Posted by: Fred ||
03/21/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Birthday/Daily Gam Shot
Lois Collier aka Helen Hall in "Flying Disc Man from Mars" aka Anne Howe Palooka in "Joe Palooka in Humphrey Takes a Chance" aka Mary Wesley in "Boston Blackie" aka Betty Parker in "Rhythm Inn" (Died in 1999 at age 80)
#2
You are a dear man, GolfBravoUSMC. But with article counts over 80/day recently, due to the combination of excitements in Japan and Libya, we're trying to stay more focussed.
Thanks! Too many "funny link of the day" submissions around here. Stick to War on Terrorism news. I don't mind once in a while, but I can get this stuff elsewhere.
[Tolo News] Eleven bully boyz laid down their weapons and joined the Afghan grinding of the peace processor on Saturday in western Herat province, local officials said.
A group of snuffies laid down their arms and officially surrendered to Afghan police at a ceremony held in provincial's capital of Herat, provincial officials said.
The men under Mullah Jalal were active in Shindand district and now they are working with the are working with the government to establish security in the province, officials added.
Dozens of bully boyz have previously handed over their weapons to Afghan government in different parts of the country.
Afghan and foreign forces have launched military operations in the country to wipe out Islamic exemplars.
Herat province will be one of the first provinces to be taken over from foreign forces as the security transition starts.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/21/2011 00:00 ||
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[The Nation (Nairobi)] A seven-year-old boy was killed while two others were maimed in a mortar shell kaboom in Mandera.
The explosive, suspected to have been left behind after fighting by Somali factions, went off as fighting broke out in Dhobley, another border point, sparking fears that the battle could extend into Kenya.
The kaboom happened on Saturday at noon, when the boys, who were playing in an open field, came across the shell and one of them picked it up. He died in the blast.
The other two sustained serious injuries and are being treated at Mandera district hospital.
North Eastern police chief Leo Nyongesa warned Kenyans living along the border with Somalia to keep off any suspicious objects and report the presence of any to the authorities.
"After the intense fighting between al-Shabaab and forces allied to Somalia's Transitional Federal Government in Beled Hawo, the possibilities of such dangerous things being left carelessly on our soil are high," said Mr Nyongesa.
However, The ever-popular However... residents of Mandera Town believe the explosive was left behind by Ethiopian forces who they say used the town as a launch pad in their attack against al-Shabaab.
The government has denied allowing foreign troops to launch attacks from Kenya. The incident happened in Geneva Estate, which is close to the Kenya-Ethiopia border.
The weekend kaboom brings the number of civilians injured in a week in Mandera to seven, even after fighting stopped in neighbouring Beled Hawo.
In Dhobley, the Somali Transitional Federal Government forces and their ally, the Ras Kamboni Brigade, are battling radical Islamist al-Shabaab bad boys.
The government troops attacked the al-Shabaab controlled town in the early hours of on Sunday.
Although neither side has issued a report on the fighting, residents are said to be fleeing to all sides, particularly to the Kenyan border town of Liboi.
Earlier on Saturday, the Ras Kamboni Brigade seized Deef, a township also in Lower Juba region, near the Kenya-Somalia border. Al-Shabaab loyalists left the area without resistance.
Meanwhile, ...back at the hoedown... in the self-declared Republic of Somaliland, government forces are about to confront militias loyal to a rebel movement known as Sool, Sanaag and Cayn (SSC).
The flashpoint is Kalshale around the border of Somaliland and Ethiopia.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/21/2011 00:00 ||
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[The Nation (Nairobi)] The 'war against terror' in Kenya is now focusing on audio and video recordings used by holy mans to marshal support for al-Qaeda, al-Shabaab ... Harakat ash-Shabaab al-Mujahidin aka the Mujahideen Youth Movement. It was originally the youth movement of the Islamic Courts, now pretty much all of what's left of it. They are aligned with al-Qaeda but operate more like the Afghan or Pakistani Taliban. The organization's current leader is Ibrahim Haji Jama Mee'aad, also known as Ibrahim al-Afghani. Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, a Kenyan al-Qaeda member, is considered the group's military leader... and other Islamic krazed killer groups.
The key message in these recordings, normally disguised as "mawaidha" (general teachings) is a call to join the Jihad (Holy War) in Somalia, Iraq, Yemen, Afghanistan and Pakistain.
The Anti-Terror Police Unit, the National Security Intelligence Service and the Criminal Investigation Department have been collecting these recordings in their attempt to understand the fluid terrorist underworld.
Sources told the Nation up to 600 compact discs and tapes with these recordings have been impounded from al-Shabaab recruits.
On January 15, this year ATPU officers raided studios in Mombasa's Bondeni area and tossed in the calaboose some of those who compile the recordings. More raids were carried out in Mwembe Tayari.
It is understood that this was done following orders by Police Commissioner Mathew Iteere who had visited Coast Province on December 29 and 30, after which he made changes in the region's police command.
Still more raids are planned for. The recordings, it has also emerged, have helped Sherlocks piece together crucial roles being played by some Mohammedan preachers in the recruitment of Kenyan youth to al-Shabaab.
According to official sources, who cannot be identified discussing security issues, some of the preachers have been instrumental in executing attacks in the region, but hide all traces linking them to the crimes.
One of those tossed in the calaboose and charged included the proprietor of Mwembe Tayari's Bilal studio, Mohammed Sudi also known as Mohammed Hussein.
He was charged in court on January 18 with having an article likely to instigate serious crime by an organised criminal group, the al-Shabaab.
The paraphernalia presented in the Mombasa court included articles, an al- Shabaab logo, and four CD covers.
Among the writings on the covers were "Mwito wa Jihad Somalia Bilal Studio, Hajj na Jihad, ipi bora?" (A call for Jihad in Somalia, by Bilal Studio. Between the Holy War and the Holy Pilgrimage, which is better?) and al-Shabaab Somalia, ya Osama".
In a video recording dated December 7 seen by the Nation, controversial Mohammedanholy man Aboud Rogo preaches strongly about his revulsion for US and its "puppets".
The holy man minces no words as he goes ahead to advocate "Jihad" against "taghuts" (false leaders or idols) , top of the list being the US, Somalia's President Sheikh Sharrif Ahmed, top politicians in Kenya and some Islamic leaders.
Mr Rogo, who was tossed in the calaboose over alleged involvement in the December 20 city blast of a Kampala-bound bus, oozes confidence as he rallies Mohammedans to join Jihad in "Somalia, Iraq and Yemen".
"Wallahi (I swear by Allah), he who makes it to Yemen, is just a step away from redeeming al Kabah (one of the holiest sites in Mecca, Soddy Arabia)," the holy man says.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/21/2011 00:00 ||
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Posted by: Water Modem ||
03/21/2011 21:09 ||
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#1
LIBYAN SA-5 SAMS-ADMS
versus
* WAFF > POSTER OPED = GADDAFI HAS THE LONG-RANGE MISSLES TO HIT GREECE + ITALY, + HE WILL DO IT, upon being properly provoked or inspired to do so.
