Opinion essay by Daniel Pipes of the Middle East Forum blog.
News that the Turkish and Israeli governments are about to renew full diplomatic relations after years of tensions causes me to smile cynically â and to worry again about Israeli gullibility. The US has been burned by Turkey. Lots of countries have been burned by Turkey. First time shame on you. Second time shame on me.
The two states enjoyed close relations in the 1990s, when a common world outlook led to a strong military bond, growing trade, and exchanges of people and culture. Writing in 1997, I characterized this bilateral as having "the potential to alter the strategic map of the Middle East, to reshape American alliances there, and to reduce Israel's regional isolation."
It flourished for another five years, until the Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve KalkÄąnma Partisi, or AKP) won the Turkish elections of 2002 and proceeded to move Turkey in an Islamist direction. Among many implications, this meant distancing Ankara from Jerusalem and, instead, warming relations with Hamas in Gaza.
Under the leadership of Recep Tayyip ErdoÄan, the Turkish government took one step after another to degrade Israelis and diminish relations between the two states, peaking with its indirect sponsorship of the Mavi Marmara ship to Gaza in 2010. In response, the Israelis did all they could to make things work again, even apologizing and offering to pay compensation for the Turkish casualties aboard the Mavi Marmara. Until now, they were rebuffed.
Then, on Nov. 24, ErdoÄan made the disastrous mistake of shooting down a Russian plane that had veered into Turkish airspace for 17 short seconds. This action came, it bears noting, against the backdrop of some 2,244 violations of Greek airspace by Turkish military aircraft in 2014.
The almost-unprovoked aggression raised the extreme ire of Russia's President Vladimir Putin. What happened next reprised the school yard scene of a lesser bully foolishly annoying the greater bully. ErdoÄan more than met his match in Putin, who showed himself a skilled risk-taker and willing to pay a heavy economic price to win his point.
ErdoÄan quickly realized he had riled the same bear that had beaten the Turks in war time and again over the centuries (1568â70, 1676â81, 1687, 1689, 1695â96, 1710â12, 1735â39, 1768â74, 1787â91, 1806â12, 1828â29, 1853â56, 1877â78, 1914â18). He then did what lesser bullies tend to do, scurrying to former friends â NATO on a larger scale, Israel (and Egypt) on a smaller one â eager to patch up differences with them. Playing both ends against the middle. Like standing in a doorway (fatal funnel) during a gunfight.
A Wall Street Journal report of the Turkish-Israeli negotiations in Switzerland indicates a Turkish readiness to close on the Mavi Marmara dispute, to end Hamas activities on Turkish soil, and (most important) to discuss a pipeline carrying natural gas from Israel to Turkey.
The last makes good sense from Ankara's viewpoint, for Israeli gas would diminish its dependence on Russian gas; but this step hardly serves Israel's interests. Once the Russian threat has passed, Turkish Islamists (will likely be around for a good long while) will resume their old ways, including the bitterly anti-Israel dimension. (Already, since negotiations began, ErdoÄan has met with Khaled Meshaal, a Hamas leader.) Because a gas pipeline renders Israel hostage to Turkey into the long-range future, this looks like an imprudent step. A kind phrase for it.
Despite an Israeli reputation for toughness, Jerusalem tends to be too optimistic (think of the Oslo Accords of 1993 or the Gaza withdrawal of 2005), creating major problems for Washington. Therefore, however tempting an Israel-Turkey gas pipeline may appear, Americans should advise and work against such a step. The other thing I wonder about is the route of this proposed pipeline. It would either have to go on the sea floor, or it would have to go by land through Syria, which is presently occupied in a war within its borders.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/21/2015
14:20 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[7 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
This will all come down to the negotiations. If the Turks pay for all of it, it's a great deal for Israel. If the Turks had any sense, they'd do so, and use it as one of several lines to become the hub between ME resources and EU customers. Fight the monopoly suppliers with a monopsony customer.
Probably way too much to ask for. Still, worth asking.
[AnNahar] French police on Monday detained a couple who were passengers on an Air La Belle France flight which made an emergency landing after a fake bomb was found on board, a police source said. The couple were taken into custody by border police on their return to La Belle France, a day after their flight from Mauritius to Gay Paree was forced to make an emergency landing in Kenya.
A passenger alerted crew members to the item found inside a toilet cubicle on Sunday on board the Boeing 777, which was carrying 459 passengers and 14 crew. The object, made up of cardboard, paper and a kitchen timer, was found to pose no danger to the aircraft or its passengers, Air La Belle France chief executive Frederic Gagey said on Sunday.
He said the "deduction" was that the item had been placed in a toilet cupboard by one of the passengers and said the bomb scare appeared to be the result of a "bad joke".
Several passengers were questioned in Mombasa before a plane was sent to return all those on board to La Belle France.
An Air La Belle Francefront man told Agence La Belle France Presse the airline had taken legal action after the discovery of the suspicious object. The airline "filed a legal complaint against unknown persons for endangering the life of others," the front man said.
Gagey said there had been three bomb scares on Air La Belle France planes in the United States in the past 15 days.
#3
According to Ynet, prosecutors described the detained gentleman as a retired French police officer. I hope they throw the book at him for creating panic, and additionally fine him for the cost of sending the new airplane, flying everyone back to France, and what everyone had paid for the vacations they didn't get to take. This went well beyond a whoopie cushion on the not-funny scale.
#1
It appears the Feds are assumming jurisdiction over the previous plots by claiming the Community College receives Federal Financial aid and the section of highway received Federal Transportaion dollars. Also, I'm no lawyer but it looks like the straw purchase charge is less than rock-solid - look for a plea-agreement.
[THEATLANTIC] Last week, former Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel gave his first extended interview since resigning as Pentagon chief in November 2014. The curated interview with Foreign Policy is worth reading in its entirety, if for nothing else than the insights into how White House officials and staffers micromanaged Department of Defense decisions; Hagel claims that staffers would call generals "asking fifth-level questions that the White House should not be involved in." (This would not be the first or last White House charged with this degree of oversight.)
However, we can't all be heroes. Somebody has to sit on the curb and applaud when they go by... the most revealing moment of the interview was not an instance of White House micromanagement, but rather indecisiveness. In September 2014, in reaction to the horrific videos of U.S. citizen beheadings released by the self-declared 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.... , Congress passed legislation mandating that the Pentagon "provide assistance, including training, equipment, supplies, and sustainment, to appropriately vetted elements of the Syrian opposition." The most critical question regarding this policy decision was not whether the program would be effective--almost immediately nobody inside or outside of the Pentagon thought it would be--but what direct military support the United States would provide to the Pentagon-trained rebels in Syria. As I later wrote, initial, limited support to Syrian rebels could escalate to a Bay of Pigs situation, where the U.S.-backed rebels were easily killed or captured, and subsequently U.S. credibility further eroded.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/21/2015
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[17 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
#1
"Nothing sleeps as well as a clear conscience."
#2
...how White House officials and staffers micromanaged Department of Defense decisions
Those who have no history are bound to repeat the mistakes of real history - On Strategy. Micromanagement from the White House, Part Deux.
A big institutional problem of the Left is their fantasy that war is 'unnatural'. Therefore, they don't study it or understand it and when the time comes 'war is interested in you', they fumble so often and keep repeating lessons unlearned.
#3
If this is actually what happened, it is an extraordinary case of strategic negligence by the White House.
Most likely is what happened. Anyone watching this train wreck (Obama administration) would not be surprised. It is either negligence by design or by incompetence. Is it time to talk about the "I" word?
Posted by: Sven the pelter ||
12/21/2015 9:15
Comments ||
Top||
#6
The fact that we have staring us in the face, whether by design or mismanagement or Bush or Obama, is that US meddling in the Middle East only makes matters worse. We need to get the hell outta there and keep those people out of here.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
12/21/2015 12:14
Comments ||
Top||
#7
We need to get the hell outta there and keep those people out of here.
Alternatively, if there's a compelling reason for us to intervene we should do so with a commitment of nothing less than complete domination of the enemy until completion of the task (to include cessation of the enemy's will to fight).
#8
If they somehow manage to make it out of their little box and strike us in our own homeland then by all means put the hurt on them. But no more nation building.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
12/21/2015 14:55
Comments ||
Top||
#9
AU, they're hitting outside their box now, you are aware. Also, remaining engaged in theater, even remaining in theater, is not the same as nation building.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
12/21/2015 15:09
Comments ||
Top||
#10
They're only hitting outside their box because our feckless leaders allow them to do so. That's the other part of what I'm saying: Keep them out of here. You don't accomplish that by getting bogged down in Syria. The way to do that is by stopping Muslim immigration and denying visas, rounding up the people who are here with visa from those countries and deporting them.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
12/21/2015 17:52
Comments ||
Top||
#11
Yes, we've tried nation building and it's not worked well, so instead let's try nation destroying. If we have to intervene, go in and leave nothing but smoking, repeatedly bounced rubble.
[CNN]Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy was dealt an eye-watering sucker punch by a teenager during a campaign event Wednesday.
The young man got up close to the Prime Minister, reportedly asking to take a photograph, before unleashing his left fist into the side of Rajoy's head.
The punch knocked Rajoy's glasses off of his face, leaving the leader of the People's Party bruised but otherwise "feeling good," he later said in a tweet.
The 17-year-old attacker was later shown being taken away in handcuffs by security guards.
Rajoy had been speaking to a large crowd in the northwestern city of Pontevedra, ahead of the country's general election on Sunday.
A flushed-looking Rajoy didn't let the blow stop him from appearing at a nearby city later in the day.
[Ynet] A growing number of native-born Israelis have taken to the army-like strategy, camaraderie and collisions of the gridiron and turned America's Game, once a niche expat activity, into a popular fixture in the Holy Land. Some 2,000 Israelis now play the game.
Under the bright lights, a call of "set, hike" echoes out, followed by the clatter of helmets smashing against pads at a high school football game. But these aren't American teenagers hoping to play college ball -- they are Israelis with an eye on joining elite military combat units.
A growing number of native-born Israelis have taken to the army-like strategy, camaraderie and collisions of the gridiron and turned America's Game, once a niche expat activity, into a popular fixture in the Holy Land. Some 2,000 Israelis now play the game, thanks in large part to the support of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft.
Continued on Page 49
#5
I'm reminded of a joke. A phys. ed. teacher in a small school is ordered by the principal to establish a football & an American football teems. He takes all the candidates into woods and tells them to run. These who dodge among the trees go for football.
#6
It's not 'real' football if you can't hear Joe Theismann's leg break up in the sixth row of the bleachers. (Do I need to put - that's a joke on this?)
[DAWN] Pak Taliban have rejected His Supreme Immensity, Caliph of the Faithful and Galactic Overlord, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi ...formerly merely the head of ISIL and a veteran of the Bagram jailhouse. Looks like a new messiah to bajillions of Moslems, like just another dead-eyed mass murder to the rest of us... 's claim to be the global leader of Muslims, the movement said in a statement seen on Saturday.
