His brown eyes wide with innocence, Abdullah laughs like any other 11-year-old as he tells his story. But it is no ordinary schoolboy tale he is sharing. It is of his arrest. Charged with carrying explosives, he is suspected of being a potential suicide bomber and is Afghanistans youngest prisoner. He is now behind bars in one the countrys most secure jails.
These are the facts of his case but nothing quite prepares you for the reality that is Abdullah. When I saw him in the prison office which is now his cell, my jaw dropped. Id been told I would meet a youth whod been arrested with a group of Taliban fighters but I didnt expect the picture of apparent innocence that confronted me.
He had just washed and he was crouching on the floor, having trouble closing the bag hed crammed his toiletries into. He could scarcely pull the zip. Yet Abdullah could strip, load and fire a Kalashnikov rifle. He would not tell me his full name. Abdullah, he said sharply. His voice hadnt yet broken. He is an orphan. But at the religious school where he was taught, Abdullah learned the principles of jihad holy war.
After a day reading the Koran, the evenings were taken up learning about the Kalashnikov and the pistol, about the foreigners that were coming to Muslim lands, killing women and children. Children like Abdullah and his younger brother Amin, who is 10. Abdullahs weapon of choice was the Kalashnikov because he found the trigger of the pistol hard to pull.
I asked Abdullah how he came to be caught with explosives. He launched into a story of how his cousin had come to his school near Peshawar in Pakistan and told him they were going on an outing. He walked with a group of men over the mountains and into Afghanistan. He was given an oversized jacket to put on the jacket that most of the explosives were found inside.
I watched this little boy speak, his high-pitched voice so innocent, pouring out the detail of an adventure he had clearly relished. He was arrested and taken to the jail of Kabuls Intelligence Service. I asked: How would you feel about being a suicide bomber?
He said he knew hed be in pieces. But he also knew the difference between suicide, which God forbade, and sacrifice, which is what you become if you blow yourself up, killing the non-Muslims who want to kill your family. Afterwards you would go straight to heaven, with 70 girls. I suspect he didnt care too much about the girls. But when I asked him what he wanted to do when he grew up, he said: When Im older Ill kill non-Muslims. If I dont, theyll come to our homes and kill us.
Its not clear what will happen to Abdullah. But the officials are likely to simply send him back across the border to his religious school. He will have quite a tale to tell the other children as he strips and loads his Kalashnikov, ready to defend Islam.
#1
In some regions of Africa, child soldiers begin training as young as seven. The AIDS epidemic has left many without parents and homeless which plays well for their recruitment by terrorists. The fact that these children may also have AIDS is an added bonus as they have nothing to live for.
#2
When Im older Ill kill non-Muslims. If I dont, theyll come to our homes and kill us.
No "clash of civilizations", eh? Actually a clash of civilization vs. barbarism. All brought to us by Saudi-funded madrassas.
#4
When will Pakistanis learn that their Arab pals, view them as an inferior race. Arab language education holds Pakistan back. We should be exploiting Arab supremacism, to split the enemy.
[Al Arabiya Latest] The Afghan government confirmed Monday that a controversial law for the Shiite minority was not in force and reiterated it would be altered if a review found it contradicted women's rights.
Western countries have expressed concern over the law, most recently at a NATO summit, and Canada said Sunday it had received assurances from Afghan Foreign Minister Dadfar Spanta that the process of enforcing the law "has been halted."
The Shiite Personal Status Law was signed by President Hamid Karzai last month but such documents only come into force once they are published in the government gazette. "The justice ministry is reviewing the law to make sure it is in line with Afghan government's commitment to human and women rights conventions," Baheen said. "If there are any problems in the law, the justice ministry will change it again and resend it to the parliament," he said.
The law, which has not been publicly released, is believed to state women can only seek work, education or doctor's appointments with their husband's permission. Only fathers and grandfathers are granted custody of children under the law, according to the United Nations Development Fund for Women.
Opponents of the legislation governing the personal lives of Afghanistan's Shiite minority have said it is "worse than during the Taliban."
Last month Pakistan's government agreed to restore a strict form of Islamic law in the Swat valley and neighboring areas of the northwest in a bid to take the steam out of a Taliban uprising in a move Western powers criticized who said it could result in further opression of women.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2009 00:00 ||
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PARIS (Reuters) - Six suspected Somali pirates captured by French troops in Somalia last year lost an appeal on Monday in which they argued that their arrest and transfer to France were unauthorised, a court source said.
Just breaks the heart, doesn't it ...
The six men are accused of attacking a French yacht and holding its 30 crew hostage for a week last April. They have been placed under investigation for hijacking a ship, organised robbery, kidnapping and forming a criminal association.
They argued that they had been arrested and transferred without the proper judicial steps or authorisation by the Somali state. The fractured Somali government has said it does not have the resources to tackle the problem of piracy.
Most Somalis are trying to get into the West, guys. You made it, just not the way you hoped ...
The court ruled that their arrest was justified and described it as a "defence operation." If found guilty, the pirates could face a life sentence.
In October last year, French forces captured nine suspected pirates at sea and handed them over to Somali security forces because the operation did not involve any French victims. The men were seized by French troops in the Somali desert after fleeing with part of the $2 million (1.4 million pounds) ransom.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/07/2009 00:00 ||
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[Bangla Daily Star] Investigators yesterday questioned a truck owner and the manager of a transport agency in connection with the sensational 10-truck arms haul case in Chittagong five years ago.
Sources said Taslim Mallick, manager of Greenways transport agency that is located near Dewanhat footbridge in the port city, and truck owner Abdul Motaleb were quizzed.
During the questioning, both Taslim and Motaleb informed that one Abul Hossain hired the trucks from them in the name of carrying salt from Patiya, said Criminal Investigation Department (CID) ASP Muniruzzaman Chowdhury, also the investigation officer (IO) of the case.
The transport agency gave seven out of 10 trucks that carried deadly weapons and ammunition at the jetty of Chittagong Urea Fertiliser Limited (CUFL) on April 02, 2004. Motaleb owned five of the seven trucks.
The CID investigators once again sent letter to Bangladesh Coastguard, Chittagong Zone, yesterday, asking for the list of on-duty coastguard members during the seizure of arms and ammunition.
The CID yesterday received government's permission to quiz officials of National Security Intelligence (NSI).
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2009 00:00 ||
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[Bangla Daily Star] The United Nations (UN) has named four international war crime experts to assist Bangladesh in the trials of war criminals of 1971, responding to a request of the government, officials said.
The government has also taken initiatives to ask Pakistan and the US which supported Pakistan during the Liberation War, to provide Bangladesh with particular war related documents and evidence for the trial. The requests are being made under the International Crimes (Tribunal) Act 1973.
