[USA Today] U.S. warplanes destroyed a fleet of 168 oil tanker trucks in Syria in the largest strike in the two-year-old air campaign against the Islamic State, the U.S.-led coalition announced Friday.
More than 20 aircraft were used to destroy the tanker trucks, which were gathered near Palmyra, in central Syria. The oil in the trucks was worth about $2 million, according to a statement.
The airstrike, which was launched Thursday, is part of an operation to reduce revenues from the Islamic State, which is also called ISIS or ISIL. The Islamic State gets 25% of its revenue from oil, the Center for the Analysis of Terrorism, a private research group, estimates.
It's not clear why the Islamic State massed so many vehicles in the open.
[CBS] MANAMA, Bahrain -- U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Saturday that as many as 200 more American troops are being sent to Syria to help Kurdish and Arab fighters capture the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria’s key stronghold of Raqqa.
The extra troops will include special operations forces and are in addition to 300 U.S. troops already authorized for the effort to recruit, organize, train and advise local Syrian forces to combat ISIS.
Addressing a security conference in Bahrain, Carter said the aim is to create, along with America’s Middle East allies, a tornado of pressure on ISIS’ Raqqa headquarters, CBS Radio News’ Larry Miller reports.
"The United States has interests here that it cannot walk away from," Carter said.
Carter also took gentle jabs at U.S. Middle East partners for failing to provide more military muscle in the broader campaign to defeat ISIS and counter extremism.
[Front Page] Chicago is one of the best places to live in America if you’re one of the millions of illegal aliens present in the country -- and free-spending, lawbreaking Mayor Rahm Emanuel is trying his best to keep it that way.
Emanuel (D), who used to be a congressman and then President Obama’s chief of staff, dropped by Trump Tower in New York on Wednesday to urge President-elect Donald Trump to abandon his campaign promise to crack down on sanctuary cities.
"I also spoke out strongly about what it means to be a sanctuary city who will support and secure the people who are here, like my grandfather who came to the city of Chicago as a 13-year old 100 years ago," said Emanuel who actually has no real bargaining power in the equation because he’s on the wrong side of the law.
"Chicago was a sanctuary city for my grandfather. His grandson today is the mayor of this city, which is a testament to the strength of the values and ideals of America."
Emanuel, of course, is leaving out the values that make Americans inclined to support the rule of law and therefore oppose illegal entry and visa-overstaying by foreigners.
Emanuel is a strident, in-your-face supporter of the sanctuary city movement that gave illegal aliens permission to rob, rape, and murder Americans. Cheered on by the Left, sanctuary cities hinder immigration enforcement and shield illegal aliens from federal officials as a matter of policy. They ignore immigration detainer forms which ask them to retain illegals in their custody after they would otherwise release them so Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) can take custody of them.
These sanctuary cities really ought to be called traitor cities because they are in open rebellion against the United States. Cities are creatures of the states in which they reside and under the Guarantee Clause of the Constitution the U.S. government is required to make sure that states maintain a "Republican Form of Government." (The same clause also requires the U.S. to "protect each of them [i.e. the states] against Invasion[.]" Perhaps Attorney General nominee Jeff Sessions could have his staff look into invoking the "Invasion" portion of the clause.)
#2
These sanctuary cities really ought to be called traitor cities because they are in open rebellion against the United States.
Now there's an idea. Prosecute Rahm Emanuel for treason. Make an example of him. When he's sitting in a federal prison we'll see how officials in other cities feel about this issue.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
12/10/2016 11:28
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like my grandfather who came to the city of Chicago as a 13-year old 100 years ago," said Emanuel
Apparently going south to Chicago from Canada was a regular path for illegal immigrants at the time. A few weeks ago an older friend of mine, in justifying keeping open America's southern border, told me how her grandfather had snuck illegally into Chicago at around the same time and got a job to earn enough to bring in his wife and children. While he was here illegally, she said, he even voted in the elections as if he were already a citizen. No big deal. When he was ready, he snuck back north, fetched the family, and came south legally. Whether he voted thereafter until he became a citizen she did not say.
There is no way to explain to a 75 year old retired college dean's wife -- who is otherwise a dear, lovely person -- how many things are wrong with that history. But it does clarify some things about Chicago.
#4
If you're gonna bring up the subject of illegal immigration from Canada to Chicago you should not forget how Al Capone and others of his ilk smuggled bootleg liquor across the Canadian border to supply the thirsty residents of Chicago and the surrounding region. These days the smugglers bring illegal immigrants, heroin, cocaine, marijuana and meth from Mexico but I guess it's all part of the same Chicago tradition that Hizonor Rahm Emanuel is attempting to uphold.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
12/10/2016 13:36
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[NYT] Nobody knows yet what Donald Trump is going to do to immigration enforcement. Only a month has passed since the election, and the president-elect is no different from the candidate: erratic, self-contradictory, hazy on principles and policies.
But states and cities that value immigrants, including the undocumented, do not have the luxury of waiting and hoping for the best. They are girding for a confrontation, building defenses to protect families and workers from the next administration.
They fear that Mr. Trump, who ran on a pledge of mass deportation, dehumanizing immigrants and refugees, will remove humane discretion from immigration enforcement. They understand that not all unauthorized immigrants are criminals, that not all should be detained or deported and that the country cannot enforce its way out of its failure to reform unjust immigration laws.
But they know that the nativist ideologues and white nationalists around Mr. Trump are itching for him to be merciless. They know that if he does anything close to what he has repeatedly vowed to do -- set dragnets for millions of unauthorized immigrants, triple the number of enforcement officers, immediately revoke President Obama’s administrative actions shielding young people from deportation and pull federal funds from cities that defend immigrants -- their prudence will have been justified.
#2
I may become an Alien myself as I live in California. Hillary +4 million votes. Moscow on the Pacific. Exile is becoming more of an option. How are jobs in AZ TX?
#3
This is good news because the more Trump-hate out there the more folks lean towards Trump. Hopefully the Dems will start to drive the centrists in California over to the Republicans enough to destroy the Democrats lock on the state.
#4
Born and raised behind the Orange Curtain. Times are a changin' as the OC voted Donk for the first time since 1936. We had very high turnout though at +/- 80%.
Read VD Hanson's stuff about 2 Californias. I fear we'll be "New China" before Moscow on the Pacific. I won't be here to see it as we plan on living a Corona Beer commercial on beach in Thailand.
Mr. B - I plan on being in NoVa from mid-June to end of July to prep for my next posting. I owe you a steak dinner and I will pay up!
Posted by: Bangkok Billy ||
12/10/2016 17:10
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They fear that Mr. Trump, who ran on a pledge of mass deportation, dehumanizing immigrants and refugees, will remove humane no discretion from immigration enforcement
Is this an editorial in our Fake News™?
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/10/2016 18:54
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#6
Billy, OC still saved Issa and booted Colonel Trial Lawyer Doug Applegate (D- Lawyer)
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/10/2016 19:01
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#7
"They understand that not all unauthorized immigrants are criminals"
Yes, they are.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
12/10/2016 22:27
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[Daily Caller] National Front leader and presidential hopeful Marine Le Pen wants to put an end to free welfare services for foreigners, including free education for children.
Le Pen has emerged as a serious contender in next year’s presidential election. The party has been accused of racism by opponents, but Le Pen claims she has nothing against foreigners in France.
"But I tell them: if you come to our country don’t expect to be taken care of, to be looked after, that your children will be educated without charge," Le Pen said Thursday during a speech in Paris. "No more playtime."
Le Pen clarified she only wants to cut free education for illegal immigrants and not all foreigners, according to AFP.
[Free Beacon] A group of House Republicans formed the Congressional Second Amendment Caucus on Thursday.
The group, headed by Rep. Thomas Massie (R., Ky.), said the caucus plans to draft and sponsor pro-gun legislation in the upcoming Congress.
"Caucus members will lead efforts in the House of Representatives to pass meaningful firearms legislation and protect Americans against infringements of the Second Amendment," the group said in a statement.
Massie said the election of Donald Trump and Republican majorities in both houses of Congress were the catalyst for the formation of the caucus.
"The recent election results present us with a new opportunity to advance pro-gun legislation and reverse the erosion of the Second Amendment that’s occurred over the last few decades," he said. "I look forward to working with the new president and this determined group of conservatives to promote a pro-gun agenda."
In addition to sponsoring and supporting pro-gun bills, the caucus said they also plan to invite firearm experts, constitutional scholars, and pro-gun groups to speak to them regularly.
Some of those pro-gun voices praised the newly formed caucus in the statement released by the group.
[Breibart] Former British Prime Minister David Cameron has blamed populism for his defeat in the Brexit referendum,
...that is to say, the will of the people. He called that one right...
and claimed the euro currency may soon collapse in his first major speech since standing down.
Mr Cameron added that although he did not think the European Union (EU) itself would fall apart, the currency was in serious danger, saying he "wondered how long it can last".
He told students at DePauw University, Indiana: "Some countries have seen decades of lost growth. Those countries have a single currency but they don’t have a single fiscal system, a fiscal tax system. It creates bigger differences.
"You in the United States have ways to make sure that if you have a bad year you pay less in taxes and offset federal programmes. There are no such arrangements in Europe."
Huh? Even in Europe if you earn less, you pay less. What is the man talking about?
The Mail reports Mr Cameron also told EU leaders to address voters’ concerns as the anti-establishment movement grows across the continent.
"If we don’t address the concerns of those economically left behind, we open up our politics to the parties of the extreme left," he said.
"And if we don’t address the concerns of those left culturally behind, we open up to the parties of the extreme right." So difficult to find the middle of the road and a bit of common sense ?
[Breibart] On Thursday night, I appeared on CNN to debate my old nemesis and friend Peter Beinart about the Trump administration and particularly Stephen K. Bannon.
Rarely have I seen such an outpouring of hate directed toward me , which undermined the premise of the haters -- namely, that they were objecting to Steve Bannon promoting hatred on the Internet.
CNN’s Don Lemon asked me if Steve Bannon is an anti-Semite. I said that Bannon has opposed the Iran nuclear deal in defense of Israel; has fought BDS (boycott, divestment, sanctions), the attempt to destroy Israel economically; and had opened a Jerusalem bureau for Israel to get its message out.
Does that sound like an anti-Semite?
I added that I was far more concerned about Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khameini and his promises to annihilate Israel.
[AlAhram] A bomb targeting a police vehicle on a road in Egypt's Kafr El-Sheikh
...according to Wikipedia, "Kafr El Sheikh is the capital of Kafr El Sheikh Governorate, about 134 km north of Cairo, in the Nile Delta of lower Egypt. As of November 2006, the town had a population of 147,380 inhabitants"...
killed a civilian motorist who was in the vicinity of the kaboom and injured three coppers Friday evening, Egyptian news channel al-Nahar al-Youm reported.
The four were transfered to Kafr El-Sheikh hospital.
This is the second bombing targeting police to take place in Egypt on Friday, as another kaboom killed six coppers in Giza's Haram district earlier in the day.
An Egyptian holy warrior group called Hasm grabbed credit for the Giza bombing in a statement issued on their website.
[AnNahar] A bombing killed six coppers at a checkpoint in Cairo on Friday, the latest in a series of attacks in the capital targeting security forces and officials, the interior ministry said. The attack occurred in the western Talibiya neighbourhood of the capital, shortly before Moslem Friday prayers and when Cairo's streets are mostly empty.
Police cordoned off the area with yellow tape as they searched for more explosives.
The interior ministry said in a statement that the kaboom took place next a checkpoint, killing two officers, a low ranking policeman and three conscripts. The bombing also maimed three conscripts.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but most of the Cairo attacks in recent months have been claimed by two little known krazed killer groups, Lawaa al-Thawra and the Hassam Movement. Police say they are affiliated with Morsi's Moslem Brüderbund movement, which was banned months after his overthrow and listed as a terrorist organization.
Update from AAWSAT courtesy of badanov at 9:40 p.m. ET: Hasm claimed it.
Posted by: ltrailing wife ||
12/10/2016
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#1
One bomb in Kafr, the other in Haram. Would these be Christian ghettos, by any chance?
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The Afghan cops foiled a plot by the anti-government armed bully boy groups to attack 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.... city with rockets.
The Ministry of Interior (MoI) said two rockets were confiscated before the holy warriors managed to fire them on the city.
A statement by MoI said the counterterrorism forces discovered and defused the two rockets which were planted in Mirbacha Kot district.
The statement further added that no suspect has been jugged Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un! in connection to the attack plot so far.
According to MoI, holy warriors belonging to Mullah Wahiz were likely behind the attack plot and efforts are underway to arrest the bully boys.
The anti-government armed bully boy groups including the Taliban murderous Moslems have not commented regarding the report so far.
This comes as two rockets were fired on Kabul city which landed in the vicinity of the key diplomatic area, Shashdarak, late last month.
The officials confirmed that the attack did not incur any casualties to the city residents or security personnel.
The rocket attack last month followed days after a deadly suicide kaboom targeted a mosque in the west of Kabul city ten days ago, leaving at least 32 people dead and scores of others maimed.
The loyalists of the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group grabbed credit behind the attack.
The attack on Baqir-ul-Olum mosque took place almost one and half month after a similar attack destroyed a shrine in Kabul city, leaving at least 18 dead and several others maimed.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/10/2016
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[All Africa] Equatorial Guinea's government has tirelessly worked to stop the prosecution of the president's eldest son, known as Teodorin Nguema, who is accused of laundering tens of millions of Euros in La Belle France that were allegedly stolen from his oil-rich country. But yesterday, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) - the United Nation's main court - dashed its last hope of stopping the trial, which is set for January 2.
The decade-long French case produced a mountain of evidence indicating Teodorin looted €110 million from the public treasury to finance his lavish lifestyle. That is about the same amount of money Equatorial Guinea spent on its entire public health system in 2008, according to the World Bank.
Between 2004 and 2007, Teodorin bought a mansion on the exclusive Avenue Foch, assembled a collection of 34 luxury cars and cycle of violences, and spent millions more on luxury goods. A separate US investigation revealed that he also went on a US$110 million spending spree in the United States, buying a Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party, mansion and a jet. At the time, Teodorin was Minister of Forestry, for which he earned a salary of under US$100,000.
Instead of investigating the possible theft of more than US$200 million in public funds, Equatorial Guinea has been doing everything in its power to stymy the French prosecution. It sued La Belle France in the ICJ, claiming the prosecution breached his immunity.
A week later, the president promoted his son to vice president, apparently to bolster their immunity claim. The government also contended that it uses the Avenue Foch mansion as a diplomatic mission and it should, therefore, enjoy protection, but has yet to disprove the clear evidence that Teodorin used it as a private residence. His former butler described Teodorin's lifestyle in La Belle France in three words: "alcohol, whores, and coke."
The ICJ dismissed Equatorial Guinea's claim that Teodorin should be protected from prosecution because he is a senior member of government. However, a hangover is the wrath of grapes... it provisionally ordered La Belle France treat the mansion with diplomatic protections until it comes to a final decision on whether it is in fact a mission.
The ruling sends a clear message to kleptocrats everywhere: whatever their power in their own countries, when other countries take notice and start to crack down on their shopping sprees, they cannot instrumentalize international courts to protect against corruption.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/10/2016
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[ARA News] Hasakah – Militant fighters of the Islamic State (ISIS) on Saturday launched an attack on positions of the Kurdish YPG forces in Syria’s northeastern Hasakah Governorate.
