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300 Syrian "Cubs of the Caliphate" said killed fighting for IS in Mosul
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
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Page 4: Opinion
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Page 6: Politix
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Afghanistan
Afghan Government Lost 2 Percent of Territory This Summer
[Free Beacon] The Afghan government lost control of 2 percent of its territory this summer, as Taliban insurgents have continued to launch attacks in an ongoing conflict that top officials describe as a "stalemate."

The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction released its quarterly report to Congress over the weekend, naming the Taliban insurgency as the "most immediate challenge" to ongoing U.S. efforts to rebuild the war-torn country.

The report, citing figures from U.S. Forces-Afghanistan, states that the Afghan government controlled or influenced approximately 63.4 percent of Afghanistan’s districts as of August 28, over two percent less than the 65.6 percent it controlled three months earlier.

The Taliban wields the most substantial power in Helmand province, where 21 percent of districts are either controlled or influenced by insurgents.

The Afghan government controls 258 of the country’s 407 districts, while insurgents hold 33 districts and 116 districts are contested.

The special inspector general report preceded the publication of a New York Times article outlining how Taliban fighters have gained ground in Helmand, Kunduz, and Uruzgan provinces over the last week as Afghan forces have surrendered their posts.
Con't.
Posted by: Besoeker || 11/01/2016 00:10 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Rights group concerned about human smuggling in Aghanistan
Afghan rights oversight group, Human Rights Research and Advocacy Consortium (HRRAC), on Monday said poor leadership within government and a surge in violence have led to a sharp rise in human trafficking in Afghanistan.

A survey conducted by the watchdog reveals that at least 47 percent of Afghans believe that security threats, terrorist attacks and dysfunction within government are the fundamental causes for the increase in human smuggling.

"The research indicates that issues such as security threats in different regions of the country are the ‎main reasons for ‎an increase in human smuggling, which shows government's failure. Government has failed to prevent the growth of mafia involved in human smuggling," the HRRAC chief Attaullah Khan said on Monday.

Meanwhile, a number of Afghan civil society activists urged government to outline a working strategy that could help to curb the trend.

They said human smuggling is a big threat for Afghanistan compared with drug trafficking.

"UN statistics show that the income achieved from human smuggling is between $8 and $31 billion USD annually while the annual income of drug smugglers is not equal to this," said civil society activist Sher Khan Sahak.

"Crime investigation department of the Ministry of Interior so far has arrested dozens of smugglers who by exploiting travel companies and by making fake documents are involved in this trade and we have referred them to the legal and judicial institutions," said Jamaluddin, a member of the anti-trafficking committee of the interior ministry.

Statistics reveal that more than 300,000 Afghans left the country over the past two years with the majority of them using illegal routes run by human smugglers.
Posted by: badanov || 11/01/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Arabia
Saudi Arabian longtime finance minister dumped
[Iran Press TV] 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 the Soddy national face...
has fired it longtime serving finance minister amid measures to curb the kingdom’s severe economic problems.

Ibrahim Abdulaziz al-Assaf "has been removed from his position", read a royal decree by Saudi Arabia's King Salman
...either the largest species of Pacific salmon or the current Sheikh of the Burnin' Sands, Cutodian of the Two Holy Mosquesand Lord of Most of the Arabians....
bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, published by the official SPA news agency on Monday.

The decree noted that Assaf, who held the position since 1996, has been replaced by Mohammed Aljadaan, the head of the Capital Market Authority which is charged with regulating the kingdoms stock market.

The move comes at a time while Riyadh is dealing with economic struggles brought on by a budget deficit of nearly $100 billion caused by a sharp slump in oil prices as well as Riyadh’s rising army expenditure, a large amount of which is being funneled into a military campaign against Yemen, where over 10,200 people have been killed and thousands more injured.

The Saudis have also been forced to introduce a series of austerity measures that include canceling of some bonuses offered to state employees and increasing of entry visa fees for residents and foreigners.
Posted by: Fred || 11/01/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Saudi Arabia

#1  has fired it longtime serving finance minister

Somebody realized Clinton might be a bad investment?
Posted by: Skidmark || 11/01/2016 12:26 Comments || Top||


Bangladesh
‘Gulshan attack rifles were made in West Bengal’
[Dhaka Tribune] The assault rifles used in the terror attack on Gulshan’s Holey Artisan Bakery were made in West Bengal with the help of Pak gunsmiths, said a terrorist locked away
Please don't kill me!
by Special Task Force (STF) of Kolkata police.

