#1
First of all they can't recruit the manpower they need. Second, drone warfare has shown you need more in air defense then you've allocated for decades. Third, you're way over committed to foreign operations and sustainment. Fourth, you've allowed the homeland to be overrun while engaged in foreign adventures. You had one job - protect the homeland.
#2
Fenton [SpecOps Commandant] said a cut of about 2,000 personnel in special operations was ordered by the department about a year and a half ago, including about 750 in the Army. That was followed this year by a cut of 3,000 in Army special operations. The cuts are to be spread out across five years "So the real Army reduction in totality is almost 4,000, and the remaining 1,000 will come from the joint force, SEALs, Marine raiders, other Army units,” said Fenton.
#5
Countering drone swarm attacks likely won’t be kinetic but more directed emf or other signal disruption techniques. Certainly requires thinking well past the last war. Historically we don’t do that well.
#6
Manning (or womaning or they / theming) a FERF gun seems like a great job for recruits who can't meet even lowered PT requirements.
As long as they are truck mounted.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
05/14/2024 12:44 Comments ||
Top||
#7
HERF gun
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
05/14/2024 12:44 Comments ||
Top||
#8
^@3 Murcek: Then again, they may feel that making a lot of operators employable on the open market is a winner for the Ukes. Because, if these guys are trained for one thing, ...
I'm wondering if the layoffs are centered on any particular language group. cause they do have different language groups that they're trained to work with.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
05/14/2024 13:01 Comments ||
Top||
#9
^ If guys dumb enough to go there were RIFed, then it is a net win.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
05/14/2024 13:03 Comments ||
Top||
#10
I think that amounts to about a 10% cut from current force levels.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
05/14/2024 17:40 Comments ||
Top||
#11
#10- meanwhile the number of those playing with joysticks at Nellis AFB increases exponentially.
[SHABELLEMEDIA] A report on the threat of piracy off the coast of Somalia from the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... ’s ATALANTA mission said that there has been an increase in incidents that could increase the risk of piracy in Somalia waters.
The European Union has said that pirates have started hijacking speedboats, to use them to carry out attacks from areas 600 nm off the coast of Somalia.
"Although there have been no incidents of piracy in the past seven days, the payment of a ransom could create a new wave of hijackings," EU NAVFOR ATALANTA said.
The ATALANTA mission said that it is estimated that at least two pirate groups may be sailing off the coast of Somalia, preparing to attack fat merchantmen.
European navies have said that piracy attacks are possible and can always happen. They said it is important that ships operating in the Western Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden, especially those within 700nm of Somalia’s coast, comply with security recommendations.
In March of this year, a ship belonging to Bangladesh was taken for a ransom of 5 million dollars, which is the first ransom paid to Somali pirates in decades.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/14/2024 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[28 views]
Top|| File under: Pirates
[NEWARAB] Kuwait formed a new cabinet headed by Sheikh Ahmad Abdullah al-Sabah, according to a royal decree issued Sunday.
Emad al al-Atiqi, Anwar Ali al-Mudhaf and Abdullah Ali al-Yahya retained their posts as oil, finance and foreign ministers respectively, according to the decree from the Emir of Kuwait Sheikh Mishal al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah.
Sheikh Ahmad is the emir's nephew and was previously appointed prime minister in April.
"The Prime Minister and the ministers must implement this decree," stated Sheikh Mishal in the decree.
The new government comes shortly after the emir dissolved parliament indefinitely on Friday, after a prolonged period of bickering between the government and the elected parliament.
The emir also suspended some articles of the constitution, including those stating that a new parliament must be elected within two months of a dissolution and that laws must be approved by the parliament and the emir.
The powers of the National Assembly would be assumed by the emir and the country's cabinet, state TV reported at the time.
The changes give Emir al-Sabah full control over new legislation.
The articles would be suspended for a period not exceeding four years, during which all aspects of the democratic process would be studied, according to the Emir's order on Friday.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/14/2024 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[24 views]
Top|| File under:
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] Rosfinmonitoring added journalist Nadezhda Kevorkova to the register of terrorists and extremists. Her data appeared on the website of the Federal Service for Financial Monitoring on May 13.
