[al-Manar] Some 300 US Marines will head to Helmand province in Afghanistan this spring to help a NATO-led mission to train Afghan forces, the Marines said Friday.
The move puts Marines back in Helmand, who left in 2014 as NATO withdrew its forces and let Afghan troops lead the fight against the Taliban.
They were among the first US forces sent to Afghanistan after the 2001 attacks in the United States. Several thousand were deployed in Helmand, an opium-producing region, where they engaged in combat with the Taliban.
The administration of outgoing President Barack Obama had hoped to withdraw most US military forces from Afghanistan by now, leaving behind just a small force.
But the United States still has some 8,400 military personnel in the country, and is now returning the Marines to Helmand.
At the request of US Central Command (CENTCOM) and the US forces in Afghanistan, “approximately 300 Marines will deploy to Helmand Province Afghanistan in Spring 2017 in support of the NATO-led Resolute Support mission,” a statement from the Marine Corps said.
The Marines “will train and advise key leaders within the Afghan National Army 215th Corps and the 505th Zone National Police,” it added.
“Advising and assisting Afghan defense and security forces will assist in preserving gains made together with the Afghans.”
The Afghan army and police are struggling in their struggle against a resurgent Taliban.
Afghanistan is by far the world’s largest opium producer. The UN estimates 2016 production at 4,800 to 6,000 tons, up sharply from 3,300 tons in 2015, while cultivated areas have increased by 10 percent in one year.
The Copts I know are in tears of joy over this. This is how Egypt used to be, they say. Not long ago a non-observant Muslim Egyptian-American in his fifties was telling me stories of his youth in Cairo, of hanging out in his Christian friends' houses and they in his, of going with them to worship in the cathedral out of curiosity, and they joining him at the mosque for the same reason, of sharing one another's holiday celebrations.
[AlAhram] Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi announced on Friday the building of what will be the largest church and the largest mosque in Egypt at the new capital by the coming year, and that he will be the first to donate money for the project.
El-Sisi made the announcement on Friday evening while visiting the Coptic Cathedral in Cairo for Coptic Christmas celebrations, which were attended by the Coptic Pope Tawadros II.
The president also apologised for the delay in the rebuilding of all the churches that were torched following the ouster of Islamist president Mohammed Morsi in 2013.
However, death is not the end. There remains the litigation over the estate... President El-Sisi assured that with the exception of one church in Upper Egypt and one in Sinai, all the churches damaged in the attacks have been rebuilt.
He also stressed that the Pope did not broach the subject of the damaged churches, "although it is his right to do so."
The Egyptian president asserted that diversity and differences between people were created by God and should be respected.
"Only beauty has a place among us, ugliness has no place here," he said.
"Egypt will export good and light with all our help, we shall teach the region and the world love, peace, stability and security. Egypt will be great if we all deal [with each other] with honor, loyalty and peace," the president said.
"As I stand in one of God's houses, I pray for God to save you and save Egypt, and keep peace and stability in our country," El-Sisi concluded.
This is the third time El-Sisi has paid an official visit to the Coptic Cathedral.
Last month, a jacket wallah killed 28 people and injured over 40 others at a Cairo church during Sunday prayers.
#1
I remember as a kid in school back in the '50s looking at the tourist pictures from Egypt with the Sphinx and Pyramids and what looked like jet setters on the Riviera at the cafes etc.
It is Christmas Eve for Egypt's Copts but Marie Labib is not in a festive mood, with dark thoughts haunting her weeks after a church bombing killed 28 members of her community.
Copts, who make up about one tenth of Egypt's population of more than 92 million and who celebrate Christmas on Saturday, have long complained of discrimination.
Daesh claimed responsibility for the December 11 suicide bombing that killed 28 worshippers during Sunday mass in Cairo, the latest bout of bloodshed in the Muslim-majority country.
"No one feels festive. I haven't baked a cake," said Labib, a 47-year-old mother of two who lives in the upscale Cairo district of Maadi.
In her living room a huge picture of Jesus Christ hangs on a wall and a small Christmas tree strung with lights sits on a table.
"Fear grips me each time one of my three children goes out," she said, adding that she has urged her daughters to hide the cross worn around their necks "to avoid any possible attack".
"I don't feel secure. It is as if someone could kill me thinking that this act would bring them closer to God," said Marina Najji, one of Labib's daughters.
