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Today: 64 articles and 140 comments as of 13:28.
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Area: WoT Operations    Non-WoT    Opinion        Politix   
U.N. says air strikes by Syria, allies killed more than 100 civilians
Today's Headlines
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-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
Cypriot mullah: Pregnant women exist because gay people have oral sex
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]
Not being a holy man, my guess is that pregnant women exist because they have sex.
Posted by: Fred || 07/27/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  uh. where to begin? naw, forget it,.
Posted by: Mercutio || 07/27/2019 9:53 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
Will visit Pakistan whenever formally invited: Afghan Taliban
[DAILYTIMES.PK] Afghan Taliban
...the Pashtun equivalent of men...
say they will visit Pakistain whenever they received a formal invitation, as they routinely pay visits to regional and other countries to explain their position regarding grinding of the peace processor and to address to others’ concerns.
as they routinely return for R&R and to get mission instructions from the ISI
Comments from Suhail Shaheen, Taliban political office front man in Qatar
...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi...
, came days after Prime Minister Imran Khan
... aka The Great Khan, who ain't the sharpest bulb on the national tree...
said in Washington he will meet the Taliban leaders in Pakistain on his return to convince them to hold negotiations with the Afghan government.

Taliban have rejected calls for direct talks with the Afghan government as they do not recognize the Kabul administration and insist their priority is to end invasion and seek a time-frame for withdrawal of all foreign forces.

Taliban have held a series of meetings with Afghan politicians in Moscow and Doha over the past few months; however, no formal intra-Afghan negotiations have started so far.

Taliban for the first time agreed to allow three officials of the Afghan government to join a delegation of over 50 politicians, women activists and civil society members in Qatar on July 7-8. The government representatives participated in their personal capacity but that also indicated Taliban flexible position about the intra-Afghan meetings.

Taliban front man Suhail Shaheen told Daily Times on Thursday from Doha via WhatsApp that Taliban political representatives will Pakistain if they are formally invited.

"We pay visits to regional and other countries for talks to explain our position on grinding of the peace processor and to listen to others. Pakistain is our neighbor and a Moslem country. Members of our political office will travel to Pakistain if we receive a formal invitation from Pakistain," Shaheen said when he was asked about Prime Minister Imran Khan’s remarks.
Posted by: Fred || 07/27/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Taliban

#1  as they routinely pay visits to regional and other countries to explain their position ...and to address to others’ concerns.

Coming to you soon to explain their position.



These poor sods have been relieved of all concerns
Posted by: Dron66046 || 07/27/2019 7:32 Comments || Top||

#2  I recall someone saying here that they recognized Taliban foot soldiers in the villages by the brand new sneakers on their feet...
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/27/2019 19:10 Comments || Top||

#3  Which reminds me. Latest designs for housebroken and battered fashionistas. Kapernick Approved .





Posted by: Dron66046 || 07/27/2019 20:12 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Khalifa Haftar spox sez #Tripoli will see surprises in the coming hours
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]
Posted by: Fred || 07/27/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Arabia
Saudi Trial to Resume of Dissident Cleric, Says Amnesty
[AnNahar] The trial of Saudi dissident cleric Sheikh Salman al-Awda is to resume Sunday after an almost six-month postponement, Amnesty International said, expressing fear he will be sentenced to death.

The prominent cleric's family and Saudi media have said prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. The charge sheet has not been made public.

Human rights groups have said the trial is a political reprisal against Awda, a leading figure in a 1990s Islamist movement associated with the Muslim Brotherhood.

The cleric was among more than 20 people arrested in September 2017 in a widening crackdown on dissent in the ultra-conservative kingdom.

"We are gravely concerned that Sheikh Salman al-Awda could be sentenced to death and executed," Lynn Maalouf, Amnesty's Middle East research head, said in a statement.

"Since his arrest almost two years ago, Sheikh al-Awda has gone through a terrible ordeal including prolonged pre-trial detention, months of solitary confinement, incommunicado detention and other ill-treatment,"

According to Amnesty, Awda was arrested a few hours after posting a tweet welcoming reports of a possible reconciliation between Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

Saudi Arabia and several allies cut off all diplomatic and economic ties with Doha in June 2017, accusing it of links to Islamist extremists, a charge Qatar has categorically denied.

