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Today: 71 articles and 170 comments as of 2:58.
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Area: WoT Operations    Non-WoT    Opinion        Politix   
Libya: ISIS claims it bombed Iran envoy's residence
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 2: WoT Background
10 22:07 SteveS [5] 
3 21:40 Barbara [10] 
1 17:09 JohnQC [3] 
3 13:06 AlanC [2] 
3 16:37 JohnQC [6] 
5 21:39 JosephMendiola [3] 
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3 19:09 JosephMendiola [5] 
1 05:54 Bright Pebbles [4] 
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Page 1: WoT Operations
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4 09:14 trailing wife [1]
3 21:10 JosephMendiola [7]
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Page 3: Non-WoT
1 20:46 chris [4]
6 19:07 rammer [3]
1 18:35 Alaska Paul [2]
3 17:05 Pappy [6]
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Page 4: Opinion
3 14:19 Frank G [4]
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1 07:41 ed in texas []
2 03:25 g(r)omgoru [3]
10 17:17 CrazyFool [1]
3 09:59 Procopius2k [6]
2 11:23 OldSpook [4]
Page 6: Politix
2 18:57 Raj [5]
5 17:13 Pappy [3]
19 17:36 Gerthudion Untervehr8704 [6]
Africa North
Embattled Libyan government loses grip as general expands power
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] In a hotel lit by a generator in the eastern Libyan town of Bayda, Economy Minister Munir Ali Asr outlines optimistic plans to attract investment to a country ravaged by war and political chaos.

Outside, Bayda lies in darkness after another power cut. Hundreds of residents wait outside petrol stations that have closed as a result of a debilitating power struggle between two rival governments that has wrecked basic services.

Growing frustration over the reality of life in eastern Libya, which contrasts with the promises of politicians, is feeding support for a former army general, Khalifa Haftar
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 02/23/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Africa Subsaharan
Nigeria Army Says Offensive against Islamists Progressing
[AnNahar] Nigeria's military said Sunday that the offensive against Boko Haram
... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality...
was progressing, claiming soldiers had recovered stocks of arms abandoned by turbans fleeing the recaptured town of Baga.

"The cordon and search as well as patrol of the localities continue while the offensive on holy warriors is progressing in other areas of the theater of the counter terrorist campaign," military front man General Chris Olukolade said in a statement.

Troops engaged in cordon and search operations in Baga have continued to discover arms of various types and provenance that were dumped by fleeing turbans in houses and surrounding areas, the statement said.

Many abandoned or destroyed cycle of violences have also been found, it said.

The town, a fishing hub on the shore of Lake Chad in the far north of Borno state in northeast Nigeria
... a particularly crimson stretch of Islam's bloody border...
, was retaken on Saturday morning.

A soldier was stabbed and another was shot during a close quarter battle which ensued as troops caught up with fleeing terrorists, it added.

Nigerian military claims to have recaptured the town of Baga from Boko Haram came more than a month after it was overrun in what is feared to be the worst massacre in the six-year insurgency that has claimed more than 13,000 lives.

There was no independent corroboration of Baga returning to army control, as thousands of the town's residents fled after Boko Haram attacked on January 3. Hundreds of people, if not more, were killed in the following days.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/23/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Boko Haram


Battalion of SANDF ready to help in the African Union
[Sowetan] A SA National Defence Force (SANDF) battalion is being prepared to be deployed by the African Union if required, President Jacob 'six wives' Zuma said on Saturday.
Pre-deployment HIV screening has been waived, everyone good-to-go.
"Recently the SANDF became part of the newly established African Capacity for Immediate Response to Crisis (Acirc), which is an interim mechanism to assist in peace and security in the continent until such time that the African standby force is ready," he said in a speech prepared for delivery.

"The standby force is a very important initiative by the continent because it enables us to provide African solutions to African problems."
Ahh yes, Afri Solutions vir Afri problem, contingent upon colonial funding and logistics.
Zuma was speaking at the Armed Forces Day in Potchefstroom, North West.

Last year, while attending the US-Africa Summit, the United States pledged support for African peacekeeping and peace-making mechanisms.

Following the summit, Zuma said Africa had secured buy-in from the US for peace and security initiatives on the continent, including support for the African Standby Force.
Airlift, meds, communications, vehicles, fuel, ammo... the least we could do vir ons volk (our people).
In August, City Press reported that the SANDF would be sending soldiers back to the Central African Republic as early as October as part of Acirc. Other African countries had also signed up to put their armies on standby, in case of a crisis.

According to the report at the time, they would be getting help from the controversial US Africa Command (Africom) with equipment and possibly transport, as most of the African continent's armies were short of funds. This was set to be finalised at the summit.

However, not all African countries are happy with Africom's involvement.
Our new friends in Cuba will assist with contracting support for civil engineering and army vehicle maintenance. 200 new trucks could have been purchased at the cost of the contract. I wonder where that funding originated ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/23/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I wonder where that funding originated?

Two possibles:

What very large, Pacific Rim country has been showing much interest in Afrika lately?