Pakistan in particular will be requested to send information regarding the Razakras (the collaborators of the erstwhile Pakistani occupation forces in Bangladesh), said the officials.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2009 00:00 ||
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[Jerusalem Post Front Page] The Quilliam Foundation, a counter-extremism body set up in 2008 by former members of UK-based extremist Islamist organizations, has accused Abu Qatada, who they describe as "one of the world's most influential jihadi theologians", of inciting terrorism after they discovered that he has been issuing fatwas and statements from Long Lartin high security prison in Worcestershire, in the west midlands area of central England.
Jordanian national Abu Qatada has been in custody in the UK since August 2005, shortly after the July 2005 London bombing. Born in Bethlehem, the radical cleric entered the UK in 1993 using a forged United Arab Emirates passport and claimed asylum on ground of religious persecution. The following year he was granted asylum but in 2007 a British court ruled that he could be deported to Jordan where in 2000 he was sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment for his role in a plot to bomb tourists in Jordan for the millennium celebrations.
Richard Reid, the mid-Atlantic shoe bomber, and Zacarias Moussaoui, both jailed for involvement in terrorism, are said to have sought religious advice from him. Nineteen audio cassettes of Abu Qatada's sermons were found in the apartment of Mohamed Atta when it was searched after the 9-11 attacks. According to the indictment of the Madrid al-Qaeda cell, he was also the spiritual leader of al-Qaeda in Europe.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Just another non working sponger/hater which we welcome to our shores!!!!
[Al Arabiya Latest] Chechnya's Kremlin-backed leader on Monday rejected accusations by the Dubai police that his close adviser masterminded the assassination of a prominent foe in the United Arab Emirates.
Selim Yamadayev, a foe of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, was shot on March 28 with Russian-made gold-colored handgun in the car park of a luxury seaside apartment block in Dubai.
Russian analysts suggested his death removed one of the last remaining powerful opponents of Kadyrov's increasingly strong control over Chechnya.
Dubai police named Adam Delimkhanov, an adviser to Kadyrov, as the person who masterminded the murder. Delimkhanov has repeatedly denied any involvement. "The crime ... is 100 percent of Chechen making and it's an operation of settling accounts (among Chechens)," the Dubai police chief, Lieutenant General Dhahi Khalfan Tamim, told reporters on Sunday.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2009 00:00 ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] North Korea has failed in its third attempt since 1998 to build an accurate long-range missile, analysts say, undercutting its image as a defiant state able to project its power across the ocean.
The communist North claimed it had launched a satellite Sunday that was now circling the globe, transmitting data and patriotic songs praising secretive leader Kim Jong-Il.
But the United States and South Korea say the launch failed to get anything into orbit, and experts said the rocket's second and third stages apparently did not separate as planned.
"(It) was a failure," Joseph Bermudez of Jane's Information Group told AFP. "It seems to indicate that North Korea has not been able to demonstrate a reliable system capable of being an ICBM or a space launch vehicle."
A senior Russian military source confirmed the U.S. and South Korean reports that North Korea failed to place a satellite in orbit, the Interfax news agency reported.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Well, now they know what they need to work on next. Not quite a failure. And who knows, maybe they did it on purpose to give the world the excuse they wanted to avoid going to war.
#2
Its like Team America World Police maybe Kim should have a gala party and invite celebrities, that way he can actually get even more attention. As if this stunt wasnt already a cry for attention. Kim, we know you exist. Now run along.
#3
Careful not to ignore the strategic propaganda success. Cost of a modified surplus missile failure? .... a few thousand more hungry mouths that won't be fed. Flipping off the US and getting Barry and the feckless UN's 'green light' for future missile launches, along with Sino-Soviet solidarity..... priceless.
#4
Totally, its a way to desensitize the world to their missile launches. Like the underground nuke test and now this, pretty soon it will be the world saying "oh, dont mind them, thats just those north koreans launching another missile, they do it all the time." And, yes, the U.N. is powerless to stop it, as is Barry. Pathetic. Someone really should make the north and south reunify and get it over with. Where is superman in this situation?
#7
Missile failure is often the result of use of less than effectively responsive, ball-bearing mechanisms, which allow flight-path correction. Further, complex software must be employed to effect stability. The NKs revealed severe vulnerabilities.
#8
Not so sure about this. It depends on how heavy the payload was. A two ton payload and 4000km is enough to hit all of Europe and Western Russia with even crude nukes. I don't think the Iranians, Pakis or NorKs really care about putting comm satellites in geosynch orbit.
Posted by: ed ||
04/07/2009 16:32 Comments ||
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#9
The way I see it, they tried for an "Orange Slice" orit, which would put it over DC around the third orbit,
(No math, just watching a sketch of where first and second stages splashed down. and extrapolating from the sketchy info available.)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
04/07/2009 17:47 Comments ||
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#10
If the Iranians were involved in the missle's development and launch, then perhaps this "failure" is more show than fact. North Korea is starving, econmically weak and getting weaker, and surrounded by domineering China and other powerful prosperous nations including South Korea and Japan.
The Norks have no future unless thay can break China's hold on the country - in the face of intensifying national starvation, and given the Commies' desire to never give up power or political control, this means its in their near-term, covert, startegic or national interest to start a massive, long-term regional war involving China, the USA, Russia South Korea and Japan. The alternative is implosion or de facto Chinese takeover of more ancient Korean territories.
In sum, the Norks may actually desire the break-up of mainland Asia, and the military imperialism of Radical Islam, or the USA-Allies in defense against Radical islam.
Posted by: Titus Whiter9537 ||
04/07/2009 21:55 Comments ||
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[Kyodo: Korea] The Cabinet will decide Friday its basic guideline for new sanctions on North Korea after Pyongyang launched a rocket Sunday despite JapanŽs repeated warnings against doing so, Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura said Monday. In a related development, the ruling bloc of the Liberal Democratic Party and the New Komeito party submitted a draft Diet resolution Monday to the House of Representatives Steering Committee, condemning North KoreaŽs rocket launch and calling for the strengthening of JapanŽs economic sanctions on the country.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
No more trade, cement, fertilizer, grain, fuel, money, charity. Nothing. Zero. Zip. Nada.
#2
PRAVDA ARTIC > US MILITARY WITHDRAWAL + RUSS-DESIRED PAN-KOREAN UNIFICATION = should be favored by JAPAN as per increased RUSSIAN TRADE.
* OTOH, CHINESE MIL FORUM > POSTER - JAPAN SHOULD FIGHT TO GET BACK ITS RIGHTFUL TERRITORIES [espec Pre-WW2]. Large parts of East Asia e.g. KOREAS, + SOUTH ASIA e.g. THAILAND, MYANMAR-BURMA, + even PHILIPPINES???
