On this day in history: April 7th
1795 France adopts the metre as the basic measure of length.
1805 First public performance of Beethoven's Third Symphony (Eroica).
1827 John Walker, an English chemist, sells the first friction match. He had invented it the previous year.
1906 Mount Vesuvius erupts and devastates Naples.
1927 First distance public television broadcast (from Washington, DC to New York City, displaying the image of Commerce Secretary Herbert Hoover).
1940 Booker T. Washington becomes the first African American to be depicted on a United States postage stamp.
1945 The Japanese battleship Yamato is sunk 200 miles north of Okinawa.
1954 U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower gives his "domino theory" speech during a news conference.
1964 IBM announces the System/360.
1969 The Internet's symbolic birth date: publication of RFC 1.
1990 Iran Contra Affair: John Poindexter is found guilty of five charges for his part in the scandal (the conviction was reversed on appeal).
Washington Post amazed... Ties to 9/11 Build Enthusiasm for the Fight, but Deployments Have Taken a Toll
FORT BRAGG, N.C. -- As the fight in Afghanistan transforms from a "forgotten war" to the U.S. military's top priority -- with tens of thousands of soldiers and Marines headed there this year -- overstretched ground troops are voicing unexpected enthusiasm about the new mission.
#2
Yup...Anymouse's Semper Fi son is chomping at the bit to get to Afghanistan. He actually jumped the line to get an early deployment with another unit...much to his mother's chagrin.
#4
"65 soldiers had to be "stop-lossed," or ordered to serve beyond the date they were scheduled to exit the Army."
I thought O'wonderful was supposed to put a stop to that. Is stop-loss OK now that a Democrat is doing it? I'm so confused!
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
04/07/2009 17:00 Comments ||
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#5
Good one Anymouse and congrats on a son with honor! We need more like him. You get to be strong and proud, momma will always worry.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
04/07/2009 18:25 Comments ||
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#6
TITLE 10 > Subtitle A > PART II > CHAPTER 39 >
para. 671a. Members: service extension during war
Unless terminated at an earlier date by the Secretary concerned, the period of active service of any member of an armed force is extended for the duration of any war in which the United States may be engaged and for six months thereafter.
It's in the contract as well as the law. Not that the MSM, and its legion of editors and fact checkers, care about truth. That DoD is operating pretty much as though its peacetime for most of the uniform service members is the interesting part.
[Mail and Globe] Somali pirates seized ships from France, Britain, Germany, Taiwan and Yemen, defying world naval powers by prowling further out in the Indian Ocean to target victims. Ransom-hunting pirates equipped with skiffs, guns and grapnels took five ships in 48 hours, the two latest on Monday targeting a British cargo ship and a Taiwanese fishing vessel.
At least 17 ships and more than 250 hostages are now in pirate hands.
"There were two more hijackings today. There is one Italian-operated British-owned ship and a Taiwanese vessel near the Seychelles," an official involved in regional piracy monitoring told AFP on condition of anonymity.
The Seychelles government said it received a distress call saying that a Taiwanese fishing vessel, the MV Winfar 161, and its 29 crew was hijacked in its exclusive economic zone, north of Denis island. Transport Minister Joel Morgan said military forces had been deployed to intercept the pirates, amid reports that three more Taiwanese ships were trying to escape capture.
The information centre of the European Union's anti-piracy naval mission Atalanta confirmed Monday's second hijacking. "A 32 000 tonne UK-owned and Italian-operated bulk carrier was hijacked early this morning in the Gulf of Aden. Few details are known at this stage, but the mixed nationality crew are believed to be safe," it said.
Ecoterra International, an environment group monitoring illegal marine activities in the region, reported that a small French yacht was captured Saturday about 640km off Ras Hafun in northeast Somalia and was heading towards Somali Puntland.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Why doesn't someone put a big enough bounty on these guys heads that it would be profitable for Blackwater or similar group to outfit a small freighter appropriately and go fishing for pirates? Just wondering. Oh, and the bounty pays a premium for dead rather than still wiggling.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
04/07/2009 16:56 Comments ||
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#2
When we set up a lane we would patrol, the pirates began hunting ships outside the lane.
For some unfathomable reason, killing pirates seems to be against international law. The U.S. in particular will not do anything that could not be considered a law enforement op. The Indians killed a mother ship, but then got tarred because it was a "civilian" vessel. That drove the lesson home that you cannot kill pirates.
