An email leaked by WikiLeaks reveals that when Hillary Clinton ... sometimes described as For a good time at 3 a.m. call Hillary and at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as Another Bainbridge Colby ... was US secretary of state in 2011, billionaire George Soros instructed her on how to handle unrest in Albania, stressing it "needs urgent attention at senior levels of the US government."
"Dear Hillary," begins the email dated January 24, 2011 from the founder of Open Society Foundations, Soros.
"A serious situation has arisen in Albania which needs urgent attention at senior levels of the US government. You may know that an opposition demonstration in Tirana on Friday resulted in the deaths of three people and the destruction of property," Soros says, according to the leaked email.
Three men were rubbed out as anti-government demonstrators clashed with police in the Albanian capital in late January of 2011. Supporters of the opposition Socialist Party refused to accept the results of a 2009 election, citing corruption and fraud, when then-Prime Minister Sali Berisha’s Democratic Party won by a thin margin. Berisha accused the opposition of attempting to provoke a Tunisia-style uprising, saying "the bastard children of Albania’s own Ben Alis conceived Tunisian scenarios."
"There are serious concerns about further unrest connected to a counter-demonstration to be organized by the governing party... and a follow-up event by the opposition two days later to memorialize the victims," Soros says.
"The prospect of tens of thousands of people entering the streets in an already inflamed political environment bodes ill for the return of public order and the country’s fragile democratic process," he adds.
"I believe two things need to be done urgently," he adds.
"1. Bring the full weight of the international community to bear on Prime Minister Berisha and opposition leader Edi Rama to forestall further public demonstrations and to tone down public pronouncements.
"The US and the EU must work in complete harmony over this, but given Albania’s European aspirations the EU must take the lead," he stressed, adding that his foundation in Tirana was "monitoring the situation closely and can provide independent analysis of the crisis."
Several days after the email was sent to Clinton, the EU did send one of Soros’ suggested nominees, Miroslav Lajcak, to meet Albanian leaders in Tirana to try to mediate an end to the unrest, Rooters reported.
[AlAhram] Under intense pressure from Egyptian security forces, the Islamic State group affiliate in Sinai, Ansar Beit El-Maqdis, is virtually a spent force, says jihadist expert
Nageh Ibrahim, an expert on Islamist bully boy groups and a former jihadist, said in an interview with Ahram Online that the holy warrior group Ansar Beit El-Maqdas is "having its last throes," as the group has become quite weak during the past year.
"It cannot undertake big operations, such as the bombing of government buildings, like the bombing of the military intelligence building previously ... or massacre, or conduct operations outside Sinai."
"Instead, it has resorted to boom-mobiles or suicide kabooms, which were mostly handled well [by Egyptian security forces]."
Last Thursday, the Egyptian armed forces announced the killing of Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis leader Abu Doaa Al-Ansari and a number of his associates in air strikes.
Ibrahim, who was one of the founders of Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya, said "this is the beginning of the end of the group."
Ansar Beit El-Maqdis lost control over the five main elements any such group depends on, as its human resources, finances, arms gathering capacity, communication network and mobility have all come under immense pressure while the group is not being able to recruit from Libya or the Gazoo Strip, Ibrahim explained.
Two weeks ago, 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.... (IS) group in Iraq and Syria released a recording on several operations of Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis group. According to analysis of the recording, the speaker is Abu Mohammed El-Anani who is not the usual front man of the group in Sinai, evidence that the group's network has been disrupted.
Ansar Beit El-Maqdis group, which originated in Sinai and grabbed credit for most of the attacks against security personnel and installations in Sinai, pledged allegiance to IS in Iraq and Syria and its leader, Abu Bakr El-Baghdadi, in November 2015.
Ibrahim contends that not only is the IS-affiliated group in Egypt losing ground, but the Islamic State group itself is losing ground in Iraq, Syria and Libya.
"We are witnessing the international demise of the [IS] group."
"It was not only religiously and morally stupid; it was politically stupid as well," Ibrahim added, adding that the group claimed to be supporting the Sunnis in Iraq, yet caused further US/UK intervention in Iraq, as well as Iran's intervention in Syria.
Ibrahim also remarked that it is the first group to include outlaws, including drugs dealers, arms dealers and convicted felons.
"The future scenario is that IS group will fall in time," Ibrahim argued.