[Kyodo: Korea] The United States will seek a ŽŽstrong, coordinated and effectiveŽŽ response to North KoreaŽs rocket launch at the U.N. Security Council, the State Department said Monday. ŽŽWeŽre going to continue to go forward in discussions with our partners in the council to see and to seek as strong, coordinated and effective response to the North Korean missile launch,ŽŽ department spokesman Robert Wood said at a news briefing.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Why am I thinking CDT manual of diplomatic expressions?
#2
How does he say it and still keep a straight face? Possibly, correct prior assignments and training.
Robert A. Wood is the State Department's Deputy Spokesman and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs.
Mr. Wood has been a Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Department of State and the former U.S. Information Agency since 1988.
From 2004-2008, he served as the Press Attache at the U.S. Embassy in Berlin, Germany. Prior to his assignment to Berlin, he was Deputy Spokesman at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations in New York (2001-2004).
In Washington, Mr. Wood has worked as a public affairs advisor for the Bureau of African Affairs, as a special assistant to the Undersecretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, and in several positions dealing with the Balkans.
Mr. Wood has also served in public affairs positions in Mexico City, Mexico; Lagos, Nigeria; Islamabad, Pakistan; and Pretoria, South Africa. His foreign languages are German and Spanish.
#5
Don't forget the words "measured" and "proportionate." You could also toss in: diffuse, long-winded, periphrastic, pleonastic, prolix, redundant, and verbose response.
No kidding. Guess Obama just isn't very persuasive ...
LUXEMBOURG - European Union nations were divided Monday over whether to accept inmates from Guantanamo prison camp as requested by the United States, after France agreed at the weekend to take one in.
As a national state, we dont accept anybody, Czech Interior Minister Ivan Langer, whose country holds the EUs rotating presidency, told reporters in Luxembourg at a meeting of the blocs justice and interior ministers. The reason, he said, is the high risk of no successful integration of such persons.
I dunno, there's parts of Europe in which these jokers would get along very well ...
On the other hand, we are the presidency and we look for a coordinated approach, he added.
All coordinated to say, 'no' ...
Austria and Germany are also among a number of EU states reluctant to have any former inmates in Europe and able move around freely without passport checks inside the 25-nation Schengen no-borders zone.
And move around they would ...
US President Barack Obama has said he would close the notorious war on terror prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba by January 2010 and is seeking host states for up to 60 of the 245 inmates.
The EU regularly demanded the closure of the jail, where prisoners have been held often without charge or trial, and have welcomed Obamas decision to finally shut it.
But aren't willing to, you know, help out ...
But national laws differ widely among the 27 EU countries and they are struggling to define a common position on how best to help.
No, they're struggling with the best way to say no hoping that Obama will just drop the whole idea.
On Friday, France agreed to accept an inmate, probably an Algerian national, but President Nicolas Sarkozy said it would only be to put him in prison here.
Which somehow is more moral than leaving him in Gitmo ...
EU Justice Commissioner Jacques Barrot, taking part in Mondays meeting in Luxembourg, said that the United States wants to wrap up its dialogue with EU nations on hosting the inmates by June.
Barrot, recently returned from a fact-finding mission to Washington with Langer, said that while Washington had formally asked for help, no numbers of detainees it needed assistance with were given. He said EU interior ministers would lay out at a future meeting whether or not they want to take any inmates and what conditions some would like imposed.
The conditions will be simple: no.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/07/2009 00:00 ||
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#5
Obama: "Hey, wanna host some islamic terrorists Guantanamo inmates?"
Europeans: "No way Hussein Jose!"
Seriously, I'm a European who has never protested the incarceration and punishment of enemy war criminals. The least that can be said of these Gitmo inmates is that they're highly suspicious affiliates and sympathizers of islamofascists in Afghanistan and Pakistan. There's no reason to endanger us, and reward them, by granting them access to the western world.
Why hasn't the Lightbringer asked his new bestest friends in the Erdogan regime to take this burden off him?
[Maghrebia] Moroccan gendarmes seized nearly seven tonnes of drugs in El Kalaa and Bouarbi, in the northern Chefchaouen region, MAP quoted official sources as saying on Sunday (April 5th). The operation in the area, considered a centre for cannabis-trafficking, took place last Wednesday.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2009 00:00 ||
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#3
I finally found "el Kalaa", after going through eight or nine different map links. It's about 50 miles northeast of Marrakech, in the lower section of Morocco. Marrakech has always been a center of the cannabis trade in Morocco.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/07/2009 17:10 Comments ||
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GOD bless Bob Gates: Our secretary of defense can't be bought, can't be bullied and can't be fooled. And he values our men and women in uniform.
"This is a reform budget," the SecDef stated yesterday as he unveiled the Pentagon's new priorities. He insisted that we must "critically and ruthlessly separate appetites from real requirements."
Translation: We need to give our troops the numbers and gear they need, not the gilded garbage defense-industry cartels foist upon us -- on loan-shark terms.
Gates appears to have made the right call on every single issue. And, instead of beginning with a focus on big-ticket weapons, he started by highlighting the needs of those who serve.
This SecDef wants to stop cutting troops to "save" money, only to funnel the funding to well-connected contractors. The Army and Marines will get their promised end-strength increases, while the Navy and Air Force won't cut more sailors and airmen.
He stressed the criticality of medical research and long-term care for our wounded -- including those suffering psychological trauma.
In a break with the practice of handling soldiers as a nuisance in supplemental spending bills, Gates aims to fund our troops' needs up front. We've never had a more committed defender of our men and women in uniform.
Laying out his overall priorities, the SecDef put flesh-and-blood first, "rebalancing" weapons programs second and acquisition reform third. He wants to protect people; buy only affordable, necessary weapons that actually work -- and stop the legal corruption that rips off the taxpayers and arms our troops with junk.
Here's how each service would fare:
Army: The Army's home-front bureaucrats, sniffing for good retirement jobs, have tried to turn their service into a ground-bound version of the Air Force, elevating elegant technologies above combat realities. Ignoring soldier psychology and the need for robust gear, the techies went bonkers.
The Future Combat System, a suite of lightly armored vehicles that couldn't protect soldiers from land mines or old-fashioned artillery, is supposed to magically deflect future weapons our enemies don't have. FCS would ask young soldiers to ride into battle trusting invisible "armor." And it packs pathetically little killing power, relying on "precision strike," a green-suit version of the "shock-and-awe" con that flopped so comprehensively.
Gates just said, "No." Useful technologies under development will be exploited, but this platinum-plated disaster won't enter the inventory. The SecDef demanded feasibility, affordability and battlefield utility. Tomorrow's warriors will thank him.
The SecDef also wants an Army of 45 "full up" Brigade Combat Teams that won't need to scrounge for added troops when going to war. That's better than fielding the programmed 48 BCTs that would have to rely on bureaucratic press-gangs to fill their ranks.
Navy: Gates took a leather strap to the Navy's backside -- a long-overdue move.
