A suspicious package at the postal center of an Illinois Air Force base caused the evacuation of several buildings and three people were taken to a hospital.
The building containing the postal center was evacuated, along with neighboring buildings, including the education building, a bowling alley, the information, ticket and tours office and the readiness center.
Three people were taken to the hospital as a result of possible chemical exposure. Thirteen people are being decontaminated on the scene as a precaution, according to a base spokesman.
[An Nahar] Sudan's government has lodged a complaint at the U.N. Security Council against South Sudan, accusing it of fomenting unrest in its northern neighbor, an official announced on Tuesday.
The complaint also accused South Sudan, which obtained its independence in July, of "supporting rebels" against the Khartoum government, foreign ministry front man Al-Obeid Merwah said in a statement.
"Our representative to the U.N. delivered to the president of the Security Council a complaint against the government of South Sudan," he said.
"The government of South Sudan is still causing problems in Sudan by supporting, training and encouraging rebel movements in South Kordofan and Darfur," Merwah said.
South Kordofan remained under Khartoum's northern administration when South Sudan became independent in July, but festivities have pitted Nuba rebels once allied to southern rebels against the Sudanese army.
In the Darfur region of western Sudan, bordering South Sudan, some rebel groups maintain links with the SPLM, the ruling party in the south.
South Kordofan was a battleground during the north-south civil war from 1983 to 2005, and Khartoum is trying to reassert its authority within its borders redrawn following the formal independence of South Sudan on July 9.
Amnesia Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch ... dedicated to bitching about human rights violations around the world... (HRW) said on Tuesday that the Sudanese armed forces have launched deadly air raids on civilians in rebel-held areas of the Nuba Mountains that may amount to war crimes.
The rights groups said that during a week-long visit, their researchers saw almost daily bombing raids by government aircraft on villages and farmland.
They said the researchers had investigated a total of 13 air strikes in the Kauda, Delami and Kurchi areas which had killed at least 26 civilians and maimed more than 45 since mid-June.
No evident military targets were visible near any of the air strike locations the researchers visited, they said.
"The relentless bombing campaign is killing and maiming civilian men, women and kiddies, displacing tens of thousands, putting them in desperate need of aid and preventing entire communities from planting crops and feeding their children," said HRW's Africa director Daniel Bekele.
Amnesty's senior crisis response adviser Donatella Rovera said: "The international community, and particularly the U.N. Security Council, must stop looking the other way and act to address the situation.
"Indiscriminate attacks in civilian areas and restrictions on humanitarian aid could amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity."
The research team completed its South Kordofan visit before the announcement by Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir Head of the National Congress Party. He came to power in 1989 when he, as a brigadier in the Sudanese army, led a group of officers in a bloodless military coup that ousted the government of Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi and eventually appointed himself president-for-life. He has fallen out with his Islamic mentor, Hasan al-Turabi, tried to impose shariah on the Christian and animist south, resulting in its secessesion, and attempted to Arabize Darfur by unleashing the barbaric Janjaweed on it. Sudan's potential prosperity has been pissed away in warfare that has left as many as 400,000 people dead and 2.5 million displaced. Omar has been indicted for genocide by the International Criminal Court but nothing is expected to come of it. on August 23 of a unilateral two-week ceasefire by government forces.
But the rights watchdogs said that reports from on the ground suggested that the government was continuing to bomb civilian areas.
In Darfur, at least 300,000 people have been killed and 1.9 million people have decamped their homes since the Darfur conflict erupted in 2003 between non-Arab rebels and the Arab-dominated Khartoum regime, the United Nations ...an idea whose time has gone... says.
Khartoum puts the corpse count at 10,000.
Following a relative lull, there have been sporadic festivities there since December between rebel groups and government forces that have forced more than 70,000 people to flee their homes.
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08/31/2011 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi has invited the head of the Libyan rebels' National Transitional Council (NTC) to visit Tehran, a foreign ministry statement said on Tuesday.
