For the U.S. Navy, it never rains but it pours -- and the storm clouds are gathering. After years spent designing and billions spent building a fleet of Littoral Combat Ships that were supposed to become one of its most numerous and versatile ship classes, the Navy was chagrined to learn last year that Congress is not at all enthused with the LCS.
At one time, the LCS fleet was supposed to number 55 ships, each capable of performing missions ranging from surface combat to antisubmarine warfare to minesweeping, as the situation called for. But as criticism of the design mounted, the number of LCS's desired has shrunk -- and its mission has been curtailed. At last report, Congress supported a plan to build only 32 LCS's, and to relegate them almost exclusively to minesweeping missions.
Now, it turns out, they might not even be able to do that.
The right tools for the job
The reason, as revealed in a damning report recently published by the Pentagon's own Directorate of Operational Test and Evaluation, is that the Remote Minehunting System (RMS) designed for the LCS's to use on minesweeping missions -- well, to put it bluntly, doesn't work .
Built by Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT), RMS is basically a robot submarine, designed to be remotely controlled by an LCS mothership, and used to detect and mark underwater mines for later disposal. Unfortunately, after more than 15 years of development, RMS still often fails to find its target. Over the course of tests begun in September 2014, RMS failed to locate mines at least two dozen times. The eight drones undergoing tests also broke down seven times, necessitating retrieval and towing back to port.
The failures to locate mines appear to be primarily attributable to Raytheon (NYSE:RTN), which built the sonar system for RMS. But the breakdowns, and additional failures of RMS to reliably communicate with its mothership, are problems that Lockheed Martin must own.
Lockheed defends RMS's performance as having met at least some "key performance parameters," and says the system is still "on track for delivery." But DOT&E says RMS's performance "has not been acceptable," and "would not be operationally effective." Moreover, the Navy isn't 100% convinced Lockheed will ever work the bugs out. According to DOT&E, RMS's "reliability plateaued nearly a decade ago," and with little improvement seen since, the Pentagon is unsure RMS "will ever achieve its reliability goals."
Money for nothing (and the checks for free)
To date, the Pentagon has paid Lockheed Martin "nearly $700 million" to develop RMS, according to CNN. Bloomberg notes that $109 million was spent to buy the first batch of eight drones from Lockheed. A further $700 million could soon be spent to acquire a further 46 drones -- but only if the Pentagon decides the system can be salvaged, and proceeds with its planned purchases.
Probably, this money will eventually be spent -- because even if RMS is just a work in progress, some kind of minehunting system is essential if the Navy's Littoral Combat Ships are to fulfill their minesweeping role. Failure to spend this money could jeopardize the entire $23 billion investment in building the warships in the first place. That said, it's not a given that this money will be spent on Lockheed's RMS.
After all, it's common knowledge that several other companies have been working on submarine drones for the Navy, including drones for minesweeping roles. Just this past summer, we saw the Navy award a series of pretty sizable contracts -- in the $800 million to $1.4 billion range -- for defense contractors able to supply the Navy with new and improved hardware and software systems for robotic minehunting.
What's behind Door No. 2?
For that matter, Lockheed isn't even the only shop with a mature minesweeping system in the works. General Dynamics' (NYSE:GD) Knifefish, for example, is a 1,700-pound minehunting robot currently under development in partnership with Oceaneering International. The Navy plans to buy as many as four dozen of those, and -- theoretically, at least -- they could be purchased instead of, rather than in addition to, Lockheed Martin's RMS.
For that matter, if Lockheed seemed to be a "lock" to win funding for its LCS-based RMS because the company builds one of the two main LCS variants (the Freedom class) -- well, General Dynamics built the other LCS variant, the Independence class. If General Dynamics comes up with a working robotic minesweeper before Lockheed Martin does, then it's entirely possible that funding originally designated for Lockheed's RMS system, which doesn't work, could shift to General Dynamics' Knifefish -- which does.
Known as a bastion of liberalism and tolerance in a pre-manufactured multicultural society, Sweden is seeing the first signs of a culture breaking down.
Official law enforcement statistics show a significant surge in violence in Sweden even before the massive influx of 190,000 refugees in 2015. Sweden has been importing Muslim immigrants into its major cities for decades, and parts of Stockholm, Trelleborg and Malmo have taken on a new, distinctively Middle Eastern look and feel. Sexual assaults, killings and gang activity are all on the rise.
But the flood of new refugees from Syria, Afghanistan and North Africa in 2015 has been a wake-up call for many Swedes, who are now getting armed, reports Ingrid Carlqvist for Gatestone Institute.
Carlqvist says Sweden has become, not a police state, but a "nightwatchman state -- every man is on his own."
With the influx of 190,000 unskilled and unemployed migrants expected this year -- equivalent to 2 percent of Sweden's current population.
That number is as if 6.4 million Islamic migrants arrived in the U.S. in one year, as opposed to the roughly 200,000 that come to America annually.
"And the Swedes are preparing: demand for firearms licenses is increasing; more and more Swedes are joining shooting clubs and starting vigilante groups. ... According to police statistics, there are 1,901,325 licensed guns, owned by 567,733 people, in Sweden."
Add to this an unknown number of illegal weapons. To get a gun permit in Sweden, you need to be at least 18 years old, law-abiding, well-behaved, and have a hunting license or be a member of an approved shooting club. In 2014, 11,000 people got hunting licenses: 10 percent more than the year before. One out of five was a woman.
"There is also a high demand for alarm systems right now," a salesman at one of the security companies told Carlqvist.
"It is largely due to the turbulence we are seeing around the country at the moment." People have lost confidence in the state, he added.
Alan Gottlieb, executive vice president of the Second Amendment Foundation, told WND he recently returned from a conference in Europe, where he learned that many countries are experiencing soaring weapon sales. WND reported Oct. 26 on one such country, Austria.
Obtaining a working firearm and ammunition in many European countries -- such as Germany, Britain, Denmark and the Netherlands -- is practically impossible for the average citizen.
Germany, for instance, requires a psychological evaluation, the purchase of liability insurance and verifiable compliance with strict firearms storage and safety rules. And self-defense is not even a valid reason to purchase a gun in these countries.
Sweden's gun laws are also ultra-tight. It is illegal for a civilian in Sweden to carry a firearm, unless for a specific, legal purpose, such as hunting or attending shooting ranges, according to the website Sweden.org.
Guns must by law be stored in an approved safe. And to transport firearms, there are also rules. "The general regulations are that the gun must be unloaded, hidden and transported in a safe and secure way under supervision," the website says.
But even with these restrictions, increasing numbers of people are willing to go through the red tape necessary to get a gun.
"In Sweden, gun and ammunition sales are up just like in other European countries due to the wave of immigrants from the Middle East and the increase in terrorism," Gottlieb said. "People everywhere want the means to defend themselves. When seconds count, the police are minutes away."
In Sweden, Carlqvist reported that residents are reporting longer response times from overburdened police. And sometimes, depending on the location, the cops don't come at all.
She writes:
"Truck drivers say that when they see a thief emptying the fuel tank of their trucks, they run out with a baseball bat. It is no use calling the police, but if you hit the thief, you can at least prevent him from stealing more diesel. Many homeowners say the same thing: they sleep with a baseball bat under the bed. But this is risky: the police can then say you have been prepared to use force, and that might backfire on you.
"The salesman, who asked to remain anonymous, also spoke of Sweden's many Facebook groups, in which people in different villages openly discuss how they intend to protect themselves: 'Sometimes you get totally freaked out when you see what they are writing. But you have to understand that Swedes are really scared when an asylum house opens in their village. They can see what has happened in other places.'"
At another security company, a salesman said every time the state immigration authorities buy or rent a new housing center for refugees, his firm is swamped with calls.
"The next day, half the village calls and wants to buy alarm systems," he told Gatestone.
Pamela Geller, the anti-Shariah activist and author of Stop the Islamization of America, said Sweden represents the future of Europe. And long term, it could easily be America if it continues to head down its current path.
"This is indeed the future of Europe," she wrote in a recent blog. "By their irresponsible and short-sighted, suicidal immigration and refugee policies, Europe's political and media elites have ensured a future of violence, bloodshed and chaos for their people."
Larry Pratt, executive director of Gun Owners of America, said any Western society that is modeled on tolerance had better also be protective of citizens' rights to defend their homes and their persons.
"In America, we say that a liberal who was mugged yesterday is a conservative today. It looks as if Sweden has a rapidly increasing conservative population that has either recently been mugged or has the fear of such imminent violence," Pratt told WND. "The threat of terrorism in their famously tolerant country has convinced Swedes that firearms and tolerance may not be inconsistent. Tolerance, perhaps, but a gun for sure."
Jerry Henry, executive director of GeorgiaCarry.org, said it would appear that Sweden and the U.S. have a lot in common.
"There are many parallels, in my opinion. Although citizens in both countries are purchasing firearms for self-protection, the U.S. is ahead in purchasing firearms as we have been doing that in a serious manner since 2008 and continue today," Henry said.
"Sweden turned a blind eye to the coming refugee storm, and our present administration did its best to get our citizens to do the same thing," he added. "Now Sweden finds themselves in need to protect themselves and are doing what we have been doing for quite some time."
As in the U.S., women in Sweden represent one of fastest growing segments fueling the current gun-sale bonanza.
"I am amazed that a citizen in Sweden can be arrested for sleeping with a baseball bat under his bed for being prepared to use force. How ridiculous is that? This is very difficult for me and most U.S. citizens to believe while admitting we have many gun prohibitionists who would love to see such a move here."
Henry said gun sales are up in all locations across his state, and the demand for concealed-carry permits skyrocketed after the San Bernardino, California, Islamic terrorist attack that killed 14 people at a Christmas party.
"One would expect this trend to continue for quite some time. Most people I know are either prepared for the worst or preparing for the worst," he said.
"We also have a lot of sheriffs and law officers who are urging armed citizens to carry to protect themselves and others if necessary," Henry continued. "This is a huge reversal from just a couple of years ago. This is especially gratifying when our president's first thought after a mass murder is to discuss how he plans to implement gun control."
"The Age of Aquarius was in the 1960s and 1970s, but the Age of Awakening may be appearing just over the horizon."
If the embed doesn't show up, you can use the link to see the video. Otherwise, I have discovered that if you wait a while, the link magically gets fixed. ;-)
A fake bomb planted on an Air France flight from Mauritius to Paris forced it to make an emergency landing in Kenya on Sunday.
An object described by a Kenyan police official as looking like "a stopwatch mounted on a cardboard box" was found in a toilet on the Boeing 777 airliner, which was diverted to Mombasa, on the Kenyan coast.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorised to speak to the media, told the AP news agency that no explosives were found in the device.
Six passengers have been questioned over the scare. A little old lady in a wheelchair, a nun, the Pope, an infant, a rabbi, and a dog in the cargo hold. After a thorough investigation. It turned out they were all innocent. Investigators are so stumped that they have asked any and all Moslems and evil dictators on the flight if they have any ideas where else they might investigate.
A French security source in Paris said: "According to what we've heard, it was rigged up to look like a homemade bomb but it was not a bomb."
A French woman who was a passenger on the plane told Europe 1 radio that the device was "heard ticking".
The head of Air France, FrĂŠdĂŠric Gagey, said it was a "false alert".
Mr Gagey, speaking to reporters in Paris, said: "All the information available to us now indicate that the object was not capable of causing an explosion". He declined to describe it as a fake bomb, but said it was a "homemade assembly of cardboard and a kitchen timer mechanism."