[Beirut Daily Star: Region] Sudanese authorities are working to free two French and Canadian aid workers who are ŽŽin good shapeŽŽ after being kidnapped over the weekend in increasingly dangerous Darfur, an official said on Monday. ŽŽThey are in good shape,ŽŽ Foreign Ministry official Ali Yussef Ahmad told AFP. ŽŽWe are making every effort to free them in a peaceful way.ŽŽ
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2009 00:00 ||
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[Maghrebia] Algerian security services on Saturday (April 4th) dismantled a bomb device outside the house of the founder and former leader of the Armed Islamic Group (GIA) Abdelhak Layada in the Baraki suburb of Algiers, Echorouk reported on Sunday (April 5th). Layada, known as Abu Adlène, reportedly found a pack near his car containing two bombs that were not wired to detonate. Security services said the devices were aimed at intimidation. Layada served 13 years in prison before being released in 2006 under the Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2009 00:00 ||
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Follow-up on the Green Crescent story a little while back. Sounds like the RAB is rolling up the network and pinched Faisal a few days back. That they're announcing it now means the RAB has squeezed him dry. Expect some quiet crossfires in the near future.
[Bangla Daily Star] The Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) finally declared British citizen Faisal Mostafa, the main patron of Green Crescent Madrasa in Bhola, arrested yesterday after 10 days of mystery about his whereabouts.
The Rab claims the 42-year-old chemistry graduate was arrested along with his close associate Md Saifuddin Badal in the early hours yesterday in Bhogra on Pubail bypass road in Gazipur.
Additional Director General of Rab Col Rezanur Rahman Khan in a press briefing yesterday afternoon said no charges have been brought against Faisal and Badal. "Md Russell Howladar, who was arrested at Green Crescent Madrasa on March 24, gave the names of Faisal as the owner of the madrasa and Badal as Faisal's close associate," Col Rezanur said.
"It was Faisal! He kidnapped the Lindbergh baby! Honest! Now put those down!"
The elite force on March 24 unearthed a mini ammunition factory with huge arms and materials for assembling bullets in Ramkeshar village in Borhanuddin, Bhola. During that drive, Rab arrested three including Russell.
The names of Faisal and Badal also popped up in a simultaneous police investigation in Bhola. But the cases filed by the police against the madrasa did not include Faisal as an accused or perpetrator.
Rab-8 and the intelligence wing of Rab jointly conducted an operation and arrested the two at 4:00am yesterday. However, the media on March 26 reported that Faisal was arrested in Dhaka the previous day.
Twice cleared as a terror suspect in 1996 and 2002 in British courts but given 18 months imprisonment for possessing illegal firearm in the UK, Faisal's arrest has drawn focus of the British media.
And that's as good as a death sentence in Bang-land ...
The media also questioned the weak monitoring system of the British Charity Commission that channelises taxpayers' money to various NGOs, some of which landed in funding terrorist activities through Green Crescent.
Faisal's father in Manchester in the UK and father-in-law in Dhaka repeatedly claimed to The Daily Star that he has been arrested, but the law-enforcement agencies trashed their claim.
Col Rezanur yesterday denied that claim once again. "He will be sent to Borhanuddin police in Bhola for the next course of action," he said. "If the legal process allows we'll take them for questioning," he added.
Otherwise they'll just him in some upazaila at 4 am ...
Prior to this briefing, Faisal and Badal in handcuffs were brought before journalists and photographers were allowed to take their pictures. Wearing a full shirt, Faisal had salt and pepper beard and unkempt hair.
On how the arms and ammunition landed in Faisal's well-protected madrasa, Rezanur said, "This is still under investigation."
A citizen of Britain based in Manchester, Bangladesh-born Faisal registered an NGO -- Green Crescent -- in Doulatkhan in Bhola in 1999. He had a registered charity in the UK under the same name. He expanded the NGO to Borhanuddin without taking permission from the Department of Social Service. The NGO has a nine-member committee, in which he is the vice-president.
According to his family, Faisal travels to Bangladesh at least once a year. This time he came to Bangladesh in March and just left Bhola to go to Chittagong when Rab unearthed his ammo den. Rab sources say the ammo den surely indicates the madrasa has links with militants. But they are not sure if it was Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh, Harkatul Jihad Al Islami or some other group.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2009 00:00 ||
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This story bounced around the net all Monday. I don't know how true the threat was.