"6450. Kevorkova Nadezhda Vitalievna, born October 21, 1958, Moscow,” is indicated in the list.
As Regnum reported, on May 6, the Investigative Committee charged Kevorkova with justifying terrorism due to a post in the Telegram channel from 2021 about the Taliban movement (a terrorist organization whose activities are banned in the Russian Federation) and a repost of the text of her friend Orhan Dzhemal. He published a text about the attack in Nalchik back in 2010; after his murder, Kevorkova posted this text on her site.
The journalist was detained. Earlier, her apartment was searched. According to a source in the Izvestia newspaper, Nadezhda Kevorkova shares radical Islamic ideology and published materials justifying the activities of terrorists. According to the publication, the journalist was on friendly terms with terrorists, including the coordinator and founder of radical Islamic foundations, Israil Akhmednabiev, known as Abu Umar Sasitlinsky (listed by Rosfinmonitoring as terrorists and extremists), and other persons associated with the activities of terrorist organizations.
[Rudaw] Germany has deported 222 Iraqi citizens so far in 2024 as part of an alleged agreement reached between Berlin and Baghdad to deport migrants colonists who have no chance to remain in Germany, sources told Rudaw.
Neither the German nor the Iraqi governments have confirmed the agreement, but according to information sent to Rudaw by the German interior ministry, a large number of migrants colonists have been deported to Iraq and the Kurdsitan Region over the past two weeks.
A spokesperson for the German interior ministry on Friday told Rudaw’s Znar Shino that Germany deported 222 Iraqi citizens in the first three months of 2024 - 169 of which were sent back to Iraq and the Kurdistan Region and 53 to other countries from which the migrants colonists had come from.
A total of 22,757 Iraqi citizens have been ordered to leave the country, according to the interior ministry, 20,611 of which have duldung - an order certifying that they cannot leave or be deported due to obstacles.
Germany is a favored destination country for Kurds and Iraqis who want to immigrate to Europe.
Each year, tens of thousands of predominantly young individuals depart Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, seeking improved prospects in Europe. In pursuit of a better life, they navigate perilous smuggling routes, risk their lives in harsh and freezing travel conditions, and undertake treacherous sea crossings to reach mainland Europa ...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum... or the United Kingdom.
The German states of Bavaria and North-Rhine Westphalia have the largest number of migrant from the Kurdistan Region. According to data obtained by Rudaw this week, 77 Iraqi citizens have been deported from Bavaria and 288 have voluntarily returned to Iraq and the Kurdistan Region.
In North-Rhine Westphalia, 14 of the 27 Iraqi citizens deported from that state have been sent back to Iraq.
In an interview with Rudaw in August 2023, Gonul Eglence, a member of the regional parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia, said that Iraqi asylum seekers must not be deported to Iraq because it is an unsafe country. She explained that many individuals cannot be deported because they could face political persecution or their lives would be at risk due to their religious beliefs.
"Those people will not be deported. Instead, they receive Duldung. That means they can stay temporarily," Eglence said.
In 2023, more than 500 Iraqi nationals were deported from Germany, only around 200 of which were sent back to Iraq while the others were sent to third countries.
[SUDANTRIBUNE] The European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... has strongly condemned the recent escalation of fighting in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur State, which has caused a further deterioration of the humanitarian crisis and endangered civilians.
In a joint statement, EU High Representative/Vice-President Josep Borrell and EU Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarčič expressed grave concern about the situation.
"The indiscriminate attacks from both sides, including on the Babiker Nahar Paediatric Hospital, are unacceptable," the statement declared. "We are particularly alarmed by the lack of medical supplies and medicines at Al Fasher South Hospital, the only functioning hospital in the entire state."
The statement highlighted the ongoing obstruction of aid delivery, with over 800,000 civilians trapped in El Fasher denied essential assistance since April 2023.
"We remind all parties of their obligation under international humanitarian law to protect civilians," the EU representatives emphasized. "Denying access to food, healthcare, and humanitarian aid is a clear violation of international law, and may constitute war crimes."