All 459 passengers and 14 crew members disembarked safely after Flight 463 landed at Moi International Airport in Mombasa at 12:37 am local time on Sunday.
An Air France spokeswoman in Paris said they were expected to leave for the French capital "at the end of the day".
Flight AF463 left Mauritius at 9pm (1am GMT) and was due to arrive at Paris Charles de Gaulle at 5.50am local time.
One passenger, Benoit Lucchini from Paris, said: "The plane just went down slowly, slowly, slowly, so we just realised probably something was wrong.
"The personnel of Air France was just great, they were just wonderful. So they keep everybody calm. We did not know what was happening.
"So we secured the seat belt to land in Mombasa because we thought it was a technical problem but actually it was not a technical problem. It was something in the toilet. Something wrong in the toilet, it could be a bomb."
It is the third Air France flight to be diverted in recent weeks.
Two other airliners flying from the United States to Paris were re-routed after the Paris attacks that killed 130 people and wounded hundreds more on November 13.
The Islamic State group may have stolen "tens of thousands" of blank passports that it could use to smuggle its fighters into Europe as refugees, a German newspaper reported Sunday.
The Welt am Sonntag cited Western intelligence sources as saying that IS could have acquired the stolen travel documents in areas of Syria, Iraq and Libya it now controls.
The passports could be issued to would-be attackers to enter the European Union as asylum seekers, according to the report.
Moreover IS has already launched a money-spinning operation with the fake documents, selling them on the black market where they fetch up to 1,500 euros ($1,630) each, Welt said.
European authorities have repeatedly warned of the potential threat posed by refugees travelling with counterfeit documents.
The two unidentified Stade de France attackers in Paris have been tracked back to two fake Syrian passports used to enter Europe.
"The large influx of people who are travelling to Europe unchecked represents a security risk," the head of EU border agency Frontex, Fabrice Leggeri, told Welt.
Leggeri said that passports issued in war-ravaged countries such as Syria where conditions are chaotic mean that no one can guarantee "that documents that look real were actually issued by an official authority".
Asked about the report, the German interior ministry offered a similar assessment.
"In light of the large number of entering migrants, it cannot be ruled out that among them are for example, criminals, war criminals, members of militant groups or terror organisations. or individuals with extremist views," a spokesman told AFP.
"At the same time, it cannot be ruled out that these people are carrying fake documents."
The German government said last week that it had initially overestimated the proportion of people entering the country with fake Syrian passports, which was in fact far less than the 30 percent announced by the interior minister in September.
Germany has to date maintained an open-door policy for Syrians escaping their country's bloodshed, giving them "primary protection" -- the highest status for refugees.
Germany is Europe's top destination for refugees, most of whom travel through Turkey and the Balkans, and expects more than one million arrivals this year.
Posted by: gorb ||
12/20/2015
12:44 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
A medical document shows that Adolf Hitler only had one testicle, German media said on Saturday, suggesting there is some truth after all to a popular British song that says the dictator had "only got one ball". That's better than a certain modern leader of the free world can claim.
There has long been speculation that Hitler was missing one testicle, with rumors circulating that he lost the other one during the Battle of the Somme in the First World War.
But a medical record from the time when Hitler was put in prison after the failed Munich beer hall putsch in 1923 shows he suffered from "right-side cryptorchidism" - a condition where a testicle fails to descend into the scrotum - media reports said. Actually, it may have been found. But we can't be sure until after the autopsy when we open 0bean's skull.
The doctor's notes were thought to have been missing for years but reappeared at an auction in 2010, at which point they were seized by authorities.
"The experienced medical officer immediately recognized the condition!" top-selling newspaper Bild quoted historian Peter Fleischmann, who has studied the record, as saying.
Fleischmann could not immediately be reached for comment. Neither could Hitler. Or his missing ball.
A unit of US Special Operations Forces have been spotted inside Libya after photographs were posted online on the North African country's air force social media page
A group of American special forces soldiers were thrown out of Libya after an unannounced mission to the divided North African country went wrong.
Under circumstances which have yet to be fully explained, a group of western-looking men, wearing civilian clothes but carrying automatic rifles and other weaponry, were photographed posing with local fighters at a base west of the capital, Libya.
That picture appeared on the Facebook page of their apparent hosts, the Libyan Air Force, which is loyal to the internationally recognised government of Libya. But it also said that the men, American commandos, had been asked to leave as they did not have proper permission to be there.
Pentagon officials confirmed this account, saying the troops had arrived "with the concurrence of Libyan officials" but that they had been asked to leave again immediately.
"While in Libya, members of a local militia demanded that the US personnel depart," one official said. "In an effort to avoid conflict, they did leave, without incident."
The timing of the incident raised questions about the purpose of the American mission. The official said the troops were there "to foster relationships and enhance communication with their counterparts".
But on Wednesday, representatives of the two factions in Libya's civil war signed a power-sharing deal, though it has yet to be ratified by the two rival parliaments.
At the same time, Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) has been using the crisis to establish a presence, and earlier this month briefly seized control of the town of Sabratha in western Libya near the air base where the Americans landed.
That the air base exists at all is a sign of the complexity of the Libyan war. Most of the western Libyan coastal zone is controlled by the Tripoli-based parliament, which is dominated by Islamists opposed to the internationally recognised goverment, based in the east.
But the air base, which has been used by bombers targeting Tripoli forces, sits in the middle of this zone, as well as being up against Isil territory.
David Cameron, the Prime Minister, has been severely embarrassed by the chaos in Libya, site of his premiership's major military intervention. He said Britain would do "everything we can" to support a new unity government, including training troops.
However, the head of the Tripoli-based government said it still not back the deal. Nouri Abusahmein said he was in favour of an agreement, but that this one had been negotiated prematurely.
[TheFederalist] Air Force fighter pilot John Boyd's theory about confounding opponents with a constantly shifting battlefield applies to Donald Trump and all GOP aspirants.
#2
Very interesting article. I have been a student (and fan)of Boyd's OODA Loop for years. We use the OODA Loop unconsciously every day of our lives.
But from the 20,000 ft level, in politics, what does this accomplish? When the candidates, their staff, backers, and all their minions have the Great Dogfight (presidential and congressional elections), and one wins, fair, foul, or hook or by crook, what will he or she do then? We now have a bankrupt nation, with the leaches firmly ensconced in Washington, DC., how is the new president going to make change? How will he or she make this nation sustainable and strong?
Like it or not, this nation is heading for a crisis we cannot avoid. And for good or ill, it will be sorted out and resolved. Stout hearts, lads and lasses, the barometer is dropping we are heading for a storm.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/20/2015 16:38
Comments ||
Top||
#3
We now have a bankrupt nation, with the leaches firmly ensconced in Washington, DC...
I think that's about right. There would be so much institutional resistance in the Federal hackerama, the only thing that would possibly fix it is 535 Ted Cruz's in Congress and as President. Even then, I wouldn't be 100% sure.
#4
Raj---that is totally correct. The Congress makes the laws. If they have the lawmaking power, and they can use it wisely, they can start breaking up the entrenched bureacracy. It is a huge, long term project, and I think that the way it will go down is a massive default in the Federal govt.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/20/2015 18:19
Comments ||
Top||
#5
Strange tho. Cruz voted for TPA, in fact helped McConnell draft it, which enabled an up or down vote for TPP, which he sneakily voted against, which made his "conservative" creds, which further -- totally -- bankrupts the USA. Better check out the full background of these upstanding Senators.
Something to ponder on a relatively slow news day. Thank goodness the price of oil has fallen even as President Obama's nuclear "deal" with Iran is allowing them to sell more oil, limiting their ability to get into mischief.
[AnNahar] Nigeria, which is still battling 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... myrmidons, now risks unleashing a new Islamist threat after violent festivities between the army and a radical Shiite group, experts say.
Though no official corpse count was released, at least a dozen members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) were killed in confrontations with the army during a religious procession last week in the northern city of Zaria.
Continued on Page 49
A suspicious device found in the toilet on Air France flight 463 to Paris is a bomb, Kenyan authorities have confirmed.
Two suspects from the flight are being questioned by Kenyan security forces after the Paris-bound flight was forced to make an emergency landing in Mombasa at 12.37am when a suspicious looking package was discovered in the toilet.
All 459 passengers and 13 crew were escorted safely off the aircraft, while the bomb has been taken by the Kenyan navy to be detonated safely away from the airport.
Kenyan bomb experts have been examining the device since the plane landed, while passengers have been taken to nearby hotels. The security services have cordoned off the airport and flights have been suspended.
Nobody has yet claimed responsibility for the attack
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/20/2015
08:50 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
#3
The device was made of cardboard, paper and a household timer, said Frederic Gagey, the head of Air France. "This object did not contain explosives," said Gagey at a news conference in Paris.
6 passengers being interrogated including the guy who 'found' it.
[WND] The highly influential Center for American Progress, widely considered the "idea factory" for the Obama administration, has drawn up a blueprint for presidential executive action on gun control that goes beyond media descriptions of the proposal being weighed by the White House.
Since the mass shooting in Roseburg, Oregon, earlier this month, it's been widely reported that President Obama is considering circumventing Congress with executive action to tighten federal law on gun sales.
NBC News quoted administration officials saying Obama's major gun-control proposal would set specific guidelines for who is legally defined as a licensed gun dealer, since all licensed dealers are required to conduct background checks before conducting any sales.
The proposal, NBC News reported, would set quotas on yearly gun sales for individuals to qualify as legally being "in the business" of selling guns once they sell a certain number and thus become subject to all laws for gun dealers.
The news agency quoted sources revealing the White House is considering setting the quota at 50 or 100 gun sales per year as the threshold to trigger the requirements, although the sources added the administration has not formally settled on a specific number.
The reports of an executive action focus on a federal law that requires anyone "engage[d] in the business" of "dealing in firearms" to obtain a federal firearms license from ATF and become a licensed gun dealer.
Every licensed gun dealer is then mandated to conduct background checks prior to completing each gun sale.
#3
This is political theater. The triumph of show over substance.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/20/2015 14:52
Comments ||
Top||
#4
"would set quotas on yearly gun sales for individuals to qualify as legally being "in the business" of selling guns once they sell a certain number and thus become subject to all laws for gun dealers."
And then the make that "certain number" 1
[Daily Caller] MSNBC's Mika Brzezinski predicted that Donald Trump would be able to defeat Hillary Clinton in the general election because "he will do things that none of those candidates will do."
Friday on "Morning Joe," Brzezinski explained that "the Democratic Party has a problem if Trump wins the nomination."
NBC's "Meet the Press" moderator Chuck Todd explained, "This Republican electorate is not into compromising right now. They want bright colors; they're not looking for nuance. And I think Rubio's trying to do nuance, because that's the way you would have done it before."
"And we'll see, maybe the voters when they go into the caucus, when they go into the polling booth in New Hampshire, they'll get a little more pragmatic," Todd suggested. "Maybe that will matter to them who matches up best against Hillary Clinton. But I don't see it right now. I think they want bold."
[Daily Caller] Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders hit Hillary Clinton over her support for regime change in Iraq and Libya, saying during Saturday's Democratic debate that the former secretary of state's push to remove Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi paved the way for ISIS.
"I worry too much that Secretary Clinton is too much into regime change and a little bit too aggressive without knowing what the unintended consequences might be," Sanders said.
"Yes, we could get rid of Saddam Hussein, but that destabilized the entire region. Yes, we could get rid of Gaddafi, a terrible dictator, but that created a vacuum for ISIS. Yes, we could get rid of Assad tomorrow, but that would create another political vacuum that would benefit ISIS."
