WASHINGTON: The United States is building an array of secret new drone bases to conduct strikes against al Qaeda targets in Somalia and Yemen, according to the Washington Post.
Who couldn't wait to blab about it...
Safe as houses. I don't know anyone who reads the Washington Post for information, do you? (Bobby doesn't count -- he uses them for fisking material.)
One of the new installations is being set up in Ethiopia, a close US ally in the fight against the Shebab that controls much of Somalia, while another is being established in the Seychelles, the Post reported late Tuesday.
That would solve the problem of not being able to get enough assets into the region to patrol it effectively. And if we can hunt Haqqanis with drones, why not pirates?
All those people who lusted after the pirate-hunting cruises which turned out to be fake are going to be soooooo jealous!
Them poolside lawn chairs at Nellis are going to get quite a workout...
A small fleet of so-called "hunter-killer" drones - able to fire Hellfire missiles and satellite-guided bombs - already based on the Indian Ocean archipelago resumed operations this month after a pilot mission demonstrated that they could effectively patrol Somalia from there, it said.
The Postblabbed said the US is also conducting drone missions over both Somalia and Yemen from the small African country Djibouti, seeking to weaken al Qaeda affiliates in both countries.
"It's a conscious recognition that those are the hot spots developing right now," it quoted a former senior US military official as saying.
In late June the Post reported that two senior commanders of Somalia's Shebab insurgency believed to have ties to al Qaeda in Yemen were wounded in what appeared to have been the first US drone strike on the country.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/22/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Also from WAPO > THE CIA HAS BECOME A PARAMILITARY ORGANIZATION, whose utility is now to silently hunt down, capture or kill [assassinate], international fugitives + personages.
**** cough **** cough **** cough **** ...
The CIA overdosed on PENN STATE CREAMERY ICE CREAM again, didn't we???
Libya's interim rulers said on Wednesday they had captured one of Col Muammar Gaddafi's last strongholds deep in the Sahara desert, finding chemical weapons, and largely taken control of another.
Was that a real chem weapons plant or just a plant that produced pesticides. You know, for all the farms out there in the interior of Libya. In the Sahara...
Ants. They've got lots and lots of ants in the desert. Also scorpions and spiders. So they'd need tons of the stuff -- it's a big desert, you know, and one just can't be worrying about sitting on an ant hill or finding a scorpion in one's boots in the morning.
With the National Transitional Council (NTC) struggling to assert full control over the country, military spokesmen said its forces had seized the outpost of Jufra 435 miles southeast of Tripoli, and most of Sabha.
"The whole of the Jufra area -- we have been told it has been liberated," said Fathi Bashaagha, NTC spokesman, in Misurata. "There was a depot of chemical weapons and now it is under the control of our fighters."
His comments could not be confirmed independently.
Under Gaddafi, Libya was supposed to have destroyed its stockpile of chemical weapons in early 2004 as part of a rapprochement with the West under which it also abandoned a nuclear programme.
Cheez, you mean an evil, thuggish brute of a dictator .. lied to us?
However, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons says Libya kept 9.5 tonnes of mustard gas at a secret desert location, although it could no longer deliver it.
This story was even more serious as it was about HEU.
Nonetheless Bush's Gaddafi deal was largely immune from serious criticism. The right didn't want to challenge one of the Bush administration's few undisputed success stories.
And since Bush followed the leftist template of diplomacy/political solution/grand bargain/reconciliation he wasn't criticized by the Democrats either.
#3
I couldn't understand the motivation for the NATO action in Libya; if the WMD programs were discovered to have increased activity it makes more sense.
#4
Uh, were you being sarcastic about the farms in the Libyan interior? If you look at the satellite imagery, there's a significant number of irrigation pivot farms out there, run off of Libya's vast fossil water resources.
I wouldn't imagine that Libya would need pesticide plants, unless the EU interdicted sale of precursor chemicals to an outlaw country with a reputation for wild misbehavior and an appetite for WMD...
In other words, doesn't need to be one thing or the other - embrace the healing power of "and".
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
09/22/2011 10:54 Comments ||
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#5
So if it was a WMD depot, why didn't he use the weapons against the rebels?
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
09/22/2011 11:28 Comments ||
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#6
Because chemical weapons are kind of useless in most tactical situations, and it just would have worsened his international profile? Not to mention that he'd probably lose as many poorly-protected footsoldiers and possibly-sympathetic civilian supporters as any enemy combatants or enemy sympathizers?
Might have been a logistical issue as well - between shipping some old mustard gas and shipping food, gold, or ammunition, which seems like the better investment of truckspace? Heck, the people who remembered what was where might have even taken off before somebody thought of pulling the trigger.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
09/22/2011 13:44 Comments ||
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#7
Ghaddafi lost delivery capability for much of his chem weapons, but retained the materials, either to rebuild later or to trade.
Reuters - Libya's interim rulers said on Wednesday they had captured one of Muammar Gaddafi's last strongholds deep in the Sahara desert, finding chemical weapons, and largely taken control of another. NATO countries gave the NTC another boost by extending for three more months the air cover that helped anti-Gaddafi fighters to victory.
