[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The Spanish ambassador to Afghanistan is facing investigation after a deadly attack by Taliban left at least 6 people dead, including 2 Spanish and 4 Afghan coppers.
The Spanish High Court judge agreed on Wednesday to investigate allegations that Spain’s ambassador to Afghanistan ignored security concerns before the Taliban attack.
The widow of one of the dead coppers and seven Spanish coppers injured in the attack had accused the ambassador in Kabul ...the capital of Afghanistan. Home to continuous fighting from 1992 to 1996 between the forces of would-be strongman and Pak ISI/Jamaat-e-Islami sock puppet Gulbuddin Hekmayar and the Northern Alliance, a period which won Hek the title Most Evil Man in the World and didn't do much for the reputations of the Northern Alliance guys either.... , Emilio Perez de Agreda, and his former deputy, Oriol Sola Pardel, of involuntary manslaughter over the alleged security failings, Rooters reported.
According to the complaint filed, the French secret service warned on the morning of the bombing of the risk of an attack against the embassy and that this should have led to extraordinary security measures being taken.
The attack by the Taliban faceless myrmidons took place in December last year targeting a guest house attacked to the Spanish embassy in Kabul.
Talibs launched the attack with a jacket wallah detonating a vehicle packed with explosives close to the embassy of Spain in Sherpoor area of Kabul city around 6:00 pm local time.
The kaboom triggered a standoff between the security forces and the assailants who took position in a compound close to the blast site.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/04/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
Wonder if he didn't ignore tham. Wonder if he called his superiors and got a stand down order?
Posted by: Bov Flimbers ||
11/04/2016 2:55 Comments ||
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Unknown assailants who opened fire on a gas tanker last week off the coast of Yemen were also carrying a "substantial amount of explosives," the vessel's owner said on Thursday, and a maritime source said it may have been an attempted suicide attack.
Security experts said the new details of the Oct. 25 incident would heighten concerns for shipping in the narrow Bab al-Mandab waterway at the entrance to the Red Sea, a major choke point in the world oil trade.
In an initial statement last week, shipping group Teekay said its LNG (liquefied natural gas) tanker Galicia Spirit had "experienced a suspected piracy attack" but no one had managed to board it.
In an update on Thursday, Teekay said it had now conducted an investigation with security experts. This indicated that "the skiff (small boat) that engaged in an attack on the Galicia Spirit using small arms was also carrying a substantial amount of explosives."
It added: "While the intentions of the attackers and the use of the explosives is unknown, the investigation findings indicate that the explosives would have been sufficient to have caused significant damage to the vessel.
"It appears, however, that when the skiff was approximately 20m (meters) from the vessel, the explosives detonated, destroying the skiff and ending the attack."
No details have emerged of how many attackers there were, or what happened to them, but maritime sources said the information to date indicated this was probably not piracy.
"If the circumstances are as described, it was an ambitious attempt carried out by people who didn't expect to survive," said one source with detailed knowledge of the area.
"An LNG vessel also has a double skin (hull), but if the explosives were enough to penetrate the main hull, then it is certainly possible that damage would have been done to the inner skin and gas could have escaped and ignited."
Teekay said the vessel suffered minor damage with no injuries to the crew.
PREVIOUS ATTACKS
The incident, the first attack on a commercial ship since July, followed the launching of missiles from Yemen in recent weeks against military craft, including U.S. navy vessels.
Militants have launched successful maritime attacks in the area before. A suicide bombing carried out by al Qaeda, which has a powerful regional arm in Yemen, killed 17 sailors on the U.S. warship Cole in Aden's port in 2000. Two years later, al Qaeda hit a French tanker in the Gulf of Aden, south of the Bab al-Mandab.
Maritime security sources said the attack on the Galicia Spirit occurred near Perim Island, just a few kilometers from the southern Yemeni coast and the site of a lighthouse for ships passing through the Bab al-Mandab.
"Attacks like these are not common and take a certain amount of training and resources to achieve," said Michael Edey of British security firm Dryad Maritime. "It will obviously raise concerns for shipping in the area."
While shipping companies have yet to divert ships, the stakes are high. Nearly 4 million barrels of oil are shipped daily to Europe, the United States and Asia via the Bab al-Mandab, as well as other commercial goods.
"Recent incidents off Somalia, the Bab al-Mandab and wider Indian Ocean indicate an increased threat level to shipping from piracy and maritime terrorism," British maritime security firm MAST said in a report this week.
A civil war is raging in Yemen between the Iran-aligned Houthi movement, backed by troops loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, and the internationally recognized government of Abd Rabbu Mansour al-Hadi, backed by Saudi Arabia.
