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Today: 52 articles and 124 comments as of 10:44.
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Explosion kills 20 in Bannu; TTP claims attack
Today's Headlines
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Page 6: Politix
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-Lurid Crime Tales-
Mooslim men training with US Army attempt kidnapping of 12 year old girl.
[Atlas Shurgs] The backstory on this one would be quite interesting.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/20/2014 09:16 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:


Afghanistan
Afghanistan Hints at Pakistani Link to Attack on Kabul Lebanese Restaurant
[An Nahar] Afghanistan's National Security Council, which is chaired by President Hamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai
... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabbani in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a Pashtun face on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use...
, on Sunday accused "foreign intelligence services" of being behind the deadly attack on a Kabul restaurant, in a veiled reference to Pakistain.

Pakistain was the main supporter of the former Taliban regime in Afghanistan, and Afghan officials have long voiced suspicions about connections between the hardline movement and Islamabad's powerful intelligence services.

"The NSC said such sophisticated and complex attacks are not the work of the ordinary Taliban, and said without doubt foreign intelligence services beyond the border are behind such bloody attacks," a statement from the palace said.

"Beyond the border" is a phrase commonly used by the Afghan government to refer to neighboring Pakistain.

Taliban Death Eaters grabbed credit for Friday evening's suicide assault on a popular Lebanese restaurant in central Kabul in which 21 people, including 13 foreigners, were killed.

Among the dead were three Americans, two British citizens, two Canadians, the International Monetary Fund head of mission, and the Lebanese owner of the Taverna du Liban, which was a popular social venue for expats.

In the deadliest attack on foreign civilians since the Taliban were ousted in 2001, one attacker detonated his boom jacket at the fortified entrance to the restaurant before two other turbans stormed inside and bumped off diners and staff.

The accusation of Pak involvement is likely to damage regional peace efforts as Pakistain, which is battling its own homegrown Taliban insurgency, is seen as crucial to encouraging the Afghan Taliban to open talks.

Many Afghan Taliban leaders seek shelter in Pakistain, and Islamabad's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) spy agency is often accused of maintaining ties to the turbans to ensure future influence in Afghanistan after U.S.-led NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Originally it was a mutual defense pact directed against an expansionist Soviet Union. In later years it evolved into a mechanism for picking the American pocket while criticizing the cut of the American pants...
troops withdraw.

Pak officials were not immediately available to comment on the accusations from Kabul, but Islamabad has always denied any links with the Taliban.
Posted by: Fred || 01/20/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Africa Horn
Jubaland imposes three-day curfew in Kismayo
KISMAYO -- Somalia’s Jubaland administration enacted a three-day curfew for the inauguration of President Ahmed Mohamed Islam (Madobe) in the southern port city of Kismayo, Garowe Online reports. Jubaland Internal Affairs and security Minister Gen. Mohamed Farah Darwish Sunday announced the curfew that will last for three days.

“We poured many security forces into the town to ensure smooth inauguration ceremony,” said Darwish, adding that only public transport services would be allowed during the inaugural process.

The interior minister requested the local residents to closely cooperate with the security forces on the plan of preventing the terror activities from happening. The movement of vehicles and businesses remain stalled and soldiers in armored personnel carriers are carrying out search operations in the vast Kismayo neighborhoods.

On the other hand, Jubaland government officials continue to receive the delegations invited to attend the inauguration ceremony at Kismayo International airport. The newly elected Vice President of Somalia’s northeastern state of Puntland Abdihakin Abdullahi Haji Omar Amey is among the high-ranking officials who will witness Madobe’s inauguration.

Ahmed Madobe became the leader of Kismayo Interim Administration and later was elected as Jubaland President in a huge convention which brought together 500 delegates on 15 May, 2013 in Kismayo.

