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Mexican Army rescues 61 kidnap victims, seizes drugs
Today's Headlines
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Good morning
Posted by: Fred || 10/17/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Cool. Troll named me personally. It's like a birthday card on Christmas!
Posted by: Iblis || 10/17/2011 0:16 Comments || Top||

#2  WTF was that all about? I was just hoping to get the latest link to Dawn and find out what's going on in Central Asia.

Uh, must be because I hate Muslims. Or something.
Posted by: Secret Master || 10/17/2011 0:38 Comments || Top||

#3  Yes, strange, very strange. But at least he or she didn't launch a vicious personal attacks, although I didn't read the entire post.
Posted by: Sofa-Soldier || 10/17/2011 1:04 Comments || Top||

#4  Uh, must be because I hate Muslims. Or something.

We're all infidels on this bus.
Posted by: SteveS || 10/17/2011 1:30 Comments || Top||

#5  We're all infidels on this bus.

True enough #chuckle#. OTOH what that nitwit doesn't know is that one of my closest friends is, in fact, a Muslim (from India). We've been friends since high school. I've got another pal who is Palestinian. And my family has long-standing (re: per-revolutionary) ties with Iran. I'm frankly rather fond of Persians on a personal, one-on-one level.

It's the politicians, holy men, and fundamentalists of the Muslim world that I mostly have a problem with, not every single person who practices some version of that faith. I actually give a damn what happens in their f-ed up part of the world too. Which is why I treasure Rantburg: the "go to" place to follow what goes on in the Middle East and Central Asia.
Posted by: Secret Master || 10/17/2011 2:06 Comments || Top||

#6  Birthday/Daily Gam Shot

Rita Hayworth aka Gilda Mundson Farrell in "Gilda" aka Elsa Bannister in "The Lady from Shanghai" aka Vera Simpson in "Pal Joey" aka
Rusty Parker nicknamed 'Chicken' in "Cover Girl" aka Irena in "Fire Down Below" aka Ann Shankland in "Separate Tables" aka Adelaide Geary in "They Came to Cordura" aka Lili Alfredo in "Circus World" (Died in 1987 at age 68)



A SmorgusGorb
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 10/17/2011 2:13 Comments || Top||

#7  Secret Master Ditto that. I "have a problem with" the same groups. Media just labels everyone the same.
Posted by: Dale || 10/17/2011 8:29 Comments || Top||

#8  Sounds like my kinda day. Mills Brothers and several others did some good work with this tune.

Posted by: Dale || 10/17/2011 8:46 Comments || Top||

#9  Johnny Mercer came up with the name of the song.
Hoagy was laying on a couch when Mercer came in and said something like "Hoag" you've given me an idea for a new song. Twenty minuets later they had "Lazy Bones" done.
Posted by: Dale || 10/17/2011 10:25 Comments || Top||

#10  The part that the disappeared troll can't understand is that we realize that there are perfectly nice and even heroic Moslems in the world, the late Ahmed Shah Masood being the first example that pops to mind.

If you think in terms of jihad against the Crusaders that sort of thing doesn't compute. If you mindlessly hate all Moose Limbs it doesn't compute, either.

Posted by: Fred || 10/17/2011 11:05 Comments || Top||

#11  If you think in terms of jihad against the Crusaders that sort of thing doesn't compute. If you mindlessly hate all Moose Limbs it doesn't compute, either.

Which is why we can't just nuke 'em all as tempting as that is.

Er, and thanks for that Lazy Bones thingy, Dale. It was highly entertaining.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 10/17/2011 11:41 Comments || Top||

#12  As for Hoagy Carmichael, you should include the classic film clips of Hoagy from "To and and to Have Not" with Bogey and Lauren. There are some great bar scenes in that movie...as well as the "you do know how to whistle?" scene...great stuff.

As for the Moslems...I spent three months in Iraq, they are wonderful, generous, and kind people. We stayed up till all hours drinking Scotch and discussing religion and finding common ground of our faith...on the other hand most of the Saudi and Pakistani educated Imans have tilted completely away from the other pillars of faith toward Jihad only. The constant drum beat of jihad and killing the infidel is creating huge problems...of course the Sunnis think Shia are infidels and vice versa.

When Mohammed himself was leading the great expansion, he gave cities the choice of Islam, the Sword or the Book...the Book meaning the Bible or the Torah. It was not until Tamerlane that Islam took an ugly turn...The division over Mohammed's successor also divided Islam.

When you look at Pakistan, you see Moslems killing Moslems over esoteric interpretations of heresy, blastphemy, Sunni vs Shia, and Moslem cults with extreme interpretations of obscure portions of the Quran...Until Islam gets a grip over the extremes of their faith and get back to what made Islam appealing to many converts (other than keeping their heads), the faith will continue to be corrosive and detrimental to their host countries.
Posted by: Bill Clinton || 10/17/2011 11:48 Comments || Top||

#13  Islam appears to be trending the other direction Bill.
Posted by: Sofa-Soldier || 10/17/2011 12:02 Comments || Top||

#14  (response moved to an Opinion piece under Home Front Politix. Your responses solicited.)
Posted by: lotp || 10/17/2011 15:10 Comments || Top||

#15  Off to the But Thap Pagorba ...
Posted by: gorb || 10/17/2011 23:02 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
3 suicide attackers killed in eastern Afghanistan
[Emirates 24/7] Afghan police rubbed out three jacket wallahs attempting to target mayoral offices in the east of the country on Sunday, but a car boom set up for the attack blew up, killing one worker, an official said.

"At around noon, three suicide kaboomers with an explosives-packed vehicle tried to enter the municipality building in Gardez and target the city hall, but they were stopped and killed by the police," Rohullah Samoon, front man for Paktia provincial governor told AFP.

He said the attackers left their bomb-rigged vehicle, which detonated before foreign troops were able to arrive to defuse it, killing one worker.

The eastern region of Afghanistan has been the focus of US-led NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Originally it was a mutual defense pact directed against an expansionist Soviet Union. In later years it evolved into a mechanism for picking the American pocket while criticizing the cut of the American pants...
efforts in recent weeks, shifting from Taliban strongholds in the south towards the restive wild border with Pakistain where senior snuffies hold sway.

The United Nations
...the Oyster Bay money pit...
says that violent incidents in the 10-year conflict were up by nearly 40 percent in the first eight months of this year compared to a year earlier.

Suicide attacks made up a greater proportion of the violence, with three such attacks reported each month in 2011, 50 percent more than last year. NATO's International Security Assistance Force disputes the figures, saying that by its tally violence is down by two percent over the same period.
Posted by: Fred || 10/17/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Africa Horn
Al-Shabab threatens Kenya with suicide attacks
Posted by: ryuge || 10/17/2011 11:07 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Somali government forces seize town from Shebab rebels
[Dawn] Somali government troops and allied militia have wrested control of an Islamist Shebab stronghold in the south of the country after reported bombing by military aircraft on Saturday, officials and witnesses said.

Witnesses said troops from the Western-backed government, as well as gunnies from the pro-government Ras Kamboni militia, took control of the southern Somali town of Qoqani in the Lower Juba region, which borders Kenya.