Sanders has relentlessly criticized Clinton for voting in favor of the Iraq War in Oct. 2002 when she was in the Senate. As secretary of state, Clinton was one of the leading voices within the Obama administration pushing for Gaddafi's removal. At the same time, she was receiving intelligence reports from her friend, Sidney Blumenthal, urging her to oust Gaddafi. Blumenthal was later found to have been working for a defense contractor which stood to profit from Gaddafi's removal.
[Legal Insurrection] Samir Kuntar was among the most notorious and vicious terrorists.
A Druze, he was part of a group that landed in Israel in 1979, took a family hostage, and smashed a 4-year old child's head against a rock with his rifle butt.
In July 2008, Kuntar was released from his life term in prison in a deal with Hezbollah. He returned to a hero's welcome.
There had been numerous attempts to kill Kuntar, and false reports of his death.
Overnight in a suburb of Damascus Kuntar and several other terrorist leaders were killed in an Israeli airstrike. This video is said to show the results of the airstrike.
Kuntar's death has been confirmed by Hezbollah and Syrian TV:
Today someone in Lebanon shot four Katyusha rockets toward Israeli fields; Israel briefly shelled Lebanon in return, so hopefully all that's left is a quick round of mustache cursing.
[Breitbart] On December 18, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio referenced President Obama's pending executive action on gun control and said executive order or not, guns will not be surrendered.
Arpaio talked with Breitbart News about a number of gun-related issues and indicated that an ongoing problem is that guns and gun control have become part of the "political situation." As a result, Democrats react to the criminal misuse of guns by grandstanding to punish law-abiding citizens with gun control.
The same thing happens after a terror attack, such as the one that took place in San Bernardino on December 2. Since then, Democrats have pushed to add the no-fly list to background checks, to expand background checks, to pass an "assault weapons" ban, and to institute and fund a national gun buyback.
h/t Instapundit
Maybe it's not so much what Donald Trump says, but how he says it. His vulgar Queens English rubs folks partial to the King's English the wrong way. So what if he took elocution lessons and adopted a Brit accent? You be the judge:
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The provincial governor for northern Faryab province of Afghanistan Syed Anwar Sadat escaped unhurt from a Taliban ambush earlier this evening.
The incident took place around 4:45 pm local time after Mr. Sadat was returning to the quiet provincial capital following the inauguration of housing projects in Andkhoy district.
An official privy of the developmetn said a security guard of Mr. Sadat was killed following the attack.
Mr. Sadat attended a ceremony for the inauguration of housing projects for teachers and disabled individuals (Shahrak-e-Mualimeen / Shahrak-e-Mualileen) in Qaramqool area of Andkhoy.
The Minister of Urban Development Affairs (MUDA) Syed Sadat Mansoor Naderi was also present during the inauguration of the housing project.
Faryab is among the relatively volatile provinces in northern Afghanistan where anti-government armed bully boy groups are actively operating and frequently carry out insurgency activities.
Several Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers were captured and a Moldovan pilot was killed after a helicopter made emergency landing in Pashtun Kot district of Faryab province last month.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2015
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
Local officials in the southern province of Helmand have assured government the provincial administration will use all necessary resources to ensure the security of the TAPI gas pipeline project, which is expected to pass through the province.
Last week a ground breaking ceremony was held in Turkmenistan to launch the $10 billion USD project. Among officials present were the leaders of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkmenistan and India.
Many people believe the multi-billion dollar project can strengthen economic and commercial ties across the region.
Economic commentators believe the project is a milestone in regional cooperation and a step forward in reviving Afghanistan's economic legacy in the region.
The TAPI project aims to transfer natural gas from Turkmenistan to Pakistan and onward to India via Afghanistan.
At a gathering on Saturday marking the signing of the key economic project, local officials, Helmand provincial council members and a number of youths warmly welcomed the implementation of the project and promised to ensure that efforts are made by the people in the province to secure the pipeline.
Helmand governor Mirza Khan Rahimi assured the central government of taking necessary measures for security of the project.
"On behalf of the people of Helmand, I would like to say that we are completely prepared to implement the project and we demand the president cooperate with us regarding employment of Helmand youths," Rahimi said.
"TAPI will have a major impact on our economic and security spheres, we want to request Afghanistan, Pakistan and Turkmenistan not to allow [elements]to sabotage the project," deputy head of Helmand provincial council Majid Akhundzada said.
While the Afghan youths still attempt to reach European shores in their quest for a better life, youths in Helmand have called on the central government to create jobs for them through TAPI.
Helmand, once a Taliban stronghold in the south, still faces volatile security situations as hard-pressed Afghan security forces continue their military campaign against the group in Grishk, Sangeen, Ashir and Marjah districts in a bid to curb their advances in the province bordering Pakistan.
Tuff Sunday skool teachers they are...
[ARA News] KOBANE – The Islamic State (ISIS) terror group executed on Saturday a Syrian man on charges of “apostasy” in Syria’s northern city of Manbij, local sources reported.
Ahmed Muhammad, 50, was beheaded in a pubic square in Manbij city after the ISIS-led Sharia Court accused him of apostasy.
“The brutal execution took place in front of a large crowd of people on Saturday evening,” an eyewitness told ARA News on the condition of anonymity.
“The victim was accused of apostasy for missing Friday prayers at the mosque. After being reported to the Sharia Court, the court decided to execute him in a step meant to terrify people and warn them of the brutal punishment if they do not participate in prayers on time,” the source said.
In the meantime, ISIS militants have reportedly arrested dozens of women in the city of Manbij for violating the Islamic dress imposed by the radical group.
“More than 200 women are currently held by Daesh in Manbij. They are imprisoned for baseless charges,” local media activist Marwan Abu Adel told ARA News, using another acronym for ISIS.
“People are concerned about the fate of all those women, especially that the group’s brutality has increased in the last few weeks after the residents of the city organized an anti-Daesh protest, demanding the group to leave the city,” Abu Adel said.
Posted by: badanov ||
12/20/2015
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
#1
The future donk GOTV model...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
12/20/2015 7:04
Comments ||
Top||
[ARA News] LATAKIA – Syrian rebel fighters on Saturday recaptured the strategic hill of Jabal Nuba in the coastal province of Latakia, just three days after pro-Assad troops seized control of the hilltop, military sources reported.
The Jabal Nuba hill –located in the northern countryside of Latakia province– overlooks the main supply route for the rebels between Latakia and Aleppo.
Speaking to ARA News in Latakia, rebel spokesman Ibrahim Sarri said that since the regime army and allied militias expelled rebel fighters from Jabal Nuba on Wednesday, clashes have not stopped “until rebel factions regained their positions there on Saturday evening”.
“The strategic location of Jabal Nuba stimulated the rebels to regain the hilltop at any cost. Pro-Assad troops were forced to withdraw under the blows of the rebels,” Sarri said.
The source added that despite the Russian air support to the regime forces, the rebels were able to regain the Jabal Nuba hill shortly after losing it to the regime.
“It took pro-Assad troops and militias months to capture Jabal Nuba, while we (rebels) were able to regain it in three days,” Sarri argued.
This comes amid intensifying military operations by the Syrian regime’s army and allied militias, supported by a Russian air cover, in the coastal province of Latakia –President Bashar al-Assad’s heartland.
[ALMANAR.LB] The General Security Directorate issued a communiqué on Saturday in which it announced that it detained ISIL commander in Akkar as well as another terrorist for a forming a Lion of Islam cell the works for the takfiri ...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who most be killed... group.
After questioning them, the two confessed that they have recruited a number of other Lions of Islam to carry out suicide kabooms against the Lebanese army patrols or checkpoints.
It is worth noting that ISIL commander was planning to enable the group to control Akkar and its marine outlet and that the security forces seized an boom belt in his house.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2015
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[10 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
[ALMANAR.LB] Hezbollah Deputy Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem ... the Grand Vizier of the Hezbullies... asserted that ISIL terrorist group is not invincible noting that it is blown by the International vast aid he receives and the propaganda that magnifies its crimes to horrify the peoples.
Sheikh Qassem added that Leb proved that ISIL and all the takfiri ...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who most be killed... groups can be defeated, highlighting that Hezbollah as the well as the Lebanese army and the security apparatuses managed to protect the country from all the terrorist schemes and dangers through the military confrontation.
His eminence stressed that the Americans and the Saudis will never be able to gain politically what they have lost militarily in Syria, pointing out that the political solution means that the Syrians conclude agreements and understandings to end their country's crisis.
Leb will not join the "Islamic Alliance" announced by the hypocrite Saudi that is involved in terrorism, Sheikh Qassem asserted.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2015
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[12 views]
Top|| File under: Hezbollah
Very long article -- here are the first 1300 words explaining why Hamas is currently forced to work through knife stabbers and car rammers instead of erupting through cross border tunnels while rockets rain down on Tel Aviv.
[Ynet] As Egypt cracks down on smuggling into Gazoo, a single checkpoint in Israel is a bottleneck for goods flowing to Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,'s military industry, with a special intelligence team tasked with foiling increasingly creative ways to transport forbidden materials.
In the last two months, 25 serious indictments have been filed on charges of attempted smuggling, the sale of merchandise to terror groups in Gaza, and money laundering. And there are several dozen other cases in the pipeline that deal with smuggling to Gaza.
Israel's experienced intelligence officers treat this group as an enemy that must not be underestimated. It is a serious close-knit group of 40-something year olds who have been together for over 20 years. They all have experience with underground and military activities, they've all been wanted by Israel since the mid-90s, and they have all survived liquidation attempts. They share a common language, which is a significant advantage in the secret war they are waging. The most senior among them, Mohammed Deif, has been wanted by Israel since 1992.
They don't care about the misgivings the political ranks of Hamas have had since Operation Protective Edge. While Khaled Mashal confronts the politicianship in Gazoo on questions like whether to join forces with the Paleostinian Authority; whether the formation of an Islamic state in the Gazoo Strip is the end of the process or just a stop on the way to a bigger goal; and whether to join forces with the Shi'ite, meaning Iran, and give up on Saudi support - the heads of Hamas' military wing are only focusing on one clear objective: Preparing for the next war against Israel. To them, anyone who can help them reach that objective is an ally. They have no problem with receiving money from Iran while at the same time having ties with ISIS in the Sinai.
Continued on Page 49
I guess the fact that the Russian airplane's radio was not set to receive on the Turkish frequency is immaterial.
[AlAhram] Russia has no intention of damaging relations with the people of The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... , President Vladimir Putin ...Second and fourth President and sixth of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead... was quoted as saying on Saturday, while making clear that Moscow's ties with Ankara will not improve under the current Turkish leadership.
"I want to repeat it now: we consider the Turkish people a friendly nation, and we do not want to disrupt relations namely with the Turkish people," Russian news agencies quoted Putin as saying in a new documentary to be released on Sunday.
As for the current Turkish leadership, "nothing is eternal", Putin said.
The president also said that Russia remained open and ready to develop economic and political cooperation with Europe, as well as to jointly fight terror, despite the sanctions imposed by the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... on Russia.
#2
The KGB files are replete with the activity of the Muslim Brotherhood in the war in Afghanistan, and later in Chechnya. The Soviet Union, and now Russia has nothing but hatred for the organization and given that Turkey's recent leadership (Erbakan and Erdogan) maintained close ties to the Brotherhood, it is not surprising that for political purposes Russia differentiates the present Erdogan government from the Turkish people.
#6
Could somebody explain to me why the French/Brits intervened in Chrimea instead of letting the Rus re-take Constantinople?
