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Area: WoT Operations    Non-WoT    Opinion        Politix   
At Least 83 Killed across Syria
Today's Headlines
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Afghanistan
Release of Taliban Inmates Merely Strengthens the Insurgency: Massoud
Releasing Death Eaters from Afghanistan's prisons is strengthening the "trenches" of the Taliban, head of Afghanistan's opposition party National Front Ahmad Zia Massoud said Saturday.
That's just so obvious that it shouldn't need to be said. But rather than listen to common sense we're going to release killers in the name of 'peace'. Instead, we'll get more killings...
Speaking at the "Woman's Rights in Society" conference in Kabul, Massoud spoke of the recent government move to release 79 suspected Death Eaters from two prisons, saying it would only lead to great insecurity in the country.

"The government has an interest in the jihad boy groups. Which authority allowed the President to release those who killed Afghans, Parliament?" Masoud said.

He said the move would not facilitate talks with the Taliban, the apparent reason for the move, pointing out that the Taliban have never recognised the Afghan government nor been open to talks.

Massoud also spoke of the violence against women in Afghanistan, saying that as long as the Afghan people hold on to old traditions, violence against woman will exist.

The government has failed to educate its people to forget these practices and live in a modern way, he added.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/15/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "The government has an interest in the insurgent groups. Which authority allowed the President to release those who killed Afghans, Parliament?" Masoud said.

Translation:

Released Taliban members provide insurance and protection for the Afghanistan government of tomorrow.
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/15/2012 1:20 Comments || Top||

#2  "Release" their Bodies, nothing else, NO recidivism.

On second thought that makes Martyrs, Release them far out to sea, NO boats.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 07/15/2012 7:13 Comments || Top||

#3  Nothing that will float either.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 07/15/2012 19:25 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Clinton meets Morsi in Cairo
[Al Ahram] US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
... sometimes described as The Woman to Call at 3 a.m. and at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as Another John Quincy Adams ...
arrived Saturday afternoon at the Presidential Palace in the suburb of Heliopolis, Cairo, for the first high-level talks of a senior US official with recently-sworn-in Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi.

Clinton, according to informed officials, is planning to raise three main issues with the new president.

One of the main issues to be discussed, according to an official who spoke to Ahram Online on condition of anonymity, is to receive a "clear cut commitment" from the new president that under the rule of the Moslem Brüderbund Egypt will remain as committed to the peace deal with Israel as it has been over the last three decades.

"There are questions related to Sinai too," said the official. Israel, according to Western and Egyptian officials in the US capital, Washington DC, has repeatedly complained about what it qualified as loose security arrangements on the Egypt-Israel border, particularly adjacent to the Gazoo Strip.

According to what some Western diplomats have said, Israel's complaints concern "documented evidence of arms smuggling into the Gazoo Strip."

The second issue on the agenda, according to the same sources, relates to the nature of bilateral relations between Egypt and the US.

According to Egyptian diplomatic sources in Washington, Clinton will assure Morsi of the US's continuous support and friendship to Egypt.

However,
corruption finds a dozen alibis for its evil deeds...
according to one Egyptian diplomat, "She will also make clear that there are certain things that the US expects from Egypt."

In addition to stable relations with Israel, the same diplomat states, "The US is expecting Egypt to use the good ties that link the Moslem Brüderbund with the Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, movement in the Gazoo Strip to curtail any plans that Hamas might have towards escalation with Israel."

The US is also expecting Egypt under the presidency of Morsi to remain committed to Egypt's traditional policy of limited engagement with Iran.

Also on the list of US expectations is a clear cut commitment from the Moslem Brüderbund-backed president on ensuring respect for the rights of women, Copts, and other minorities in Egypt.

The third issue on the agenda of the visiting Secretary of State relates to the internal balance of power in Egypt.

Clinton is set to express US support for coordinated relations between the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) and the Brotherhood-backed president.

In addition to her meeting with Morsi, Clinton is set to meet with the heads of SCAF and figures from Egyptian civil society.

According to a senior US official, as reported by Rooters news agency Saturday, Clinton will urge Egypt's civilian and military leaders to complete a full transition to democratic rule.
Posted by: Fred || 07/15/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Africa Subsaharan
Nigerian Christians condemn attack on Islamic leader
[Al Ahram] Nigerian Christians on Saturday condemned an attempt on the life of a key Islamic leader the previous day, a suicide kaboom that missed its target but killed five bystanders.