Military sources reported that ISIS hit headquarfters of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) near Shaddadi city in southern Hasakah with mortar shells.
“Daesh militants targeted the YPG-held town of Azzawi in the vicinity of Shaddadi. The group shelled YPG security checkpoints with mortar fire,” a YPG spokesman told ARA News, using another acronym for ISIS.
It was not immediately clear whether Saturday’s shelling caused any casualties.
“Our forces responded with heavy machine guns and artillery fire, targeting Daesh positions near Margada town,” the YPG spokesman said, adding that they hit direct ISIS targets and they were eventually able to repel the attack.
According to Firas Berko, a journalist embedded with the YPG in Shaddadi, Hasakah’s southern countryside has been scarred by the Islamic State’s frequent infiltration attempts.
“YPG fighters have repeatedly foiled such operations by ISIS militants,” Berko told ARA News. “However, Shaddadi remains at risk due to its location near the administrative border between the Hasakah and Deir ez-Zor Governorates, where ISIS has deployed many militants.”
In mid-February, the YPG and allied SDF forces concluded a protracted campaign by capturing Shaddadi city. In recent months ISIS has been trying to return to the area, launching mortar and car bomb attacks from bases in Deir ez-Zor Governorate.
Battle for Margada
On December 4, the Kurdish YPG forces launched a major offensive to liberate Margada town. Margada is the Islamic State’s last stronghold in Hasakah Governorate. It is located on the administrative border between Hasakah and Deir ez-Zor Governorates.
The YPG initiated the offensive by shelling the local ISIS headquarters with mortar batteries and heavy artillery. The Kurdish units intend to secure the town and thereby end the incessant jihadi attacks on their positions.
Payman Mirkham, a media activist, told ARA News that “earlier in the day, ISIS militants launched a mortar attack on the YPG security checkpoints in the [nearby] towns of Kashkash and Fadghami.”
“The Kurdish forces responded by bombing Margada in one of the fiercest offensives against ISIS,” Mirkham reported. Salah Osman, a Kurdish officer, told ARA News that ISIS “had suffered heavy losses in manpower and equipment.”
The People’s Protection Units and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an alliance of Kurdish, Arab and Assyrian militias, are reportedly pushing south along the Khabur River.
Entrenched Islamic State Jihadists
Islamic State militants have spent the preceding months fortifying Margada town but their earthworks are reportedly incomplete. The extremist group has also tried to impede the Syrian Democratic Forces’ advance by planting dozens of landmines along the town’s periphery.
“Islamic State members have dug a trench around the northern part of Margada,” Azzam Khallawi, a local media activist, told ARA News. “The project is expected to proceed and cover the town’s suburbs from all sides.”
“We are already aware of those tactics by this terrorist group,” an SDF spokesman told ARA News. “ISIS believes […] fortifications can prevent our forces from retaking Margada but we assure them that we’re prepared for any scenario.”
ISIS launched a similar project in November 2015, fortifying its headquarters and digging trenches near the town of al-Hawl. However, the project was ultimately unsuccessful as the jihadists were driven from the border town by US-backed SDF fighters.
The Long March to Deir ez-Zor
While the Islamic State controlled much of Hasakah Governorate in 2014, including Tal-Hamis and the Wadi Jarrah river valley, they have since been routed. The Syrian Democratic Forces have secured the Governorate’s capital and liberated more than 255 towns and villages.
In February, ISIS was driven out of Shaddadi city in southern Hasakah. The advance came after the SDF units cut off a main ISIS supply route through Syria’s northeastern border with Iraq.
Also in February, the US-backed SDF seized control of the Islamic State’s main financial resource in Hasakah Governorate, the Jibisa gas facility. This petrochemical plant used to feed massive power stations in Syria’s central governorates.
ISIS had been in control of the Jibisa gas facility for nearly two years, retrofitting it to produce portable gas cylinders which were then sold on the black market. Analysts told ARA News that at its peak, ISIS was producing 5,000 cylinders per day at Jibisa.
Talal Silo, an SDF spokesman, previously told ARA News that their “next target is Margada. Our operations will continue until we regain the entire region from ISIS.”
Posted by: badanov ||
12/10/2016
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[BREITBART] The New York Times ...which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... makes a strong case that the most important player in Afghanistan’s future is not the United States, but Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... , because Saudis are funding both sides of Afghanistan’s endless civil war.
This is how you make sure you can't lose: fund both sides...
"A longtime ally of Pakistain, Saudi Arabia has backed Islamabad’s promotion of the Taliban. Throughout the years, wealthy Saudi sheikhs and rich philanthropists have also stoked the war by privately financing the Lion of Islams," the Times explains. "All the while, Saudi Arabia has officially, if coolly, supported the American mission and the Afghan government and even secretly sued for peace in clandestine negotiations on their behalf."
This results in a situation where rich Saudis can finance the Taliban, while government officials deny that any such support is officially provided. For example, former Saudi intelligence chief and ambassador to the United States Prince Turki al-Faisal insisted, "When I was in government, not a single penny went to the Taliban."
But former Taliban Finance Minister Agha Jan Motasim said his many ostensible pilgrimages to the holy cities in Saudi Arabia were actually fundraising expeditions, collecting money not only from Saudi sheikhs, but wealthy Taliban-sympathizing Moslems from other parts of the world who were also on pilgrimage.
Motasim, incidentally, became a major player in a Saudi attempt to secretly broker a peace deal between the Taliban and the Afghan government, which the New York Times describes in detail to the American public for the first time. Unfortunately, a power struggle within the Taliban and charges of embezzlement against Motasim scuttled the effort.
On top of that, the Taliban reportedly shakes down Pashtun guest workers who travel to Saudi Arabia, threatening their families with harm unless the Islamist savages get a cut of their paychecks.
Several reasons for this double Saudi game are advanced during the Times article, but the most disturbing come from what the former State Department’s Vali Nasr describes as a Saudi strategy to contain Shia Islam and its super-power, Iran, by "building a wall of Sunni radicalism across South and Central Asia."
The second most-disturbing reason: Saudi Arabia is engaged in a bidding war with 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... to be the dominant power in the Sunni world. The Saudis are also building a network of universities and madrasas in Afghanistan to extend their religious and cultural influence, a strategy that has pumped a great deal of money into the hands of gunnies groups ‐ some of which are making unnerving 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.... -like noises about founding a "Caliphate." The Iranians are doing the same thing to gain influence over the Shiite population.
Reminds me of two of the Ferengi Rules of Acquisition from Deep Space Nine:
Ferengi RoA #131: Peace is good for business.
Ferengi RoA #132: War is good for business.
Oil prices are going to stay low, thanks to fracking and newly discovered deposits. How long can the two oil-fueled countries keep this up before they go broke?
Posted by: Fred ||
12/10/2016
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#3
In 1990 the Bosnia police raided a charity and uncovered the most significant trove of material covering the founding of Al Qaeda that has ever been found. Included was a list -- "The Golden Chain" -- that enumerated very wealthy Saudi and Gulf sheiks who had funded Bin Laden. The individuals received a caution in their home nations, and that was it.
[IsraelTimes] Mohammed Bajabu allegedly confessed to attack at Israeli-owned Mombasa hotel; process said held up by FBI reluctance to share evidence.
The United States has reportedly asked Israel to accept and prosecute a Kenyan man held at Guantanamo Bay over his alleged involvement in a deadly 2002 bombing at an Israeli-owned hotel in Mombasa.
According to US government documents, Mohammed Abdul Malik Bajabu, 43, has confessed to a role in the terror attack, as well as an unsuccessful attempt to down an Israeli passenger plane that same day, the Miami Herald reported.
Thirteen people -- 10 Kenyans and three Israelis -- were killed and 80 others were maimed when a boom-mobile went off at Mombasa’s Paradise Hotel on November 28, 2002, shortly after a large group of Israeli tourists checked into the beachfront resort. At around the same time, a surface to-air missile targeted but missed an Arkia plane carrying 271 people as it took off from Mombasa airport.
Kenyan authorities incarcerated I ain't sayin' nuttin' widdout me mout'piece! Bajabu in Mombasa in 2007, and turned him over to the US. He has been held at the US military prison without charge.
The Herald reported that US officials traveled to Israel in April this year to discuss the possibility of transferring Bajabu to Israel for prosecution over his role in both attacks.
Though Israeli authorities had expressed interest in accepting Bajabu, the transfer has been delayed for months by the FBI refusal to share the prisoner’s confession from his 2007 interrogations.
"The government of Israel has repeatedly asked for information to support their possible prosecution. But, for reasons that are unclear, the FBI has declined to provide the information that has been requested by senior Israeli prosecutors," an unnamed US government official told The Herald. "They want to see the incriminating statements. And that’s where we are stuck -- and have been for many months -- which is frustrating."
That ought to change shortly after January 20, 2017.
Kenya has unsuccessfully attempted to prosecute the other alleged suspects in the 2002 attacks. In 2005, a High Court justice acquitted four Kenyan nationals accused of involvement in the attacks over lack of evidence.
The attacks were credited to al-Qaeda’s east Africa affiliate, but Kenyan Judge John Osiemo said state prosecutors were unable to connect the four suspects to the bombing or the terror group.
This is why jihadis should be treated as spies instead of criminals, something a PoliSci/Harvard Law guy with limited experience might not be equipped to understand. This article from 2005 lays out some of the connections between the local miscreants and Al Qaeda's Abu Musab al Zarqawi.
[IsraelTimes] Eight East Jerusalem residents began plotting attack while in prison for lesser offenses, security agency says.
A terror cell made up of East Jerusalem teenagers planning to carry out a shooting attack on an IDF base in the capital was incarcerated ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... in recent days, the Shin Bet security service announced Friday.
The group, which allegedly included members of the Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, terrorist organization, was made up of eight Arab Israeli residents of the Tsur Baher and Sheikh Jarrah neighborhoods of East Jerusalem, the Shin Bet said.
The security agency would not specify when exactly the arrests were made, but said they happened in the month of November.
The eight members of the cell, most of them minors, began planning their attacks while in prison. They had been picked up throughout 2015 for taking part in riots, the Shin Bet said.
While locked up, the group decided to carry out a shooting attack on an army base next to the Hebrew University’s Mount Scopus campus. Upon their release, some of the cell members began staking out the base and finding the best ways to carry out the attack, the Shin Bet said.
After their arrest, some of the cell members also admitted to having taken part in more violent demonstrations during Ramadan this summer and during memorials for terrorists, the security service said.
In a statement, the Shin Bet noted that the "grave danger of assailants with Israeli documentation, who enjoy free movement and access to weapons, and the relative ease with which they can carry out attacks."
They stand 'em up, we knock 'em down. The IDF is two for two this week.
[IsraelTimes] A Paleostinian man from Gazoo armed with a knife and a grenade was enjugged Into the paddy wagon wit' yez! Friday morning, shortly after crossing into Israel from the northern Strip, the Israel Defense Forces said. He had already entered Israel by the time he was detained by IDF troops, but had been under surveillance throughout the infiltration.
The man was handed over to the Shin Bet domestic security service for questioning.
This is the second time in less than a week that a Paleostinian has been detained entering Israel from Gazoo. On Saturday evening an unarmed man was reportedly detained just north of the border fence in the Hof Ashkelon Regional Council, and was taken in for questioning by the IDF.
A parking lot brawl between two women in South Los Angeles quickly escalated into a demolition derby.
Dramatic video captured fists flying in an apparent argument over a parking space near the 8400 block of South Western Avenue on Sunday. A number of women were seen fighting when one woman jumped into a white SUV.
The driver revved the engine and the video showed her smashing into a silver SUV, nearly taking off the passenger door. The vehicles collide several more times as they maneuver back and forth in the small parking lot.
The SUVs headed into the street where the white SUV was spotted delivering one more crunching blow to the silver SUV. The white SUV then mowed down a fire hydrant, sending a geyser of water into the air.
ABC7 reached out to the Los Angeles Police Department who said a report of the incident has yet to be filed. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power was notified about the broken fire hydrant and crews quickly responded to fix the geyser.
Police say Janice Brown, 53, met a woman in a Walmart parking lot in Pleasant Grove (TX) on Sunday night to exchange custody of their grandchild. There was an argument between the two grandmas and Brown shot the other woman in the neck.
An off duty officer saw Brown with the gun and the two exchanged gunfire, but no one was hurt.
Brown is now charged with aggravated assault on a public servant.
[POLITICO] Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani pulled out of the secretary of state sweepstakes late last month, President-elect Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... ’s transition team said Friday, as Trump has widened his search to select the nation’s top diplomat.
"Rudy Giuliani is an extraordinarily talented and patriotic American. I will always be appreciative of his 24/7 dedication to our campaign after I won the primaries and for his extremely wise counsel," Trump said in a written statement. "He is and continues to be a close personal friend, and as appropriate, I will call upon him for advice and can see an important place for him in the administration at a later date."
The transition team said that he withdrew on Nov. 29, though aides had mentioned him as one of four contenders multiple times after that date.
Giuliani had previously publicly campaigned for the post, but on Friday he explained his decision to withdraw.
"The whole thing was becoming kind of very confusing and very difficult for the president-elect, and my desire to be in the Cabinet was great, but it wasn't that great," Giuliani said in a Fox News interview. "He had a lot of terrific candidates, and I thought I could play a better role being on the outside and continuing to be his close friend and adviser."
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12/10/2016
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[DAWN] KARACHI: After exhuming bodies of 10 Lions of Islam who were killed in the June 2014 Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... airport from the Edhi Foundation’s graveyard for identification of one of them, the Sherlocks are now looking for their 11th dead aide who, it emerged, was buried in an Orangi Town graveyard after being killed in the assault.
The fresh findings came during the course of investigation that not only one of those buried in the Mowach Goth graveyard of the charity organization as unidentified attackers, was a Karachiite, but also another Death Eater named Hisham was with them.
"But it emerged that Hisham was not buried in the Mowach Goth graveyard," said a senior officer. "Hisham was also shot in the shootout with the security forces. But somehow, he managed to escape in injured condition and died later or died there but his body was taken away by some of his aides and he was buried in an Orangi Town graveyard."
So, he said, efforts were on to determine his grave in that particular graveyard of the densely-populated neighbourhood. He said it was not an easy task to determine the exact grave of the Death Eater with hundreds of such structures in the graveyard.
"However, a person who gets all wrapped up in himself makes a mighty small package... we are very close to achieving the desired results," he said. "Once the grave of Hisham is determined, we would move in line with the defined laws to exhume the body for samples to conduct DNA matching which would lead to his identity and family links."
New facts about the June 2014 attack started unfolding after the recent arrest of two Lashkar-e-Jhangvi ... a 'more violent' offshoot of Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistain. LeJ's purpose in life is to murder anyone who's not of utmost religious purity, starting with Shiites but including Brelvis, Ahmadis, Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Rosicrucians, and just about anyone else you can think of. They are currently a wholly-owned subsidiary of al-Qaeda ... (Naeem Bukhari group) Lions of Islam -- Ishaq alias Bobby and Asim alias Capri. It emerged that at least two of the 10 Lions of Islam were not Central Asian and they belonged to Karachi.
During the course of interrogation Ishaq Bobby had told the police Sherlocks that his brother-in-law, Majid, and his friend, Hisham, were killed in the airport attack. For identification of Majid, the health officials under the supervision of a judicial magistrate and police had exhumed 10 bodies of the unidentified attackers on Nov 22 from the Edhi Foundation’s graveyard in Mowach Goth.