The United States carried out cruise missile strikes on Oct. 15 against radar sites in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen after two confirmed attempts to hit a U.S. Navy destroyer with coastal cruise missiles close to the Bab al-Mandab. The Houthi movement has denied firing on the USS Mason.
The Houthis have confirmed a separate earlier attack on a United Arab Emirates vessel in the area.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/04/2016 14:05 ||
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That'll show 'em!
The US Department of the Treasury has imposed financial sanctions on a Yemeni company called Al-Omgy and Brothers Money Exchange (Al-Omgy Exchange). The Treasury mentioned that Al-Qaeda used this company to receive and make payments in Yemen, and that it recently pledged to provide Al-Qaeda with a 10 per cent commission on all financial transactions.
The United States also imposed sanctions on the owners of the company Saeed Saleh Abd Rabbuh Al-Omgy and Mohammed Saleh Abd Rabbuh Al-Omgy and accused them of belonging to Al-Qaeda.
The US Department of the Treasury said that the Yemeni company’s assets in America have been frozen and financial transactions with them have been halted. The Acting Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Adam Szubin said that the sanctions are part of the US Treasury’s efforts to cut off funding sources for Al-Qaeda and weaken its ability to implement violent attacks.
According to the US Department of the Treasury, UAE’s central bank has also taken steps in the UAE to prevent the company’s access to the UAE’s financial sector.
On its part, the company denied its “involvement in any activities to transfer funds to AQAP (Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula)” and said that the claims were simply “biased rumours” that aim to “damage our reputation”.
Posted by: badanov ||
11/04/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
The Treasury mentioned that Al-Qaeda used this company to receive and make payments in Yemen, and that it recently pledged to provide Al-Qaeda with a 10 per cent commission on all financial transactions.
Apparently they didn't provide the kickbacks to the correct group.
[Dhaka Tribune] New JMB had plans to stage a big terror attack in Dhaka, police learnt from four firearms smugglers tossed in the slammer Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! by the Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crimes (CTTC) unit of police in the capital’s Darussalam area on Wednesday.
In preparations for the attack, the New JMB members brought 787 detonators and a 9mm pistol to Dhaka, which were smuggled into the country from India through the border in Chapainawabganj’s Shibganj upazila, the detainees said during their primary interrogation.
They were identified as Md Abu Taher, 37, Mizanur Rahman, 34, Md Selim Miah, 45, and Taufiqul Islam alias Dr Taufiq. All of them are natives of Shibganj upazila and active members of New JMB, said Masudur Rahman, deputy commissioner (media) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police.
Speaking to the Dhaka Tribune yesterday, he further said they brought the gun and the detonators in shopping bags.
"These four also supplied the firearms and explosives used in Gulshan attack," he added.
A case was filed against the four with Darussalam cop shoppe under the Anti-Terrorism Act.
According to the case, the four were part of a group who arrived to Darussalam on a long-distance bus on Wednesday night.
CTTC officials were waiting there following a tip-off and approached the group when they got off the bus. As the group tried to flee, the officials were able to catch the detainees while four or five others managed to escape.
They were produced before a Dhaka court yesterday where Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Snigdha Rani Chakraborty placed them on remand for three days.
The arrestees may be shown arrested in the Gulshan attack case as well, sources said.
During interrogation, the New JMB operatives also confessed that they smuggled firearms and explosives via the Bangladesh-India border in Shibganj in preparation for violence on a massive scale in Bangladesh, Masudur Rahman told the Dhaka Tribune.
Investigators suspect that New JMB’s Chapainawabganj zone leaders Mizanur Rahman alias Boro Mizan and Mizanur Rahman alias Chhoto Mizan alias Tara supervise the smuggling operations.
Interrogators further learnt that Chhoto Mizan collected the weapons and explosives to be used in Gulshan attack and delivered them to Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury and Nurul Islam Marjan, he added.
The material recovered on Wednesday night were collected from Boro Mizan and other New JMB leaders named Rabiul, Jaltu and Laltu, according to the case.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/04/2016 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV] Italia’s police have rejected a report by prominent rights group Amnesia Amnesty International that their forces used violence and brutality in dealing with refugees.
"I categorically deny that violent methods are used on migrants colonists," Italian police chief Franco Gabrielli said in a statement on Thursday.
Earlier in the day, Amnesty said Italian police have used measures which may amount to "torture" while attempting to fingerprint refugees trying to enter the country.
The allegations of abuse included beatings, electric shocks and sexual humiliation in cases involving mainly African asylum seekers who wanted to cross Italia to reach other European states.
Gabrielli said his officers, who worked alongside European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... officials and human rights ...which are usually open to widely divergent definitions... groups in the refugee centers, had displayed enormous responsibility in their duties regarding the refugees.