The teenage assassin also died in the attack after Friday prayers outside a mosque in Maiduguri, the capital of northeastern Borno state which is a hotbed of the radical Islamist sect Boko Haram
... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality...
Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) president Ayo Oritsejafor in a statement said he "condemns" the attempt to kill the Mohammedan leader, Umar Garbai el-Kanemi, who carries the title of Shehu of Borno.

The CAN leader "prays that those who rise against innocent Nigerians will crash in defeat in Jesus Name," said the statement, describing the targeted holy man as "a good man with humane character".

No group has grabbed credit for the bloody attack, but suspicion fell on Boko Haram, which has targeted Kanemi in the past and claimed the liquidation last year of his brother.

The Christian group urged Washington to designate Boko Haram a "foreign terrorist organization". The US last month declared three Boko Haram leaders global Death Eaters and said it may blacklist the entire group.

Oritsejafor urged Kanemi to continue to "work for the peace and unity of Nigeria, the evil machinations of those who criminal masterminded the attack notwithstanding".

Boko Haram has said it wants to create an Islamic state in north Nigeria and has disowned religious leaders such as Kanemi, charging they have allowed themselves to be ruled by Nigeria's secular government.

The radical Islamist sect has long stated its loathing for Kanemi, a hugely popular symbol of Islamic tradition in Nigeria's mainly Mohammedan north.

Boko Haram has operated in Nigeria since 2002 but intensified their attacks in 2009 and has claimed more than 1,000 lives since, mostly targeting security services, symbols of authority and Christian churches.

Pastor Oritsejafor in the statement appealed to all Nigerians to help "end this orgy of violence and blood-letting".
Posted by: Fred || 07/15/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Boko Haram

#1  Pastor Oritsejafor in the statement appealed to all Nigerians to help "end this orgy of violence and blood-letting".

A waste of breath, might as well be throwing eggs at a millstone. It's Africa you know, the grinding wheel will not stop.
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/15/2012 0:25 Comments || Top||


Arabia
American filmmaker expelled from Bahrain
On Saturday, Bahrain announced that it had deported US filmmaker Jen Marlowe, accusing her of falsifying her visa application and filming a documentary without permission.

Marlowe, who arrived in the country around a week ago, told officials that she had come "to help a friend who had recently had a baby," the information affairs authority said.

It added, "But investigation showed the names and addresses she gave were fabricated... While in Bahrain she has been shooting a documentary film that requires a proper visa permitting one to work in the kingdom."

"Marlowe is affiliated with members of the International Solidarity Movement (ISI) organisation, some of whom had resorted to similar illegal entry tactics in February of this year."
They've turned their attention away from the Jewish entity? How nice. Perhaps now Rachel Corrie will resume three dimensionality, in spirit at least.
The filmmaker was briefly detained and questioned before being flown out to Jordan.
Posted by: ryuge || 07/15/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:


UN invites Yemen factions to national dialogue
SANAA: The UN envoy to Yemen, Jamal Benomar, said yesterday that southern separatists and northern Shiite rebels have been invited to participate in a national dialogue set for November.
Because that's the only thing keeping the Yemenis from a life of peace and fulfillment: a dialogue!
"Contacts have been made with all the parties, including the Southern Movement and the Huthis (Zaidis), to join the national dialogue and there is now agreement to begin the preparatory phase," Benomar said at the end of a two-week visit.

A dialogue aimed at facilitating political transition in Yemen was envisioned in the agreement that led to long-time president Ali Abdullah Saleh stepping down in February after months of deadly street protests.

The Southern Movement groups activists pushing for greater autonomy for the south and those who want full independence for the region, which was a separate state until 1990.

Asked about its participation, Benomar said several factions had accepted the invitation, while presenting specific demands which he did not reveal. However, he said the faction led by former vice president Ali Salem Al-Baid, a southern leader, has refused to participate, but that contacts are still underway.

Yemen's mountainous north is a stronghold of the Zaidi Shiites, who from 2004 fought six wars with central government forces before signing a truce in February 2010. The rebellion claimed thousands of lives. Benomar said the political process under Saleh's successor, President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi, has "made a lot of progress" but that there "are still obstacles and challenges."

