[Washington Times] The House on Thursday cited Attorney General Eric Inaction Jackson Holder Jr. for contempt of Congress in a historic vote weighted with political significance, though it does little to break the stalemate over his decision to withhold documents over the Justice Department's actions in a botched gun-walking operation. Dems staged a walkout, though they haven't yet holed up in a motel in Illinois. Too much danger of a recall election prior to November, I think...
The 255-67 vote amounted to a political spanking for Mr. Holder and President B.O., and 17 Democrats The ones most worried about being defeated this November...
joined with Republicans in demanding the documents be released. Most Democrats, however, walked out in protest of the vote. This way they can say in October that they didn't vote to save Holder...
It marks the first time an attorney general has been held in contempt by a chamber.
But the White House dismissed the proceedings as a sideshow, and the vote does nothing to break the impasse, though it further poisoned feelings in an already bitterly divided chamber.
"No Justice Department is above the law, and no Justice Department is above the Constitution," said House Speaker John A. Boehner, Ohio Republican.
Democrats pleaded with the Republicans to slow down the proceedings, saying the oversight committee, led by Chairman Darrell Issa, Caliphornia Republican, has done a shoddy job in putting together its investigation.
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, Texas Democrat, even introduced a resolution demanding that the House reprimand Mr. Issa for partisanship and accusing him of having "engaged in a witch hunt."
Posted by: Fred ||
06/28/2012
16:53 ||
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#1
I really wonder if the huge rift between the two parties can be healed without blood.
#2
Democrats pleaded with the Republicans to slow down the proceedings, saying the oversight committee, led by Chairman Darrell Issa, Caliphornia Republican, has done a shoddy job in putting together its investigation.
After all, a proper investigation should take at least 40-60 years (to begin).
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, Texas Democrat, even introduced a resolution demanding that the House reprimand Mr. Issa for partisanship and accusing him of having "engaged in a witch hunt."
The email, written by the late Ted Kennedy's son Patrick, ominously predicts that "If the Court upholds the law, dangerous Tea Party extremists will go on a rampage. Backed by Super PAC's and shadowy front groups like Karl Rove's Crossroads GPS, they'll do everything in their power to defeat President Obama, demonize Democrats who fought for health care reform and, if they win the election, dismantle the law piece-by-piece." That's not a rampage, Patrick, that's The American Way. I'm personally hoping it's a promise...
But there's the difference between the Tea Party and the hapless dupes Patrick Kennedy is trying to cadge money from, in order to finance the Democrats' "Health Care Rapid Response Fund." The Tea Party actually has facts. They know what's going on. They can read a spreadsheet. They understand the news coming from Europe. They know the old promises of socialism were always bankrupt, and it is no longer possible to pretend otherwise. They have always understood the simple truth that leftists fought to obscure for over a hundred years: nothing is "free."
Would you like me to tell you what the Tea Party is going to do on Thursday, if ObamaCare is upheld by the Supreme Court, Mr. Kennedy? They'll go back to work. They'll take care of their families. On Thursday evening, they'll redouble their efforts to lawfully overturn ObamaCare through the political process. Some will display increased enthusiasm for the candidacy of Mitt Romney, who has promised to do exactly that.
If Romney wins election in 2012 and doesn't get to work overturning ObamaCare, the Tea Party will oppose him. If he makes good on his promise, the Tea Party will seek to influence America's evolution toward market-based health care reform, which respects both the Constitution and the free citizens it exalts. We most certainly did not have such a system in 2008. It would be a grand achievement to build one in 2013, and proudly offer it to our children as an enduring legacy, not a collapsing cage of unsustainable obligations and phony accounting tricks that will crush their future.
And the Tea Party will never again trust the liars, frauds, and political hacks who thrust ObamaCare upon them, over the strong and enduring objections of a majority of Americans. I just might have to send the Tea Party some money! I always wanted to be a dangerous extremist!
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/28/2012
12:14 ||
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#1
Bobby, don't just send A (not 'the') Tea Party money, join one!
#2
no Patches. A "rampage" is when you get liquored up, slam a bunch of Amb1en, and go for a drive
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/28/2012 14:17
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#3
"If Romney wins election in 2012 and doesn't get to work overturning ObamaCare, the Tea Party will oppose him." and overnight the tea party will cease being terrorists and will be patriots loved by the left.
#2
Well, can I now say that I am a police officer, member of SCOTUS, POTUS, a doctor, a lawyer, nurse, registered engineer under freedom of speech? I don't think I will say I have the Nobel Peace Prize; it is tainted.
Like ObamaCare and Arizona immigration law, this does not seem like a good SCOTUS decision.
#3
The Stolen Valor ruling seems to me to be about a government not being the wronged party in a lie about valor, and thus cannot regulate such speech. As a libertarian, I can see this point, BUT they got one important thing wrong: the 'people' - and thus the government - ARE a wronged party, in that false claims to valor degrade the value of the awards for true valor, and those awards are made on behalf of the whole people in recognition of service to the whole people.
#7
So it's up to the veterans to out the liars and publicly shame them, leaving law enforcement to concentrate on ATF gunrunning and gang wars. In other words, not really different than it was before.
WASHINGTON--A divided Supreme Court largely upheld the constitutionality of the Obama administration's health-care law, in one of the most anticipated high-court rulings in a generation.
It upheld the mandate as a tax, in an opinion by Chief Justice John Roberts. The justices also found fault with part of the health-care law's expansion of Medicaid, a joint federal-state insurance program for the poor. The justices made some changes to the Medicaid portion of the law.
The court said Congress was acting within its powers under the Constitution when it required most Americans to carry health insurance or pay a penalty--the provision at the center of the two-year legal battle.
Update: Sorry, it was indeed 5-4, as Nimble Spemble wrote.
Posted by: ||
06/28/2012
10:23 ||
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#1
Yay! Slavery is once again legal! All bow to your lord and Master Obama the Tyrant!
Going to go buy a few more cases of ammo and supplies for when the next civil war starts.
#2
that's gonna be one hell of a tax too pay for healthcare AND all the new debtors prisons they are gonna have too build! How are the 40 million who can't afford insurance now supposed too pay for the shit just because they passed a law?
Posted by: chris ||
06/28/2012 10:48
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#3
The individual mandate survives because it is deemed a tax? Does this mean that people will be paying a tax for things which go against their religious beliefs such as abortion?
#4
Senator Mitch McConnell released the following today in the Senate:
Jun 28 2012
McConnell Calls For Full Repeal of Obamacare
Washington, D.C. U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell made the following remarks on the Senate floor regarding the Supreme Courts decision to uphold the Presidents healthcare law, and the need for full repeal:
Two and a half years ago, a Democrat president teamed up with a Democrat-led Congress to force a piece of legislation on the American people that they never asked for, and that has turned out to be just as disastrous as many of us predicted.
Amid economic recession, a spiraling federal debt, and accelerating increases in government health spending, they proposed a bill that has made these problems worse.
Americans were promised lower health care costs. Theyre going up.
Americans were promised lower premiums. Theyre going up.
Most Americans were promised their taxes wouldnt change. Theyre going up.
Seniors were promised Medicare would be protected. It was raided to pay for a new entitlement instead.
Americans were promised it would create jobs. The CBO predicts it will lead to nearly 1 million fewer jobs.
Americans were promised they could keep their plan if they liked it, yet millions have learned they cant.
And the President of the United States himself promised up and down that this bill was not a tax.
This was one of the Democrats top selling points because they knew it would have never passed if they said it was. The Supreme Court has spoken. This law is a tax.
This bill was sold to the American people on a deception. But its not just that the promises about this law werent kept. Its that its made the problems it was meant to solve even worse.
The supposed cure has proved to be worse than the disease.
So its not just that the promises about this law werent kept. Its that it has made the problems it was meant to solve even worse.
The supposed cure has proved to be worse than the disease.
So the pundits will talk a lot today about what they think todays ruling means and what it doesnt mean. But I can assure you this: Republicans wont let up whatsoever in our determination to repeal this terrible law and replace it with the kind of reforms that will truly address the problems it was meant to solve.
We pass plenty of terrible laws around here that the court finds constitutional. Constitutionality was never an argument to keep this law in place, and its certainly not one youll hear from Republicans in Congress.
Theres only one way to truly fix Obamacare, and thats a full repeal that clears the way for common-sense, step-by-step reforms that protect Americans access to the care they need, from the doctor they choose, at a lower cost. And thats precisely what Republicans are committed to doing.
The American people werent waiting on the Supreme Court to tell them whether they supported this law. That question was settled two and a half years ago. The more the American people have learned about this law, the less theyve liked it.
So now that the court has ruled, its time to move beyond the constitutional debate and focus on the primary reason this law should be fully repealed and replaced: because of the colossal damage it has already done to the health care system, to the economy, and to the job market.
The Democrat health care law has made things worse; Americans want it repealed; and thats precisely what we intend to do. Americans want us to start over. And todays decision does nothing to change that.
The courts ruling doesnt mark the end of a debate. It marks a fresh start on the road to repeal. Thats been our goal from the start. Thats our goal now. And we plan to achieve it.
The President has done nothing to address the problems of cost, care, and access. We will.
#5
The portion of the decision which described the government's ability to penalize the States for non-compliance as "unconstitutional" may have far reaching implications beyond that of Obamacare.
#6
I was halfway out the door before this, because the IRS wants to examine the bank account of my wife, who is not an American, doesn't want to be an American, and has never lived in America.
This is the final straw. I'm not going to be compelled to pay into a system I will never use. Now it's apparent that the Supreme Court has no idea what negative liberty is anymore, which is the basis of the Constitution.
I will abandon my American citizenship in favor of an Estonian one, because I'm a lot freer here than what I see and visit back home. I honestly feel sorry for you who don't have that option.
Everybody better vote to flip the Senate and the Presidency, or it will be Game Over.
#7
An online calculator indicated that if a person with an income of just $20,000.00 refuses to buy insurance and pay the resulting annual fine, the IRS penalty for the years 2014 through 2016 combined is $49,744.99.
Posted by: Greamble Protector of the Faith7496 ||
06/28/2012 11:43
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An online calculator indicated that if a person with an income of just $20,000.00 refuses to buy insurance and pay the resulting annual fine, the IRS penalty for the years 2014 through 2016 combined is $49,744.99.
I doubt there are people making $ 20K who can afford either insurance or the fine.
This "constitutional" law replaces "Let Them Eat Cake!" with "Make Them Buy Cake!"
#13
"Feedback" for what purpose? They surely already know the majority of people along with 26 states, wanted to see Obamacare declared unconstitutional.
Well said. But now they need to feel the heat of the people. When I called, the clerk sounded alarmed like they were getting a lot of serious calls. She was, "Yes sir. I understand, sir. Yes, sir."
#15
Well, I called the clerk to ask the procedure for impeachment of a Justice for treason, got put on 'hold' with another person who had called to ask a question.
I think they're a tad panicked.
I would assume it follows the same procedure as the ones for president, articles written and voted on by house, sent to Senate and so on but it's not listed anywhere. I figured they'd know things...you know, about the constitution and how it works.
I also wanted to ask them what happens if like a State issues a warrant for a Justice, what then. But clearly they didn't want to answer.
#18
But now they need to feel the heat of the people.
No. The whole point of the Supreme Court justices being appointed for life is to take politics out of their rulings. They are there to interpret the meaning of the Constitution and they can't do that if they are swayed by public opinion. That is a good thing.
The problem is that the people of this country were ignorant enough to elect a communist president. The people, at least the majority who voted for Obama, are getting what they deserve. Our only hope is to vote him and his allies in Congress out of office in November. If we can't do that we are screwed.
#19
Living proof that SCOTUS knows that p*ss*ng of on the Right is less dangerous than p*ss*ng off the Left......
Fixed it for ya....
Posted by: BA ||
06/28/2012 13:56
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#20
The government still can't punish states who don't follow the new Medicare rules. Most poor will still be uncovered. He accomplished little at enormous expense.
#21
Sen. Tom Coburn (as well as others) pointed out in a publication appropriately named Bad Medicine that ObamaCare has no system of verification for whether a person is an illegal immigrant or not. So not only has the Supreme Court allowed the flood gates to open from south of the border, it looks like ObamaCare may have to pay for them (and their family) while they are here.
Furthermore, it looks like any behavior or non-behavior desired/promoted/law passed by the Federal government can be taxed. There are few protections left to the individual except the vote. Holder has been trying to nullify citizen votes by not upholding voter ID laws.
I'm thinking the majority of the Supremes are fools.
#22
the BILL that the court just ruled on originated in the Senate. This opens up an entirely new line of legal attack, because any revenue bill must originate in the House. No one had bothered to make this argument in the past, because no one had considered the mandate a tax. But now that the court has declared it to be so, it could be struck down as unconstitutional because of the process.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
06/28/2012 14:38
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#23
The tax code will now be more of a weapon to 'alter our behavior'..
Next: Obese tax law..,...lol
The tax code has proven to be a remarkably flexible set of laws for coaxing or compelling changes in human behavior (witness, of course, the high tax on cigarettes).
#24
Look for Harry Reid to require all citizens to buy deodorant.
Posted by: Bob ||
06/28/2012 14:48
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#25
... it could be struck down as unconstitutional because of the process.
I'd put the odds of that happening at around a million to one against. Lower federal courts will dismiss such complaints on the grounds that the US S.Ct. has already considered the tax and found it a valid exercise of Congressional power.
#27
Sen. Tom Coburn (as well as others) pointed out in a publication appropriately named Bad Medicine that ObamaCare has no system of verification for whether a person is an illegal immigrant or not.
#28
#18 No. The whole point of the Supreme Court justices being appointed for life is to take politics out of their rulings. They are there to interpret the meaning of the Constitution and they can't do that if they are swayed by public opinion. That is a good thing.
The problem is that the people of this country were ignorant enough to elect a communist president. The people, at least the majority who voted for Obama, are getting what they deserve. Our only hope is to vote him and his allies in Congress out of office in November. If we can't do that we are screwed.
#29
Roberts was apppointed by Bush. I expect the other Justice Czars to act the way they do but not Roberts. When the supreme court allowed for eminient domain a few years back; I felt that Obamacare would be upheld. I guess Mayor Bloomberg can now require 10 jumping jacks for every OZ. of soda drank; or fines will be imposed.
#31
With states ignoring some federal laws, and the feds ignoring other federal laws, I wonder how much time we have left before everything crumbles. This is how civil wars start.
#32
I am unhappy with the results of the decision today. That said, we can still change the direction of this in November. This law can still be defeated. I think this will electrify the conservatives in this country.
There is also the fact that the ruling appears to limit the reach of the Commerce Act. We cannot be 'forced to eat broccoli' by dint of the Commerce Act. By explicitly making that clear, and by making ACA participation in it a tax, it gave the lie to the Democrat's previous positions and now makes it crystal clear to all Americans that they will be TAXED to pay for this, something they were promised would not happen. No one likes new taxes, except for the Dems.
Like I said, I am going to let this settle out for a few days.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
06/28/2012 17:45
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#33
AceofSpades pointed out this was ALWAYS PlanB. It's not until the March we all thought it had a chance in reality. And he's right.
Vote, Donate, Volunteer, and Inform. List the facts: Mandate=$600 billion tax increase according to SC, $500 Billion Medicare cut, Contraception Mandate, Obama/Pelosi/Reid lying about it being Tax.
I truly thing the Tax and Mediscare reversed will have an effect.
Posted by: Charles ||
06/28/2012 17:58
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#34
The problem is that the people of this country were ignorant enough to elect a communist president.
I am not confident it is out of ignorance that they voted for Obama - a large number WANT a communist/socialist government that 'takes care of them', and another large number want an elitist government because they believe themselves among the elite. Add to that the number who can be bought (banks, etc.) and you have the solid majority of anti-individualists who elected Obama and probably will again.
#35
We cannot be 'forced to eat broccoli' by dint of the Commerce Act.
No but thanks to Roberts' interpretation of the Taxing Power you may now be penalized for not purchasing a government mandated amount of the stuff. Or for failing to purchase a Chevy Volt, or for not upgrading the insulation in your home, etc. Anything our political overlords deem good for us we may now be taxed (penalized) for not doing. Of course these would appear to be direct taxes that are patently unconstitutional unless they're apportioned among the states based on population. Odd Roberts chose to overlook that detail.