Following the closure of all land crossings, the sea route across the Mediterranean to Italia became the main way for asylum-seekers fleeing conflict and persecution in Africa to reach Europe in search of a better life.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/04/2016 00:00 ||
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[ALMASDARNEWS] The Turkish regime has begun a massive purge across the country to arrest any politician or journalist affiliated with and/or in support of the People's Democratic Party (HDP).
According to local sources, the Turkish authorities have jugged Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un! several journalists and politicians across the country, while also restricting internet service to people in predominately Kurdish regions inside The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... These arrests come just hours after the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) issued a statement regarding the absence of the Turkish Army for the upcoming al-Raqqa offensive.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him... has repeatedly attempted to silence dissent inside the country, despite international criticism for his authoritative policies against opposition groups and journalists.
[Ynet] The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... suspended 1,218 gendarmerie personnel on Thursday, an official from the interior ministry overseeing the force said, as part of investigations into a failed coup in July.
Turkey has already sacked or suspended more than 110,000 civil servants, judges, prosecutors, soldiers and others over suspected links with the network of Fethullah Gulen ... a Turkish preacher living in Pennsylvania whom the current govt of Turkey considers responsible for all the ills afflicting Turkey and possibly the entire world... , a U.S.-based holy man blamed by Ankara for orchestrating the failed coup.
[AlAhram] Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday Germany had become a haven for terrorists and would be "judged by history", accusing it of failing to extradite supporters of a U.S.-based cleric Ankara blames for July's failed military coup.
He said Germany had long harboured militants from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has waged a three-decade insurgency for Kurdish autonomy, and far-leftists from the DHKP-C, which has carried out armed attacks in Turkey.
"We don't have any expectations from Germany but you will be judged in history for abetting terrorism ... Germany has become an important haven for terrorists," Erdogan told a ceremony at his palace in the capital Ankara.
"We are concerned that Germany, which has protected the PKK and DHKP-C for years, has become the backyard of the Gulenist terror organisation."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/04/2016 00:00 ||
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I wonder if this was aimed at the good Col. Amerine or at Rep. Hunter...
Embattled Green Beret soldier Lt. Col. Jason Amerine retired and reclaimed his honor on Friday after the Army's criminal probe into his actions related to efforts to save Americans held captive overseas abruptly collapsed, thus ending one of the oddest chapters in what critics call an ongoing disaster of U.S. hostage recovery.
Amerine, who was awarded a Bronze Star with the Valor device for his actions in Afghanistan, for several years led a secret Pentagon office tasked with trying to find a way to free Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl from the Taliban. The secret group also took on the cases of other Americans and Canadians believed held by Taliban and al Qaeda in South Asia.
But in January his security clearance was suddenly pulled and his planned retirement from the Army this year postponed, when the Army launched an investigation into Amerine and his alleged leaking of classified information about hostage recovery efforts to a congressional office.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/04/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
This enrages me! I would have hoped the FBI would have learned its lesson after the failed Burnham negotiation in 2002. They have a center of the universe attitude that gets people killed. Someone in the FBI needs to get over themselves and direct some real policy on helping to rescue these Americans and get past the petty stovepipe they live in.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
11/04/2016 15:11 Comments ||
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[Daily Excelsior] Defence Minister Manohar Parikar today said that after facing defeat in face to face battles, Pakistain is engaging in a proxy war in Jammu and Kashmire and will be given a befitting reply.
Speaking at a function to pay homage to Major Somnath Sharma, the first Param Vir Chakra awardee of independent India, and other soldiers who laid down their lives while pushing back an offensive by Pak raiders to control Srinagar Airport in 1947, Parrikar said: "Pakistain has always been trying to occupy Jammu and Kashmire and we consider this land (Jammu and Kashmire) and its people as our integral part. After facing defeat in face to face battles, Pakistain is now engaging in a proxy war on this paradise on earth. They also targeted others parts of the country as well. Our soldiers are fighting this battle with professionalism."
The Defence Minister, while addressing a gathering of the ex-servicemen, at the function said: "On this occasion, let us renew the pledge to give fitting reply to the proxy war and end the terrorism here."
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
11/04/2016 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] Pakistain People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Baby Bhutto Zardari ...Pak dynastic politician, son of Benazir Bhutto and grandon of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. As far as is known, Bilawal has no particular talents other than being pretty and being able to memorize political slogans, but he had the good luck to be born into the right family and he hasn't been assassinated yet... on Thursday said 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.... 's (PTI) Imran Khan ... aka Taliban Khan, who isn't your heaviest-duty thinker, maybe not even among the top five... may have surrendered on the issue of Panama Papers but the PPP will fight for accountability.
"Imran Khan may surrender on Panama leaks but PPP will fight for accountability," said Bilawal while addressing party workers at a gathering in Rahim Yar Khan.
