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1,400 French soldiers in Mali for ground assaults: minister
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
16:45 7 22:17 Barbara [336089]
14:38 6 21:55 Frank G [336094]
14:16 3 16:21 Shipman [336090]
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10:11 6 18:44 JosephMendiola [336096]
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-Lurid Crime Tales-
Nagin indicted on 21 corruption charges
Johnson! Stop the presses!!
Former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin was indicted Friday on charges that he used his office for personal gain, accepting payoffs, free trips and gratuities from contractors while the city was struggling to recover from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.

The federal indictment accuses Nagin of accepting more than $160,000 in bribes and truckloads of free granite for his family business in exchange for promoting the interests of a local businessman who secured millions of dollars in city contract work after the 2005 hurricane. The businessman, Frank Fradella, pleaded guilty in June to bribery conspiracy and securities-fraud charges and has been cooperating with federal authorities.

Nagin, 56, also is charged with accepting at least $60,000 in payoffs from another businessman, Rodney Williams, for his help in securing city contracts for architectural, engineering and management services work. Williams, who was president of Three Fold Consultants LLC, pleaded guilty Dec. 5 to a conspiracy charge.

The indictment also accuses Nagin of getting free private jet and limousine services to New York from an unidentified businessman. Nagin is accused of agreeing to wave tax penalties that the businessman owed to the city on a delinquent tax bill in 2006.
Posted by: tu3031 || 01/18/2013 16:45 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336089 views] Top|| File under:

#1  This indictment sets him up nicely to run for the US Senate.
Posted by: Airandee || 01/18/2013 16:58 Comments || Top||

#2  Still small change compared the work of those who rotate through the Treasury-Fed-Wall Street revolving door musical chairs engineered in the 2008-9 Bailout Crisis. Just how many have been successfully prosecuted Mr. Holder?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 01/18/2013 17:01 Comments || Top||

#3  right after the election, what a shock
Posted by: Neville the Younger3839 || 01/18/2013 18:13 Comments || Top||

#4  Doesn't matter. It's still Bush's fault.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 01/18/2013 18:37 Comments || Top||

#5  8th paragraph before they hint at his party with a defection to the republicans!

Way to go MSM. No wonder you're losing respect.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 01/18/2013 19:33 Comments || Top||

#6  Conyers: small potatoes
Posted by: Frank G || 01/18/2013 21:56 Comments || Top||

#7  Whaddaya mean "losing," BP?
Posted by: Barbara || 01/18/2013 22:17 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
How US Cities are Lining Up $$ for Climate Change
From my civil engineering daily news blog
A new report by the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives highlights twenty local government across the country that are taking the initiative to combat global warming.

The report follows up an earlier survey ICLEI did of 298 American cities, which found that 74 percent had perceived changes in the climate -- including increased storm intensity, higher temperatures, and more precipitation.
That's weather, you saps, not climate!
Almost two-thirds are pursuing adaptation planning for climate change, compared to 68 percent globally, and virtually all U.S. cities report difficulties acquiring funding for adaptation efforts.
More money for more projects!
Only Latin American cities reported similar levels of difficulty.) And over one-third of U.S. cities said the federal government does not understand the realities of climate change adaptation.
Because the Feds have enough money troubles of their own.
Several examples from ICLEI's new report on local adaptation efforts include:

New York City, NY shouldered 43 deaths and $19 billion in damage from Superstorm Sandy. The city's sustainability plan, PlaNYC, includes $2.4 billion in green infrastructure to capture rainwater through natural methods before it can flood. New York is requiring climate risk assessments for new developments in vulnerable areas, as is restoring 127 acres of wetlands that serve as a natural storm barrier.
More examples and more links, if you're reslly interested.
Posted by: Bobby || 01/18/2013 14:38 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336094 views] Top|| File under:

#1  They need the money. They don't care what it's for.
Posted by: Iblis || 01/18/2013 16:51 Comments || Top||

#2  Bobby, how many of the initiatives are common sense responses to the fact that weather can be destructive, and how many are Chicken Little "The sky is falling!!!1!" expensive absurdities?
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/18/2013 16:58 Comments || Top||

#3  ...and virtually all U.S. cities report difficulties acquiring funding for adaptation efforts.

Hmmmmmmm. Perhaps the people smell...bullshit?
Posted by: tu3031 || 01/18/2013 19:18 Comments || Top||

#4  Wait till the Yellowstone Platea blows again. That will end the climate change discussion.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 01/18/2013 20:32 Comments || Top||

#5  You Mean Obama Shit?

Yup. Stinks don't it. Just like Chronyism.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 01/18/2013 20:32 Comments || Top||

#6  tell me again how your major municipalities will "tackle" Climate Change? Increase funding to....?

I bet we both know the answer to that
Posted by: Frank G || 01/18/2013 21:55 Comments || Top||


Africa North
The Eradicateurs
Algeria's experience with Islamist insurgency during the 1990s defines its response to events today. During that conflict, a debate emerged within the Algerian government about how to deal with the violent Islamists. One side favored a negotiated solution. The other, known as the eradicateurs, said killing the Islamists was the only approach. The eradicateurs won -- and they still remain in the drivers seat in today's Algeria.
Posted by: tipper || 01/18/2013 14:16 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336090 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I like it! Has a sort of herbicidal ring to it.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/18/2013 14:45 Comments || Top||

#2  Negotiating with Islamists is like waiting for metastatic cancer to decide it doesn't want to kill the host.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 01/18/2013 14:50 Comments || Top||

#3  JFM, what's your take on this?
Posted by: Shipman || 01/18/2013 16:21 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Battle for the soul of Israel
Posted by: tipper || 01/18/2013 13:49 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336067 views] Top|| File under:

#1  To summarize: Woe, woe is the Left of Israel, for the Jews have left it behind! And the Palestinians will suffer the consequences of having chosen not to make peace when the Jews were willing to do so.

Yep. Consequences are a bitch.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/18/2013 17:11 Comments || Top||


Africa Subsaharan
Mali army 'regains Konna and Diabaly' from rebels
Islamist fighters have withdrawn from two towns in central Mali following French air strikes, officials say.

Mali's army earlier said it had recaptured Konna, which triggered the French intervention after it was seized by the rebels.

Now the mayor of Diabaly says soldiers have taken control of the town.

Islamist fighters in neighbouring Algeria say they have kidnapped foreign gas workers in retaliation for France's involvement in the Mali conflict.

Meanwhile, the UN refugee agency says it fears the fighting could force 700,000 people from their homes.

Some 150,000 people have already gone to neighboring countries, Reuters news agency reports.
Posted by: tipper || 01/18/2013 12:31 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336076 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Mali Army aka Armée de Terre. The ending was never in doubt. Now what the French need to do is stand aside as Malians wipe out everyone associated with the rebels, Rwanda-style. This is the only cheap way of ensuring long-term victory. Cheap in economic terms and cheap in French losses.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 01/18/2013 16:44 Comments || Top||

#2  Just south-west of Were de Hekawi...
Posted by: mojo || 01/18/2013 17:42 Comments || Top||


The Grand Turk
Turkey raids target banned Marxist group DHKP-C
Dozens of people, including 15 lawyers, with suspected links to a banned Marxist group have been arrested in raids by police across Turkey.

Helicopters were used in some of the early morning raids in Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir and other cities.

They were targeting members of the Revolutionary People's Liberation Front (DHKP-C), a group blamed for a number of attacks in Turkey since the 1970s.

It is listed as a terrorist group by Turkey, Europe and the United States.

The group opposes Turkey's membership of Nato and what it describes as Western imperialism.

At least 85 people were arrested in the raids, Turkey's Hurriyet newspaper reports.

Among them are said to be 15 lawyers working for a firm in Istanbul that is known to defend left-wing activists.
Posted by: tipper || 01/18/2013 12:14 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336066 views] Top|| File under:


Terror Networks
Is Political Islam the Wrong Model For the Arab World?
Yes. But they have to run the experiment anyway, for what else have they?
Posted by: tipper || 01/18/2013 11:46 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336066 views] Top|| File under:

#1  rhetorical snark or abject stupidity?

Interesting article, fatwa in...
Posted by: Broadhead6 || 01/18/2013 12:07 Comments || Top||

#2  Not all cultures are equal. Some are children that seem unable to govern themselves without starting fights all the time. Not sure what the answer is but democray doesn't seem to work when the population is uneducated and easily manipulated. Perhaps Monarchy because that at least as the stamp of credibility compared to a vanilla flavored dictator.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 01/18/2013 15:04 Comments || Top||

#3  Islam is a religion and political system for slaves (and perverts). Democracy may not be the best way to go in the ME, but Islam is definitely the other extreme. Maybe a nice constitutional monarchy or something.
Posted by: Iblis || 01/18/2013 15:42 Comments || Top||

#4  Democracy versus Islamic state/Sharia law is what the whole WOT is about.
Posted by: Ho Chi Omaigum4727 || 01/18/2013 16:18 Comments || Top||

#5  Maybe a nice constitutional monarchy or something.

Speaking of which, Michael Totten has an excellent article about Morocco. LINK
Posted by: Dopey Sinatra9196 || 01/18/2013 16:22 Comments || Top||

#6  A monarchy is a tough sell for Americans.

Obviously not any more.


Thanks for posting Dopey.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/18/2013 16:27 Comments || Top||


Economy
Boeing scrambles to find fix so planes can fly
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 01/18/2013 11:41 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336096 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Quite a lively comments discussion in the article at the Seattle Times link.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 01/18/2013 20:27 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Sherry Rehman accused of blasphemy
This illustrates how 'blasphemy' is used in the Islamic world as a tool and a cudgel. Sherry is no more blasphemous than the average Pak holy man, IFYWIMAITYD. But the political infighting in Pak-land right now makes the accusation against Sherry useful since she's aligned on the side that's currently in power. Fortunately she's in Washington so she's safe from being torn limb-from-limb. Perhaps if this gets serious enough she'll ask for asylum.
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Thursday admitted a petition filed against Sherry Rehman over allegedly committing blasphemy, DawnNews reported.

The petition was heard by a two-judge bench of the apex court comprising Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali and Justice Ejaz Afzal. The bench directed CPO Multan Amir Zulfiqar to take action in accordance with the law.

The petition against Rehman, Pakistan's ambassador to the United States, was filed by Faheem Akhtar Gill, a citizen of Multan.

Gill had requested to the court to register a case against Rehman for allegedly committing blasphemy. The petition claims that Rehman had committed blasphemy while speaking on a news channel two years ago.
So this isn't something she said over dinner the other day, but ancient history at a time of changing standards.
Hey, a cudgel is a cudgel...
In Nov 2010, Rehman had submitted a bill to the National Assembly Secretariat seeking an end to the death penalty under the existing blasphemy laws.
...which is how such things are done when the government rules more or less lawfully...
Later in Feb 2011, the then prime minister, Yousuf Raza Gilani, had categorically stated that the government had no intention to amend the law. After Gilani's rejection, Rehman had told AFP she had "no option" but to abide by the decision after the premier had ruled out any discussion.
Which is how, etc...
In Nov 2011, Rehman was appointed Pakistan's ambassador to the US after Husain Haqqani had tendered his resignation over the memogate controversy.

Blasphemy is an extremely sensitive subject in Pakistan, where 97 per cent of the 180 million population are Muslims, and allegations of desecrating the Holy Quran or insulting Islam often provoke public grimacing, eye rolling, face making, gun sex and fury.
And a perfectly useful tool in a society overfond of such dramatics.
Posted by: Steve White || 01/18/2013 10:55 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336069 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Whew. For a minute I thought they were talking about our SC. Thankful they aren't there yet.
Posted by: JohnQC || 01/18/2013 12:10 Comments || Top||

#2  So she committed blasphemy by suggesting the punishment for blasphemy be changed. Do I have that right? A fine example of why Islam is trapped inside itself and unable to progress.
Posted by: SteveS || 01/18/2013 13:02 Comments || Top||

#3  She looks Cherokee to me. She undoubtedly qualifies for the North Georgia Witness Protection Program (NGWPP).
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/18/2013 13:12 Comments || Top||

#4  Are you sure you could handle her, Besoeker? She's probably pretty feisty.
Posted by: Glenmore || 01/18/2013 13:38 Comments || Top||

#5  Arrr! Cut 'er loose! ;-)
Posted by: gorb || 01/18/2013 13:47 Comments || Top||


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Ballet dancers acting badly
The artistic director of Russia's Bolshoi Theatre, Sergei Filin, is being treated in a Moscow hospital for severe burns to his face after a masked man threw acid in his face, police say.

The attack happened late on Thursday as Mr Filin, an award-winning ballet star, was walking home in central Moscow.

Doctors are now fighting to save his eyesight and Interfax news agency says he will be sent to a clinic abroad.

A Bolshoi spokesman said Mr Filin, 42, had suffered months of threats.

The BBC's Steve Rosenberg in Moscow says it is suspected that he was the victim of infighting and rows between different groups of dancers at the Bolshoi.
Posted by: tipper || 01/18/2013 10:25 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336102 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Infighting between groups of dancers? The Russian way--kind of like the Chicago way (except the concrete boots and a swim in Lake Michigan are missing).
Posted by: JohnQC || 01/18/2013 10:34 Comments || Top||

#2  And that's just the ballerinas . . . .
Posted by: gorb || 01/18/2013 13:40 Comments || Top||

#3  "when you're a Jet, you're a Jet all the wayyyy..!"
Posted by: Frank G || 01/18/2013 14:13 Comments || Top||

#4  From your first Pirouette to your last Dying Swan,
Your never alone, there's always someone creepy...