Yeah, I read The Great Game, I get it.
But the only things the Ottomans were good at was making pyramids of skulls and being such buggers Europeans essentially sailed to the moon to avoid having contact with them.
Despite an announcement yesterday by Adjabiya mayor Salem Jedhran that a ceasefire had been agreed by Islamist militants from the Ajbabiya Revolutionaries Shoura Council (ARSC), and supporters of the Libyan National Army (LNA) who have been fighting in the town since Wednesday, clashes continued today.
According to a local souce, the LNA forces this afternoon were claiming that they had killed a top ARSC whom they named named as Ahmed Al-Zwai and whom they alleged had been involved in the recent wave of assassinations in the town.
Efforts by local elders from local tribes and those from elsewhere in the country to mediate a truce are said to be continuing.
Meanwhile the local Red Crescent has been organising blood donations from residents. It follows an appeal from the town’s hospital which has reported a critical shortage of blood supplies as well as of other medical provisions.
The mayor, like his brother Ibrahim Jadhran, is said to support the new UN-backed national unity government and be close to one of the deputy Prime Minister, Fathi Majberi.
Ibrahim, however, has been keeping his Pteroleum Facilities Guards out of the fighting.
A bomb exploded at the military intelligence headquarters in Sabratha early this morning injuring two security guards and causing extensive damage to the building. Some vehicles parks outside were also damaged. In response to the the attack, the mayor and the municipal council say they plan to declare a state of emergency.
According to the Mayor Hussein Dawadi, a explosive device was thrown at the building from a passing vehicle around 2am this morning. The building, officially the local headquarters of military intelligence, was little used, he said, although some military officials still went there during the day.
Local reports, however, said the explosive device had been left in a bag outside the building.
No one so far has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Dawadi has said that there were now plans for a state of emergency following the attack and that a military operations group was also to be formed to keep control of situation in town, 80 kilometres west of Tripoli.
He also added that there was to be an investigation and headcount of foreigners in the area, so that the council knew who they were. Most are thought to be Tunisians.
Both Ansar Al-Sharia and the so-called Islamic State (IS) are widely reported as having training facilities near the town, although municipal officials have regularly denied this. Just over a week ago, however, Hawadi, himself an Islamist, indicated that there might be IS supporters in the town but that none of them were foreign and suggested they were not dangerous. He was speaking just after military convoy of some 30 vehicles waving the black IS flag took to the streets of the town following an incident in which two men said to be linked to militants were arrested in the neighbouring town of Sorman.
DERA ISMAIL KHAN: Pakistan’s Taliban have rejected Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s claim to be the global leader of all Muslims, the movement said in a statement on Saturday.
The statement comes after a similar rejection by the Afghan Taliban following pledges of allegiance from low-level commanders of both movements to the Middle East-based Islamic State (IS). Last year, IS, an al Qaeda offshoot, proclaimed its leader as ‘caliph’ - the head of the state. Al-Baghdadi aspires to establish a global caliphate with himself at its head.
The latest statement from the Pakistani Taliban comes amid speculation that the movement’s leadership, whose goal is to topple the government of Nawaz Sharif and set up a Sharia state, is actually wary of IS, which is driven by different ambitions that have little to do with South Asia.
“Baghdadi is not Khalifa (caliph) because in Islam, Khalifa means that he has command over all the Muslim world, while Baghdadi has no such command; he has command over a specific people and territory,” the Taliban said in a statement. “Baghdadi is not an Islamic Khalifa because his selection is not according to Islamic rules,” the statement said, adding that the IS leader had little control in Muslim countries like Egypt, Libya, Yemen and Afghanistan.
(IraqiNews.com) The so-called ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack on Ba’shiqa Camp near the city of Mosul, where Turkish soldiers are stationed, in northern Iraq.
The organization announced in a statement posted on the Internet that it had bombed the camp with Grad Rockets, in addition to carrying out another attack by suicide bombers on the barracks of Peshmerga in Ghuwair area.
For its part the Security Council in the Kurdistan region announced that the Peshmerga forces foiled ISIS attacks in the areas of Nuran, Bashiqa and other areas in northern Iraq. The council said that its troops had killed about 70 ISIS components during those clashes.
Posted by: badanov ||
12/20/2015
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
(IraqiNews.com) al-Anbar – On Friday the commander of al-Anbar operations, Major General Ismail al-Mahlawi, announced that dozens of the ISIS fighters were killed and injured through a bombing by Iraqi Air Force targeting a couple of dens north of Ramadi.
Al-Mahlawi mentioned in a statement obtained by IraqiNews.com that “The Iraqi Air Force, in coordination with al-Anbar operations, has bombed a couple of ISIS positions at Al Bouchaban area in Ramadi Island, north of the city”.
Al-Mahlawi added, “The bombing resulted in the death and injury of dozens of ISIS elements and inflicted severe material losses upon them because of the devastating and intense strikes that targeted them.”
Ramadi is witnessing large-scale military operations to liberate it from ISIS, while the Iraqi Air Force and the International Coalition air forces contribute to these operations.
Posted by: badanov ||
12/20/2015
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[1 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
Another week/weekend of guests, which is good, so I present a book I read as a child, and have purchased for my children, as a timely subject and potential gift.
Cathedral - The Story of Its Construction
David Macaulay
Sandpiper, 1981
I can only vaguely review this book, as it is highly visual. First, the author/illustrator according to the flap:
David Macaulay, long an admirer of Gothic cathedrals, takes us beyond emotion and enlarges our appreciation of the cathedral by explaining it in terms of structure and space.
His study of architecture at Rhode Island School of Design, several trips to France, and much careful research have enabled him to create a unique book.
Born in England, David Macaulay and his wife now make their home in New England. Besides doing freelance illustration and graphic design, he teaches an interior design course at the Rhode Island School of Design. Cathedral is his first book and a perfect combination of his own interests, talents, and enthusiasms.
His current whereabouts most likely have changed since that passage; his other books in this style include:
Castle
Town (Roman)
Pyramids
They are all fantastically illustrated. Using simple line drawing and shading, Mr. Macaulay captures shadows and textures. The illustration on page 55 depicting the construction of the vaulted ceiling is breathtaking in detail and composition. The accompanying text:
The carpenters then installed pieces of wood, called lagging, that spanned the space between the centerings. On top of the lagging supported the course of webbing until the mortar was dry. The webbing was constructed of the lightest possible stone to lesson the weight on the ribs. Two teams, each with a mason and a carpenter, worked simultaneously from both sides of a vault - installing first the lagging and then the webbing. When they met at the center the vault was complete. The vaulting over the aisle was constructed in the same way and at the same time.
At the link, an example of the drawing prowess of Mr. Macaulay can be seen on the cover art. Additionally there are plans and elevations which are both straightforward and informative.
Mr. Macaulay builds an imaginary cathedral. Although there may be specific projects with interesting developments and problems solved, this generic cathedral keeps it simple -- Amazon suggests ages 10-12 -- yet conveys that the steps illustrated in his book were applied to all Gothic cathedrals. I introduced this book to my daughter at age 4, and hough she didn't understand much of what I read to her, she loved the pictures. From the Preface:
The cathedral of Chutreaux is imaginary, but the method of its construction corresponds closely to the actual construction of a Gothic cathedral. The story of its almost uninterrupted construction, however, represents a somewhat ideal situation. For owing to either financial or structural problems or both, the completion of many such undertakings was delayed for as long as two hundred years.
There was a series of videos made based upon Mr. Macaulay's book series by PBS (1985, 60 minutes). They add storyline to the books as well as on-location descriptions and explanations by Mr. Macaulay himself, usually accompanied by a guest host.
I suggest the video if the book is for a youngster, and the video is adult friendly. It is an excellent book for the suggested age group, good for those who appreciate fine line drawing, and a solid coffee table book. Buck for the hard cover edition.
Also available is Underground, which I have not read, and a revised color edition of Cathedral which I am sure is fine, but for me there is something quite intriguing about excellent pen and ink.
At the request of moar sugar, I will present a bonus. A simple, well used recipe from last week's book The French Recipe Cookbook. No guarantees on a post next week, so if anyone has a book and the likely time, let me know in the comments.
Apple Tart - Tarte aux Pommes
2 lbs. medium cooking apples, peeled, quartered, and cored
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1/4 cup fine sugar
4 tbsp. butter
3/4 pound shortcrust or sweet pastry
creme fraiche or lightly whipped cream, to serve
This can be made ahead of time and reheated. Also, if substituting pears, a sprinkle of cinnamon is good.
Cut each cooking apple quarter lengthwise into two or three slices. Sprinkle with lemon juice and sugar and toss to combine.
Try to keep pieces as uniform as possible.
Melt the butter in a large heavy frying pan over medium heat and add the apples. Cook, stirring frequently, for about 12 minutes until the apples are just golden brown. Remove the frying pan from the heat and set aside. Preheat the oven to 375F.
Two gotchas here. Do not burn the butter when melting it, and you will continue to cook your apples even though the heat is off. Me, I skip the next step by purchasing those pre-made pie crusts and the mix goes right onto the dough.
On a lightly floured surface roll out the pastry to a 12 inch round and trim the edge if uneven. Carefully transfer the pastry round to a baking sheet.
There is a recipe for the shortcrust/sweet pastry in the book, Page 249.
Spoon the apple slices onto the pastry round, heaping them up, and leaving a 2 inch border all around the edge of the pastry.
I drizzle any remaining liquids over the apples after the next step.
Turn up the pastry border and gather it around the apples to enclose the outside apples. Bake the tart for 35-40 minutes until the pastry is crisp and browned. Serve warm, with creme fraiche or cream.
The crust is just rolled up along the outside, leaving the apples exposed. Roll the dough like ocean waves as the circumference rolls over the top and back towards the center. Drizzle the juices, a sprinkling of cinnamon if desired. If you are handy in the kitchen and use a store-bought crust, thirty minutes from peeling to oven.
[AnNahar] 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... gunnies launched a dawn raid Saturday on the hometown of Nigeria's army chief, triggering a fierce gunbattle with troops, residents of a nearby village to which people fled the festivities said.
There was no immediate report of casualties in the fighting in Buratai in Borno state, the home village of Tukur Yusuf Buratai, Nigeria's top army officer.
Abubakar Umar, a resident of the nearby hamlet of Miringa, told AFP that the fighting began at 5:00 am after Boko Haram snuffies attacked the village.
"At one point we could hear kabooms coming from the direction of Buratai," he said.
Troops reinforcements from a military base in the town of Biu, 30 kilometers from Buratai, were seen passing through Miringa.
"Nine trucks conveying soldiers and another four carrying local hunters drove through our village towards Buratai and from what we hear more are on their way," said Shitu Ayuba, another resident.
Some Buratai residents had fled to Miringa, where they took shelter in a primary school, locals said.
Buratai and nearby villages have been repeatedly targeted in deadly raids by the Islamist snuffies since June, when the army chief assumed office. Residents believe the attacks are in response to recent military gains against the jihadists under the army chief.
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has given the military a December 31 deadline to crush the jihadist uprising that has killed some 17,000 and displaced around 2.6 million people since 2009.
One hopes that is the stretch target, not the hard target, because the odds are low of meeting the deadline.
Last Saturday, Boko Haram killed 30 people and injured 20 others in raids on three villages near Buratai.