The EU demanded immediate, unconditional, and unhindered access for humanitarian aid across Sudan ...a Moslem country located in the Horn of Africa. It is noted for its affinity for rule by ex- or current generals, its holy men, and for the oppression of the native Afro population by its Arab conquerors. South Sudan, populated mostly by the natives, split off from Sudan proper, which left North and South Darfur to be oppressed by the guys with turbans... . They pointed out that only 39 aid trucks have reached El Fasher so far in 2024, severely limiting assistance to civilians in desperate need.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/14/2024 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[27 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Sudan
[TaxProfBlog] As pro-Paleostinian protests spread across university campuses, Sullivan & Cromwell’s senior chair said Wednesday the firm will be "more vigilant" in screening potential candidates. The firm is now outlining some of its vetting processes in that effort, including reviewing resumes, social media, news reports and student group affiliations and employing third-party specialists for background checks. ...
Senior firm chair Joe Shenker has maintained a strong position against hate speech and bias during the Israel/Hamas ..a regional Iranian catspaw,... conflict, taking the lead on efforts such as a group letter signed by dozens of law firm leaders sent to law school deans that maintained an "unequivocal stance" in opposition to antisemitism. Shenker was in his Jerusalem synagogue’s bomb shelter when the Hamas-led attack on Israel began on Oct. 7.
In a statement Wednesday, Sullivan & Cromwell said it will "review resumes for participation in pro-terrorist groups and other similar activities" as well as do a "thorough review of the candidate’s online presence, school website [and] news reports" moving forward.
It will also request "lists of all campus organizations the student has been or is currently a part of and monitor activities from those groups that do no align with our ethical standards," the firm said.
In addition, the firm said it will employ third-party specialists to do formal background checks.
Normally I would say, imagine how quick a any Group, Business or Legal firm that is found to have hired such person(s) would have to close its doors.
But given this new generation of Mindless Smartphone Minions and LSD's Open Borders, which has allowed unchecked the influx of such hostile illegals. A Democrat controlled USA currently seems to be clearly headed in the direction of becoming the United Socialist States of America that supports Genocidal Racism against Jewish persons and Whites.
#2
It's de jure illegal to say that Jews control Americans. And now they're using their control over the finance industry to blackball Americans who exercise their political rights.
The union representing Columbia’s custodians is planning to sue over the university’s indifference and negligence regarding the safety of its members, who were trapped and made captives in the student seizure of Hamilton Hall.
...The union may be planning to sue the protesters, too, as it is working to gather security camera footage and the names of students arrested during the campus riots.
And that may be just the beginning.
George Washington University law professor John Banzhaf, who pioneered the class action litigation against tobacco companies, predicts that there will be more lawsuits against the protesters and their backers.
The feminazi mafia that runs modern "Western" universities are about to have their mental horizons expanded.
#4
..their control over the finance industry to blackball Americans who exercise their political rights.
I don't believe it's 'them' who've been debanking Trump supporters and gun buyers for several years not. BTW, its not political rights when it destroys the civil rights of others.
#6
Sullivan and Cromwell must be close to 150 years old by now. Cromwell was a lawyer who in the days leading up to the construction of the Panama Canal represented French interests and saw to it that the USA paid off France for initial work undertaken in creating a Panama Canal.
[IsraelTimes] Ottoman Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan says that more than 1,000 members of the Paleostinian terror group Hamas ..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",... are being treated in hospitals across The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire... , reiterating his stance that Hamas is a "resistance movement."
Speaking at a presser after talks with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in Ankara, Erdogan also says he was saddened by the Greek view of Hamas a terrorist organization.
Hamas has had an office in Turkey since 2011 when Turkey helped secure the agreement for the terror group to free Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
The Iran-backed group is designated as a terrorist organization by a host of countries including Israel, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada along with the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... .
A U.S. Army officer in the Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency resigned in protest of the Biden administration's support for Israel's war against Iranian-backed Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip.
Maj. Harrison Mann announced his resignation in a two-page letter posted on his LinkedIn account, in which he wrote that the Biden administration's support for Israel "has enabled and empowered the killing and starvation of tens of thousands of innocent Palestinians."
Mann said the "unconditional support" also encourages "escalation that risks wider war."
According to his LinkedIn profile, Mann had been an executive officer and analyst with the DIA's Middle East/Africa Regional Center since August 2021 and has been with the Army since May 2011.