Key among them are a restructuring of the military, which was divided during the year-long popular uprising to unseat Saleh, and the campaign against Al-Qaeda, which is heavily active in the south.
Posted by: Steve White || 07/15/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Ship with helicopters for Syria heads back to Russia
A Russian ship that tried to supply attack helicopters to Syria last month before being forced back was Sunday sighted sailing back home after unexpectedly starting a new voyage.

The privately-chartered Alaed had to return to Russia after its initial attempt to deliver the controversial cargo to President Bashar al-Assad's regime in June was exposed by the US State Department. The 9,000-tonne private cargo was forced to turn back when its British insurer ended up pulling coverage.

The ship then docked in an Arctic port before setting sail again on Tuesday following pledges by Russian military officials to complete the delivery despite the anger it caused in the West.

The timing of the second voyage sparked alarm as it coincided with the deployment of a Russian flotilla to the Mediterranean that could have provided protection from any foreign attempt to block the ship.

The Russian arms export agency on Friday confirmed that the helicopters were aboard the Alaed when it set sail for the second time but refused further comment.

The MarineTraffic.com website that tracks global maritime activity showed the Alaed's radar signal coming in Sunday just north of Denmark following the ship's southern passage along the Norwegian coast.

The ship was shown to be sailing eastward to the Baltic Sea -- in line with suggestions from the owner that it would dock in Saint Petersburg after making a brief port call in the Kaliningrad exclave in the coming days.

Russian officials had earlier suggested that the shipment -- originally also carrying air defence systems that have not been mentioned in more recent reports -- may eventually be delivered to Syria by air.

The three Mi-25 helicopters were repaired in Kaliningrad and some analysts believe that they may be dropped off there by the Alaed before its goes on to Saint Petersburg to pick up new cargo.

Moscow has vowed to fulfill a helicopter repair contract it signed with its last Middle East ally in 2008 while promising not to supply any of its latest technology to Assad while the fighting in Syria continues.
Posted by: tipper || 07/15/2012 11:01 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Easier to get insurance for it when there is a warships and vessels and Marines going to the same area.
Posted by: newc || 07/15/2012 15:30 Comments || Top||

#2  Or it COULD run into an old WW2 leftover Mine, just saying.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 07/15/2012 19:08 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
N. Korea ready to resume nuke talks
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] North Korea told Cambodia on Saturday it was ready to rejoin six-party denuclearisation talks, Phnom Penh said, without outlining any conditions to a potential return to the negotiating table.

North Korean Foreign Minister Pak Ui-Chun met with his Cambodian counterpart in Phnom Penh and "clearly stated that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is ready to participate in the six-party talks", Cambodian foreign ministry front man Koy Kuong told news hounds.

"Cambodia welcomes the positive step," he said, adding that Pak "did not talk about conditions during the meeting".

Tensions are high on the Korean peninsula after the North's failed rocket launch in April, seen by the United States and its allies as an attempted ballistic missile test.
Posted by: Fred || 07/15/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  What do they want this time?
Posted by: SteveS || 07/15/2012 3:42 Comments || Top||

#2  How nice. No.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike || 07/15/2012 6:07 Comments || Top||

#3  Didn't we already dance this dance? Several times in fact.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 07/15/2012 7:11 Comments || Top||

#4  "we're hungry"
Posted by: Frank G || 07/15/2012 10:58 Comments || Top||

#5  agreed.
the band plays a different tune, but it's the same old dance.
Posted by: Raider || 07/15/2012 12:34 Comments || Top||

#6  Time to offer them the opportunity to surrender, unconditionally.

Considering how well that has worked out for Germany and Japan, I cannot think of a more generous offer.
Posted by: rammer || 07/15/2012 19:21 Comments || Top||

#7  You're Hungry, and that's OUR fault?
WE didn't steal your crops, The Kim's did, so what do you want US to do about it?
Purge the Kim's? Papa Kim's Dead, the son has taken over.(With YOUR permission, He who cry's for mercy, deserves none, he who FIGHTS will not cry.
Do it Yourself.)

DO NOT cry to US we tried and were beaten back, so starve, or do it yourselves.