"The government forces took control of Qoqani after heavy shelling on the positions of the Shebab and their affiliates," said Abdurrahman Mohamed, a government security official.

"The enemy is lost and we will continue pursuing them," he added.

The official did not specify the form of the shelling, but witnesses said there had been aerial bombardment in Qoqani late Saturday before Shebab troops pulled out of the town.

"Several aircrafts dropped bombs on the jungle area of Qoqani causing heavy kabooms, and the Shebab withdrew from the town without face-to-face fighting," said Sugule Ali, an elder in a nearby village.

The US military has carried out a number of attacks in recent years against Al-Qaeda cut-throats believed to be hiding in Somalia, including using unmanned drones.

Neighbouring Kenya on Saturday vowed to pursue across the Somali border armed kidnappers responsible for a spate of abductions of foreigners, that Nairobi blames on the Al-Qaeda inspired Shebab.

Kenyan military aircraft and helicopters were reported along the frontier with Somalia late Saturday as forces search for two Spanish aid workers kidnapped from the Dadaab refugee camp on Thursday.
Posted by: Fred || 10/17/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab


Al Shabaab warns Kenyan soldiers
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Somalia's Al-Qaeda linked Shabaab rebels on Sunday warned Kenyan soldiers, as they crossed the frontier to attack Death Eater strongholds, that they would feel the "pain of bullets."

"Kenya violated the territorial rights of Somalia by entering our holy land, but I assure you that they will return disappointed, God willing," said Sheikh Hassan Turki, a senior Shabaab leader.

"Mujahideen fighters will force them to test the pain of the bullets."

Kenyan government front man Alfred Mutua said on Sunday that its troops had entered southern Somalia to fight the Shabaab, who it says are responsible for attacks on its territory, including the recent kidnapping four foreigners.

In response, the Shabaab called on Somalis to rally and attack the Kenyan troops.

"I call on all Somalis to stand united against this blood-thirsty enemy that has crossed into our territories and the apostate Somali forces of Evil helping them," Turki added.

Kenya's assault comes a day after its Internal Security Minister George Saitoti branded the bad turban Shabaab rebels "the enemy" and vowed to attack them "wherever they will be".
Posted by: Fred || 10/17/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab

#1  Probably not a good idea. Kenyan military have long been a cut above about most of Africa, and rank probably number three behind SA and Egypt. This is supported by a government trained by downside British Empire, and lots of experience in unconventional warfare during the Mau-Mau years.

Think of British bureaucratic civility masking a bloody minded attitude. It did not take them very long after Somali incursions to decide to send in this punitive expedition. This says a lot. I doubt they will be very big on taking Somali prisoners.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 10/17/2011 10:06 Comments || Top||


Kenyan forces go after raiders inside Somalia
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Kenyan forces were on Sunday operating deep inside Somalia with orders to make sure there are no al-Shabaab
... Harakat ash-Shabaab al-Mujahidin aka the Mujahideen Youth Movement. It was originally the youth movement of the Islamic Courts, now pretty much all of what's left of it. They are aligned with al-Qaeda but operate more like the Afghan or Pakistani Taliban. The organization's current leader is Ibrahim Haji Jama Mee'aad, also known as Ibrahim al-Afghani. Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, a Kenyan al-Qaeda member, is considered the group's military leader...
faceless myrmidons within 100 kilometres of the border.

Units from the Kenya Army are understood to have crossed into Somalia at Liboi and Mandera with orders to fight their way into the lawless country and create a buffer zone to ensure that gunnies do not launch attacks against Kenya.

Kenya Air Force and the Navy will be sent out as the need arises, security sources told the Nation.

Soldiers actually crossed into Somalia days before the announcement by Internal Security Minister George Saitoti and Defence Minister Yusuf Haji. (READ: Kenya declares war on Al-Shabaab)

Internal Security permanent secretary Francis Kimemia said security forces had drawn up strategies to defeat al-Shabaab in their own land.

"How it will be done, the number of troops involved and where they will strike remains a preserve of the military. We can't give information that would be useful to the enemy," he said.

Witnesses have reported military trucks at border points and military choppers in the air. Foreign troops are already on the ground in Somalia, mainly from Uganda and Burundi, under the African Union
...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful...
The Federal Transitional Government, the weak authority in Somalia backed by the international community, also has troops trained in Kenya and Uganda and paid for by western donors.

"Now we can't wait for the TFG or Amisom. Article 51 of the UN charter allows us to pursue them. It allows you to hit anybody who hits you or is planning to hit you.

"And also allows you to pursue those who have hit and bravely ran away," Mr Kimemia said.

Kenya has been under sustained provocation from al-Shabaab for months, with the al-Qaeda-linked group raiding across the border and, last Thursday, kidnapping two Spanish aid workers at the Daadab refugee camp. (READ: Two Spaniards kidnapped in Kenya likely in Somalia)

French woman Marie Dedieu was kidnapped on Manda Island on October 1 while Mrs Judith Tebbutt, a Briton, was kidnapped and her husband David rubbed out at Kiwayu resort in Kiunga in September.

In all incidents, those captured were taken to Somalia and are being held in al-Shabaab bases. Prof Saitoti announced the decision to send troops to Somalia in a presser on Saturday. He branded Somalia's al-Qaeda-inspired al-Shabaab rebels "the enemy" and vowed to attack them "wherever they will be."
Posted by: Fred || 10/17/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab


Kenya to pursue kidnappers into Somalia
NAIROBI, Kenya: Signaling a stepped-up campaign against Somali militants, Kenya’s top security chiefs said that Kenyan forces will pursue terrorists kidnappers hard boyz thugs militants into Somalia, a response to a spate of attacks in which four Europeans have been kidnapped and one killed since September.

Following the kidnappings of two Spanish aid workers Thursday and the abductions of British and French women in recent weeks, Minister of Internal Security George Saitoti said Kenyan forces will pursue Al-Shabab militants into Somalia.

“For the first time our country is threatened with the most serious level of terrorism,” Saitoti said Saturday.

The plan to pursue terrorists fighters inside Somalia signals a huge change in Kenya’s approach to the security threat posed by the lawless state of Somalia. While the African countries Uganda and Burundi each have thousands of troops fighting Al-Shabab militants in Mogadishu, Kenya has not actively engaged in the fight.
Time to get involved. Better late than never...
Al-Shabab has already carried out one devastating suicide terrorist attack in Uganda — killing 76 people last year — and Kenya’s decision to increase military engagement against the terrorists militants could open it up to more attacks inside its borders.

Terrorists Gunmen on Thursday entered the world’s largest refugee camp, Dadaab, and snatched two Spanish women working for the aid group Doctors Without Borders. Saitoti said Saturday that because of the kidnappings, the border with Somalia would now be closed.

“We have now closed the border and we have no apologies as far as that is concerned,” he said. “You will recall yourself that when a very large number of refugees were coming from Somalia because of the drought there we did agree to receive them in fulfillment of our international obligation. We did of course warn the international community that while Kenya was willing to take these people there were inherent risks.”

One such risk is that Kenyan officials have almost no way of telling apart legitimate refugees and Al-Shabab terrorists militants posing as hungry Somalis.

A spokesman for the UN refugee agency noted Saturday that the border has officially been closed for three years, so it wasn’t immediately clear if Saitoti’s announcement signaled a new policy or a reiteration of the old one.