The PPP scion also said that Panama Papers are the world’s biggest corruption scandal and Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... will have to held accountable for it.
"Takht-e-Lahore does not care about poor people but Bibi’s (Benazir's) son is here," he said.
Bilawal, in his address to the party workers, also claimed that positive change has been brought in Sindh.
"PPP has defeated Takht-e-Lahore in local government elections and the PPP will also win the 2018 general elections if workers together worked for it," he added.
Bilawal Bhutto again repeated his demand for the resignation of Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan ...Currently the Interior Minister of Pakistain. He is the senior leader of the Pak Moslem League (N) and a close aide to Nawaz Uncle Fester Sharif. He is noted for his vocal anti-American railing in the National Assembly. However (comma) Khan told the U.S. ambassador that he was in fact pro-American but he and the PML-N would have to be critical of US actions in order to remain publicly credible. Khan cited his wife and children's US citizenship as proof, which means he's lying to one side or the other and probably both. He wears a wig, but you probably guessed that. since hair doesn't grow naturally in that shape or texture... over non-implementation of the National Action Plan (NAP).
He was hitting out at NAP that he said is being implemented arbitrarily in the country and seems only to be operating in 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... .
Posted by: Fred ||
11/04/2016 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] The Foreign Office (FO) on Thursday said eight Indian 'diplomats' in Pakistain ─ allegedly members of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW ... India's Research and Analysis Wing, Pakistain's equivalent of the Boogie Man... ) and Indian Intelligence Bureau (IB) ─ are suspected of involvement in terrorist and subversive activities.
FO Spokesman Nafees Zakaria during a weekly press briefing in Islamabad said, "As you are aware, a number of Indian diplomats and staff belonging to Indian intelligence agencies RAW and IB have been found involved in coordinating terrorist and subversive activities in Pakistain under the garb of diplomatic assignments."
Zakaria provided details of the activities of the 'undercover agents', alleging that the suspected RAW and IB operatives handled Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) factions, fueled secatarianism in Pakistain and created unrest in Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... , Sindh, and Gilgit-Balistan (GB).
The FO claimed that Indian High Commission official Surjeet Singh who was declared persona non-grata a few days ago was also an IB operative working under Balbir Singh.
"Surjeet was using a fake identity as Abdul Hafeez pretending to be a telecom company Warid’s employee," the FO alleged.
"We are disappointed that India has not only been found involved in promoting terrorist activities and terror financing as was disclosed by Kulbhushan Yadhav, and further confirmed by the statements at the highest political level on Aug 15 and earlier during a visit to Dhaka... India has also been using its diplomatic mission for its nefarious designs," the FO said.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/04/2016 00:00 ||
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Boy howdy, whatever would we do without experts...
The campaign to reclaim Mosul from ISIS might be ahead of schedule -- but that only puts the planning for the day after further behind.
What follows is first-class hand-wringing from CNN...
After the George W. Bush White House suffered years of recriminations for not preparing more robustly to secure Iraq and Afghanistan following initially successful invasions, the Obama administration now risks fielding similar criticism for its campaign to retake the second-largest city in Iraq.
Well no: Champ isn't going to suffer the types of criticisms that Dubya did, not in any way...
But US officials are defending their lack of a completed plan by saying the task is so complicated it would have indefinitely delayed the campaign to kick out the terror group.
Likely true, and any 'plan' would be un-done by events in the city.
The US on Thursday reported that Iraqi troops, backed by US airpower and Special Forces, had stormed toward Mosul with unexpected speed. While that success is welcome, it is intensifying concerns that the US and its partners have not adequately prepared for the biggest challenge yet to come: finding a way to keep the peace in the city after two years of ISIS domination.
The battle is expected to lead to a major refugee exodus, a possible ISIS insurgency should fighters opt to blend in with the local population rather than flee or fight to the death, and power struggles among Mosul's diverse ethnic, tribal and religious groups.
Some Western diplomats
...none representing a country that has skin in the game...
have privately voiced to CNN concern that not enough planning had been done in the run-up to the assault, even when it wasn't ahead of schedule. In conversations with CNN, they questioned whether the US had learned the lessons of Iraq and Afghanistan, where critics inside and outside of the Obama administration slammed President George W. Bush for lacking a post-invasion stabilization plan and not ensuring that the countries' new governments were inclusive.
Obama administration officials acknowledge that the day-after plan for Mosul was still very much a work in progress when the first shots were fired just over two weeks ago. And there is no agreement to date on who should control Mosul once ISIS is kicked out.
"Everybody has a different idea for how Nineveh Province should be governed, who should be the governor," said Brett McGurk, the US special presidential envoy for the counter-ISIS fight, referring to the region that Mosul is part of. "Every other person you meet will say, I should be the governor, he should be the governor."