At Bani Walid, bored NTC militiamen fired weapons at camels and sheep while awaiting orders. One man shot his own head off and killed another fighter while handling a rocket-propelled grenade in full view of a Reuters team.
Mozambique's police briefly detained four Americans and a Briton who claimed to be on a rescue mission of a pirated ship in the Indian ocean... Claiming to work for private marine security group GreySide, the group said they had traveled from the United States to Ethiopia. They entered Mozambique on a flight from Kenya and were planning to travel to Mozambique's northernmost city Pemba, where they would take a small boat to a search ship 12 miles off the coast... Police released the men on Friday evening and their equipment was transported to the US embassy in Maputo.
I think we also had an article in the Burg about the incident as well.
A series of attacks against police hit Russia's North Caucasus region of Dagestan on Thursday, killing several officers and injuring dozens more.
Someone set off a bomb equivalent to about 3 kilograms of TNT shortly after midnight near the police headquarters in the regional capital of Makhachkala. No one was hurt, according to the local police department's website.
Fifteen minutes later, after investigators had arrived at the scene, a more powerful car bomb went off, killing a police officer. It injured 39 people, including 32 officers. The police website said that the second bomb had the power of 35-40 kilograms of TNT.
The Russian Interior Ministry's website said that the blast killed one police officer and wounded 60 people, including 44 officers.
"Shops and residential buildings in the epicenter of the explosion were either damaged or completely destroyed," it said.
Also on Thursday morning, attackers in a car shot at the district police chief in the Dagestani city of Buinaksk. Col. Magomednabi Adilkhanov was not injured, but two of his bodyguards were killed.
A day before the attack on the police chief, three men died in a car explosion in Makhachkala. Police said the initial investigation suggests they had mishandled a bomb during while transporting it.
An insurance firm is suing Soddy Arabia in a U.S. court over claims that the country funded the faceless myrmidons responsible for the 9/11 attacks. A division of Lloyds of London is demanding the return of $215million compensation it paid victims by alleging that the Saudi government is responsible because it used banks and charities to support Al Qaeda.
Claims: Insurers Lloyds allege that Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud, among others, helped fund fellow countryman Osama Bin Laden
The lawsuit - filed in Johnston, Pennsylvania, where United Airlines flight 93 crashed on 9/11, names nine defendants, including a leading member of the oil-rich state's royal family.
Soddy Arabia has always denied claims that the late Osama bin Laden ... who now dances with worms... 's organization received official financial and practical support from his homeland. And the 9/11 Commission's official report on the attacks, found that there was no evidence that the Saudi government or senior Saudi officials individually funded Al Qaeda.
But the Lloyds 3500 syndicate's 156-page legal document cites details revealed in U.S. diplomatic cables recently exposed by WikiLeaks, according The Independent newspaper. The cables are said to show that American officials remained concerned that the Saudi authorities were not doing enough to stop money being passed to the terror group its citizens.
The legal claim suggests the defendants knowingly provided resources to Al Qaeda and acted 'agents and alter egos' for the Saudi state. It states: 'Absent the sponsorship of Al Qaeda's material sponsors and supporters, including the defendants named therein, Al Qaeda would not have possessed the capacity to conceive, plan and execute the 11 September attacks.
'The success of Al Qaeda's agenda, including the 11 September attacks themselves, has been made possible by the lavish sponsorship Al Qaeda has received from its material sponsors and supporters over more than a decade leading up to 11 September 2001.
The case singles out the activities of a charity, the Saudi Joint Relief Committee for Kosovo and Chechnya (SJRC).
It was alleged by UN officials to have been used as a cover by several Al Qaeda operatives, including two men who acted as directors of the charity.
It is alleged that at the time the SJRC was under the control of Prince Naif bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud, half-brother of King Abdullah and the long-standing Saudi Interior minister.
The claim states that between 1998 and 2000, Soddy Arabia, the SJRC, diverted more than $74m to Al Qaeda members and loyalists affiliated with its bureaus.
The Saudi embassies in London and Washington did not respond to requests for a response to the allegations in the claim.
QUETTA: Four people were killed and another sustained injuries when unidentified armed men opened fire on them in Gwandin area of tehsil Dhast in Mastung on Wednesday.
According to local Levies official Noorullah, three people were sitting at a roadside hotel in Dasht when some unidentified armed men on a motorbike opened fire on them. Resultantly, three persons were killed on the spot and two others sustained serious injuries. Balochistan Levies personnel rushed to the spot and took the deceased and injured to the District Headquarter Hospital where one of the injured, identified as Noor Ahmed, succumbed to his injuries before arrival.
All of the victims belonged to the Kurd tribe and the incident could be the result of an old enmity, Levies officials said, adding that they were investigating the matter.
Sure seems to be a lot of old enmities 'round there...
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/22/2011 00:00 ||
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ISLAMABAD: A top Pakistani military commander was shot in the thigh Wednesday when his helicopter came under fire near the Swat valley where troops fought off a Taliban insurgency two years ago.