"It is clear that this week, some of you will still be asked to provide support — directly or indirectly — to the Israeli military as it conducts operations into Rafah and elsewhere in Gaza," Mann wrote. "I distributed this letter internally on April 16 and received an unexpected outpouring of support. I am sharing it now in the hope that you too will discover you are not alone, you are not voiceless, and you are not powerless."
Unlike the CIA, which is focused on providing intelligence to the president and his Cabinet, the DIA said on its website it is the principal source of foreign intelligence to combat-related missions.
It's unknown if other military officers have resigned in protest of the Biden administration's policy since Hamas' Oct. 7 terrorist attack in southern Israel that led to the massacre of at least 1,200 Israeli civilians and about 250 being taken hostage.
A spokeswoman for the Army was not immediately able to confirm if other officers had resigned for similar reasons since the war began, The New York Times reported Monday.
The Biden administration has come under intense domestic pressure regarding its support for Israel, with protests roiling college campuses, leading to thousands of arrests, the most active demonstrations on college campuses since the Vietnam War.
The U.S. military built a floating pier in the Mediterranean off the Gaza coast to enable more humanitarian aid to reach Palestinians, and President Joe Biden has threatened to withhold military shipments to Israel if it proceeded a military operation into the Gaza city of Rafah.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
05/14/2024 8:49 Comments ||
Top||
#5
I'd rather have this officer resign and have his TS/SCI access pulled than have him stay on as a disgruntled solider who might get some crazy ideas.
#9
Yup - Harvard Kennedy School Masters Public Admn. 2021
Posted by: Bobby ||
05/14/2024 12:27 Comments ||
Top||
#10
On the surface it seems like a proper course of action. However, given a deeper look, at what limited information is available, perhaps this was as much about dead-end as moral outrage? From his picture and the limited information about him from the link below, he seems to have had a rather mundane career. Commissioned as an Infantry Officer, but currently assigned as a Foreign Area Officer at DIA, he has been deployed to Tunisia, Bahrain, South Korea and Kuwait. Interestingly, since his commissioning in 2011, his picture shows the Expert Infantry Badge, a single Army Commendation Medal, and an Army Achievement Medal with two Oak leaf Clusters. In my opinion, after his 13 years of commissioned service, this does not suggest significant achievement or a good path going forward.
https://taskandpurpose.com/news/army-officer-resigns-israel/on, and leaving by the front door.
[IsraelTimes] A former US military intelligence official says that his November resignation was in fact due to "moral injury" stemming from Washington’s support for Israel in its war against Hamas ..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,... in 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 Hamas with 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... and the harm caused to Paleostinians.
In a letter to his colleagues at the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), Harrison Mann, an Army major, says he kept quiet about his motives for resigning for months out of fear.
"I was afraid. Afraid of violating our professional norms. Afraid of disappointing officers I respect. Afraid you would feel betrayed. I’m sure some of you will feel that way reading this," Mann writes in a letter shared with colleagues last month and published on his LinkedIn profile today.
He is the first known DIA official to quit over US support to Israel.
The Defense Intelligence Agency does not respond to a request for comment.
Mann’s case differs from other US government officials, including several State Department officials, who publicly deplored US policy as they resigned rather than waiting months to explain their departure.
He says he felt shame and guilt for helping advance US policy that he said contributed to the mass killing of Paleostinians.
"At some point — whatever the justification — you’re either advancing a policy that enables the mass starvation of children, or you’re not," Mann writes.
#5
"At some point — whatever the justification — you’re either advancing a policy that enables the mass starvation of children, or you’re not," Mann writes.
Obviously, he doesn't read Rantburg. It's not US policy. It's HamaSS policy.
[GEO.TV] Pakistain and the United States have underscored the importance of bilateral cooperation in addressing the most pressing challenges to regional and global security, including the Tehrik-e-Taliban ...the Pashtun equivalent of men... Pakistain (TTP) and ISIS.
According to a statement issued by the Foreign Office on Monday, Additional Foreign Secretary for the UN and OIC, Ambassador Syed Haider Shah, and US Department of State Coordinator for Counterterrorism, Ambassador Elizabeth Richard, co-chaired the Pakistain-US Counterterrorism Dialogue on May 10 in Washington.