Uncle Muammar allegedly gave up his FIVE? SCUD-C's time back, BUT NOT HIS 413 SCUD-B's, US-NATO INTEL suspects Uncle Muammar's ARSENAL LIST IS INCOMPLETE??? He will not shy away from striking back at US-UK-FR [NATO-EU] staging areas in the eastern Mediterranean or peripheral.
Muammar's ego = narcissism has the gonads.
* PEOPLE's DAILY FORUM > GADDAFI COULD TURN TO LIBYA'S MUSTARD GAS STOCKPILE [ChemWeaps], as located + stored in SIRTE/SIRTA in six large canisters weighing a tote of 10 tons.
MUAMMAR Gaddafi's compund in Tripoli has again come under coalition attack amid reports his son may have been killed in a suicide attack over the weekend.
Khamis Gaddafi, 27, who runs the feared Khamis Brigade that has been prominent in its role of attacking rebel-held areas, is said to have died on Saturday night, the Daily Mail reports.
A Libyan air force pilot crashed his jet into the Bab al-Aziziya compound in Tripoli in a kamikaze attack, Algerian TV reported, following an unsubstantiated claim by an anti-Gaddafi media organisation.
Khamis is alleged to have died of burns in hospital. The regime denied the reports.
It was claimed he died in the same Gaddafi compound rocked by coalition missile attacks over the past two days.
An Italian-registered vessel was seized yesterday morning in Tripoli harbour.
The incident involves the Asso 22, a supply tug belonging to Augusta Offshore SpA, which is owned by Naples-based shipping entrepreneur Mario Mattioli. The company's tugs are working at the Mellitah oil rig, 120 kilometres from Tripoli and 30 from the Tunisian border.
Asso 22 arrived in Tripoli on Friday at the request of the client, a Libyan company in partnership with Italy's ENI, to whom Augusta has leased its vessels. The tug sailed again early yesterday afternoon. On board were the eleven crew members, who were forced to act under orders from the armed men who a few hours earlier had seized the vessel and broken off all radio communications.
Their destination is unknown but Asso 22's the north-easterly route would have taken it to the oil rig at Mellitah. This is where it would probably have gone -- although the intentions of the Libyans who seized it are not known -- had not the constant presence of a helicopter from the Italian navy's Comandante Borsini patrol vessel persuaded the hijackers to turn back and head first for Tripoli, and then Tunis.
Allied forces carrying out air strikes in Libya say Colonel Muammar Gaddafi himself is not a target, despite an overnight attack against his compound.
The head of the US Africa Command Gen Carter F Ham said attacking Col Gaddafi was not part of his mission. And a French spokesman said that even if the Libyan leader's exact location was known, he would not be fired on.
Nod nod, wink wink, nudge nudge...
However, there is no such guarantee for the man standing next to him.
The UN has passed a resolution to protect civilians as Col Gaddafi fights a rebellion that broke out last month.
On Sunday UK Defence Secretary Liam Fox said targeting Col Gaddafi could "potentially be a possibility".
However, on Monday Britain's Chief of Defence Staff, Gen Sir David Richards, said targeting Col Gaddafi was "not allowed under the UN resolution".
Gadaffy is not a civilian. He's a military leader and a government leader. Of course he can be attacked.
And Prime Minister David Cameron told MPs that while he still wanted Col Gaddafi to go, the UN resolution was "limited in scope" and "explicitly does not provide legal authority for action to bring about Gaddafi's removal from power by military means".
A French defence ministry spokesman, Laurent Tesseire, said Col Gaddafi was not a target. Asked by French radio whether the Libyan leader would be fired on if his exact whereabouts were known, he said: "The answer to that is no."
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/21/2011 14:56 ||
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he would not be fired on
I did not have sex with that woman, Monica Lewinsky
Posted by: Martini ||
03/21/2011 20:10 Comments ||
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#2
See also FREEREPUBLIC > TOP US GENERAL IN LIBYA: "STALEMATE" WID GADHAFI POSSIBLE AFTER [NFZ]BOMBARDMENT.
and
* PEOPLE'S DAILY FORUM > US: REMOVAL OF GADDAFI FROM POWER IS NOT THE IMMEDIATE GOAL OF LIBYA AIRSTRIKES.
As perhaps due to ...
* SAME > GADDAFI GOVT. GAVE/FUNNELED NAMES OF JIHADISTS TO THE [US] CIA + BRITAIN.
Once again, UNCLE MUAMMAR = [Post-9-11] "OUR MAN IN LIBYUH/NORTH AFRICA", or one of them.
Lest we fergit, US-VS-USSR COLD WAR = D *** NG IT, WE KNOW HE'S A BAD BOY = DICTATOR, ETC. BUT HE'S O-U-R BAD BOY = DICTATOR, ETC.!
FREEP POSTER = Region in Libyan fighting the hardest agz Muammar Gaddafi is also the region where most of the Fighters opposing the US_NATO in IRAQ were from - BY HELPING OR OTHERWISE PROTECTING THE LIBYAN REBELS FROM GADDAFI'S HAND, US [+ NATO-EU] IS ACTUALLY [indir] AIDING THE MILTERRS THAT VIOLEN FIGHT AGZ IT IN IRAQ - AFGHANISTAN???
* WAFF > [MoneyTeachers.org] WHO IS MUMMAR GADDAFI, + WHY LIBYA? | THE ILLUMINATI SATANIC PSYCHOPATHS ALWAYS CONTROL BOTH [Any + All] SIDES OF A CONFLICT.
The Good, the Bad, the Ugly + Fugly + Wugly!
* PEOPLE'S DAILY FORUM > US: LIBYA CEASEFIRE [was] "IMMEDIATELY VIOLATED", or was a "fake" ceasefire all along???
IOW, WAS MUAMMAR'S AIR FORCE DE FACTO FLYING AFTER THE NFZ WAS DECLARED BY THE UNO + WHEN THE US-UK-FRENCH BOMBS STARTED FALLING - inquiring Muslim Govts + their anti-US, anti-UN LAWYERS wanna know??
* CHINESE MILITARY FORUM > IMPLEMENTATION OF LIBYA WAR [NFZ]: US WILL INTERVENE IN MORE WORLD CIVIL DISORDERS.
UPDATE: 1:15 CST --- Obama to hold news conference in Chile on Libyan strikes
British submarines fired two missiles at Libyan leader Muammar al-Qaddafi's compound in downtown Tripoli Sunday, a senior coalition official confirmed to Fox News, as part of a weekend of punishing attacks aimed at protecting the Libyan people.