Security has long been a concern at Dadaab, where representatives from various factions seek to recruit disaffected young male refugees as fighters. Aid workers live in guarded compounds surrounded by high barbed-wire walls, and the UN requires its staff to travel in the camps with armed escorts.
Posted by: Steve White || 10/17/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Africa North
Pro-Al Qathafi Loyalists Warned After Tripoli Flare-up
[Tripoli Post] The head of Tripoli's supreme military council in Libya's interim government, Abdelhakim Belhaj, has warned the former Libyan dictator Muammar Al Qadaffy's
...a proud Arab institution for 42 years...
loyalist fighters and so-called "dormant cells" of the former regime, that they would be targeted in the clean-up operation in a campaign to clear the capital of their ilk.

Belhaj made this pledged of tough action against pro-Al Qadaffy loyalists following Friday's fierce battles shootouts in Abu Salim, a district around 10 kilometres south of the city centre instigated by supporters of the former regime that killed three people.

In the first fighting in Tripoli since its capture in August, the Al Qadaffy loyalists gunnies on Friday clashed with fighters loyal to the National Transitional Council in an area, Abu Salim, renowned for its prison, which is known for its support to the runaway leader.

At a news conference, Abdelrazaq al-Aradi, vice president of the security committee in Tripoli, said among the three people killed in the festivities after pro-Al Qadaffy demonstrations at the end of Friday prayers, were two Al Qadaffy loyalists and an NTC fighter. Another 30 people were maimed.

He went on to say that the people behind the violence were around 50 armed supporters of the former leader, and that 27 of them, including four "African mercenaries," were jugged.

Though NTC officials said they had expected such festivities, residents were surprised with the flare-up at a time when the interim government is expecting a final victory in Al Qadaffy's hometown of Sirte in order to proclaim the country's liberation and prepare for the transition to an elected government.

NTC leaders in the meantime kept up their assault on Sirte Sunday in order to smoke out the last remaining Al Qadaffy forces trapped in an area not larger than one square kilometre. They keep on resisting the revolutionaries who have been using tanks and rocket fire to push deep into the city.

The fight for the city has dragged on for almost a month despite the prediction and repeated remarks that it was just a matter of time before the former dictator's supporters are overwhelmed and the fight would be over in a few days.

The troops defending their position, are outmanned and outgunned. Their most effective weapon that is causing most problems to the revolutionaries, is the use of snipers.

Along with others they are hiding in buildings with no apparent intention of surrendering. With all the fighting that has been going on, much of Sirte is in ruins.

"It is sheer suicide. They know they have not escape route. The only options are, surrender or be killed. They seem to have chosen the latter option," one of the commanders said. As such, they would be added to several who have already been killed on both sides. There have been no estimates of the number of fighters and civilians killed there.
Posted by: Fred || 10/17/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Africa Subsaharan
What Uganda Deployment reveals about Obama's war strategy
As US Special Operations Forces begin deploying to Africa, a clearer picture is emerging of America's preferred warfare strategy in a time of fiscal restraint: fewer troops, more drones, and the aggressive targeting of enemy leaders by special operations forces.

The Uganda operation is reported to have been in the works for some time, but Special Forces didn't have troops available until recently. Defense officials foreshadowed a plan like this latest for Uganda in the 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review -- a document that highlights US strategic intent -- which made "preventing human suffering due to mass atrocities" a Pentagon priority.

It is not likely be an easy operation. An estimated 300 to 400 LRA forces remain in the region, and they are dispersed in ungoverned territory. The US has sent troops to aid the fight against the LRA before. In late 2008 the Pentagon provided some twenty advisers to help coordinate a strategy for attacking the LRA. The LRA's top leadership managed to escape and later took their revenge, directing the killing thousands of civilians in the north of Congo in the following weeks. As a result, the LRA dispersed into three to five small groups "in very tough jungle terrain."

Obama, for his part, argued that the intervention against the LRA is a matter of national security. Critics aren't so sure about that. But the White House has a congressional mandate: Lawmakers in May 2010 authorized the president to come up with a regional strategy for dealing with the LRA, after nongovernmental organizations and evangelical Christian groups pleaded for US intervention there.
Posted by: Pappy || 10/17/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  OK, I'll bite. The LRA are evil mother-bleepers that deserve to be whacked, but how is it in our national interest to be the ones doing it?
Posted by: SteveS || 10/17/2011 0:15 Comments || Top||

#2  Obama, for his part, argued that the intervention against the LRA is a matter of national security.

I fear Uganda is simply the first of many to follow. Predominately, I mean quite predominately caucasion SF personnel will not be seen in any part of Africa as liberators. Once again, our leaders neglect the study of history, and a glaringly obvious, quite recent history at that.
Posted by: Sofa-Soldier || 10/17/2011 0:30 Comments || Top||

#3  While I'm not thrilled about us getting involved in *yet another* theater as international law enforcement (or whatever), killing off the LRA root and vine seems like, well, The Lord's Work. So I'm going to hold off judging this until we see what happens.
Posted by: Secret Master || 10/17/2011 0:57 Comments || Top||

#4  The LRA are quiet evil. Central Africa is an area that has become far more murky in the last few years with our attention elsewhere. The South Sudan independence alone has been a hassle to over-sae.
The Blue Nile region is very unhappy.
There are weapons from diverse places showing up.

Been following LRA for a long time, I do not like the fact that this is the timing for involvement, if at all. But I do know that there are interests we have if not only our investment to protect the Black Christians in that brutal environment.

That is what the the vote to separate the Sudans came from in the first place.Also, there are prominent radical Islamic elements in the wings trying to fire up the burn room again. Remember where Osama got his notorious start.

The LRA is not at all Christian.
Posted by: newc || 10/17/2011 1:29 Comments || Top||

#5  Also, be ever mindful that the amount of chaos in the DOD right now is so very ravaging between budget cuts and ACTIVE involvement in the Philippines, Afghanistan, Iraq, Sinai, Guam, Libya, Somalia (we need to get that on the board today as Kenya just sent troops there), Yemen +.

This amount of disorder in our priorities are deleterious to our Nations Defense.
Posted by: newc || 10/17/2011 1:39 Comments || Top||

#6  A far as I am concerned, if we can keep coming up with thoroughly nasty targets to whack, while providing good live-fire training to our Special Ops forces, we will be pursuing a "win win" situation.

I say this in the context of winding down operations in the two main theaters, so that Special Ops guys get some down time with families.
Posted by: Lone Ranger || 10/17/2011 1:44 Comments || Top||

#7  Right. Well, I still have mixed feelings about us deploying troops in Uganda (and thereabouts). On one hand, Obama's statement about the LRA being a security risk to America is patently BS. Unless Joseph Kony manages to summon Cthulhu (a slight possibility, actually), they simply aren't. The Big O just wants to kill them all... which shows good taste. I do too. The LRA suck so bad it's almost hard to believe they exist at all.

OTOH same thing could definitely be said about the Taliban and Saddam Hussein. And 50%-ish of the American population don't seem to think it was worth it. So these things can get... complex. Quickly.
Posted by: Secret Master || 10/17/2011 1:49 Comments || Top||

#8  killing off the LRA root and vine seems like, well, The Lord's Work.