What traditional-friend of Cuba (and to a lesser extent, the ANC,) has been mucking around as of late?
Posted by: Pappy || 02/23/2015 11:02 Comments || Top||

#2  South African police firing the R4 at the range.
Just too funny.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/23/2015 11:20 Comments || Top||

#3  It's gotta be a hoax, Bes.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 02/23/2015 15:31 Comments || Top||

#4  Still slightly better than the traditional African habit of closing one's eyes when squeezing the trigger.
Posted by: Pappy || 02/23/2015 16:54 Comments || Top||

#5  TARGET-ACCURACY-VS-TEETH-VS-JAW ...

Its an Oldie FOR 3-4000 Years but always a Funnie.

Evar! since ...

[THE ROCK'S "HERCULES" MOVIE > HOPLITE-WANNABE TRAINING = "RIGHT! NEXT LESSON, MEN, HOW NOT TO STAB OR SPEAR YOURSELVES [andor your fellow Soldier(s) next to you]!
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/23/2015 21:28 Comments || Top||


Arabia
Yemen Leader Says Still President After Fleeing Capital
[YEMENONLINE.INFO] The Yemeni leader who resigned the presidency last month and fled to the country's south on Saturday said all actions taken since Iranian catspaws stormed the capital, Sanaa, last September are illegitimate, hinting that he will seek to reclaim his power and office.

The move exacerbates worries over a regional breakup and further instability in the volatile country, the Arab world's poorest and home to a powerful al-Qaeda affiliate. The rebels, known as Houthis, control Sanaa and several major cities, while the south is largely free from their rule and officials there have rejected the rebel takeover amid talk of a potential secession.

In a statement signed as "president of the republic" from the southern port city of Aden, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi called for a national dialogue there or in the city of Taiz, another area not under 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 ...
control, and demanded the rebels leave Sanaa.

He said he supports the power transfer plan backed by Gulf countries after Yemen's 2011 Arab Spring uprising, which envisaged him taking office from predecessor 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...
until elections. He also called on military and security forces to support him, and demanded the Houthis release members of his former Cabinet who are still under house arrest in Sanaa.
Posted by: Fred || 02/23/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Houthis


Yemen oil revenues drop almost $1 bn in 2014
[YEMENONLINE.INFO] Yemen suffered a drop of around $1 billion, or 37 percent, in revenue from oil exports last year due to nosediving crude prices and the sabotage of pipelines, the central bank said Saturday.

Revenues amounted to $1.673 billion (1.468 billion euros), compared with $2.662 billion in 2013, Saba state news agency quoted the bank as saying.

"The main reasons behind the decrease were the drop in Yemen's production capacity and in oil prices as well as the attacks on the pipeline" linking production fields in Marib with coastal Hudayda, it said.

Yemen is a minor producer but relies on oil and gas exports for 90 percent of its foreign currency earnings.
Posted by: Fred || 02/23/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:


U.S. Defense Chief Convenes Anti-IS War Council in Kuwait
[AnNahar] New Pentagon chief Ashton Carter will hold talks Monday in Kuwait with top U.S. commanders and diplomats to discuss the war effort against the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
jihadist group, officials said.

Carter flew to Kuwait City from Afghanistan on Sunday to chair the extraordinary meeting that will see more than two dozen senior military officers and ambassadors gather at the sprawling U.S. Army base of Camp Arifjan, officials said.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/23/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  So, it's all over except for the after-action report?
Posted by: ed in texas || 02/23/2015 8:00 Comments || Top||

#2  Diplomats and civilian officials due to take part include John Allen, President Barack Obama's envoy to the anti-IS coalition as well as the U.S. special envoy to Syria, Daniel Rubinstein

Neither of which have proven effective at their tasks (and the latter, based on open-source, likely by design.)
Posted by: Pappy || 02/23/2015 11:07 Comments || Top||

#3  U.S. special envoy to Syria, Daniel Rubinstein

Syrians, on either side, would talk to Juice? Things really must be going to hell.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 02/23/2015 15:06 Comments || Top||


Bangladesh
Police remain in dark about two JMB men snatched from custody last year
[Dhaka Tribune] A year has passed but law enforcers have progressed little in hunting the two of the three convicted Islamist hard boys, who were snatched from Mymensingh.

In a cinematic operation on February 22 last year, operatives of banned Islamist hard boy outfit Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh
The JMB is said to be the youth front of Al Mujahideen, the parent organization that began working toward establishing Bangladesh as an Islamic state in the mid 1990s which remains obscure even today. Other organizations, such as Jama'atul Jihad, JMB, Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh (JMJB), Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HUJI), Hizbut Tawhid, Tawhidi Janata, Islami Jubo Shangha, Islami Shangha, Al Falah A'am Unnayan Shanstha and Shahadat-e al Hiqma are believed to be part of the Al Mujahideen network. The JMB at its peak was reported to contain at least 100,000 members, and an alleged 2,000-man suicide brigade, few of whom actually exploded. JMB allegedly received financial assistance from individual donors in Kuwait, UAE, Bahrain, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Libya. Reports have claimed that funding of JMB by international NGOs like Kuwait based Society of the Revival of Islamic Heritage (RIHS) and Doulatul Kuwait, Saudi Arabia based Al Haramaine Islamic Institute and Rabita Al Alam Al Islami, Qatar Charitable Society and UAE-based Al Fuzaira and Khairul Ansar Al Khairia. The top leadership of JMB was captured in 2005 and hung in 2007, which pretty much shot their bolt.
(JMB) snatched three of their colleagues, all convicted for various crimes, from a prison van in broad daylight.