On Thursday, the snuffies killed 14 people, some of whom were decapitated, when they raided Kamuya village, the hometown of Buratai's mother and burnt it down.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
12/20/2015
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[9 views]
Top|| File under: Boko Haram
[AnNahar] United Arab Emirates has secretly sent some 300 Colombian mercenaries to fight for it in Yemen, paying handsomely to recruit a private army of well-trained, battle-hardened South American soldiers, sources told AFP.
The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the Colombians' experience fighting leftist guerrillas and narcos in their home country made them attractive recruits for the UAE, whose relatively inexperienced army is part of an Arab coalition helping Yemen's government fight a war against Houthis.
"Colombian soldiers are highly prized for their training in fighting guerrillas," one source, a Colombian former army officer, told AFP in Bogota.
Continued on Page 49
[ALMANAR.LB] US President Barack Obama teachable moment... called on Yemen's warring parties to respect a ceasefire that was violated by the Saudi-US aggression forces few hours after it took effect, amid massive coalition Arclight airstrikes on Yemeni infrastructure.
The White House said that Obama, in a call with Abu Dhabi's crown prince, stressed the "urgent need for all parties to adhere to the ceasefire in Yemen" and to seek a diplomatic solution to the conflict.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2015
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
O must have a script with this broken record statement on one of the F keys.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/20/2015 0:50
Comments ||
Top||
#2
What's he going to do otherwise - sic his Attorney General on them for "speech edging towards violence"?
[ALMANAR.LB] As the terrorist groups dared to strike the depth of the Western security in Gay Paree on November 14, the Euro-American stance towards the Saudi-produced terrorism reached a major turning point, removing a basic card from Riyadh in its double-faced game.
The kingdom of the Saudi regime has always attempted to employ the terrorist groups as a main weapon in its political disputes, especially in Leb, Syria, Iraq and Yemen, benefiting from the Western full support to its policy; whereas, Gay Paree attacks have established new anti-terrorist rules that Riyadh has to respect in its strategic policies.
The Arab-Western coalition which has supported the terrorist groups and employed them in its Middle East scheme was shaken by the severe blow that La Belle France suffered last week at the hands of ISIL turbans and jacket wallahs.
The European endeavor to confront the terrorist organization met the Russian announcement that a terrorist act was behind the plane crash two weeks ago, which meant that Moscow would intensify its anti-terrorist campaign in Syria. This contradicts with the Saudi regime's interests and plots.
The Lebanese political analyst Faisal Abdul Sater said, in an interview with Al-Manar website, that although the change in the Western stance towards the terrorist groups is not drastic, Gay Paree terrorist attacks shook the principles of the Western policy which was based on supporting terrorism against the adversary regimes, which will certainly force the Saudi regime to undergo a considerable political alteration.
"We will witness several modifications in this concern. The issue has started to augment."
Abdul Sater noted the Saudi regime has always blackmailed La Belle France by the billion-dollar deals to gain the French help in its unjust policies and wars, adding that La Belle France is no longer able to approve such an approach as terrorism struck its capital.
"As an indication to that change, Riyadh ordered all the Saudis in La Belle France to reduce their movement across the French territories after Gay Paree attacks because KSA knows that its nationals are undesirable in Europe since they are viewed as the main producers of terrorism."
Being the main producer and employer of terrorism, the Saudi regime tried, during the recent Vienna conference, to promote some terrorist groups as "moderate"; however, the world powers, especially Russia, rejected that categorically.
In the context of Riyadh's frustrated plots, Abdul Sater added that Saudi also failed to instigate the Western countries against Iran and its nuclear program as the relations between Tehran and major European capitals, mainly Gay Paree, are witnessing a remarkable progress in light of the Iranian president Hasan Rouhani's scheduled visit to La Belle France that was postponed after Gay Paree attacks.
The Saudi stalemate is being intensified as the battlefield situation in Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic... indicates that the Yemeni army and popular committees are heading to achieve a major victory since the Saudi-led Death Eaters failed to attain a remarkable progress on the ground, according to Abdul Sater who pointed out that there must be a political solution in Yemen regardless of the Saudi will.
The Lebanese political writer considered that terrorism will backlash at Saudi as its internal conditions are disturbed by power-sharing conflicts, financial corruption and the religious fanaticism which has always produced, embraced and supported terrorism.
Saudi will be forced to stop playing its double-faced game so that the Saudi Emirs will no longer wear the traditional dresses in KSA and instruct the Death Eaters to strike the world cities while wearing suits and neckties as they pay visits to the Western capitals lecturing on democracy and human rights ...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty... .
The Saudi regime is facing a deadlock whether it keeps on backing terrorism and defies the West or changes its stance towards the terrorist groups and challenges the monster on its territories.
"The Saudis can never defy the Western will and that they are ultimately going comply with the Euro-American orders," Faisal Abdul Sater concludes.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2015
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[7 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Saudi Arabia
#1
And the historical proof for the premise in the last sentence is? "The Saudis can never defy the Western will and that they are ultimately going comply with the Euro-American orders,"
#3
The commenters at the link aren't terribly impressed. The below, posted yesterday, was also informative -- anyone know if Mr. Dunnigan was correct?
by James Dunnigan
January 9, 2013
The Pakistan Air Force is losing nearly two percent of its 900 aircraft each year to accidents. This is more than ten times the rate of Western air forces. These losses are caused by aircraft that are too old and a budget that is too small to properly train pilots and maintain the aircraft. Most of Pakistanâs 520 fighters are over 20 years old. This includes 157 French made Mirage IIIs and 5s, 178 of 186 MiG-21s (the Chinese F-7 version), and 31 of 77 U.S. made F-16s. There have been some new aircraft put into service. Since 2000, Pakistan has received 46 F-16s and 100 Chinese made JF-17s (similar to the F-16). These planes are pretty safe. Older aircraft tend to crash more often.
Pakistan does not have enough money to buy enough new aircraft to replace all those becoming inoperable because of age. You can refurbish old aircraft and keep them flying for half a century or more. But Pakistan hasnât got the money for that either. Thereâs also not enough cash for the spare parts and fuel needed for the training flights needed to keep the 3,000 Pakistani Air Force pilots capable of handling high-performance aircraft safely. In short, the Pakistani Air Force is facing a disaster. Each year more and more of their aircraft become inoperable and their pilots, unable to fly enough to maintain their skill, become less capable.
Neighboring India has more money for new aircraft and training. And, like Pakistan, it is using its Mig-21s much less. The most accident-prone aircraft in both countries is the MiG-21. India built 657 of these under license. This seemed like a good idea at the time. The MiG-21 was an impressive looking and relatively inexpensive jet fighter half a century ago. Only much later, when it became clear that the MiG-21 was not very effective in combat, was it realized that all those spiffy looking MiGs were more liability than asset.
The MiG-21 was difficult to fly and maintain. In the end the MiG-21 was too expensive to maintain and too dangerous to fly. India made a mighty effort to make their MiGs safer to fly but the accident rate was still obviously higher than that of Western aircraft (especially the few that the Indian Air Force operated). The MiGs were called "flying coffins" and gave the air force a lot of bad publicity. India was not the only one, besides the Russians, who had problems with Russian made warplanes. During the Cold War the U.S. had several dozen Russian aircraft they used for training their fighter pilots. Despite energetic efforts to keep these aircraft flying, their accident rate was 100 per 100,000 flying hours. That's very high by U.S. standards. The new F-22 has an accident rate of about 6 per 100,000 hours, mainly because it's new. F-15s and F-16s have an accident rate of 3-4 per 100,000 flight hours. India, using mostly Russian aircraft, has an accident rate of 6-7 per 100,000 hours flown (compared to 4-5 for all NATO air forces). Pakistanâs accident rate is at least three times that of India.
All combat aircraft have, for decades, been getting more reliable, even as they became more complex. For example, in the early 1950s, the U.S. F-89 fighter had 383 accidents per 100,000 flying hours. A decade later the rate was in the 20s for a new generation of aircraft. At the time the F-4, which served into the 1990s, had a rate of less than 5 per 100,000 hours. Combat aircraft have gotten more reliable and easier to maintain, despite growing complexity, for the same reason automobiles have. Better engineering and more sensors built into equipment makes it easier for the user and maintenance personnel to detect potential problems. Aircraft used the computerized maintenance systems, currently common on new aircraft, long before automobiles got them. Unless you have a much older car that still runs, or a real good memory, you don't notice the enormous increase in automobile reliability. But older pilots remember because such changes were a matter of life and death if you make your living flying an aircraft. And commanders know that safer aircraft means more aircraft to use in combat and more aircraft that can survive combat damage and keep fighting.
India is solving the MiG problem by retiring all the older (bought before the 1990s) MiGs. Only the 67 MiG-29s are being kept in service. These aircraft were among a new generation of Russian combat aircraft, appearing at the end of the Cold War, that were built to Western standards. This made a big difference in the accident rate but not nearly enough. The MiG-29 crashed a lot and was much more expensive to maintain, especially compared to contemporary Russian fighters like the Su-27. For decades Sukhoi was the second largest Russian military aircraft supplier, and after the Cold War ended Sukhoi aircraft became the most common. The MiG aircraft appear to be at the end of the line.
(IraqiNews.com) Kirkuk – An informed source within the paramilitary Peshmerga force announced on Friday, that 61 ISIS elements had been killed during violent clashes and air strikes by the international coalition northwest of Kirkuk.
The source said in a statement received by IraqiNews.com, “This morning, Peshmerga forces foiled a massive attack by ISIS on the villages of Kura and Kaba in the district of al-Dabs (45 km northwest of Kirkuk), resulting in the death of 11 elements of the organization, while 50 others have been killed in an aerial bombing by the international coalition.”
Posted by: badanov ||
12/20/2015
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
[ALMANAR.LB] The Syrian army and allies managed on Saturday to inflict heavy losses upon the krazed killer groups in various provinces, destroying their positions and repelling their infiltration attempts.
A unit of the army carried out a special operation against a position of the so-called "Jaish al-Islam ...Liwa al-Islam (Brigade of Islam) was established by Zahran Alloush, the son of Saudi-based religious scholar Abdullah Mohammed Alloush, after Syrian authorities released him from prison in mid-2011 where he had been serving time for his Salafist activism. The group claimed responsibility for carrying out the July 2012 Damascus bombing that killed Defense Minister Dawoud Rajiha, Deputy Defense Minister Asef Shawkat, and Assistant Vice President Hassan Turkmani. It was a driving force behind actions in the Damascus region. It cooperated and conducted joint operations with al-Nusra. In Sptember 2013 Saudi Arabia engineered Liwa al-Islam's merger with fifty other more or less Salafist groups as a counterweight to al-Nusra, which the Learned Elders of Islam considered was growing too powereful... " on the axis of Harasta al-Qantara in the surroundings of Marj al-Sultan in the Eastern Gota, Damascus Countryside.
An army unit clashed with terrorist groups that infiltrated into the surroundings of military posts to the north of the bridge of al-Ghariyeh al-Gharbieh in the northeastern countryside of Daraa.
Most of the terrorist groups' members were killed or injured in during the festivities, while the rest managed to flee.
In Daraa al-Balad area in Daraa city, an army unit destroyed hideouts and fortified positions of Lions of Islam in the surroundings of Um al-Daraj well in al-Bajabjeh quarter.
The Syrian Air Force destroyed vehicles for ISIL Lions of Islam in al-Hadath, Hawareen, al-Qariyatein and Mhein in the south east countryside of Homs. Scores of bad boyz were potted and their weapons destroyed during the operations.
Later, army units targeted ISIL bases and fortified sites in al-Tarr mountain, south of Aloun farm, and at the western entrance of Palmyra (Tadmur) city, inflicting losses in personnel and equipment upon the terrorists.