"In a phone conversation (Monday night) with the NTC head, Salehi congratulated the victory of the Mohammedan people of Libya and stressed (the desire) to deepen bilateral ties," said the statement, a copy of which was received by Agence La Belle France Presse.
Following an invitation by the rebel chief Mustafa Abdel Jalil, "Salehi invited the NTC head for a visit at an opportune time," it added.
On Sunday, Salehi said Iran had "discreetly" provided humanitarian aid to Libyan rebels before the fall of Tripoli on August 21.
Abdel Jalil, for his part, "thanked the Iranian government for its humanitarian aid and assistance during tough times," and called for the return of Iran's ambassador to Libya, according to the Tuesday statement.
The phone conversation marked the first official contact between Iran and the NTC since Moammar Qadaffy ...Megalomaniac dictator of Libya, admired everywhere for his garish costumes, funny hats, harem of cutie bodyguards, and incoherent ravings. As far as is known, he is the only person who's ever declared jihad on Switzerland... 's capital was overrun by rebels and he went into hiding.
Iran has still not officially recognized the NTC.
The statement said the Iranian ambassador, who "left Tripoli after the protest movement of the Libyan people," would soon return there.
Since the Libyan uprising erupted in mid-February, Iran has adopted a dual approach -- criticizing the Qadaffy regime for its violent assaults on the rebels while at the same time condemning NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... 's military intervention.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/31/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
IRANIAN FM SALEHI ...
versus
* TOPIX > KHATAMI: LIBYAN REBELS SHOULD FEAR [US-led] WESTERN CONPIRACY TO HIJACK [anti-Gaddafi + Islamic/Islamist] REVOLUTION.
* SAME, BHARAT RAKSHAK > THE CRISIS IN SYRIA LEADING MIDDLE EAST INTO UNCHARTED TERRITORY.
Twilight Zone(s)???
* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > US SAYS IT WOULD CHECK CHINA, BRAZIL, + INDIA | [Leon Panetta] US SAYS IT WOULD ENSURE THAT RISNG POWERS LIKE CHINA, BRAZIL, INDIA [ + btw also POST-SOVIET, 9-11 RUSSIA] DO NOT THREATEN THE WORLD.
To paraph an old saying, PANETTA = GIVING THE BRICK ABOUT THE BRIC [BRIC Nations].
[Emirates 24/7] Libya's rebels accused neighbouring Algeria of an act of aggression for admitting the fleeing wife of Muammar Qadaffy ...Proof that a madman with money will be politely received for at least 42 years... and three of his children, but the whereabouts of the former strongman himself remain a mystery a week after his overthrow.
Algeria's Foreign Ministry said Qadaffy's wife Safia, his daughter Aisha and his sons Hannibal and Mohammed had entered Algeria on Monday morning.
The development threatened to create a diplomatic rift just as the rebel National Transitional Council (NTC) worked to consolidate its position as Libya's new government.
An NTC front man said the council would seek to extradite the Qadaffys.
A senior rebel officer also said Qadaffy's son Khamis, a feared military commander, had been killed in a clash outside of Tripoli. The report could not be independently confirmed.
Meanwhile rebel forces converged on Qadaffy's hometown of Sirte from east and west, intent on seizing one of his last bastions of support either by force or by negotiation.
Qadaffy's whereabouts have not been known since the rebels captured Tripoli and his 42-year-old rule collapsed a week ago after a six-month uprising backed by NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A single organization with differing goals, equipment, language, doctrine, and organization.... and some Arab states.
Algeria's acceptance of Qadaffy's wife and offspring angered the rebel leadership, who want him and his entourage to face justice for years of repressive rule and who fear that he could orchestrate a new insurgency unless he is captured.
"We have promised to provide a just trial to all those criminals and therefore we consider this an act of aggression," front man Mahmoud Shamman told Rooters. "We are warning anybody not to shelter Qadaffy and his sons. We are going after them ... to find them and arrest them."