The Saudi Arabian newspaper al-Watan reported today that Turkish security services have arrested a man of Syrian origins Friday in connection with a plot to assassinate President Barack Obama during his current visit to Turkey.
The man, who was carrying an Al-Jazeera TV ID card in the name of M.G., confessed after his arrest that he was planning on stabbing the U.S. president with a knife during the Alliance of Civilizations summit held in Istanbul, adding that he had three other accomplices to help him execute his plan.
According to the paper, Turkish investigators were trying to verify whether the Qatari-based Arab TV channel has truly issued the ID card produced by the man, or if its a forged copy. The suspect, a permanent resident of Istanbul, has been regularly attending all conferences and events relating to the Middle East held in the city.
Al-Watan contacted Al-Jazeera's bureau chief in Ankara, Yucef al-Sharif, who said that news of the suspect came as a complete surprise to Al-Jazeera staff in Turkey, who all claimed that they knew nothing about the man. "We learned that he (the suspect) claimed to be working for our bureau if that has been the case then he most certainly forged our ID card, al-Sharif told al-Watan in a phone call from Ankara.
Al-Sharif said that Turkish security services know everyone who worked in Al-Jazeera's offices in Ankara.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/07/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
I really truly want to see President Obama live a long happy life in retirement beginning in 2012.
#4
g(r)om, two US presidents have been impeached: Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton. Impeachment just means that they get tried by the Senate.
I would be happy to see the One be the first one to be impeached, convicted, and removed from office.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
04/07/2009 6:59 Comments ||
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[ADN Kronos] As United States president Barack Obama began an official visit to Turkey on Monday, reports surfaced that a Syrian man was arrested in Istanbul in connection with a plot to kill him. The man - who sought to disguise himself as a journalist for the Arab TV network Al-Jazeera - managed to obtain press accreditation and allegedly planned to stab the US president with a knife, said Saudi daily al-Watan.
The Saudi daily contacted Al-Jazeera's bureau in the Turkish capital Ankara and spoke with the bureau's director Yusuf al-Sharif who claimed the Syrian man never worked with Al-Jazeera. The suspect was arrested last Friday in Istanbul, where he had been permanently living for a number of years. After his arrest, al-Watan said he confessed to having planned Obama's murder and that in case he failed, there were three other accomplices that would carry out the assassination.
Obama arrived in Ankara late on Sunday for a two-day trip to shore up ties with majority-Muslim Turkey, whose support is crucial to the US to solve the conflicts in Iran, Afghanistan and the Middle East. He is due to meet Turkish president Abdullah Gul and prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Obama was also due to visit the Turkish parliament and address the general assembly.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2009 00:00 ||
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#2
Seems to me that a two-seat version of the A-10 (like the A-10B was supposed to be) with a couple of miniguns out the sides and controlled electronically would be doable. Weapons officer cursors onto the target, presses the button, and lead flies. Platform could use the targeting computer to provide information to the auto-pilot to keep it in a nice, stable circle so the weapon stays on target.
#4
A-10's drink a lot, have greatly reduced loiter time and can't carry 40mm cannon or 105mm arty. C-130's can conduct combat insertions and airdrops if necessary. They can also carry onboard analysts and techs, and land on combat assault airstrips to conduct extractions.
#6
Wait, what? It's a tanker/gunship? Are they high on crack? Who in their right mind would send a flying gas tank into close support missions with a 30mm autocannon?
The whole point of the boxcar gunship is to quickly bring small, mobile batteries in to loiter in a highly predictable circular orbit over a target & deliver direct fire. You *don't* want to do that if you've carrying god only knows how much gas for the rotaries. I'm sort of surprised we haven't lost any since Somalia.
If you need more Spookies, make more gunships. Don't send airmen into close proximity to ground fire with thousands of gallons of aviation fuel snuggled up tight next to 'em!
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
04/07/2009 15:08 Comments ||
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#7
Seems something like an updated OV-10 is the low cost, long range and right size aircraft for this war. A targeting pod, belly mounted 30mm, some Hellfires and 2.75" FFARs and you're ready for Taliban Season.