I'll second that

But why no UN authorization. Although I guess this a bilateral agreement between Uganda and the USA.

Using drones to hunt down the LRA shouldn't take too long.
Posted by: phil_b || 10/17/2011 3:15 Comments || Top||

#9  As US Special Operations Forces begin deploying to Africa, a clearer picture is emerging of America's preferred warfare strategy in a time of fiscal restraint: fewer troops, more drones, and the aggressive targeting of enemy leaders by special operations forces.

No complaints here
Posted by: European Conservative || 10/17/2011 6:09 Comments || Top||

#10  0 sees national security as inversely proportional to national interest.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 10/17/2011 7:08 Comments || Top||

#11  Wunderbar.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 10/17/2011 7:13 Comments || Top||

#12  Notice how when institution become less powerful, in the sense of creating real positive change, they seek 'show' to demonstrate that they are doing something, anything.

It's like worrying about the incandescent light bulb while drowning in regulations and obstructions in pumping or fracking billions of gallons of known energy resources. This we can do no matter how little it really is.

Thus this game.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 10/17/2011 9:11 Comments || Top||

#13  Here's an idea: Let the ANC clean up their own outhouse. It's not our job.
Posted by: mojo || 10/17/2011 10:45 Comments || Top||

#14  I have a big problem with a President deploying U.S. forces to kill someone simply because he decides they're bad.

Several posters here agree with Obama because the LRA is evil. You should be worried about allowing presidents to become Judge, Jury and Executioner.
Posted by: DoDo || 10/17/2011 11:15 Comments || Top||

#15  Unfortunately I believe we're already beyond that point DoDo. Everyone should have a problem with this sort of strategy. The definition of "terrorist" can be quite inclusive, depending upon who is tossing it around and where.
Posted by: Sofa-Soldier || 10/17/2011 11:27 Comments || Top||

#16  He should have at lease consulted with Congress before starting all of these military actions.
Posted by: newc || 10/17/2011 11:35 Comments || Top||

#17  You can't go around killin people because they're sons-a-bitches because you wouldn't know where to stop.

I hate this kind of thing (along with Libya) for the same reason. If we let this jackass in DC play God, what's to stop him or the next one from doing whatever he wants in the world. Why not whack Mugabe or Kimmie or Specs. or ... or ... or.

We can't police the world according to the whims of the White House.
Posted by: AlanC || 10/17/2011 12:51 Comments || Top||

#18  Let the ANC clean up their own outhouse.

The ANC is in South Africa. This is Uganda. /pedantic observation
Posted by: Pappy || 10/17/2011 13:25 Comments || Top||

#19  Everyone should have a problem with this sort of strategy.

From my sources, it appears that this is partially domestic-political, partially a payback for Uganda sending troops into Somalia with the AU, and partially to take pressure off of South Sudan (the LRA is operating there).

The irony is that it's essentially a return to a Cold War strategy; essentially aligning with a not-democratic regime, using outside-channel methods, in order to fight an enemy.

Pretty much the same thing (publicly) decried by the Left three, four, and five decades ago.
Posted by: Pappy || 10/17/2011 13:35 Comments || Top||

#20  Several posters here agree with Obama because the LRA is evil. You should be worried about allowing presidents to become Judge, Jury and Executioner.

Well, there's good, old-fashioned evil (say, the Hells Angels) and then their EVVIILLLLL (say, Jeffery Dahmer). The LRA are the later. What we're doing is (metaphorically speaking) tossing Dahmer into the same cell as a dozen Hells Angels.

Plus Obama is obviously going to do what he want and doesn't give a damn about things like the Constitution, president, foreign relations, and so forth. He's (amusingly enough) actually much more reckless than Bush... not that you would know it from watching CNN. So let's just be happy when he nails the right guys.
Posted by: Secret Master || 10/17/2011 13:40 Comments || Top||

#21  The LRA is one of about thirty groups that are active in the area from Angola to Mozambique north to the Sahara, that are engaged in smuggling, slavery, gun-running, drugs, and anything else. They smuggle diamonds, heavy metals, antiquities, gold, and anything else that can be gotten by theft and sold for a high price. Their action in part supplies the funding for al-Qaida from Somalia to Nigeria and Sierra Leone. They definitely play a part in keeping that part of the world unstable, but I'm not sure it's in our best interest to be the ones to "stop" them. If US forces are there to train the Kenyan Army to take on the LRA, good. If we're there to do their job for them, that's not so good. We made that mistake in Vietnam. We didn't make that mistake in Iraq. It's too early to tell about Afghanistan. I hope we don't make the same mistake in Africa.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 10/17/2011 14:08 Comments || Top||

#22  Congress should have been consulted. We should ask the Pubs in Congress if they were. Obama has some time under the War Powers Act to do the notification.

I don't mind going after Kony at all, since he needs killin', but there is a slippery slope, isn't there.
Posted by: Steve White || 10/17/2011 14:13 Comments || Top||

#23  We have had "contractors" training locals to go after LRA for the better part of 10 years, mostly funded by state dept. Very limited ROE for those guys (I know a few guys...), outcomes were OK, but tribal politics hampers proper use of trained local troops. Official U S military presence will alter that. LRA is certifiably insane and evil, killing them off now would stabilize a good chunk of that area multiple countries. stabilizing now at lower intensity probably prevents larger and harder actions later. That may be why they are going after this now. Its certainly not in the typical Obama/left/state Playbook. Perhaps this is O's attempt at foreign policy and military leadership since he doesn't have much domestic stuff to stand on.
Posted by: OldSpook || 10/17/2011 15:00 Comments || Top||

#24  The Administration's 'congressional mandate' for this operation is very weak.

However, given the scale of the operation I don't think most in Congress will complain unless the operation goes on and on and on.
Posted by: Lord Garth || 10/17/2011 15:10 Comments || Top||

#25  Congress should have been consulted.

"Lawmakers in May 2010 authorized the president to come up with a regional strategy for dealing with the LRA", per the article. I don't know if the White House thinks that's sufficient.

If US forces are there to train the Kenyan Army to take on the LRA, good.

Surely you mean 'Uganda' instead of 'Kenya'. Regarding doing "their job for them": OS pretty much explained it. My take is that it'll be a very fine line. The problem will be one of avoiding asset-escalation.
Posted by: Pappy || 10/17/2011 15:40 Comments || Top||

#26  #18 Let the ANC clean up their own outhouse.

The ANC is in South Africa. This is Uganda. /pedantic observation
Posted by Pappy 2011


I wish it were not so, but the ANC has far reaaching tennacles well beyond the Orange River. A historical link can be found in Mozambique as well as the Liberation Tigers, PASLO, MASLO, and other like groups. If communism isn't successfully exported, it eventually tends to die.
Posted by: Sofa-Soldier || 10/17/2011 16:07 Comments || Top||

#27  avoiding asset-escalation

Just a little bit pregnant.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 10/17/2011 16:46 Comments || Top||

#28  The LRA is a problem not because it is horrid; it is a problem in that it is outside the authority of the Westphalian state system, self-sustaining and horrid.