On that day police were taking JMB leaders -- Salahuddin alias Salehin alias Sajeeb, Zahidul Islam alias "Boma" Mizan, and Rakib Hasan -- to the Kashimpur high security jail in Gazipur from another jail in Mymensingh.

The JMB operatives, who appeared trained for such "rescue" missions, came from nowhere, stopped and cordoned off the prison van, killed an on-guard police constable, broke the lock and fled with the the prisoners.

Of those snatched, Rakib was jugged
Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please!
again a few days later but was killed in an alleged shootout between law enforcers and hard boys.

Soon after the snatching, probe committees formed by law enforcement agencies found slack security arrangements while transporting prisoners. However,
by candlelight every wench is handsome...
none of those committees managed to finish their investigation.

In October last year, eight months after the incident, the duty of investigation was taken from detectives and given to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of police; CID's organised crime unit is now investigating.

Apart from the Detective Branch (DB) of Mymensingh police, RAB and Dhaka Metropolitan Police's (DMP's) Detective Branch have also done investigation.
Posted by: Fred || 02/23/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh


Britain
Baroness Warsi gave official roles to people with links to Islamist groups
[Telegraph] Entryism, the favourite tactic of the 1980s’ Militant Tendency, is when a political party or institution is infiltrated by groups with a radically different agenda. Since Militant’s Trotskyites were expelled from the Labour Party, the word has rather fallen out of fashion.

But now, according to one Muslim leader, Islamic radicals are practising entryism of their own — into the heart of Whitehall – courtesy of a woman who was until recently a government minister.

Baroness Warsi, the first Muslim woman to sit in Cabinet, handed official posts to people linked to Islamist groups, including a man involved in an “unpleasant and bullying” campaign to win planning permission for the controversial London “megamosque” proposed by a fundamentalist Islamic sect.

He sits – alongside other radicals or former radicals and their allies – on a “cross-Government working group on anti-Muslim hatred” set up by Lady Warsi and Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister.

Some members of the group are using their seats at the table to urge that Whitehall work with Islamist and extremist-linked bodies, including one described by the Prime Minister as a “political front for the Muslim Brotherhood”. Some are also pressing to lift bans on foreign hate preachers from entering Britain, including Zakir Naik, who has stated that “every Muslim should be a terrorist”.

Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 02/23/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Britain

#1  It's not just valjar
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 02/23/2015 5:54 Comments || Top||


Down Under
Thirty jihadis return home to Australia after being foreign fighters
[HERALDSUN.AU] THE Federal Government will appoint a new counter-terrorism boss, as its revealed more than 30 imported muscle have returned to Australia amid the rising threat of lone-wolf attacks.

There are at least 90 Australians fighting with and supporting terrorist groups in Iraq and Syria and at least 140 people in Australia supporting murderous Moslem groups, a review of Australia's counterterrorism co-ordination has found.

A National Counter Terrorism Co-ordinator will be appointed to improve co-ordination of the various government agencies, Mr Abbott will announce in a National Security Statement to Parliament today.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 02/23/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [9 views] Top|| File under: Salafists

#1  Why do countries allow these Jihadis to return? Do they (the countries) have a death wish?
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia || 02/23/2015 10:03 Comments || Top||

#2  Yes?
Posted by: gorb || 02/23/2015 11:01 Comments || Top||


Europe
Turkey'€™s Missile Shield Won't Be NATO-Integrated
"Turkey's new defense missile system, for which Ankara is in talks on a $3.4 billion deal with a Chinese company, will not be integrated with one used by NATO, Defense Minister Ismet Yilmaz has said.

Ankara will use the long-range system without integrating it with NATO's system, Yilmaz said in his elaboration on the issue, which came in response to a parliamentary question filed by an opposition deputy."
Well, at least they'll probably be using American technology.
Very good! They're distancing themselves from NATO voluntarily.
Posted by: Hupineger Glomomp15048 || 02/23/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


Fifth Column
Bill Nye on Europe's Jews: If Only They Were More Neighborly
Posted by: DarthVader || 02/23/2015 13:10 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Europe

#1  Typical leftist response.

1) It is somehow the Jew's fault people hate them
2) The Jews need to do more to keep people from hating them.
Posted by: DarthVader || 02/23/2015 13:13 Comments || Top||

#2  (ping)
Posted by: ansky26 || 02/23/2015 13:52 Comments || Top||

#3  If only they'd been nicer to Adolph...
Posted by: Steve White || 02/23/2015 14:31 Comments || Top||

#4  Bill, was I ever wrong about you! Some people can fool you for a long time. You should stick to scripted science oriented recorded shows that use a lot of repeated takes and editing.
Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839 || 02/23/2015 15:42 Comments || Top||

#5  We try Bill, we try.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 02/23/2015 16:20 Comments || Top||

#6  His Gaza bombing clip earns g(r)om a one year subscription to JBM.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/23/2015 17:44 Comments || Top||

#7  Saw a hilarious picture of nye the other day...took me a good couple seconds to realize the picture wasn't about Talking Heads getting back together. Like David Spade in a Chris Farley suit.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 02/23/2015 19:30 Comments || Top||

#8  Global warming's New carnival barker
Posted by: regular joe || 02/23/2015 21:16 Comments || Top||

#9  Mr. Nye, the NON-science guy, kindly go perform an anatomically impossible autoerotic act.