:)
Posted by: Shipman || 01/18/2013 16:28 Comments || Top||

#5  "Let's go Sharkss! Time to teach these brutess a lesson!"
Posted by: swksvolFF || 01/18/2013 16:33 Comments || Top||

#6  *giggle*
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/18/2013 23:16 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
New SOF mission and HQ established to help Mexican forces fight drug gangs
Note the interesting 'additional duties' domestic mission statement.
Posted by: Graviper Whaiter4197 || 01/18/2013 10:11 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336096 views] Top|| File under: Narcos

#1  The special operations team within Northcom will be turned into a new headquarters, led by a general instead of a lieutenant colonel, and established in a Dec. 31 memo signed by Defense Secretary Leon Panetta.

Ever wonder why we have more general officers today with the fraction of the forces than we had during WWII? Rationalized grade inflation. If you had far fewer GOs, being a colonel would become more important and not require upping the grade for 'diplomatic' rationalizations.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 01/18/2013 11:24 Comments || Top||

#2  "He has talked about setting up a paramilitary force...made up of former military and police forces, which he has described as more surgical," than the current campaign by Mexican army and police, Schaefer said. He would dispatch the force into towns that have been overrun by drug violence, where police don't have the numbers to fight it, she said.

Must be a post State National Guard - post Constitution, post Posse Comitatus scenario. The White House will be close by... there in the Denver and Colorado Springs area.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/18/2013 11:36 Comments || Top||

#3  A new School of the Americas?
Interesting that this isn't a SouthCOM initiative.
Posted by: Skidmark || 01/18/2013 12:10 Comments || Top||

#4  Sort of revealing isn't it Skid ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/18/2013 12:58 Comments || Top||

#5  Isn't this how the Zetas got started?
Posted by: Dopey Sinatra9196 || 01/18/2013 15:58 Comments || Top||

#6  "NORCOMS" are just all over the place on the Net.

Looks like leadership of "Northern Command" is becoming a mandatory resume requirement for promotion in grade, at least for Army Eggs per the US + other World Nations???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 01/18/2013 18:44 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Algeria hostage crisis 'ongoing',
Posted by: tipper || 01/18/2013 09:35 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336112 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Algeria siege: 'Around 60' hostages unaccounted for
The militants remained holed up at the site, APS said. "Significantly" fewer than 30 Britons are thought to be held.

At least four foreign workers died when troops moved in on Thursday.

A "comprehensive total" of the hostages still held was not available and some of them had taken refuge at various points around the site, a security source told APS.
Posted by: tipper || 01/18/2013 10:14 Comments || Top||

#2  complicated situation. it appears the number of captives being held in the gas installation may have originally been in the hundreds. Possibly at least 60 people still unaccounted for, and by no means are all terrorists dead. original reports on this situation were very confused and misleading. but on the positive side ... it does appear that professional Western teams have arrived to resolve the problem.
Posted by: Raider || 01/18/2013 10:15 Comments || Top||


#4  this could be a "terminology thing". but when the Algerian Govt makes an announcement to the world that an incident is over .... there's not supposed to be any terrorists still active. maybe someone should point that out to them :-)

we should all say a prayer that whatever special teams arrived at this place - they get a good resolution. a lot of lives are still at stake.
Posted by: Raider || 01/18/2013 11:18 Comments || Top||

#5  With a hostage situation created by terrorists, IMHO, you have a tactical problem and a big picture strategic issue.

The tactical problem involves containing the terrorists and performing a rescue of hostages with the least loss of life to hostages. The main consideration is to rescue hostages safely but not to let the terrorists get away. These are often conflicting goals.

The strategic considerations involve who or what organization or state is directing/supporting/financing this activity. It seems to me that going after this center of gravity will pay the best return in the long run. We are not talking arclight or big shows, we are talking about working smarter in smaller but deadly operations to cut off the brain to this whole activity, and to send a message that doing these activities will result in organizations and individuals being PERSONALLY hurt, wives, kids, and their little dog, too. Psychopaths do not care about others as they have no capability of empathy. However, they will back off if they are PERSONALLY hurt. That is how you communicate with them.

We have tons of really clever, deadly, and ingenious tools for this activity in our kit. What we lack is the strategic goals and objectives and the WILL to use them. That is the thing we must get squared away in order to survive and win.

In this case, the Algerian govt is running the show. Hope they learn from this experience, or there will be more.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 01/18/2013 20:06 Comments || Top||

#6  it looks like - in this case - the terrorists got "on top of the show" during their initial attack. their initial move into the BP installation was so effective ... that you've got to speculate that it was an inside job. somebody had scouted the BP facility for them, and may have even opened the perimeter gates. that kind of thing will be a problem in the energy fields of Africa ... you're never really sure who's who in your workforce.

as far as getting to the top-level financiers and directors of these operations ... I definitely agree. there's a hierarchy operating behind the scenes that needs to be cut out with a scalpel. But the problem is that these are influential people in places like Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Washington DC may not feel it's got the guts or the leverage to render these people powerless.
Posted by: Raider || 01/18/2013 20:34 Comments || Top||

#7  you find who did this and take their family tree out by the roots and shake the dirt off it til it dies
Posted by: Frank G || 01/18/2013 22:01 Comments || Top||

#8  Works for me, Frank.
Posted by: Barbara || 01/18/2013 22:22 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
Holder begs court to stop document release on Fast and Furious
The hypocrisy of gun-control.
Attorney General Eric Holder and his Department of Justice have asked a federal court to indefinitely delay a lawsuit brought by watchdog group Judicial Watch. The lawsuit seeks the enforcement of open records requests relating to Operation Fast and Furious, as required by law.

Judicial Watch had filed, on June 22, 2012, a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request seeking all documents relating to Operation Fast and Furious and "specifically [a]ll records subject to the claim of executive privilege invoked by President Barack Obama on or about June 20, 2012."

The administration has refused to comply with Judicial Watch's FOIA request, and in mid-September the group filed a lawsuit challenging Holder's denial. That lawsuit remains ongoing but within the past week President Barack Obama's administration filed what's called a "motion to stay" the suit. Such a motion is something that if granted would delay the lawsuit indefinitely.

Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said that Holder's and Obama's desire to continually hide these Fast and Furious documents is "ironic" now that they're so gung-ho on gun control. "It is beyond ironic that the Obama administration has initiated an anti-gun violence push as it seeking to keep secret key documents about its very own Fast and Furious gun walking scandal," Fitton said in a statement. "Getting beyond the Obama administration's smokescreen, this lawsuit is about a very simple principle: the public's right to know the full truth about an egregious political scandal that led to the death of at least one American and countless others in Mexico. The American people are sick and tired of the Obama administration trying to rewrite FOIA law to protect this president and his appointees. Americans want answers about Fast and Furious killings and lies."

The only justification Holder uses to ask the court to indefinitely delay Judicial Watch's suit is that there's another lawsuit ongoing for the same documents -- one filed by the U.S. House of Representatives. Judicial Watch has filed a brief opposing the DOJ's motion to stay.

As the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform was voting Holder into contempt of Congress for his refusal to cooperate with congressional investigators by failing to turn over tens of thousands of pages of Fast and Furious documents, Obama asserted the executive privilege over them. The full House of Representatives soon after voted on a bipartisan basis to hold Holder in contempt.

There were two parts of the contempt resolution. Holder was, and still is, in both civil and criminal contempt of Congress. The criminal resolution was forwarded to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Ronald Machen--who works for Holder--for prosecution. Despite being technically required by law to bring forth criminal charges against Holder, under orders from Holder's Department of Justice Machen chose to ignore the resolution.

The second part of the contempt resolution--civil contempt of Congress--allowed House Republicans to hire legal staff to challenge President Obama's assertion of the executive privilege. That lawsuit remains ongoing despite Holder's and the DOJ's attempt to dismiss it and settle it.

It's unclear what's in the documents Obama asserted privilege over, but the president's use of the extraordinary power appears weak. There are two types of presidential executive privilege: the presidential communications privilege and the deliberative process privilege. Use of the presidential communications privilege would require that the president himself or his senior-most advisers were involved in the discussions.

Since the president and his cabinet-level officials continually claim they had no knowledge of Operation Fast and Furious until early 2011 when the information became public--and Holder claims he didn't read the briefing documents he was sent that outlined the scandal and how guns were walking while the operation was ongoing--Obama says he's using the less powerful deliberative process privilege.

The reason why Obama's assertion of that deliberative process privilege over these documents is weak at best is because the Supreme Court has held that such a privilege assertion is invalidated by even the suspicion of government wrongdoing. Obama, Holder, the Department of Justice, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and virtually everyone else involved in this scandal have admitted that government wrongdoing actually took place in Operation Fast and Furious.
In Fast and Furious, the ATF "walked" about 2,000 firearms into the hands of the Mexican drug cartels. That means through straw purchasers they allowed sales to happen and didn't stop the guns from being trafficked even though they had the legal authority to do so and were fully capable of doing so.

Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry and hundreds of Mexican citizens--estimates put it around at least 300--were killed with these firearms.
Posted by: JohnQC || 01/18/2013 08:51 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336094 views] Top|| File under:

#1  There is no conflict between Obama's gun control ideas and F&F. He was just trying to keep the guns out of American hands.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia || 01/18/2013 9:25 Comments || Top||

#2  Holder and our DoJ were picking cartel favorites with F&F. They're picking favorites with 'gun control' here in the States as well. Unfortunately, both government picks are bad guys.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/18/2013 9:33 Comments || Top||

#3  Of course he doesn't want those documents to see the light of day.

Obama and his entire staff are guilty as sin.
Posted by: DarthVader || 01/18/2013 10:14 Comments || Top||

#4  Most transparent admin evah! But don't bother trying to gin up some outrage. Your average NPR listener has no idea F&F even exists. Thank you mainstream media!
Posted by: SteveS || 01/18/2013 10:24 Comments || Top||

#5  Tell me again what vital national security interests trump the FOIA requirements be met by the 'most open and transparent' government in history? /sarc off
Posted by: Procopius2k || 01/18/2013 10:29 Comments || Top||

#6  @ P@K: Could it possibly be the planting of US made weapons purchased at Gun Shops and Gun Shows in the SW, which could be captured later in combined US and Mexican Law Enforcement (LE) raids ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/18/2013 10:34 Comments || Top||

#7  When Sarah Palin was still governor of Alaska the donks used a continuous series of frivolous FOIA requests to harass her and Alaska's government. Now the shoe's on the other foot. How does it feel, Champ?
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 01/18/2013 11:24 Comments || Top||

#8  In Sarah's case I don't think those were FOIA requests but actual lawsuits which the governor was required, by law, to respond to.

Kind of like a Denial of Service attack.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 01/18/2013 11:29 Comments || Top||

#9  I read in her book about how her staff was kept constantly busy making copies of thousands of documents to comply with the requests to the point where they couldn't get any of the state's business done.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 01/18/2013 12:13 Comments || Top||

#10  Wonder if there is a tie in (document wise) with the ICE brothel shutdown today???
Posted by: Water Modem || 01/18/2013 12:13 Comments || Top||

#11  Petty, lawless scoundrel. In a better world he be hanged in the public square and buried upside down in an unmarked grave.
Posted by: Iblis || 01/18/2013 12:18 Comments || Top||

#12  The wife reminded me. Tomorrow (1/19/13) is Firearm Appreciation Day.
Posted by: JohnQC || 01/18/2013 12:22 Comments || Top||

#13  "Tomorrow (1/19/13) is Firearm Appreciation Day"

For those of us who have a firearm (and don't want/need/can't afford another), any suggestions on what we can do to show our appreciation tomorrow, John? Guess I could buy more ammo, but I'm pretty well stocked up now.
Posted by: Barbara || 01/18/2013 13:30 Comments || Top||

#14  Spousal unit is out trying to buy some more ammo right now. Store was supposed to have a shipment in today. We'll see.
Posted by: Glenmore || 01/18/2013 13:39 Comments || Top||

#15  You're a brave, trusting soul Glen. I've kept mine away from guns and ammo since the incident our wedding.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/18/2013 14:11 Comments || Top||

#16  Many Ethics complaints were made against Gov Palin as a harassment tactic. It tied up her and her staff so that they could not get things done.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 01/18/2013 14:15 Comments || Top||

#17  Fast and Furious is just a small part of the weapons to create a crisis scheme. The State Department ran a much larger operation out of Texas which supplied the Zetas. Further our government has supplied weapons to violent groups everywhere in Central America.
Unfortunately this is just a small window of how far Washington has disregarded the entire body of National and International laws. There presently appears to be no effective means left to stop or even slow down the collapse of our integrity as a nation. Unfortunately the American people have always tended to sit back and do nothing until that certain tipping point where they come off their couches and over-react. Among the many things this administration does not understand about this country, we the people are at that tipping point. The firearms purchases in the last two months would indicate the average person in America does not believe this aborition of our government will end peaceably.
As for me I sit back (clinging to my bible and guns)with the full faith and confidence that when every socialist/communist/utopian/movement(SCUM)has taken over the first people they must eliminate, will be their facilitators on every level.
Posted by: David169 || 01/18/2013 14:49 Comments || Top||

#18 
Wonder if there is a tie in (document wise) with the ICE brothel shutdown today???


I think the most likely explanation for that shutdown was someone missed their protection payment.

The State Department ran a much larger operation out of Texas which supplied the Zetas. Further our government has supplied weapons to violent groups everywhere in Central America.