"It was found that Hisham was also a resident of Orangi Town like Majid and he was buried in his area graveyard," said the officer. "We have traced all other relevant facts and collected all necessary evidence, which are required for his DNA matching. We only need samples of his body and for that we are close to determining his grave in the Orangi Town graveyard."
Twenty-six people were killed and 18 others were maimed in the attack on the Haj terminal of Karachi airport on June 8, 2014. The 10 Death Eaters, who were armed with automatic weapons, grenades and a rocket launcher, were later killed in an hours-long shootout with security forces. The outlawed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain had grabbed credit for the deadly attack.
"Once the grave is found, the same procedure will be adopted for the identification of Hisham as was done for Majid in the Mowach Goth graveyard," said a health official. "The samples of the clavicle bone, teeth, nails and hair from the body would be collected, which would be initially examined here and then would be sent to Islamabad for final DNA matching that takes a week or so."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/10/2016
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A total of 300 Turkish commandos will join Turkey’s Euphrates Shield operation, according to a military source, state-run Anadolu Agency has reported Dec. 9.
The special troops of the 11th Command Brigade departed from the Çardak Military Airport in the western province of Denizli, said a source. The special operation forces known as the Blue Berets were airlifted to the Syrian border, the source added.
The forces are being sent to northern Syria to reinforce the troops. Around 20 Turkish soldiers have been killed since the launch of the operation on Aug. 24, with the aim of clearing its border with Syria of terrorist groups, which include the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Unit (YPG).
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/10/2016
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[Iran Press TV] Fresh fighting in the Republic of the Congo, also known as Congo-Brazzaville, between government forces and rebels has forced thousands of people to flee their homes. Been a bit dodgy since the Belgians left. Indigenous 'home rule' has had a difficult time catching on.
The United Nations ...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks... refugee agency (UNHCR) warned on Friday that fighting in the southeast of the country had displaced an estimated 13,000 people.
"We are afraid some 13,000 displaced people soon may not have enough to eat," UNHCR front man William Spindler told news hounds in Geneva, Switzerland ...home of the Helvetians, famous for cheese, watches, yodeling, and William Tell... People in the area are "also having trouble getting health care and education because so many state-employed medics and teachers have fled," he added.
Spindler said that the uptick in violence in recent weeks between the Ninja Nsiloulou rebels and government forces has included an attack on a military vehicle in the southeastern district of Mindouli that killed two people.
The rebels, who fought two civil wars against the government in the 1990s, were seen as having been mostly disbanded after agreeing to a peace accord in 2003. However, some people are alive only because it's illegal to kill them... sporadic festivities between the two sides have continued ever since.
In October, at least 14 people, including children, were killed in an attack on a train in Mindouli. The assault was blamed on the Ninja rebels.
The situation in Congo-Brazzaville had been tense since a constitutional referendum in October 2015 removed a two-term limit on the presidency, allowing the 72-year-old leader to run in the 2016 election.
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12/10/2016
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#1
fighting in the southeast of the country had displaced an estimated 13,000 people
[Daily Excelsior] Three snuffies were killed in a fierce shootout that ended in Arwani area of Anantnag district today after 40 hours. However, denial ain't just a river in Egypt... the identity of snuffies could not be established as the bodies were burnt beyond recognition.
A Defence front man said that security forces killed three snuffies in Arwani area of Anantnag district during a shootout and recovered three weapons. He, however, said that two dead bodies of the snuffies were recovered from the debris.
A police front man while giving details said that police received a specific information about the presence of snuffies in the house of one Mushtaq Ahmad Ganie son of Ghulam Qadir Ganie at Hassanpora, Tavila Arwani on Wednesday.
"As per the information, Mushtaq Ahmad Ganie works as an Over Ground Worker (OGW) of turbans of LeT outfit and not only harboured turbans in his house, but also provides all sort of logistical support to them", the front man said.
"Based on this input, an operation was launched by joint team of Anantnag, Awantipora police along with Army and CRPF. The said house was cordoned off and when the security forces party entered into the house for searching, terrorist fired on them. The fire was retaliated and the ensuing shootout lasted for almost two days.The operation concluded today when a joint team of Jammu and Kashmire Police and CRPFs Quick Action Team (QAT) stormed the house and cleared it. The cover fire to the storming team was given by Army troops" the front man said.
He said that during the search operation, two bodies of the snuffies and three AK-rifles along with other incriminating material has been recovered from the debris of the house. "DNA samples from the killed terrorist bodies has been collected for their identification", he added. Amid encounter, massive festivities had erupted at Hassanpora and adjoining areas. The residents had attempted to hamper the operation to help snuffies to flee. During the stone-pelting one civilian hailing from Sangam area of Anantnag was killed. However, denial ain't just a river in Egypt... police said he was hit by a stray bullet.
The firing continued till this morning and in the afternoon, the encounter ended and security forces started searches of the debris to retrieve the bodies. After hectic efforts, the security forces recovered one charred body and pieces of flesh of another body beyond identification.
However, denial ain't just a river in Egypt... it was unclear whether the bodies of the slain snuffies were actually of Majid Zargar of Qoimoh and Ruhail Amin of Vessu Qazigund. Reports said that their families have said that the duo is alive and has even met their family members.
In the meantime, panic gripped in Baramulla town and massive searches have been launched after Central Industrial Security Forces (CISF) personnel fired indiscriminately tonight following suspicious movement.
Police said that CISF personnel of 150 Battalion fired several shots in air after security guard found suspicious movement. Police, Army and CRPF immediately reached the spot and massive searches were launched.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/10/2016
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[IsraelTimes] Prosecutors in the Netherlands say police have detained a 30-year-old man on suspicion of preparing a terrorist crime after finding a Kalashnikov rifle, two full ammunition clips and a painting featuring a flag used by the Islamic State group at his home. Dutch authorities announced the arrest Friday after the suspect had appeared before an investigating judge in the port city of Rotterdam. They said a search of the man’s home as he was taken into custody Wednesday also uncovered four boxes of highly explosive illegal fireworks, mobile telephones and 1,600 euros ($1,687) in cash.
The suspect’s identity was not released, in line with Dutch privacy guidelines.
Rotterdam is Europe’s busiest port, and also one of The Netherlands’ most multi-cultural societies, home to many who have emigrated from abroad.
About 270 Dutch people left to join the jihadists, and about 40 former fighters are known to have returned from combat in Syria and Iraq, where most have been fighting against Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime. Another 190 Dutch citizens including women and children are still in Syria and Iraq, the agency said in a report last month while 44 fighters have been killed.
[DeutscheWelle] A majority of Germans fear the government will have to tighten its belt to take care of new refugees, a survey suggests. Despite falling numbers of newcomers, many believe migration is fueling an increase in crime.
Two realistic concerns. Hopefully Germany's government can be brought to respect the will of the citizenry.
DeutscheWelle] Afghans in Freiburg say they are afraid the recent murder of a teenage girl, allegedly by an underage Afghan, will affect how they are viewed by Germans. They say they don't want to be painted with the same brush. The fear Ali Mohebi and many others are feeling is reinforced by an agreement between the governments of Afghanistan and Germany to deport rejected Afghan asylum seekers to safe cities in Afghanistan. They are frightened that incidents like the one in Freiburg will increase their chances of being deported to the same land they fled from.
[AlAhram] A Danish lawmaker faced criticism on Thursday for saying boats carrying migrants could be prevented from reaching Europe by firing "warning shots" at them.
"The only way you can do it efficiently is by simply turning the boats around and saying you cannot sail within this territorial border," Kenneth Kristensen Berth, a lawmaker for the anti-immigration Danish People's Party (DPP) said.
"If you do that you will either be fired at or you will be turned around and sailed back," he said during a debate in Copenhagen on Wednesday.
According to Mbaye Salla from the International Organization for Migraton (IOM), migration should not be associated with poverty. Many migrants save up large amounts of money to attempt to settle in Europe irregularly, without papers - an investment that could have been made at home.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The Saudi judiciary announced its preliminary verdict to punish and execute 15 people and jail others who are linked to an Iranian spy cell. The infamous cell had gathered banking and medical information and had submitted dangerous information to the Iranian intelligence. The information it provided is very dangerous to the extent that it facilitates the enemy to target vital institutions and security facilities.
The Saudi intelligence succeeded in exposing the cell and the case was transferred to the interior ministry. The trial was carried out as per all the necessary procedures and the preliminary verdict was issued after more than 160 hearings.
The cell had contact with Najaf and Iran and received facilitation from consulates and embassies. All this is proven. The aim is to target Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... via terrorist and violent attacks. One of those informed about the case voiced surprise as he looked at the list of the spies' names and wondered how could the Iranian regime recruit some of them who are believed to be of value and who hold decent posts and display some sort of calmness and discipline? However, nothing needs reforming like other people's bad habits... the truth has been shocking as it turned out they are tools for the Iranian intelligence.
Iran aims to harm stability in the Gulf and this can be seen through Iranian spy cells in Bahrain, the Abdali cell in Kuwait and the spy cell in Saudi Arabia.
There's no doubt that the preliminary verdict will act as a deterrent to those who've sold their countries, communicated with the enemy and given up their security for a cheap price.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) One civilian was killed and two others were wounded when an IED exploded south og Baghdad, according to security officials.
The IED went off near a fish market in Madaen, south of the capital.
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) said recently that violence during November claimed the lives of 926 civilians and wounded 930 people.
Violence surged across Iraq as Islamic State militants captured several Iraqi cities in 2014, and continues even as the group is sustaining defeats during a current wide-scale campaign by Iraqi forces and tribal militias.
Observers believe ISIS have begun to target several areas across Iraq to divert security focus on Mosul, where the group fights to defend its last bastion in Iraq under the brunt of continuous advancements by Iraqi government and popular troops.
BAGHDAD/WASHINGTON: Separate bombings in the Iraqi capital killed 10 people and wounded another 22 on Friday, according to Iraqi officials.
The Baghdad attacks mainly targeted civilians and though there was no immediate claim of responsibility, they bore the hallmarks of Daesh in apparent efforts by militants to distract from the Iraqi forces’ major offensive in the northern city of Mosul.
Mosul is Iraq’s second-largest city and the Daesh militant group’s last major urban bastion in the country.
The casualty toll for Friday’s attacks was provided by police and hospital officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief reporters.
The operation to retake Mosul was launched in October and has been progressing slowly in recent weeks. Iraqi forces control less than a quarter of the city and have faced significant setbacks this week in Mosul’s southeast.
Iraq’s Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi has continued to pledge that the city will be retaken by the end of the year but has also warned that Daesh will likely continue to launch insurgent style attacks in Iraq even after losing control of Mosul.
Meanwhile, a senior US military official for the first time says the US-led coalition has killed 50,000 Daesh militants in the last two years in Iraq and Syria.
The official said it was a conservative estimate, but it’s a bit more than what others have stated before. US leaders have expressed reluctance to disclose specific numbers, and note that Daesh has been able to replace fighters rapidly, particularly early on.
In August, Lt. Gen. Sean MacFarland said about 45,000 combatants have been taken off the battlefields.
The official says coalition airstrikes could be more aggressive in places like Mosul, where Iraqi troops are battling to retake the city, but civilian casualties are a risk. The official wasn’t authorized to discuss the matter publicly so spoke on condition of anonymity.
Posted by: badanov ||
12/10/2016
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[DAWN] One krazed killer was killed during an action by the personnel of Frontier Corps ...a provincial paramilitary force. Total manpower is about 80,000. They are tasked to help local law enforcement in the maintenance of law and order, and to carry out border patrol and a..the Antwerp-based Salafist organization that had campaigned to introduce Sharia law to Belgium before single-handedly making Belgium the highest per capita supplier of jihadis to Syria in Europe. There was a big trial in Antwerp in 2015, but most of those convicted were in absentia...nti-smuggling operations.... in Lower Kurram Agency ...home of an intricately interconnected web of poverty, ignorance, and religious fanaticism, where the laws of cause and effect are assumed to be suspended, conveniently located adjacent to Tora Bora... on Thursday when suspected Death Eaters tried to infiltrate into Pak territory from the Afghan side.
According to an FC statement, a patrol party of Frontier Corps detected the movement of Death Eaters and reacted in time. It said that in the ensuing exchange of fire one terrorist was killed and his body had been taken into custody. However, corruption finds a dozen alibis for its evil deeds... it said, the other Death Eaters fled after seeing the security personnel.
The statement said that weapons and ammunition, including one SMG along with five magazines and 145 rounds, one SMG bandolier and two hand grenades were also recovered from the area.
Sources said that the Death Eaters wanted to carry out terrorist activities in Hangu and Thall areas, which was foiled through timely action by the security personnel.
Meanwhile, ...back at the precinct house, Sergeant Maloney wasn't buying it. It was just too pat. The whole thing smelled phony, kind of like a dead mackeral but without the scales... the Swat ...a valley and an administrative district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistain, located 99 mi from Islamabad. It is inhabited mostly by Pashto speakers. The place has gone steadily downhill since the days when Babe Ruth was the Sultan of Swat... police claimed to have placed in durance vile Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please! two alleged Death Eaters from different locations on Thursday.
According to the CTD police, they in a raid arrested an alleged terrorist and member of TTP Swat, Attaullah, a resident of Sambat village in Matta tehsil.
The police claimed to have recovered anti-government pamphlets from him.
He was wanted to the law-enforcement agencies in anti-state activities during the insurgency period in Swat.
In another such action, Rahimabad police nabbed an alleged terrorist of TTP Swat identified as Amir Hussain, a resident of Bilal Colony, Amankot. The police said he was involved in terrorist activities in 2008.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/10/2016
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[All Africa] Secret communication intercepts by the Ugandan army and police have come in handy for prosecution at The Hague to build its case that former Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), a perennial thorn in Africa's side commander Dominic Ongwen co-planned and commanded attacks against civilians, church institutions and military targets in northern Uganda.
The trial of Ongwen, who surrendered in January 2015, began on Tuesday at the International Criminal Court (ICC) where he is charged with 70 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
In a lengthy evidence presented to the court over two days, the ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and senior trial lawyer Benjamin Gumpert played what they said were intercepted radio call communications between Ongwen and other LRA commanders, including the leader Joseph Kony ... The Lords Resistance Army is a religious and military group formed in 1987. It is led by Joseph Kony, who proclaims himself the spokesperson of God and a spirit medium, and who is periodically possessed by demons, Beelzebub and Legion prominent among them. Kony advises his soldiers to draw crosses on their chests as a protection against bullets. This does't work, but nobody outside the LRA minds. The group is based on a hodge podge of apocalyptic Christianity, mysticism, and traditional Acholi religion, and claims to be establishing a theocratic state based on an odd interpretation of the Ten Commandments. The LRA is famous for systematic criminal conduct, including murder, abduction, mutilation, sexual enslavement of women and children, forcing children to participate in hostilities, and occasional cannibalism. The LRA operates mainly in northern Uganda and also in parts of Sudan, Central African Republic and DR Congo... In one such audio, Ongwen is recorded as reporting to Kony: "We are beginning to kill civilians seriously right now. I have deployed squads for killings and people will hear [about it] on the radio."
