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Mob Kills 2, Burns Mosques in Raid on Nigerian Village
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 1: WoT Operations
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Page 2: WoT Background
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Page 3: Non-WoT
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Page 4: Opinion
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Page 6: Politix
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Good morning
Posted by: Fred || 01/14/2012 12:09 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Pet dead ferret? That's not strange ....
Posted by: gorb || 01/14/2012 23:20 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
Piracy Crackdown Off Somalia
"Somali pirates routinely use "motherships" accompanied by a number of speedboats and skiffs to commit acts of piracy. The large numbers of detainees in the last two weeks point to significant actions being taken against these "motherships" by the various navies."
Posted by: Chuck Simmins || 01/14/2012 17:24 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  So the Iranians are sending out pirate motherships...sweet!
Posted by: imoyaro || 01/14/2012 17:47 Comments || Top||

#2  Send out unmanned motherships and have them blow up upon being hijacked, like James Bond's cars. Harumph.
Posted by: gorb || 01/14/2012 23:19 Comments || Top||


Africa North
One killed, 14 hurt in Libya clashes
Clashes between rival Libyan militia have killed one person and wounded 14, the latest in a series of incidents involving armed groups refusing to hand in their weapons.

The clashes began late on Friday and continued on Saturday.

"We received eight cases yesterday, including one dead who was shot in the head and chest, one critical with a head wound and six others lightly injured," said Ibrahim Karim, a doctor at the main hospital in Gharyan, 80 km south of Tripoli.
Miss me yet? Muammar
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 01/14/2012 08:09 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Africa Subsaharan
Mob Kills 2, Burns Mosques in Raid on Nigerian Village
[An Nahar] A mob killed two people and burnt mosques and homes in an overnight raid on a mainly Mohammedan village in northeastern Nigeria in the latest such violence to hit the country, residents said Friday.

"It was around 11:30 pm (22:30 GMT) when a crowd from Imbur attacked Gwalam village, setting fire on homes and mosques," resident Abubakar Hussaini said, with Imbur a largely Christian area and Gwalam mainly Mohammedan.

"So far, we have two deaths, and we still don't know the fate of some residents who decamped into the bush to escape the attack."

The attack occurred in Adamawa state, which is to hold a governorship election on January 21.

Such ethnic and religious violence often occurs around election periods in Nigeria, though some residents believed the attack was in retaliation for the recent killings of Christians in the state claimed by Islamist group Boko Haram
... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. Currently wearing a false nose and moustache and answering to Jama'atu Ahlus-Sunnah Lidda'Awati Wal Jihad, or Big Louie...

Gamo Jika, an official in the state for one of Nigeria's main Islamic organization, Jama'atu Nasri Islam, confirmed two were killed.

"We have two dead from the attack on Gwalam by some Christians. We are taking inventory of houses burnt in the attack," he said.

Adamawa state police spokeswoman Altine Daniel confirmed the attack but gave no details.

Imbur and Gwalam villages are located in Numan, a flashpoint of sectarian violence.

Nigeria has seen spiraling violence mostly blamed on Boko Haram, whose recent attacks targeting Christians have sparked fears of a civil conflict in a country roughly divided between a mainly Mohammedan north and mostly Christian south.
Posted by: Fred || 01/14/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Boko Haram

#1  Payback is a bitch.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 01/14/2012 1:56 Comments || Top||

#2  More Mosques, More Mosques, Burn,Burn,Burn.
(A little chant for you all)
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 01/14/2012 5:34 Comments || Top||

#3  It,s important there be consequences for bad behaviour, that the community learn to restrain their troublemakers before outsiders do so for them with malice aforethought.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/14/2012 6:43 Comments || Top||

#4  Yes, tw, but one part of the community's "troublemakers" is another part's "peacekeepers".
Posted by: Canuckistan sniper || 01/14/2012 12:22 Comments || Top||

#5  Then, dear Canuckistan Sniper, the peacemakers of the second part, whose job was previously seen as submission, just need to be much, much better at it. Perhaps some of our "special" types would like to vacation over there...

