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Today: 62 articles and 173 comments as of 13:15.
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Area: WoT Operations    Non-WoT    Opinion        Politix   
ISIS on its last legs as the Syrian Army imposes full control over gas field in east Homs
Today's Headlines
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Page 4: Opinion
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Page 6: Politix
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Afghanistan
Ghani has handed over 50 percent of territory to Taliban, claims Massoud
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani
...former chancellor of Kabul University, now president of Afghanistan. Before returning to Afghanistan in 2002 he was a scholar of political science and anthropology. He worked at the World Bank working on international development assistance. As Finance Minister of Afghanistan between July 2002 and December 2004, he led Afghanistan's attempted economic recovery until the Karzais stole all the money. ..
has handed over the control of 50 percent of Afghanistan’s territory to Taliban
...the Pashtun equiovalent of men...
, the former presidential envoy Ahmad Zia Massoud claims.

Massoud was dismissed by President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani eleven days ago as the presidential palace said the step was taken as the post of the presidential envoy for reforms and good governance had proved as inefficient.

Speaking during a gathering in Kabul, Massoud said the country is facing the worst political and economical situation, apparently criticizing the government’s leadership for failure to main stability in the country.

Massoud claimed that the administration of President Ghani follows a dictatorship rule similar as Hafizullah Amin and emphasized that differences among different ethnic groups are on the rise.

In regards to his dismissal, Massoud said the decision was taken as he had not accepted slavery but did not elaborate further regarding his claims.

He also claimed that the government is attempting to weaken the security forces, pointing towards the recent attacks across the country and said the government is unable to ensure security for the people.

The former presidential envoy also added that the current government is not legitimate and insisted that he and his followers have taken back their votes which they casted to President Ghani during the 2014 controversial elections.

Posted by: Fred || 04/29/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Africa Horn
EU condemns the recent executions in Somalia
[SHABELLENEWS] The European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
considers the death penalty to be a cruel and inhumane punishment, which fails to provide deterrence to criminal behaviour and represents a denial of human dignity and integrity.

The EU Delegation regrets the news on the recent execution of several people in Somalia, and notes with growing concern the recurrent use of military courts in Somalia.

On Monday 24 April 2017, four alleged Al-Shabaab
... Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda...
members were executed in Baidoa. The four were accused of carrying out a kaboom in Baidoa, Southwest state and sentenced by the Somalia Military Court.

There have also been several security personnel executed for killing civilians, including two coppers for murders that took place in Afgoye and Hudur respectively, and a soldier for a murder committed in Burhakabo. This is the second spate of executions in the month of April.

While the EU condemns in the strongest terms all acts of terror and supports the application of robust sentences that follow due process, the EU also opposes on principle grounds the death penalty in all circumstances.

The European Union considers the death penalty to be a cruel and inhumane punishment, which fails to provide deterrence to criminal behaviour and represents a denial of human dignity and integrity.

Posted by: Fred || 04/29/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab (AQ)

#1  considers the death penalty to be a cruel and inhumane punishment, which fails to provide deterrence to criminal behaviour

Anybody know what the recidivism rate is for those awarded the death penalty? Anyone? Bueller?
Posted by: AlanC || 04/29/2017 7:39 Comments || Top||

#2  The death penalty being applied to Western Civilization is cruel and, as self inflicted, unusual and shows no deterrence to the barbarians.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 04/29/2017 8:58 Comments || Top||

#3  EU needs the death penalty.
Posted by: chris || 04/29/2017 20:49 Comments || Top||


Economy
Trump signs order to expand offshore oil, gas drilling
Another blow to the discretionary spending accounts of the Gulf Arabs and Iran, among others.
[AA.TR] President Donald Trump
...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States...
signed an executive order Friday that aims to expand offshore drilling for crude oil and natural gas in the Arctic and Atlantic oceans.

The order calls for a review of off-shore locations available for oil and gas exploration.

"Our country is blessed with incredible natural resources, including abundant offshore oil and natural gas reserves," Trump said in remarks before signing the order.

"But the federal government has kept 94 percent of these offshore areas closed for exploration and production. This deprives our country of potentially thousands and thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in wealth."

The order is the latest in a string of recent attempts to dismantle the environmental policy legacy of Trump's predecessor, President Barack Obama
Jedi mind meld...
Posted by: Fred || 04/29/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


The Grand Turk
Erdogan says Turkish Army will respond to Kurdish cross-border aggression
[ALMASDARNEWS] President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
’s southern border region with Syria had come under serious mortar fire over the last two days and Turkish forces were retaliating as necessary.

