#1
On most things the angry voters have a point. Its a shame nobody in the McConnell-Rove-Boehner party took them seriously.
The DC people ignored them, and so now we get angry people making angry decisions, voting with feelings instead of brains like Democrats do - so that gets a Democrat (Trump) the GOP nomination.
If the candidacy of Donald Trump showed the GOP to be far more fragmented than it thought itself to be, his crossover support revealed a sudden realization among the Democratic faithful that their party had abandoned them. Thomas Edsall summarized the situation in the New York Times: "an insurrection now threatens the future of the Republican Party -- an insurrection of white working class voters who have been among the party’s most loyal supporters since the civil rights movement of the 1960s. These men and women felt that they lacked an effective political voice, until they heard the siren call of Donald J. Trump."
Edsall understood that African Americans had similar, if not greater grounds for disappointment. Could the Democratic party could face a "comparable revolt?"
How have African-American voters been faring over all? Badly. The Democratic debt to black voters is immense, and the party has not paid up.
There is no evidence yet of a political rebellion parallel to the one taking place in the Republican Party, despite the fact that poor black Americans are having a much tougher time than the white working class Republicans flocking to Trump.
One of the ways that revolt has been suppressed is by redirecting the anger of Sanders' activist legions at designated hate objects. The War on Women, shutting down the GOP rallies, are not primarily directed against the Republicans. They are damage control for the Democrats. A ceaseless variety of distractions must be offered because once the relief provided by venting begins to pall, what Elizabeth Kneebone of the Brookings Institution called "the growth and spread of concentrated poverty" may start to be noticed.
As Kyle Smith pointed out in the New York Post, the destruction of the American middle class, both black and white, has been part of a long term shift by the Democratic (and Republican Party) toward a new globalized economic system led by a new credentialed aristocracy. The pauperization of the middle class is happening because and not in spite of Washington's policies.
It wouldn't have been too bad if the new elitist aristocracy had been competent. But Naseem Taleb argues that the global aristocracy has distinguished itself only by a shrill mediocrity. "What we are seeing worldwide, from India to the UK to the US, is the rebellion against the inner circle of no-skin-in-the-game policymaking 'clerks' and journalists-insiders, that class of paternalistic semi-intellectual experts with some Ivy league, Oxford-Cambridge, or similar label-driven education who are telling the rest of us 1) what to do, 2) what to eat, 3) how to speak, 4) how to think... and 5) who to vote for."
One of the reasons why Trump has been so destructive to the Republican party is that he divided it not only along the Left-Right political axis, whose shear forces it was prepared to withstand, but also between up and down, creating an earthquake along precisely the fault line that Taleb describes. Taleb notes that in many cases the current aristocrats are know-nothings. "Indeed one can see that these academico-bureaucrats wanting to run our lives aren't even rigorous, whether in medical statistics or policymaking. I have shown that most of what Cass-Sunstein-Richard Thaler types call "rational" or "irrational" comes from misunderstanding of probability theory."
Such misunderstandings were on display in president Obama's $4 billion dollar self-driving car initiative. The Manhattan Institute points out that the president's program could have unanticipated, job-killing results.
About 4 million Americans work as truck drivers. If some large percentage of those jobs went away, this would mean another middle-class occupation had been undermined by technology. Truck drivers do much more than drive. The UPS driver rings your buzzer and hands the package to you, for example. Drivers of soda delivery trucks may also stock the product on the shelves. ...
The locus of power in the automobile industry might also shift from Detroit to Silicon Valley. In the case of music, newspapers and other industries where digitization has already shifted power in that direction, we’ve seen vast industrial disruption...
Keep in mind that one reason President Obama bailed out GM and Chrysler is because more than 1 million jobs in the United States are linked to the auto industry. Yet the tech industry does most of its manufacturing outside the country. Apple employs 700,000 people offshore (including subcontractors), compared with only 43,000 people in the United States. If Silicon Valley wins the driverless car industry, we may see this shift accelerate. Manufacturing jobs are only part of this change ...
The list of potential downstream effects is limitless. It is these second- and third-order upheavals -- politics, policing, etc. -- where the driverless car may create profound societal change far beyond the obvious.
But Obama fails to see the impact of driverless cars, any more than he could see why Putin entered Syria or why he left. The cars program not only emphasizes how the "party of the people" has become the party of Wall Street and Silicon Valley, more dangerously it showcases how feckless the elite is. A nation can withstand a loss of income more than it can endure a loss of faith. And there is precious little in the political system to believe in. With Sanders' crusade folding before the Hillary juggernaut his followers will have no political vehicle of their own. The last prophet will have been struck down.
That leaves them with nothing to do but vent their rage at Trump, Cruz, Romney, etc. They must be kept at it lest they look round them with all the sudden realization of chumps who realize they've been played for fools all these years. Then proceedings may then take on a life of their own.
#1
I'm trying to read the whole article at the link but it's one of these web sites that is so badly overburdened with stylesheets and javascript that it's just broken two of my browsers, Chrome and IE. It kinda, sorta works on PaleMoon but it's a mess. Makes me appreciate the simplicity of Rantburg.
#3
maybe so Pappy but he's not wrong. For too long the elites of the Beltway Party (there can be only one) have ignored us. They will now pay the price. Reminds me of one of my favorite songs.
"Against the advice of its own panel of outside experts, the U.S. Missile Defense Agency is forgoing tests meant to ensure that a critical component of the nation’s homeland missile defense system will work as intended.
The tests that are being skipped would evaluate the reliability of small motors designed to help keep rocket interceptors on course as they fly toward incoming warheads."
Posted by: Vast Right Wing Conspiracy ||
03/17/2016
11:27 ||
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#1
Sounds like your typical IT project. Testing is always the first thing to go to meet the deadline or, occasionally, the budget.
#3
These motors don't have to go through quality tests before they are shipped?
Or is the gubbamint skipping the "test 2/3 of the motors to failure, just to be sure"?
Posted by: Bobby ||
03/17/2016 13:17
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#4
The approach, [he] said, conjures the old saying, "Why is there never enough time to do it right—but always enough time to do it over?"
A lot of people are not familiar with that phrase.
Posted by: Bobby ||
03/17/2016 13:21
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#5
Read the article. They did all kinds of tests and the things worked. Getting these things in a silo right away is important, because it creates uncertainty in threat planning.
While that is happening, if really needed, these components can be tested in parallel, and if any fail, then produce some new ones and put them in the silo on the QT.
But get pretty likely to work systems in the ground right now.
#8
then-Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld exempted the missile agency from the Pentagon’s standard procurement rules and testing standards.
There are things we know and things we know we don't know....
[SultanKnish] The paradox of the individualistic society is that it can only exist if individuals embrace virtues that are greater than their own needs and whims. A society where each individual acts as a little tyrant, pursuing his desires with total selfishness at the expense of everyone else becomes collectivist as the little tyrants turn to a series of big tyrants to get what they want no matter who gets hurt by it.
Social compacts are the alternative to big government. Communities built around unwritten laws in which people do the right thing keep government at bay better than a million laws ever could. No Constitution can protect a people that does not know or care about what it says. Laws embody ideas about what a society can be. But only the people can actually live out those ideas in their lives.
As individual virtues and social compacts break down, selfish squabbles escalate. Tribalism turns into legal civil war. Laws become the means by which one group imposes its will on the other and by which one man seizes the property of another. The people come to view the system with contempt. All virtues and principles are abandoned as neighbor turns on neighbor in resentment and hatred.
Our society has cultivated narcissism as its highest virtue. Even liberalism has become condensed to an identity politics of narcissism in which each victim gets to talk about their feelings for fifteen minutes before crybullying for someone's head. Political discourse has become an exchange of feelings. And unlike contradictory ideas, clashing feelings of entitlement cannot be resolved.
...Without personal responsibility and truth, the cycle of decline will never be broken. Instead it will intensify. There will be scapegoats and circuses, massacres in the forum and fires in the night. There will be a new tyrant on the balcony every week and a new mob in the streets calling for blood.
We have been betrayed, undermined, misused, lied to and exploited. But in the end only we are capable of that final betrayal of our dreams and our heritage. We can choose to rebuild a social compact, a moral society that can undo the damage that has been done. Or we can let it all go.
It's already been 'let go.' Evidence can be quickly found in the churches of Europe which are now little more than museums.
[Judicial Watch] Washington, DC -- Judicial Watch announced today that it obtained State Department documents revealing that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton repeatedly sought to obtain "Blackberry-like communications," but was rebuffed by the National Security Agency due to security and cost concerns. The National Security Agency’s Information Assurance Directorate response was "shut up and color." The emails show that Clinton demanded Blackberry devices that could be used by her and her staff in her office’s Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF).
The documents were obtained in response to a court order in an April 28, 2015, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit, Judicial Watch, Inc. v. U.S. Department of State (No. 1:15-cv-00646), filed after the Department of State failed to comply with a March 10, 2015, FOIA request seeking following:
Any and all records of requests by former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton or her staff to the State Department Office Security Technology seeking approval for the use of an iPad or iPhone for official government business; and
Any and all communications within or between the Office of the Secretary of State, the Executive Secretariat, and the Office of the Secretary and the Office of Security Technology concerning, regarding, or related to the use of unauthorized electronic devices for official government business.
In an email dated February 13, 2009, Senior Coordinator for Security Infrastructure, Bureau of Diplomatic Security Donald R. Reid reveals that the request to obtain secure Blackberry technology for Clinton was denied. When Clinton aides sought to compel the NSA’s cooperation by asking about the security arrangements for President Obama’s Blackberry, the exchange apparently became heated.
#1
So State Department Dip Security knew she was in violation. State Info Management (IMO) and Security folks knew she was in violation. NSA probably suspected or soon learned she was in violation, and everyone on her staff or associated with her (to include the White House Communications Detachment) knew as well.
Nobody said anything about her 'work around' until the Benghazi committee uncovered the violation. Oh well, if we can't 'report' the violations, we might as well exploit them.
Among others, I think it might be time to ask the Director NSA some rather pointed questions. Director of Diplomatic Security, please wait outside in the hall with your legal council.
Yes, you are correct. Special Intelligence collection on high-profile foreign targets, diplomats, and others will be the topic of conversation. US Persons caught up in the mix, a potential added bonus.
#2
[W]e began examining options for S [Secretary Clinton] with respect to secure “Blackberry-like” communications … the current state of the art is not too user friendly, has no infrastructure at State and is very expensive…each time we asked the question “What was the solution for POTUS?” we were politely told to shut up and color … NSA opened the door for us to establish requirements and they would try to help…
A 'thumbs down' from NSA likely indicates a 'thumbs down' from POTUS as well. Why limit the listening and monitoring to SCIF traffic? Forcing her into an open system made collection on her considerably more inclusive and less painstaking.
Just a thought. Yes sinister, but still a thought.
h/t Instapundit
It looks like we’ll have a Clinton versus Trump contest for the White House.
The last time Trump and Clinton mixed it up hard, Clinton called Trump sexist and Trump responded that she was an enabler for her husband’s womanizing. In summary:
- Clinton accused Trump of being anti-woman
- Trump accused Clinton of being anti-woman
I wonder if we have seen all of the permutations of gender politics. I doubt we will see Clinton accuse Trump of being anti-male. That wouldn’t stick.
But we haven’t seen Trump accuse Clinton of being anti-male. And that would stick like tar. He might be saving that one for later. Trump understands one basic truth---you can't have a substantive argument in televised political campaign. It's like in schoolyard verbal sparring. Making some catchy rhyme denigrating your opponent (e.g. Ted cabbage head) is better than "trying to reason" or to "disprove" their claims.
#9
Hardly a day passes that Hillary Clinton does not say or do something that can only considered as outragously stupid. But it could hardly be said that Donald Trump does any better.
Donald Trump is without doubt Hillary Clinton's preferred opponent. And likewise Hillary Clinton is obviously Donald Trump's preferred opponent.
There is an old adage that a candidate should never interrupt their opponents while they are engaged in destroying themselves.
It would be counter productive for either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump to attack their preferred opponent at this point.
In the annals of U.S. political history there has probably never ever been two more flawed political front runners than Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.
After 40 years in politics, Hillary Clinton's personal and political scandals are pretty well documented. But the very surface of Donald Trump's ugly personal and business affairs has, on the other hand, remained mostly unscratched.
On the day after the conclusion of the nominating conventions we should expect an eruption of insults and mud slinging unlike anything any of us has witnessed in the past.
#11
In the annals of U.S. political history there has probably never ever been two more flawed political front runners than Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.
Worse than Baraq Hussein and John McCain in 2008? I don't think so.
#13
On the day after the conclusion of the nominating conventions we should expect an eruption of insults and mud slinging unlike anything any of us has witnessed in the past.
You weren't around in 1860, but you know the result. "Them's fightn words" had real meaning.
#14
In the annals of U.S. political history there has probably never ever been two more flawed political front runners than Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.
Worse than Baraq Hussein and John McCain in 2008? I don't think so.
Some comparison:
From RCP Average Favorability/Unfavorability Data in the polls on March 1 - 11, 2008
John McCain: Favorable = 52.3 Unfavorable = 41.5
Barack Obama: Favarable = 69.0 Unfavorable = 23.0
From RCP Average Favorability/Unfavorability Data in the polls on March 7 - 17, 2016
Hillary Clinton: Favorable = 40.8 Unfavorable = 53.3
Donald Trump: Favarable = 32.5 Unfavorable = 61.0
Actually both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump's Unfavorable Ratings are both better than last week. Hillary's were in the 55% range and Donald Trump's were as high as 67%.
#15
Ebbang, its an order of magnitude worse for Trumpy And HilLIARy.
