[Khaama (Afghanistan)] National Security Adviser Hanif Atmar said Wednesday that the bad boy groups pursuing violence would face onslaught by the security forces, insisting that the ongoing reconciliation efforts is the best option for the anti-government armed bad boy groups to give up violence.
Atmar further added that the foreign bully boyz waging violence against the Afghan people will not be part of the reconciliation process.
In his remarks during the delivery of Russia's military aid to the Afghan cops, Atmar said foreign bully boyz including Al-Qaeda and other terror networks are fighting in the country besides the insurgency led by the Afghan Talibs.
Atmar further added that the Afghan cops will be equipped and the process will continue so that the military options can be used to eliminate the menace of terror by the foreigners.
Meanwhile, ...back at the chili cook-off, Chuck and Manuel's rivalry was entering a new and more dangerous phase... Atmar insisted that the government of Afghanistan will continue with its efforts to put an end to the ongoing violence led by the Afghan bad boy groups.
He also praised the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) for their devotion and sacrifices, saying the government and elders of the country will always remember them.
The plane carrying 10,000 Ak-47 assault rifles from Russia arrived to capital Kabul ...the capital of Afghanistan. Home to continuous fighting from 1992 to 1996 between the forces of would-be strongman and Pak ISI/Jamaat-e-Islami sock puppet Gulbuddin Hekmayar and the Northern Alliance, a period which won Hek the title Most Evil Man in the World and didn't do much for the reputations of the Northern Alliance guys either.... this morning.
The delivery of the assault rifles is part of Russia's support to bolster the capabilities of the Afghan cops to fight the menace of terrorism.
Russian President's special envoy for Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov said late in December last year "Russia has been consistently pursuing the policy of providing comprehensive assistance to Afghanistan in the establishment of a peaceful, independent, stable and self-sufficient state, free from terrorism and drugs."
The Afghan government has stepped up efforts to attract the regional as well as global support to equip the Afghan national security forces.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/25/2016 00:00 ||
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The Taliban group representatives based in Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates... insist on preconditions of the group as direct talks between the Afghan government and representatives of the Taliban is expected to take place in the first week of March.
Admitting that the group is unaware of the potential upcoming direct talks with the Afghan government, a front man for the group's political office in Qatar, Mohammad Naim told Radio Free Europe (RFE) that they have not changed their preconditions for joining the grinding of the peace processor, which he had announced at the Pugwash research center in Doha on January 23.
The precondition of the Taliban including complete withdrawal of the foreign forces from Afghanistan, official recognition of Taliban's political office in Qatar, removal of Taliban from United Nations ...an idea whose time has gone... terrorist blacklist, halt to the arrest and elimination of Taiban, and release of the Taliban inmates from prisons.
Pakistain has offered to host the first round of direct talks between the Afghan government and Taliban representatives following the conclusion of the fourth round of Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG) meeting on Tuesday.
"The QCG member states invite all Taliban and other groups to participate through their authorized representatives in the first round of direct peace talks with the Afghan government expected to take place by the first week of March 2016," according to a joint statement by QCG.
The statement further added that the fifth round of the QCG meeting will take place in Islamabad immediately after the first round of direct peace talks.
The delegations were led by Afghan Deputy Foreign Minister Hekmat Khalil Karzai, Pakistain's Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry, Chinese Ambassador Yao Jing and U.S. Charge d'Affaires, David Lindwall.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/25/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
And the PAK Taliban???
* FYI BHARAT RAKSHAK < [News24] ISIS FACTION CLAIMS PAKISTAN PROVIDED WEAPONS, TRAINING TO ISLAMIC STATE [+ Taliban]IN PAKISTAN.
The leader of Al Shabaab’s local branch in Kenya threatened more violence inside the country during arecent lecture to soldiers at a training camp following last month’s attack on Kenyan troops in El Adde, Somalia. Al Shabaab is the official arm of al Qaeda in East Africa.
The leader, Ahmed Iman Ali, also discussed the rationale for targeting the Kenyan troops in neighboring Somalia.
“Know for sure that disaster has struck El Adde. The Kenyans were warned again and again and again,” Ali said, according to an English translation of a video released by the al Qaeda-linked Global Islamic Media Foundation (GIMF). Ali went on to say: “Right now as I speak to you, the only thing that I bought was my turban. My gun, my pouch and my uniform are all war booty from (Kenyan troops).”
He then discussed crimes allegedly committed by the Kenyan Defense Forces (KDF) in both Kenya and Somalia.
“The first time our sister who was pregnant was thrown by the kuffar [apostates] from the third floor,” Ali said. “Another sister in the same area was also thrown from the top of a house until her spine broke. In Mandera, they came and kidnapped our mother who had five children and was their support.”
The jihadist then threatened Kenya with future attacks by saying Shabaab will force Kenya to “change their flag by erasing all the colors except the red one as an indication of the blood that we will spill in Kenya.” He concluded his threat by stating “the Kenyans immersed themselves into a war whilst they did not fully comprehend the meaning of war.”
In the video, Ali also directed his focus to the families of the killed KDF soldiers, as well. “If the family of the person owning this gun that is numbered 490 is looking for their son, let them know that I am now in possession of the war booty taken from him.” Additionally, he stated that “Any Kenyan who has lost their family members from the army that was defeated by the lions of Shabaab should contact us.”
In discussing El Adde, Ali referenced last months attack on a Kenyan base in the southern Somalian town in which over 60 KDF troops were reportedly killed. Shabaab has put the number even higher at 100 KDF troops killed. Just a few days later, the KDF withdrew from El Adde and Shabaab captured the town.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/25/2016 00:00 ||
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In the aftermath of the liberation of Leithi and other Benghazi districts, there reports of IS fighters shaving off their beards and changing into jeans and T-shirts in a bid to try and blend in with the crowd and escape.
One report doing the rounds this evening tells of a women who went back to the family home in Leithi and was then seen by soldiers to emerge a little while later with a clean-shaven young man, her son. Questioned, he said that he had been hiding in the house for several months and had not dared go out.