The cleric's family have said Saudi authorities had demanded that Awda and other prominent figures publicly back the kingdom in the dispute, but he refused.

The last hearing in the case was postponed in early February at the request of the prosecution.

"Saudi authorities continue to claim they are fighting ‘terrorism’ when this trial, as well as those of other activists, including 37 men executed last April, are clearly politically motivated and meant to silence independent voices in the country," Amnesty said.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/27/2019 00:33 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Muslim Brotherhood


Britain
British court rules against Iran in tank payment dispute
[Saudi Gazette] A UK court has ruled in London's favor in a long-standing financial dispute with Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan, the abbreviation IRGC is a cognate form of Stürmabteilung (or SA), the term Supreme Guide is a cognate form of either Shah or Führer or maybe both, and they hate Jews Zionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
that has wider political ramifications for Britannia's increasingly strained relationship with the Islamic republic.

The case revolves a payment of £650 million made by Iran in the 1970s to buy 1,500 Chieftain tanks from Britannia and repair 250 more.

The deal was blocked after the 1979 Islamic Revolution deposed the Western-backed Shah.

Britannia kept the paid portion of the contract.

Just under £400 million ($500 million, 450 million euros) are now being kept in a frozen British bank account.

Sending the money to Tehran is further complicated by EU and US sanctions linked to Iran's nuclear program.

A judge with the UK High Court ruled on Wednesday that Britannia did not owe Iran interest payments of more than £20 million that had accumulated on the sum over 10 years.

Justice Stephen Phillips cited a precedent case that found claims made by any "Iranian person, entity or body, including the Iranian government" were invalid in commercial disputes because of the Western sanctions.

The Iranian claim was made jointly by its defense ministry and armed forces.

New UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said while he was still foreign minister in 2018 that making the payment could help pave the way for the released from a Tehran jail of British-Iranian national Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe.
Posted by: Fred || 07/27/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran


Caribbean-Latin America
Trump reaches ‘landmark' immigration deal with Guatemala
Amazing, negotiating from a high position with a hammer .....works?
[NYPost] President Trump announced Friday that Guatemala would agree to restrict asylum applications to the US from Central America.

The so-called "safe third country" agreement would require migrants, including Salvadorans and Hondurans, who cross into Guatemala on their way to the US to apply for protections in Guatemala instead of at the southern border.

It could potentially ease the crush of illegal immigrants overwhelming the US immigration system and hand Trump a win in his effort to fulfill his campaign promises to restrict illegal entry.

"This is a very big day. We have long been working with Guatemala and now we can do it the right way," Trump said.

"This landmark agreement will put the coyotes and smugglers out of business."

The announcement came after a federal judge court in California blocked Trump's most restrictive asylum effort to date, one that would effectively end protections at the southern border.

The two countries had been negotiating such an agreement for months, and Trump threatened Wednesday to place tariffs or other consequences on Guatemala if it didn't reach a deal.

"We'll either do tariffs or we'll do something. We're looking at something very severe with respect to Guatemala," Trump had said.
Posted by: Frank G || 07/27/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Nobody of significance reads this paper. This is not news until it's in that other New York paper.
Posted by: Bobby || 07/27/2019 16:57 Comments || Top||


Europe
Denmark backs Britain's proposed Hormuz naval mission
[Saudi Gazette] Denmark said on Friday it welcomed a British government proposal for a Europe
...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum...
an-led naval mission to ensure safe shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and would consider a military maritime contribution.

Britannia has sought to assemble the mission in Hormuz, used by tankers carrying about a fifth of the world's oil, following Iran's seizure of a British-flagged ship in what London said was an act of "state piracy".

The initiative won initial support from Denmark, La Belle France and Italia, three senior diplomats said on Tuesday.

"The Danish government looks positively towards a possible contribution to such initiative," Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod said in a statement. "The initiative will have a strong European footprint".