Plenty out ther eon Trump, start with self contradictions and lies - there are plenty to be seen. Bu wait till they get going on Trumps ongoing fraud trial, and his past associations with organized crime. They dont have to prove anything, they will simply insinuate it, and that is enough to destroy him with anyone other than Trumpbots who are willingly self-blinded. And Trump is stupid enough to rise to the bait and put his foot in his mouth which will worsen the damage.
The only thing that remains to be seen is if he can damage hillary as much as hillary can damage him.
This is going to be a slime fest, a race to the bottom.
Unless Hillary gets indicted. That changes things (Hello Joe Biden in that case)
h/t Instapundit
In 2005, John Ioannidis, a professor of medicine at Stanford University, published a paper, "Why most published research findings are false," mathematically showing that a huge number of published papers must be incorrect. He also looked at a number of well-regarded medical research findings, and found that, of 34 that had been retested, 41% had been contradicted or found to be significantly exaggerated.
Since then, researchers in several scientific areas have consistently struggled to reproduce major results of prominent studies. By some estimates, at least 51%--and as much as 89%--of published papers are based on studies and experiments showing results that cannot be reproduced.
Researchers have recreated prominent studies from several scientific fields and come up with wildly different results. When you use students as cheap labor, use affirmative action/collegiality as criteria for tenure track, and reward "significance" and "broad appeal" in papers---what do you expect?
#1
Meanwhile, in cases where researchers have access to large amounts of data, there’s a dangerous tendency to hunt for significant correlations. Researchers can thus convince themselves that they’ve spotted a meaningful connection, when in fact such connections are totally random.
Large amounts of data you say? Data so voluminous no one can check it? Like temperature data from hundreds of sources for a hundred years, then millions of sources millions of times in a short period of time? Like that?
But you can convince a lot of people who have never looked at the data, and who want to believe.
Posted by: Bobby ||
03/17/2016 7:56
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#2
When you use students as cheap labor, use affirmative action/collegiality as criteria for tenure track, and reward "significance" and "broad appeal" in papers---what do you expect?
And gobs and gobs federal research money. You get more of what you subsidize.
#5
It's the politicization of science for the gain of power. As a result the credibility of the scientific process suffers. At other times, it's just trying to make a buck through manipulation.
#7
Science has always been driving gen by politics. Galalelo was under house arrest for his scientific findngs. And to agree that science is right is also false. Most of our science is as we see it todAy and very little to do with reality. We are still using calculus to define stuff and that math is so ik exact is crazy. Science is a best guess, and that's about it.
Posted by: 49 pan ||
03/17/2016 11:38
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#8
2009 I was sitting in my office when the head of collections of the British Museum of Natural History walked in.
The man was checking out experts everywhere. That museum has the world's largest collections of everything natural and earns money off of leasing it out.
Problem was scientists all over the planet were leasing the use of items that could disprove their conjectures or research. Then they would destroy them!
This was because of both publish and die plus grant money. Anything that diminishes either hurts their careers and or empires.
He wanted to be able to lease out virtual artifacts and not the real ones!
[Planned Parenthood] Washington. DC -- Planned Parenthood Action Fund released the following statement today on news that the President will nominate Judge Merrick Garland, Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, to the Supreme Court to fill the vacancy left behind by Justice Antonin Scalia.
"Judge Garland is an intelligent, highly accomplished judge who has secured bipartisan support in his previous appointments," Richards said in a statement. "Now that the President has upheld his constitutional duty, it is time for the Senate to uphold theirs. The American people deserve a full court and a justice appointed by the President they elected for four years -- not three. It is time for the Senate to do their job and give Judge Garland a fair hearing and up or down vote."
#4
...by modern Democrat standards...Nazis are conservatives, even though they were the National Socialist Workers Party and very much socialists. Imagine if they think the Nazis were conservative where that places them on the political spectrum. Same with the concept of 'moderate'.
Don't some folks consider PP murders? But not racist, I suppose.
Who gets to decide which groups are worthy, which speech is free?
Posted by: Bobby ||
03/17/2016 13:06
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#8
Get used to it. More of this is coming. Think about President Hillary and Harry Reid in control of the Senate again. Or Trump - historically and recently he supports PP and abortion on demand, and gun control, so either way we are screwed.
[Daily Caller] Hillary Clinton sent at least three dozen emails during seven different trips to China, Vietnam and Russia as secretary of state, a Daily Caller investigation reveals.
So Judicial Watch can subpoena the Russian records now, right?
Communicating through a personal email account, which Clinton had synced up to a private email server and a non-government-issued BlackBerry, put the Democratic presidential candidate’s communications at risk, especially in nations with robust spy agencies and government-owned telecoms companies like China and Russia, a cyber security specialist tells TheDC.
The risk would have been even greater if Clinton failed to use what’s known as a BlackBerry Enterprise Server, a so-called "middleware" program that encrypts emails and other information, says Stephen Perciballi, a cyber security expert who formerly worked for BlackBerry retailer Softchoice.
If she did not, "it puts her at more risk," Perciballi told TheDC.
It is unclear how Clinton’s server was configured. The device, which is now in the FBI’s possession, was kept at Clinton’s home in New York during her tenure at State. It was managed by former State Department IT specialist Bryan Pagliano, who worked on Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign.
"Was that server just sitting there wide open, sitting on her Comcast cable connection?" Perciballi asked. "We don’t know, and that’s really the problem."
"Is she building up a fortress of security in her basement? The sheer fact that she did something as irresponsible as this with her work email, I’m guessing no."
The State Department declined to tell TheDC if Clinton utilized a BlackBerry Enterprise Server. From a 'damage assessment' standpoint, one must assume the worst and plan accordingly.
"There are reviews and inquiries looking into this matter generally and we are not going to get ahead of that," agency spokesman John Kirby told TheDC.
#1
Too bad we can't hack the KGB (successor) files to find out what was in Hillary's missing e-mails...
Seriously, people just do not seem to comprehend the national security risk posed by her indifference to internet security - count on the Russians and Chinese having sensitive or compromising Clinton e-mails (personal or government) which they WILL use to 'control' her should she be elected President.
#3
people just do not seem to comprehend the national security risk
A lot of people do. But the ones who don't say, "Everybody does it," and "It's just a witch hunt, like Bill Clinton's bimbo eruptions." Point out that some of those bimbos were respectable professional women who claimed to have been raped, and this is the first time they've heard anything like that, so it must not be true.
#4
Russian officials are not on the witness list of Judicial Watch however maybe the discovery process will get to the bottom of Hillary's continuous prevarication. Maybe U.S. District Court Judge Emmet G. Sullivan should be considered for a SCOTUS appointment down the line.
#5
If it's proven Clinton not only "could have" but indeed "did" comprimise security it's a game changer. It's likely there's people that already know the answer to that question. Sources and methods...
18 U.S. Code § 793 - Gathering, transmitting or losing defense information
(f) Whoever, being entrusted with or having lawful possession or control of any document, writing, code book, signal book, sketch, photograph, photographic negative, blueprint, plan, map, model, instrument, appliance, note, or information, relating to the national defense, (1) through gross negligence permits the same to be removed from its proper place of custody or delivered to anyone in violation of his trust, or to be lost, stolen, abstracted, or destroyed, or (2) having knowledge that the same has been illegally removed from its proper place of custody or delivered to anyone in violation of its trust, or lost, or stolen, abstracted, or destroyed, and fails to make prompt report of such loss, theft, abstraction, or destruction to his superior officer—
Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both.
Posted by: Chusong Dark Lord of the Algonquins6851 ||
03/17/2016 23:00
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[NYP] Russian President Vladimir Putin surprised the world by announcing on Monday that most of his troops would leave Syria. Military analysts were flummoxed.
I, for one, had expected all of the forces backing the regime of Bashar al-Assad to catch their collective breath, then resume the offensive.
What happened?
In retrospect, it looks obvious: Putin finally met the Middle East. And unlike President Obama, the Russian czar faced reality.
Allowing that Putin could re-engage in the future, and that his forces accomplished their primary goal of propping up the regime and giving it breathing space, the announcement still came as a cold-water shock to all -- except the Iranians.
Initial Western reactions have stressed the recalcitrance of Assad, who has refused to consider stepping aside. Instead, Assad’s latest pronouncements have been defiant bordering on megalomania. Putin had every reason to be fed up.
#2
And Iran has no interest in playing junior partner to anyone — least of all a traditional Christian enemy.
Putin's not the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree. He's resentful, cunning and full of raw aggression. So he directs his energies against the West, which brought about the breakup of the Soviet empire rather than than Russia's real enemies, China and Iran, both of which have designs on Russian territory - not to encourage independence movements on Russian soil, but to actually annex Russian territory previously taken at swordpoint from the Chinese and Persian empires.
#5
Putin's not the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree.
Maybe not. But it looks here like he's at least listening to one of the brighter bulbs which is more than we can say for our own SmartestManInTheRoom™.
[NYP] WASHINGTON -- The Army’s top general says military forces on the ground face a high level of risk if the United States gets into a large-scale conflict against a power such as Russia or China.
Testifying Wednesday on Capitol Hill, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley says years of combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, constrained budgets and troop cuts have had a cumulative effect on the service.
Milley says the Army is ready to fight the Islamic State group and other terrorist organizations.
But what Milley describes as a "great power war" against one or two of four countries -- China, Russia, Iran and North Korea -- would pose greater challenges.
Milley says the Army’s readiness is not at a level that is appropriate for what the American people expect to defend them.
#3
When was the last successful war waged solely by the US?
Who wants to wage a large scale land war in Asia or Eastern Europe on their ground?
President Eisenhower did the math a long time ago, and figured it would bankrupt the US to keep a mobilized armed force necessary to deter the then Soviet Union and China. Instead he opted for nuclear capability to deter. That is still valid. What is not valid is having someone in the White House who is perceived as lacking the will to use it.
[AnNahar] Kenya's armed forces said they had thwarted an assault by Shabaab jihadists on a military camp in southern Somalia early Wednesday, killing 19 forces of Evil and seizing a haul of weapons.
Kenyan troops operating under the African Union ...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful... Mission to Somalia (AMISOM) "foiled a planned attack" by Shabaab gunnies near a camp operated by the Somali National Army and AMISOM at Afmadhow in the Lower Juba area, the Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) said in a statement.
"The... forces of Evil had approached the camp at night with the intent to attack and cut off the SNA from the AMISOM KDF camp," it said.
"KDF soldiers on patrol identified the gunnies and engaged them in a fierce battle. The (Shabaab) attempted to fight back, but were swiftly repulsed by the KDF soldiers on patrol and those at the camp," it said, quoting army front man David Obonyo.
"Following the incident, 19 (Shabaab) gunnies were killed and one technical vehicle destroyed. Some of the arms and ammunition recovered include 10 AK 47 rifles and three rocket-propelled grenades."
The KDF statement could not be immediately confirmed independently.
(IraqiNews.com) Kirkuk – A security source in Kirkuk Province revealed on Wednesday, that eight members of the so-called ISIS, including the commander of the so-called Islamic police, were killed in an aerial bombing carried out by the international coalition aviation southwest of Kirkuk.
The source said in a statement followed by IraqiNews.com, “The international coalition aviation shelled a headquarters belonging to ISIS in al-Rashad vicinity, killing eight ISIS members including ISIS commander of the Islamic police Eidan al-Ezzi,” adding that, “Ezzi was one of the perpetrators of the assassination of Abdullah Sami al-Assi, Head of the Arab Group, who was assassinated last year.”
The source also pointed out, “Ezzi was also one of ISIS prominent leaders who served as ISIS commander of Islamic police southwest of Kirkuk.
(IraqiNews.com) Kirkuk – An informed military source in the province of Kirkuk announced on Wednesday, that a reconnaissance aircraft belonging to the Iraqi Air Force crashed in the vicinity of Hawija west of the province due to a technical failure, while pointed out that the plane crew is missing.
The source reported for IraqiNews.com, “We lost Cessna 208 Caravan plane belonging to Iraqi Air Force while it was on a reconnaissance and surveillance mission in the skies of Hawija west of Kirkuk,” noting that, “A technical failure led to the crash, and we are searching for the three crew members.”
The source, who asked anonymity, added, “ISIS published a number of tweets stating that a detachment belonging to ISIS managed to drop the US-made aircraft, after being shot by caliber 57 cannon shells in the skies of Hawija southwest of Kirkuk.”
(IraqiNews.com) Kirkuk – The spokesperson for al-Hashed al-Sha’bi militia Ali Husseini said on Wednesday, that the ISIS militants shelled the vicinity of Taza in southern Kirkuk by four Katyusha rockets without causing casualties.
Husseini said in a brief statement obtained by IraqiNews.com, “This evening, ISIS attacked the district of Taza by launching four Katyusha rockets on the center of al-Bashir vicinity in southern Kirkuk,” adding that, “The rocket attack did not result in the registration of any casualties,” noting that, “al-Hashed al-Sha’bi forces responded to the attack.”
Posted by: badanov ||
03/17/2016
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Venezuela is shutting down for a week as the government struggles with a deepening electricity crisis. "and probably April too"
President Nicolas Maduro gave everyone an extra three days off work next week, extending the two-day Easter holiday, according to a statement in the Official Gazette published late Tuesday. Maduro had originally said over the weekend that the extended holiday would only apply to state employees.
The government has rationed electricity and water supplies across the country for months and urged citizens to avoid waste as Venezuela endures a prolonged drought that has slashed output at hydroelectric dams. The ruling socialists have blamed the shortage on the El Nino weather phenomena and "sabotage" by their political foes, while critics cite a lack of maintenance and poor planning.
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/17/2016
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#1
Now we know the real reason we refuse to seriously combat our CO2 emissions and global warming - it's part of our climate war against Venezuela.
(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – A source in the Iraqi Ministry of Interior announced on Wednesday, that six people had been either killed or wounded in a bomb blast southeast of Baghdad.