Asked if he knew where Qadaffy senior was, he told Al- Jazeera TV: "If we knew where Qadaffy was now our revolutionaries would be on their way to capture him. We have no information that Muammar Qadaffy is in Libya or in any other place."
Jalil appealed to NATO to keep up its air campaign in support of the rebels, saying Qadaffy was still a threat.
NATO warplanes have struck at targets near Sirte, on the Mediterranean coast, in recent days.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/31/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Family?
they'd be admitted and damn the rebels whine.
Haven't found Gaddifi yet? Have they?
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
08/31/2011 10:16 Comments ||
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Red state sponsored terror.
China spends millions on burnishing its image abroad, but the news that it is seeking to legalise the kind of detention experienced by Ai Weiwei earlier this year once again points to the darker corners of the Chinese state.
Ai was detained for 43 days before anyone (including his wife Lu Qing) was even allowed to see him, a fact which lawyers both inside and outside China argued passionately was not legal.
China often likes to defend itself by referring to the rule of law, but in this very high profile case the governments spokesmen found it embarrassingly difficult defending the excesses of its security establishment which, quite literally, is a law unto itself.
The solution now being mooted to this problem to amend Chinese law to make the current indefensible practices legal says something very disturbing about the current mindset of the Chinese state.
The thought, presumably, is that the next time the secret police force disappear someone like Ai Weiwei or the Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo, it can bat away international and domestic disapproval by citing the relevant new sections of the modified Criminal Procedure Law.
#1
In the old days nobody dared say a word about this normal ChiCom practice, no matter what might be printed in the official statutes. Interesting that formalizing normal procedure is causing a brouhaha now.
In an emotional confession to a Frankfurt court as his murder trial began on Wednesday, Arid Uka said he had become radicalised by online extremist propaganda before carrying out a lone gun attack US Air Force bus in March.
What I did was wrong, but I cannot undo what I did, he said.
Uka blamed a video purporting to show American servicemen raping a young Muslim girl for prompting him to try and stop other US soldiers from getting to Afghanistan.
I thought what I saw in that video, these people would do in Afghanistan, he told the court.
But the rape footage, billed as an authentic video entitled what was done to our sisters, turned out to be a fake using footage scene from the 2007 anti-Iraq war film Redacted, directed by Hollywoods Brian de Palma.
[Iran Press TV] Organizers of the October 2011 Movement in the United States have planned to occupy Freedom Plaza in the capital, in a move similar to "the occupation of Tahrir Square," Press TV reported. Except that this one will have very little effect on anything...
"We are going to occupy Freedom Plaza in the middle of Washington DC, the name of which is very similar of course to Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt, and from there we are going go to expand to shut down offices, buildings, streets, hallways, to nonviolently, strictly nonviolently resist what our government is doing," said David Swanson, a member of the movement, on Monday. Of course you are...
In an interview with Press TV, Swanson further said that the occupation, that is set to begin on October 6, coincides with the "ten year mark in the war in Afghanistan that they have now suggested may continue for another 13 years or so." Oh, my God! Someone actually believes us...
The aim of the occupation is to raise taxes for the wealthy and corporations, end the wars the country is engaged in and to protect the social safety net by strengthening Social Security and Medicare amongst others. ...and maybe finally freeing Mumia.
Moreover, Swanson added the occupation will continue until the group believes that they "have achieved some movement in the right direction, some success, some reversal of the course that our government is on." That's good. Enjoy the winter.
The occupation is being organized at a website called leftywetdreamoctober2011.org.
The movement further explains it has been inspired by the courageous and nonviolent uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen, Greece and Spain. I'm sure it'll be the same old intimate gathering of the usual suspects...
Posted by: Fred ||
08/31/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
If it could get him some votes, Bambi will be there, bowing, scraping and on his knees before them all, you wait and see. Or maybe he will send Biden...
#2
based on their website, October2011 has Jane Hamsher, Ted Rall, cornel West, and Cynthia McKinney, among others who have pledged to be at Freedom Plaza on Oct 6 and to stay there as long as they can.