At least 25 Lions of Islam from Jaish al-Fateh (Conquest Army) terrorist organization were killed in a series of operations carried out by Army and Armed Forces units in Idleb and Hama provinces, sources on the ground told SANA.
The sources said that a leader in al-Nusra ...formally Jabhat an-Nusrah li-Ahli sh-Sham (Support Front for the People of the Levant), also known as al-Qaeda in the Levant. They aim to establish a pan-Arab caliphate. Not the same one as the Islamic State, though .. ... Front (Qaeda branch in the Levant) terrorist organization called Faissal al-Ghazi was killed along with a number of his cohorts in a series of special operations conducted by the army in the village of Kansafra 38 km south of Idleb city.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2015
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[11 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
[ALMANAR.LB] Iraq's defense minister predicted Saturday that national security forces would retake full control of the city of Ramadi by the end of the year. Like they were gonna about this time last year.
"I met with the Joint Operations Command and they confirmed to me that we will regain all of the city of Ramadi by the end of this month," Khaled al-Obeidi told news hounds in Baghdad.
Earlier this month, forces led by Iraq's elite counter-terrorism service retook Al-Tameem, a southwestern neighborhood of Ramadi from the so-called 'Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... of Iraq and the Levant' (ISIL) takfiri ...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who most be killed... group.
The offensive in Al-Tameem this month marked a significant step in long-delayed efforts to recapture the city, around 100 kilometers (60 miles) west of Baghdad and capital of the vast province of Anbar.
"The reason the battle took so long was to avoid casualties among our forces and also to avoid civilian casualties," Obeidi said. "There are still many civilians in the city."
Terrorists still holed up in the city centre and using tunnels to avoid air strikes may number no more than 300, according to military officials.
ISIL fighters attacking from northwest of Ramadi with suicide boom-mobiles attempted to retake control of the key Paleostine bridge in recent days but Iraqi forces still have the upper hand.
"The city of Ramadi has now been fully isolated, and the Iraqi security forces are beginning to conduct their clearing operations," the US-led coalition's Baghdad-based front man, Colonel Steve Warren, told news hounds on Friday.
He said that ISIL had been using the Euphrates river that runs through Ramadi to supply its gunnies inside the city with men and military equipment.
Control of both sides of the river banks in key areas have significantly reduced the takfiri organization's ability to re-supply, Warren said.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2015
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iraq
[Tolo News] A strategic split among Taliban leaders following the announcement of the death of their reclusive leader Mullah Omar ... a minor Pashtun commander in the war against the Soviets who made good as leader of the Taliban. As ruler of Afghanistan, he took the title Leader of the Faithful. The imposition of Pashtunkhwa on the nation institutionalized ignorance and brutality in a country already notable for its own fair share of ignorance and brutality... has been confirmed by sources close to the group.
Mullar Omar's mysterious death was followed by a major backlash within the group after Mullah Akhtar Mansour, once a close aide to Mullar Omar, was appointed as his successor.
Sources close to the Taliban and analysts believe that the division within the group will likely impact its funding and the Taliban's economic and military reputation as well as their future political contributions in Afghanistan's political sphere.
As fresh moves for the resumption of stalled peace talks between Taliban and the Afghan government gathers momentum, it is not yet clear which of the factions will sit at the peace talks tables.
"Foreign circles support these factions and maintain ties with Taliban. Also there are certain countries that pursue their own objectives by supporting a particular faction of Taliban to ensure their interests," head of Helmand ...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan... peace committee Fazel Bari Fayaz said.
However, some people cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go... neither Mullah Akhtar Mansour's faction nor rival Mullah Mohammad Rassoul Noorzai's have close relations with Taliban's political office in Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates... , an issue that makes it difficult to predict the Taliban's political future in Afghanistan's politics, security sources speaking on condition of anonymity ... for fear of being murdered... have said.
"There are benevolent elements among Taliban who mostly support Mullah Akhtar Mansour. There is the possibility that Mansour's loyalists convinced a third faction who doesn't pursue a military confrontation with Mullah Mansour to seek allegiance with Mansour," ex-Taliban regime's minster of mines Hassan Haqyar said.
"Initially, Mullah Omar's son and his brother disagreed with Mansour as successor. But the same benevolent elements who have sympathy with the Taliban came forward and conducted mediation and pushed Mullah Omar's son Mullah Yaqoub and his brother to obey Mansour," he added.
This comes a few weeks after a top Taliban capo and front man to Mullah Mansour's rival faction, Mullah Abdul Manan Niazi accused Mullah Mansour of having plotted the murder of Mullah Omar.
He claimed that Mullah Mansour was killed by Mullah Mansour before the inauguration of the Taliban's political office in Qatar and Mullah Mansour kept his death a secret.
As gaps between Taliban factions expand, some Afghan political analysts have called on government to take steps and reestablish contact with the group in the name of peace.
"If the government comes up with an initiative and reestablishes contact with the Taliban Mullah Akhtar Mansour will soon join the reconciliation and negotiation process with the government," political analyst Jawed Kohistan ...a backwoods district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa distinguished by being even more rustic than is the norm among the local Pashtuns.... i said.
"The second group apparently will continue the war and the third group which has more strength and are loyal to Mullah Omar have major support among the people in western and southern regions and are willing to talk independently without Pakistain," he said.
Analysts believe that the split among the Taliban has pushed the group to a critical stage, compelling the group leaders to take decisions in the past few weeks to ensure their political participation by defeating their rival factions.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2015
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
[Jpost] "The normalization of relations between Turkey and Israel will not change Ankara's position towards Hamas" says senior Hamas official.
Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, is closely following reports about rapprochement between The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... and Israel and is waiting for an official word from Ankara on the issue.
On Saturday, Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal met in Istanbul with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him... . The Turkish news agency Anadolu news agency said that Mashaal briefed Erdogan on the latest political developments in the region during the 60-minute meeting.
This was the first meeting between the two since recent reports about an agreement between Turkey and Israel to restore their normal ties.
The agency did not say whether the two also discussed the rapprochement between Turkey and Israel.
In an interview over the weekend, Hamas leader Mahmoud Warty Nose al-Zahhar ...a co-founder of Hamas and a member of the Hamas leadership. Since 2006, Warty Nose has served as foreign minister in the government of Ismail Haniyeh. He is considered one of the more stubborn hard-liners and has no objection to kissing the Persian foot to keep the money flowing. Warty Nose's son, a member of the Qassam Brigades, was killed in an Israeli raid in early 2008. Another one was disposed of when the IDF bombed his house in 2003... refused to comment on the reports, including the possibility that Turkey was planning to impose restrictions on Hamas activities in the country.
"Until now, the picture remains unclear," Zahar said. "We will announce our position once we see an official Turkish announcement."
Zahar claimed that the reports were thus far unverified and emanated from anonymous sources. "Therefore, we can't relate to these reports," he explained.
The Hamas leader noted that Israel and Turkey have maintained ties for a long period of time. He said these ties were never cut off in spite of the tensions between the two countries in recent years.
Turkey has also maintained close relations with Hamas over the past few years.
Turkey also plays host to some top Hamas operatives, including Salah Al-Arouri, one of the founders of the movement's armed wing, Ezaddin Al-Qassam.
Another senior Hamas official, Ahmed Yusef, predicted that the rapprochement between Israel and Turkey would not have a negative impact on his movement.
"Policies among countries are based on interests," Yusef said. "The normalization of relations between Turkey and Israel will not change Ankara's position towards Hamas."
The Hamas-affiliated website Al-Resalah quoted Turkish officials as saying that their country would not abandon its demand to lift the blockade on the Gazoo Strip despite the rapprochement with Israel.
The officials claimed that Turkey was conditioning its renewed ties with Israel on two conditions: lifting the blockade on the Gazoo Strip and payment of compensation for the families of the Turkish nationals who were killed aboard the flotilla aid ship, Marmara.
The second was agreed to long ago. The first is a non-starter. Then there's this, from The Times of Israel, which must have given the conversation between the two local Muslim Brotherhood leaders extra piquancy:
The last meeting between Erdogan and the Hamas leader took place four months ago, on August 13, before the escalation in Paleostinian terror attacks against Israelis.
Twenty-two Israelis have been killed and 252 maimed, according to Foreign Ministry data, as of December 14, while around 100 Paleostinians have been killed, most of them in the course of their attacks, and more than 1,000 maimed. Many of the Paleostinian maimed were hurt during festivities with Israeli security forces in the West Bank and in East Jerusalem, including hundreds who suffered from inhaling tear gas and other minor injuries from riot dispersal measures.
#1
The ties that bind the Ikhwan leader Erdogan and Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood chapter in Gaza, are of decades duration. The ties that bind Israel to Erdogan seem to result from the potential sale of Israeli natural gas. As always, "follow the money."
#2
Agreed, Spomong Bourbon8696. But despite the honourable President Erdogan, trade between Turkey and Israel has quietly more than doubled over the past five years, according to Ynet. The current excitement is due to Mr. Erdogan fancying himself a master power broker, which would be cute were he not a Muslim Brotherhood brownshirt.
As for those Turkish nationals who were killed, they were IHH operatives[. Prime Minister Netanyahu agreed to compensation because President Obama insisted it was necessary. Someday the money may actually be paid, should Mr. Erdogan actually hold up his side of the bargain.
[Ynet] Paleostinian illegally living in Israel stabs three passersby, flees into nearby house and is captured uninjured and taken into custody.
A terrorist stabbed three people in Raanana on Saturday afternoon before being overpowered and apprehended by security forces.
The assailant attacked people on Anilevich and Ramchal Streets, inflicting serious wounds on one victim and lightly wounding two others.
Witnesses said the terrorist attempted to enter a synagogue about 300 meters from where he was caught. According to witnesses, he attacked a woman and passersby immediately began chasing him. A civilian reportedly fired warning shots into the air. The terrorist then fled about 300 meters and entered a house on an adjacent street.
He then fled into the house's yard, where he was confronted by police. A police officer drew his gun, at which point the terrorist dropped his knife. Police found a knife in the yard.
The attacker was identified as Mahmoud Faisal Basharat, a 20-year-old Paleostinian from the village of Tamun near Jenin, who was living in Israel illegally.
It soon emerged that the terrorist nearly succeeded in massacring a family inside the home. Dikla Dvir, 46, had the presence of mind to shove the terrorist outside. A friend said she had spoken to Dvir, who described the sequence of events.
The friend explained that the Dvir family lives on the ground floor and that the terrorist entered through a ground floor window. Dvir began to scream when she saw the terrorist and he tried to stab her, and she then shoved him outside and locked the window. Her husband and son, who is ten and a half, were with her.
This is the third stabbing attack to hit Raanana in the current terrorism wave. The other two occurred on the same day in October 2015.
[ALMANAR.LB] Russian President Vladimir Putin ...Second and fourth President and sixth of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead... said that the Russian forces are not using all military capabilities in their operations against terrorism in Syria, SANA reported.
RT website quoted Putin as saying during a ceremony at the Kremlin on the Security Service Members' Day that there are additional methods which may be used by Moscow if necessary, adding that the Russian pilots and intelligence officers are working effectively in Syria, noting that they have succeeded in coordinating their joint steps.
All Russian forces, including the army, the navy and the air force are using the latest weapons, Putin said, noting that the Russian security services foiled more than 30 terrorist acts in Russia during 2015, calling for maintaining a high level of performance.
Putin reaffirmed at the annual presser in Moscow two days ago that the Russian stance towards the crisis in Syria is consistent and cannot be changed.
