US Marines are learning to handle donkeys and mules before heading to Afghanistan to fight the Taliban.
Five Marines are currently stationed at Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Centre, a remote training facility in the eastern Sierra Nevada, getting to grips with handling five donkeys and 24 mules.
In a return to tradition, the equines will be used as pack animals in Afghanistan's rugged mountains. Military four-wheel drive vehicles and helicopters are of little use in the inhospitable terrain, where there are few roads and the air is thin.
But the mules and donkeys will make light work of the terrain, and will be employed to help transport ammunition, medical and food supplies with the Marines.
"It's a very primitive way to carry very modern weapons, but it works" said Sgt. Joe Neal, one of the instructors at the training centre.
He told the LA Times: "They all have their own quirks and personalities like any of the Marines you'd work with."
The Marines are learning how to tack up the donkeys and mules, pack their loads and how to lead them.
#1
we were doing this up in Bridgeport yrs ago. Some of my Marines went through the mule packers course - I'm sure the mules got sick of new handlers every 6 wks as well. The intent was to use them in N. Korea. That may still happen.
#2
They tried introducing mules to the 10th Mountain Division when it was reconstituted at Ft. Drum, but the Army could not find any skilled muleskinners to train the animals.
And mules are NOT animals you can just "wing it" with. There are just some days when they are 100% ornery.
#6
if ya go there, be sure and get a burger at Walker Burger down the road. One of the best I've ever had
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/08/2009 16:43 Comments ||
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#7
"And mules are NOT animals you can just "wing it" with. There are just some days when they are 100% ornery."
On days that end in "y," 'moose. ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
07/08/2009 17:38 Comments ||
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#8
Low tech works just as well now than when it was current tech. Mules and donkeys have their own logistical tails, but I've long wondered why they weren't used more in afghanistan, didn't know about the issue mentioned above re the lack of skilled handlers to teach troops.
On a related note, while I do find the "big dogs" robots very, very cool, and certainly a necessary step to ward a much more efficient mid-long temr future development, I still can't help to wonder if this isn't in its present form a very unnecessary re-invention of the wheel... why expensive and ultimately fragile "robot-mules", when you've got real donkeys off the shelves, so to speak.
#10
"They can be pretty stubborn," said one trainee
Did the trainee speak English or Mule? ;-)
Separately, what an opportunity to engage in trade with the local villagers, and build rapport, muleskinner-to-muleskinner! Perhaps even set up a small facility where the locals can train a second cadre of Marine skinners during down time. Somebody is being very clever with this effort.
[Beirut Daily Star: Region] Prosecutors at the International Criminal Court have appealed the tribunal's decision not to indict Sudan's president on charges of waging genocide in Darfur, according to a document released Tuesday. The court charged Omar al-Bashir with war crimes and crimes against humanity in March for allegedly orchestrating a campaign of murder, torture, rape and forced expulsions in Darfur Province. But judges said there was insufficient evidence to merit charging him with genocide.
Sudan's president is the first sitting head of state indicted by the world's first permanent war crimes tribunal since it was established in 2002.
However, Bashir defiantly refuses to recognize the court's jurisdiction, and African Union leaders said Friday they would not arrest and extradite him.
Since the court indicted him and issued an international arrest warrant, Bashir has traveled outside Sudan several times without being arrested. The international court has no police force and relies on other countries to execute arrest warrants.
The appeal filed on Monday and released Tuesday said the judges who rejected the three genocide charges were wrong in applying "an evidentiary burden that is inappropriate for this procedural stage." They argue that prosecutors need only prove that there are "reasonable grounds to believe" Bashir was responsible for genocide when asking for judges to file charges.
Instead, prosecutors said, the judges applied a "higher level of proof, one that can be identified only with the standard of proof 'beyond a reasonable doubt."' Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo was in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa on Tuesday for talks on Darfur with African Union representatives.
African officials believe Moreno Ocampo focuses too sharply on their continent. His office has launched prosecutions in four countries - all of them in Africa.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/08/2009 00:00 ||
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[Maghrebia] Discussions between Libyan and Scottish officials continue regarding Libya's request to transfer Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali al- Megrahi from Scotland's Greenock Prison to a Libyan jail, BBC reported on Monday (July 6th). The talks should lead to a decision on the transfer of Megrahi, who has been diagnosed with prostate cancer.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/08/2009 00:00 ||
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Martin Rynja, owner of Gibson Square Publishing, had the door to his home in Islington doused in diesel and set ablaze in protest at a book his company was about the publish which the men deemed offensive to Islam and the prophet Mohammed. Ali Beheshti, 41, and Abrar Mirza, 23, both British-born, were picked up at the scene by counter-terrorism officers who had been tipped off about the attack. Their getaway driver, Abbas Taj, 31, was arrested nearby.
Jailing them for four and a half years each, Mrs Justice Rafferty said the sentences should act as deterrence and said that "in an open society there has to be open access to literary works, regardless of fear". She told them: "If you choose to live in this country, you live by its rules. There is no such thing as 'a la carte citizenship' and, in your case, there is no such thing as a la carte obedience to the law."
The men targeted Mr Rynja's home in Islington last September, days before he was due to release the US author Sherry Jones' novel "The Jewel of Medina", a historical story about the Prophet's child bride A'isha. The book was criticised for inaccuracy, sex and violence by academics, and caused a storm among Islam clerics in America. After an American academic warned it could provoke a violent backlash from Muslims, the publisher Random House, which published Salman Rushdie's "Satanic Verses", pulled its release. Gibson Square stepped in and Mr Rynja remained determined to publish it in Britain.
The group's ringleader, unemployed Beheshti, from Ilford, East London, was a former member of the radical group al-Muhajiroun who had burned himself in a demonstration in May 2005 when he set light to a picture of George Bush. Priceless.