Or have I read too many novels?
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/14/2012 13:49 Comments || Top||


Arabia
5 Dead, 23 Hurt as Yemen Police, Protesters Clash in South
[An Nahar] Firefights between police and southern separatists in Yemen on Friday killed five and maimed 23, as protesters nationwide denounced a plan granting the president immunity from prosecution, medics and police said.

"Three protesters were killed and 18 others were maimed," a medical official in the main southern port of Aden said of the southern separatists.

"Two coppers were killed and five others were maimed," said another medic from a government hospital in the city.

The official named one of the dead as Major Walid Saleh Ali, whom police had earlier said was among two coppers maimed.

Witnesses said police fired tear gas and live rounds at thousands who demonstrated to call for secession and to reject a Gulf-brokered plan that grants President President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh
... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it...
immunity from prosecution when he steps down.

Gunmen among the protesters returned fire, the same sources said.

Later in the afternoon witnesses said that police forces -- who said they intervened because of the "sensitivity of the location" -- regained control of al-Arud where the gathering took place.

The square is close to consulates, U.N. offices and security headquarters, a police official told Agence La Belle France Presse. "We allowed them to gather at the beginning but later they began to spread so we had to intervene."

The Southern Movement protesters also called for separation on the anniversary of internal festivities on January 13, 1986 between factions of the Yemeni Socialist Party that ruled the south of Yemen -- an independent state at the time.

"The Southern Movement is boycotting the upcoming presidential elections across all southern provinces," read their banners. "The Gulf Initiative does not concern us."

Based on a Gulf plan, Saleh will remain an honorary president until February 21 when Vice President Abdrabuh Mansour Hadi will officially replace him.

"The southerners affirm that they reject the elections and the Gulf initiative and hold on to their demand for the secession of the south," said Khaled Awadh, a Southern Movement activist and one of the organizers.

Meanwhile,
...back at the cheese factory, all the pieces finally fell together in Fluffy's mind...
tens of thousands protested in Sanaa and 17 other provinces calling for unity between Yemenis and rejecting the immunity deal.

"No north. No south. Our unity is in the hearts," their banners read. "The Yemenis have decided, they must be freed."

In addition to southerners' calls for separation, Shiites and Sunni hard boyz have clashed in the north, while youths in the capital's Change Square have fought over the Gulf deal signed by the parliamentary opposition.

A security official said 20 gunnies were killed Thursday in festivities between Zaidi Iranian catspaws and Sunni Salafist
...Salafists espouse an austere form of Sunni Islam that seeks a return to practices that were common in the 7th century. Rather than doing that themselves and letting other people alone they insist everybody do as they say and they try to kill everybody who doesn't...
gunnies in northern Yemen.

Protesters, whose ranks have seen hundreds of deaths in the crackdown by Saleh's forces on their movement since last January, want those accused of killing demonstrators to face justice.

"No immunity, no guarantee to Saleh and his aides," they chanted.

The immunity law was drafted on Sunday by the transitional government that was formed after Saleh signed the Gulf plan. Parliament has yet to convene to ratify the law.
Posted by: Fred || 01/14/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Protesters Hurt as Bahrain Police Disperse Demo
[An Nahar] Bahraini police forces fired tear gas, stun grenades and rubber bullets to disperse a Shiite-led protest in the capital, wounding several people, activists said on Friday.

The Sunni-ruled kingdom's interior ministry said in a statement published by state news agency BNA that security forces "had to disperse" a group taking part in an "illegal demonstration" after they were given several warnings to end their rally.

"Hundreds of people tried to protest in Manama" late on Thursday but were met by "tear gas, stun grenades, and rubber bullets," said Mohammed al-Maskati, head of the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights.

A video posted by activists on Youtube showed dozens chanting slogans demanding that foreign Sunnis who have been given citizenship by the monarchy leave the country.

