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Area: WoT Background    Non-WoT    Opinion        Politix   
European Union Lifts Sanctions on Libya
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 1: WoT Operations
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Page 6: Politix
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Good morning
Posted by: Fred || 09/03/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  In my next life, I wanna come back as Robert Wagner
Posted by: Frank G || 09/03/2011 0:09 Comments || Top||

#2  Happy Birthday/Daily Gam Shot

Natalia Estrada aka Ana Montez in "Olè" aka La ballerina in "Jolly Blu" aka Penelope in "The Cyclone" aka Olga in "Aquí, el que no corre... vuela" (age 39)


Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 09/03/2011 0:16 Comments || Top||

#3  Natalie had to be one of the most beautiful women...ever. Despite that, she was a gifted actress.
Posted by: Sgt. D.T. || 09/03/2011 1:14 Comments || Top||

#4  Just keep her away from boats.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 09/03/2011 13:06 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
Former Gitmo prisoner killed in Afghanistan
Afghan and coalition forces killed an insurgent leader linked to al Qaeda in eastern Afghanistan, NATO officials said. The man was identified as Sabar Lal Melma, described as responsible for organizing attacks and financing operations in Kunar province. A man by the same name from the same province was released from Gitmo in 2007 after being held for nearly five years.
Justice delayed in this case is not justice denied. Well done, all!
Melma was killed on Friday during NATO operations near the Pakistani border.

Capt. Justin Brockhoff, a spokesman for the NATO-led troops said, "It is fair to say he was clearly linked to al Qaeda. He was responsible for many attacks and finance in the Pech Valley, Kunar province. He was in contact with senior al Qaeda figures in Kunar and Pakistan."

Afghan and NATO troops were given a tip on Melma's whereabouts and tracked him to a building in a compound in Jalalabad District in Nangarhar province. When troops attempted to arrest him, he came out of the building with an AK-47 and was killed.

Several suspected insurgents were nabbed at the compound, according to the NATO statement.
Posted by: ryuge || 09/03/2011 06:31 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  His recidivist rate just dropped. Death demonstrates remarkable success in reducing repeat behaviors.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 09/03/2011 8:05 Comments || Top||

#2  Looks like the tracking implant worked.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 09/03/2011 10:16 Comments || Top||


Foreign Policy sez CIA involved in targeting operations
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/03/2011 01:28 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  By now, the CIA has no excuse not to have a legion of ground agents and assassins taking out bad guyz right, left and sideways. I imagine with Petraeus at the helm, the CIA will be whacking more baddies than it did in OSS days against the Nazis.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 09/03/2011 10:20 Comments || Top||


Taliban kidnap 40 Pak boys in Afghanistan
[Pak Daily Times] Suspected Talibs in Afghanistan have kidnapped as many as 40 Pak boys after they inadvertently strayed across the border, Pak officials said on Friday.

The boys, from the town of Mamoun in the Pashtun tribal region of Bajaur, were trekking when they ended up in Afghanistan on Wednesday, the officials said.

"Now, they are being held by forces of Evil across the border," Pakistain government official Muhammad Haseeb Khan told Rooters.

It was not possible to verify the claim.

Two local intelligence officials said that the kidnappers were apparently from a Death Eater group allied with Taliban capo Maulvi Faqir Muhammad, who led cut-throats in Bajaur but is believed to have decamped to Afghanistan in 2010.

"The kidnappers were Talibs, belonging to Maulvi Faqir Muhammad group," one official said, on condition of anonymity.

Another Pak administration official speaking anonymously said security forces were stretched thin along parts of the frontier.

"It is a mostly non-existent border and security cover is not available everywhere," he said.

Security officials said they learned of the kidnappings when parents of the children, members of a tribe that inhabits the frontier area, informed them of the abductions on Friday.

They said about 20 boys below ten years old in the group were allowed to return to Pakistain, But boys between 12 to 14 years old were held. About 60 children took part in the outing.

Tribal elders and holy mans were trying to negotiate with the forces of Evil to secure their release, officials said.

However,
a woman is only as old as she admits...
Afghan border police commander General Aminullah Amarkhel said he had no knowledge of the abduction, and the local Taliban capo in Kunar province,
... which is right down the road from Chitral...
where the boys vanished, also said he was unaware of the incident.

Afghanistan shares a disputed and unmarked 2,400-kilometre (1,500-mile) border with Pakistain, and Taliban and other al Qaeda-linked forces of Evil have carved out strongholds on either side.

Bajaur is opposite the eastern Afghan province of Kunar and has long been an infiltration route for forces of Evil entering Afghanistan to fight US-led forces there.