Jubaland gained its recognition from Mogadishu-based federal Government after IGAD-brokered bilateral talks in August 2013 in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa.
Posted by: Steve White || 01/20/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Eritrean forces board ship in Red Sea, not pirates
Eritrean forces have boarded a merchant vessel that was in their territorial waters in an incident the crew initially reported as a pirate attack, maritime officials said on Sunday.
Rest of the article confirms that the Eritreans did it, but no one says why.
It was not immediately clear why the forces boarded the ship, the MV Marzooqah, and it was not immediately possible to contact authorities in Eritrea, one of Africa's nuttiest most isolated nations. The container vessel had sent out a distress signal late on Saturday indicating that they were coming under attack by pirates.

Reuters data showed the vessel change direction sharply but also showed it moving towards the Eritrean coast early on Sunday, not the Gulf of Aden - the site of most pirate attacks and where one official had said the ship was headed.

"We assess this is an operation by the Eritrean forces, who went on board the vessel," said Lieutenant Commander Jacqueline Sherriff, spokeswoman for the European Union Naval Force Somalia (EU NAVFOR) whose operational region is further south.

"We believe the vessel is now in the hands of the Eritrean forces," she said, adding the incident had initially appeared on a system used for piracy alerts. "The crew has reported they thought they were being attacked."

She said the latest information on the Eritrean role had been obtained from the UK Maritime Trade Operation (UKMTO), which had spoken to Marzooqah's captain. UKMTO is based in Dubai and run by Britain's Royal Navy.

Andrew Mwangura, secretary general of the Seafarers Union of Kenya, also said the 2,196 deadweight tonne vessel had been boarded by Eritrean forces, basing his information on regional coastguard reports. He had initially reported it was a pirate attack.
Posted by: Steve White || 01/20/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


Africa North
New Charges against Morsi for 'Insulting Judiciary'
[An Nahar] Ousted Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi
...the former president of Egypt. A proponent of the One Man, One Vote, One Time principle, Morsi won election after the deposal of Hosni Mubarak and jumped to the conclusion it was his turn to be dictator...
and 24 others, including top activists who opposed him and his predecessor, will stand trial for insulting the judiciary, state media and judicial sources said Sunday.

The defendants have been charged for allegedly making comments in the media and online that showed "disrespect and hatred for the courts and the judiciary," state news agency MENA said.

It was unclear whether the defendants would be tried together, and the latest charges will be the fourth set of proceedings against Morsi since his ouster.

Under the latest round of charges, Morsi has been accused for giving a speech days before his ouster by the army in July, when he allegedly accused a judge of overseeing electoral fraud in a 2005 vote, MENA said.

Morsi, Egypt's first freely elected civilian president, is already on trial for inciting the killings of opposition protesters in December 2012 outside the presidential palace.

His second trial over a prison break during the 2011 uprising is to start on January 28, while no date has yet been set for his third trial on charges related to espionage.

Other defendants in the trial for insulting the judiciary include several Islamists and Alaa Abdel Fattah, one of the activists who led the revolt against dictator Hosni Mubarak
...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011...
in 2011.
Posted by: Fred || 01/20/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Africa Subsaharan
Eight Candidates Vie for Interim Presidency in C. Africa
[An Nahar] Eight candidates are in the running for the interim presidency in the strife-torn Central African Republic, the transitional parliament announced Sunday.

Blaise Fleury Otto, head of a special electoral commission, said 24 dossiers had been whittled down to eight according to draconian selection criteria.

They include the mayor of the capital Bangui, Catherine Samba Panza, as well as two sons of former presidents, Sylvain Patasse and Desire Kolingba.

Ange-Felix Patasse was president from 1993 to 2003, preceded by Andre Kolingba, who came to power in 1985 in the impoverished country with a long history of coups, attempted coups and army mutinies.

Parliament will elect the interim leader on Monday to fill the void left when coup-maker Michel Djotodia stepped aside on January 11.

Excluded from standing for president are any political officials who worked for Djotodia, party leaders, active soldiers, and anyone who has belonged to a militia or rebel group in the last 20 years.

The new interim leader will be tasked with restoring peace to the former French colony, kick-start a paralyzed administration and enable hundreds of thousands of displaced people to return home.

It is an especially tall order given that general elections must be held in the first half of 2015.