The Navy remains our pre-eminent service and the US remains an essentially maritime power. But Navy shipbuilding programs had degenerated so disastrously that no vessels joined the fleet on time, all ran over budget and few worked as advertised. The greatest Navy in the world was building ships that not only couldn't do much damage to an enemy, but couldn't even protect themselves.
Gates wants ships that can fight. He'll kill a dysfunctional high-tech destroyer program, with the Navy going back to buying DDG-51 destroyers that actually work. The troubled Littoral Combat Ship buy will go ahead -- it's just badly needed. The builders will have to shape up, though. And aging subs will be replaced.
Our SecDef wants our Navy to move at combat speed again.
Air Force: Hallelujah! The millions of dollars spent on advertising, lobbying and outright lying to force the Pentagon to buy more F-22 fighters didn't work. The buy of the F-22 -- an aircraft so fragile the Air Force fears sending it to war and with maintenance needs that give it a readiness rate below 60 percent -- is being capped at 187.
Gates knows we need a strong Air Force -- he just doesn't want the wrong Air Force. He supports extending our air supremacy by embracing the more-affordable F-35 fighter, funding 513 over the next five years.
He put a new manned-bomber program on hold until the justifications, specifications and costs make sense. But he wants re-bids on a replacement tanker aircraft as soon as possible -- to fill a genuine need.
The Marines: New amphibious-capability programs are waterlogged. Gates insists they make technical and budgetary sense before the dollars hit the beach.
The SecDef made many other good calls. He wants 2,800 more special-operations personnel; more useful intelligence capabilities; more support for our hard-working helicopter fleets; more missile-defense systems that actually protect troops; more cyber-war capability; 50 more Predator and Reaper unmanned aerial vehicles (the drones the terrorists dread), and thousands more in-house watchdogs to put the brakes on contractor cheating.
Of course, to realize his dream of a reformed acquisition process and a warrior-centered military, Gates needs the support of Congress. And Congress is a greater threat than China. The heroic work of the greatest public servant of our time is now at the mercy of our nation's most-pompous thieves.
#1
Previous articles said he's also dropping the F-22 and that the F-22 was better than the F-35 in an air supremacy role, which after all seems to be the linchpin of current doctrine. Not happy about the F-22, but like to hear from more knowledgeable about impact of dropping it.
#2
Before we look to high-tech, let's not forget how easy it is to manufacture and plant an IED, and then blend into the scenery. Low-tech, disproportionate retaliation is the only thing that has ever pacified terrorists. Hasn't Peters attacked anyone who says the Quran conduces terror?
#3
Gates also wants to end C-17 production. Who needs transport? Just tell the troops in Iraq, Afghanistan, Asia and Europe to forage.
Posted by: ed ||
04/07/2009 16:15 Comments ||
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#4
Gates Lays Out Key FY 2010 Budget Recommendations
Terminated or Ending:
VH-71 Presidential Helicopter
F-22A Raptor
C-17 Globemaster III heavy-lift strategic transport
2018 Bomber
TSAT Satellite Program
Multiple Kill Vehicle (MKV) program
Air Force Combat Search and Rescue X (CSAR-X) helicopter
Future Combat Systems Ground Vehicle
NLOS-C cannon
Significantly Shifted:
KC-X Aerial Tankers
Airborne Laser
GMD ballistic missile interceptors
DDG-1000 Zumwalt Class destroyer
CG (X) Cruiser
LPD 11 and the Mobile Landing Platform
Aircraft Carriers down to 10
Posted by: ed ||
04/07/2009 16:22 Comments ||
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Best read as a companion piece to yesterday's news on the Pentagon weapons cuts. Perhaps Gates is just implementing Obama's wishes, but it's also possible that Gates is on to something in the purchasing system. I don't claim to be smart enough to know the answer.
After reading a newspaper article's report that a particular armored vehicle had dramatically cut fatality rates in Iraq, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and other senior defense officials traveled 80 miles northeast to Aberdeen Proving Ground in spring 2007 to see for themselves how the V-shaped hull of the costly Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle deflected the worst blast effects of buried explosives.
Within weeks, and after some pointed demands for the MRAPs from Capitol Hill, Gates decided to make accelerated production of the vehicles his top priority, using a special task force that circumvented the department's normal purchasing methods -- and the initial opposition of the Army and the Marine Corps. The results were not perfect -- an inspector general's report said later that in its rush, the department overspent by tens of millions of dollars -- but they were effective: Thousands of additional MRAPs flooded into Iraq and fatality rates dropped precipitously.
Aides say that the experience was like a baptism for Gates into the weirdness of the Pentagon's weapons-procurement system, which experts have long assailed for buying the wrong arms and paying far too much. Hired by President George W. Bush mostly to fix the Iraq war, Gates initially left key buying decisions to his deputy, Gordon England. But they say Gates's decision to buy more MRAPs and a similarly frustrating battle to build more unmanned aerial vehicles for use in Iraq persuaded him that he would have to wade deeply into the procurement mess.
Gates concluded that "the building was not being responsive to the requests for these vehicles," his spokesman, Geoff Morrell, said.
In calling yesterday for "a dramatic change in the way we acquire military equipment," Gates showed his slow but palpable alienation from the so-called iron triangle of defense contractors, lawmakers and military service executives that has long promoted building the best weapons systems, no matter what the price. In the future, he said, weapons should be engineered to counter "the actual and prospective capabilities of known future adversaries," not what a potential adversary might create with "unlimited time and resources."
We can't afford 300-plus F-22s, the B-3 bomber, the CG-X and other big ticket items on the budget and economy we have. And I'd rather have our troops trained and maintained properly first.
Gates has signaled his frustrations with the broken and "rigid" purchasing system for months, and in a January article in Foreign Affairs magazine, he noted that the pursuit of perfect solutions combined with a lack of flexibility and innovation had made it "necessary to bypass existing institutions and procedures to get the capabilities needed to protect U.S. troops and fight ongoing wars."
But Gates sees this year as a rare opportunity to pursue politically controversial ideas, one of his top aides said, largely because of two factors. First, President Obama's repeated claim that procurement reforms can increase efficiency and save expenses across the government will provide "top cover" for Gates in his head-butting with a group of service chiefs that proposed last year to alleviate their woes by adding tens of billions of dollars to the budget instead of making hard choices or undertaking major reforms.
Second, Gates feels the nation's woeful economic status will give him added leverage in beating back attempts on Capitol Hill to continue financing weapons that troops don't need or want. "It is important to remember that every defense dollar spent to overinsure against a remote or diminishing risk, or in effect to run up the score" is a dollar that might otherwise be spent on troops or winning the wars we are in, Gates said yesterday.