The source reported for IraqiNews.com, “This morning, a bomb exploded near the industrial neighborhood in Diyala Bridge area southeast of Baghdad, killing one person and wounding five others.”
The source, who requested anonymity, added, “A security force rushed to the area and evacuated the wounded to a nearby hospital for treatment and the dead body to the forensic medicine department.”
(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – A source in the Iraqi Ministry of Interior said on Wednesday, that nine people had been either killed or wounded in a bomb blast in western Baghdad.
The source said in a statement obtained by IraqiNews.com, “A bomb exploded, at noon today, near a popular market in Abu Ghraib District in western Baghdad, killing two people and wounding seven others,” pointing out that, “A security force rushed to the area and transferred the wounded to a nearby hospital for treatment and the dead bodies to the forensic medicine department.”
The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, added, “An operation was carried out to search for the perpetrators of the bombing.”
(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – A source in the Iraqi police said on Wednesday, that a civilian had been killed and two others were injured in a bomb blast that took place in southern Baghdad.
The source, who requested anonymity, said in a statement obtained by IraqiNews.com, “This morning, an explosive device that was emplaced on the road side in the area of al-Latifiyah has went off resulting in the killing of one civilian and wounding two others,” pointing out that, “A security force cordoned off the area of the incident, while transferred the injured to a nearby hospital and the dead to the forensic medicine department.”
(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – A source within the police force in Baghdad announced on Wednesday, that gunmen intercepted a civilian vehicle and stole 20 million dinars in northern the capital Baghdad.
The source said in a statement received by IraqiNews.com, “Militants intercepted a civilian’s vehicle while passing in the area of al-Waziriyah in northern Baghdad and stole 20 million dinars from him,” noting that, “A force from the police opened an investigation into the incident to identify the thieves.”
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] At least 39 anti-government armed Death Eaters were killed in the latest clearance operations led by the Afghan national army forces in the past 24 hours.
The Ministry of Defense (MoD) said at least 18 Death Eaters were also maimed and various types of weapons and explosives were seized during the same operations.
A statement by MoD said at least 16 of the Death Eaters were killed in Dehrawood district of Uruzgan province and 12 others were maimeda.
The statement further added that 10 Death Eaters were killed and 3 others were maimed in a seprate operation in Asmar and Nari districts of Kunar province ... which is right down the road from Chitral. Kunar is Haqqani country..... At least 7 Death Eaters were killeda and 3 others were maimed during an operation in Kunduz province which include a commander of the Death Eaters identified as Agha Sherin.
The Afghan forces seized at least 28 rifles, including Ak-47s and M4s during an operation in Jabal Saraj district of Parwan province, MoD said, adding that the cache also included a shot gun, 23 Beretta pistols, 48 Walter pistols, 22 various other pistols along with 22,600 kg of various types of ammunition.
MoD also added that 6 Death Eaters were killed in other operations conducted in Andar district of Ghazni, Mosa Qala district of Helmand ...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan... and Alingar district of Laghman province.
The anti-government armed holy warrior groups have not commented regarding the reports so far.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/17/2016
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] Eight murderous Moslems have been killed and 12 others maimed in newest operation of security forces in Dehrawoud district of Urozgan province.
A statement released by the Ministry of Defense on Wednesday morning states that three cycle of violences of murderous Moslems were also destroyed Operation Tufan 53 conducted in past 24 hours.
The blurb further states that eight anti-tank landmines were also recovered and deactivated by the engineering unit of the 205th Military Corps in Urozgan’s neighboring Zabul, Kandahar and Helmand ...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan... provinces.
According to the statement, the bombs were placed in Shamalzi district of Zabul, Shah Wali Kot of Kandahar and Durahi area of Helmand province.
Security forces are also engaged in heavy festivities with Taliban in southern Afghanistan where some areas are said to have been under severe threat of collapse.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/17/2016
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[DAWN] Army Chief Gen Raheel Sharif ..Pak chief of army staff, meaning he pulls the strings on the Nawaz Sharif puppet to make it dance and sing and not do much at all.... ratified on Tuesday the death sentences of 13 men convicted by military courts of involvement in acts of terrorism. One of the convicts was sentenced for his involvement in the killing of 10 foreign hikers and their Pak guide.
All of the condemned, except one, were affiliated with the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP), and were involved in acts of terrorism, including the killing of foreign tourists at Nanga Parbat, attack on Saidu Sharif Airport, destruction of schools and attacks on personnel of armed forces, law-enforcement agencies and civilians, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
03/17/2016
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] An Iraqi offensive against ISIS near the town of Hit has driven some 35,000 people from their homes, a US military front man said Wednesday.
Taking care of their needs is "a challenge for the Iraqi government," Colonel Steve Warren acknowledged via video conference from Baghdad.
He said the US-led coalition, along with international relief organizations, was doing what it could to alleviate conditions.
Having retaken the city of Ramadi from ISIS in December, the Iraqi military is now moving into the Euphrates River valley toward Hit, a key hub.
Last week they dropped leaflets over the area warning that elite Iraqi forces were approaching, according to Warren.
He said the aim was to warn residents on how to stay safe, but also to "weaken ISIL morale." ISIL is an alternate acronym for ISIS.
The military front man said Iraqi forces have detained 149 ISIS fighters trying to blend in with the civilians fleeing the area.
"We believe that this enemy is on the defensive," he said.
The US State Department said Monday that more and more ISIS combatants were defecting.
The United States has been fighting ISIS in Iraq and Syria since the summer of 2014 at the head of a multi-national coalition.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/17/2016
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] A British scholar in The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... says he is being deported from Istanbul after being found with invitations to Kurdish New Year celebrations.
Chris Stephenson, a computer sciences lecturer at Bilgi University in Istanbul, says he was detained Tuesday at a courthouse where he had gone to support three scholars charged with making terrorism propaganda.
Stephenson told The News Agency that Dare Not be Named that security guards found Nawroz invitations in his bag and then police detained him. Stephenson said moments before his departure Wednesday from Istanbul’s Ataturk International Airport that there was "no offense, no trial, just an administrative decision to deport me after 25 years of residency in Turkey."
There was no immediate comment from Turkish officials. Britannia’s Foreign Office said it was providing assistance to a Brit who was tossed in the slammer Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try! Tuesday.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/17/2016
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] French anti-terrorism police jugged Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'! a small group with Islamist bully boy ties on Wednesday, suspecting one of them they may have been planning an attack in Gay Paree, La Belle France’s interior minister said.
"We have information about one person that suggests that he could undertake violent actions in La Belle France," Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said, adding the man was thought to have ties with ISIS in Syria.
"This person was arrested this morning along with people linked with him," Cazeneuve said, warning however against jumping to the conclusion that an attack was imminent as checks were underway.
Earlier TF1 television reported that three men and one women were arrested at dawn in Gay Paree and at the nearby northern suburb of Seine-Saint-Denis on suspicions they were planning an imminent attack.
Police also seized an unused cartridge for an automatic rifle and computer equipment, TF1 said on its web site.
The investigation was focused in particular in a 28-year-old Frenchie who had been under house arrest since Feb. 29 under a state of alert in effect in La Belle France since Islamist forces of Evil killed 130 people in a series of attacks last November.
The man, a French citizen, was sentenced to five years in prison in March 2014 after he was arrested two years earlier when he tried to leave La Belle France for Syria. He was released in October 2015, TF1 reported.
His partner was also arrested along with two French brothers of Turkish origin.
The arrests came a day after Belgian police rubbed out a 35-year-old Algerian during a raid on a Brussels apartment in the hunt for clues to bloody attacks in Gay Paree last November.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/17/2016
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#1
""an unused cartridge for an automatic rifle and computer equipment""
Can you tell if an unused cartridge is for an automatic rifle? And I think we need a comma in there.
WRT cartridges; where there's one there may be more, or, unfortunately, may have been more.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey ||
03/17/2016 6:44
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#2
Richard, not an expert and if I'm wrong I'm sure I'll get corrected, but the only way is by the caliber and then you're assuming no custom gun-smithing. No way at all to tell difference between semi/full auto.
AK47s use a 7.62X39 and I don't know of any other type of gun that uses that. CZ I think, makes a semi-auto in that caliber but that goes to my point above.
EG .22 LR cartridges can be used in anything from derringers to full auto guns. So no way to tell at all.
Posted by: Barbara ||
03/17/2016 15:53
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Alan. Mes apologies. I was asking facetiously, making fun of the headline. Or, if they got the wording from the cops....
People will say from time to time that one or another French cop outfit is tough as nails. That's apparently the case when it comes to things which we would consider covered by the Bill of Rights. But.... I dunno about the rest of it.
Speaking of tough, which I just hauled into the conversation: Back when the three Americans on vacation thwarted a horrible massacre on the Thalys train, I had some time to look around. Not much from the prog sites. IMO, they know the ideal prog guy couldn't have done that, wouldn't have done that, wouldn't have been raised to do that, and if it happened and he survived, he'd want therapy. So they're kind of embarrassed by the whole thing. The non-ideal guys took care of business. It is...hey, look! A squirrel! In fact, it's a problematic squirrel.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey ||
03/17/2016 21:25
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... supports Syria's national unity and unilateral moves such as declaring a federation cannot be valid, a foreign ministry official told Rooters, amid expectations that Syrian Kurds will announce a federal system in northern Syria on Wednesday.
The Turkish official said the form of government and administrative structure of Syria will be decided by all sections of the Syrian people with a new constitution.
Idris Nassan, an official from Kobani, one of three autonomous areas set up by Kurdish groups two years ago, said earlier that Kurdish-controlled areas of northern Syria were expected to declare a federal system on Wednesday.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/17/2016
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Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
Took a left turn at Rome...
Another of Tripoli’s historic mosques has been attacked and badly damaged by militants. Part of the Mizran mosque in the central Tripoli street bearing its name was bulldozed this morning. The vandals then went to the temporary structure serving as the Sidi Sha’ab Mosque opposite the Radisson Blu Macary Hotel and destroyed it.
The Sidi Sha’ab Mosque was bulldozed in 2012 by militants in an orgy of mosque attacks that continued into 2013.
The Mizran mosque, which once served a small suburb outside Tripoli escaped that wave of destruction. There was, however, an attempt a year ago to attack it but it was thwarted.
Today’s vandals destroyed the old guard room at the mosque. The old mosque itself is no longer used for prayers. A modern, larger and air-conditioned prayer hall was built behind it some years ago to meet the needs of the large number of Tripoli residents who prefer to use it rather than others closer to home.
Despite the use of a bulldozer, there was no attempt to stop the vandals who are presumed to have thought there were graves in the mosque. “There has been response from the Awqaf [the endowments ministry in charge of the mosque] nor from the Grand Mufti nor from Tripoli council”, one angry resident who regularly uses the Mizran mosque told the Libya Herald.
[Ynet] The United States and its allies carried out 11 air strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria on Tuesday, the coalition leading the operations said in a statement on Wednesday.
The coalition carried out three strikes each on the towns of Hit and Sinjar in Iraq. It destroyed weapons caches, anti-aircraft artillery and rails for launching rockets near Hit and heavy machine guns near Sinjar. Aircraft also struck Kisik and Al Huwayjah in Iraq.
In Syria, coalition aircraft carried out two air strikes against the town of Al Hawl, destroying nine Islamic State fighting positions, the coalition statement said.
It was one of the lightest days for coalition air strikes since the start of the campaign in 2014. The coalition has carried out an average of 24 air strikes per day since July and has only carried out 11 or fewer air strikes on three or four occasions during that time, according to coalition strike data.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
03/17/2016
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[ARA News] ERBIL – Amid intensifying airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition on ISIS positions in Syria and Iraq, hundreds of tribal Arabs in Aleppo’s northern areas swore allegiance to the Islamic State’s (ISIS) alleged caliphate and its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, local sources reported on Wednesday.
Pro-ISIS media activists have circulated images on the social media, showing people of the Qalqal town, southeastern Manbij, in the northern province of Aleppo, swearing allegiance to the militant group.
Speaking to ARA News in Manbij, media activist Samir Ali said that “hundreds of Arabs in the Qalqal and nearby villages swore allegiance to the hardline group.”
“An ISIS top leader from the group’s Sharia court spoke to the people, urging them to declare allegiance to the Caliph al-Baghdadi, as the region is on the verge of a great battle by the U.S.-led coalition forces and the apostate Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG),” Ali reported.
“All citizens must join the ranks of the Mujahideen (ISIS militants) to stop the advance of these troops, in order to preserve the area and its people,” the source quoted ISIS spokesman as saying.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Kuwait last week seized more than seven million tablets concealed in iron bars carried in trucks that crossed into the country.
The first consignment included four million tablets while the second shipment had 3.5 million illegal drugs, the security source told Kuwaiti daily Al Qabas.
The large quantities of drugs seized recently in Kuwait originated from Syria and are linked to terrorist groups, a security source has said.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/17/2016
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] US Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State... will miss a deadline imposed by Congress to rule on whether the ISIS group’s murders of Christians in Syria and Iraq amount to genocide.
Lawmakers set Thursday as the day on which the State Department would have to confirm whether the US government regards the brutal ISIS persecution of religious minorities as a crime against humanity.
But department front man Mark Toner said Wednesday that Kerry was still gathering evidence before making his determination and would miss the deadline -- an admission sure to trigger anger on Capitol Hill.
"Given the scope and the breadth of the analysis he’s contemplating, he will not have a final decision completed by the Congressionally-mandated deadline tomorrow," Toner said.
"However, nothing needs reforming like other people's bad habits... this issue is clearly of the utmost importance to him as well as to Congress, and we expect him to reach a decision very soon."