The British Ministry of Defense confirmed that Qaddafi was not the target, but that the compound was hit because of its military significance. A Pentagon official had previously said Sunday that the coalition "will not be going after Qaddafi."
The 4-story compound in downtown Tripoli was home to Qaddafi and was demolished by the attacks, though it hadn't been confirmed when the strike occurred, Fox News' Steve Harrigan reported.
Posted by: Oscar Spineck3066 ||
03/21/2011 13:43 ||
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The article does not paint a very rosy picture. I think we'll be looking a very long and protracted civil war. The rebels will survivie as long as NATO supports them with a no fly zone but it will take years for them to get enough strengh to force out Mommar without help on the ground.
#1
What do you want to bet he's arming his own tribe? No foreigner is going to put a boot on the ground. The only thing left to shoot at are the locals. Probably the rebels. It's going to be interesting.
#5
So now the rebels know who they can get weapons from, one way or another. I just wonder, is he also allowing them to have AMMUNITION for those weapons?
Posted by: OId Patriot ||
03/21/2011 13:20 Comments ||
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#6
One bullet, to be kept in the shirt pocket.
Posted by: Oscar Spineck3066 ||
03/21/2011 13:36 Comments ||
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There, hundreds of supporters offered themselves up as human shields, cheering to newly minted dance songs about their adoration for their leader. House by house, alley by alley, the catchiest song went, quoting a Qaddafi speech. Disinfect the germs from each house and each room. They're called illegal combatants. Bombs away.
#2
Using human shields is a war crime according to the Geneva Conventions; so is volunteering to be one. War criminals can be shot on sight, or kill in any military operations, since they are illegal combatants.
#4
When the time comes the human shields will be irrelevant. KaDaffy isnt going to make it. It might as well be signed and delivered already.
And he cant run away now. Its too late for him for that. There is no place he can go.
Oh, what IS our Exit strategy? Does any sentient Democrat know? Ask Nancy. Get Harry Reid on the phone.
War is never the answer: who said that? And it may be rhetorical to ask but IF someone were to hit KaDaffy's barracks with all of his military's families in there....who would miss them afterwards? Do you know ( or care) any single one of them by name?
What would Sherman do? Or Zhukov for that matter.
When you play the game how does it end? Somebody wins and somebody loses. And no one really remembers or misses the chumps who lose. Why? They dont get to write the history books. They get forgotten. Happens.
Pull the trigger, nothing can stop how this is all going to end.
And the dead dont complain. Death is the most ordinary thing there is.
#6
Old news. They skedaddled as soon as they heard missiles were flying. Kadaffy too.
Posted by: Oscar Spineck3066 ||
03/21/2011 10:52 Comments ||
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#7
Dribble HI!; That's much better in my opinion. You definitely write with strong opinions. You cover several thoughts. Some more things to chew on. TKY(my abbreviation for thank you).
#8
Kadaffy is not hiding behind the 'human shields'. That is the oldest trick in the book; like putting all your 'bombs' on the left of the Stratego board and your flag up front on the right. My guess is Kadaffy is dressed as a woman and riding a camel out of the country with some many bags of cash it looks like a 4 hump camel.
#9
Closed meeting at the UN today. Libya is the subject. IT will be interesting to see what Russia or China might do to bugger it up (to veto further action).
That's because war is a series of questions - who gets to live? Who has power? Who gets their way? Do you want to do what we demand, or what? Your money or your life? What are you, some sort of coward? How much for your women? Where do I get mine? You gonna give us those mining rights? How about that oil, now?
You see? Questions.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
03/21/2011 15:23 Comments ||
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#11
"War is never the answer"
Depends on the question.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/21/2011 16:20 Comments ||
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#12
Well lets see...
War ended slavery in the United States.
War ended the Nazi Fascist state and the holocaust.
War ended the Imperial Japanese expansion.
War kept the people of South Korea free.
War ended the Socialist expansion. (What would SE Asia look like without the Vietnam War - probably very different)
#14
Had a teacher friend in Western Alaska about 15 years ago. She retired and I lost track of her. Next thing I heard of her was a pic of her on the USS Clueless blog and how she went to Iraq as a human shield. The US Govt slapped a 10K fine on her, and she was facing losing her retirement house in Florida. Useful idiot. Lots of human shields went with idealism to protect hospitals, etc, but Sammy moved em to potential military targets. Lots of useful idiots willing to throw their lives away.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/21/2011 21:06 Comments ||
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#15
and the winners of the 2011 Darwin Award are ...
[Arab News] Several thousand protesters have staged protests in cities around Morocco to demand more political changes.
A group of protesters in the commercial capital Casablanca clashed briefly with pro-government activists who arrived at the end of a demonstration.
The protests were organized by the February 20 movement, which has led protests for the past month, with support from Morocco's best-known Islamist movement, Adl wal Ihsan, which is barred from politics in the kingdom.
The state news agency MAP says protests were held in Fes, Tetouan, Tangiers and other cities and towns.
King Mohammed VI has pledged changes to the constitution for the first time in 15 years, amid a push for greater democracy across the Arab world.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/21/2011 00:00 ||
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I wonder when it'll down on Arab rulers that encouraging "international" actions against Qadaffy, will encourage insurgency in their own countries?
[Ennahar] Western forces pounded Libya's air defences and patrolled its skies on Sunday, but their day-old intervention hit a serious diplomatic setback as the vaporous Arab League chief condemned the "bombardment of civilians."
Libyan leader Muammar Qadaffy ... a proud Arab institution for 42 years ... vowed to defeat the Western powers' "terrorism" and sent his troops and tanks into the rebel-held coastal city of Misrata, residents said.
European and U.S. forces unleashed warplanes and cruise missiles against Qadaffy on Saturday in a United Nations, aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society-backed intervention to prevent the veteran leader from killing civilians as he fights an uprising against his 41-year rule.
But Arab League chief Jerry Lewis doppelgänger Amr Moussa ... who has been head of the Arab League since about the time Jerry and Dean split up ... said what was happening was not what Arabs had envisaged when they called for the imposition of a no-fly zone over Libya.
"What is happening in Libya differs from the aim of imposing a no-fly zone, and what we want is the protection of civilians and not the bombardment of more civilians," he said.
In comments carried by Egypt's official state news agency, Moussa also said he was calling for an emergency Arab League meeting.
Arab backing for a no-fly zone provided crucial underpinning for the passage of the U.N. Security Council resolution last week that paved the way for the Western intervention, the biggest against an Arab country since the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Withdrawal of that support would make it much harder to pursue what some defense analysts say could in any case be a difficult, open-ended campaign with an uncertain outcome.
The U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, said the no-fly zone was effectively in place. But he told CBS the endgame of military action was "very uncertain" and acknowledged it could end in a stalemate with Qadaffy.