Posted by: ed ||
04/07/2009 15:10 Comments ||
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#8
Wait, what? It's a tanker/gunship? Are they high on crack?
Was thinking the same thing. Wouldn't want to be near one. Even the residual vapors in an empty tank would be fatal if hit by a tracer.
Posted by: ed ||
04/07/2009 15:13 Comments ||
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#9
Well whaddya know, the P-38 is back, FASTEST FIHTER IN WW 2
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
04/07/2009 16:00 Comments ||
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#10
Dual purpose 130 gunships like this are not new and a natural fit. The J model 130 is perfect for this mission and SOCOM has a few like this. I think there is a bit of misconception here. This aircraft is nothing like the tankers we commonly think of, its not a full caro bay of tank. It is just outfitted with two lines to refuel helicopters and a small internal tank. The J model gunship has an internal tank for range that can easily fill the couple hundred gallons for a helicopter without missing a beat or hurting its range. The gunship is loaded internally with a gunners control room, ammo racks, and of course the 105mm cannon, 20mm guns and an assortment of other fun stuff. It can help the heavy helicopters that take off low on fuel to make it to the fight, then provide that air cover that they do so well, and finally help them stay on station until the end of the fight and in return.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
04/07/2009 16:19 Comments ||
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#11
Loiter time? You want loiter time, it's time to bring back the war zeppelin. Only this time we we don't fill them with hydrogen, ok?
#13
"Wouldn't the recoil from any good-sized weapon mess with an A-10's aim"
Nah, you use something like the same technology that is used to keep a tank's main gun on target when moving over rough terrain with a could of extra features. Once you achieve a weapon system "lock" on the target and start a stream of ordinance on the way, you can track that stream with radar or optically, even, and the system can make its own compensations to get the rounds to the target. That adjusts for things like wind, humidity, temperature ... stuff that changes how bullets fly through the air. As for the plane moving, that can be compensated for, too.
Once you get the stream onto the target, it should be pretty hard to to miss as long as you maintain a lock on the target. The plane might move more than the system can compensate for but if you have the weapon system interacting with flight control electronics, that can be prevented from happening.
Lock on the target, pilot gives the weapon system control of the platform, pull the trigger, and from that point on the crew is "along for the ride" until delivery is complete. The weapon system has control of the platform until disengaged by the pilot or that activity is complete.
The wings are low on the A-10 to protect the engines from ground fire.
But my prediction is that any smaller gunship developed by the military will be unmanned. No need to put humans at risk for that mission and you can give a human exactly the same view from a cockpit sim that they would have from the actual cockpit anyway.
Just have a pair of video cameras that "look" in whatever direction the remote pilot is looking and feed these back to a stereoscopic display to the pilot. It would be just as if he is sitting in the cockpit except he isn't in any danger of being shot up.
#14
The A-10's 30mm cannon is on the center line of the aircraft, so no yawing is induced during firing. The A-10 does slow down from the recoil but it is fired in 1-2 second bursts.
Posted by: ed ||
04/07/2009 19:36 Comments ||
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#15
From my USMC C-130 pilot son:
As for #6 below, hes clueless The current AC-130s (gunships) have the same fuel cell configuration as all other -130s. So gunships have been in relatively close proximity to ground fire with fuel snuggled up to them for years! All -130s have fuel inside their wings ( and some carry externally under the wing, or inside the cargo compartment in removable tanks). So, ground fire is always a risk no matter what model -130 you fly. We takeoff with enough fuel for ourselves, as well as carry the extra fuel for our receivers in the tanks if you pass too much to the receiver, youre screwed because he cant give it back.
As for the tanks taking a bullet, there have been some recent modifications to the fuel tanks so hopefully prevent an explosion should they be hit by ground fire they have inserted **** into the tanks and that is supposed to reduce the gas/air mixture and prevent an explosion have to trust the slide rule guys on that one
The real answer to risk management comes from tactics The AC-130 flies at an altitude that is higher than the effective range of small arms fire / weapons. So Im not worried about taking a small arms tracer to one of my tanks. You would never employ a -130 the same way at a AH-1 or A-10 .No air to mud mission for the Herk!
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency chief on Tuesday refused to meet visiting US Special Representative Richard Holbrooke and American military commander Admiral Mike Mullen in an apparent reaction to criticism of his organisation for its alleged links with militants.