The ISIS group’s vicious treatment of Christians and other non-Muslim religious minorities such as Yazidis -- including wholesale killing and rape -- is not disputed in Washington.
But the US administration argues that to designate the ISIS campaign as genocide would have practical legal implications and cannot be taken lightly.
This did not satisfy the House of Representatives, which has voted to classify the killings as genocide and demand that the administration do so, too.
"What more does Secretary John Kerry need to see and hear in order to call these atrocities for what they are?" House speaker Paul Ryan ...U.S. Representative for Wisconsin's 1st congressional district, serving since 1999. He is a member of the Republican Party. He proposed an alternative to President Obama's 2011 budget and made himself the target of both Democrat and Republican verbal pies... said.
"This is genocide, plain and simple. The House has spoken very clearly on this. And we all continue to pray for the persecuted."
Toner insisted that the State Department respects the right of Congress to demand a decision, but argued "we need some additional time, a matter of a few days or a week or so in order to reach what we believe is a more fact-based, evidence-based decision."
Update at 1:20 p.m. ET from The Times of Israel: he slid in under the wire.
US Secretary of State John Kerry determines that the Islamic State group is committing genocide against Christians and other minorities in Iraq and Syria, as he acted to meet a congressional deadline.
Kerry’s finding does not obligate the United States to take additional action against IS and does not prejudge any prosecution against its members.
A day after the State Department said Kerry would miss the deadline, Kerry says he had completed his review and determined that Christians, Yazidis and Shiite groups are victims of genocide and crimes against humanity by IS militants. The House earlier this week passed a nonbinding resolution by a 393-0 vote condemning IS atrocities as genocide.
“In my judgment Daesh is responsible for genocide against groups in territory under its control,” Kerry said, using the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State group.
He outlines a litany of atrocities that he said the militants had committed against people and religious sites, as well as threats. “Daesh is genocidal by self-acclimation, by ideology and by practice.”
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
"...This did not satisfy the House of Representatives, which has voted to classify the killings as genocide and demand that the administration do so, too...."
Actually the vote in the House was unanimous (393-0) which is pretty rare. Al Arabiya seems to have missed the significance of this.
Posted by: lord garth ||
03/17/2016 1:01
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Al Arabiya got it off an AFP Washington news feed; it's likely that it's AyPee-generated.
"The U.S. Air Force seems to have woken up to the fact that it can’t simply retire the A-10 Thunderbolt II attack jet.
The Air Force has waged a years-long campaign to scrap its A-10 fleet in a bid to save roughly $4 billion in operating costs. Service leaders have argued that the plane’s close air support mission can be performed by existing platforms, including the B-1 bomber and the highly-anticipated F-35 Joint Strike Fighter."
Either the Super Tucano or the old MV-10 Bronco would be a good choice as an inexpensive attack aircraft with long loiter time, as long as you otherwise have complete air supremacy...
Posted by: Vast Right Wing Conspiracy ||
03/17/2016
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#1
Have they really found a replacement for the M2 50 cal?
Somethings are so fundamental that there is no real economical replacement, just flights of fantasy (or envy or some sort of crony-capitalistic pay off in there).
#2
There is no real replacement for it. The super t and others are a third world attempt. They need to do a full up airframe refit build the A10 J model. And be done with it. The real problem is the Air Force does not want to be bothered with CAS. If they are not at 30000 feet they want no part of it. The army needs its own air support just like the marines. The Air Force can not be trusted.
Posted by: 49 pan ||
03/17/2016 11:21
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49 pan: "The army needs its own air support just like the marines."
What do the Marines use for CAS?
Why can't the Airforce use that?
#4
Marines use an FA-18 variant as well as Cobra gunships. The difference is that the Misguided Children CAS assets have no problem "getting down in the dirt." The idea is to use speed, terrain and practice as advantages in supporting the ground forces.
#7
The problem is that if somebody put a gun to the Air Force's head and FORCED them to build a new attack plane from the ground up, they would start doing their mission creep sh*t. "Ooh - it should be stealthy!" "Ooh - it should be supersonic!!" "Ooh - and VSTOL!!"
By the time they are done, it will just be another F-35.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
03/17/2016 18:58
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#8
...The problem here is this: first, not one of these birds - with the qualified exception of the T50 - is not survivable on anything resembling a modern battlefield or a battlefield where the people you're attacking have HMGs or MANPADS. Second, not one of them can carry anything resembling a GAU-8 or enough air-to-mud to make a difference. These aren't planes that can replace the Hog - they're planes that somebody desperately wants to use for CAS without having to actually pay for a capable, qualified airframe.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
03/17/2016 20:05
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#9
MV-10 Bronco? On the modern battlefield they'd be as good as a soup sandwich. Cheaper to operate and to build, sure. Only with the losses, I hope the MV-10 would be reconfigured as a drone.
"WASHINGTON -- If the Marines were called today to respond to an unexpected crisis, they might not be ready, a top Marine general told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday.
Gen. John Paxton, assistant commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps, testified to lawmakers that the Marines could face more casualties in a war and might not be able to deter a potential enemy.
"I worry about the capability and the capacity to win in a major fight somewhere else right now," he said, citing a lack of training and equipment."
Posted by: Vast Right Wing Conspiracy ||
03/17/2016
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#1
As per the MSM-Net, looks like A-L-L the US Armed Forces are not up to Pre-Obama standard today.
NOT-EVEN-ONE-N-ONE-HALF "ONE-OCEAN WAR" VS "ONE-REGION WAR".
RUSSIA, CHINA, + IRAN, OTHER? WIN BY DEFAULT; US ALLOWING WOMEN INTO COMBAT???
DOES ANTI-US OWG GLOBALIST "NOT WORSE-THAN LIMITED-TACTICAL-OR-STRATEGIC-NUKE-WAR" COUNT???
The good news for the USDOD is that ...
* WAFF > FRANCE SAYS THEY HAVE ONLY 20 COMBAT READY JETS.
IOW AKA why France + UK, Etal. Euros including Russia needed US = USDOD assistance to back them up in the various anti-AQ, anti-ISIS, + anti-Assad fights across the ME, plus those still to come???
* IIRC DONALD TRUMP > Was quoted as saying that the "US NO LONGER FIGHTS TO WIN, NOR DOES IT KNOW [anymore] HOW TO FIGHT-N-WIN".
OTOH THE USDOD MAY NOT HAVE TO SEND FORCES OVERSEAS AGZ THE HARD BOYZ ANYMORE BECAUSE THE GLOBAL JIHAD INCLUDING NUCLEAR JIHAD WILL BE COMING TO AMERIKA SOON ENUFF.
* WORLD NEWS > [Nashville Tennessean] LAWMAKER: ISIS SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO RECRUIT ON [TN = State] [US-wide?] CAMPUSES.
WHY NOT, AS THERE ARE CAMPUSES IN THE US WHERE THE LOCAL FEDS-POLICE ARE TOO BUSY WATCHING MADONNA FANS FROM GUAM THAN THE HARD BOYZ COMING-N-GOING IN THEIR MIDST - MIGHT AS WELL LET THE HARD BOYZ GO FULL MONTY + RECRUIT OPENLY-N-PUBLICLY, FAIRLY-N-LEGALLY???
YOOHOO, AL-QAEDA/NUSRA, HEZBOLLAH, LET, ...@ETAL. I'M A'LOOKIN AT YOU!
D *** NG IT, ITS FOR THE CHILDREN, + CLINTONIAN AMERIKA'S SACRED NATIONAL COMMUNISM, YOU TRAITORS YOU!
The present confusion in the civilian mind and the true military mind respecting the purposes of armies and limits of warfare is attributable to many circumstances. Among them, no doubt, is the character of military history as it has commonly been written. Ordinary citizens are lacking in the raw experience of combat, or deficient in technical knowledge, and inclined to leave the compilation of military records to “experts” in such affairs. Writers on general history have tended to neglect the broader aspects of military issues; confining themselves to accounts of campaigns and battles, handled often in a cursory fashion, they have usually written on the wars of their respective countries in order to glorify their prowess, with little or no reference to the question whether these wars were conducted in the military way of high efficiency or in the militaristic way, which wastes blood and treasure.
Even more often, in recent times, general historians have neglected military affairs and restricted their reflections to what they are pleased to call “the causes and consequences of wars”; or they have even omitted them altogether. This neglect may be ascribed to many sources. The first is, perhaps, a recognition of the brutal fact that the old descriptions of campaigns are actually of so little value civilian and military alike. Another has been the growing emphasis on economic and social fields deemed “normal” and the distaste of economic and social historians for war, which appears so disturbing to the normal course of events. Although Adam Smith included a chapter on the subject of military defense in his Wealth of Nations as a regular part of the subject, modern economists concentrate on capital, wages, interest, rent, and other features of peaceful pursuits, largely forgetting war as a phase of all economy, ancient or modern. When the mention the subject of armies and military defense, these are commonly referred to as institutions and actions which interrupt the regular balance of economic life. And the third source of indifference is the effort of pacifists and peace advocates to exclude wars and military affairs from general histories, with the view to uprooting any military or militaristic tendencies from the public mind, on the curious assumption that by ignoring realties the realties themselves will disappear.
This lack of a general fund of widely disseminated military information is perilous to the maintenance of civilian power in government. The civilian mind, presumably concerned with the maintenance of peace and the shaping of policies by the limits of efficient military defense, can derive no instruction from acrimonious disputes between militarists, limitless in their demands, and pacifists, lost in utopian visions. Where the civilians fail to comprehend and guide military policy, the true military men, distinguished from the militarists, are also imperiled. For these the executioners of civilian will, dedicated to the preparation of defense and war with the utmost regard for efficiency, are dependent upon the former.
Again, and again, the military men have seen themselves hurled into war by ambitions, passions, and blunders of civilian governments, almost wholly uninformed as to the limits of their military potentials and almost recklessly indifferent to the military requirements of the wars they let loose. Aware that they may again be thrown by civilians into an unforeseen conflict, perhaps with a foe they have not envisaged, these realistic military men find themselves unable to do anything save demand all the men, guns, and supplies they can possibly wring from the civilians, in the hope that they may be prepared or half prepared for whatever may befall them. In so doing they inevitably find themselves associated with militaristic military men who demand all they can get merely for the sake of having it without reference to ends.
Vagts, Alfred, History of Militarism, rev. 1959, Free Press, NY, pp 33-34.
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The Ministry of Defense (MoD) has launched an investigation regarding the alleged shipment of the spare parts of armored vehicles and helicopters from Afghanistan to the neighboring Pakistain.
A statement by MoD said the Afghan armed forces have seized the containers which were allegedly shipping the spare parts to Pakistain.
The statement further added that the confiscated spare parts do not belong to the Ministry of Defense and were apparently belonging to the coalition forces.
MoD said the investigations are underway to find out more regarding the alleged shipment and further details will be released once the main parties have been ascertained.
Reports regarding the alleged shipment of the spare parts to Pakistain emerged two days suggesting that several containers loaded with various equipment were seized 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.. province before the smugglers manage to take them to Pakistain.
The local government officials confirmed that a number of containers were seized by the security forces and handed over to the relevant authorities to be shipped back to 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.... .However, Switzerland makes more than cheese... the authorities did not elaborate further regarding the alleged shipment and the parties involved in the alleged smuggling attempt.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/17/2016
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The Malaysian defence minister, Hishammuddin Hussein, said he will meet his Australian counterpart next week to discuss China’s military buildup in the disputed South China Sea. Hishammuddin said he would meet the Australian defence minister, Marise Payne, to ensure efforts are made to “hold China to their promise of not placing military assets in the area”.
China claims most of the energy-rich waters through which about $5tn in ship-borne trade passes every year. Neighbours Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims.
Beijing is feeling public pressure at home to show it can protect its claims to the waters after the United States began conducting “freedom of navigation” operations near islands where China has been carrying out controversial reclamation work and stationing advanced weapons. In September, the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, said China had no intention to militarise its outposts in the Spratly islands.
“If the reports we’ve received from various sources regarding the buildup and placement of military assets in the Spratlys are true – this forces us in a pushback against China,” Hishammuddin told reporters.
The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) said last month it was “seriously concerned” over developments in the disputed waters, which include recent missile and fighter jet deployments by China in the Paracel island chain.
Hishammuddin said he would also meet with authorities in Vietnam and the Philippines as, if reports on China’s military expansion were true, Malaysia “cannot act alone in stopping the aggressive actions”.
“We need the support of other Asean countries, and I will continue to [seek that support]”, Hishammuddin said. “This is important for us to maintain balance and to curb the actions by superpowers, whether it is China or the United States.”
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/17/2016
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#1
Again, is RISING CHINA a OWG Globie-desired, "US-style", "US-par", OWG Co-Superpower in [rough?]PARITY wid the US, + siblings RUSSIA + IRAN, OTHER? NOT INFERIORITY TO THE US, OR IS IT NOT!? Iff China is, then the Bammer will PCorrectly-Deniably help China expand and acquire a sphere(s) of influence befitting its Co-Superpower status.
THE BAMMER SENDS POWERFUL USN WARSHIPS INCLUD THE USS "STENNIS" CVN + ESCORTS TO THE SCS, YET THESE SAME STAY OUTSIDE THE 12-NM LIMIT, ALL BUT OFFICIALLY SUPPORTING OR RECOGNIZING CHINA'S CLAIMS OF SOVEREIGNTY + INTERESTS TO SAME, N-O-T THOSE OF US REGIONAL ALLIES.
* TOPIX, WORLD NEWS > SOUTH CHINA SEA: US ADMIRAL WARNS CHINA IMPOSING "MIGHT MAKES RIGHT" ATTITUDE IN SE ASIA.
US PACFLT Chief ADM. Scott Swift.
See below.