They were also running a similar program out of Indianapolis.
Posted by: Rob Crawford || 01/18/2013 15:03 Comments || Top||

#19  Nope. No ammo came in. Have brass, powder & primers, but none of the right bullets, so can't even reload.
Posted by: Glenmore || 01/18/2013 15:52 Comments || Top||

#20  Don't despair Glen. Tomorrow is another day and reloading.... "is the best revenge".
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/18/2013 16:01 Comments || Top||

#21  Holder begs court to stop document release on Fast and Furious

Court, Do you have a LEDAL reson?

Holder, Ummm, no.

Court, so be it, No reason, Release it.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 01/18/2013 16:34 Comments || Top||

#22  Zimbabwe is starting to look good next to these same lying scum guys.
Posted by: Injun Stalin7884 || 01/18/2013 16:43 Comments || Top||

#23  For those of us who have a firearm (and don't want/need/can't afford another), any suggestions on what we can do to show our appreciation tomorrow, John?

Firearms and ammo are hard to get right now because many citizens sense what is going on or anticipate what may come. So drink a toast or give a silent thanks to the Founding Father's wisdom and foresight when they put forth an inspired 2nd Amendment in our Constitution to prevent tyranny from abroad or from within. Contrary to the beliefs of some (not those at this site), the 2nd is not about hunting, plinking or target-shooting.
Posted by: JohnQC || 01/18/2013 18:31 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Pickup driver slain as kids watch in southern Thailand
Two people were killed and three injured in separate attacks in the restive South yesterday, including a pickup truck driver who was gunned down as school children on board his vehicle watched.

Two men riding on a motorcycle attacked a pickup truck bringing seven students to kindergarten in Narathiwat's Rueso district at about 7:30 a.m.

A witness told investigators a man riding pillion on the motorcycle opened fire at the pickup driver. The driver was hit three times by bullets and died at the scene.

The witness said the shooting happened in full view of seven students, who were seated in the back of the vehicle. All the children were safe.

Police blamed terrorists insurgents.

In Pattani province, three employees of a local government administration organisation were injured, one of them seriously, in an attack on a garbage truck yesterday. The attack occurred about 10 a.m. while the garbage truck was traveling along a local road in Khok Pho district of Pattani, heading for a trash dump.

Two men on a motorcycle opened fire at the truck with handguns. The driver lost control and the truck slammed into a tree and roadside ditch. The driver, was shot in the head and seriously injured. Also wounded were two other garbage collectors. The three victims were also members of the Ban Yang Daeng village defense unit.

Police blamed Islamist terrorists militants.

Also in Khok Pho district, a 78-year-old Muslim rubber grower was gunned down while taking a ritual bath yesterday morning.

Police received a report of a shooting at a house about 7 a.m. Officers found the body of Rorham Dorlor, who had been shot in the head.

The victim's wife told investigators her husband was taking a ritual bath in a pond next to their house early in the morning when it was still dark. She heard a gunshot. When she went outside the house she found her husband had been killed.
Posted by: ryuge || 01/18/2013 06:43 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336077 views] Top|| File under: Thai Insurgency


Africa North
Failed strategy in Sahel claims its due
The hostage crisis at the In Amenas gasfield in Algeria should sweep away any vestiges of the complacency that let large parts of the Sahel become a lawless haven for extremists.

The killing of Algerian and expatriate workers should not simply be put down to the French intervention in Mali. Nor can it be blamed solely on Libyan dictator Muammer Gaddafi’s overdue demise, which sent his Tuareg soldiers back to Mali with battle experience, weapons and long-running grievances against the government in Bamako. These events are proximate factors, but the real roots lie deeper.
Posted by: tipper || 01/18/2013 03:47 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336068 views] Top|| File under:


Africa Subsaharan
Mali 'collateral damage' from Libya conflict, says Kofi Annan
Posted by: tipper || 01/18/2013 03:20 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336104 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Koffee gets it rignt.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/18/2013 8:03 Comments || Top||

#2  Bes: Every blind squirrel (Kofi) finds a nut occasionally.
Posted by: JohnQC || 01/18/2013 9:02 Comments || Top||

#3  I thought we weren't going to have collateral damage anymore after we got rid of The Bushitler? That once we gave up NationBuilding and limited ourselves to providing fire support to the murderers-of-the-week everything would get better?
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 01/18/2013 9:15 Comments || Top||

#4  Koffee gets it right.

Just a sec---checking whether the Sun sets in the west.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 01/18/2013 10:33 Comments || Top||

#5  Note that this is the BBC. Does anyone think that the US MSM will report this way?

TFSM, according to the media here everything HAS gotten better.
Posted by: AlanC || 01/18/2013 10:42 Comments || Top||

#6  You know, it was odd yesterday morning. The initial morning news has gruff figures the first go-round, but the couple follow ups were very general non-specific. If a person didn't know better or care, it would have been lost between do I wash my dawg? and gunz iz bad! segments.

I knew something bad was brewing, thanks to Rantburg first and foremost, so I raised my eyebrows at the initial news casualties mention and was spotting for the follow up news. They most certainly did water it down.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 01/18/2013 11:15 Comments || Top||

#7  *local Kansas news, nothing three letter though an affiliate of them. Difficult to watch newscasters who know better have to use the catch phrases of the gun control bullet points.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 01/18/2013 11:22 Comments || Top||

#8  I am Gobsmacked. Kofi Annan told the truth about something!
Posted by: Charles || 01/18/2013 20:18 Comments || Top||

#9  Not sure if he's right at all. Annan says the thugs bringin home the heavy weaponry were scrappin for Qadhaffy. My guess is they're more likely the ones that helped overthrow Q-man. Remember, those sympathetic rag-tag characters we came to know as the "Libyan Rebels".
Posted by: DepotGuy || 01/18/2013 22:19 Comments || Top||


Ensure safety of envoys, US tells Zim
Washington - The United States on Thursday called on Zimbabwe to ensure the safety of its diplomatic staff
when they are giving handouts
after the US ambassador was prevented from giving a speech in the eastern city of Mutare (formerly Umtari).

Ambassador Bruce Wharton had been on his first visit to Manicaland province to observe USAID projects and meet with business people on Wednesday, and had been due to give a speech at a library, the State Department said.
Another Library speech? Yikes!
He was met by about 130 supporters of President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF party, and spent "about 15 to 20 minutes listening to their chanting and carping, but the protesters refused to engage in constructive conversation", the statement said.

He did not manage to give his speech.
However, Bruce did manage to get out alive.
Posted by: Spereng Crinemble9387 || 01/18/2013 03:06 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336073 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Jeez, it's only taken since 1981 or so to tell you to get tf outa there.
Posted by: Injun Stalin7884 || 01/18/2013 14:01 Comments || Top||


-Lurid Crime Tales-
Fast & Furious: Man claims to have shot BP Agent Brian Terry
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/18/2013 02:53 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336072 views] Top|| File under:

#1  But who put the guns in his hands?
Posted by: JohnQC || 01/18/2013 12:14 Comments || Top||

#2  more like who will put the gun to the back of his head before he makes it to trial?
Posted by: Broadhead6 || 01/18/2013 12:55 Comments || Top||

#3  The question is, who's paying him now to turn himself in?
Posted by: Pappy || 01/18/2013 14:40 Comments || Top||

#4  ...and the weapons used Gustavo, can you tell us more about your weapons.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/18/2013 14:42 Comments || Top||


Africa North
1,400 French soldiers in Mali for ground assaults: minister
[Xinhua] French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Thursday that 1,400 French soldiers were deployed in Mali where they carried out ground assaults as beturbanned fascisti resisted week-long air strikes.

"This morning, there are 1,400 French troops. There were lightings yesterday in the ground and by air... and there are right now," the minister was quoted by the daily Le Gay Pareeien as saying.

In Face of strong rebels' resistance, French troops broadened their operation and launched their first ground fighting against al-Qaeda affiliated gunnies in Mali on Wednesday after they seized Diabaly, a central town of strategic importance, where are located "the most organized, determined and gangs," the minister said in a previous interview.

La Belle France, which carried out air strikes since Friday in the rebel-held northern half of Mali, said it planned to increase the number of its troops to 2,500.

French President Francois Hollande
...the Socialist president of La Belle France, and a fine job he's doing of it...
said he would keep French troops in Mali until the west Africa country have legitimate leaders, an electoral process and no more Islamic fascisti threatening its territory.
Posted by: Fred || 01/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336129 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa

#1  Is France's increased military effort abroad Hollande's answer to the economic problems at home?
Posted by: Glenmore || 01/18/2013 8:16 Comments || Top||

#2  Yes Glen, the political diversion and 'Place de la Bastille' nationalism and pride are a factor of course. In a more direct manner however, the French economy still has strong tethers to their former African colonies, most notably in Chad. It will be interesting to see how the French engage this conflict. I doubt it will be the hearts and minds, nation building image of our Afghan experience. The French are not resourced, nor do they have the military industrial complex necessary to play with the nasty hond. They must put him down and move on. I wish them well.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/18/2013 9:25 Comments || Top||

#3  Glen: partly, perhaps. But more likely is the fear of being overrun by refugees and/or radicalization among immigrants already in the banlieus. AQIM (Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb) used to be the Groupe Salafiste pour la Prédication et le Combat in Algeria, before they announced an affiliation with the larger Al Qaeda network and laid claim to all of north Africa (2007) and began working with Tuaregs to capture Europeans in Libya (2009). The French have in one way or another been pushing back on them for many years.
Posted by: lotp || 01/18/2013 9:34 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
U.S. Says Afghan Peace Process 'hasn't Even Begun'
[An Nahar] A real grinding of the peace processor in Afghanistan has not begun and the United States does not know what has happened to Taliban prisoners released by Pakistain, the U.S. ambassador to Kabul said Thursday.

Pakistain said 26 prisoners were freed late last year in a bid to kick-start peace talks ahead of the withdrawal of U.S.-led NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all....
troops from Afghanistan, whose government is under pressure from an 11-year Taliban insurgency.

"We don't know, frankly, what has happened to the people that the Paks have released," ambassador James Cunningham told a news briefing.

"We would have preferred to have greater visibility into that, but still it's positive that they were released, I think, from the Afghan point of view."

With the control of prisoners in Afghanistan a major issue between the U.S. and the government of President Hamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai
... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabbani in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a Pashtun face on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use...
, Cunningham said some freed prisoners had returned to Taliban ranks in senior positions in the past.

A grinding of the peace processor "hasn't even really begun", he said.

"Our goal is the beginning, if not the conclusion of, a serious process on peace and reconciliation as soon as possible -- but so far it hasn't proven possible... to get that going," he said.
Posted by: Fred || 01/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336081 views] Top|| File under: Taliban

#1  Peace process hasn't begun yet? Champ too busy covering up cat scat back home? Champ is re-launching his campaign apparatchicks who elected him for the coming fight against the NRA back home. All other cans get kicked down the road for awhile.
Posted by: JohnQC || 01/18/2013 10:30 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
The talkative dead
The writer is a policeman who was working crowd control as the Hazaras were protesting the murder of 86 of their number by Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. This is the second half of his opinion piece. The Hazaras are Asiatic Shias, whom the devout are in the process of trying to kill off.
[Dawn]
Hazaras are being killed like birds in a cage. They cannot run, they cannot hide, they cannot defend themselves. I saw a poster of one of the victims of the Quetta tragedy and remembered this young man Irfan Khudi as a regular participant of civil society demonstrations. I looked at a Hazara child and wondered if he will live to be a man and die a natural death in old age. Or will he become another talkative dead body like the 86 who were speaking non-stop for the past three days, from their coffins placed on Alamdar Road in Quetta? Why are they talking and why won't they let their families bury them? Why was I thinking? I am only required to watch, anticipate, and act, I reminded myself.

Except for a brief encounter with students from a nearby madrassah yesterday, who took offence at anti Lashker-e-Jhangvi slogans, the marathon event had been largely uneventful and sober.
But there was nothing to do. Except for a brief encounter with students from a nearby madrassah yesterday, who took offence at anti Lashker-e-Jhangvi slogans, the marathon event had been largely uneventful and sober. Protesters were sitting on neatly laid rows of darris, listening to speeches from anyone who wished to say something. Occasionally, a speaker from Quetta or an overseas gathering would be heard through phone line. Apparently, similar protests were being held everywhere Pakistanis live. There weren't many Hazaras among the speakers though.
They sat motionless, or served the protesters food and tea with a hospitable smile, and spoke shyly and politely; too politely for a people being hounded relentlessly and murdered systematically.
They sat motionless, or served the protesters food and tea with a hospitable smile, and spoke shyly and politely; too politely for a people being hounded relentlessly and murdered systematically. It must be the reticence and compulsive politeness of the whole community that was infuriating the dead. Their decomposing bodies were yelling for the living Hazaras to speak up for their right to live. The effort pushed the remaining blood in their bodies to spill out of their pores, and the family mourners had to change their white cotton shrouds every few hours.

I thought of my village in Potohar and tried to imagine the reaction of people there if a 100 of them were murdered in one day. There will be mayhem. At least 200 of our enemies will have to pay a price with their blood. If we can't punish them ourselves we'll push the police, army, courts, and governments to do that. If that fails men will sell their fields and women their jewellery to buy weapons or hire a terrorist gang, but we will be avenged. And here, are these Hazaras who've lost close to a thousand people in a year and are being so apologetic for having to block a road, for protesters spending a freezing cold night under the sky, for not providing children and women with warm and comfortable bedding ... 'Oh poor Hazaras, poor poor Hazaras' cried the dead and choked on their own words.