Give a man a fish, and he eats for a day, teach him to fish and he ets for a lifetime, so get fishing.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 07/15/2012 19:23 Comments || Top||

#8  only a naive fool would fall for this tired old crap again....oh wait...
Posted by: Whomosh Whaimble7586 || 07/15/2012 20:55 Comments || Top||


Europe
Mossad Involved In Cyprus Terror Suspect's Arrest
Media outlets in Cyprus reveal further details on arrest of Lebanese man suspected of planning terror attacks against Israelis; local authorities investigating case in conjunction with foreign agencies
Kudos and thanks to the Cypriots.
Media outlets in Cyprus reported that Mossad agents were involved in the arrest or questioning of a Lebanese man cooled for a few years
Please don't kill me!
on suspicion of planning terrorist attacks against Israelis.
 
It was further reported that the suspect used a Swedish passport, contrary to previous reports which indicated he holds a Saudi passport. According to Cypriot news websites, Israeli and local authorities are investigating whether the suspect has connections in and outside of Cyprus.

A news website reported that the suspect is a member of Hezbollah while state CyBC radio reported that documents and photographs were found in his possession detailing movements of Israelis on the island.
 
A police front man announced Saturday that Cypriot authorities cooled for a few years
Please don't kill me!
a man on suspicion he planned terrorist attacks. A local radio report said the suspect planned to hit Israeli targets.
 
The front man refused to disclose the suspect's identity, involvement in the plot and the attack's target. "This is an issue of security which we take very seriously and we cannot comment any further," the front man told AFP.
 
The suspect was cooled for a few years
Drop the rosco and step away witcher hands up!
in police custody for another seven days.
 
According to Sigmalive the man arrived on the island to plan and orchestrate the blowing up of a plane or a bus. Local daily Phileleftheros said notes with details of Israeli aircraft were found in his possession.
 
State radio said the suspect was staying in the southern coastal resort of Limassol and took photographs of Israeli interests.
 
According to one report, Limassol police received an alert from a foreign intelligence agency and cooled for a few years
Please don't kill me!
the suspect in his hotel room where they found travel documents from Leb and Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in their national face...
.The Jerusalem Post adds:
The 24-year-old man, thought to be a Swedish passport holder of Lebanese extraction, was arrested on July 7 and was being detained following remand hearings held behind closed doors, Sigma TV reported. He has not been charged with any offense.

It was not the first time that a Lebanese-Swedish national has been accused of plotting attacks against Israeli targets. In January, Thai authorities arrested Hussein Idris, a Lebanese-Swedish national together with another Lebanese man on suspicion that they were plotting a series of bomb attacks against Israeli targets in Bangkok.

Sigma TV's web portal reported the man had been tracking the movement of Israeli tourists on the island, while Cypriot newspaper Phileleftheros said he was attempting to pinpoint areas frequented by Israeli tourists and the buses they used.

Cyprus lies just west of Syria and Lebanon but has been largely unscathed by the violence and upheaval rattling the Middle East. Its last major security incident was a botched car bomb attack on the Israeli embassy in the capital Nicosia in May 1988 which killed three people.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/15/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah


India-Pakistan
JI issued notices over protest plan
[Dawn] The Khyber Agency political administration has served notices on the local leadership of Jamaat-e-Islami
...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores...
over its plan to block the Beautiful Downtown Peshawar-Torkham Highway on July 17 against the resumption of NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Originally it was a mutual defense pact directed against an expansionist Soviet Union. In later years it evolved into a mechanism for picking the American pocket while criticizing the cut of the American pants...
supplies.

The JI plans to stage a sit-in at the historic Bab-e-Khyber in Jamrud and suspend all types of traffic. A delegation of JI, Khyber Agency chapter, met the local administration in order to chalk out a joint strategy for the protest.

Jamrud assistant political agent Bakhtiar Mohmand later told Dawn that his administration would not allow any one to block the busy Peshawar-Torkham Highway. "It will only add to the miseries of ordinary people traveling on the road," he said and added his administration would not resist the holding of a peaceful protest in Jamrud.

He said the JI delegation was told politely to wrap up their protest in shortest possible time as the present situation didn't allow assembling of large number of people at one point for a
longer duration of time. The JI had not yet responded to official notices.

Meanwhile,
...back at the desert island, Bert was realizing to his horror that he'd had only one bottle for one message, and he'd forgotten to include a return address...
addressing a presser at the Peshawar Press Club on Friday the Jamaat-e-Islami, Khyber Agency amir Shah Faisal Afridi announced that the party will observe a sit-in at Hayatabad on July 16 and hold a rally from Hayatabad to Torkham on 17 against the restoration of NATO supply.