Shiite protesters allege the authorities have "naturalized" many foreign-born Sunnis in order to tip the demographic balance against the majority Shiites.

An activist identified as Nader Abdelimam was hospitalized after a stun grenade went kaboom! in his face, Maskati said, adding that less serious injuries were treated in homes to avoid arrests of the maimed at hospitals.

BNA did not report any casualties.

Police blocked the roads leading to Manama to prevent residents of the nearby Shiite villages from joining the demonstration, Maskati told Agence La Belle France Presse.

Sporadic Shiite-led demonstrations have continued months after mass protests, which rocked Bahrain earlier this year, were violently crushed by government forces using live ammunition.

On December 31, Bahraini police fired tear gas grenades on protesters, killing a Shiite a teenager.

A special commission that probed last year's crackdown denounced in a November report, the "excessive and unjustified use of force" by the authorities.

The Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) said 35 people were killed in the unrest, including five security personnel, and five detainees who were tortured to death while in jug. Hundreds were also injured.

Bahrain's majority Shiites have complained of marginalization in the Sunni-ruled kingdom, saying they are denied jobs in the security services.
Posted by: Fred || 01/14/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  (all info from Factbook)

Bahrain, pop. 1,214,705. King is Sunni, majority is Shiite.

Muslim total 81.2%, 2/3rds Shiite.
Christian 9%,
other 9.8% (2001 census)

Based on this, 960,000 are Muslim. Of those, 633,000 are Shiite, so just slightly more than 50% of the total population are Shiite. Thus, if the king imports enough Sunnis and other foreigners, the Shiite will become just the largest minority.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 01/14/2012 10:03 Comments || Top||


Bangladesh
Criminal killed in Rab 'shootout'
[Bangla Daily Star] An alleged criminal was killed in the city's Tantibazar area early yesterday in a so-called 'shootout' between his accomplices and Rab members.

Rab claimed the gang was preparing to realise toll while the dear departed's family gave a reverse version on the incident.

The body of Asif Ahmed Sajib, 27, of Tantibazar was taken to Sir Salimullah Medical College Hospital morgue for his appointment with Doctor Quincy.

Sajib, who was released from jail on bail, had six cases, including that for murder and possession of arms, against him.

According to a Rab blurb, a team of Rab-10 reached near Peusri Jewellers around 2:05am acting on a tip-off that Sajib and his accomplices were heading to Tantibazar area for extorting money.

At the moment, a shootout took place between them on Prosanna Poddar Lane, leaving Sajib injured, it said.

Rab with the help of local people took him to a local clinic where doctors declared him dead.
He's dead, Jim!

The elite crime busters said they recovered a pistol, one magazine, one bullet and four cartridges from the spot.

However,
it was a brave man who first ate an oyster...
Sajib's mother Shirin Begum at the morgue told The Daily Star that small-time Mister Bigs Mamun and Sana Rony, also Rab informers, called Sajib out of his aunt's house in the city's Mugdapara at 10:00pm on Thursday.

Mamun and Sana were seen roaming in Rab's car in Tantibazar area around a month back, she said adding, "When I heard that they called him over phone and took him out, I doubted that they would hand him over to the Rab to kill him. It has become true."

She said, "My son got spoiled and was imprisoned. I did not want him to get released from jail but his accomplices arranged his bail around four months ago.

"I with my son took shelter at my sister's Mugdapara house to evade further arrest but Rab killed him by staging a crossfire drama," Shirin Begum claimed.

Meanwhile,
...back at the pound, Zebulon finally found just the friend he'd been looking for...
two alleged muggers were bullet-hit in city's Mohakhali area early yesterday during a 'shootout' with police as they were trying to flee in a car.

Gulshan police said they asked a private car to stop when it was going towards Mohakhali from Gulshan at about 1:00am. But the criminals opened fire from inside the car prompting police to retaliate.

Officer-in-Charge Shah Alam of Gulshan police said the gang tried to flee the spot leaving the car. Chasing them, law enforcers managed to capture five of them.