Mullen said he had seen no reports of civilian casualties from the Western strikes. But Russia said there had been such casualties and called on Britain, La Belle France and the United States to halt the "non-selective use of force."
The aerial assault stopped in its tracks the advance by Qadaffy's troops into the eastern city of Benghazi, and left the burned and shattered remains of his tanks and troop carriers littering the main road outside the rebel stronghold.
The charred bodies of at least 14 government soldiers lay scattered in the desert.
"Qadaffy is like a chicken and the coalition is plucking his feathers so he can't fly. The revolutionaries will slit his neck," said Fathi Bin Saud, a 52-year-old rebel carrying a rocket-propelled grenade launcher, surveying the wreckage.
Qadaffy said the raids amounted to terrorism and vowed to fight to the death. "We will not leave our land and we will liberate it," he said on state television. "We will remain alive and you will all die."
A Libyan government health official said the corpse count from the Western air strikes had risen to 64 on Sunday after some of the maimed died. But it was impossible to independently verify the reports as government minders refused to take Western news hounds in the capital Tripoli to the site of the bombings.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/21/2011 00:00 ||
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More mindless drivel. Do you think these "leaders" could ever embarrass themselves with this swill?
#2
vaporous Arab League chief condemned the "bombardment of civilians.
I don't remember them being concerned about the bombardment (with gasses) of Kurdish civiliains or of Negro civilians in Sudan. I know, I know it is not the same thing: then the bombed were not from the HerrensVolk and now the bombers are filthy kaffirs
#3
Telegraph View:The instant wavering from the Arab League over the bombing of the Libyan regime was sadly predictable...In foreign affairs, as in so many areas, Mr Obama's intentions are hard to read; if he thinks the Libyan intervention will damage his standing in the Middle East or the Midwest then there is no guarantee that he will not make America's excuses and leave. Moreover, there is no evidence that either he or Mr Cameron has considered what sacrifices might be needed to remove Gaddafi, let alone a clear vision of what a post-Gaddafi Libya ought to look like.
#4
This morning on the radio they had some honcho from the Arab League, who - thru a translator - said they didn't want any bombing, just a no-fly zone.
Huh? Like it was an invisible, magic shield, or maybe an Arab cease-fire.
And who said anything about removing kaDaffy?
Posted by: Bobby ||
03/21/2011 6:03 Comments ||
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#5
When the smoke clears Qadaffy Duck will reign supreme, NATO will look stupid but no one will officially notice, the rebels (whoever they are) will be mostly dead, the UN will divert attention by passing a motion to condemn Israel for something or other, the US will be even broker for no gain, and the President will grow weary of it all and go on vacation.
Posted by: kelly ||
03/21/2011 8:25 Comments ||
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#6
It's almost as if the Arab League had no idea what a 'no-fly zone' actually is, or how one goes about enforcing such a zone.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/21/2011 9:19 Comments ||
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#7
Ghadaffi threatens to kill civilians and there seems to be little outrage from the muslim community. Ghadaffi revs up the propaganda machine and says the West is killing civilians. The Arab community is then outraged about civilian deaths which have not been proven. Blood is thicker than water. Snakes.
#8
The Arab way of saying "Thanks infidel." for doing their dirty work.
Posted by: Oscar Spineck3066 ||
03/21/2011 10:54 Comments ||
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#9
Perhaps my eye is overly sensitized to extraneous commas from proofreading, but I believe the headline should read:
Arab League bitches moan about strikes in Libya
On more serious note, I wonder how much of this boilerplate outrage is the usual double-diplo-speak. Yeah, the West is pulling our chestnuts out of the fire yet again, but theology demands we disapprove of infidels killing Mooselims.
#10
#9 Perhaps my eye is overly sensitized to extraneous commas from proofreading, but I believe the headline should read:
Arab League bitches moan about strikes in Libya
#12
When you think of the Arab League envision hairless pink irradiated rats with translucent red eyes throwing themselves foaming at the glass where you have placed your warm hand.
[Ennahar] Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika ... 10th president of Algeria. He was elected in 1999 and is currently on his third term, which is probably why Algerians are ready to dump him... has announced comprehensive reforms including political without apparent success to calm the seething street, tempted by the Arab revolution.
About 300 people, among whom were a jumble of teachers demanding their inclusion in the National Education and returnees from Libya asking to be taken into account as promised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, protested Sunday at the presidency in the aftermath of the announcements made by the Head of State.
"We expect his reforms since 1999 - the date of arrival to the presidency of Mr. Bouteflika - claims Dalila, 34, unemployed, who came to demonstrate outside the presidency Sunday.
"I wish he (Bouteflika) is sincere. There is too much corruption at all levels of power in Algeria," denounces this graduate of a Masters degree in physics.
The Head of State, quoted by one of his advisers, has promised to open a "new page" on "the path of comprehensive reforms," stressing that they can not "be successful without political reform". President Bouteflika is president for 12 years after being part of the power, under the influence of the military, since independence from La Belle France in 1962.
In Algeria, the demonstrations, mainly composed of small groups of people continue for weeks for deep reforms, social and political, even to change the system.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/21/2011 00:00 ||
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Whenever I see the name Abdelaziz Bouteflika, I instantly think of Joey Buttafuoco. Can't hep it.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/21/2011 1:34 Comments ||
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#2
Yep. Every time.
"Buttafuoco."
The late Dave Letterman's funniest single-word joke.
WASHINGTON The US claimed initial success two days into an assault on Libya that included some of the heaviest firepower in the American arsenal long-range bombers designed for the Cold War but American officials on Sunday said it was too early to define the international military campaigns end game.
A second wave of attacks, mainly from American fighters and bombers, targeted Libyan ground forces and air defences, following an opening barrage Saturday of sea-launched Tomahawk cruise missiles. Pentagon officials said they were studying the extent of damage done and the need for further attacks.
One senior military official said the early judgment was that the attacks had been highly successful, while not fully eliminating the threat posed by Libyan air defences. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence data.
The systems targeted most closely were Libyas SA-5 surface-to-air missiles, Russian-made weaponry that could pose a threat to allied aircraft many miles (kilometers) off the Libyan coastline. Libya has a range of other air defence weaponry, including portable surface-to-air missiles.
Sundays attacks, carried out by a range of US aircraft including Air Force B-2 stealth bombers as well as Marine Harrier jets flying from an amphibious assault ship in the Mediterranean demonstrated the predominance of US firepower in the international coalition. US missiles and warplanes were clearly in the lead Saturday and Sunday, but US officials say the plan remains for the US to step back once the threat from the Libyan military is reduced.
Although the mission was predicated on Arab support, there was no reported Arab participation in the military strikes.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/21/2011 00:00 ||
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[Ennahar] international coalition was preparing Sunday to a new phase of its offensive in Libya, launched the previous day under a UN mandate, to try to stop the bloody repression of an unprecedented revolt against the regime of Muammar Qadaffy.