To some military experts, the two-year wait for Gates to take such a step since his December 2006 appointment has been long. Kori Schake, a National Security Council staff member during the Bush administration and adviser to Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign, said that "with the important exception of his emphasis on MRAP acquisition, he submitted two budgets and several supplemental spending requests that were straight-line extensions of previous spending."
Now, Schake said, Gates has called for ruthlessly separating appetites from real requirements, but Congress may "serve him up his own previous justifications for the very programs he proposes to cut."
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/07/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Gates just killed the prez helicopter, he killed ARH, he fixed MRAP. He understands the contractor gravy train and is killing it. Good for him.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
04/07/2009 1:05 Comments ||
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#3
That's biggest fault that Rumfeld had IMO. He was cluess that US could put in field several diferent armored vehicles in WW2 every year but with today billions could not replace a mere HMMVV...
One of big problems of USA is red tape and mentality. You guys changed from a people of doer's to beaurocrats enamourated of processes.
Posted by: Large Snerong7311 ||
04/07/2009 5:56 Comments ||
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#4
Yes indeed that evil Pentagon acquisitions crowd rewarding their constituents and voters with military contract pork, unneeded C-130J, Osprey and the like. [snark off]
#5
...and don't forget the intrusive procedures and requirements that Congress dictates requiring loads of expense and time to procure. You just can't go down to Sears and pick up a Craftsman hammer [even though it would make both physical and financial sense to do so in some instances]. Add to that, the institutional unwillingness to ruthlessly make examples of those who do abuse the system "pour encourager les autres", that results in more paper, more regulation, more time consumed. 'Ah, it's our fault because we didn't protect the poor darling from himself'. Bah!
#6
The truth of the Defense budget is that it is going to lead the way with budget cuts. The Pentagon saw this from a mile away, and has been planning for it for at least a year. The Barney Frank estimate is a 25% reduction in the budget. But long term, more likely 50%.
Operations & Maintenance ($180B) - Pull US forces from as many overseas missions as possible.
Military Personnel ($125B) - Military pay will be stripped, with married personnel being RIF'd. Most enlisted will work for just a small stipend, room & board and medical. And not that unhappy, as national unemployment could reach 50%.
Procurement ($104B) and R&D ($80B) - Also get hit, except for critical systems and paper design.
However, this being said, Defense will do better than the other big 3 budget items. Social Security is likely dead within 2 years. Medicare and Medicaid in around that same time frame or a little longer.
#7
Yeps, not only that, Social Security and Medicare Part D are the biggest creators of deficit in the U.S. currently. These very well could be cut which is a terrifying thought for those who are affected. The U.S. is going to go back to a dark age in our history unless some real reforms take place.
#8
Anyone not familiar with the wonderment of the US Defense Acquisition system should look at DoDI 5000.02 Operation of the Defense Acquisition System. http://www.theriac.org/pdfs/DoDI%205000-02%20(Official%20Signed%20Version)%202%20Dec%202008.pdf
[The News (Pak)] The NWFP chief secretary and the inspector general of police (IGP) may not produce a Swati girl, who was publicly lashed by suspected militants, as the officials appear before the larger bench of the Supreme Court today (Monday).
Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry had taken a suo moto notice of the public lashing of the teenaged girl in Swat after a footage of the incident appeared on private television channels.
Apart from the federal interior secretary, the NWFP chief secretary, IGP, advocate general and president of the Peshawar High Court Bar Association (PHCBA) were directed to appear and produce the victim before the larger bench of the Supreme Court. "We are yet to take the girl into our protection and that's why we may not produce her before the court on Monday," Malakand Division Commissioner Syed Muhammad Javed told The News on Sunday.
IGP Malik Naveed Khan could not be contacted despite repeated attempts on his residence's telephone number. His cellular phone remained switched off all the day.
The family of the victim and the local elders, reportedly belonging to the Kala Kelay in Kabal, refused to let the girl go with the authorities due to social pressure and militants' fear. The Malakand commissioner and the acting DIG were directed by CS Javed Iqbal and IGP Naveed to gather details of the event.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Move it along. Nuthin to see here...
A Pakistani teenage girl at the center of national outrage over a video purporting to show her public flogging by the Taliban reportedly told an Islamic judge and a provincial official that the incident never happened.
The video, shown last week by Pakistani television and widely posted on the Web, shows the crying 17-year-old girl being held down by several men including a man identified as her brother as a member of the Taliban beats her.
The incident reportedly took place between two and five weeks ago in the Swat Valley village of Kala Killay. The video has sparked nationwide condemnation and demonstrations challenging the government's decision to allow Shariah law into the Taliban-controlled region.
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani called for an immediate inquiry and Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry recently restored to office ordered police and government officials from the north-western territory to bring the girl to court for questioning.
But the girl, identified as Chand Bibi, instead was interviewed at her home by an Islamic judge and a local government commissioner, and reportedly told them that the beating never happened.
"She requested the judge and the commissioner to spare her from appearing in the court in Islamabad," said provincial Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain said, the Times of India reported.
Hussain said that upon questioning by the Islamic judge, she denied neighbors' claims that she had been dragged from her home, held down and flogged. She also denied reports that she had been charged with having an illicit relationship with a local man who witnesses claim also was beaten or that the Taliban forced the two to marry, the Times reported.
Instead, Hussain said, the girl told the judge the man was her husband, and that the video was a fake distributed to disrupt the peace process in the region.
[The News (Pak)] Chief of his faction of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Sunday said the non-governmental organisations that had created a furore over the flogging of a 17-year-old girl in Swat should also be included in the probe. Coming down hard on NGOs, he said these women rights bodies were always ready to protest against an incident even before it was confirmed.
Speaking at "Meet the Press" programme of the Peshawar Press Club, he said it was the NGOs' democratic right to protest and voice concern over the Swat incident but when it came to the drone attacks and killing of innocent women and children in tribal and settled areas, these organisations were always silent. He said the government and the Taliban had expressed ignorance about the whipping incident.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Maybe he should demonstrate how benign flogging is by getting the same treatment himself on camera and showing how it doesn't hurt????
KARACHI: Federal Minister Senator Azam Khan Swati of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) said on Saturday that the flogging of the 17-year-old girl in Swat was a Jewish conspiracy aimed at destroying peace in Swat and distort the image of those Islamists who sport beards and wear turbans.