Tribesmen from Mamoun are opposed to al Qaeda and the Taliban and have raised militias to fight them, angering forces of Evil who often hit back with bombings and shooting attacks.

The Pak military has repeatedly claimed to have eliminated the Death Eater threat in Bajaur, one of seven districts in the semi-autonomous tribal belt that the United States sees as the global headquarters of al Qaeda.
This article starring:
Maulvi Faqir Muhammad
Posted by: Fred || 09/03/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Taliban

#1  "squeal, boy! Squeal!"
Posted by: Frank G || 09/03/2011 0:10 Comments || Top||

#2  "Inadvertently strayed across the border" is total bullshi*. These poor lads will be indoctrinated as suicide bombers in the Madrassas of Pakistan. Adult volunteers are lacking these days. Sad, very, very sad.
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/03/2011 0:19 Comments || Top||

#3  According to Ay Pee, a man lured the boys to play in the river, which was the border of the territory if a tribe opposed to the jihadis. One has to ask what such a large crowd of boys was doing, wandering the landscape so far from adult supervision.
Posted by: trailing wife || 09/03/2011 21:04 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
At Least 21 Dead in Somali Rebel Clashes
[An Nahar] At least 21 people have been killed and 31 others maimed in two days of heavy fighting
... as opposed to the more usual light or sporadic fighting...
on the border of Somalia proper and the breakaway state of Puntland, officials and witnesses said Friday.

Clashes broke out Thursday in the northern part of Galkayo town after Puntland soldiers raided neighborhoods searching for gunnies linked to Al Qaeda-inspired Shebab thugs.

"Puntland security forces carried out security operations in Galkayo after getting concrete information regarding elements with links to the Shebab terrorist group," a Puntland interior ministry statement read.

"The raid was successful and heavy casualties were inflicted on the terrorists," the statement added.

Galkayo straddles the border between the northern breakaway state of Puntland and central Somalia.

Security officials said fighting erupted again early Friday after both sides reinforced their positions.

"We are not sure exactly how many people were killed, but we are getting reports that there are at least 21, most of them (rebel) fighters," said Mohamed Jama, a security official in the semi-autonomous region.

Witnesses gave the same toll, and said both sides continued to face off around the city as sporadic fighting was still going on Friday.

"The fighting has continued for two days, and more than 20 people have died so far, but 31 others, most of them civilians, have been injured," said Abdukadir Farah, a witness.

"I saw at least 10 dead bodies this morning, and there were more than 10 others killed on Thursday," said Ahmed Jego, another resident. "The fighting was very heavy."

Hardline Shebab rebels still control large parts of southern and central Somalia, including areas that the United Nations
...where theory meets practice and practice loses...
have declared as famine zones.

Somalia is the worst affected country by the Horn of Africa's worst drought in decades, with nearly half its 10 million people in need of humanitarian aid.

Posted by: Fred || 09/03/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab


Fighting spreads as Sudan faces more civil war
[Miami Herald] Fighting in Sudan spread to a new hot-spot region Friday, raising concerns that the end of one bloody Sudanese civil war might merely usher in a new one after a decade of international diplomacy helped split the country into two nations earlier this year.

Clashes erupted after midnight early Friday in Sudan's Blue Nile state, as government forces quickly expelled from its capital city forces loyal to Gov. Malik Agar, who heads the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North opposition party.

Agar's party - once part of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement rebel group, which now rules the country of South Sudan, which separated from Sudan in July after decades of war - says the attacks are a clear sign that President Omar al-Bashir
Head of the National Congress Party. He came to power in 1989 when he, as a brigadier in the Sudanese army, led a group of officers in a bloodless military coup that ousted the government of Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi and eventually appointed himself president-for-life. He has fallen out with his Islamic mentor, Hasan al-Turabi, tried to impose shariah on the Christian and animist south, resulting in its secessesion, and attempted to Arabize Darfur by unleashing the barbaric Janjaweed on it. Sudan's potential prosperity has been pissed away in warfare that has left as many as 400,000 people dead and 2.5 million displaced. Omar has been indicted for genocide by the International Criminal Court but nothing is expected to come of it.
has no intention of making peace.

"They are on the record saying that they will not allow the SPLM to stay in the north," said Yasir Arman, the secretary-general of the northern opposition party, speaking of members of al-Bashir's regime.

"We still seek a peaceful settlement, but it takes two to tango," he said.