Preferably in Gaza.
Posted by: Barbara || 02/23/2015 21:36 Comments || Top||

#10  Bill Nye, the Dementia Guy
Posted by: SteveS || 02/23/2015 22:07 Comments || Top||


Breaking News: CAIR Supports DHS Report
Posted by: Mercutio || 02/23/2015 12:15 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Muslim Brotherhood

#1  Of course CAIR would agree with the DHS report, it deflects attention away from the Islamic radicals.

This story reads like it was written by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Posted by: JohnQC || 02/23/2015 17:09 Comments || Top||


The Grand Turk
Secret Phone Taps Reveal Turkish Military Aiding ISIS In Northern Iraq and Syria
[THECONSERVATIVETREEHOUSE] The recordings come as a result of a court case within Turkey:
USNWR [...] During the trial of the Islamic State (IS) militants who attacked Turkish security forces at Nigde last year, court files revealed that Turkey, beyond supplying opposition forces with weapons and ammunition, had also given artillery support to the opposition groups that captured Kassab. The prosecutor obtained striking admissions by tapping the defendants' phones. According to documents obtained by Ahmet Sik of Cumhuriyet, the wiretapping transcripts reveal that the opposition forces at Kassab inform people in Turkey of the coordinates of Syrian army positions around Kassab, and then Turkey shells those locations....
The controversial court documents, which include secret wiretap transcriptions, also show Turkey directly provided weapons to Ansar al-Islam. Ansar al-Islam is comprised of ideological Kurdish Jihadists, and has strong ties to both al-Qaeda and ISIS. Ansar al-Islam was also one of the groups fighting our U.S. troops during operations in Iraq.

The evidence in the case goes on to highlight how the Turkish Army backed assaults on Kasab -- those assaults were primarily carried out by al-Qaeda affiliate al-Nusra, and the Qatar Sponsored Islamic Front.
Posted by: Fred || 02/23/2015 12:22 || Comments || Link || [10 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  turkey is an enemy especially under their president who is a full blown islamist
Posted by: paul || 02/23/2015 19:07 Comments || Top||

#2  Hell, I didn't need to phone tap anyone to figure that out. As I recall they have been photographed with Us weapons and ammo for some time. Someone has to be resupplying alot of ammo for those weapons in large supplies.
Posted by: chris || 02/23/2015 20:44 Comments || Top||

#3  In other stunning news, water is wet.
Posted by: Barbara || 02/23/2015 21:40 Comments || Top||


Turkish opposition castigates evacuation of tomb in northern Syria
[Hurriyet Daily News] Turkish opposition parties have harshly reacted to the evacuation of the Tomb of Suleyman Sah in northern Syria, accusing the government of abandoning the country's only territory outside its borders.

"We are losing our lands without fighting for the first time in the 90-year history of the republic; this is not acceptable," main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Secretary General Gursel Tekin said during a presser in Ankara on Feb. 22.

Turkey evacuated its military personnel protecting the tomb, as well as the artifacts in the mausoleum in an operation jointly conducted by the intelligence organization and the Turkish army.

The operation came a few days after reports suggested that Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) jihadists had besieged the tomb and that Turkish soldiers protecting the enclave had been trapped by the krazed killers.

The CHP politician recalled that he had invited government officials to visit the tomb together two days ago after the siege reports, but "they said then there is no problem."
Posted by: Fred || 02/23/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Home Front: WoT
MN Cop Shooter is a Member of Mickey Cobras Muslim Street Gang
Posted by: Hupineger Glomomp15048 || 02/23/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  US gangs killed 1,587 people in 2012 just in cities with populations above 100K per the FBI. But per the DHS, beware those rural "right wing" sovereign citizen groups - they are the major domestic terror threat. They killed 24 over the past 5 years.

The federal government has become a political tool, and abomination, and needs to be reduced. Start with the DHS - defund it, and give those duties back to FBI.
Posted by: OldSpook || 02/23/2015 11:11 Comments || Top||

#2  OS, if gang shooters could hit what they aimed at their count would be lots higher. DHS may be worried about sovereign citizen groups because they can hit what they aim at, and it might be DHS enforcers.
Posted by: Glenmore || 02/23/2015 12:12 Comments || Top||

#3  RON PAUL = said he had great news, i.e. that there is a Secession Movement in America = Amerika + that Secession(s) will occur.

Do these "Mickey Cobras" + similar have designed to upgrade from [Left-wing?]street gang to [Right-wing/RINO?] National = Secessionist Militancy???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/23/2015 19:09 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Sindh makes prior permit must for new seminaries, mosques
[DAWN] Moving forward to implement the national action plan at the provincial level, the Sindh government on Saturday decided to ban establishment of new madressahs and mosques without a prior permission of the home department.