Speaking at a reception hosted by the JUI-F Karachi Chapter in his honour, Swati said that the JUI-F may part ways with the PPP-led coalition government if drone attacks continue to violate the sovereignty of Pakistan. We shall not tolerate the violation of our countrys sovereignty through drone attacks, he said, adding that under a deep-rooted conspiracy, the Pakistan Army was being defamed. He said that the ISI might be modernised on the lines that they bring a bad name to its reputation among Pakistanis.He said that the US administration has declared Baitullah Mehsud as its enemy and approved financial aid for the Pakistan government for actions against people such as Mehsud. There are apprehensions that the US administration may turn Pakistan into the next Afghanistan on the pretext of an operation against terrorists as they did with Afghanistan in the name of Osama Bin Laden, said Swati. The JUI-F minister expressed concern over the fact that the US might target Pakistans nuclear installations, adding that we must be careful. It is unfortunate that we long for water and electricity in this age of advancement, he lamented, while also condemning the killings of Pukhtoons in interior Sindh. Qari Usman, Qari Sher Afzal and Maulana Abdul Karim Abid of the JUI-F also spoke on the occasion. staff report.
The French couldn't help liberate Iraq but are happy to do business. Figures.
BAGHDAD - Iraq has signed deals with the United States and Europe to buy dozens of military helicopters that will be delivered over the next two years, the defence ministry spokesman said on Monday.
Major General Mohammed al-Askari said the government had placed orders with US and European groups for what he described as 'dozens' of helicopters, but declined to give a precise number. A senior military source, however, told AFP that 'Iraq has agreed with the United States and European countries to buy more than 40 helicopters.' 'We will receive all these helicopters in the next two years,' the source said, noting that the US would supply 30 of the aircraft, mainly to be used in the fight against terrorism.
That's good. I don't mind Euro companies getting a share of the orders but I'd hate to think the Iraqis would forget who stood by them.
Last month, French defence minister Herve Morin and his Iraqi counterpart Abdel Kader Obeidi announced the purchase by Baghdad of 24 multi-purpose Eurocopter EC 635 helicopters. The deal for the transport helicopters, which can carry up to seven soldiers and also engage in reconnaissance and search and rescue missions, is worth 360 million dollars. They form part of the order mentioned by the Iraqi security source.
In addition, France is preparing to sell to Iraq six Gazelle helicopters to train Iraqi pilots, said a French source close to the deal.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/07/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
49 Pan to a white courtesy telephone.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
04/07/2009 2:37 Comments ||
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[Jerusalem Post Front Page] Responding to US presidentŽs endorsement of Annapolis process, cabinet member says Israel ŽŽwonŽt be 51st state;ŽŽ PM: Israel committed to peace.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Especially if it involves a train ride with showers at the end.
[Jerusalem Post Front Page] Jordan's King Abdullah II said Monday that an Arab peace initiative offers a solution for peace in the Middle East, adding that Israel should seize the opportunity or risk ongoing conflict in the region.
"Israel must decide whether they want to observe this opportunity and become integrated in the region or whether they want to remain a fortress ... and keep the Middle East hostage in conflict," Abdullah said in Bucharest, during an official visit.
The king met Romanian President Traian Basescu Monday and discussed bilateral issues and the need for peace in the Middle East.
The initiative offers Israel recognition by all Arab countries in exchange for withdrawal from territory captured in 1967, the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital and a "just solution" to the problem of Palestinian refugees.
Basescu said he and Abdullah also discussed the possibility that Romanian and Jordanian companies start working in Iraq "after the troops retreat but even before".
Romania and Jordan signed four documents on bilateral cooperation during the king's visit to Bucharest. They deal with economic cooperation, the mutual protection of investments, cultural and scientific cooperation and environmental protection.
Abdullah was accompanied by Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Suhair Al Ali.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Hey Abdi, just because one of your own is in the White House, doesn't mean you've won.
#4
a "just solution" to the problem of Palestinian refugees
The devil is in the details. What would the Paleos would accept as a "just solution" other than the Right of Return?
[Jerusalem Post Front Page] Israel fears that Hamas is working to build unprecedentedly large tunnels along the Philadelphi Corridor that will be used to smuggle long-range rockets into the Gaza Strip in one piece, senior defense officials have told The Jerusalem Post.
Before Operation Cast Lead was launched in late December, Hamas was believed to be operating several hundred smuggling tunnels along the 14-kilometer strip of land separating the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula. "Hamas is working on obtaining new advanced weaponry and extending the range of its rockets," a senior defense official told the Post. "In order to get this weaponry into Gaza, it will need larger tunnels than it currently has."
Digging a smuggling tunnel is considered a complicated and sometimes dangerous operation that can take several months, depending on the tunnel's length and size. The tunnels along the corridor vary in size, but some are believed to be large enough for a person to stand inside.
According to Military Intelligence, the long-range Katyusha rockets Hamas fired into Ashdod and Beersheba during the recent operation were smuggled into Gaza in several pieces. These rockets are manufactured in Iran in a number of pieces, enabling their fairly easy transfer to Gaza.
Other rockets that Hamas would like to get its hands on include the long-range Iranian-made Fajr, which has a range of 70 km. and could reach as far as the outskirts of Tel Aviv. Unlike the Grad-model Katyusha, which is 2 meters long, the Fajr is close to 10 m. and is not easy to assemble if smuggled into Gaza in components.
Some of the reports on the alleged Israeli air strike against a weapons convoy in Sudan and bound for Gaza have claimed that the trucks were carrying Fajr missiles, a weapon that could alter the strategic balance of power between Israel and Hamas.
Last week, Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) chief Yuval Diskin told the cabinet that since the three-week military operation ended on January 18, Hamas had smuggled 22 tons of explosives, 45 tons of raw materials for producing bombs, dozens of rockets, hundreds of mortar shells and dozens of anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles into Gaza.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2009 00:00 ||
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[Khaleej Times] Hamas on Monday urged the United Nations to distinguish between Israeli 'crimes' and Palestinian 'resistance' in its investigation of human rights violations in the Gaza war.
'We ask any investigation commission to be just towards the Palestinian people and ... not to put on a same level the Zionist crimes' and the acts of 'resistance' by Palestinians, said Fawzi Barhum, a spokesman of the Islamist movement that rules the Gaza Strip. 'What the Palestinian people did and our resistance during the war ... amount to self-defence to protect the Palestinian people,' he said.
Former international prosecutor Richard Goldstone was named on Friday to lead a broadened human rights probe into violence during Israel's 22-day Gaza offensive in December and January.
Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor on Friday slammed the UN probe, saying it was 'not an attempt to find the truth but to tarnish Israel's reputation and to join efforts led by some countries to demonise Israel.'
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2009 00:00 ||
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[Haaretz Defense] Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday laid down his conditions for renewing stalled peace negotiations with Israel. The new Israeli government "would have to accept the creation of a Palestinian state, stop construction in West Bank Israeli settlements and remove army roadblocks crippling life in the West Bank so that we can resume dialogue in order to reach a political solution," Abbas said. The Palestinian leader was speaking during a visit to Baghdad.
A few hours before Abbas' declaration, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opened his new coalition's inaugural weekly cabinet session by announcing that the next weeks would be dedicated to setting a policy for the advancement of the peace process.