Posted by: Fred || 09/03/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Sudan


Africa North
European Union Lifts Sanctions on Libya
[Tripoli Post] Following discussions by the foreign ministers of the European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
member states on how to help the country's transition from 42 years under dictator Muammar Al Qadaffy
...Custodian of Wheelus AFB for 42 long years...
to a new beginning after a successful uprising that has lasted over six months, the EU Friday decided to lift sanctions on Libyan ports, oil firms and banks.

The EU's official journal listed 28 Libyan entities freed from restrictions, including the ports of Tripoli, Al Khoms, Brega, Ras Lanuf, Zawiyah and Zuwarah.
Posted by: Fred || 09/03/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


Arabia
Libyan Embassy in Sana'a Raises Transitional Council Flag
[Yemen Post] Libyan embassy in Sana'a lifted the new Libyan flag instead of the green flag, which represented the regime of leader Muammar Qadaffy
...Custodian of Wheelus AFB for 42 long years...
on Thursday night.

Yemen has not yet announce its acceptance to the Transitional Council as the sole representative of the Libyan people instead of the Qadaffy regime, which collapsed after an armed popular revolution.

Analysts say that raising the new flag of the Transitional Council holds an indirect acceptance of the authorities in Sana'a to the changes in Libya.

Earlier this week, the Yemen delegation withdrew before the 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...
foreign ministers meeting to avoid recognition of the Interim Council of Libya.

Today marks the 42nd anniversary of September Revolution, which Qadaffy took over rule of Libya.

It was announced earlier this week the rebels in Libya are not in control over several key areas, including the city of Al Jawad, which lies about 126 km from the city of Sirte, Qadaffy's hometown.
Posted by: Fred || 09/03/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Britain
Perfidious Albion continues to sack the very best.
Hat tip and to the thousands of brave Nepalese and Indian contractors leaning into various tasks in Afghanistan.
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/03/2011 00:55 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Sounds like an opportunity. If you don't need technical skills like Xe/Blackwater, a new start up could use these lads. Think 'marines' for the Indian Ocean on consignment. In their case, I'd suspect they'd want the pirates to climb on board before cleaning the decks.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 09/03/2011 8:14 Comments || Top||

#2  A company of Gurkhas? They ought to be able to name their price.

Unfortunately, by remaining in the US, Xe has neutralized itself as an effective security services company. It has brought in several political apparatchiks from both parties as insurance, but that is like getting cancer so you can work in radiation without worrying about getting cancer.

Instead, a company like Xe needs to set up in a country like South Sudan, which would be more than happy to host and not ask too many questions, in exchange for services.

It would be a very happy event for them, as this company could pipeline for both the US and Israel, bringing it a LOT of foreign revenue, technology and other goods, and keep them extra safe from North Sudan.

As an extra, added bonus, South Sudan could also recognize and become friends with Taiwan, India and Nepal, and within a decade "be farting through silk."
Posted by: Anonymoose || 09/03/2011 10:34 Comments || Top||

#3  the problem is that because of lawyers, Gurkhas now get the same pay and retirement benefits as British soldiers, so there is no longer a financial benefit to employing them.

Classic case of a win-win being turned into a lose-lose situation.
Posted by: phil_b || 09/03/2011 18:53 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
China Has ‘Workable’ Anti-Ship Missile Design, Pentagon Says
Wonder if it is marked "GE" on any of the parts.....
Posted by: Uncle Phester || 09/03/2011 12:21 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Any country that can build passenger jets and small commercial jets can build an anti-shipping missile. The first ones were basically converted small jet aircraft made into drones and filled with explosives. Whether it can make it through all of the anti-missile fire and spoofing is the big question.
Posted by: Shieldwolf || 09/03/2011 15:17 Comments || Top||

#2  This is a ballistic missile, not a cruise missile. OTOH, someone is probably working on a seagoing THAAD equivalent...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 09/03/2011 15:27 Comments || Top||

#3  Standard III missiles are part of Ballistic Missile Defense and carried by AEGIS cruisers.
Posted by: Shieldwolf || 09/03/2011 16:37 Comments || Top||

#4  Meh... so do we. Anyone can make a ballistic anti-ship missile. The real trick is to find a way to make it even halfway accurate. They could do GPS, but it isn't as accurate as ours. They could do radar, but that can be jammed. They can do optical, but that is easily defeated. They could guide it in with lasers via sub, but that means the sub has to live long enough to do it.