The government also decided to build a 'high-security prison' in Jamshoro within a week for high-profile terror suspects.

The key decisions were taken at a meeting, which was chaired by Sindh home secretary Abdul Kabir Kazi and attended among others by bigwigs of the law enforcement and intelligence agencies.
Posted by: Fred || 02/23/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Swat terrorists to be tried in military courts
[DAWN] General Officer Commanding (GOC) 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...
Maj-Gen Javed Bukhari said on Saturday that cases of faceless myrmidons tossed in the clink
Book 'im, Mahmoud!
in Swat would be tried in the military courts.

Addressing members of the village defence committees (VDCs) at Wadudia Hall here, Maj-Gen Bukahari vowed that faceless myrmidons would not be allowed to regroup in Swat.

He announced to construct a memorial for the fallen activists of VDCs at the Swat Museum, who were killed during militancy in the Swat valley. He also announced to form a Shuhada Foundation for them.

"Peace in Swat has been restored due to the sacrifices rendered by the people and members of VDCs," he added.

Mr Bukhari said that 23 VDC members had been killed across the district while faceless myrmidons involved in their assassination had been arrested.

"Terrorists who had fled the valley are now attempting to spoil the peace in the region, but with the cooperation of the people of Swat they would not be allowed to get their objectives," he said.

The GOC Swat asked the VDC members to pinpoint faceless myrmidons and their supporters so action could be taken against them. DIG Malakand division Azad Khan and Swat deputy commissioner Mahmood Aslam Wazir were also present on the occasion.
Posted by: Fred || 02/23/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Aziz has apologised for defending APS attack, says Nisar
[DAWN] Maulana Abdul Aziz
...nutball holy man who runs the Lal Masjid in the heart of Pakistain's capital. After instigating a rebellion against the state in 2007, he was caught trying to sneak away dressed in a burka. He rejects democracy as un-Islamic, which it probably is...
, the imam of Islamabad's Lal Masjid
...literally the Red Mosque, located in Islamabad and frequented by all sorts of high govt officials. The proprietors, Ghazi Abdul Rasheed and Maulana Abdul Aziz Ghazi, unleashed their Islamic storm troopers on the city, shutting down whorehouses and beating people up who weren't devout enough. The Musharraf govt put an end to the nonsense by besieging the place. Abdul Aziz Ghazi was nabbed while he was trying to escape dressed up like a girl. BBC reported that the corpse count at 173, but other claims, usually hysterical, say there were up to 1000 titzup. Among their number was Abdul Rashid Ghazi. Everyone then said tut-tut and what a nice guy he had been...
, has submitted a written apology to police over his implied defence of the Dec 16 attack on the Army Public School in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar
...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire.
, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan
...Currently the Interior Minister of Pakistain. He is the senior leader of the Pak Moslem League (N) and a close aide to Nawaz Uncle Fester Sharif. He is noted for his vocal anti-American railing in the National Assembly. However (comma) Khan told the U.S. ambassador that he was in fact pro-American but he and the PML-N would have to be critical of US actions in order to remain publicly credible. Khan cited his wife and children's US citizenship as proof, which means he's lying to one side or the other and probably both. He wears a wig, but you probably guessed that. since hair doesn't grow naturally in that shape or texture...
said on Friday.

The minister was talking to journalists after ending a three-day visit to Washington.

Asked why Islamabad was reluctant to arrest the Lal Masjid holy man, Mr Khan said the government was careful, not reluctant.

"It is not difficult to arrest him. But we want to keep our focus on the ongoing operation against bad boys," he said. "Any other action at this stage will create a diversion and benefit the bad boys."

The minister recalled that after the Lal Masjid operation in 2007, the Musharraf government was forced to bring Maulana Aziz back from his village and provide him special security.

"We do not want to take a decision that we have to review later," he said.

"If we arrest him and it leads to yet another tragic incident, it will have very negative consequences. So I believe that we have to sequence our actions."
Posted by: Fred || 02/23/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan


Iraq
Iraq minister slams U.S. over Mosul assault slip
[Beirut Daily Star] Iraq's defense minister criticized the U.S. Sunday for declaring a timeframe for an offensive to recapture ISIS' northern stronghold of djinn-infested Mosul
... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn...
, saying military commanders should not show their hand to the enemy.

Khaled al-Obeidi said the timing of the Mosul assault was for Iraq to decide, and that a U.S. Central Command official who predicted the attack was likely to take place in April or May had no knowledge of the issue.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 02/23/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iraq

#1  Perhaps a Guest Author-Pert on the ISIS, Iraq situation said it better on CNN AM, IIRC denoting how the US has trained only 2000-2,500 of the 25,000 Iraqi Troops it claims will need to retake Mosul from the Islamic State.

IIRC again, same Personage also argued that there was no way in hell Mosul could be taken widout the US committing much more ground troops + support assets than it has or will have by April-May 2015.