The backing contrasts with a lukewarm response shown by European allies to a similar American call first voiced at NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all....
in late June, which was resisted by La Belle France and Germany. They worried the US-led military alliance would be dragged into a possible confrontation with Iran.
Posted by: Fred || 07/27/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran


The Grand Turk
Turkey to 'rip apart terror corridor' in Syria regardless of US talks: Erdogan
[RUDAW.NET] The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...Qatar's colony in Asia Minor...
will not wait for the outcome of their talks with the US officials over the establishment of a safe zone in northern Syria and is "determined" to clear its border of a "terror corridor," Ottoman Turkish President His Enormity, Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First
...Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey. In Anatolia did Recep Bey a stately Presidential Palace decree, that has 1100 rooms. That's 968 more than in the White House, 400 more than in Versailles, and 325 more than Buckingham Palace, so you know who's really more important...
said on Friday amid mounting border tensions.

"No matter what the result of talks with the US are over the establishment of a safe-zone along the Syrian border, we are determined to rip apart the terror corridor east of the Euphrates [River]," Erdogan said during a Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) meeting with provincial heads in Ankara, according to his office.

He added that his country would not "watch" idly as Americans and Europe
...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum...
ans send military assistance to the Kurdish forces on the ground.

East of Euphrates is dominated by Syrian Democratic Units (SDF), mostly consisting of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG). The group is considered as the Syrian branch of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), Kurdish gang that has fought for greater minority, cultural, and political rights against the Ottoman Turkish state over the past four decades.

Turkey has called for a 40 kilometer buffer zone into Syria between Kurdish positions and its border which would be "cleansed" of the SDF. Kurdish authorities have repeatedly rejected the idea and claimed they have no ties to the PKK.

Erdogan reiterated in his Friday speech that Ankara’s aim is to "get rid of the PYD ... and bring tranquility and security to Syria," referring to the Democratic Union Party, the political wing of the YPG.

The SDF has said that they would approve Ottoman Turkish involvement in such a corridor only if Ottoman Turkish forces withdraw from Afrin in northwest Syria that was taken in March 2018 by Ottoman Turkish forces and its Syrian proxies. It had previously been under the control of the YPG which trusted Russia or the US to sway Erdogan.

This week’s rocket attack that hit a house in the Kurdish province of Sanliurfa in Turkey made Ankara emboldened as the rockets were said to have been launched from SDF-controlled areas across the border. The SDF denied any involvement in the incident, and then its media claimed that the SDF had arrested an unnamed suspect.

US Special Envoy to Syria James Jeffrey arrived in Ankara this week to meet with Ottoman Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar and other brass hats. Ottoman Turkish Defense Ministry said in a statement that they have begun joint work with the United States to establish a long planned "safe zone" on Turkey’s southern border with Syria.

"Both countries’ military authorities began the joint work today at MSB in Ankara to establish a planned safe zone in northern Syria in a coordinated way," the Ottoman Turkish Defense Ministry tweeted on Tuesday.
Posted by: Fred || 07/27/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte

#1  "said on Friday"... not dead then.... (insert frowny face here)
Posted by: Mercutio || 07/27/2019 9:56 Comments || Top||

#2  "according to his office"
Posted by: Frank G || 07/27/2019 10:54 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Dupe entry: Danielle Stella Framed By Democrats In Connivance With A Target Store
[NY Post] A Minnesota congressional candidate hoping to unseat Ilhan Omar with promises of being tough on crime faces felony shoplifting charges, according to a report.

Danielle Stella, 31, was arrested twice this year in the thefts of 279 items worth more than $2,300 from a Target and $40 worth of goods from a grocery store, The Guardian reported.

"I am not guilty of these crimes. In this country I am innocent until proven guilty and that is the law," the special-education teacher told the news outlet.

"If I was guilty of crimes, I would never run for public office, putting myself in the public eye under a microscope to be attacked by all political sides," added Stella, who this week described Minneapolis as "the crime capital of our country."

Stella told police that she "remembers arriving at Target to purchase items but nothing else" due to post-traumatic stress disorder, and that she "normally she goes to Target with someone because of anxiety around people," according to a criminal complaint cited by The Guardian.

An arrest warrant was put out for Stella for alleged contempt of court on April 4 after she failed to show up for a court hearing in the Jan. 8 Target case, the paper reported, citing police and court records.