The Pak Taliban's statement comes after a similar rejection by the Afghan Taliban following pledges of allegiance to leader of the Lion of IslamIslamic State
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
12/21/2015
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[13 views]
Top|| File under: TTP
#1
It's obvious that al-Baghdadi needs to put thousands of Pak Taliban heads on stakes to get his point across.
Crime pays pretty well in Libya...
Tripoli, 20 December 2015:
It now seems clear that the Maltese general manager of Tripoli’s St James Hospital has been kidnapped for ransom. Security sources in Tripoli are saying that the abductors of Pierre Baldacchino are demanding $5 million for his release. Those who have taken him have been described as a dangerous gang.
Baldacchino’s seizure has caused particular concern in the capital’s dwindling expatriate community of which he is a popular member.
The 36 year-old pathologist, who had been due back in Malta this week to join his wife and two girls for Christmas, was seized on Monday as he came home from work.
It is not clear when and how the kidnappers delivered their $5 million demand. The Maltese government is reported to be doing all it can to secure Baldacchino’s release. Kidnappers sought to extort the same sum for another Maltese, a car park manager Noel Sciberras who was released in October after being held for six weeks. It is unclear if any money was paid.
(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – On Sunday, al-Hashd al-Sha’bi leader Jabbar al-Maamouri announced the killing of the so-called ISIS executioner, along with one of his companions, during an incursion into the district of Sharqat north of Salahuddin.
Maamouri said in a statement obtained by IraqiNews.com, “A special force from al-Hashd al-Shaabi penetrated Sharqat District through secret paths and succeeded in killing a man known as Abu Eman, who is also called the ISIS executioner, along with one of his companions, by an ambush on a main road.”
He added, “Abu Eman, a former commissioner in the security services of the ousted regime, swore allegiance to ISIS after the fall of Sharqat,” adding that, “Months later, he became a confidant of the organization’s leaders and was entrusted with executing ISIS court’s sentences including beheadings.”
“ISIS is suffering from confusion, especially after the tactical operations carried out by al-Hashd al-Shaabi forces which succeeded in terminating prominent leaders of the organization,” said Maamouri.
Noteworthy, Sharqat District north of Salahuddin Province is under the control of ISIS since June 2014 and is considered as one of the main strongholds of the organization in the province.
Posted by: badanov ||
12/21/2015
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
[Ynet] Givati soldiers shoot attacker and neutralize her; no one hurt on Israeli side; tourist reports being stabbed in village near Bethlehem, police say incident is criminal in nature.
A Paleostinian woman tried to stab a soldier at a checkpoint in Hebron early Sunday afternoon, and was shot by Givati troops at the scene. No one was hurt on the Israeli side, and the attacker received medical treatmet at the scene. The Paleostinian Red Islamic Thingy said two Paleostinians were maimed by rubber bullets in festivities with the IDF following the attempted stabbing.
Earlier, a tourist reported he had been stabbed inside the village of Beit Sahour east of Bethlehem. Police said the stabbing was a result of an argument over money. The tourist, who was only lightly maimed, was being treated by the Paleostinians. The stabber is known to security forces.
On Saturday night, armed Paleostinians shot up IDF troops twice at the Qalandiya refugee camp near Ramallah, but none of the troops were hurt.
In the first incident shortly before 9pm, armed holy warriors shot up a pillbox, harming no soldiers but causing damage to the post. IDF and Border Police forces were called to the scene to search the refugee camp for the perpetrators. There, they were met with gunfire again. None of the troops was hurt, but damage was caused to their military jeep. The Israeli troops did not return fire.
Following the two incidents, the checkpoint was temporary closed for traffic
The Paleostinian who the Israeli army says tried to stab soldiers in Hebron is identified by Paleostinian media as a 35-year-old woman from a nearby village.
[AlAhram] Air strikes on Sunday likely to have been carried out by Russian warplanes in Syria's northwestern Idlib province killed 36 people, mostly combattants, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
"The raids, probably Russian, targeted former regime positions now held by the Army of Conquest," said Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman.
The Army of Conquest is a coalition that includes Al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate Al-Nusra Front and Islamist groups such as its ally Ahrar al-Sham ...a Syria jihadi group made up of Islamists and salafists, not that there's that much difference, formed into a brigade. They make up the main element of the Islamic Front but they don't profess adoration of al-Qaeda and they've been fighting (mainly for survival) against the Islamic State. Their leadership was wiped out at a single blow by a suicide kaboom at a crowded basement meeting in September, 2014... "Dozens of people, mostly civilians, were maimed" in the raids, Abdel Rahman added.
Elsewhere in Syria, pro-regime forces on Sunday seized a strategic rebel stronghold in the northern province of Aleppo, the Observatory and Syrian media reported.
"The army and loyalist forces now control Khan Tuman and surrounding farms in Aleppo province," the official SANA news agency reported.
State television also reported the news, saying: "Khan Tuman and the farms near it are the most important bastion of the terrorist organizations in southwest Aleppo province."
Khan Tuman was the scene of fierce festivities between loyalist forces, including fighters of Leb's Shiite militia Hezbollah, and Salafist tough guys, said the Observatory.
Abdel Rahman said the battle for the key site saw "heavy bombardments and at least 40 raids by Syrian and Russian warplanes on the region".
The Britannia-based monitoring group said 16 Islamists were killed but it did not have details of casualties on the government side.
In March, Lions of Islam seized arms depots in Khan Tuman after several days of fighting.
Since mid-October, with air support from the Russians, Syrian forces have recaptured several areas in the north from Islamist forces including Al-Nusra Front.
At least 43 people have been killed in a series of air strikes believed to have been carried out by Russian planes in the Syrian city of Idlib, according to activists and residents.
A marketplace, homes and official buildings were all hit, reports say. Bodies were still being pulled from the rubble, a civil defence worker said.
Russia has not confirmed whether it carried out strikes in the area.
[Inquirer] The Philippine military on Sunday confirmed the death of a Malaysian jihadi during a recent clash in Basilan.
Military spokesman Filemon Tan Jr. said that 26 Abu Sayyaf militants, including Malaysian jihadist Mohammad Najib Hussein - alias Abu Anas, were during continuing operations in Basilan. At least 26 others soldiers, including two junior officers, were also injured in the fighting.
Tan said different sources claimed that 26 bandits were killed and 16 others were wounded in the clashes.
Colonel Rolando Bautista said that the Hussein's death was confirmed by different sources. He said, "Despite these reports, we continue to make validation so we can recover the body as proof."
Hussein was a Malaysian shopkeeper-turned-bombmaker associated with Daesh. He is known as the key figure in Daesh's Black Flag cell of Universiti Malaya professor, Dr. Mahmud Ahmad, alias Abu Handzalah, who has been hiding with the Abu Sayyaf in the southern Philippines.es.
Posted by: ryuge ||
12/21/2015
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[7 views]
Top|| File under: Abu Sayyaf
A group of unidentified gunmen have kidnapped three civilians on Kabul-Ghazni highway, an official said on Sunday.
Khaliqdad Akbari, head of the provincial council of Ghazni province told Khaama Press that the civilians were on their way from Malistan District to the provincial capital when their vehicle was stopped in Mushki area of Qarabagh District on Saturday afternoon.
Akbari said five passengers were taken hostages but later a child and his mother were released. “Three people are still in the custody of the gunmen,” he said.
Head of the provincial council added that security forces have been requested to secure the release of the hostages. “Their fate is still unknown.” He said.
When asked who the kidnappers were, Akbari said “I am sure they were Taliban.”
Taliban have not yet commented on the report.
Cases of kidnapping have increased across the country since last two years.
Most recently the loyalists of the Islamic States of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) which also goes by its Arabic name Daesh kidnapped seven civilians from Ghazni province and later beheaded them in southern Zabul province.
Right on cue...
Dozens of Saudi-led soldiers and mercenaries were killed as the Yemeni army and popular committees launched two ballistic missiles that targeted a military airbase in Marib and a gathering for the coalition forces in Tawwal border crossing.
Field sources told al-Manar that at least 86 soldiers, including Saudi commanders and mercenaries, were killed when the army and the popular committees launched Qaher-1 missile on a military base in Safer in Marib.
The missile destroyed many Apache helicopters as well as several tanks, the sources added.
Meanwhile, 79 soldiers were killed in another Qaher-1 attack on a military gathering for the aggression forces in Tawwal border crossing, the sources added.
[Hurriyet] Turkish police have intervened with tear gas and water cannons to a group protesting the military operations and curfews in the southeastern districts of Cizre, Silopi and Sur. Rooters reported "hundreds" of protesters were chased into the side streets of Istanbul's central Istiklal Avenue by riot police wearing protective gear.
Yemeni peace talks concluded in Switzerland on Sunday without an agreement to end nine months of civil war and foreign intervention, but rival factions will resume negotiations on January 14, a government delegation source told Reuters. Yewbetcha. They'll be there like a boss...
Analysts believe the latest round of talks represented the best chance yet to end the conflict given months of stalemate in ground combat.
"The first round of Yemeni discussions ended with an agreement for them to be revived ... in Ethiopia on the 14th of January," the source told Reuters.
It remains unclear whether the two sides have agreed to renew a troubled ceasefire which coincided with the start of the United Nations-backed talks on December 15.
#1
At this stage, prolly safe to say that the problems of the KSA's Natinal + Colaition Armed Forces as per anti-Houthi MilPlanning in Yemen will be SIMILAR in may ways to that of RISING CHINA in any mil conflict agz the US-Allies in the South, East China Seas + over Taiwan, I.E. TOO MUCH PROFESSIONAL + OPERATIONAL "RUST".
Unlike the US, UK, + French Militaries, + also Aussie SAS, whom have in constant or near-constant action since before + after the end of the Cold War + 9-11, CO-SUPERPOWERS RUSSIA + CHINA + IRAN, NOW THE KSA, ETAL. ARE ALL SEEMINGLY IN SERIOUS "OUT-OF-PRACTICE" IN COMPARISON.
Iff the KSA can effec shake it off + succeed in Yemen, so can China in East Asia-WESTPAC agz the US-Allies.
RUSSIA, CHINA, + IRAN [Saudis?] = Gotta be like Sly Stallone's ROCKY BALBOA + return to that smelly, dirty, simple or antiquated gym of youth to rediscover his lost or forgotten fighting skills.
* COACH CARL WEATHERS [paraph] = "ROCKY'S GOTTA DISCOVER MUSCLES/STRENGTHS HE DIDN'T KNOW HE HAD"!
(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – On Sunday, Nineveh city council announced, that there was no withdrawal or strengthening of Turkish troops in Iraq after targeting them, while indicated that the total number of these troops is approximately 200 soldiers.