The terrorist, one of the six who were arrested in September in connection with Khagragarh kaboom, made the confession to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) of India, the Times of India reported on Saturday.

The deadly terror attack left 23 people dead, including two coppers and 17 foreigners. The five faceless myrmidons were also killed during the rescue operation.

Earlier, Sherlocks of Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crimes (CTTC) unit of Bangladesh Police said they had learnt that the rifles entered Bangladesh through the Indian border, and they notified the NIA in this regard.

"We learnt this during our investigation of Gulshan attack. Now we will communicate with the NIA before we decide on our next steps regarding the investigation," CTTC chief Monirul Islam told the Dhaka Tribune on Saturday.

According to the arrested terrorist, Pak tribal gunsmiths clandestinely visited Malda district of West Bengal to train gunsmiths from Munger, who set up base in the border district to make AK-22 assault rifles. These weapons were then smuggled into Bangladesh via Chapainawabganj.

NIA Sherlocks suspect that the Paks who conducted the training were from the Darra Adam Khel community that resides in a village located between Beautiful Downtown Peshawar
...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire.
and Kohat. The community is believed to regularly help the Taliban in duplicating modern weapons.

"We are not sure yet, but the language they mentioned is spoken in and around the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central...
province of Pakistain where the village is located," a senior NIA officer said.

If expert gunsmiths did come from Darra Adam Khel to train men in Malda, investigation agencies have reasons to worry. These Pak tribals can copy nearly any weapon ‐ from pen pistols and hand-grenades to automatic rifles and anti-aircraft guns. Darra gunsmiths are said to have the ability to duplicate any new rifle within 10 days.

Earlier, CTTC chief Monirul categorically mentioned Munger in connection with the rifles, which prompted Bihar police to launch an investigation into the matter, the Times of India reported.

"The Bihar police in a communique to Bengal police has confirmed that the arms manufacturers and smugglers had set up units in Malda and other places in Bengal," said an STF officer.
Posted by: Fred || 11/01/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistain Proxies


Europe
Europe migrant colonist briefs
Dutch anti-Islam MP Geert Wilders goes on trial again for hate speech
Finally. They've only been talking about it incessantly for the past two years.
[IsraelTimes] Dutch anti-Islam MP Geert Wilders goes on trial in a landmark case on hate speech as a high-security court heard how children had been scared by inflammatory calls that fewer Moroccans should live in the country.
Oh no! Not terrified children!!
As expected, the firebrand
...firebrands are noted more for audio volume and the quantity of spittle generated than for any actual logic in their arguments...
MP with the peroxide-blonde hair snubs the court, leaving his defense lawyer to read out a statement to explain the no-show.

"It is a political process and I have decided not to be present. It’s my right as a politician to speak out if there is a problem in the Netherlands," says Wilders’ statement. Prosecutors confirm they will not demand that he appear.

Analysts say the highly-anticipated trial will test the boundaries of freedom of expression as general elections loom in March.
The prosecution hopes to finally kick Mr. Wilders out of politics, though each time he has been tried for such things he has garnered more votes. This trial should make him the most popular politician in the Netherlands, and then they'll have to let him form the government.
Three judges are hearing the case against Wilders, 53, on charges of insulting a racial group and inciting racial hatred after comments he made about Moroccans living in the Netherlands.

The trial focuses in part on a comment made at a March 2014 local government election rally, when Wilders asked supporters whether they wanted "fewer or more Moroccans in your city and in the Netherlands."

When the crowd shouted back "Fewer! Fewer!" a smiling Wilders answered: "We’re going to organize that."

His 2014 statements were met with outrage including from the small but vocal Dutch Moslem community. An avalanche of 6,400 complaints followed.

EU declares Israel boycott protected as free speech

[IsraelTimes] Palestinians hail EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini’s statement, but she stresses that the union ‘rejects the BDS campaign’s attempts to isolate Israel’
A neat demonstration of the ability to hold two contradictory ideas at the same time.
Often referred to as "the Arab mindset"
Bosnian court jails 7 people for fighting in Syria

[Ynet] A Bosnian court has sentenced seven people to a total of more than 12 years in jail for joining ISIS in Syria and for illegally owning weapons. The court said Monday that the seven were found guilty of joining IS between 2013 and 2014. The sentences ranged from one year to three years.

Of the 130 Bosnian citizens who had previously left, nearly 50 reportedly died in battles.