Injured Sazzadur Rahman Tusher, 35, and Md Ilias, 25, were admitted to National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation under police custody.

Three knives, 11 mobile phone sets, five money bags and one vanity bag were recovered from their possession.

Asked about recovery of any arms, the OC said two of the gang managed to escape the scene with the arms.
Posted by: Fred || 01/14/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Sajib, who was released from jail on bail, had six cases, including that for murder and possession of arms, against him.

And they ler him OUT?
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 01/14/2012 5:37 Comments || Top||

#2  And they ler him OUT?

Sure, even his Mom didn't want him released: She said, "My son got spoiled and was imprisoned. I did not want him to get released from jail but his accomplices arranged his bail around four months ago.
See, it's true, Mom DOES know everything!!
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 01/14/2012 10:10 Comments || Top||

#3  one bullet and four cartridges

So, the bullet was loose? When do you see a bullet without a cartridge, unless it has already been shot?

BTW, "doctors declared him dead" is replaced by the filter with..."doctors declared him dead". Not sure if that's the intention.
Posted by: gromky || 01/14/2012 12:20 Comments || Top||

#4  "And they let him OUT?"

Must have been a far-left liberal California judge, RJ.

Or a fed appointed by Jimmuh.
Posted by: Barbara || 01/14/2012 13:48 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Save Me! Pak PM Pleads for Brit Support vs. Military Coup
  • He makes call as military and the civilian government are at loggerheads

  • Supreme Court investigates memo sent to Washington also pleading for intervention following the aftermath of the bin Laden raid

  • Court threatens to dismiss Prime Minister and President over failure to act on corruption inquiry

  • Crucial Supreme Court sitting on Monday may spark a constitutional showdown

  • Foreign Secretary William Hague calls for calm during 'very tense situation'
Pakistains prime minister has called Britannia's most senior diplomat in the country to warn that the Pakistain Army may be on the brink of staging a military coup.

Officials for both Britannia and Islamabad confirmed that Prime Minister Yousuf Reza Gilani placed a 'panicky' call to High Commissioner Adam Thomson expressing his fears for the stability of the nuclear-armed country. He stated that there was a very real fear that the army, under General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani
... four star general, current Chief of Army Staff of the Mighty Pak Army. Kayani is the former Director General of ISI...
, might overthrow the government or back possible moves by the Supreme Court to topple the civilian leadership. And he asked the High Commissioner for Britannia to support his embattled government.

But today Foreign Secretary William Hague appealed for calm while refusing to comment on claims that Gilani had sent out a plea for help. He told BBC Radio 4's The World At One that there were a 'lot of risks' and urged all parties in the country to 'ensure stabililty'.
 
He added: 'We are not going to take sides in their internal political arguments. That is a matter for the people of Pakistain.''
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/14/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Is it just me, or Paks were a lot more cooperative (not that it says much) under Musharraf?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 01/14/2012 1:58 Comments || Top||

#2  This part confuses me:

"While Pakistan's judiciary are widely seen as both corrupt and ineffectual, they - unlike the army and the judges - have some legitimacy because they were elected to office."

How is "the judiciary" unlike the "judges"?
Posted by: crosspatch || 01/14/2012 3:25 Comments || Top||

#3  Kayani does not like the limelight unlike Perv so if there is a military coup will Perv come back to power as President?
Posted by: Paul || 01/14/2012 6:37 Comments || Top||

#4  Paul, sort of like a Brezhnev, Nikolai Podgorny & Alexei Kosygin kinky group marriage?
Posted by: Water Modem || 01/14/2012 8:53 Comments || Top||

#5  Help me?
As in getting me the He!! out of here in one piece help?
Maybe he could fly out in one of those crack-infested A380s (plus it makes a lovely target)
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 01/14/2012 10:13 Comments || Top||

#6  I can't think of any other reason Perv would want to return, except that the military has had enough of the b.s., and figures that he commands enough respect to take charge again, so has asked him.