* WORLD NEWS > [US] DNI CHIEF: CHINA WILL HAVE "SUBSTANTIAL [Offensive] MILTARY POWER" IN THE SOUTH CHINA SEA BY 2017.
* SAME > [Indian Express] US: IMPACT OF LOSING ACCESS TO SOUTH CHINA SEA GOES BEYOND [just] MILITARY [naval]. Also has MAJOR OR SERIOUS implications for the Global Economy + International Law.
* JAPAN TIMES > TAIWAN KEY TO CHINA'S DEFENCE, REGIONAL AMBITIONS.
Yeeeuuup.
* RELATED TOPIX > [2016 US POTUS] CANDIDATES SHOULD START THINKING ABOUT TAIWAN.
Vee FUTURE-N-FINAL US-CHINA RELATIONS.
* TOPIX > [WaPo] US HEADING TOWARDS A DANGEROUS SHOWDOWN WID CHINA.
["Guam will capsize" = Pearl Harbor 1941 USN BB USS "Oklahoma" here].
* TIMES_OF_INDIA@TWITTER > CHINA, JAPAN BACK NORTH KOREA SANCTIONS AS KIM-JONG-UN WARNS OF [new] NUCLEAR WARHEAD TEST [+ also tests of various Rocket = Delivery Vehicle designs].
TWITTERHEAD = argued that the "US HAS NO BUSINESS IN ASIAN AFFAIRS, AND SHOULD GET OUT OF OKINAWA AND GUAM TOO".
Wehell now, lets just sink the BB USS "Oklahoma" - again - why don't we??
* DEFEENCE.PK/FORUMS > HILLARY CLINTON "DOES NOT WANT HER GRANDCHILDREN TO LIVE IN WORLD DOMINATED BY THE CHINESE".
Y-o-o-o-kay, WILL HILLARY FEEL BETTER IFF THE WORLD WAS MUSLIM OR ISLAMIC??? Both threaten Guam's Camel Rock.
Lest we fergit, "US-VS-CHINA" RIVALRY IN EAST ASIA-PACIFIC IS NOW THE "US-VS-CHINA-VS-NUCLEAR-ISLAM".
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Egypt will spare no effort to find and punish those who tortured and killed an Italian student in Cairo, the country's president Abdel Fattah al-Sissi said an interview published on Wednesday.
Giulio Regeni, 28, a Cambridge University researcher, was found in a ditch on the outskirts of Cairo on Feb. 3. His body was bruised and broken.
"I confirm that we will spare no efforts and continue to work with the Italian authorities to arrest the perpetrators, so that they can be punished according to the law," he told Italia's La Repubblica newspaper.
He called the incident "terrifying and unacceptable" and vowed to intensify cooperation with Italian Sherlocks.
Puntland troops have clashed with Al Shabaab fighters in deadly battle in the village of Suuj as forces are closing in on militant positions in Nugal region village of Godobjiran, Garowe Online reports.
On Wednesday morning, Puntland Defence Forces (PDFs) in armored vehicles raided militants regrouping in hideouts near Garmaal coastal village, 80km off former pirate hub, Eyl according to sources within the army. Puntland government officials have told that eleven Al Shabaab fighters were killed in the ongoing clean-up operations in areas along the Indian Ocean.
Speaking at a press conference in the State capital of Garowe, Information Minister Mohamud Hassan Soadde has indicated that they have gained upper hand in the ongoing fighting.
Puntland mobilized army units toward Nugal and Mudug coastal villages following Al Shabaab’s seizure of Garacad and Garmaal.
Meanwhile, Puntland Information Minister predicted that the anti-Al Shabaab operations could be concluded in 72 hours.
On Tuesday, senior Al Shabaab official identified as Saacid Karate delivered sermons in Garmaal, and pleaded with villagers—mainly fishermen—to cooperate in peaceful reciprocity.
Two Al Shabaab batches have so far reached Puntland, with another band advancing on Godobjiran where government troops are now stationed for potential Al Shabaab attack.
Puntland leveled a scathing criticism of UN-backed National Government for alleged role in Al Shabaab thrust, allegations denied by Interior Minister Abdirahman Odawa on VOA Somali Service.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/17/2016
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(IraqiNews.com) Nineveh – Eyewitnesses in Nineveh Province revealed, that the so-called ISIS kidnapped twenty-five Turkoman children from an orphanage in Mosul, and took them to a training camp in Talafar District.
ISIS booby-trapped the children to use them as human bombs against the Iraqi joint forces in the axes of Mosul.
The eyewitnesses reported for IraqiNews.com, “The terrorist organization intends to booby-trap the children to blow them up on the joint forces that are progressing to liberate the province in the near future.”
The witnesses added, “The children, who were kidnapped by ISIS from an orphanage, are ranging between ten to seventeen years old.”
[ARA News] ERBIL – Radical group of the Islamic State (ISIS) carried out an arrest campaign in several areas of the city of Mosul, northern Iraq, in search of suspects having links with the Iraqi army forces, local sources reported on Wednesday.
Speaking to ARA News in Mosul, media activist Abdulla al-Mulla said that ISIS militants raided a number of houses and public cafes in search of suspects “who are accused of spying for the Iraqi army and the Kurdish Peshmerga forces”.
Al-Mulla stressed that the Hisba members (ISIS security forces) accused dozens of civilians of having suspicious relations with the U.S.-led coalition forces along with the local ground troops.
“Daesh has blatantly entered the houses, shops and cafes in the city of Mosul and its environs,” al-Mulla said, using an acronym for ISIS.
The source pointed out that dozens of young men were arrested in the Yarmouk district of western Mosul.
This comes after confidential locations and headquarters for the terror group in the Yarmouk district were selectively hit by the U.S.-led coalition’s warplanes, causing heavy losses in ISIS ranks.
“Before the start of the security operation, ISIS called citizens over loudspeakers to evacuate their homes. The operation included extensive inspection campaigns on all communication devices, mobiles and computers,” al-Mulla stressed.
The source revealed that ISIS has recently intensified security campaigns on the residential areas, stepping up its presence among people, especially cafes, restaurants and schools, in a bid to arrest suspects for transferring information to the anti-ISIS forces.
Posted by: badanov ||
03/17/2016
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[IsraelTimes] Shuafat youth attempted to evade scrutiny at checkpoint; IDF, police shut down firearms workshop in Etzion bloc
Border Police officers tossed in the clink Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out! a 14-year-old Paleostinian boy on Wednesday morning at the entrance to the Shuafat refugee camp in Jerusalem after finding a knife in his possession.
Officers manning the checkpoint stopped the teen after noticing him jumping a turnstile in an attempt to evade their scrutiny as he exited the refugee camp.
A search of his clothes revealed the knife.
The youth told Sherlocks he planned to carry out a terror attack, the Border Police said.
Overnight Tuesday, IDF and police forces uncovered a workshop for fabricating parts of firearms in the village of Sawahra near the Etzion bloc, which lies south of Jerusalem.
Three men, identified as local residents, were arrested in the operation.
Troops found and confiscated an MP-5 rifle, a handgun and large quantities of ammunition, and destroyed the workshop, police said.
"The Israel Police operates in all parts of Judea and Samaria [the West Bank], in every place and time, against the phenomenon of the manufacture and possession of firearms, including improvised weapons," a police statement said. "Severe indictments will be filed against the suspects," the statement added.
Another seven Paleostinian suspects, including at least two members of Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,, were arrested in overnight raids in the West Bank, the army said.
[Ynet] An EU representative met with Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz Wednesday morning to discuss a timeline for the developement of Israel's offshore natural gas supply.
After the development of the Leviathan gas field, European interest has been piqued in regards to coming to Israel for Europe's energy needs.
The EU commissioner is expected to visit Israel on an official trip to discuss the issue soon.
I'd require an end to all BDS efforts as the price of negotiating, which is why they don't let me near such things.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The suspect bumped off in a Brussels shootout with police was found with an ISIS flag, a Kalashnikov assault rifle and a book of Salafist literature next to his body, Belgian prosecutors said on Wednesday.
Thierry Werts, a front man for anti-terror prosecutors, told a presser that the man had been identified as 35-year-old Belkaid Mohammed, an Algerian national who was illegally in Belgium.
"Next to the body was a Kalashnikov, a book on Salafism and an 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.... flag," Werts said.
Mohammed was "neutralized" by police snipers on Tuesday in response to heavy gunfire from the building where police on a routine search had stumbled upon him.
Werts said that "two persons who were probably in the flat and whose identity is not known expeditiously departed at a goodly pace and are being tracked down".
Searches throughout the southern district of Brussels found "no results", he said.
Prime Minister Charles Michel said a vast police operation was still under way in Brussels after the shootout in which four coppers were slightly maimed.
Belkaid was living in Belgium illegally and had a police record for theft, but was not on security watchlists.
Two people detained overnight on suspicion of links to the shootout in the suburb of Forest were released without charge.
Ten people are being held in Belgian custody on a variety of charges relating to the four-month investigation, though prime suspects, including Salah Abdeslam, a brother of one of the Gay Pareejacket wallahs, are suspected of having fled the country.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[AlAhram] Two-thirds of Syria's Christians have left the country, an Aleppo bishop said Wednesday, blaming violence and insecurity spread by krazed killer groups and insisting most Christians still support the Syrian president.
Chaldean Catholic bishop Antoine Audo said there were about 1.5 million Christians in the country before the start of the conflict in March 2011.
"I think now there are maybe 500,000. Two-thirds have left mainly due to the insecurity," he told news hounds in Geneva.
In the embattled northern city of Aleppo, the exodus was even greater, he said, with only around 40,000 of its once 160,000-strong Christian community remaining.
"You cannot imagine the dangers that we face every day," he said.
Wealthy Christians have all left, while "the middle classes have become poor and the poor have become miserable".
But he denied Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad One of the last of the old-fashioned hereditary iron-fisted fascist dictators... was to blame for the horrors of the Syria conflict, which has cost more than 270,000 lives in five years.
"There is no persecution of Christians" by the government, he said.
Rather, they are being "targeted" by jihadists such as 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 in a bid to "destabilise the Syrian society and transform the war into a confessional war".
Slamming the "propaganda" against Assad, he said he believed 80 percent of Christians in Syria would support him if he stood for reelection, and that overall support would be above 50 percent.
"Even the Sunnis will choose Bashir al-Assad," to ward off the krazed killers, he said.
Assad's fate is the key issue at peace talks in Geneva, with the main opposition insisting he must go before any transitional government can be agreed, but Damascus saying his removal is "a red line" for negotiations.
The bishop said Syria had long served as a model for how Muslim and Christian communities could live side-by-side and said the hatred on display had been "imported".
"I think... this war is not coming from inside Syria... I think all is organised from outside to destroy Syria."
#1
One place the Syrian Christians are NOT going to is the United States. The State Department has rejected more than 95% of refugee applications from Syrian Christians.
Al
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
03/17/2016 13:28
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[DAWN] THE religious right in the country is once again in a state of fervent agitation. Ostensibly, this is because the Punjab 1.) Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard
2.) A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers
3.) A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots.... Assembly recently passed a historic women’s rights law. Yet, other provinces have passed similar, arguably more robust, laws in recent times and there has been little outcry. The difference this time may be the straits the religious right has found itself in and its urgent need to put pressure on the federal government -- the PML-N -- to reverse policies that have caused it to lose ground in the public arena. The signs are several. The conference convened by the Jamaat-e-Islami ...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... in Mansoora on Tuesday saw many speakers veer away from the Punjab law and condemn the hanging of Mumtaz Qadri and the clampdown on the activities of the Tableeghi Jamaat. More remarkably, in attendance were avowed anti-democrats like Hafiz Saeed ...founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba and its false-mustache offshoot Jamaat-ud-Dawa. The United Nations declared the JuD a terrorist organization in 2008 and Hafiz Saeed a terrorist as its leader. Hafiz, JuD and LeT are wholly-owned subsidiaries of the Pak intel apparatus, so that amounted to squat... , whose interest in parliamentary democracy is nil. The constellation of ignominy that gathered in Mansoora clearly has wider goals than simply nullification of a pro-women law.
The recent fulminations of Fazlur Rehman, the JUI-F chief, give an indication of what those wider goals may be. In evoking the spectre of a PNA-style opposition alliance, the maulana appears to be seeking unity of the religious right so as to put concerted pressure on the centre, with the intention of either bringing down the federal government or aggressively increasing the public space for the religious right and its Lion of Islam partners. Behind those grand schemes lies a harsh reality: the JUI-F and its political and Lion of Islam cohorts face an existential crisis. The National Action Plan made explicit for the first time the need to combat religiously motivated militancy and also called for the regulation of the sprawling network of madressahs across the country. In truth, however, the slow collision between the state and religious right had already begun. The infamous outburst of Munawar Hassan in November 2013, in which the former JI chief condemned Pak soldiers drawing a sharp response from the military, may have set the parameters of conflict and dissent.
What remains to be seen is how firm the PML-N will stand in this ideological conflict between the forces of regression and those on the right side of history. Pakistain must return to the vision of its founding father and become the progressive, modern and thoroughly democratic country that the Quaid wanted it to be. Thus far, the PML-N has surprised with its willingness to dabble in more progressive and forward-thinking politics. Yet, its mettle has not truly been tested. The Punjab Assembly is little more than a rubber stamp for the Sharif family’s pet projects. The hanging of Mumtaz Qadri was cleared by the courts. Now comes the real baptism of fire -- stand firm and stand tall against the religious right and the PML-N will earn itself a place in history. Crumble now and history will be less forgiving.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[Imprimis.Hillsdale.edu] Excellent piece, not too long, about how the federal prosecutor of the Blind Sheik "came of age" in his need to understand sharia vis-a-vis his duties as prosecutor. Several great quotes from Churchill that I haven't seen elsewhere.