No one cares for the Hazara, someone said in a small group of protesters standing close to me, having a smoking break. Others joined in:

"The chief minister is still abroad."

As if he could be of any help if he was here. The last time Hazaras were killed he said that all he can do is send them a truckload of tissue rolls to wipe their tears.

The prime minister says he'll meet with Hazara community leaders in a week's time and will listen to their demands.

Forget the governments, even the media does not care. Tomorrow's long march is more important for them.

Suddenly, the Alamdar dead's voice rose as one and addressed me directly. I could hear it clearly. It said what started with the Ahmadis is not going to end with the Shias. When all Shias are killed or forced out of Pakistan, or tamed into submission, then what? Who is next? It could be you, or your sons and daughters.
The BBC Urdu Service says the most popular story on its website is about adult filmmakers in Hollywood challenging the legislation that requires actors to use condoms.

Suddenly, the Alamdar dead's voice rose as one and addressed me directly. I could hear it clearly. It said what started with the Ahmadis is not going to end with the Shias. When all Shias are killed or forced out of Pakistan, or tamed into submission, then what? Who is next? It could be you, or your sons and daughters. If you want to live, you'll have to speak up for the right of others to live. Sit down with these protesters or run away from this country as fast as you can.

And that was when it happened. I never mix work with emotions. I always control crowds and never become part of one. And I never, ever listen to the dead ... I took off my service beret, wrapped a chador around my uniform and name plate, and sat down on the darri among my own.
Posted by: Fred || 01/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336067 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Syrian army regains control of central town, activists report mass killings
[Xinhua] The Syrian army on Thursday regained control of a central town in unrest-hit Hama province, said a military source, as activists reported killings of many people in several hotspots in the country.

The military source was quoted by the state-run SANA news agency as saying that the Zour Abi Hasan town in central Hama province has been secured by the troops after fights with gangs, most of whom were killed or injured.

The source called on the locals to return to their homes after the army destroyed all of the gangs' hideouts.

Meanwhile,
...back at the shouting match, a new, even louder, voice was to be heard...
the activists' network, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said gunnies earlier Thursday assassinated Walid al-Aboud, a retired air force colonel, adding that Aboud, the brother of Parliamentarian Khaled Aboud, was shot near a post office at the Damascus
...Capital of the last overtly fascist regime in the world...
' suburb of Qatana.

Activists also alleged that forces loyal to the Syrian administration committed last Tuesday a massacre in al-Haswiyeh, a small farming village in central Syria. However,
we can't all be heroes. Somebody has to sit on the curb and applaud when they go by...
activists gave divergent accounts of the casualties, including families with women and kiddies, ranging from 37 to 106.

Activists also said that a Syrian troops' Arclight airstrike has killed at least 10 people in Husainieh camp for Paleostinian refugees, some 20 km south of the capital Damascus. The pro-opposition accounts were impossible to be checked independently.

The armed rebels have recently penetrated the refugee camps, which has remained calm during Syria's long-lasting conflict.

The government accuses members of al-Qaeda-affiliated "Nusra Front" of carrying on blasts and attacks, urging the UN to condemn the terrorism in Syria.
Posted by: Fred || 01/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336093 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  When it all falls apart finally in Syria, I would hate to be an Awalite.
Posted by: Bill Clinton || 01/18/2013 8:36 Comments || Top||

#2  Cognitive dissonance, Slicky, it's Alawite...yes, I've seen them getting tossed by the dozen off tall buildings(Post Office) and videos of them having their neck sawn off by little children...when they're done, it will be turn of their buddies of the Hizbollah...why? the fun never stop with these moose-slimes!
Posted by: Threamp Black8501 || 01/18/2013 22:30 Comments || Top||

#3  "Capital of the last overtly fascist regime in the world..."

Is there ONE Muslim cunt-ry that is not "Overly Fascist"? Whith muss-slime O'Bummer at the wheel, even the US of A is turning fascist!

What a lovely war!
Posted by: Threamp Black8501 || 01/18/2013 22:34 Comments || Top||


Syrian govt apparently used BZ gas on rebels
Last week, the U.S. consul general in Turkey wired the conclusions of the investigation to Washington in a secret cable, and yesterday an anonymous Obama Administration official leaked the contents to Josh Rogin, of Foreign Policy magazine. The official’s comments were unexpected and confounding. Despite previous accounts suggesting the use of sarin or a similar compound, he told Rogin that the State Department had determined that the chemical used in Homs was not a nerve gas at all but, rather, an arcane drug with a formula that has never been publicly identified. “We can’t definitely say 100 percent, but Syrian contacts made a compelling case that Agent 15 was used in Homs on Dec. 23,” he said. This sensational claim only made matters murkier.
The link goes on to explain the difference between nerve gas and agents like BZ. Agent 15 = BZ gas. BZ was originally developed as an incapacitating gas, but ultimately discarded as results were never the same and thus unreliable as a weapon.

The Chetniks used BZ from chemical mortars to break up a column of retreating Bosnians in '95. This link is a bizarre, scary story. What do you do when a bunch of scared, armed men start hallucinating and hearing voices? It ain't pretty.

You know what roach spray is? You spray it, the bug runs off, starts twitching uncontrollably, rolls over, and dies? Sarin gas is the same thing, just with a few molecules twiddled here and there. High lethality towards insects, low lethality towards humans: bugspray. Low lethality towards insects, high lethality towards humans: sarin gas. Betcha didn't know that!
Posted by: gromky || 01/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336066 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  When I was in, the response if one of your buddies started doing the funky chicken was to shoot him with a couple of Atropine ampules, which were to be issued if going into gas country.
Same antidote you'll see on Raid.
Coincidence? I think not.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey || 01/18/2013 9:08 Comments || Top||

#2  Russian theater crisis. After a two-and-a-half day siege, Russian Spetsnaz forces pumped an unknown chemical agent (thought to be fentanyl, or 3-methylfentanyl) into the building's ventilation system and raided it. Wonder if this gas was similar? Some 39 hostage-takers (Islamists separatists) were killed and some 129 hostages were killed.
Posted by: JohnQC || 01/18/2013 10:17 Comments || Top||

#3  I understand it was a quick-acting, powerful sedative. IIRC, hospitals use it for surgeries. If the doctors who were subsequently mustered and sent in had known, it would have helped a lot.
Posted by: gorb || 01/18/2013 13:44 Comments || Top||

#4  Some 39 hostage-takers (Islamists separatists) were killed and some 129 hostages were killed.

And it's been pretty quiet since then, too.
Posted by: gorb || 01/18/2013 13:49 Comments || Top||

#5  Same antidote you'll see on Raid.
Them must be some tiny little syringes.
Posted by: Shipman || 01/18/2013 16:25 Comments || Top||


Africa Subsaharan
Nigeria captures top Boko Haram figure
[EDITION.CNN] Nigeria's military says it's questioning a leader of 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...
, the Islamic Death Eater group blamed for the killings of hundreds of civilians, after capturing him in the country's northeast early Sunday.

Nigerian troops captured Mohammed Zangina shortly after midnight in the city of Maiduguri, said Lt. Col. Sagir Musa, a military front man. Zangina is a member of the Shura Committee, the movement's governing body, and has coordinated "most of the most of the suicide kabooms and bombings" in several cities, including the capital Abuja, Musa said.

Nigeria launched a military crackdown on Boko Haram on New Year's Day. Human Rights Watch
... dedicated to bitching about human rights violations around the world...
says the group -- whose name means "Western education is sacrilege" -- has killed more than 2,800 people in an escalating campaign to impose strict Islamic law on largely Mohammedan northern Nigeria.

In the past, the group attacked other Mohammedans it felt were on an immoral path. But it has increasingly targeted Christians with numerous attacks on churches, as well as striking cop shoppes.
Posted by: Fred || 01/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336104 views] Top|| File under: Boko Haram

#1  So they caught him; now what are they going to DO with him?
Posted by: Glenmore || 01/18/2013 8:18 Comments || Top||

#2  The wonderful picture next to this article are enough explanation of what they will DO with him now.

I don't think the Nigerian Gov is going to go all wobbly and sensitive about how they get information to stamp out this plague on humanity.
Posted by: Bill Clinton || 01/18/2013 8:35 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Islamists fight to retain Konna
[MAGHAREBIA] Malian and French troops clashed overnight with Islamist snuffies in the central Mali town of Konna, AFP reported on Thursday (January 17th).

Fighting broke out Wednesday afternoon, marking the first ground combat since the launch of the French intervention six days earlier.

"Six Islamists were killed and we managed to seize eight vehicles and destroy some others," Captain Saliou Coulibaly told AFP.

An Islamist bully boy told AFP on condition of anonymity that the battle for control of the Konna area was "not finished".

Malian, French and African forces aim to oust Ansar al-Din and its al-Qaeda allies from northern Mali.
Posted by: Fred || 01/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336073 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Air Raid near Damascus Kills 7 Children
[An Nahar] An air raid south of Damascus
...The capital of Iran's Syrian satrapy...
on Thursday killed at least 11 civilians, among them seven children, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

"Seven girls, three women and a man were killed in the air strike," said Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman, updating an earlier toll of 10.

Warplanes fired three missiles on the western district of Husseiniyeh, an area in Damascus province which is home to Paleostinian refugees and Syrians displaced from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights region, said the Observatory.

Fierce festivities between troops and cut-throats broke out Wednesday night on the outskirts of the rebel-held area, Abdel Rahman said.

Amateur video posted by activists on the Internet and distributed by the Observatory showed a group of men pulling from the rubble the corpse of a decapitated man.
Posted by: Fred || 01/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336075 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  About time for pencil neck to have a photo op with children surrounding him.
Posted by: JohnQC || 01/18/2013 12:08 Comments || Top||


Africa Subsaharan
Obasanjo: Nigerian leaders should reach out to Boko Haram
[EDITION.CNN] Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo has said more could be done to reach out to the orc Islamist group 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...
to find out what leads it to carry out acts of violence.
Ollie was the previous president but one before Goodluck Jonathan. I believe he might have been the first to complete a term in office, but I could be mistaken about that.
In an interview with CNN, Obasanjo suggested the current government should adopt a dual-track approach rather than just cracking down on the group.
It takes a politician to see room for negotiation with a group that regularly shoots up churches.
"To deal with a group like that, you need a carrot and stick. The carrot is finding out how to reach out to them," he said. "When you try to reach out to them and they are not amenable to being reached out to, you have to use the stick."
Okay. They're not amenable to being reached out to. Now what're y'gonna do, Ollie?
Obasanjo said President Goodluck Jonathan
... 14th President of Nigeria. He was Governor of Bayelsa State from 9 December 2005 to 28 May 2007, and was sworn in as Vice President on 29 May 2007. Jonathan is a member of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP). He is a lover of nifty hats, which makes him easily recognizable unless someone else in the room is wearing a neat chapeau...
was "just using the stick" in his efforts. "He's doing one aspect of it well, but the other aspect must not be forgotten."
Posted by: Fred || 01/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336084 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa

#1  To deal with a group like that, you need a carrot and stick.

Lure them close with the carrot, then beat them to death with the stick. Yep, that might work.
Posted by: Glenmore || 01/18/2013 8:26 Comments || Top||

#2  It's rather difficult to negotiate with fanatics whose sole response is "die, infidel!".

Probably why I'll never be a retired politician.
Posted by: Pappy || 01/18/2013 11:57 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Date for next IAEA-Iran meeting announced
Senior U.N. nuclear inspectors and Iran ended two days of talks in Tehran on Thursday with no sign of a breakthrough in unblocking their investigation into suspected atomic bomb research in the Islamic state, Reuters reported.
I know, I know, you're as surprised as I am...
Iran's ISNA and Fars news agencies reported that a further meeting between the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Iran would be held on February 12 in the Iranian capital, but gave no details.

The Vienna-based U.N. agency had hoped to finalize an elusive framework deal with Iran this week that would allow the IAEA to resume a long-stalled inquiry into suspected military dimensions to the country's nuclear program.
Hopes and three Euros gets you a coffee in Paris...
Diplomats in Vienna said they did not yet have a read-out on how the talks in the Iranian capital had ended, but made clear they were not optimistic that an agreement had been struck.
Which about tells you how it went...
They said they believed there had still been key differences during Thursday's discussions.
That's why they're diplomats, you know, they're perceptive to stuff like this that mere mortals like you and me would miss...
World powers were monitoring the IAEA-Iran talks for any signs as to whether Tehran, facing intensifying sanctions pressure, may be prepared to finally start tackling mounting international concerns about its nuclear activity.
Posted by: Steve White || 01/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336068 views] Top|| File under:


Iraq
Iraq to Reopen Jordan and Syria Crossings
[An Nahar] Iraq will re-open two border points to Jordan and Syria, more than a week after they were shut due to rallies blocking the main route linking Storied Baghdad
...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate...
to the two countries, an official said Thursday.

The Trebil crossing, the only checkpoint linking Iraq to Jordan, and the al-Walid crossing, Iraq's southernmost checkpoint along its border with Syria, will open from 6:00 am (0300 GMT) on Friday, according to Mohammed Fathi, a front man for the provincial government of the western Iraqi province of Anbar.

Protests by Sunni Moslems against Shiite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in Anbar have blocked the road since December 23.

Trebil was closed on January 9 and al-Walid was shut shortly thereafter by Iraq's government citing unspecified security threats to do with the demonstrations.