In another audio recording, the former commander of LRA's powerful Sinia Brigade is presented as reporting to his boss and former LRA deputy commander Vincent Otti after an attack on Odek Internally Displaced People's (IDP) camp: "I have just come from shooting people, over. Let the people wait to hear about the waya (LRA slang for civilians), we have shot all of them."
The prosecution side states that the evidence showed Ongwen was a "murderer and rapist."
The audios, prosecution said, were obtained from the Internal Security Organisation (ISO), Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF) and Uganda Police Force that set different bases in northern Uganda to eavesdrop LRA communication at the height of the insurgency.
The LRA communicated using High Frequency Radio and had a "reliable" method of communicating by radio, prosecution said, adding that the intercepts were reliable, unaffected by the fallibility of the human memory.
"They provide a unique opportunity to step inside the mind of Ongwen," Mr Gumpert submitted to the court.
Ongwen, who was in court sandwiched between three guards, looked unfazed. One person in the public gallery walked out sobbing as prosecution presented graphic details of how babies were burnt in huts, women indiscriminately raped, civilians chopped with machetes or bludgeoned to death with clubs during LRA attacks on the four IDP camps.
Speaking about the May 19, 2004 attack on Lukodi IDP camp, senior trial lawyer Gumpert said the "damage done was so bad that the camp had to be closed...Dominic Ongwen conceived, planned and executed the attack."
The defence will begin making its submissions mid-January, next year.
The Prosecution said the radio message intercepts were corroborated with hand-written logs by the UPDF, ISO and police spies.
Senior Ugandan security officials will appear as prosecution witnesses, Mr Gumpert said.
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[Iran Press TV] Outgoing Vice President Joe Foreign Policy Whiz Kid Biden The former Senator-for-Life from Delaware, an example of the kind of top-notch Washington intellect to be found in the World's Greatest Deliberative Body... has lambasted the 2016 US presidential election, saying he feels "embarrassed" by the ugly nature of the race.
Biden made the comments during a forum in Washington, DC, on Thursday, lamenting that this year's presidential contest was a substance-free spectacle and devoid of policy or discussions of governance.
"This has been a very tough election. It's been ugly, it's been divisive ...politicians call things divisive when when the other side sez something they don't like. Their own statements are never divisive, they're principled... , it's been coarse, it's been dispiriting. And it was more a battle of personalities than it was a battle of ideas in my view," Biden said.
"I find myself embarrassed by the nature of the way in which this campaign was conducted. And so much for the shining city on the hill," he said, using a metaphoric reference to America.
"For a lot of folks, it feels as if we’re more divided than we’ve ever been in our history and that the election brought out the worst in the political system," Biden noted.
In his remarks, the vice president took a jab at the media, arguing that the reason why the recent presidential race lacked real political discussions was due to the poor coverage of the Democratic candidate’s debates and ideas.
"Why wasn't there more discussion?" Biden asked. "Hillary Clinton ... former first lady, former secretary of state, former presidential candidate, sometimes described by her supporters as the smartest woman in the world, usually described by the rest of us as a crook... was the single most qualified on the fact of it to run for president of the United States that we've had, period. It wasn't that she didn't have all these ideas. She did. But the press, you didn't cover it."
He also warned about the future outcome of campaign trail sloganeering the US President-elect Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... used in the run-up to the Election Day, calling for vigilance among progressives when the new administration assumes office.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/10/2016
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#1
How can you embarrass someone without scruples? My vote is he didn't like the delivery of their message.
#2
In his remarks, the vice president took a jab at the media, arguing that the reason why the recent presidential race lacked real political discussions was due to the poor coverage of the Democratic candidate’s debates and ideas.
"Why wasn't there more discussion?" Biden asked.
Uh...because YOUR political shills masquerading as "the media" were so intent on *annointing* that corrupt bitch that they couldn't be bothered to ever actually discuss the issues with that hardened *criminal* of a candidate.
#6
Hillary Clinton was the single most qualified on the fact of it to run for president of the United States that we've had, period.
Sorry Joe - you sayin' it doesn't make it so. You've served your country well and suffered tragedy in your life. You have a few good years ahead of you. Time to find that place on the Delaware shore and quietly work on your memoirs.
Posted by: Bangkok Billy ||
12/10/2016 9:06
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#7
Bye, Moron
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/10/2016 9:06
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#8
If you want discussion of the issues and the issue you is corruption there's probably a reason you want to talk about global warming, unless it gets cold. Then you wanta talk about climate change.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/10/2016 10:04
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#9
"But the press, you didn't cover it." Oh really?
#10
That's OK, Joe. You've been an embarrassment to this country for many long years...and if you follow the Al Gore example you can keep embarrassing this country for many more years to come!
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
12/10/2016 11:18
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#11
I like Mr. Biden. No - seriously.
I always liked that he was brought forth for the cameras to stand behind Mr. Obama's right shoulder, adding an elder-statesman gravitas as the President made a particularly galling speech, or committed yet another political faux pas.
It was particularly uplifting to see how valued he was when he was sent to other countries to patch over the administration's numerous foreign policy blunders.
And best of all, he always answered the call of the Oval Office and stayed out of sight otherwise.
And for Mr. Biden to be "embarrassed" - well, there's a phrase or two about larvae or prostitutes that come to mind. But this is supposed to be a family-friendly site.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Arab coalition Arclight airstrikes targeted several positions of the Houthi ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews ... rebels and forces loyal to ousted President President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh ... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it... across Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic... on Friday.
Yemeni military sources confirmed that coalition warplanes had targeted and struck Houthi militia weapon caches in the southwestern city of Taiz.
At the same time, the coalition warplanes bombed several mobile targets and weapons caches of the Houthi-Saleh alliance, in various parts of Saada province.
The rebels responded with a counter attack, apparently targeting residential areas, as a result, an unknown number of non-combatants were killed or injured.
In Mareb, coalition fighters struck Houthi militia on the outskirts of the Sarwah area.
Meanwhile coalition Arclight airstrikes hit a missile launching pad south of al Hadidah city, beside few others in the Jarban wadi in the Directorate of Sanhan.
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[DAWN] WHAT’S a human life worth? To loved ones, it is obviously priceless. But to society and the state, the value of a life is clearly relative.
Soon after 9/11, I.A. Rehman, that tireless crusader for human rights ...which are often intentionally defined so widely as to be meaningless... , was at my flat in Bloody Karachi
Continued on Page 49
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The U.S.-led anti-Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) coalition stated on Dec. 8 that it was facilitating joint talks with Turkey and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in order to simmer down tensions between the two parties that are both fighting jihadists in northern Syria.
“This week, we’re facilitating joint discussions with Turkey, the SDF and other coalition partners to promote de-escalation in the area,” anti-ISIL coalition spokesman Air Force Col. John Dorrian told reporters in a video briefing from Baghdad, AFP reported.
“Every party to these discussions has an overriding interest in common - this is the defeat of ISIL, an enemy that threatens us all,” Dorrian added.
The SDF is primarily comprised of the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), which is the military wing of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD). Turkey views the YPG and PYD as the Syrian offshoots of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), with which it is in an armed conflict since the mid-1980s. Turkey, along with the U.S. and the EU designate the PKK as a terrorist organization.
The U.S., however, does not similarly label the YPG, the PYD, or the SDF, which is composed not only of Kurdish forces but also Arab militias. Washington has extensively relied on these groups to roll back ISIL inside Syria.
“These meetings are the starting points in addressing a challenging situation,” state-run Anadolu Agency quoted Dorrian as saying in the same meeting.
Turkish and American chiefs of staff, Hulusi Akar and Joseph Dunford, respectively, met twice in under a month. Akar and Dunford first met in Ankara in November and then at the İncirlik Air Base in Adana in December.
The SDF is currently carrying out a campaign to oust ISIL from its self-declared Syrian capital of Raqqa, a major goal of the U.S.-led coalition as it seeks to eliminate the jihadists from territories under its control in the region. The coalition has carried out approximately 300 airstrikes in support of these ground forces in the past month alone, Dorrian said.
He said liberating territory in northern Syria “has freed up to thousands of civilians from” ISIL, and many of the displaced are heading to nearby Manbij, which the SDF secured in August from ISIL.
“Unfortunately, as they move in that direction, and even as they find refuge in and around the city, they’re being targeted by ISIL’s small arms and IED attacks,” Dorrian added.
A contingent of Arab fighters has allowed the SDF to establish “a governance structure representative of the local population” in Manbij, and a “similar model” is being planned for Raqqa, he added.
There are currently more than 1,500 fighters training to join the SDF, Dorrian said, and more than 90 percent of its graduates are Arab. The SDF now has an elite force of 45,000 fighters, including 13,000 Arabs from Raqqa, according to Dorrian.
Ankara has repeatedly said it would not allow a “terror corridor” on its southern frontier and that it wants to prevent the joining of the Kurdish “cantons” of Afrin and Kobane.
A senior U.S. military official told AFP that Kurdish forces had slowed their advance toward Raqqa because they were worried Turks would attack them.
“Their biggest concern is the Turks behind them are threatening to attack them and that’s what caused them to hesitate to move forward,” the official was quoted as saying by AFP.
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12/10/2016
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[DAWN] ISLAMABAD: Security forces have apprehended a suspect wanted in a number of terrorism cases in different parts of the country, sources told Dawn on Thursday. They added that he was captured along with three other suspected Lion of Islams.
The suspects were tossed in the calaboose You have the right to remain silent... during a raid in Rawalpindi, they said.
Sources described him as a Lion of Islam affiliated with the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain splinter group Ahrarul Hind who was previously a member of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi ... a 'more violent' offshoot of Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistain. LeJ's purpose in life is to murder anyone who's not of utmost religious purity, starting with Shiites but including Brelvis, Ahmadis, Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Rosicrucians, and just about anyone else you can think of. They are currently a wholly-owned subsidiary of al-Qaeda ... They said he received militancy training in Afghanistan in 2012, and was a well-educated individual.
The four apprehended suspects were allegedly involved in terrorist activities in various parts of the country, including Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... , Sialkot and Islamabad, they said, and allegedly killed two police officials in Karachi.
Sources said they were in Rawalpindi to conduct terrorist activities.
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[WORLDTRIBUNE] Gen. Khalifa Haftar ... served in the Libyan army under Muammar Qadaffy, and took part in the coup that brought Qadaffy to power in 1969. He became a prisoner of war in Chad in 1987. While held prisoner, he and his fellow officers formed a group hoping to overthrow Qadaffy. He was released around 1990 in a deal with the United States government and spent nearly two decades in the United States, gaining US citizenship. In 1993, while living in the United States, he was convicted in absentia of crimes against the Jamahiriya and sentenced to death. Haftar held a senior position in the anti-Qadaffy forces in the 2011 Libyan Civil War. In 2014 he was commander of the Libyan Army when the General National Congress (GNC) refused to give up power in accordance with its term of office. Haftar launched a campaign against the GNC and its Islamic fundamentalist allies. His campaign allowed elections to take place to replace the GNC, but then developed into a civil war. Guess you can't win them all... ’s Libyan National Army (LNA) turned back an attack by a rival faction on some of Libya’s major oil ports on Dec. 7.
A front man for the LNA said rival fighters had withdrawn after briefly occupying the town of Ben Jawad, 30 kilometers (19 miles) west of the port of Es Sider, and were being pursued in the surrounding area, Rooters reported. Four LNA troops were killed and seven maimed in the festivities, a medical source in nearby Ras Lanuf said.
Haftar’s forces responded to the attack by the rival faction with Arclight airstrikes and reported capturing some of the rival group’s commanders.
A security official said the groups that advanced towards the ports in Libya’s oil crescent were linked to the Benghazi Defense Brigades, which tried this year to launch a counter-attack against the LNA.
The National Oil Corporation (NOC) said it had not suspended any loadings, but was monitoring the situation carefully.
The LNA in September seized control of four oil crescent ports, allowing the NOC to end blockades at three of the ports and double national oil production to about 600,000 barrels per day.
Meanwhile, ...back at the wrecked scow, a single surviver held tightly to the smashed prow... Libyan forces, led by brigades from the western city of Misrata, on Dec. 7 completed a near seven-month battle to oust 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 Levant (ISIS) from its stronghold in Sirte.
The forces gained full control over a final patch of ground in Sirte’s Ghiza Bahriya district after hours of festivities.
Libyan and Western officials say some ISIS jihadists beat feet from Sirte before the battle or in its early stages. They fear an bad boy campaign from outside the city and there have been attacks in outlying areas.
Almost all of Sirte’s estimated population of 80,000 fled the city since ISIS took control in early 2016. Libyan officials asked local families not to return to Sirte until mines had been cleared.
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[DAWN] The pressure on British Moslems to integrate more fully into British society is intensifying. For decades many Moslemholy mans and their followers in the UK believed that if they kept a low profile they would be left alone to pursue their lives as they saw fit. If you leave your Islamic sewer in search of a better life, you won't find it by trying to bring the sewer with you.
But the mood is changing. Violent jihadists’ terror attacks, pushback against the increasingly assertive attitudes of some young British Moslems and the growth of English nationalism have together resulted in demands that British Moslems do more to internalise British values. Complaints about racism and Islamophobia ...the irrational fear that Moslems will act the way they usually do... , which once silenced people who raised such issues, are making ever less impact.
Continued on Page 49
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#1
I recently discovered there is a Darul Uloom Muslim K-8 private boarding school and seminary in Buffalo, NY. They were established in buildings purchased from the Catholic church in the early 1990s. According to a second hand report, they cater to the children of Muslim immigrants in the olde worlde style.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] CCTV footage capturing the moment a woman was kicked down stairs at a metro station by an unidentified man in an apparently unprovoked attack in the early hours of the morning is doing the rounds on social media.
The footage of the incident - which occurred after midnight on Oct. 27, in Neukölln subway station, Berlin ‐ shows the woman walking down the stairs towards the metro line. As she walked down the stairs a man in a leatherjacket and a baseball cap - who appeared to be drinking ‐ appeared from behind her and kicked her ‐ causing her to fall down the steps.
According to German newspaper Bild, the police are not pursuing the man - despite the apparently violent nature of the attack and haven’t yet determined whether the video evidence would be suitable as evidence.
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#1
an unidentified dark haired, bearded man and companions
#8
Thanks, Besoeker. A couple of comments are that the video at the link seems to be a manual crop of some kind out of a still surveillance camera, and it appears that the last guy through picked up a beer bottle that somehow ended up on the stairs following this attack.
#9
And thanks to Classer, too. Another comment is that I saw another version that had some nationalist comments on it claiming that serious injury charges were filed and that one of the attackers had hit her at the bottom of the stairs. What I saw in the video did not support the allegation of the continued attack.
At least 400 people have broken through the border fence between Morocco and the enclave of Ceuta, which is part of Spain.
The migrants, mainly from sub-Saharan Africa, stormed different points of the 6m-high (19ft) barbed-wire fence from 06:15 local time on Friday. It is the biggest single breach of the border in a decade, local media report.
A regular occurrence, by which the colonists hope to gain access to the gold-paved roads of Spain and the rest of Europe, whether for personal gain or jihad. ISIS is only one of the jihadi groups that recruits there -- arrests of the membership are even more frequent than mass entry over the fence.
Two border guards were injured in the surprise assault on the border, according to Spanish authorities. Local TV footage showed dozens of migrants celebrating their crossing, while others appeared exhausted, lying on the pavement with visible cuts to their feet and hands.
Most of those who made the crossing have now been detained, with 20% still unaccounted for, Spanish Interior Minister Juan Ignacio Zoido said.