It is no less than an alternative form of human government. Worse it is hostile to our form of government, and we cannot control it. Either we or the LRA must die.

The LRA is very different from the Taliban for example, who are just a bunch of guys supported by the nation of Pakistan fighting in Afghanistan. If we wanted to stop them we could use our national power to influence or destroy Pakistan, which would end the Taliban. Similarly for the FARC hiding out in the nation of Venezuela attacking Columbia, or the old IRA attacking Northern Ireland from the nation of Southern Ireland.

There is no way we can press Uganda, Sudan, CAR or any other nation to stop the LRA, because it is independent of them. It is not in or of their nation. Worse, it could pick up and spread somewhere else. If we leave it alone, sooner or later some other loon will duplicate it.

The LRA has found a seam in the fabric of civilization and everywhere they yank on that seam civilization is torn apart. While this is a fight against a small group of people in a remote place, it is also a serious matter.
Posted by: rammer || 10/17/2011 18:53 Comments || Top||

#29  Why... why the fuck are we in another country that does not have any strategic interest for us or presents a danger to us? Obumble is a bigger warmonger than Bush ever was and fights all the wrong wars in the wrong locations with the wrong people.

Fucking loon.
Posted by: DarthVader || 10/17/2011 19:18 Comments || Top||

#30  Ditto Darth, no DOUBLE Ditto!
Posted by: Sofa-Soldier || 10/17/2011 19:21 Comments || Top||

#31  I wish it were not so, but the ANC has far reaaching tennacles well beyond the Orange River.

True. Museveni employed marxism-socialism when he first gained power, and the Ugandan government reflected the same at first. Fortunately Museveni was canny enough to avoid being another Mugabe and encouraged a free-trade economy. The government is still tribal oriented (surprise), slowly becoming multi-party tho Museveni's party tarnished itself in the 2006 elections.

However, for all its flaws it's nothing like the ANC (it's more like what the US hard-left would like to see the current administration become).
Posted by: Pappy || 10/17/2011 20:14 Comments || Top||

#32  Why... why the fuck are we in another country that does not have any strategic interest for us or presents a danger to us?

Partially to pay-back to Uganda for supplying AU troops in Somalia (strageic interest).

Partially to take pressure off South Sudan, where the LRA has been operating (strategic interest).

Partially to gain influence among other AU member nations (strategic interest).

Not saying it's agreeable; it's just what has been presented.
Posted by: Pappy || 10/17/2011 20:17 Comments || Top||

#33  There are slavery rings operating in the US -- let's clean up that crap before we worry about some backwoods twits with delusions of godhood.
Posted by: Rob Crawford || 10/17/2011 21:20 Comments || Top||

#34  OK
LRA = evil. So we sent troops.
Mexican Cartels = evil. So we don't send troops. We in fact provided arms.

Is there something wrong with this picture? /rhet question
Posted by: Procopius2k || 10/17/2011 22:11 Comments || Top||


Arabia
Clashes between the Revolutionaries and the Southern Secessionist Movement in Hadramaut
[Yemen Post] At least 12 people were killed a little before sunset this Friday as a group of revolutionaries demanding the fall of the regime clashed with southern secessionist supporters in Mukallah, a town of the eastern province of Hadramaut.

Witnesses reported that the 2 anti-regime protesters' group came head to head in a demonstration organized in remembrance of October 15th, 1963 which marked the beginning of South Yemen armed struggle against the British invader.

As the secessionists were carrying the southern flag, men loyal to the Opposition started to argue, one telling the other that such behavior was non-patriotic. As insults were exchanged, eye witnesses reported that stones were suddenly seen being hurled at both parties, leading to the injury of at least 12 people.

Almost immediately, shopkeepers in the vicinity of the festivities decided to close shop, wary that the incident would be followed by yet more violence. Imams also used their influence on the population, urging from their microphones all parties to remain calm and civilized, advocating that violence only led to more violence.

Men from the Security Forces also moved in on the groups, firing tear gas directly at the protesters. Guns shots were also had gun sex to disperse both the revolutionaries and secessionists.

It is the first time since the beginning of Yemen's popular uprising that revolutionaries and secessionists are openly venting out their disagreement, highlighting not only the profound dissensions between the 2 groups but also the real desire of a great portion of the southern population to return to an independent state, free from the northern yoke.
Posted by: Fred || 10/17/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Yemen Troops Open Fire on Protesters for Second Day
[An Nahar] Yemeni troops rubbed out four protesters Sunday as they attempted to block a new bid by activists to bring 10 months of protests against veteran President President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh
... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower...
to a head.

The defiant march by tens of thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators came despite the deaths of at least 12 people in a similar protest in the capital on Saturday.

The protesters, who have been camped out in Sanaa's Change Square, were trying to march to al-Qaa Street, within a kilometer (less than a mile) of the presidential palace, when the security forces intervened.

"We have four dead protesters and many others maimed," said Tarek Noman, a doctor at a makeshift field hospital set up by the protesters in Change Square.

Saturday's bloodshed had come when hundreds of thousands of protesters marched on al-Zubeiri Street which marks the dividing line between parts of the capital held by troops loyal to Saleh and those held by dissident units led by General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, who rallied to the opposition in March.

Another 17 people, at least five of them civilians, were killed when festivities erupted between Saleh loyalists and pro-opposition rustics and army units.

But the freedom fighters, who have been demonstrating since January to bring an end to Saleh's 33-year rule, voiced defiance ahead of Sunday's march.

"We will continue with our protests... even if thousands of our youth are killed," said Walid al-Ammari, a front man for the protesters. "This is the only way to ensure the fall of the regime," he told AFP.

General Ahmar released a statement on Sunday calling on the international community to take immediate action to stop the bloodshed and force Saleh to step down.

"We are calling for an urgent intervention by the international community to bring an immediate stop to the massacres by this ignorant murderer," the dissident commander said.

He said it was time for the international community to "force" Saleh to sign a deal brokered by impoverished Yemen's wealthy Gulf neighbors under which the president would transfer power to his deputy in return for a promise of immunity from prosecution.

Despite mounting pressure from Western governments as well as the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, Saleh has for months refused to sign the deal, even though he has repeatedly promised that he would.

After undergoing prolonged medical treatment in Soddy Arabia for blast wounds he sustained in a June kaboom on his compound, Saleh has overseen an intensified crackdown on opposition to his rule since his surprise return in September.

The U.N. Security Council is currently drafting a resolution that will call on all sides to stop the violence, and for Saleh to sign the GCC agreement and step down.

But council members say it will not threaten sanctions.

In Sunday's statement, Ahmar called on all gangs in the capital, including loyalist troops, armed rustics and his own dissident units to withdraw to at least 200 kilometers (125 miles) from the capital.

But by midday, rival gunnies remained heavily deployed on the streets of the capital.

Posted by: Fred || 10/17/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Yemen President signs deal, rivals yet to reach agreement, UN envoy
[Yemen Observer] President President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh
... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower...
has already signed an agreement but there is still an agreement to be signed between the Ruling Party, General People's Congress(GPC) and the opposition group Joint Meeting Parties (JMP), said Jamal Benomar, the UN special envoy to Yemen.