His story did not convince so he and his mother were taken in for further questioning. Investigations led the authorities to believe that, far from hiding all these months, he had been with the so-called Islamic state (IS) and when they had fled had shaved his beard and changed clothes, hoping to evade detection.
There is speculation that a lot of IS beards in Benghazi are coming off at the moment. It is, however, in marked contrast with the situation in Sirte.
There, IS have again decreed that shaving of beards is forbidden, that moustaches must be trimmed and that those who continue to wear trousers or jeans – in their view highly suspect anyway – must wear them cut above the ankles.
This is not the first time that IS has issued such a declaration – and the fact that it has had to be repeated indicates that it has been ignored. Those who ignore the ruling this time, IS warned, will be severely punished – that goes too for any barber who dares trim a hair on any man’s beard.
IS seemingly enjoys handing out severe punishment.
Like Qaddafi beforehand, it also enjoys making changes just to show that it is in power. Earlier this month, it reportedly announced that the weekend in Sirte had changed from Friday and Saturday to Thursday and Friday. Ironically the only country in the world where the weekend is Thursday and Friday is Shiite Iran.
Saudi Arabia used to have a Thursday-Friday weekend, but changed it some years ago to Friday-Saturday to bring it in line with all other Muslim countries.
Beards have always been optional in Saudi Arabia.
Posted by: badanov ||
02/25/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
Uh, uh, D *** NGED WOMEN + THEIR CIVILIZATION IS RUINING A PERFECTLY GOOD GLOBAL HAIRY JIHAD???
#2
I could write the script for a pretty good Peter Sellers movie about this. It would involve a man with a beard on one side of his face who has to twist his head in order to satisfy whomever he might be talking to.
#4
Similar to what the Iraq Republican Guard and Fedayeen folks did in 2003.
Our family Marine stated that all you had to do was look at their shoes to make an educated guess. The locals wore flip-flops or beat-up sneakers and the 'suddenly ex' military wore good hiking shoes, steel-toe work shoes or combat boots.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
02/25/2016 12:31 Comments ||
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[IsraelTimes] Embattled Sunni government accuses Shiite group of training separatists, orchestrating attacks
Yemen's embattled government accused Leb's Hezbollah Shiite militia on Wednesday of sending fighters to support Iran-backed 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 ... rebels controlling parts of the war-ravaged country including the capital.
The government has evidence of "Hezbollah's involvement in the Houthi war against the Yemeni people," its front man Rajih Badi said in a statement published by the official Saba Net website.
Hezbollah bully boyz are present in "the battlefields along the border with 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... ," where attacks from 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... have killed about 90 civilians and soldiers in the kingdom since March last year, said Badi.
Hezbollah is taking part in the Yemeni war on the ground by training the Shiite Houthis and orchestrating attacks against Saudi Arabia, said Badi, urging "international legal measures" against the movement.
"This evidence is documented and Hezbollah cannot deny its role in the destruction it is contributing to through the clear moral and logistic support" for the rebels, said Badi.
Sunni-dominated Saudi Arabia is leading an Arab coalition battling the Houthis and their allies since last March in support of the government.
The United Nations ...a formerly good idea gone bad... says the war has left more than 6,000 people dead.
[Ynet] The Yemeni government has captured documents and bodies of Hezbollah holy warriors, demonstrating the extent of the Hezbollah's involvement in the war betwee the Houthis and the Hadi regime supported by 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 GCC.
The Hadi regime front man Rajeh Badi said, "this is a blatant interference in the affairs of an independent state, and performing these hostilities against the legitimate Yemeni government and the Arab coalition forces would exacerbate the crisis."
#1
Well, of course. Iran supports the Houthis and Hezbollah are the Ayatollahs' paid puppets. Start sending maimed and dead ones back, like in Syria, and it gets old, quick
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/25/2016 13:18 Comments ||
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North Korea said it would "create a planet without the United States," as the United Nations Security Council prepared to pass a tough resolution against Pyongyang this week and the United States and South Korea are preparing a joint military exercise. Careful, if you do that, it might increase global warming. Pyongyang made the statement Thursday in state-controlled newspaper Rodong Sinmun. In its editorial, North Korea also warned that South Korea and the United States could be turned into a "sea of fire," Yonhap reported. Looks like they're pissed. "Sea of Fire" guy got recalled from the reeducation camp retirement.
North Korea is strongly opposed to the military exercises that take place annually on the peninsula. Key Resolve, expected to be one of the biggest military drills to be held in March, is being carried out with the goal of "decapitating" the Kim Jong Un regime, according to Pyongyang. I thought it was supposed to be several times bigger than anything done so far.
"How dare they try to hide the dazzling sun [Workers' Party Secretary Kim Jong Un], our destiny, humanity's destiny," Pyongyang said in statement, according to South Korean news service News 1. "Let us make 10 million missiles that would turn South Korea's presidential Blue House and the United States into powder." Too bad you don't have ten million missiles.
But the threats could be coming from a sense that North Korea's security is being threatened. The joint drills are equivalent to a "declaration of war," Pyongyang said, and repercussions could follow. U.S. military bases in the Asia-Pacific region would be turned into "ashes," North Korea stated in its warning. They could follow. Or not.
The Rodong also ran photos of the 1950-53 Korean War and the U.S. Navy ship Pueblo, captured by the North in 1968. Let's see you do that with a ship armed with something more than ELINT.
North Korea warned its adversaries against attack, saying "millions of youth can turn themselves into human bombs" if it meant protecting Kim Jong Un. I thought his Corpulence was so smart he could cure AIDS. Can't he figure out a solution other than to send human waves of suicide bombers out to slaughter?
Pyongyang also denounced South Korean President Park Geun-hye, who marks her third year in office.
I wonder if the oligarchy there is regretting setting up that Kim cult.
A former bodyguard to the late Kim Jong Il said the current North Korean leader leads a life of luxury while ordinary North Koreans die of hunger.