All told, I think Perv is probably the right man for the job, because he is the one example of when a semi-dictator is a better alternative, that being when a fractured country needs unification. Compare him to Bismark or Mazzini of Italy.

Back in the saddle, his first prerogative is to restore US funding.

He should not be underestimated, as his biography suggests.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 01/14/2012 10:28 Comments || Top||

#7  Musharraf yes g(r)omgoru, things appeared better. Those I spoke to here from Pakistain hated him. If he does go back I don't see him lasting long.
Just my opinion. China is the one to watch. They would like nothing better than to cause trouble for India. Should he throw in with them perhaps.
Posted by: Dale || 01/14/2012 15:07 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Suicide bomber kills at least 32 in Basra
A suicide bomber disguised as a policeman has killed at least 32 people and injured more than 100 in an attack on Shi'ite pilgrims at a checkpoint in southern Iraq. The attack in Basra occurs at the end of Arbain, one of the big religious observances on the Shi'ite calendar.

A police official on the scene said, "A terrorist wearing a police uniform and carrying fake police ID managed to reach a police checkpoint and blew himself up among police and pilgrims."

Iraqi security forces sealed off the main hospital in Basra, in fear of further attacks. Weeping relatives gathered at the hospital as blood-covered victims arrived there.

Ahmed al-Sulaiti, deputy head of the Basra provincial council, said, "Now we have 32 killed and more than 100 wounded. We are waiting for more details from the security forces about the reasons behind the attack and how they managed to do it."
Posted by: ryuge || 01/14/2012 05:18 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


22 casualties in Kirkuk's 2 explosions today
KIRKUK / Aswat al-Iraq: The two explosions that rocked Kirkuk today resulted in 22 casualties, some cases gravely injured, in addition to material losses, security sources said.

The source told Aswat al-Iraq that one cop is among the casualties. It is expected that the number of casualties will rise.

The first explosion was near the house of a police commander in north Kirkuk, and the other in te center of the city near the municipality.
Posted by: Steve White || 01/14/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Blast hits home of Gaza terror chief
At least one person was killed in an explosion reported at the Rafah home of a senior terrorist in the Gaza Strip Saturday evening, Palestinian officials said.
red-wire/green-wire or promotional opportunity?
Adham Abu Salima, a Mutual of Gaza Health Ministry official, said the house belonged to Popular Resistance Committees Secretary-General Zuheir Qeisi.

Five or six Palestinians were wounded in the mysterious explosion, sources in Gaza said.
his harem of male lovers assistants
Eyewitnesses said the huge Rafah blast could be heard far away and that the house was completely burned down. The initial explosion was reportedly followed by several smaller blasts.
secondaries
The IDF said it was unfamiliar with the incident. Witnesses said there was no sign of Israeli military activity in the area.
All is well! Nothing to see here! Go about your bizness!
The PRC later released a statement saying that Qeisi was not killed in the blast. The group said the explosion was caused by a malfunction and was not a result of an Israeli strike.
*snort* the water heater malfunctioned?
This article starring:
Zuheir Qeisi
Posted by: Frank G || 01/14/2012 14:58 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  In another article, I found it amusing that they called it a "mysterious" blast. What could it possibly be? The meatloaf in the oven? A sewage back-up? The new puppy?
Posted by: Anonymoose || 01/14/2012 15:08 Comments || Top||

#2  I guess this just goes to show that even bad karma can sometimes be good karma.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 01/14/2012 16:04 Comments || Top||

#3  Propane gas tank in the kitchen? Those blow up an awful lot in Turkey, I believe. Or someone took a smoke break in the assembly room...
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/14/2012 16:46 Comments || Top||

#4  and the secondaries?
Posted by: Frank G || 01/14/2012 17:24 Comments || Top||


Israeli Tank Fire Wounds Two on Gaza Border
[An Nahar] Israelis and Paleostinians fought across the Gazoo border on Friday, with Israeli tank fire wounding two men at the frontier and Paleostinians firing a rocket into southern Israel, medics and the army said.