The first phase of air strikes is a "success" and helped to establish a no-fly zone, said Sunday the highest ranking U.S. Admiral Michael Mullen, ensuring that pro-Qadaffy were hindered from moving towards the stronghold of beturbanned goons, Benghazi, a thousand miles east of Tripoli.
The coalition, headed by the United States, La Belle France and Great Britain, went on the offensive Saturday bombing by air and by sea Libyan military targets.
Sunday night, the front man for the Libyan army has announced a new cease-fire while the Libyan leader had assured Saturday that such action was no longer on the agenda because of the offensive of the coalition.
Shortly before, the system of air defenses deployed in Tripoli came into action, particularly in the area of residence-hall of Colonel Qadaffy in Bab al-Aziziyah, south of the capital.
"We are victorious, you are defeated. We do not have to retreat from the battlefield," was proclaimed in the morning, the Libyan leader, in power for nearly 42 years, in an audio message, the second since the beginning of the international military operation, launched under UN resolution 1973 adopted on Thursday evening.
"We have the breath. We will fight you. We will not leave our land," added Colonel Qadaffy, engaged in a standoff with the international community and providing a "long war".
Posted by: Fred ||
03/21/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
ION LIBYUH, WORLD NEWS > SUPPORTERS REACH MILITARY CAMP TO PROTECT GADDAFI.
Meanwhile, back in LEBANON ....
* SAME > HEZBOLLAH FEARS WEST WILL MEDDLE IN "ALL ARAB STATES" AFFAIRS, thanks to the new Libyan NFZ.
#2
Joe, I thought Lebanon, a synonym for Hezbollah, brought the resolution to the floor of the UN UnSecurity Council to put Libya under Attack a No-Skeeter zone?
Signed Confused I.Understand.
Posted by: Water Modem ||
03/21/2011 12:35 Comments ||
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[Ennahar] The leader of the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, ... now known as al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb... Abdelmalik Droukdel, ... aka Abdel Wadoud, was a regional leader of the GSPC for several years before becoming the group's supremo in 2004 following the death of then-leader Nabil Sahraoui. Under Abdel Wadoud's leadership the GSPC has sought to develop itself from a largely domestic entity into a larger player on the international terror stage. In September 2006 it was announced that the GSPC had joined forces with al-Qaeda and in January 2007 the group officially changed its name to the Al-Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb.... alias Abu Mosaab Abdelouadoud, called for Jihad in Libya against the West, including the United States of America.
The latter considered the foreign military intervention as a new war of crusades.
In an audio recording, Droukdal warns against suspicious movements of Americans and their allies. "They are enemies, beware ... Mohammedans in Libya must prepare for war now."
Droukdal advises Libyans to rely only on themselves before wondering "If the Americans and NATO are themselves evil, how can we expect good from them." "Do not trust the Americans," he told them, accusing the Americans of stealing the wealth of the country. According to him, the situation on the ground requires the intervention of Salafist groups in a long war against the Americans and NATO. A call to jihad and a clear announcement of the entrance of Salafist Group on the front line in Libya.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/21/2011 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa
#1
OTOH FREEREPUBLIC > GADDAFI: US + AL QAEDA ARE ON THE SAME SIDE.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
03/21/2011 12:17 Comments ||
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#6
AQ is almost like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton; you expect them to show up at every protest no matter what the protest. You expect AQ to show up announcing jihad whenever there is strife and unrest going on in anywhere in the muslim world (that is all the time).
#7
The United States should proclaim that as of tomorrow morning at 0600 local time, the city of (Insert your favorite here) will see the total annihilation of the city by air power, and that all women and children, teddy bears, fluffy bunnies, kitties and puppies must leave or be considered complicit in their demise. Follow through, thoroughly. At 1800 local time the same day, demand that Libya surrender to the UN and NATO forces. When KaDaffy Duck refuses, go back to the top and begin again.
Posted by: OId Patriot ||
03/21/2011 21:46 Comments ||
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PARIS - France sent an aircraft carrier towards Libya on Sunday and its warplanes carried out further operations over the north African country, armed forces and defence officials said.
The de Gaulle was in port in Toulon so it took them about 72 hours to get her ready to sail.
The Charles de Gaulle, the flagship of the French fleet, left the southern port of Toulon at around 1200 GMT, carrying around 1,800 crew members and some 20 aircraft.
The latter are the Rafale M, which is supposed to be a very good 4th generation strike fighter.
The carrier was accompanied by an attack submarine, several frigates and a refuelling ship, defence officials said.
I like to snicker about this ship, but since her last refit and repair in 2009 she's been quite busy. She just wrapped up operations in the Indian Ocean in support of our efforts in Afghanistan and got back to Toulon about four weeks ago.
"The French operations continue," said a source at armed forces headquarters. "French planes are in place (over Libya)."
President Nicolas Sarkozy's government, alongside Britain, was at the forefront of a campaign to win U.N. backing for a no-fly zone over Libya and to build an international coalition for military strikes to enforce it.
French planes fired the first shots on Saturday in the campaign to force Muammar Gaddafi's troops to cease fire and end attacks on civilians.
France's leadership in the diplomatic and military arenas appeared to have rallied public opinion behind President Nicolas Sarkozy, whose approval ratings have been languishing near record lows ahead of presidential elections early next year.
Even former prime minister Dominique de Villepin, one of Sarkozy's bitterest political critics and a man, applauded the government's role. "France has, in these circumstances, been true to its ideals," he told the Journal du Dimanche newspapers.
Amazing what happens when you get out in front and lead...
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/21/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Amazing what happens when you get out in front and lead...
Amazing when the Americans disappear and you can't play the cheap game of petty back biter in strategic and security matters close to home. Stuff starts getting serious.
#5
Kinda makes me wonder if they aren't setting themselves up for serious problems if it's due for maintenance and supply & they just sent it out as-is. Maybe landing accidents, break-downs, that sort of thing? American carriers spend, what, six months in port in between deployments?
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
03/21/2011 15:37 Comments ||
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#6
"France sends carrier to Libya . . . Charles de Gaulle, the flagship of the French fleet"
They found enough ocean-going tugs to tow her there?
[I'll go to my room now.]
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/21/2011 16:24 Comments ||
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#7
I'll go to my room now
No way. The demand for popcorn is going to increase rapidly.
#10
Hey, the French have immersed themselves in the highly competitive European world of "who is more over-priveleged?" They've been eating well biding their time watching us do all the heavy lifting. So it may turn out that they become the star pupils who take all the cake, for doing relatively little. We're not a tough act to follow with our watered down ROEs and hog-tied hearts and minds B.S. we've been emasculated into. Our military is a force for good, but not a very mean one unless you're talking SF, etc. French on the other hand are known to be quite mean at times and have no qualms. Read: conquest of former African Colonies. Passez- moi Le Popcorn, avec Le remote.
