The damage in Helmand has caused the drug gangs to try and expand their operations to provinces in the north, closer to the "Russian Route" that moves heroin through Central Asia, Russia and to Europe and North America. Russia is also an increasingly important source of the chemicals needed to refine opium into heroin. These conditions are the cause of all the sudden Taliban activity in the north. The call for more U.S. and NATO troops is to counter the drug gangs attempt to find a place to set up show elsewhere in Afghanistan. Without the drug money, the drug gang gunmen disappear, as do most of the Taliban fighters. Suddenly, Afghanistan becomes a much less violent place.
Wait, what? We're starting to win? How can that be?
Posted by: ed ||
10/17/2009 00:00 ||
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The Taliban equivalent of a supply line, it seems. Seems like a good place to start and maybe finish this war.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Former enemies in north and south Sudan have reached agreement on details for a key referendum on the south's full independence, a top southern official said on Friday.
"We have overcome the differences over the outstanding issues, and there is an agreement," Riek Machar, vice president of the semi-autonomous south, told reporters.
Details of key sticking points over the referendum due in January 2011 were hammered out in his discussions with Sudan's Vice President Ali Osman Taha in the northern capital Khartoum, Machar said.
The south is due to vote in the referendum as part of the 2005 peace deal that ended Sudan's 22-year civil war -- the African continent's longest.
However, the northern and southern governments had disagreed on how to carry out the referendum.
Tensions have been running high between north and south, still divided by the religious, ethnic and ideological differences over which the civil war was fought.
"The turnout quorum for registered voters -- we agreed on two-thirds," Machar said. "As for the approval quorum, this is 50 percent plus one," he added.
Earlier reports suggested the north was pushing for up to a 75 percent approval percentage for independence for the south to go ahead.
The agreement must now be put before the governments in both Khartoum and the southern capital Juba to be ratified, Machar told journalists at Juba airport upon his return from the talks in Khartoum.
"I will present it to the (southern) council (of ministers) for the council to look at, before it is initialed by both of us and sent to the National Constitutional Review Commission," he said.
Machar said he welcomed the agreement, although the south had been pushing for a lower turnout requirement.
"I would have wished the turnout quorum to be a little bit lower, not that the south cannot meet the two-thirds registered voters," he said, but added that it was "manageable."
He added the agreement will allow southerners to cast their ballots outside the south, as had been sought by Khartoum.
"Southerners will vote in Khartoum as well as in the diaspora, in addition to the main voting area which is southern Sudan," Machar said.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/17/2009 00:00 ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] Somalia's hardline Islamist group al-Shabaab has publicly whipped women for wearing bras they say violate Islam by constituting a deception, north Mogadishu residents said on Friday.
The insurgent group, which seeks to impose a strict form of sharia (Islamic law) throughout Somalia, amputated a foot and a hand each from two young men accused of robbery earlier this month. They have also banned movies, musical ringtones, dancing at wedding ceremonies and playing or watching soccer.
" Al-Shabaab forced us to wear their type of veil and now they order us to shake our breasts "
Residents said gunmen had been rounding up any woman seen with a firm bust and then had them publicly whipped by masked men. The women were then told to remove their bras and shake their breasts.
"Al-Shabaab forced us to wear their type of veil and now they order us to shake our breasts," a resident, Halima, told Reuters, adding that her daughters had been whipped on Thursday.
"They first banned the former veil and introduced a hard fabric which stands stiffly on women's chests. They are now saying that breasts should be firm naturally, or just flat."
Officials of al-Shabaab, which Washington says is al-Qaeda's proxy in the failed Horn of Africa state, declined to comment.
The group's hardline interpretation of Islamic law has shocked many Somalis, who are traditionally moderate Muslims. Some residents, however, give the insurgents credit for restoring order to the regions under their control.
Al-Shabaab, which means "youth" in Arabic, control large swathes of south and central Somalia.
And Taliban means students. These people are as obsessed with youth as any Los Angeles matron.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/17/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
I guess breast augmentation surgery is out too. How about v!agra sales?