The deputy chairman of the council Nour el-Din Kablan said in a statement obtained by IraqiNews.com, “A few days ago, some of the Turkish troops assigned with protecting their trainers in northern Iraq had withdrawn,” pointing out that, “The withdrawal took place before attacking the camp, where those troops reside, by mortar shells.”
Kablan added, “There wasn’t any kind of withdrawal or enforcement of these forces with other forces,” noting that, “The Turkish troops that are present in the camp in the province amount to approximately 200 personnel varying from trainers to guards of trainers”.
He continued, “There are some agreements in this regard between Ankara and Baghdad,” expressing his hope, “to solve this issue according to the protocol and legal framework.”
Noteworthy, Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs acknowledged that there was a misunderstanding with Iraq regarding the latest deployment of its troops in Bashiqa military base in Iraq, while asserted that the ministry will continue transferring some of its soldiers from Nineveh where the Iraqi military base is located.
OWG Co-Superpower wannabe, Neo-Ottomanist Erdogan-led TURKEY has nowhere to expand its "Sphere of Influence" save in Syria-Iraq + agz Russia.
AFAIK, THEN-OTTOMAN TURKEY LOST ALL ITS WARS AGZ TSARIST RUSSIA BACK IN THE DAY, AND I DON'T THINK ERDOGAN IS ANY HURRY TO REPEAT MAHA-RUSHIAN HISTOIRE' AGZ DARTH PUTIN.
#2
OTOH see GROONG > [Fars News] EX-CIA OFFICIAL [Larry Johnson] US WEAKNESS DROVE TURKEY OUT OF CONTROL.
ARTIC = denotes that the POTUS Obama Admin is widely viewed or deemed by the World as "impotent".
As for this Artic, the inter-Islamic struggle for Theological + Caliphate dominance between Sunni Islam, as represented by the new KSA Coalition = KSA "Superpower", + Turkey as a formal KSA Coalition Member or Independent, versus OWG Co-Superpower Shia Iran goes on.
Somethings gotta give.
Personally, I'm just waiting for EGYPT + PAKISTAN to bust a move.
Speaking of EGYPT ... ...
* IIRC MEMRI.ORG > EGYTPIAN COLUMNISTS: EGYPT NEEDS TO FIGHT ISIS IN LIBYA - UNILATERALLY, IFF NECESSARY.
* BIGNEWSNETWORK, WORLD NEWS > PAKISTAN NOT A MEMBER OF [new] SAUDI ALLIANCE: MINISTER.
Read, PAKISTAN HAS ITS OWN AMBITIONS, + ITS OWN NUKES ALREADY.
[ALMANAR.LB] Israeli warplanes raided a residential building in the Syrian city of Jaramana late on Sturday, killing the Dean of liberated detainees from Israeli prisons, Samir Kuntar. The Hezbollah version...
Al-Manar sources said the Israeli warplanes struck the building with four long-range missiles, causing complete destruction of the building and partial damage to the surrounding structures.Sayyed Nasrallah and Samir Kuntar
Hezbollah Media Relations released a statement on Sunday announcing the martyrdom of Kuntar who spent 29 years in the Israeli prisons.
"At 10:15 p.m. on Saturday December 19, Zionist warplanes struck a residential building in Jaramana city in Damascus countryside," Hezbollah Media Relations said in the statement.
"The Dean of liberated detainees from Israeli prisons, brother Mujahid Samir Kuntar was martyred along with several Syrian citizens in the strike," the statement added.
Al-Manar correspondent in Damascus reported that the Takfiri ...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who must be killed... Death Eaters fighting the Syrian government have been operating in Jaramana, noting that they have been repeatedly coordinating with the Israeli enemy, in a clear indication that the latest strike could be coordinated by the Zionist forces and the terrorists.
Kuntar was detained by occupation forces in 1979, at the age of 16, for his involvement in a heroic operation against Zionists. He was released along with four other Lebanese prisoners in a 2008 swap deal with Hezbollah in exchange for the bodies of two Israeli soldiers killed during the 2006 war.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/21/2015
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[13 views]
Top|| File under: Hezbollah
[Rudaw] Kirkuk security forces have tossed in the calaboose Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! a member of the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... group hiding several grenades and ISIS flags in his home, a security official told Rudaw on Saturday.
He said that in the initial interrogations the suspect, who is reportedly of Arab origin and lives in Kirkuk's Dubz district, has confessed his affiliation to the radical group. He was identified as Qamar Hillal Mahmud.
"Our forces arrested Qamar Hillal Mahmud at 3 pm in Dubz district, north of Kirkuk, ... a thick stew of Arabs, Turkmen, Kurds, and probably Antarcticans, all of them mutually hostile most of the time... " said Farhad Hama Ali, the front man for Kirkuk's security forces.
Kirkuk security forces said they had prior intelligence on the suspect before arresting him at his home.
"He has confessed his membership in Daesh [Islamic State] (ISIS) and that he has participated in violence perpetrated by the group," Ali added. "We have found a number of grenades and Daesh [Islamic State] flags."
Posted by: trailing wife ||
12/21/2015
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
A Philippine Air Force sergeant was killed when New People's Army militants attacked a military detachment in Batangas province.
An undetermined number of NPA militants swooped down on the air force detachment on Saturday afternoon. Soldiers manning the detachment fired back but in the exchange of gunfire, the insurgents shot and killed Staff Sgt. Armando Silvestre. The militants fled after the brief gun battle.
The Armed Forces Southern Luzon Command strongly condemned the attack. Major Angelo Guzman said all soldiers in Batangas were ready for deployment to assist victims of Typhoon Nona. He said, "The attack also puts into question their (militant's) sincerity in unilateral ceasefire which they declared."
The attack occured three days before the start of the 12-day ceasefire declared by the Communist Party of the Philippines. On Friday, the government reciprocated the peace gesture and declared its own ceasefire, covering the same period from December 23 to January 3, in observance of the Yuletide season.
[Hurriyet] Some 110 militants have been killed during operations against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the southeastern provinces of Şırnak, Diyarbakır and Mardin, state-run Anadolu Agency has claimed.
One soldier who was wounded in clashes in Şırnak’s Cizre district died on Dec. 20, the Turkish Armed Forces said in a written statement. Another soldier was killed during clashes in the Sur district of Diyarbakır on Dec. 19.
Some 78 militants were killed in Cizre during the first four days of operations amid an ongoing siege, Anadolu agency reported on Dec. 19, citing military sources.
110 - 78 = 42 killed on Dec. 20, Day 5. But that doesn't sound nearly as impressive as 110. Whether any of these numbers is close to true is a different question.
Security forces killed six militants in the Silopi district of Şırnak, while 16 others were killed in Sur. Ten militants were also killed in the Dargeçit district of Mardin province, according to the agency.
Meanwhile, Turkish Armed Forces said in its statement that 18 militants were killed on Dec. 19 during operations in Cizre, Silopi and Sur.
Some 23 security forces, including police officers, were wounded in Diyarbakır and Şırnak operations.
Two senior officials from YDG-H, youth wing of outlawed PKK militant group, were also killed during the operations in Cizre.
A curfew was imposed on Cizre and Silopi on Dec. 14.
Some 10,000 troops backed by tanks have been deployed in the southeast to try to rout young PKK supporters from urban areas.
The operation, which has targeted Cizre, Silopi and Sur, began on Dec. 16, according to the army.
[CNN] Kenya's cholera epidemic has reached the world's largest refugee camp and doctors worry the outbreak could continue to spread.
Seven people have died in Dadaab, in northern Kenya near the border with Somalia, since the outbreak was declared in November, the medical charity Doctors Without Borders, or MSF, said in a statement.
In the last three weeks, more than 300 patients have been admitted to treatment centers, and 30% of those patients were children under 12, according to MSF.
"We are still trying to control the spread," UNHCR front man in Kenya Duke Mwancha told CNN on Saturday. UNHCR is the United Nations ...an organization originally established to war on dictatorships which was promptly infiltrated by dictatorships and is now held in thrall to dictatorships... High Commissioner for Refugees.
Lack of proper sanitation and education of the population are among the main challenges in halting infections, Mwancha said. There are are not enough pit latrines in the camp for the size of its population, and people often allow their children play in the mud or in floodwater, he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/21/2015
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
[NYPOST] The Port Authority said Friday it will turn La Guardia Airport into a bum-free zone -- but not until after the holidays.
The agency made the move following an exposé in The Post showing that at least 50 homeless squatters had moved into the busy airport, sleeping on vents, stealing food from shops and getting naked to wash themselves in the bathrooms. The homeless have also been taking up chairs meant for passengers while snoring under blaring televisions.
Some hang around during the day, arguing with cleaning crews and bothering shop workers.
PA officials said they made the decision because the growing homeless population forced them to station dozens of cops at the airport to keep the vagrants under control, and that safety had become a huge concern.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/21/2015
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[7 views]
Top|| File under:
[ARA News] ERBIL – At least ten militant fighters of the Islamic State (ISIS) were beheaded in the northwestern Iraqi city of Mosul on Sunday after being convicted of ‘high treason’ for evacuating their post at the battlefront without the group’s permission.
Speaking to ARA News in Mosul, media activist Abdullah al-Mallah said that the group arrested more than ten of its own militants and beheaded them in the public square of Baaj distrust in western Mosul on Sunday evening.
“The militants were found guilty for evacuating a post at the battlefront, where clashes took place between them and the Kurdish Peshmerga forces,” al-Mallah said.
“The Sharia Court of Mosul decided to behead them in front of hundreds of ISIS members in order to prevent others from taking such a move without the permission of their military leadership,” the source added.
Six of the executed militants were identified as Syrian nationals, while the rest were Western jihadists, according to an informed source in Baaj district.
This is not the first time that the terror group executes its own militants under such a pretext. In mid-November, ISIS executed 73 militant fighters for escaping battles with the Kurdish Peshmerga forces in Shingal (Sinjar) district in northern Iraq.
“Under the request of the group’s alleged caliph, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, some 73 ISIS militants, who apparently fled the fighting with the Peshmerga forces in the Yezidi region of Shingal, were executed,” the Kurdish official Saeed Mamozini told reporters in Erbil on November 16, adding that the executions were carried out by firing squad south of Mosul.
Posted by: badanov ||
12/21/2015
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[7 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
#1
"The beheadings will continue until morale improves!"
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/21/2015 11:58
Comments ||
Top||
[ARA News] URFA – Extremists of the Islamic State group (ISIS) executed on Sunday 15 Syrian men accused of leaking security information about the group to rival Kurdish forces.
ISIS has launched a campaign of arrests in the city of Manbij in the northern countryside of Aleppo, targeting young men and media activists after accusing them of spying on behalf of the Kurdish forces of the People’s Protection Units (YPG).
The Kurdish YPG fighters have been in conflict with the terror group in northern Syria for more than two years. The YPG has recently regained dozens of villages and towns from ISIS subsequent to fierce battles.