"Today, we will establish a political-security cabinet and in the coming weeks we will complete the formulation of our policy to advance peace and security," Netanyahu told the 30 ministers and seven deputy ministers gathered for the session in Jerusalem.
The premier's comments came amid fears that his right-leaning government would stem any progress reached by former prime minister Ehud Olmert's administration in peace talks with the Palestinians and Syria.
"This government is a genuine unity government," he added. "It was created out of a sense of deep responsibility concerning the need to deal with the urgent security, economic and social challenges that Israel faces. And so with that, we set to work."
The prime minister told the cabinet that he planned to annul the previous government's decision to create an Israeli 'White House' with the hopes of reaching a more "modest proposal" for the premier's residence.
Ministers were also to vote on a number of ministerial panels during Sunday's meeting.
Meanwhile, Netanyahu promised ministers that over the coming days he would appoint a chairman of the health ministry, following the ire raised over the lack of a Health Minister appointed to the new government.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
This little cockroach has such an overdeveloped sense of his own importance. Earth to Mahmoud: Obama is pro-Hamas, and Hildi couldn't care less about your mature charm.
[Straits Times] POLICE have filed kidnapping charges against al-Qaeda-linked extremists who seized three two Red Cross workers in January and are still holding two hostages, officials said on Monday. The criminal complaint also named seven other people accused of supporting the militants. Among those charged with illegal detention were Abu Sayyaf commanders Albader Parad and Abu Pula and seven non-militants, including three policemen, on suspicion they provided ammunition and food to the Islamic militants, police Senior Superintendent Edwin Diocos said.
The International Committee of the Red Cross workers - Swiss Andreas Notter, Italian Eugenio Vagni and Filipino Mary Jean Lacaba - were kidnapped Jan. 15 after inspecting a jail water supply project on southern Jolo Island, a poor, predominantly Muslim region 950 kilometres south of Manila.
Abu Sayyaf gunmen led by Parad and Pula freed Lacaba last week without ransom but threatened to behead the remaining two if government troops did not withdraw.
Of those charged, only the non-militants have been arrested, police officials said.
'We have witnesses who said that they provided vehicles, food and ammunition to the Abu Sayyaf,' Mr Diocos told The Associated Press, adding that the seven denied the allegations.
Kidnapping for ransom is punishable by life in prison.
Mr Diocos, who heads a police investigation into the abductions, said the arrests of the seven Jolo villagers and policemen should deter others in Jolo from supporting the Abu Sayyaf, which is on a US list of terrorist groups for its al-Qaeda links and involvement in bomb attacks, kidnappings and beheadings.
Abu Sayyaf militants have demanded government troops pull back from at least five detachments near their jungle stronghold, which has been surrounded by marines, police and armed village guards. They threatening to behead the hostages if their demand was not met, officials said.
Jolo Gov. Sakur Tan, head of a government task force dealing with the hostage crisis, said officials may consider a limited withdrawal to allow negotiations for the hostages' release.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2009 00:00 ||
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WASHINGTON/NEW YORK, April 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. government on Tuesday slapped sanctions on a Chinese metals company and six Iranian companies suspected of collaborating on a scheme to transfer missile and nuclear technology from China to Iran.
A New York grand jury also indicted the Chinese metals company, LIMMT Economic and Trade Co Ltd, and its manager, Lee Fangwei, on 118 counts including suspicion of shipping 33,000 pounds (15,000 kg) of specialized aluminum alloy used for long-range missile production from China to Iran.
Lee was charged with the suspected misuse of Manhattan banks employed to transfer money between China and Iran by way of Europe and the United States. ...
Posted by: ed ||
04/07/2009 14:56 ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] Iran welcomed on Monday a proposal to set up a global nuclear fuel repository, part of a U.S.-backed plan to put all uranium enrichment under strict international control.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in Kazakhstan on a visit, said he supported a proposal to host the nuclear bank in the fellow Caspian nation, which is accessible from Iran by sea. "We think that (Kazakh President) Nursultan Nazarbayev's idea to host a nuclear fuel bank is a very good proposal," he told reporters after talks with the Kazakh leader.
Iran's support for the idea comes as U.S. President Barack Obama pushes for a "new beginning" in bilateral ties, and could play a role in mending bridges after decades of mistrust.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
This is so bad there's no need for snark.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
04/07/2009 12:59 Comments ||
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[Jerusalem Post Front Page] Spokesman for countryŽs Foreign Ministry says all nations entitled to peaceful use of space technology.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
See also RIAN > PYONGYANG: MISSLE FOR OBAMA.
* PRAVDA > RUSSIA MUST TAKE DECISIVE ACTIONS IN THE KOREAS. Artic - Post-Cold War continuing presence of US Milfors only serves to keep KOREAS divided in favor of the USA. RUSSIA SHOULD SUPPOR PAN-KOREAN UNIFICATION in order to prliferate PRO-RUSS = RUSS-SPECIFIC REGIONAL TRADE espec "PETRO-ECONOMICS" [Trans-regio PIPELINE to NOKOR, JAPAN, + BEYOND]. Also, UNIFICATION > REDUCE THE NUMBERS OF KOREANS [ NOT counting Chinois/Chinese] MIGRATING TO RUSS FAR EAST = VLADISVOSTOK FOR WORK + NEW WAY OF LIFE???
Also on PRAVDA > KAZAN OFFICIALLY BECOMES THE THIRD CAPITAL OF RUSSIA. Read, [future, expanding]ISLAMIC/MUSLIM RUSSIA???
#2
2009- 2012/2016 POST-DUBYA POTUS PERIOD >
Pragmatically,PRE/PROTO-NUKULAR IRAN 's = RADICAL ISLAM'S strategic focii broadly remains CENTRAL, etc. MAINLAND ASIA espec Cold War Nuke States RUSSIA, CHINA, INDIA = NUC-, MILTECHS for JIHAD.
[Iran Press TV Latest] The Pentagon is spending millions to learn from Israeli's defeat in the 33-day war on Lebanon, amid fears the US army would be outpowered by Hezbollah in case of a conflict.
The US Department of Defense has conducted interviews with those Israel Defense Forces (IDF) officers, who fought against Hezbollah in the summer of 2006, to learn from the failures of their campaign, The Washington Post reported Monday.
The US military experts who studied the Israeli Army's annihilation were surprised by the defeat Hezbollah inflicted upon the armored columns, using anti-tank guided missiles.
Hezbollah forces are "extremely well trained, especially in the uses of anti-tank weapons and rockets," the newspaper cited a Pentagon report conducted on the group's military power.
According to another study conducted by the Army's Combat Studies Institute, "From 2000 to 2006 Hezbollah embraced a new doctrine, transforming itself from a predominantly guerrilla force into a quasi-conventional fighting force."
The 33-day war highlighted a rift among US military leaders, with some believing that the military should be restructured so that it would be better prepared for asymmetrical wars.