[Kyodo: Korea] A U.S. official in charge of sanctions on North Korea will travel to Beijing next week for talks with Chinese officials on implementation of a U.N. Security Council resolution aimed at punishing North Korea, the State Department said Friday. Philip Goldberg will depart Washington on Sunday and return on Wednesday after leading an interagency delegation to the Chinese capital for bilateral consultations on North Korea, department spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/17/2009 00:00 ||
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The Federal Police Commissioner says five men convicted of terrorism offences had amassed enough material to kill large numbers of elk people. The five have been found guilty of planning a terrorist act and could face life sentences, following Australia's longest terrorism trial.
AFP Commissioner Tony Negus says the men had large amounts of material to make bombs, along with weapons and ammunition. "We are talking about the capability here to affect a significant atrocity on Australians," he said. "This had the capability to do some serious damage and take serious numbers of human lives."
The investigation began in the middle of 2004, when ASIO, the AFP, New South Wales Police and the New South Wales Crime Commission watched, listened and probed for another year and a half before making their move. In November 2005 they swooped in an operation involving more than 650 state and federal officers.
After eight months of preliminary legal argument and a 10-month trial, the jury took more than three weeks to reach its verdict. They had spent 30 days watching and listening to surveillance tapes and heard 18 hours of phone taps.
What the jury did not know when it handed down its verdict was that four other men who were part of the same plot had already pleaded guilty and been sentenced to as much as 18 years in jail.
But supporters of the would-be terrorists rejected the jury's finding immediately. "The case has been going for about several years and what I know is that they haven't found nothing on them," one supporter said.
"They're as pure as the driven snow!"
Because of other ongoing trials, the men in this case still cannot be named but Mohammed, the nephew of one of the men, spoke outside the court to protest his uncle's innocence. "My uncle [is] the best person. I mean best family friend, my uncle," he said. "I've never suspicioned anything on my uncle. Obviously I can't tell you if it was but he wasn't part of that."
"He was a good man! Always giving ammo to the widows!"
"Why, he loved the orphans like they was his own sons. And the little orphanettes, too."
All of the would-be terrorists denied the charges and the evidence against them was circumstantial.
But according to the prosecution, they were committed to an extremist and violent form of Islam and this went way beyond rhetoric, bearing all the hallmarks of a full-blown terrorist plot in the making. To start with, according to the prosecution, the men had a powerful motive - to terrify Australians with a violent act of jihad to strike back in response to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Terrifying Australians? There's a tall order ...
In addition, they had set about getting the means to turn their thoughts into reality. All they needed was the opportunity. But this was a terrorism conspiracy case, so the prosecution did not prove the men had ever settled on an actual target or planned a specific act.
For their part, the conspirators argued they had an innocent explanation for the circumstantial evidence ranged against them. They say the large amount of literature supporting mass murder and martyrdom was a view commonly held by many Australians.
Which ones?
The ones that match a given definition of many and a particular definition of Australian.
They also said that paramilitary-style training camps in far western New South Wales were harmless hunting trips - just mates out having fun in the bush.
Elk hunting!
They also had mobile phones purchased using false names, as well as night vision gear, and the ring leader was found with enough weapons and ammunition to fuel a two-day shooting spree.
But that was not enough to convince nephew Mohammed they were up to anything sinister. "It doesn't matter if he had enough ammunition to fire for one hour or 24 hours. They're licensed guns and you can't say nothing about them," he said. "They're licensed guns. You can have up to 400 weapons, 600 weapons. He used to go hunting."
"Them elk are pretty big!"
"The wild camels done become pests,too -- I read about it in the paper. Uncle was just trying to do his civic duty as a good citizen to hunt them all down with his fifty-leventy shootin' spree guns and ammo. You kufrs should give him a medal!"
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/17/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
"The case has been going for about several years and what I know is that they haven't found nothing on them," one supporter said.
They're licensed guns and you can't say nothing about them,"
#2
Terrifying Australians? There's a tall order ...