Erdogan also told a conference in Istanbul that United States support for Kurdish militia fighters inside Syria was damaging solidarity between Washington and Ankara, but that relations could turn a page under President Donald Trump
...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States...
"We will continue to take any measures as long as the threats persist... We will not allow efforts to form a terror corridor at our southern border," Erdogan said.
Posted by: Fred || 04/29/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte


Home Front: WoT
Milwaukee Sheriff David Clarke may soon have new job.
[Wash Times] Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke may soon have himself a new job in President Donald Trump’s administration.

Multiple sources with knowledge of the White House’s plans for filling a Department of Homeland Security spot at the Office of Partnership and Engagement told Politico on Friday that Mr. Clarke is a viable contender.

"[It’s] not a done deal yet," a senior administration official told the website of its vetting process.
Mr. Clarke gained national fame in recent years with appearances on Fox News Channel discussing the rule of law, the Black Lives Matter movement and former President Barack Obama’s rhetoric on racial issues. He also spoke at the 2016 Republican National Convention.

"We simply cannot be great if we do not feel safe in our homes, on our streets, and in our schools," the lawman said July 18, 2016. "I see this every day, at street level, where many Americans increasingly have an uneasiness about the ability of their families to live safely in these troubling times. This transcends race, religion, ethnicity, gender, age, and lifestyle. ..."

"Donald Trump understands that what can make our nation safe again is a re-commitment to a system of justice in which no government official, not even those who have fought their way to the marble and granite halls of Washington; no private citizen, no elected official, even Hillary Clinton; and no group of people, despite the fervor with which they press forward their grievances, can claim privilege above the law," the sheriff continued. "It cannot happen in the United States."
Bonus article: Sheriff David Clarke: ‘Rat bastards’ on the left never give up.
Posted by: Besoeker || 04/29/2017 02:28 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Clarke said "Rat Bastards.?" Turn him loose in DHS and enjoy your popcorn. Seems like a good fit.
Posted by: JohnQC || 04/29/2017 9:34 Comments || Top||


International-UN-NGOs
London terrorism suspect a former ‘humanitarian activist'
יh/t Instapundit
Yesterday, police in London arrested a man who was carrying two knives near the Parliament building on suspicion of planning an attack. Today police revealed he is 27-year-old Khalid Mohamed Omar Ali. According to the Guardian, just a few years ago Ali was a "humanitarian activist" who participated in an aid convoy to Gaza:
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 04/29/2017 14:22 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  That would be George Galloway's Viva Palestina group that drove what was claimed to be $5 million of aid to Gaza via Syria and Egypt. Mr. Galloway was not among them, having made himself persona non grata in Egypt.
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/29/2017 17:04 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Erdogan calls Shia paramilitary groups ‘terrorists’, threatening Turkish intervention in Iraq
[ARA] The Turkish President Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First
... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him...
labeled the paramilitary forces fighting 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....
in Iraq as "terrorists" and part of Iran’s "Persian expansion policy".

"Who are al-Hashd al-Shaabi? Who is backing them? The Iraqi parliament supports al-Hashd al-Shaabi, but, honestly, they are a terrorist organization, and should be known who stands behind it," he said during an interview with the 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...
i channel Al Jazeera on Wednesday.

Ahmed al-Assadi, a spokesperson of the Popular Mobilisation Units (PMU), also known as al-Hashd al-Shaabi, called Erdogan’s remarks as "a violation against an Iraqi security institution" that is "recognized by the parliament and the state".

Hadi al-Ameri, the former Iraqi minister of transportation and the head of the PMU Badr Organization, one of the biggest PMU forces in Iraq, in response called for a complete stop of trade with The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
On Saturday, the Turkish Ambassador to Iraq, Fatih Yildiz, joined a memorial march on the anniversary of Imam Kazim’s death in Baghdad in order to control the damage.

"It’s unfortunate to learn that some regional leaders are still ill-informed by biased or incompetent advices on what’s happening in their neighbourhood," Luay al-Khatteeb, the founding director of the Iraq Energy Institute, co-founder of Iraq Heritage and nonresident Fellow at the Center on Global Energy Policy told ARA News.

"The PMUs like many armed units of the Iraqi Armed Forces are governed by the federal authority and regulated by federal laws," al-Khateeb said.

"Although a de-facto Shia majority, but diverse and inclusive enough to depict the social fabric of Iraq, with tens of thousands of Sunni Arabs, Christians and other factions amongst their ranks," he said.

Posted by: Fred || 04/29/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iraq


Home Front: Culture Wars
Military professors call Trump Army secretary pick 'serious threat'
h/t Instapundit
A group of nine professors from service academies and war colleges are calling President Trump's choice to be Army secretary a "serious threat" to military values, according to a letter provided to the Washington Examiner Friday.