If you like getting autographs from the most feral lefty crazies in the US, this is a must event.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
08/31/2011 0:48 Comments ||
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#3
IIRC CHINA DAILY FORUM > [Ron Paul]US PREPARING FOR CIVIL UNREST, MARTIAL LAW, vee HR645 National Emergency Center Establishment list.
* SAME > AMERICA'S WORST-CASE RESPONSE TO LONDON-STYLE US RIOTS, aka USDOD COMPLAN #3501, 3502.
* SAME > US HIT BY THREE [internal Govt]COUPS IN A HALF-CNETURY, i.e. since the 1963 JFK Assassination.
Namely...
> JFK Assassination per se.
> 9-11 WTC Attack = GWOT + consequent Patriot Act.
> 2008 POTUS Dubya Bank Bailout = vee Federal Reserve.
**** cough **** cough ***** ....
To parah POTUS BUSH 1 = "HERBIE" - "GEE WHIZ, BARBARA, ALL THIS JUST FOR A LESS-THAN-IMPRESSIVE GWCC MINI-ICE AGE = THAT MADONNA FAN GUY FROM GUAM'S WARMY "GREAT ASIA-PACIFIC SLUSHY" + SUPER-FOG???
* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > {Ex-AUS PM Malcolm Fraser] AMERICA'S SELF-INFLICTED DECLINE. "Good Government" may be all but impossible for the USA = Americans.
* SAME > POSTER OPED > DEMOCRACY IS A FAILED EXPERIMENT. ABC NEWS, WAPO POLL SHOWS OVER 80% OF AMERICANS DIS-SATISFIED WID US POLITICAL SYSTEM.
* SAME > WESTERN PRESS SEE NO VICTORY IN AFGHANISTAN: COUNTING THE COSTS OF 9/11 WARS.
No Victory + No Defeat for the US-NATO/West despite an estimated 20,000 insurgents being killed each in Iraq + Afghanistan + PAK, or 60,000 dead insurgents in tote.
POSTERS = opined that the US = US-NATO/WEST have lost the GWOT + in AFPAK as long as the Taliban, + AL-Qaeda, etc. MilTerr Groups still exist as a force + are still able to fight, kill Americans + US Allies, THE US-NATO/WEST ARE NOT VICTORS UNTIL SUCH IS ACHIEVED.
* CHINESE MILITARY FORUM > STANDARD & POORS PAYS THE PRICE FOR TELLING THE TRUTH [US more likely than unlikely to default on its sovereign debts this year than 10 years ago].
versus
* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > US MUSLIMS HAPPY WID LIFE IN US DESPITE DISCRIMINATION: POLL {Pew Research Center].
SURVEY-Y-Y-Y SEZ > US MUSLIMS ARE QUITE = VERY MAINSTREAM + MODERATE, hence unlikely to go on violent Jihad.
* WORLD NEWS > [PakAlert Press] CONFIRMED: LIBYA WAR IS CIA OPS 30 YEARS IN THE MAKING.
**** cough ***** cough **** .... once again.
* SAME > "DOOMSDAY" COMET ELENIN MAY BE DISINTEGRATING.
Nice, except that it may be easier for smaller comet or bolide pieces/fragments to become caught or captured vee normal EMG Pulls.
#6
So it's an anti-freedom march. They want to hustle to make the state extort more money for bureaucrats to waste, and less for employers to hire people with.
#11
...from there we are going go to expand to shut down offices, buildings, streets, hallways, to nonviolently, strictly nonviolently resist what our government is doing...
Ten Point Plan for a "Non-Violent" Protest
1. Organize a "non-violent" protest.
2. Reach out to any and all goups to form a "coalitian".
3. Repeatedly stress "non-violence".
4. Give fiery speeches to agitate and wind up the crowds.
5. March and "occupy" non-sanctioned areas as an act of "non-violent" civil disobedience.
6. Goad the police into forcibly removing the crowd.
7. Blame the ensuing "violence" on the police, agents provocateurs, and bad apples.
8. Hold vigils and news conferences outside the jails claiming on-going police brutality.
9. Wait for the cameras and repeat how the event was organized as a "non-violent" protest.
10. Lather, rinse, and repeat.
*Dont' forget to take pleanty of photos of the cops in their menacing riot-gear.