"The problem here is that if you try to resolve all of those issues, Daesh will remain in Mosul for the foreseeable future and perhaps forever," he added, using the Arabic term for the terror group. "This is really a war of momentum. We feel the momentum is on the side of the Iraqi security forces."
A rare voice of common sense in the Obama administration...
Nick Heras, a Middle East analyst at the Center for a New American Security, described the governing situation in Mosul is "incredibly complex."
And you need an expert like Nick to tell you that...
There are two main factions vying for the lead role in the post-ISIS running of the city, he noted.
Baghdad's plan is to have the central government's designated governor of Nineveh Province take charge of the governance and policing efforts. But Turkey and the Kurdistan Regional Government, which runs an autonomous zone near Mosul in northern Iraq, have their own preferred man, Atheel al-Nujaifi, the former governor, who seeks to divide the province into semi-autonomous sub-districts, a plan favored by minority groups like the Kurds.
About 1,000 Turkish troops are in northern Iraq helping to train a Sunni tribal police force to help stabilize Mosul, deployment that has irked the Shiite-dominated government in Baghdad. Turkey has also demanded a greater role in the Mosul campaign, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan saying that his country's historical role in the area during the Ottoman Empire gives Ankara the right to have influence in the region.
The Ottoman Empire died a hundred years ago according to the history books but lives on in Yippie's beturbaned head...
Heras said that many of Mosul's Sunni residents view the Shiite-led government in Baghdad with suspicion, especially because of its use of Shiite militias, known as Popular Mobilization Forces, in the fight against ISIS. Many of these militias are aligned with Iran.
Humanitarian organization have accused these forces of human rights violations.
Unlike the human rights violations perpetrated by the various Sunni organizations when they're the ones on top. In fact it's completely a different situation; ask them...
Assurances from the central government in Baghdad that only local forces will be used to secure Mosul have not dampened those suspicions. Kurdish and Turkish officials are also skeptical that government forces alone are capable of securing the city.
Another complicating factor is the Iraqi government's inability to eject the Turkish military or compel the Kurdish Regional Government by force of arms, forcing Baghdad to rely on the US as a mediator.
And we know how well that will work...
"The US will be caught trying to play referee" between the competing groups, Heras predicted.
Thanks for that astounding "expert" insight...
McGurk acknowledged the challenge of trying to accommodate the various factions but said that effort must begin in earnest only once ISIS is no longer holding the city -- an assessment shared by several current and former diplomats and military officials who spoke to CNN.
Diplomats are pushing the Iraqis to set up an interim governing council, similar to the one created after the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2002, comprising Iraq's various ethnic groups, tribes, religious sects and sectors of society.
"There will be an important role for all the notables of Mosul, but the assessment from the Iraqis, which I very much agree with, is that it would be impossible to resolve all of these very difficult issues while Daesh is sitting in Mosul," McGurk said.
James Jeffrey, the former American ambassador to Iraq during the Obama administration, agreed with the current US approach. The US and its allies "couldn't afford to wait for the governance plan to be fully in place," he said, but "had to take on ISIS as soon as possible." He added that the most immediate issue -- providing humanitarian assistance to refugees and internally displaced persons -- had been adequately planned for.
International relief agencies have estimated that as many as one million Iraqis could be displaced by the fight.
One wonders how it is that two million people remain in greater Mosul with a couple ten-thousand ISIS running the place. And more importantly, why those two million didn't deal with the gunnies themselves..
While he acknowledged that Turkey and the Kurds were seeking to exert influence on Mosul, Jeffrey said that he was confident a governing plan could be negotiated between the various factions.
"I've never seen cooperation between Baghdad and Irbil as good as it is right now," he said, referring to the capital of the Kurdistan Regional Government. He said that this collaboration has been on display during the battle for Mosul and that its continuation would be critical given the large number of Kurds in east Mosul.
Jeffrey added that unlike 2014 when Mosul fell, Baghdad is now putting a much bigger emphasis on recruiting and training local forces for policing. US Military officials have repeatedly said that they are making a concerted effort to train local security forces to help stabilize Mosul and ward off any ISIS insurgents, even as governing issues remaining in flux.
"We've trained a very large number of security police forces because these are going to be key to establishing a degree of stability in the areas that get liberated from Daesh," US Air Force Col. John Dorrian told reporters last week.
"Daesh won't be allowed to simply melt away and then do terrorist attacks or sort of (insurgency) ops. The police will be in these areas and assisting with that challenge," he said. Asked if there was a post-conflict plan ready for Mosul, Dorrian said, "There is a plan in place, but it's an adaptive plan ... they continue to work on this."
He added, "I think what we have to do is get Mosul cleared of Daesh, and once we do that, we'll see where those remaining elements are."
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/04/2016 08:59 ||
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#1
As though it didn't have problems before ISIL showed up.