“The 15 victims were shot dead in central Manbij and their dead bodies were hanged in a public square to terrify people,” an informed local source, who preferred anonymity, told ARA News on the phone.
“Many other innocent people are still held by the group for interrogation for alleged links with the Kurdish YPG forces,” the source reported. “Their families are highly concerned about their fate, especially after the execution of 15 arrestees today.”
The YPG leadership condemned in a statement the execution of the 15 men, saying the accusation was baseless and that ISIS is aware of the people’s outrage regarding its control over the city of Manbij, emphasizing that the Kurdish forces and its allies will soon storm ISIS headquarters there and liberate the city of ISIS tyranny.
Posted by: badanov ||
12/21/2015
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[15 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
#1
Seems like they are killing themselves off faster than American attacks. And at less cost to the American taxpayer!
Posted by: Bobby ||
12/21/2015 10:35
Comments ||
Top||
#2
And they still haven't gotten our real spy - his name's Mohammed something-or-other.
Despite the big mole on his "thigh,"
His glazed, slightly lazy left eye,
His plainness, his greyness,
His six-pointed anus...
They can't find Mohammed the Spy!
[Rudaw] Iraq's government on Sunday gave residents 72 hours to evacuate Ramadi, as reinforcements arrived ahead of an anticipated offensive, the third since 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.... (ISIS) turbans seized the key city in May.
"The residents of Ramadi need to leave the city in 72 hours," the Baghdad government said in a statement.
Fresh troops with heavy weapons arrived near Ramadi on Sunday, joining soldiers who in the past two days have moved into parts of Ramadi and Fallujah, ... the City of Mosques, which might have somthing to do with why it's not called Center of Prosperity or a really nice place to raise your kids... Anbar's other major city.
In recent days the Iraqi army has made substantial advances in Ramadi, thanks to close US air support.
"The military support arrived in the town of Khalidiya and will be soon transferred to the east and north of Ramadi," Ali Daoud, a town official, said in a statement Sunday.
He added that the reinforcements have arrived with heavy weapons, including tanks.
Ramadi fell to ISIS last May. Since then the army, backed by Shiite militias and some Sunni tribal forces, has launched two major offensives to wrest control of the province from the religious fanatics.
Update from Al Ahram at 11:00 a.m. ET:
ISIS stopping civilians leaving Ramadi before attack: Iraq Defence Ministry
#1
Just drop the bombs and tell them we goofed up on the time zone we thought they are in. The way things go in this administration, it is not only plausible but believable.
[BBC] The centre of another district in the southern Afghan province of Helmand ...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan... has fallen to the Taliban, officials say.
The snuffies are reported to have taken over the police headquarters in Sangin, with fighting continuing in other parts of the district.
Earlier, the deputy governor of Helmand complained of a lack of government support in an open letter on Facebook to President Ashraf Ghani ...former chancellor of Kabul University, now president of Afghanistan. Before returning to Afghanistan in 2002 he was a scholar of political science and anthropology. He worked at the World Bank working on international development assistance. As Finance Minister of Afghanistan between July 2002 and December 2004, he led Afghanistan's attempted economic recovery until the Karzais stole all the money. .. Mohammad Jan Rasoulyar warned that the province could fall to the Taliban.
He said at least 90 soldiers had been killed in the latest fighting and claimed Mr Ghani's entourage was not telling him the reality of the situation.
"Helmand will collapse to the enemies and it's not like Kunduz, where we could launch an operation from the airport to retake it. That is just impossible and a dream," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/21/2015
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[7 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
(Iraqinews.com) al-Anbar – On Sunday the Council of Khalidiya District in al-Anbar province announced the arrival of military reinforcements in the eastern and northern axes of Ramadi in preparation for storming the city, emphasizing that the enhancements included shields, tanks and heavy weapons.
The head of the council Ali Dawood said, “Military reinforcements arrived in Khalidiya District (20 km east of Ramadi) and will move to the eastern and northern axes of Ramadi in order to storm the city and cleanse it from ISIS gangs.”
Dawood added, “The military reinforcements included ground forces from the army and police,” pointing out that “The arrival of these military reinforcements will resolve the cleansing battle of Ramadi against ISIS.”
Posted by: badanov ||
12/21/2015
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iraq
[ARA News] DAMASCUS – Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Sunday that Syrian regime troops and allied Russian air force have extensively used cluster bombs against anti-Assad rebel groups since September 30.
The HRW revealed in a new report that it had documented 20 military raids during which cluster munitions were used by Syrian and Russian forces on rebel-held areas.
The attacks caused dozens of civilian casualties, including women and children.
“HRW collected detailed information about attacks in nine locations that have killed at least 35 civilians, including five women and 17 children, and injured dozens,” the report said, adding that all the bombs were “either made in Russia or the former Soviet Union”.
“Syria’s promises on indiscriminate weapons ring hollow when cluster munitions keep hitting civilians in many parts of the country,” HRW’s Ole Solvang said in the report, urging the UN to “get serious about its commitment to protect Syria’s civilians by publicly demanding that all sides stop the use of cluster munitions”.
According to experts, the widely banned cluster munitions contain dozens or hundreds of bomblets and are fired in rockets or dropped from the air. The munitions are capable of killing even long after the initial attack, especially when unexploded bomblets detonate.
[Rudaw] Germany is sending thousands of assault rifles, ammunition and 200 anti-tank missiles for the Kurdistan Region's Peshmerga forces, the German Der Spiegel reported on its website.
It reported that Germany is set to deliver around 4,000 more G-36 assault rifles, six million rounds of ammunition and 200 Milan anti-tank missiles. At least five "Dingo" armored personnel carriers are also part of the package.
About bloody time. The Kurds are one of the few military groups in the region who know what the hell they're doing against ISIS...
I believe this is not the first time Germany has supplied the Kurds, despite the problems that must cause with their domestic populations of Turks and Kurds.
Germany has been very supportive of the Kurdistan Region in its fight against the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... (ISIS) since August 2014 when the hard boyz attacked the Kurdish capital, Erbil.
Since then, Germany has been among the few Western countries sending direct arms supplies to the Peshmerga, instead of through the central government in Baghdad.
See?
Additional anti-tank missiles will likely be welcomed by the Peshmerga, who have been holding a very lengthy front line against ISIS.
On Wednesday, ISIS attacked the Peshmerga front in a three-pronged assault lasting 17 hours.
Weapons like the Milan missiles are especially needed by the Peshmerga to thwart suicide kabooms by ISIS that are often launched with vehicle-borne improvised bombs (VBIED), which are often armored and hard to stop small arms alone.
German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen told Germany's Bild newspaper on Friday that "the Peshmerga perfectly know how to handle weapons they get from Germany." She said they "have shown themselves as a successful and effective ground force against the barbaric ISIS."
#1
It reported that Germany is set to deliver around 4,000 more G-36 assault rifles
Yeah, thanks for the help. Just who's side are you on?
Thereliability of the G36 in combat first became an issue when the G36 was used a lot in combat during hot weather in Afghanistan. There were incidents where hours of combat caused several very real problems. One of the more obvious problems was the polymer (plastic) parts of the rifle getting a bit soft when the metal parts got very hot due to heavy use in a short period of time. The barrel and receiver could move a tiny bit under those conditions and that threw off accuracy to a small degree that became especially noticeable only at longer (over 200 meters) ranges. No one has come up with a practical (workable and affordable) solution for that. At first the German government insisted the problem has to do with bad ammunition but the ammo manufacturers denied that and were able to make a convincing case. Then, in 2010 came multiple reports, confirmed by many witnesses and cell phone photos, of the heat related problems and total failure of the rifle in some cases. German politicians and procurement officials have been trying to make all this go away ever since. The government officials do not want to admit they made a major mistake in putting the G36 into service. They also don’t want the major expense of replacing the G36 with a better design.
#2
Crappy German battle rifles is better than no rifles at all. If your choices are giving them to the Kurds or throwing them in the ocean, might as well donate. At least they won't have to scrub the salt-water stains off the guns.
[Ynet] Notorious terrorist was reportedly deemed a 'ticking bomb' by Israel and the West; rejected by Hezbollah, he planned attacks as a 'freelancer'.
Samir Kuntar, the notorious terrorist killed Saturday night near Damascus, was believed to be preparing a major terror attack against Israel from the Golan Heights, according to highly reliable Western sources.
According to these sources, last year Kuntar turned into a kind of independent terror entrepreneur and was considered by Israel and the West to be a "ticking bomb". The sources said Kuntar had recently not been working on behalf of Hezbollah, but rather acting with increasing independence alongside pro-Assad militias in Syria.
The organization with which Kuntar was working was founded by the Syrian regime to replace the brutal Shabiha (an Alawite militia), which even the Syrian regime opted to reject. Assad's regime therefore established a less vicious militia, the Syrian National Resistance Committee, which did not engage in the economic and criminal activities of the Shabiha. Farhan al-Shaalan, another big shot killed Saturday night in the same building where Kuntar ran his secret operation, also belonged to the Syrian National Resistance Committee.
The rift with Hezbollah likely occurred because Kuntar was offended. At the end of 2014 and the beginning of 2015, Hezbollah became fed up with Kuntar's services and appointed in his stead Jihad Mughniyah, son of Imad Mughniyeh (a senior Hezbollah member killed in 2008), as the commander of the new Iranian-Hezbollah front established in the Golan Heights.
This organization founded by Hezbollah together with the Iranians was about to begin its activities when Jihad and his men were eliminated in January 2015 by an aerial bombardment attributed by Hezbollah to Israel. The bombardment also killed an Iranian general, Syrian officers and Hezbollah fighters.
Kuntar remained in the Golan Heights even though Hezbollah did not use him there against Israel. However, today is that tomorrow you were thinking about yesterday... Kuntar, the notorious murderer of most of the Haran family, did not stop planning attacks against Israel and he mainly used his connections in the Druze community. He rented a safe house in the the town of Jaramana, south of Damascus, on the road leading to the Syrian Golan Heights, where he would consult maps and Druze partners who were supporters of the Damascus regime.
Western sources believe Kuntar was in the final stages of planning and carrying out another attack against Israel, which senior Hezbollah officials apparently did not know about. These sources believe that Hezbollah viewed Kuntar as a symbol of Israel's humiliation because of the circumstances of his release from prison in 2008 and hence did not reject him, even when his operations in 2013 and 2014 were unsuccessful.
Recently, Hezbollah officials began to reject his independent activities that were not to their liking. They feared Kuntar would get them involved in a confrontation with Israel by carrying out an attack in the Golan Heights. A successful attack and Israeli intervention would hurt the interests of the Syrian regime, those of Hezbollah, and of course Iran's strategic interests.
Syria, Hezbollah, Iran and the Russians have no interest in a confrontation with Israel now, and certainly not a confrontation ignited by a "freelancer" such as Kuntar, driven by his hostility to Israel.