#5
All generals are political, that is how you make general. However, some are also the real deal and Petraeus is one of those as well. His time at the CIA out to be interesting in the Chinese sense for the career butt-kissers and bureaucratic barnacles that infest the agency.
The office of Alabama Governor Robert Bentley will start giving an Alabama state flag to any state member of the armed forces who is serving in a combat zone and requests one.
The statement by his spokeswoman comes after a story about the governor's office refusing the request of a soldier from Alabama who requested an Alabama flag to fly in Afghanistan, where he now is deployed.
"When Gov. Bentley first learned SFC Howard Blake's request had been denied, he ordered that an Alabama state flag be sent to him immediately. Gov. Bentley also ordered a change in the policy concerning the issuing of state flags," said Bentley spokeswoman Rebekah Mason.
In a written statement Mason said, "From this point forward, the governor's office will provide a state flag at the request of any Alabama service member serving in a combat zone."
Meanwhile, Democrats announced efforts to send flags to soldiers this morning. Former Supreme Court Justice Mark Kennedy has announced he will form the Alabama Flag Project and will be collecting money to buy flags and send them to troops. Also, members of the Alabama Senate and House Democratic Caucuses announced that they have formed a "Freedom Fund" to send flags to Alabama troops.
Pakistan is incapable of prosecuting terror suspects, according to a US State Department report which reveals that three in four defendants are acquitted.
#1
The US State Department is actually complicit in hiding the glaring fact that Pakistan, not the Taliban's Afganistan is the real terror state that set up 9/11 and sheltered Al Qaeda...
#2
And Saudi Arabia financed both Al Qaeda and Pakistan's nuclear bombs, hotspur666. But to say so openly would require us to declare war on them, which we aren't ready to do. Nonetheless, these are things which anyone paying attention is aware of. Like the WikiLeaks revelations, which contained startling new information only for those who believe what the New York Times and CNN claims.
Millions of internet users in Pakistan will be unable to send emails and messages without fear of government snooping after authorities banned the use of encryption software.
A legal notice sent to all internet providers (ISPs) by the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority, seen by the Guardian, orders the ISPs to inform authorities if any of their customers are using virtual private networks (VPNs) to browse the web.
Virtual private networks allow internet users to connect to the web undetected, meaning that they can access banned websites and send emails without fear of government interception.
Pakistan's 20 million internet users have previously been banned from popular social networks, such as Facebook, because of blasphemous material about the prophet Muhammad. All internet traffic in the country travels through the Pakistan Internet Exchange, which can be intercepted by the military and civil intelligence agencies. The move echoes a crackdown against encrypted communications across the border in India and in China.
The Pakistan Telecommunications Authority legal notice urged ISPs to report customers using "all such mechanisms including EVPNs [encrypted virtual private networks] which conceal communication to the extent that prohibits monitoring". Anyone needing to use this technology needs to apply for special permission, the notice said.
Authorities in Islamabad insisted that the ban on VPN access was intended to stem communications by terrorists.
However, banks, call centres and many other businesses use encrypted connections to communicate with their branches and customers, to protect sensitive data such as account numbers and passwords.
"This is like banning cars because suicide bombers use them," said Shakir Husain, chief executive of Creative Chaos, a Karachi-based software company. "You have to find out who these guys [extremists] are. This is a blanket, knee-jerk, response."
There is strict regulation of internet traffic in Pakistan. Last year, the authorities banned the entire Facebook website for months after a user launched a contest to draw a cartoon of the prophet Muhammad. Accessing the internet on BlackBerry smartphones is problematic, because of the device's high-security encryption software.
Recently the regulator made it impossible for Pakistanis to access the website of Rolling Stone magazine, after it published an article on the high proportion of the national budget in Pakistan that goes on its military.