Ceuta is a major crossing point for those seeking work or asylum in Europe. Together with a second Spanish enclave, Melilla, it is the European Union's only land border with Africa.
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Taiz – The Human Rights organization in al-Mahweet governorate, northwest of Sana’a, revealed on Thursday that rebel militias had committed 575 violations during the past month of November.
The non-governmental local civil organization uncovered in a report that it had documented 5 cases of kidnapping, 107 cases of forced disappearance, two cases of threats under physical torture, 21 cases of incitement on killing, in addition to 11 cases of breaking into villages, 89 cases of forced displacement of families from their houses, 40 cases of recruiting children, 125 cases of freezing salaries and 57 cases of robberies and zeroing civil servants salaries.
The organization also documented cases of breaking into mosques, closing schools teaching al-Quran, in addition to rebels’ continuous invasion of state and private buildings.
The human rights organization asserted that Houthi and Saleh militias had used all school channels to spread sectarian ideas and to incite on strife among the same community, particularly the youth generation.
The report also said that militias refuse to supply public resources from taxes and had forced money-changing establishments to withdraw the financial statements of private remittances. Militias had also looted aids offered by international organizations.
Houthi militias also forced petrol station owners to sell fuel and diesel by the price of the black market and collected by the force of weapons and threat the financial resources of all directorates and factions.
Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto said Friday troops will remain in the streets to combat drug violence after his defense minister issued a rare complaint about the controversial deployment.
Although Pena Nieto acknowledged that the soldiers and marines have been doing law enforcement tasks that "don't correspond to them in the strictest sense," he said the armed forces are "determined to continue" policing the streets.
The military deployment has allowed "cities and regions in our country to return to peace and calm," he said.
Defense Minister Salvador Cienfuegos said on Thursday that the military "didn't ask" to be fighting criminals.
"We don't like it. We didn't study how to chase criminals," the general said.
"Our function is something else and it's been made into something unnatural. We are doing things that don't correspond to our training because there's no one else to do them."
Mexico marks 10 years on Sunday since then president Felipe Calderon deployed for the first time thousands of troops to combat drug cartels.
The deployment has led to the capture of major drug lords but soldiers and marines have been accused of committing torture and other abuses over the years.
Violence also soared in the years that followed as the arrests of drug bosses sparked turf wars in several regions.
Pena Nieto, who took office in 2012, has said that troops would return to their barracks once citizens feel safe across the country.
KARACHI: Sindh Rangers on Friday arrested at least five workers of the Mutahida Quami Movement (MQM) London from the Liaquat Ali Khan roundabout in Azizabad.
Workers of the MQM-London attempted to visit the ‘Yadgar-e-Shuhada’ (Martyrs Monument) located in Jinnah Ground when they were barred by the Rangers due to security reasons.
The infuriated MQM-London workers protested over the decision at the Liaquat Ali Khan roundabout, and hurled party flags and wall chalking in the area. They also raised slogans in support of the MQM founder and against the Rangers.
Many workers also climbed the Liaquat Ali Khan roundabout and were later taken into custody by Rangers. The roundabout previously known as ‘Mukka Chowk’ holds great political significance for the MQM.
A large contingent of police has also been deployed in the area. This created a severe traffic jam in the area and all roads leading to Azizabad have been closed.
Female activists of the MQM-London also gathered forcing their way towards the Jinnah Ground insisting to hold ‘fateha’ over there. They also started recitations of the Holy Quran on the main road which was allowed by the Rangers.
Many workers have also gathered at the nearby “Allahwali” roundabout where Rangers are also present to prevent anyone from reaching the Jinnah Ground. Consequently, many party workers decided to stage a sit on the road leading from Ayesha Manzil to ‘Yadgar-e-Shuhada.’
MQM- London workers also clashed with the Rangers in Hyderabad outside the ‘Pukka Qilla’ ground. Many workers managed to enter the ground despite the presence of a large contingent of police and Rangers.
[AlArabiya] Nearly 150 civilians, most disabled or in need of urgent medical care, were evacuated overnight from a hospital in Aleppo’s Old City, the first major evacuation from the eastern sector, the International Committee of the Red Cross said on Thursday.
They had been trapped there for days by nearby fighting and as the front line moved closer. Eleven patients had died from lack of medication or been killed in crossfire before ICRC and Syrian Arab Red Crescent teams could reach them, it said.
The head of the ICRC delegation in Syria, Marianne Gasser, who is in the city, said in a statement on the evacuees: “Many of them cannot move and need special attention and care.”
Of the evacuated disabled, mental health patients and wounded from Dar Al-Safaa hospital in the Old City late on Wednesday, 118 patients were taken to three hospitals in the government-controlled west of Aleppo.
Trauma and emergency cases were taken to Al-Razi surgical hospital and University Hospital, ICRC spokeswoman Krista Armstrong told Reuters, and Ibn Khaldoun hospital took the mental health and elderly patients, she said.
Thirty other men, women and children were taken to shelters, also in the west of the city, the ICRC statement said.
As heavy fighting continues in eastern Aleppo, the humanitarian situation is “known to be catastrophic”, the ICRC said. The agency called on all warring sides to allow a humanitarian pause to be able to deliver aid supplies in the besieged sector which has been inaccessible since April.
The Syrian army has gained control of all parts of the Old City, a war monitoring group said on Wednesday, part of an advance which has seen insurgents lose about two thirds of their main urban stronghold over the past two weeks.
A U.S. official has categorically denied recent media reports claiming that Washington was preparing to send Stinger missiles, an effective weapon in air defense, to the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), which Ankara considers a terrorist group.
“It’s not true,” a U.S. official told the Hürriyet Daily News while commenting on reports that appeared in the media on Dec. 9.
"No, no, certainly not!"
“They appear to be confused about how our congress works,” the official said on condition of anonymity, elaborating on the U.S. regulation to send arms to foreign groups.
“It is true the congress authorized the administration to provide Manpads to the Syrian opposition. This would allow the president to do so if he chooses to – but it does not require him to do so,” the official said.
But President Trump might have a different opinion, so Yippie ought to get on his good side...
Reports in the Turkish media said both the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate had approved the sending of Stinger Man-Portable Air Defense System (MANPADS) to the People’s Protection Units (YPG), the armed wing of the PYD.
“It will be the president’s decision whether he decides to do so. So far, he has not chosen to – in part because of concerns that they could end up with groups that would use them against civil aviation in Turkey, Europe or elsewhere,” the U.S. official said.
“Second, this is aimed at the groups fighting under the Free Syrian Army [FSA] to address the problem they face from regime air strikes. We don’t provide equipment to groups if there is not a need for it. And we have been very careful not to provide anything in Syria that would end up improving the PKK’s [the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party] capabilities,” the official said.
Turkey and U.S. have been engaged in a split since Washington backs the PYD in the ongoing fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Turkey, on the other hand, supports Syrian rebels as part of its ongoing Euphrates Shield operation to clear its borders of both the PYD and ISIL.
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[Libya Observer] A pro-Haftar warplane air attacked one of the sites of the Defense Ministry of the UN-proposed government in al-Jufra, central Libya, said Brigadier General Edriss Bu Gwaitin, the commander of Brigade 12 Infantry of the UN-proposed government.
"One fighter was killed and several others were maimed in the Arclight airstrikes." The Brig. Gen. added.
He indicated in a press statement that his brigade forces are under the authority of the UN-proposed government and thus attacking it is a flagrant assault on the government, pointing out that they have informed the Defense Minister-designate and other officials about the attacks.
The self-styled General Command of Haftar’s forces declared earlier the central region in Libya from Sirte in the west and Ben Jawad in the east to al-Jufra in the south as a military zone saying any force that moves in that area without permission will be bombed.
This comes as a reaction to the offensive launched on Essidra oil terminal by the coalition of forces led by the UN-proposed government’s Defense Minister-designate, Mihdi al-Barghathi.
The commander of the southern frontline in Sirte, Ibrahim Erfida, responded to the declaration of the military zone by the Dignity Operation saying that al-Bunyan al-Marsoos forces are ready to thwart any attack on Sirte and if any force cherished coming near the administrative borders of the city, then "they will be buried right in there".
"Al-Bunyan al-Marsoos forces will comb through the neighbouring towns of Sirte and they are always ready to deal with any unexpected situations in there." He remarked.
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Longtime Ghanaian opposition leader Nana Akufo-Addo has won the presidency on his third attampt, defeating incumbent President John Mahama.
Mahama acted just before the electoral commission officially announced Akufo-Addo as the winner of the election, with 53.85 percent of the vote, compared with 44.4 percent for Mahama.
Calls had been mounting on social media for the electoral commission to speed up its vote count following Wednesday's election. Speaking to supporters earlier Friday at his residence in the capital, Accra, Mahama appealed for calm and said he would accept the final results.
Akufo-Addo, who leads the opposition New Patriotic Party, or NPP, and the police also asked the public to remain patient while the electoral commission did its work.
Mahama was seeking a second term as Ghana's leader. The West African country is a major exporter of oil, gold and cocoa.
Akufo-Addo used Ghana's current economic woes as a main theme of his campaign, accusing Mahama and the National Democratic Congress, or NDC, of incompetence.
The new president has served as both foreign minister and attorney general in a previous NPP government, but twice narrowly lost earlier battles for the presidency.
Mahama's term was overshadowed by the plunge in global oil prices, which reduced government revenues and contributed to soaring inflation. The government accepted a $918 million bailout from the International Monetary Fund.
Ghana is considered one of the most stable democracies in Africa, having witnessed several peaceful transfers of power since 1992.
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Gambian President Yahya Jammeh has declared his "total rejection" of the results of his country's December 1 election and called for his country to vote again -- a week after accepting his defeat.
[Libya Herald] The Presidency Council’s Presidential Guard, which was signed into being at the end of August, is to begin recruiting in earnest next week, its commander said today.
Colonel Najmi Ramadan Khair al-Nakua, in his first interview with the media, said that priority would be given to recruits who had fought against turbans and therefore had combat experience.
Nakua’s annoucement came just three days after the UN Security Council had been told by UNSMIL chief Martin Kobler, that the Presidential Guard was a key part of the restoration of security.
Once the Guard had been established, said Kobler in New York, the way would be open for the PC to request the partial lifting on the international arms embargo to let the Guard arm and equip itself.
Few details have emerged of the strength of the new unit nor how would-be recruits are being vetted. Nakua has two deputies, colonels Mohammed Abu Bakr Laqri and Ibrahm Ahmed Abdullah Bilad who are both senior army officers.
He said that the chosen recruits would be put through a period of extensive training. He also made a point of insisting that the Guard existed to support the army and the police and not to be a substitute for them. In New York on Tuesday, the UN had been told that the key functions of the Guard were to protect the government and state institutions as well as foreign embassies.
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#1
worked for Indira Ghandi....and Anwar Sadat
Posted by: Bov Flimbers ||
12/10/2016 2:39
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] A guard was killed in Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... by a kaboom on the border with Yemen, the Saudi state news agency SPA said on Friday, quoting an interior ministry front man.
The front man said that a water delivery truck was carrying a bomb when it went off on Thursday evening at the border in the southern province of Jazan near the Yemen, killing Corporal Abdullah Farhan Jaber al-Maliki.
Saudi Arabia has reported dozens of its soldiers or civilians killed in the 20-month-old conflict in Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic... by 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 ... militia attacks.
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] After several campaigns by women’s rights activists, several members of parliament in Leb have agreed to work to revoke a nearly 70-year-old law allowing rapists to avoid prosecution if they marry their victim.
Many Lebanese women, dressed as brides in white wedding dresses stained with fake blood and bandages, gathered last week outside government buildings in Leb’s capital to protest against the law.
Article 522 of the Lebanese penal code states: "In the event a legal marriage is concluded between the person who committed [crimes including rape, kidnapping and statutory rape] and the victim, prosecution shall be stopped and in case a decision is rendered, the execution of such decision shall be suspended against the person who was subject to it."
"We reject this violation of women regardless of their age, background, environment, whether they have special needs or the circumstances of the rape," said Ghida Anani, head of Abaad, a local NGO campaigning against the law.
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#1
rape, kidnapping and statutory rape
Apparently there is some confusion about pre-marital dating.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] A group of Egyptian women have resorted to a new and original way to fight sexual harassment during a march in the capital, Cairo - wearing short dresses.
As onlookers watched on in silent amazement, the women waved signs carrying the message: "we are wearing the dresses of the past, we want the streets of the past". The message was referring to the sixties and seventies when women’s skirts and dresses were fashionably much shorter, but they received less unwelcomed attention.
Dr Riham Atef, the organizer of the march, told Al Arabiya.Net: "The concept behind this march is inspired by European traditions... We wanted to take part in the movement and raise awareness of the problem of sexual harassment in Egypt’s streets."
She said that although Egyptian women dressed modestly, they were still exposed to violent, verbal and sexual harassment. This bad reputation has earned Egypt a high ranking in the list of countries where sexual harassment is a problem, just after Afghanistan. And she stressed that the current laws did not deter offenders, especially in a culture where women refuse to report their aggressors, fearing scandal.
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[Dhaka Tribune] Three of the five suspected Harkat Ul Jihad Bangladesh (HuJI Founded in 1984 by Fazlur Rehman Khalil and Qari Saifullah Aktar. The Bangla branch was established in 1992 with assistance from Osama bin Laden. Recruits come mostly from Deobandi madrassahs. HuJI and Fazlur Rehman Khalil are signators of bin Laden's declaration of war on the west. B) members, detained during a Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) raid at a bully boy hideout in Chittagong, were allegedly kidnapped from Dhaka, Rajshahi and Nilphamari more than seven months ago, claim families.
The five arrestees are Mowlana Tajul Islam, Nazim Uddin, Hafez Abujar Gifari, Nure Alam and Iftesham Ahmed.
Continued on Page 49
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[USATODAY] An anti-Islam and Dutch political populist whose party is leading in polls ahead of March parliamentary elections in the Netherlands was found guilty of hate speech Friday.
Geert Wilders' case centered on comments he made during elections in the Netherlands in 2014.
Prosecutors noted that at one meeting in a Hague cafe, Wilders asked supporters whether they wanted more or fewer Moroccans in the Netherlands. That sparked a chant of "Fewer! Fewer! Fewer!" Wilders replied: "We’ll take care of it."
No sentence was imposed. Judge Hendrik Steenhuis said that was because the conviction was punishment enough for a democratically elected politician three months before national elections.
Wilders said the verdict was "madness" and he would appeal the decision. He has long insisted his comments about immigrants colonists are merely attempts to point out flaws in society. He said prosecutors were trying to curtail freedom of speech.
"The Netherlands has become a sick country," Wilders said in a video posted on his Twitter feed Friday. "I am not a racist and neither are my voters," he said in the video. "This sentence proves that you judges are completely out of touch. Support for the Party for Freedom is stronger than ever and keeps growing every day. The Dutch want their country back."
Populist anti-Islam Dutch MP Geert Wilders was found guilty on Friday of discrimination against Moroccans, but acquitted of hate speech in a closely-watched trial ahead of next year's key election. Wilders' Freedom Party (PVV) is eying an upset victory in the March 2017 polls.
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#1
Dutch court guilty of violating Dutch citizens' human rights.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
12/10/2016 11:11
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[ARA News] Erbil – The US-led coalition says it has destroyed a fleet of 168 ISIS oil tankers near Palmyra on Thursday in the largest air strike of its kind to date.