Posted by: Fi ||
03/21/2011 21:30 Comments ||
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Not that I really care. The whole Arab world as Somalia writ large would be perfectly satisfactory outcome for me.
If they only fought among themselves, that would be one thing. But they keep throwing up jihadis, who head into Dar al Harb to do harm. This is unacceptable.
[Arab News] Bahrain has expelled the Iranian charge d'affaires, a diplomatic source said on Sunday, in another sign of rising tensions between the island kingdom and non-Arab Iran.
"He was asked to leave. The Iranian ambassador left earlier. It's due to the tensions between the two countries," the source said, referring to Iran's objections to Bahrain's invitation of troops from Gulf neighbors to quell a month of protests. "Bahraini authorities said he had contacts with some (opposition) groups," the source added.
The main opposition groups, meanwhile, eased conditions for talks to end the crisis. Led by the largest opposition party Wefaq, opposition groups have called on security forces to free all those jugged in the wake of a month of protests, end their crackdown and ask Gulf troops to leave so talks could begin.
"We will not back down under threat and we will not come to talks with guns pointed at our heads," said Mattar Ibrahim Mattar, a Wefaq MP until the bloc withdrew from Parliament a few weeks ago.
But main opposition groups appeared to retreat from much more ambitious conditions they set last week for talks, including creation of a government not dominated by royals and establishment of an elected council to redraft the constitution.
Sunday was the first working day after a week that saw closures of schools and universities to prevent outbreaks of sectarian festivities that had been erupting almost daily.
An uneasy calm spread through the city as most Bahrainis went back to work and there were fewer checkpoints in the streets, though helicopters buzzed over trouble prone areas.
Over 2,000 mourners in the village of Sitra, pumping their fists and shouting "Down with the regime" joined the third funeral procession in as many days on Sunday. Issa Radhi, 47, was one of four protesters killed in last week's crackdown.
He went missing after a protest in Sitra on Wednesday and police called his family on Saturday to say they found his body. His brother said he was badly beaten, with birdshot in his legs.
"We bury him today but we won't bury the right to avenge his death," his brother Khalil Radhi said.
Hours after Radhi's funeral, Wefaq said a man taken away by security forces two days ago was dead. It said police had told Abdulrusul Hajair's family to collect his body from hospital.
A former Wefaq parliamentarian said some 100 people had gone missing in the crackdown, speaking at a small 15-minute protest in front of the United Nations, aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society building in Manama.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/21/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
OOOOOOOO, AZ + WEEZ CAN HAZ OYSTERS.
* ION NEWS KERALA > ISRAEL THREATENS MILITARY ATTACK AGZ IRAN IFF IT DOES NOT OBEY [UN = International] SANCTIONS ON NUKE PROGRAMME.
[Ennahar] Abdullah Alsaidi, Yemen's ambassador to the United Nations, aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society, has resigned in protest over violence against demonstrators, a Yemeni Foreign Ministry official said on Sunday.
"Mr. Alsaidi has sent his resignation to the president's office and the Foreign Ministry," the official said.
The resignation came after two prominent members of Yemen's ruling party also resigned in protest against the killing of dozens of anti-government protesters during a rally on Friday.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/21/2011 00:00 ||
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MUSCAT The Omani protesters, in fresh demands, have asked the ouster of some more ministers, the most notable among them being the Minister of Manpower, Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser Al Bakri. Eyewitnesses said that a group of protesters gathered at Al Khuwair, the area where maximum ministry offices are located in Muscat, holding placards demanding the ouster of various ministers including Bakri. Bowing to popular demands, the government had recently reshuffled the ministerial cabinet and appointed 11 new ministers, while removing corruption-accused members.
Bakri has been in the thick of action in recent weeks trying to mediate in the wave of protests that have rocked the private sector of Oman. The ministry of manpower acts like a regulator for the private sectors human resources development and monitors the implementation of Omanisation ratios in companies.
Most recently, Bakri intervened to defuse tensions at Rusail Industrial Estate, which had been shut down by protests, which turned nasty for almost two days threatening economic activity in a major way. In other private sector demonstrations, the protesters had refused to budge until Bakri appeared personally and pacified them by assuring them that their demands would be met.
Bakri, who was previously the undersecretary of Water Resources Affairs at the Ministry of Regional Municipalities and Water Resources, was appointed as Minister of Manpower in 2008.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/21/2011 00:00 ||
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One unidentified Chihuahua state police agent was shot to death and another was wounded Sunday morning in an apparent assassination attempt on a top state police commander in Chihuahua, Chihuahua, according to Mexican news accounts.
The commander, so far identified only as Commandante Aguilera, was unhurt in the attack.
The attack took place near the intersection of calles Arkansas and Georgia in the Quintas del Sol y Las Aguilas colony, near the residence of the commander. Armed suspects aboard a convoy of three or four vehicles were the apparent shooters.
News reports say a Ford Expedition, a Dodge Avenger, a Nissan Sentra and a Jeep Liberty were used by the suspects. The Avenger was reported as stolen. The other vehicles are very likely to have been stolen as well.
The attempt was close enough to the commander's residence that it was hit by stray gunfire.
One of the vehicles used to transport the suspects, the Ford Expedition SUV, was found nearby minutes later on calle Arkansas. Reports say the suspects carjacked another vehicle driven by a female victim, and abandoned the SUV. The SUV had been damaged by gunfire, hit as the suspects left the scene.
In a related development, narcograffiti, which is graffiti written on a wall purporting to be from drug criminals, has threatened another state police commander, identified only as Comandante Solares with death if he did not resign.
The graffiti was found Sunday morning near the intersection of Calle Sexta and Avenida Juan Escutia near Aceros de Chihuahua in Chihuahua city.
The writer claiming to be from La Linea, an armed wing of the Juarez drug gang, said that the Chihuahua attorney general, Carlos Manuel Salas, was supporting Sinaloa driug cartel leader Joaquin Archivaldo Guzman Loera, known as "El Chapo."
The writer said that if Solares did not resign, one state police agent per day would be executed.
A second graffiti site was found in northern Chihuahua city near the corner of Avenida De las Industrias and Poste 21 containing the same message.
Such messages are a common stable of communication from the Juarez drug gang as well as from their bitterest rival, the Sinaloa drug gang, but the messages aren't always actually from drug gangs. In the past local police in Juarez, for example, had been caught writing graffiti claiming to be from one criminal gang or another.
Two recent examples of government involvement with drug gangs have shown that some of the issues are serious enough for drug gangs or even government to take action.
Her brother, Mario, was abducted from his law office in Chihuahua city within days of the end of her term, and was forced by presumed Sinaloa drug gang members to confess his sister being on the Juarez drug gangs' payroll. To read Rantburg reports about the abduction and "confession" of Mario Gonzalez, click here
Ms. Gonzalez has vehemently denied the allegations, but in spite of that, she was placed under investigation with the Procuradora de la Republica, or the national attorney general which, even five months later has not been concluded.