Discussions centred on the counterterrorism landscape in the region, with a focus on areas of mutual interest.
Pak and US bigwigs emphasised the importance of expanded counterterrorism collaboration and capacity building, including exchanges of technical expertise and best practices, investigative and prosecutorial assistance, provision of border security infrastructure and training, including the United States training of more than 300 police and frontline responders since the last Pakistain-US Counterterrorism Dialogue in March 2023, and strengthening multilateral engagement such as in the UN and the Global Counterterrorism Forum, the statement added.
It said Pakistain and the United States recognised that a partnership to counter the ISIS-Khorasan — also known as ISIS — the TTP, and other terrorist organizations will advance security in the region and serve as a model of bilateral and regional cooperation to address transnational terrorism threats.
Both governments resolved to increase communication on these topics and continue collaboration to detect and deter violent mostly peaceful extremism through whole-of-government approaches.
"The Counterterrorism Dialogue reaffirms Pakistain’s and the United States’ shared determination to contribute to both regional and global security and stability."
Posted by: Fred ||
05/14/2024 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[37 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
Pure BS. The only thing that Pakistan wants [and has wanted for the last 70 years] is more foreign aid to piss down that Central Asia rathole.
[GEO.TV] UN Secretary-General António Guterres ...Portuguese politician and diplomat, ninth Secretary-General of the United Nations. Previously, he was the UN High Commissioner for Refugees between 2005 and 2015. He was the Prime Minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002 and was the Secretary-General of the Socialist Party from 1992 to 2002. He served as President of the Socialist International from 1999 to 2005. In both a 2012 and 2014 poll, the Portuguese public ranked him as the best Prime Minister of the previous 30 years... has condemned the killing of a staff member of the global organization after one of its vehicles was struck in 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 Hamas with about the living conditions you'dexpect. 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... by Israeli occupation forces, leaving another staffer injured.
Guterres said on X, "humanitarian workers must be protected" Even if they are armed Hamas killers!
"I condemn all attacks on UN personnel and reiterate my urgent appeal for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire & the release of all hostages," he added.
Earlier today, Israeli forces fired on a clearly marked UN vehicle in Rafah in southern Gaza killing one member of the UN's Department of Safety and Security and injuring another, in what the UN says is the first instance of the killing of a foreign member of its staff since Israel began its war on Gaza last October.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/14/2024 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[119 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
#4
the killing of a staff member of the global organization after one of its vehicles was struck in Gazoo
I realize that having a sense of curiosity forever disqualifies me from being a journalist, but I gotta wonder about the backstory here. Was it simply one of those "shit happens" things that occur in the chaos of war or was it that, in addition to its UN occupant, said vehicle was carrying weapons and fighters? Inquiring minds...
[Rudaw] The interior ministries of Iraq and Syria on Sunday signed a security agreement covering several areas including border control and combating drugs.
"A memorandum of understanding for joint security cooperation between the two countries was signed," Iraqi Interior Minister Abdul-Amir al-Shammari said during a presser in Baghdad with his Syrian counterpart Mohammed Khalid al-Rahmoun.
"The agreement included a number of articles related to cooperation in combating drugs, border control, extradition of wanted individuals, combating organized crime, and money laundering," Shammari added.
The Iraqi minister noted that there is "good" intelligence cooperation between Baghdad and Damascus and the "two countries have joint work in exchanging information."
"Cooperation in all fields, especially security, was discussed, as we suffered from terrorism in our countries, and there is a criminal phenomenon managed by drug trafficking and human trafficking gangs, so we signed a memorandum of joint security cooperation," Rahmoun said.
Previous security operations between the neighbours "have resulted in dismantling some networks and seizing quantities of drugs," according to Rahmoun.
They will hold a comprehensive meeting on regional security cooperation on July 22.
Iraq shares a long border with Syria, spanning over 600 kilometers. Only part of it is controlled by the government in Damascus. The northern portion is held by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
Iraq has built a concrete wall along stretches of the border to prevent smuggling and the movement of gangs, including the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really 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 western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... (ISIS), which seized control of vast swathes of Syrian and Iraqi land in 2014.