He said the JI will hold a rally from Hayatabad to Torkham and stage a two-day sit-in against the resumption of NATO supply routes. He informed that JI chief Syed Munawar Hassan
... The funny-looking Amir of the Pak Jamaat-e-Islami. He joined the National Students Federation (NSF), a lefty student body, and was elected its President in 1959. He came into contact with the Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba (IJT) Pakistan and studied the writings of Mawlana Syed Abul Ala Maududi, The Great Apostasizer. As a result, he joined IJT in 1960 and soon he was elected as President of its University of Karachi Unit and member of the Central Executive Council. He was Assistant Secretary General of Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistain in 1992-93, and became Secretary General in 1993. After years of holding Qazi's camel he was named Amir when the old man stepped down in 2009...
, senior naib amir Sirajul Haq and party leaders from across the country would lead and address the rally.
Posted by: Fred || 07/15/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Islami


Imran to take peace convoy to Waziristan in September
[Dawn] Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf
...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations....
(PTI) chief Imran Khan
... aka Taliban Khan, who ain't the brightest knife in the national drawer...
on Saturday announced to take a peace pageant to the militancy-ridden Wazoo by the end of September, DawnNews reported.
Is too much to hope that they'll pageant his soul to Kingdom Come?
Addressing a protest rally against the restoration of NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis....
supply routes, Khan said the purpose behind taking a grinding of the peace processorion to Waziristan is to bring the violence-effected families before the media, whose loved ones bit the dust in the drone attacks. "The convoy would also consist of human rights
...which often intentionally defined so widely as to be meaningless...
activists and members of the media," he added.

The PTI chief assailed the rulers for fighting an "American war." "The nation wants to get out of this war, as their blood is being sold out in it," said Khan.

He demanded the government to reveal names of the victims of US drone strikes, claiming the dead were common people and not terrorists. "People, killed during drone strikes, were citizens of the country.....government should make their names public," said the party chief.

The PTI chief vowed to raise voices at every fore against the government's stance of fighting the "American war."

Khan critisised President Asif Ali Ten Percent Zardari
... husband of the late Benazir Bhutto, who has been singularly lacking in curiosity about who done her in ...
for hypocrisy over drone attacks. "Asif Ali Zardari doesn't condemn drone attacks....he does hypocrisy," he said.

Commenting on the ongoing rift between the judiciary and the executive, Khan threatened the government with a "tsunami march" to Islamabad, if it tried to undermine the sanctity of the Supreme Court of Pakistain.

Moreover, the cricketer-turned-politician severally criticised the Awami National Party (ANP) for being a 'pawn' of President Zardari. "The coalition partners helped Asif Ali Zardari in looting the wealth of the country," he added.

In concluding his speech, the PTI chief reiterated to build a "new Pakistain" after coming into power. "The PTI tsunami will build a new Pakistain," he said, adding the party will end American slavery from the country.

Khan also vowed to hold the biggest rally of Beautiful Downtown Peshawar's history in September.
Posted by: Fred || 07/15/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Iraq
Maliki’s Syria stance slammed
DUBAI — Syria’s former ambassador in Baghdad, Nawaf Fares, criticised Iraqi premier in an interview broadcast on Saturday,
from a comfortable distance from Damascus...
saying Nouri Al Maliki’s stance towards Damascus was “contradictory” to the truth.

“I personally reproach the (Iraqi) prime minister on his stance which is contradictory to the truth,” Fares, who defected earlier this week, told Doha-based Al Jazeera television channel.

“He knows very well what (Syrian President) Bashar Al Assad had done to him and to all of Iraq specifically, Fares said, adding that Assad has “killed thousands” by opening “the doors for Al Qaeda” militants to carry out bombings across Iraq.
Nice to hear somebody admit that...
Iraq had repeatedly accused Damascus in the past of letting insurgents and arms transit through Syria for carrying out attacks inside the country, especially during the brutal conflict that erupted after US-led forces toppled Saddam Hussein’s government. But since the uprising against Assad Iraq’s government has called for non-interference in Syria and has opposed arming the rebels.

Baghdad’s stance was similar to that of Syria’s other ally Iran which Fares accused of “putting pressures” on Maliki’s government.