Iraq's protesters call for the release of prisoners they say are tossed in the clink
Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages!
because of their Sunni background, and an end to the alleged misuse of anti-terror legislation by the Shiite-led authorities against their community.

The demonstrations have worsened a political crisis in Iraq and hardened opposition against Maliki's rule.
Posted by: Fred || 01/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336065 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iraq


India-Pakistan
Not enough evidence to arrest PM Ashraf, NAB chairman tells SC
[Dawn] Pakistain's top court on Thursday adjourned until Jan 23 a case alleging corruption by the prime minister, after the chairman of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) said he lacked evidence to arrest him.

A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, was hearing the Rental Power Projects (RPP) case.

The chief justice asked the National Accountability Bureau to report again on progress in the long-running case after its chairman said there was not yet enough evidence to arrest Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf and 15 others.

The court had asked NAB chairman Fasih Bokhari to bring the NAB's record on the rental power projects case, expressing dissatisfaction over a report submitted by the bureau relating to the implementation of the court's 2012 verdict on the power projects.

On Tuesday, the court had ordered the arrest of PM Ashraf and 15 others allegedly receiving kickbacks and commission in transactions involving rental power plants when Ashraf served as federal minister for water and power.

During today's hearing, the chief justice remarked that the court had issued the order for all those accused in the case and not just for the prime minister.
Posted by: Fred || 01/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336066 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  Officer probing PM graft case dead
A Pakistani officer investigating a corruption case against the prime minister was found dead in the country’s capital Friday in what was likely an act of suicide, police said.

The body of Kamran Faisal was found hanging from a ceiling fan in his room at a government dorm in Islamabad, according to senior police officer Bani Yamin.

“Apparently it seems he committed suicide, but we are sending his body for autopsy to determine the cause of death,” Yamin said.

Faisal’s death came days after the Supreme Court ordered the arrest of Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and 15 others in connection with an old corruption case that the officer was investigating.

The prime minister was implicated in the case when he was minister of water and power. At the time, he oversaw the import of short-term power stations that cost the government millions of dollars but produced little energy.

Ashraf has denied the charges against him.
Posted by: tipper || 01/18/2013 10:40 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Libya to strengthen Benghazi security
[MAGHAREBIA] Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zidan held a presser in Tripoli
...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn...
on Wednesday evening (January 16th) upon his return from a visit to Qatar. He expressed his sadness for the recent events in Benghazi and elsewhere.

"We're taking steady steps to restore the prestige of the State by strengthening the national army and interior ministry," Zidan said. "These efforts are infuriating those who don't want to see security and safety established in Libya."

The premier noted that over 18,000 people joined the police force.

Following the liquidation attempt on Italia's Consul Guido De Sanctis on Tuesday, the interim government is considering imposing a curfew in Libya once the General National Council (GNC) approves the measure. The Minister added that coppers would be deployed in greater numbers across Libya, but especially in Benghazi.

"We are discussing with the GNC about a curfew in Benghazi and maybe other cities, and no decision has been made on a partial curfew covering only certain areas, but it was very probable," Zidan told journalists, AFP reported.

"Benghazi won't be a military zone, and we don't have the intention to do that," he added. "No decision has been taken in this regard. Benghazi would stay with its wonderful civilian spirit, but security will be established soon there."

The Libyan government named Major General Khalifa Haftar the new military ruler for Benghazi, Zidan noted.

De Sanctis left Benghazi and the Italian government temporarily closed its consulate in Benghazi and pulled its staff out of the country. The latest attack on De Sanctis is part of a series of attacks on foreign diplomats. US ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other US officials died in the September attack on the US consulate in Benghazi. Last June, a rocket-propelled grenade struck a convoy carrying the British Ambassador to Libya, wounding two bodyguards.

On Tuesday, Deputy Prime Minister Awad Barasi met with Italia's Ambassador Giuseppe Buccino Grimaldi in Tripoli. The two sides discussed bilateral relations. Dr. Barasi apologised on behalf of the interim government for the Benghazi incident and promised to beef up security measures for the Italian consulate.

The Italian ambassador promised to re-open the Italian consulate soon. However,
Switzerland makes more than cheese...
the security situation in Benghazi remains uncertain.
Posted by: Fred || 01/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336065 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


India-Pakistan
Khar offers talks with Khurshid, Delhi cold
[HINDUSTANTIMES] India is unenthused by Pakistain foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar's offer of ministerial-level talks that came a day after she accused New Delhi of warmongering.

Though New Delhi sees Islamabad's instructions to its troops to respect ceasefire as a "positive" development, it is in favour of Directors General Military Operations sorting out the tensions along the Line of Control (LoC).

"Direct talks between counterparts don't just come in a jiffy; you sort of work up gradually or work towards something," foreign minister Salman Khurshid Thursday said of Rabbani's offer to talk to him.

"We, for instance, when we come in contact at our level, that becomes a base for the contact between heads of government to come together. So there is lot of work that you need to do."

"I think it's not just one statement or one response that works. You have to take up the whole structure with you...," said Khurshid.

The foreign minister along with his defence counterpart AK Antony briefed the cabinet about the situation along the LoC.

The defence ministry, too, is for a wait-and-watch approach -- to see if Pakistain's "change of mind" is reflected at the ground-level over a period of time.
Posted by: Fred || 01/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336081 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Africa Subsaharan
26 Final-Year Students Suspected To Be Boko Haram Members Spend Days Behind Bars
[OSUNDEFENDER.ORG] As part of efforts to check the activities of hard boyz in the in the county, security agents, last week, locked away
Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw!
and jugged
Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un!
26 final-year students of King Faisal University of Chad on suspicion of belonging to the dreaded 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...
sect.

The students were arrested in in Yola, Adamawa State.

According to the Nigerian Tribune, the students, who were mostly from South-Western Nigeria, were said to be going back to Chad and were passing through Adamawa State when they were stopped and arrested by security operatives who suspected they were going to Chad for Jihadist training.

The students were allegedly quizzed for several days and locked up in a cell in Yola while the Sherlocks from the security services checked through their papers. It was gathered that efforts by relatives of the students who were alerted by one of the students before his phone was seized proved abortive, as reports indicated that the Joint Task Force in the state was almost taking over the matter.

However,
it was a brave man who first ate an oyster...
after about five days in detention, the authorities of the university and its affiliates in Nigeria, Imam Malik College, got wind of the matter and dispatched a team to Yola to identify the students, and secure their release. Latest reports, however, indicated that the students had been released based on the intervention of the university and were now on their way to Chad.
Posted by: Fred || 01/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336119 views] Top|| File under: Boko Haram

#1  ..hmmmmm, caught wearing t-shirts of Che Osama?
Posted by: Procopius2K || 01/18/2013 9:05 Comments || Top||

#2  Their shirts were a whiter shade of pale?
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 01/18/2013 9:15 Comments || Top||

#3  :)
i c
Posted by: Shipman || 01/18/2013 16:20 Comments || Top||

#4  When College Grads + Post-Grads turn Radicalist Bad Boy.

Reminds me of the Weather Underground, + Symbionese Liberation Army [SLA] of Patty Hearst fame.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 01/18/2013 18:48 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Algerian Kidnapper Belmokhtar: Islamist or Brigand?
[An Nahar] Mokhtar Belmokhtar, the one-eyed Islamist whose men seized dozens of hostages in a deadly attack on an Algerian gas field, is a wily desert fox branded as a terrorist by some but perhaps just a common brigand.

He was born in 1972 in the ancient desert city of Ghardaia, 600 kilometers (370 miles) south of the Algerian capital, noted for its date production and manufacture of rugs and fabrics.

But in a rare 2007 interview, he said he was drawn away from home by his fascination with the exploits of the mujahedeen combating the Soviet invaders of Afghanistan, whom he joined in 1991 when he was barely 19 years old.

It was in Afghanistan that he claims to have lost his eye when it was hit by shrapnel and where he had his first contacts with al-Qaeda, whose ranks he joined, eventually rising to a senior position back home before being dumped.

Belmokhtar, now nicknamed Lawar (The One-Eyed), returned to Algeria in 1993, a year after the government sparked civil war by canceling an election the Islamic Salvation Front was poised to win.

He joined the Armed Islamic Group (GIA), which conducted a violent campaign of civilian massacres in its battle against the government, sometimes wiping out entire villages in the process.

Belmokhtar thrived thanks to his intimate knowledge of the nearly lawless "Grey Zone" of southern Algeria, northern Mali and neighboring Niger. That success was strengthened by a network of tribal alliances that he cemented through marriage.

In 1998, the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat
... now known as al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb...
(GSPC) broke away from the GIA. Belmokhtar, now also nicknamed "The Uncatchable" by a former chief of French intelligence, went with them.

Nine years later, the GSPC formally adopted to the jihadist ideology of the late Osama bin Laden
... who is now among the dear departed, though not among the dearest...
and renamed itself al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).

These Islamists have spun a tight network across tribal and business lines that stretch across the sub-Sahara Sahel zone, supporting poor communities and protecting all kinds of traffickers.

They are comfortable operating in the harsh desert terrain and have made millions of dollars from the ransoms of European hostages.

Along with a splinter group, the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO), AQIM had already been holding more than a dozen Western hostages when Belmokhtar's men carried out their bloody operation on Wednesday morning.

-- "Signatories of Blood' --

A group calling itself the "Signatories for Blood," led by Belmokhtar, grabbed credit for the operation, to avenge Algiers' "humiliation of the Algerian people's honor... by opening Algerian airspace to French planes" operating in Mali.

They called for an end to the French offensive in Mali, where the former colonial power launched a military offensive last week to stop Islamists who seized the north in March from pushing into southern government-controlled territory.

The seizure of northern Mali effectively turned the area into an Islamist state and raised fears that the al-Qaeda franchise could use it as a staging ground for attacks in the region and beyond.

Belmokhtar was pushed out as one of AQIM's top two leaders in northern Mali in October for what one regional security official said were his "continued divisive
...politicians call things divisive when when the other side sez something they don't like. Their own statements are never divisive, they're principled...
activities despite several warnings."

The precise details are not entirely clear, but his third nickname, Mr Marlboro, could provide a hint.

With a reputation as a smuggling baron -- dealing in contraband cigarettes, stolen cars and even drugs, as well as profiting from illegal immigration networks -- Belmokhtar's commitment to AQIM's puritanical brand of Islam was questioned by some members of the group.

A Malian official said AQIM supremo Abdelmalik Droukdel
... aka Abdel Wadoud, was a regional leader of the GSPC for several years before becoming the group's supremo in 2004 following the death of then-leader Nabil Sahraoui. Under Abdel Wadoud's leadership the GSPC has sought to develop itself from a largely domestic entity into a larger player on the international terror stage. In September 2006 it was announced that the GSPC had joined forces with al-Qaeda and in January 2007 the group officially changed its name to the Al-Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb....
had said Belmokhtar hads been "dismissed for straying from the right path."

But while still in the AQIM saddle, he vowed in July that the group would act "with firmness and determination" against anyone collaborating with a foreign military force that might intervene in Mali.

In a statement released by Mauritania's private news agency Nouakchott Informations (ANI), an AQIM mouthpiece, Belmokhtar said: "We will not stand by with our arms crossed and we will act as the situation demands with firmness and determination.

Belmokhtar, with yet more blood on his hands, kept his word.
Posted by: Fred || 01/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336077 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa

#1  Another graduate of the CIA from Afghanistan. More money we've borrowed from the Chinese well spent.
Posted by: Clort Elmorong6031 || 01/18/2013 5:56 Comments || Top||

#2  the one-eyed Islamist

Actually, he's not THE one-eyed Islamist; there are several...

Posted by: Glenmore || 01/18/2013 8:24 Comments || Top||

#3  Islamist or Brigand? I would have said both but the article said back home he was dumped from a senior leadership position in AQ. Busted to brigand? Whatever the case, he is a thug and murder comes easy to him. He appears to be allied with AQ again.

One of these Algerian AQ-like groups is calling for the release of the blind sheik from the United States in exchange for hostages. Tell me these Islamists are as thick as thieves across this part of the world. The Muslim Brotherhood has also been trumpeting the message to release the blind sheik. When he was convicted of plotting the blow up of the WTC in the late 1990s (several people died), he should have been executed. Hanging him from the WH flagpole might have been appropriate. He either would have become a dead symbol of the grand jihad that would kick off or it would have put and end to a lot of $hit before it began.
Posted by: JohnQC || 01/18/2013 10:07 Comments || Top||

#4  The FBI Director is currently traveling where again ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/18/2013 10:15 Comments || Top||


Al-Qaida Resurgent As Terror Spreads Across N. Africa
Islamofascism: The terrorist attack on a vast Algerian gas plant Wednesday shows a resurgent al-Qaida that puts the lie to the Obama administration's claim that the war on terror is all but over. It may in fact be just beginning.

Everything about the al-Qaida "Blood Brigade" attack on the Al Amenas natural gas plant 800 miles east of Algiers — where hundreds of workers, including Americans, were taken hostage in a bloody standoff — suggests an organization growing in strength with a bigger game than just retaliating for the French invasion of Mali.

You'd never know that from our silent White House, which has continually downplayed the new horrors after Benghazi and has yet to call a terrorist a terrorist.

Even so, here are the awful facts:

• Algeria is the "big dog" on the block in the Maghreb, a nonfailed state with a $267 billion economy, 90% of which comes from oil and gas.