However, a clean conscience makes a soft pillow... he said that the role of the state -- particularly Egypt -- is important. It should not "focus on security at the expense other things, such as overall development of Sinai."
Terrorist groups previously used the situation in neighbouring Gazoo and Israel as a pretext, as happened with the three largest bombings that took place under former President Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... , in Sharm El-Sheikh, Dahab and Taba, he elaborated.
"What is required from the state is to address the effect of past battles, change the situation and improves the living conditions of the people, rather than just the tightening security," Ibrahim concluded.
#2
Grom don't tell paleos - but hey lets blame failure of 2 state solution on glowball worming - there's still a vein or two to mine there before it plays out.
Posted by: Bov Flimbers ||
08/12/2016 3:31 Comments ||
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#3
Seems every time they declare a group "dead", it pops back up and does more havoc.
If they don't show back up in 30 years... maybe I'll believe it.
The Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi met the chairman of the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC) for the agreement on the resolution of the conflict in South Sudan Festus Mogae in Cairo yesterday. El-Sisi and Mogae discussed regional efforts to restore peace in Juba and the Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry also attended the meeting.
Fighting and violence between supporters of President Salva Kiir and his rival Riek Machar has plagued the state of South Sudan for more than two years, raising fears of instability in East Africa where the fighting has led to the deaths of more than 10,000 people and the displacement of more than two million others.
The presidential spokesperson Ambassador Alaa Youssef said that President El-Sisi welcomed Mogae and emphasised Egypt’s support for the efforts of the JMEC in order to implement the peace settlement agreement and restore peace and stability in South Sudan, particularly in light of the distinguished relations between Egypt and South Sudan.
El-Sisi also confirmed that Egypt will continue to make efforts with the different parties concerned in order to restore calm in South Sudan after the tension that it experienced recently. He added that Egypt will continue to provide development programmes in many fields which will contribute to the acceleration of the development process in South Sudan.
Youssef also explained that Mogae expressed his appreciation of the efforts that Egypt has made to bring together the various parties in South Sudan during the meeting. He also noted the importance of Egypt’s role in Africa and its constant defence of African interests, particularly in light of Egypt’s membership of the UN Security Council and the African Union’s Peace and Security Council (PSC).
The chairman of the JMEC also reviewed recent developments in South Sudan. He was referring to recent clashes and unrest that led to the complicated situation on the ground which necessitates urging the different parties to overcome differences and work on fully implementing the agreement for a peaceful settlement.
Ambassador Youssef also explained that the current situation in South Sudan and regional and UN efforts to restore peace that include the proposal put forward by the Intergovernmental Authority for Development (IGAD) to deploy a regional protection force under the auspices of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan were discussed during the meeting.
President El-Sisi also stressed Egypt’s support for all efforts to restore security and stability in South Sudan and referred to Egypt’s keenness to consult its government and the governments of African members of the Security Council regarding the proposed deployment of a regional protection force in an effort to reach a consensus on how best to restore calm and push forward the peace process and a political settlement in the country.
[PREMIUMTIMESNG] Blaming skewed religious sermons as one of the major factors that fueled the Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... Ideology, Borno State government has set up a regulatory body to censor Islamic preaching in the state.
At the inauguration of the body, named Borno State Islamic Preaching Board, Governor Kashim Shettima said its task is to help prevent "history from repeating itself".
The governor said the board’s task is to monitor and spy on the preaching of all Islamic holy mans especially those in the remote areas of the 27 local government areas of the state.
The Islamic Preaching Board is to be headed by the Chief Imam of Borno State, Imam Zannah Laisu Ibrahim Ahmed.
Mr. Shettima urged the board to monitor the proliferation of traditional Islamiyya, Tsangaya or Almajiri and Arabic schools for the purpose of "protecting noble schools from the infiltration by others which may have hidden motives aimed at teaching violent doctrines".
All members of the board were present.
Mr. Shettima said Borno and its people "must learn from the history of the Boko Haram", which he noted keeps re-surging despite being defeated at various times by the military.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/12/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
"Regulate" as in "squash"?
Posted by: Frank G on the road ||
08/12/2016 19:40 Comments ||
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[NAIJ] Senate President, Bukola Saraki has urged security agencies in the country not to treat the rumours that Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... snuffies are recruiting members from Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps in the Northeast with levity but to urgently investigate the issue to unravel those behind the menace, if any.