Calling himself Abu Jihad, he also took his 20-month old daughter, dressed in an "I love al-Qaida" hat, to the protests against the Danish cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in 2006. For her next birthday, she'll be getting a "My daddy went to prison for terrorizing his fellow citizens and all I got was this lousy t-shirt" t-shirt.
Taj, a trustee of the Muslim Prisoner Support Group,
Now he'll be supporting from inside the prison. Well done!
said he had met Beheshti when the pair ran market stalls in Whitechapel Market in East London.
Whataminnit -- I thought Mr Baheshti was unemployed.
In the early hours of September 27 - the 27th night of the Muslim festival Ramadan, known as the Night of Thuggery Power - the three men were observed driving twice through the square in Islington before Beheshti and Mirza approached the front door with a petrol can in a white plastic bag, poured diesel fuel through the letter box and used a disposable lighter to set it on fire. Police, who had had the men under surveillance, had bugged Taj's Honda Accord and were ready to pounce as they set the fire. They arrested Taj, who was born in Somalia, east Africa, but moved to Britain at the age of 15, near the Angel tube station a mile away. Mr Rynja and his partner were not at the four-storey townhouse at the time after being warned by the police that an attack was imminent.
Behesti and Mirza, from Walthamstow, admitted conspiracy to recklessly damage property and endanger life, while Taj, a minicab driver from Forest Gate, East London, was found guilty of the same charge after trial. Barrister Andrew Hall QC, for Beheshti, said the arson attack was "an act of protest born of the publication of a book felt by him and other Muslims to be disrespectful, provocative and offensive". "I sure hope that a harsh sentence doesn't lead to more acts of protest", he added.
Mrs Justice Rafferty praised Mr Rynja, saying that "principled man that he is, had done two things - exercised critical judgement on a literary work, and stood up to be counted, knowing that publishing it put him at risk".
SEOUL (Reuters) North Korean leader Kim Jong-il looked gaunt during a rare appearance on state television on Wednesday as the communist state marked the anniversary of the death of his father and state founder Kim Il-sung.
North Korean TV showed recorded footage of the event taking place on Wednesday, with Kim looking thin and aloof, but he earlier appeared alert and walked briskly on stage followed by top military and ruling Workers' Party officials.
As nominal head of state, Kim Yong-nam delivered a memorial address as Kim sat slouched in his center-stage chair. Close-up shots showed him looking older than his 67 years.
Kim typically does not speak when attending public events and did not appear to address the indoor ceremony. He has had an active public profile in recent months since re-emerging after a suspected stroke last year. North Korea's propaganda machine has carefully managed the re-emergence of Kim from his illness through reports about his tours to factories and military bases, while showing mostly still photographs of the visits.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/08/2009 12:25 ||
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#1
Commie vesion of Michael Jackson.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
07/08/2009 16:07 Comments ||
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#2
Kim Jong-Ill has always been ill--at least up in the squirrel cage.
[Geo News] Additional Secretary Fata Habibullah Khan Tuesday said some international powers are involved in aggravating the law and order situation in the tribal areas. Talking to Geo News here, Khan said the foreigners are employing the tribesmen for their own interests; but, now the tribesmen have risen against the miscreants, as they know that if the miscreants are not completely wiped out, the tribals will have to incur most of the damage. Habibullah said the law and order situation has improved in the tribal areas. Responding a query, Additional Secretary said the solution to problems of tribal areas is a guarantee for the integrity of Pakistan. Answering a question regarding the presence of Baitullah Mehsud in the tribal areas, Khan said he is not aware in this connection.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/08/2009 00:00 ||
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[Geo News] British Foreign Secretary David Miliband Tuesday said Pakistan is passing through a difficult phase and his country wants to provide long-term economic and trade assistance to Pakistan. Addressing the media after talking to affectees on the occasion of visit to Swabi camp, he said his visit here is aimed at taking stock of relief activities underway for the affectees and expressing solidarity on the part of his country. Miliband said Britain will extend assistance to Pakistan for peace and progress in the affected areas, adding his country and European Union had already given to Pakistan $400 million for the affectees. Â"The whole world community is with Pakistan which is passing through a difficult phase,Â" he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/08/2009 00:00 ||
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[Geo News] Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Noman Bashir on Tuesday called on Minister for Defence Chaudary Ahmad Mukthar.He remained for some time with the Minister, and discussed the operational preparations and professional uplift of Pakistan Navy. The Minister for Defence reiterated government's resolve to strengthen and upgrade its Armed Forces. He assured the Naval Chief that the government was aware of current developments in the region and would fulfill all the professional requirements of the Pakistan Navy to make it a strengthened and professionally sound force. The Minister lauded the professional capabilities of Naval Chief, and expressed the hope that under his able command Pakistan Navy would emerge as a superior force to meet any challenge. The government is focusing on modernizing Pakistan Navy, which is imperative in the wake of international war against terror and protection of maritime frontier of the country, the Minister maintained. Admiral Noman Bashir apprized the Minister of operational preparations of Pakistan Navy and expressed a resolve that Pakistan Navy is well-prepared to meet any internal or external challenge.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/08/2009 00:00 ||
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RESET of the US Armys Vehicle Fleet Continues covers the USAs HMMWV RECAP program, while noting that the extra weight of the add-on armor was wearing out Hummers to the point where even RESET/RECAP programs may not be able to extend their life much. One solution is to turn them over to Iraqi forces, who are often driving unarmored pickup trucks.
On Jan 17/08, a ceremony in Taji, Iraq marked the beginning of a program to refurbish and transfer more than 4,244 up-armored Humvees from US inventory to the government of Iraq by the end of 2008, and reach more than 8,000 Hummers transferred by the end of 2009. So, how are they doing?