Israeli tanks fired at a group of Paleostinians who appeared to be attempting to plant explosives along the border fence, in the early hours of Friday a military spokeswoman told Agence La Belle France Presse.

"Soldiers spotted suspects digging in the ground adjoining the fence and fired at them," she said.

Paleostinian medics said that two men were moderately maimed by the tank fire, east of the Bureij refugee camp in the central Gazoo Strip.

Later in the morning, Gazoo gunnies fired a rocket into southern Israel but it hit open ground in the Eshkol region, near the border, and did not cause any casualties, the army spokeswoman said.

It was the second rocket in 24 hours after a lull of several days. Last month, more than 40 rockets and mortar rounds were fired into Israel from Gazoo, Israeli officials said.
Posted by: Fred || 01/14/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hamas

#1  Hard to believe 'tanks firing' at a group of bombers and only two injured.

Harassment only rules must be in effect.
Posted by: Skidmark || 01/14/2012 11:57 Comments || Top||

#2  Not even sure the 120mm Rheinmetal has a HEP round available. The Merkava does have a coaxial machine gun.
Posted by: badanov || 01/14/2012 12:48 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iranian speed boats harassed US Navy ships
The U.S. Navy revealed that two U.S. ships in and near the Gulf were harassed by Iranian speedboats last week.

Navy officials said that in separate incidents on January 6, three Iranian speedboats -- each armed with a mounted gun -- briefly chased after a U.S. Navy ship just outside the Gulf near the Strait of Hormuz and a U.S. Coast Guard cutter in the northern Gulf.
No shots were fired and the speedboats backed off.
Poking the tiger with a short stick.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/14/2012 09:58 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Taking lessons from Greenpeace vs. Japanese whaling fleet?
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 01/14/2012 10:14 Comments || Top||

#2  I'm a solution: post the pissing marines aboard these navy ships.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 01/14/2012 11:21 Comments || Top||

#3  If/when this happens again, call a bunch of sailors to the deck and film them pointing and laughing at the Iranians. (Rehearse first.A)
Posted by: Barbara || 01/14/2012 11:54 Comments || Top||

#4  Not so funny if you remember the Cole.
Same 'cry wolf' effect.
Posted by: Skidmark || 01/14/2012 11:55 Comments || Top||

#5  I believe one Hellfire from a drone will take out one of those boats, if it doesn't fly straight through it.
Posted by: crosspatch || 01/14/2012 12:52 Comments || Top||

#6  it's all fun and games til someone loses an eye three speedboats
Posted by: Frank G || 01/14/2012 13:12 Comments || Top||

#7  This will go on for 8 months.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 01/14/2012 13:30 Comments || Top||

#8  Most of this has been happening all along. Its a normal thing to cross paths with Iranian speedboats no matter when it is in that narrow straight.
Posted by: newc || 01/14/2012 14:09 Comments || Top||

#9  They should chum the water with bait, then sink the boats and film the crews being eaten. That would be amusing. Have the crews point and laugh during the feast.
Posted by: Silentbrick - Halliburton Lost Drill Bit Division || 01/14/2012 14:16 Comments || Top||

#10  Goes With The Territory ! Have Bullhorn USAGE For US NAVY And Suggest : Having : Germany Develop : Glass Lined Aluminium Nuclear Reactors For Peace : ALLAH O Akbar !
Posted by: Bill Thriling7610 || 01/14/2012 14:26 Comments || Top||

#11  Joe's cousin?
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 01/14/2012 14:27 Comments || Top||

#12  Nope - not fit to toss Joe's salad
Posted by: Frank G || 01/14/2012 14:31 Comments || Top||

#13  Roman armies used to stop charging war horses with sharp pointed jacks on the the ground....