#3
After your cancer is cured, you are going to need haircuts and shaves. You will have to eat an go to the bathroom also...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
11/04/2016 9:48 Comments ||
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#4
In order to be effective - the "Police" they are counting on have to be "of and for the people." Otherwise, police from outside the area will be considered an occupying force. This is the same mess we had in Mosul... The Kurds used to own Mosul east of the river, not sure what ISIS did as far as displacing them, but I would let the Kurds do all of the policing and keep the Turks the hell out. The Sunnis that do not like it should be moved out of the city on day one.
When you have compatriots making off with millions of simoleons, you'd lose control of your troops, too
[al-Manar] ISIL group’s leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is losing the ability to keep control of his troops as the battle for Mosul rages on, a US military official said Thursday.
ISIL earlier released an audio message purportedly of Baghdadi, in which he urged his ‘jihadi’ followers not retreat as Iraqi security forces continue their push toward Mosul.
Colonel John Dorrian, a spokesman for the US-led coalition attacking ISIL in Iraq and Syria, said the military had not officially verified the authenticity of the recording but noted it was “clearly” an effort for ISIL to communicate with fighters.
“One of the interesting things that we have seen in the English translation of this is that Baghdadi is saying, ‘Don’t fight amongst yourselves,'” Dorrian told reporters.
“This is the type of thing that a leader who is losing command and control and ability to keep everybody on the same page says. We don’t believe it is going to work.”
Rumors have abounded about the Iraqi ‘jihadist’ leader’s health and movements but his whereabouts are unclear.
Posted by: badanov ||
11/04/2016 00:00 ||
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Posted by: lord garth ||
11/04/2016 5:50 Comments ||
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#4
Ole Baghdadi don't wanna be a martyr...his little feet are scared. The martyr stuff is for the little jihadis...not for an impotent caliph like him.
This is good - will hurt their recruiting effort as well.
[IsraelTimes] Likud MK Avi Dichter warns Tehran has not abandoned its nuclear aspirations and seeks to rebuild the Persian empire
Iran commands a force of up to 25,000 Shiite Moslemhard boyz fighting in the Syrian civil war, a majority of them from Afghanistan and Pakistain, according to former Shin Bet chief Avi Dichter, who now chairs the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.
In a briefing with a delegation from the Swiss parliament, Dichter, a Likud MK, also echoed warnings issued previously by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior Israeli officials who have said that Iran has not abandoned its aspirations to develop nuclear weapons and was playing a long game with the West, despite the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal with western powers.
Iran, he added, "has not abandoned the idea [of pursuing] nuclear weapons. It only put it on hold so it can recover [from sanctions] and rehabilitate its international image."
Tehran and six world powers signed the accord last summer aimed at reining in Iran’s controversial atomic program in exchange for lifting punishing international sanctions. A number of regional Sunni states opposed the agreement, as has Israel, warning that Iran was simply playing for time.
"Up until a year and a half ago, Iran was the reason for regional instability. It’s amazing and sad to see how among Western states, it is now perceived as a stabilizing force," Dichter said.
Dichter also warned of Iran’s global aspirations as a Mideast power, explaining that the Islamic Theocratic Republic’s "dream is to control Islam’s holiest sites -- Mecca and Medina."
"We have to ask ourselves, why are the Iranians developing missiles that can reach targets 2,000 km away, more than twice the distance [from Iran] to Israel? Egypt 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 the Soddy national face... are also in their cross-hairs. Some 2,000 years ago, Iran was an empire and it wants to become one again," he said.
In Syria, Dichter said the "foreign legion" of 25,000 was sent to fight Sunni rebels opposed to Iranian ally Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Lord of the Baath... , and not only against the 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.... terror group.
Dichter said that fighters from Iranian proxy Hezbollah were dispatched to Syria because the Lebanese terror group’s hard boyz were more suited to guerrilla warfare and to fighting against terrorist organizations, unlike soldiers from the Iranian military who are versed in fighting other armies.
But, he warned, more than five years of fighting in Syria has strengthened Hezbollah’s abilities and training, turning it into a "more established and military-like" fighting force, despite its losses -- some 1,600 according to Dichter -- in the war.
Amid a spate of terror attacks in Europe over the past two years, perpetrated by terror cells linked to the Islamic State or an al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria and often consisting of Moslem men who left their European birth countries to fight in Syria, Dichter insisted Europe must act to prevent imported muscle from returning to the continent.