Did they consult Israel on the latest technology?
The holy warrior group facilitated the movement of fighters, captives, and weapons between the two countries.
Rahmoun noted that Iraq has achieved "great successes in eliminating ISIS," however he warned that the group is still active in hotspots in Syria where it carries out periodic attacks.
The smuggling of narcotics across the border is a growing problem. The interior ministers of Iraq, Jordan, Syria, and Leb ...an Iranian satrapy currently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers... met in Amman in February and announced they would cooperate to combat narcotics and the spread of illegal substances.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
05/14/2024 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[30 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
[IsraelTimes] Internal Hamas ..one of the armed feet of the Moslem Brüderbund millipede,... documents reveal that the terror group’s leader in 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 Hamas with 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... , Yahya Sinwar, has been running a secret police force that conducts surveillance on Paleostinian civilians in order to quash dissent, according to a US newspaper report.
No! Who could have imagined such a thing?!
The report in The New York Times
...which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... , which reviewed a 62-slide presentation on the activities of Sinwar’s General Security Service, says that the force built dossiers on "young people, journalists and those who questioned the government."
The unit relied on a network of informants who reported Paleostinians for publicly criticizing Hamas, protesting, or "carrying on romantic relationships outside marriage," according to the New York Times.
"The documents show that Hamas leaders, despite claiming to represent the people of Gaza, would not tolerate even a whiff of dissent," the report says.
[Rudaw] Two female students at the faculty of Islamic studies in the University of Zakho
…Zakho is in Duhok province…
said on Sunday that they were barred from writing final exams because they wear the niqab, a traditional Islamic veil that completely covers the face and body. The university administration said that all students must be identified in order to prevent cheating.
The incident has sparked debate on social media about security and identification concerns versus religious freedom.
One of the students said they had been informed in advance that they would not be able to cover their faces during exams. "We complained, but no one listened to us. And today we attended wearing a niqab and the examinations committee told us we should not present ourselves like this," she told Rudaw’s Gharib Majid.
The student said they were first told that they could write their exams in a separate hall, monitored by female invigilators with no men present, which they would agree to, however that was later changed.
Another student said that this was her second year wearing a niqab to university and no one had obstructed her from writing exams before.
About five students refused to remove their niqabs and enter the exam hall, according to the students.
The University of Zakho said that they required all students to be identified in order to prevent cheating.
"Due to many unexpected situations, such as cheating issues and some other problems, students had been warned earlier that they should remove their niqabs for the exams, but they did not listen to this," read a statement from the university on Facebook, following an outcry on social media over the news.
"The students were told that a female inspector would examine them before entering the examination hall, but some of them refused," it added.
The niqab is a traditional article of clothing worn by some female Moslems around the world. What separates a niqab from the hijab is the face cover. A niqab must be loose fitting, be a muted color, and show only the eyes of the person.
Many countries have wrestled with regulating Islamic dress such as the niqab. Some European nations have imposed partial or full bans on face coverings, citing security, women’s rights, and secular traditions. Opponents of the bans argue they violate women’s human rights ...which are usually open to widely divergent definitions... , could lead to the marginalization of women who chose to wear the coverings, and criticize laws that dictate what a woman can wear.
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.
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
Somali pirates
...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum...
...a Moslem country located in the Horn of Africa. It is noted for its affinity for rule by ex- or current generals, its holy men, and for the oppression of the native Afro population by its Arab conquerors. South Sudan, populated mostly by the natives, split off from Sudan proper, which left North and South Darfur to be oppressed by the guys with turbans...
..a regional Iranian catspaw,...
..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",...
..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,...
...the Pashtun equivalent of men...
...Portuguese politician and diplomat, ninth Secretary-General of the United Nations. Previously, he was the UN High Commissioner for Refugees between 2005 and 2015. He was the Prime Minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002 and was the Secretary-General of the Socialist Party from 1992 to 2002. He served as President of the Socialist International from 1999 to 2005. In both a 2012 and 2014 poll, the Portuguese public ranked him as the best Prime Minister of the previous 30 years...
...an Iranian satrapy currently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers...