Mines don't work as well with small craft but.... perhaps submerged lasers with aiming mirrors on floats?
Posted by: Water Modem || 01/14/2012 15:23 Comments || Top||

#14  hellfire? Overkill. one of a destroyer's deck guns is plenty.
Posted by: OldSpook || 01/14/2012 15:44 Comments || Top||

#15  The event to remember is the Vincennes. At the time of the Airbus shootdown Vincennes was conducting operations against Iranian gunboats.
Posted by: Penguin || 01/14/2012 19:43 Comments || Top||

#16  I never get tired of watching (listening to) the video from Operation Praying Mantis: http://www.navybook.com/nohigherhonor/vid-prayingmantis

I love the lines. "This is a warning. Stop, and abandon ship. I intend to sink you."

Those must be wonderful words for the Captain of a US warship to deliver.

Now - 2012 - we are approaching end game. Let the good times roll!
Posted by: Lone Ranger || 01/14/2012 20:27 Comments || Top||

#17  OS, a short burst from the 20mm CIWS should give the speed boats something to think about.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia || 01/14/2012 20:51 Comments || Top||


'US prepping Mideast facilities for Israel attack on Iran'
The United States has begun taking measures to plan for an Israeli strike on Iran in order to protect US facilities in the region, the Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.

The contingency planning came as a result of concern within the US defense establishment that Israel is planning to attack Iran over the Islamic Republic's reported nuclear armament program, according to the newspaper.

US President Barack Obama, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, and other senior US officials have reportedly delivered messages through private channels to the Israeli government warning them about the dangerous repercussions of a military strike on Iran.

Washington is concerned that Iraqi Shi'ite militias may attack the US embassy in Baghdad at Iran's behest. Some 15,000 US diplomats, federal employees and contractors will likely remain in Iraq, the newspaper reported.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 01/14/2012 08:27 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  No mention of the security personnel at the US embassy there, or if any attack on the embassy would be opposed or supported by the Iraqi government.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 01/14/2012 16:48 Comments || Top||

#2  I would arm the Baghdad embassy with Seals, and the first time the Diplo Weenies whined? Withdraw all security and say "you are on your own"
Posted by: Frank G || 01/14/2012 18:23 Comments || Top||


13 Dead as Syrians Take to Streets in Support of Rebel Army
[An Nahar] Thousands demonstrated in support of the rebel Free Syrian Army on Friday, as activists said security forces rubbed out 13 people in several regions and longtime Damascus
...Capital of the last remaining Baathist regime in the world...
ally Moscow kept up its opposition to calls for tougher action against the regime.

The Local Coordination Committees, the main activist group spurring protests on the ground, said regime troops rubbed out two people in the northern province 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...
, one in the central province of Hama, one in the eastern oil hub of Deir al-Zour, five in the central opposition bastion Homs, one in the southern province of Daraa and two in the Damascus suburb of al-Damir.

And a human rights
...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty...
watchdog told Agence La Belle France Presse that security force fire killed another protester in Idlib province in the northwest.

Meanwhile,
...back at the Senate, Odius Sepulcher called for war against the Visigoths...
both La Belle France and Syria announced investigations into the death of French TV correspondent Gilles Jacquier, the first Western newsman to die in Syria since anti-regime protests erupted in March.

Security forces were out in strength as they have been each Friday for the main weekly demonstrations.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 20,000 people had turned out in the Idlib town of Ariha calling for the overthrow of the regime, and another 15,000 in the Damascus suburb of Douma.

Explosions were heard in the flashpoint central city of Homs, the Britannia-based watchdog said. The security forces met the demonstrators with hot lead in Deir al-Zour in the northeast, Daraa province, south of the capital, and in the Damascus suburbs, it added.

Five people were reported maimed in Daraa.

The rallies, following a day in which security forces killed 30 civilians and two army deserters in their crackdown, come after the largest civilian opposition group agreed to boost ties with the rebels.

Burhan Ghalioun, the head of the Syrian National Council, an umbrella group that initially opposed the use of force in the uprising, met on Thursday with rebel chief Colonel Riad al-Asaad.