Gotta agree there, I think the terrorists just went on the "Endangered Species" list, and if I was an Aussie Cop, I'd not look closely at the various bodies that I find, simply I.D. them and Trash-Bin all Non-Aussies.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
10/17/2009 11:45 Comments ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] The Swiss government urged voters on Thursday to reject a proposed ban on new minarets, saying it would contravene religious freedom and human rights, and could provoke extremists. "It is not a suitable means to counter religious extremism, rather it threatens to give a boost to religious fanatics," Swiss Justice Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf told a news conference webcast from Berne. "Better just to let them do what they want. Maybe they won't hurt us."
Switzerland will hold a referendum on Nov. 29 on banning the construction of new minarets after a group of politicians from the right-wing Swiss People's Party (SVP) and Federal Democratic Union gathered enough signatures last year to force a vote. The Alpine country is home to more than 300,000 Muslims -- about 4 percent of the population -- and has hundreds of mosques, of which only a handful have minarets.
Supporters of a ban say minarets have no religious justification and are symbols of Islamic power which contravene Swiss constitutional rights to religious freedom.
Applications to build more prompted the campaign for a ban.
Some local governments have banned a poster in favour of the ban which shows the Swiss flag, a white cross on a red background, covered in missile-like minarets and a woman wearing a black chador and veil associated with strict Islam.
Am opinion poll last week showed 51 percent of Swiss opposed a ban, while 35 percent were in favor. Supporters of a ban say minarets have no religious justification and are symbols of Islamic power which contravene Swiss constitutional rights to religious freedom.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/17/2009 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] The Pentagon is ramping up delivery of military equipment long sought by the Pakistani army to fight militants, US officials said on Friday.
Some $200 million worth of equipment and services already in the pipeline for Pakistan has started to arrive but officials declined to provide full details, saying many of the more sophisticated items were classified.
Some programs have run into resistance from Islamabad, which is wary of appearing too close to Washington, they said.
The US military aid is meant to help Pakistan mount a long-awaited ground offensive against Taliban fighters in their South Waziristan stronghold along the border with Afghanistan, where US and Nato forces are fighting a growing insurgency.
Hit by string of brazen militant attacks in the past 11 days that have killed about 150 people, Islamabad says a ground offensive by its troops is imminent.
'Each one of these attacks is troublesome,' Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said. "But the Pakistan government remains committed to addressing the threat there.'
Direct military aid from the Pentagon, officials said, would come on top of the equipment that Pakistan receives through normal foreign military sales overseen by the State Department. Officials say those sales vary year to year but generally total around $300 million annually.
US government aid is a highly contentious issue in Pakistan, where anti-American sentiment runs high, and Islamabad has thrown up obstacles to some of the Pentagon's proposals, including one to expand counter-insurgency training for the Frontier Corps paramilitary force, officials said.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/17/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Got any MOABs that are about to hit their expiration date?
Nepal's Maoists are in favour of a one-party rule in the country similar to that in communist China, a top CPN-United leader has said, raising doubts about their commitment to multi-party democracy.
Unified CPN-Maoist, which is inspired by the great Chinese leader Mao Zedong has opposed the constitutional provisions agreed upon by all other political parties that proposed as 'unchangeable' human rights, rule of law, independent judiciary, periodic elections and rule of law that are known as the basic characteristics of democracy.
During the meeting of the Constitutional Committee of the Constituent Assembly yesterday the Maoists have reiterated that the new constitution should not include any provision that cannot be amended.
During the meeting the Maoists argued that the people should have rights to change any constitutional provision as sovereignty is vested upon them.
"The Maoists are still opposed to the political system that guarantees free competition among political parties as they wanted to incorporate the provision which advocates supremacy of a single political party over others similar to one prevalent in China," CPN-United general secretary Sunil Manandhar said.
However, Nepali Congress (NC), CPN-UML and other political parties have argued that the constitutional provisions like rule of law, human rights, independent judiciary and periodic elections should be unchangeable, while the Maoists are against it.