That was true when Daddy was the chief poofy-haired dwarf...
After speaking at the Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy, defector Lee Young-guk told Voice of America Tuesday Fat Boy Kim Jong Un should be referred to the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity. According to Lee, Kim has built 14 luxury villas for his enjoyment and makes seasonal visits to each retreat to go hunting or swimming. I wasn't aware that plankton had to be hunted . . . .
The defector said that as the leader of North Korea Kim should be taking care of his people, but is instead pursuing his own interests. There is a Chinese saying that wealth never survives three generations.
Lee added Pudgy Kim should take responsibility for the countless North Koreans languishing in political prison camps, where they are dying from hunger, malnutrition and beatings.
Information control in North Korea is tight, and the Pyongyang regime "closes the eyes and ears" of the people -- preventing most, even senior officials, from ever knowing anything about Kim's lavish lifestyle and the abject conditions in the prison camps.
Lee said Suet Face Kim needs to be referred to the ICC, if it means North Koreans can now know the truth about the leadership.
The defector worked as the late Kim Jong Il's bodyguard between 1978 and 1988. He was imprisoned at Yodok concentration camp for five years after his arrest in 1994, when he attempted to flee the country. Lee left North Korea permanently in 1999 and gained entry to South Korea in 2000. He currently works as an activist at a North Korea human rights organization.
Lee's criticism of the corpulent Kim Jong Un comes at a time when the North Korean leader is shaking up the bureaucracy and making significant changes in the country's system of governance, Yonhap reported.
A recently published South Korean research paper that analyzes political trends in North Korea stated Kim Jong Un is moving away from his father's "military-first" policies in favor or returning more power to the Korean Workers' Party and bolstering economic development.
That's only half-true...
Kim Jong Il's policy of prioritizing the military's needs was costly for North Korea and added to the famine that killed millions in the 1990s, according to U.N. estimates.
The United States and China were expected to reach final agreement Wednesday on a draft U.N. Security Council resolution imposing sanctions on North Korea for its nuclear and missile tests, diplomatic sources said.
And a sternly worded resolution it is!
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said at a joint news conference with Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday that Washington and Beijing made "important progress" in their sanctions negotiations. Kerry also said the two sides have come up with a draft and were reviewing it.
Final agreement is expected when Wang meets with U.S. National Security Adviser Susan Rice, the sources said.
Other sources said that the draft calls for blacklisting three key state agencies overseeing Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs as well as espionage operations -- the General Reconnaissance Bureau, the Ministry of Atomic Energy Industry and the National Aerospace Development Administration.
You'd have thought that the "atomic energy industry" would have been blacklisted about fifty years ago...
They are among about 30 individuals and entities to be sanctioned by the new resolution, according to the sources. Also to be blacklisted are North Korean trading and financial firms accused of involvement in illicit activities, they said.
The General Reconnaissance Bureau has been accused of masterminding a series of provocations, including the 2010 torpedoing of a South Korean warship and the 2014 cyber-attacks on Sony Pictures, while the other two agencies are in charge of the North's nuclear and missile programs.
How about just drone-zapping them some dark night?
Other possible sanctions could include restricting oil provision to the North, including a ban on jet fuel supplies, and banning imports of coal, iron and other mineral imports from the North, one of the biggest sources of hard currency for the impoverished nation.
'Possible' sanctions. They kid, they kid...
Following final agreement between the U.S. and China, the Security Council is expected to circulate it among the other 13 council members for review. Unless any objection is raised, the draft will be referred to a formal council meeting for adoption.
After the North's Jan. 6 nuclear test, the Security Council pledged to adopt significant sanctions, but has not been able to do so because China has balked at imposing harsh measures on Pyongyang.
Amid the deadlock, the North flouted the Security Council again with a banned missile launch on Feb. 7.
Beijing has condemned the North's nuclear and missile tests but has been lukewarm about calls for a stern response. Analysts have long said Beijing fears that pushing Pyongyang too hard could lead to its collapse, instability on its border and the ultimate emergence of a pro-U.S. nation.
Which is something we could all manage together -- China, the ROK, Japan and the U.S. could each get something from that.
Chinese cooperation is key to putting together any meaningful sanctions and its implementation as it is one of the five veto-holding permanent members of the Security Council and the main provider of food and fuel aid to the impoverished North.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/25/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
China is the provider of nearly everything in NOKOR, wid its role or trade dominance forecasted to keep getting ever-bigger.
WAR OR PEACE, THE END GAME FOR NOKOR IS EVENTUAL CHINESE TAKEOVER BY ONE WAY OR ANOTHER, AND TO INCLUD POSSIBLE POTEN ANNEXATION/ACCESSION TO CHINA.
As long as the US-Allies fail to find a way to get China + Taiwan to peacefully reunite, PUDGY = NOKOR WON'T STOP TRYING TO DEV NUKE-WMDS FOR HIS COUNTRY.
He will intentionally cause or start a US-China War iff he has to. NOKOR GOING DOWN = EVERYBODY GOES DOWN WID IT.
North Korea's army politburo chief Hwang Pyong-so has been absent from recent military events attended by leader Kim Jong-un.
"We're trying to find out what's happened," a government source here said.
Check with the local anti-aircraft gun squad...
Hwang's name was not mentioned when the official Rodong Sinmun listed the names of senior officials who accompanied Kim when he watched a concert by the North Korean Army band on its 70th anniversary on Tuesday. He was also missing when Kim watched a military drill and an aerial exercise last Saturday.
Hwang was last seen at a banquet celebrating the North's recent rocket launch in Pyongyang on Feb. 13. Pundits say he was likely taken ill. But he could also have fallen victim to ongoing purges that most recently put former Army chief Ri Yong-gil out of action last month.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/25/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
Maybe they decided he was the guest of honor at a weapons test.
[ALMANAR.LB] South Korea dismissed on Wednesday China's warning that the planned deployment of a US missile defense system could damage ties, stressing that it was to counter "growing threats" from North Korea.