The above is generally consistent wid the belief of most Perts on the MSM-Net that the US = US Coalition is simply NOT READY for any major offensive agz the ISIS/ISL.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/23/2015 1:33 Comments || Top||

#2  Iraq minister slams U.S. over Mosul assault slip

Deja-vu. They just don't learn.
Posted by: gorb || 02/23/2015 11:01 Comments || Top||

#3  In addition to sucking up to the 'perts and future financial/political supporters at Mr. Obama's "Random Attacks by So-Called Extremists" conference, one now has to wonder if announcing the plan was a not-so subtle way of putting pressure on Iraq.

I'll bet they really miss Maliki at the helm.
Posted by: Pappy || 02/23/2015 11:16 Comments || Top||

#4  It's like the allies building up in England. You know they're going to go across the Channel sometime. The only question is the 'when', we already know the 'where', eventually. ISIS has a problem with moving men and equipment with the lack of air defense. It becomes an economy of force issue of where to stack the men and material up. False flag ops can force the opposition to misallocate those resources or provide openings elsewhere in the theater of operations.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/23/2015 13:21 Comments || Top||

#5  More this AM ...

* BHARAT RAKSHAK > [GlobalSecurity.org = VOA News] US DEFENCE CHIEF : "LASTING DEFEAT" NEEDED AGZ ISIS.

USDOD Newbie Ashton Carter in Kuwait.

Perhap more better known as achieving DECISIVE + FINAL "LASTING/PERMANENT VICTORY".

'Tis good for OWG Globalism = ME, Muslim, + Persian Gulf Union(s), + espec NOT having to fight the US-born, US-raised, Muslim-convert ISLAMIC MAHDI/MESSIAH/HIDDEN IMAM 2030-2050.

WW1 = WW2 = TWENTY YEARS OF PEACE, ONLY TO FIGHT NOW-NUCLEAR RADICAL ISLAM AGAIN, SAVE TO LOSE???

* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > [The Times = The Australian] US AIRPOWER TO BOLSTER IRANIAN GENERAL'S BID TO RETAKE TIKRIT.

IRGC QUDS MGEN. Qassem Suleimani.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/23/2015 21:39 Comments || Top||


Kurdistan Regional Government violates Baghdad-Erbil oil agreement, says Ababdi
[IraqiNews.com] The Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi "Kurdistan Regional Government did not provide the required oil supplies which were decided according to the oil agreement with Baghdad which stipulates providing 250,000 oil barrels to Baghdad."

He added on Sunday "The federal Government is completely adherent to this agreement."
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/23/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iraq

#1  Holding out for promised arms and logistical support that Baghdad has been sitting on?
Posted by: tipover || 02/23/2015 1:48 Comments || Top||

#2  Yea, well.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 02/23/2015 3:21 Comments || Top||

#3  "But they forgot the baksheesh!"
Posted by: ed in texas || 02/23/2015 7:59 Comments || Top||

#4  I think the Kursdish position is expressed this way: We will send the oil as soon as you send the arms and ammunition we need to keep it secured and deliver it, because our resources now are too few to do that and still fight ISIS.
Posted by: OldSpook || 02/23/2015 11:53 Comments || Top||

#5  Addendum - whether or not that is true is a matter of conjecture.
Posted by: OldSpook || 02/23/2015 11:54 Comments || Top||

#6  Baghdad has screwed the Kurds enough.

Shut up.
Posted by: newc || 02/23/2015 13:00 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Israel to Buy 14 F-35 Stealth Fighters from U.S.
[AnNahar] Israel is to purchase 14 F-35 stealth fighters from U.S. aerospace giant Lockheed Martin at a cost of around $110 million each, the defense ministry said Sunday.

"The defense ministry will purchase an additional 14 F-35s for around $3 billion, each plane costing an average of $110 million," a ministry statement said.

The $2.82 billion deal, which includes other technological and training elements, was signed at the weekend after being approved by a ministerial committee in November.

It includes the purchase of 14 stealth fighters as well as the option to buy another 17. It is the continuation of an agreement signed in 2010 to purchase 19 F-35 planes.

The deal will see Israeli weapons and aviation systems integrated into the aircraft in a move which will inject tens of millions of shekels into the local economy, the ministry said.

The first batch of aircraft are expected to arrive in Israel by the end of 2016.
Or perhaps in early 2017, after the new president takes the oath of office.
When the initial agreement was announced in 2010, the defense ministry said a key part of the deal was an agreement to allow Israeli industries to get involved in the assembly of the plane and the manufacture of spare parts.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/23/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Which proves that in an arms race, a sucker is born every minute.

So when are they going to take delivery? 2115?
Posted by: Mystic || 02/23/2015 1:33 Comments || Top||

#2  I strongly suggest that they only pay upon delivery, and after successful testing against all purchase specs.