"Those who go to Iraq or Syria, it’s not to attend a Bob Dylan performance, and European security services must operate accordingly," he told the delegation.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
11/04/2016 00:37 ||
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#1
other than the Iranian troops and Hezbollah, the other Shiite fighters are militia and are not particularly effective - these militia have suffered about 6000 fatalities so far (Iranians and Hezbollah have also died in high numbers as Dichter notes)
Posted by: lord garth ||
11/04/2016 8:56 Comments ||
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#2
Iranians and Hezbollah have also died in high numbers as Dichter notes
[ALMASDARNEWS] Militants in Syria have used the humanitarian pause for regrouping forces and building up arsenals, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a news briefing on Thursday.
"The situation in Syria is very grave," she said.
"Jabhat al-Nusra ...formally Jabhat an-Nusrah li-Ahli al-Sham (Support Front for the People of the Levant), also known as al-Qaeda in the Levant. They aim to establish a pan-Arab caliphate. Not the same one as the Islamic State, though .. ... (now renamed to Fateh al-Sham ...formerly al-Nusra, the current false nose and mustache of al-Qaeda in the Levant... ) and the 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.... (both outlawed in Russia) used the October 20-23 humanitarian pause, introduced for easing the position of civilians locked up in Aleppo.
"They have regrouped forces, built up reserves and then tried to break through the defenses of Syrian government forces by launching a major offensive on western Aleppo on October 28-30," Zakharova said.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/04/2016 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV] Iranians have taken to the streets across the nation to demonstrate their disapproval of US policies on the anniversary of the takeover of the American embassy in Tehran 37 years ago.
November 3 corresponds with the 13th of Aban in the Iranian calendar, which is known as the Student Day to honor those who stormed the "den of spies" and captured its operatives.
Fearless Leader of the Islamic Revolution ...Iran's doddering head theocrat... Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei ...the successor to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and the actual dictator of Iran... said on Wednesday the seizure of the center of espionage, which aimed to overthrow the Islamic Theocratic Republic, was the "natural response" to Washington's hostilities.
Despite decades after the incident and direct talks between authorities of the two countries, the US still pursues an aggressive policy towards the Islamic Theocratic Republic, the Leader added.
The late founder of the Islamic Theocratic Republic, Imam Khomeini, hailed the takeover as a "second revolution" after the Islamic Revolution in 1979 which toppled the Shah of Iran.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/04/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
Obama couldn't participate due to election crisis?
[Iran Press TV] The Lebanese prime minister-designate has announced plans to set up a national unity government quickly as a 29-month political stalemate in the Middle Eastern country comes to an end.
Saad Hariri Second son of Rafik Hariri, the Leb PM who was assassinated in 2005. He has was prime minister in his own right from 2009 through early 2011. He was born in Riyadh to an Iraqi mother and graduated from Georgetown University. He managed his father's business interests in Riyadh until his father's assassination. When his father died he inherited a fortune of some $4.1 billion, which won't do him much good if Hizbullah has him bumped off, too. made the remarks after being summoned by Leb’s President Michel Aoun ...a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hizbullah... to Baabda Palace in Beirut on Thursday and asked to form a new cabinet.
"I look forward to starting the consultations to form a national accord government that overcomes political divisions and is based on a consensus of all the political factions on the inaugural speech with all of its provisions," Hariri said.
He also pledged to be open to all parliamentary blocs and expressed hope that the new administration will be able to address the socio-economic, security, political and environmental issues in the country.
Hariri further noted that one of the main tasks of his future unity government would be to agree on a "just" electoral law and hold parliamentary elections on time.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/04/2016 00:00 ||
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[Rooters] The start of this year proved deadly for one unit of about 100 Russian fighters supporting President Bashar al-Assad's troops in northern Syria.
On Feb. 3, 38-year-old Maxim Kolganov was killed in a firefight with rebels near Aleppo when a bullet pierced his body armor and heart. Then, on March 9, the same unit came under shell-fire near Palmyra, and Sergei Morozov, also 38, was hit and died on the way to hospital.
Back in southern Russia, medals were delivered to their families: the order of bravery, with certificates signed by President Vladimir Putin. The medals, seen by Reuters, were intended to honor the sacrifice they had made for their country.
Except Kolganov and Morozov were not employed by the Russian state. They were in Syria as private contractors, a small part of an army of such people who are being deployed secretly by the Kremlin in Syria.
The deaths of Kolganov and Morozov, and others like them, have not been made public. Families say they were given little information and told not discuss the cases. In at least one case, the family of a fighter killed in Syria received a payout of around $100,000 in compensation.
Officially, Russia is participating only in an air war over Syria with a small number of special forces on the ground. Moscow denies that its troops are involved in regular ground combat operations. However, in interviews with more than a dozen people with direct knowledge of these deployments, Reuters has established that Russian fighters are playing a more substantial role in ground combat than that the role the Kremlin says is being played by the regular Russian military.