Others, meanwhile, were concerned that such changes would make the military vulnerable to conventional battles.
Many top Army officers however believed the war's outcome illustrated the price of focusing too much on counterinsurgency wars.
"The real takeaway is that you have to find the time to train for major combat operations, even if you are fighting counterinsurgency wars," said one senior military analyst who studied the Lebanon war for the Center for Army Lessons Learned at Fort Leavenworth, Kan.
In an attempt not to be caught off-guard by Hezbollah forces in the event of a war, the US Army and Marine Corps had arranged several multi-million-dollar drills to simulate battles against the group.
Citing Frank Hoffman, a research fellow at the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory in Quantico, the newspaper reported that the organization has conducted "five major [war] games in the last two years, and all of them have focused on Hezbollah."
Andrew Exum, a former Army officer who has studied the battle from southern Lebanon, was quoted as saying that "Even if the Israelis had done better operationally, I don't think they would have been victorious in the long run."
Tel Aviv, which launched the offensive to destroy Hezbollah's military power, was forced to eventually leave the region without achieving any of its objectives.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
A pretty optimistic view of Hezbollah's capabilities by the Iran based Press TV.
#2
Well the Israelis were owned. Rockets still rained in Haifa at "end" of War. And the most criminaly incompetent Prime Minister and their Military leaders made a war from 9-5 and retire then get back to be again hit by Hizballah, plus a suicidal dash to Litani in last 2 days that made most of armored corps deaths for no result whatsoever. The only explaination that Olmert wasn't out is the Media and US and EU money and their political support.
Posted by: Large Snerong7311 ||
04/07/2009 5:40 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Keep in mind that mullah tools actually believe this tripe and they plan accordingly. They will be slaughtered like sheep in the next round.
The only Hezbollah "victory" was in the results of what passed for Olmert's thought processes. He had yet to learn that "world opinion" is a whorehouse bought and paid for with Arab petro-dollars.
#5
This article is total crap. Israel kicked Hizbollah butt all over Lebanon. All the evidence is in that Hizbollah leaders hide in the shadows while Israel hunts them.
These fools should stop arguing that because they aren't all dead yet somehow Israel failed. With that approach, sooner or later an Israeli leader will go all Old Testament on them just to make the point clear.
What is happening is that the Israeli and American military are doing the prudent research on these villains now to answer the call when it comes.
[Beirut Daily Star: Region] Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's main moderate challenger at the June presidential vote said Monday he would adopt a conciliatory foreign policy toward the West unlike his "extremist" opponent. Prime minister during Iran's 1980-88 war with Iraq, Mir Hossein Mousavi, 67, is seriously considered by many moderates and even some conservatives as their main presidential candidate and a strong rival to Ahmadinejad in the contest.
"Our country was harmed because of extremist policies adopted in the last three years ... My foreign policy with all countries will be one of detente," Mousavi said at his first news conference since announcing his candidacy.
"We should try to gain the international community's trust while preserving our national interests." Ahmadinejad's critics say his fiery speeches against the West have exacerbated a dispute over Iran's nuclear program, which the West says is a front to covertly build nuclear weapons. Tehran denies the charge.
US-Iran tensions have worsened since the 2005 election of Ahmadinejad, who questioned the Holocaust and called for Israel to be wiped off the map. When asked about his views regarding the Holocaust, Mousavi said: "Killing innocent people is condemned. The way the issue [Holocaust] was put forward [by Ahmadinejad] was incorrect."
"Of course the question could be ... why Palestinians should be punished for a crime committed by Germans?" Mousavi's conciliatory tone followed an overture by US President Barack Obama toward the Islamic Republic.
Obama has offered a new US approach to Iran, which has not had relations with Washington for three decades, saying he would extend a hand of peace if Iran would "unclench its fist."
Iran says Washington must show real policy change toward Iran rather than in words.
While repeatedly stressing his belief in following the guidelines of Ayatollah Ruhallah Khomeini, the late founder of Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution, Mousavi said Iran had no intention to continue decades of hostility. "If America practically changes its Iran policy then we will surely hold talks with them," Mousavi said.
Obama on Sunday presented Iran with a "clear choice" of halting its nuclear and missile activity or facing increased isolation. Tehran has repeatedly rejected international demands to stop its most sensitive nuclear work. "Iran will never abandon its nuclear right. We have no right to do it," Mousavi said.
Mousavi, who defended Iran's state-controlled economy when prime minister, said high inflation and unemployment were among major issues that had to be tackled and that more liberalization of the economy was needed. "At that time Iran was at war ... Now we need privatization, creation of jobs and ... foreign investment," said Mousavi.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2009 00:00 ||
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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.
His brown eyes wide with innocence, Abdullah laughs like any other 11-year-old as he tells his story. But it is no ordinary schoolboy tale he is sharing. It is of his arrest. Charged with carrying explosives, he is suspected of being a potential suicide bomber and is Afghanistans youngest prisoner. He is now behind bars in one the countrys most secure jails. 
[Al Arabiya Latest] The Afghan government confirmed Monday that a controversial law for the Shiite minority was not in force and reiterated it would be altered if a review found it contradicted women's rights.
PARIS (Reuters) - Six suspected Somali pirates captured by French troops in Somalia last year lost an appeal on Monday in which they argued that their arrest and transfer to France were unauthorised, a court source said.
[Bangla Daily Star] The United Nations (UN) has named four international war crime experts to assist Bangladesh in the trials of war criminals of 1971, responding to a request of the government, officials said.
[Jerusalem Post Front Page] The Quilliam Foundation, a counter-extremism body set up in 2008 by former members of UK-based extremist Islamist organizations, has accused Abu Qatada, who they describe as "one of the world's most influential jihadi theologians", of inciting terrorism after they discovered that he has been issuing fatwas and statements from Long Lartin high security prison in Worcestershire, in the west midlands area of central England. 
[Al Arabiya Latest] Chechnya's Kremlin-backed leader on Monday rejected accusations by the Dubai police that his close adviser masterminded the assassination of a prominent foe in the United Arab Emirates.
[Al Arabiya Latest] North Korea has failed in its third attempt since 1998 to build an accurate long-range missile, analysts say, undercutting its image as a defiant state able to project its power across the ocean.
[Kyodo: Korea] The United States will seek a ŽŽstrong, coordinated and effectiveŽŽ response to North KoreaŽs rocket launch at the U.N. Security Council, the State Department said Monday. ŽŽWeŽre going to continue to go forward in discussions with our partners in the council to see and to seek as strong, coordinated and effective response to the North Korean missile launch,ŽŽ department spokesman Robert Wood said at a news briefing.
[Jerusalem Post Front Page] Spokesman for countryŽs Foreign Ministry says all nations entitled to peaceful use of space technology.