[Dawn] Pakistain People's Party Lahore staged a protest demonstration against the non-recovery of Shahbaz Taseer, son of the late Governor Salman Taseer, who was kidnapped few days ago.
Federal Minister and PPP Lahore President Samina Khalid Ghurki was leading the protest. Akbar Khan, PPP Lahore general secretary, Faiza Malik, PPP Women Wing Lahore President, and several other PPP local leaders and workers participated in the protest.
The protesters were chanting slogans against the Punjab government and the local administration. They demanded urgent recovery of Shahbaz and the arrest of culprits.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/31/2011 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] The ruling Pakistain People`s Party described on Monday former Sindh home minister Dr Zulfikar Mirza`s tirade against the Muttahida Qaumi Movement ...English: United National Movement, generally known as MQM, is the 3rd largest political party and the largest secular political party in Pakistain with particular strength in Sindh. From 1992 to 1999, the MQM was the target of the Pak Army's Operation Cleanup leaving thousands of urdu speaking civilians dead... , its chief Altaf Hussain and Interior Minister Rehman Malik Pak politician, current Interior Minister under the Gilani administration. Malik is a former Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) intelligence officer who rose to head the FIA during Benazir Bhutto's second tenure. He later joined the Pak Peoples Party and was chief security officer to Bhutto. Malik was tossed from his FIA job in 1998 after documenting the breath-taking corruption of the Sharif family. By unhappy coincidence Näwaz Shärif became PM at just that moment and Malik moved to London one step ahead of the button men. as an "unacceptable violation of party discipline", but announced no action against him.
"The PPP disowned the accusations made at a presser by former provincial senior minister Dr Zulfikar Mirza in Bloody Karachi on Sunday," presidential front man Farhatullah Khan Babar told news hounds after a meeting of Sindh PPP leaders, presided over by President Asif Ali President Ten Percent Zardari ... sticky-fingered husband of the late Benazir Bhutto ... at the Presidency.
"The PPP termed it an unacceptable violation of the party discipline and contrary to the well thought-out policy of reconciliation and taking of all political forces on board as envisaged by Shaheed Benazir Bhutto," Mr Babar said. He said the meeting had reiterated its resolve to continue the policy of reconciliation to collectively face the myriad challenges facing the country.
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08/31/2011 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] Former home minister of Sindh Dr Zulfiqar Mirza on Tuesday once against lashed out at the Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) and accused one of its formers ministers of being involved in missing NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions... containers from the Bloody Karachi port.
Addressing a crowded presser at the Hyderabad Press Club, he alleged that the MQM wanted to rule Sindh.
He charged that thousands of containers of arms and ammunition went missing in Bloody Karachi, accusing former minister for ports and shipping and senior MQM leader Babur Ghauri of being responsible for their disappearance.
He alleged that Ghauri became the biggest real estate tycoon in Bloody Karachi from being nothing at all during Musharrafs era.
Mirza announced quitting politics. He said he was retiring from politics, but some elements were hell-bent to get his basic membership of Pakistain Peoples Party (PPP) cancelled.
He said presently he was passing through the most crucial phase of his life. However, there's no worse danger than telling a mother her baby is ugly... he said he would not leave Pakistain and also would not go into hiding.
Praising Hyderabad, he said he had had a long association with this city, adding it was always like a lap of mother for him. He said he had served the armed forces for four years but was sacked when he did not cast his vote in the referendum of Gen Zia-ul-Haq.
He vowed to fight for the rights of Sindh and urged youths of the province to strengthen his hands.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/31/2011 00:00 ||
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West Bank settlers to receive tear gas and stun grenades to prepare for 'Operation Summer Seeds'.
Of course the menfolk are members of the IDF Reserves, while the womenfolk review against future need what they learnt during their own time in uniform.