On a relevant note, preview clips of the Russian documentary World Order were broadcast, in which President Putin said that Moscow, in its efforts to resolve the crisis in Syria, doesn't face difficulties in dealing with Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Supressor of the Damascenes... or with the United States; rather it finds it easy to work with either side, adding that this is something he discussed with Obama and with the Saudis, and ascribing that east to the fact that Russia isn't evasive nor does it shift its positions.
The Russian President asserted that Moscow's position regarding resolving the crisis in Syria was reached after consulting with different sides and finding that everyone accepts the pivotal standards of the settlement, which allowed Russia to form its position based on components accepted by all sides.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2015
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[11 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
[AnNahar] A summit of Central American leaders in El Salvador on Friday failed to break a regional impasse over the fate of 5,000 U.S.-bound Cuban migrants blocked in Costa Rica for weeks.
"There was no solution at this summit to the problem with the Cuban migrants. There was no consensus over what should be done -- each country has its own point of view on the matter," Nicaragua's deputy foreign minister, Denis Moncada, told AFP.
He added that his country's view was that the United States should step in to offer a solution.
The Cubans -- another 1,200 of whom are also stranded in Panama -- have been left in limbo for a month, since Nicaragua closed its border to them on November 15 and posted soldiers and police to ensure none slipped in.
The migrants are the tail end of a stream of Cubans leaving their island in a bid to reach America, driven by a fear that thawing Washington-Havana ties might put an end to a Cold War-era US policy of accepting Cubans who step foot on U.S. soil.
That stream spiked higher this year, before Ecuador ended its visa-free entry for Cubans this month. That shut the door on their principal entry point to mainland Latin America before an overland slog through Central America and Mexico to the U.S. border.
Costa Rica, which in November dismantled a people-smuggling ring the Cubans had been relying on, has been trying in vain to get other Central American states to take in the migrants and let them continue their journey.
Nicaragua, though, has been steadfast in refusing them in.
Its stance spoke to longstanding tensions with Costa Rica over border disputes, one of which was this week ruled in Costa Rica's favor by the International Court of Justice. Nicaragua's alliance with Cuba's government is also seen as a factor.
Nicaragua's deputy foreign minister said Costa Rican President Luis Guillermo Solis held bilateral meetings Friday with counterparts and Nicaragua's official handling the issue, but no agreement was found.
"Nicaragua has given its position in the matter: that the situation should be resolved not by Central America but by the United States since it is the one that has prompted many Cubans to want to try to get to it," Moncada said.
In a sign of Costa Rica's frustration, Solis left the summit before its close without making a promised speech on the Cuban migrant issue.
Nicaragua's government issued a statement to news hounds after the summit that "demands that the United States find a solution for the immediate and safe transfer to its territory of the thousands of Cubans blocked on this dangerous transit route."
Several of the other countries represented at the summit, which included host El Salvador, Guatemala, Panama, Belize and the Dominican Republic, called for a solution, but offered nothing concrete beyond insisting a consensus was needed.
The thousands of Cubans are being put up in schools and tents in northern Costa Rica, near the Nicaraguan border, waiting for their chance to continue their odyssey north.
(IraqiNews.com) Al-Anbar – On Saturday, an anonymous security source in al-Anbar revealed that an ISIS sniper had shot and wounded the chief of the Amiriyat-Fallujah Police Department, Major Arif al-Janabi.
The source revealed to IraqiNews.com that “an ISIS sniper had wounded the chief of the Amiriyat-Fallujah Police Department (23 Km south of Fallujah), Major Arif al-Janabi, along with a police officer while at the defense line of Alboudaaj area, north of Amiriyat-Fallujah.”
The source, who asked not be identified, added, “Al-Janabi is in a good condition and is receiving proper treatment at al-Amiriyat General Hospital.”
Al-Amiriyat district, located south of Fallujah, is controlled by security forces and tribes, however, ISIS occasionally attacks the area using mortar shells and rockets that fall on civilians.
Posted by: badanov ||
12/20/2015
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[1 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
#1
So there are active snipers in zones where mortars and rockets fall.
Bottom line: The ISIS cell In Geneva that America warned about is only one of seventy active terror probes. And even if Switzerland is not high on the jihadis list, members of target groups and organizations can be found there. Switzerland, ot seems, will not play the neutral to the jihadis that she did to the Nazis.
#1
The Swiss would not make a very good target for terrorist. An terror incident in Switzerland could turn into a major embarrassment for them.
The Swiss have a large and dispersed military reserve meaning a large number of men and women in Switzerland have an FN or some other weapon in their closet and they KNOW how to use them.
While they may have cells there, ISIS would not score a major PR coup getting their asses handed to them by a well armed well trained citizenry in Switzerland
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
12/20/2015 19:43
Comments ||
Top||
[ALMANAR.LB] The Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, held several sessions with the national delegation and Riyadh-led participants on the fourth day of the peace talks in Switzerland ...home of the Helvetians, famous for cheese, watches, yodeling, and William Tell... The discussions focused mostly on security issues in Yemen, in light of the alarming developments on the ground.
Al-Manar correspondent in Switzerland reported that the Saudi-backed delegation turned to be confused as it informed the UN representative that it does not have the powers to approve the major issues, including confirming the ceasefire and lifting the blockade after KSA rejected to be committed with any of the talks decisions.
The correspondent added that regarding the latest developments in the context of the talks, the two sides agreed on forming a follow-up committee to monitor the implementation of the ceasefire and all the security issues.
Egypt, Jordan and Oman were suggested to host the center of the committee, he added.
Yemeni sources familiar with the talks quoted the national forces delegation's insistence on the priority of stopping the aggression and lifting the Saudi-led siege, noting that there is principal consensus by everyone on this demand.
Sources said the delegation would be focusing on the cease-fire as a gateway to the rest of the issues, "and in case such an agreement wouldn't be reached, other interpretive issues will not be discussed."
The sources reported severe objection of the Riyadh delegation, led by Abdul-Malik al-Mikhlafi, on sending any humanitarian assistance to all district of Taiz, noting that it insists on sending the aid to certain areas only, including Jamal Street, Al-Masbah and Al-Ashraf basin.
Earlier, the Special Envoy expressed deep concerns at the numerous reports of violations of the cessation of hostilities, urging all parties to respect this agreement and allow unhindered access for the delivery of humanitarian assistance to the most affected districts of Yemen.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2015
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[8 views]
Top|| File under: Houthis
[ARA News] ALEPPO – The Islamic State group (ISIS) threatened on Saturday to launch attacks on Saudi Arabia for cooperating with “crusaders” against the ISIS self-declared Caliphate.
This comes after Saudi Arabia announced the establishment of an Islamic coalition that includes 34 states to fight ISIS militants in the region.
Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has said the new coalition will be headquartered in Riyadh “to coordinate mutual anti-terrorism assistance across the Islamic world”.
In an statement by the group’s media center, ISIS described the member states of the Saudi-led coalition as “morons” and “fools”.
“With permission from Allah, this alliance will be the beginning of the collapse of the governments of the oppressive tyrants in the lands of Islam,” ISIS said in its weekly publication, that usually covers the group’s military activities.
Posted by: badanov ||
12/20/2015
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[8 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
#3
Bringing back the caliphate.... The saudi army will defect, it will be a walkover. That is why the princelings sent them to fight shia in yemen instead
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] Eight Afghan Air Force pilots completed their training and graduated from a program hosted by the 81st Fighter Squadron at Moody Air Force Base in United States and will return to Afghanistan for combat, it has been reported.
The graduation of the Afghan Air Force pilots comes as the Afghan national security forces are in critical need of close air support as they are full in security lead during the past one year.
Maj. Gen. James Hecker presented the Afghan graduates with a plaque and certificate during the graduation ceremony on Friday.
The 81st Fighter Squadron is a stateside air advisor unit with a deployed mission where the Afghan pilots were trained to receive extensive knowledge and application of flying A-29B Super Tucanos.
Selected in August 2014 as a training location for the Afghan A-29 pilots and maintenance crews, the Moody Air Force base will host training for 30 Afghan pilots during the next four years.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2015
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Is this counting the two that disappeared the other day?
[DAWN] ISLAMABAD: A total of 1,915 accused and their accomplices, including prominent politicians, prosecuted by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), have been acquitted by courts since the inception of the bureau in 1999.
According to documents of the Ministry of Law and Justice, of the 1,915 accused, 1,240 have been acquitted in Sindh, 314 in Punjab, 218 in Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... and 143 in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... (KP).
The list contains the names of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... , his daughter Mariam Safdar, Punjab 1.) Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard
2.) A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers
3.) A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots.... Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif ...Pak dynastic politician, brother of PM Nawaz Sharif, chief minister of Punjab... , former prime minister Benazir Bhutto ... 11th Prime Minister of Pakistain in two non-consecutive terms from 1988 until 1990 and 1993 until 1996. She was the daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, founder of the Pakistain People's Party, who was murdered at the instigation of General Ayub Khan. She was murdered in her turn by person or persons unknown while campaigning in late 2007. Suspects include, to note just a few, Baitullah Mehsud, General Pervez Musharraf, the ISI, al-Qaeda in Pakistain, and her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, who shows remarkably little curiosity about who done her in... , PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari and his father Hakim Zardari, besides more than 30 politicians, including former chief ministers, federal and provincial ministers and politicians.
The document mentions the name of Finance Minister Ishaq Dar as an `approver' in the Hudaibia Paper Mills scam, in which all members of the Sharif family were acquitted.
Prominent politicians acquitted in different cases by accountability or high courts over the past 16 years are PML-N Senator Chaudhry Tanveer, Punjab PPP president Manzoor Wattoo, Minister for Defence Production Rana Tanveer Hussain, former Punjab minister Basharat Raja, Yousuf Talpur, Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar, Jahangir Badar, Siraj Durrani and Islamuddin Sheikh of PPP and Khalid Kharal, Javed Hashmi, Riaz Fatiana, Liaquat Jatoi, Jam Mashooq Ali, Nawaz Khokhar and Anwar Saifullah Khan.
In July, NAB informed the Supreme Court that it was pursuing more than 150 major scams, involving about Rs568 billion acquired through financial and land allotment irregularities and abuse of power.
The list of pending cases also contains the names of big guns as respondents, including Prime Minister Sharif and his predecessors Yousuf Raza Gilani ... Pakistain's former prime minister, whose occasional feats of mental gymnastics could be awe-inspiring ... and Raja Pervez Ashraf, PML-Q leader Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, Asif Ali Zardari, former federal and provincial ministers, senior government officials and individuals from banking and finance sectors.
When contacted, a NAB official said that he could not provide the number of convicted people but he could say that the conviction rate of those prosecuted by the bureau was good.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2015
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[9 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[DAWN] GHALANAI: Former peace committees of Mohmand Agency ... Named for the Mohmand clan of the Sarban Pahstuns, a truculent, quarrelsome lot. In Pakistain, the Mohmands infest their eponymous Agency, metastasizing as far as the plains of Peshawar, Charsadda, and Mardan. Mohmands are also scattered throughout Pakistan in urban areas including Karachi, Lahore, and Quetta. In Afghanistan they are mainly found in Nangarhar and Kunar... 's Baizai tehsil voluntarily handed over a huge cache of weapons to the administration in Bahi Daag area on Saturday.
Assistant Political Agent Abdullah Shah told newsmen that the handing over of weapons to the administration marked the phasing out of the peace committees.