These Humvees start the transition process at the Camp Taji Redistribution Property Assistance Team Yard, a few miles north of Baghdad. By the time the January 2008 ceremony took place, 627 vehicles were already staged in the holding yard. Theyll receive a maintenance overhaul of brakes, belts and fluids, and can need to be shipped out for more extensive work if necessary. Once the vehicles are deemed fit, the appropriate paint scheme is applied, and quality assurance checks are conducted. Then the vehicles are be transferred to the government of Iraq.
The 13-month contract can be extended by an additional 6 months, and is expected to generate more than 500 jobs, while serving as an on-the-job training mechanism for Iraqi soldiers who have completed their initial training. US DSCA release.
And the last they'll ever see. Probably would be better to give the Iraqis lots of spanking new civie Hummers that are sitting on lots across America simply rusting to replace those trucks they're already driving. Since IEDs are down, the add-on armor is only going move the milspec ones to the junk yard sooner.
#2
Probably would be better to give the Iraqis lots of spanking new civie Hummers that are sitting on lots across America simply rusting to replace those trucks they're already driving.
You could toss in a whole bunch of Yukons, Silverados and F-150s to that.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/08/2009 17:46 Comments ||
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#3
drink up!
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/08/2009 18:00 Comments ||
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#4
Why does a 1200 acre desert boneyard come to mind?
#5
HMMMMMMM, THE USA CAN GET CHINA TO DELIVER 'EM AS CHIN is repor constructing a RO-RO CAR CARRIER/MV, "dual-use' wid helo deck, that can carry either approxi 5000 consumer vehix, or in the altern 1000 military AFVS. It is repor designed to be able to land the equivalent of ONE ARMORED BRIGADE AT A TIME???
An attempt by Hamas police to detain a young woman walking with a man along the Gaza beach has raised alarms that the Islamic militant group is seeking to match its political control of the coastal territory with a strict enforcement of Islamic law.
The incident was the first time Hamas has openly tried to punish a woman for behaving in a way it views as un-Islamic since seizing power two years ago. But it follows months of quiet pressure on Gaza's overwhelmingly conservative 1.4 million residents to abide by its strict religious mores. Hamas officials in Gaza have publicly urged shopkeepers to take down foreign advertisements showing the shape of women's bodies and to stash away lingerie often displayed in windows. Officials search electronic shops to check if they are selling pornography on tiny flash drives. "There's an open, public program to preserve public morals in Gaza," said local rights activist Isam Younis. "In reality that means trying to restrict freedoms."
Hamas denies any crackdown is under way. Since taking power, it has said it would only try to lead by example and not impose its views on anyone. However, the group has taken no public action against small, shadowy groups that have attacked perceived hotbeds of Western immorality, such as the hairdressers and Internet cafes, fueling criticism that it has not been tough enough on hardline Muslim groups.
Freelance journalist Asma al-Ghoul says a group of Hamas police sent a clear message that certain behavior would not be tolerated when she went to the beach one evening in late June. Al-Ghoul, 26, said she was spending time with a group of friends two women and three men on the northern Gaza shore. Al-Ghoul is fairly exceptional in Gaza because she does not wear a Muslim headscarf. On that evening she wore jeans and a T-shirt dress that is considered fairly provocative in Gaza's conservative society and which could have easily attracted the attention of the plain-clothed Hamas vice police who patrol the beaches.
Al-Ghoul swam, fully dressed, with a girlfriend, and then asked a male friend to walk her over to a nearby beach house rented by another couple she knew to shower and change. Three policemen showed up and waited for al-Ghoul in the beach house garden, said an eyewitness who asked to remain anonymous because of security concerns. They took her identity card and demanded she accompany them to a nearby station an order she refused. The eyewitness said the police did not say why they wanted to detain al-Ghoul, but were insinuating that her behavior was unbecoming. Under Hamas' strict interpretation of Islamic law, a woman should not go out in public with men who are not related to her.
The police eventually returned al-Ghoul's identity card after the homeowner contacted a senior Hamas official who intervened and spoke to the officers by telephone. The official, Taher Nunu, was not available for comment on Tuesday. However, al-Ghoul said her male friends were subsequently beaten by Hamas police, detained for several hours and asked to sign statements saying they would not "violate public moral standards again," she said. Al-Ghoul said she mostly felt angry that the police made her feel like she had done something wrong. "I'm not provocative and my dress isn't provocative, and I'm not scandalous either," she said.
Her story only became public after rights groups published excerpts on their Web sites. Her version of events was confirmed by two other witnesses, including Adham Khalil, one of the men who was detained. Khalil said he was beaten. Hamas police spokesman Islam Shahwan denied the incident took place but said Gaza residents "must preserve our customs and Islamic traditions."
#1
This could be used as a trap, have a couple walking along arm in arm, and a dozen or so plainclothes "Friends" keeping them in sight.
When Religious Orcs approach, a shiv under the ribs and walk away casualy, shortly, No more Orcs.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
07/08/2009 16:11 Comments ||
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#2
I'm awfully glad you're on our side, Redneck Jim.
[Haaretz Defense] The de-facto prime minister of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Ismail Haniyeh, alleged Monday that his security forces had unveiled a spy network in the Gaza Strip that served Israel through the Ramallah- based administration of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
"In recent arrests, the security services were able to dismantle several security cells that chanelled dangerous but false information to Ramallah and then to the Israeli occupation," Haniyeh told reporters in Gaza.
Haniyeh added that most of the network's members were Palestinian Authority employees on the pay list of Prime Minister Salam Fayyad's West Bank government.
