[AnNahar] All four gunnies from Somalia's Al-Qaeda linked Shabaab who carried out the Kenyan university massacre earlier this month were Kenyans themselves, reports said Thursday.
The bandidosLions of Islam attacked the university in the northeastern town of Garissa on April 2, lining up non-Moslem students for execution and killing 148 people in what President Uhuru Kenyatta described as a "barbaric medieval slaughter".
The fact that all four are reported to be Kenyans highlights the Somali myrmidons' ability to recruit within Kenya.
One of the four gunnies killed by Kenyan special forces who ended the day-long siege has already been named as Abdirahim Abdullahi, an ethnic Somali Kenyan national who was a top student and law graduate.
Kenya's Daily Nation newspaper, quoting unnamed intelligence reports, said the other three gunnies killed were also Kenyan and were believed to be from the port city of Mombasa and the far western district of Bungoma.
"Identities will be confirmed once their fingerprints are matched," the Nation said, citing intelligence officials.
There was no immediate response from Kenyan police to confirm the report.
A $215,000 (200,000 euro) bounty has also been offered for alleged Shabaab commander Mohammed Mohamud, a former Kenyan teacher said to be the criminal mastermind behind the attack.
The report comes amid concern at a string of measures Kenya has introduced to boost security that rights groups warn could harm innocent Somalis or hamper counter-terrorism efforts.
Kenyan Vice-President William Ruto said last week that "the way America changed after 9/11 is the way Kenya will change after Garissa".
Measures include demands for the world's largest refugee camp complex at Dadaab to be shut and the repatriation of hundreds of thousands of Somalis by July, which the U.N. warns would have "extreme humanitarian and practical consequences" and would violate international law.
Other actions include the freezing of the money transfers that are a lifeline for many in Somalia, the suspension of two Moslem civil rights groups and a proposed 700-kilometer (435-mile) security fence between Kenya and Somalia.
After the attack, Kenyatta warned that the forces of Evil were "deeply embedded" inside Kenya, not just Somalia.
Kenyan youths this week began digging a ditch to kickstart construction of a security barrier along the vast and mostly non-existent border with neighboring Somalia, although critics have said the huge fence will be unfeasible.
Kenyan youths this week began digging a ditch to kickstart construction of a security barrier along the vast and mostly non-existent border with neighboring Somalia, although critics have said the huge fence will be unfeasible.
The government has given no details of the construction, cost or how long it will take to complete the fence, which would separate Kenya's northeastern ethnic Somali region from Somalia itself.
Nairobi has also frozen key money transfer companies vital for impoverished Somalia, sparking warnings by aid agencies that the move will hit the poorest hardest.
It has also suspended two key Kenyan Moslem civil society organizations for suspected Shabaab links, which rights groups say will damage efforts to counter extremism.
While the Shabaab emerged as a Somali Islamist group in 2006 in Mogadishu, they have recruited across the wider region.
The group has carried out a string of Dire Revenge attacks in neighboring countries, notably Kenya and Uganda, in response to their participation in the African Union ...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful... force fighting them in Somalia.
Following the attack the Shabaab warned of a "long, gruesome war" unless Nairobi withdraws its troops from Somalia, saying the gunnies carried out the Garissa attack in Dire Revenge for the "systematic persecution of the Moslems in Kenya".
[Intel Briefs] Æthiopia is calling for more sanctions on Eritrea ...is run by the People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ), with about the amounts of democracy and justice you'd expect from a party with that name. National elections have been periodically scheduled and cancelled; none have ever been held in the country. The president, Isaias Afewerki, has been in office since independence in 1993 and will probably die there of old age... on allegations that the country has links to the outlawed al-Shabaab ... the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord... .
The accusation comes amid protests by Eritreans all over the world who are demanding that Æthiopia recognizes the boundary between the two warring countries.
The two Africa's poorest countries plunged into war in 2002, when International commission established a boundary which Æthiopia refused to recognize. Eritrea waged a war of independence against Æthiopia which costed the both countries a lot of resources that achieved no positive end. Æthiopia did not grant Eritrea her freedom.
Æthiopia feels it does not have to recognize the border since it is under the protection of the united states in case of any war.