Neither the Kremlin nor the defense ministry responded to questions from Reuters. Reuters was unable to obtain comment from Syrian officials on the question of Russian mercenaries. Reuters was not able to identify the company or companies that hired the fighters, or the source of any payments to the fighters or their families.
According to three people who knew Morozov and Kolganov, both had fought in Ukraine as part of the same unit that would eventually take them to Syria. It was led by a man who goes by the nomme de guerre "Vagner", who has become a leader of Russian mercenary forces in Syria, one of the sources said.
According to two people who knew different fighters, they arrive in Syria via ships that land in the port of Tartous, leased by the Russian navy, or in military aircraft that land at Russia's Hmeymim air base in western Syria.
A doctor at a Russian military hospital told Reuters the wounded are evacuated to Russia on board military cargo planes and then treated in military hospitals. The doctor, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he feared losing his job, said he had personally treated contractors injured in Syria, whose role there was clear from their conversations.
His hospital is officially meant to admit only serving military personnel, their family members or veterans who have served long careers in the military, a category his patients were too young to fit, the doctor said.
When Morozov and Kolganov were killed, their bodies were flown to Russia aboard military aircraft and delivered to a morgue used by the military in the southern city of Rostov, according to relatives and Morozov's friend Kapa. "Kapa", a former Russian officer and volunteer in the Ukraine conflict who asked to be identified only by a nomme de guerre, was friends with Morozov and also knew Kolganov and several other Russians who fought in Ukraine and went on to fight in Syria with the Vagner group. He is still in contact with some of them.
A Reuters reporter saw the Order of Courage which was given posthumously to Kolganov. It was delivered to his family home in Togliatti, a city on the Volga river, by someone in civilian clothes who did not identify himself, according to relatives. Reuters has also seen a photograph of Morozov's Order of Courage, dated Sept. 7, 2016.
[al-Manar] A senior Iranian military official welcomed Thursday the “strong decline” of the United States, during celebrations marking the start of the 1979 US embassy siege.
“America is no longer number one and the first power of the world,” deputy Revolutionary Guards commander Hossein Salami told thousands gathered outside the former US mission in Tehran.
“America’s political will can no longer manage political and military development in… the world of Islam. America’s political power has strongly declined.”
Every year on November 3-4, Iran celebrates the 444-day siege of the embassy when more than 50 diplomats, staff and spies were taken hostage by Iranian students demanding the extradition of the shah, who had fled to America after being deposed a few months earlier in the Islamic revolution.
Protesters on Thursday chanted the traditional rallying cries of “Death to America” and “Death to Al Saud”.
“Our fight with the Americans will continue” Salami said. “Pursuing our ideals in the world of Islam and in Iran, we will recognize no stopping point or red line.
He also warned the US not to criticize Iran’s ballistic missiles, calling its system “the real centre of our power (that) must be strengthened.”
Posted by: badanov ||
11/04/2016 00:00 ||
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The Swedish Navy has dozens of a similar boat, some of which they sold to the US Navy and to the Mexican Navy This has the same breathless tone as an Iranian Navy press release...
The Russian Navy has sent Raptor high-speed patrol boats to Syria. The Russian rescue ship KIL-168 was spotted on the Bosphorus with Raptor high-speed patrol boats under the tarp. That was reported by alper böler.
The Raptor boats are used during troop landing and search and rescue operations, among other tasks. The Raptor (Project 03160) high-speed patrol boats are designed and being built by Open JSC Pella Shipyard based in Leningrad.
The Project 16609 tugs are used during raids in coastal areas and during cargo transportation and search and rescue missions. The first tug under this project was deployed with the Russian Navy in 2012.
The Project 03160 patrol boat accommodates two crew members and 22 personnel. It has maximum length of 17m, maximum width of 4m, a fixed height of 3.5m, and a depth of 0.9m. It has special cabins to house anti-terrorist groups, divers, lifeguards, inspection and rescue teams.
The boat is integrated with modern navigation systems, communications, radar and radios to provide high-navigability. The bridge is equipped with operator workstations and consoles for command and control.
#3
Looks a lot like my uncle's old fishing boat. Caught about 50 Pollock off of Rye Beach NH / Isle of Shoals one time; there were so many fish that my father and my uncle had to sacrifice one of the beer barrels to hold all the fish, one w/ Bud & lots of ice, the other with Miller & lots of ice. I left that one alone!.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
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[Daily Excelsior] Defence Minister Manohar Parikar today said that after facing defeat in face to face battles, Pakistain is engaging in a proxy war in Jammu and 
Currently the Interior Minister of Pakistain. He is the senior leader of the Pak Moslem League (N) and a close aide to Nawaz 
[DAWN] The Foreign Office (FO) on Thursday said eight Indian 'diplomats' in Pakistain ─ allegedly members of the Research and Analysis Wing (
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
Michel Aoun