Heads of former peace committees, Malik Sultan Kodakhel, Malik Sanober Khan, Malik Zar Jan and Malik Sabir Khan, and a large number of tribal elders attended the ceremony.
"It is part of the National Action Plan and in accordance with the directives of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... governor and the political administration for handing over heavy weapons to the administration in order to strengthen the writ of the state," said Mr Shah.
He said that for the first time the administration had deployed 300 Levies personnel in the area to secure the border posts and for that purpose the weapons would be given to them.
The weapons, which were handed over, included three RPG-7, five anti-aircraft guns, eight short-range
missiles, two anti-tank mines, thousands of live rounds of different bores and 44 shells of RPG-7 ammunition.
Talking to journalists, chief of Baizai former peace committee Malik Sultan Koda Khel said that peace was restored in the area because of the sacrifices rendered by security forces, tribal people and peace committees.
"We handed over the weapons to the local administration because there is no terrorist in the area," he said.
Mr Sultan said the area needed mega projects in health, education and communication sectors.
He said 45 volunteers of the Baizai committee had been killed and 83 injured in terrorist attacks in the area.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2015
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[DAWN] ISLAMABAD: A local court on Saturday issued a show-cause notice to the station house officer (SHO) of Shalimar for booking a three-year-old boy in a plaza occupation case.
The SHO was ordered to appear before the court along with the record of the case on January 7.
According to the FIR, Mohammad Khalid complained to the police that Adil Asghar, his brother Usman, Mohammad Ishtiaq Bangash, Rafiq and Mustafa had occupied the basement of his plaza in Sector F-10. He said they also occupied some rooms on the ground and third floors and stole furniture from there.
The investigating officer of the case, Michael Gill, stated that after examining the complaint the accused were booked under section 380 (theft) and 448 (trespassing) of the Pakistain Penal Code.
The accused filed pre-arrest bail petitions with the sessions court.
When Additional District and Sessions Judge (ADSJ) Raja Asif Mehmood took up the petitions, the little boy appeared in the court in the lap of his uncle.
When the judge asked why the boy was in the courtroom, he was informed that the boy was among the accused persons seeking pre-arrest bail.
"Did the boy also file the pre-arrest bail plea?" asked the judge. A lawyer representing the accused said since the police had registered the FIR against the boy, a bail petition on his behalf was also filed.
The judge granted bail to the accused and ordered the SHO to appear before the court with record.
Adil Asghar, one of the accused, told Dawn that the case was registered against them as the complainant was an activist of a political party.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2015
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[7 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[AlAhram] Seventy suspected members of the bad boy Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) have been killed in a vast operation against the group in the mainly Kurdish southeast over the past four days, the army said Saturday.
Eight PKK rebels have been killed since Friday, taking the corpse count in the unprecedented offensive by the army and police on pro-PKK bastions in three towns and cities to 70, the army said on its website.
The army also said it had carried out Arclight airstrikes Friday on PKK "hideouts" and "weapons sites" across the border in northern Iraq, where the outlawed group has its rear bases.
A Turkish soldier was killed in the operations Saturday, bringing the corpse count on the army side to two.
Some 10,000 troops backed by tanks have been deployed in the southeast to try to rout young PKK supporters from urban areas, according to local media.
The operation, which has targeted the towns of Cizre and Silopi in Sirnak province as well as a neighbourhood in Diyarbakir, the largest city in the region, began on Wednesday, according to the army.
Thirty-six bandidosturbans were killed on Thursday alone.
Interior Minister Efkan Ala told the state-run Anatolia news agency last week the authorities had seized 2,240 weapons, 10 tonnes of explosives and 10,000 Molotov cocktails from the bad boys.
Images published by Anatolia showed heavily armed soldiers backed by tanks going house-to-house in the towns and firing from street corners.
Although traditionally rooted in the countryside, the PKK has shifted its focus in recent years to towns and cities in the southeast, setting up barricades and digging trenches to keep security forces away.
[Rudaw] The corpse count in days of festivities in The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... climbed to nearly 70 on Saturday, with nearly all the dead from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), the official Anadolu Agency reported.
On Saturday, one soldier was killed and 22 maimed in ongoing festivities with Turkish forces, the agency said.
It quoted unidentified Turkish security officials as saying their forces killed 62 PKK fighters in the Kurdish--populated town of Cizre and six others in Silopi in four days of fighting this week.
The military released a statement Saturday declaring that operations will continue "until public security is established," Turkey's Daily Sabah reported.
"The priority of the operations carried out in the towns of Cizre and Silopi is to ensure the safety of both our security forces and the civilians," the statement said.
Turkey started major military operations in the southeastern Sirnak province on Monday, aimed at a sweep against the PKK.
The PKK has not commented on the corpse count in the latest fighting, but a PKK source claimed earlier that Turkish forces were also "attacking civilians."
[Tolo News] District chief for Dawlat Yar district Sayed Zia Hussaini told TOLOnews that the boy's name was Ahmad and he was newly engaged.
He said the boy was on the way to his fiancé's house when he was kidnapped by the Taliban and that he was brutally killed by them after being allegedly tortured for a week.
No further details were available and the Taliban has not commented.
Meanwhile, ...back at the wine tasting, Vince was about to start on his third quart... Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) has expressed concern ...meaning the brow was mildly wrinkled, the eyebrows drawn slightly together, and a thoughtful expression assumed, not that anything was actually done or indeed that any thought was actually expended... s over the increasing number of open trials in the country.
"It is an unlawful act principally and in contradiction to the laws of Afghanistan. Those organizing such trials must be prosecuted by the government and they must be held accountable," chairperson of Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission Simar Samar said.
In recent months, murderous Moslems have carried out a number of brutal acts in so-called kangaroo courts.
It is said that the armed opponents captured 20 year old Ahmad while on the way to his home. After torturing him for a week, the murderous Moslems brutally killed him before allegedly throwing his body off a hill.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2015
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[7 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
ISLAMABAD: The American Embassy says it has received information on possible terrorist attacks in Islamabad in late December, especially during the Christmas and New Year holiday period.
The warning for American citizens says “possible targets include places of worship and shopping centres”.
A Pakistani intelligence official said on condition of anonymity that there was a “general threat perception” but no specific threats.
The US warning says American citizens should “minimise the number and duration of trips” to crowded places such as markets, restaurants, hotels and places of worship. American government personnel are under additional movement restrictions.
The forces loyal to President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi, and allied tribes in the area, have laid siege to Nihm's Fardha military.
Yemeni government forces were within 40 kilometres of the rebel-held capital on Saturday as they pressed their advance against Houthi rebels in disregard of a UN-brokered ceasefire, military sources said.
They were keeping up pressure in Nihm district, Sanaa province, after significant gains in Marib province, east of the capital.
The forces loyal to President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi, and allied tribes in the area, have laid siege to Nihm's Fardha military, northeast of the capital.
Despite the proximity, the roughly 40 kilometres separating Nihm from Sanaa is mostly rugged mountainous terrain.
On Friday, loyalists seized Hazm, capital of Jawf province, to the northeast of Sanaa.
By Saturday, they had extended their gains in Jawf, capturing Al Ghayl and Al Maton districts, according to sources in the pro-Hadi Popular Resistance militia.
The two areas fell after clashes between advancing forces and Houthi rebels and renegade troops loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, said Ameen Al Ukaymi, a tribal chief of the Popular Resistance.
Government forces are now heading west, toward the contiguous rebel strongholds of Amran and Saada provinces, which lie immediately to the north of the capital, Ukaymi said.
Military sources said pro-Hadi forces, which are supported by a Saudi-led Arab coalition, brought reinforcements to Hazm on Saturday, including tanks and armoured vehicles.
The operations took place despite a ceasefire that has been repeatedly violated since it entered into force on Tuesday, as UN-sponsored talks began in Switzerland.
US President Barack Obama said on Friday there was an "urgent need for all parties to adhere to the ceasefire" after both sides repeatedly violated the truce aimed at helping the talks.
More than 5,800 people have been killed - about half of them civilians - and more than 27,000 wounded since March, according to the UN.
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The National Directorate of Security ...the Afghan national intel agency... (NDS) -- Afghanistan's intelligence agency has prevented the occurrence of a suicide kaboom in northern Baghlan province. How sad it is that we live in a world where killing a would-be suicide boomer is a human rights violation.
A statement released by NDS on Saturday states that they have tossed in the slammer Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try! a would-be jacket wallah from Du Saraka area of Pul-e-Khumri, picturesque provincial capital of Baghlan, who had planned to blast his explosives in a crowded area of the city.
The statement adds that a "Saracha" vehicle and two cell phones were recovered from the possession of the terrorist namely Minaj S/O Hussain.
In a separate raid in Dushi Bridge area, NDS personnel seized 2,000 kilograms of hashish hidden under coal in a Truck.
A footage released by NDS shows the suspected terrorist with his boom jacket and the seized hashish with a truck confiscated during the raid.
Statements released by NDS usually do not contain exact date of the achievements but they come after recent activities.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2015
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
For the U.S. Navy, it never rains but it pours -- and the storm clouds are gathering. After years spent designing and billions spent building a fleet of Littoral Combat Ships that were supposed to become one of its most numerous and versatile ship classes, the Navy was chagrined to learn last year that Congress is not at all enthused with the LCS.
The Islamic State group may have stolen "tens of thousands" of blank passports that it could use to smuggle its fighters into Europe as refugees, a German newspaper reported Sunday. 
A medical document shows that Adolf Hitler only had one testicle, German media said on Saturday, suggesting there is some truth after all to a popular British song that says the dictator had "only got one ball".
A unit of US Special Operations Forces have been spotted inside Libya after photographs were posted online on the North African country's air force social media page
A suspicious device found in the toilet on Air France flight 463 to Paris is a bomb, Kenyan authorities have confirmed.
[Daily Caller] Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders hit Hillary Clinton over her support for regime change in Iraq and Libya, saying during Saturday's Democratic debate that the former secretary of state's push to remove Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi paved the way for ISIS.
In July 2008, Kuntar was released from his life term in prison in a deal with Hezbollah. He returned to a hero's welcome.
...Second and fourth President and sixth of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead...
[ALMANAR.LB] US President 
...Liwa al-Islam (Brigade of Islam) was established by Zahran Alloush, the son of Saudi-based religious scholar Abdullah Mohammed Alloush, after Syrian authorities released him from prison in mid-2011 where he had been serving time for his Salafist activism. The group claimed responsibility for carrying out the July 2012 Damascus bombing that killed Defense Minister Dawoud Rajiha, Deputy Defense Minister Asef Shawkat, and Assistant Vice President Hassan Turkmani. It was a driving force behind actions in the Damascus region. It cooperated and conducted joint operations with al-Nusra. In Sptember 2013 Saudi Arabia engineered Liwa al-Islam's merger with fifty other more or less Salafist groups as a counterweight to al-Nusra, which the Learned Elders of Islam considered was growing too powereful...
[Tolo News] A strategic split among Taliban leaders following the announcement of the death of their reclusive leader 
...a co-founder of Hamas and a member of the Hamas leadership. Since 2006, Warty Nose has served as foreign minister in the government of Ismail Haniyeh. He is considered one of the more stubborn hard-liners and has no objection to kissing the Persian foot to keep the money flowing. Warty Nose's son, a member of the Qassam Brigades, was killed in an Israeli raid in early 2008. Another one was disposed of when the IDF bombed his house in 2003...
...Second and fourth President and sixth of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead...
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
[ALMANAR.LB] The Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, held several sessions with the national delegation and Riyadh-led participants on the fourth day of the peace talks in 
Mohmand Agency