Djotodia had come under fire for failing to rein in his mainly Mohammedan Seleka rebels after they seized power in a coup last March, unleashing sectarian festivities in the predominantly Christian country, with the United Nations
...an organization which on balance has done more bad than good, with the good not done well and the bad done thoroughly...
warning that the bloodshed could turn into genocide.
Posted by: Fred || 01/20/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Seleka

#1 
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/20/2014 6:47 Comments || Top||

#2  Aaaaall aboard!...the gravy train
Posted by: 2sealys || 01/20/2014 10:27 Comments || Top||

#3  Might I suggest letting the various NGOs assume responsibilities commensurate with their expertise?
It'd be interesting to see if they can run things, rather than merely prattle-on.

And I would think dealing with the day-to-day concerns of Central Africans would be... illuminating.
Posted by: Pappy || 01/20/2014 12:41 Comments || Top||

#4  But then they'd have to work for a living...
Posted by: Steve White || 01/20/2014 14:42 Comments || Top||


Bangladesh
Law minister calls for boycotting Jamaat
[Bangla Daily Star] Law Minister Anisul Huq has called upon the countrymen to boycott Jamaat-e-Islami
...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores...
, its wings and institutions in order to "uproot" the party from Bangladesh forever.

"I agree that Jamaat should be banned. But, what if the party returns to politics with a different name? Rather, they should be despised and boycotted socially. Otherwise, they cannot be uprooted," he observed.

The law minister was speaking at a discussion titled "Jahanara Imam's Movement: Duty of Government and Civil Society" organised by Ekatturer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee, a pro-liberation civilian platform, at the Poet Sufia Kamal Auditorium of the National Museum to mark the 22nd founding anniversary of the committee.

On January 19, 1992, the Nirmul Committee started its journey under the leadership of Shaheed Janani Jahanara Imam with the aim to exterminate killers and collaborators of 1971 Liberation War.

Addressing the programme, Anisul Huq asked the committee to raise awareness among people to boycott Jamaat and its organizations.

Professor Anisuzzaman echoed the law minister and said the committee should work to raise the awareness especially among the rural people, who were more vulnerable to be duped by Jamaat-Shibir propaganda.

Anisuzzaman also asked the prosecutors of the international crimes tribunals to stay cautious so that the lawyers of the war crimes accused could not prolong the trials using different tactics.

The law minister said the tribunals would continue until the war crimes trials were completed.

The Nirmul Committee and the Hindu-Buddhist-Christian Oikya Gay Pareehad had long been requesting the government to publish the probe report of Sahabuddin Commission, a judicial commission that probed the 2001 post-polls violence on the minorities.

The law minister said he would look into the matter and take steps to publish the report.

Acting president of the committee Shahriar Kabir said should the Awami League allow Jamaat men to infiltrate in the party, it would be a big defeat for all the pro-liberation forces.

He also said their movement would continue till Jamaat was banned from politics and the 1972 Constitution was restored.

Historian Professor Muntassir Mamoon and vice president of the committee Shyamoli Nasrin Chowdhury also spoke in the programme.

Posted by: Fred || 01/20/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Islami


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Russian Islamic Video Threatens Sochi Olympics
[Ynet] An Islamic bully boy group in Russia's North Caucasus has grabbed credit for twin suicide kabooms in the southern city of Volgograd last month and posted a video threatening to strike the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

There had been no previous claim of responsibility for the bombings, which killed 34 people and heightened security fears before next month's Olympics. In the video, two men sitting in front of black banners with Arabic verses warn President Vladimir Putin
...Second and fourth President of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead...
that if the games are held, "we will give you a present for the innocent Moslem blood being spilled all around the world."
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/20/2014 08:14 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  At last check, Moscow was officially discounting terror threat agz Sochi Olympics because of their seeming certainty that COUNT DOOKU = DOKU UMAROV as de facto dead???

This will not end well.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 01/20/2014 19:41 Comments || Top||

#2  More ... ...

* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > PUTIN COULD [militarily] RESPOND TO THE ATTACK [twin/double terror attacks] BY SAUDI ARABIA ON VOLGOGRAD | [FNA] RUSSIAN SERVICES HAVE OBTAINED STRONG EVIDENCE DIRECTLY INVOLVING [linking] SAUDI ARABIA TO THE DOUBLE TERRORIST ATTACKS THAT STRUCK THE RUSSIAN CITY OF VOLGOGRAD.

* CNN > WARSHIPS [ + Transport Aircraft] PART OF US CONTINGENCY PLAN [DepState-led] FOR SOCHI OLYMPICS.

Jaawhn "Presidential" Kerry in the lead???

RELATED GUARDIAN.UK = US STUDYING PLAN TO RESCUE [+ Evacuate] AMERICANS IFF TERRORISTS STRIKE SOCHI OLYMPICS.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 01/20/2014 20:53 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Forget another APC on Taliban: PPP
[DAWN] The Pakistain People's Party has opposed another all-party conference over Taliban issue and asked the Mohammedan League-Nawaz government to better start developing a consensus among the people to launch a military operation against gunnies to establish the state's writ.

The PPP's rejection of another APC came in response to Tehrik-e-Insaf
...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations....
Chairman Imran Khan
... aka Taliban Khan, who who convinced himself that playing cricket qualified him to lead a nuclear-armed nation with severe personality problems...
's Friday proposal of another meeting of political parties so that they could be apprised of the progress, if any, made on talks with the Taliban and to discuss other options in case of government's failure (in talks).

"Imran Khan's proposal is childish. What the government will get by holding another APC over Taliban issue? A mandate has already been given to the Nawaz government five months ago in the APC to first hold talks with Taliban for peace in the country but it has miserably failed so far.

The government should be clear about the second option," PPP Secretary-General Sardar Latif Khosa told Dawn here on Saturday.

"Are five months not enough to kick off talks with the Taliban? How much more time the government needs," he asked, saying the Taliban had repeatedly made it clear to the government that they were not ready for talks.
Posted by: Fred || 01/20/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Security policy to focus on agencies coordination: Nisar
[DAWN] Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan on Sunday said Joint Intelligence Directorate will be set up for coordination and intelligence sharing among 26 intelligence agencies in the country.

Speaking to the media in Islamabad, the interior minister said Internal Security Policy will be presented before a special meeting of the cabinet on Monday.

He said the aim of the policy is to protect the people of Pakistain by enhancing the capacity of law enforcement and intelligence agencies.

"The policy, which will be implemented in a year, contains steps to protect all areas of Pakistain by using latest technology."

He said the new security policy will have three components- secret, strategic and operational.

"Under the policy, National Counter Terrorism Authority (Nacta) will be the focal point to tackle terrorism," he said.

Nisar added that a Rapid Response Force supported by an air wing will be set up at the federal level which will respond to acts of terror within minutes. This force will be replicated in the provinces.

The new apparatus will work round the clock to translate thousands of excerpts of chatter, generated every day, into actionable intelligence, he explained.
Posted by: Fred || 01/20/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Iraq
Official: Al-Qaeda Has Enough Arms To Take Baghdad
[Ynet] A senior Iraqi official claims al-Qaeda gunnies hunkered down in a city they seized late last month west of Storied Baghdad
...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate...
have enough heavy weapons to allegedly take the country's capital.

Senior deputy Interior Minister Adnan al-Asadi said Monday that Iraqi forces are fighting "fierce battles" against heavily armed Death Eaters to recapture parts of Ramadi, the capital of the western Anbar province, and also the nearby city of Fallujah.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/20/2014 08:22 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in the Levant


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Iron Dome Deployed In Ashdod, Schools Still Not In Session
[Ynet] An Iron Dome battery was placed Monday night in Ashdod in light of recent escalation in the south of Israel. However,
nothing needs reforming like other people's bad habits...
several schools in the city are still not in session due to lack of protective shelters.