Eritrea on the other hand is on Washington's blacklist as the US claims that Eritrea is arming and financing the al Qaeda-like al-Shabaab that is based in Somalia.
Analysts claim that the sanctions could be the final step that could plunge the small nation into war with the US backed Æthiopia.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/17/2015 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Shabaab
[Libya Herald] The Libyan Prime Minister, Abdullah Al-Thinni, has accused the West of destroying the balance in Libya by supporting the Moslem Brüderbund and has called on Russia and China to support his government in the UN Security Council by ensuring the weapons ban is lifted in order for it to fight terrorists.
The calls was made at a meeting today in Moscow between Thinni and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and the Middle East and North African adviser of Russian President Vladimir Putin ...Second and fourth President and sixth 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... Mikhail Bogdanov.
"We would like to ask Russia to take the side of the Libyan people and support the restoration of state institutions and security measures in the country," the Prime Minister said.
Thinni is visiting Moscow for three days, accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister for Security Affairs Almahdi Allabad, Foreign Minister Mohammed Dairi and Acting Defence Minister Masoud Erhouma in what is being seen as the beginning of a major shift in Libyan relations.
According to the Beida office of the Libyan news agency LANA, the discussions would serve as a fresh start in Libyan-Russia relations. The aim was to conclude a military and technical cooperation agreement with Moscow. In addition to continuing its role in training and arming the Libyan army, Thinni added that his government was seeking to reactivate "many" of the economic and investment projects approved by the Qadaffy regime.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/17/2015 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Arab Spring
#1
Perhaps LIBYA should ask Turkey instead???
* WAFF > AS RUSSIA WEAKENS, TURKEY BECOMES MORE ASSERTIVE.
Or IRAN ...
* RUSSIA TODAY > PUTIN'S MISSLE [S-300] SALE COULD MAKE US ATTACK ON IRAN NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE.
versus
* CHINA DAILY FORUM > RUSSIA'S MEDITERRANEAN MILITARY BASES | GREECE MAY ALLOW RUSSIA TO LEASE ITS MILITARY BASES.
#4
Yep, I think Al-Thinni gets the captain obvious award today.
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
04/17/2015 19:54 Comments ||
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#5
* TEHRAN TIMES = seems Iran is repor calling for a Bloc of International Nations to counter the wily dastardly policies + chaos wrought by the US in the ME.
[ALMANAR.LB] The commander of the Egyptian forces in the Gulf war, Major General Mohammad Ali Bilal, said that his troops will fight outside Egypt except in case of defending its national security, in an indirect response to the claims that Cairo would join a possible ground invasion in Yemen.
The Egyptian commander noted that the geographical features of Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic... and the nature of the Yemeni makes any foreign intervention impossible.
Bilal wondered about the role that the US military is playing in Yemen as it was reported that the American troops saved two Saudi pilots in Aden on the second day of the Saudi aggression, hinting at the US role in entrapping Saudi in the war.
He also stressed that although the Egyptian official stance is not publicly announced, it supports the political solution in Yemen and Syria.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/17/2015 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV] Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah has blasted the ongoing Saudi military aggression against Yemen, comparing the move to the Israeli atrocities in the besieged Gazoo Strip.
"What Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... is committing [in Yemen] is identical to what Israel commits in Gazoo," Hezbollah Deputy Secretary General Naim Qassem ... the Grand Vizier of the Hezbullies... said in a Thursday interview with La Belle France 24.
Israel has blockaded the Gazoo Strip for over seven years, causing a humanitarian crisis in the Paleostinian enclave. The Israeli regime has also launched three wars on Gazoo, the latest of which came in summer 2014, when nearly 2,200 Paleostinians were killed and over 11,100 others injured. The 50-day war ended with an Egyptian-brokered truce.
Qassem said the Saudi war "is about attacking infrastructure and shelling civilians."
Referring to a recent UN Security Council resolution adopted against Yemen's Houthi ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews ... movement, the Hezbollah official said, "The Security Council decision in Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic... is unjust, because it looks at one part of the problem, and not at the whole [picture]."
Posted by: Fred ||
04/17/2015 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Hezbollah
#1
Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah has blasted the ongoing Saudi military aggression against Yemen, comparing the move to the Israeli atrocities in the besieged Gazoo Strip.