#40
This health care law was always a Trojan Horse. It had to and still has to self-destruct. Its passage was battlespace preparation and the ultimate philosphical argument is whether health care is an individual or a collective issue. I do wish the arguments could be more than superficial though - for instance, the costs of collectivization on innovation are HUGE, and so far totally ignored.
#41
I am out here on a job in the Aleutian Chain. This decision is what I heard this morning. After initial disbelief and anger, I started thinking about this decision and what Roberts did. Roberts looked at the mandate as a tax. Nice way out. And the justices made some changes to the medicaid portion of the law. I have two thoughts on this:
1. Roberts' interpretation is a nice little sidestep. In my humble opinion, without any basis but intuition, the admin got to Roberts in some way.
2. Making changes in the medicaid portion of the law is not part of the justices' job. They interpret the law and not rewrite it. That is the job of Congress.
We have ONE chance to get this nonsense ended and that is in November. O and Co will bankrupt this nation, which is probably what they want. That is where we are headed now, and that is not the worst part of the Boyz from Chicago.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
06/28/2012 20:08
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#42
Evidently lying to the American people about Obamacare not being a tax; refusing to hear the arguments of 26 State Attorneys General; defying the wishes of 60% of the American people; rapidly pushing a partison "tax" through the congress without allowing time to read it......are all valid, constitutional methods of government for the Supremes.
When a judge assumes the power to decide which distinctions made in a statute are legitimate and which are not, he assumes the power to disapprove of any and all legislation, because all legislation makes distinctions.
Robert Bork
#43
tomorrow's ad:
"Obama promised no tax increases on anyone making less than errr...$250,000. How's that now? He imposes over a $1.7 Trillion tax* increase in the next 10 years. Who's lying now?"
*Tax increase verified by a bipartisan Supreme Court majority
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/28/2012 22:29
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#44
An online calculator indicated that if a person with an income of just $20,000.00 refuses to buy insurance and pay the resulting annual fine, the IRS penalty for the years 2014 through 2016 combined is $49,744.99
..................................................
I personally make a lot less, and I have everything I need and want, I rent a nice apartment, put food on the table, Go out a few times a week, and am fairly Independent.
I'm also crippled, and can't get around much
as I had a stroke a few years ago, I'm 65 and hope to live a whole lot longer, and I pay for insurance and own a car and a Truck(Owned them before I had my stroke)Both are tagged and Insured
AND i occasionally take vacation trips, the last one was to The Great Smokie Mountains.
So I simply don't see what the people are screaming about, I save a little bit and enjoy life, (PS i make about 1,450.00 per month you figure it out.)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
06/28/2012 22:52
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#45
Death penalty is just the ultimate tax. Everything can be thought of as a tax. Next, a tax for not buying pickles.
#46
tomorrow's ad: "Obama promised no tax increases on anyone making less than errr...$250,000. How's that now? He imposes over a $1.7 Trillion tax* increase in the next 10 years. Who's lying now?"
Perhaps this idea is precisely the reason Roberts uncharacteristically joined the left wing of the Court.
A Hamas member was killed in Damascus Wednesday night, the French news agency AFP cited a senior official for the organization as saying, adding that Hamas suspected that the Mossad was behind the killing. The official, who spoke anonymously, said that "a group of people entered the home of Kamel Ranaja (also known as Nizar Abu Mujhad), and killed him. IIUC, the deceased, although high up in the Hamas photo group picture, did mostly admin stuff such as coordinating money laundering, weapon smuggling, liaison with the Assad regime and the like; however, in the past 6 months, Hamas has become something of a burden to the regime as Hamas required bodyguards for protection but refused to support the regime in its current massacrefest.
Posted by: lord garth ||
06/28/2012
09:11 ||
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#1
He was an associate of the guy mysteriously whacked in a Dubai hotel earlier.
At least twelve people have been killed and more than 40 injured in a series of car bombings in Iraq.
Reports say the attacks happened in and around Baghdad, with at least eight people killed when a car bomb blew up outside a market in a mainly Shia district of the capital. Another car bomb targeted a government building in the nearby predominantly Sunni city of Taji.
Sources said Thursday's car bomb at a market in the predominantly Shia Muslim district of Washash had killed at least eight people and injured 30. The blast in Taji, some 12 miles north of Baghdad, killed four and injured 20, police said.
There are unconfirmed reports that a police patrol and a roadblock manned by militamen trying to prevent al-Qaeda attacks were targeted.
Turkish convoys including artillery and armor are moving toward the Syrian border. A convoy of 30 vehicles is said to have departed Iskenderun which included missile batteries. Article doesn't specify missile type. In addition, armor is said to be on the move toward Sanliurfa. Article also reports considerable number of individual vehicles headed to Reyhanli.
#4
Do you think they're going to invade with a column of thirty vehicles?
(The Turks of the 50's and 60's coulda probably pulled something off; they were awesome. These guys? I think their turbans are too tight, and have been too tight for a while).
[An Nahar] Turkey is not going to war with neighboring Syria over the shooting down of a Turkish warplane, its prime minister said Wednesday but analysts expect a higher risk of festivities on the border.
Days after the Phantom F-4 jet was brought down by Syrian defenses, leaving its two crew missing, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey has no hostile intent towards any country.
"As Turkey, the Turkish nation, we have no intention of attacking" Syria, he said during a military ceremony in Ankara.
His declaration came a day after he branded Syria "a clear and imminent threat" and promised a harsher military response to any border violation.
Wednesday's newspapers headlined Ankara's hardening attitude, with the Milliyet daily saying, "Syria is now a de facto enemy."
Analysts dismissed the prospects of a war but warned of escalating tensions on Turkey's 910-kilometre (560-mile) southern border with Syria.
"You can categorize a country as an enemy but this doesn't mean that you are in a hot conflict with that country," said political analyst Professor Sedat Laciner of the Ankara-based think tank USAK.
"Turkey has no intention of translating this tension into a war but it is apparent that the Turkish-Syrian border has turned into a frontier that may see stray attacks in the future," he stressed.
In a much-awaited speech in in parliament Tuesday, Erdogan announced that that the rules of engagement of the Turkish armed forces had changed after what he said was a "hostile act" by Syria testing Turkey's military capability.
Any action by Syria posing a risk on the border will be "considered a threat and treated as a military target," he said.
"Tension is going to rise at the border," said Hugh Pope of the International Crisis Group.
"But I don't think Turkey wants to send troops into Syria. The only option for Turkey is to be part of an international initiative," he noted.
Meeting in Brussels Tuesday at Turkey's request, NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all.... rallied behind Ankara, condemned Damascus ...The place where Pencilneck hangs his brass hat... for shooting down the Phantom, but made no mention of possible intervention.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/28/2012
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(Sh.M.Network)- Uganda has locked away Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! five Paks suspected of orc links, the police said on Tuesday, two weeks before the second anniversary of a bombing attack in Kampala for which Somali Islamist rebel group al Shaabab grabbed credit.
Officials say the country is vulnerable to further attacks from 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... who have vowed to keep striking until a Ugandan army contingent, leading an 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... -mandated force protecting Somalia's government, withdraws.
The area where the five men were locked away Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! was formerly a base for now-dormant Islamist rebel group, Allied Democratic Forces (ADF-NALU), which officials say has links to al-Shabaab.
Chaos in Somalia has allowed faceless myrmidons to thrive and launch deadly attacks in the region.
Deputy police spokesperson Judith Nabakoba told Rooters the men were locked away Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un! in the western district of Ntoroko near the Rwenzori mountains on the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Sunday.
"We got suspicious because these five Paks were coming from Congoand entering Uganda through an ungazetted border point," Nabakoba said.
She said they were with a Congolese man who was not carrying proper identification documents, and that they had been taken to Kampala for further investigation.
Al-Shabaab, which is closely linked to al Qaeda, grabbed credit for the July 2010 bombing in which 79 people were killed while watching the final of the football world cup.
Although ADF-NALU has long been inactive, officials say they are still a credible security threat from their bases in eastern DRC, where they fled after being defeated and ejected from western Ugandain the late 1990s.
The group, formed in 1996, wants to establish an Islamic state inUgandaand the Ugandan army says ADF's recruits are predominantly young Moslems.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/28/2012
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[An Nahar] Spanish police Wednesday tossed in the slammer Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un! two suspected Islamist Orcs and similar vermin who found young recruits in north Africa for training in camps and war zones, officials said.
The pair -- 25-year-old Rachid Abdellah Mohamed and 30-year-old Nabil Mohamed Chaib, both Spanish -- were nabbed in the nation's disputed north African enclave of Melilla.
They were believed to lead an Islamist group with international connections, made up mostly of Spanish citizens of north African origin living in Melilla or the neighboring Moroccan city of Farkhana, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.
"Both detainees are believed to be the authors of torture and liquidation of two group members who decided to leave and break away from the strong religious authority that was imposed," it said.
Corpses of the two victims showing signs of torture were found July 15, 2008 in the northeastern Moroccan city of Nador, it said.
Spanish Interior Minister Jorge Fernandez Diaz said the suspects were radical Islamists.
Their doctrine was similar to that of seven Orcs and similar vermin who blew themselves up in a Madrid suburb on April 3, 2004 when they were surrounded by police investigating the March 11, 2004 train bombings which killed 191 people in the Spanish capital, he said.
According to the interior ministry, the group set up strong internal security measures including keeping its own existence secret.
Members followed the extreme takfir ...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who most be killed... i ideology which obliged them to separate from family and barred them from listening to music or watching television, the ministry said.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/28/2012
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Treasury Department also accused four Lebanese and Venezuelan men of playing role in money laundering to help benefit criminals, Hezbollah
The US Treasury Department on Wednesday banned Americans from doing business with four Lebanese and Venezuelan men it accused of helping to smuggle narcotics and oversee fundraising for the Leb-based Hezbollah terror group.
The four men are: Abbas Hussein Harb, who holds citizenship in Leb and Venezuela; Ibrahim Chibl, a Lebanese citizen; Ali Houssein Harb and Kassem Mohamad Saleh, both duel citizens of Leb and Venezuela.
The US Treasury Department said the group of men are linked to Lebanese drug kingpin Ayman Joumaa, who was indicted last December by a US federal grand jury in Virginia on charges of aiding Mexican narco mobs. The department said Harb and Chibl conspired with others to help ship millions of dollars in narcotics.
Harb and Chibl, using a Colombia- and Venezuela-based organization, laundered money through the Lebanese financial sector, the Treasury Department said.
The group of men were also accused of playing a role in money laundering to help benefit criminals and Hezbollah.
The US Treasury said Americans are now banned from doing any business with the four men under the terms of the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act.
Separately, the United States named Ali Mohamad Saleh, who holds citizenship in Leb and Colombia, as a global terrorist for his association with Hezbollah.
Information minister says Syrian forces may have mistaken Turkish jet they shot down for Israeli plane. Adds: We don't want crisis
A Syrian minister is quoted as saying his country's forces may have mistaken the Turkish plane they shot down for an Israeli one.
Syrian Information Minister Omran al-Zoebi was quoted as telling Turkish news channel A Haber in a telephone interview Wednesday that his country did "not want a crisis between Turkey and Syria."
Al-Zoebi said Turkish and Israeli fighter jets were mostly US-made, which may have led the Syrian forces to mistake it for an Israeli jet.
Turkey warned Syria on Tuesday to keep its troops away from the countries' troubled border or risk an armed response, an angry reply to the downing of the Turkish reconnaissance plane last week.
Syrian news outlets quoted a military expert as saying that the anti-aircraft weapons used to down the Turkish fighter jet last weekend were made in Iran, Al-Quds al-Arabi reported Wednesday.
According to the Arabic newspaper, the Syrian expert said Damascus ...Home to a staggering array of terrorist organizations... purchased an Iranian-made anti-aircraft gun two years ago. He said the gun can be mounted on armored vehicles.
The expert said the downed Turkish jet flew at a low altitude so as not to be detected by the Syrian radar. However, by candlelight every wench is handsome... the expert said, the Turkish crew was not aware that the Syrian air force was in possession of a weapon capable of intercepting planes flying at such a low altitude.
by Mary Habeck [shadow.foreignpolicy.com] Peter Bergen has a new piece up on CNN's website that argues the United States can declare victory over al Qaeda and wind down the war against the group. Reading through his article, I found several places where I profoundly disagreed with his analysis and therefore with his overall conclusion that al Qaeda has been defeated. Every once in awhile some "national security analyst" will decide it's time to end the WoT because... ummm... well, because they're against war and stuff. This is one of those occasions...
First, Bergen begins with a false analogy by arguing that the current war is nothing like World War II, and that therefore there can be no culminating peace as was signed between the Allies and Nazi Germany. This argument implies that a definitive victory over al Qaeda, one on the model and scale of the victory over the Nazis, is impossible. Bergen's not big on the oderint dum metuant idea, it seems... The current war is indeed nothing like WWII -- it's an irregular conflict being fought against a non-state actor something like the Insidious Doctor Fu Manchu, while WWII (for the most part), was a regular conflict fought against recognizable nation-states. It might therefore be impossible to sign a peace treaty on the decks of a battleship when this war ends, but it is entirely possible to win irregular wars and to win them as definitively and recognizably as WWII was won, as the examples of multiple conflicts throughout the twentieth century show. It does take a certain amount of ruthlessness, however...
For instance, from 1898-1954, the U.S. absolutely defeated three separate insurgencies in the Philippines, including a nationalist insurgency, an insurgency by local Mohammedans, and a communist insurgency. The British took on and repeatedly defeated insurgencies (the Boers, the Malay communists, and the Kenyan Mau-Mau, for instance), and it is actually difficult to find, beyond the Sandinistas and Castro's group, an insurgency that has succeeded in Latin America. The Malay war was for a time the "handbook" on guerrilla warfare. The Brits weren't particularly gentle, though, so HRW and Oxfam and similar groups would no doubt be hissy fitting if it was going on now. We won't even discuss the Mau Mau war, which made the Malay war look downright friendly. And then there's the Sri Lankan war against the Tamil Tigers, which is still causing hissy fits and should be being mined as the new handbook on successful counterinsurgency.
Second, Bergen argues that the war against al Qaeda is not an "essential challenge" to the U.S. and thus can be safely relegated to some level of effort short of war. It is true that the death of 3,000 Americans in the first attack on the U.S. homeland since WWII was not an existential threat to the U.S., nor have the pinpricks that al Qaeda has managed since 9-11 posed a serious challenge to the continued existence of the United States. On the other hand, this assessment fails to take into consideration the global growth of al Qaeda, its absorption of every other major jihadist group on the planet, and its ability to take and control territory throughout the Mohammedan-majority world. I don't agree that they've shown they can take and hold territory, even in the Moslem world. Unless the state is failed on the order of Somalia or Mali they always fold when opposed by even a half-trained military. Saleh let AQAP grow in Yemen for his internal political purposes, but Hadi -- with one foot still in the Saleh bucket -- has been able to rout them from Abyan and is apparently in the process of chasing them into Oman. Al-Shabaab is an Islamist version of the Somali warlord, and her neighbors are systematically ejecting them. They're not as hard to get rid of as, for example, DR Congo rebel commanders.
While I have heard some deride this spread as only threatening the 'garden-spots' of the world, we need to remind ourselves that it was from just this sort of uncontrolled territory that 9-11 was carried out, and once the 'garden-spots' are taken, our vital lines of communications and territories that we (apparently) care more about will be threatened. In addition, I would note that it has only been through our wartime footing that we have managed to keep al Qaeda in even this loose net. If we downgrade our effort, al Qaeda will be able to grow even faster and push its control even further. Afghanistan's an exception to the Qaeda suppression rule because the actual nerve center of the the operation is in Pakistain. As in the case of Saleh, they've got their own reasons for keeping Afghanistan in Islamic turmoil. The fact that most of the country's leadership would qualify for straight jackets if they lived anywhere else is beside the point: the Pak government thinks al-Qaeda, the concept of takfir wal-hijra, and Islam in general are all tools of state policy.