Mario Gonzalez was found murdered three weeks after his abduction in a remote area near Chihuahua city. A video recently surfaced which showed how Mario Gonzalez was brutally tortured with repeated beatings by his captors using large rubber truncheons. To read Rantburg reports on the murder of Mario Gonzalez, click here
Towards he end of Gonzalez's tenure, narcograffiti appeared in Juarez several times protesting her alleged involvement in organized crime, yet despite that it wasn't until her brother was tortured and murdered that national authorities took action.
The second example involved allegations that the local detachment of Policia Federal were involved in criminal dealings in Juarez. The allegations surfaced in narcograffiti, but it wasn't until a threatened strike by several agents, and numerous and repeated ambushes by armed suspects of Policia Federal patrols in Juarez that action was taken.
That detachment was rotated en mass out of Juarez August, 2010 and replaced with another one. Two of the Policia Federal commanders were arrested for their alleged involvement in crime. To read the Rantburg report on the Juarez detachment of the Mexican Policia federal click here
An unrelated attack on a Chihuahua city police commander took place only last week. Commandante Federico Balderas and another unidentified female police officer were wounded in an ambush on a city police surveillance operation. To read Rantburg reports on the ambush of Commandante Federico Balderas, click here.
At least 19 Palestinians were said to have been wounded in the Gaza strip as a result of air strikes launched by Israel on Monday after militants launched mortars and rockets into Israeli territory.
Among the wounded were seven children, two women and four militants, according to officials from Hamas, the Islamist group that controls Gaza.
Roll up the sleeves and finally settle this? It is in fashion now. These two entities need to do something besides hair pulling, its getting embarrassing. A fight won fair and square is the watershed moment, for everything else, there's mild indifference.
Posted by: Fi ||
03/21/2011 20:51 Comments ||
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#2
The IDF say these did 5 separate strikes, tunnels, weapons storage, etc.
Posted by: lord garth ||
03/21/2011 21:45 Comments ||
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#3
time to thin the Hamas herd firing mortars into Israel? Another lesson (#87,281) in Cause<=>Effect for our Paleo short bus riders
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/21/2011 21:54 Comments ||
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Two soldiers were killed when terrorists insurgents ambushed an army patrol on duty in Narathiwat province on Monday morning.
The victims have been identified as Sgt Chanerind Kantha, 25, and Pvt Narase Petcharat.
Eight soldiers on four motorcycles were patrolling Chanae district when terrorists insurgents fired on them from the the side of the road. The subsequent gunfire exchange lasted for ten minutes, and left two soldiers dead.
Sixty shell casings from M-16s and AK-47s were found at the scene.
[Straits Times] SUSPECTED communist rebels stormed the main cop shoppe in a southern Philippine city, killing an officer and wounding four others in a daring attack on a government center that was repulsed by outnumbered coppers, officials said on Sunday.
Government and rebel negotiators last month resumed long-stalled peace talks brokered by Norway and aimed at resolving one of Asia's longest-running Marxist rebellions by 2012. The rebels, however, have pressed on with attacks and government forces continued offensives without a long-term truce.
About 40 New People's Army guerrillas, disguised as army troops, barged into the compound in Panabo city after a downpour late on Saturday then raked the cop shoppe at the back of the city hall with gun- and rifle grenade-fire, sparking a 30-minute clash, police investigator Randy Sta. Maria said.
A policeman guarding the compound gate was shot to death. Two coppers and two civilian employees were maimed in the ensuing gunbattle, which damaged the two-story station, where 17 coppers fired back from shattered windows and on the roof, he said.
'I heard bursts of heavy gunfire then somebody yelled, 'we're under attack,'' Mr Sta. Maria told The News Agency that Dare Not be Named by telephone. He helped defend the station.
The guerrillas decamped by foot as small groups of coppers started to arrive. They left behind two vans, which got stuck in a muddy dirt road near the cop shoppe, he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/21/2011 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Commies
#1
Not to be outdone by the Secularist Commies, in the Philippines AL-QAEDA AFFILIATE ABU SAYYAFF has repor kidnapped three fishermen for ransom.
The Iranian leaders, furious over the Saudi intervention in Bahrain and what they call crimes against the Shiites of that country, have openly created centers to recruit volunteers for suicide bombings against Saudi Arabia's interests worldwide.
Several grand ayatollahs in Iran have issued a fatwa for Muslims to come to the aid of their Shiite brothers in Bahrain, who they claim are suffering horrific crimes from their government in collaboration with the Saudi armed forces. They further emphasized that the people of Bahrain have every right to demand freedom and their fair share from the state. $5 oil and more lack of American leadership coming up!
Seriously, this will give the west and the Arabs more than enough reason to gang up on Iran. If only we had a President worth a shit to lead. I would even take Clinton back at this point...
#1
kinda schadenfreudish. The Wahhabis getting their own handed back to them
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/21/2011 13:35 Comments ||
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#2
Hold it. Syria supports Gaddafi.
Syria is a client state of Iran.
Therefore, it is logical that Iran supports Gaddafi.
Gulf states and Jordan are supporting the bombing campagin. They are clients of the Saudis.
Therefore Iran sees the Saudis as behind the attack on it's friend Gaddafi?
I know it's the MidEast so logic isn't logic... just trying to figure out the various entanglements...
Perhaps quantum entanglements?
Posted by: Water Modem ||
03/21/2011 14:15 Comments ||
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#3
Importantly, the way the Iranians do things is to let the hot heads spew, but with no official government backing, so that if it turns out more than they bargained for, they can disavow it, and claim that the hot heads were speaking out of turn.
In high risk brinkmanship, they will try to cover the whole gamut as insurance, so no two Iranian leaders will say the same thing.
#5
Um, no, Water Modem, this has nothing to do with Libya. It's posturing over the invasion/crackdown in Bahrain. The Iranians were sort-of supporting a Shia uprising, and the Saudis invaded with a fig-leaf invitation from the threatened Sunni monarch of that flyspeck. It's a Gulf thing.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
03/21/2011 15:07 Comments ||
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#6
No surprise here, as I'd been wondering how long it would take IRAN + HEZBOLLAH to exploit the the various regional "Jasmine" Protests, + bust-a-move [PCorrrect-Deniable] agz the KSA.
TEHRAN MAY HAD BEEN PUBLICLY RANTING OER GCC INTERVENTION IN MOSTLY SHIA BAHRAIN, BUT THEIR REAL TARGET/FOCII WAS THE SAUDIS + HOW TO STRIKE AGZ SAME.