This suggests that Kuntar was eliminated because he was considered a ticking bomb by more than one entity in the Middle East. However, today is that tomorrow you were thinking about yesterday... there are those who believe that Hezbollah or Iran may try to carry out a Dire Revenge attack abroad.
What is interesting is that the Syrian regime refuses to lay the responsibility for the incident on Israel and its media is barely covering Kuntar's killing. The reason is probably that the Syrian regime does not want to be in a situation in which it is forced to respond against Israel.
Iran also issued a tepid condemnation. But to be fair, they are awfully busy in several elsewheres at the moment.
[CNN] One of six men convicted of taking part in the savage 2012 gang rape of an Indian physiotherapy student on a moving Delhi bus was released Sunday after completing his full three-year sentence behind bars, an Indian government official said.
He had participated in the most heinous of acts, but because he was just shy of his 18th birthday on the night of the rape, he served only three years in jug, a sentence that many felt amounted to a severe miscarriage of justice.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/21/2015
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[9 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Don't rule out vendetta. Some cultures have a different interpretation of 'honor killing'.
Two Iranian fishing boats have been seized near the Somalian coast. Two fishermen were killed and several other people were wounded.
Iranian fishing vessels are recommended to avoid the territorial waters of Somalia and to call for help from other Iranian ships if necessary.
The Deputy Head of the Iranian fishing company, Shilat Ali Asgar Myudzhahidi, said that Iranian security forces are trying to free the captured ships, APA reports.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/21/2015
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Pirates
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] With dramatic surge in the number of Afghans leaving the country with majority heading towards European countries amid growing violence, the Talibs group in Afghanistan has issued an unusual statement urging the Afghans to remain the in the country, insisting that they wage jihad for the development of the country.
The statement by the Taliban group was released on Sunday and days after reports emerged that some of the Afghan migrants are purchasing threat letters forged by certain individuals who are charging considerable amounts in the black market to issue the letters in a bid to help the migrants easily go through the asylum process.
"While the Islamic Emirate sees the corrupt Kabul ...the capital of Afghanistan. Home to continuous fighting from 1992 to 1996 between the forces of would-be strongman and Pak ISI/Jamaat-e-Islami sock puppet Gulbuddin Hekmayar and the Northern Alliance, a period which won Hek the title Most Evil Man in the World and didn't do much for the reputations of the Northern Alliance guys either.... regime as the main driver behind the mass migration of our countrymen, it calls on all its countrymen fleeing the lap of their motherland towards the uncertainties of drowning in dark seas and being killed or held prisoners in foreign lands to choose the path of patience and perseverance by enduring the little hardships inside their country instead of illegal migration and defaming the Islamic Emirate by presenting fake threat letters," the statement reads.
Despite the group is blamed for majority of casualties incurred to the civilians, however, Taliban said "The Islamic Emirate is waging Jihad so that the country is developed and our countrymen provided with a prosperous secure life under the shade of an Islamic system. Hence no one should be fooled by the propaganda against the Taliban and Mujahideen. The Islamic Emirate has done and will continue to do everything possible to aid and provide serenity to our countrymen."
There has been a steep rise in the number of Afghan asylum seekers heading towards Europe during the recent months amid deteriorating security and economic situation in Afghanistan.
According to reports, over 146,000 Afghans have reportedly left the country during the current year, mainly due to deteriorating security situation with majority of them departing towards European countries, particularly Germany.
The migrants are facing numerous miseries by illegally travelling through the risky route which is mainly through Iran and The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... where numerous incidents resulting to casualties have been reported.
An Afghan journalist couple lost their 4-month-old baby after their Europe-bound boat capsized in Turkish beach.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/21/2015
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[8 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
#1
A hopeful or positive sign that the late Mullah Omar's Afghan Taliban may yet resist ISIS influence + takeover.
Keep your fingers crossed that Philippine Muslim groups can do the same ...
* GLOBALNATION.PH > MALYASIAN [Jihadist] DEATH CONFIRMS ISLAMIC STATE PRESENCE, in southern PH.
Battles between Abu Sayaff Group [ASG] + PH Police in Basilan.
#2
Iff IRAN-N-ONLY-IRAN is going to allegedly become "un-livable" widin next 20 years due to GWCC + poor or incompetetnt public policies, WHOSE TO SAY IT WON'T BE SAME FOR THE ENTIRE MIDDLE EAST = MUSLIM WORLD.
* IIRC TOPIX > CLIMATE CHANGE IS HEATING/WARMING UP THE WORLD'S FRESH WATER SUPPLY.
Naturally cool or cold water, or fresh water, may slowly + steadily be devol into a thing of the past as the Sun heats up the Earth over time.
What is the most interesting about this opinion is that it comes less than a year after the passage of a universal background check law. As you will see, it is never enough to pass a law that "fixes" a problem. They want more and more. And when all firearms are banned, then these people will come for your very life. By Seattle Times editorial board
[The Seattle Times] But our sun-kissed neighbors to the south are showing bold leadership in fighting gun violence, a terrible epidemic that has our nation living under a growing cloud of fear and anxiety. I see what you did there. Conflate ownership of an object with disease, then with fear and anxiety. If that is the case, then you should buy a gun.
Building on California’s longstanding ban on assault weapons, the state’s lieutenant governor is preparing a 2016 ballot measure calling for even tighter restrictions, including background checks on ammunition sales. As California's governmental fist slowly closes on and chokes California patriots, the black market is starting to look better and better. A good investment for a youngster and an even better one for that aging individual seeking additional monies for retirement. And "tightened gun laws" won't stop jihadis. California's draconian gun laws did little to stop individuals from plotting and carrying out mayhem. These newly proposed laws will fall into that category.
Until a majority in Congress stands up to the bullying of the gun lobby, states must take action to reduce the proliferation of weaponry that maximizes one’s ability to kill fellow humans. Wrong. As the Constitution clearly states, rights not enumerated by the Constitution are reserved to the people and to the states. Since gun ownership, as well as use is enshrined and confirmed in the Constitution, any restriction against ownership and use are null and void as laws, no matter how long they have been in effect.
Washington state should follow suit by banning assault weapons and large-capacity magazines. This would increase the safety of its residents and signal a stance firmly against gun violence. The state, at any level, is not empowered, nor should it have ever been empowered to "increase the safety of its residents". That is up to the several residents, not their government. My guess is that that last phrase was subject to rancorous debate in its wording.
What’s less clear is whether Washington has leaders as decisive and concerned about gun violence as those in California. Or must we wait for a horrific catalyst like Newtown or San Bernardino? You must wait, because we all know y'all won't let a few dead bodies stand in the way of disarming the innocent.
An assault-weapon ban was floated in Olympia in 2013, after the Newtown, Conn., shooting, but it was fumbled by proponents who since left the Legislature. Translation: They were run off. Another finessed wording by wordsmiths who happen to be propagandists.
Washington took a step forward in 2014 when voters overwhelmingly approved Initiative 594, common-sense gun regulation that mandated stricter background checks on gun buyers. A law which has been universally condemned in both private and public circles, and which was openly violated, repeatedly violated since it was passed.
Smaller but important efforts continue, such as Seattle’s attempt to fund Harborview’s injury-prevention work with taxes on guns and ammunition and King County’s promotion of safe gun storage in the home. More governmental initiatives to resolve problems that do not exist.
Advocates for better gun rules are pursuing policy nips and tucks regionally in hopes of eventually tightening controls nationwide and reducing gun deaths.
Washington should renew its effort to ban “tactical” assault-style weapons and possession of ammunition magazines holding more than 10 rounds.”(sic) Ban is just another word for theft... And gun confiscation is just another program for setting armed state paid thugs to use individuals for target practice.
While that noble work continues, Washington should renew its effort to ban “tactical” assault-style weapons and possession of ammunition magazines holding more than 10 rounds.
There is new support for this approach. On Dec. 7, the U.S. Supreme Court let stand a ban on semi-automatic guns and large-capacity magazines in the city of Highland Park, Ill., signaling that such laws don’t run afoul of the Second Amendment. SCOTUS is wrong and those laws do "run afoul" of the Constitution.
That’s a relief since too much time has been spent mired in overheated, simplistic arguments about Second Amendment freedoms. Yeah. Ignoring plain language, and attacking and threatening innocents with real bullets fired from actual assault rifles because they own an object that is at one point unpopular, is hard work.
Yes, Americans are free to own guns. No, this freedom is not unlimited. This is obvious and clear in a series of federal-court rulings. Federal courts are wrong. And I would argue, given that past behavior and laws passed at all levels of government, the right to keep and bear arms is now unlimited and that the court rulings dating back as far as 1800 are null and void.
Whether there should be gun control is no longer a question. Translation: The debate is over, so shut up you AK toting, toothless, unedumacated, fat f*cking redneck! Give up your guns you murdering bastard, or we will murder you.
America has all sorts of gun-control rules but they’re often weak and inconsistent. This patchwork places limits on who can buy guns and restricts access to especially dangerous models. Included in that "patch work" are states such as Kansas which passed Constitutional Carry laws. Can't ruin a perfectly fascist opinion piece with that little bit of eye opening news.
Of course, California’s stronger laws didn’t prevent the Dec. 2 massacre in San Bernardino. The carnage was likely increased by the use of assault-style rifles available via gaps in the current ban. The carnage was, because the victims to a person were unable to provide counterfire.
Nor would banning particular types of weapons eliminate gun deaths or mass shootings. I guess one member of their editorial board considered the above phrase a big victory for liberty.
But limiting the availability of assault weapons and large-capacity magazines should reduce the scale and severity of future gun attacks. Ending laws that stop people from buying firearms should be the first order of business, which would actually "reduce the scale and severity of future gun attacks."
The goal is about improving the odds, like we do with seat belt laws. People still die in car accidents, but the frequency of death and serious injury plunges when seat belts are required. In the U.S., that saves more than 10,000 lives yearly. Speaking of odds: Did you know when you have 2 versus zero in a ratio, that is actually infinity? You know, two shooters, no one shooting back...
The value of this approach was noted in the U.S. Court of Appeals ruling for Highland Park’s gun restrictions, which the Supreme Court let stand. It acknowledged nitpicks, such as the fact large-caliber pistols are more dangerous per shot fired, then added:
“But assault weapons with large-capacity magazines can fire more shots, faster and thus can be more dangerous in aggregate. Why else are they the weapons of choice in mass shootings? A ban on assault weapons and large-capacity magazines might not prevent shootings … but it may reduce the carnage if a mass shooting occurs.” I listen to court pronouncements the same way I listen to Justin Bieber songs. Both contain the same amount of critical thinking skills that only a road paved with printed money can buy.
While a tactical rifle with a 40-round clip may appeal to one’s inner G.I. Joe, it is unnecessary for civilians. There are plenty of other options for hunting, sporting and self-defense. It is not your call to determine what is necessary, nor is it government's call to make that determination.