#3
Good speech by Anthony McCarthy, now of National Review. Four pages long, but they are short pages. One can see his experience in this controlled summation for the jury. This also is worth reading, for those interested in the American tradition of philanthropy -- among other things explaining the large number of colleges and universities in this country -- so I suspect the rest of the site is worth exploring. Nice find, Fairbanks!
[IsraelTimess] Royal Brunei Airlines cockpit staff members land Boeing jet plane in Saudi Arabia, which doesn't allow women to drive. Looks like they brought their "quick don" hijabs. Smart move.
Posted by: Vast Right Wing Conspiracy ||
03/17/2016
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#1
Big deal! Cars don't have auto-pilots!
OK, so I do see the irony of the article.
Posted by: Bobby ||
03/17/2016 13:09
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[DAWN] DAGGAR: Police claimed to have jugged Into the paddy wagon wit' yez! two suspected bandidosbully boyz having affiliation with Mullah Fazlullah ...son-in-law of holy man Sufi Mohammad. Known as Mullah FM, Fazlullah had the habit of grabbing his FM mike when the mood struck him and bellowing forth sermons. Sufi suckered the Pak govt into imposing Shariah on the Swat Valley and then stepped aside whilst Fazlullah and his Talibs imposed a reign of terror on the populace like they hadn't seen before, at least not for a thousand years or so. For some reason the Pak intel services were never able to locate his transmitter, much less bomb it. After ruling the place like a conquered province for a year or so, Fazlullah's Talibs began gobbling up more territory as they pushed toward Islamabad, at which point as a matter of self-preservation the Mighty Pak Army threw them out and chased them into Afghanistan... group. Both the arrested men carried head money.
Addressing a presser on Tuesday, District Police Officer Syed Khalid Hamdani said that one of the arrested murderous Moslems, Badsha Hussain, carried a bounty of Rs1 million and the other, Farman, Rs500,000 million.
The DPO flanked by SP Investigation Mohammad Arif Khan and DSP Pir Baba Farman Khan produced the veiled bandidosbully boyz before journalists.
The DPO said the arrested men were wanted to law-enforcement agencies for attacks on Gandigar cop shoppe in 2009.
He said as per record Badsha Hussain was trained at a Taliban centre in Bajaur Agency, aka Turban Central ...Smallest of the agencies in FATA. The Agency administration is located in Khar. Bajaur is inhabited almost exclusively by Tarkani Pashtuns, which are divided into multiple bickering subtribes. Its 52 km border border with Afghanistan's Kunar Province makes it of strategic importance to Pakistain's strategic depth... and Farman at Sadiqa Banda and Jabbar training centre in Upper Dir.
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[DAWN] A powerful bomb, detonated by a timing mechanism, destroyed a bus carrying babus government employees in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. on Wednesday, killing at least 15 people and causing injuries to 25.
The blast that took place near Peshawar's Sunehri Masjid targeted a Civil Secretariat bus which was carrying babus government employees from Mardan to the lovely provincial capital.
Fear and panic spread among residents in the wake of the kaboom and the area was cordoned off with the injured being shifted to the Lady Reading Hospital, where an emergency has been declared.
Superintendent of Police (SP) Cantonment Muhammad Kashif said the bomb was planted in the rear portion of the bus.
"Fifteen people were killed and 25 others were severely injured," added the police officer.
Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Peshawar Mubarak Zeb said the bus left for Peshawar from Malakand, picking up babus government employees on its route. The bus, which is parked at a petrol pump during the night, leaves for duty after morning prayers. Levis personnel provide security in the area, the CCPO said.
Malakand is closely linked to Bajaur Agency, aka Turban Central ...Smallest of the agencies in FATA. The Agency administration is located in Khar. Bajaur is inhabited almost exclusively by Tarkani Pashtuns, which are divided into multiple bickering subtribes. Its 52 km border border with Afghanistan's Kunar Province makes it of strategic importance to Pakistain's strategic depth... and Mohmand Agency ... Named for the Mohmand clan of the Sarban Pahstuns, a truculent, quarrelsome lot. In Pakistain, the Mohmands infest their eponymous Agency, metastasizing as far as the plains of Peshawar, Charsadda, and Mardan. Mohmands are also scattered throughout Pakistan in urban areas including Karachi, Lahore, and Quetta. In Afghanistan they are mainly found in Nangarhar and Kunar... , which are sensitive areas, he said.
Bomb Disposal Unit personnel claimed that high-grade explosives weighing eight kilograms was used in the attack.
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... (KP) Information Adviser Mushtaq Ghani told DawnNews Chief Minister Pervaiz Khattak condemned the blast and issued directives to provide proper medical care to the maimed.
He said the employees were travelling in a privately-operated bus and that the government cannot ensure security of private vehicles. It was the responsibility of the contractor, Ghani said, adding that usually checks are carried out before the bus leaves its station.
This is not the first time that a civil secretariat bus has been targeted in Peshawar. Similar attacks in 2012 and 2013 killed at least 38 people.
Peshawar has seen scores of attacks on civilians as well as law enforcement personnel in the past. The city is also the home to the XI Corps, an administrative corp of the Pakistain Army which manages all military activity in KP and is currently engaged in a full-blown operation in North Wazoo.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] Afghanistan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations ...a formerly good idea gone bad... Mahmoud Saikal raised the issue of cross-border incursions by Pakistain during a debate by United Nations Security Council on Afghanistan.
"We welcome the growing voice of reason within Pakistain calling for a change in the right direction. In light of that, we want an immediate end to regular incursions along the Durand Line, which cannot and will not be tolerated by Afghanistan," Saikal said.
Saikal further added "In the last three months alone, we have documented at least 56 instances of violation to the illusory sovereignty and territorial integrity of Afghanistan across the Durand Line, breaching article 2 (4) of the UN Charter and contrary to UN resolution 2131."
He said the continued border violations by Pakistain jeopardizes the relations between the nations which comes at a time when making peace with Pakistain is essential to making peace with the Taliban.
The cross-border violations by Pak military was at its peak before the formation of the government of national unity late in 2014, but the provocative moves reduced by a larger extent last year.
In the latest provocative move by Pak military, the Pak air force helicopters infiltrated inside the Afghan soil in eastern Kunar province ... which is right down the road from Chitral. Kunar is Haqqani country..... of Afghanistan with the local officials saying the helicopters dropped bombs on certain areas in this province.
The Pak military used to fire scores of artillery shells on daily basis to eastern Kunar and Nuristan provinces as well as other provinces located along the Durand Line.
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[Hurriyet Daily News] Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him... has reiterated his call to broaden the definition of "terrorists" to include supporters of "terrorism" while also expressing his eagerness to strike the country’s enemies even harder.
"If the state doesn’t strike its [iron] fist in a velvet glove on the heads of terrorists, they will continue hurting us each day. This issue has no relation to human rights ...which are often intentionally defined so widely as to be meaningless... , freedom of thought, freedom of press and democracy. Those who use these concepts along with ‘terror’ and ‘terrorist’ should know that they have been making our nation’s conscience bleed," Erdogan said.
In the aftermath of a March 13 suicide kaboom, which killed 37 people and maimed more than 120 people in the third major suicide kaboom to hit Ankara in the past five months, Erdogan said there was a need to form a "national coalition" against all threats aimed at The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... Erdogan emphasized that the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), which focuses on the Kurdish issue, was not part of his concept of the nation.
"I’m no longer seeing members of the party which acts as a side branch of the terrorist organization [the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party - PKK] as legitimate political actors, no offense," he said March 16, in an apparent reference to the HDP which he and the government frequently accuse of siding with the PKK.
"Here, I repeat once more, we should immediately redefine ‘terror’ and ‘terrorist.’ We should immediately amend the Penal Code according to this new definition. We should provide all kinds of legal and technical opportunities to our security forces, prosecutors and judges to enable them to effectively fight against terror and terrorists," he said.
"We have seen how the so-called intellectuals approached the incidents even in this one, haven’t we? You’ve seen it. You have seen how some rags made some kind of reports. There are headlines like ‘Damn your presidential system.’ We don’t have such a problem," Erdogan said.
Erdogan’s comments, in a speech addressing a group of village and neighborhood chiefs (muhtars) at the presidential palace, came after a bigwig from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) told Rooters earlier in the day that Turkey was working on widening the "terror crime" definition to include those who use the media to support or praise acts of violence.
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#1
What's with the velvet glove? Sounds kinky. But wouldn't it get all soiled and torn?
"Unleash the bats from the belfry! Serve the pigs in the blankets!"
[ARA News] RUMELAN – The local Kurdish administrations linked to the Democratic Union Party (PYD) are planning to announce a local federal state, during the upcoming Kurdish new years celebrations on 21 March.
On Wednesday, 200 delegates from parties and organizations from Syria held a conference in the oil-rich town of Rumelan in Hasakah province to discuss the establishment of a federal political system in Kurdish areas of Syria, also known as Rojava.
The meeting, titled ‘federal Syria is a guarantee for a common life and brotherhood of nations’, included Kurdish, Arab, Christian and Armenian delegates.
Speaking to ARA News, Idris Nassan, a Kurdish official from the local administration in Kobane, said that federalism is one of the key demands of Kurds in Syria.
“Every step we are making is moving towards it, and it’s now time to declare it, and to have more components join it,” he said. “The SDF [Syrian Democratic Forces] and the YPG [People’s Protection Units] could liberate much more of the north of Syria from ISIS, and they are looking to liberate the remaining areas.”
“Federalism will match the diversity of northern Syria, and guarantee democracy and equality for them all,” Nassan emphasized.
Rodi Hesen, a media analyst for the monitoring website Insightkurdistan, told ARA News that announcing a federal system is an important step for Syria. “Syria could not be a centralized state anymore, the ongoing civil war ends the unity of Syria,” he said.
The exclusion of the Kurdish PYD party from the Geneva talks could be one of the main reasons that the Kurds accelerated the process of announcing a federal state in northern Syria.
“Moreover, neither the regime nor opposition have a positive position towards the Kurdish national rights, so it’s better to impose it in a de-facto style,” he stated.
Bashar Ja’afari, Syria’s U.N. ambassador, on Wednesday condemned federalism. “Kurds are an important component of the Syrian people… So betting on creating any kind of divisions among the Syrians will be a total failure,” he said.
However, Hesen thinks that US and Russia might back federalism in Syria. “This system would not face rejection from both Russia and USA,” he told ARA News.
“Recently, Russia and USA have been discussing possibilities of federalism scenario in Syria. I do not think that federalism will be announced formally before the YPG expels ISIS from other predominately Kurdish areas such as Azaz, Jarablus and Al-Bab north of Aleppo province.”
US officials said they will not recognize a semi-autonomous Kurdish region, but will not be against federalism if the Syrians want it.
“We have not and will not recognize any self-rule, semi-autonomous zone. We remain committed to the unity and territorial integrity of Syria,” U.S. State Department deputy spokesman Mark Toner said on Wednesday.
Syrian Kurds plan to combine the three Kurdish-led autonomous areas of northern Syria into a federal system, a step that may raise Turkey’s ire, which fears the establishment of a Kurdish entity in Syria would sparking its own Kurdish population.
Speaking to ARA News in Rumelan, Ahmed Araj, spokesman of the Syrian Democratic Alliance (SDA), said that there is an international effort sponsored by Russia and the U.S. to stop violence in Syria, and start implementing concrete steps for a peaceful solution to preserve the unity of the country.
“The geographic distribution of the military forces in Syria indicates that the country has been actually divided up on the ground. The federal system is the best solution for the future of Syria to guarantee the rights of its social components,” Araj said.
“We, at the SDA [major Arab political bloc in Rojava], adopt the principle of political decentralization. We have approved this in the first conference of Derik when the Syrian Democratic Council was founded; we believe decentralization and the federal system is one of the best formulas for solution in Syria,” he stressed.
[AlAhram] Three suspected Al-Qaeda holy warriors on a cycle of violence were killed Wednesday as a bomb they were transporting went kaboom! in the southern Yemeni city of Aden, a security official said.
He said the motorbike blew up in the Dar Saad neighbourhood of the city, the scene of fighting has raged between Islamist holy warriors and government forces.
Security officials said 26 Al-Qaeda gunnies have been killed since the festivities began at the weekend, adding that the Islamist holy warriors have vacated government buildings in the Mansura district.
Many Islamist holy warriors have already pulled out from Aden and withdrawn to their strongholds in the nearby provinces of Abyan ...a governorate of Yemen. The region was a base to the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army terrorist group until it dropped the name and joined al-Qaeda. Its capital is Zinjibar. In March 2011, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula declared the governate an Islamic Emirate after seizing control of the region. The New York Times fastidiously reported that those in control, while Islamic hard boyz, are not in fact al-Qaeda, but something else that looks, tastes, smells, and acts the same. Yemeni government forces launched an effort to re-establish control of the region when President-for-Life Saleh was tossed and the carnage continues... and restive Lahj ... a Yemeni governate located in the southwestern corner of the Arabian Peninsula. It is the stomping grounds on the southern secessionist al-Harak movement , one official said.
Another official said Salafist Islamists were trying to mediate a truce, but holy warriors were refusing to hand over areas they control.
Al-Qaeda and 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 have taken advantage of Yemen's conflict between Iran-backed Shia Houthi ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews ... rebels and pro-government forces to reinforce their presence in the south.
Warplanes from a pro-government, Saudi-led coalition targeted Islamist holy warriors in Aden over the weekend for the first time since it mounted a campaign against the rebels in March last year.
The coalition helped loyalists regain control of four southern provinces last summer, including Aden, the temporary base of the government.
The capital Sanaa has remained in rebel hands since September 2014.