Needless to say, there are a few details that still need worked out before our aircraft carriers need to stay away from the Chinese coast and Taiwan. China is getting closer, but is still a decade or two off from having a real working version.
Posted by: DarthVader || 09/03/2011 17:40 Comments || Top||

#5  I thought that's what the Silkworm was.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 09/03/2011 17:58 Comments || Top||

#6  The Silkworm was one of those explosive-packed drones that were used as anti-ship missiles; it was not a ballistic missile.
Posted by: Shieldwolf || 09/03/2011 21:52 Comments || Top||

#7  Currently the Aegis has a 2 layer layer defense against ASBMs. Standard 3 for exoatmospheric. Standard 2/6 for atmospheric. I think the defense will also need a bottom layer, more maneuverable missile like the ESSM in case the DF-21D has any tech from the Pershing II Maneuverable Reentry Vehicle.
Posted by: Eohippus Phater7165 || 09/03/2011 22:07 Comments || Top||

#8  China + PLA are still waffling between the doctrines of Cold War-style "managed escalation" from conventional towards nuclear strike, versus unilateral or "preemptive" limited nuclear strike, as they fear that the US-Alied may mistakenly interprete any incoming DF-21 ASBMS as a strategic limited or "all-out" nuclear strike.

IMO this is part of the reason China deployed an easily convertible, dual-use "oil-energy platform" in the SCS - IT IS FOR ALL PRACTICAL PURPOSES A "HYBRID" OR ASYMMETRIC "FLOATING/SEA FORT" CAPABLE OF SUPPORTING BOTH VERTICAL-LAUNCH + TLCM SYS THAT, SSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHH,
CCCCCCCCCCCCC, BTW CAN ALSO SUPPORT "CIVILIAN" OIL-ENERGY DRILLING RIG SYS IN PDENIABLE COVER/DISGUISE.

Its complement to the above is combined Surface Warfare-Submarine task groups on CVN hunt.

The Taiwan Straits + SCS, etc is the rear front -China + PLA, PLAN actually intend to deter, defeat, or destroy US CVBGS while the latter is still away in EASTPAC-CONUS [Hawaii, US West Coast], CENTPAC, or WESTPAC [Guam]. NPT UNLIKE THE US-NATO, USSR = now RUSSIA, OR ANY OTHER MAJOR POWER, CHINA DESIRES THAT ANY NUCWAR-POSSIB MIL CONFRONTATION OCCUR AS FAR AWAY FROM POSSIBLE.

IMO its safe to say that, for China + PLA/PLAN, Guam-WESTPAC IS THE "LINE OF DEATH" WHERE THE US CVBGS DARE NOT CROSS UNLESS THEY WANT ALL OUT WAR.

[KLINGON, ROMULAN, CARDASSIAN, ETC. "NEUTRAL ZONES here].
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 09/03/2011 22:32 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Top Secret JSOC Uncovered by WaPo
The CIA's armed drones and paramilitary forces have killed dozens of al-Qaeda leaders and thousands of its foot soldiers. But there is another mysterious organization that has killed even more of America's enemies in the decade since the 9/11 attacks.

CIA operatives have imprisoned and interrogated nearly 100 suspected terrorists in their former secret prisons around the world, but troops from this other secret organization have imprisoned and interrogated 10 times as many, holding them in jails that it alone controls in Iraq and Afghanistan.

This article, adapted from a chapter of the newly released "Top Secret America: The Rise of the New American Security State," by Washington Post reporters Dana Priest and William M. Arkin, chronicles JSOC's spectacular rise, much of which has not been publicly disclosed before. Two presidents and three secretaries of defense routinely have asked JSOC to mount intelligence-gathering missions and lethal raids, mostly in Iraq and Afghanistan, but also in countries with which the United States was not at war, including Yemen, Pakistan, Somalia, the Philippines, Nigeria and Syria.
It's always about selling a book, isn't it?
The president has also given JSOC the rare authority to select individuals for its kill list -- and then to kill, rather than capture, them. Critics charge that this individual man-hunting mission amounts to assassination, a practice prohibited by U.S. law. JSOC's list is not usually coordinated with the CIA, which maintains a similar, but shorter roster of names.
I wonder if bin Laden's name was on the list? Was it OK to assassinate him? Why is it always reported as "killing of bin Laden? Fortunately, Obooboo didn't take a poll to see if the Seals should wack binny.
In the fall of 2003, JSOC got a new commander who would turn the organization into arguably the most effective weapon in the U.S. counterterrorism arsenal. From his perch as vice director of operations on the Joint Staff, Brig. Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal had come to believe there was an aversion to decision making at the top of government. No one wanted to be wrong, so they either asked more questions or added more layers to the process. The new emphasis on interagency cooperation also meant meetings were bigger and longer. Any one of a multitude of agencies could stifle action until it was too late.
Not unlike the rest of the government. Except for the regulators, of course.
McChrystal's legendary work ethic mixed well with his Scotch Irish exuberance and common-man demeanor. He viewed beer calls with subordinates as an important bonding exercise. He made people call him by his first name. He seemed almost naively trusting. (This trait would become McChrystal's undoing in 2010, after he was promoted to commander of forces in Afghanistan. He and members of his inner circle made inappropriate comments about their civilian leaders in the presence of a Rolling Stone reporter. McChrystal offered to resign, and Obama quickly accepted).
Undone by lefties! I'm shocked!
Posted by: Bobby || 09/03/2011 09:37 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Critics charge that this individual man-hunting mission amounts to assassination, a practice prohibited by U.S. law.