#2
Like a tunnel that you follow to a tunnel of its own
Down a hollow to a cavern where the sun has never shone
Like a door that keeps revolving in a half forgotten dream
Or the ripples from a pebble someone tosses in a stream
Like a clock whose hands are sweeping past the minutes of its face
And the world is like an apple whirling silently in space
Like the circles that you find in the windmills of your mind!
Dusty Springfield – The Windmills Of Your Mind Lyrics
[ARABNEWS] Egyptian military experts and analysts welcomed the UN Security Council's resolution to impose sanctions on the leader of the Houthi ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews ... holy warriors in Yemen, ousted President President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh ... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it... and other Houthi leaders. The sanctions include imposing travel bans and assets freeze, as well as prohibiting the sale of arms to three Houthi leaders, former president Saleh, and his son Ahmed Ali Saleh.
The resolution, which passed by 14 votes with one abstention from Russia, is being hailed as a victory for the policies of Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... and the coalition as the beginning to the resolution of the crisis to restore legitimacy in Yemen.
Military specialist and expert in the field of counterterrorism, Maj. Gen. Ahmed Rajaei, valued the position of the Gulf States, particularly Saudi Arabia, in supporting the stability of Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic... and its territorial integrity. He described the resolution as a "wise" affirmation of the Security Council's support for the unity and stability of Yemen, and its recognition of Houthi rebels as a threat to the country and the Arab region.
Military expert Hossam Suweilam said the decision would have a positive effect in Yemen, as it would place ousted President-for-Life Saleh ... exemplifying the Arab's propensity to combine brutality with incompetence... and head of the Houthi Militias Abdulmalik Al-Houthi on the blacklist, as well as try them before the International Criminal Court ... where Milosevich died of old age before being convicted ... for crimes of violence against the Yemeni people.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/17/2015 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Houthis
[ALMANAR.LB] The UN peace envoy to Yemen, Jamal Benomar, has resigned, the UN said Wednesday, as the Saudi-led aggression against the Arab poor country continues.
The Moroccan diplomat had been UN Secretary General the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon ... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan... 's special envoy for Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic... since 2012.UN envoy to Yemen, Jamal Benomar
Benomar has "expressed an interest in moving on to another assignment," the UN statement said.
"A successor shall be named in due course," it added.
A UN official had earlier confirmed to AFP that Benomar had quit his post.
Among the candidates who may take his place is Mauritanian diplomat Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, who currently heads the UN Ebola mission in Accra, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Ban "greatly appreciates the tireless efforts Mr. Benomar has made over the years to promote consensus and trust on a peaceful way forward in Yemen," the UN statement said.
Benomar's departure came after the UN Security Council adopted a resolution calling for the swift resumption of peace talks and an end to violence in Yemen.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Saudi-led warplanes committed new massacre in the province of Saadda.
Sabaa news agency reported that at least 17 people were martyred and 49 others were maimed. Among the victims were women and kiddies.
Yemen has been since March 26 under aggression by the Saudi-led coalition, with Arclight airstrikes targeting different installations and houses in several areas across the country.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/17/2015 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Houthis
#1
Benomar has "expressed an interest in moving on to another assignment," the UN statement said.
Yeah, maybe I could be the peace envoy to, like...Aruba, or sumthin.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday is expected to nominate the head of the U.N. Ebola mission as the new special envoy to Yemen, the country's U.N. ambassador said Thursday. Ambassador Khaled Alyemany told The Associated Press that Ismael Ould Cheikh Ahmed, of Mauritania, is the only candidate for the post after Jamal Benomar on Wednesday announced his intention to step down.
A new special envoy. That should solve the problem of Yemen...
"The secretary-general has already made his decision," Alyemany said. "Ould Cheikh is a very good U.N. diplomat and expert," with experience leading U.N. humanitarian efforts in Yemen in recent years, he said.
All of which worked really, really well...
Benomar's four years of efforts at a peaceful political transition in the Arab world's poorest country fell apart amid a Shiite rebel uprising, Saudi-led airstrikes and sharp criticism from Gulf countries.
Ban was expected to nominate Ahmed in a letter to the current Security Council president. The council must approve the nomination to make it official.
There was no immediate comment from Ban's spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, who has said Ban would consult the parties in Yemen and countries in the region before selecting a replacement, adding that it must be "someone who can talk to all parties."
