclava.

In Sanur, witnesses saw pools of blood outside a security guard post and police forensic officers at work behind a police line.

Police earlier said the terrorists suspects planned armed robberies to raise funds and they linked the five terrorists to a group that had conducted bank robberies in the city of Medan on Sumatra island.

"This is an terrorist militant group, a splinter group of Jemaah Islamiah who established a training camp in Aceh," said Nasution, referring to a province on the far north of Sumatra.

Australian media quoted another senior police officer as saying it was possible the terrorist group had been planning to carry out attacks on Thursday, the eve of Nyepi, or the annual Day of Silence marking Bali's Hindu New Year. Balinese hold parades on the eve of Nyepi, which draw large numbers of tourists, the Australian Associated Press said.

The killings follow the beginning of a trial last month of an Islamist militant accused of making the bombs used in the 2002 Bali nightclubs attack.

Umar Patek, who was captured in the same Pakistan town where U.S. forces killed Osama bin Laden, is also accused of mixing chemicals for 13 bombs that detonated in five churches in Jakarta on Christmas Eve, 2000, killing about 15 people. Security officials say he belonged to Jemaah Islamiah.
Posted by: Steve White || 03/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Turkish Diplomat Says Two More Syrian Generals Defect
[An Nahar] Two more generals have decamped Syria and linked up with rebels trying to overthrow Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad's
Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor...
regime in Damascus,
...Capital of the last overtly fascist regime in the world...
a Turkish diplomat said on Monday.

The latest defections mean a total of nine generals have deserted since the revolt against Assad's rule erupted a year ago, many of them seeking refuge in neighboring Turkey.

In addition, around 200 more Syrians crossed into Turkey on Sunday, bringing the total number of refugees to 16,100, the same official added on condition of anonymity.

"The generals arrived Friday and nearly 200 other people, most of them women and kiddies, have crossed over since yesterday", the official told Agence La Belle France Presse.

Turkey, once a close ally of Syria, has been at the forefront of international criticism of the deadly crackdown on protestors and has become the main haven for opposition groups and rebel fighters.
Posted by: Fred || 03/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Jumblat: Syrian Crisis Can Only Be Solved through Overthrowing its Regime
[An Nahar] Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Wally Jumblat
... Druze politician, head of the Progressive Socialist Party, who's been on every side in Leb at least four times. He'll sell you his friends for a dollar, but family comes higher because of shipping and handling...
rejected on Monday Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad's
Trampler of Homs...
remarks that his regime will remain, "but Syria will be divided."
That's why Wally needs a food taster and a remote starter for his car.
He said in his weekly editorial in the PSP-affiliated al-Anbaa magazine: "The political solution that calls for the end of the Syrian regime is the only way to settle the crisis."

"No sound human being cannot but support the political solution to the crisis because the alternatives will mean the eruption of civil war," he added.

"It's only logical that the political solution favor the Syrian people and its demands," he noted.

Furthermore, the MP said that he is still hoping that Russia would play a central role in ending the crisis, which requires immediate action "because experience with the Syrian regime has taught us that it is adept at stalling."

Jumblat wondered however if reaching a political solution would be possible under the current ruling family in Syria, noting that it had squandered opportunity after opportunity for saving the country from its crisis.
Posted by: Fred || 03/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  Widout the Lebbies or Syruh there will be no major Iranian Navy presence in the Mediterranean, let alone the far Atlantic - Iran will have to be content competing agz Pakistan + Turkey for strategic access to Sri Lanka + Hainan.

You can just hear CHINA + INDIA + ASEAN TWIDDLING THEIR FINGERS, CAN'T YA!?
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 03/20/2012 22:18 Comments || Top||


Russian Anti-Terror Troops Reportedly Arrive in Tartus
[An Nahar] Russian media reports said a Russian military unit had arrived in Syria, a development that a United Nations
...Parkinson's Law on an international scale...
Security Council source told ABC News was "a bomb" certain to have serious repercussions.

The Russian Black Sea fleet's Iman tanker has arrived in the Syrian port of Tartus on the Mediterranean Sea with an anti-terror squad from the Russian Marines aboard, according to the Interfax news agency.

The Assad regime insists it is fighting a terrorist insurgency.

The Iman replaced another Russian ship "which had been sent to Syria for demonstrating (sic) the Russian presence in the turbulent region and possible evaluation of Russian citizens," the Black Sea Fleet told Interfax.

RIA Novosti, a news outlet with strong ties to the Kremlin, trumpeted the news in a banner headline that appeared only on its Arabic-language website. The Russian embassy in the U.S. and the Russian mission to the U.N. declined to comment, saying they have "no particular information on" the arrival of a Russian anti-terrorism squad to Syria.

Moscow has long enjoyed a cozy relationship with the Assad regime, to which it sells billions of dollars of weapons. In return Russia has maintained a Navy base at Tartus, which gives it access to the Mediterranean.