About 3,500 of the 54,000 students in the city are not in school due to missile protection issues.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/20/2014 08:14 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


IDF Plans Laser Interceptor Iron Beam For Short-Range Rockets
[Ynet] System designed to deal with threats that fly on too small a trajectory to be engaged efficiently by Iron Dome
Israel is definitely working hard on becoming an immovable object.
Israel plans to deploy a new missile shield known as "Iron Beam" next year which would use a laser to blow up short-range rockets and mortar bombs, a defense industry official said on Sunday.

The system is designed to deal with threats that fly on too small a trajectory to be engaged efficiently by Iron Dome, the Israeli interceptor credited with an 80% success rate against rockets fired by Paleostinian terrorists.

Both shields are manufactured by state-owned Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. While Iron Dome launches radar-guided interceptor rockets, Iron Beam's laser will super-heat the warheads of shells with ranges of up to 7 km.

Rafael said Iron Beam would be formally unveiled at next month's Singapore Air Show. The IDF declined to discuss deployment plans.

Iron Dome is complemented by Arrow II, an Israeli interceptor designed to shoot down ballistic missiles at atmospheric heights. Israel plans to integrate them with the more powerful rocket interceptors Arrow III and David's Sling, both of which are still in their testing phases.

The United States has extensively underwritten the projects, seeing them as a means of reassuring its Middle East ally as instability rocks the region.

The industry official, who asked not to be named, said Iron Beam would form the "fifth layer" of integrated missile defense.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/20/2014 07:52 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I recommend the remotely fired Davy Crocket as a fallback.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/20/2014 8:26 Comments || Top||

#2  Ah yes, gawds own spigot boom. Comes with its own set of entrenching tools, that the boomers might survive the boom.

WTF were they thinking?
Posted by: Shipman || 01/20/2014 8:42 Comments || Top||

#3  I recommend that for every rocket fored Israel sizes one mile of Hamas territory. Two miles if three are casualties. Twenty miles if someone is killed. And deports the population to Saudi Arabia since their rich Arab brothers love them so much.
Posted by: JFM || 01/20/2014 8:54 Comments || Top||

#4  Iron Beam. I-beam. Eye Beam. As I type, classrooms of Pal kids may already be learning geometry by calculating siting and "small trajectory" required to produce plausible atrocity footage. Later, at recess: Pin the tail on the donkey. Blind man's bluff. Blindfolded fire-tire jumping. Possible kid-friendly rename: Pointer of Fire.
Posted by: Zenobia Floger6220 || 01/20/2014 12:32 Comments || Top||

#5  Too bad, JFM, that their's not chance for you excellent recommendation.
Posted by: AlanC || 01/20/2014 13:45 Comments || Top||

#6  WTF were they thinking?

Specifically, what was the 'loader' in the photo thinking?

Jeez..........
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 01/20/2014 22:09 Comments || Top||


Israel Starts Handover of Palestinian Militants' Bodies
[An Nahar] Israel on Sunday began transferring bodies of Paleostinian bully boyz killed by Israeli forces to the West Bank for reburial, sources on both sides said.

According to Fatma Abdallah, media coordinator for the "Paleostinian national committee to return the bodies of deaders," Israel handed over the body of Majdi Khanfar, originally from Silat al-Zaher near Jenin, via a crossing in the north of the West Bank.

Israeli public radio said Khanfar was killed 10 years ago.

Abdallah told Agence La Belle France Presse another two bodies out of the 36 Israel had committed to returning would be handed over on Tuesday, as part of a court ruling.

The Israeli army said "in accordance with a supreme court decision and following the instruction of the government of Israel, the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) has begun the return of bodies of bully boyz to their respective families in the Paleostinian Authority."

"The IDF is attending this assignment with the utmost professionalism and the required sensitivity," it said in a statement.

The transfer of the bodies comes shortly after the third batch of Paleostinian prisoners were released by Israel, as part of ongoing peace talks between the sides.