Benomar's departure created a diplomatic vacuum in Yemen,
Really? Did anyone notice the absence of the UN? I mean, other than the caterers and the hookers sex industry technologists...
where he had been the key international figure working to bring the feuding parties together, even after diplomats fled embassies and the U.N. staff pulled out.
But Benomar had come under criticism from some in the Middle East, particularly Saudi Arabia, as his recent efforts to broker peace yielded little success.
"He had started to promote the Houthis, and we cannot accept that," Alyemany said Thursday. "He started really ignoring the government and ignoring the president."
The ambassador said he doesn't see any objection to Ahmed from the collection of Gulf countries that had pressed for Benomar's departure.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/17/2015 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under:
h/t Gates of Vienna
In mid-January, the Islamic fighters who left Kosovo to join the IS jihadist groups in Syria and Iraq were 232. While reporting the news, the Kosovar Center for Security Studies (Kcss), quoted by the daily newspaper Koha Ditore in Pristina, pointed out that Kosovo is among the countries with the highest percentage of foreign fighters: 125 fighters per million inhabitants. Bosnia and Herzegovina is ranked second: 85 fighters per million inhabitants. In hindsight, was this particular dog wagging really necessary?
[AnNahar] La Belle France saw a sixfold rise in anti-Moslem acts in the first quarter of the year, fueled by the Gay Paree jihadist attacks, the National Observatory against Islamophobia ...the irrational fear that Moslems will act the way they usually do... said Thursday. Did they mention the 12 people thrown overboard in the Med?
Using interior ministry figures, the body counted 222 Islamophobic acts compared to 37 in the first quarter of 2014.
Most of these acts, 178, were recorded in January after three Islamic bandidossnuffies went on a three-day killing spree in and around Gay Paree that left 17 people dead.
Abdallah Zekri, president of the observatory, said the recent rise in Islamophobia was unprecedented since the body was set up in 2011.
The acts include violence against men and women, some of whom were pregnant, vandalism and destruction of Moslem places of worship or businesses and "Nazi" graffiti on mosques.
"It is the first time we have recorded grenades being thrown or guns fired," Zekri said.
He said the attacks on the Charlie Hebdo ...A lefty French satirical magazine, home of what may well be the majority if the active testicles left in Europe... magazine, a Jewish supermarket and the shooting of a policewoman between January 7-9 "in no way justify this peak in hatred or vengeance against French Moslems who are not responsible for or guilty of terrorist acts."
#2
Remembering that accidently bumping into someone on the street is regarded as 'assault' by some in the 'victim class' of folks we have here in the states.
The Moon-Worshipers tend to be even more aggrieved about minor stuff.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
04/17/2015 10:04 Comments ||
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#3
Mullah Richard, indeed. In fact, not bowing down to a Muslim as he passes in the street could be considered Islamaphobia.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
04/17/2015 11:04 Comments ||
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#4
not bowing down to a Muslim as he passes in the street could be considered Islamaphobia.
Why not - refusing to participate in a gay religious ceremony due to one's own strongly held beliefs is considered 'homophobic' and hateful.
[AA.TR] Seized files belonging to members of the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front, or DHKP-C, show that numerous high-ranking Turkish officials and businessmen were designated as potential liquidation targets, security officials have said on Thursday.
As two members of DHKP-C were taken into custody Monday, police seized numerous files and documents detailing murder plots against state officials, including MPs, national intelligence service members and coppers.
According to the The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... Anti-Terror and Operations Office statement issued Thursday, the organization's so-called leaders also ordered several armed attacks against Turkish military, police headquarters, and national intelligence service buildings.
The seized files detailed a plan intended to garner extensive coverage form Turkish and international media. According to the evidence found, the plan was for faceless myrmidons disguised as Turkish officers to penetrate cop shoppes, in vehicles transformed into police cars, and detonate bombs.
The documents also show that leaders of the illegal far-leftist organization had forbidden its members of making phone calls. They had also encouraged them to join different political organizations in order to better mask their intentions.
On March 31, prosecutor Mehmet Selim Kiraz was taken hostage by two members of the group in an Istanbul courthouse and was shot and killed following hours of negotiations Turkish police forces.