In a statement by his special adviser on media and publicity, Yusuph Olaniyonu, in Abuja, Saraki said it has become necessary for the nation’s intelligence outfits to take such rumours seriously with the aim of curtailing the untoward development.
"Seeing that ISIS has been recruiting members from European refugee camps, and the Kenyan government recently had to shut down the world’s largest refugee camp because Al-Shaabab was using the place to train and recruit young people as turbans, it is important that we take the rumours about Boko Haram recruiting from IDP camps seriously," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/12/2016 00:00 ||
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[UPI] The Nigerian Army said it has defeated Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... though the Lion of Islam group's leader, embroiled in a split in the group, said he will fight on.
Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, chief of Nigerian army staff, on Monday said the ability for Boko Haram to re-group in any part of Nigeria has been degraded. He said the group has failed to carry out attacks or suicide kabooms in northeast Nigeria ... a particularly crimson stretch of Islam's bloody border... recently because it has been defeated.
During a visit to Nigeria's Plateau state, Buratai said the conflict with Boko Haram will come to an end through the efforts of Nigeria's Special Task Force and other security agencies.
"You can see that our efforts in the northeast has really paid off, as you can recall the incessant bombing of market places and different places of worships and populated areas has virtually stopped now," Buratai said. "I can assure ... the people of Plateau state that they will never witness Boko Haram attacks like you witnessed in the past."
"The Nigerian army has not only succeeded in rooting them from their camps in the northeast, we have been able to block these criminal elements from crossing down to these areas or building their camp anywhere in Nigeria," Buratai added.
Meanwhile, ...back at the Council of Boskone, Helmuth had turned a paler shade of blue. Star-A-Star had struck again... Abubakar Shekau ... the lunatic leader of Boko Haram who has been reported dead at least eleven times, pledged his body and soul to ISIS, told his fighters to hang it up once or twice, and been fired by the Caliph and refused to step down....
-- who said he remains the leader of Boko Haram despite contradicting claims -- released a video in which he vowed to continue fighting.
"I ... made it a duty for myself [to fight] Nigeria and the whole world," Shekau said in the video released on Sunday in which he dismissed an 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.... announcement that he was replaced by former Boko Haram front man Sheikh Abu Musab al-Barnawi.
He also dismissed indications that Boko Haram is undergoing a split and that he had died. He was last seen in March.
"We have no desire to fight our Moslem brethren," Shekau said. "I'm alive by the permission of Allah."
Posted by: Fred ||
08/12/2016 00:00 ||
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JEDDAH: Saudi-led coalition jets on Thursday pounded Iran-backed Houthi rebel positions in and around Sanaa for a third consecutive day, as shelling from Yemen killed a woman in Saudi Arabia.
Military sources loyal to the the government of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi said the air raids targeted only military positions held by the Houthis and their allies, supporters of deposed President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Also on Thursday a Saudi woman was killed and seven other people wounded by shelling from Yemen, the Civil Defense said. It came hours after a civilian was killed and seven others wounded late Wednesday in Jazan also in shelling from Yemen, it added.
Meanwhile, 10 fighters from a pro-government militia have been killed when suspected Al-Qaeda militants targeted their convoy with two car bombs.
Yemeni officials said the attack took place in the Yafea area in Lahj, where Al-Qaeda controls several areas, including a large base in which it has stockpiled heavy weapons looted from army depots elsewhere.
Meanwhile, rebel militias in Yemen are suffering great losses, coalition spokesman Maj. Gen. Ahmed Al-Assiri has announced.
“The legitimate forces now control 80 percent of Yemeni territories while in March 2015, they had no control on the ground. Also, a large number of Houthi rebels were killed and their military powers destroyed,” he said.
Al-Assiri said calls from rebels to hold a Parliament session next Saturday is evidence of their “bankruptcy” and their continuous miserable antics.
“What they are trying to do is an attempt to delude the international community that they are keen on filling the political vacuum in Yemen.” He said a large number of Houthis killed during the past weeks were children who had participated in the fighting operations.
[IsraelTimes] The mayor of Cannes has banned the wearing of burqinis -- full-body swimsuits -- on the beaches of the French Riviera resort famous for its annual film festival, officials said Thursday.