"The deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system (THAAD) is a measure of self-defense against growing nuclear and missile threats from North Korea," presidential front man Jeong Yeon-Guk said.
Jeong said the issue would be "decided in accordance with security and national interests," adding that "China will have to recognize the point."
The remarks came after Chinese ambassador Qiu Guohong Tuesday warned that installation of the THAAD system on the Korean Peninsula could "destroy" relations between Beijing and Seoul.
China has repeatedly protested since Washington and Seoul announced plans to deploy the missile defense in the South, in response to North Korea's recent nuclear test and rocket launch.
But Tuesday was the first time that a Chinese diplomat or official has warned of the effect on diplomatic ties with Seoul.
South Korea's foreign ministry said it was taking "necessary measures" about Qiu's comments without elaborating further.
"Before raising an issue about the THAAD deployment, it will be reasonable to consider the root of the problem," the ministry said.
The THAAD system fires anti-ballistic missiles to smash into enemy missiles either inside or outside the Earth's atmosphere during their final flight phase.
The interceptor missiles carry no warheads, instead relying on kinetic energy to destroy their targets.
The allies announced their intention to begin talks on its deployment following Pyongyang's long-range rocket launch on February 7, which was seen by the US and its allies as a covert ballistic missile test.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/25/2016 00:00 ||
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... and United Nations ...boodling on the grand scale... on Tuesday criticized new police restrictions imposed on those traveling along the main migrant route through the Balkans, where hundreds of Afghans have been blocked from crossing into Macedonia, News Agency that Dare Not be Named reports.
Police chiefs from EU nations Austria, Croatia and Slovenia plus non-members Serbia and Macedonia agreed last week to only allow in people "arriving from war-torn areas."
They decided migrants must carry identity documents, be fleeing a conflict zone and have a "registration form issued by Greek authorities." The new rules block entry for people wanting to reunite with families, avoid military recruitment or escape "personal disputes."
"(We) have concerns about this approach, and will raise the matter with the relevant countries," the EU's executive arm said in a statement.
The move has stranded thousands of Afghans and others in Greece, where an average of 4,000 asylum-seekers land each day, even though some of the Afghans could potentially qualify for asylum.
The UN's refugee agency said the new police orders are "resulting in increased protection risks for refugees and asylum-seekers, particularly those with specific needs, such as unaccompanied and separated children."
It said the measures increased the risk that legitimate asylum-seekers could be turned back or "stranded in the open, exposed to freezing cold weather and at risk of violence and exploitation."
The medical aid organization Doctors Without Borders also denounced the police measures.
"European governments on this route continue to invent new and arbitrary criteria, with the sole goal of reducing the flow of people -- at any cost, and in complete disregard of humanitarian needs," said humanitarian adviser Aurelie Ponthieu.
The organization said 60 Afghans are trapped in a no-man's land between Serbia and Macedonia. Serbian authorities say they must register in Macedonia but Macedonian authorities are refusing to let them back in.
Earlier Tuesday, Greek police removed hundreds of migrants from a camp at the border with Macedonia following a protest that halted freight rail services to other Balkan countries. Authorities said the mostly Afghan migrants were being put on buses bound south for Athens. Journalists were refused access to the area.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/25/2016 00:00 ||
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[ALMANAR.LB] Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him... on Wednesday said Syrian Kurdish forces must remain outside the scope of a ceasefire agreed between Syria's warring parties, just like 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... snuffies of ISIL and the Al-Qaeda affiliated Al-Nusra Front.
"If Daesh [Islamic State] (ISIL) and Al-Nusra are kept outside the ceasefire, then the PYD-YPG must similarly be excluded from the ceasefire for it is a terrorist group just as they are," Erdogan told local officials in Ankara, referring to the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its People's Protection Units (YPG) forces.
The US and Russia have announced a ceasefire in Syria will come into effect on Feb. 27, but said that ISIL and Nusra Front will be excluded.
"Our allies must understand that they are at a crossroads... It is a fact that the [the Democratic Union Party] PYD and YPG are terrorist organizations that are extensions of the PKK," Erdogan said.
In an apparent response to US statements calling the YPG an effective partner in the fight against ISIL in Syria, Erdogan said the notion that the YPG was supported because it is fighting ISIL was a "great lie."
"The PYD is supported because it fights against ISIL. Nusra Front is also fighting against ISIL. Why is it bad?" he asked.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/25/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
We need to bring back state sanctioning of assassinations. Erdroga an fat boy first.
Posted by: chris ||
02/25/2016 8:19 Comments ||
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#2
Taking bread out of the mouth of Russian children, chris?
[The Daily Caller] Israel's Minister of Defense claimed that Iran is setting up a global terror network which is poised to commit attacks on the U.S. and Europe on command.
Moshe Ya'alon warned that the "sleeper cells" being set up by Iran are collecting weapons, intelligence and gathering operatives on Wednesday while on a trip to Cyprus. He believes that Iran is creating "emissaries" intended to spread the Islamic revolution worldwide.
"The Iranian regime through the Iranian Revolutionary Guard corps is building a complex terror infrastructure including sleeping cells that are stockpiling arms, intelligence and operatives and are ready to act on order including in Europe and America," said Ya'alon.
He noted that the Syrian civil war has created "widespread infiltration by murderous, merciless terror organizations."
#3
Meanwhile 200 miles from Iceland Mary listens and observes.
Dear Mother! burst the tyrant's chain,
Maryland!
Virginia should not call in vain,
Maryland!
She meets her sisters on the plain-
"Sic semper!" 'tis the proud refrain
That baffles minions back again,
Maryland!
Arise in majesty again,
ISIS threatened Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter's Jack Dorsey on Wednesday with promises that its hackers are fighting back against efforts to wipe social media platforms of accounts promoting terrorism, Vocativ discovered.