No it isn't. US law, since Gerald Ford, prohibits the "assassination of foreign leaders". The interpretation being "political leaders".

Instigators, coordinators, financiers, propagandists, technicians, and all other non-political leaders are fair game.

In fact, I have long advocated that we be far more enthusiastic about taking out such individuals, with means ranging from the (plausible deniability) "looks like an accident", to "with extreme, grotesque, hideous, and inhuman depraved prejudice".

I will conclude by proposing that even under truly extraordinary circumstances, like former commerce secretary Ron Brown, who it has been alleged sold highest security NSA information to the Chinese, that even "US leaders" are not immune from assassination.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 09/03/2011 10:15 Comments || Top||

#2  We don't do that, Anonymoose -- that's why we have courts.
Posted by: trailing wife || 09/03/2011 10:35 Comments || Top||

#3  I realize that because I'm not a leftist I won't get this, but what's wrong with killing those who would kill us if only they had the opportunity?
Posted by: Steve White || 09/03/2011 10:37 Comments || Top||

#4  We just don't admit we do that. The problem with extrajudicial killings & killings outside of warfare is that they can be perverted by insiders for their own evil ends - see the acts of Qadaffy & Saddam Hussein for starters.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 09/03/2011 10:59 Comments || Top||

#5  AH is correct. I'm ambivalent about this. I see nothing other than the honor code of the Military to prevent 'bumble and company, or similar follow on, from starting to use this domestically.

Given our current foreign policy and wars I can approve this against foreign targets, but.....

e.g. if there was enough evidence to get Brown wacked, there was enough to arrest and try him for treason.
Oh? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned 'round on you, where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat?

Posted by: AlanC || 09/03/2011 11:18 Comments || Top||

#6  that's why we have courts.

Courts that empower themselves to impose personal views upon the people and state. Justice Kennedy et al ignored Yamashita v. Styer and impose civilian processes to what had already been establish by precedent as legitimate prosecution of those captured on the battlefield. He chose to ignore the very standards of the Geneva Convention on the responsibilities of those who seek its protection requires conforming to its rules. He granted status to illegal combatants.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 09/03/2011 11:19 Comments || Top||

#7  10 years later, let's remember Senate Joint Resolution 23 which is still in effect -

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This joint resolution may be cited as the `Authorization for Use of Military Force'.

SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION FOR USE OF UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES.

(a) IN GENERAL- That the President is authorized to use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, or harbored such organizations or persons, in order to prevent any future acts of international terrorism against the United States by such nations, organizations or persons.

(b) War Powers Resolution Requirements-

(1) SPECIFIC STATUTORY AUTHORIZATION- Consistent with section 8(a)(1) of the War Powers Resolution, the Congress declares that this section is intended to constitute specific statutory authorization within the meaning of section 5(b) of the War Powers Resolution.

(2) APPLICABILITY OF OTHER REQUIREMENTS- Nothing in this resolution supercedes any requirement of the War Powers Resolution.


nb - Senate (place where the bill was initiate) Joint (that it passed both houses) Resolution
Posted by: Procopius2k || 09/03/2011 11:26 Comments || Top||

#8  JSOC has grown from 1,800 troops prior to 9/11 to as many as 25,000. It has its own intelligence division, its own drones and reconnaissance planes, even its own dedicated satellites. It also has its own cyberwarriors, who, on Sept. 11, 2008, shut down every jihadist Web site they knew.

To give you an idea of the leathality of our operators, here is a Strategy Page article on the Rangers:

Rangers have kill ratio of 2,000:1
Posted by: Glinese Big Foot2428 || 09/03/2011 11:34 Comments || Top||

#9  Fixed it, Glinese Big Foot2428. You had a misplaced angle bracket.
Posted by: trailing wife || 09/03/2011 11:38 Comments || Top||

#10  a preemptive strike across Petraeus's bow by the WaPo and CIA apparatchiks?
Posted by: Frank G || 09/03/2011 11:58 Comments || Top||

#11  TW: Israel does it at intervals, and it works like a charm.