Mayor David Lisnard signed off on the ruling that "access to beaches and for swimming is banned to anyone who does not have (bathing apparel) which respects good customs and secularism," which is a founding principle of the French republic.
"Beachwear which ostentatiously displays religious affiliation, when La Belle France and places of worship are currently the target of terrorist attacks, is liable to create risks of disrupting public order which it is necessary to prevent," it says.
Thierry Migoule, head of municipal services for the town, sought to clarify the ruling’s intent.
"We are not talking about banning the wearing of religious symbols on the beach ... but ostentatious clothing which refers to an allegiance to terrorist movements which are at war with us," he said.
Islamic dress is a hot-button issue in La Belle France, where the full-face veil is banned in public places. But there is no ban on wearing religious symbols or clothing.
Migoule said that no burqini had been seen on any beach in Cannes since the ruling was signed into force on July 28 by Lisnard, a member of the center-right Les Republicains party.
Earlier this week, a waterpark in nearby Marseille cancelled plans to host a private event for Moslem women wearing burqinis after they sparked outrage, including from politicians on both the right and left.
[Ynet] UN human rights ...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty... chief Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein accused Bulgaria on Thursday of committing systematic human rights violations by criminalising migrants colonists.
Bulgaria's policy "raises serious concerns about the State's compliance with international law", he said in a statement.
He said it was "particularly disturbing to see important and influential public figures expressing support for illegal armed vigilante groups who have been brazenly hunting down migrants colonists along parts of the border between Bulgaria and The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... ".
#6
Do Muslimahs, drowning, address you,
"O kafir, please come to my rescue?"
Say, infidel's daughter,
"I'll wait and tread water
Till Allah arrives to undress you."
Two Turkish military attaches in Greece fled to Italy, others were caught overseas and several diplomats were on the run after being recalled as part of an inquiry into last month’s failed military coup, Turkey’s foreign minister said on Aug 11.
These added to several other fleeing military attaches, high-ranking soldiers and diplomats who fled after the bloody July 15 attempt as operations in the country against the followers of U.S.-based preacher Fethullah Gülen were ongoing inside the country.
Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu told private broadcaster NTV that two military attaches in Greece - Naval Col. Halis Tunç and Col. İlhan Yaşıtlı - had fled by car and ferry to Italy with their families, but Turkish officials would seek their return.
The Greek foreign ministry said the two attaches fled before Ankara asked them to return to Turkey and before officials canceled their diplomatic passports.
“Greek officials have confirmed this. The brother of Col. Halis Tunç lives in the Netherlands. We are pondering the possibility that they might have escaped to the Netherlands,” said Çavuşoğlu.
Five employees of Turkey’s embassy in the Netherlands were recalled on suspicion of involvement with the Gülen movement, the Turkish charge d’affaires told the Algemeen Dagblad newspaper this week.
“It wasn’t the cook or the servants,” Kurtulus Aykan, acting head of Turkey’s mission to the Netherlands, was quoted as saying. “These were high-ranking staff members, talented people with whom I had an excellent working relationship. I suspected nothing. That’s the talent of this movement. They infiltrate silently.”
Daily Hürriyet cited military sources as saying the Turkish military attache in the Jordanian capital of Amman had also fled.
Çavuşoğlu said a military attache based in Kuwait had also tried to escape through Saudi Arabia, but had been sent back, as well as two generals based in Afghanistan who had been caught in Dubai by United Arab Emirates authorities and returned to Turkey.
[Ynet] Turkish authorities have detained a total of 35,022 people in relation to last month's abortive coup attempt, a senior Turkish official said on Thursday.
Just over half of those detained, or 17,740 people, have since been formally tossed in the calaboose Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'! , the official said. A further 11,597 people have been released while 5,685 remain in jug, the official said.
[AnNahar] Bulgaria's deportation to The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... of a supporter of U.S.-based preacher Fethullah Gulen ... a Turkish preacher living in Pennsylvania whom the current govt of Turkey considers responsible for all the ills afflicting Turkey and possibly the entire world... , whom Ankara blames for last month's failed coup, sparked an outcry in the EU member state on Thursday.
Businessman Abdullah Buyuk, 43, was deported on Wednesday "as a person with invalid documents" after being refused political asylum, Interior Minister Rumyana Bachvarova told bTV television on Thursday. This sparked outrage in the news media and on social media, with critics charging that Sofia had bowed to Turkish pressure and had failed to follow proper legal or transparent procedures.