The IDF has conducted detailed work to determine a red line for each settlement in the West Bank, which will determine when soldiers will be ordered to shoot at the feet of Palestinian protesters if the line is crossed. It is also planning to provide settlers with tear gas and stun grenades as part of the defense operation.
The IDF is currently in the process of finalizing its preparations for Operation Summer Seeds, whose purpose is to ready the army for September and the possibility of confrontations with Palestinians following the expected vote in favor of Palestinian statehood at the UN General Assembly.
West Bank settlers to receive tear gas and stun grenades to prepare for 'Operation Summer Seeds'.
Of course the menfolk are members of the IDF Reserves, while the womenfolk review against future need what they learnt during their own time in uniform.
The IDF has conducted detailed work to determine a red line for each settlement in the West Bank, which will determine when soldiers will be ordered to shoot at the feet of Palestinian protesters if the line is crossed. It is also planning to provide settlers with tear gas and stun grenades as part of the defense operation.
The IDF is currently in the process of finalizing its preparations for Operation Summer Seeds, whose purpose is to ready the army for September and the possibility of confrontations with Palestinians following the expected vote in favor of Palestinian statehood at the UN General Assembly.
West Bank settlers to receive tear gas and stun grenades to prepare for 'Operation Summer Seeds'.
Of course the menfolk are members of the IDF Reserves, while the womenfolk review against future need what they learnt during their own time in uniform.
The IDF has conducted detailed work to determine a "red line" for each settlement in the West Bank, which will determine when soldiers will be ordered to shoot at the feet of Paleostinian protesters if the line is crossed. It is also planning to provide settlers with tear gas and stun grenades as part of the defense operation.
The IDF is currently in the process of finalizing its preparations for Operation Summer Seeds, whose purpose is to ready the army for September and the possibility of confrontations with Paleostinians following the expected vote in favor of Paleostinian statehood at the UN General Assembly.
According to a document acquired by Haaretz, the main working assumption of the defense establishment is that a Paleostinian declaration of independence will cause a public uprising which will mainly include mass disorder.
The document states the disorder will include marches toward main junctions, Israeli communities, and education centers; efforts at damaging symbols of [Israeli] government.
Also, there may be more extreme cases like shooting from within the demonstrations or even terrorist incidents. In all the scenarios, there is readiness to deal with incidents near the fences and the borders of the State of Israel.
As part of its preparations, the IDF is investing a great deal of effort in preparing the settlers for the incidents, with the main concern being confrontations between Israeli settlers and the Paleostinians.
Yesterday the army held training sessions for the chief security officers of settlements at a military installation near Shiloh. In recent weeks the IDF has been training the readiness squads of settlements at the Lachish base, which is used as a command training center ahead of September.
The main message the army is issuing is that the demonstrations will be controlled and that the army has sufficient forces in order to deal with every disturbance. In order to be sure, there is also a decision, in principle, to equip the chief security officers of settlements with the means for dispersing demonstrations. These would include tear gas and stun grenades, although that would create a logistical problem as theres a shortage of means for firing that type of ammunition.
Moreover, as part of the preparations, staff work was performed in which the commander of the platoon responsible for defending each settlement patrolled the area with the chief security officer of the settlement, in order to identify weak points.
The army is establishing two virtual lines for each of the settlements that are near a Paleostinian village. The first line, if crossed by Paleostinian demonstrators, will be met with tear gas and other means for dispersing crowds.
The second line is a red line, and if this one is crossed, the soldiers will be allowed to open fire at the legs of the demonstrators, as is also standard practice if the northern border is crossed.
Each map was approved by the regional brigade commander, and the IDF force that is deployed to the area will be ready to respond on the basis of the lines determined.
As part of the preparations, GOC Central Command Maj. Gen. Avi Mizrahi is planning to issue a message to the settlers. The settlers are pressing for the message to include specific instructions on how they should behave if threatened, such as in cases where the roads are blocked or settlements are breached by demonstrators.
There is concern at the IDF, and especially from the Military Advocate General, that any such instructions will be interpreted as rules of engagement by the settlers.