Stella is reportedly a believer in the infamous QAnon conspiracy, whose movement believes a deep state of Hollywood celebs and Democrats is working to undermine the president and is running an international pedophile ring.



Know what invaluable article she robbed the store of ? A fucking can of tick spray for cats. When genetically regressed delinquents are contaminating ice-cream and stuff and getting away with a finger wag. Clearly the deepstate conspiracy thing she believes has reached out to make itself felt. Her crime is being a christian American challenging a somalian terrorist bitch to represent her district.



Posted by: Dron66046 || 07/27/2019 11:05 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Supreme Court clears way for Trump to use Pentagon funds for border wall
"National Defense" right?
[NY Post] The Supreme Court has cleared the way for the Trump administration to tap Pentagon funds to build sections of a border wall with Mexico.

The Supreme Court said Friday that it would lift a freeze on the money put in place by a lower court. The Supreme Court's action means the Trump administration can tap the funds and begin work on four contracts it has awarded. Four liberal justices wouldn't have allowed construction to start.

A trial court initially froze the funds in May and an appeals court kept that freeze in place earlier this month. The freeze had prevented the government from tapping approximately $2.5 billion in Defense Department money to replace existing sections of barrier in Arizona, California and New Mexico with more robust fencing.
The New York Times has more, including:
The court’s four more liberal justices dissented. One of them, Justice Stephen G. Breyer, wrote that he would have allowed preparatory work but not construction.
Posted by: Frank G || 07/27/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The freeze had prevented the government from tapping approximately $2.5 billion in Defense Department money to replace existing sections of barrier in Arizona, California and New Mexico with more robust fencing.

The court’s four more liberal globalist justices dissented. FIFY. So much for a contract that begins with "We, the People of the United States..." Four have no use for that contract.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

Trump is your last best hope before the deluge.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 07/27/2019 6:55 Comments || Top||

#2  Deluge = bullets.
Posted by: Uleck Spererong9442 || 07/27/2019 8:45 Comments || Top||

#3  Predictably, the action will shift to the UN and "world courts" in eurine-land. No surprise which side those entities will weigh in on. Even less surprise they will be totally ignored by the US until the next time we have a "citizen of the world" president...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 07/27/2019 11:33 Comments || Top||

#4  This is good news. But I would like to have seen the Supreme Court give a little more guidance (or direct instructions) to lower courts not to meddle in things that are beyond their purview.
Posted by: Tom || 07/27/2019 13:11 Comments || Top||

#5  ...their purview?

Sort missed the last century of assumption of all powers by our aristocracy? They believe nothing is beyond their purview or authority. They sit for life and do not have the consent of the governed. You dare call it a republic.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 07/27/2019 15:19 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
CNN Photo Editor Celebrated Deaths of ‘Jewish Pigs’ in Anti-Semitic Tweets Share, 2nd Joo-hating CNN Man Discovered
[NEWSBUSTERS.ORG] For all of CNN’s suggestions that President Trump was a racist and anti-Semite, they sure don’t seem to catch those tendencies of prospective employees during the hiring process. Instead, they have them resign after they’re exposed on social media. It’s especially troubling when the prospective employee had publicly celebrated the deaths of "jewish pigs" in Jerusalem.

On Thursday, CNN photo editor Mohammed Elshamy was exposed as an anti-Semite after numerous wardheelers and news outlets dove into his Twitter history and discovered his hatred. Elshamy has since made his Twitter account private.

In a series of tweets, political strategist Arthur Schwartz highlighted Elshamy’s elation at the news Jews were killed by bully boyz in Jerusalem back in 2011. "More than 4 jewish pigs killed in #Jerusalem today by the Paleostinian bomb explode," he wrote.

He seemed to celebrate the killings, tweeting: "HAMAS HAMAS HAMAS #Anti-Israel #Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamaswith about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response...
#Paleostine #Hamas, the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,".

Daily Wire news hound Jordan Schachtel pointed out that Elshamy was celebrating a terrorist attack that "killed a Christian woman who was studying in Israel & severely injured a 14-year-old Israeli girl who would succumb to her wounds 6 yrs later. The attack injured 39 more."