Posted by: john frum ||
10/17/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
BHARAT RAKSHAK POSTERS > INDIA as world knows it may not look the same come year 2011-2015 due to the escalating NAXALITE/MAOIST INSURGENCY???
Xinhua) -- The Pentagon said on Friday that it has canceled plans to send a 3,500-strong army brigade to Iraq in January due to improved security environment in the country and a stronger Iraqi security force.
"The decision was based purely on the improved security environment and the continued improvement in the ability of Iraqi security forces, and is completely unrelated to our operations in Afghanistan," Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said.
Whitman made the remarks to dispel speculations that the troops may be redeployed to Afghanistan.
The spokesman said the decision to scrap the Iraqi deployment was sanctioned by Defense Secretary Robert Gates and there will be no replacement for the abortive plan.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/17/2009 00:00 ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] Egypt delayed the signing of a deal to heal the rift between President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement and the rival Palestinian Islamist group Hamas because of "new complications," an Egyptian official said on Friday.
He cited the growing tension between Fatah and Hamas over the handling by Abbas of a U.N. report criticising the Israeli military offensive into Gaza in December and January.
Cairo had slated a signing ceremony for October 25. The agreement would resolve nothing immediately but would outline steps to restore Palestinian unity. Hamas runs the Gaza Strip and Fatah dominates in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
The announcement came a day after Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah party presented a signed copy of the deal on Egypt's deadline, with Hamas saying it wanted an extension and amendments to the deal.
The official cited the "repercussions between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas because of the dispute on handling the Goldstone report," referring to the controversy over a damning UN report on the Gaza war at the turn of the year.
The official did not give a new deadline for wrapping up the deal, which would lead to a general election agreed on by both Fatah and Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip.
Hamas had accused Fatah of "betraying" the Palestinian victims of the conflict after the Palestinian delegation at the UN Human Rights Council agreed to have a vote on the report deferred.
The council has taken up the report again, and is expected to vote on Friday on whether to endorse it.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/17/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Palestinian unity is an oxymoron---like Islamic empathy.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Turkey urged Israel Friday to end the "humanitarian tragedy" in Gaza, saying ties between the two allies cannot recover if Palestinian suffering continues and peace talks remain dead in the Middle East.
"Ending the humanitarian tragedy in Gaza, reviving peace efforts -- both on the Palestinian and Syrian track, and most importantly -- reinstating a prevailing spirit of peace in the region... this is what we want," Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told reporters.
"When there is a return to the track of peace, these relations of trust (with Israel) will be re-established on the same level as before," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/17/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
I think they mean to put the Gazans out of their misery.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Jordan's King Abdullah II warned Israel of "disastrous repercussions" if it crosses a "red line" on Jerusalem, in talks on Friday with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.
"Jerusalem is a red line and any manipulation in this city would have disastrous repercussions on the security and stability of the region," he said, quoted in a palace statement.
Abdullah urged the international community, especially the European Union, "to act firmly against any Israeli measures aimed at changing the identity of the Holy City of Jerusalem and threaten the places of worship."
The fate of the Holy City, with sites sacred to Christians, Jews and Muslims, is one of the most sensitive issues in the decades-old Middle East conflict.
Israel captured east Jerusalem in 1967 and annexed it in a move not recognized by the international community. It considers the entire city to be its "eternal, indivisible" capital.
The al-Aqsa compound, known to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary) and to Jews as the Temple Mount, has often been a flashpoint of Israeli-Palestinian violence.
The Palestinians want to make eastern Jerusalem the city the capital of their promised state. They are angry over encroachment there by Jewish settlers while accusing the Israeli-run municipality of making it virtually impossible for them to get permits for new homes or extending existing ones.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/17/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
For a puppet king of a puppet kingdom which only exists because of Anglophone whim and Israeli stupidity (Diasporan hangups), he has a big mouth.
#2
The funny thing is that Jordan does apparently not recognize any 'red lines' when it comes to western freedom and sovereignty.