The 25-year-old bank employee said she would not heed her mother's advice to conceal her cross under her clothes when she is out "because it is a part of me".
But she quickly added: "This is not a happy holiday and I hope it will pass without any problem".
The December 11 attack was the second church bombing targeting Egypt's Copts since 2011, when 21 worshippers attending New Year's Eve mass in Alexandria were killed.
The wine merchant's murder has only deepened the sense of nervousness.
"It is very normal to be worried after two attacks taking place in less than a month," said 37-year-old accountant George.
Metal detectors have been installed at the gates of the churches in Cairo and Alexandria for Coptic Christmas and barriers erected around them to prevent anyone from parking cars in the area.
George, who lives in the Pyramids district of Cairo, said he went to Alexandria last week to attend New Year's mass and was shocked by the tight security. George said he was body-searched before he went inside the Alexandria church by security agents checking for explosives.
"It's regrettable that even in church you can't feel safe," he said.
Early Friday morning worshippers thronged the Virgin Mary church in north Cairo, entering one by one through a metal detector.
"These are merely precautionary measures. They are not meant to frighten worshippers," said a church official who declined to be named.
Adel Ishaq, a 30-year-old father of a two-week-old girl, said he knew three people killed in the December 11 church bombing.
Since that bloody attack he has been struggling with his fear of going to church and his mother has implored him to stay away from the house of worship.
"Each time I get ready to go to church fear overwhelms me because I think that I could be the next victim, but I manage to overcome it," he said.
"Ever since the bombing, Copts feel they have to overcome a challenge," said Saeed Saadallah, a man in his 70s.
There have been dozens of anti-Christian attacks in Egypt in recent years.
In August 2013 supporters of ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi torched a dozen churches and Coptic properties after a police crackdown that left hundreds of Islamist demonstrators dead.
I have a modest proposal: move all the Copts out of Egypt proper. Settle them on a rim on the Med on the northern Sinai, extending into Gaza. Move the Palestinians out of Gaza and put them into Egypt. In essence, a major swap. Put a UN barrier (enforced by US peacekeepers) between the new Coptic state and the rest of Egypt. I think in the end everyone would be happier, except the Gazooks, and I really don't care about them.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/08/2017 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
[WAPO] A couple of months ago, Czech President Milos Zeman made an unusual request: He urged citizens to arm themselves against a possible "super-Holocaust" carried out by Muslim terrorists.
Never mind that there are fewer than 4,000 Muslims in this country of 10 million people -- gun purchases spiked. One shop owner in East Bohemia, a region in the northern center of the Czech Republic, told a local paper that people were scared of a "wave of Islamists."
Now the country's interior ministry is pushing a constitutional change that would let citizens use guns against terrorists. Proponents say this could save lives if an attack occurs and police are delayed or unable to make their way to the scene. To become law, Parliament must approve the proposal; they'll vote in the coming months.
The Czech Republic already has some of the most lenient gun policies in Europe. It's home to about 800,000 registered firearms and 300,000 people with gun licenses. Obtaining a weapon is relatively easy: Residents must be 21, pass a gun knowledge check and have no criminal record. By law, Czechs can use their weapons to protect their property or when in danger, although they need to prove they faced a real threat.
This puts the country at odds with much of Europe, which has long supported much more stringent gun-control measures. In the wake of the 2015 terror attacks in Paris, France pushed the European Union to enact even tougher policies. The European Commission's initial proposal called for a complete ban on the sale of weapons like Kalashnikovs or AR-15s that are intended primarily for military use. Ammunition magazines would be limited to 20 rounds or less.
The Czech Republic came out hard against the directive. Officials warned -- somewhat ominously -- that the measure would limit the country's ability to build "an internal security system" and make it nearly impossible to train army reservists. And a total ban on military-style rifles that can fire large numbers of rounds would make illegal thousands of weapons already owned by Czech citizens, potentially creating a black market for terrorists to exploit. Finland and Germany offered their own reservations; Europe's pro-gun groups also mobilized against the bill with the support of politicians on the extreme right. Related article at Zero Hedge.
#1
...The Czechs - along with the other nations who were steamrollered into slavery by the Russians at the end of WWII - have NO intention of ever letting it happen again, no matter what guise the invaders come in.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
01/08/2017 8:46 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Texas can confirm that advice works pretty well.