Also, during the past week the National Emergency Management Authority at the Defense Ministry sent letters to the heads of settlements in which they wrote that difficulties in supply of fuel and gas are expected, and the owners of stations should be ordered to have full loads of fuel. It is also recommended that the owners of grocery stores should ensure they have sufficient stores. Patrols around the electricity and water supply installations and communications lines should be increased.
Moreover, the letters said that government offices will be on standby, starting on September 19.
At the Emergency Authority they warned the settlements that the stepped-up readiness will last at least several weeks.
An IDF front man said: The IDF is holding an ongoing professional dialogue with elements in the settlement leadership, with the routine security personnel, and is investing many resources in training forces, from a defensive standpoint and in readiness for possible scenarios. The Central Command has recently completed much training for the emergency response squads, and this training is ongoing. Naturally, we are unable to go into details on the operational readiness of the IDF.
A dispute between two major defense companies has blocked the Israeli military's plans to install systems on new armored personnel carriers to knock out enemy missiles.
The Jerusalem Post reported Monday that Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Israel Military Industries refuse to abide by an order from Udi Shani, director general of the Defense Ministry, to combine the two systems they have developed separately into a single system.
Rafael's system is called Trophy and installation on the army's Merkava 4 main battle tanks has already begun. The military wants to extend that program to the older Merkava 3s as well.
Trophy provides all-round protection against anti-tank missiles and successfully intercepted a rocket propelled grenade fired by Palestinian militants on the border with the Gaza Strip earlier this year.
Its radar, manufactured by Elta Systems, the IAI subsidiary, can detect and intercept incoming hostile threats.
IMI's system is known as Iron Fist and is reportedly capable of intercepting tank shells. Iron Fist is on the Namer.
The Namer, based on the Merkava 4, is being deployed with the crack Golani Brigade. One battalion has been equipped with the new APC, and the brigade's three other battalions are scheduled to follow over the next three years.
Posted by: Water Modem ||
08/31/2011 00:00 ||
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President Obama has embraced Indonesia as a crucial ally in Southeast Asia, but rights groups and Congressional critics say the administration is too eager to tout Jakarta as a democratic success story.
Ahead of Obama's forthcoming trip to Indonesia, the second of his presidency, they want the U.S. to pressure Indonesia over its weak response to recent sectarian attacks by Islamists and abuses by the military in West Papua.
Those demands clash with U.S. strategic interests in Indonesia, which has assumed more importance for Washington as it deepens its engagement in the Asia-Pacific region. In November, Indonesia will host a summit of east Asian leaders, the first attended by a U.S. president.
"It seems now the administration's policy is to be nice to Indonesia for fear it would come under the umbrella of China. ... That's the sense of where we are headed," said Delegate Eni Faleomavaega, ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Asia-Pacific subcommittee. The Samoan lawmaker is a leading advocate for Papuan rights.
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.
>
The office of Alabama Governor Robert Bentley will start giving an Alabama state flag to any state member of the armed forces who is serving in a combat zone and requests one.
Pakistan is incapable of prosecuting terror suspects, according to a US State Department report which reveals that three in four defendants are acquitted.
Pakistain People's Party Lahore staged a protest demonstration against the non-recovery of Shahbaz Taseer, son of the late Governor Salman Taseer, who was kidnapped few days ago.
Asif Ali 
Former home minister of Sindh Dr Zulfiqar Mirza on Tuesday once against lashed out at the Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) and accused one of its formers ministers of being involved in missing 
The IDF is currently in the process of finalizing its preparations for Operation Summer Seeds, whose purpose is to ready the army for September and the possibility of confrontations with Paleostinians following the expected vote in favor of Paleostinian statehood at the UN General Assembly.
A dispute between two major defense companies has blocked the Israeli military's plans to install systems on new armored personnel carriers to knock out enemy missiles.
President Obama has embraced Indonesia as a crucial ally in Southeast Asia, but rights groups and Congressional critics say the administration is too eager to tout Jakarta as a democratic success story.