The World Health Organization says more than 6,200 people have been killed in the conflict since March 2015 and the United Nations ...an idea whose time has gone... has warned of a "human catastrophe unfolding in Yemen".
The family of a Miami teenager who was shot and killed while burglarizing a home is blasting the homeowner for defending her property.
Trevon Johnson, 17, died Thursday following a gunshot wound from the owner, Gwendolyn Jenrette, who shot him as he fled from her house after breaking into it, according to police.
#3
If 'Obama's son' was fleeing while shot, Ms. Jenrette may be in trouble, both criminal and financial - certainly would be in many states, but Florida is not quite so accepting of home invasions.
#4
When the family pipes up like this, the Israeli approach to families of terrorists should be followed. We've had the same attitude displayed here. Early morning, individual walks into a Dunkin Donuts, pulls a gun on the clerk. Clerk pulls own gun, kills assailant. Family member shows up days later in a hysterical fit for killing their kindred. We're probably different than Florida. No jury here would convict someone defending their lives or property (as the local 'authorities' can't claim they're doing a bang up job themselves). Insurance is not an excuse for theft, you are stealing that part of one's life one worked for to attain. That time can not be replaced. That time is gone. We only have so much time on this planet.
#5
Just another tragic tale of workplace firearms violence! Really if you want money that bad you should have told your son about stealing wire from the FPL substations. When those guys get fried the family gets a go away settlement. Because the power company can use legal expenses to keep them from having excessive profits. Of course you have to split it with Dewey, Cheatum and Howe.
#6
The basic complaint is that homeowner already called the police so she didn't "have to" shoot. The reality is, that Trevon The Honor Student would have learned that he could repeat offend with impunity.
Instead he learned that crime does not pay, which is something they can carve on his headstone, so that his family can read and learn (if they can).
Posted by: regular joe ||
03/17/2016 10:51
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#7
Should have taught him how to work and feed himself. I know you idiots don't.
You know, they are stealing from society then if they don't work, can and collect welfare.
#9
Sometimes, when stories like this pop up, I feel like people like these families see crime as a valid career choice. It's just another job. This viewpoint, if I am even half right, would explain a lot of what looks otherwise as dim-wittery.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
03/17/2016 12:16
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#10
Whiskey Mike if they saw crime as a job they would not do it.
Posted by: regular joe ||
03/17/2016 13:55
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#11
I think instead of 3 felonies and you get life, it should really be 3 felonies and you get to ride the nitrogen chamber. It'd keep the prisons empty and you can use them for organ donors. By the time you've been convicted three times for felonies, your value to society is completely negative with no hope for redemption.
#12
Thank Lyndon Johnson's Great Society for destroying the black family by massive welfare and no responsibility, just to get votes.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/17/2016 15:23
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#13
Whiskey Mike - it's called Black Privilege.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
03/17/2016 15:33
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#14
Law functions in society where it is both viewed as moral and a deterrent. Where the subset of society has no moral compass, or worse, a lifeview that imprisonment is a rite of passage, law mostly fails as a deterrent. So, enhanced law enforcement is added to the more criminal portions of the society. Now, we have reached a point in the manipulation of race as a policy tool, that the disproportionate number of minorities in custody is a reality, and only two explanations are reasonable: either minorities commit crimes at a disproportionate rate, or the system is racist. Since the first is a politically unacceptable answer, it must be the second. So, now the more criminal subset of society gets to further enhance the victim card debt and act out. Voila unrest coming to a neighborhood near you....
#15
NoMoreBS nails it. This is why CA is full steam ahead with releasing an additional 40,000 criminals early. In 2015, violent crime in CA rose 20% bucking a near 12 year trend. Property crime up close to 150% (see OP). For the Dems, this is real, measurable progress towards what NoMoreBS posits.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
03/17/2016 17:34
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#16
Alaska Paul, and the unions that drove the big auto companies into the ground. Cost a lot of black jobs.
And increases in minimum wage that replaced unskilled blacks with illegal Mexicans who could be paid under the table.
[DAWN] Afghanistan's Caped PresidentAshraf 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. .. played down on Tuesday recent failures to jumpstart peace talks with the Taliban, instead choosing to highlight recent successes against fighters of the hard boyIslamic 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.... (IS) group in Afghanistan.
Taliban have made significant gains in recent months, briefly capturing the northern city of Kunduz and threatening to overrun multiple districts in the southwest.
The latest efforts to bring them to the negotiating table faltered when the hard boy group issued a statement refusing to participate.
Mr Ghani, facing rising domestic criticism and eager to ensure continued international aid, has publicly focused on a military campaign in eastern Afghanistan aimed at IS, often referred to as Daesh [Islamic State], which has struggled to replicate its successes in Iraq and Syria.
"Daesh [Islamic State] is on the run," he said at a joint news conference with NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, responding to a direct question about the Taliban. "They are running for cover."
"No quarter would be given" to IS fighters, he added. A combination of air strikes by US warplanes and "massive" ground operations by Afghan forces had left IS reeling, he said.
Mr Stoltenberg reiterated that the coalition had no intention of sending combat troops back to fight in Afghanistan, more than a year after the NATO-coalition declared an end to its combat mission.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/17/2016
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At least 24 people are dead and 23 injured after an attack by two female suicide bombers on a mosque on the outskirts of Maiduguri in north-east Nigeria, officials have said. One bomber blew herself up inside the mosque and the second waited outside to detonate as survivors tried to escape, said Abba Aji, a coordinator from the civilian self-defence Vigilante Group.
The mosque is in the Boko Haram stronghold of Umarari on the outskirts of the city, which is a command centre for the Nigerian military’s war against Boko Haram Islamic insurgents. In recent months, suicide bombers have blown themselves up at roadblocks manned by the military and vigilantes that lead into the city, indicating success in preventing attackers from reaching crowded areas.
Wednesday’s attack during dawn prayers is the first attack on Maiduguri since 28 December, when Boko Haram killed at least 50 people in an operation involving rocket-propelled grenades and multiple suicide bombers.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/17/2016
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[IsraelTimes] Qassem Fared Jaber, 31, was involved in two failed attacks during Second Intifada, assisted in other deadly attacks
Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,’s military wing on Wednesday said a Paleostinian assailant, recently killed during a car-ramming attack on Israeli soldiers near Hebron, was a former member of a West Bank terror cell.
Qassem Fared Jaber, 31, along with Amir Fouad al-Janadi, 22, both from Hebron, plowed their car into a hitchhiking post on Monday near the settlement of Kiryat Arba, emerged from the vehicle, and opened fire. One soldier was lightly hurt by gunfire.
Troops at the scene shot the attackers and killed them, the IDF confirmed in a statement.
Jaber, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam statement said, once belonged to a West Bank sleeper cell during the Second Intifada.
The cell, named "swift death" or "Eztion," was formed late in 2004 and disbanded by Israeli security forces early in 2006.
Jaber, according to Hamas, took part in four terrorist attacks while in the cell. Two of the attacks failed and in two attacks, in which Israelis were killed, he served in a logistical capacity, the terror group said.
The first attempted attack was a shooting on Israeli soldiers inside the Old City of Jerusalem. The terrorist’s weapon failed to fire and he bravely ran away after Israeli soldiers returned fire. Jaber also took part in an earlier attempted attack near Kiryat Arba while a member of the terror cell. According to Hamas, Jaber drove a group of gunnies near the West Bank settlement. The gunnies targeted a civilian car, but once again, their weapons jammed and they escaped unharmed from the scene.
Jaber later reportedly took on a logistical role in two attacks near his hometown: a drive-by shooting near the village of Jabal al-Sanadis in which an Israeli was killed and another shooting attack near the Israeli settlement Beit Hagai, in which two Israel soldiers were killed.
According to a statement from the Shin Bet internal Israeli security service, Jaber was tossed in the slammer Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up! twice for his work with Hamas, from 2001-2003 and from 2006-2009.
Army front man Peter Lerner, contacted by AFP, said the Hamas claim on Wednesday "doesn’t come as such a huge surprise."
"We do see an attempt by Hamas to take advantage of the violence in the region. We have seen this in several attempts to establish new infrastructure" in the West Bank, Lerner said.
Jaber’s partner in last Monday’s attack, al-Janadi, had no prior criminal record according to the statement. The two had worked together in the same vegetable shop in Hebron.
Germany has urged its citizens to leave Turkey due to the threat of new terrorist attacks in this country, said the message from German embassy in Turkey.
Earlier, Germany’s Federal Foreign Office urged the country’s citizens not to travel to Turkey. Moreover, the Federal Foreign Office recommended the country’s citizens, who are currently in Turkey, to avoid crowded places.
Turkish police have recently warned that the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) terrorist group plans to commit a series of terror attacks in the country’s large cities from March 20 to March 30.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/17/2016
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#1
This is NOT true. There is no statement to leave Turkey nor a warning not to travel to Turkey.
The German Foreign Office warns of travels to the Turkish region bordering Syria and asks to exercise caution in the rest of the country.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
03/17/2016 19:14
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#4
The French post the same advice as the Germans. Caution and avoid certain areas.
Urging Germans to leave Turkey would be quite a thing. I bet there are currently more than 100000 Germans vacationing in Turkey and Easter holidays start on Saturday.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
03/17/2016 21:32
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And after the blast, Germany is certainly sensitized.
http://www.zeit.de/index
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] Pakistain likely has been dragging its feet on bringing the Afghan Taliban to the negotiation table with Afghan government.
A Pak news agency says that Islamabad is reluctant to host face-to-face meeting between Afghan government and Taliban and therefore it has informed 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.... to remain in direct contacts with Taliban’s Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates... office in this regard.
This comes as a decision was made in the fourth Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG), formed by peace negotiators from Afghanistan, Pakistain, the United States and China, meeting that the upcoming peace talks between Afghan government and Taliban would take place in Islamabad.
The Express Tribune reports that sources privy to the development said Pakistain is wary of the pressure that comes to it in the event of hosting the talks and the expectation from it to bring all Taliban factions to the negotiating table.
The media outlet citing reports says that bringing the main Taliban groups to table may be a Herculean task as the Taliban seem all set for their Spring Offensive.
The news also comes a day after reports suggested that Taliban have rejected pressure by Pakistain for peace talks with Afghan government.
The agreement to revive stalled peace talks with Taliban was reached during a meeting between 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. .. and Pak Prime Minister Mohammad Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... on the sideline of the "Heart of Asia" conference in Islamabad.
Although, Kabul had lost trust on Islamabad’s faith in the grinding of the peace processor and therefore was not willing to discuss the matter again but President Ghani said yes for meeting PM Nawaz Sharif after a delegation from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... and Quetta convinced him for giving it another try.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/17/2016
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[DAWN] SOON after the military high command announced on Monday that Operation Zarb-e-Azb ..the Pak offensive against Qaeda in Pakistain and the Pak Taliban in North Wazoo. The name refers to the sword of the Prophet (PTUI!)... was being wound down in Fata, turbans struck Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. as a timed device went kaboom! in a bus carrying babus government employees. As per reports, the banned Lashkar-e-Islam ...a group of Islamic bandidos infesting Khyber Agency. It's headed by a former bus driver.... ’s supremo Mangal Bagh ...a former bus driver, now head of the Deobandi bandido group Lashkar-e-Islam and the Terror of Khyber Agency... grabbed credit for yesterday’s atrocity; the bad boy leader ‘justified’ the bombing because of the recent ratification of death sentences by the army chief of convicts linked to the proscribed TTP, as well as the armed forces’ overall efforts against militancy. So while the army leadership is talking of wrapping up combat operations in the tribal belt, there is no reason to assume that the challenge of fighting terrorism in the rest of the country is over. After all, while LI claimed Wednesday’s attack (this is the first act of bad boy violence claimed by the group after a lengthy period), the TTP’s Jamaatul Ahrar ...A Pak Taliban splinter group that split off from the Mullah Fazlullah faction because it wasn't violent enough... was responsible for the bombing which targeted courts in Charsadda last week. This shows that though the bully boyz might be scattered or on the run, they have not lost their ability to wreak havoc on society.
Those familiar with the area say there is no proper clearance of who is boarding buses meant for babus government employees headed to Peshawar from the districts. This situation needs to be addressed so that vehicles carrying state employees are properly checked for explosives and no unconcerned person is able to board them. Coming to the larger problem of militancy, the military announced after the corps commanders’ conference that intelligence-based operations would be intensified countrywide. After destroying the bad boys’ infrastructure and bases, this is among the best ways to proceed in order to root out holy warrior fighters and their sympathisers across Pakistain and prevent further acts of terrorism. For this, the military must work in tandem with the civilian law-enforcement and intelligence agencies, as they have an ear to the ground in the cities and towns. We must not delude ourselves by assuming that victory against militancy is near; by all indications, this will be a long war. For decades, we let the monster of religious militancy grow. Neutralising it will not be a short-term exercise. Gains have indeed been made in the counterterrorism effort, with the soldiers, and ordinary men, women and kiddies of the country paying a price in blood. But the goal of a terrorism-free country will only be realised if the state continues to counter militancy and extremism with commitment.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/17/2016
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Heavy clashes between Puntland forces and Al shabaab militants have erupted on Wednesday at Suuj area, 30Km away from the coastal town of Eyl in Nugal region.
Clearly the undercard in the region...
The battle broke out when Puntland forces attacke Al shabaab militants at the area, sparking exchange of heavy weaponory used by the two sides, according to the residents. It is not clear the casualties of the fighting at Suuj village, with reports that Loud explosions and sporadic fire could be heard on Wednesday morning.
Puntland has held an emergecny security meeting in Garowe town to discuss the latest Al shabaab attacks on its territory, especially in Nugal and Mudug regions.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/17/2016
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ISLAMABAD: The Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) has seized 157 kg or durgs during eights raids conducted in different parts of the country. The ANF also impounded sixteen persons including a foreigner.