“The Coalition continues to forcefully prosecute the air war on ISIS revenue capability,” said coalition spokesman Col. John L. JD Dorrian in a statement obtained by ARA News.
When ISIS has access to large sums of money, they use it to conduct violent terror attacks “against anyone who doesn’t share their barbaric ideology,” according to Dorrian.
“The Coalition is systematically targeting ISIS-affiliated oil infrastructure to eliminate millions of dollars in potential revenue. This most recent strike resulted in estimated lost revenue of more than $2 million,” the coalition said.
The coalition added that stopping or severely hampering ISIS cash flow degrades their ability to fund the war effort in Iraq and Syria and terrorist attacks around the world.
The US-led coalition is trying to destroy the ISIS oil resources by targeting oil tanker trucks and petroleum equipment.
Speaking live via video conference from Baghdad on Thursday, Air Force Col. John Dorrian said airstrikes are accelerating in Raqqa on ISIS fighters and resources in support of the Syrian Democratic Forces’ (SDF) offensive near Raqqa. “300 such strikes in the past month enabled liberation of more than 270 square miles of territory from ISIS,” he said.
Washington-based Middle East researcher at the Centre for a New American Security, Nicholas Heras, stressed that oil is important for the ISIS self-proclaimed Caliphate.
“Oil is a crucial source of revenue for ISIS, which funds its ability to make payments to its fighters and to provide social welfare to the tribes it rules over in eastern Syria,” Heras told ARA News.
“Attacking ISIS’ oil revenues weakens its ability to maintain the statelet it is governing, and could lead to increased dissent against its rule that leads to rebellion against it in eastern Syria,” he said. “This would facilitate the Coalition campaign greatly, and could prevent the need to introduce U.S. ground troops in eastern Syria.”
Posted by: badanov ||
12/10/2016
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#1
I wonder if Colonel Dorrian would explain if it is true that US aircraft will only hit parked oil trucks and not moving trucks. And if so, why that is so.
#4
If the moving oil trucks contain oil, that will create air pollution and also release carbon dioxide into the air, increasing global warming climate change. Saving lives and shortening the war are not worth that.
[LIVEMINT] A top Lashkar-e-Taiba ...the Army of the Pure, an Ahl-e-Hadith terror organization founded by Hafiz Saeed. LeT masquerades behind the Jamaat-ud-Dawa facade within Pakistain and periodically blows things up and kills people in India. Despite the fact that it is banned, always an interesting concept in Pakistain, the organization remains an blatant tool and perhaps an arm of the ISI... (LeT) terrorist Abu Dujana was involved in a shootout between bully boyz and security forces late Wednesday night and early Thursday morning, but managed to escape.
Dujana was earlier believed to be killed in the encounter in south Kashmire’s Anantnag district.
"A search operation was launched at Hassanpora village in Bijbehara area of Anantnag early morning following specific intelligence inputs about the presence of forces of Evil in the village. The security forces were conducting a search operation following the tip-off, when the forces of Evil shot up them and that triggered the encounter," a senior Jammu & Kashmire police official said on condition of anonymity.
Dujana, one of the most wanted forces of Evil in the valley, had made several appearances in the protest rallies that had been staged in Kashmire, following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen leader, Burhan Wani, earlier this year.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/10/2016
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The UN General Assembly has voted in favor of an an immediate ceasefire in Syria and access for humanitarian aid during a session on Friday.
The voting came after many speeches from key players in the Syrian conflict with 122 members voting in favor of the resolution, 13 against while 36 members abstained from voting either way.
Canada had drafted the text as part of the 193-nation assembly’s attempt to break the deadlock over Syria at the Security Council.
Speaking from New York, Al Arabiya's Talal al-Haj said that the General Assembly resolution expected the resolution to pass but reported that it would likely not make much difference on actions on the ground.
"it is worth noting that the resolution will have little to no effect unless the Security Council can act as today's resolution is non-binding," he added.
Russia and China this week vetoed a draft Security Council resolution calling for a seven-day cease-fire in Aleppo, the Syrian city that is on the verge of falling to government forces.
It was the sixth time that Moscow, a close ally of Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Despoiler of Deraa... , has used its veto in the council to block action over Syria.
The General Assembly is expected to adopt nonbinding text that demands a "complete end to all attacks on civilians" and the lifting of all sieges.
"Sadly, I suspect it will be too little too late," British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft told AFP news agency.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/10/2016
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#1
Its cute when the UN tries to pretend its relevant.
[Iran Press TV] Iraqi government forces have established full control over three more neighborhoods in the eastern quarter of djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... as they try to drive Takfiri ...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who must be killed... ISISbully boyz out of the northern city in joint operations with allied fighters and Kurdish Peshmerga forces.
On Friday, Iraqi Special Operations Forces managed to liberate the neighborhoods of Adl, al-E’lam and al-Ta’mim in the eastern part of Mosul, located some 400 kilometers north of the capital Baghdad, and raised the national Iraqi flag over a number of buildings there, Arabic-language al-Forat news agency reported.
Scores of ISIS members were killed and injured during the fierce exchanges of gunfire between government forces and the myrmidons.
The development came on the same day that pro-government fighters from Popular Mobilization Units, also known by the Arabic name Hashd al-Sha'abi, defused a boom-mobile in the strategic Tal Abtah region west of Mosul.
Additionally, the Iraqi Defense Ministry announced that Iraq's Air Force fighter jets had carried out a string of Arclight airstrikes against ISIS positions in the eastern and western flanks of Mosul, killing dozens of the Takfiris in the process.
Iraqi warplanes pounded a missile depot in Mosul’s eastern neighborhood of Rashidiya, before targeting a workshop for booby-trapping vehicles and manufacturing bombs near a train station in western Mosul.
Another ISIS position was bombarded in Mosul’s western al-Mansour district as well.
Separately, Iraqi jets, based on information from the Directorate General for Intelligence and Security, launched precision strikes against a ISIS arms depot in Qadisiyah district.
Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) Al-Hashd al-Shaabi troops defused on Friday a booby-trapped vehicle while combing the town of Tal Abta, west of Mosul, which they captured on Thursday.
The militia is preparing to liberate other areas surrounding the strategic town, its spokesperson, Ahmed al-Assadi stated Friday.
On Thursday, Al-Hashd sl-Shaabi completed the liberation of Tal Abta, the only remaining area to consummate a siege on the town of Tal Afar, a major ISIS stronghold and a vital spot on the group’s supply lines from Syria.
The militia’s media service said the victory came after intense fights with the extremist group that left a number of militants dead.
Al-Hashd al-Shaabi, which turned via a parliament vote last month from a voluntary popular militia to an Iraqi national force, has been actively fighting against ISIS by the side of the Iraqi government forces. The militia has been mostly active in the southwestern areas of Mosul since operations to retake the city launched in mid October. Government forces, meanwhile, are still struggling to liberate the eastern section of the city and have said they had become in control over at least 50 percent of that region.
Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi army jets bombed on Friday Islamic State locations in eastern and western Mosul, military intelligence said in a statement.
The airstrike destroyed ammunition stashes in Rashidiya, Qadisiya and al-Zohour districts, said the statement. A booby-trapping factory and a headquarter containing suicide bombers were also destroyed at al-Mansour district and near a train station in western Mosul.
Iraqi government forces, backed by US-led air forces and popular militias, have been on a major campaign to liberate Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, from ISIS militants since October.
Iraqi ground forces are struggling to liberate the eastern side of Mosul moving toward the Tigirs River. ISIS maintains some strongholds in the west nea Syrian borders, but Iraqi government and militia commanders say they had blocked the group’s supply and escape routes to and from Syria.
Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi troops have recaptured 28 districts in eastern Mosul, the Counter Terrorism Service said on Friday, saying that as a seven-week old campaign to clear the city from Islamic State (ISIS) militants ended its first phase.
CTS commander, Abdul Ghani al-Assadi, stated government forces have become in control of 28 districts in eastern Mosul, noting that operations were running “as planned” with an air cover provided by Iraqi and international coalition fair forces.
The CTS said in a statement on Friday that the forces recaptured the districts of al-Adl and al-Taamim in the east. Security sources were quoted earlier on the same day as saying that the forces recaptured the districts of Nawafel, Simyak and Abbassiy in the north.
Military and police commanders said recently that government forces became in control of nearly 50 percent of the eastern section of Mosul. ISIS remains in control of most of the western region adjacent to the group’s strongholds in Syria, but Iraqi security commanders and Al-Hashd al-Shaabi militia leaders say they had managed to cut ISIS’s supply and escape routes to and from Syria.
Commanders, however, admit fierce resistance from ISIS combatants who rely on booby-traps and suicide attacks. Iraqi troops withdrew one day ago from recently-recaptured districts under intense, fatal assaults from the militants. They also attribute occasional slowdowns in operations to anxiousness to ensure the safety of civilians stranded within the battlefield.
BAGHDAD: Iraqi forces captured a neighborhood in east Mosul on Friday, pushing deeper into Daesh’s Iraqi stronghold and destroying three manufacturing sites for car bombs used in waves of suicide attacks, the campaign’s commander said.
Lt.-Gen. Abdul Ameer Rasheed Yarallah said Counter Terrorism Service forces spearheading the seven-week operation to retake Mosul seized the Tamim district halfway between the city’s eastern edge and the River Tigris running through its center.
The elite troops, part of a US-backed, 100,000-strong coalition of Iraqi forces, have been fighting street battles with the militants and now control around half of the city’s eastern neighborhoods.
But progress has been slow as they have faced counterattacks by the militant fighters, who launched hundreds of the suicide car bombs and mortars and snipe fire attacks and used the city’s million residents as human shields. Yarallah also said in a statement that air strikes by Iraqi F-16 jets destroyed three production plants making car bombs in Mosul and three weapons stores. He gave no further details.
Iraq launched the operation to recapture Mosul on Oct. 17. Defeating Daesh in the largest city under its control would deal a major blow to its self-styled caliphate in Iraq and Syria, and its ambitions to govern territory.
In Iraq, it has already been forced to retreat from Tikrit, Ramadi and Falluja, although its ultra-hard-line fighters still hold large parts of remote regions near the Syrian border.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/10/2016
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#1
Here are two sites to get detailed insight into the Mosul offensive:
[Iran Press TV] The United States military says it will deploy an armored brigade and an aviation brigade totaling about 2,300 soldiers to Afghanistan this winter.
The Pentagon made the announcement in a statement released on Thursday, saying 1,500 soldiers will be sent to Afghanistan this winter, in addition to another 800 troops that will be deployed in support of a training mission known as Operation Freedom’s Sentinel. How about two airborne divisions, tasked with killing everybody with a turban and automatic weapon they run across?
"This deployment is part of a regular rotation of forces in support of Operation Freedom's Sentinel," the blurb stated, adding that the soldiers were "well-trained, well-led and fully prepared for the challenges this mission will bring."
No exact date was given in the announcement for when the US troops will leave for deployment to Afghanistan.
The United States -- under Republican George W. Bush’s presidency -- and its allies invaded Afghanistan on October 7, 2001 as part of Washington’s so-called war on terror. The offensive removed the Taliban regime from power, but after about one-and-a-half decade, foreign troops are still deployed to the country.
After becoming president in 2008, Barack Obama That’s just how white folks will do you.... , a Democrat, vowed to end the Afghan war -- one of the longest conflicts in US history ‐ but he failed to keep his promise.
US President-elect Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... , who speaks against the Afghan war, has dubbed the 2001 invasion and following occupation of Afghanistan as "Obama's war".
Obama has ordered the military to take on the Taliban more directly and empower Afghan forces battling the bully boy group.
In October last year, Obama announced plans to keep 9,800 US troops in Afghanistan through 2016 and 5,500 in 2017, reneging on his promise to end the war there and bring home most American forces from the Asian country before he leaves office.
According to US officials, Washington would also maintain a large counter-terrorism contingent of terror drones and Special Operations Forces to fight Death Eaters in Afghanistan.
There are now about 10,000 American troops in Afghanistan, as well as some 6,000 NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all.... service members, to "train and advise" Afghan cops fighting Taliban.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/10/2016
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#1
No exact date was given
Easy enough for the new administration to cancel if true, I suppose.
Clad in white at a Berlin church, asylum seekers Saeed, Veronica, Farida and Matin were just about to become Christians on a recent Sunday.
"Do you believe from the bottom of your heart that Jesus Christ is your Lord and saviour, and will you follow him every day of your life?" Pastor Matthias Linke asked them. "If so, say yes."
All four replied with a frank "Ja", to the enthusiastic applause of the faithful at the Free Evangelical Church, and were plunged head-to-toe into a baptism basin.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/10/2016
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[Libya Observer] Libya’s Red Islamic Thingy, Misrata branch, recovered last Tuesday 266 bodies from Sirte, saying most of the IS krazed killers’ bodies were decomposed and they included some bodies of women and kiddies.
The media office of al-Bunyan al-Marsoos forces said the bodies unit at the Misrata Crime Combat Department, in collaboration with the Libyan Red Islamic Thingy, recovered 230 bodies of IS fighters along with other 36 bodies to make up 266 ones as a total on Tuesday.
Lately, al-Bunyan al-Mrsoos forces had saved more than 100 civilian women and kiddies from the Jiza neighborhood before they advanced on it and liberated it from IS.
On Tuesday, the Misrata-led forces declared the full liberation of Jiza neighborhood, which was the last IS hideout in Sirte, after seven months of deadly festivities that caused them over 700 deaths and almost 3000 injuries, according to official medical sources.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/10/2016
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[VOA News] The U.S. Army has opened a criminal investigation of a soldier who confessed on national television to killing an unarmed Taliban detainee, a senior Army official told VOA Thursday.
The investigation of former Major Mathew Golsteyn, first reported by The Washington Post, began earlier this month, according to the senior Army official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
In an October interview, Golsteyn admitted to Fox News Channel that he had killed the alleged bomb maker while in Marja in 2010.
"This is a criminal case that was opened up because of a public confession," a U.S. official told VOA. "It is incumbent upon the Army to investigate that."
In the interview, the show host asks, "Did you kill the Taliban bomb maker?"
"Yes," Golsteyn replied.
Honor removed
Golsteyn initially acknowledged killing the detainee - who was accused of making a bomb that killed two Marines serving under Golsteyn's command - during a polygraph test while applying for a job with the CIA in 2011.
According to The Washington Post report, Golsteyn said a tribal leader who had identified the detainee as a Taliban member said he feared that if the American unit let the detainee go, the detainee would kill the tribal leader and his family.
A U.S. official said the CIA alerted the Army of the statement, and the Army launched an administrative board of inquiry into the killing. Hey big Army, Golsteyn is moving in on our market share. Handle it.
The administrative review ended in 2014 without the Army finding evidence to charge Golsteyn; none of his fellow soldiers corroborated the story of the killing and Army officials weren't in the room to confirm the CIA confession.
But then-Army Secretary John McHugh decided to revoke Golsteyn's Silver Star Medal, the U.S. military's third-highest decoration for valor in combat, which he had earned in Afghanistan.
The U.S. official said an Army administrative review is different from an Army criminal case, and added that the October confession provides new evidence about the incident.
"So double jeopardy doesn't apply," the official said, referring to a law in the United States that prohibits citizens from being retried for the same crime using the same evidence.