He vowed that his de-facto government would continue its crackdown of supporters of Abbas' Fatah party in Gaza, charging those arrested so far were in fact collaborators with Israel, rather than Fatah men.
In June 2007, Hamas routed pro-Abbas forces and seized sole control of Gaza, leaving the Palestinian president in control on the ground of the West Bank only.
Since then, the rival Palestinian camps have accused each other ofarbitrary arrests of each other's supporters in the territories under
their control.
Last week, aides to Abbas said his security forces had arrested a Hamas cell in the West Bank which allegedly plotted to assassinate senior officials in his administration.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/08/2009 00:00 ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] United Nations war crimes investigators on Tuesday wound up four days of public hearings about Israel's invasion of the Gaza Strip after taking painful testimony from both Israelis and Palestinians.
Richard Goldstone, a former chief U.N. war crimes prosecutor heading the four-person inquiry team, said he expected to submit its report to the U.N. Human Rights Council next month.
Heavy Testimony
" The aim is to show the human side of suffering and give a voice to victims so they are not lost among statistics "
Richard Goldstone
"The testimony we have heard has been very difficult to hear," he told a news briefing. "The aim is to show the human side of suffering and give a voice to victims so they are not lost among statistics."
According to a Palestinian rights group, 1,417 people including 926 civilians were killed during Israel's Dec. 27-Jan. 18 offensive in the Hamas-ruled territory of 1.5 million people. Israel lost 10 soldiers and three civilians in the fighting, which it launched with the declared aim of halting cross-border rocket fire by militants. It has estimated 1,166 Palestinians were killed, 295 of them civilians.
Activists had called for an independent investigation into the conduct of Israeli troops in Gaza, including the destruction of several residential areas and the firing of artillery shells containing white phosphorous which can cause severe burns.
Israel denies misconduct
Israel has said an internal probe by its armed forces found no evidence of serious misconduct by Israeli troops.
Lt. Col Raymond Lane, chief instructor in the Irish Defense Forces School, reported to the U.N. inquiry about weapons used in the conflict. "Through our studies we found no actual proof a DIME round was used," he said, referring to dense inert metal explosives. But referring to samples containing heavy metals such as tungsten and cobalt, analyzed in a forensics laboratory in Dublin, he added: "I am of the view that some weapons systems used in the conflict definitely had some DIME components." White phosphorous can provide cover for troops but also causes burns, he said. "It is horrible stuff."
Gazan militants had used low-quality rockets, which lack a guidance system and take about 90 seconds to set up and fire, according to Lane. "They are basically fire and forget".
Goldstone's expert team held twin sessions of hearings in Gaza and Geneva, where the Human Rights Council is based.
Israel, which has accused the Council of bias against the Jewish state, did not cooperate with the fact-finding mission.
The U.N. human rights investigators entered Gaza through the Rafah crossing point from Egypt, as Israel denied them access to the coastal strip as well as to the West Bank. "Obviously on this mission, visiting Gaza was very important, not only to listen to people but to see the physical damage. That shook all of us, the extent of it," Goldstone said.
The inquiry would send written questions to the government of Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Hamas authorities seeking further information to clarify testimony, he said. "Our report is due to be completed in the early part of next month and it will be presented to the Human Rights Council in September," he said. "It is obviously premature to talk about the outcome of our findings."
Posted by: Fred ||
07/08/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Activists had called for an independent investigation ...
So when are they going to have an independent investigation?
The UN and Human Rights [abusers] Council are in this up to their eyeballs supporting the terrorists.
[Al Arabiya Latest] An Israeli soldier captured by Gaza-based militants more than three years ago is in good health, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said Tuesday, adding that he hoped he would soon be freed. Mubarak told his Israeli counterpart Shimon Peres who was on a rare visit to Cairo that he believed Gilad Shalit who was captured by Hamas three years ago was well and that he hoped the issue would not take a long time to resolve.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/08/2009 00:00 ||
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[Jerusalem Post Middle East] Jews would enjoy freedom and civil rights in a future Palestinian state, a US newspaper quoted Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salaam Fayad as saying on Sunday.
Did he mention the word 'dhimmi' in the Arab language version of his speech?
Did he mention whether they were alive, or dead and flowing rivers of blood?
Fayad addressed the subject in response to a question from former CIA director James Woolsey at the Aspen Institute's Aspen Ideas Festival on Saturday, according to the Aspen Daily News.
There are a million Arabs in Israel, accounting for one-sixth of the Israeli population, Woolsey reportedly said, noting that "generally they enjoy the guarantees that Americans look for in the Bill of Rights."
"Now, if there is to be the rule of law in a Palestinian state, and if Jews want to live in someplace like Hebron, or anyplace else in a Palestinian state, for whatever reasons or historical attachments, why should they not be treated the same way Israeli Arabs are?" the newspaper quoted Woolsey as asking the PA prime minister.
Fayad responded by saying, "I'm not going to disagree with you. And I'm not someone who will say that they would or should be treated differently than Israeli Arabs are treated in Israel. In fact the kind of state that we want to have, that we aspire to have, is one that would definitely espouse high values of tolerance, co-existence, mutual respect and deference to all cultures, religions. No discrimination whatsoever, on any basis whatsoever," the Palestinian official reportedly said.
"Jews to the extent they choose to stay and live in the state of Palestine will enjoy those rights and certainly will not enjoy any less rights than Israeli Arabs enjoy now in the state of Israel," Fayad concluded.
According to the report, the crowd at the Greenwald Pavilion applauded enthusiastically.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/08/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Fayad also has a bridge he would like to sell. Interested, Director Woolsey?
#3
Fayad himself is a decent fellow. He is likeable, competent, and not corrupt.
However, he is one guy and there are a lot of the other kind.