Islamic State says it was behind murder of German teen

[IsraelTimes] German authorities are investigating a claim by jihadist group Islamic State to be behind the mid-October murder of a teenage boy in Hamburg, a police spokeswoman said Sunday. IS-affiliated news agency Amaq reported on Saturday that the jihadist group had claimed responsibility for the October 16 knife attack.

“A soldier of the Islamic State stabbed two individuals in Hamburg city on the 16th of this month,” the release said, in response to “calls to target the citizens of coalition countries” that are fighting IS in Iraq and Syria.

“We are looking into the authenticity of the IS claim of responsibility,” the police spokeswoman told AFP. A specialist political crimes unit is now involved in the case, she added.

Meanwhile, news agency DPA reported on Sunday that German federal prosecutors had “taken note” of the claim and may take over the case from regional authorities.

Hamburg police reported a knife attack on the banks of the Alster river on the 16th. One victim, a 16-year-old boy, was fatally wounded, while a 15-year-old girl who was with him escaped unharmed after the attacker shoved her into the water. Police launched a dragnet but never found the man, described as aged 23-25 and of “southern” appearance.

“The motive for the crime is unknown and is the subject of further investigation,” the October 17 police statement said.

IS’s claim of responsibility included no further details about the attack or the perpetrator.
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/01/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Moslem Colonists

#1  Meanwhile: 'We are losing control of the streets' Merkel's Germany descends into lawlessness
Posted by: Vast Right Wing Conspiracy || 11/01/2016 9:47 Comments || Top||

#2  Luckily there are many combat tested vets on the side of order.



Oh, that side.
Posted by: Shipman || 11/01/2016 15:41 Comments || Top||

#3  And how old are you?

Twelve.

I see. Have you ever worked back home?

Yes - I was an engineer in Mosul.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 11/01/2016 17:20 Comments || Top||


The Grand Turk
Erdogan warns Iranian militias in Tal Afar
Ankara- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned that his country would respond if Iraqi Shiite militias terrorize the Iraqi town of Tal Afar.

A Turkish official, who preferred to remain anonymous, told Asharq al-Awsat that Iran is provoking Turkey through putting pressure on Iraq’s Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi government regarding rejecting the Turkish intervention in Mosul liberating battle.

Iran also pushed armed Shiite factions in Iraq to attack ISIS sites in the west of Mosul—this hints that Tal Afar might be targeted but Turkey will not stand still in this case.

Erdogan stated on Saturday in Ankara that he did not receive certain information in this regard. The Turkish President refused to provide further details on the Turkish reinforcements and the possible response of Turkish forces in case Shiite militias targeted Tal Afar.

On the same level, Turkish experts warned that the Iraqi Army and Popular Mobilization Forces are dealing with Sunni citizens as involved with ISIS, without any exceptions.

Middle East Expert Oytun Orhan said that Kurdistan administration is in a quest to seize the greatest part of the western regions of Mosul regardless of who will rule the center of Mosul. “Turkish continuous targeting of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) has a negative impact on Turkey because later on it will have to expand its intelligence and air activities to limit the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) movements,” said Orhan.

“Turkey can’t depend on National Mobilization Forces that were trained in Bashiqa to defy activities of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) or Popular Mobilization Forces due to lack of experience, absence of international support and insufficient number of soldiers,” added Orhan.

The Turkish expert called on Turkey to increase support to Kurdistan through passing oil exporting pipes through Turkey besides increasing military and political support to strengthen the military capabilities of Peshmerga.
Posted by: badanov || 11/01/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte

#1  this is something of a Turkish chavinism issue

the population of Tal Afar is thought to be (given the migrations, ethnic bullying, ISIS depredations, you can't be sure) predominantly Turkomen and the supper time language is mostly Turkmen.
Posted by: lord garth || 11/01/2016 13:47 Comments || Top||

#2  Something like the Tsar looking out for the Orthodox in places under Ottoman rule that he'd liked to have had.
Posted by: Fred || 11/01/2016 17:07 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Between the devil & deep state
[DAWN] THE devil’s disciples have descended on Balochistan
...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it...
with full force this year, their evil machinations on naked display in the gory games being played within the region’s strategic depths. While an emerging Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
(IS) Lion of Islam group has grabbed credit for the recent assault on a police academy in Quetta, security officials believe that Lashkar-e-Jhangvi
... a 'more violent' offshoot of Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistain. LeJ's purpose in life is to murder anyone who's not of utmost religious purity, starting with Shiites but including Brelvis, Ahmadis, Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Rosicrucians, and just about anyone else you can think of. They are currently a wholly-owned subsidiary of al-Qaeda ...
al-Alami (LJ-A) executed the carnage.