Third and fourth, the article goes on to conclude that it is possible to "declare victory" and move on because 1) al Qaeda's offensive capabilities are "puny" and 2) U.S. defenses are strong. The first of these assessments is based on an assumption about al Qaeda that is unwarranted; that is, that al Qaeda's main objective and goal is to attack the United States. The recent release of documents from Abbottabad ... A pleasant city located only 30 convenient miles from Islamabad. The city is noted for its nice weather and good schools. It is the site of Pakistain's military academy, which was within comfortable walking distance of the residence of the late Osama bin Laden.... make it clear that attacking the United States was (and is) but the first step in a staged strategic plan, a plan that begins by attriting the United States, and weakening it so much that the United States will be forced out of all Mohammedan-majority countries. So what we're actually looking at is the "clash of cultures" that keeps being deprecated. Arabian culture is different from Western culture at a more fundamental level than is, for example, Han Chinese culture. It's more on the order of the antagonism between the West and Japan in 1936, only with a lot more population. We face a culture that would be, but for oil money, weak and non-productive but with a colossal inferiority complex. As a matter of religious principle they take half of the potential productiveness of society and reduce it to breeding stock. We can "declare victory" over that kind of system when there's no further need for Arabian oil anywhere. At that point the Arabian-descended cultures will revert to what they were 150 years ago, to whit: not much and no threat to anyone but the occasional shipping company.
The next stage of al Qaeda's strategic plan is to take over and control territory, declaring "emirates" that will be able to spread safely because the United States will be too weak to intervene. This is what they're finding is easier than in theory than in practice, but it'll become easier if we suddenly become uninvolved in the process...
This means that the affiliates are not just dangerous when they attack the United States (which Bergen implies in his article), but are a threat to our security when they overthrow local governments and set up local emirates that have greater, global ambitions. I would also note that while polling data is important for understanding how well we are doing in our fight against al Qaeda -- and here the indications are positive -- it is a fact that insurgencies need only a tiny percentage of active support in order to be self-sustaining (usually defined as 5 percent of the populace). Al Qaeda would like the consent of the governed, but they are perfectly happy to violently enforce obedience to their rule when necessary. They have no trouble with oderint dum metuant. In fact, I might go so far as to disagree with the idea that they would like the consent of the governed. As a matter of Islamic principle that's irrelevant...
And by the way: No al Qaeda affiliate or partner (including the Taliban, al Qaeda in Iraq, or the Shabaab) has been deposed from power by an uprising of the local population alone. They have needed outside intervention in order to expel the myrmidons, even when the people have hated al Qaeda's often brutal rule. You have to think twice about rebelling if you're liable to have your head chopped off.
On Bergen's second point, I agree that U.S. defenses are strong, but disagree profoundly with the current mission of Special Operation Forces as the right method to defeat al Qaeda. This counter-terrorism mission is based on killing al Qaeda members, i.e. attrition, a strategy that assumes that al Qaeda is still a terrorist group as it was in the 1990s. This is simply not true. Even then, the group's leadership aspired to bigger things, and al Qaeda has now succeeded in becoming an myrmidon group, one that takes and holds territory, recruits far more soldiers than we can kill, sets up shadow governance and attempts to overthrow governments around the Mohammedan-majority world. I keep saying that they're a lot more like Fu Manchu than they are like, for instance, Communism. The idea sounds so stoopid on its face that it's easy to discount unless you actually sit down and read a few Sax Rohmer novels followed immediately by the newspaper. Especially a Pak newspaper.
While attrition can succeed as a strategy against terrorist groups (see i.e. the Spanish and French fight against ETA), it is absolutely counterproductive against an insurgency, which simply uses the killings to recruit more members and to fuel its propaganda. Except that it did work for the Lankans. And for the Brits in Malaysia and in Kenya. However, brute attrition went out at 11 o'clock on 11-11-1918. Counterterror (and counterinsurgency operations in general) have to be intel-driven and the intel has to keep targeting the upper echelons of the enemy. Decapitation's a lot different from attrition, and it's more effective.
Fifth, some part of Bergen's declaration of victory is based on wishful thinking. He argues, for instance, that killing or capturing AQAP's bomb-maker will 'likely' cause the threat from AQAP to recede. This assumes that 1) the bomb-maker never trained replacements and 2) that AQAP is incapable of thinking up other ways to attack us. It also ignores the real threat from AQAP if it manages to overthrow the government in Sana'a and push on into Soddy Arabia. ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in their national face... ... but it looks like it's going to have to be through Oman...
Finally, the last sentence of his article is a straw man. These "declare victory" epistles are usually attacking them from start to finish.
The objective of the Allied war on the Nazis was the same as every other regular war: To break the enemy's will to resist. It was simply not necessary to kill every Nazi in order to achieve this objective. The objective of irregular wars is rather different, however: to secure the population by clearing out the myrmidons; then holding the territory through persistent presence; and finally creating the political conditions necessary to prevent any further appeal by the remaining myrmidons. It's that last area where we fell down in Afghanistan...
In this view, winning against al Qaeda does not depend on body counts, Counterinsurgency never does. Didn't work for us in Vietnam, didn't work for the Sovs in Afghanistan...
but rather would look very much like victories against other myrmidons: the spreading of security for populations in Somalia, Yemen, the Sahel, and elsewhere; the prevention of a return of al-Qaeda to these cleared areas; and the empowerment of legitimate governments that can control and police their own territories. By these standards, we have not yet defeated al Qaeda; in fact, beyond Iraq, Afghanistan, and Somalia, we have hardly engaged the enemy at all. We've been ignoring the propaganda war. Qaeda should be an object of derision and contempt after eleven years of war and we still give Islam and especially Islamism too much respect. They spend their time posing and waving guns and blowing themselves up, almost as often unintentionally as intentionally. They're good at chopping the heads, hands, feet and probably other appurtenances off civilians but crummy at facing real soldiers. As a matter of national policy we should harp on those points every day. Instead we get "national security analysts" telling us to hang it up because they're tired of being at war.
This article starring:
Peter Bergen
Posted by: Fred ||
06/28/2012
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#2
why stop killing them now? So they can regroup and America get lax in security so we can be hit again. Looks like some ppl didn't learn from the earliest wars in American history where we pretty much disbanded the military after each conflict too have too hurry up and put one back together again when the next conflict arose.
Posted by: chris ||
06/28/2012 0:37
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#3
Sounds like a "peace nut" to me. (or a nutty piece, you decide)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
06/28/2012 4:21
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[An Nahar] An attack on a pro-government television near Damascus ...The place where Pencilneck hangs his brass hat... killed seven staff Wednesday, state media said, while 29 people died in other violence on the heels of the "bloodiest week" of the 15-month uprising, according to a watchdog.
Live footage broadcast by state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
showed extensive damage to the studios of Al-Ikhbariya satellite channel outside the capital with several small fires still burning.
"The terrorist groups stormed the offices of Al-Ikhbariya, planted explosives in the studios and blew them up along with the equipment," Information Minister Omran al-Zohbi told state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
in a live interview.
"They carried out the worst massacre against the media, executing journalists and security staff," Zohbi said, adding that a number of staff were kidnapped.
Those killed comprised three journalists and four security guards, state media said.
Press watchdog Reporters Without Borders called for members of a U.N. observer mission, which suspended its operations on June 16 in the face of worsening violence, to visit the scene to ascertain the facts.
"News organizations should not be used as targets by the parties to the conflict," the watchdog said.
"However, corruption finds a dozen alibis for its evil deeds... we deplore in the strongest possible terms the broadcast by the media of messages inciting hatred and violence against civilians."
In other violence on Wednesday, 10 soldiers were killed before dawn in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor, while 15 troops defected to the rebels, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Later Wednesday fierce festivities took place between regime troops and rebel fighters in Deir Ezzor city, where kabooms were reported.
Five people were killed in shelling and shooting in the Damascus suburb of Douma and surrounding areas, while regime forces carried out raids and arrests elsewhere in the province.
The central city of Homs was exposed to heavy shelling by regime forces where "living conditions remain difficult because of the blockade and bombardment, which has continued for weeks", the Observatory said.
In the northwestern province of Idlib, festivities and shelling left six civilians and three rebels dead, in addition to five soldiers, among them a colonel of the elite Republican Guard.
More than 15,800 people have been killed since the outbreak of the revolt against Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor... 's regime in March last year, the Observatory said, adding that the seven days to Tuesday were the bloodiest so far.
"The pace of the killings has escalated," the watchdog said.
"The last week was the bloodiest week of the Syrian Revolution," Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman told Agence La Belle France Presse by telephone, adding that 916 people were killed from June 20 through 26.
Of the 15,804 people killed since March 2011, 4,681 had bit the dust since a U.N.-backed ceasefire was supposed to take effect on April 12, he said.
Of those, roughly a quarter -- 1,197 -- have been killed since the U.N. observer mission intended to oversee the peace plan suspended its operations in the face of the mounting violence.
"The last month, from May 26 to June 26, was the deadliest since the start of the protests. During this period, 3,426 people were killed," Abdel Rahman said.
An attack on a pro-government television near Damascus killed seven staff Wednesday, state media said, while 29 people died in other violence on the heels of the "bloodiest week" of the 15-month uprising, according to a watchdog.
Live footage broadcast by state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
showed extensive damage to the studios of Al-Ikhbariya satellite channel outside the capital with several small fires still burning.
"The terrorist groups stormed the offices of Al-Ikhbariya, planted explosives in the studios and blew them up along with the equipment," Information Minister Omran al-Zohbi told state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
in a live interview.
"They carried out the worst massacre against the media, executing journalists and security staff," Zohbi said, adding that a number of staff were kidnapped.
Those killed comprised three journalists and four security guards, state media said.
Press watchdog Reporters Without Borders called for members of a U.N. observer mission, which suspended its operations on June 16 in the face of worsening violence, to visit the scene to ascertain the facts.
"News organizations should not be used as targets by the parties to the conflict," the watchdog said.
"However, there's no worse danger than telling a mother her baby is ugly... we deplore in the strongest possible terms the broadcast by the media of messages inciting hatred and violence against civilians."
In other violence on Wednesday, 10 soldiers were killed before dawn in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor, while 15 troops defected to the rebels, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Later Wednesday fierce festivities took place between regime troops and rebel fighters in Deir Ezzor city, where kabooms were reported.
Five people were killed in shelling and shooting in the Damascus suburb of Douma and surrounding areas, while regime forces carried out raids and arrests elsewhere in the province.
The central city of Homs was exposed to heavy shelling by regime forces where "living conditions remain difficult because of the blockade and bombardment, which has continued for weeks", the Observatory said.
In the northwestern province of Idlib, festivities and shelling left six civilians and three rebels dead, in addition to five soldiers, among them a colonel of the elite Republican Guard.
More than 15,800 people have been killed since the outbreak of the revolt against President Bashir al-Assad's regime in March last year, the Observatory said, adding that the seven days to Tuesday were the bloodiest so far.
"The pace of the killings has escalated," the watchdog said.
"The last week was the bloodiest week of the Syrian Revolution," Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman told Agence La Belle France Presse by telephone, adding that 916 people were killed from June 20 through 26.
Of the 15,804 people killed since March 2011, 4,681 had bit the dust since a U.N.-backed ceasefire was supposed to take effect on April 12, he said.
Of those, roughly a quarter -- 1,197 -- have been killed since the U.N. observer mission intended to oversee the peace plan suspended its operations in the face of the mounting violence.
"The last month, from May 26 to June 26, was the deadliest since the start of the protests. During this period, 3,426 people were killed," Abdel Rahman said.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[Dawn] A powerful blast at train station late on Wednesday killed at least five and injured at least 20 people in Sibi, DawnNews reported.
Home Secretary 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... Nasinullah Bazai, while speaking to DawnNews, vowed to arrest the culprits behind the attack and called a bomb disposal squad at the site to avoid anymore untoward incidents.
According to officials, kaboom was hidden at a tea stall at the platform number two of the station.
At the time of blast, Jaffer Express was stationery at the crowded platform. The train was arriving from Jafferabad and destined for Quetta.
AP adds: Police officer Qasim Salachi says the bomb went off just minutes after the train pulled into the station, as passengers were buying food and drinks.
No group has yet grabbed credit for the attack.
The dead and injured were being shifted to the District Headquarters Hospital Sibi. Deputy Commissioner Shahid Saleem Qureshi has imposed an emergency in the hospital.
There are children among the injured while eight injured are reported to be at death's door.
Police and other security agencies have cordoned off the blast site and initiated an investigation.
Balochistan has experienced decades of violence at the hands of separatists who demand a greater share of the province's natural resources. It is also believed to be a base for many Afghan Talibs.
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The City of Brotherly Love has become the American epicenter of robberies and murders carried out by criminals disguised as fundamentalist Moslem women.
Not surprisingly, a shoddy piece of journalism appeared in a Fortune magazine blog which distorted and lied about the issues involving Fast and Furious, oddly enough published on the eve of the Contempt of Congress vote against the execrable Eric Holder.
The basic thrust of the piece was that Fast and Furious was a story ginned up by right wing blogs based on false allegations.
I wonder how much advertising Fortune was promised in exchange for this piss poor example of investigative reporting by a former healthcare reporter, Katherine Eban. Eban was also a Journolist member, fancy that.
[An Nahar] International peace envoy Kofi Annan ...Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh and so far the worst Secretary-General of the UN. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize for something or other that probably sounded good at the time. In December 2004, reports surfaced that Kofi's son Kojo received payments from the Swiss company Cotecna, which had won a lucrative contract under the UN Oil-for-Food Program. Kofi Annan called for an investigation to look into the allegations, which stirred up the expected cesspool but couldn't seem to come up with enough evidence to indict Kofi himself, or even Kojo... said on Wednesday that an action group on Syria would meet this weekend in a new bid to shore up his faltering peace plan, as both the U.S. and La Belle France said talks must focus on the need for political transition in the conflict-torn country.
The former U.N. secretary-general said a ministerial level meeting of the action group would take place in Geneva on Saturday, featuring all five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and other key regional players.
"I look forward to a productive meeting this weekend, where we can all agree on concrete actions to end the cycle of violence and bring peace and stability to the Syrian people," Annan said in a statement.
But while U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ... sometimes described as The Woman to Call at 3 a.m. and at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as Another Abel P. Upshur ... -- who is among those due to attend -- gave Annan her full backing, the news that Iran was not among those invited was likely to infuriate Syria's chief ally, Russia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin ...Second President of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Because of constitutionally mandated term limits he is the current Prime Minister of Russia. His sock puppet, Dmitry Medvedev, was installed in the 2008 presidential elections. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law. During his eight years in office Russia's economy bounced back from crisis, seeing GDP increase, poverty decrease and average monthly salaries increase. During his presidency Putin passed into law a series of fundamental reforms, including a flat income tax of 13%, a reduced profits tax, and new land and legal codes. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile... said on Tuesday that Iran should be invited to any international meeting in Geneva, saying it "would complicate the process" if Tehran were to be shut out.
A six-point peace plan drawn up by Annan came into force in mid-April. But its key provisions, which include a total cessation of violence, have been repeatedly breached since then.
In his statement, Annan said that the action group aimed to "identify steps and measures to secure full implementation of the six-point plan".
But he also said Saturday's meeting would seek agreement "on guidelines and principles for a Syrian-led political transition that meets the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people" as well as "agree on actions that will make these objectives a reality on the ground".
Posted by: Fred ||
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Chechen police have detained a 19-year-old woman who they say was recruited by an militant group to carry out a suicide attack in neighboring Dagestan, said a spokesman for the Chechen Interior Ministry.
The woman, who lives in the North Caucasus republic of Kabardino-Balkaria, was arrested in the Chechnya's capital Grozny. Police also obtained what they said was a martyrdom letter addressed to the womans relatives along with extremist literature.
The woman has claimed to be innocent. She told police she was travelling to Dagestan to study Islam at a religious school. She said that none of her relatives knew about her trip.
When you're that bad at lying, maybe you should just keep your mouth shut.
Police believe the womans actual aim was to carry out a suicide attack in Dagestan.
Chechen Interior Minister Ruslan Alkhanov said extremists often use young people to achieve their villainous and malicious goals.
The would-be suicide bombers husband was in jail, and the recruiters have apparently found the womans raw spot her unfortunate personal life, which they used to persuade her to carry out the attack.
[An Nahar] Malian Tuareg and beturbanned fascisti clashed in the town of Gao on Wednesday as tensions soar between the gangs who have had a fractious relationship since seizing the north of Mali three months ago.
Fighting broke out between the Tuareg National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) and members of the al-Qaeda offshoot Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO) in at least two suburbs of the northeastern town.
"It is happening not far from the governorate, fighters from the two movements are firing at each other with heavy weapons," said the owner of a petrol station next to the governor's offices.