Posted by: Lord garth ||
07/08/2009 6:32 Comments ||
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#4
What kind of state are they envisioning - a constitutional republic or a sharia-based theocracy? If it's sharia (and I can't imagine it wouldn't be), then of course dhimmitude would exist. And the muzzies would argue that that would be giving the dhimmis full rights.
#5
Fayad envisions a secular democratic state with a muslim majority, somewhat like Indonesia.
I think that perhaps 10 to 30% of the West Bank population would agree. Perhaps an equal number would like a Sharia state. IMO, most of the West Bankers would be happy with any non corrupt State even with limited civil rights.
Posted by: Lord garth ||
07/08/2009 9:08 Comments ||
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#6
LGs first comment is right on
The PA can pass a law allowing Jews to live and even buy property in Hebron. Actually protecting them from locals (or, for that matter, protecting folks who sell or lease property to them) is something else entirely. Both because of limits on ability, and the political costs of clamping down on locals that way.
Posted by: liberal hawk ||
07/08/2009 11:23 Comments ||
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(Reuters) In the late 1990s, a computer specialist from Israel's Shin Bet internal security service hacked into the mainframe of the Pi Glilot fuel depot north of Tel Aviv. It was meant to be a routine test of safeguards at the strategic site. But it also tipped off the Israelis to the potential such hi-tech infiltrations offered for real sabotage.
"Once inside the Pi Glilot system, we suddenly realised that, aside from accessing secret data, we could also set off deliberate explosions, just by programming a re-route of the pipelines," said a veteran of the Shin Bet drill.
Supposedly CIA director Bill Casey did something like this to the Russians in the early 1980s. The story was, the Rooskies had stolen gobs of American computer hardware and software for both military and industrial purposes. Reagan didn't like it, and Casey devised a plan: let the Rooskies steal stuff, but embed the hardware with defective chips that would fail. Supposedly a really big kaboom in 1982 at the trans-Siberian gas pipeline was the result of that. That in turn caused the Rooskies to question everything they'd stolen. The CIA operatives had a good laugh about it. You can read the story here.
So began a cyberwarfare project which, a decade on, is seen by independent experts as the likely new vanguard of Israel's efforts to foil the nuclear ambitions of its arch-foe Iran. "We came to the conclusion that, for our purposes, a key Iranian vulnerability is in its on-line information," said one recently retired Israeli security cabinet member, using a generic term for digital networks. "We have acted accordingly."
Cyberwarfare teams nestle deep within Israel's spy agencies, which have rich experience in traditional sabotage techniques and are cloaked in official secrecy and censorship. They can draw on the know-how of Israeli commercial firms that are among the world's hi-tech leaders and whose staff are often veterans of elite military intelligence computer units. Technolytics Institute, an American consultancy, last year rated Israel the sixth-biggest "cyber warfare threat", after China, Russia, Iran, France and "extremist/terrorist groups".
I'm sure the Technolytics Institute means "threat" in a generalized capabilities assessment. Surely they don't mean to imply that Israel would ever choose to directly threaten America!
Asked to speculate about how Israel might target Iran, Scott Borg, director of the U.S. Cyber Consequences Unit, which advises Washington agencies on cyber security, said malware -- a commonly used abbreviation for "malicious software" -- could be inserted to corrupt, commandeer or crash the controls of sensitive sites like uranium enrichment plants.
Such attacks could be immediate, he said. Or they might be latent, with the malware loitering unseen and awaiting an external trigger, or pre-set to strike automatically when the infected facility reaches a more critical level of activity. As Iran's nuclear assets would probably be isolated from outside computers, hackers would be unable to access them directly, Borg said. Israeli agents would have to conceal the malware in software used by the Iranians or discreetly plant it on portable hardware brought in, unknowingly, by technicians. "A contaminated USB stick would be enough," Borg said.
Ali Ashtari, an Iranian businessman executed as an Israeli spy last year, was convicted of supplying tainted communications equipment for one of Iran's secret military projects. Iranian media quoted a security official as saying that Ashtari's actions "led to the defeat of the project with irreversible damage". Israel declined all comment on the case.
Israel may be open to a more overt strain of cyberwarfare. Tony Skinner of Jane's Defence Weekly cited Israeli sources as saying that Israel's 2007 bombing of an alleged atomic reactor in Syria was preceded by a cyber attack which neutralised ground radars and anti-aircraft batteries.
#1
wonder if they could figure a way to develop a hard to trace EMP that could detonate w/in Iranian airspace? Wetworks on grand scale - if you will. It would be a tough one w/all our assets moving around the flanks of that country.
#2
I still hold that the Iranian public needs a demonstration of the "downside" of nuclear anything. This means to create and/or replicate a major nuclear disaster, resulting in the pretty horrible deaths of thousands; accompanied by a worldwide PR campaign of the "Iranian disaster".
The number one goal would be to utterly horrify the Iranian people, to convince them that nuclear weapons are not just "big bombs". Second would be to destroy any confidence at all in the Iranian government.
And third would be to clearly demonstrate to the international community that the types of isotopes found in the accident are unique to nuclear weapons development.
The alternative is not to kill just thousands, but tens or hundreds of thousands, of not just Iranians, but Israelis as well.
WASHINGTON The powerful attack that overwhelmed computers at U.S. and South Korean government agencies for days was even broader than initially realized, also targeting the White House, the Pentagon and the New York Stock Exchange.
Other targets of the attack included the National Security Agency, Homeland Security Department, State Department, the Nasdaq stock market and The Washington Post, according to an early analysis of the malicious software used in the attacks. Many of the organizations appeared to successfully blunt the sustained computer assaults.