Last week Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia had no plans to send troops to Syria.

"As for the question whether I consider it necessary to confront the United States in Syria and ensure our military presence there ... in order to take part in military actions -- no. I believe this would be against Russia's national interests," Lavrov told politicians, according to RIA Novosti.

Russia's Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov denied reports that Russian special forces were operating inside Syria. He did say, however, that there are Russian military and technical advisors in the country.

U.S. State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said the U.S. government had not heard of the reports of Russian troops in Syria and declined to comment.
Posted by: Fred || 03/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


30 Dead across Syria after Unprecedented Pre-Dawn Fighting in Capital
[An Nahar] Syrian security forces on Monday killed 30 people across the country, activists said, following unprecedented pre-dawn deadly festivities in the heart of the capital Damascus
...Capital of the last remaining Baathist regime in the world...
Nine people were killed in Deir al-Zour, six in Daraa, three in Hama, three in Idlib, three in Aleppo
...For centuries, Aleppo was Greater Syria's largest city and the Ottoman Empire's third, after Constantinople and Cairo. Although relatively close to Damascus in distance, Aleppans regard Damascenes as country cousins...
, three in the Damascus suburbs of Qatana and Douma, two in al-Qameshli and one in Homs, the Local Coordination Committees, the main activist group spurring protests on the ground, said.

Pre-dawn fighting in a heavily guarded area of Damascus, the capital's fiercest since a revolt against Assad's regime erupted a year ago, came as residents still reeled from deadly weekend bombings.

At least three rebels and a member of the security forces were killed in the upscale western neighborhood of Mazzeh, state television
... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
and monitors reported.

"Three bad boyz were potted and a fourth was tossed in the clink in the fighting between security forces and an armed terrorist gang sheltered in a house of a residential district," the television channel said.

Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said four rebels were killed. The fighters fired a rocket-propelled grenade at the home of a top army officer as they brought the conflict to the capital, he said.

Murtada Rashid, an activist in Damascus, said blasts and heavy shooting could be heard in Mazzeh and two other districts, Qaboon and Arbin.

A Qaboon resident who did not wish to be identified said "we woke up at 3:00 am (0100 GMT) to the sound of heavy machinegun fire and rocket-propelled grenades."

In Mazzeh, which is overlooked by Assad's clifftop presidential palace and home to several embassies, terrified locals were woken by the rattle of gunfire. "We were very scared," one told Agence La Belle France Presse.

A mission sent by U.N.-Arab League
...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing...
special envoy Kofi Annan
...Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh and so far the worst Secretary-General of the UN. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize for something or other that probably sounded good at the time. In December 2004, reports surfaced that Kofi's son Kojo received payments from the Swiss company Cotecna, which had won a lucrative contract under the UN Oil-for-Food Program. Kofi Annan called for an investigation to look into the allegations, which stirred up the expected cesspool but couldn't seem to come up with enough evidence to indict Kofi himself, or even Kojo...
arrived in Damascus for talks on a monitoring operation to end the conflict that monitors say has cost more than 9,100 lives since last March.

Monday's festivities in the capital came after twin car booms destroyed two neighborhoods of Damascus on Saturday, killing 27 people, according to the interior ministry.

An Observatory statement said fresh fighting broke out between rebels and security forces in the Qaboon and Barzeh areas of Damascus.

Troops backed by dozens of tanks also raided districts of Deir Ezzor city in eastern Syria, the Observatory said, a day after at least 25 army deserters were killed in seizing its Hamidiyeh district.

Five soldiers, including two officers, were also killed, it said.

In central Syria, soldiers bombarded the Bab Sbaa, Khalidiyeh and Karm al-Shami districts of Homs, which has been relentlessly pounded since early February, the monitoring group said.

Troops in the northwestern province of Idlib attacked Abdita, home village of defector Colonel Riyadh Asaad, head of the Turkey-based rebel Free Syrian Army, local activist Nurredin al-Abdo told AFP.
Posted by: Fred || 03/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  ION TOPIX > DON'T RELY ON ARAB STATES TO SAVE SYRIA.

[KELLY "THE HELL YOU SAY" BUNDY here].

versus

* REAL CLEAR POLITICS > SYRIA UPRISING: THINK TANK: US INTERVENTION IN SYRIA COULD REQUIRE 300,000 TROOPS [200-300K], COST US$300.0BILYUHN [$200-300.0Bil], per Year for every Year US Troops are there.

Brookings Institute Saban Center for ME Policy.

ARTIC > denotes that iff the US desires to stop the killing + abuse, etc. of ordinary Syrian Citizens by Assad's forces, "INVASION MAY BE THE ONLY WAY TO DO SO ... ONLY WAY THAT WOULD BE GUARANTEED TO DO SO".