ISI chief Lt Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha refused to meet Holbrooke and Mullen, who had sought a meeting, because of the Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff's recent criticism of the spy agency, Dawn News channel quoted military sources as saying.
There was no official word on the development. Pasha refused to meet the US officials because of Mullen's criticism and allegations about the ISI's links with Taliban militants, the channel reported.
Army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani too brought up the issue during his meeting with Holbrooke and Mullen, Dawn News reported. Kayani reportedly took strong exception to the criticism of the ISI, sources said.
The army chief said the sincerity of the ISI and his force should not be questioned. The ISI's role is "purely professional" and the army is committed to fighting terrorism, Kayani reportedly said.
Both institutions had no links with militants, including the Taliban, Kayani reportedly told the two US officials.
Posted by: john frum ||
04/07/2009 16:02 ||
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#1
Smart Diplomacy already paying dividends.
Posted by: ed ||
04/07/2009 16:47 Comments ||
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#2
Good. Now you've got an excuse to keep them out of the loop when the Predators do their thing.
Delhi: With infiltration on the rise and elections approaching, the Army is gearing up its counter-infiltration grid in Jammu and Kashmir to deal with a likely increase in violence levels. While the seasonal re-deployment of troops to forward areas that were snowed-in during winter has begun, the Army is also reorganising its counter-infiltration grid by moving in extra Rashtriya Rifles (RR) units near the Line of Control (LoC).
There has been no increase of troops in the state but specialised RR units, that usually carry out anti-militant operations in the hinterland, have been moved closer to the LoC in wake of recent attempts of infiltration. As many as 700 troops have been relocated to make the CI grid more effective against terrorists who manage to cross the fence, sources say.
This movement, which has taken place after the Kupwara encounter that left 17 militants dead, is in addition to some 3,000 troops who were relocated to the Line of Control from the Valley earlier this year after the 70 Infantry Brigade was shifted from Shopian.
The move comes at a time when, officers say, the LoC is most vulnerable to infiltration large sections of the fence that were under snow in the higher reaches have been damaged at several locations, making it easier for militants to cross over.
These are typically the months when we see a rise in infiltration as the snow starts melting. They try to sneak in before all posts along the LoC are fully manned after the winter months, a senior officer said.
While the CI grid is being realigned temporarily to meet immediate requirements, intelligence reports do not suggest a huge surge in infiltration in coming months. A slight increase is expected when the elections start but the Army is not expecting an abnormal rise in activity.
There are about 400 militants who are waiting to cross over. This may be a little over last year but there has not been much change on the ground situation yet, an officer said.
What has experts worried, however, is the new style of infiltration that involves large groups of 10-15 militants attempting to cross over. While this was the norm before the LoC fence came up, the past few years saw small groups of militants trying to sneak in. In only two cases late last year and the Kupwara and Gurez incidents this year have large militant groups crossed the LoC. The trend of larger groups attempting to infiltrate started late last year. It is either a sign of desperation to push in as many people as possible or a new tactic to push in a large number of militants through so that at least some of them succeed, an Army officer said.
Posted by: john frum ||
04/07/2009 07:57 ||
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#1
moving in extra Rashtriya Rifles (RR) units near the Line of Control (LoC).
Ima anxiously awaiting the RR's tactical transition from the LoC to LOD, (Line of Departure).
[ADN Kronos] At least seven people died and over sixty were injured in blasts on Monday in India's northeast state of Assam. A powerful bomb at a busy restaurant in Guwahati killed four people and wounded at least 56, police said. Blood and body were parts strewn over the entrance to the restaurant and many vehicles were destroyed by the explosion, bystanders said.
Many bystanders helped the injured although angry mobs also pelted police and public transport with stones after the explosion.
A few hours later, a second bomb tied to a bicycle went off in a market in the town of Dhekiajuli, 100 miles north of Guwahati, injuring at least six people, three of them critically, local officials said.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for either attack. But police blamed the separatist United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) for the attacks. Intelligence officials say the group is flexing its muscles ahead of India's general election taking place in several phases from 13 April until 16 May.
The ULFA has links to Islamic militants in neighbouring Bangladesh.
Prime minister Manmohan Singh is scheduled to visit Assam on Tuesday to campaign for his Congress party.
Last week more than 10 people were injured when a bomb exploded close to where India's external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee was due to address a rally.
