[ToloNews] "Top US commanders believe they have tentative White House approval to leave just over 4,000 US troops in Afghanistan beyond November, delaying a full American pullout until after the presidential election," says a report by the Los Angeles Times, citing unnamed US officials.
Possible tentative approval and unnamed US officials? Is the White House hunting down another leaker?
"The plan, worked out at a meeting between Pentagon and White House officials late last month, would represent an about-face for President Trump. He has pushed for a complete withdrawal of the 8,600 troops now in Afghanistan by the election, seeing a pullout as a much-needed foreign policy achievement as his reelection prospects have deteriorated," the report said.
There are advocates in Washington for a sustained presence.
Liz Cheney, a member Congress in the US House of Representatives has said that the US troops withdrawal from Afghanistan shouldn’t impact the fight against terrorism in Afghanistan.
"We need to make sure that we are denying Death Eaters safe havens, we need to make sure that we are able to continue counter-terrorism activity. Al Qaeda, ISIS, number of those same terrorist groups continue to operation in Afghanistan," said congresswoman Liz Cheney.
A number of Afghan military experts have also said that the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan before a peace agreement would be dangerous.
"Such a move will create major problems for the United States and they will attack on their own soil," said Mirza Mohammad Yarmand, the former deputy minister of interior for security affairs.
Currently, the US has approximately 8,600 soldiers in Afghanistan, according to the latest reports.
Last month, Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, head of the US Central Command, said the United States has reduced its troop level to 8,600 in Afghanistan, fulfilling the first phase of the planned withdrawal specified in the US-Taliban ...mindless ferocity in a turban... deal signed in Doha in February.
The withdrawal of the US forces is a key part of the US-Taliban agreement, but US officials have emphasized that the troop pullout will be dependent on conditions on the ground.
The US-Taliban agreement also calls for the full withdrawal of the US military from the country by May 2021 if the Taliban meets the conditions of the deal, including severing ties with terrorist groups.
Based on the agreement, the US would reduce its forces in Afghanistan to 8,600 within 135 days of signing the deal, which is mid-July. Now it seems that the target has been reached almost 25 days ahead of the agreed date.
Gen. McKenzie said the full withdrawal is an "aspirational" commitment and that "conditions would have to be met that satisfy us that attacks against our homeland are not going to be generated from Afghanistan."
The Taliban committed in the agreement to cut their ties with al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups.
"It can have severe political and security impacts for the future of Afghanistan, therefore, there are expectations that the US withdrawal from Afghanistan should be a responsible withdrawal," said Jawed Jawed, a military analyst in Kabul.
Previous number of suspects have risen from 20,000 to 43,000
Former counter-terror chief says new total is 'nine-tenths Islamic extremists'
Separate Home Office figures show far-right make up less than a fifth in custody
Current top terror police officer says right-wing is still fastest growing threat
Numbers emerged after it was revealed Reading terror attack suspect was on list
Funding for counter-terrorism policing is also set to increase to £906 million for next year - a rise of £90 million
Home Secretary Priti Patel yesterday promised new laws to remove foreign criminals from Britain, declaring anyone who "abuses our hospitality" would be deported.
Richard Walton, former head of the Metropolitan Police Counter Terrorism Command, told the Telegraph the watchlist number was too big. He said: 'The bigger question is why are there 40,000 people who think it is acceptable to consider murdering people. It tells you the scale of the problem.‘
has claimed homegrown extremists pose greater threat to national security than 20 or more UK jihadists jailed in the Middle East
Ex-FBI agent Ali Soufan
... a former senior FBI counterterrorism agent who spent years tracking Qaeda suspects in Yemen and claims to have often battled with the CIA over information sharing...
has called for repatriation of jailed citizens in Syria, Iraq and Turkey
Prisoners being held overseas include Shamima Begum and 'ISIS Beatles' El Shafee Elsheikh and Alexanda Kotey
Fellow ISIS Beatle Aine Davis was convicted for terrorism offences in May 2017 and jailed in Turkey
[THEPOLITICALINSIDER] A viral video posted to TikTok this past weekend shows an officer having a good laugh over a group of ’defund the police’ protesters requesting security for their event.
The officer, whose badge is not visible in the video, can hardly contain his smile as he points out the irony.
"So I come in this morning and we’re informed there’s going to be a protest to ’defund the police.’ Well, that’s fine, I like protests," he says into the camera.
"Except they requested a police presence. You know, for their safety ... at the ’defund the police’ event," he reiterates.
Finally, he says, "I s*** you not."
Posted by: Fred ||
07/04/2020 00:00 ||
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#1
I sweartogawd, people are devolving. And some of them right before my eyes.
I'm seeing a pattern here: whether it's Defund the Police asking for a police presence at the protest or the gal who lost a job with Deloitte for making stabby threats, there is an inability to think things through to their logical consequences. These are college-age people, folks who are (presumably) going out to conquer the world. Most disturbing.
#4
Do what the Left has done for years on college campuses by demanding the event pay for security. It's been a method they employed to shut out speakers. Now do it to them. You want security, you pay for it. Alinshy them.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
07/04/2020 11:08 Comments ||
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#6
Stupid, contradictory mildly embarrassing? Yes, absolutely. But in the days to come remember the self described, avowed enemy has revealed a huge blind spot, act accordingly.