They're engaging in a campaign of legal terrorism directed against individuals in the west who had the temerity to exercise their civil rights and their human rights (and this was in no way connected to Israel or the Middle East!).
Western indulgence is not buying us good will, it is turning nominal allies into enemies as they see that anti-western aggression does not carry any sort of punishment.
Ma'an -- Hamas leader in exile Khaled Mash'al insisted on Friday that the international community bring Israel to court "locally and internationally" for what he termed crimes against Palestinians.
"We welcome the vote on Goldstone's report," he added in a televised interview. "We consider it a victory for the Palestinians."
Meanwhile, de facto government spokesman Taher An-Nunu expressed appreciation and gratitude to each country that supported the resolution, particularly Egypt, the envoy of which rejected a delay proposed by France.
However, the spokesman said he was astonished that the PLO envoy focused on both parties in the conflict as if they were equal, rather than solely discussing the Israeli assault, which other nations considered more important.
An-Nunu added that his government expected Israeli military leaders to be taken to court "as they are war criminals."
The Palestinian Authority also welcomed the report's endorsement.
According to Fatah Central Committee member Mohammad Dahlan, "Endorsement of the Goldstone report is a victory."
In a statement, he added that "the vote at the Human Rights Council is the first step toward bringing Israeli war criminals - wherever they are - to the international court."
Posted by: Fred ||
10/17/2009 00:00 ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] The U.N. Human Rights Council on Friday endorsed a Gaza report that accused both Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas of committing war crimes in their December-January conflict.
In a special session, 25 of the body's members voted in favour of the resolution that chastised Israel for failing to cooperate with the U.N. mission led by South African jurist Richard Goldstone. Another 6 voted it against and 11 abstained.
Both Israel and Hamas have rejected the charges in the Goldstone report, which is most critical of the Jewish state. The report calls for the U.N. Security Council to refer the matter to the International Criminal Court if the Israelis or Palestinians fail to investigate the alleged abuses themselves.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/17/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Nazis, Communists, Mad Mullas, Tranzis, they never think that a time will come then they'll have to pay for their crimes.
#2
Wonner if Goldstone might have a look at plaasmoorde, ie, killings in the farming and rural communities in South Africa. Of course whites probably don't qualify for proper recognition under current UN genecide guidelines.
#3
Even though the UNHRC is fundamentally a biased corrupt organization; is there hope for them 'cause they included the Palestinians with the perennial "bad guys" Israelis?
The U.S. military already uses a fleet of unmanned spy blimps to keep tabs on would-be enemies in Afghanistan and Iraq. Now, the Navy wants to upgrade the airships' sight and hearing, as part of its push for "wide area persistent surveillance."
The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division in Lakehurst New Jersey issued a call for research proposals this week, looking for all sorts of new sensors, sensor-processors, and communication relays to use on its new, snooping aerostats.
According to the Navy, the lighter-than-air-craft should also be able to see all across the spectrum -- from ultraviolet to visible light to infrared. The system should incorporate "advanced radar for target detection and tracking; laser radar for target tracking and identification; ESM [electronic support measures] for target location cueing and identification; C4I [Command, Control, Communications, Computers, and Intelligence] for receiving and disseminating target information and secure transmission of imagery and target track data."
Ideas on other surveillance gear -- acoustic sensors, magnetic anomaly detectors, "biometrics technologies," and "non-cooperative ID sensors" -- are also welcome. Ditto the "insertion of artificial intelligence (AI) techniques into airborne sensors for situational optimization."
Though it sounds peculiar, why not mount an extremely long range sniper cannon? At the height of 5,000-15,000 feet, it could put a single round through the engine block of an advancing enemy vehicle.
#1
As per the proposed GLOBAL-SPACE PROMPT STRIKE concepts, the USDOD would need to also dev ADVANCED AIRSHIPS WID LANDING, LAUNCHING, + REFUELING CAPABILITIES FOR STRATEGIC ARMED UAV = UOVS oper from CONUS.
#2
Though it sounds peculiar, why not mount an extremely long range sniper cannon? At the height of 5,000-15,000 feet, it could put a single round through the engine block of an advancing enemy vehicle.