In a series of terror attacks -- including the targeting of Quetta’s Civil Hospital on Aug 9, which killed at least 70 lawyers -- there is increasing evidence that banned Lion of Islam outfits are not only emerging with new names, but are also expanding their scope of activities from sectarian attacks to targeting state institutions in a cross-border rage.

These are ominous developments. Balochistan finds itself caught between the terrorist devils unleashed by dark elements of deep states within the region, their tentacles spreading far and wide. Our intelligence sleuths are convinced that those responsible for Quetta’s mayhem were sponsored and steered by the hostile intelligence agencies of some neighbouring countries. According to security officials investigating these attacks, local Lion of Islam groups -- especially Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LJ) and its offshoot LJ-A, along with Jamaatul Ahrar
...A Pak Taliban splinter group that split off from the Mullah Fazlullah faction because it wasn't violent enough...
-- have developed a nexus with IS criminal masterminds in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar
The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country..
province. Over the last five months, Uzbek, Tajik and Afghan nationals have been inducted as part of an orchestrated terror campaign.

Let us examine the resurgence of LJ under the new brand of LJ-A. One of the deadliest sectarian Lion of Islam outfits, it is affiliated with both the TTP and Al Qaeda. As part of a drive against banned outfits as stipulated in the National Action Plan, it was claimed that LJ stood completely eliminated following a police ’encounter’ in Punjab
1.) Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard
2.) A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers
3.) A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots....

on July 29, 2015, in which chief of the defunct outfit, Malik Ishaq, was killed along with four other key leaders. However,
a clean conscience makes a soft pillow...
the lethal organization made its presence felt when it hit back just over two weeks later when a jacket wallah targeted and killed Punjab’s home minister, Shuja Khanzada.

The LJ-A came to notice soon after 9/11 by establishing a presence in Afghanistan with assistance from the Afghan Taliban and Al Qaeda. It was founded by Abid Mehsud, who hailed from South Wazoo. However,
a clean conscience makes a soft pillow...
it retained contact with LJ; the distinction was that one exclusively targeted Shias while the other hit security agencies and government installations. Reportedly, it was LJ-A that was responsible for kidnapping and killing two Pak intelligence officers. That incident is said to have resulted in the killing of Abid Mehsud in October 2010 at the behest of the then emir of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain Hakeemullah Mehsud. His next in command, Yahya Afridi, was also killed with four companions in Kurram Agency
...home of an intricately interconnected web of poverty, ignorance, and religious fanaticism, where the laws of cause and effect are assumed to be suspended, conveniently located adjacent to Tora Bora...
. Shaukat Mehsud became the new commander. However,
a clean conscience makes a soft pillow...
due to the military operation in South Waziristan, the group went underground and lay dormant for quite some time.

This year, LJ-A became active again under the runaway Syed Safdar (alias Yousaf Khorasani) from Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
. Suicide attacks on security forces have intensified. The Lion of Islam outfit was the prime suspect in the Karachi Nishtar Park attack. It has footprints all over the targeting of Quetta’s legal community, as was evident from its front man’s belligerent statements blaming security agencies for targeting their commander’s family in Karachi. There were clear signs that the group was planning for bigger, more lethal attacks -- and then the police academy attack occurred. Our state agencies were, yet again, caught napping.

While the devil’s disciples are known by our security agencies, it is the primary responsibility of all the state’s stakeholders to ensure that we are not mired in these games. We should instead address internal security fault lines. I agree with ANP chief Asfandyar Wali Khan when he asked the government to reconsider its internal and foreign policies so that similar attacks can "at least be reduced if not entirely eliminated". He also added that "a peaceful Pakistain is impossible without a peaceful Afghanistan". The Iranian Supreme National Security Council’s secretary also denounced the Quetta carnage as "a sign of unbridled growth of terrorism and extremism across the region".

The helplessness of Balochistan’s government is evident from the statement given by its home secretary before a parliamentary committee: "Balochistan has become a cocktail of insurgencies, religious extremism and other criminal activities. We cannot hide that the system has failed..."

However,
a clean conscience makes a soft pillow...
the remedy sought is through draconian administrative pre-1958 powers under the Frontier Crimes Regulation to combat terrorism and organised crime in the province. It would be yet another recipe for failure as the provincial administration laments its lack of legal powers in a ’war zone’.