He had been overseeing the case of Berkin Elvan, 15, who was critically injured during 2013's anti-government Gezi Park protests and died after almost nine months in a coma.
The DHKP-C was founded in 1978. Purportedly supporting Marxist-Leninist ideology, it was mostly active during the Cold War era, but the terrorist group has revived its attacks in recent years.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/17/2015 00:00 ||
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[PJ Media] One of the most closely guarded secrets in Washington, D.C. about U.S. involvement in the Syrian war is that the “moderate” rebels whom the Obama administration (and many Republicans) backed were closely aligned with al-Qaeda’s official affiliate in Syria, Jabhat al-Nusra. They were also, at times, aligned with the Islamic State. But, but, but...............
For regular PJ Media readers, this will come as no surprise. I’ve repeatedly documented the ties between the State Department’s “vetted moderate” rebel groups and designated terrorist groups based on snippets of reporting that challenged the administration’s official narrative.
But now the “moderate” rebels are on their heels and in retreat from internecine pressure from Jabhat al-Nusra. Brookings Institute-Doha Syria analyst Charles Lister — who has probably had as much direct contact with “rebel” leaders as any other U.S. analyst — has finally admitted to the long-time cooperation between “moderates” and “extremists.”
#1
Padnos also relates this exchange with some U.S.-trained FSA fighters that exposes the glaring weaknesses of the CIA’s vetting system:
I returned to the FSA troops. One told me that his unit had recently traveled to Jordan to receive training from American forces in fighting groups like the Nusra Front.
“Really?” I said. “The Americans? I hope it was good training.”
“Certainly, very,” he replied.
The fighters stared at me. I stared at them.
After a few moments, I asked, “About this business of fighting Jebhat al Nusra?”
“Oh, that,” one said. “We lied to the Americans about that.”
And yet our politicians fall for that lie every time.
I know. Hard to believe
North Korea supplied several shipments of missile components to Iran during recent nuclear talks and the transfers appear to violate United Nations sanctions on both countries, according to U.S. intelligence officials.
Since September more than two shipments of missile parts have been monitored by U.S. intelligence agencies as they transited from North Korea to Iran, said officials familiar with intelligence reports who spoke on condition of anonymity. but not disclosed to Congress?
Details of the arms shipments were included in President Obama's daily intelligence briefings and officials suggested information about the transfers was kept secret from the United Nations, which is in charge of monitoring sanctions violations.
Critics of the U.S.-led nuclear framework agreement reached in Switzerland earlier this month have said one major deficiency of the accord is its failure to address Iran's missile program, considered a key nuclear delivery system for the Islamist regime.
CIA spokesman Ryan Trapani declined to comment on the missile component shipments, citing a policy of not discussing classified information.
But other officials said the transfers included goods covered by the Missile Technology Control Regime, a voluntary agreement among 34 nations that limits transfers of missiles and components of systems with ranges of greater than 186 miles.
One official said the transfers between North Korea and Iran included large diameter engines, which could be used for a future Iranian long-range missile system.
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/17/2015 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
[USATODAY] More than half of some 770,000 soldiers are pessimistic about their future in the military and nearly as many are unhappy in their jobs, despite a six-year, $287 million campaign to make troops more optimistic and resilient, findings obtained by USA TODAY show. I see the 1970s are back. Except that they've done away with NCO and Officers' clubs, so there's not even the refuge of disco.
Twelve months of data through early 2015 show that 403,564 soldiers, or 52%, scored badly in the area of optimism, agreeing with statements such as "I rarely count on good things happening to me." Forty-eight percent have little satisfaction in or commitment to their jobs. In 2000 we had a military that could do anything. Now it's under a commander in chief who'd be tossed out of the service during basic training.
The results stem from resiliency assessments that soldiers are required to take every year. In 2014, for the first time, the Army pulled data from those assessments to help commanders gauge the psychological and physical health of their troops. The regime is pushing toward Bradley Manning and away from Chris Kyle.
The effort produced startlingly negative results. In addition to low optimism and job satisfaction, more than half reported poor nutrition and sleep, and only 14% said they are eating right and getting enough rest.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/17/2015 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under:
#1
"only 14% said they are eating right and getting enough rest."
Is this because of all the assessments they have to sit through?