But Abdallah said the move was unrelated to the talks and came after petitions by the families.
Posted by: Fred || 01/20/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Palestinian Authority

#1  "Can you be here Monday for the other foot?"
Posted by: Grunter || 01/20/2014 10:47 Comments || Top||

#2  "and this coffee can is Achmed Abdullah,....I think..."
Posted by: Frank G || 01/20/2014 12:06 Comments || Top||

#3  Still no comment from Ron Arad.
Posted by: gorb || 01/20/2014 14:44 Comments || Top||

#4  Whereupon the name Folgers replaces Mohammed as most popular name in Paleoland.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 01/20/2014 17:17 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iran To Halt 20% Enriched Uranium By Noon Monday
[Ynet] Iran's nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi said the Islamic republic would halt production of 20 percent enriched uranium by noon on Monday, the official IRNA news agency reported.

"Voluntarily halting the production of 20 percent uranium enrichment is the major measure that we are undertaking on Monday by noon," Salehi said, referring to a landmark nuclear deal clinched in November between Iran and world powers.
The promises of the souk.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/20/2014 08:22 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  "We'll have half a dozen or so completed 'units' anyway."
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 01/20/2014 10:38 Comments || Top||

#2  Trust but verify. Are there going to be inspections? If so, who will inspect? The article didn't say.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 01/20/2014 12:21 Comments || Top||

#3  By noon on Monday they will have all they need for their nukes...
Posted by: Bill Clinton || 01/20/2014 14:08 Comments || Top||

#4  Natural uranium is .7%, or .007, u235 to unuseful isotopes.

If you start with 1000 kg raw ore, being 7 kg u235 and 993 kg U238, you would need to refine it down to 7 kg of u235 and 28 kg of u238, totalling 35 kg.

Which means processing some 993-28= 965 kg of material.

By comparison, at the end state, you have 90% U235, 10% U238, massing 7.8 kg. (roughly), and 992.2 kg of U238.

Which means:

20% refined is 965/992.2 is 97% of the way to a bomb.

Any mistakes in my math?
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 01/20/2014 15:24 Comments || Top||

#5  Similarly, 7*20=140 KG, Which means for 5% material, you'd have 7 kg U235, 133 KG U238 and other, which works out to having processed 992.2-133= 859.2 kg out of 992.2

859.2/992.2= 86% of the work done.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 01/20/2014 15:28 Comments || Top||

#6  That's all back-of-the-envelope stuff. To summarize:

5% enriched: 86 % of the way to 90% enriched.

20% enriched: 97% of the way to 90% enriched.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 01/20/2014 15:29 Comments || Top||

#7  Sure hope they remember to add their boron & hafnium to the uranium before machining their core.
Posted by: Glenmore || 01/20/2014 15:38 Comments || Top||

#8  ... At "High Noon".

D *** NG, DOES GARY COOPER + GRACE KNOW!
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 01/20/2014 19:38 Comments || Top||


Assad: 'Significant' Chance I'll Seek New Term
[Ynet] Syria's Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Despoiler of Deraa...
told AFP in an exclusive interview there is a "significant" chance he will stand in presidential elections expected this June, despite opposition demands that he step down.

"I see no reason why I shouldn't stand... (if) there is public desire," he said. "In short, we can say that the chances for my candidacy are significant."
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/20/2014 08:22 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  [NOTED SIMPSONS'/SPRINGFIELD ATTORNEY LIONEL HUTZ SLAPPING HIS FACE IN MACAULAY-STYLE, NOT-AN-INFOMERCIAL-SHOCK here].
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 01/20/2014 19:44 Comments || Top||


Syria Denies Assad Comments Reported by Russia News Agency
[An Nahar] The office of Syria's Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Supressor of the Damascenes...
denied comments attributed to him Sunday by a Russian news agency which quoted him as saying his departure is not up for discussion.

"What the Russian news agency Interfax has published as comments made by President Assad are inaccurate," said the Syrian presidency's press office.

The statement came after Interfax quoted Assad sounding a defiant note in a meeting with Russian parliamentarians in the Syrian capital Damascus.

"If we wanted to surrender, we would have surrendered from the start," Assad had been quoted as saying by the Russian agency.