Schwartz called out CNN for hiring Elshamy despite a public tweet that read: "Israel is the main enemy for the people of Egypt and shall always remain despite rulers who lick Jewish legs 3/3 #IsraelEmbassy."

The Washington Free Beacon dug up a series of disgusting tweets Elshamy put out during the rise of the Moslem Brüderbund in Egypt. "Only in #Egypt you find the Zionist embassy being a flag-less embassy," he proclaimed with a smiley face. "Thr flag has been removed ALLAHU AKBAR #israeliembassy #cairo #egypt #israel".

"Despite everything happening now in Egypt. I'm proud of the army generation that liberated us from the zionist pigs @ 6 october 1973," he would add.

Mediaite's Caleb Howe uncovered Elshamy tweets that touted the raising of a Hamas flag and flouted his discontent after U.K. soccer team Arsenal hired a Jewish player. "YUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUK! BENAYOUN SHITTY JEWISH IDIOT JOINED ARSENAL :S:S:S:S:S::S:S:S:S:S:S #ARSENAL," he exclaimed.

It took CNN several hours to respond to the outcry. At 9:46 Eastern time, CNN Media janitor Brian Stelter tweeted out a statement from the network’s communications department. "The network has accepted the resignation of a photo editor, who joined CNN earlier this year, after anti-Semitic statements he'd made in 2011 came to light," they wrote.

Another CNN Personality’s Antisemitic Tweets Unearthed: ‘I Love You Hitler’

[BREITBART] Another CNN personality who was presenting on the CNN Arabic network as recently as last week appears to have expressed a series of antisemitic sentiments on Twitter, even praising Hitler. This follows the recent resignation of a CNN editor, whose past antisemitic statements surfaced Thursday afternoon.

Kareem Farid heads up a digital tech show on CNN Arabic. He began in January 2019, according to his LinkedIn profile. He is also listed as the "Lead of Storytelling and Video Production at APCO Worldwide."

On Friday, tweets surfaced, showing Farid writing, "I love you Hitler" and commending the Nazi dictator for "his determination to reach his goal."
Posted by: Fred || 07/27/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Muslim Brotherhood


India-Pakistan
Block social media websites or increase our technical capacity, PTA chairman asks Senate panel
[DAWN] Pakistain Telecommunication Authority (PTA) Chairman retired Maj Gen Amir Azeem Bajwa on Friday told a Senate panel that the government should either increase the body's "technical capabilities" or block social media websites in the country in order to stop the circulation of "blasphemous content".

While briefing the Senate Special Committee to examine purported grievances, Bajwa said: "[Dealing with] blasphemous content on social media is a huge problem. Most of the websites are being operated from other countries."

"The government should either formulate a policy and block social media websites in the country like China and the United Arab Emirates ‐ [which would mean] developing social media platforms locally like China ‐ or it should increase the technical capabilities of the PTA," he said.
Posted by: Fred || 07/27/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Iraq
The Navy reportedly booted SEAL Team 7 out of Iraq after a senior enlisted platoon member allegedly raped a female service member
[Task and Purpose] When the commander of Special Operations Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve unceremoniously booted SEAL Team 7 out of Iraq this week, the U.S. Special Operations Command justified it "due to a perceived deterioration of good order and discipline within the team during non-operational periods."

But according to an alarming new report in the New York Times, "deterioration of good order and discipline" seemed to be an understatement.

While the Navy initially indicated that an alcohol-soaked July 4th party was the core driver of the decision, a senior Navy official revealed to the New York Times' David Philipps that a senior enlisted platoon member had allegedly raped a female service member assigned to the SEAL platoon.

In addition, "when commanders began investigating the allegations, the entire platoon invoked their right to remain silent" under the Fifth Amendment, Philipps reports. "At that point, the official said, commanders decided to send the whole platoon home, including the lieutenant in command."

When reached for comment by Task & Purpose, SOCOM spokesman Ken McGraw said the command was "unable to confirm the nature of any allegations that are currently under investigation."
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/27/2019 14:52 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  ....raped a female service member assigned to the SEAL platoon.