"We can hear gunfire, the fighters from MUJAO and the MNLA are shooting at each other," said Nina Oumarou, the sister of an official who was killed by gunnies on Monday night, provoking violent protests on Tuesday.
She said a group of MUJAO fighters had moved towards the MNLA camp in the town, which was seized by the various rebel groups in late March after a coup d'etat by renegade soldiers in Bamako.
Residents reported the fighting continued into the early afternoon and that both sides had received reinforcements.
The festivities followed Tuesday's protest by residents angry over the death of municipal councilor Idrissa Oumarou, who belongs to the party of Mali's transitional president Dioncounda Traore.
Oumarou was rubbed out on Monday and the protesters blamed the rebel groups for his murder.
Armed men on Tuesday fired on the group of demonstrators, leaving at least one dead and a dozen injured.
Witnesses accused the MNLA of the shooting, which the Tuareg movement denied, saying it was "manipulation" on the part of MUJAO.
"The MNLA firmly condemns those who shot at the crowd protesting its discontent in Gao," said Ibrahim Ag Mohamed Assaleh, a leader of the movement.
MUJAO said it had jugged Please don't kill me! two people for the murder of Oumarou, without identifying them.
The jihadist group is an offshoot of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), both of which are backing the Islamist rebel group Ansar Dine (Defenders of Faith).
The MNLA spearheaded the takeover of the north when the March 22 coup left the country in chaos, and were soon joined by the previously unknown Ansar Dine, which has since taken the upper hand.
Tensions have been high between the two rebel groups, as they both pursue different objectives and ideologies.
While the secular Tuareg want independence for their northern homeland, which they call Azawad. Ansar Dine's main demand is a state where Islamic law is strictly implemented.
Last week a young couple was publicly lashed for having a child out of wedlock, while smokers have also been whipped and women forced to wear veils in the towns of Timbuktu, Gao and Kidal.
Ansar Dine and Tuareg leaders have been holding talks in the Burkina Faso ...The country in west Africa that they put where Upper Volta used to be. Its capital is Oogadooga, or something like that. Its president is currently Blaise Compaoré, who took office in 1987 and may be in the process of being chased out now... capital with mediator President Blaise Compaore on a way forward for the troubled north.
Compaore's foreign minister, Djibrill Bassole, held talks Wednesday in neighboring Algeria, the region's top military power.
"Algeria's role in solving the cris in Mali is extremely important," Bassole told the official APS news agency.
Most of AQIM's top leaders are from Algeria.
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Confusing American lawyer shows with his own reality. He'll be demanding someone be Mirandized next.
CAIRO - The office of Egyptian president-elect Mohamed Mursi will file a lawsuit against the Iranian news agency Fars for making up an interview with him which said he promised to improve ties between the two countries, Mursi's front man said on Wednesday.
"President Mursi was never interviewed by Iran's Fars news agency. The interview was fabricated and his presidential office has begun taking legal action against the news agency," Yasser Ali told Rooters.
Iran has hailed Mursi's victory over former air force commander Ahmed Shafik in Egypt's first free presidential election as a "splendid vision of democracy" that marked the country's "Islamic Awakening".
Since Egypt's Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... was toppled in one of those uprisings, both Cairo and Tehran have signaled interest in renewing ties severed more than 30 years ago.
Mursi, however, is striving to reassure Egypt's Western allies wary at the prospect of Islamist rule, and Gulf states that are deeply suspicious of Iranian influence, and is unlikely to stage major foreign policy reversals so soon after taking office.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
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(Sh.M.Network) -- The Kenyan government is protesting a U.S.embassy travel advisory that warns of an imminent terror attack on the coastal town of Mombassa. I double-checked the date. It only reads like last week's news.
The government says the advisory amounts to "economic sabotage" in a city that is reliant on tourism.
In a joint statement on Sunday, Head of Public Service Francis Kimemia and Tourism Minister Dan Mwadzo said the Kenyan government had officially asked the U.S.embassy in Nairobi to lift Friday's advisory.
The officials say the terror alert hurts Kenya's massive tourism industry.Mombasa is a major destination for foreign visitors.
Kenya has often been on terror alert since sending troops into Somalia last October.
The Somalint'> myrmidon group al-Shabaab ... the successor to the Islamic Courts... has vowed to stage a major terrorist attack on Kenyan territory in retaliation.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/28/2012
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The government says the advisory amounts to "economic sabotage" in a city that is reliant on tourismrobbery and kidnapping.
[An Nahar] A subway operator in the Chinese metropolis of Shanghai has caused uproar by warning women not to wear revealing clothes to avoid being groped by the city's "perverts".
On its microblogging site, the Shanghai No.2 Subway Co posted a picture of a women in a see-through dress and warned: "If you dress like this on the subway, you will undoubtedly be harassed.
"The subway is full of perverts -- women, have some self-respect!"
The warning, posted on June 20, has been forwarded more than 15,000 times and elicited nearly 7,000 responses, many expressing outrage and criticizing the subway operator for "sexist" remarks.
"According to this logic, all men can harass women in swimming pools," wrote one netizen.
"What I wear is my basic right, it does not deny the rights of others," wrote a micro-blogger calling themselves SOY-BEAN-E.
But others voiced support for the warning and urged women to dress more conservatively.
A front man for the subway company denied the post was a justification of sexual harassment and said it was meant to be a "kind reminder" to women, the Global Times reported.
"As the city's subway operator, we have the responsibility to warn women of the potential danger of sexual harassment on the subway," the paper quoted the front man as saying.
Hokay, how about a second ad campaign warning men that the women they're considering groping might be armed?
Posted by: Fred ||
06/28/2012
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[Dawn] India's home minister said on Wednesday that a key suspect in the 2008 Mumbai attacks has provided information confirming Pak "state support" for the deadly assault.
Abu Hamza, also known as Sayed Zabiuddin, an Indian-born member of the Pakistain-based jihad boy group Lashkar-e-Taiba ...the Army of the Pure, an Ahl-e-Hadith terror organization founded by Hafiz Saeed. LeT masquerades behind the Jamaat-ud-Dawa facade within Pakistain and periodically blows things up and kills people in India. Despite the fact that it is banned, always an interesting concept in Pakistain, the organization remains an blatant tool and perhaps an arm of the ISI... , was tossed in the calaboose Please don't kill me! at Delhi international airport on June 21 when he arrived from the Middle East.
Indian police believe he was one of the handlers based in Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It may be the largest city in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... , who issued orders by telephone to 10 gunnies as they stormed two luxury hotels, a Jewish centre, a restaurant and a train station in Mumbai.
The November 2008 attacks, which India has blamed on Lashkar-e-Taiba, left 166 people dead and more than 300 maimed.
Home Minister P. Chidambaram, speaking to news hounds in the southern state of Kerala, said police interrogation of Hamza had confirmed Indian accusations that Pak state actors were also involved.
"The argument that non-state actors were behind the massacre is no longer valid. He has confirmed that he was in the control room (and) this has confirmed our suspicion that there was some organised effort," Chidambaram said.
"When I say, state actors, at the moment, I am not pointing my finger at any particular agency.
"But clearly there was state support or state actors' support for the 26/11 massacre," the home minister said.
Pakistain, which has firmly denied such allegations, has indicted seven people for their alleged role in the attacks. Their trial, which began in 2009, has been beset by delays.
Adviser to Prime Minister on Interior Rehman Malik Pak politician, Interior Minister under the Gilani government. Malik is a former Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) intelligence officer who rose to head the FIA during Benazir Bhutto's second tenure. Malik was tossed from his FIA job in 1998 after documenting the breath-taking corruption of the Sharif family. By unhappy coincidence Nawaz Sharif became PM at just that moment and Malik moved to London one step ahead of the button men. He had to give up the interior ministry job because he held dual Brit citizenship. has denied any state support in the attacks.
"India's speculative allegations against Pakistain have been proven incorrect on several occasions," Malik told news hounds on Wednesday.
The United States has offered a $10 million reward for information leading to the conviction of Lashkar founder Hafiz Muhammad Saeed ...who would be wearing a canvas jacket with very long sleeves anyplace but Pakistain... who lives openly in Pakistain and is accused of criminal masterminding the Mumbai attacks.
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06/28/2012
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Gosh, I sure hope the Hindoos didn't make him uncomfortable while asking their questions...
[An Nahar] Egypt's ailing former strongman Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... is slipping in and out of a coma and his morale has plunged after news of Mohamed Morsi's victory in the presidential polls, officials told AFP on Wednesday.
"The former president has been greatly affected by the news of Morsi's presidential victory," said one of the officials at a Cairo military where Mubarak was transferred last week.
"According to medical reports, Mubarak's morale has worsened. He is in depression and slips in and out of coma," the official who declined to be named told AFP.
"His medical team is carrying out all sorts of tests on his brain and heart," the source added.
Morsi, candidate of the formerly banned Moslem Brüderbund in the June 16-17 election, was confirmed as Egypt's first democratically elected civilian president on Sunday, succeeding Mubarak.
Last week Mubarak was moved from jail, where he is serving a life sentence, to a military hospital in Cairo amid uncertainty over his health.
On June 20, a medical source told AFP that the 84-year-old former president was "in a coma and the doctors are trying to revive him."
"He has been placed on an artificial respirator," the source added, in an account confirmed by a member of Egypt's ruling military council, who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity.
Mubarak was taken to a Cairo prison on June 2, after a court handed down a life sentence against him over his involvement in the deaths of protesters during the 2011 uprising that ousted him from power.
His health deteriorated after the transfer, with doctors defibrillating him twice earlier this month, and reports saying he was suffering from bouts of depression, high blood pressure and shortness of breath.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/28/2012
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An anti-terrorist judge in La Belle France has thrown weight behind claims that the murder of American journalist Daniel Pearl and the bombing of French engineers in Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It may be the largest city in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... both had their roots in murky arms deals with Pak officials.
In 2002, two brutal terrorist attacks targeting westerners in the Pak city of Bloody Karachi shocked the world.
In January that year, the American journalist Daniel Pearl was kidnapped before being beheaded in cold blood by his captors. A video was later released showing his execution.
Three months later, on May 8, a bomber targeted a bus carrying French naval engineers working for the majority state owned Direction of Naval Construction (DCN). The blast left 11 engineers dead.
Apart from being carried out in the same city, the two attacks appeared at first to have little in common.
On Monday, Judge Marc Trevidic, who is charged with investigating the kaboom on the French engineers, met with the families of the 11 victims in Gay Paree.
Trevidic told them of his latest findings, which support a theory first put forward in a 2008 internal report by DCN titled 'Nautilus' that suggested both attacks were linked to a breakdown in arms deals with Pakistain.
"It was a rumour, now it has become a certainty" wrote French daily Le Gay Pareeien, which broke the story of Trevidic's findings on Monday.
The implication of Pakistain's secret services (ISI) in both cases is "no longer in doubt" added Le Gay Pareeien.
Speaking after the meeting, Sandrine Leclerc, whose father died in the Bloody Karachi attack, told news hounds: "The parallel between the case of the murder of Daniel Pearl and that involving the deaths of our loved ones is obvious. They are linked to arms contracts."
Oliver Morice, a lawyer for the victims' families, said "the findings of the investigating Judge Trevidic have given very significant credibility to the 'Nautilus' report."
Breach of arms deals
The killing of the French engineers, who were working on a submarine construction project, sparked outrage in La Belle France.
Pak police immediately placed the blame at the door of Islamic fundamentalists, but the cut-throats initially condemned to death for the attack were found not guilty on appeal.
Nevertheless, Jean-Louis Brugière, the French judge in charge of the case at the time, continued to pursue the line that Islamic cut-throats were to blame.
But when Trevidic took over the case in 2007, he began examining the theory that the bombing was linked to deals Pakistain made with La Belle France to purchase submarines.
Trevidic investigated whether the attack was Dire Revenge™ by Pak officials who were angry that then-president Jacques Chirac blocked the payment of kickbacks linked to the deal.
"We know that there may have been retaliatory operations related to the breaching of arms contracts. It is for the judge to now consolidate the findings of the 'Nautilus' report," said the lawyer Morice.
The "Bloody Karachi affair," as it has been named in La Belle France, has even ensnared members of the French ruling class with Sherlocks looking into allegations that kickbacks from the arms sales to Pakistain helped fund the failed 1995 presidential primary campaign of Edouard Balladur.
Balladur's campaign spokesperson at the time was none other than recently-departed president Nicolas Sarkozy ...23rd and current President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra. Sarkozy is married to singer-songwriter Carla Bruni, who has a really nice birthday suit... Parallel with Pearl's murder
The murder of Daniel Pearl, just three months before the bus bombing, was also initially attributed to Islamic fundamentalists linked to al Qaeda.
But one of the demands made by his kidnappers after his abduction also pointed to a possible ulterior motive.
In two emails sent just after his kidnapping, his captors listed a number of conditions for the release of their hostage, one of which was for the United States to deliver the F-16 fighter jets that Pakistain had paid for but never received due to a diplomatic wrangle.
During his trip to the United States in February, Trevidic requested access to past hearings of Sheikh Omar, the British-born bad turban of Pak descent who was considered to be the criminal mastermind behind Pearl's murder and is currently in prison in Pakistain.
The evidence subsequently confirmed the emails' authenticity.
"The two authenticated emails indicate that it was not al Qaeda behind the kidnapping, but Pak nationals, because of the F-16 deal," Marie Dose, lawyer for the families told AFP news agency.
However, a good lie finds more believers than a bad truth... some give little credence to the view that both cases are linked to a breach in arms contracts, including Sarkozy, who labelled the allegations a "grotesque fairy tale".
The doubters argue the seven-year time difference between Chirac's decision to stop the payment of kickbacks and the kaboom were too great for them to be linked.
"From now on, Marc Trevidic can quite easily dismiss this argument," argued Le Gay Pareeien.
[Dawn] WITH the arrival of summer, cross-border attacks in Fata launched from eastern Afghanistan have started once again. There have been three this month, including one on Sunday in which six Pak troops were killed in combat and another seven beheaded. Four remain missing. If last year's experience is anything to go by, there will be more assaults involving scores of faceless myrmidons attacking check posts along Fata's northern border with Afghanistan, from Kunar province ... which is right down the road from Chitral. Kunar is Haqqani country..... in particular. These get far less attention in the international press than attacks in Afghanistan allegedly launched by the Haqqani network from Pakistain. But simply because no western troops are at risk in Fata does not mean the attacks here should be taken any less seriously as cross-border threats that are destabilising the region and disrupting relations between Pakistain, Afghanistan and the US.
Islamabad has lodged a diplomatic protest, but that is not enough. Protests were also lodged, including by the army chief, after a similar spate of attacks last year. No action seems to have been taken in response. As much as Pakistain needs to get to work to eliminate safe havens in North Wazoo, Afghan and Isaf security forces need to figure out a way to eliminate them on their side. Isaf has scaled back its troop presence in eastern Afghanistan, and if it is not prepared to reallocate some of its soldiers to the area, Afghan cops can step in. All three sides, perhaps through the framework of the Tripartite Commission, need to jointly chalk out a plan to dismantle safe havens, and the issue should be raised with the American commander in Afghanistan during his visit to Pakistain that starts today.
But this is not just an international problem. Carried out by faceless myrmidons chased out of Swat ...a valley and an administrative district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistain, located 99 mi from Islamabad. It is inhabited mostly by Pashto speakers. The place has gone steadily downhill since the days when Babe Ruth was the Sultan of Swat... during the 2009 operation there, these attacks represent what can go wrong even after a reasonably effective military campaign. For that operation to continue to be seen as a success, action will have to be taken here as well. Security forces were already positioned in the affected border areas after last year's attacks, but their continuation this year suggests more resources and a better strategy for guarding the area are needed. There is also the question of troop morale. The loss of soldiers on Sunday comes after the beheading of seven troops in South Waziristan last week. Neither incident was followed by an official statement from the military leadership. At a time when Pak soldiers have lost so many colleagues, they deserve a public message celebrating their contribution and expressing the military's resolve to combat the Taliban's brutality.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/28/2012
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Paks: "See? We're the victims here!"