"The Yemeni people have suffered throughout this crisis. This crisis has severe implications, in terms of the economic, humanitarian and security aspects," said Jamal Benomar, UN secretary- general's special adviser for Yemen following a meeting at the United Nations
...where theory meets practice and practice loses...
(UN) Security Council as he urged for a quick and peaceful and orderly transition start as soon as possible. In terms of the GCC deal, Benomar said,

"There is an agreement he already signed. Benomar was refereeing to President-for-Life Saleh's
... exemplifying the Arab's propensity to combine brutality with incompetence...
authorization to his deputy to negotiate a transfer of power with opposition parties. "But there is still an agreement to be signed between the Ruling Party and the opposition," Benomar said in informal comments to the press.

The top United Nations special envoy to Yemen briefed the Security Council on the security and political situations in Yemen, stressing the need of a quick, orderly, and peaceful transition of power. Benomar warned that the situation in Yemen has "deteriorated very dramatically." after he briefed the UN Security Council in closed door consultations.

He noted that the Yemeni government has lost control over five provinces, in which al-Houthi rebels have total control over the northern Saa'dah province of Yemen and al-Qaeda has captured three cities in the south, including a key geographical area.

Benomar left Yemen last week after fruitless mediation efforts to reach an agreement between Yemen rivals. "Yemenis want to move with a quick transition. This is what all international efforts [and] regional efforts have been focusing on," said Benomar.

Britannia has been drafting a resolution on Yemen in consultation with La Belle France and the United States and intends to circulate it to the full 15-nation Security Council shortly after a closed-door meeting on Tuesday.

Russia and China were not likely to block a resolution on Yemen, diplomats in New York said.

"We would ideally like to vote on the resolution this week," a Western diplomat told Rooters on condition of anonymity.

Another diplomat said the vote would most likely take place late this week or early next week. The GCC deal stipulates that President Saleh hand power forms an interim government and an early election.
Posted by: Fred || 10/17/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


The Fall of Azeeza Abdo Othman
[Yemen Post] For the second consecutive day, revolutionaries in Taiz, one the main strongholds of the revolution, dubbed "the Heart and Mind of Yemen" by many anti-regime activists since Taiz has a history of rebellion and a strong intellectual heritage, set up to protest against Saleh's regime.

But unlike yesterday, when the protests were more or less eventless except for a few sporadic gun shots and a heavy military presence, things turned sour for Taiz very early on.

As revolutionaries started to march throughout the city, protesters recalled seeing an unprecedented numbers of Central Security men in civilians clothes and snipers already positioned upon rooftops, scattered all across the march pathway. More disturbingly as a man stated, "they were already aiming at us, as opposed to watching us as they had done in previous demonstrations." "There was a sort of stillness about them that gave me the chills" said a school teacher who for security reasons preferred to remain anonymous.

Soon enough, the sound of bullets started to fill the air, echoed by the screams and warlike roars of the crowd. In scenes which were quite similar to that witnessed 9 months ago when Yemenis were emboldened by the Egyptian victory and had still in mind epic images of bare-chested men offering themselves to the regime's bullets, revolutionaries did not deviate from the path, marching on in spite of the danger.
As casualties started to mount, the unthinkable happened...

Azeeza Abdo Othman, a young woman activist in her twenties fell; hit by a sniper who aimed to kill her as he shot directly at her head. Her murder was recorded on a video phone, forever witness of the atrocities of a regime which does stop at nothing to impose its rule.

Unarmed and peaceful, Azeeza was robbed of her future for she dared hope for a better life.

As her blood was pouring from her wound, leaving her lifeless, fellow protesters gathered feverishly around her, trying to stop the hemorrhage, indifferent to snipers who continued to rain bullets around them. But despite their best efforts, Azeeza died in the arms of another revolutionary, another innocent victim of the deadly struggle for the presidency.

Later that day, as rain started to fall, women stood silently where Azeeza fell, mourning the death of their sister, mourning the death of what little honor the regime had left.

Yemen tonight is sharing her family' sorrow for Azeeza has become our sister, our mother, our daughter...
Posted by: Fred || 10/17/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Caribbean-Latin America
Mexican security forces bag 9 bad guys
For a map, click here. For a map of Nuevo Leon, click here.
Nine armed suspects were killed gunfights with Mexican security forces in northern Nuevo Leon Friday and Saturday, according to Mexican news accounts.

Late Friday night a Mexican Army unit encountered armed suspects at about 115 kilometers on the Monterrey-Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas highway, killing three and detaining four.

A few hours later at about 0030 hrs near the local Vallecillo- San Carlos road, a joint Mexican Army-Policia Federal operation located and then surrounded a "narco-ranch". The ensuing gunfight lasted 30 minutes. Three suspects were killed in the encounter as an unknown number of others suspects escaped in several vehicles from the cordon.

Security forces then began to search the surrounding area resulting in two more firefights which killed three more armed suspects.

Reports say field interrogations revealed that the ranch was being used by a criminal drug gang as a base of operations. At least 200 gang members resided at the base.

No contraband was reported seized in the aftermath.

Friday and Saturday's fighting took place in the same area where last week three Polica Federal agents were killed and another four were wounded.
To read the Rantburg report on the San Carlos-Vallecillo encounter last week, click here
The Mexican leftist weekly Proceso reported on a Sunday night posting that as many as 18 unidentified individuals were killed in encounters between Mexican security forces and criminal gangs in the area between Friday night and Sunday.

The publication did not provide details. Neither SEDENA nor SSP provided additional details on their websites on the recently concluded operation.
Posted by: badanov || 10/17/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Mexican Army rescues 61 kidnap victims, seizes drugs
exclusive from RantburgFor a map, click here. For a map of Coahuila click here
Mexican Army units rescued 61 kidnapping victims and seized more than six metric tons of marijuana October 15th in Coahuila state, according to the Mexican Army official website.

In El Cenizo colony in Piedras Negras municipality army units found a safe house where 61 individuals were kept and used to work for drug gangs.

The victims has been abducted from several different states in Mexico and one individual was an Honduran national. All 61 victims were male.

Three unidentified men were arrested in the raid.

Meanwhile in Mexican Laguito colony of Piedras Negras, an army unit on patrol came across an abandoned trailer containing 6,240 kilograms of marijuana in 470 packages.

Also in El Mirador colony army units found three abandoned vehicles with several weapons magazines and rounds of ammunition aboard.

The area north of Saltillo, Coahuila, especially the road leading to Piedras Negras is known Los Zetas territory. In the last several weeks, Mexican Army and naval infantry forces in the area have seized large amounts of marijuana and weapons in the area.
Posted by: badanov || 10/17/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


India-Pakistan
Kharotabad: Trendy vacation spot for the Taliban
And secret medical care for wounded Talibunnies from a major NGO?
People in Kharotabad live in constant fear over the possibility of drone attacks in their neighborhood, considering that over the past six months, the Afghan and local Taliban have seemed to turn this part of Quetta as a veritable militant vacation spot.

Every four months, Taliban fighters return from the jihad in Afghanistan and rent out dozens of residences in this vicinity. Their presence is a major concern for people living in adjoining areas, especially since this is the area where the US alleges the Quetta Shura is hiding out.