The Associated Press obtained the target list from security experts analyzing the attacks. It was not immediately clear who might be responsible or what their motives were. South Korean intelligence officials believe the attacks were carried out by North Korea or pro-Pyongyang forces.
The attack was remarkably successful in limiting public access to victim Web sites, but internal e-mail systems are typically unaffected in such attacks. Some government Web sites such as the Treasury Department, Federal Trade Commission and Secret Service were still reporting problems days after the attack started during the July 4 holiday. South Korean Internet sites began experiencing problems Tuesday.
South Korea's National Intelligence Service, the nation's principal spy agency, told a group of South Korean lawmakers Wednesday it believes that North Korea or North Korean sympathizers in the South were behind the attacks, according to an aide to one of the lawmakers briefed on the information. The aide spoke on condition of anonymity, citing the sensitivity of the information. The National Intelligence Service South Korea's main spy agency said it couldn't immediately confirm the report, but it said it was cooperating with American authorities.
The attacks will be difficult to trace, said Professor Peter Sommer, an expert on cyberterrorism at the London School of Economics. "Even if you are right about the fact of being attacked, initial diagnoses are often wrong," he said Wednesday. Amy Kudwa, spokeswoman for the Homeland Security Department, said the agency's U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team issued a notice to federal departments and other partner organizations about the problems and "advised them of steps to take to help mitigate against such attacks."
New York Stock Exchange spokesman Ray Pellecchia could not confirm the attack, saying the company does not comment on security issues.
Attacks on federal computer networks are common, ranging from nuisance hacking to more serious assaults, sometimes blamed on China. U.S. security officials also worry about cyber attacks from al-Qaida or other terrorists.
This time, two government officials acknowledged that the Treasury and Secret Service sites were brought down, and said the agencies were working with their Internet service provider to resolve the problem. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the matter.
Ben Rushlo, director of Internet technologies at Keynote Systems, said problems with the Transportation Department site began Saturday and continued until Monday, while the FTC site was down Sunday and Monday. Keynote Systems is a mobile and Web site monitoring company based in San Mateo, Calif. The company publishes data detailing outages on Web sites, including 40 government sites it watches.
According to Rushlo, the Transportation Web site was "100 percent down" for two days, so that no Internet users could get through to it. The FTC site, meanwhile, started to come back online late Sunday, but even on Tuesday Internet users still were unable to get to the site 70 percent of the time.
Web sites of major South Korean government agencies, including the presidential Blue House and the Defense Ministry, and some banking sites were paralyzed Tuesday. An initial investigation found that many personal computers were infected with a virus ordering them to visit major official Web sites in South Korea and the U.S. at the same time, Korea Information Security Agency official Shin Hwa-su said.
#4
"look at left TOTUS screen, then right TOTUS screen. Read it verbatim. Watch the 'umms' and 'ahhhs'"
"Give President Putin whatever he wants. You NEED some kind of agreement in hand, regardless of cost. Poland, Ukraine, and the Czechs go under the bus at first opportunity. They don't vote. You WON!"
"Make up some shit about how you met Michelle. The lapdogs will cover for you"
"Walk back any of the spew Biden put out today"
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/08/2009 20:45 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Take a break and listen to Ed for a while Frank.
[Iran Press TV Latest] Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has criticized the stance adopted by certain political figures following the June 12 presidential election.
In a speech broadcast on IRIB channel one, President Ahmadinejad slammed 'foreign meddling' in Iran's internal affairs following the presidential election, saying the massive turnout of the Iranian nation had upset 'arrogant powers'.
Iran became the scene of opposition rallies following the announcement of Ahmadinejad as the winner of the election with almost two-third of the votes. Defeated candidates Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi rejected the result as fraudulent and demanded a re-run.
Tehran has accused certain Western countries and their media of fueling post-election unrest in Iran.
"Unfortunately, some people inside Iran collaborated with them. They repeated the comments made by certain Western countries," Ahmadinejad said. He added that the defeated candidates rejected the election results without offering any proof of irregularities in the electoral process.
President Ahmadinejad invited the nation to 'unity and solidarity' now that the file on the election has been closed and the electoral watchdog, the Guardian Council, has confirmed his re-election.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/08/2009 00:00 ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] France called on Monday for the immediate release of a young French academic arrested last week in Iran for espionage as she prepared to board an aircraft and return home. Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said 23-year-old Clotilde Reiss had been working for five months as a teaching assistant at the University of Isfahan and dismissed the accusation of espionage as "absurd."
" She took part in demonstrations which, as you know, attracted hundreds of thousands of Iranians and like most of them, she took photographs in all innocence. That's what she's accused of "
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner
The woman is said to have attended protests in Isfahan after the disputed June 12 election in which hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was re-elected, a French diplomatic source said.
The spy charge is linked to a private email she sent to a friend in Tehran discussing the situation in Isfahan, the diplomatic source said.
Kouchner said the charges were related to "the sending of pictures taken by mobile telephone."
"I think that's what it's about. That's not espionage, it cannot be. This accusation is absurd," he said.
"She took part in demonstrations which, as you know, attracted hundreds of thousands of Iranians and like most of them, she took photographs in all innocence. That's what she's accused of," Kouchner told France Info radio. "I think it's an accusation which doesn't hold up."
Posted by: Fred ||
07/08/2009 00:00 ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] The unrest that has rocked Iran since the June 12 election has been broadcast across the world but another fight is taking place and has received little media attention as it is an internal dispute between members of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's family.
Ahmadinejad's son-in-law, Mehdi Khurshidi Azad, has been disowned by his father because he lashed out at him in defense of the incumbent's re-election. "From now on, I have no son called Mehdi," said Ahmed Khurshidi Azad. "Thanks Mr. Ahmadinejad. I gave you a decent son and you gave me back someone who doesn't hesitate to hurl accusations at anyone including his own father."