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/28/2012 12:27
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[Dawn] A national nongovernmental organization helping the government mobilise support for anti-polio ...Poliomyelitis is a disease caused by infection with the poliovirus. Between 1840 and the 1950s, polio was a worldwide epidemic. Since the development of polio vaccines the disease has been largely wiped out in the civilized world. However, since the vaccine is known to make Moslem pee-pees shrink and renders females sterile, bookish, and unsubmissive it is not widely used by the turban and automatic weapons set... vaccination in North and South Wazoo agencies has appealed to the US to stop drone attacks in the tribal areas, saying it will pave the way for immunisation campaigns meant for better child health.
The appeal comes as the Taliban ban the administration of oral polio vaccine to children in North and South Waziristan.
"The ban will adversely affect 318,000 children in the two agencies," Tehseenullah Khan, coordinator of National Research and Development Foundation (NRDF), told Dawn on Tuesday.
Mr Tehseenullah said NRDF, which had Islamic scholars as members, had been promoting the government's efforts for promotion of vaccination in North and South Waziristan for over one year.
"Local members of NRDF had addressed more than 6,000 immunisation refusal cases in both the agencies but this time, the situation could go out of hand. The spillover affects will soon be felt in FR Bannu, Tank and Dera Ismail Khan," ... the Pearl of Pashtunistan ... he said.
He said drone attacks in tribal areas cost local children dearly and therefore, the US should stop conducting such strikes on humanitarian grounds to save children from disabilities.
The NRDF coordinator said on June 15, the North Waziristan Taliban banned vaccination denying administration of polio vaccine to 1, 61,000 children. He said the two agencies had so far recorded one confirmed case of polio each this year suggesting that the virus was in circulation and could cause an epidemic.
Mr Tehseenullah said the situation could slip away if urgent measures were not taken.
"Stoppage of drone strikes by the US could safeguard children against host of diseases. Fata is the only active hub of active polio virus transmission in the country that has contributed more than 50 per cent of the total polio cases this year," he said.
He said 11 of this year's nationwide 22 polio cases were reported in Fata.
An official of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas health directorate claimed that great success in polio eradication efforts had been achieved over the last one year.
He said the country had reported a reduction of 73.4 per cent in polio incidence this year compared with that of the last year.
"Sixty-six fresh cases of polio were reported until June 26 last year but the number decreased to 22 only during the corresponding period of this year," he said.
The official said the Taliban ban on vaccination was a serious blow to anti-polio efforts and thus, exposing children to disability.
"We have had troubles in Khyber Agency, but as we were getting closer to resolve security crisis in Khyber, this new blow to the programme from North and South Waziristan may bring our worst fears come true," he said.
According to him, the ban on vaccination was first slapped in North Waziristan but was later extended to South Waziristan.
"It means that 157,000 children needing immunisation will not receive vaccination against eight preventable childhood diseases," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
"no"
this is, as someone else suggested, the Sheriff in Blazing Saddles holding the gun to his own head, on a national scale.
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/28/2012 13:53
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#2
This is an easy one: keep the big drones armed with high explosive warheads for whacking the Talibunnies, but also send out swarms of baby drones armed with little flechettes inoculated with polio vaccine. Do it for the children.
Washington (CNN) - Dismissing a vote to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress as a "political stunt," a group of House Democrats, led by the Congressional Black Caucus, is planning to walk out of the House chamber on Thursday and boycott the vote.
The move mirrors a similar walk out by House Republicans in 2008 when Democrats, who then controlled the House, held a vote to hold two top Bush Administration officials in contempt of Congress.
#6
strategically, it would be a good idea to postpone the contempt vote and let Holder fail a few more times to provide the documents
in the meantime, a few more democrats will defect and the contempt vote would be stronger
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
06/28/2012 8:54
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#7
I have to disagree, Lord Garth, on the matter of timing: more time is EXACTLY what the Dems are scratching for, therefore the correct Repub strategy is to NOT give them more time.
The fact that its being held this week is focussing people's minds wonderfully, including those people notorious for having no rational minds whatsoever.
#8
I agree Ptah. As the F&F pressure intensifies, another reality that is coming into "focus" is the true intent of the reparations social justice entitlement cabal. This is not about guns, but rather power.
#9
The important thing, and yes it's political, is that the people of the United States have the right and the duty to evaluate what happened before Election Day.
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
06/28/2012 9:41
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[An Nahar] Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ... Prime Minister of Iraq and the secretary-general of the Islamic Dawa Party.... called for early elections, in a statement released on Wednesday, after a series of political crises escalated into calls for his removal.
"When the other side refuses to sit at the table of dialogue and insists on the policy of provoking successive crises in a way that causes serious damage to the supreme interests of Iraqi people, the prime minister found himself forced to call for early elections," said the statement on the premier's website.
Iraq has been hit by a series of intertwined political crises that began in mid-December with accusations by the secular, Sunni-backed Iraqiya bloc that Maliki was concentrating power in his hands and have escalated into calls to unseat him.
An effort to persuade President Jalal Talabani to call a no-confidence vote stalled earlier this month when he said that Maliki's opponents lacked the votes to oust him.
That decision meant the only way Maliki's opponents could press their drive for a no-confidence motion was by requesting he appear before parliament and then holding the vote.
Parliament speaker Osama al-Nujaifi said on June 21 that Maliki's opponents were to ask in the coming days for him to appear before the house in a renewed bid to oust him.
The crises have paralyzed government, especially parliament, which has passed no significant legislation except for the budget, while other important measures such as a hydrocarbons law regulating Iraq's oil sector have been delayed.
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One of two Iranians facing charges related to accusations the two planned to carry out an attack with explosives in Kenya says he was interrogated by Israeli agents while in detention.
Ahmad Abolfathi Mohammad also told a Kenyan court on Wednesday the Israeli agent tortured and injected him with chemicals without his consent.
[Dawn] Chairman of his own faction of Pakistain People's Party Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao on Tuesday warned that cross border attacks from Afghanistan would frequently occur unless the two neighbouring countries sorted out a joint strategy to tackle militancy.
Addressing a public meeting in Shamozai here, he said it was high time to formulate an effective strategy for regional peace.
"The two countries should sense the sensitivity of the situation and join hands to bring militancy to its logical end once and for all," he said.
The PPP-S chief stressed the need for development of a comprehensive plan for the 2014 NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions... and US withdrawal from Afghanistan and said Pakistain must seriously and wisely act for chalking out a policy to protect the interest of the country that could also guard the interests of Pakhtuns on both sides of the border.
He condemned the cold-blooded murder of 17 Pak troops by hard boyz in Upper Dir.
He opposed military operation in North Wazoo Agency and such an offensive would have devastating consequences for the entire region.
Referring to the growing power crisis, Mr Sherpao said the government never took the issue seriously otherwise there would have been no power crisis in the country.
"The lingering power crisis shows the government's unconcerned and indifferent attitude towards one of most painful problems that the people of the country have been facing for the last five years," he said.
The PPP-S chief asked the government to announce fresh elections without delay so that people could elect new leadership to take the country out of the current political crisis.
He blamed anti-Pakhtun forces for a well-orchestrated genocide of innocent civilians in the country.
"The anti-Pakhtun elements are hell-bent on pushing innocent civilians to the Stone Age. Hundreds of schools have been destroyed in Malakand Agency and tribal areas, especially of girls," he said.
The PPP-S leader said billions of rupees had been given to the government for reconstruction of flood-hit areas in the province and for compensation to the people affected by militancy and floods, but it couldn't be spent on the people it was intended for.
He said PPP-S would continue raising voice for the rights of Pakhtuns on every platform.
"We had met the longstanding demand of the people of Malakand Agency by implementing Shariah law in the area," he said.
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[Yemen Post] An international news agency reported on Wednesday that negotiations aiming to release the Saudi Deputy Counsel Abdullah al-Khaledi from al-Qaeda captivity are underway. The diplomat was kidnapped by al-Qaeda operatives on March 28 and several mediations to free him have failed so far.
A tribal chief told the he official Chinese news agency (Xinhua) that some tribal chiefs resumed their efforts aimed at mediating a safe release for al-Khaledi two days ago.
The unnamed tribal chief expected the meditations to bear fruit this time in the few coming days, arguing that the negotiations are led by high-ranking tribal chief and thus al-Qaeda might accept to release the diplomat.
He revealed that the tribal mediation committee offered to pay 150 million Saudi Riyals as a ransom for the Death Eaters in exchange for releasing the diplomat. He said the negotiations are still underway with the kidnappers.
The tribal chief emphasized that al-Kaledi is in good health and that he has not been subjected to any harm until this moment.
"The Saudi kidnapped diplomat is in some area in the southern province of Abyan, " ...a governorate of Yemen. The region was a base to the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army terrorist group until it dropped the name and joined al-Qaeda. Its capital is Zinjibar. In March 2011, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula declared the governate an Islamic Emirate after seizing control of the region. The New York Times fastidiously reported that those in control, while Islamic hard boyz, are not in fact al-Qaeda, but something else that looks, tastes, smells, and acts the same. Yemeni government forces launched an effort to re-establish control of the region when President-for-Life Saleh was tossed and the carnage continues... he was quoted as saying.
Al-Qaeda-linked gunnieskidnapped al-Kaledi from an area nearby his residence in the southern port city of Aden on the last day of his five-year tenure.
Conditions made in April by al-Qaeda to release al-Kaledi included the release of all of the female prisoners as well as the terror network operatives imprisoned in the kingdom. It further asked for a ransom but did not pinpoint the sum of money, saying it would be specified later on.
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#1
The Affordable Healthcare Act passes. The mandate is declared a tax. Roberts sided with the left in a 5-4 vote. The only way this can be turned aside is to gain control of the Senate and the Presidency in November. It is a sad day for the law and the country.
#3
Please don't label me anti-semitic, but the author of Obamacare, Robert Creamer, is a Jewish Leftist, married to Jewish Leftist Congressman Jan Scakowsky from Chicago's northside. Both Creamer and Schakowskiy are apostles of Sol Alinsky - the Grandfather of the Jewish Left. Not a fan of Beck, but the follow explains it a bit further.
Klik
Request granted, Besoeker, as I don't think you are. But I do think you are looking at the thing simplistically, and therefore have got hold of the wrong end of the stick. Would you have made the same fuss were the people you name Catholic Leftists, Black Leftists, WASP Leftists, or Army Leftists (of which some exist, as no doubt you know far better than I, my dear)? Such people are Leftists first, with all their hyphens being meaningful chiefly as sticks to beat with.
Sabrina Ferilli [Italian] aka Jole aka Alicia in "Naufraghi sotto costa (Shipwrecked along the coast)(1991)" aka Diana in "Donne sottotetto (Attic Women)(1992)" aka Sabrina in "Donne in un giorno di festa (Women in a day of celebration)(1993)" aka Miriam in "Vite strozzate (Screw choked)(1996)" aka Daniela in "Tutta la vita davanti (Whole Life Ahead)(2008)" (age 48)
#8
Roberts has just gutted the commerce clause. By defining the financing part as a tax, the rules change. If the House kills Obama care as a tax it can't be filibustered in the Senate. The best one liner is "Obama has won the battle but Roberts has won the war."
The Mexican Navy helicopter reported missing since last Friday as found Wednesday afternoon , but it is unclear if any survivors were found, according to a news release by the Mexican Secretaria de Marina, the controlling agency for the Mexican navy.
The Eurocopter Panther AS565 helicopter was enroute from the port city of Manzanillo, Colima to its base in Minatitlan in Veracruz state Friday when it was reported missing after failing to make contact with air traffic control in nearby Michoacan state. According the the SEMAR news release the ship captain, two officers and one other navy personnel were aboard. The news release does not mention casualties.
The bird was found 18 kilometers south of Pihuamo municipality in Jalisco state at the top of a mountain. Navy personnel are making preparations to arrive at the crash site.
The area around Pihuamo municipality was the location last May 2011 of several major counternarcotics sweeps by Mexican security forces which yielded quantities of drugs and weapons. Because of the Article 41 clamp on drug war news it is impossible to learn if the area is still a counternarcotics area of operation for Mexico's security forces.
Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com
The Taliban released a video Wednesday that they say shows the heads of 17 Pak soldiers captured in a cross-border raid from Afghanistan this week and beheaded.
An elderly man was set to sit in solemn silence in a dull, dark dock, in a pestilential prison with a life-long lock Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! Monday night after a neighbor's fart allegedly drove him to threaten him with a gun, police said.
Daniel Collins, 72, had been involved in an ongoing dispute with the unidentified neighbor for some time, Det. Lt. Andrew McGurr told NJ.com. The neighbor told officers that Collins pointed a revolver at him in the vestibule of their apartment building at 694 Cedar Lane at around 9:25 p.m.
Collins said he confronted the man after hearing him pass gas in front of his apartment door, but denied threatening him with a gun. He consented to a search, and officers recovered a .32 caliber revolver from his vehicle.
He was set to sit in solemn silence in a dull, dark dock, in a pestilential prison with a life-long lock Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! and charged with aggravated assault, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, unlawful possession of a firearm and making terroristic threats.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/28/2012
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#1
that must have been some bad gas!
Posted by: chris ||
06/28/2012 0:30
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(Sh. M. Network)-Abdiweli Mohammed Ali, The prime minister ofSomalia, declared that his government is willing to end the reign of Al shabab bully boyz in the country before 20 August, the ending point of the Transitional period.
Speaking with Shabelle Media Network based in Mogadishu, Somali PM said TFG troops and 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...
Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) forces will continue fighting against Al shabab fighters until peace and stability is restored throughout the nation.
"Our plan is to eradicate the Islamist a-style:dotted;border-bottom-color:gray;' title='l-Shabaab'>l-Shabaab ... the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord... myrmidons-linked with Al Qaeda out of their last stronghold in Somalia before next August and set a local administrations under Somalia's Transitional Fedaral Government TFG," Somali PM, told Shabelle Media Network.
When asked a report issued by the World Bank on Wednesday says the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia TFG has not accounted for most of the revenues and donations it received in 2009 and 2010, he answered that accusations are baseless, adding that he is unlikely to embezzle a financial support intended to Somali people.
On Tuesday Somali Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohammed Ali, toured in Bal'ad, a town located just 37 Kilometers northeast Mogadishu, where Somali and AU forces seized from Al shabab bully boyz peacefully.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/28/2012
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WASHINGTON -- U.S.-led troop deaths from makeshift bombs in Afghanistan are dropping sharply even though the number of improvised bombs (IEDs) planted by forces of Evil are near record levels, Pentagon data show.
Now, less than half of troop deaths come from the bombs, although there has been a 5% spike in homemade bomb incidents since March, according to the Pentagon. The high number of incidents highlights continuing problems choking off the supply of bomb parts from Pakistain and a resilient Taliban, according to a senator and military analyst.
Part of the decline in deaths can be traced to the changing nature of combat there. Attacks have shifted from southern to eastern Afghanistan where allied forces are focusing on forces of Evil in rugged, mountainous terrain. Troops in the east tend to travel in armored vehicles, which have experienced a 17% increase in attacks over the last three months, according to the Pentagon's Joint IED Defeat Organization. In the south, troops tend to touch off bombs while on foot.
(Sh.M.Network)- Give Somalia the funds and they will eliminate piracy within a year, their interim president has claimed.
Speaking today at the second UAE Counter-Piracy Conference inDubai, the president of Somalia's transitional federal government Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed called on the international community to spend money arming and organizing their naval forces.
"These pirates do not live at sea, they live in Somalia. Who better to battle them than the people of the land," he told delegates.
"We are completely ready to combat this problem. Despite our limited funds we are ready to train and set up a marine force that would attack and dispel all pirate activities."
Piracy off the coast ofSomaliais affecting an area of 2.5 million sq km, he said.
"We have between 5,000 and 6,000 men ready, and we want the international community to provide them with arms, materials and equipment," he said.
The request, Mr Sharif said, would cost a third of what has been paid in ransom by shipping companies. Between 2008 and 2012, he said, profits worth US$700 million were made from piracy.
The international community should also help to protect Somalia's maritime rights, he said. "Ships fishing in our water and companies dumping chemical waste on our shores have to be stopped.
They have been taking advantage of our situation and the international community should help us stop them."
To achieve that goal, he said the police force inSomalianeeded upgrading, the judicial system need reform and infrastructure for jails needed to be developed.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/28/2012
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#1
5 too 6000 men are gonna patrol 2.5 million sq. miles? Get on your fishing boats and start as a good will measure.