Its leadership in the region makes al-Qaida's strike there effectively a strike at the king. The attack shows that al-Qaida has the capacity to attack the strongest regional state to retaliate for Mali. That sends an unambiguous message to the region full of weaker states.

Last October, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sought Algeria's help on the terrorist takeover of Mali because it was the strongest state. Now it's a target.

• The natural gas plant attacked was operated by state-owned Sonatrach, Algeria's largest consortium, accounting for 30% of the country's GNP. Its high gas production (9 billion cubic meters a year) is the product of partnerships with the West and Japan based on Algeria's 2005 reforms. Seizing it took unusual planning and preparation, another sign of terrorist strength.

• Mali is important, too — as a source of cash. Al-Qaida in the Maghreb is a well-financed organization that gets its cash from cigarette smuggling and its control of air routes in Mali now being used by drug lords flying in their loads from Hugo Chavez's Venezuela, ever since Chavez cut drug cooperation with the U.S. in 2005, with few repercussions from the U.S.

• The extreme violence in Mali is a sign of al-Qaida strength. It's not just the Shariah-law amputations and beheadings that terrorize the Malians. For years, Mali has been a weak backwater, with one unusual source of excellence, its exquisite music, which is a powerhouse in World Music.

It's also destroying Mali's only other cash cow, its ancient city of Timbuktu, which until recently attracted tourists. These are the cultural actions of terrorists intent on destroying a national identity for the sake of financing a greater war.

This ought to be a major concern, but the Obama administration's impulse has always been to dismiss the war on terror as a relic of Bush administration warmongering, dismissing even the murder of a U.S. ambassador in Libya as the act of an overexcited mob instead of the coldly organized terrorist attack it was.

Now the problem is getting bigger. And they remain blind to it.
Posted by: Beavis || 01/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336102 views] Top|| File under:

#1  some minor factual problems

- AQ-Maghreb has more funding sources than just drugs. In fact kidnap for ransom probably exceeds the drug cash. They also get direct contributions from rich moslems in the peninsula.

- The destruction of cultural shrines in Mali isn't a cultural war as such. Its the result of a particular religious imperative (to AQ, Shrines are a source of idolatry)
Posted by: lord garth || 01/18/2013 5:43 Comments || Top||

#2  Another CIA trained Afghan alumni running the show.

Remind me, how many Afghan commies have killed westerners in the past?

Whoever thought it was a good idea to spend American money fostering radical Sunni Islam should at the very least be in prison, and possibly looking at the electric chair.
Posted by: Clort Elmorong6031 || 01/18/2013 6:00 Comments || Top||

#3  @ Clort: Please remind me again how those foks in McClean are doing us any favours.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/18/2013 8:08 Comments || Top||

#4  From March 2001. A seventh-century Buddhist shrine at Tap-e-Sardar, near Ghazni in central Afghanistan, is the latest victim of the Taliban's religious edict that pre-Islamic Afghan culture must be destroyed. Blew them up they did. Destruction is their way.
Posted by: JohnQC || 01/18/2013 10:41 Comments || Top||

#5  puts the lie to the Obama administration's claim that the war on terror is all but over

Is there anything whatsoever that, when viewed honestly, doesn't put the lie to Obama?
Posted by: AlanC || 01/18/2013 10:47 Comments || Top||

#6  The Hussien Regime armed Al Qaeda Northern Africa when he destabalized Egypt and Libya with the over throw of Mubarack and Khadafy, replacing them with the radical Muslim Brotherhood.

Al Qaeda is now solidifying there assault on Americans within North their reach in North Africa. The Dictionary book burnings (cannot use certain non PC terms) and the disarmament of Americans domestically is Husseins' continued support of Islamic elements world wide. Impeachment of Hussein is only the first step to be taken or Americans will continue to be hunted down, something I predicted here while many seemed to be passing the popcorn while watching Khadify and his sons being hunted down and butchered in Lybia.
Posted by: wr || 01/18/2013 16:42 Comments || Top||

#7  Whoever thought it was a good idea to spend American money fostering radical Sunni Islam should at the very least be in prison, and possibly looking at the electric chair.
How true.The Bush/Saudi connection has caused havoc in the world with Saudi funded Jihadis running around without any fear of the West.

Give the muslims their Sharia Law if they want it and see them wallow in their ignorance/poverty.

Its about time people in the West were self sufficient without the need for middle eastern oil.

Had enough of this jidadi bullshit.
Posted by: Ho Chi Omaigum4727 || 01/18/2013 19:19 Comments || Top||

#8  Its about time people in the West were self sufficient without the need for middle eastern oil.

Ho Chi Omaigum4727, according to BP, the U.S could become the world's top oil producer this year.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/18/2013 23:12 Comments || Top||


Qaradawi Slams French 'Haste' in Mali
[An Nahar] An Islamic group headed by influential holy man Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi
...crackpot Egyptian Islamist theologian. He is best known for his program Shariah and Life on Al Jizz, with an estimated audience of 60 million kindred souls worldwide. He is also well-known for IslamOnline, which occasionally advocates things like slavery and thumping the old lady with a rod no thicker than an inch, and has published more than 120 books, including Islam: The Future Civilization. Joe has long had a prominent role within the intellectual leadership of the Moslem Brüderbund. Some of his views have been controversial in the West, though less so among the rubes of the Mysterious East, and he was refused entry to the United Kingdom in 2008. In 2004, 2,500 Moslem academics from Saudi Arabia, Iraq and from the Palestinian territories condemned Qaradawi, and accused him of giving Islam a bad name....
on Thursday criticized La Belle France's "haste" in launching an offensive against Islamists in Mali, warning of "dangerous consequences."

"Military intervention has dangerous consequences, whether in killing, destruction, displacement... and famine, which Mali is already suffering from," the Qatar-based International Union of Moslem Scholars said in a statement.

It criticized "La Belle France's haste in sparking war before having exhausted all means of a peaceful solution and national reconciliation".

French forces last week went into action in the vast country on the southern edge of the Sahara to help Malian troops contain hardline armed Islamist movements, who have occupied the north of Mali during the past 10 months.

The International Union of Moslem Scholars called in its statement for "dialogue and reconciliation as the only correct solution to resolve the problem in Mali," saying it is "ready to continue its efforts" to achieve this.

It also urged "the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and African countries to exert serious efforts to end the war and achieve a peaceful settlement."

Qaradawi, a controversial religious figure in the West, has millions of supporters, mainly from the Moslem Brüderbund.

In the statement, his union called for "reason and wisdom from gangs" and urged them to "accept dialogue to reach a peaceful and just solution."

Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem al-Thani on Tuesday insisted that force would not solve the problem in Mali and urged dialogue.
Posted by: Fred || 01/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336087 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa

#1  It also urged "the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and African countries to exert serious efforts to end the war and achieve a peaceful settlement."

Qaradawi, a controversial religious figure in the West, has millions of supporters, mainly from the Moslem Brüderbund


Translation: Contact your agents in Washington and make it STOP!
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/18/2013 2:32 Comments || Top||


French, Malian troops move against rebel positions
[MAGHAREBIA] The war against al-Qaeda and allied Islamist groups in Mali entered its seventh day on Thursday (January 17th) as French and Malian troops laid siege to rebel positions.

The intensive air attacks gave way to a ground operation on Wednesday as French troops backed by their Malian counterparts battled Islamist forces of Evil occupying the towns of Diabaly and Konna.

Meanwhile the chiefs of staff from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) approved an expedited plan on Wednesday to deploy 2,000 soldiers within ten days.

"All steps to liberate northern Mali have been agreed upon," Malian army Major Abdoulaye Diakite said. However,
a lie repeated often enough remains a lie...
he did not disclose details of the plan.

The first troops from Nigeria were due to begin arriving in Mali on Thursday. The UN-backed intervention force will also include soldiers from Niger, 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...
, Togo, Senegal
... a nation of about 14 million on the west coast of Africa bordering Mauretania to the north, Mali to the east, and a pair of Guineas to the south, one of them Bissau. It is 90 percent Mohammedan and has more than 80 political parties. Its primary purpose seems to be absorbing refugees...
, Guinea and Ghana.

Chad, which is not a member of ECOWAS, also promised to send 2,000 troops, AFP reported. The first 200 troops of the Chadian contingent left for Mali on Thursday.

However,
man does not live by words alone, despite the fact that sometimes he has to eat them...
the nature of preparations and the need to co-ordinate and specify areas where the African forces would be deployed may prevent them from completing their final deployment before next week, journalist Baba Ahmed told Magharebia.

As part of the international efforts to combat the terrorist assault, the German government said Wednesday it would send two military cargo planes to transport ECOWAS troops to Mali. The announcement was made after a meeting between Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel
...current chancellor of Germany. She was educated in East Germany when is was still run by commies, but in 1989 got involved with the growing democracy movement when the Berlin Wall fell. Merkel is sometimes referred to by Germans as Mom...
and ECOWAS chairman, Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara.
...the current president-for-life of Ivory Coast. He actually beat his predecessor in an election before having to eject him from the presidential palazzo....
In a presser held with the Ivorian president, Merkel said that providing this assistance was part of efforts to counter terrorism, which doesn't threaten Africa alone, but Germany and Europe as well.

The Ivorian president said that ECOWAS would play a pivotal role in the on-going war on terror and is rushing to make field deployments in support of the Malian army, noting that this would require European support.

Meanwhile,
...back at the alley, Slats Chumbaloni was staring into a hole that was just .45 inch in diameter and was less than three feet from his face ...
French President François Hollande said Wednesday evening before the French parliament that the military intervention in Mali was "necessary and legitimate and was under an international umbrella".
Posted by: Fred || 01/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336074 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa


Good morning
Posted by: Fred || 01/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336091 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Birthday Gam Shot

Minissha Lamba [Bollywood][Filmography](age 28)



Intelligent Design


Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 01/18/2013 0:19 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Mali synopsis
The author gives a perfectly good summary of the Mali situation, then loons out on conspiracy theories starring Algeria's security service (DRS). The original title is "Algerian state terrorism and atrocities in northern Mali." Where Occam's Razor suggests taking the most likely explanation for a set of facts, Occam's Mallet suggests the easiest fit with what you believe to be the explanation and then whacking the facts until they come out the way you want.
[OPENDEMOCRACY.NET] The Tuareg are Berbers, not Arabs, and are the indigenous population of much of the Central Sahara and Sahel. Their population is estimated at 2-3 millions. Their largest numbers, some 800,000, live in Mali, followed by Niger, with smaller concentrations in Algeria, Burkina Faso and Libya. In addition, a diaspora extends to Europe, North America, other parts of North and West Africa, the Sahel and beyond.
They used to be known as "The Blue Men of the Sahara," I'm not sure to whom. The apellation is from their preference for the color blue. And, no, I dunno why they like blue so much.
Since Independence in 1960, the Tuareg of Mali and Niger have rebelled against their central governments on several occasions. In 1962-4, a rebellion by Mali's Tuareg was crushed ruthlessly. Major rebellions in both countries in the 1990s were forcibly repressed, with government forces specifically targeting civilians. Since then, Niger experienced a small rebellion in 2004 and a much greater one from 2007 to 2009. In Mali, a brief rebellion in May 2006 was followed by a two-year uprising from 2007 until 2009 when it dissipated into an inconclusive and transient peace. While the Niger and Mali governments have both been guilty of provoking Tuareg into taking up arms, all Tuareg rebellions have been driven by a sense of political marginalisation.
Despite our habit of scouring the foreign press every day for news about both AQ and the sundry dictatorships of the world, here's an entire intricate set of events that went right by us; it wasn't picked up by the wire services so we missed it. I don't recall even seeing it mentioned in Magharebia. Berbers barely exist in North African news. And North Africa barely exists in the news in general.
However, the rebellion that began in Mali in January 2012 was different. The Tuareg had more and better equipped fighters than in previous rebellions. This was because many had returned from Libya after Gaddafi's overthrow, bringing with them extensive supplies of modern and even heavy armaments. For the first time in the long history of Tuareg rebellions, there was a real likelihood that the Tuareg might drive Malian government forces out of northern Mali, or Azawad, as it is known to Tuareg.

In October 2011, the Malian Tuareg who had returned from Libya joined up with fighters belonging to Ibrahim ag Bahanga's rebel Mouvement Touareg du Nord Mali (MTNM) to form the Mouvement National de Libération de l'Azawad (MNLA). Even though Bahanga had died under mysterious circumstances in August, his men were still intent on continuing their fight against the central government. They were also joined by several hundred Tuareg who had deserted from the Malian army.

The first shots in the new rebellion were fired on January 17 when the MNLA attacked the town of Ménaka. The following week, the MNLA attacked both Tessalit and Aguelhok. Tessalit was besieged for several weeks before falling to the MNLA in March. At Aguelhok, some 82 Malian troops, who had run out of ammunition, were massacred in cold blood on January 24. This 'war crime' has been referred to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Such a humiliating demise of Mali's poorly equipped forces led to an army mutiny on March 22 and a junta of low-ranking officers taking power in Bamako. Within a week, the three provincial capitals of Azawad - Kidal, Gao and Timbuktu - all fell to the rebels without resistance, leaving the whole of Azawad in rebel hands. On April 5 the MNLA declared Azawad an independent state.

The declaration of Azawad's independence received no international support, nor was it ever likely to do so. One reason for this was because of the alliance between the MNLA and the Islamist group called Ansar al-Din, a jihadist movement led by a local Tuareg notable, Iyad ag Ghaly. Ansar al-Din was in alliance with another jihadist group, Jamat Tawhid Wal Jihad Fi Garbi Afriqqiya (Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa - MUJAO), with both being supported by Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).