ULFA was suspected of carrying out massive serial explosions in October last year, in which 87 people died.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2009 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV Latest] Pakistani security forces have arrested two suspects in connection with a bomb explosion at Chakwal Mosque in which 30 Shias were killed.
Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Dera Ghazi Khan Mubarak Athar Monday told reporters that police have detained Qari Mohammed Ismail and Ghulam Mustafa Qaisrani, who allegedly assisted the bomber in reaching the mosque.
They had recently shifted from South Waziristan Agency to Chakwal to carry out the attack, Athar said, adding that police have recovered some videos from their custody showing they wanted to carry out more attacks.
Athar added that both of the suspects are member of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Baitullah Mehsud group, a Press TV correspondent reported.
On Sunday, a suicide bomber blew him self up during a religious Shia gathering in Chakwal -- some 90 km southeast of Islamabad in Punjab province, killing at least 30 people wounded hundreds others.
Interior Ministry Chief Rehman Malik said that the attackers in such incidents are usually indigent Pakistani nationals who are paid PKR 500,000 Pakistani rupees - around USD 6,000.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani called on provincial officials to meet on Monday and devise a strategy to restore law and order in the region.
The meeting is called at a time when the terror activities are on rise in the country. "Prime Minister wants to streamline the existing mechanism so that all the resources can be used to root out terrorism and militancy," an official told media.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2009 00:00 ||
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BAGHDAD -- On a trip shrouded in secrecy, President Barack Obama flew into Iraq on Tuesday for a brief look at a war he opposed as a candidate and now vows to end as commander in chief.
Obama flew into the country hours after a car bomb exploded in a Shiite neighborhood of the capital city, a deadly reminder of the violence that has claimed the lives at least 4,266 members of the U.S. military since March 2003.
Even Fox does the body count snark in the second paragraph.
The visit came at the conclusion of a long overseas trip that included economic and NATO summits in Europe and two days in Turkey.
Shortly before leaving Turkey, the president held out Iraq as an example of the change he seeks in policies inherited from former President George W. Bush. "Moving the ship of state takes time," he told a group of students in Istanbul. He noted his long-standing opposition to the war, yet said, "Now that we're there," the U.S. troop withdrawal has to be done "in a careful enough way that we don't see a collapse into violence."
That's not what MoveOn thought you were saying last year ...
In office only 11 weeks, Obama has already announced plans to withdraw most U.S. combat troops on a 19-month timetable. The drawdown is to begin slowly, so American forces can provide security for Iraqi elections, then accelerate in 2010. As many as 50,000 troops are expected to remain in the country at the end of the 19 months to perform counterterrorism duties.
Tuesday's trip was Obama's third to Iraq, and his first since taking office. He met with U.S. commanders and troops last summer while seeking the presidency. Because of security concerns, the White House made no advance announcement of the visit, and released no details for his activities on the ground.
It was the last stop of an eight-day trip to Europe and Turkey during which Obama sought to place his stamp on U.S. foreign policy after eight years of the Bush administration.
#1
Ohhhh...so disappointing. I saw this article but Sherry not only beat me to it, but missed a tremendous opportunity.
Allow me to expound:
On a trip shrouded in secrecy, President Barack Obama flew into Iraq on Tuesday for a brief look at a war he opposed as a candidate and now vows to end as commander in chief.
Didn't you conveniently miss that vote, Mr. freshman Senator from IL and illegitimate POTUS (aka POS)?
Obama flew into the country hours after a car bomb exploded in a Shiite neighborhood of the capital city, a deadly reminder of the violence that has claimed the lives at least 4,266 members of the U.S. military since March 2003.
Wait...how many have died since Bambi took office, failing to end the war he promised to end?
Shortly before leaving Turkey, the president held out Iraq as an example of the change he seeks in policies inherited from former President George W. Bush.
Exactly how is Iraq different from Afghanistan, given the probable target is in between?
"Moving the ship of state takes time," he told a group of students in Istanbul. He noted his long-standing opposition to the war, yet said, "Now that we're there," the U.S. troop withdrawal has to be done "in a careful enough way that we don't see a collapse into violence."
Still using Ayers euphemisms, hmmmm???