Posted by: chris ||
06/28/2012 0:27
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#2
Yes, let's give Somalis boats and guns. That will solve the problem.
Posted by: Grunter in Sydney ||
06/28/2012 2:26
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#3
Isn't the implied threat to produce said giving a kind of piracy?
Posted by: no mo uro ||
06/28/2012 5:52
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#4
Yes, let's give Somalis boats and guns. That will solve the problem.
From your lips to Eric Holder's ear, Grunt. What can this one be called, "Slow and Seething"?
Posted by: BA ||
06/28/2012 11:25
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#5
Take out the villages connected to the piracy and the piracy is over. That is something the west won't do that Somalia's government could for the price.
#7
You know, despite the terrific recoil, a WW II PT boat could support a single 40mm Bofors.
If a boat such as that, with sufficient ammo, wandered into a pirate port, the pirates would be land-bound in about fifteen minutes.
Which is to say, this is not a big deal, if anybody were interested.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey ||
06/28/2012 20:44
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Updated/1:35p.m. After nearly two hours of deliberation the jury found Khalid Aldawsari guilty of attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction. Sentencing will be on October 9 in Amarillo.
__________________
Closing arguments from the defense and the prosecution wrapped up Wednesday morning in the trial of Lubbock terrorism suspect Khalid Aldawsari.
The former Texas Tech and South Plains College student from Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in their national face... is charged with attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction.
At the start of the trial, the defense painted the accused as a failure who wasn't planning an attack, and wouldn't have succeeded in carrying one out.
In closing statements, prosecutors say this isn't about the defendant being a failure, citing the fact he got into college. They point out there were obvious steps toward committing the crime: prosecutors say he watched instructional videos on making a bomb 198 times and had more than 200 pages of notes. He was one ingredient short of constructing the bomb. On the morning of his arrest, the defendant prayed for martyrdom and killing, saying he would not have stopped until he detonated a bomb on American soil.
Defense attorney Dan Cogdell claims there is a lot of evidence, but no answers. He told the jury there is no evidence of any set target, where the defendant was going to make the bomb, and that his client did not have all the materials to construct the bomb. "Hate him to his core, hate him to his dying day, but don't convict him on misinformation they failed to prove," Cogdell said. "Khalid Aldawsari is not guilty on what he is charged with."
The prosecution spent several days presenting their case. The defense presented no evidence and called no witnesses to testify.
The jury is deliberating the case. Check back here for details.
[An Nahar] Growing numbers of victims of the conflict in Syria are being targeted on account of their religion while gross violations of human rights One man's rights are another man's existential threat. are occurring on a regular basis, U.N. Sherlocks said Wednesday.
The new report from a commission of inquiry (CoI) said that violence has actually been escalating in Syria since May despite the Assad regime's agreement to implement a peace plan the previous month.
The commission, which delivered its report to the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva, also said that it believed many of the victims of a massacre in the central town of Houla last month were killed by the government.
The findings of the report triggered a walkout by the Syrian delegation as it was being read out at the rights council's headquarters in Geneva.
"We will not participate in this flagrantly political meeting," said Syrian ambassador Faisal Khabbaz Hamoui before leaving the hall.
The walkout came as the commission told the council that the unrest was taking on an increasingly sectarian basis.
"Where previously victims were targeted on the basis of their being pro or anti-government, the CoI has recorded a growing number of incidents where victims appear to have been targeted because of their religious affiliation," said the report.
After Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad The Scourge of Hama... told his cabinet on Tuesday that Syria was in a "real situation of war," the CoI agreed that the 16-month revolt against his rule now bore the hallmarks of an armed conflict.
"Gross violations of human rights are occurring regularly, in the context of increasingly militarized fighting which -- in some areas -- bears the characteristics of a non-international armed conflict," said the report.
At the request of the rights council, the CoI focused on the massacre in Houla where at least 108 people were killed in a 24-hour period on May 25-26.
A Syrian government inquiry has claimed that the victims, many of them women and kiddies shot in their homes, were killed by 600-800 "terrorists" who flooded in from surrounding village.
The commission said it was not able to identify the perpetrators but said it suspected forces loyal to Assad of many of the deaths.
It did not rule out the involvement of anti-government forces seeking to escalate the conflict and punishing non-supporters of the rebellion and also "foreign groups with unknown affiliation."
"The CoI is unable to determine the identity of the perpetrators at this time, nevertheless the CoI considers that forces loyal to the government may have been responsible for many of the deaths."
The panel has not been allowed to travel around Syria or access sites such as Houla, basing its findings on interviews, photos and videos.
The commission chair Paulo Pinheiro did however hold interviews in Damascus ...Home to a staggering array of terrorist organizations... from June 23-25 with Syria's deputy foreign and deputy justice ministers.
The panel was established last September by the U.N. Human Rights Council and its latest findings cover the period from February up to June 15.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/28/2012
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[Yemen Post] Senior Yemeni intelligence officials told Yemen Post that the Yemeni government has not been given any foreign intelligence information regarding the latest al-Qaeda planned attack in Europe using a Norweignan convert to Islam to conduct the attacks.
Two officials blamed the latest miscommunication on the that lack of cooperation between foriegn and Yemeni intelligence is helping al-Qaeda in expanding its wings of attacks. "We need to cooperate. Yemen cannot help if they are not given information," the official said on condition of anonymity.
On Tuesday, AP reported that a Norwegian man has received terrorist training from al-Qaeda's in Yemen and is awaiting orders to carry out an attack on the West sourcing officials from three European security agencies.
Yemen Post continues to investigate this case in search for more details.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/28/2012
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[An Nahar] Twenty-four Æthiopians, including a leading opposition figure and a prominent journalist, faced life in prison Wednesday after a court found them guilty on charges of terrorism.
"Guilty as charged," judge Endeshaw Adane said, referring to journalist Eskinder Nega, opposition member Andualem Arage and 22 others accused of links to U.S.-based group Ginbot 7, considered a terrorist group under Æthiopian law, and other outlawed groups.
Under the anti-terrorism legislation, the defendants face the death sentence, but the prosecutor recommended life sentences for the 24, only eight of whom were present in court.
Both Eskinder and Andualem were found guilty of "participation in a terrorist organization" and "planning, preparation, conspiracy, incitement and attempt of (a) terrorist act."
Andualem was also found guilty of serving as a "leader or decision maker of a terrorist organization." Another less prominent opposition member was also among the group convicted Wednesday.
Endeshaw said Eskinder abused his freedom of speech and accused him of threatening national security.
"Freedom of speech can be limited when it used to undermine security and not used for the public interest," he said.
He was jugged I ain't sayin' nuttin' widdout me mout'piece! last year after publishing articles asking whether the Arab Spring uprisings could have an influence in Æthiopia and questioning the arrests of Æthiopians under the country's anti-terrorism law.
Five of the defendants, including Eskinder and Andualem, will reappear in court on July 13 to present their mitigating circumstances.
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06/28/2012
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[An Nahar] Human Rights Watch ... dedicated to bitching about human rights violations around the world... on Wednesday urged Syrian authorities to end the "indiscriminate" shootings of civilians fleeing to Jordan and other neighboring countries.
"Syrian soldiers on the border with Jordan appear to be shooting indiscriminately at anyone -- including civilian women and kiddies - trying to flee from Syria," the U.S.-based HRW said in a statement.
"Syrian authorities should immediately order its armed forces on the border to end all indiscriminate attacks and take all feasible measures to avoid injuries to civilians crossing into neighboring countries, and to respect their right to leave the country."
Jordan is hosting more than 120,000 Syrians, of whom 20,000 are registered with the United Nations ...When talk is your weapon it's hard to make yourself heard over the sound of artillery... There are another 38,000 refugees in Turkey, 22,000 in Leb and 3,129 in Iraq, according to the U.N. refugee agency and officials in those countries.
"Syria says it is fighting armed terrorists, yet its border forces appear to shoot at everyone crossing the border without distinction, attacking civilian men, women, children and the maimed the same way they attack fighters," said Gerry Simpson, senior refugee researcher and advocate for HRW.
"Syria is forcing its own desperate civilians to crawl out of their country under a hail of bullets," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/28/2012
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#1
Have they figured out how to tell the civilians from the rebels then?
Personally I doubt it, there's little difference between fleeing and retreating.
PS this is not to be seen as an endorsement of any of the actors in this bloody farce.
The National Anti-Terrorism Committee said law enforcement officers killed in separate raids the alleged leaders of two insurgent groups in Dagestan on Wednesday.
Magomed Al-Bara Abdusalamov was gunned down near the village of Khuchni. Abdusalamov, the alleged leader of the so-called Izberbash gang, was transporting a powerful bomb made from a 100-liter barrel filled with explosives, which was defused by a bomb squad.
Elsewhere in the republic, police gunned down Nazhmudin Abu-Zeit Nazhmudinov, the supposed head of the Tsumada gang. A policeman was killed and two others injured during that shootout, along with Nazhmudinovs female supporter Zarema Ramadanova, who also shot at the officers.
[Bangla Daily Star] The bullet-riddled bodies of an anti-Taliban militia commander and three of his associates were dumped in Pakistain's northwestern city of Beautiful Downtown Peshawar yesterday, police said.
The bodies of Fahimud Din, 50, chief of a 1,500-strong vigilante force in Bazidkhel on the outskirts of Peshawar, and three of his associates were found in a Toyota Land Cruiser on the city's ring road.
The Taliban grabbed credit.
"We killed Fahimud Din and his colleagues. They raised a militia against us and wanted to defeat us," Ehsanullah Ehsan, front man for Pakistain's main Tehrik-e-Taliban faction, told AFP by telephone from Qazi's guesthouse an undisclosed location.
"Anybody who rises up against us will face the same fate," Ehsan added.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/28/2012
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[Dawn] The security forces claimed to have killed eight beturbanned goons including three commanders and secured strategically important positions in Mamozai area of Orakzai Agency ... crawling with holy men, home to Darra Adam Khel, the world's largest illegal arms bazaar. 14 distinct tribes of beturbanned primitives inhabit Orakzai agency's 1500 or so square kilometers... on Tuesday.
Official sources said that security forces also destroyed two hideouts of beturbanned goons in Botakhel area of the tribal region. They said that forces launched an operation in the area, which was considered a stronghold of beturbanned goons in the troubled Orakzai Agency.
Security forces backed by artillery launched offensive to flush out beturbanned goons from the area, the sources said. An official said that beturbanned goons vacated their positions after heavy shelling.
He said that eight beturbanned goons were killed and their two hideouts were destroyed in the artillery shelling. He said that three commanders were also among the dead. The killed bully boy commanders were identified as Wahid Ilyas, Ihsanullah and Mohammad Din.
Also, warplanes targeted suspected positions in the area adjacent to Khyber Agency. However, some men learn by reading. A few learn by observation. The rest have to pee on the electric fence for themselves... no loss of life was reported from the area.
In North Wazoo Agency, four persons including two children were maimed when mortar shell hit a residential compound in Spelga village on Monday night.
Earlier beturbanned goons fired two rockets at the base of paramilitary forces in Miranshah ... headquarters of al-Qaeda in Pakistain and likely location of Ayman al-Zawahiri. The Haqqani network has established a ministate in centered on the town with courts, tax offices and lots of madrassas... . However, Caliphornia hasn't yet slid into the ocean, no matter how hard it's tried... Security forces retaliated with heavy artillery and mortar firing.
The residents of the area said that a shell landed in a house in Spelga Village and injured two children, a woman and a man. The injured were shifted to the agency headquarters hospital in Miranshah.
Beautiful Downtown Peshawar encounter
In Peshawar, a bully boy commander was killed during an encounter in Mashogagar area on the outskirts of Peshawar on Tuesday, police said.
An official said that a police party was sent to the area when they got information about presence of four beturbanned goons there. The beturbanned goons tried to escape in a motorcar when the law enforcers approached the area, he added.
The official said that upon seeing the police party, the beturbanned goons left the motorcar and opened firing on law enforcers with automatic weapons.
During the encounter, he said, one bully boy was killed while his three accomplices managed to escape. The killed bully boy was identified as Umer, a commander of Taliban in Khyber Agency, he added.
The official said that nobody had approached police to receive the body of the killed bully boy commander. He said that one hand grenade, one pistol and many cartridges were recovered from the possession of the bully boy.
Meanwhile, ...back at the argument, Jane reached into her purse for her .38... police claimed to have recovered an kidnapped girl from Badhber and locked away Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit! a man involved in her kidnapping.
A police front man said that on the complaint of Mumtaz, a resident of Sar Dheri in Charsadda, police raided a house in Badhber and recovered a girl, who was kidnapped by Shahid.
He said that the girl was kept in chains inside a room. A case against the accused was already registered at Sar Dheri cop shoppe, he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/28/2012
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Top|| File under: TTP
[An Nahar] Powerful Shiite holy manMoqtada Tater al-Sadr ... the Iranian catspaw holy man who was 22 years old in 2003 and was nearing 40 in 2010. He spends most of his time in Iran, safely out of the line of fire, where he's learning to be an ayatollah... on Wednesday called for the release of an alleged Hizbullah member who is cooled for a few years Please don't kill me! in Iraq.
"He must be released immediately, and the government should do this immediately," Sadr said in a statement, referring to Ali Moussa Daqdouq, who was accused of plotting the murder of five U.S. soldiers in 2007.
He was handed over to Iraqi authorities in December as U.S. forces completed their withdrawal nearly nine years after the invasion of Iraq, but his lawyer said in May that an Iraqi court ordered him released for lack of evidence.
At the time of Daqdouq's detention in 2007, the United States accused Iranian special forces of using Hizbullah to train Iraqi hard boys, and U.S. officials are still keen to have him remain behind bars.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/28/2012
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#1
we should have killed this asshole when we had the chance.
Posted by: chris ||
06/28/2012 0:24
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[An Nahar] The United States on Wednesday named five Colombia and Venezuela-based men as key players in a sprawling trafficking and money laundering network of alleged Hizbullah-linked Lebanese drug lord Ayman Joumaa.
The U.S. Treasury set sanctions on two Lebanese-born men, Abbas Hussein Harb and Ibrahim Chibli, for helping Joumaa launder what it said were millions of dollars of narcotics-related proceeds.
Harb led a network based in Colombia and Venezuela that moved the money through Lebanese banks; Chibli helped in his position as a branch manager of Leb's Finicia Bank to help the operation, the Treasury said.
Treasury named Lebanese-Colombian Ali Mohamad Saleh as a "key controller" for Hizbullah, raising money for the cut-thoat group in Latin America.
Two others, Harb's brother Ali Houssein Harb and Saleh's brother Qassem Mohamad Saleh were targeted with sanctions for running companies in Venezuela and Colombia that are linked to the Joumaa group.
The United States set its sights on the Joumaa network over the past two years after investigations showed the group has laundered as much as $200 million a month from mainly drug trafficking, according to the U.S. Treasury.
He was indicted in the United States last November for allegedly leading a network that helped ship tons of cocaine from Colombia via Mexico's Los Zetas cartel to the United States.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/28/2012
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#1
I don't see where any action was actually taken against Joumaa.
Posted by: American Delight ||
06/28/2012 6:12
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#2
And I don't see where 'sanctions' have actually provided any real hinderance to any miscreant at any time anywhere.
They've only served as a method whereby a politician (or gaggle thereof) can say to his/her adoring public that they've accomplished something, albeit with no more teeth than a 'Strongly Worded Letter®'.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
06/28/2012 8:43
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(Sh. M. Network)-Some local residents in the town of Bal'ad, some 37 kilometers northeast of Somali capital Mogadishu, tale their life after Somali and AMISOM forces took control the town from Al shabab on Tuesday.
A resident in Bal'ad district, who spoke with Shabelle Media by phone on condition of anonymity, because of his security, say they are living an appalling life after they were denied access to receive the international humanitarian aid during Al shabab control in the past three years.
Last year, a sever Drought has swept swathes in south and central Somalia, where locals are largely dependent on crop growing and livestock and both of them had been affected by the drought.
Bal'ad residents asked Somali government and the international aid agencies for help.The army is now in full control of the town and soon restored the calm.
Allied forces from Somali and AMISOM, entered the town of Balad, 37km northeast of Mogadishu at around midday with no resistance from the Al Qaeda affiliated Shebaab rebels.
"They [Somali and AU forces], set up bases inside and around the town of Bal'ad," said witness who declined to be named, adding that he saw troops raid houses and businesses, to secure the overall security."