Female assigned to a SEAL platoon ?

....the entire platoon invoked their right to remain silent" under the Fifth Amendment

No problem, you're Hazardous Duty & Special Duty Pay (SDP) has now been revoked and you've been assigned to the Great Lakes Training Center, Culinary Specialist (CS) "A School" and reclassification upon successful graduation. What are your questions ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/27/2019 15:01 Comments || Top||

#2  The more I read about the conduct in the Navy, the more concerned I get.
Posted by: newc || 07/27/2019 15:08 Comments || Top||

#3  It's not just the Navy.
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/27/2019 15:09 Comments || Top||

#4  Besoeker, collective punishment because one person allegedly (not proven) did something bad to a woman is a great way to convince more men to walk away from their dreams of entering the military. When it is clearly demonstrated that men are second class citizens with no protections or rights, don't be surprised when no one wants to fight to defend the nation.
Posted by: Pancakes || 07/27/2019 15:12 Comments || Top||

#5  Ref #4: Pancakes - I agree with you regarding collective punishment, innocent until proven guilty, etc. Being questioned under UCMJ Article-32 by the Naval Investigative Service (NIS) is however, not punishment. An entire platoon refusing to make statements to NIS investigators is tantamount to a MUTINY !
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/27/2019 15:19 Comments || Top||

#6  an alarming new report in the New York Times

Quick! Lead me to the fainting couch. I feel an attack of the vapors coming on.

Reading between the lines and considering that the modern definition of 'rape' is unwanted attempts at smooching, I'm filing this one as Men & Women Get Drunk/Do Embarrassing Stuff No One Wants to Talk About Later.
Posted by: SteveS || 07/27/2019 15:35 Comments || Top||

#7  I sure don't know what happened here, but it bothers me that our super-secret naval commandos are on the front page more than Kim Kardashian. Have any of them not written a book?
Posted by: Matt || 07/27/2019 15:36 Comments || Top||

#8  In this 24/7/365 media mashup of anything newsworthy especially if the pencil necks can defame a tough guy like a SEAL, everything is NEWS. 10 to 1 says it is FAKE news but the CO has no other option but exfoliate.
Posted by: Fester Elmaique2675 || 07/27/2019 15:45 Comments || Top||

#9  Comments 6,7, and 8 all valid.
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/27/2019 15:51 Comments || Top||


Iraqi colonel sheds tears beside Samawa mass grave
[RUDAW.NET] Ahmed al-Muthana, an Iraqi Army colonel in charge of protecting excavation work at three mass grave sites uncovered in Samawa near the Saudi border, broke into tears when he saw the remains of Kurdish civilians buried there thirty years ago.

The remains of hundreds of women and kiddies have been found in the burial pits. They are victims of Saddam Hussein’s campaign of extermination known as the Anfal, launched in the late 1980s to punish the Kurds for their rebellion.

Muthana, who was sent to the site by Baghdad’s Ministry of Interior, spoke to Rudaw as excavation work got underway at the first mass grave site. He could not hide his revulsion.

"This is the first time I have seen a mass grave up close. The tragedy that can be seen in this mass grave is huge," Muthana told Rudaw on Tuesday.

"I wonder what was the sin and crime of those children and women from Kurdistan to be buried alive," he added.

Muthana condemned the actions of the former Baathist order, branding it a "buried regime".
Posted by: Fred || 07/27/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iraq


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Damascus Rejects Turkey-US Talks on Syria Buffer Zone
[AnNahar] Damascus said Friday it would reject any agreement between Turkey and the US to establish a "security zone" in northern Syria as tantamount to a violation of the country's sovereignty.

"Syria reiterates its categorical rejection of any American-Turkish agreement," a foreign ministry source told state news agency SANA.

Such a deal would "constitute a blatant attack on the sovereignty and unity of the country", the source added.

Turkey and the US began talks on Tuesday to establish a "security zone" in northern Syria aimed at creating a buffer between Kurdish fighters and the Turkish border.

The idea was first mooted by US President Donald Trump in January, in a call with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, at a moment when Turkey was threatening to launch an offensive against Kurdish forces in Syria.