THATS JUST SYRUH - WHAT MORE IRAN???

As also complemented by ...

* IIRC TOPIX > ONE YEAR AFTER IT BEGAN, "ARAB SPRINGS" ARE SPINNING OUT OF CONTROL.

Lebanon? Turkey? Egypt? Nuke-armed Pakistan + AFPAK? Somalia + whole of Central Africa?
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 03/20/2012 0:30 Comments || Top||


Russian Anti-Terror Troops Arrive in Syria?
Large grain of salt. Tyler Durbin at Zero Hedge says that the RIA report ABC is citing doesn't say what ABC says it says.
A Russian military unit has arrived in Syria, according to Russian news reports, a development that a United Nations Security Council source told ABC News was "a bomb" certain to have serious repercussions.
Oh it will be serious all right. Champ might have to apologize again. But it will raise the ante for Turkey's assistance to the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood rebels, likely deter somewhat any urge the Israelis have to gob smack Hezbollah, and clearly will deter the West from doing in Syria what it did in Libya.
Russia, one of President Bashar al-Assad's strongest allies despite international condemnation of the government's violent crackdown on the country's uprising, has repeatedly blocked the United Nations Security Council's attempts to halt the violence, accusing the U.S. and its allies of trying to start another war.

Now the Russian Black Sea fleet's Iman tanker has arrived in the Syrian port of Tartus on the Mediterranean Sea with an anti-terror squad from the Russian Marines aboard according to the Interfax news agency. The Assad government has insisted it is fighting a terrorist insurgency.

The Iman replaced another Russian ship "which had been sent to Syria for demonstrating (sic) the Russian presence in the turbulent region and possible evaluation of Russian citizens," the Black Sea Fleet told Interfax.
And which may have been providing electronics intercept and jamming assistance for Iran in case Israel were to fly the northern route on the way to Tehran...
RIA Novosti, a news outlet with strong ties to the Kremlin, trumpeted the news in a banner headline that appeared only on its Arabic language website. The Russian embassy to the US and to the UN had no comment, saying they have "no particular information on" the arrival of a Russian anti-terrorism squad to Syria.

Last week Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia had no plans to send troops to Syria. "As for the question whether I consider it necessary to confront the United States in Syria and ensure our military presence there... in order to take part in military actions -- no. I believe this would be against Russia's national interests," Lavrov told lawmakers, according to RIA Novosti.

Russia's Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov denied reports that Russian special forces were operating inside Syria. He did say, however, that there are Russian military and technical advisors in the country.

U.S. State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said the U.S. government had not heard of the reports of Russian troops in Syria and declined to comment.
Posted by: Steve White || 03/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  He did say, however, that there are Russian military and technical advisors in the country.

Which is precisely why NATO and the US have taken no action.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/20/2012 2:54 Comments || Top||

#2  Someone at Belmont club believes this is an advance unit to move the WMD's moved from Iraq to Syria out of the country. Since when did a tanker require a squad of MARINES???
Posted by: Ptah || 03/20/2012 16:11 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
40[untagged]
4Govt of Syria
4Arab Spring
3Govt of Pakistan
3al-Qaeda
2Lashkar-e-Islami
2al-Qaeda in Arabia
1Palestinian Authority
1al-Qaeda in Pakistan
1al-Shabaab
1Govt of Iran
1Govt of Sudan
1Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan

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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.
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Two weeks of WOT
Tue 2012-03-20
  Turkish Diplomat Says Two More Syrian Generals Defect
Mon 2012-03-19
  Heavy Shelling Kills 16 'Qaida' Fighters in Yemen
Sun 2012-03-18
  Five Killed In Bali Terror Raids
Sat 2012-03-17
  Qaeda suspects kidnap Swiss woman: Yemeni officials
Fri 2012-03-16
  Philly man arrested on charges of supporting Uzbeki terrorists
Thu 2012-03-15
   Karzai orders NATO out of all Afghan villages
Wed 2012-03-14
  Leon Panetta unhurt after suspected attack
Tue 2012-03-13
  U.S. Drone Attack In Pakistan Reportedly Kills 15 Suspected Militants
Mon 2012-03-12
  Army airstrikes kill 20 al-Qaeda militants in south Yemen
Sun 2012-03-11
  Syrian Ground Forces Storm Rebel Stronghold of Idlib, 62 Killed in Violence
Sat 2012-03-10
  Air strikes in Yemen kill suspected al Qaeda militants
Fri 2012-03-09
  13 Dronezapped in South Wazoo
Thu 2012-03-08
  British and Italian hostages murdered by captors in special forces rescue bid in Nigeria
Wed 2012-03-07
  Suicide bomber kills four in southern Russia
Tue 2012-03-06
  Nigerian Army Says Killed 3 Islamists Trying to Burn School

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