Locals said on Wednesday the security situation has returned into normal amid the forces are conducting search operations to find out Al shabab remnants and illegal weapons.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/28/2012
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#1
back too chewing khat and waiting for the next handout huh.
Posted by: chris ||
06/28/2012 9:21
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[An Nahar] Gun battles after suspected Islamists attacked police posts and a prison in northern Nigeria's Kano city left 17 "extremists" and one police officer dead, police said Wednesday.
"A total of 17 bully boyz were killed by our men. We lost a police corporal," said Kano State Police Commissioner Ibrahim Idris regarding the festivities that took place late Tuesday.
The latest unrest in Nigeria's second largest city, repeatedly hit by Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... Islamists, began when Death Eaters launched coordinated gun and kabooms on the Dala, Panshekara and Shallawa police posts.
The Garan Dutse prison was also targeted.
"All these attacks were repelled," said Idris. "Our officers responded and drove the assailants away."
The police commissioner added that three suspects were tossed in the clink Into the paddy wagon wit' yez! and were being interrogated, while officers recovered 14 improvised bombs as well as rifles, ammunition and vehicles.
No group has claimed the overnight attacks, but the violence was likely to be blamed on Boko Haram.
Kano was the site of the Islamist group's deadliest attack yet, when coordinated bombings and shootings left at least 185 people dead in January.
The Boko Haram insurgency, concentrated in Nigeria's mainly Mohammedan north, has killed more than 1,000 people since mid-2009.
Security forces have frequently been the victims of its attacks, though it has continually widened its targets.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/28/2012
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(Sh. M. Network)-At least three people dead and an unconfirmed number were maimed in a fierce fighting between Somali soldiers along with Æthiopian troops and Al shabab fighters in a village near Baidoa town, witnesses and officials said.
An attack on a convoy carrying Somali and Æthiopian troops in the central Somali village ofGoof-Gaduud by Islamist Death Eater group Al-Shabaab ... the personification of Somali state failure... early on Wednesday has left three people dead, according to Somali military officials.
Goof-Gaduud village lays the near strategic town ofBaidoa, the picturesque provincial capital of Bay region of southernSomalia. TFG military commanders in the area claimed victory over the battle, saying they have killed 3 gunnies in the attack.
Al-Shabaab still controls much of southern and centralSomalia, but is under increasing pressure from Somali, 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... forces in the south and Æthiopian forces in the west.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/28/2012
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Top|| File under: al-Shabaab
[Yahoo] Nearly two in three Americans think President Barack Obama is better suited than Republican rival Mitt Romney to deal with an alien invasion, according to a survey released Wednesday. We don't have a graphic for "Stoopid Crap that Means Squat." I guess I should work on it.
National Geographic Channel contacted 1,114 adults across the United States last month for its fanciful opinion poll ahead of its new cable television documentary series "Chasing UFOs."
Thirty-six percent of respondents said they were certain that unidentified flying objects exist. Eleven percent were confident they had spotted a UFO, and 20 percent said they knew someone who claimed to have seen one.
With Obama facing re-election in November, 65 percent said Obama would be more adept than Romney to respond to an alien invasion, with women and younger Americans more likely than men and over-65s to agree with that prospect.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/28/2012
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#7
A lotta time on their hands over at National Geographic?
Got to give the rube something to distract them after their latest Peak Oil has crashed again. Is this like the third time they've played that narrative?
#10
Every time I read National Geographic I end up thinking the sky is falling. But then I go outside and see that the sky is right where it should be. You know...up there. That makes me feel better and then it's quite some time before I'm tempted to read it again. They have some great photography so it's kinda the opposite of what people used to say about Playboy.
[Miami Herald] Austrian police did not need sniffing dogs to locate this suspected heist - 9.5 tons of garlic.
The Austria Press Agency says police stopped three overloaded and sagging vans about to cross into Hungary from Austria on Wednesday and found them packed to the roof with the pungent cargo. After questioning the five men in the vehicles they charged them on suspicion of receiving stolen goods.
Police say the garlic apparently came from Spain and estimate its value at (EURO)30,000 ($37,500). The men - all Romanian nationals - were not named, in line with Austrian privacy laws.
APA cites one officer as saying it was clear what the vans were carrying even before their doors were opened.
"All three vehicles really stunk like garlic," he says.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/28/2012
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#1
i would have thought 9.5 tons of garlic would have been worth more
Posted by: chris ||
06/28/2012 0:34
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#2
Umm, I thought it was a Zombie-apocalypse that we were experiencing not a Vampire-apocalypse.
Of course Hungary and Romania should know if anyone right?
[Politicker] Liberal political consultant Satan James Carville sent a fundraising email to supporters of upstate New York congresswoman Louise Slaughter entitled "The Tea Party is Over." In the email, Mr. Carville claimed the Tea Party isn't entirely finished, but he said they can be eliminated by donating to "proud Democrats like Louise Slaughter."
"These Tea Party Republicans have worn out their welcome. But I'm telling you -- getting rid of 'em won't be easy. They're not leaving on their own. We're going to have to boot them out the door like unwanted house guests," Mr. Carville wrote. "That's why we've got to get behind proud Democrats like Louise Slaughter to make sure we can win a Democratic Majority."
Mr. Carville pointed to the conservative mega donors Sheldon Adelson and the Koch brothers as evidence Democrats need to open their wallets if they want to take out the Tea Party and win a majority in Congress.
"With the Koch boys, Mr. Rove and a Fat Cat Las Vegas casino mogul writing multi-million dollar checks to try and buy this election, it's going to take every last one of us kicking in what we can to make sure we reelect good folks like Louise and win a Democratic Majority," Mr. Carville wrote.
Ms. Slaughter is facing a challenge from Republican Monroe County Executive Maggie Brooks. Ms. Slaughter currently has $670,189 cash on hand compared to Ms. Brooks' $367,583. Despite Ms. Slaughter's financial advantage, Ms. Brooks is seen as a formidable candidate and is rather popular in the district, which is favorable to Democrats, but grew more Republican through redistricting.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/28/2012
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#1
Seems to me Carvel and Maxine Walters have a love fest going on. I guess they weren't invited to the Tea Party which is alive and well thank you.
#5
Carville and other donks wish the Tea Party would be over. I've been hearing that for awhile--all from the left. I have a feeling the Tea Party is going to be on fire after today.
#6
I think the political motivation of the tea party will see a huge surge with this supreme court obamacare decision and the Dems might find it a bit harder to fund raise to defend it since a majority of Americans don't like the law.
[Dawn] The Pak Army chief has expressed his reservations to Isaf commander Gen John Allen over cross border incursions by faceless myrmidons based in Afghanistan, DawnNews reported.
Gen Allen, the top commander of American and NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions... forces in Afghanistan was visiting Pakistain amid heightened tensions between the two countries.
The US accuses Pakistain of not acting against cut-thoat networks allegedly based on Pak soil. The two countries have also been at loggerheads over still-closed NATO supply lines.
Pakistain, on the other hand, blames NATO and Afghan forces of failing to act against cut-thoat safe havens in Afghanistan, and repeated border violations and attacks by hard boys.
The Isaf commander's visit follows a similar cross-border attack by Talibs on Sunday, resulting in the deaths of 13 Pak soldiers.
Sources told DawnNews that General Kayani ... four star general, current Chief of Army Staff of the Mighty Pak Army. Kayani is the former Director General of ISI... has raised the issue of border violations and cross-border attacks in his meeting with the US General in Rawalpindi, adding that such incidents will not be tolerated in the future.
Sources added that the US general has assured Gen Kayani that he will raise the issue with the Afghan National Army.
The Pak military had said on Monday that US Marine Gen John Allen's visit was to focus on reviewing the "progress made in the implementation of recently evolved border coordination measures and standing operating procedures."
Relations between Pakistain and the US have plunged since Pakistain's closure of supply lines to Afghanistan.
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[Yemen Post] Qaeda bully boyz who escaped Zinjibar and Jaar have set up a new stronghold in Al-Mahfad area of Abyan ...a governorate of Yemen. The region was a base to the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army terrorist group until it dropped the name and joined al-Qaeda. Its capital is Zinjibar. In March 2011, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula declared the governate an Islamic Emirate after seizing control of the region. The New York Times fastidiously reported that those in control, while Islamic hard boyz, are not in fact al-Qaeda, but something else that looks, tastes, smells, and acts the same. Yemeni government forces launched an effort to re-establish control of the region when President-for-Life Saleh was tossed and the carnage continues... , media sources revealed on Wednesday.
The sources made clear that Al-Mahfad is an extremely rugged mountain ranges in the borders with Shabwa governorate.
They further said that Al-Qaeda leaders and bully boyz were monitored while they were heading to Al-Mahafad during the past days, affirming that they set up training camps in the area.
The Yemeni army backed by the Public Resistance Committees comprised of rustics could dislodge Al-Qaeda from main towns in Abyan such as Jaar, Zinjibar and Shaqrah.
The bully boyz were also cleansed from Azzan district of Shabwa that was previously declared by Al-Qaeda as an Islamic Emirate and set up the largest training camp inside.
Meanwhile, ...back at the sea battle, the Terror of the Baltic's career had come to an abrupt and watery end... an Omani newspaper said on Tuesday that al-Qaeda operatives have left Yemen to the neighboring state of Oman after they were attacked in the South Yemen.
The newspaper quoted the Secretary-General of the Foreign Minster Badar Al-Boseedi as saying that Al-Qaeda operatives infiltrated to Oman and actions were taken to pursue them.
He said that the Omani authorities have not locked away Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! any bully boyz so far, asserting that Omani authorities are alert, pointing out that the they contacted with neighboring states regarding the issue.
"Dear America,
Please fly many Predators post haste over the attached map coordinates. You have our permission to shoot missiles at anyone you see there.
Your friend,
His Majesty, the Sultan of Oman"
Meanwhile, ...back at the bunker, his Excellency called a hurried meeting of his closest advisors. It was to be his last. They discussed the officers's efficiency rating system... Yemeni officials said Al-Qaeda bully boyz implanted landmines before they fled from key southern strongholds, pointing out that they killed nearly 73 civilians over the past week.
The Yemeni army captured Jaar and Zinjibar after a two-month offensive to uproot al Qaeda gunnies from large swaths of land they captured during last year's political turmoil.
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[YNet News] Expert says Turkey was not aware Syrian forces capable of intercepting enemy planes flying under radar. US officials: Damascus ...Capital of the last overtly fascist regime in the world... beefed up missile defense after Israel bombed reactor Ummm... The aircraft was an F4, which was 1960s (actually late '50s) technology, doing, if I recall, a radar calibration run. If it was shot down with hotshot technology developed by the Medes and the Persians that could be anything from '60s junk on up to whatever's current in Qom. Our guys over Hanoi and similar garden spots used to have enough trouble with SA-2's and SA-3's, which were definitely '50s junk. The F4's were pretty good for shooting down MiG-21s, though...
Syrian news outlets quoted a military expert as saying that the anti-aircraft weapons used to down a Turkish fighter jet last weekend were made in Iran, Al-Quds al-Arabi reported Wednesday. ... as opposed to made in the Soviet Union when Khrushchev was the head cheese...
According to the Arabic newspaper, the Syrian expert said Damascus purchased an Iranian-made anti-aircraft gun two years ago. He said the gun can be mounted on armored vehicles. Since the ZSU-23-4 came with its own 'armored' vehicle, that could simply refer to the old standby 14.5mm mounted on most Soviet-era tanks. I was flying in a P2V in 1968 that got holed by a stoopid 37mm that was pre-World War II stuff. The tracking system's the important thing.
The expert said the downed Turkish jet flew at a low altitude so as not to be detected by the Syrian radar. However, alcohol has never solved anybody's problems. But then, neither has milk... the expert said, the Turkish crew was not aware that the Syrian air force was in possession of a weapon capable of intercepting planes flying at such a low altitude. When they shot us we were at 8000 feet. They could see us, fergawdsake.
'Syrian system is much more dense' Meanwhile, ...back at the pond, the radioactive tadpoles grown into frogs. Really big frogs, in fact... the Seattle Times That's where I always go for authoritative stories on miltech, by Gum...
quoted American security officials as saying that Syria's downing of the Turkish jet showed its military is capable of mounting a sophisticated defense against potential enemies, thus "complicating a Libyan-style intervention." At least Libyan-style interventions using antique aircraft. On the other hand, if we took out all the radar sites in Syria there'd probably be some other reason we couldn't possibly stomp the bastards into Hades' back pocket... The US officials said Syria's air defense systems have been beefed up by purchases from Russia following the bombing a Syrian nuclear reactor under construction five years ago. Foreign media said the attack was carried out by Israel. Has Syria ever actually shot down an Israeli aircraft? None spring to mind...
US military officials were quoted as saying that, at least on paper, the Syrian air defenses appear to be far more robust than those encountered by NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... in Libya and stronger than even Iran's. "I can name you worse (systems), but they are in places like China," said an Air Force official. Take that, General Tso! According to the Seattle Times, defense officials and military analysts say defeating Syria's air defenses would require a sustained US military effort that would probably lead to civilian casualties. That's usually the case, especially when the enemy's in the habit of putting AA sites in the vicinity of concentrations of civilians. In the case of Syria I'd expect to see major command posts located in hospitals and kindergartens around Homs and places like that.
That's ok, then. By the time we turn our attention in that direction, everyone in Homs will be dead or fled.
The report said most defense analysts claim the Syrian system is similar to the Iranian air defenses in terms of technology, but they suggested that Syrian version is more effective because it is concentrated in a smaller area. "The Iranians have a huge geographic area to cover, which creates gaps that you can fly through and around," said Jeffrey White, a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and a former Defense Intelligence Agency analyst. "The Syrian system is much more dense." I used to be an intel analyst. I specialized (once Vietnam was over) in Soviet systems. I wasn't an expert in air defense systems, though. Everything I write on the subject is either opinion or scar tissue. I have no idea what Jeffrey White used to do for a living but I suspect it wasn't air def systems.
The experts said the Syrian air defenses are also more tightly integrated than the Iraqi or the Libyan systems, allowing Syrian military officers at disparate sites to share targeting information gleaned from radar. Whoa! Nobody else can do that... Oh. Wait.
[Dawn] Senior Adviser to the Prime Minister on Interior Rehman Malik Pak politician, Interior Minister under the Gilani government. Malik is a former Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) intelligence officer who rose to head the FIA during Benazir Bhutto's second tenure. Malik was tossed from his FIA job in 1998 after documenting the breath-taking corruption of the Sharif family. By unhappy coincidence Nawaz Sharif became PM at just that moment and Malik moved to London one step ahead of the button men. He had to give up the interior ministry job because he held dual Brit citizenship and was thinking of changing his name to Nigel. said that Surjeet Singh has completed his sentence. He reiterated that Surjeet and Sarabjeet were two different Indian prisoners, DawnNews reported.
Speaking to the media representatives, Malik said that Indian fishermen were released on the principle of reconciliation.
Summary pertaining to the case of Sarabjeet Singh has not been sent to President Zardari yet, the PM's adviser added.
He said that release of Surjeet Singh will take place within 48 hours.
"Baseless allegations dent the bilateral ties of the two countries," Malik said.
He said that three Indian citizens were involved in the Mumbai attacks. India's information related to Sayed Zabiuddin was incomplete, he added.
The adviser to the PM said "India's speculative allegations against Pakistain have been proven incorrect on several occasions."
Moreover he added "most of the time India puts blame on the Inter Service Intelligence (ISI) without even investigating into the matter."
Rehman's Remarks came after India's home minister said that a key suspect in the 2008 Mumbai attacks had provided information confirming Pak "state support" for the deadly assault.
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#1
"most of the time India puts blame on the Inter Service Intelligence (ISI) without even investigating into the matter."
Like the man said, the race is not always to the swift nor the battle to the strong, but it's a good way to bet. If there is mischief afoot, my money is on the ISI.
Hamas says it is launching investigation to discover who is behind 'despicable crime.' Al-Mayadeen: Kamal Ranaja served as aide to top Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, man killed in Dubai in 2010
A senior Hamas operative has been assassinated in his Damascus ...The place where Pencilneck hangs his brass hat... apartment, the Islamist terror group announced Wednesday evening.