The current faculty members, who were joined by 12 of more former professors, wrote a letter of opposition to Tennessee state Sen. Mark Green, saying he has attacked the gay and transgender community as well as "Latinos, women, Muslims, and members of the armed forces."

..."Mark Green would undermine good order and discipline by fostering dissension within the ranks and sowing confusion about what the military stands for," the faculty members wrote.

Green has denied claims he is against minority groups and said liberals are targeting him for his religious faith.

Trump picked Green, 52, a conservative Christian lawmaker and former Army special operations flight surgeon, to be the Army's top civilian earlier this month. He was on the task force that captured deposed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and wrote a book about his experience.

But videotaped public comments Green made in recent years have sparked opposition from House Democrats, liberal advocacy groups and transgender reality TV star Caitlyn Jenner.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 04/29/2017 00:36 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Military professors appointed by the perfumed princes of the left determined to make the military a PC meals on wheels operation.
Posted by: Jeasing Creque5352 || 04/29/2017 2:00 Comments || Top||

#2  ....He did his residency in emergency medicine at Fort Hood Texas. After his residency Dr. Green was selected to serve as the Flight surgeon for the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment.

That's all I needed to know. Thank you Wikipedia.
Posted by: Besoeker || 04/29/2017 2:10 Comments || Top||

#3  That's all I needed to know.

Really can't have an appreciation until you ride with them.
Posted by: Skidmark || 04/29/2017 4:16 Comments || Top||

#4  a conservative Christian lawmaker

I see the professors issue with the nominee. IIRC many of the 'professors' at the academies are contracted which leads to a solution to their problem.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 04/29/2017 9:01 Comments || Top||

#5  If SecDef Mattis is OK with the guy, then I am too.
Posted by: SteveS || 04/29/2017 9:39 Comments || Top||

#6  So the primary role of the army is to cater hand and foot to the transgender community now? Who knew?
Posted by: CrazyFool || 04/29/2017 10:11 Comments || Top||

#7  I stopped reading as soon as I saw the word 'professors'.
Posted by: Raj || 04/29/2017 13:09 Comments || Top||

#8  The professors are the serious threat. Give them a rifle and drop them into Syria to see if they can put into practice what they preach.
Posted by: DarthVader || 04/29/2017 14:12 Comments || Top||

#9  Re: Christians, I see the Sudacees, Pharacees and Scribes are at it again.
Posted by: Nero White 3083 || 04/29/2017 15:43 Comments || Top||

#10  Remember when Klinger was trying to get a Section 8? Today they'd keep promoting him.
Posted by: Rob Crawford || 04/29/2017 22:40 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
30[untagged]
5Islamic State
4Govt of Pakistan
4Sublime Porte
3Taliban
2Houthis
2Moslem Colonists
2al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
1Govt of Syria
1Commies
1Govt of Iraq
1Jamaat ul-Ahrar
1Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (IS)
1Salafists
1al-Shabaab (AQ)
1Jaish al-Islam (MB)
1Govt of Pakistain Proxies
1Fatah

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Two weeks of WOT
Sat 2017-04-29
  ISIS on its last legs as the Syrian Army imposes full control over gas field in east Homs
Fri 2017-04-28
  Fighting between Kurds and Turkish troops continue in Northern Syria
Thu 2017-04-27
  Damascus airport rocked after 'Israel air strike' on arms depot
Wed 2017-04-26
  Abu Sayyaf beheads captive Philippine soldier
Tue 2017-04-25
  Sweden arrests second suspect over deadly truck attack
Mon 2017-04-24
  Drone strike kills 5 Qaeda suspects in Yemen
Sun 2017-04-23
  5 terrorist suspects arrested in Brussels after arms, ammo & drugs seized in police raids
Sat 2017-04-22
  Dozens of About 140 Afghan troops dead in Taliban base attack
Fri 2017-04-21
  ISIS Media Chief dies in airstrike
Thu 2017-04-20
  Paris - cops shot, 1 killed. Suspect dead, Suspicious package left
Wed 2017-04-19
  US: Man screams 'Allahu akbar!' and kills three civilians
Tue 2017-04-18
  Pakistani Taliban leader Ehsanullah Ehsan 'surrenders'
Mon 2017-04-17
  Pirates killed while trying to hijack ship near Somalia
Sun 2017-04-16
  At least 43 killed as car bomb hits Syria evacuees
Sat 2017-04-15
  Islamic State mufti killed in Mosul air strike, Iraqi forces say

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