But Turkey said Wednesday it was not satisfied with the buffer zone solutions offered by the US.

"The latest US proposals are not satisfactory," said Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.

"We should say things clearly: we have the impression that (the United States) is trying to buy time," he added.

The US has provided extensive support to the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia in Syria.

The YPG has led the fight against the Islamic State (IS) group in Syria, but Ankara sees it as a terrorist offshoot of Kurdish militants inside Turkey.

Turkey has launched two previous offensives into Syria against IS and the YPG, in 2016 and 2018.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/27/2019 00:33 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Iran frees nine Indian crew from seized tanker: India govt
[AlAhram] Iran has freed nine of 12 Indian crew from a Panama-flagged tanker seized on July 14, India's foreign ministry said Friday.

Iran had accused the MT Riah ship of smuggling contraband fuel when it was detained, amid mounting tensions between the Iranian government and both Britain and the US over shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

The MT Riah crossed into Iranian waters around July 14 and stopped transmitting signals shortly afterwards, the TankerTrackers online oil shipment website reported at the time.

"Nine crew members have been released and they will be on their way to India soon," said Indian foreign ministry spokesman Raveesh Kumar.

"Our mission in Iran has requested the concerned Iranian authorities for the release of remaining crew members."

The release left 21 other Indians in Iranian detention however, including three from the MT Riah and 18 from the British-flagged Stena Impero tanker which was also captured by Iranian forces on July 19.

The Stena Impero and its 23 crew have been impounded at the southern port of Bandar Abbas for allegedly breaking "international maritime rules". The vessel is at the heart of the showdown between Iran and Britain.

Apart from the 18 Indians, there are three Russians, a Latvian and a Filipino on the ship.

India announced on Thursday that its diplomats in Iran had been given access to Stena Impero crew.

"All 18 Indian crew members on board are safe and doing fine. Will continue to push for their early release," junior foreign minister V Muraleedharan said on Twitter.

Iran's foreign ministry confirmed that Indian diplomats had met the crew in a statement reported by Iranian state television on Friday.

The ministry added that further meetings between crew of other nationalities from the Stena Impero with diplomats from their countries had been arranged and would happen soon.

Images from inside the ship released by Iran on Monday showed some Indian crew sat around a table, chatting and smiling. Two members could be seen cooking in the ship's kitchen.

The tanker's seizure has deepened a crisis triggered between Iran and Western countries in April when the United States said it would sanction countries buying oil from Iran.

Iran has hinted it is open to swapping the Stena Impero for an Iranian tanker, Grace 1, detained in Gibraltar on July 4 allegedly carrying Iranian oil to Syria in breach of international sanctions.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/27/2019 00:32 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran



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Two weeks of WOT
Sat 2019-07-27
  U.N. says air strikes by Syria, allies killed more than 100 civilians
Fri 2019-07-26
  Libya Militia Arrests al-Qaida Leaders
Thu 2019-07-25
  Shabaab tries to assassinate US diplomat
Wed 2019-07-24
  Libya government forces say repel Haftar attack on Tripoli
Tue 2019-07-23
  Iraq arrests Islamic State cell, including Baghdadi aide, in Nineveh
Mon 2019-07-22
  Iran claims to catch 17 CIA spies, sentences some to death
Sun 2019-07-21
  Kurdistan: Killer of senior Turkish diplomat arrested
Sat 2019-07-20
  Saudi King approves additional deployment of US troops
Fri 2019-07-19
  'HOSTILE ACT' Iran seizes British oil tanker in the Gulf with 23 crew on board days after clash with Royal Navy
Thu 2019-07-18
  Iran seizes foreign tanker with 12 crew accused of smuggling oil
Wed 2019-07-17
  Pakistani police arrest Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed (again)
Tue 2019-07-16
  United Arab Emirates oil tanker vanishes after drifting into Iranian waters
Mon 2019-07-15
  Car bomb and all-night hotel siege kill 26 in Somalia's Kismayo
Sun 2019-07-14
  African Migrants Turned Church Into Base to Deal Heroin
Sat 2019-07-13
  Kismayo attack: 26 dead as gunmen storm Somali hotel

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