Major General Javed Iqbal, one of Pakistans top commanders in the northwest, was airborne when gunfire from the ground hit his helicopter in the mountainous village of Nusrat Darra in the district of Upper Dir. Security officials had initially said the helicopter was hit in Swat. Officials said the general was taking an aerial view of troop deployment. Another senior security official in Swat said two bullets hit the helicopter but that it landed safely. A third security official told AFP that a bullet hit the generals right thigh and that was taken to a military hospital in Rawalpindi, near the capital Islamabad.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/22/2011 00:00 ||
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BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: A 4-man assassination gang was arrested today, Baghdad Operations Command announced.
Spokesman Qassim Atta told Aswat al-Iraq that the gang was arrested in Amiriya district, west Baghdad. The arrest operation was made upon intelligence information. A number of weapons and sticky bombs materials were captured.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/22/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Do these cases ever get to court? Convictions? Sentences? We never hear of any executions etc.
BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: A general at the interior ministry was killed today by a sticky bomb attached to his car, security sources said.
The source told Aswat al-Iraq that the explosion was in Amiriya district, west Baghdad, which led to the death of general Musthapha Ghalib, with great damage to his vehicle. No other details were given.
Posted by: Steve White ||
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Turkey's military said on Wednesday its war planes had struck 152 Kurdish guerrilla targets in northern Iraq over the past month and that the air strikes would continue, despite opposition from Iraq's regional Kurdish government.
Turkey has stepped up air and artillery operations on suspected Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) rebels in northern Iraq over the past months in retaliation for an increase in PKK attacks on Turkish security forces inside Turkey.
The raids have fuelled tensions between Turkey and the semi-autonomous Kurdish region in Iraq and have triggered protests in the capital Arbil and other towns. Iraqi Kurdish government officials have called for the issue to be resolved through diplomatic means.
#2
Let's see. Hmmm...The Turks deny the Kurds their independence while pushing for Paleo independence. Do I detect a bit of hypocrisy here? /rhet question.
Violence at the checkpoint, Israel deploys cool new technology.
One Paleostinian was lightly injured at a demonstration that turned violent at the Kalandia checkpoint between Jerusalem and Ramallah Wednesday afternoon, the IDF Spokesman's Office said.
The IDF, in order to disperse several dozen Paleostinians who were burning tires and throwing stones at security forces, used "The Scream," a non-lethal sonic weapon that emits a deafening sound people cannot stand.
The injured Paleostinian man was treated on the scene.
While mass demonstrations have been taking place throughout the West Bank this week, violent incidents like that which took place at Kalandiya were expected to be minimal and isolated.
Unlike a rally in Ramallah Wednesday that drew thousands to support Paleostinian statehood in the United Nations ...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks... , the Kalandiya protest came into direct contact with Israeli forces.
In an interview with The Jerusalem Post Tuesday, Home Front Defense Minister Matan Vilna'i said that PA security forces are prepared to contain demonstrations and prevent them from turning violent.
On Tuesday, ahead of the large demonstrations, IDF regional brigade commanders in the West Bank held talks with their Paleostinian counterparts to coordinate operations aimed at containing the protests and preventing a violent escalation.
The IDF has also tightened its rules of engagement as part of an effort to minimize potential for an escalation due to tactical operations or mistakes. As reported on Tuesday in the Post, the IDF has reduced operations inside Paleostinian cities and towns in territory defined as Area A, which is under full Paleostinian control.
Such operations will be carried out only to prevent imminent terrorist attacks that are in motion, with the understanding that Israeli incursions into Area A embarrass PA security forces and undermine their authority in the eyes of the Paleostinian people.
#2
I thought "The Scream" vanished and was supposed to be destroyed?
GOOD.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
09/22/2011 0:14 Comments ||
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#3
area A= urban areas populated by Paleos, where the security is handled by Paleos
area B = rural areas populated by Paleos, where security is handled by Paleos and IDF jointly with Israelis in the lead
area C= areas of Israeli settlements and rural areas that are essentially unpopulated with security handled by Israel
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
09/22/2011 4:04 Comments ||
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An assistant village leader was gunned down in an ambush in Narathiwat province. Asman Jehteh, 34, an assistant village chief of Ban Tanyong, was returning from prayers at the local mosque on his motorcycle on a village road when gunmen hiding in roadside forest fired on him.
The victim was hit four times and died at the spot, said Pol Col Phakdee Preechachon. He blamed separatist terrorists militants.
Thai police have detained one suspect in last weeks bombings in Narathiwat, and are seeking arrest warrants for three additional suspects.
Surveillance cameras recorded images of a motorcycle with an implanted bomb in front of a shop, at the first explosion site. At the site of the third explosion, about 400 meters from the first location, surveillance cameras recorded images of men suspected to be the bombers as attack team. Their faces can be clearly identified and police will seek arrest warrants for three more men on that basis.
The Narathiwat bombings killed five people, including three Malaysian tourists, and injured more than a hundred people.
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.
WASHINGTON: The United States is building an array of secret new drone bases to conduct strikes against al Qaeda targets in Somalia and Yemen, according to the Washington Post.
An insurance firm is suing 
BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: A 4-man assassination gang was arrested today, Baghdad Operations Command announced.