Buyuk arrived in Bulgaria in February -- long before the coup -- and The Sick Man of Europe Turkey had already sought his extradition, accusing him of "links with terrorist organizations and money laundering."
In March, two Bulgarian courts however refused to send him back, saying he was "sought for political reasons" and that they "lacked guarantees for a fair trial" in Turkey.
Prosecutors told AFP last week however that after the July 15 coup attempt, Turkey asked Bulgaria to reexamine the case. They replied that the request was "procedurally inadmissible."
But interior ministry deputy chief of staff Georgy Arabadzhiev told journalists on Thursday that Bulgaria had now received from Interpol "new worrying facts and circumstances" about Buyuk, without elaborating.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/12/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
According to Ynet, 32 of 208 recalled diplomats ar still at large. May God have mercy on all their souls -- Sultan Recip I is looking for sacrificial scapegoats.
Excerpt: "Last year, 50 professional intelligence officers at US Central Command filed a formal complaint that their intelligence reports were being altered by senior officers. Now, we can say for certain that they were right. A Congressional task force investigating the complaint has found convincing evidence that the reports generated by junior officers were far more dire in analysis of the threat from the Islamic State (ISIS), and that those reports became altered only once senior officers close to US Central Command (CENTCOM) leadership became involved. Those altered intelligence reports sometimes made it into the President's briefing material, where they could reinforce his judgment that ISIS was not a threat he had to take seriously."
Worse, these altered intelligence reports formed the basis for sworn testimony given by then-CENTCOM Commander Lloyd Austin. General Austin's testimony to Congress thus painted a rosier picture than was accurate. This gave allies of the President in Congress the opportunity to downplay the need for policy changes, and undermined Republican efforts to drive a more serious response to the ISIS threat. Such false statements by General Austin may have been perjury, especially if he was aware that they were false.
In a familiar pattern of behavior, it looks as if senior officials have been destroying records -- especially emails -- to block the ongoing Defense Department Inspector General investigation. So, at what grade does a military officer begin their transition to a lapdog? I'm thinin' maybe O-5-ish?
#3
So, at what grade does a military officer begin their transition to a lapdog? I'm thinin' maybe O-5-ish?
Lapdog? Clearly at O-6. It is so bad that when I worked for a three star...the GO, who knew that I was trained in detection of deception, would direct me watch the briefs and review reports looking for deception from the briefer - when it was obvious (hiding bad news...) the GO would then dispatch the CSM to rough up the NCOs in order to get the truth.
In Austin's case false statement are deliberate lies...dangerous lies. Either that or he is stupid...probably a little bit of both going on.
#5
Some folks should be forced into retirement without pension. If they complain about it paperwork for high crimes and misdemeanors can be drafted. They should provide honest assessments, keep them as secret as possible but cooking the evidence is unacceptable.
[IsraelTimes] Emanuel Lutchman was in contact with now-deceased Islamic State terrorist Abu Issa Al-Amriki
A 26-year-old ex-convict pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday to plotting a New Year’s Eve machete attack at a Rochester restaurant in the name of 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.... terrorist group.
...who soon will have a permanent place in the prison mental ward, taking him out of reach of those sane jihadis who would have happily turned him into cannon fodder...
of Rochester, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorism organization, a charge that carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison, US Attorney William Hochul said. He’ll be sentenced Nov. 15 in US District Court in Rochester.
Officials say Lutchman explored websites related to violent jihad and initiated contact with now-deceased Islamic State terrorist Abu Issa Al-Amriki in Syria in December 2015. Prosecutors say Al-Amriki told him to plan an attack on New Year’s Eve and kill non-believers, or "kuffar."
The FBI says it used paid informants to uncover the plot and take Lutchman to a Walmart store to purchase black ski masks, two knives, a machete, ammonia and other supplies for the attack.
On Dec. 30, 2015, prosecutors say Lutchman made a video pledging allegiance to the Islamic State in which he said, "the blood that you spill of the Moslem overseas we gonna spill the blood of the kuffar." Immediately thereafter, agents placed in durance vile Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out! him.
Lutchman’s family told the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle he has a long history of mental problems and was unable to get a job after serving time in prison for robbing a man of his cellphone, bus pass and cigarettes when he was 16. His grandmother said he would never have carried out the attack.