The difference between assassinating foreign terrorists and their supporters "over there", and any necessary assassinations "over here" is that over there, only a very limited and authorized chain of command is permitted to order hits.

Here, the process would be insanely hard, and only for the most grievous offenses. It would have to be initiated by (my guess) one of our intelligence agencies or the FBI. Likely it would have to then go to one of our intelligence courts for secret hearings.

They would determine if the actions were not just treasonous, and so damaging to the United States, and that the individual involved was effectively "above the law", for some reasons, not just that they could not be tried without causing other major harm.

From there, the execution order would likely go to a subcommittee of the senate Intelligence committee, who would likely have the final say, and designate who will carry out the order, and to some extent, with consultations, how it will be carried out.

How did Ron Brown qualify? In short, he sold the details of NSA listening posts around China and who manned them to the Chinese. And he did so for just a few hundred thousand dollars.

Thus he compromised most NSA monitoring of China, and put the lives of hundreds of NSA personnel, and their families, at grave risk.

He also committed several other criminal acts, but nothing came anywhere close to this. It should be noted that others at the commerce department, seen as complicit in this crime, on the US side, are also deceased, but known Chinese agents involved were just quietly deported or charged with lesser offenses.

This shows the clear difference: spies are just doing their job, and nobody wants to start a nation to nation assassination war. But traitors are a local problem, so can be killed without consequence.

Many do not "make the cut", like traitorous spies like Walker, Pollard, and Bradley Manning, so their destination is a federal Maximum Security prison.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 09/03/2011 12:51 Comments || Top||

#12  Makes me think once again about JFK.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 09/03/2011 13:22 Comments || Top||

#13  All I will say is that I know quite well from my past work that "consequences imposed" have quite a good record at driving home how accountability works and wonderfully clarifies the mind as to the personal cost of a specific act, especially when someone is at a decision point of whether or not to commit a particularly evil act directly or even via support of such a thing. Not only for the ones the consequences are imposed upon, but for those "in the know" who are related or working closely with him/her.
Posted by: OldSpook || 09/03/2011 14:44 Comments || Top||

#14  #12 Makes me think once again about JFK.
Posted by Abu Uluque


Or Vince Foster.....
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/03/2011 16:23 Comments || Top||

#15  Here now Abu. We all know that it was the Smoking Man that did the deed.
Posted by: whitecollar redneck || 09/03/2011 17:22 Comments || Top||

#16  I wonder if bin Laden's name was on the list? Was it OK to assassinate him? Why is it always reported as "killing of bin Laden? Fortunately, Obooboo didn't take a poll to see if the Seals should wack binny.

The reason Obama never asked is because he knew the SEALS would ignore him and blast Bin Laden anyway. Never a question whether it was a kill mission to our Finest.
Posted by: Charles || 09/03/2011 18:32 Comments || Top||

#17  Panetta told the SEALS it was a kill mission. President Obama may not have been able to make up his mind or wanted credible deniability, but the White House staff didn't want the circus of a trial. If the president wanted bin Laden alive, he and his brood would be the guests of Quantico Brig at this minute.
Posted by: Eohippus Phater7165 || 09/03/2011 21:52 Comments || Top||

#18  a preemptive strike across Petraeus's bow by the WaPo and CIA apparatchiks?

And/or State Department.
Posted by: Pappy || 09/03/2011 21:54 Comments || Top||

#19  The best thing Petraeus could do is weed out the leaking self-agenda assholes at the CIA bureaucracy. A 50% turnover in the first year sounds about right
Posted by: Frank G || 09/03/2011 21:59 Comments || Top||

#20  Rather see Petraeus bust the silos and roll the heads of the fiefdoms that have built them.
Posted by: OldSpook || 09/03/2011 23:42 Comments || Top||


Pakistani man arrested on U.S. terrorism charges
A Pakistani-born man living in northern Virginia was charged with trying to help a militant group in his home country, Lashkar-e-Taiba, and making false statements to authorities, U.S. prosecutors said on Friday.

Jubair Ahmad, 24, was accused of providing material support to the group, Lashkar-e-Taiba, "a designated foreign terrorist organization, and making false statements in a terrorism investigation," the complaint said.

Jubair received religious training from LeT as a teenager in Pakistan and later attended LeT's basic training camp, according to an affidavit filed in federal court in Virginia.
Posted by: Eohippus Phater7165 || 09/03/2011 07:07 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Pakistan=Jihadi mindset=Terrorism.