There's always somebody who wants to turn recce assets into light strike. "Why don't we put a gun on it?" has been heard so many times throughout history...
#7
Let me recommend if I may, LOF-6 Daimler engines and four-bladed Heine wooden propellers? Only six would be needed to fly in a Star of David formation, which at the proper altitude could monitor hundreds or possibly thousdands of kilometers. :)
#8
Guns would be silly. A simple 50 ft. long cubic zirconium needle ram would be sufficient for blimp-to-blimp combat. As in all things air-force trainning and reflexes would be everthing.
#9
Mad-Max showed the world that ANY vehicle could be better with a weapon welded on it.
Predator + AGM = Reaper
APC + 120mm Gun = Tank
Toyota + Machine Gun = Technical
biplane + sexygun = A-10
Blimp + Snipers rifle = OMGWTFBBQ
#10
Weaponizing the blimps seems like a natural. I just fear the day they begin weaponizing traffic signals.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
10/17/2009 13:01 Comments ||
Top||
#11
And lose the diesels, F-100s are indicated.... with strakes... lottsa strakes - and the entire thing needs to be heavily armoured in case the reds arm their blimps. That's for Block 1. For Block II no more hot bunking.
[Iran Press TV Latest] Iran has strongly condemned Israeli acts against the Palestinians, calling on the international community to bring Israeli leaders to justice for the 2008 war they launched against Gaza.
Iran's special representative to the 12th session of the UN Human Rights Council, Hamid Baeedinejad, on Friday expressed full support for the meeting to discuss "systematic and apparent" violation of the rights of the Palestinians.
He called on the international community to pay heed to the "important" report presented by the UN fact-finding committee on the 22-day Gaza war.
"Those who committed war crimes against humanity, especially defenseless Palestinian women and children, should bring into international trial. The criminal acts of the Zionist regime [Israel] should be ended," he said.
The session concluded Friday after adopting a resolution endorsing the Goldstone report on the Gaza war, despite efforts by Israeli leaders to block the motion.
The resolution, which was adopted by a vote of 25 in favor, six against and 11 abstentions, urges the endorsement of the recommendations mentioned in the Goldstone report.
The Iranian diplomat also pointed to poor living conditions of more that 1.5 million Palestinians in Gaza and urged for a front to put Israel under pressure to lift the blockade on the tiny strip.
More than 1,300 Palestinians were killed when Israel in late 2008 launched three weeks of non-stop attacks against the impoverished coastal sliver, which remains under a crippling siege since June 2007.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/17/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
I'm not going to even give this crap credence by comparing it to Iran's recent handling of the mass protests.
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.
The Federal Police Commissioner says five men convicted of terrorism offences had amassed enough material to kill large numbers of 
[Al Arabiya Latest] The Swiss government urged voters on Thursday to reject a proposed ban on new minarets, saying it would contravene religious freedom and human rights, and could provoke extremists. "It is not a suitable means to counter religious extremism, rather it threatens to give a boost to religious fanatics," Swiss Justice Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf told a news conference webcast from Berne.
[Dawn] The Pentagon is ramping up delivery of military equipment long sought by the Pakistani army to fight militants, US officials said on Friday.
Nepal's Maoists are in favour of a one-party rule in the country similar to that in communist China, a top CPN-United leader has said, raising doubts about their commitment to multi-party democracy.
Ma'an -- Hamas leader in exile Khaled Mash'al insisted on Friday that the international community bring Israel to court "locally and internationally" for what he termed crimes against Palestinians. 
The U.S. military already uses a fleet of unmanned spy blimps to keep tabs on would-be enemies in Afghanistan and Iraq. Now, the Navy wants to upgrade the airships' sight and hearing, as part of its push for "wide area persistent surveillance."
[Iran Press TV Latest] Iran has strongly condemned Israeli acts against the Palestinians, calling on the international community to bring Israeli leaders to justice for the 2008 war they launched against Gaza. 