In office only 11 weeks, Obama has already announced plans to withdraw most U.S. combat troops on a 19-month timetable. The drawdown is to begin slowly, so American forces can provide security for Iraqi elections, then accelerate in 2010. As many as 50,000 troops are expected to remain in the country at the end of the 19 months to perform counterterrorism duties.
Predictably, Reuters (aka 'Bama Press Corps') asserts that anything Bama does on Iraq is just fine (everything GW did was wrong).
Because of security concerns, the White House made no advance announcement of the visit, and released no details for his activities on the ground.
I suppose it was a slip of the tongue mentioning Iraq in Instanbul (any idiot knew he would be going to Iraq).
It was the last stop of an eight-day trip to Europe and Turkey during which Obama sought to place his stamp on U.S. foreign policy after eight years of the Bush administration.
Hmmm...I guess Instanbul doesn't count as part of Europe (oops...did Reuters mean 'European Union' & Turkey???)
Oh, and don't worry, Zero...your 'stamp' on history is all but assured, despite all the attempts to whitewash it as you go...
He and other world leaders pledged cooperation to combat a global recession, and he appealed with limited success for additional assistance in Afghanistan, a war he has vowed to intensify.
The new president drew large crowds as he offered repeated assurances that the United States would not seek to dictate to other countries.
Nope...dictate to no one...except Euro (on Turkey & stimulus), Pakistan, Afhanistan & Iraq...but that's all (maybe).
He had pledged as a candidate to visit a majority-Muslim nation in his first 100 days in office.
I guess Saudi Arabia doesn't count. I guess he 'does' have to keep his distance from 'oil', doesn't he (sure got that bow in, though!).
#7
He was in Turkey.
Wow what a surprise this must have been.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
04/07/2009 16:09 Comments ||
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#8
Sherry, as a mod you're always free to do in-lines :-)
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/07/2009 16:09 Comments ||
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#9
Thanks Dr. Steve -- I occasionally do -- I spend most of my day in front of a computer, and get the "Breaking News" from several sources. So, usually, I'm just getting them up, wanting to read all the great snarking that goes on here!
#10
"Here's a couple things I want to say. Number one, thank you," the president bellowed as he addressed troops at a stopover at the tail end of a marathon overseas trip.
President Barack Obama greets military personnel at Camp Victory in Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, April 7, 2009. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
and
Posted by: john frum ||
04/07/2009 19:47 Comments ||
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#15
How ironic - the greatest Communist, 9-11 Terrorist, Traitor and Murderer of 3000 Americans of all is called "Mr. President"!
Posted by: Titus Whiter9537 ||
04/07/2009 21:37 Comments ||
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#16
I've been out of touch with the news, but thought I heard Obambi got to Iraq airport but weather kept him from helicoptering in to the city so he conducted his meeting with Maliki et al by phone. He could have done that without even landing. And if he hadn't telegraphed his punch, he probably could have safely convoyed to town (Bush might have had enough courage and stupidity to have tried that, though I wouldn't have recommended it.)
[Al Arabiya Latest] A spate of bloody car bombings rocked Shiite neighborhoods of Baghdad on Monday, killing 37 people and wounding at least 140 others in an escalation of violence as the United States prepares to pull combat troops out of cities by a June 30 deadline.
Six car bombs shattered the city's fragile security situation just as British business minister Peter Mandelson arrived in Baghdad. Among the dead were at least two women and a baby.
Angry survivors hurled stones at Iraqi soldiers at the site of one of the blasts in Sadr City after troops fired shots in the air to disperse crowds of people trying to care for the injured, witnesses said.
Bloody bombings across Baghdad
During the morning rush hour 10 people were killed and 65 wounded when a booby-trapped car exploded in a market area of the impoverished Shiite district of Sadr City in northeastern Baghdad, an interior ministry official said.
Another car bomb in the central Allawi district killed six people and wounded 25 others. Most of the victims were workers waiting for jobs, a defense ministry official said.
Emergency teams moved in fast to clean up the pieces of twisted metal and the remains of a mangled white sedan. Storefronts were closed, many of them damaged.
A car bomb targeting the convoy of a senior interior ministry official killed one civilian and a policeman and wounded six other policemen in the southeastern Shiite neighborhood of New Baghdad. The official, a brigadier general identified as Sadun, was unhurt.
Bombings still too common
And in Shiite Hussainiya, in the city's far northeast, four people were killed and 20 were wounded when a vehicle exploded near a market.