Posted by: James ||
04/17/2015 0:39 Comments ||
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#2
The good news, is that such a organization won't hold together long if the oligarchs attempt to use it against their own people.
#5
If I were on active duty today rather than 40 years ago, I too would be pessimistic about my future, especially if I had to sit through all the safety training, diversity training, homosexuality sensitivity training, sexual harassment avoidance training, and on and on.
Notice what is missing? Doing my job and training to do my job!
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
04/17/2015 11:09 Comments ||
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#6
...sort of follows the pattern just before the start of the Korean War (Part I?) resulting in the debacle of the first few months of American action. See - The Forgotten War by Clay Blair. How to take one of the more effective armies in the world by the end of WWII and turn it into a social experiment that folds on first contact with the enemy in the next conflict.
#7
After the old barracks inspections stopped, the low-crawl, run-dodge & jump, horizontal ladders were removed from the PT test, and KP ended.....things began to change quite rapidly.
#10
Funny, but jumps are deadly serious business no F'ing around allowed. He only has a month left but will leave with an Article 15 from his Commander. (Basically a Military Misdemeanor)Got to nip this stuff in the bud.
Posted by: Herb Angimp9478 ||
04/17/2015 16:23 Comments ||
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[DAWN] The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered a stay of execution of six hard boyz convicted by military courts, after a petition seeking a halt to the implementation of death sentences awarded by military courts was filed by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) yesterday.
"The execution of military courts' death sentences, those which have already been awarded and those which will be awarded, is suspended," Chief Justice Nasir ul Mulk told the Supreme Court.
Those convicted by military courts could appeal against their sentences, he added.
The apex court also issued a notice to Attorney General Salman Aslam Butt with regards to its order.
The petition -- which was filed by human rights ...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty... activist Asma Jehangir on behalf of the SCBA -- requested the SC to halt the implementation of death sentences awarded by military courts until a 17-judge full court took up challenges pertaining to the 21st constitutional amendment, especially the establishment of military courts.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/17/2015 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] The chief minister of Indian-held Kashmire (IHK), Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, termed the waving of Pak flag at a Hurriyat rally as 'unacceptable', saying "it was illegal and could not be tolerated", according to reports by Indian media.
Masarat Alam, a likely successor to Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, organised a rally in the restive summer capital of Indian-held Kashmire. The rally, which was attended by thousands, was held as a show of strength to welcome Geelani on his return from New Delhi.
However, facts are stubborn; statistics are more pliable... hours after the rally, the chief minister received a call from Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh who demanded 'immediate and strict action' against the Hurriyat leader's demonstration. He also said that there could be no compromise on national security, as politics could not impinge on national security.
A first information report had been filed against those involved in the incident, but there have been no arrests made as yet.
Wahid Rehman Parra, youth president and spokesperson of Mufti Sayeed's People's Democratic Party has said that 'separatists' cannot be denied in the political space any longer.
"Separatism and Pakistain constituency in Kashmire is a reality and we have to deal with it. We can't deny democratic space to these people. It is an ideological battle now. We have to make them mainstream by giving them democratic space,"
Posted by: Fred ||
04/17/2015 00:00 ||
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[ARA] The U.S. Department of Defense (Pentagon) said that the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... group (IS/ISIS) has lost about 30% of the territory under its control in Iraq since the start of the Arclight airstrikes by the U.S.-led international coalition's warplanes and the Iraqi forces ground operations.
The IS turbans took over large areas in northern and western Iraq a few months ago after a surprise attack led to the collapse of the Iraqi forces under the leadership of the former Iraqi PM Nouri al-Maliki ... Prime Minister of Iraq and the secretary-general of the Islamic Dawa Party. Maliki imposed order on Basra wen the Shiites were going nuts, but has proven incapable of dealing with al-Qaeda's Sunni insurgency. Reelected to his third term in 2014... .
Following IS control over major parts of Iraq, thousands of civilians have been displaced, taking shelter in other areas of Iraq, including the Kurdistan Region.
The Pentagon said that after months of the start of the air campaign carried out by the U.S.-led coalition, the Islamic State's control over parts of Iraq has declined.
Col. Steven Warren, the Pentagon front man, said that IS has been pushed back and its power has considerably declined.