[Hurriyet Daily News] Al-Qaeda’s North African branch said its attack on a beach resort in Ivory Coast on March 13 that killed 18 people was Dire Revenge for a French offensive against Islamist holy warriors in the Sahel region ... North Africa's answer to the Pak tribal areas... and called for its forces to withdraw.
The raid in Grand Bassam claimed by al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb was the first of its kind in Ivory Coast but the third in the region since November 2015.
It was also a setback for La Belle France, who lost four of its nationals when gunnies opened fire on people eating lunch at restaurants and sunning themselves on the sand.
"We repeat our call to all countries involved in the French invasion of Mali to withdraw," the group said in a statement.
It named the attackers but gave no further details of their identities.
La Belle France is a key player in security in West Africa with about 3,500 troops in the region. It has also joined a campaign 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.... of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), which is based in Iraq and Syria.
Gay Paree is to station a force of armed gendarmes in the capital of Burkina Faso ...The country in west Africa that they put where Upper Volta used to be. Its capital is Oogadooga, or something like that. Its president is currently Blaise Compaoré, who took office in 1987 and will leave office feet first, one way or the other... to react swiftly in the event of another attack in the region and to provide training, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said on March 15.
"The desire to position this [gendarmerie] team in Ouagadougou is to enable us to immediately dispense advice and coordinate other actions in the event of a terrorist crisis," Cazeneuve said.
He was speaking during a visit with Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault to Ivory Coast that aims to reassure the large French community and boost the investigation into the attack in Grand Bassam.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/17/2016
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[Ynet] Kosovo police say they have arrested two Albanian men charged with funding terrorist activities and recruiting people for Islamic extremist groups in Syria and Iraq.
Police said Wednesday that one man was arrested in Prizren, 82 kilometers (50 miles) south of the capital, Pristina. He is suspected of recruiting two persons who were stopped by police before leaving the country in December.
The other, a businessman, was arrested in Ferizaj, 36 kilometers (22 miles) south of Pristina. He has been investigated since 2014 on suspicion of recruiting and funding people who are in Syria and Iraq, some of them reportedly dead or already arrested.
[Hurriyet Daily News] The Venice Commission, the legal advisory body of the Council of Europe, has recommended changes to the crime of "insulting the president," and "degrading Turkish nation, state and its organs and instutitons, pointing to increase in related cases and penalties tied to the first and the "vague wording" of the latter.
On Article 299, the code on insulting the president, the resolution said "Having regard to the excessive and growing use of this article, the commission considers that, in the Turkish context, the only solution to avoid further violations of the freedom of expression is to completely repeal this Article and to ensure that application of the general provision on insult is consistent with these criteria."
The commision also reccommanded change in Article 301 on degrading the state and the nation. "It is recommended that the provision be redrafted and further amended with the aim of making all the notions used in it clear and specific. Further, the application of this provision should be limited to statements inciting violence and hatred," read a March 15 report by the commission.
The resolution came upon a request from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe to "analyze the conformity with European human rights ...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty... standards of Articles 216, 301 and 314 of the Turkish Penal Code as well as their application in practice," it said.
"The commission underlines that the prosecution of individuals and convictions in particular by lower courts, which have a chilling effect on the freedom of expression, must cease," it said over the three codes.
"No progress has been made and [the code’s] use has recently increased substantially," it said on Article 299, presenting examples from European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... countries.
Insulting the head of state was decriminalized in Hungary in 1994 and the Czech Republic in 1998, the commission said.
"In Germany, although the Penal Code provides for the offence of defamation of the president, in 2000, the Federal Constitutional Court stated that even harsh political criticism, however unjust, does not constitute such an ‘offence 59,’ and the provision is rarely, if ever, used," it said.
In the Netherlands, it remains a crime to intentionally insult the king and certain members of the royal family, but the most recent conviction for the offence was in the 1960s it added.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/17/2016
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#1
I am really glad I don't live in Europe. At the moment, anyway, I can insult Obama to my heart's content.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
03/17/2016 9:38
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#2
The Europeans can insult Obama to their hearts' content as well.
[RefugeeResettlementWatch] Of course, what else do you expect. They will never admit that the UN/US Refugee Admissions Program is flawed and should be reformed because their whole livelihoods depend on it continuing exactly like it is with their phony non-profit organizations almost completely funded by you, the taxpayer.
They want you to keep paying for their "religious" charity, but leave them alone to run their "businesses" and their "clients" their way--the way they have been since their hero Teddy Kennedy pushed the bill that became the Refugee Act of 1980 through Congress.
Posted by: Vast Right Wing Conspiracy ||
03/17/2016
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KARACHI – The personnel of law-enforcement agencies recovered abducted children and a youth, and arrested seven kidnappers during operations in different areas here in the wee hours of Wednesday.
According to Rangers spokesman, a youth, Kashan, was lifted on March 12 from the city area of Defence for ransom worth RS.120 million. Receiving the report, personnel of Rangers Special Task Cell and Rangers gathered evidences from the site.
Earlier, Kashan was freed in return for Rs.300,000 on Queens Road. The paratroopers arrested an abductor, Adnan and later, on his identification, apprehended his two accomplices. Rangers also recovered weapons from the abductors.
Meantime, police launched an action in Sharafi Goth and recovered kidnapped children from captivity. Four abductors were also captured in the raid.
[TheGuardian] The EU is preparing to scale back the number of Syrian refugees offered resettlement in Europe, as part of a controversial pact being drawn up with Turkey. The bloc’s 28 leaders will hold a summit in Brussels on Thursday, before a meeting the Turkish prime minister, Ahmet Davutoğlu, on Friday, to hammer out the final details of a plan aimed at stemming the flow of refugees and migrants coming to Europe.
More than 1.1 million refugees and migrants came to Europe in 2015, including around 363,000 Syrians who lodged asylum applications, while 143,634 people have arrived in Greece from Turkey this year so far, according to figures from the UN high commissioner for the successful permanent establishment of perpetual refugees (UNHCR).
The EU has pledged to resettle Syrian refugees currently in Turkey, but figures that emerged on Wednesday suggested only 72,000 places would be available, with uncertainty about the bloc’s commitment beyond this number.
Continued on Page 49
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] At least anti-government armed snuffies were killed and 3 others were maimed during a clearance operation by the Afghan national security forces in eastern Kunar province ... which is right down the road from Chitral. Kunar is Haqqani country..... of Afghanistan.
The Ministry of Defense (MoD) said the operations are part of the ongoing operations which were launched on Tuesday to suppress the growing activities of the bad boys.
A statement by MoD said the operations are led by 201st Corps of the Afghan National Army in coopration with the Afghan national and border police and Afghan intelligence operatives.
The statement further added that the operations are being conducted along the highways of Asmar, Nari, Ghaziabad up to Jalalabad city.
The Afghan forces are supported by the Afghan Air Force who are providing close-air support to the Afghan forces during the operations.
The anti-government armed bad boy groups have not commented regarding the report so far.
Kunar is among the volatile provinces in eastern Afghanistan where anti-government armed snuffies are actively operating in its various districts and often carry out insurgency activities.
Insurgents belonging to the Afghan Taliban group as well as the foreign snuffies are operating in this province which is located along the Durand Line and close to the tribal regions of Pakistain.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/17/2016
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[Daily Excelsior] The NIA has jugged Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try! 24 people for alleged links with ISIS, government today said, making it clear that only a very few youths from India were attracted to the dreaded terror group.
"The National Investigation Agency and the police in some states have registered cases and arrested some active cadres affiliated to ISIS in the recent past. So far, NIA has arrested 24 accused in the cases being investigated by the agency," Minister of State for Home Haribhai Parathibhai Chaudhary said in Rajya Sabha.
The Minister said the outfit uses both positive and negative imagery to attract recruits from across the world but it has influenced or attracted very few youths from India.
"The ISIS is using various internet based platforms for propaganda and to propagate its ideology. The intelligence and security agencies monitor the cyber space closely to identify potential recruits and keep them under surveillance and take further action, if necessary," he said in a written reply.
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03/17/2016
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Top|| File under: Islamic State
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The United States warned Wednesday that it would not recognize an attempt by Kurdish groups in war-torn Syria to form an autonomous federal region.
Washington has supported and encouraged the Kurdish parties of the area in their fight against a common foe, the ISIS turban group.
But the State Department said Wednesday it would not support the breakup of the country and that any new federal model would have to emerge from peace talks.
"We've been very clear that we won't recognize any self-rule autonomous zones within Syria," front man Mark Toner told news hounds.
"This is something that needs to be discussed and agreed upon by the relevant parties in Geneva and then by the Syrian people themselves."
Representatives of Bashir al-Assad's government and of the opposition ranged against him are negotiating an end to the civil war under UN auspices in Geneva.
But parties representing Syria's Kurdish minority have not been invited to the talks and are instead trying to create a unified region of their own.
Any bid to expand an existing system of self-rule will anger The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... , wary of anything that might encourage Kurdish separatism within its own borders.
More than 150 delegates from Kurdish, Arab, Assyrian and other parties met Wednesday in Rmeilan, in Syria's northeastern Hasakeh province.
The meeting adjourned in the early evening and will reconvene on Thursday, when a decision on declaring a semi-autonomous northern region will be announced.
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Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
#1
Since the Kurds have been our allies in the fight against ISIS, they, in Kerry's mind, have committed the sin of being our allies.
Therefore it is entirely just to exclude them from peace negotiations and oppose their own efforts to organize the areas under their control in Syria.
This is exactly what the British did to the
Jews of Palestine, who served as Commandoes in the British army while no Arab in the entire middle east lifted a finger for the British. So the British convened a group to plan for the future of the area. That group was given the name of the Arab League, and naturally the
Jews were not invited. This did not end well for the British. Kerry's plan won't end well for us.
#3
Our current regime doesn't recognize American regions in the US. Texas, California etc. are considered open, international areas where anyone can go, stay and expect lots of freebies.
#4
Recognize a Syrian Kurdish state and you create half of a revived Kurdistan. The other half is in Turkey and our NATO ally Turkey would be outraged. OTOH, remembering many of their slights over the decade maybe we approach a ..."rats ass" level of interest.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The Iraqi cabinet has decided not to authorize a protest camp by followers of holy man Moqtada Sadr which had been due to begin Friday in front of the fortified "Green Zone".
Tens of thousands of Sadr supporters have been preparing for a days-long sit-in in central Baghdad aimed at pressuring the government to implement deeper political reform.
"Staging a sit-in is not permitted by law, especially in the current security circumstances, notably the threat by terrorist groups and the potential for this gathering to be targeted," a cabinet statement said Wednesday.
"The security forces are busy with the fight against Daesh [Islamic State] (ISIS) and it is not possible to guarantee the protection of this gathering at all times," it said.
The cabinet stressed that it "supports the demonstrations demanding government reforms" and has protected one-day protests by the Sadr movement in recent weeks.
The Najaf-based Sadr had urged his supporters on March 12 to prepare tents for a protest camp supposed to begin on Friday and last until the expiry 10 days later of an ultimatum he gave the government.
A month ago, the Shiite holy man gave Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi 45 days to present the names of technocrats for a new government.
Sadrists have held a series of massive rallies in central Baghdad, with thousands turning out last week for the latest protest to press their demands.
The presence a week earlier of armed Sadr supporters outside the Green Zone -- where Abadi's office, parliament and the US embassy are located -- sparked intense security concerns.
In the protest that he attended in Baghdad three week ago, Sadr threatened that his supporters could storm the Green Zone if their demands were not met.
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[USNINews] On Monday — less than half a year after Russia announced its intervention in Syria — President Vladimir Putin stated that beginning Tuesday, Russia would begin withdrawing “the main part” of its air forces from the country’s civil war.
The announcement preceded a phone call with U.S. President Barack Obama, in which Russia claimed that its withdrawal was part of a gesture intended to bolster the “start of a true peace process” with the resumption of talks in Geneva today. Yet this statement came on the heels of Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s suggestion that Russia would be supporting the U.S.-led Coalition’s campaign against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS or ISIL) in Raqqa with its own assault on ISIS positions further south in Palmyra.
Even in announcing withdrawal, Putin also made clear that Russia would continue a “routine” military presence not only at the pre-war Tartus naval base, but also the Khmeimim air base purpose-built for its 2015 intervention. Yet while the scale and scope of this withdrawal remain to be seen, the announcement of the policy alone sends important signals about the evolving shape of Russia’s political and military commitment to the Bashar al Assad regime.
Continued on Page 49
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Listen to me Vlad, this is what these bastids are up to. 
Venezuela is shutting down for a week as the government struggles with a deepening electricity crisis.
"The U.S. Air Force seems to have woken up to the fact that it can’t simply retire the A-10 Thunderbolt II attack jet.
[AlAhram] Two-thirds of Syria's Christians have left the country, an Aleppo bishop said Wednesday, blaming violence and insecurity spread by
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
[IsraelTimess] Royal Brunei Airlines cockpit staff members land Boeing jet plane in Saudi Arabia, which doesn't allow women to drive.
...Smallest of the agencies in FATA. The Agency administration is located in Khar. Bajaur is inhabited almost exclusively by Tarkani Pashtuns, which are divided into multiple bickering subtribes. Its 52 km border border with Afghanistan's Kunar Province makes it of strategic importance to Pakistain's strategic depth...
Mohmand Agency
As per reports, the banned 
[TheGuardian] The EU is preparing to scale back the number of Syrian refugees offered resettlement in Europe, as part of a controversial pact being drawn up with Turkey. The bloc’s 28 leaders will hold a summit in Brussels on Thursday, before a meeting the Turkish prime minister, Ahmet Davutoğlu, on Friday, to hammer out the final details of a plan aimed at stemming the flow of refugees and migrants coming to Europe.