It is unfortunate that a sound legislative framework established by Police Order, 2002 -- along with extending the writ of the state in the entire province by replacing ineffective levies with a well-trained, fully equipped police force, established in all 30 districts on Aug 14, 2007-- was frittered away at the altar of expediency by tribal political chiefs and a scheming, power-hungry bureaucracy. The resultant void in the absence of a well-oiled law-enforcement machinery has seen sectarian and Lion of Islam outfits proliferate in lawless regions of the vast province. Civil armed forces and military cannot be a substitute for a long-term and enduring law-enforcement framework.

Meanwhile,
...back at the laboratory, Igor and Oleg were discussing what the quickest way might be to deal with the monster...
the police is marginalised and demoralised, with restricted jurisdiction and lack of political will to enhance its effectiveness through professional capacity-building, and expansion and allocation of resources. Its vulnerability was further exposed on proving such a soft target for the terrorists.

Merely suspending the academy’s commandant and deputies cannot absolve the provincial police command and the government of criminal negligence for failure to protect a facility that had been attacked twice before. Who is responsible for the loss of 63 precious lives and over 160 injured in this morale-sapping atrocity? One expected the provincial police chief to accept responsibility for the glaring security lapse, and the insensitivity shown in not appropriately dispatching bodies of the fallen to their final resting places. Making scapegoats of junior minions clearly erodes the leader’s moral authority.

Pakistain has the dubious distinction of being one of the 10 most lawless countries according to the World Justice Project’s 2016 Rule of Law Index. Our companions are Venezuela, Cambodia, Afghanistan, Egypt, Cameroon
...a long, narrow country that fills the space between Nigeria and Chad on the northeast, CAR to the southeast. Prior to incursions by Boko Haram nothing ever happened there...
, Zim-bob-we, Æthiopia, Uganda and Bolivia. Is this the hall of shame we are comfortable occupying?

Posted by: Fred || 11/01/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Lashkar e-Jhangvi

#1  THE devil’s disciples have descended on Balochistan

Ahhh, so they DO know what happened to Huma.
Posted by: Skidmark || 11/01/2016 12:25 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Kurds form all female battalion
The most probable ISIS commander reaction after fighting an all female battalion? "Well... shit!"
[ARANews] Al-Bab – Al-Bab Military Council, which was founded last August with support of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), announced on Monday the establishment of an all-female battalion. This comes amid continuous military operations against the Islamic State (ISIS) near the al-Bab city in northern Syria.

The step was reportedly inspired by the experience of the Kurdish-led Women’s Protection Units (YPJ), which have been combatting ISIS in northern Syria for years.

The newly-established all-female battalion within the al-Bab Military Council aims to fight ISIS and other radical groups in al-Bab.

Amhan, a female fighter in the al-Bab Military Council, told ARA News that she has joined the all-female battalion in order to support the efforts of eliminating ISIS in the region.

“I have joined the council with a belief in the necessity of liberating our territory from ISIS,” she said. “This terrorist group has killed and displaced many of our people in al-Bab.”

Akrin is also a new member of the al-Bab Military Council. She told ARA News that she decided to join the council after suffering from ISIS atrocities in al-Bab city.

“When ISIS invaded al-Bab city, they detained my brother and killed him. I have been criticising the practices of ISIS for a long time. I have been arrested and tortured several times at the hands of ISIS terrorists,” she said. “An ISIS female jihadist was responsible for torturing me in a very brutal way.”

“I’ve joined the newly-established all-female battalion in the military council in order to fight those terrorists and free our people and land,” she told ARA News.

The al-Bab Military Council, which includes several rebel battalions, was established after the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and allied Manbij Military Council liberated the nearby city of Manbij from ISIS last August. The council has been trying to extend its ranks, which now also include an all-women battalion.
Video report at the link
Posted by: badanov || 11/01/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Government
Judge Rules in Favor of Palantir in Lawsuit Against US Army
[Defense News] WASHINGTON -- In what could be a big blow to the Army’s current path to develop its internal intelligence software suite -- which has been long been marred in controversy -- a presiding judge in a lawsuit brought by Palantir Technologies protesting the Army’s acquisition efforts for the system has ruled in favor of the Palo Alto-based company.

Palantir filed a bid protest in the US Court of Federal Claims against the US Army June 30 for issuing what it says was an unlawful procurement solicitation for the service’s next iteration of its Distributed Common Ground System-Army (DCGS-A) that shuts the company’s commercial offering out of the competition.
DCGS-A spit, spit, spit.
The protest -- filed through Palantir’s lawyers Boies, Schiller & Flexner, LLP -- argues that the lawsuit was necessary because the Army should be stopped from moving forward on an unlawful and risk-prone software development project that would reinvent the wheel at a very high price.