#3
....Well, after the Luby's restaurant shooting -
The Texas State Rifle Association and others preferred that the state allow its citizens to carry concealed weapons.[13] Democratic governor Ann Richards vetoed such bills, but in 1995 her Republican successor, George W. Bush, signed one into force.[15]
The law had been campaigned for by Suzanna Gratia Hupp, who was present at the massacre where both of her parents were killed. She later testified that she would have liked to have had her gun during it, but said, "it was a hundred feet away in my car" (she had feared that if she was caught carrying it she might lose her chiropractor's license).[14] She testified across the country in support of concealed handgun laws, and was elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 1996.[16]
- wiki
[IsraelTimes] German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel has called for banning Salafist Islamist mosques and deporting preachers who advocate violence.
"Salafist mosques must be banned, communities dissolved and the preachers should be expelled as soon as possible," Gabriel told the German weekly Der Spiegel on Saturday.
"Those who encourage violence do not enjoy the protection of religious freedom," he added.
Gabriel, who also serves as the party chairman of Germany’s center-left Social Democratic Party, emphasized that he employs a "zero tolerance" policy in combating the rise of Islamic extremism in Germany.
"If we are serious about the fight against Islamism and terrorism, then it must also be a cultural fight," he told the paper.
According to Gabriel, half of the foreigners who have traveled to Syria to fight alongside 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.... jihadist group in recent years, are Germans.
The domestic security service estimates that the number of radical Islamists in Germany rose above 9,000 this year, from some 3,800 in 2011.
About 550 are considered capable of a violent attack -- a list that once included Amri.
[AA.TR] The new law says citizens abroad who do not respond to judicial summons issued by courts or prosecutors within 90 days might face losing their citizenship.
It says police have been authorized to access identity information of internet subscribers for the purposes of investigating crimes committed online.
The measures appear to be targeting members of the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), which perpetrated a failed coup attempt on July 15.
As a preventative measure against mass attacks, the decree stipulates that private security personnel would be subject to background checks, and individuals found to be affiliated with any groups threatening national security will not be able to work in private security companies.
They will also not be allowed to take weapons assigned to them outside their place of duty.
The Sick Man of Europe The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... declared a state of emergency after the deadly July 15 coup attempt, which martyred 248 people and injured nearly 2,200 others.
[AnNahar] Turkey on Saturday ordered the dismissal of almost 8,400 civil servants and the closure of over 80 associations, including sports clubs, in the latest round of purges after the July failed coup.
More than 100,000 people have already been suspended or sacked in a crackdown on those alleged to have links to coup-plotters in a relentless purge that shows no sign of slowing.
According to three new decrees published within the state of emergency imposed after the coup, 8,390 more civil servants are to lose their jobs from 63 different state institutions.
They include 2,687 coppers, 1,699 civil servants from the justice ministry, 838 health officials and hundreds of employees from other ministries.
Another 631 academics and eight members of the Council of State were also dismissed.
The dismissals are authorised by the cabinet and require no parliamentary approval under the state of emergency, which has twice been extended and is now due to last until April 19.
The three decrees published in the Official Gazette also ordered the closure of 83 associations accused of "activities affecting the security of the state". These include eight sports clubs, mainly from the Kurdish-dominated southeast of the country.
Meanwhile, ...back at the Senate, the partisans of Honorius went for their knives and the partisans of Stilicho went for the doors... police have also authorised to access the identity of internet subscribers to investigate crimes committed online.
The Sick Man of Europe Turkey insists that all those investigated will have a fair hearing and, under the latest decrees 276 people, previously dismissed were allowed to return to work following a probe.
The state of emergency has also seen closure orders for dozens of media organs. The latest decrees said 11 of them -- mainly from the southeast -- could now reopen.
More than 41,000 people have also been tossed in the calaboose Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! over suspected links to Gulen within the state of emergency, with the first trials only now getting underway in the biggest legal process in the country's history.
A court in the eastern city of Erzurum on January 5 sentenced two army officers to life in jail over their roles in the failed coup, the first verdicts to be handed out.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/08/2017 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Sublime Porte
[Yahoo] The Iraq war veteran accused of killing five travelers and wounding six others at a busy international airport in Florida was charged Saturday and could face the death penalty if convicted.
Esteban Santiago, 26, told Sherlocks that he planned the attack, buying a one-way ticket to the Fort Lauderdale airport, a federal complaint said. Authorities don't know why he chose his target and have not ruled out terrorism.
Santiago was charged with an act of violence at an international airport resulting in death -- which carries a maximum punishment of execution -- and weapons charges.