A 25-minute propaganda video showing pictures of Zuckerberg and Dorsey covered with bullet holes was uncovered by Vocativ deep web analysts on the social-media site Telegram, which ISIS frequents. The video is titled "Flames Of The Supporters," and ends with a direct threat to the two CEOs.
"You announce daily that you suspend many of our accounts, and to you we say: Is that all you can do? You are not in our league," text on the video clip reads. "If you close one account we will take 10 in return and soon your names will be erased after we delete your sites, Allah willing, and will know that we say is true."
Twitter said earlier this month it suspended 125,000 accounts "for threatening or promoting terrorist acts, primarily related to ISIS." Facebook has said that it works to ensure that terrorists don't use the site, and that it removes content supporting terrorism.
The Islamic State isn't taking the actions lightly. A group of ISIS hackers calling themselves "the sons of the Caliphate army" released a video on Wednesday claiming to show them hacking Facebook and Twitter accounts by changing profile pictures and posting ISIS materials and propaganda on the platforms. ISIS claims it hacked more than 10,000 Facebook accounts, more than 150 Facebook groups and more than 5,000 accounts on Twitter. "Many of these accounts have been given to supporters," it says.
The video and its claims are part of the terror group's war of words in a wider propaganda campaign that has aimed to show defiance against efforts targeting its online operations. A February report by George Washington University Program on Extremism said the amount of pro-ISIS content available on Twitter has been limited by account suspensions since last summer. Suspensions have also devastated the reach of specific ISIS-affiliated users who have been repeatedly targeted, the report said.
Over the last several months, ISIS supporters have responded to efforts to minimize its Twitter reach by moving to other platforms such as the messaging app Telegram. In the past, dating back to at least September 2014, ISIS supporters have called on "lone wolves" to target Twitter employees and even kill Twitter co-founder Dorsey.
RAWALPINDI: Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif has given the go-ahead for the initiation of the final phase of operation Zarb-e-Azb in the Shawal valley region of North Waziristan.
The go-ahead was given by the army chief during his visit to forward positions of the army in Shawal valley. The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) stated that the army chief was briefed regarding operational gains and impending operations. The deep and forested ravines of Shawal valley and the area of Data Khel are frequently used infiltration routes used by the militants, the army chief was told. The last phase of the operation aims to clear the last remnants of the militants from their hideouts in the forested ravines, isolate them and destroy them in detail, while also severing their links to their abettors across the country.
General Raheel Sharif expressed complete satisfaction over the gains and the effects of the operations and acknowledged the resolve of the army troops to fully eliminate the militants. “The sacrifices of the soldiers will not go waste and we will achieve our ultimate objective of a terror free Pakistan,” said Sharif while addressing the troops. ISPR added that the troops have regrouped, reinforced and have moved to jump-off positions for the final phase. The chief of army staff was received by Lieutenant General Hidayatur Rehman, Commander 11 Corps Peshawar on his arrival.
Military operation Zarb-e-Azb was launched in North Waziristan on June 15 following a brazen militant attack on Karachi’s international airport and the failure of peace talks between the government and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) negotiators. The number of attacks in Pakistan has fallen around 70 percent, due to a combination of the military offensive against Taliban bases along the Afghan border and government initiatives to tackle militancy. Army had launched a ground offensive in Shawal Valley in August last year. Fighter jets had been targeting militant hideouts in the agency. The heavily forested ravines of the Shawal Valley are dotted with Taliban hideouts and the area is a key smuggling route into neighbouring Afghanistan.
Wow. A teenager who expresses regret for her actions and appreciation for a remedy. Must be serious.
Marlin Stivani Nivarlain is a 15-year-old Swedish girl. Last year, her boyfriend became obsessed with ISIS, and she followed him to Syria to join the group.
Last week, Kurdish forces stormed an ISIS-held town near Mosul, Iraq, where they found Nivarlain and rescued her.
Shortly after her rescue, Nivarlain was interviewed by the Kurdish outlet Kurdistan 24, and described her boyfriend's radicalization, her trip to ISIS-held territory, the miserable life she encountered there, and her joy at being rescued.
Nivarlain says she met her (unnamed) boyfriend in mid-2014. "At first, we were good together," she said. "Then he started watching ISIS videos, talking about ISIS, stuff like that."
She was confused when he said, months after they met, that he wanted to take her to join ISIS. "I said OK, because I didn't know what ISIS is, what Islam means, nothing," Nivarlain explained.
They left Sweden on May 31, 2015. After taking a series of trains, buses, and cars to Syria, they eventually settled in the ISIS-held Iraqi city of Mosul -- where life was far from what she'd expected. "In the house, we didn't have anything: no electricity, no water, nothing," she says. "In Sweden we have everything; when I was there, I didn't have anything."
She then decided to try to escape. She got a phone and called her mother in Sweden, telling her, "I want to go home."
Her mother then contacted the Swedish government, and some time later she was rescued -- though the video redacts her discussion of the actual rescue, thus leaving any connection between her call and subsequent escape a mystery.
The key part of Nivarlain's story, to my mind, is her complete ignorance of what's happening. We often tend to hear about teens who join ISIS as corrupted by ISIS propaganda -- and indeed, that appears to have been the case with Nivarlain's boyfriend. But Nivarlain simply went along because it seemed like a cool thing to do. It was teenage rebellion, not sincere ideological conviction, that dragged her to hell.
A December report from the Soufan Group, a consulting firm that studies terrorism, found that social media alone does not motivate most recruits. Rather, most recruitment happens through communities: real-life hotbeds of ISIS support where people meet in person and convince one another to travel to Syria and Iraq.
"While the power of the Islamic State's social media outreach is undeniable, it appears more often to prepare the ground for persuasion, rather than to force the decision," the Soufan Group explains. It continues:
[A]s hotbeds develop, recruitment through social media becomes less important than via direct human contact, as clusters of friends and neighbors persuade each other to travel separately or together to join the Islamic State,
Cases like Nivarlain's are very rare, which is part of what makes her story so affecting.