Palantir’s lawyers have called the Army’s acquisition efforts for DCGS-A Increment 1 and Increment 2 both illegal and irrational.
Not to mention most intelligence analysts hate it.
Posted by: Besoeker || 11/01/2016 08:39 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  This ruling has great potential for the military intelligence analyst and his or her future contributions to the Global War on Terror.

DCGS has been a proprietary pox and systems sustainment money pit from day #1.
Posted by: Besoeker || 11/01/2016 8:49 Comments || Top||

#2  Agree - this is only common sense. Palantir is superior to Lockheed Martin's DCGS-A system for terror analysis and sharing information across DoD, DoJ and any other LE agencies.

Palantir much, much better for targeting and defining the criminal enterprises that support and direct the bad actors. Although DCGS has a good geoint set up. Both should exist and the generals and SES's should should shut and stay out of the fight and give the folks the tools they need.
Posted by: Tennessee || 11/01/2016 10:13 Comments || Top||

#3  But, but, but...how do you ignore, prune, dilute, disregard or deny content of thematic interest if analysis and reporting isn't centralized? What other mechanisms of delay and plausible denial do we have?
Posted by: Skidmark || 11/01/2016 12:20 Comments || Top||

#4  Which one will the JAGs use?
Posted by: Pappy || 11/01/2016 12:38 Comments || Top||

#5  Which one is less likely to be hacked?
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/01/2016 19:26 Comments || Top||

#6  TW: Palantir is an Intelligence Base Operating System (IBOS) analytic tool. The tool and the products produced by the tool are stored on a secure system.
Posted by: Besoeker || 11/01/2016 20:13 Comments || Top||

#7  You've all missed the key word.....graft.

Watch where the money goes and to whom it goes.
Posted by: AlanC || 11/01/2016 20:28 Comments || Top||

#8  AlanC, I was just about to repeat the old chestnut "follow the money". This goes back to Lt Gen Legere overriding her subordinates in favor of the programs she started (DGCS-A), forcing them to change their eval to a favorable one from the original unfavorable one - and furthermore ordered the original unfavorable assessment "to be destroyed" (direct quote). This was all back in 2012 but its roots go further back.

Congressman Duncan Hunter fought this back in 2014 IIRC. I thought it had been resolved back then, but I haven't been in that part of the loop (or officially in any other loop) for a while.

Field troops and people that actually produce intel for the Army favor Palintir because tis intuitive and does its job without getting in the way. DCGS-A is a typical Army committee and review board designed tool, and to quote Men In Black "... everything we've come to expect from years of Government Training." (sarcasm). I've heard it called: Unusable by anyone that actually has to produce actionable intelligence in a timely manner.

Not surprised they won the ruling.

Posted by: OldSpook || 11/01/2016 21:49 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
33[untagged]
10Islamic State
5Sublime Porte
3Govt of Pakistain Proxies
2Moslem Colonists
2Taliban
2Lashkar e-Jhangvi
2Commies
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On Sale now!


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.
Click here for more information

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Two weeks of WOT
Tue 2016-11-01
  300 Syrian "Cubs of the Caliphate" said killed fighting for IS in Mosul
Mon 2016-10-31
  19 Lashkar-e-Taiba Terrorists Killed In Airstrikes In Afghanistan
Sun 2016-10-30
  Dozens die as Syrian Army convoy is hit
Sat 2016-10-29
  Turkey launches crackdown on Kurds, cuts internet
Fri 2016-10-28
  Jailed Qaeda Leader Killed in Yemen’s Lahij
Thu 2016-10-27
  ISIS, al-Nusra slug it out in eastern Lebanon
Wed 2016-10-26
  Tunisia arrests two US citizens over ties with Daesh
Tue 2016-10-25
  Gunmen kill 59 in attack on police academy in Pakistani city of Quetta
Mon 2016-10-24
  Egyptian air force hammers Sinai jihadists, 70 said killed
Sun 2016-10-23
  Senior Egypt military officer shot dead near Cairo
Sat 2016-10-22
  Bangladesh Says Head of Group Blamed for Cafe Siege Dead
Fri 2016-10-21
  Christian Refugees Facing Persecution in Germany
Thu 2016-10-20
  Militias fighting among each other in Tripoli
Wed 2016-10-19
  Drone strike kills 8 Qaeda suspects in Yemen
Tue 2016-10-18
  Battle for Mosul On

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