According to a statement by a member of Hamas' politburo, the organization did not know who was responsible for the death of Kamal Ranaja, known as Nizzar Abu-Mujhad, but was launching an investigation to discover who is behind the "despicable crime."
There was no word about the manner in which Ranaja met his death. No Hamas official has yet pointed a finger at any third party, such as Israel or the Assad regime.
However, by candlelight every wench is handsome... shortly after his death was announced, the new pan-Arabic television station Al-Mayadeen reported that he used to serve as aide to Mahmoud al-Mabhouh,
...who was mysteriously assassinated in his very expensive hotel room in Dubai, possibly by tennis players who disliked his manners, or possibly by Mossad...
a senior Hamas member who took part in several terror attacks and was also involved in kidnapping and killing IDF soldiers. Mabhouh was assassinated in Dubai in 2010. The deed was laid at the door of Mossad, which never confirmed or denied the accusation.
Mabhouh was responsible for smuggling weapons into the Gazoo Strip from Iran.
The SDyrian opposition claimed Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Leveler of Latakia... 's regime was responsible for Ranaja's liquidation.
One opposition activist, a former journalist, said Assad's regime ordered the hit. She claimed Ranaja was tortured before he was killed. According to her, the hit was a message to Hamas, which turned its back on Assad following the violent crackdown on the opposition.
In recent years, Arab officials have blamed Israel for a number of deaths of cut-throats outside the country, such as the February 2008 liquidation of Imad Mugniyeh -- an operations commander for Hizbullah. Mugniyeh is the most senior terrorist Israel has been accused of killing since the death of Hizbullah head Abbas Musawi in the early 1990s.
The news of Rajana's liquidation comes on the heels of former Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades commander Ibrahim Hamed's conviction for 46 counts of murder earlier Wednesday.
Hamed was placed in durance vile Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out! in 2006 and convicted of direct involvement in a number of terror attacks that left at least 46 Israelis dead and hundreds maimed.
[Dawn] At least four more people were killed and five others, including three workers of the Pakistain People's Party, maimed in different localities on Tuesday as the law-enforcement agencies failed to stem the tide of targeted attacks despite the importance the prime minister attached to the law and order situation during his recent visit to the metropolis.
Police believed that in most cases, the attacks were carried out to target people for their political activism or instil fear into residents, but together with the paramilitary force the police remained unable to trace those involved in the drive-by shootings.
In two separate early morning attacks, an officer and a driver of the Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It may be the largest city in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... Electricity Supply Company (KESC) were killed and a lineman was maimed, said police and the power utility.
"KESC deputy general manager Syed Ali Imran Jaffery, 40, was targeted near Saifee Degree College in North Nazimabad's block F," said Inspector Fasihuddin, the officer in charge of the Hyderi police post.
He added that the attackers wearing helmets sped away on a cycle of violence after executing the job. "They used a 9mm pistol, which is commonly used in targeted attacks," said the officer.
He said: "Mr Jaffery was not affiliated with any political or religious organization."
The victim's family was clueless about the motive and so were the police.
The Hyderi police later registered an FIR (18/2012) under Sections 302 (premeditated murder) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistain Penal Code against unidentified suspects on a complaint of the victim's family member.
According to a KESC statement, the victim was deputy general manager, IBC North Nazimabad (Region-IV).
As the police were connecting dots to ascertain the motive for the killing, a maintenance vehicle of the KESC came under a gun attack in a Malir locality.
The police officials said that gunnies riding a motorbike opened fire on the vehicle near Cooperative Centre of the Shamsi Housing Society.
"The firing left driver Aman Baloch and lineman Mohammad Nasir maimed," said an official at the Al-Falah cop shoppe. Both were rushed to a private hospital on Stadium Road, where Mr Aman died during treatment, he said, adding that Nasir was said
to be out of danger.
The KESC, meanwhile, sought immediate inquiry into the acts of 'terrorism' and harsh punishment to the culprits. The power utility criticised the law-enforcement agencies for not taking immediate action to chase and apprehend the attackers, who easily
escaped.
MQM activist killed
On Jehangir Road, a 55-year-old activist of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement ...English: United National Movement, generally known as MQM, is the 3rd largest political party and the largest secular political party in Pakistain with particular strength in Sindh. From 1992 to 1999, the MQM was the target of the Pak Army's Operation Cleanup leaving thousands of urdu speaking civilians dead... (MQM), Mohammad Siraj, was bumped off inside his spare parts shop, said police.
They added that the attackers had arrived on a motorbike and managed to flee after killing the victim inside the shop.
"The victim was a resident of Martin Quarters area and had been running the shop for past many years," said DSP Qaiser Ali Shah, the area's sub-divisional police officer (SDPO). "He was a known MQM worker. Apparently, Siraj was targeted due to political reasons."
Shop owner rubbed out
Earlier, the owner of a puncture shop visited by his friends associated with a political party on a daily basis met the same fate, said an official at the Surjani Town cop shoppe.
The official added that 32-year-old Aqeel Nafees was busy in work when two men riding a cycle of violence pulled up outside his shop. "One of them got off the two-wheelers, pulled out a pistol, fired at Aqeel and sped away with his accomplice," said Surjani Town SHO Inspector Shabbir Hussain.
"The victim, an area resident, was not associated with any political party, but had several friends associated with a political party who used to sit at his shop regularly," said the inspector.
"However, those who apply themselves too closely to little things often become incapable of great things... the reason for the murder is not yet clear," he added.
Later, a younger brother of the victim lodged an FIR (290/2012) at the Surjani Town cop shoppe against unidentified persons
under Sections 302 (premeditated murder) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistain Penal Code.
Three PPP men maimed
In the evening, three young workers of the Pakistain People's Party sustained gunshot wounds in an ambush on their car in a Nazimabad locality, said police.
The police added that Owais Khan, Imtiaz Khan and Afsar Khan were shot at and maimed near Chhota Maidan in Orangabad.
"They were shifted to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for treatment. Doctors have described their condition as stable," said DSP Shahid Abbass, the area's sub-divisional police officer.
ASWJ leader escapes attack
A big shot of Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat, believed to be a reincarnation of the banned Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistain ...a Sunni Deobandi organization, a formerly registered Pak political party, established in the early 1980s in Jhang by Maulana Haq Nawaz Jhangvi. Its stated goal is to oppose Shia influence in Pakistain. They're not too big on Brelvis, either. Or Christians. Or anybody else who's not them. The organization was banned in 2002 as a terrorist organization, but somehow it keeps ticking along, piling up the corpse counts... , survived a gun attack on his vehicle in Qayyumabad, said police and party sources.
"Our secretary Orangzeb Farooqi was attacked near the Qayyumabad bridge while he was returning from Korangi after meeting some people there," said a party front man.
The police said the gunnies rode away on their motorbike when Mr Farooqi's guards returned fire.
"All the people, including three armed guards of Mr Farooqi, inside the vehicle remained unhurt, while one of the guards, Salahuddin, sustained injuries as he fell from the moving vehicle. He was shifted to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre for treatment," said the party front man.
He condemned the attack and said the police and security agencies failed to protect party workers and leaders despite several assurances. "Only a few days ago, we have conveyed our concerns about the security of our leaders to police authorities and senior government officials but no step has been taken in this regard," he added.
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[An Nahar] Yemen has asked for U.S. drones to be used "in some cases" to target al-Qaeda leaders in the country, its foreign minister told AFP on Wednesday.
"Drones were used upon Yemen's request in some cases against fleeing al-Qaeda leaders," Abu Bakr al-Kurbi told AFP on the sidelines of a counter-piracy conference in Dubai, in a first official Yemeni confirmation.
Yemeni troops have this month recaptured a string of towns which al-Qaeda Death Eaters overran last year across the province of Abyan ...a governorate of Yemen. The region was a base to the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army terrorist group until it dropped the name and joined al-Qaeda. Its capital is Zinjibar. In March 2011, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula declared the governate an Islamic Emirate after seizing control of the region. The New York Times fastidiously reported that those in control, while Islamic hard boyz, are not in fact al-Qaeda, but something else that looks, tastes, smells, and acts the same. Yemeni government forces launched an effort to re-establish control of the region when President-for-Life Saleh was tossed and the carnage continues... In an interview with ABC television's "This Week," U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta ...current SecDef, previously Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Panetta served as President Bill Clinton's White House Chief of Staff from 1994 to 1997 and was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1977 to 1993.... defended in May the use of drones as "the most precise weapons we have" in the campaign against the jihad boy group.
His comments were the first time the U.S. formally acknowledged the use of unmanned drones against al-Qaeda suspects in Yemen, where such reports had not been confirmed.
"The fear lies in the infiltration of bully boyz and faceless myrmidons into Yemen" from Somalia, said Kurbi. "It is very difficult for us to tell the difference between someone displaced for humanitarian reasons and a terrorist."
In February, the commander of 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... forces in Mogadishu, Major General Fred Mugisha, said Somalia's al-Qaeda allied Shebab fighters, close to collapse, were fleeing the war-torn country in large numbers for Yemen.
Earlier this month, a Somali jacket wallah killed the army commander for southern Yemen, General Salem Ali Qoton, who had led a five-week-long offensive against the jihadists.
Last year a record 103,000 refugees, asylum seekers and migrants crossed the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea from the Horn of Africa -- mainly Somalis and Æthiopians.
Kurbi said al-Qaeda Death Eaters had "developed their capabilities to move from one place to another," adding that "it is not unlikely" that jihadists in Yemen might have in turn fled to neighboring Oman.
Omani media on Tuesday quoted foreign ministry official Saeed Badr bin Hamad al-Busaidi as saying his country was investigating reports that al-Qaeda Death Eaters had infiltrated the Gulf sultanate.
His remarks came after a security official in Sanaa said five al-Qaeda Death Eaters had beat feet from a prison in the western Yemeni city of Hudaydah.
Yemen and Oman share a long border through desert and mountainous regions.
On Saturday, the army took control of the southeastern town of Azzan, an al-Qaeda bastion deserted by the Death Eaters a week earlier.
According to several sources, the fighters who fled Azzan, in the southeastern Shabwa province, have sought refuge in an eastern region of Yemen close to the border with Oman.
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#1
France is repor denying claims that Hollande was left highly vulnerable in Rio to various Malice(s) aforethought due his Security "forgetting" their weapons back in Paris???
OOOOOOOOOOOO, YOU JUST KNOW THE PARTYS-N-HOOKERS HAPPY US SECRET SERVICE WILL PROUDLY CLAIM SUCH IS NOT THEIR PROFESSIONAL WEAKNESS???
D *** NG IT, JENSEN, WE DID BRING OUR GUNS BACK, DIDN'T WE, OR DID WE TELL THE GIRLS TO RETURN
'EM VIA WESTERN UNION?
[Yemen Post] The US ambassador to Sana'a Gerald Feierstein said on Wednesday that the Houthi ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is "God is Great, Death to America™", Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews" ... Movement's slogans are ridiculous and silly, asserting that Washington is not their enemy.
The Houthis' slogans show great animosity to the United States as they read: God is great; Death to America™; Death to Israel; and victory to Islam.
In a presser held on Wednesday, the American diplomat said that" if the goal of carrying such slogans is to rally support from the public in some areas then that would not help the people of that areas, nor will it serve the Hothis."
Asked about American position with regard to the Shiite movement, Feierstein replied that the US position has not changed; welcoming their recent indications sent to the Liaison Committee that they would take part in the upcoming national dialogue.
He said his country believes the Houthis should bring up their grievances to the dialogue table, and showed his concerns over the Houthis' drive to achieve their demands by force.
"We are against any movement--whether it was the Shiite movement or any other organization--that tries to realize its aims by militancy or force," said the diplomat.
Feierstein further showed his country's concerns about some reports indicating that the pro-Iranian movement is carrying out and supporting Iran's agenda in Yemen, stressing that Iran does not seek Yemen's best interest; rather its role only helps to put oil on fire.
Speaking about Tehran's drive to establish a good relationship with some cut-thoat and myrmidon groups other than the Houthis such as the Southern Movement, which calls for the independence of the south, he said that Iran aims through such alliances to fail stability in the country.
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
At least twelve people have been killed and more than 40 injured in a series of car bombings in Iraq.
Turkey is not going to war with neighboring Syria over the shooting down of a Turkish warplane, its prime minister said Wednesday but analysts expect a higher risk of 
[shadow.foreignpolicy.com] 
The current war is indeed nothing like WWII -- it's an irregular conflict being fought against 
An attack on a pro-government television near 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
...Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh and so far the worst Secretary-General of the UN. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize for something or other that probably sounded good at the time. In December 2004, reports surfaced that Kofi's son Kojo received payments from the Swiss company Cotecna, which had won a lucrative contract under the UN Oil-for-Food Program. Kofi Annan called for an investigation to look into the allegations, which stirred up the expected cesspool but couldn't seem to come up with enough evidence to indict Kofi himself, or even Kojo...
...Second President of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Because of constitutionally mandated term limits he is the current Prime Minister of Russia. His sock puppet, Dmitry Medvedev, was installed in the 2008 presidential elections. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law. During his eight years in office Russia's economy bounced back from crisis, seeing GDP increase, poverty decrease and average monthly salaries increase. During his presidency Putin passed into law a series of fundamental reforms, including a flat income tax of 13%, a reduced profits tax, and new land and legal codes. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile...
Malian Tuareg and 
[An Nahar] A subway operator in the Chinese metropolis of Shanghai has caused uproar by warning women not to wear revealing clothes to avoid being groped by the city's "perverts".
India's home minister said on Wednesday that a key suspect in the 2008 Mumbai attacks has provided information confirming Pak "state support" for the deadly assault.
Egypt's ailing former strongman 
WITH the arrival of summer, cross-border attacks in Fata launched from eastern Afghanistan have started once again. There have been three this month, including one on Sunday in which six Pak troops were killed in combat and another seven beheaded. Four remain missing. If last year's experience is anything to go by, there will be more assaults involving scores of 
Wazoo
...a valley and an administrative district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistain, located 99 mi from Islamabad. It is inhabited mostly by Pashto speakers. The place has gone steadily downhill since the days when Babe Ruth was the Sultan of Swat...
A national nongovernmental organization helping the government mobilise support for anti-
Nouri al-Maliki
Chairman of his own faction of Pakistain People's Party Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao on Tuesday warned that cross border attacks from Afghanistan would frequently occur unless the two neighbouring countries sorted out a joint strategy to tackle militancy.
An international news agency reported on Wednesday that negotiations aiming to release the Saudi Deputy Counsel Abdullah al-Khaledi from al-Qaeda captivity are underway. The diplomat was 
An elderly man was 
(Sh.M.Network)- Give Somalia the funds and they will eliminate piracy within a year, their interim president has claimed.
Growing numbers of victims of the conflict in Syria are being targeted on account of their religion while gross violations of 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
[Yemen Post] Senior Yemeni intelligence officials told Yemen Post that the Yemeni government has not been given any foreign intelligence information regarding the latest al-Qaeda planned attack in Europe using a Norweignan convert to Islam to conduct the attacks.
The National Anti-Terrorism Committee said law enforcement officers killed in separate raids the alleged leaders of two insurgent groups in Dagestan on Wednesday.
Orakzai Agency
Moqtada 
(Sh. M. Network)-Some local residents in the town of Bal'ad, some 37 kilometers northeast of Somali capital Mogadishu, tale their life after Somali and AMISOM forces took control the town from Al shabab on Tuesday.
[An Nahar] Gun battles after suspected Islamists attacked police posts and a prison in northern Nigeria's Kano city left 17 "extremists" and one police officer dead, police said Wednesday.
[Yahoo] Nearly two in three Americans think President Barack Obama is better suited than Republican rival Mitt Romney to deal with an alien invasion, according to a survey released Wednesday.
The Pak Army chief has expressed his reservations to Isaf commander Gen John Allen over cross border incursions by 
[Yemen Post] Qaeda 
[YNet News] Expert says Turkey was not aware Syrian forces capable of intercepting enemy planes flying under radar. US officials: 
The US officials said Syria's air defense systems have been beefed up by purchases from Russia following the bombing a Syrian nuclear reactor under construction five years ago. Foreign media said the attack was carried out by Israel.
Senior Adviser to the Prime Minister on Interior 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
At least four more people were killed and five others, including three workers of the Pakistain People's Party, 
cycle of violence
The US ambassador to Sana'a Gerald Feierstein said on Wednesday that the 