"I want to thank [the Kurds] to send me back to Sweden, and meet my family again, and a happy life," Nivarlain says at the end of her video, smiling. In the last shot, it's not clear if she's laughing or crying.
The number of private contractors working for the U.S. Defense Department in Iraq grew eight-fold over the past year, a rate that far outpaces the growing number of American troops training and advising Iraqi soldiers battling Islamic State militants.
The sharp increase, disclosed in a recent Pentagon report to Congress, underscores the military's reliance on civilians even for missions with relatively small troop presence.
"If you look at the size and the composition of the forces that have been deployed in support of Operation Inherent Resolve, that's changed markedly in the past year," said Rick Brennan, a senior political scientist at the RAND Corp. and a retired Army officer.
As of January, 2,028 contractors were in Iraq, up from just 250 one year earlier, according to the Pentagon's data. There are roughly 3,700 American troops there now, compared to 2,300 in January 2015.
That number of military contractors represents just a fraction of the contractors employed by the U.S. in Iraq. In addition to the 2,028 Pentagon contractors, another 5,800 are employed by other agencies, including the State Department.
In the 1980s, the U.S. military decided to hire contractors to work in support roles that had historically been done by troops. That includes jobs like food services, maintaining housing units, water purification and "all those those other things that go with maintaining troops in the field for a long time," Brennan said. The plus-up in Iraq is likely for contractors in those types of roles.
"What's occurred then is as you deploy more forces to theater, you have to provide increased total number of contractors," Brennan said.
During the Iraq War, there was a little bit more than one-to-one ratio of contractors to soldiers, he said. Now in Iraq, more than 30 percent (618) of the contractors are working in maintenance and logistics jobs. Nearly 20 percent (381) are translators and 13 percent (263) are in base support positions, according to the data. Contractors are also working in security, transportation, construction, communication support, training, management and administrative roles.
Nearly 70 percent of the contractors are American citizens, 20 percent are third-country nationals and the remaining are local Iraqis. The number of contractors the Pentagon can employ in Iraq is not capped, according to Col. Steve Warren, spokesman for Operation Inherent Resolve.
Many of the contractors in Iraq and neighboring countries are from well known warzone companies like KBR, DynCorp, and Fluor Corporation, the three firms hired by the Army's Logistics Civil Augmentation Program, or LogCap. The Pentagon awards individual "task order" deals to these each time it needs to support troops overseas.
"It makes tailoring a unit much more responsive to the needs of the commander because you don't have to try to rip people [with a trade specialty] from other installations," Brennan said.
KBR, in a November presentation to investors, said its LogCap services work in Iraq "grew in the period with further growth possible."
Besides the LogCap contractors, the Pentagon can award independent contracts, according to Andrew Hunter, a former Pentagon official who now director of the Defense-Industrial Initiatives Group at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, in Washington. In some instances, the Pentagon hires contractors already working for the government in order to speed up the process.
Even though U.S. troops withdrew fully from Iraq in 2011, many contractors stayed behind working at the American embassy or in logistical roles maintaining Iraq's military equipment.
Congress ordered the Pentagon to provide detailed information about battlefield contractors following an incident in which private military contractors working for Blackwater USA killed 17 Iraqi civilians in Nisour Square in Baghdad in September 2007.
Not all contractors in the warzone are base guards, laundry workers or chefs. The CIA and other intelligence agencies still use contractors like the former Blackwater or $2.2 billion firm DynCorp and other for paramilitary services. The number of those contractors, some who are closer to the battlefield than the military advisors, is classified and unknown to the public.
U.S. Central Command, which oversees military operations in the Middle East, has sent Congress regular updates about the number of contractors being employed in Iraq and Afghanistan since August 2008. In July 2008, just following the 2007 troop surge, there were 162,428 Pentagon-funded contractors in Iraq, according to the data.
#2
KBR, DynCorp, and Fluor Corporation, the three firms hired by the Army's Logistics Civil Augmentation Program, or LogCap. The Pentagon awards individual "task order" deals to these each time it needs to support troops overseas.
Yes, yes, yes, we've been briefed on the contracting efforts, 'K-Street', DoS at Benghazi, but little on the colossal LogCap cock-up of a program that simply keeps on giving.
[IsraelTimes] Veteran Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,gunnies among those slipping into Egypt, sources say; Cairo aware of the trend and trying to stop it
Despite Egypt’s relentless efforts to seal off its side of the Hamas-run Gazoo Strip, a steady if light stream of Gazooks are managing to leave the Strip and join the ranks of 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.... fighters locked in combat with Egyptian forces in the Sinai, sources in the Strip said Thursday.
The Gazoo fighters are crossing mainly via the last few tunnels still connecting the Sinai Peninsula to Gazoo. Egypt has closed most of the smuggling tunnels in recent years.
Some of those crossing to join IS have fought against Israel in the past, either as members of Hamas or of Salafi-jihadist terror groups, the sources said.
The fighters are crossing into Egypt with the knowledge of Hamas’s military wing, which supervises the tunnels, the sources said. The Egyptian administration is aware of the trend and trying to prevent it.
The fighters are leaving in small groups, but are gradually coming to constitute a fairly substantial number of recruits to Sinai Province, the IS affiliate that is fighting the Egyptian army in Sinai. The sources did not have a firm figure for how many fighters have crossed the border.
Two of the best-known operatives who have crossed into to Egypt are Mahmoud Za’arah and Muhammed Shahin, both of whom have played an active part in festivities with the IDF. Za’arah and Shahin are said to be among those training Sinai Province fighters.
According to the sources, there are currently just 10-15 active tunnels between Gazoo and Egypt, a drastic decrease compared to three years ago, when the number was 650-700. Only a few solitary tunnels connect the Rafah crossing area and the triangle of borders -- Egypt, Israel and Gazoo -- in the Kerem Shalom area, they said.
Egypt has flooded tunnel areas and demolished hundreds of houses close to the border at and around Rafah. Sinai Province gunnies attack Egyptian military targets on a near-daily basis.