Golsteyn told The Washington Post in an email Thursday that the Defense Department and Army have "viciously pursued me without a discernible cause or a stated goal for over five years."
A senior Army official said there is currently a complaint on the Army’s handling of the case that was filed with the Defense Department Inspector General. There cannot be any results released from the case until the complaint is resolved.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#3
His first mistake was applying for job that required a poly. I think this guy will end up be charged. There's no right way to do the wrong thing. Our spineless politicians (both in and out of uniform) share the guilt for forcing us to fight with one arm tied behind our backs and one eye taped shut.
For all of the great quotes from Gen, Mattis - we never really "did" what the survivors will talk about for 10,000 years. We should have and that's the problem. The Pashtun/Tajik/Hazara people understand that.
Posted by: Bangkok Billy ||
12/10/2016 9:33
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#4
Ditto Billy, and in light of his potential employer selection and personal admissions, charges sadly....well earned.
#5
The moral of the story is don't talk to reporters.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
12/10/2016 11:58
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#6
Trump on day one, pardon the Major, return awards, end criminal ROE.
When you know the guy killed your comrades and will do so again for certain , and some jackass has kissed White House butt for career enhancement by drafting utter insanity for ROE because some lawyer wants to cover political risk by impossible standards that ensure never defeating barbarians, end the mess, don't ruin the instruments. You want to try someone for this, how about Susan Rice?
[NYTIMES] Moving to address income inequality on a local level, the City Council in Portland, Ore., voted on Wednesday to impose a surtax on companies whose chief executives earn more than 100 times the median pay of their rank-and-file workers. That's sure to make the city more business friendly.
The surcharge, which Portland officials said is the first in the nation linked to chief executives’ pay, would be added to the city’s business tax for those companies that exceed the pay threshold. Currently, roughly 550 companies that generate significant income on sales in Portland pay the business tax.
Under the new rule, companies must pay an additional 10 percent in taxes if their chief executives receive compensation greater than 100 times the median pay of all their employees. Companies with pay ratios greater than 250 times the median will face a 25 percent surcharge.
The tax will take effect next year, after the Securities and Exchange Commission begins to require public companies to calculate and disclose how their chief executives’ compensation compares with their workers’ median pay. The S.E.C. rule was required under the Dodd-Frank legislation enacted in 2010.
Portland’s executive-pay surcharge will be levied as a percentage of what a company owes on the city’s so-called business license tax, which has been in place since the 1970s. City officials estimated that the new tax would generate $2.5 million to $3.5 million a year for the city’s general fund, which pays for basic public services such as housing and police and firefighter salaries.
Criticism of how much chief executives are paid has risen in recent years as their compensation has grown substantially. In 2015, the median compensation for the 200 highest-paid executives at public companies in the United States was $19.3 million, up from $9.6 million five years earlier.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#7
Any half-way competent executive comp deal will have a gross up clause. Company just picks up the slack so that its C level people take home the same amount. As it's a cost to the company, prices for its good and services have to go up to cover the difference. When that makes the company noncompetitive they either close shop or move. If Portland had had any questions about this, they could have just asked California.
Do they, indeed. Will they say this to his face when briefing him in the Oval Office?
[WashingtonPost] The CIA has concluded in a secret assessment that Russia intervened in the 2016 election to help Donald Trump win the presidency, rather than just to undermine confidence in the U.S. electoral system, according to officials briefed on the matter.
Intelligence agencies have identified individuals with connections to the Russian government who provided WikiLeaks with thousands of hacked emailsfrom the Democratic National Committee and others, including Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman, according to U.S. officials. Those officials described the individuals as actors known to the intelligence community and part of a wider Russian operation to boost Trump and hurt Clinton’s chances.
“It is the assessment of the intelligence community that Russia’s goal here was to favor one candidate over the other, to help Trump get elected,” said a senior U.S. official briefed on an intelligence presentation made to U.S. senators. “That’s the consensus view.”
#1
Yes, it could be a fiendish Rooski plot to sap and impurify our electoral process. Or it could be the DNC admins were lax and didn't change the default passwords on their servers.
#2
Intelligence agencies have identified individuals with connections to the Russian government who provided WikiLeaks with thousands of hacked emailsfrom the Democratic National Committee and others, including Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman, according to U.S. officials.
Yet her own supporters don't believe there was anything *wrong* to actually *find*.
Those cupcakes don't realize that they can't have it both ways--if their candidate was squeaky clean, then why would the Rooskies have anything to gain from hacking their sainted One's emails?
#3
But it is OK to leak xetailed inferences and assessments from a Secret Report... Don't trust any info coming from a politicized cia. Not sure what value they bring to the table anymore.
#4
Reference #2: Her (tbe Beest's) 'homebrew' server was so easy to hack, and it contained all sorts of classified information as well.
If you were a Russian hacker, which computer system might you wish to target? You do not have to like the SOB's, but have to respect their tenacity and determination. By the way, what cyrillic acronym is appropriate for High Value Target (HVT)
Dear Intelligence agencies and cyber warfare sleuths - Rhetorical yes, but why did you not (then or now) feel compelled to report the specific TARGET of the Computer Network Attacks (CNA) ?
Thank you for your awkward attempt at deception Klingon masters. And thank you as well Klingon WAPO propaganda arm.
#6
Question is: "Was Hillary clean?" "No, next question"
And BTW it was hillary(s criminal negligence at handling classifies information who allowed the Russians to use info against her.
Can you just imagine that old foll being handled the nuclear code? Shudder.
#8
“That’s the consensus view.” These are the most frightening words to come out of the intelligence community. It is a sure indication that there is a lack of evidence.
#9
The Russians did this because they secretly wanted James Mattis named Secretary of Defense. Just like the Nazis worked behind the scenes to give Patton command of the Third Army.
Posted by: Matt ||
12/10/2016 8:00
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#10
Black propaganda - lies
Gray propaganda - interpretations
White propaganda - truths
It's hard to fight white propaganda, especially if your knee jerk reaction is to reply with black propaganda.
#13
Personally, if the Russians did this, they are our friends. They also warned us that we were slipping into socialism five minutes after Olenin got elected. Would it be better if some basement dweller in NY had done this? What would they have to say then? And by saying that someone had hacked the RNC and/or Donald's campaign but didn't release it suggests that we need to believe that we would necessarily see the same misbehavior and therefore the DNC and Hillary's campaign are innocent by way of moral relativism.
#15
As for the RNC and Trump email servers, assuming they were able to breach the security of properly managed servers, they probably didn't find anything newsworthy.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
12/10/2016 13:46
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#16
I'm pretty sure it was that guy K imd otcom in New Zealand.
#17
I seem to recall claims by Bernie Sanders supporters that one of their own, employed by the Clinton campaign, had passed on DNC records to WikiLeaks -- no Russian master hackers needed, Whenter Julian Assange is connected to the Russians is a different story, but his own life is so strange that the wonder is that he isn't a murdering psychopath altogether.
A little walk down memory lane: Putin Contends Clinton Incited Unrest Over Vote "In a rare personal accusation, Mr. Putin said Mrs. Clinton had sent 'a signal' to 'some actors in our country' after Sunday’s parliamentary elections, which were condemned as fraudulent by both international and Russian observers. Anger over the elections prompted a demonstration in which thousands chanted 'Putin is a thief' and 'Russia without Putin,' a development that has deeply unnerved the Kremlin.
Speaking to political allies as he announced the formation of his presidential campaign, Mr. Putin said that hundreds of millions of dollars in 'foreign money' was being used to influence Russian politics, and that Mrs. Clinton had personally spurred protesters to action. The comments indicate a breakdown in the Obama administration’s sputtering effort to 'reset' the relationship between the United States and Russia."
If there was Russian skulduggery, it was targeted payback to Ms. Clinton, serendipitously assisting Mr. Trump.
“I looked at the first reaction of our U.S. partners,” Mr. Putin said. “The first thing that the secretary of state did was say that they were not honest and not fair, but she had not even yet received the material from the observers.”
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/10/2016 20:13
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#23
Just as N. Korea, Cuba and Venezuela would keep power by saying things like the US is preparing to do harm to our country, the socialist/Marxists are trying to find a way to do the same thing here. It ain't working.
[Daily Mail, Where America Gets Its News] Megyn Kelly spoke about the threats she has received over the past 16 months and the fact that armed guards still protect her and her family
She also said that the man inciting this in some Trump supporters was Dan Scavino, Trump's director of social media
Scavino most recently attacked Kelly after Newt Gingrish went kaboom! on the Fox News host during her show The Kelly File
'Watch what happens to her after this election is over,' wrote Scavino on Twitter
Kelly has also been a frequent target of Trump's rage over the past 16 months
Posted by: Fred ||
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When will she take her new job at CNBC? Or at the local Scranton affiliate?
[Iran Press TV] Syrian army ground forces and allies have liberated 52 blocks in the eastern parts of the city of Aleppo from the grip of foreign-backed snuffies and are now in control of 93 percent of the whole northwestern city, Russia says.
"As a result of a successful advance, 52 districts of eastern Aleppo have been freed from Death Eaters," Russian Defense Ministry official Sergei Rudskoi said in comments broadcast on state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
on Friday.
"Over the past four days, territory controlled by snuffies decreased by one third. The Syrian army controls 93 percent of the city’s territory," he added.
He said as many as 10,500 people have left eastern Aleppo in the last 24 hours, adding that the city’s residents have reported torture, public executions by the so-called moderate snuffies backed by the US and its allies.
"Civilians who beat feet fromDeath Eaters talk about new crimes committed by snuffies of the so-called moderate opposition in eastern Aleppo. Cases of torture, public executions and massacres of the population have been confirmed," the Russian official said.
Rudskoi noted that over 3,000 residents of the strategic city have so far returned to their houses and added that dozens of tonnes of humanitarian aid have been delivered to liberated Aleppo districts on a daily basis.
He further said more than 1,000 snuffies have surrendered arms and left eastern Aleppo while 953 of them have been granted amnesty.
"Thus, the Syrian government fully fulfills its obligations to help return participants of illegal gangs to peaceful life," the Russian general added.
Damascus has called on the snuffies holed up in Aleppo’s east to lay down arms and surrender. The Syrian president has ordered for those snuffies choosing to stop fighting to be granted amnesty.
Elsewhere, Rudskoi stressed that Russian and Syrian warplanes have not carried out any Arclight airstrike over Aleppo since October 18.
"I emphasize that such results [in Aleppo's liberation] have been achieved only by Syrian army's ground forces," Rudskoi pointed out.
He further said that 21 facilities, including two schools and two mosques, have been cleared of bombs in Aleppo over the past 24 hours, adding that over 1,040 settlements have joined the ceasefire in Syria.
Syria has set up several humanitarian corridors to facilitate the exit of civilians from the eastern districts. Reports coming out of Aleppo say the Death Eaters are using people as human shields to slow the army’s advances.
The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement earlier on Friday that around 8,500 civilians have been evacuated from the Death Eater-held eastern side of Aleppo via humanitarian corridors.
The statement added that there were 2,934 children among those evacuated from the occupied parts of Aleppo and resettled in the government-held part over the past 24 hours.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/10/2016
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I have Naked Capitalism on my bloglist, but I regard them as left leaning. They post a lot of good information, however, about the doings of money people. This makes them an important resource, their politics notwithstanding. WaPo did more than step in it -- in a decent world, other journalists would shun them for this episode.
The Washington Post—whose coverage of Watergate four decades ago angered the powers that be, toppled a president, and defined courageous journalism—has unleashed a hornet’s nest of a different sort, one unlikely to earn a Pulitzer Prize.
Indeed, Washington’s newspaper of record—which was purchased in 2013 by Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos from the storied Graham family—is uncomfortably weathering a barrage of criticism from fellow journalists and others for a front-page story published over the Thanksgiving holiday.
The story, by Post technology reporter Craig Timberg and published Nov. 24, purported to reveal how “sophisticated” Russian propagandists had spread fake news through hundreds of web sites to destabilize American democracy, thwart Hillary Clinton and elect Donald Trump to the White House.
So far the story—which has attracted millions of page views and more than 14,000 comments—has provoked lawsuit threats from at least two of the web sites, notably the widely respected financial blog Naked Capitalism, which fired off a legal letter demanding a retraction and apology even though the Post story does not specifically mention Naked Capitalism or any of the other allegedly Russian-influenced websites.
There has also been a fusillade of disparaging commentary in publications ranging from The Intercept to The New Yorker.
“I thought it was completely ridiculous that the Post would put this sorry piece of trash on the front page,” Andrew Cockburn, the Washington editor of Harper’s magazine, told The Daily Beast in a typically vehement slam.
“The ‘Washington Post’ ‘Blacklist’ Story Is Shameful and Disgusting,” was the headline on Rolling Stone writer Matt Taibbi’s takedown. And if you can't believe Rolling Stone on the ethics of journalism, who can you believe?
The critics panned the Post story’s heavy reliance on the judgments of unnamed “researchers” for PropOrNot.com, a shadowy website launched three months ago ostensibly to expose “Russian influence operations targeted at US audiences, distinguish between propaganda and commercial ‘clickbait’, and help identify propaganda and push back.”
Granting PropOrNot’s “executive director” anonymity to save him from “being targeted by Russia’s legions of skilled hackers,” the Post credulously cited the group’s assessment of “more than 200 websites as routine peddlers of Russian propaganda during the election season”—a list that included not only Naked Capitalism, but also such independent enterprises as Counterpunch.org (founded by Alexander Cockburn, Andrew’s late brother), the right-leaning DrudgeReport.com, the libertarian website of former Reagan administration assistant treasury secretary and ex-Wall Street Journal editor Paul Craig Roberts, and the left-leaning Truthdig.com and Truth-out.org. Much more at the link. As an aside, the website also fingers southfront.org as a Russian propaganda news website. I wrote a few stories for southfront.org about the civil war in the Don Basin earlier this year. They are very pro Russia, but nothing in my brief experience with them makes me believe they are in the pay of Russian security services. Their readers are obnoxious Euros, and are America haters and Russia lovers. As a matter of disclosure, none of the stories about the Donbas conflict I posted for southfront.org were crossposted to Rantburg. I stopped writing for them, not for anything southfront.org was doing but because a lot of the stuff I was getting from both sides was just straight up bullsh*t. I love writing about east European militaries, but the Russians and Ukrainians really strained my tolerance.
#2
NOW the Russians are the bad guys. I remember when the Usual Suspects toured Russia, met with the designated huggy bears and returned to tell us we have nothing to fear but Ronald Reagan.
Hard to keep up.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey ||
12/10/2016 9:53
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[Iran Press TV] At least a dozen civilians have bit the dust when Turkish artillery units shelled the purported positions of the Takfiri ...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who must be killed... ISISDeath Eaters and US-backed Kurdish forces in Syria’s troubled northern province of Aleppo.
The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on Friday that the projectiles slammed into a residential neighborhood in the city of al-Bab, located 30 kilometers south of the Turkish border and 40 kilometers northeast of Aleppo, claiming the lives of 12 civilians and leaving 10 others maimed.
The Britannia-based monitoring group said the victims were members of three families, warning that the corpse count is expected to rise as some people are still trapped under debris.
The report came a day after an unnamed military source said the Turkish military would dispatch 300 commandos to northern Syria, without providing any information on whether they had crossed into Syria, and where in northern Syria they would be deployed.