[KOMONEWS] After spending several hours behind bars Wednesday, Rashyla Levitt returned Thursday to the streets, protesting and confronting authorities just a day after Seattle Police Department officers swept through the area that had been known as the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest.
"We are back with the fire and we are ready to go," she said.
Levitt was one 44 people arrested early Wednesday morning in Capitol Hill as police moved in during a predawn operation that pushed a handful of demonstrators from the area. Police charged Levitt with failure to disperse, but since it was only a misdemeanor, the judge released her.
The hasty release raised questions about if the protesters would quickly reassemble.
Seattle Mayor Jenny Summer of Love Durkan ...Democrat Maress of Seattle, who allowed a chunk of the downtown of her city to be turned into an autonomous combat zone... set the tone early on, and now every protester arrested during the CHOP sweep, including those accused of assaulting officers or resisting arrest, has been released from jail. During a news conference Thursday, the mayor said the city should be compassionate.
"I fully support SPD’s operations this morning and the arrests and bookings were appropriate," she said. "But as we move forward in healing, alternatives to charging and criminal sanctions are also important."
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip #Erdogan rejects criticism over his willingness to convert Istanbul’s famed #HagiaSophia landmark into a mosque despite international and domestic concern.https://t.co/ZOYcPlzMdH
— Al Arabiya English (@AlArabiya_Eng) July 3, 2020
Posted by: Fred ||
07/04/2020 00:00 ||
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Forty-one people get injured as a series of explosions rock a fireworks factory in northwestern #Turkey, says the provincial governor.https://t.co/hMJ4pmguzv
— Al Arabiya English (@AlArabiya_Eng) July 3, 2020
Posted by: Fred ||
07/04/2020 00:00 ||
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Modi, who has been under pressure to respond to what India deems Chinese incursions, met troops at a base in Ladakh's Nimu area.https://t.co/u7B983vKZH
[Rudaw] Kurdish farmers from the village of Segirka in The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the occupiers of Greek Asia Minor... ’s southeastern Batman province have worked around the clock for years, borrowing money from the government and selling their wives’ gold to establish greenhouses. However, if you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning... a newly-built dam in the region has flooded the area, putting their livelihoods at dire risk.
The Ottoman Turkish government approved the building of Ilisu Dam on the Tigris river in the southeast of the country in 1997, with the stated aim of generating electricity for the region, creating jobs and boosting the local economy. However, if you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning... the decision has uprooted thousands of people from nearly 200 villages, as it submerges the affected area a further 15 centimeters per day.
The dam forms part of the far-reaching Southeastern Anatolian Project (GAP), the largest and costliest project in Turkey’s history which aims to boost revenue in the poverty-stricken area, but has driven locals away from their livelihoods instead.
Farmers in the Kurdish village of Segirka have depended on selling agricultural produce as their livelihoods for decades. They established some 200 greenhouses over the years, largely planting cucumbers, tomatoes and peppers for the latest harvest.
Due to its proximity to the dam, the rising water levels gradually approached the village starting in late May. By July, it reached the new greenhouses, damaging the produce of more than 100.
Farmer Ishan Sonmez planted 600 tons of cucumbers, tomatoes and peppers this year. After the flooding, he can sell none of it.
"We have worked over the last five years to establish the greenhouses ... and invested a huge amount of money in them, but now they have all fallen under water. We are victims!" he told Rudaw.
The government has not sent any teams to estimate the losses or promise compensation.
Some farmers have borrowed large amounts of money from the government, but without selling their vegetables, they cannot pay it now.
"The government has to come here and compensate us so that we can pay our debts. Otherwise, we will be in great loss," Islam Us told Rudaw.
Weysi Yildirim, another flood victim, said "all our produce is now below water. Had they informed us that there would be water, we would not sell our gold and go into debt."
Lokman Madakol, another greenhouse owner, says the farmers are helpless now: "we have opened our hands because only God can help us."
The Kurdish historic town of Hasankeyf has also been submerged by the dam. Its residents visited the town in late February to bid a painful farewell.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
07/04/2020 02:21 ||
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[IsraelTimes] Kuwaiti newspaper cites unnamed senior source as saying Jerusalem behind recent incidents in Iran, following an alleged attempt by Tehran to hack Israel’s water infrastructure.
Israel was responsible for two blasts at Iranian facilities — one related to uranium enrichment, the other for missile production — over the past week, a Kuwaiti newspaper reported Friday.
The al-Jareeda daily cited an unnamed senior source as saying that an Israeli cyberattack caused a fire and explosion at the largely underground Natanz nuclear enrichment facility in the predawn hours of Thursday morning.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: trailing wife ||
07/04/2020 02:10 ||
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#1
Most likely the sodium used in the reactor got hot and some gut poured water on it to cool it down. also another guy was carrying nitro at the missile factory and the last thing anyone heard was "Oops".
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.
...mindless ferocity in a turban...
...Democrat Maress of Seattle, who allowed a chunk of the downtown of her city to be turned into an autonomous combat zone...
...the occupiers of Greek Asia Minor...