The fact that Gazoogunnies are crossing into Egypt to fight with IS further underlines the scale of Egypt-Hamas hostility. Cairo is said to be steadfastly opposed to any idea of easing the pressure on Hamas by giving Gazoo access of some kind to a seaport. The Hebrew-language Haaretz daily reported on Wednesday that some senior IDF officials support the idea, and that a range of possible port arrangements -- including an artificial offshore island to hold a port -- are being discussed at senior military and political levels, in part because of the worsening economic situation in Gazoo and consequent Israeli concern over renewed conflict.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon flatly oppose all such ideas, however, the newspaper report said.
The small gay community in conservative, Muslim-majority Indonesia is facing a sudden and unexpected backlash [only an ignorant or ideological type would find this unexpected but that's the msm for you]
, with ministers and religious leaders denouncing homosexuality, LGBT websites blocked and emboldened hardliners launching anti-gay raids.
When a minister criticised counselling services for gay students at a university last month, it triggered a heated media debate and was the start of what activists say has been a sustained assault on gay rights.
Hardline Defence Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu this week labelled the influence of the gay community "a threat" and said fighting it was akin to "a kind of modern warfare".
"It's dangerous as we can't see who our foes are, but out of the blue everyone is brainwashed," he was cited as saying by news website Tempo.
The government has shut down a slew of websites, ordered TV programs depicting gay lives off the air and demanded all instant messaging apps remove same-sex emoticons -- like men holding hands and the symbolic rainbow flag -- or face a ban.
Indonesia's top Islamic clerical body has revived a push for gay sex to be criminalised, saying it is not only "deviant" but against the country's founding principles, and lawmakers are reportedly considering drafting an anti-homosexuality bill.
Posted by: lord garth ||
02/25/2016 11:39 ||
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Your comment is so right, lord garth. Democrats (& others) on Twitter regularly whine at me for being a gay guy who votes Republican (not that I mind the discussion that follows, though I usually - surprise! - get blocked). Meanwhile we have a president who mocks legitimate concerns over the spread of Islamism as "fear of widows and orphans". As I tell them, if you think a person who believes a child is better off with both a mom and a dad is a bigger threat to gay people than thousands of unvetted immigrants from the heart of Daeshistan, you're either very ignorant, or highly committed to a faith-based dogma. On second though, I don't much blame them for preferring to block me to trying to respond logically to that challenge. It doesn't seem to cause them to question the idea that THEY are the tolerant ones, however.
#2
Attack them based on how being blocked makes you feel. It will drive them crazy.
Posted by: Sven the pelter ||
02/25/2016 16:46 Comments ||
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Ahaha! Of course, I have to say that before they block me or they won't see it. Because they are so often people who claim the GOP are religious fanatics, they often get perturbed when I accuse them of being dogmatic about their faith-based views.
#4
a gay guy who votes Republican (not that I mind the discussion that follows, though I usually - surprise! - get blocked).
Apparently, in order to usher in a New Age of Freedom and Diversity, we all need to think alike. No doubt there is some Marxist verbiage that makes this seem less stupid than it is.
[Defense One] The Syrian war looks different depending on which protagonists you focus on. Here are just a few ways to look at it.
Russia's bombing campaign in Syria marks a new phase in the Syrian conflict, now in its fifth year. Launched in late September, in response to rebel gains against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the strikes were a prelude to a mid-October ground offensive by Syrian government forces to retake territory in the northwest of the country; meanwhile, the United States appears poised to expand its military presence on the ground.
Russian President Vladimir Putin may be trying to strengthen Assad's position ahead of potential political negotiations, brokered by major powers like Russia and the U.S., to end the civil war, writes David Ignatius in an essay for The Atlantic's new project, "What to Do About ISIS?" But so far, he adds, Russia's partnership with the Shiite-led governments of Syria and Iran has only deepened the divisions between Sunni and Shiite Muslims that are at the center of the war.
Syria's conflict has devolved from peaceful protests against the government in 2011 to a violent insurgency that has drawn in numerous other countries. It's partly a civil war of government against people; partly a religious war pitting Assad's minority Alawite sect, aligned with Shiite fighters from Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon, against Sunni rebel groups; and increasingly a proxy war featuring Russia and Iran against the United States and its allies. Whatever it is, it has so far killed 220,000 people, displaced half of the country's population, and facilitated the rise of ISIS.
[IsraelTimes] Tehran, flush with cash from sanctions relief, will give slain attackers' families $7,000, envoy says, and $30,000 to terrorists' families whose homes Israel demolishes
Iran will pay thousands of dollars to families of Paleostinian Death Eaters killed while carrying out attacks against Israelis, Tehran's ambassador to Leb said Wednesday.
Mohammad Fateh Ali said Tehran will give $7,000 to families of "deaders of the intifada in occupied Jerusalem" and a further "$30,000 to every family whose home the occupation has demolished for the participation of one of its sons," according to local news reports.
Twenty-nine Israelis and three non-Israelis have been killed in a wave of Paleostinian terrorist attacks and violence since October, during which over 170 Paleostinians have also been killed, some two-thirds of them while attacking Israelis, and the rest during festivities with troops, according to the Israeli army.
Jerusalem slammed the announcement of Iranian financial aid to terrorists, saying it was another example of Iran's continued aggression towards Israel.
"This is further proof of Iran's deep involvement in support for anti-Israeli terrorism," read a Foreign Ministry statement. "After the [nuclear] agreement with world powers, Iran has allowed itself to continue as a major player in international terrorism."
Israeli officials frequently warned that the lifting of sanctions on Iran would free up billions of dollars that Tehran could funnel into funding terror activities.
Israel's Channel 2 reported Wednesday that Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, officials met recently in Tehran with Qassem Suleimani, the head of the Al-Quds Force of Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps, and discussed Iranian funding for the terror group. He said he "kissed the foreheads" of all those thousands engaged in anti-Israel activities, the TV report said.