On August 24, the Turkish air force and special ground forces kicked off the so-called Operation Euphrates Shield inside Syria in a declared bid to support the Free Syrian Army ... the more palatable version of the Syrian insurgency, heavily influenced by the Moslem Brüderbund... Death Eaters and rid the border area of ISISDeath Eaters and fighters from the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) and Democratic Union Party (PYD).
More from Arab News: Turkey-backed fighters attack Syria’s Al-Bab
ISTANBUL: Turkish-backed opposition launched an assault on Daesh-held city of Al-Bab in northern Syria on Friday, opposition fighters said, and Turkish warplanes hit dozens of terror targets in support of the offensive.
Hundreds of Arab and Turkmen fighters involved in the assault took control of at least two villages west of Al-Bab, opposition fighters said. Turkish state media said late on Thursday that Ankara had sent 300 Turkish commandos to northern Syria as reinforcement.
The operations are the latest in Turkey’s “Operation Euphrates Shield,” a military incursion launched three and a half months ago in support of the opposition, and meant to push both Daesh militants and Kurdish fighters back from the border.
The Turkish Army said its airstrikes on Friday morning destroyed 34 Daesh targets, including militant bases, shelters, vehicles mounted with guns, and ammunition depots. Ten targets had also been hit the day before.
The military also said the opposition it backs had seized control of an important highway between the towns of Al-Bab and Manbij, around 50 km to the east.
“There is a major assault under way,” a fighter with the Turkmen Sultan Murad brigade speaking from inside Syria said.
“God willing we will break Daesh resistance this time. Very powerful troops were sent last night.”
Posted by: Fred ||
12/10/2016
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The ousted Yemeni president, President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh ... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it... , launched a scathing on his 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 ... allies, warning them of their policy of eliminating and dismissing members of his political party, the General People Congress, from public positions.
Saleh’s outburst, the first since the Houthi militias controlled the Yemeni capital Sana’a in 2014, came during a meeting with representatives of his party in the newly formed political council, the Supreme Political Council.
In an apparent frustration of the newly formed council’s recent directives, Saleh said: "the political council should not be altered into an executive power, it is a political council to illustrate policies and to regulate the government. The government is in charge, and it is the executive body." That'd be him and family, of course.
"Passing through you ministers of the Congress I address Ansar Allah ministers: these seditions and tactics and are unwarranted," he added.
Since the overthrow of Yemen’s legitimate government and the formation of the Supreme Revolutionary Committee, Houthi militias exercised unprecedented administrative corruption, appointing 10,000 of their supporters as civil servants, whilst sacking and eliminating loyalists to the Saudi-backed government, except for Saleh’s supporters.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/10/2016
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Raqqa – The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) will launch the second phase of the Raqqa campaign against ISIS on Saturday and have recruited more than 1,000 fighters to join the operation.
The co-Chair of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), Salih Muslim, said on Wednesday that the first phase of the Raqqa campaign to surround the city is almost over.
“The second phase of Liberating Raqqa will be declare tomorrow in press conference,” said Massoud Masoud, a Kurdish journalist.
The PYD co-Chair said that the first stage of the operation is to besiege Raqqa and that this phase is almost finished. But going to Raqqa depends on the international coalition and international powers. “[It depends] how much they are ready to prepare such power to liberate Raqqa with the international alliance.” Muslim said.
Coalition spokesperson Air Force Col. John Dorrian on Thursday said that airstrikes are accelerating in Raqqa on ISIS fighters and resources in support of the Syrian Democratic Forces’ offensive, and 300 such strikes in the past month enabled liberation of more than 270 square miles of territory from ISIS.
Liberating territory in northern Syria has freed up thousands of civilians from ISIS’s grip, but many remain displaced. “Many of those people are moving into Manbij,” Dorrian said, “but unfortunately, as they move in that direction, and even as they find refuge in and around the city, they’re being targeted by ISIS small arms and [improvised explosive device] attacks.”
The Kurdish-led SDF and its Arab elements established a governance representing the local population, and it’s begun to supply services to Manbij, including opening more than 240 schools since the city’s liberation, according to Dorrian, who added that a similar system is expected for Raqqa once it is liberated.
“As the SDF isolates Raqqa, the number of SDF fighters continues to grow, as another Arab brigade joins the SDF with more than 1,000 citizens, men and women, joining to reclaim and protect their homes,” he said.
More than 1,500 new SDF fighters are being trained to participate in the Raqqa campaign and defend the forward line of troops. The majority of the new recruits are Arabs, which, according to the coalition, is critical to the liberation and to setting up governance for the city’s residents.
Roughly four weeks ago, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces launched the Euphrates Wrath Operation, with support from the US-led coalition. The operation’s long-term objective is the isolation and elimination of the Islamic State in Raqqa.
During the first phase of Euphrates Wrath, SDF soldiers captured an area measuring approximately 560 km2, containing dozens of towns, villages and farms. Military sources told ARA News that more than 185 ISIS jihadists have been killed since November 6.
The Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), Women’s Protection Units (YPJ), Syriac Military Council, Raqqa Revolutionaries Battalion and Tel Abyad Revolutionary Brigade are participating in Euphrates Wrath. In addition to these local fighters, foreign soldiers from a half-dozen nations are participating, either as YPG volunteers or under the auspices of the US-led coalition.
Posted by: badanov ||
12/10/2016
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And what better way to mark the passage of a document used like so much toilet paper by collectivists locally and worldwide than to note that a former director of the National Security Agency, Michael Hayden admitted that anti-terrorism laws have effectively gutted the 4th Amendment to the American Constitution, and that they are coming after the 2nd Amendment.
As if to underscore Hayden's efforts, Hollywood recently released a film, Miss Sloane, about a sweet, innocent female lawyer who, against all odds, takes on the Evil Gun Lobby.
And this is a fight, to be sure. The election of Donald Trump as president, in my opinion, has made gun rights more rather than less precarious. So, leftists in the US are talking about arming up. At the link, the crowd is scolded for severely criticizing a leftist man who wants to get into firearms as a means of protecting himself and his allies. This is a valid criticism, but as I said three weeks ago, it appears the intent is to do harm to political enemies, not self defense.
Finally, there's this video about a man training to fire a 1911 on the move, who nearly shoots his hand off in the effort. The trainer (I didn't listen to the video) tells the trainee to keep going despite the accident. In the comments is a question about whether the 1911 should even be used as a concealed carry weapon because, as a single action gun, it is required to be cocked and locked as it is drawn, whereas a modern double action only has to have a round chambered with the safety off.
I agree with the commenter who said the 1911 should be kept in Condition 3 unless you suspect a problem is about to occur. But unless you are a sneaky bastard your gun will no longer be concealed, eliminating the element of surprise when you are forced to draw and fire.
A recent Facebook video from a security camera in Brazil showed a man escorting a woman to an upper floor domicile when they are confronted with two thugs, both armed with handguns likely cocked and locked. The putative male victim draws and fires on the nearer thug in front of him, dropping him, while the other thug beats feet as the shooter switches targets. The label on the video was: "You will spend the rest of your life drawing, and sliding the bolt into place."
Loads.
Rantburg's summary for arms and ammunition:
Prices for pistol ammunition were mostly steady. Prices for rifle ammunition were mostly steady.
Prices for used pistols were high across the board. Prices for used rifles were mostly higher.
Pistol Ammunition
.45 Caliber, 230 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (8 Weeks)
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Outdoor Limited, Tulammo, FMJ, Steel Casing, .24 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 500 rounds: Outdoor Limited, Tulammo, FMJ, Steel Casing, .24 per round (From Last week: Unchanged (6 Weeks))
.40 Caliber Smith & Wesson, 180 Grain, From Last Week: -.02 Each After Unchanged (3 Weeks)
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Ammo Mart, Buffalo Cartridge, RSFP, Brass Casing, Factory Seconds, .20 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 500 rounds: Ammo Marketplace, Northern Hills, FMJ, Brass Casing, reloads .20 per round (From Last Week: -.02 Each After Unchanged (4 Weeks))
9mm Parabellum, 115 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (2 Weeks)
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Ammo Mart, Buffalo Cartridge, RSFP, Brass Casing, Reloads, .15 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 500 rounds: Ammo Mart, Buffalo Cartridge, RSFP, Brass Casing, Reloads, .15 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (2 Weeks))
.357 Magnum, 158 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (5 Weeks)
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Outdoor Limited, Tulammo, FMJ, Steel Casing, .25 per round
Cheapest Bulk: 1,000 rounds: J&G Sales, Tulammo, FMJ, Steel casing, .25 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (6 Weeks))
Rifle Ammunition
.223 Caliber/5.56mm 55 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (4 Weeks)
Cheapest, 20 rounds: Outdoor Unlimited, Tulammo, FMJ, Steel Casing, .22 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 1,000 rounds: Outdoor Unlimited, Tulammo, FMJ, Steel Casing, .22 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (5 Weeks))
.308 NATO 150 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (2 Weeks)
Cheapest, 20 rounds: Outdoor Unlimited, Tulammo, FMJ, Steel Casing, .34 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 500 rounds: Outdoor Unlimited, Tulammo, FMJ, Steel Casing, .34 per round (From Last Week: +.03 Each
7.62x39mm AK 123 Grain, From Last Week: -.02 Each After Unchanged (5 Weeks)
Cheapest, 20 rounds: Outdoor Unlimited, Wolf WPA, Steel Case, FMJ, .25 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 1,000 rounds: Outdoor Unlimited, Wolf WPA, Steel Case, FMJ, .25 per round (From Last Week: +.02 Each)
.22 LR 40 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (2 Weeks)
Cheapest, 50 rounds (10 Box Limit): Ammomen, Federal, RNL, .06 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 325 rounds: Munire USA, Federal, RNL, .06 per round (From Last Week: -.01 Each After Unchanged (3 Weeks))
#1
Love them or hate then, most striker fired pistols, like a Glock, Walther, Springfield Armory XD-S, or Sig P320C solves all of those 1911 problems for concealed carry.
1911 is overrated as a concealed carry for the average person.
[All Africa] "This is a fact: Zim-bob-we has the strongest currency in Africa".
Ever since they adopted the dollar...
Sounds unbelievable - but that's what the official Herald newspaper claimed on Wednesday, hours after President Bob Muggsy Mugabe Octogenarian President-for-Life of Zim-bob-we who turned the former Breadbasket of Africa into the African Basket Case... resolutely avoided the vexed topic of bond notes in his State of the Nation Address (SONA). But now they have their own paper money, backed by dollars. Really it is.
In its lead editorial, the pro-Mugabe paper said Zim-bob-weans "have full confidence in" their currency, ignoring the fact that photos of a broken bond coin are causing widespread alarm on social media. Ten million US worth of bond notes were introduced last Monday along with two million US worth of bond coins.
The central bank insists this surrogate currency is backed by a 200 million US dollar loan from Afrexim Bank. But many fear the notes will drag Zim-bob-we back to the dark days of hyperinflation that reached a peak around 2006-2008.
Long bank queues have not improved since the notes were introduced. That is partly to do with the fact that teachers have just been paid and are having to queue repeatedly because of capped daily bank withdrawals. How does one improve a 'long queue ?'
The Herald claimed that Mugabe's speech to parliament showed the economy was on the "recovery path". Tweeted former education minister David Coltart: "Cd someone plse show me where that path is becos all I can see is bond notes?"
Posted by: Fred ||
12/10/2016
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#1
Tweeted former education minister David Coltart: "Cd someone plse show me where that path is becos all I can see is bond notes?"
[AnNahar] Two Moslems who plotted to blow up a prayer hall in Sydney and "cut heads" off civilians in the name of the so-called Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... group were both placed in durance vile Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try! for 20 years on Friday.
Omar al-Kutobi, 25, and Mohammed Kiad, 27, were jugged Book 'im, Mahmoud! last year at a flat they shared where police found a hunting knife, a machete, homemade explosives and a black IS flag.
A video had just been made of al-Kutobi, who was born in Iraq and took Australian citizenship in 2013, brandishing a knife and making threats, the Supreme Court heard.
Police also found two notes including the statement: "We are the soldiers of the Islamic State, we are here to cut your heads," Justice Peter Garling told the court.
The pair had two days earlier gone to a rival Shiite prayer hall in western Sydney on February 8, 2015, intending to set off a blast.
They were surprised by a man and beat feet from a police chase before deciding to focus on attacking random members of the public.
Garling sentenced them to serve no less than 15 years before being allowed parole, noting their planning was substantial and had reached a late stage.
An informant had tipped off police about their plans and the pair had been under surveillance for weeks.
"It is clear that ... by the end of 2014, both of the offenders had been drawn to and had embraced the ideology of the Islamic State and turban Islamic views," Garling said.
Kiab, who was born in Kuwait and moved to Australia in 2012, and al-Kutobi pleaded guilty to conspiring to plan a terrorist attack.
Australian officials say 11 terror attacks have been prevented on home soil in the past two years. But several have taken place, including the murder of a Sydney police employee last year.
Counter-terror police have made a series of arrests since late 2014, with the youth and depth of radicalisation of many of those detained a growing concern.
On Wednesday, an 18-year-old was sentenced to seven years in prison after pleading guilty to planning a May 10 Mother's Day attack in Melbourne last year.
(Reuters) Wearing a camouflage cap over her headscarf, Miaad al-Jubbouri cuts an unusual figure among the hundreds of men fighting to retake a village from Islamic State in northern Iraq.
The mother of five was the sole woman among a joint force of Iraqi army and tribal militias who attacked the village of Kanous on Wednesday – one of multiple fronts in a campaign to drive the insurgents from their remaining strongholds in Iraq.
Like the men around her, Jubbouri said her motive for taking up arms was hatred of Islamic State, which overran large parts of the country more than two years ago, meting out brutal punishments and killing its opponents, including several of her cousins.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: badanov ||
12/10/2016
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Top|| File under: Islamic State
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.
[NYT] Nobody knows yet what Donald Trump is going to do to immigration enforcement. Only a month has passed since the election, and the president-elect is no different from the candidate: erratic, self-contradictory, hazy on principles and policies.
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The 
A parking lot brawl between two women in South Los Angeles quickly escalated into a demolition derby.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The Saudi judiciary announced its preliminary verdict to punish and execute 15 people and jail others who are linked to an Iranian spy cell. The infamous cell had gathered banking and medical information and had submitted dangerous information to the Iranian intelligence. The information it provided is very dangerous to the extent that it facilitates the enemy to target vital institutions and security facilities.
Kurram Agency
[Iran Press TV] Outgoing Vice President 
Hillary Clinton
Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto said Friday troops will remain in the streets to combat drug violence after his defense minister issued a rare complaint about the controversial deployment.
[USATODAY] An anti-Islam and Dutch political populist whose party is leading in polls ahead of March parliamentary elections in the Netherlands was found guilty of hate speech Friday.
[LIVEMINT] A top 
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The UN General Assembly has voted in favor of an an immediate ceasefire in Syria and access for 
[Libya Observer] Libya’s 
CIA Polygrapher: Have you ever killed anyone?
Reference #2: Her (tbe Beest's) 'homebrew' server was so easy to hack, and it contained all sorts of classified information as well. 
[Daily Mail, Where America Gets Its News] Megyn Kelly spoke about the threats she has received over the past 16 months and the fact that armed guards still protect her and her family
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The ousted Yemeni president, 
[All Africa] "This is a fact: Zim-bob-we has the strongest currency in Africa".