A few madrassas in Kharotabad also provide 'free' boarding to these militants. They move about freely, making it obvious that Kharotabad is a safe haven for the Taliban.

Students from religious schools in the area are being recruited for the Afghan Taliban. They are said to be 'trained for jihad' in Afghanistan by Afghan 'commanders', before they are sent on terror missions. At least six to eight new, unarmed recruits leave Kuchlak Bazar, near Quetta, on brand new motorbikes every morning, headed towards Afghanistan.

They are told to avoid traveling on main roads and instead take lesser known mountainous routes via Kuchlak to Qamar Din Karez on the Af-Pak border. They also avoid traveling in groups -- two persons per motorbike. They are also given Rs5,000, plus enough money for fuel.

Most of these boys join Taliban with their parent's consent, and many others embark on this 'holy mission' without the knowledge of their guardians.

A faction of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI), led by MNA Maulana Esmatullah and his party, is a source of influence for these young students of Balochistan. Mullah Omar's messages are also sent through Kandahar to Quetta.

The Afghan and local Taliban who are injured during their missions, are said to be receiving free medical treatment at five prominent private hospitals. The administration at these hospitals said that an big international NGO funds their medical care.

"We are being paid by this NGO for the medical care being provided to the wounded or sick Taliban militants," an administrator at Dr Abdul Khaliq Memorial Hospital alleged. The NGO does not allow local authorities access to these "under-treatment" Taliban. The NGO puts up a 'don't know' front.

The NGO's head of sub-delegation said, "We have not set up any field hospitals in Balochistan to provide medical assistance to the Afghan Taliban or other militants."

However, the NGO is supporting three private hospitals in Quetta for providing assistance to the injured. "Doctors at Ikram Hospital and Imdad Hospital are providing medical assistance to people injured in bomb blasts, firing incidents and other forms of violence," he said.
Posted by: ryuge || 10/17/2011 10:05 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Ah, the Fleshpots of Quetta...

Probably not up to the standards of R&R in Bangkok in '69...
Posted by: Fred || 10/17/2011 10:49 Comments || Top||

#2  Yet Pakistan remains in denial regarding their support to the insurgency.
Posted by: Sofa-Soldier || 10/17/2011 10:58 Comments || Top||

#3  Notice they didn't say which NGO....
Posted by: tipover || 10/17/2011 12:21 Comments || Top||

#4  Sounds like an opportunity to for us to creatively 'modify' the motorbike supply to the community.
Posted by: Glenmore || 10/17/2011 13:08 Comments || Top||

#5  ARCLIGHT Quetta and the whole operation will come crashing down. So will the government of Pakistan - a twofer.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 10/17/2011 14:22 Comments || Top||

#6  #5 ARCLIGHT Quetta and the whole operation will come crashing down. So will the government of Pakistan - a twofer.
Posted by Old Patriot


Not to discount the validity of the ascertion, but I recently heard a similar suggestion, B52 strikes, etc. It was met in the forum with unbelieveable outrage. Claims of genocide, racism, etc. Just a friendly caution.
Posted by: Sofa-Soldier || 10/17/2011 16:23 Comments || Top||

#7  Laat die kinders speel
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 10/17/2011 16:55 Comments || Top||

#8  It seems that the NGO's funds and accounts could be siezed under current terrorism laws.
Posted by: 3dc || 10/17/2011 17:24 Comments || Top||

#9  Old Patriot - I agree with Sofa-Soldier on this, although for reasons other than his.

Unless you can be pretty damned sure that you are only hitting military targets, ARCLIGHTs constitute mass killing of non-combatants. There are good reasons we don't do that - reasons that have to do with our own integrity, quite apart from the worthiness of the general society involved.

OTOH I have no objection to JDAMs on specific targets, with the knowledge that there might well be collateral casualties whose allegiance is, let us say, grey ....
Posted by: lotp || 10/17/2011 17:36 Comments || Top||

#10  In defense of B52 strikes (strategic bombing) and sensor technology, not entirely unlike what is used today:

Operation Igloo White was a covert United States Air Force electronic warfare operation conducted from late January 1968 until February 1973, during the Vietnam War.[1] This state-of-the-art operation utilized electronic sensors, computers, and communications relay aircraft in an attempt to automate intelligence collection. The system would then assist in the direction of strike aircraft to their targets. The objective of those attacks was the logistical system of the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) that snaked through southeastern Laos and was known as the Ho Chi Minh Trail (the Truong Son Road to the North Vietnamese).[1]

Igloo White was rushed into service during the Battle of Khe Sanh and successfully passed its first operational test. Combined with Operation Commando Hunt in 1969, the system served as the keystone of the U.S. aerial interdiction effort of the Vietnam War.

Costing between $1 and $1.7 billion dollars to design and build (and another billion dollars per year to operate over the five-year life of the operation) and possessing and controlling some of the most sophisticated technology in the Southeast Asia theater, the effectiveness of Igloo White still remains in question.
Posted by: Sofa-Soldier || 10/17/2011 19:20 Comments || Top||


Bomb planted outside mosque defused
[Dawn] The bomb disposal squad defused an bomb planted outside a mosque in Tarakai area, police said here on Saturday.

Police said MNA Usman Tarakai, MPA Javed Tarakai and former district nazim
...small time big shot, the chief elected official of a local government in Pakistan, such as a district, tehsil, union council, or village council...
Shahram Tarakai were the apparent target of the sabotage attempt. They quoted locals as telling them that two people riding a cycle of violence showed up at the mosque adjacent to the house of the Tarakais after sunset on Friday, placed a crate and left.

The worshippers called in police after developing suspicion about the crate. Police rushed to the place and found a bomb inside the crate. The bomb disposal squad was called in, which defused it.

Police said the bomb weighing around five kilogrammes was to target MNA Usman Tarakai, MPA Javed Tarakai and former district nazim Shahram Tarakai, who offered Maghrib prayers at the mosque.

Meanwhile,
...back at the bunker, his Excellency called a hurried meeting of his closest advisors. It was to be his last...
another bomb planted at the entrance to Quaid-i-Azam Public School, Swabi Branch (Boys Section) went off early on Saturday.

The blast partially damaged the building and injured the watchman, Juma Dad Khan. It was the first time that a private educational institution was targeted in the area by terrorists.
Posted by: Fred || 10/17/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan


We are finding a solution on issue of drone attacks: Mukhtar
[Dawn] Defence Minister Ahmed Mukhtar has said that there were no agreements signed in the past on the issue of drone attacks.

"The present government has not worn bangles," he said.

While meeting with Dengue patients at Sheikh Zayed Hospital in Lahore, Defence Minister Ahmed Mukhtar spoke to media persons and said that he is hopeful that a solution on the issue of drone attacks will be found soon.
Posted by: Fred || 10/17/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  "Has not worn bangles" > Uh, uh, ISLAMABAD HATED SUSANNA HOFFS + GROUP???

gut nuthin.

Pragmatically, the USA + USDOD should be closley monitoring the LT development of MilTerr learning, operating proficiencies ala DRONE TECHS.