The scuttlebutt is that these turkeys will be able to do nothing very well, in order to able to do many things in mediocre fashion.
Posted by: Lone Ranger || 02/23/2015 1:58 Comments || Top||

#3  .....the defense ministry said a key part of the deal was an agreement to allow Israeli industries to get involved in the assembly of the plane and the manufacture of spare parts

I'd wager that 'IS industries participation' was not the only caveat. How long will it be before the regime pulls the rug out from under IS on this one ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/23/2015 2:08 Comments || Top||

#4  "which will inject tens of millions of shekels into the local economy"

Where those shekels came from? The local economy! "Hey we're spending the money we extorted from you! Be Grateful!"
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 02/23/2015 5:56 Comments || Top||

#5  These are being bought with aid money from the US govt earmarked specifically to buy F35's. Somebody's gotta buy them, even if we give it to them.
Posted by: ed in texas || 02/23/2015 7:37 Comments || Top||

#6  Even free, they are gonna be expensive as hell to operate.

Any bets these go into the bone pile right quick?
Posted by: DarthVader || 02/23/2015 10:58 Comments || Top||

#7  Three card Monty with books (Hollyweird bookkeeping). Back in the 70s they hide the cost overruns on the Shuttle in DoDs budget not NASA. "It's going to cost more, take it out of their budget". Now they're going to cover the overrun costs in 'foreign aid' rather than DoD's procurement debacle.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/23/2015 11:05 Comments || Top||

#8  Hope they come with a lifetime supply of napalm.
Posted by: jpal || 02/23/2015 11:10 Comments || Top||


Olde Tyme Religion
Top Muslim cleric urges education reform to curb extremism
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The head of Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam's most prestigious seat of learning, called on Sunday for education reform in Moslem countries in an effort to contain the spread of religious extremism.

Speaking at counter-terrorism forum in the Saudi holy city of Makka, Al-Azhar grand imam Ahmed al-Tayib linked extremism to "bad interpretations of the Koran and the sunna," the teachings of the Prophet Mohammed.
That sounds promising...
"There has been a historical accumulation of excessive trends" that have led some people to embrace a misguided form of Islam, he told the gathering.

"The only hope for the Moslem nation to recover unity is to tackle in our schools and universities this tendency to accuse Moslems of being unbelievers," he said.
But if you start with taqfiris, where will it stop? Will you accept Shiites, Druze, Ahmadis as equally acceptable in the eyes of Allah? Good lord, Pakistan and others would have to change laws to accomodate such nonsense open mindedness.
Tayib's comments come days after he expressed outrage at 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) group for burning to death a captured Jordanian pilot who took part in US-led air strikes against the jihadists in Syria.

On Feb. 4, after ISIS released a video showing Maaz al-Kassasbeh dying in a cage engulfed in flames, Tayib said the jihadists deserved to be killed or crucified.
Isn't that the standard penalty for apostasy?
On Sunday in Meka, home to Islam's holiest sites, he made no mention of IS but denounced "terrorist groups... who have opted for savage and barbaric practices".

He blamed unrest in the region on a conspiracy by what he called "new global colonialism allied to world Zionism."
Aaaaannnnd there he lost the thread of this beautiful new fabric he was weaving.
Tayib said that this plot has exploited "confessional tension" in conflict-hit Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Libya.

The opening day of the conference also heard a speech from Saudi King Salman
...either the largest species of Pacific salmon or the current Sheikh of the Burnin' Sands, Cutodian of the Two Holy Mosquesand Lord of Most of the Arabians....
who called for "an efficient strategy to combat terrorism."
You could start by cutting off all support from your kingdom for such groups, your kingness...
Terrorism is a scourge which is the product of Death Eater ideology," the monarch's speech, read by the governor of Meka, said.

"It is a threat to our Moslem nation and to the entire world."
Posted by: Fred || 02/23/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Syria says Turkish incursion 'flagrant aggression'
[Hurriyet Daily News] Turkey informed the Syrian Consulate in Istanbul about a military operation to evacuate its military personnel protecting the Tomb of Suleyman Sah in northern Syria, but Ankara did not await permission from Damascus, the Syrian government said Feb. 22.

The Syrian government has described the incursion as "flagrant aggression," holding Turkey responsible for the "repercussions of this aggression."

Turkey has evacuated its military personnel protecting the Tomb of Suleyman Sah in northern Syria as well as the artifacts in the mausoleum in an operation jointly conducted by the intelligence organization and the Turkish army.

The tomb, around 37 kilometers from the Turkish border, is regarded as Turkish territory by international agreements and was protected by around 40 soldiers.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said that the artifacts had been "temporarily" brought to Turkey, while the Turkish army "took control of an area in the Ashma region of Syria, raising our flag, where Suleyman Sah will later be transferred."
Posted by: Fred || 02/23/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  Kurdish forces in Kobane allowed Turkish military vehicles to pass through Kobane during the operation to move the tomb of Suleyman.

Posted by: Ebbomosh Hupemp2664 || 02/23/2015 0:24 Comments || Top||

#2  Huh,...looting BEFORE the fight!
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/23/2015 23:48 Comments || Top||


Terror Networks
Admiral (Ret) James Lyons: Islam as a threat doctrine.
James Aloysius "Ace" Lyons, Jr. (born September 28, 1927) is a retired Admiral in the United States Navy whose 36-year career was capped by serving as Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet from 16 September 1985 to 30 September 1987.

Two for one: Admiral Lyons on Benghazi
Oh my. The admiral may be retired, but his analyses are written with a very sharp scalpel. This is not one of your political senior officers.