Family divisions
The problem came about when Azad, who heads the Association of Islamic Revolution Loyalists that includes veterans of the Iran-Iraq war, told the Etemad-e-Melli newspaper he had voted for conservative candidate Mohsen Rezaei. Azad also questioned the transparency of the 2005 elections, which brought Ahmadinejad to power for the first time.
Shortly after Azad's comments were published, Mehdi defended his father-in-law, Ahmadinejad, and told the semi-official Fars News agency that his father was being egged-on by other people, who he didn't name. "Some people try to take advantage of the divisions within the president's family to serve their own agenda," he said. "My dad's statements were personal."
Breaking silence
" They have done everything they can to morally assassinate me. In case this crosses the line, I will reveal documents and evidence that will expose them and show the people how the authorities treat someone who fought for the revolution and who was injured in the Iran-Iraq war "
Ahmed Khurshidi Azad
Azad did not respond to his son's comments right away, but 22 days later and after Iran's worst unrest since the 1979 revolution broke out he told Etemad-e-Melli: "As a citizen, I expressed my point of view about Ahmadinejad. Unfortunately, my son responded in this way the next day."
Azad accused the Islamic Republic's government of lashing out at anyone that criticizes it and said they have been doing so for the past four years -- since Ahmadinejad came to power. "They have done everything they can to morally assassinate me. In case this crosses the line, I will reveal documents and evidence that will expose them and show the people how the authorities treat someone who fought for the revolution and who was injured in the Iran-Iraq war."
Azad said he believed his son's behavior was against the teachings of Islam, which promotes respect for one's parents, and accused the regime of being ungrateful to those who fought for the country. "You are what you are because our blood was shed. At least you should respect that," he concluded.
Jewish links
In the same vein, Ayatollah Khazali, a leading supporter of Ahmadinejad, disowned his son Mehdi for statements he made on his website claiming that the Iranian president was of Jewish descent. Mehdi Khazali wrote on his blog that Ahmadinejad changed his name from Saburjian to hide his Jewish roots and said the president verbally blasts Jews and Israelis and displays over the top zealousness towards Islam for the same reason. Khazali the son was later arrested by the Iranian authorities both for slandering the president and for taking part in pro-reform street protests.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/08/2009 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV Latest] President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has announced that his new cabinet will undergo "major changes" to comply with the needs of his second term in office.
In a speech televised live on IRIB Channel One on Tuesday, Ahmadinejad also said that he would be issuing "regular reports" to update people on the performance of his cabinet.
He stated that compassion, justice, and respect for civil rights will be on the new government's agenda, IRNA reported.
Commenting on the allegations of irregularities in the June 12 presidential election, Ahmadinejad said, "This election was the soundest and fairest election in the world."
"Those who claimed [that there had been irregularities] did not present a single (piece of) evidence to prove that there had been any irregularity in the election," he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/08/2009 00:00 ||
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[Mail and Globe] Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is personally behind the alleged fraud in the June 12 presidential election, former Iranian president Abolhassan Banisadr claimed in Vienna late on Monday.
"Khamenei ordered the fraud in the presidential elections and the ensuing crackdown on protestors," Banisadr said at a symposium marking the 20th anniversary of the murder of three Kurdish opposition leaders in Vienna.
"The regime is edging closer to the abyss and is holding on to power solely by means of violence and terror," said Banisadr, who was Iran's first elected president following the 1979 Islamic revolution.
The regime wanted to keep the population in a permanent state of uncertainty and fear and so systematic terror was institutionally organised and controlled by the regime and Khamenei, he added. "They don't want Iranians to be able to even think about protests in their own homes."
Intellectuals and students were the main targets since they were regarded as the driving force behind the resistance, Banisadr continued. "Reformers and liberal pragmatists are to be wiped out."
Islam played almost no role any more in the ideology of the regime and was now simply used as a "justification for violence, lies and oppression", he said.
Khamenei and his "financial mafia are simply out for their own advantage", while the general population lived in poverty.
Banisadr was in Vienna for a symposium on the 1989 murders of three leading Kurdish opposition figures: Abdul Rahman Ghassemlou, Abdullah Ghaderi-Azar and Fadel Rasoul. Ghassemlou, the leader of the Democratic Party of Kurdistan -- an Iranian opposition party outlawed by Tehran -- was killed on July 13 1989.
Bani Sadr was elected president in January 1980 soon after the previous year's Islamic Revolution, but he was ousted by revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in June 1981. Banisadr has lived in exile in France since 1981.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/08/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
While it would not surprise me if this was true, I sure wouldn't take Banisadr's word for it. Among other things, how would he know?
[Khaleej Times] Iran's parliament speaker Ali Larijani issued a warning against the United States Monday after Vice President Joe Biden said Washington would not dictate the way Israel deals with Tehran's nuclear ambitions. "We will consider the Americans responsible in any adventure launched by the Zionist entity," Larijani told reporters during an official visit in Doha, referring to Israel.
"No politician or person in the world can imagine that the Zionist entity can lead an operation without getting the green light from the United States," said Larijani, Iran's former nuclear negotiator. He warned that Iran's response to an attack would be "decisive and painful".
Biden said in an television interview on Sunday that the United States would not stand in the way of Israel in its dealings with Iran's nuclear ambitions. "Israel can determine for itself -- it's a sovereign nation -- what's in their interest and what they decide to do relative to Iran and anyone else," Biden told ABC television.
"Whether we agree or not. They're entitled to do that... We cannot dictate to another sovereign nation what they can and cannot do when they make a determination, if they make a determination, that they're existentially threatened."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not ruled out a possible military strike against Iran, insisting that Tehran must not obtain nuclear weapons. Iran denies that is wants to build an atomic bomb.