But he would have put on a suicide vest if someone had given it to him, then walked into a crowd to be detonated.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
08/12/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
Officials say Lutchman explored websites related to violent jihad
If I were building a URL database of websites that concentrated keywords, names, etc. related to T-ism and accompanying actions, then monitored the big DNS for IPs hitting these URLs, I could have a pretty good map of R-burgers.
#3
True dat, that kind of thing already exists - and your good intentions will avail you naught if/when you trip the IRS/DHS/BLM/EPA/NSA/CIA etc wire. The technique is all good, but libs will, of course, retarget to the "internal" threat.
It is one thing when the Boston Glob reports jihadis "frequented websites promoting terrorism" - guess what could, and prolly will, happen if YOU get hauled into the hoosegow coz you have Donut Glaze Residue on your not so well creased pants.
We are all on some assholes list.
Posted by: Bov Flimbers ||
08/12/2016 3:21 Comments ||
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I sense another road trip for James Taylor!
Syrian doctors in opposition districts of Aleppo have accused the United States of inaction in the face of repeated atrocities in the devastated city.
In a heart-wrenching letter addressed to US President Barack Obama, 15 of the 35 doctors in eastern neighborhoods of Syria’s second city warned the situation would be desperate for civilians if regime forces re-impose a siege.
On Saturday, rebels and allied jihadists broke a three-week government encirclement that had left residents of eastern Aleppo reeling from skyrocketing prices and food shortages.
But the pediatricians, surgeons, and other physicians who signed the letter said the situation remained dire.
“Unless a permanent lifeline to Aleppo is opened it will be only a matter of time until we are again surrounded by regime troops, hunger takes hold and hospitals’ supplies run completely dry.”
Unfortunately, war is hell.
A general view shows rising smoke from burning tyres, which activists said are used to create smoke cover from warplanes, in Aleppo. (Reuters)
The letter lambasts the US, saying it had seen “no effort on behalf of the United States to lift the siege or even use its influence to push the parties to protect civilians.”
“We do not need tears or sympathy or even prayers, we need your action. Prove that you are the friend of Syrians.”
The World Health Organization said Syria was the most dangerous place for health care workers to operate last year, with 135 attacks on health facilities and workers in 2015.
An estimated 250,000 people still live in the rebel-held eastern parts, with around 1.2 million in the government-controlled west.
Rebels and regime forces are amassing fighters around Aleppo ahead of what is likely to be a protracted battle for the northern city, whose hospitals and other civilian infrastructure have been ravaged by violence since mid-2012.
In late July, four makeshift hospitals and a blood bank in Aleppo city were hit by air raids in a single day.
Many of the signatories to the letter worked at those hospitals, where medicine is scarce and sandbags line the entrances.
“What pains us most, as doctors, is choosing who will live and who will die,” the doctors wrote. “Young children are sometimes brought into our emergency rooms so badly injured that we have to prioritise those with better chances, or simply don’t have the equipment to help them.”
The doctors lamented that for five years, they had “borne witness as countless patients, friends and colleagues suffered violent, tormented deaths.”
One attack two weeks ago left four newborn babies dead after the force of the blast cut off the oxygen supply to their incubator.
“Gasping for air, their lives ended before they had really begun.?”
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.
Hillary Clinton
[UPI] The Nigerian Army said it has defeated 
[IsraelTimes] The mayor of Cannes has banned the wearing of burqinis -- full-body swimsuits -- on the beaches of the French Riviera resort famous for its annual film festival, officials said Thursday.
Two Turkish military attaches in Greece fled to Italy, others were caught overseas and several diplomats were on the run after being recalled as part of an inquiry into last month’s failed military coup, Turkey’s foreign minister said on Aug 11.
Excerpt: "Last year, 50 professional intelligence officers at US Central Command filed a formal complaint that their intelligence reports were being altered by senior officers. Now, we can say for certain that they were right. A Congressional task force investigating the complaint has found convincing evidence that the reports generated by junior officers were far more dire in analysis of the threat from the Islamic State (ISIS), and that those reports became altered only once senior officers close to US Central Command (CENTCOM) leadership became involved. Those altered intelligence reports sometimes made it into the President's briefing material, where they could reinforce his judgment that ISIS was not a threat he had to take seriously."