“Iran must not support a tyrant and dictator who is killing his own people, regardless of its interests,” Fares told Al Jazeera in Qatar, where he has fled.

When asked on UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan’s bid to shore Iran’s support for his tattered peace plan, Fares said: “Iran is part of the problem, how could it be part of the solution?”

Fares, the first Syrian ambassador to defect to the opposition, was widely seen as a government hardliner and his decision, announced on Al Jazeera on Wednesday, was surprising. Syrian foreign ministry had said Fares, who hails from a prominent tribe from eastern Syria, had been dismissed and would be dismembered prosecuted.

Meanwhile, Iraq’s prime minister on Saturday condemned the killing of more than 150 people in a central Syrian town two days ago, describing the deaths as an “ugly massacre”. “The ugly massacre that took place in Tremseh town, in Hama province, provokes feelings of concern and condemnation,” Nouri Al Maliki said in a statement published on his official website.

“This reprehensible crime, which we condemn strongly ... should be an additional incentive for everyone to abandon the methods of violence, murder, revenge and terrorism in solving problems,” Maliki said. He said the killings should urge people to accelerate finding a peaceful solution to the 16-month-long Syrian crisis.

Iraq, which has a 600km border with Syria, has voiced support for a peaceful solution to the Syrian crisis which initially began in February 2011.
Posted by: Steve White || 07/15/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Ex-Revolutionary Guards general reveals dissent within elite Iranian force
Handsomely embroidered ascots, but that lad on the far left looks a bit shifty eyed.
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/15/2012 13:28 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:


Maliki Condemns Treimsa 'Massacre'
[An Nahar] Iraq's prime minister on Saturday condemned the killing of more than 150 people in a central Syrian town two days ago, describing the deaths as an "ugly massacre."

"The ugly massacre that took place in Treimsa town, in Hama province, provokes feelings of concern and condemnation," Nouri al-Maliki
... Prime Minister of Iraq and the secretary-general of the Islamic Dawa Party....
said in a statement published on his official website.

"This reprehensible crime, which we condemn strongly ... should be an additional incentive for everyone to abandon the methods of violence, murder, Dire Revenge™ and terrorism in solving problems," Maliki said.

He said the killings should urge people to accelerate finding a peaceful solution to the 16-month-long Syrian crisis.

The killings on Thursday have sparked an international outcry, and added urgency to deadlocked Security Council negotiations on a Syria resolution.
Posted by: Fred || 07/15/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Iran issues new oil blockade warning
DUBAI: Iran could prevent even “a single drop of oil” passing through the Strait of Hormuz if its security is threatened, a naval chief said on Saturday, as tensions simmer over Tehran’s nuclear program.

Tehran will increase its military presence in international waters, said Ali Fadavi, naval commander in Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

“If they (the US) do not obey international laws and the IRGC’s warnings, it will have very bad consequences for them,” Fadavi said, according to Iran’s Fars News Agency.
“The IRGC’s naval forces have had the ability since the (Iran-Iraq) war to completely control the Strait of Hormuz and not allow even a single drop of oil to pass through.”

Fadavi added: “IRGC special naval forces are present on all of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s ships in the Indian Ocean and to its east and west, to prevent any movement. This IRGC naval force presence in international waters will increase.”

Iran has repeatedly threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz shipping channel, through which 40 percent of the world’s sea-borne oil exports passes, in retaliation for sanctions placed on its crude exports by Western powers.
This explains why gas prices went back up, and why, when they edge down, the Iranians mouth off again about closing the straits.
Posted by: Steve White || 07/15/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [9 views] Top|| File under:

#1  DEFNECE.PK/FORUMS > FARS NEWS AGENCY [FNA]: IRGC NAVY EXPANDING DEPLOYMENT OF SPECIAL UNITS IN INTERNATIONAL WATERS.

* SAME >PRESSTV: ISRAELI MILITARY CAN BE SWEPT ASIDE BY IRAN: US ANALYST [Gordon Duff = Senior Editor, Veterans Today].

IDF is increasingly factionalized internally - 50% of Israeli young people are allegedly refusing military service to which Ultra-Orthodox Jews are already exempted; Israel has no capability for sustained/protractive LR logistical operations.