Ban Pakistani immigration in UK and US
Posted by: Paul D || 09/03/2011 10:50 Comments || Top||


Pakistani held for backing Lashkar
[Dawn] A man of Pak origin has been nabbed and charged in the US with supporting Lashkar-e-Taiba, FBI officials said on Friday.

Jubair Ahmad, 24, of Woodbridge, Virginia, allegedly received religious training from the terrorist group as a teenager in Pakistain and later attended one of its training camps.

Jubair came to the United States in 2007 with his family. He`s been under investigation for two years, ever since the US Federal Bureau of Investigation got a tip that he might be connected to the group, the officials said.

The US State Department has designated Lashkar-e-Taiba as a terrorist group.

An affidavit submitted in a Virginia court claims that in September 2010, Jubair produced and uploaded a propaganda video to YouTube on behalf of LeT, after communications with a person named "Talha".

In a subsequent conversation with another person, Jubair identified Talha as Talha Saeed, the son of LeT leader Hafiz Mohammed Saeed.

Talha and Jubair allegedly communicated about the images, music and audio that Jubair was to use to make the video. The final video contained images of LeT leader Hafiz Saeed, so-called jihadi deaders and armoured trucks exploding after they were hit by improvised bombs.

In October 2010, Talha allegedly contacted Jubair and requested that he revise the LeT propaganda video, giving Jubair specific instructions.

Jubair allegedly revised the video and posted it on Oct 16, 2010.

In August 2011, FBI agents interviewed Jubair, but he denied any involvement with the October 2010 video.

If convicted, Jubair faces a maximum potential sentence of 15 years in prison on the material support charge and eight years in prison on the charge of making false statements in a terrorism investigation.

In June, a Pakistain-born Chicago businessman was found guilty of providing support to Lashkar-e-Taiba in the 2008 Mumbai assault but not guilty of taking part in the attack.

Tahawwur Rana, 50, a former Pakistain Army doctor with Canadian citizenship, was also found guilty of conspiring to attack a Danish newspaper; a plot hatched by the myrmidon group but never carried out.
Posted by: Fred || 09/03/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Lashkar e-Taiba

#1  In October 2010, Talha allegedly contacted Jubair and requested that he revise the LeT propaganda video, giving Jubair specific instructions.

"needs more cowbell!"
Posted by: Frank G || 09/03/2011 9:01 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Four people killed in Balochistan attacks
[Dawn] Four people have been killed and others injured after an kaboom incidents of firing in Balochistan.
...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it...

Sources said that a land mine went kaboom! in an area of Dera Bugti which killed two pedestrians and injured one other person. Sources also said that the land mine was placed near a road side by unknown jihad boys.

In another incident unknown persons opened fire on a car in Mustang in which two people were killed. Three other people were maimed by an rocket prepelled grenade in Zila Harnai.
Posted by: Fred || 09/03/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Israeli army detain son of Islamic Jihad leader
(Ma'an) -- Israeli forces jugged the son of an Islamic Jihad
...created after many members of the Egyptian Mohammedan Brotherhood decided the organization was becoming too moderate. Operations were conducted out of Egypt until 1981 when the group was exiled after the liquidation of President Anwar Sadat. They worked out of Gaza until they were exiled to Lebanon in 1987, where they clove tightly to Hezbollah. In 1989 they moved to Damascus, where they remain a subsidiary of Hezbollah...
leader Wednesday night at a flying checkpoint between Ramallah and Nablus, army officials said.

Suheib Bassam al-Saadi, 20, was stopped and jugged by Israeli soldiers while driving to Jenin refugee camp, his family told Ma'an.

An Israeli army spokeswoman said the incident was a "routine" detention and that al-Saadi was being questioned by security forces.

Suheib is the son of Islamic Jihad leader Bassam al-Saadi.
This article starring:
Bassam al-Saadi
Suheib Bassam al-Saadi
Posted by: Fred || 09/03/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Islamic Jihad

#1  put him in stocks in the middle of Sderot
Posted by: Frank G || 09/03/2011 9:15 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
14 Killed in Syria Demonstrations
[An Nahar] Fourteen people were killed on Friday in demonstrations in several Syrian cities that took place under the banner of "Death Rather than Humiliation."

Local Coordination Committees (LCC) announced via internet sites that seven people were rubbed out by Syrian security forces in the region of Reef Damascus
...The City of Jasmin is the oldest continuously-inhabited city in the world. It has not always been inhabited by the same set of fascisti...
and three were killed in the province of Deir al-Zour.