"The Iraqi security forces and the coalition has caused IS remarkable damage," he added.
Warren pointed out that the group has lost between 13,000-17,000 square kilometers, particularly in northern and central Iraq.
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04/17/2015 00:00 ||
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[The Independent] Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has compared Iran to the Nazis, as the nation marked its Holocaust Remembrance Day.
The Prime Minister linked the genocide of 6 million Jews in World War II by the Nazis to Iran's controversial nuclear program, citing past comments by the nation's leaders on the destruction of Israel.
"As the Nazis strived to trample civilization and replace it with a 'master race' while destroying the Jewish people, so is Iran striving to take over the region and expand further with a declared goal of destroying the Jewish state," Netanyahu said.
His comments came after the US, Iran and five other nations set a 30 June deadline to finalise a deal which would end western sanctions on the Islamic Republic in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear programme.
[Iran Press TV] More than a dozen European governments have called for the accurate labeling of goods produced at the illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank in a bid to allow potential customers in Europe to know of the illegal origins of the commodities.
On Thursday, foreign ministers from 16 member states of the 28-member European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... sent a letter to the politico-economic bloc's foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, asking her to expedite the process of accurately labeling Israeli settlement goods that are sold in grocery chains across the region.
"We would like to draw your attention to the letter dated April 13, 2013, and sent to your predecessor (Catherine Ashton) on EU wide guidelines on the labeling of settlement produce/products," the letter read.
"[The] continued expansion of Israeli illegal settlements in the occupied Paleostinian territory, and other territories occupied by Israel since 1967, threatens the prospect of a just and final peace agreement," the letter read.
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04/17/2015 00:00 ||
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Can anybody make the EU weenie-crats just go away? in addition to this they are bleating about 100% incorporation of breathalyzers in new cars.
Maybe they could go on a Med cruise in a raft....
or something.
[Intel Briefs] Pope Francis has appealed on Thursday to Somali Islamist Lions of Islam who perpetrated the recent Garissa attack at a Kenyan university last month to come to their senses and to stop their brutality.
The leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics was speaking on Thursday to Kenyan bishops who were on a visit mission at the Vatican.
He said that he prayed for those killed by acts of terror, ethnic and tribal hostilities in Kenya and in other African countries where violence is on the increase.
Pope Francis said he thinks most especially of the men and women killed at Garissa University College on Good Friday and pleaded with those who commit such brutality to come to their senses and seek mercy.
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#1
Even the Dalai Lama reached the understand that terrorists were beyond reasoning with, that their minds were closed.
The framework nuclear agreement Iran and world powers signed this month has opened the floodgates toward an end of sanctions and to new business deals.
In the past week, Russia moved quickly to renew a contract to deliver the S-300 missile defense system to Tehran, and China agreed to build nuclear plants in the country.
And Austrian President Heinz Fischer may take a business delegation there later this year. "With the progress of the Iranian nuclear track -- and that is obviously positive -- we do not see any reason to continue to keep the ban [on the delivery of the S-300] unilaterally," Putin said in his annual marathon call-in show with Russians on Thursday.
[AnNahar] The conflict in Syria has left more than 220,000 dead since it began four years ago with an uprising against Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Horror of Homs... , a key monitoring group said Thursday.
"We have counted 222,271 deaths since the start of the revolt in March 2011," the head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdel Rahman, told Agence La Belle France Presse.
Based in Britannia, the Observatory uses a broad network of sources on the ground in Syria to gather information about the conflict.
Abdel Rahman said more than 67,000 of the dead were civilians, including more than 11,000 children.
Among dead combatants, nearly 47,000 were from pro-regime forces, including more than 3,000 imported muscle.
Hizb'allah and Iranian troops, one assumes. Possibly Iran-trained Afghan Shiite paid volunteers, as well.
Nearly 700 were fighters with Leb's Hizbullah ...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory... movement, a key backer of Assad.
Nearly 40,000 anti-regime fighters and about 28,000 foreign jihadists have been killed in the conflict, the Observatory said.
Chlorinating the shallow end of the gene pool, as has been said.
Foreign jihadists have flocked to join the conflict in Syria, fighting for the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... group or other groups such as the al-Qaeda affiliated Al-Nusra ...the current nom de guerre of al-Qaeda in the Levant, which isn't to be confused with al-Qaeda in Iraq and the Levant... Front.