* SAME > [Christian Science Monitor = Retired USN Cdr Christopher Harmer] US HAS GREAT DIFFICULTY TRACKING IRANIAN [Mini-]SUBMARINES, which Iran can effec deploy in large numbers all around the Persian Gulf + Arabian Sea.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 07/15/2012 1:05 Comments || Top||

#2  OOOOPPPSSS, forgot RUSSIA TODAY > [Us-Iran] WAR IN AUGUST? US SENDS FOURTH AIRCRAFT CARRIER, DOZENS OF UNDERWATER DRONES.

US to strike Iran before Iran devs reliable Nukes andor Chinese DF-21D "Carrier Killer" ASBMS + Network Techs improve to severe detriment of USN???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 07/15/2012 1:17 Comments || Top||

#3  Tehran will increase its military presence in international waters, said Ali Fadavi, naval commander in Iran's elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

...Y'know, this may explain all the recent Iranian Navy deployments out of the PG: Teheran knows that their navy has a life expectancy in the Gulf of maybe an hour or so, but if they're outside of the gulf they can be sent raiding and probably get in a few good hits against unarmed merchies before the various Allied navies catch up with them. Assmuming of course that they don't then immediately retire to the safety of a 'neutral' harbor...

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 07/15/2012 8:27 Comments || Top||

#4  Both the US + Iran are engaged in a game of chicken in the PGulf, i.e. whom will blink first + make the stupid milpol move that starts shooting war.

Iran's bird/chicken "game" agz the USA is defensive - it won't strike first = wage major war agz the USN + Allied unless it de facto has NucWeaps [FYI various Perts, MilBloggers = claim Iran covertly has had Nukes since 1993].

"DUAL-TRACK" > Whatever unilateral, calculated MilPol moves Iran is making to its advantage agz the US Navy is on LAND - Syruh + KSA + AFPAK + CAR truubles, etc. to come - NOT AT SEA I.E WHERE US, NATO GROUND FORCES WON'T BE, OR ELSE ONLY IN MINOR PRESENCE AFTER 2014. ITS BEST + ONLY REAL "WEAPON" AGZ THE USA = USDOD-Navy AT THIS TIME ARE THE VARIOUS REGIONAL "ARAB/
MUSLIM/ISLAMIC SPRING" MOVEMENTS ERUPTING AROUND THE MIDEAST + MUSLIM WORLD, + ESPEC ANY "GREAT POWER" CONFRONTATIONS THEREFROM.

Iran well-knows its disadvantages, but it also wants Nukes + Shia-dominated/controlled OWG or Islamist Caliphate + Shia-dominated/controlled Islamic "Ummah". The Sunni Saudis are the decrepit, geezery, profiteering + selfish "Old Ways/Guard" that have been in power too long for the good of the Muslim World. IRAN = SHIA ISLAM IS THE FUTURE.

----------------

* CHINESE MILITARY FORUM > FRANCE IS ALSO MOVING THE CdG [FNS CV Charles De Gaulle] BATTLE GROUP WITH MORE NUMBERS OF RAFALES | [Video] FRENCH NAVAL TASK FORCE HEADS FOR IRAN.

* SAME [old] > MORE US CARRIERS RUSHING TO HORMUZ | [DebkaFile] TWO MORE US CARRIERS, DOZENS OF MINI-SUBS RUSHED TO HORMUZ.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 07/15/2012 22:49 Comments || Top||



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Two weeks of WOT
Sun 2012-07-15
  At Least 83 Killed across Syria
Sat 2012-07-14
  NDS Chief Among Bombing Victims at Afghan Wedding
Fri 2012-07-13
  Defected Syrian Ambassador Calls on Countrymen to Join Him
Thu 2012-07-12
  Sudan university students hold major protest: Witness
Wed 2012-07-11
  Al Qaeda suicide bomber attacks Yemen police academy
Tue 2012-07-10
  Gang Linked to Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel Busted in Arizona
Mon 2012-07-09
  Nigeria raids, reprisals kill 37
Sun 2012-07-08
  Annan Admits Syria Mission Failure
Sat 2012-07-07
  Violence Kills 55 in Syria amid 'Liberation' Demos
Fri 2012-07-06
  17 Drone-zapped in North Wazoo, 17!
Thu 2012-07-05
  15th Syrian General Defects to Turkey
Wed 2012-07-04
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Tue 2012-07-03
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Mon 2012-07-02
  43 Killed as Clashes Rage across Syria
Sun 2012-07-01
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