The Britannia-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told Agence La Belle France Presse that one person was killed in the town of Talbisa, in the flashpoint central province of Homs, and said seven others were maimed when the security forces tried to quash a demonstration.

Syrian opposition Facebook groups reported that demonstrations took place in several areas in the provinces of 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...
, Idlib, Homs, Daraa, and Damascus.

The LCC said demonstrators rallied outside the home of the attorney general of the province of Hama in support of his reported decision to resign.

Mohammed Adnan al-Bakkour said in a contested video posted on YouTube late Wednesday he resigned in disgust at hundreds of killings and mass burials and thousands of arrests by Assad's regime.

Syrian officials say Bakkour was kidnapped and made the announcement under duress.

The LCC also reported that protesters rallied in the central square of the northern city of Amuda demanding the "fall of the regime" while some carried signs "urging Russia to stop arms sales to the regime."

A women's rally was launched in the town of Jassem in Daraa province where the mobile phone network was severed.

The Observatory added that sniper groups had deployed Friday morning on the rooftops of government buildings in the villages of al-Houla.

Meanwhile,
...back at the sandwich shop, Caroline was experimenting with ingredients of increasing volatility...
Syrian television reported that the security forces managed to thwart an attack of gangs in the town of Talbisa, killing two of the armed individuals.

It added that a number of security forces were maimed in simultaneous attacks on two checkpoints in the towns of Hammourieh and Arbeen in Reef Damascus.

Posted by: Fred || 09/03/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  This boy is such a disappointment.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 09/03/2011 4:02 Comments || Top||


Syrian activists call for 'death' demos
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Syria today faced fresh sanctions targeting its oil exports, as activists called fresh anti-regime protests under the banner of "death rather than humiliation."

The European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
was to formally adopt an embargo on Syrian oil, but the sanctions would not take effect until November 15 for existing contracts after Italia insisted on a delay, according to diplomats in Brussels.

They told AFP that the EU would also expand its list of people targeted by an assets freeze and travel ban.

The announcement of the oil embargo coincides with a key meeting of EU foreign ministers Friday in Poland.

The measure will deprive President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad's
One of the last of the old-fashioned hereditary iron-fisted fascist dictators. Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor...
regime of a vital source of cash, as the EU buys 95 per cent of Syria's crude oil.

In Gay Paree, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
... sometimes described as the Smartest Woman in the World and at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as Another Charles Evans Hughes ...
said the world community should escalate pressure by targeting Syria's oil and gas exports to force him from office.

"The violence must stop and he needs to step aside," Clinton told news hounds in Gay Paree after a meeting Thursday on Libya, where strongman Mummar Qadaffy
...Megalomaniac dictator of Libya, admired everywhere for his garish costumes, funny hats, harem of cutie bodyguards, and incoherent ravings. As far as is known, he is the only person who's ever declared jihad on Switzerland...
has already been forced from office.
Posted by: Fred || 09/03/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Sudan



Who's in the News
45[untagged]
3Govt of Iran
2Govt of Sudan
2Govt of Pakistan
1al-Shabaab
1Taliban
1al-Qaeda in Europe
1Govt of Syria
1Hamas
1Islamic Jihad
1Lashkar e-Taiba
1Palestinian Authority
1Commies

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Two weeks of WOT
Sat 2011-09-03
  European Union Lifts Sanctions on Libya
Fri 2011-09-02
  Russia recognises Libya's rebel government
Thu 2011-09-01
  Al Qathafi Reject Rebels' Ultimatum to Surrender
Wed 2011-08-31
  Saleh Authorizes his party to Conduct Negotiations with Opposition
Tue 2011-08-30
  Qadaffy's wife, daughter, 2 sons flee to Algeria
Mon 2011-08-29
  29 dead in suicide bomb attack in Iraq mosque: Officials
Sun 2011-08-28
  Rebels claim capture of last army base in Tripoli
Sat 2011-08-27
  Al Qaeda's No. 2 , Atiyah Abd al-Rahman, Killed in Pakistan
Fri 2011-08-26
  Rebel council to take Libya's seat at Arab League
Thu 2011-08-25
  Yemeni premier back home from Riyadh
Wed 2011-08-24
  Rebels offers $1.7 million bounty for Gadhafi
Tue 2011-08-23
  Rebels Capture Gadhafi's Bab al-Aziziya Compound, House
Mon 2011-08-22
  Libyans Celebrate Takeover of Capital
Sun 2011-08-21
  Blasts, heavy gunfire rattle Tripoli
Sat 2011-08-20
  Pakistan mosque bombing kills at least 50

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