The violence continued later in the day and shortly after noon twin car bombs tore through a popular medical clinic and a crowded bazaar, killing 12 and wounding 23 in Um al-Maalif just west of the city centre, defense and interior ministry officials said.
The attacks come after deadly clashes in Baghdad between Iraqi troops and former Sunni insurgents, now turned anti-Qaeda militants, over the arrest of their leader on criminal charges.
Despite improving security, bombings remain all too common in the capital, and the latest attacks came as Mandelson led Britain's first official trade delegation to Baghdad for more than 20 years.
The business delegation, on a one-day visit, was also to visit Basra in the south, a British embassy official said.
Also on Monday, seven Iraqi soldiers were wounded when a man exploded a suicide vest inside the house they were raiding in Balad, about 70 kilometers (43 miles) north of Baghdad.
In addition, an American soldier was killed on Monday in Diyala province northeast of Baghdad, a U.S. military statement said.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2009 00:00 ||
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[Mail and Globe] Sri Lanka's military readied on Monday for a final assault on Tamil Tigers boxed into a strip of jungle with thousands of trapped civilians, after urging the rebels to surrender or face annihilation.
Security forces were moving ahead after killing at least 480 Tiger rebels in four days of fierce fighting in the northeast of the island that ended on Sunday, military officials said.
Troops recovered the bodies from Puthukkudiriruppu district which was brought under control of the security forces on Sunday, military spokesperson Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said. He said the guerrillas were now confined to a 20 square kilometre coastal area which the military has
designated a "safe zone" for tens of thousands of civilians trapped in the conflict area. "They continue to use civilians as a human shield and attack security forces from the safe zone," Nanayakkara said. Sporadic clashes were reported from the region on Monday.
Army chief Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka told US ambassador Robert Blake that he believed Tamil Tiger supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran may still be hiding in the area.
An "exodus of trapped civilians could be expected at any moment", Fonseka told Blake according to an army statement.
In the past four months, about 65 000 people have managed to flee the war zone and find shelter in government-run camps.
The United Nations and other foreign aid organisations say as many as 150 000 civilians may still be trapped, although the Sri Lankan government insists the figure is less than half that.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Haven't I seen these headline before---several times?
#2
We saw several times that they were bracing for the final battle against this town or that sector, most of them pretty much unpronouncable. This is the first of what'll probably be several where they're finally gonna roll up the Tigers for good.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2009 7:53 Comments ||
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#3
I recall seeing the SLA war zone maps, with the animation of their progress, and there may be more truth here than normal skepticism justifies.
If my conversion is correct, 20km2 is roughly 8-9 sq. miles, and I believe this is in a narrow strip of land. So, the LLTE doesn't really have any interior defenses left.
Sure, there will be several more unpronouncable locales, and related press releases, but unless there's a dramatic diversion or catastrophic loss of while, the government forces seem positioned to play this out.
Note how long they've kept the press and NGO/UN away from the front - seems like a sure sign of progress there.
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.
[ADN Kronos] As United States president Barack Obama began an official visit to Turkey on Monday, reports surfaced that a Syrian man was arrested in Istanbul in connection with a plot to kill him. The man - who sought to disguise himself as a journalist for the Arab TV network Al-Jazeera - managed to obtain press accreditation and allegedly planned to stab the US president with a knife, said Saudi daily al-Watan.
[ADN Kronos] At least seven people died and over sixty were injured in blasts on Monday in India's northeast state of Assam. A powerful bomb at a busy restaurant in Guwahati killed four people and wounded at least 56, police said. Blood and body were parts strewn over the entrance to the restaurant and many vehicles were destroyed by the explosion, bystanders said. 
[Iran Press TV Latest] Pakistani security forces have arrested two suspects in connection with a bomb explosion at Chakwal Mosque in which 30 Shias were killed. 
[Al Arabiya Latest] A spate of bloody car bombings rocked Shiite neighborhoods of Baghdad on Monday, killing 37 people and wounding at least 140 others in an escalation of violence as the United States prepares to pull combat troops out of cities by a June 30 deadline.
[Mail and Globe] Sri Lanka's military readied on Monday for a final assault on Tamil Tigers boxed into a strip of jungle with thousands of trapped civilians, after urging the rebels to surrender or face annihilation. 