Assault weapons are widely available in Washington and most of America. The status quo implies that we don’t mind citizens using guns derived from battle rifles designed to shoot multiple people as quickly and efficiently as possible.
We do mind and it has to stop. I swear, if any such law banning "assault weapons" gets passed in my home state or nationally, Fred better start looking for my replacement, because the next day I will show up at work with my trusty rusty AK strapped to my back. And the next and the next, and so on: to infinity.
#3
10 U.S. Code § 311 - Militia: composition and classes
(a) The militia of the United States consists of all able-bodied males at least 17 years of age and, except as provided in section 313 of title 32, under 45 years of age who are, or who have made a declaration of intention to become, citizens of the United States and of female citizens of the United States who are members of the National Guard.
(b) The classes of the militia are—
(1)
the organized militia, which consists of the National Guard and the Naval Militia; and (2)
the unorganized militia, which consists of the members of the militia who are not members of the National Guard or the Naval Militia.
The object is to disarm and rule. The crown tried to do that once. Can't have those subjects armed like the army.
#5
And when all firearms are banned, then these people will come for your very life.
No. They don't give a rat's ass about your life. They want your money.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
12/21/2015 12:36
Comments ||
Top||
#6
Of course the monkey in the wrench is proving an increased lethality of the AR platform - specifically unarmed captives in close quarters. Would any rational person with basic knowledge of guns conclude that, in those situations, there would be less carnage if the shooters were using Joe Bidens shotgun?
[DAILYCALLER] The history of the looming anti-Muslim backlash that never arrives is instructive. Logically, the original post-9/11 anti-Muslim backlash should have been the largest and most ferocious of the various backlashes, and indeed George W. Bush, members of his administration and members of Congress frequently warned Americans not to blame all Muslims for the acts committed by Al-Qaeda.
Even an anti-Israel leftist like Rachel Corrie ...aka Saint Pancake. A member of the lefty International Solidarity Movement, she attempted to stare down an Israeli bulldozer in 2003... Award recipient Delinda C. Hanley recognizes that there was no post-9/11 backlash. Writing in the Washington Report on Middle Eastern Affairs, Hanley gushed: "As a result of the effective campaign undertaken by America's leaders, non-governmental organizations and the media, a backlash that, in many nations, might have turned into a bloodbath was averted and, indeed, transformed into a celebration of diversity."
The group known as Human Rights Watch ... During the fiscal year ended June 30, 2011, HRW received a pledge from the Foundation to Promote Open Society, of which George Soros is Chairman, for general support totaling $100,000,000. The grant is being paid in installments of $10,000,000 over ten years.Through June 30, 2013, HRW had received $30,000,000 towards the fulfillment of the pledge.... however tells a different tale. It documents in the same era a series of attacks amounting to "a nationwide wave of hate crimes against persons and institutions believed to be Arab or Muslim." The numbers are notable either for the "ferocity and extent" as HRW puts it, or for the remarkable calm they convey compared to the predicted carnage. For instance the 17-fold increase in anti-Muslim incidents sounds more alarming than the fact that there were 28 such events in 2000 compared with 481 in 2001.
It gets more interesting when one reads that these numbers include behavior ranging from "verbal taunts to employment discrimination to airport profiling to hate crimes." Since no actual numbers are listed for specific "crimes" one might suspect that there are far more verbal taunts than hate crimes among the 481.
One rarely-cited statistic that deflates HRW's story is the number two: only two people committed murder attributed to the post-9/11 backlash: Frank Roque and Mark Stroman. Roque is the Arizona man who killed Balbir Singh Sodhi, a Sikh gas station owner, and Stroman is the Texas man who killed Vasudev Patel, a non-Muslim Indian gas station attendant, and Waqar Hasan. In a nation of over 300 million people, only two became murderers after 9/11 as a result of their anti-Muslim rage.
After Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, M.D. went on a shooting spree at Fort Hood, US Army General George Casey told CNN that he was "concerned that this increased speculation could cause a backlash against some of our Muslim soldiers." Worse yet, on NBC after having acknowledged Hasan's attack as a "tragedy" Casey added "if our diversity becomes a casualty, I think that's worse."
After the ISIS attacks in Gay Paree on November 13, the media was awash with breathless prognostications about the imminent anti-Muslims backlash: The Atlantic,NPR, The New York Times ...which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... , The Washington Post, Al Jazeera, The Huffington Post, and many more.
Most Muslim advocacy groups (like CAIR ...designated a terrorist group by the UAE... and MPAC) are the prime movers of the backlash myth. In fact, the Attorney General's cautionary speech was given to a group called Muslim Advocates, which describes itself as a "national legal advocacy and educational organization." Her comforting words (to the Muslim audience) and admonition (to everyone else) might have been drawn from the Muslim Advocate's "study" titled "Anti-Muslim Bigotry Rises Alongside Hateful Rhetoric" which, as of this writing, lists 32 events comprising the post-San Bernardino backlash. Many of these purported backlash events are anecdotal. Most of the "assaults" are verbal. Four involve violence against Muslims or people perceived to be Muslims.
So while the left continues with its infantilizing condescension towards the American public, it ignores the FBI's own hate crime statistics which tell a different tale: 60.3 percent of all hate crimes in the U.S. are perpetrated against Jews while 13.7 percent are committed against Muslims. The anti-Muslim backlash is a chimera. If the Department of Justice gets its way, the real backlash will befall anyone questioning the received wisdom of the B.O. regime and its media supporters.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/21/2015
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[14 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Muslims, the newest victim group created by the left.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/21/2015
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
The Left believes in the fantasy that socialism is economically viable.
The Right believes in the fantasy that it's still a constitutional republic.
Both lie to themselves that only if the right man/people got in power it would all be fixed. Too much power and money has been concentrated in one place. It'll never be given up short of the collapse of the system. The choice is facing the misery that will take or just killing time till it happens later without any avoidance of the misery.
Whether 'tis Nobler in the mind to suffer
The Slings and Arrows of outrageous Fortune,
Or to take Arms against a Sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them: to die, to sleep
No more; and by a sleep, to say we end
The Heart-ache, and the thousand Natural shocks That Flesh is heir to? 'Tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wished.
[NYPOST] Poor Barack Obama Pot had helped, and booze; maybe a little blow when you could afford it. Not smack, though.... . Americans don't appreciate his wisdom, and those nasty Republicans are picking on him again. Woe is the leader of the free world.
That was the essence of his private meeting with friendly journalists, where the president gave his water-carriers talking points so he could jet off to Hawaii and still look as if he's engaged in national security.
The session was off the record, so Obama couldn't be quoted or put on the spot with tough, public questions. But his trademark self-pity, partisan pique and warped ideas came through in the subsequent stories and columns.
He blamed cable TV for whipping up fears over 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.... , and said, weirdly, that he missed the public mood swing because he doesn't watch much cable news. The session included his standard lecture about not sacrificing "our values," meaning we should keep pretending that Islam has nothing to do with Islamic terrorism.
A more horrifying point is that the president confirmed the widespread perception that he is pulling punches in the fight against Islamic State. "Obama doesn't think this is an existential battle that's worth the cost to the United States of an all-out war," columnist David Ignatius said in The Washington Post. A similar conclusion appeared in a New York Times ...which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... article about the meeting.
Both say Obama will not change course even if America suffers what he regards as minor terror attacks, presumably like the one in San Bernardino that killed 14 people and maimed 22. Ignatius described this as Obama's "cost-benefit analysis" and wrote that the only thing that would lead the president to alter his strategy "would be a big, orchestrated terrorist incident that so frightened the public that it began to prevent the normal functioning of America."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/21/2015
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[8 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
And a second set of keys to the strawberry locker.
#2
But...but... the media made my leg thrill and they TOLD me Obama was the MESSIAH.
...the smartest man in the room who would bring us all together. PLUS he would be our first half-Black President and that had to be a "good thing" which made me feel SO good.
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The deputy provincial governor for southern Helmand ...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan... province of Afghanistan Mohammad Jan Rasoulyar has said around 90 Afghan soldiers have bit the dust during the past 2 days as violence soars in the restive province.
In an online post via Facebook social media website, addressed to President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani ...former chancellor of Kabul University, now president of Afghanistan. Before returning to Afghanistan in 2002 he was a scholar of political science and anthropology. He worked at the World Bank working on international development assistance. As Finance Minister of Afghanistan between July 2002 and December 2004, he led Afghanistan's attempted economic recovery until the Karzais stole all the money. .. , Rasoulyar warned that Helmand will soon fall to Talibs.
According to Rasoulyar, the Afghan forces suffered casualties during festivities in Greshk and Sangin districts.
Appealing directly to President Ghani for his intervention to prevent the collapse of Helmand province, Rasoulyar said it would be impossible to retake Helmand province by launching an operation from airport and it would be dream to compare it with northern Kunduz province which was retaken by the security forces.
He said he is not ready to pay a huge price, urging President Ghani to be quick and save Helmand from life and death situation.
The security institutions have not confirmed the corpse count as a result of the ongoing violence in southern Helmand province of Afghanistan.
Helmand is among the volatile provinces in southern Afghanistan where anti-government armed Lion of Islam groups are actively operating in its various districts and frequently carry out insurgency activities.
The Ministry of Interior (MoI) officials announced earlier on Friday that the Afghan forces seized control of Khanshin district from Talibs.
According to the local government officials, the control of the district was retaken following heavy festivities between the Afghan cops and Talibs.
The officials further added that the Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers, Afghan National Police (ANP) forces together with the Afghan Public Order and Border Protection forces managed to enter into Khanshin district late on Thursday amid heavy clash.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/21/2015
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
[Tolo News] Helmand ...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan... officials on Sunday called for reinforcement troops and additional weapons to be sent in to the embattled province which has been the scene of fierce fighting between security forces and holy warriors in recent days.
According to them, Greshk district is on the verge of falling to the Taliban.
Armed confrontations that started four days ago and are still ongoing has inflicted major casualties on both sides, said officials.
Helmand officials said 21 security personnel and 40 Taliban fighters have so far been killed in four days of fighting.
The battle started last week when hundreds of Talibs launched coordinated attacks on various regions in the Greshk district aimed at seizing control of the key district. However, facts are stubborn; statistics are more pliable... security sources in the area have said that the Taliban has already captured some villages in the district.
Greshk district governor has warned that the district is at risk of falling to the Taliban unless reinforcements are sent in.
"Our units do not have sufficient weapons like AK47s and other weapons, if weapons are provided to them, security will be maintained," Greshk district governor Mohammad Sharif said.
"The enemy extended threats on us following the fall of Nawzad, Musa Qala and Sangeen districts, then we conducted a tactical retreat to secure Greshk," Greshk police chief Mohammad Ismail said.