Posted by: Besoeker || 02/23/2015 01:41 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I always wondered why we never launched the strike that was rumored in Lebanon after the Marines were killed. Now I know. Amazing that Reagan approved a joint op with the French, but SecDef Weinberger refused to give the Go order.
Posted by: OldSpook || 02/23/2015 11:45 Comments || Top||

#2  Some Reagan humor for you OS.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/23/2015 12:37 Comments || Top||

#3  Reagen, Besoeker? All I can say is THERE was a hell of a president. I'm glad I got to see a great one at least once in my life.
Posted by: AlanC || 02/23/2015 13:06 Comments || Top||


Al-Baghdadi failed his studies, was rejected from the army, says German newspaper
[IraqiNews.com] The German newspaper 'Suddeutsche' revealed new details about the past life of ISIS leader His Supreme Immensity, Caliph of the Faithful and Galactic Overlord, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
...formerly merely the head of ISIL and a veteran of the Bagram jailhouse. Looks like a new messiah to bajillions of Moslems, like just another dead-eyed mass murder to the rest of us...
through interviews that were conducted with residents in the city of Samarra, the hometown of al-Baghdadi. According to their testimonies, he failed his studies and was rejected from former Iraqi Army.

The newspaper said in a report, quoting people in Samarra who knew al-Baghdadi, "He failed in each academic year because of his extremely poor level of English."

The newspaper added, "Al-Baghdadi was considered one of the intermediate students in the school; his grades were very low and did not serve him to in joining the University of Baghdad to study law, so he studied Islamic Sharia instead, which contributed in his ideology of ​​extremism."

One of the city's residents and n aex-Baghdadi neighbor stated that, "He loved having power and influence, and was the third of four brothers. He was rejected from the former Iraqi Army because he was short sighted.
He should have kept a lower profile, perhaps considered a 'senior visiting lecturer' venue at the University of Chicago Law School.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/23/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  Was this the Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi gang being interviewed a decade ago ?

Posted by: Muggsy Grineque7407 || 02/23/2015 7:37 Comments || Top||

#2  That video still makes me laugh.
Posted by: Steve White || 02/23/2015 11:10 Comments || Top||

#3  They borrowed TOTUS from POTUS?

This self-proclaimed caliph, Al-Baghdadi sounds like a loser.
Posted by: JohnQC || 02/23/2015 16:37 Comments || Top||


Here's what Islamic State really believes and why it matters
The reality is that the Islamic State is Islamic. Very Islamic. Yes, it has attracted psychopaths and adventure seekers, drawn largely from the disaffected populations of the Middle East and Europe. But the religion preached by its most ardent followers derives from coherent and even learned interpretations of Islam."
Suggest you pee before you hit the link.

Posted by: Hupineger Glomomp15048 || 02/23/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  Why should I pee before I read it?

Gonna scare the piss out me.

Nah, I was a parent of a teenaged daughter, nothing can scare me now.
Posted by: Mystic || 02/23/2015 1:35 Comments || Top||

#2  Because it's long. Not because you'll piss your pants.
Posted by: Ominetch Flaigum1482 || 02/23/2015 4:56 Comments || Top||

#3  All new states attract psychopaths and adventure seekers just look at those trying to build a country called europe at the massive expense of the varied peoples of Europe.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 02/23/2015 5:52 Comments || Top||

#4  What matters is what they do, not what they believe.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 02/23/2015 15:28 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
35[untagged]
12Islamic State
4Govt of Pakistan
2Govt of Iraq
2Houthis
2Boko Haram
2Govt of Syria
1al-Qaeda in Europe
1Hezbollah
1al-Qaeda in Britain
1Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh
1Muslim Brotherhood
1Salafists
1Taliban
1al-Qaeda in Pakistan
1TTP
1Arab Spring
1Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters
1Commies

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Two weeks of WOT
Mon 2015-02-23
  Libya: ISIS claims it bombed Iran envoy's residence
Sun 2015-02-22
  Hotel staffers arrested after deadly bombing
Sat 2015-02-21
  Dozens Dead in Shebab Attack on Mogadishu Hotel
Fri 2015-02-20
  45 dead in eastern Libya bombings, Islamic extremists claim responsibility
Thu 2015-02-19
  Rebels report death of 195 pro-Assad fighters in Aleppo
Wed 2015-02-18
  IS launches attack to regain Yazidi city of Shingal
Tue 2015-02-17
  Islamic State militants 'burn to death 45 in Iraq'
Mon 2015-02-16
  Egypt launches air strikes against IS militias in Libya
Sun 2015-02-15
  SECOND Copenhagen shooting at synagogue
Sat 2015-02-14
  21 Coptic Christians slaughtered in Libya
Fri 2015-02-13
  Thousands expected at funeral for 3 Muslims killed in US
Thu 2015-02-12
  France says it has dismantled 15 terrorist networks
Wed 2015-02-11
  4 Qaida Suspects Dead in Yemen Drone Strike
Tue 2015-02-10
  Obama, Family Confirm Death of IS Hostage Kayla Mueller
Mon 2015-02-09
  Top Pakistani Taliban leader injured in Afghanistan


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