At the start of the rebellion in January, the MNLA claimed to number several thousand, while Ansar al-Din numbered scarcely a hundred. However, by April, and for reasons that have remained a mystery to the media, it was the Islamists rather than the MNLA who were calling the shots in Azawad. Indeed, on June 25, fighting between the Islamists and MNLA led to the latter being displaced from Gao, leaving Kidal, Gao and Timbuktu being ruled respectively by Ansar al-Din, MUJAO and AQIM.

With the MNLA marginalized, the Islamists quickly began imposing shari'a law in Azawad. In Gao, a young man died after having his hand amputated for alleged theft; in Aguelhok, a couple were stoned to death for alleged adultery; in Timbuktu, ancient Sufi tombs, UNESCO world heritage sites, were destroyed. Throughout the region, music, smoking, alcohol, TV, football, traditional forms of dress and lifestyle were all banned as Islamists dished out beatings, amputations and executions with a vengeance. By August, nearly half a million people had fled or been displaced.
This article starring:
Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb
Ansar al-Din
Ibrahim ag Bahanga
Iyad ag GhalyAnsar al-Din
Jamat Tawhid Wal Jihad Fi Garbi Afriqqiya
Mouvement National de Libération de l'Azawad
Mouvement Touareg du Nord Mali
Posted by: Fred || 01/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336073 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa

#1  With the MNLA marginalized, the Islamists quickly began imposing shari'a law in Azawad. Where everything is banned except getting stoned (in the traditional and fundamental sense). The description of this group of Islamists reads like the Taliban and AQ in Afghanistan prior to 9/11.
Posted by: JohnQC || 01/18/2013 9:28 Comments || Top||


Iraq
At least 7 killed, 25 wounded in twin car bombs in Iraq
Update: now 12 dead and 64 maimed...
[Xinhua] At least seven people were killed and more than 25 maimed in two boom-mobile kabooms in a town in Salahudin province north of the Iraqi capital Storied Baghdad
...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate...
on Thursday, a provincial police source told Xinhua.

The first attack occurred in the morning when a boom-mobile detonated in the center of al-Dujail town, some 60 km north of Storied Baghdad. Minutes later, another boom-mobileing followed targeting security forces and civilians who gathered at the site of the first blast, the source said on condition of anonymity.

The attackers apparently followed old tactic which depends on creating an initial kaboom to attract security forces and people, and then setting off another blast to get heavier casualties, the source said.

The toll could rise as many of the victims were evacuated by ambulances and civilian cars to several hospitals and medical centers in the city, the source added.

Salahudin province is a Sunni-dominated province. Its capital city of Tikrit, some 170 km north of Storied Baghdad, is the hometown of former president Saddam Hussein.

The attack came a day after a series of massive bombings and shootings in northern and central the country which killed a total of 31 people and maimed more than 250.

Violence and sporadic high-profile kabooms are still common in Iraqi cities despite the dramatic decrease in violence since its peak in 2006 and 2007, when the country was engulfed in sectarian killings.
Posted by: Fred || 01/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336088 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq


Africa Horn
Somalia's Shebab Say they Executed French Hostage
[An Nahar] Somalia's Shabaab Islamists said Thursday they have executed a French agent they have held since 2009, as La Belle France said the hostage was likely killed several days ago in a failed rescue attempt.

"16:30 GMT, Wednesday, 16 January, 2013. Denis Allex is executed," the group said on its Twitter feed Thursday, with the report confirmed by a senior Shabaab official who said the group might release audio and video of the "execution."

"Audio and video are available and will be released any time we decide," he told Agence La Belle France Presse, saying the hostage, whose name is likely a pseudonym, was killed in Bulomarer, a town south of Mogadishu still under Shabaab control.

French commandos on Saturday launched a raid on the town to free the hostage, but the bid failed and resulted in the death of two French soldiers.

The al-Qaeda linked Shabaab said Wednesday they had "reached a unanimous decision to execute" their hostage in order to avenge "the dozens of Mohammedan civilians senselessly killed by the French forces during the operation."

Witnesses said eight civilians died during the raid to free Allex.

The group also cited "La Belle France's increasing persecution of Mohammedans around the world, its oppressive anti-Islam policies at home, French military operations in ... Afghanistan and, most recently, in Mali."

The French army on Wednesday accused the Shabaab of "manipulating the media" and reaffirmed that Allex was likely already dead.

"We suspect, and I believe that we are not wrong to do so, that Somalia's Shabaab are manipulating the media," La Belle France's Chief of Defense Staff Admiral Edouard Guillaud said on Europe 1 radio.

"We have no element since the raid indicating Denis Allex is alive. We think he is most likely dead," he said.
Posted by: Fred || 01/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336070 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab

#1  Dennis Allex was a brave man. Condolences to his family, and especially his colleague Marc Aubriere who escaped Mogadishu in 2009. Mr Aubriere must be feeling depressed right now.

These actions by Al Shebaab are going to further polarize the secret war that is happening across the deserts of N. Africa. French forces in Mali (and elsewhere) will not forget what happened to Mr. Allex. Conflict will be harder out there, and prisoners will get little mercy.
Posted by: Raider || 01/18/2013 12:42 Comments || Top||

#2  When acts like this happen, it should be clearly and publicly stated that all future hostages will be considered already dead and no restraint will be placed upon retaliatory actions.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 01/18/2013 14:13 Comments || Top||

#3  Geneva Convention was sort of ignored for a time after Malmedy. Just say'n.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/18/2013 14:17 Comments || Top||

#4  It was ignored in the Pacific long before the Battle of the Bulge.
Posted by: Shipman || 01/18/2013 16:19 Comments || Top||

#5  The GC only applies when both sides abide by it.

I've never heard of Al-Qaeda abiding by any of it.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 01/18/2013 17:50 Comments || Top||

#6  AQ interogated Dennis Allex for 3-1/2 years. It's a pretty good bet they used mistreatment and torture. They extracted all of the operational intelligence plans and methods used by the French DGSE. They are not playing nice.
Posted by: Raider || 01/18/2013 18:19 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Libya begins to try Gaddafi's second son
[Xinhua] The trial of Saif Islam Qadaffy, the second son of former Libyan leader Muammar Qadaffy
...whose instability was an inspiration to dictators everywhere, but whose end couldn't possibly happen to them...
, started Thursday, a spokesperson of the General Attorney told Xinhua.

The trial took place in Zentan city, some 150 km southwest of the capital Tripoli
...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn...
, but was soon postponed to May 2, due to the absence of Saif Islam's lawyer Melinda Taylor, said Taha Barra.

Libya's justice ministry announced last week that Saif al-Islam, along with former prime minister al-Baghdadi Ali al-Mahmoudi and former intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senoussi, would be tried as soon as the questioning is completed within the next month.

Barra said Monday that Saif Islam and Senoussi will be put on trial in a month, pending the completion of questioning of Senoussi.

There has been an ongoing battle between Libya and the International Criminal Court
... where Milosevich died of old age before being convicted ...
(ICC) over where Saif Islam should face justice. The Libyan authorities have repeatedly rejected requests to hand him over for trial in The Hague.

In 2011, the ICC issued warrants against Qadaffy, Saif Islam and Senoussi over charges of crimes against humanity stemming from the crackdown on anti-Qadaffy protesters.
Posted by: Fred || 01/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336069 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


FBI's Mueller Travels to Libya amid Benghazi Probe
[An Nahar] FBI director Robert Mueller traveled to Libya, his office said Thursday, as U.S. Sherlocks continue their probe there into last year's deadly attack on a U.S. diplomatic mission.

"The director was in Libya to discuss cooperation on several issues," said an FBI official who spoke on condition of anonymity, without addressing whether Mueller, America's top cop, was investigating the September 11, 2012 attacks in Benghazi.

The officials would not reveal the exact timing for Mueller's travel or what his itinerary is.

The FBI, the U.S. national law enforcement agency, is investigating the attacks that killed U.S. ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans when heavily-armed Islamic fascisti overran the diplomatic compound and a nearby annex.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
... sometimes described as The Liberatress of Libya and at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as Another Edward Stettinius, Jr. ...
is to appear before U.S. politicians on January 23 to be quizzed about the deadly attacks, just days before she retires from her post as Washington's top diplomat.
Posted by: Fred || 01/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336085 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring

#1  Wonder if they made him cool his heels in a hotel for a few days?
Posted by: Pappy || 01/18/2013 11:43 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Pakistani Taliban claim responsibility for MQM MPA's killing
[Dawn] The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) has grabbed credit for the killing of a provincial politician belonging to 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), a front man for the banned outfit told Dawn.com on Thursday.

Gunmen on Thursday had rubbed out four people, including the MQM's provincial politician Manzar Imam in Bloody Karachi's
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
Orangi town area.

"A member of the Sindh provincial assembly was killed with three of his guards when gunnies on two cycle of violences intercepted his car in Orangi neighbourhood and shot them with automatic weapons," police front man Imran Shaukat said.

Police said the gunnies had expeditiously departed at a goodly pace following the shooting.

In a telephone call to a Dawn.com correspondent from Qazi's guesthouse an undisclosed location, front man for the TTP, Ehsanullah Ehsan, grabbed credit for the killing, saying it was the second targeted attack in Bloody Karachi that they had carried out on the political party.

According to an eyewitness, the MPA, along with his police guards was passing by Orangi town's Hyderi Chowk area when four gunnies on cycle of violences opened fire on the vehicle, reported APP.

Imam and one of his guards bit the dust on the spot, while the other two injured died while being treated for their wounds in the hospital, said the eyewitness report.

Imam was elected from the PS-95 Bloody Karachi VII seat, and served as member on the Sindh Assembly's Standing Committee on Cooperation , Standing Committee on Environment and Alternate Energy and the Standing Committee on Prisons.
Posted by: Fred || 01/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336068 views] Top|| File under: TTP


Qadri announces end to protest after government deal
[Dawn] Tehrik-e-Minhajul Koran (TMQ) chief Dr Tahirul Qadri late on Thursday announced an end to four days of anti-government protests by thousands of people after striking a deal with the government.
"Never mind. Everybody go home now."
A high level delegation struck a deal with the holy man after thousands of people largely paralysed the capital and put intense pressure on the government.
"Y'all go home. I'm going to Belgium."
The agreement was reached after hours of negotiation inside a bulletproof container the religious leader was using at the demonstration site.
"In Belgium I'm gonna weep over my mistress's grave."
Thousands of protesters packed into the main avenue running through the federal capital, danced and cheered when Qadri announced from the container that he had hammered out an agreement with the government.
"Then I'm gonna blow my brains out."
"We have reached an agreement. After getting the prime minister's signature, we will read it in out front of protesters," the TMQ chief told his supporters.

Tahirul Qadri, who supported a 1999 military coup, has been calling for the military to play a role in the formation of a caretaker administration in the run-up to elections due in May.

The government agreed with the holy man to dissolve the National Assembly before its term ends in mid-March, giving 90 days until elections are held, according to the "Islamabad Long March Declaration".

That would give time to make sure politicians are eligible to stand for elections.

The government also agreed that the caretaker administration, which normally precedes elections, would be chosen in consultation with all parties.

A declaration laying out the agreement between the government and Qadri was signed by Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf as well as the high-level government officials who made up the negotiating team.
Posted by: Fred || 01/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336071 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Caribbean-Latin America
ICE helps take down huge Mex slave and prostitution ring
For a given definition of huge, anyway. But still, kudos to all involved.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336068 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Additional
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/18/2013 2:49 Comments || Top||

#2  Like successful self defense with guns, be sure to watch while the MSM propaganda wing of those who support illegal immigration make sure this doesn't get the coverage it deserves.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 01/18/2013 10:26 Comments || Top||

#3  Good. As long as it isn't a catch and release program. In the past, the Feds haven't been too responsive to local law enforcement busts when it comes to immigration.
Posted by: JohnQC || 01/18/2013 11:02 Comments || Top||

#4  A pity ACORN isn't atill around in its original form -- think of the government loans that brothel keeper could've gotten!
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/18/2013 11:56 Comments || Top||

#5  Maybe that's why they were busted TW. When that ACORN-inspired revenue source dried up they were unable to write anymore checks for -er- contributions.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 01/18/2013 12:06 Comments || Top||

#6  68 less democratic voters...FLA DP is displeased...
Posted by: Broadhead6 || 01/18/2013 12:57 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
Over 100 people killed, 70,000 displaced in Sudan's fresh tribal clashes

[Xinhua] Over 100 people were killed and about 70,000 others displaced in recent tribal festivities between the Arab Abballa and Beni Hussein tribes in Jabel Amir area of Sudan's North Darfur state, the United Nations
...an international organization whose stated aims of facilitating interational security involves making sure that nobody with live ammo is offended unless it's a civilized country...
-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 Darfur (UNAMID) said in a statement on Thursday.

"According to Government figures, an estimated 70,000 people have been displaced and more than 100 killed since the festivities broke out," the statement said.

The mission reiterated commitment to work with all parties to tackle humanitarian needs, saying that "UNAMID is committed to engaging with all stakeholders to address the current humanitarian needs of thousands of civilians who were displaced in the North Darfur villages of Saraf Omra, Kabkabya and El Sereif."

UNAMID deployed a team, consisting of civilian, military and police personnel, to the three affected areas, the statement said, adding that "the team found evidence of mass displacement, including those displaced from their homes in villages around El Sereif, along with workers who said they had fled from the work sites at the Jabel Amir gold mines as a result of the fighting."