The toll does not include some 20,000 people listed as missing.
The Observatory says the full corpse count is likely to be much higher than the deaths it has been able to count.
All those quaint ISIS mass graves that will only be found when "Caliphate" territory is reconquered.
[AnNahar] Prominent leaders affiliated to the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) reportedly retreated from the northeastern border town of Arsal to Syria's Riqqa.
...leaving the Al Nusra contingent in control of the field? That will certainly simplify categorizing Arsal stories.
According to the pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat published on Thursday, ISIL's command decided to limit its presence in Arsal and its outskirts to 200 fighters and a single leader, spiritual judge Abou Balqis.
Informed sources told the daily that eight ISIL leaders and their groups withdrew to Riqqa, without clarifying the reasons behind the move.
It'll make things easier for the Lebanese army and Hizb'allah contingent guarding the border, too.
However, we can't all be heroes. Somebody has to sit on the curb and applaud when they go by... the sources pointed out that ISIL became weak in the area along Leb's border.
In August, snuffies from the ISIL and al-Nusra ...the current nom de guerre of al-Qaeda in the Levant, which isn't to be confused with al-Qaeda in Iraq and the Levant... Front overran Arsal where they engaged in brief festivities with the army.
They withdrew from Arsal at the end of the fighting, but kidnapped a number of servicemen.
A few were released, four were executed, while the rest remain held.
The ISIL and al-Nusra ...formally Jabhat an-Nusrah li-Ahli sh-Sham (Support Front for the People of the Levant), also known as al-Qaeda in the Levant. They aim to establish a pan-Arab caliphate. Not the same one as the Islamic State, though .. ... Front want to exchange the captives with Islamist prisoners in Leb and Syria.
Meanwhile, ...back at the precinct house, Don Calamari's lawyer was getting even redder in the face... concerned sources denied to Asharq al-Awsat that ISIL transferred the soldiers and coppers in its captivity to Riqqa.
The sources stressed that the hostages are held in a Syrian village near Arsal.
Last week, the relatives of the hostage men demanded the state to clarify media reports saying that ISIL transferred the soldiers and coppers in its captivity to Riqqa.
The families called on negotiators who are following up the case to bring them a new video for the servicemen within a week, warning of escalating their endeavors.
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It costs a lot of money to have your house fumigated, too. If you need it and you don't spend it you'll regret it.
[Iran Press TV] The cost of military operations by the United States against the ISIL Takfiri ...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who must be killed... Death Eaters in Iraq and Syria has surpassed the $2 billion mark, the Pentagon reports.
"As of Mar. 26, 2015, the total cost of operations related to ISIL since kinetic operations started on Aug. 8, 2014, is $1.96 billion and the average daily cost is $8.5 million," Defense Department front man Bill Urban told The Hill on Thursday.
In December, the total cost of US military operations on the ISIL passed the $1 billion mark, according to The Hill.
A large chunk of the cost was incurred by US Arclight airstrikes targeting the ISIL Death Eaters in both Iraq and Syria, the report added.
The United States first launched its air raids in Iraq last August and then expanded the strikes to Syria last September.
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
...Second and fourth President and sixth 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...
[Iran Press TV] Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah has blasted the ongoing Saudi military aggression against Yemen, comparing the move to the Israeli atrocities in the besieged 
International Criminal Court
the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday is expected to nominate the head of the U.N. Ebola mission as the new special envoy to Yemen, the country's U.N. ambassador said Thursday. Ambassador Khaled Alyemany told The Associated Press that Ismael Ould Cheikh Ahmed, of Mauritania, is the only candidate for the post after Jamal Benomar on Wednesday announced his intention to step down.
A lefty French satirical magazine, home of what may well be the majority if the active testicles left in Europe...
[PJ Media] One of the most closely guarded secrets in Washington, D.C. about U.S. involvement in the Syrian war is that the “moderate” rebels whom the Obama administration (and many Republicans) backed were closely aligned with al-Qaeda’s official affiliate in Syria, Jabhat al-Nusra. They were also, at times, aligned with the Islamic State.
Nouri al-Maliki
[Intel Briefs] Pope Francis has appealed on Thursday to Somali Islamist 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