Tehran reportedly upped financial support to Hamas, the Gazoo-based terror group, after signing of the nuclear deal with Western powers last July.
The historic agreement gave Tehran access to an estimated $100 billion dollars in frozen money and opened up the country's economy, long hampered by sanctions, to international business.
Ali's statements were made at a presser attended by Hamas officials, who reportedly praised the initiative and thanked Iran for its support. However, Switzerland makes more than cheese... Ali seemed to open up the terror incentives to all Paleostinians, not just Hamas members.
Earlier in the day, Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon warned that Iran was paying for and readying sleeper cells to attack targets in Israel, the US and Europe.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
02/25/2016 00:00 ||
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Secretary of State John Kerry warned on Tuesday that Washington is considering a "Plan B" to deal with Syria if Damascus and Moscow are not serious about negotiating a political transition.
And it's gonna be great! Oops, sorry, wrong demagogue...
Briefing US lawmakers, Kerry said he had told Russia's President Vladimir Putin the United States would not wait more than a few months to see whether Moscow's ally Bashar Al Assad is serious about talks. But he would not be drawn on details of any "Plan B" that he would advise President Barack Obama to adopt if efforts to mediate a political deal to end the Syrian civil war fail.
Diplomatic sources and US Press reports suggest the new plan would involve more direct US and allied military involvement, but Washington remains very cautious about being drawn deeper into the conflict.
Great, we can be fighting against ourselves again. And what's the "allied military involvement" going to be -- another company of Belgian heavy barbers?
"When I met President Putin, I said to him very directly that the test is not going to be proven in six months or a year and a half, when the election is supposedly scheduled," Kerry told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, "We're going to know in a month or two whether or not this transition process is really serious."
The ceasefire will not include actions by or against the Daesh militant group nor Syria's Al Qaeda offshoot, but Kerry hopes it will halt Russian and Syrian attacks on opposition rebel factions.
If it sticks, Kerry and Russian counterpart Foreign Minister Sergi Lavrov - joint organisers of the 17-nation International Syrian Support Group - will push Assad and the rebels to negotiate a political transition, with a new constitution and elections. Some of the US senators expressed skepticism about the plan, but Kerry insisted Putin would not want to see Russian forces bogged down in a drawn out war if his ally Assad refuses to engage politically.
"There is a significant discussion taking place now about 'Plan B' in the event that we don't succeed at the table," he said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/25/2016 00:00 ||
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Plan B is to close Syria, transfer ISIS to the USA and give Syria to the Castro Brothers.
The US Congress should postpone an immediate vote to reauthorize the 2006 Iran Sanctions Act until further along in the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Secretary of State John Kerry told the Senate Appropriations Committee on Wednesday, Sputnik reported.
"I don’t think there is a need to rush here. I would like to see how the [JCPOA] implementation goes," Kerry said when asked if he supports the immediate congressional reauthorization of the Iran Sanctions Act.
We won't have to suffer this fool much longer...
The 2006 sanctions against Iran are set to expire at the end of 2016. US lawmakers have argued to reauthorize the act in the event Iran fails to comply with the terms of the internationally negotiated nuclear agreement reached last July.
Kerry encouraged lawmakers to "not immediately" consider the Iran sanctions reauthorization, saying, "we are just beginning now to see the full implementation" of the JCPOA.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/25/2016 00:00 ||
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[ALMANAR.LB] Fearless Leader of the Islamic Revolution ...Iran's doddering head theocrat... in Iran, Imam Sayyed Ali Khamenei stressed on Wednesdday that despite 37 years of pressure, enemy failed in their plots against the Islamic Theocratic Republic.
In a speech addressing thousands of people from the city of Najafabad at the Imam Khomeini Mosque downtown Tehran, Imam Khamenei urged high turnout in the parliamentary elections which will take place on Friday.Imam Khamenei
"When enemy witnesses that after 37 years [since the victory of the Islamic Revolution], [and] with all [kinds of] pressure, cruel sanctions and spiteful and damaging propaganda it has failed to prevent people's allegiance to the establishment," it comes to realize the grandeur of the Islamic establishment, Ayatollah Khamenei said.
The Leader said enemy is attempting to create a "false bipolarity" in Iran like "pro-government and anti-government parliament," stressing that the Iranian people will stand up to enemy plots They're everywhere! They're everywhere! by voting in the upcoming elections.
The next elections for the 10th term of the Iranian Parliament (Majlis) and the 5th term of the Assembly of Experts will take place simultaneously on February 26.
"The Iranian nation wants a pious, committed and brave parliament that is not deceived by the enemy tricks; a parliament that attaches importance to dignity and independence [of the country] and stands up to the greed of powers whose hands have been cut off from Iran," said the Leader.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/25/2016 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] National Security Adviser Hanif Atmar said Wednesday that the
[The Diplomat] Russia gives Afghanistan 10,000 assault rifles, but abstains from joining American efforts at peace talks.
North Korea said it would "create a planet without the United States," as the United Nations Security Council prepared to pass a tough resolution against Pyongyang this week and the United States and South Korea are preparing a joint military exercise. 
Pyongyang made the statement Thursday in state-controlled newspaper Rodong Sinmun. In its editorial, North Korea also warned that South Korea and the United States could be turned into a "sea of fire," Yonhap reported.
North Korea's army politburo chief Hwang Pyong-so has been absent from recent military events attended by leader Kim Jong-un. 
North Korea
ISIS threatened Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter's Jack Dorsey on Wednesday with promises that its hackers are fighting back against efforts to wipe social media platforms of accounts promoting terrorism, Vocativ discovered.
Secretary of State John Kerry warned on Tuesday that Washington is considering a "Plan B" to deal with Syria if Damascus and Moscow are not serious about negotiating a political transition.
The US Congress should postpone an immediate vote to reauthorize the 2006 Iran Sanctions Act until further along in the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Secretary of State John Kerry told the Senate Appropriations Committee on Wednesday, Sputnik reported.
[ALMANAR.LB] 