WHERE SUICIDE KABOOMERS ONCE WENT, MILTERR ONE-WAY DRONES MAY ONE DAY FLY OR DRIVE [into]???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 10/17/2011 0:17 Comments || Top||

#2  ISLAMABAD HATED SUSANNA HOFFS

It's that song, Splash Like An Egyptian, that has their teeth on edge.
Posted by: SteveS || 10/17/2011 0:22 Comments || Top||

#3  Bangles are what married women wear. Different colors etc. have different meanings. If you're a woman and you break your glass bangle, it means bad luck for your husband.

Mukhtar is denying that the Pakistani government is married to the US in a subservient role.
Posted by: lotp || 10/17/2011 10:54 Comments || Top||

#4  Just another manic Monday here on Rantburg
Wish it were Sunday
That's my fun day...
Posted by: Capsu78 || 10/17/2011 11:08 Comments || Top||

#5  As usual, Joe makes good points about maintaining our lead in The Drone Wars. We have to always stay several steps ahead and not get cocky (end of Stars Wars references and beginning of Star Trek 2.0 reference): Military secrets are the most fleeting of all.
Posted by: Pollyandrew || 10/17/2011 17:45 Comments || Top||

#6  PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM > US TO FIELD DEADLIER MISSLE IN {Drone] WAR AGZ AL-QAEDA.

The new AGM-114R = aka HELLFIRE ROMEO.

and

* SAME > US ARMY TO FLY [manportable = ultralight] "KAMIKAZE" DRONES.

Nice, but the US must still worry about the Hard Boyz learning + developing their own, for both recce + counterfire + espec RC SUICIDE MISSIONS.

VERSUS

* BHARAT RAKSHAK > CORPORATE DOWNSIZING [finally] COMES TO THE PENTAGON: THE WHITE HOUSE HALLS IN LOVE WID DRONES, + OUT OF LOVE WID COIN [Counter-Insurgency = COIN/COINTELPRO?] ... + THATS JUST THE BEGINNING.

US Govt-Congresscritters adore the Robots + Automated Industries, H-A-T-E BIG LABOR = LABOR-INTENSIVE INDUSTRIES.

[1980's "IN LIVING COLOR" GAY SKIT = "HATE-IT-VS-LOVE-IT"! here].
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 10/17/2011 22:05 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Nine Killed in Syria Crackdown: Activists
[An Nahar] Nine people were killed on Sunday as Syrian security forces pressed a crackdown on political dissent in three separate hubs of protest against President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad's
The Scourge of Hama...
regime, activists said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said in emailed statements received by Agence La Belle France Presse in Nicosia that four civilians died in the central city of Homs when security forces opened fire on a protest outside the home of a jugged activist, Mansur al-Arassi.

Two other people were killed outside a mosque in the Khaldiyeh sector of the city by attackers who opened fire from a vehicle, the Britannia-based Observatory said. It said 39 people were maimed in the two incidents.

In the Damascus
...The City of Jasmin is the oldest continuously-inhabited city in the world. It has not always been inhabited by the same set of fascisti...
region, one person was killed in the town of Zabadani, where security forces earlier placed in long-term storage 25 people, including three young women.

The Observatory said the death occurred when security forces fired on people after they left a mosque and began protesting in the streets calling for the release of detainees.

In Idlib province of northwest Syria, two people were killed in Khan Sheikhun near the border with Turkey when security forces fired live rounds to break up a protest, the Observatory said.

Earlier in the day, security forces opened fire on a funeral procession for an activist in the oil-rich east.

"Syrian security forces in Deir Ezzor fired live bullets at a funeral procession for Ziad al-Obeidi," the rights watchdog said.

"Some 7,000 people took part in the funeral which turned into a demonstration calling for the fall of the regime," it said.

Obeidi, 42, was killed by security forces who were hunting for him in Deir Ezzor province. He had gone into hiding in August during military operations in the area.

Posted by: Fred || 10/17/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Syria Forces Fire on Activist Funeral: Rights Group
[An Nahar] Syrian security forces opened fire on a funeral procession for an activist in the oil-rich east on Sunday as they pressed a crackdown on dissent, a human rights
...which are usually open to widely divergent definitions...
group said.

"Syrian security forces in Deir Ezzor fired live bullets at a funeral procession for Ziad al-Obeidi," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said in reference to one of its associates on the ground.

"Some 7,000 people took part in the funeral which turned into a demonstration calling for the fall of the regime," the Britannia-based watchdog said.

Obeidi, 42, was killed by security forces who were hunting for him in Deir Ezzor, a province in Syria's east. He had gone into hiding in August during military operations in the area.

Security forces on Sunday also carried out raids and arrests in the flashpoint central province of Homs and in the outskirts of Damascus
...The City of Jasmin is the oldest continuously-inhabited city in the world. It has not always been inhabited by the same set of fascisti...
, with 19 people jugged in Dmeir, the Observatory said.

The official news agency SANA, meanwhile, said an "armed terrorist gang" ambushed and killed two security agents in the central city of Hama, a hotbed of dissent and the focal point of a 10-day military operation in August.

President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Despoiler of Latakia...
's regime blames "armed gangs" for the violence that has wracked Syria for the past seven months, but activists say most fo the deaths are caused by security forces putting down non-violent protests.

UN human rights chief Navi Pillay said on Friday that more than 3,000 people, including 187 children, have been killed in the fierce crackdown on dissent.

In its latest toll, the Observatory said security forces killed 12 people in Syria on Saturday alone.

A Damascus court, meanwhile, decided to release on bail Mazen Adi, a leading opposition figure who was jugged on May 11, his lawyer said.

"The criminal court of Damascus decided on Sunday to free Mazen Adi, leader of the (banned) People's Democratic Party on 30,000 Syrian pounds (600 dollars) bail," said his lawyer Michel Shammas.

"He will then be tried on charges of damaging the image of the state," he added.

Arab foreign ministers were to meet at the League headquarters in Cairo on Sunday to discuss the bloody crackdown on protests in Syria at the request of the Gulf monarchies. Reports said the possibility of Syria being suspended from the Arab League
...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing...
was to be discussed.

Posted by: Fred || 10/17/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria



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Two weeks of WOT
Mon 2011-10-17
  Mexican Army rescues 61 kidnap victims, seizes drugs
Sun 2011-10-16
  US missiles kill six in South Waziristan
Sat 2011-10-15
  Son of the spiritual head of the Egyptian Islamic Group killed in Afghanistan
Fri 2011-10-14
  10 militants killed in drone attacks
Thu 2011-10-13
  Haqqani big shot confirmed killed in Pakistan
Wed 2011-10-12
  Underwear bomber pleads guilty to all counts
Tue 2011-10-11
  Breaking: Feds Thwart Iran-Tied Terror Plot Against Saudi, Israeli Targets in D.C.
Mon 2011-10-10
  Syria warns countries not to recognize opposition
Sun 2011-10-09
  Yemen president says ready to quit within days
Sat 2011-10-08
  Mexican security forces find 46 dead in Veracruz
Fri 2011-10-07
  Doctor Who Helped U.S. Find Osama Bin Laden May Hang
Thu 2011-10-06
  Shelling Resumes in Sana'a
Wed 2011-10-05
  Afghanistan foils plot to kill Karzai
Tue 2011-10-04
  Bomb kills at least 65 in Mogadishu
Mon 2011-10-03
  Syrian Opposition Forms United Common Front

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