Meanwhile, ...back at the buffalo wallow, Yellow Wolf clutched at his chest and fell from his horse... a tribal elder in Greshk has said that the Taliban has advanced to within 10 kilometers inside Greshk.
"We notified provincial authorities verbally and officially to support us to defeat the enemy, but the government did not take it seriously," tribal elder Abdul Khaliq said.
In response to the outcry of the local officials in Helmand, the government says that it has formulated necessary measures to rescue areas of Helmand which are under threat.
"Besides receiving reports from the provincial authorities and security sources, the president is in touch with officials in Helmand," deputy presidential front man Sayed Zafar Hashemi said.
This comes a day after deputy governor of Helmand Mohammad Jan Rasoulyar said in a letter to President Ashraf Ghani ...former chancellor of Kabul University, now president of Afghanistan. Before returning to Afghanistan in 2002 he was a scholar of political science and anthropology. He worked at the World Bank working on international development assistance. As Finance Minister of Afghanistan between July 2002 and December 2004, he led Afghanistan's attempted economic recovery until the Karzais stole all the money. .. that leaders of the national unity government must take action swiftly regarding the volatile situation.
Helmand has witnessed massive unrest this year following a surge in coordinated attacks against security forces by the Taliban in the province.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/21/2015
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[11 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
#1
I take it that the WH & beastie's line is that the Talibunnies are also "contained".
Posted by: Sven the pelter ||
12/21/2015 12:16
Comments ||
Top||
#2
The Talibunnies know they won't survive agz both the ISIS/ISIL + US-backed Afghan-Pak Govts-Armys.
God help them iff Darth Vlad = Russia [China? India?] militarily intervenes in the fray out of fear of the ISIS/ISIL.
IMO ITV "time is of the esssence" now - the Taliban either win their war agz Kabul + Islamabad ASAP AMAP, or else join he Islamic State + Global Jihad.
[AnNahar] Belgian police searched a home in the center of Brussels on Sunday and made one arrest in connection with a probe into last month's terror attacks in Gay Paree, federal prosecutors said.
Belgian media reported that the detained suspect was not however runaway Salah Abdeslam, who is one of Europe's most desperados over his alleged involvement in the November 13 attacks that left 130 dead in the French capital.
"A search is ongoing in Brussels, one person was taken in for questioning," federal prosecutor front man Eric Van Der Sypt told AFP, confirming a report by Belgium's RTBF broadcaster.
Special forces from the federal police have been sent to the scene, he added, declining to give further details about the suspect.
The search took place in a building on a street less than a kilometer (mile) away from Brussels' central Grand Place square, one of the city's most popular tourist sites.
Belgian police are still actively looking for 26-year-old, Brussels-born Abdeslam, suspected of having played a key role in the Gay Paree attacks and understood to have returned to the Belgian capital the day after the bloodshed.
A source close to the Belgian investigation told AFP earlier Sunday that Abdeslam made it past three police checks when friends drove him from Gay Paree to Brussels in the hours after the coordinated gun and suicide kabooms.
Belgium has so far placed in durance vile Please don't kill me! eight people on suspicion of involvement in the terror assaults, which have been claimed by the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... jihadist group.
Police tossed in the slammer ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... the two brothers and a third person in a raid on a house near the main tourist district in central Brussels on Sunday, the federal prosecutors office said in a statement. No explosives or weapons were found.
"A thorough analysis of phone records was the basis for this house search," the prosecutors' statement said, adding that the third person was a "friend of the two brothers."
As I recall, after 9/11 Jews of Arab and Persian descent tried to volunteer with the FBI and CIA as translators, but were turned away, it was said, because Arab and Iranian translators refused to work if Jews were on the team. This is a different kind of stupidity.
[Jpost] The American Jewish Committee has called on the US military to stop denying security clearances to Jews who have family living in Israel.
The practice, which the AJC describes as disturbing and discriminatory, resurfaced last week when a retired dentist from Brooklyn, Dr. Gershon Pincus, who had initially received a recommendation approving the necessary clearance to work at a naval clinic in Saratoga Springs, New York, was denied his clearance because his mother and siblings live in Israel.
The decision was made after a subsequent security interview in September. Pincus's story became known after it appeared in The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday.
The dentist, who had ran a successful private dental practice in New York City for 35 years, applied to serve in the United States military to "give something back to his country."
According to the article, the dentist, who had ran a successful private dental practice in New York City for 35 years, applied to serve in the United States military to "give something back to his country," and had only been to Israel three times in the past 10 years.
Since President Barack Obama Pot had helped, and booze; maybe a little blow when you could afford it. Not smack, though.... took office, there have been 58 similar cases, in which Israeli ties were a significant factor in the decision to deny security clearance, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Sixty-two percent of those denied clearance appealed the decision and lost.
"For comparison, there has been just one case of a French citizen losing an appeal and being denied a clearance, and zero involving British citizens," the article said.
Marc Stern, general counsel of the American Jewish Committee, said that even though the US government "must evaluate every candidate" and conduct thorough background checks, "what is truly stunning is that our armed forces make judgments on the loyalty of certain American citizens based solely on their Jewish identity and any family ties to Israel.
"To be sure, this questionable practice resurrecting the shopworn canard of dual loyalty has been taking place for years, over several administrations," Stern added. "For the good of the country, it is high time that it be brought to an end."
#4
Doc, dentists, nurses, lawyers, and padres do not have command authority. They hold their rank by specific skill. Thus the need for 'security' background is far less than the other Army branches in which 'command authority' is part of the rank.
The classic example is under a POW situation, who is in 'command'. The aforementioned are not the senior officer in charge regardless of rank or date of rank.
#6
Has little to do with Israel.
We lost many good soldiers, combatant and not, with the 'alien marriage' clause. Not only did they and the spouse become socially scarred, they were marked as political pariahs due to 'possible' kidnapping or threats by foreign agents against the in-laws.
More information about the dead of the bad boy noted in yesterday's post by Frank G.
Beirut: Lebanese Hezbollah militant leader Samir Qantar was killed in an Israeli air strike in Damascus early on Sunday, the Lebanese group and Syrian government sources said.
Israel welcomed his death, saying he had been preparing attacks on it from Syrian soil, but stopped short of confirming responsibility for the strike that killed him.
Better to leave everyone guessing...
Hezbollah said Qantar was "martyred" in an Israeli raid on the residential district of Jaramana in the Syrian capital, but gave no details.
Israel released Qantar, a Druze, in 2008 as part of a prisoner swap with Iranian-backed Hezbollah and he is since believed to have joined the group, which has sent hundreds of its members to fight alongside forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Al Assad. On his release, Qantar was welcomed as a hero in Beirut.
Hezbollah's official media said Qantar would be buried on Monday in a cemetery in its main stronghold of Dahiya in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
Target. Rich. Opportunity.
Syrian Information Minister Omran Al Zubi said the authorities were investigating the attack but pointed the finger towards Israel, though he fell short of blaming it.
"The party that gains most from the assassination of Qantar is the Zionist enemy whom we have long known for these cowardly attacks," Zubi told Hezbollah's Manar television station.
That doesn't mean that others failed to benefit...
Official Syrian media said an Israeli aerial strike
...that no one saw and no radar recorded...
hit a six-storey residential building in the Jaramana district.
Israeli Cabinet minister Yuval Steinitz said he was not sorry about Qantar's death but could not comment on the accusations that Israel was behind the killing.
"If something happened to him I think that no civilised person can be sorry. But again I learned it from the reports in the international media and I can make no concrete reference to it," he said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not comment about the strike in his weekly Cabinet meeting.
The Israeli news website Ynet ran a headline Sunday saying: "The account is now closed."
"I am not confirming or denying anything to do with this matter," Israeli Housing and Construction Minister Yoav Gallant told Israel Radio, adding: "It is good that people like Samir Qantar will not be part of our world."
Qantar was jailed in Israel for his part in a 1979 raid that killed four people, including a girl he was convicted of bludgeoning. After his release, Qantar kept a low public profile and it was not immediately clear what role Qantar, born in 1962, played in the fighting in Syria.
Syrian state media said Qantar was involved in a major offensive launched earlier this year by the Syrian army and its allies near the Syrian Golan Heights in Quneitra near the Israeli border against rebels fighting to topple Assad. Rebels in southern Syria also said Qantar was present in battles this year to defend a Syrian air base near the Druze majority city of Sweida close to the border with Jordan that rebels sought to capture.
Israeli Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked accused Qantar of overseeing covert Hezbollah entrenchment on the Syrian Golan Heights, a strategic plateau overlooking northeastern Israel.
"He set up a broad terror network on the Golan, and it is good that he returned his soul to his creator," Shaked told Israel's Army Radio, without elaborating on any Israeli role.
Yaakov Amidror, Israel's former national security adviser, predicted Hezbollah would seek to exact "small revenge" for Qantar's killing, but said Hezbollah, like Iran, was likely too busy fighting in Syria to afford a new front with Israel.
"It would not be in their interest, and if they did so, they would have a big problem," Amidror said, alluding to Israel's threats to respond to any major Hezbollah attack with strikes in Lebanon.
Syrian government loyalists said the explosions that killed Qantar were an Israeli strike. The National Defence Forces in Jaramana, part of a nationwide grouping of loyalist Syrian militias under the umbrella of the army, mourned Qantar on its Facebook page.
"Two Israeli warplanes carried out the raid which targeted the building in Jaramana and struck the designated place with four long-range missiles," the NDF in Jaramana Facebook page said. Jaramana is a bastion of government support and is the home of many of Syria's Druze minority as well as Christians.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/21/2015
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[17 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Death was too quick and painless.
Posted by: Sven the pelter ||
12/21/2015 9:07
Comments ||
Top||
#2
Death was too quick and painless.
As long as he is no longer a functional threat, I am content with the mechanism.
[Tolo News] Amid a growing outcry over the recent emergence in Nangarhar The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country.. of a Daesh [Islamic State] radio station, the National Directorate of Security ...the Afghan national intel agency... (NDS) has placed in durance vile Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! a journalist who allegedly worked for the station.
This comes after reports emerged last week that Daesh [Islamic State] had launched an FM radio station that broadcasts through Jalalabad and districts in the province in a bid to promote the group and recruit new fighters.
According to Nangarhar residents, the radio station known as "Caliphate Radio" promotes radicalism in support of Daesh [Islamic State] by broadcasting anti-government rhetoric. The residents have appealed to government to take immediate action against the station in order to stop the myrmidon group from influencing the local youth.
Locals say the government has still not managed to track down the exact location from where Daesh [Islamic State] is broadcasting.
But the Ministry of Telecommunication and Information Technology said that the radio station is operating from a mobile studio and moves around the province.
This comes amid a rapidly deteriorating security situation in Nangarhar following a surge in Taliban attacks and the emergence of Daesh [Islamic State] -- leaving hundreds of families displaced.
The radio station reportedly started broadcasting a week ago.