Iff true this is an informal, but tacit, declaration of war by Shia Iran agz the Sunni Saudis - INFAMOUS HOWEVER, the Saudis, as Guardian + Protector of the [universal]Islamic Holy Places, are mostly abridged as such from taking any direct = strong Milaction [offensive] agz fellow Muslim Iran???
Again, GWOT > is as much an INTER-MUSLIM WAR FOR CONTROL OF ISLAM + DESIRED OWG CALIPHATE [NUclear?], ETC, AS ANYTHING ELSE.
SAUDIS = JAPAN = being allowed by the International Community + UNO to not only possess indigenous NUCWEAPS, BUT ALSO TO ACTIVELY PARTICIPATE IN INTERNAT EXTRA-BORDER ACTIVITIES, INCLUDING "OFFENSIVE" MIL OPERATIONS + INTERVENTIONS????
Test of "Globalism" for the Saudis, + in more ways than one.
[Ennahar] Thousands of Syrians demanded an end to 48 years of emergency law Sunday, a third consecutive day of protests emerging as the biggest challenge to Syria's rulers since unrest swept the Arab world this year.
"No. No to emergency law. We are a people infatuated with freedom," marchers chanted as a government delegation arrived in the southern town of Deraa to pay condolences for victims killed by security forces in demonstrations there this week.
Security forces fired tear gas at the protesters. Around 40 people were taken to be treated for gas inhalation at the main Omari mosque in the old city, residents said.
"The mosque is now a field hospital. The security forces know they cannot enter the old city without spilling more blood," one resident said.
Syria has been ruled under emergency law since the Baath Party, which is headed by president Bashir al-Assad, took power in a 1963 coup and banned all opposition.
Security forces opened fire Friday on civilians taking part in a peaceful protest in Deraa demanding the release of the children, political freedoms and an end to corruption. Four people were killed.
An official statement said "infiltrators" claiming to be high ranking officers had been visiting security stations and asking security forces to fire at any suspicious gathering.
Citizens should report anyone suspected of trying to fool the security apparatus "into using violence and live ammunition against any suspicions gathering," the statement said.
The government sought to calm popular discontent in Deraa by promising to release 15 schoolchildren whose arrests for scrawling protest graffiti had helped fuel the demonstrations.
Children, who had written slogans on walls inspired by uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, would be released immediately.
Sunday's statement was a rare instance of Syria's ruling hierarchy responding to popular pressure.
Tens of people who were tossed in the calaboose Friday have been released, but scores more were still in jail, activists said.
Saturday, thousands of mourners called for "revolution" at the funeral of two of the protesters. Officials later met Deraa notables who presented then with a list of demands, most importantly the release of political prisoners.
The list demands the dismantling of the secret police headquarters in Deraa, dismissal of the governor, a public trial for those responsible for the killings and scrapping of regulations requiring permission from the secret police to sell and buy property.
ARRESTS Non-violent protests have challenged the Baath Party's authority this month, following the uprisings that toppled the autocratic leaders of Egypt and Tunisia, with the largest protests in Deraa drawing thousands of people.
A silent protest in Damascus by 150 people this week demanded the release of thousands of political prisoners. At least one activist from Deraa, Diana al-Jawabra, took part in the protest. She was tossed in the calaboose on charges of weakening national morale, along with 32 other protesters, a lawyer said.
Jawabra, who is from a prominent family, was campaigning for the release of the 15 schoolchildren from her home city. Another prominent woman from Deraa, physician Aisha Aba Zeid, was tossed in the calaboose three weeks ago for airing a political opinion on the internet.
Residents say the arrest of the two women deepened feelings of repression and helped fuel the protests in Deraa, a conservative tribal region on the border with Jordan.
Secret police made a slew of arrests in Deraa this month after graffiti appeared on school walls and on grain silos with phrases such as "the people want the overthrow of the regime" -- the same slogan that became the rallying cry of the Egyptian and Tunisian revolutions.
The authorities responded by increasing secret police patrols and asking staff at schools and public departments to man their premises around the clock and by requiring IDs and registration for buyers of paint and spray cans.
"These measures only increased popular resentment," one Darea resident said.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/21/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
[THE BEATLES' "REVOLUTION" here].
Yeeeeaaahhh you know ... we've got to change the World.
#4
Wouldn't it be weird if the unrest in the various Arab and Persian countries was the result of George Bush going into Iraq? These countries look over at Iraq and see the possibility of freedom. It would mean Harry Reid, Hoolyweird, the donks, the progressives/liberals, Nancy Pelosi were all wrong. It may or may not be this way. But what if it were?
#7
I don't think Israel is unhappy about that - if they fight each other the better for them...
So is this like You don't mess with the Zohan? And pray that theres intelligent life somewhere up in space, cause theres bugger all down here on Earth.
Posted by: Fi ||
03/21/2011 12:59 Comments ||
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#8
This is newsworthy. Syria is famous for keeping a tight grip on the populace via the secret police and whatnot.
[Ennahar] Hundreds of demonstrators set fire Sunday at the courthouse and other buildings and cars in the town of Dera, in southern Syria, a prey to violent protests against power since Friday , according to an AFP correspondent on the spot.
Mobile phone MTN and Syriatel premises were also on fire in this city located 120 km south of Damascus.
The protesters also tri d to march to the governor's house but they were stopped by police who fired into the air live ammunition and tear gas.
According to a human rights ... which are not the same thing as individual rights, mind you... activist, present at Deraa, Syrian security forces broke up the day with tear gas and live bullets to disperse thousands of demonstrators killing one and injuring over 100.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/21/2011 00:00 ||
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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.
laid down their weapons
al-Shabaab
"expected the operation to end in the next hours to arm more than a million men and women."
There, hundreds of supporters offered themselves up as human shields, cheering to newly minted dance songs about their adoration for their leader. House by house, alley by alley, the catchiest song went, quoting a Qaddafi speech. Disinfect the germs from each house and each room. 
[Ennahar] Western forces pounded Libya's air defences and patrolled its skies on Sunday, but their day-old intervention hit a serious diplomatic setback as 
Jerry Lewis doppelgänger Amr Moussa
Bouteflika
[Ennahar] international coalition was preparing Sunday to a new phase of its offensive in Libya, launched the previous day under a UN mandate, to try to stop the bloody repression of an unprecedented revolt against the regime of Muammar Qadaffy.
[Ennahar] The leader of the 
PARIS - France sent an aircraft carrier towards Libya on Sunday and its warplanes carried out further operations over the north African country, armed forces and defence officials said.
[Arab News] Bahrain has expelled the Iranian charge d'affaires, a diplomatic source said on Sunday, in another sign of rising tensions between the island kingdom and non-Arab Iran.
The Iranian leaders, furious over the Saudi intervention in Bahrain and what they call crimes against the Shiites of that country, have openly created centers to recruit volunteers for suicide bombings against Saudi Arabia's interests worldwide.