"This issue is not under discussion," he reportedly added when asked about Western and opposition calls for him to stand down.

"Only the Syrian people can decide who should take part in elections," he said in the remarks translated into Russian.

Syria's regime and opposition are due to hold peace talks in Switzerland
...home of the Helvetians, famous for cheese, watches, yodeling, and William Tell...
from Wednesday, with Assad's role in Syria's future expected to be a key stumbling block.

More than 130,000 people have been killed since the country's bloody civil conflict began in March 2011.
Posted by: Fred || 01/20/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


ISIL Chief al-Baghdadi Urges Syria Rebels to Stop Attacks on His Group
[An Nahar] The al-Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
... the current version of al-Qaeda in Iraq, just as blood-thirsty and well-beloved as the original...
has reached out to other rebel groups in Syria to head off infighting, in an audio message posted online Sunday.

"Today, the (Islamic) state is reaching out to you to stop fighting us, to focus on fighting the nusairiyah," the voice in the message, purportedly that of ISIL chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, said, using the term often used by jihadists to refer to the Syrian regime.

The remarks mark a shift for ISIL, which said earlier this month it would "crush" opposition fighters and considered members of the Syrian National Coalition and the military command of the Free Syrian Army
... the more palatable version of the Syrian insurgency, heavily influenced by the Moslem Brüderbund...
to be "legitimate targets."

Storied Baghdad
...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate...
i, in the audio message posted on jihadist forums, accused rebel groups of "betrayal."

"Anyone who fought against us should review his stance," he said.

"You have stabbed us in the back, as all of our soldiers were on the frontline."

He continued, referring to various parts of Syria: "We used to have an army that implemented a plan to invade Aleppo and advance to the western front, and we used to have forces in Hama and we used to have forces in Idlib.

"But all of this has stopped in one night because of the betrayal."

Storied Baghdadi urged his group's fighters to "not betray anybody," and recommended they "forgive" other rebels.

"Forgive them, to concentrate on your enemy, who is the enemy of the Sunni people."

Most rebels in Syria are Sunni Arab, and have fought against the regime of Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Light of the Alawites...
, whose Alawite sect is an offshoot of Shiite Islam.

But ISIL has faced a rebel backlash in Syria and has been hit by days of fighting against a coalition of moderate and Salafist tough guys, including with al-Nusra Front, al-Qaeda's official affiliate in Syria.

Al-Baghdadi had sought to merge his group with Nusra, but they rejected the alliance and pledged allegiance directly to al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri
... Formerly second in command of al-Qaeda, now the head cheese, occasionally described as the real brains of the outfit. Formerly the Mister Big of Egyptian Islamic Jihad. Bumped off Abdullah Azzam with a car boom in the course of one of their little disputes. Is thought to have composed bin Laden's fatwa entitled World Islamic Front Against Jews and Crusaders. Currently residing in the North Wazoo area. That is not a horn growing from the middle of his forehead, but a prayer bump, attesting to how devout he is...
.

Since then, the two groups have functioned separately, though Nusra has remained largely neutral in the latest infighting, and the group's leader has called for an end to the festivities, warning it would benefit the regime.

But ISIL front man Abu Mohammed al-Adnani sounded a defiant tone in his own audio message earlier in January, calling for ISIL forces to "crush them (the rebels) totally and kill the conspiracy at birth."

In the latest audio message, aL-Baghdadi also issued a warning to Washington, going on to say, "Beware America ... that the proxy war will not protect you in Syria, and soon you will be forced into direct confrontation."

"The sons of Islam are getting themselves ready for that day," he said.
Posted by: Fred || 01/20/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State of Iraq & the Levant

#1  It is difficult to understand why Ayman al-Zawahiri wants ISIS (aka ISIL) and the al Nusra front to remain as separate entities. A lot of jihadi blood is being shed in intra Islamist conflict. This is good for us infidels but keeps al Q from getting a firm grip on Syria.
Posted by: lord garth || 01/20/2014 8:56 Comments || Top||



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