But reports have emerged that the Afghan spy agency -- the NDS - has arrested a news hound who allegedly works for the radio station.
"We believe that if actions are not taken against the move, consequences will be enormous to the people. Government has millions of dollars in equipment which is capable of terminating the transmission. So all Afghan intelligence agencies in cooperation with NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A single organization with differing goals, equipment, language, doctrine, and organization.... must stop this radio," Mujib Khelwatgar, a member of NAI -- a group supporting open media in Afghanistan - said on Sunday.
Since its emergence, Daesh [Islamic State] has been extremely active in social media in its bid to recruit myrmidons. Reports found that Daesh [Islamic State] also has access to equipment which can help the group to establish contacts with its associates in Syria and Iraq.
"We are seriously working with security institutions, because it is a major concern to us. NDS has already arrested one of the journalists affiliated to Daesh [Islamic State] radio. The radio operates through mobile equipment, it changes locations whenever we send out troops," the front man for the ministry of communication and information technogloy Yasin Samim said.
Residents in Nangarhar said on Sunday that in addition to inflicting security threats, Daesh [Islamic State] is also trying to destroy cemeteries and sacred places.
"We want the government to take action soon, because this has a negative impact on the youth in Nangarhar and it strengthens Daesh [Islamic State]," Nangarhar resident Mohammad Rassoul said.
"This radio is having a bad impact on the people. Whenever people listen to this, they hear Daesh [Islamic State] propaganda and anti-government rhetoric," another resident Mohammad Rassoul said.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/21/2015
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[8 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
#1
"Unhand me sir! I'm a journalist!"
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/21/2015 9:35
Comments ||
Top||
#2
Good Morning Infidels. Stand by for News!
Posted by: Paul Al-Harvey ||
12/21/2015 14:58
Comments ||
Top||
[RFE/RL] Iran says changes to the American visa-waiver program contradict the nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers.
Washington recently tightened the security requirements of its visa-waiver program, which allows citizens of 38 nations to travel to the U.S. without visas. Now, people from those nations who have traveled to Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Sudan in the past five years require visas to enter the United States.
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said that the nuclear deal bars policies intended to adversely affect normalization of trade and economic relations with Iran. He said the new visa requirement would negatively affect economic, cultural, scientific, and tourism relations with Iran.
#1
I'd say Iran ought to STFU about our visa policies. As I recall, we have people who are in jail in Iran for visiting that Islamic paradise (sarc) without hope of getting out.
A missile fired from war-torn Yemen has struck a Saudi border city, killing three civilians, the Kingdom said, in yet another violation of a ceasefire aimed at helping peace talks.
Saturday's attack on Najran left one Saudi citizen and two Indian workers dead, according to a civil defence spokesman quoted by the official SPA news agency.
India's consul-general in Jeddah, B.S. Mubarak, confirmed that two Indians from the southern state of Tamil Nadu were killed in the attack near a museum on the edge of Najran.
Another Indian was killed in shelling in the border region about six months ago, he said.
The latest incident comes after the Saudi-led coalition fighting Iran-backed rebels in Yemen announced that two ballistic missiles were fired on Friday at the Kingdom from its neighbour.
One of the missiles was intercepted by Saudi air defences, while the other struck a desert area east of Najran, the coalition said without reporting any casualties in that incident.
The attack had prompted Saudi Arabia's border guard to repeat a warning that residents should stay away from the frontier.
On Thursday the civil defence agency said a civilian had been wounded in the Jazan border region by shelling from Yemen.
The ceasefire has been repeatedly breached since it came into force as UN-sponsored talks opened on Tuesday in Switzerland.
[Hurriyet] A local court in Ankara has ruled that a former coup plot convict must be paid 1.5 million Turkish Liras in compensation after he was acquitted following more than three years in jail.
The current exchange rate is a little under 3 Turkish lira to US$1, so about $500,000.
The Ankara 5th Court for Serious Crimes recently ruled for retired colonel Yusuf Kelleli to be paid 1.5 million liras in compensation, for "unfair arrest" and "the method and length" of his arrest, as reported by Dogan News Agency on Dec. 20.
The court ruled Kelleli must be paid 225,000 liras for pecuniary damages and 830,000 liras for non-pecuniary damages.
Kelleli was tossed in the clink Into the paddy wagon wit' yez! as part of the controversial Balyoz (Sledgehammer) coup plot case. He was later released from prison after a Constitutional Court amendment regarding lengthy arrest periods.
Kelleli remained in prison for three years, five months and 15 days, pendirng trial before being acquitted and released.
Mahir Isikay, the lawyer of Kelleli, recalled during the trial that Kelleli had been acquitted from all charges and his acquittal was approved by the Supreme Court of Appeals.
The ruling is the latest compensation decision given to the former coup plot victims. On Nov. 5, the Ankara 6th Court for Serious Crimes ruled for retired lieutenant general Ayhan Tas to be paid 1.2 million liras
...$400,000... Is a lieutenant general above or below a colonel?
in compensation, saying he had been "insulted" and his "moral values were disregarded."
Tas was arrested on Feb. 11, 2011, as part of the controversial Balyoz case. He was later released from prison on June 14, 2014, after a Constitutional Court amendment regarding lengthy arrest periods.
During the subsequent retrial process, Tas was acquitted by the court, and he later filed a lawsuit for compensation over his arrest.
The retrial of the Balyoz case began on Nov. 3, 2014, after the Constitutional Court ruled in June 2014 unanimously that the convicted suspects' rights were violated concerning "digital data and the defendants' testimonies." In March 2015, the Anatolian 4th High Criminal Court had acquitted all 236 suspects in the Balyoz case, saying the main evidence in the case had been faked.
Balyoz was an alleged military coup plot targeting the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) drafted in 2003. The military is alleged to have planned drastic measures to foment unrest in the country in order to remove the AKP from power. The measures included bombing two major mosques in Istanbul, an assault on a military museum by people disguised as religious murderous Moslems and the raising of tension with Greece through an attack on a Turkish plane that was to be blamed on the Aegean neighbor.
[IsraelTimes] Residents of Molenbeek, home to perpetrators of Gay Paree attacks and one of Belgium's poorest areas, insist jihadists are primarily driven by lack of prospects
Brahim Abdeslam seemed no different from his peers in Molenbeek, one of Belgium's poorest districts, where drug use is rife and many of the young men are unemployed. One November evening, he passed the time smoking pot in a parked car with two of his friends.
But the next day, Abdeslam drove to Gay Paree, and on November 13 he went kaboom! outside a cafe on Boulevard Voltaire, part of the wave of attacks claimed by the Islamic State
Continued on Page 49
#1
"Trust me, it is not reading the Koran that radicalizes young men here," he said. "It is the images of dead Syrian children."
Maybe radical mosques and drug and Koran addled brains are the cause of radicalization. I suggest that the jihadist quit killing Syrian children if they don't like the images.
#2
The move, which aimed to replace officials appointed by the previous government, is part of Poland’s new right-wing Law and Justice government’s attempt to consolidate its hold over Poland’s defense and security apparatus.
PESHAWAR: Police on Sunday arrested 71 suspects, including three Afghans, during search operations in different areas of the provincial capital.
The police conducted a search operation in Qazi Kalay, Afghan Colony, Ring Road and other areas and picked up 71 suspects, including three Afghans, who were shifted to police stations for interrogation. Police have not released identities of the suspects.
[DAWN] KARACHI: Law enforcement agencies on Sunday claimed to have detained at least 24 suspects including 'militants' belonging to banned outfits during raids across the metropolis.
A senior police official told media that police's Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) locked away Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit! four suspected turbans from Korangi Industrial Area of the city.
The CTD claims that the suspects namely Mohammed Shahid alias Zubair, Mohammed Ali, Manzoor Ahmed and Usman Ghani alias Baba belong to the outlawed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain and the sectarian terror group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi ... a 'more violent' offshoot of Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistain. LeJ's purpose in life is to murder anyone who's not of utmost religious purity, starting with Shiites but including Brelvis, Ahmadis, Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Rosicrucians, and just about anyone else you can think of. They are currently a wholly-owned subsidiary of al-Qaeda ... .
CTD SSP Usman Bajwa claimed that the suspects were involved in a number of terrorist activities including killing people from rival sects and the 2001 kaboom on a gambling den in Ghas Mandi area.
Related: Club where bomb went kaboom!
The 2011 blast at the largest gambling club in Ghas Mandi area of Lyari ...one of the eighteen constituent towns of the city of Karachi. It is the smallest town by area in the city but also the most densely populated. Lyari has few schools, substandard hospitals, a poor water system, limited infrastructure, and broken roads. It is a stronghold of ruling Pakistan Peoples Party. Ubiquitous gang activity and a thriving narcotics industry make Lyari one of the most disturbed places in Karachi, which is really saying a lot.... town claimed lives of at least 18 people and injured several others.
Separately, Pakistain Rangers Sindh carried out targeted raids in different areas of the city and apprehended 20 suspects including members of banned outfits, said a spokesperson of the paramilitary force.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/21/2015
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[10 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[POLITICO.EU] Slovenians on Sunday voted against legalizing gay marriage, with more than 60 percent of those who cast their vote in a referendum saying No.
According to Slovenian news agency STA, with 90 percent of the votes counted, 63 percent had voted against and 37 percent were in favor. They were voting on whether the country should approve legislation -- already passed in parliament -- that would have given gay couples the right to marry and adopt.
Turnout was 35.6 percent, STA reported, well above the threshold of 20 percent of registered voters needed to make the referendum result valid.
In March, Slovenia's parliament approved legislation defining marriage as a "union of two" instead of a "union of a man and a woman."
The updated legislation will now be dropped and revert back to the old rules, which allow for civil partnerships but not the adoption of children.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/21/2015
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Yes, but what do their courts say?
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
12/21/2015 12:15
Comments ||
Top||
Somalia -- Somali National Army (SNA) troops clashed with Al Shabaab militants in Hiran region of central Somalia on Sunday, Garowe Online reports.
Heavy gun battle flared up after militants ambushed army convoy en route to Hiran regional district of Jalalaqsi countryside. Somali government forces were heading for areas awash with nomadic families, always more liable to be forced to contribute to Al Shabaab Zakat collections.
The Fighting led to deaths, however exact number of casualty figures has not been verified yet.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/21/2015
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: al-Shabaab
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.
[Inquirer] The Philippine military on Sunday confirmed the death of a Malaysian jihadi during a recent clash in Basilan. 
A Philippine Air Force sergeant was killed when New People's Army militants attacked a military detachment in Batangas province.
[Ynet] Notorious terrorist was reportedly deemed a 'ticking bomb' by Israel and the West; rejected by Hezbollah, he planned attacks as a 'freelancer'.
Two Iranian fishing boats have been seized near the Somalian coast. Two fishermen were killed and several other people were wounded.
[RFE/RL] Iran says changes to the American visa-waiver program contradict the nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers.