Meanwhile,
...back at the wrecked scow, Harrigan had lost the feeling in his legs from the cold. I told 'em they'd never take me alive, he thought. I was right!...
UNAMID Acting Joint Special Representative and Joint Chief Mediator Aichatou Mindaoudou urged all concerned parties in the region to facilitate the work of the mission.

"I urge all parties to enable both UNAMID, UN agencies and their humanitarian partners to be given full access to all areas of Darfur, so affected populations can receive needed protection and assistance," Mindaoudou was quoted by the statement as saying.
Posted by: Fred || 01/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336068 views] Top|| File under:


Africa North
Salafists jailed for Palais Abdellia violence
[MAGHAREBIA] Tunisia imposed jail terms on 16 people over violence linked to a controversial art exhibition in La Marsa last June, TAP reported on Thursday (January 17th).

The defendants were convicted of violating the state of emergency, but were acquitted from the more serious charges, which included rebellion, assaulting public officials and attacks on public order by organised gangs, their lawyer Salaheddine Barakati said Wednesday.

The art show at the Palais Abdellia infuriated salafists, sparking three days of riots and ultimately forcing authorities to declare an overnight curfew in several Tunisian cities.
Posted by: Fred || 01/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336077 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Africa Horn
Somali security forces round up more than 700 in Mogadishu.
[Shabelle] Somali security forces have rounded up 790 hundred people in Dharkenley in south west of the capital in the third consecutive day of security operations in the capital city.

Most of the people in the morning operation have all been released but 84 have been remanded in police custody after it is confirmed that they are members of Al-Shabaab
... the personification of Somali state failure...
and are suspected of have committed violent acts in that part of the city, according to General Maalin chief of Mogadishu police.

In the meantime, head of Mogadishu secret police khalif Ahmed Ereg, who spoke to journalists after the security operation, has called on residents in the capital to work for peace and security and help the security force to turn Mogadishu into a safer place.

Security is improving in the Somali capital after many years of lawlessness and lately the presence of hard boyz who turned the city into a death trap for all walks of life before they were pushed out by Somali forces with ahelp pf 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...
troops.
Posted by: Fred || 01/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336077 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab

#1  "It was a Dharkenley stormy night..."
Posted by: Frank G || 01/18/2013 12:37 Comments || Top||

#2  Frank, you're going to burn in hell for that. It's the cleverest bilingual literary pun I have ever, ever seen.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/18/2013 16:33 Comments || Top||


Africa Subsaharan
Gabgbo's youth leader Goudé arrested in Ghana
[FRANCE24] Charles Ble Goude, a former youth leader and close ally of Ivory Coast's ex-president and international war crimes defendant Laurent Gbagbo
... Former President-for-Life of Ivory Coast from 2000 to 2011. Laurent lost to Alassane Ouattara in 2010 but his representtive tore up the results on the teevee and he refused to vacate the presidential palace. French troops assisted the Oattara forces in extricating him from his Fuhrerbunker...
, was jugged
Book 'im, Mahmoud!
in neighbouring Ghana on Thursday, a Ghanaian official and exiled Gbagbo supporters said.

As head of the Young Patriots street militia, Ble Goude was a powerful member of the old regime. He rose to become minister of youth before fleeing at the end of a civil war sparked by Gbagbo's refusal to accept a 2010 election defeat to Alassane Ouattara
...the current president-for-life of Ivory Coast. He actually beat his predecessor in an election before having to eject him from the presidential palazzo....
"I can confirm that we have arrested someone we believe is the former Ivorian youth minister," Larry Gbevlo-Lartey, Ghana's national security coordinator, told Rooters.

"There's a warrant for his arrest and we have been looking for him for sometime now. We're taking him through the process and we'll later hand him over," he said.

Ble Goude is wanted by Ivorian authorities for alleged kidnappings, illegal detentions, torture, incitement of hatred and economic crimes while a member of Gbagbo's inner circle.

He is currently also subject to United Nations
...what started out as a a diplomatic initiative, now trying to edge its way into legislative, judicial, and executive areas...
-imposed sanctions including a travel ban and asset freeze.

Exiled Gbagbo supporters living in La Belle France and Ghana said Ble Goude was arrested in the capital Accra around 8 AM (0800 GMT) by eight Ghanaian and Ivorian plain-clothes coppers. They said he was being incarcerated
Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up!
at the headquarters of Ghana's Bureau of National Investigations.

"We are deeply worried, because he was in Ghana where he was living underground. We fear there will be an extradition demand," Alain Toussaint, a former front man for Gbagbo now living in La Belle France, told Rooters.

Most top military and political officials from Gbagbo's regime were killed, are in jail in Ivory Coast or now living in exile, many of them in Ghana.

While Ghanaian police last year arrested former budget minister Justin Kone Katinan, Ivory Coast's request for his extradition has been stuck in the courts for months.

Ghana has previously stated it considers the exiles to be refugees and has yet to extradite any Gbagbo supporters.

Gbagbo was captured by French-backed fighters loyal to Ouattara as the post-election violence drew to a close in April 2011. He is now awaiting trial before the International Criminal Court
... where Milosevich died of old age before being convicted ...
in The Hague on charges that he was responsible for crimes against humanity during the post-election bloodshed.
Posted by: Fred || 01/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336069 views] Top|| File under:


Arabia
Qaeda suspects kill top Yemen security official
[Dawn] Suspected al Qaeda gunnies on a cycle of violence have rubbed out a high-ranking security official in Yemen's Dhammar province, south of Sanaa, the official Saba news agency reported on Thursday.

"Two gunnies on a motorbike opened gunfire on Colonel (Abdullah) al-Mushki killing him immediately," Saba quoted a security official in Dhammar as saying about Wednesday's shooting.

"Security services are carrying out vast investigations to hunt down the criminals behind this crime which carries the fingerprints of al Qaeda," said Saba.

Such hit-and-run shootings have killed dozens of security officers last year, prompting authorities early in January to impound illegal motorbikes.

The interior ministry said that 40 members of the security forces and four non-combatants were killed in 2012 in hit-and-run shootings by gunnies on motorbikes.

There are over 200,000 motorbikes across Yemen, most of which are unregistered, according to Sanaa police.

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, blamed for most of the killings, has not grabbed credit for any of the liquidations.
Posted by: Fred || 01/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336087 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Arabia


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
More than 100 Killed in New 'Massacre' in Syria
[An Nahar] More than 100 civilians have been killed in a new "massacre" in Syria, a watchdog said Thursday, as Russia slammed the United States for blaming deadly blasts at a university campus on the Damascus
...Home to a staggering array of terrorist organizations...
regime.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the deaths came when the army on Tuesday swept through farmlands north of Homs city, where it said around 1,000 people had sought refuge from fighting in the central Syria metropolis.

"The Syrian regime carried out a new massacre on Tuesday claiming 106 victims, including women and kiddies," said the Britannia-based watchdog, which relies on a network of activists and medics on the ground.

Witnesses said several members of the same family were among those killed, some in fires that raged through their homes and others stabbed or hacked to death. Among the dead were 32 members of the same clan.

Homs, dubbed "the capital of the revolution" by Syria's opposition, is the most strategic city in the country's largest province, lying on key trade routes near the borders with Leb and Iraq, and with its southwestern areas not far from Damascus.

Pro-regime daily al-Watan reported army advances against "gunnies" -- a term used by the regime for faceless myrmidons -- in the area, but activists said there were no faceless myrmidons there.

"They came in and slaughtered the women and the children. They burned their bodies," an unidentified woman told an anti-regime activist, according to amateur video distributed by Homs-based opponents of the regime.

The Observatory urged the U.N. to send a fact-finding team to probe the latest bloodshed.

The reported deaths were the latest to emerge from Syria, where twin blasts on Tuesday tore through an Aleppo campus while students were sitting exams.

At least 87 people were killed in one of the bloodiest attacks of the 22-month conflict, in a city that has suffered some $2.5 billion in damage in six months of bitter conflict, according to Aleppo's governor.

No one grabbed credit for the Aleppo blasts, but the United States blamed government forces for the violence, suggesting they were caused by air strikes on university buildings.

The remarks by U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland triggered an angry Russian response.

"I cannot imagine anything more blasphemous," said Moscow's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday, describing the killings as a "terrorist act."

Violence erupted again in Syria on Thursday, with the Observatory reporting several air strikes on flashpoints in Damascus province and Kafr Nabuda in the central province of Hama.

In the Husseiniyeh area near the capital, warplanes dropped three missiles killing 11 civilians, among them seven children, said the Observatory.

An air strike on Kafr Nabuda killed another four children, the monitoring group said, adding that more than 3,500 children have been killed in Syria's conflict.

Meanwhile,
...back at the Alamo, Davy was counting their remaining cannon balls and not liking the results...
in the majority Kurdish town of Ras al-Ain, in the northern province of Hasakeh, unprecedentedly fierce fighting pitted rebels against pro-regime Kurdish fighters, the Observatory said.

Unlike in previous festivities in Ras al-Ain, jihadists did not join the fight alongside the rebels on Thursday.

But a senior Jordanian salafist said two prominent jihadists were killed in fighting regime troops alongside al-Nusra Front fighters in Syria, among them a brother-in-law of slain al-Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

The Observatory gave a corpse count for Thursday of 127 killed -- 68 civilians, 34 rebels and 25 soldiers.

More than 60,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in Syria's conflict, according to the United Nations
...what started out as a a diplomatic initiative, now trying to edge its way into legislative, judicial, and executive areas...
, while the Observatory says it has documented more than 48,000 dead.

The conflict has sent some 600,000 people fleeing the country, most of them to neighboring countries, according to the U.N..

An official in Iraq said it will reopen two border points to Jordan and Syria more than a week after they were closed after protests against Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in Anbar blocked the main route linking Storied Baghdad
...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate...
to the two countries.
Posted by: Fred || 01/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336073 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Caribbean-Latin America
U.S. slaps sanctions on Mexico drug trafficking organization
[Xinhua] The U.S. Department of Treasury decided Thursday to slap sanctions on the Meza Flores drug trafficking organization from Mexico.

The designation includes its leader, Fausto Isidro Meza Flores, several key family members, and three companies, the department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced in a statement, accusing all of them of helping facilitate the operations of the organization.

This designation prohibits Americans from engaging in transactions with these eight individuals, three entities, and the entire organization, and also freezes any assets they may have under U.S. jurisdiction, according to the statement.

"By targeting the leaders of this extremely violent Sinaloa- based drug trafficking organization we are protecting the U.S. financial system from yet another source of illicit money tied to the narcotics trade," said OFAC Director Adam Szubin, vowing to continue to target this organization as well as other Mexican drug trafficking operations that threaten the United States.
It would appear, since sanctions were not also slapped on all the other Mexican drug trafficking organizations that Rantburg's own Chris Covert reports on several times a week, that those others are not objectionable to the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
Posted by: Fred || 01/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336095 views] Top|| File under: Narcos

#1  Sanctions? Like no more guns for you guys?
Posted by: SteveS || 01/18/2013 1:41 Comments || Top||

#2  Here, clean up that ugly mess.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/18/2013 2:06 Comments || Top||

#3  Perish the thought SteveS. These sanctions are from Treasury - not Justice.

Sanctions from Justice happen when they become start to become nonviolent. (It threatens the narrative that US guns are flooding Mexico - can't have that!).
Posted by: CrazyFool || 01/18/2013 7:58 Comments || Top||

#4  Slapping sanctions? How about clamping down the border and getting serious about cartels?
Posted by: JohnQC || 01/18/2013 10:56 Comments || Top||

#5  Slapping sanctions? How about clamping down the border and getting serious about cartels?
Posted by: JohnQC


Urban employment commerce would suffer John. Can't have that.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/18/2013 11:00 Comments || Top||

#6  White House translates weird into Spanish.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 01/18/2013 11:24 Comments || Top||

#7  Urban employment commerce would suffer John.

Not to mention the PRI.
Posted by: Pappy || 01/18/2013 12:01 Comments || Top||

#8  I read this as Meza Flores getting a sophisticated Money-forgery operation going. Perhaps they took notes from the NKoreans?
Posted by: Charles || 01/18/2013 20:22 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
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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.
Click here for more information

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Two weeks of WOT
Fri 2013-01-18
  1,400 French soldiers in Mali for ground assaults: minister
Thu 2013-01-17
  41 snatched by AQIM in Algeria gas plant attack
Wed 2013-01-16
  France deploys armoured vehicles towards northern Mali
Tue 2013-01-15
  Pakistan paralysed after court demands PM arrest
Mon 2013-01-14
  Famed Tunisia Mausoleum Torched by Salafists
Sun 2013-01-13
  19 Killed in Failed French Raid to Free Somalia Hostage
Sat 2013-01-12
  French commandos attack al-Shabab base, explosions, gunfire heard
Fri 2013-01-11
  France confirms Mali intervention
Thu 2013-01-10
  Taliban suspects arrested over Karachi polio killings
Wed 2013-01-09
  Indonesia Foils Terror Plot on Tourist Spots
Tue 2013-01-08
  US drone attack kills four in North Waziristan
Mon 2013-01-07
  Syria Opposition Rejects Assad's Reconciliation Plan
Sun 2013-01-06
  Dronezap in South Wazoo send 18 TTP Jihadis to their rewards
Sat 2013-01-05
  Syria jets, troops wage offensive on rebels near capital
Fri 2013-01-04
  New U.S. Drone Strike Kills Three Qaida Suspects in Yemen

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