Authorities said during a news conference that they had interviewed roughly 175 people, including a lengthy interrogation with the cooperative suspect, a former National Guard soldier from Alaska. Flights had resumed at the Fort Lauderdale airport after the bloodshed, though the terminal where the shooting happened remained closed.
Santiago spoke to Sherlocks for several hours after he opened fire with a Walther 9mm semi-automatic handgun that he appears to have legally checked on a flight from Alaska. He had two magazines with him and emptied both of them, firing about 15 rounds, before he was placed in durance vile ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... , the complaint said.
"We have not identified any triggers that would have caused this attack. We're pursuing all angles on what prompted him to carry out this horrific attack," FBI Agent George Piro said.
Investigators are combing through social media and other information to determine Santiago's motive, and it's too early to say whether terrorism played a role, Piro said.
Perhaps they should consult the clever people at Jihad Watch.
Santiago will make his first court appearance Monday.
[AA.TR] Pakistain accused India of interference and carrying out terrorism in its territory in a dossier handed over to the UN on Friday in yet another sign of worsening ties between the two nuclear-armed neighbors.
According to a Foreign Ministry front man, Pakistain’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Maleeha Lodhi, gave the dossier to the global body’s Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, which contained "proof of Indian intelligence agencies' interference in Pakistain and involvement in terrorism" in the militancy-hit southwestern Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... province.
The dossier also included a "confessional" statement by Kulbhushan Jadhav, an alleged agent of Indian intelligence agency RAW ... India's Research and Analysis Wing, Pakistain's equivalent of the Boogie Man... , who was reportedly placed in durance vile Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out! in Balochistan last year.
Pakistain urged the UN chief and other relevant UN bodies to "seriously consider the matter", adding that it continued to desire peace with all its neighbors, including India.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/08/2017 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/08/2017 13:11 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Wretchard posted this quote earlier:
Michael Ledeen (@michaelledeen):
rafsanjani in intensive care. "heart attack." said to be braindead. friends whispering he was poisoned. evergreen. big power struggle.
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/08/2017 13:49 Comments ||
Top||
#4
If we had a CIA more interested in causing trouble abroad than at home, we'd be spreading the rumor that Rafsanjani had been poisoned by someone named Mahmoud...
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/08/2017 16:22 Comments ||
Top||
#5
You nailed it Doctor. I'll quote OlduberGroober's recent comment at Qwiket.
I believe, with no scientific but plenty of practical evidence, that bureaucracies invariably and quickly reach a point where they are spending much more time and effort on the bureaucracy than on their mission. NASA is a prime example of this, bumming rides to orbit on Russian rockets and having their best American successes hiring SpaceX and OSC to do what NASA once did. Mostly they endlessly design the next big thing, but never actually get it to fly. Like most other federal agencies, they are a bureaucracy-shaped rathole we throw money down.
My solution: Every single bureaucracy should be closed and replaced every 25 or so years. One could avoid 'startup shock' by having two competing agencies with staggered terms. There would need to be a strong bias, encoded in law, against hiring people form the previous agency.
It's an ugly solution, but less ugly than what we have now.
[LegalInsurrection] The Modern Language Association (MLA) Delegate Assembly voted today on three resolutions: One in favor of a boycott of all Israeli universities (Resolution 2017-2); the second, opposing academic boycotts in general (Resolution 2017-1)...
The vote just took place, and the BDS resolution lost, and the anti-BDS resolution passed:
2017-2 pro bds: 79 yes 113 no
2017-1 antibds : 101 yes against 93
Posted by: lord garth ||
01/08/2017 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Sad to see it so close, though.
Posted by: james ||
01/08/2017 22:06 Comments ||
Top||
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.
[IsraelTimes] German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel has called for banning Salafist Islamist mosques and deporting preachers who advocate violence.
[AA.TR] The new law says citizens abroad who do not respond to judicial summons issued by courts or prosecutors within 90 days might face losing their citizenship.
[AA.TR] Pakistain accused India of interference and carrying out terrorism in its territory in a dossier handed over to the UN on Friday in yet another sign of worsening ties between the two nuclear-armed neighbors.
[LegalInsurrection] The Modern Language Association (MLA) Delegate Assembly voted today on three resolutions: One in favor of a boycott of all Israeli universities (Resolution 2017-2); the second, opposing academic boycotts in general (Resolution 2017-1)...