Larijani slammed Biden's comments as a "political manoeuvre. We have heard a lot of these words in the past. Biden, by saying that they (the United States) can't prevent such an operation, has taken the wrong route and revealed his card."
Asked about US calls for dialogue, Larijani said: "We want to work seriously. ... But on one side they tell us 'we want to resolve the problems and negotiate,' on another we hear what Mr. Biden says."
Posted by: Fred ||
07/08/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Dear Iran,
Vice President Biden is nuts.
Sincerely, and with all apologies,
Your pal,
Barry Obama
Last week, German authorities discovered that groups of terrorists may have been dispatched from training bases in Pakistan to launch crippling attacks.
In April, U.S. intelligence officials warned Germany about possible terror attacks. Since that time German security officials have reportedly been preparing for massive, multi-layered attacks for which al-Qaida has become known.
Intelligence suggests al-Qaida operatives are planning to plant multiple explosive devices in several locations and detonate them either in a simultaneous or sequential fashion. U.S. and German intelligence sources say that strategy is designed to emulate the ones employed Bali in 2002 and Madrid in 2004. The idea is to draw in first responders to the scene after the first explosion, and then the subsequent explosions are set off in the same location to inflict maximum casualties.
A U.S. intelligence source with knowledge about the situation says "it is a credible threat, which also includes Germans in North Africa." They say as a minimum of 12 al-Qaida operatives who were trained in the tribal region of Pakistan have left the training camps and are headed back to their home countries. Spain, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy and Egypt are just some of those countries.
According to the source, the threat levels also were raised for many other Western European countries to include concerns for "Turkish Airlines flying passengers from Istanbul to the U.S., the UK and Israel." The source says "passengers traveling out-bound from Istanbul to those locations on July Fourth were segregated, screened multiple times, including their bags and told there were concerns for Turkish Airlines flights to these locations." Another source headed to Chicago from Istanbul said they were told that there was a specific threat against Turkish Airlines flights headed to those places. In the U.S., Turkish Airlines flies directly to New York and Chicago.
U.S. Intelligence and German media sources indicate the warning came from the U.S. government, but the German Federal Intelligence Service (BND) had arrived at the same conclusion after picking up chatter that al-Qaida is planning an attack during the run-up to the Bundestag election to try to force Germany to withdraw from Afghanistan.
#1
I recall Joe Biden predicting that within the first six months of an Obama administration foreign enemies were going to test us, and test us hard. I fear President Obama has encouraged our enemies to act. I think we'll see more of this stuff in the near future.
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.
Five Marines are currently stationed at Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Centre, a remote training facility in the eastern Sierra Nevada, getting to grips with handling five donkeys and 24 mules. 
Martin Rynja, owner of Gibson Square Publishing, had the door to his home in Islington doused in diesel and set ablaze in protest at a book his company was about the publish which the men deemed offensive to Islam and the prophet Mohammed. Ali Beheshti, 41, and Abrar Mirza, 23, both British-born, were picked up at the scene by counter-terrorism officers who had been tipped off about the attack. Their getaway driver, Abbas Taj, 31, was arrested nearby. 
SEOUL (Reuters) North Korean leader Kim Jong-il looked gaunt during a rare appearance on state television on Wednesday as the communist state marked the anniversary of the death of his father and state founder Kim Il-sung.
[Geo News] British Foreign Secretary David Miliband Tuesday said Pakistan is passing through a difficult phase and his country wants to provide long-term economic and trade assistance to Pakistan. Addressing the media after talking to affectees on the occasion of visit to Swabi camp, he said his visit here is aimed at taking stock of relief activities underway for the affectees and expressing solidarity on the part of his country. Miliband said Britain will extend assistance to Pakistan for peace and progress in the affected areas, adding his country and European Union had already given to Pakistan $400 million for the affectees. Â"The whole world community is with Pakistan which is passing through a difficult phase,Â" he added.
[Geo News] Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Noman Bashir on Tuesday called on Minister for Defence Chaudary Ahmad Mukthar.He remained for some time with the Minister, and discussed the operational preparations and professional uplift of Pakistan Navy. The Minister for Defence reiterated government's resolve to strengthen and upgrade its Armed Forces. He assured the Naval Chief that the government was aware of current developments in the region and would fulfill all the professional requirements of the Pakistan Navy to make it a strengthened and professionally sound force. The Minister lauded the professional capabilities of Naval Chief, and expressed the hope that under his able command Pakistan Navy would emerge as a superior force to meet any challenge. The government is focusing on modernizing Pakistan Navy, which is imperative in the wake of international war against terror and protection of maritime frontier of the country, the Minister maintained. Admiral Noman Bashir apprized the Minister of operational preparations of Pakistan Navy and expressed a resolve that Pakistan Navy is well-prepared to meet any internal or external challenge.
An attempt by Hamas police to detain a young woman walking with a man along the Gaza beach has raised alarms that the Islamic militant group is seeking to match its political control of the coastal territory with a strict enforcement of Islamic law.
[Al Arabiya Latest] The unrest that has rocked Iran since the June 12 election has been broadcast across the world but another fight is taking place and has received little media attention as it is an internal dispute between members of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's family. 
[Iran Press TV Latest] President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has announced that his new cabinet will undergo "major changes" to comply with the needs of his second term in office. 
[Khaleej Times] Iran's parliament speaker Ali Larijani issued a warning against the United States Monday after Vice President Joe Biden said Washington would not dictate the way Israel deals with Tehran's nuclear ambitions. "We will consider the Americans responsible in any adventure launched by the Zionist entity," Larijani told reporters during an official visit in Doha, referring to Israel.