The SNC said they "extensively discussed the situation on the ground and the organizational capacity of the FSA."

They agreed to "formulate a detailed plan, to include the reorganization of FSA units and brigades, and the creation of a format to accommodate within FSA ranks additional officers and soldiers, especially senior military officials, who side with the revolution," it added.

Formed from deserters from the regular army who mutinied over the regime's deadly crackdown, the FSA says it has some 40,000 fighters under its command.

The numbers cannot be independently verified although the Syrian authorities have acknowledged mounting losses at the hands of the rebels in recent months.

U.N. Secretary General the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon
... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan...
, on his way to Syria's western neighbor Leb on Friday, issued a call for the international community to stand together to address a crisis which the world body estimated last month had cost more than 5,000 lives.

In an interview with Leb's An Nahar daily, Ban said he had repeatedly appealed to Assad to stop the bloodshed and listen to his people but that he had received only empty promises.

He said the U.N. Security Council must speak with one voice in seeking an end to the crisis but Moscow renewed its opposition to Western calls for tougher action by the world body.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov rejected Western-proposed amendments to a draft Security Council resolution on Syria which Moscow circulated last month.

"Unfortunately, the West's approach radically differs from ours," Gatilov said.

"Judging by the contents of their proposed amendments, their goal is clearly aimed at removing Assad's regime in Damascus," he said.

Gatilov said that Russia had full confidence in much-criticized 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...
observer mission in Syria since December 26 to oversee a deal to end the bloodshed.

"We feel their presence is a stabilizing factor in Syria that promotes the chances of a peaceful settlement," he said.

The Syrian opposition has called for the vaporous Arab League to pull out the observers or at least seek U.N. tactical support, saying they have been ineffective in ending the violence and have been repeatedly duped by the authorities.

But the League's Syria operations chief Adnan Khodeir insisted that the observers would see the mission through until its initial one-month term finishes on January 19.

"Within the next two days the additional teams who have arrived in Syria recently will fan out and this will bring the total number of teams deployed there to 16," Khodeir said.

The Arab League deal signed with Damascus called for an end to violence against civilians, the withdrawal of the military from cities, the release of detainees and free access for foreign media.

But following the death of Jacquier on Wednesday, the head of French public television news, Thierry Thuillier, told AFP there were "troubling elements" surrounding the rocket attack that killed him.

"For instance, why, while this journalists' convoy was under military escort, why did the soldiers all of a sudden disappear just as the first shells were fired?" he said.

Both Damascus and Gay Paree have ordered separate investigations.
Posted by: Fred || 01/14/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria



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Two weeks of WOT
Sat 2012-01-14
  Mob Kills 2, Burns Mosques in Raid on Nigerian Village
Fri 2012-01-13
  Syrian Forces Kill 32, Fire on Protesters in Presence of Monitors
Thu 2012-01-12
  Dronezap Recess is Over: 2nd in two days
Wed 2012-01-11
  Iranian 'nuclear scientist' killed in Tehran bomb attack
Tue 2012-01-10
  Baghdad Bombs Target Shi'ite Pilgrims, 16 Killed
Mon 2012-01-09
  Suspected Islamic Extremist Arrested in Alleged Florida Bomb Plot
Sun 2012-01-08
  Kenyan airstrikes kill 60 in Somalia
Sat 2012-01-07
  17 Dead as Gunmen Attack Mourners of 5 Christians in Nigeria
Fri 2012-01-06
  Qatar: Arab monitors made mistakes in Syria
Thu 2012-01-05
  Baghdad bombings kill 29 in Shiite neighborhoods
Wed 2012-01-04
  Morocco gets new Islamist-led government
Tue 2012-01-03
  Iran Missile Drill Results Exaggerated, Images Photoshopped
Mon 2012-01-02
  Syrians ring in New Year with more anti-regime demos
Sun 2012-01-01
  Nigeria Declares State of Emergency in Troubled Areas
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  Yemeni protesters demand trial of president


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