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Today: 61 articles and 171 comments as of 10:44.
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Drone strike killed senior Haqqani network commander
Today's Headlines
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Africa Horn
Twitter Again Shuts Down Shaboobs
Twitter has for the second time this year shut down the main Twitter handle of al-Shabab, Somalia's al-Qaida-linked terror group, less than 24 hours after a U.S.-based terrorism expert reported violations of Twitter's terms of service.

The closure comes only days after al-Shabab claimed a failed assassination attempt against Somalia's president and tweeted that the next time the president wouldn't be so lucky.

Al-Shabab uses Twitter mainly to make claims of enemy kills and to spread its view of events in Somalia and East Africa. A United Nations report on Somalia released last month said U.N. experts believe the person running the account is British.

Twitter in January suspended al-Shabab's previous account after the group used the platform to announce a death threat against Kenyan hostages.
Posted by: Steve White || 09/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab


Africa North
Egypt's interior ministry calls on media to only publish official info on bomb blast
[Al Ahram] Egypt's interior ministry issued a statement on Friday urging media outlets not to publish any information on Thursday's kaboom unless provided by the ministry itself.

The blast in eastern Cairo targeting Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim's convoy left dozens injured and a passerby dead after he departed this vale of tears on Friday, although the minister escaped unharmed.

"The ministry of interior is the one to issue statements regarding the incident and any related information," read the statement.

The ministry went on to add that the criminal investigation directorate, the national security directorate, the general security directorate and other apparatuses concerned with criminal evidence have finished surveying the scene of the incident.

The team will continue to collect information, study surveillance cameras and discuss testimonies of eyewitnesses and passersby.

"The team has discovered important information that will explain the circumstances of the accident and will identify the culprits," said the statement, vowing to provide the media with latest updates as long as it "does not violate security measures."

Initial reports said that the blast was the result of a boom-mobile. According to security sources, the owner of the car which went kaboom! is currently being interrogated.

Al-Ahram Arabic news website reported earlier that initial investigations showed at least 50kg of explosives or other chemicals were used in the blast.
Posted by: Fred || 09/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Anti-government demonstrators call for general strike in Tripoli on Sunday
[Libya Herald] Anti-government demonstrators demanding that Congress sack Prime Minister Ali Zeidan and his government called today for a general strike in Tripoli
...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn...
on Sunday. The demonstrators were responding to the power and water cuts that are bringing misery to the capital. The call came this afternoon when some two hundred protestors gathered in Algeria Square in Central Tripoli after Friday prayers.

All shops, businesses and government institutions, with the exception of hospitals, should stay closed on Monday said a statement read out at the protest. The demonstrators had started from outside the mosque in Shara Mizran and moved to the Dawa Al-Islamiyya Mosque in Algeria Square.

Rolling electricity cuts have been taking place in the capital since the end of Ramadan but have been getting longer in recent days because of fuel supplies not reaching the power stations supplying the capital. Cuts are now five hours and even longer. The water cuts started three days ago and have affected most of the capital.

People in Tripoli, protestors told the Libya Herald, had been patient with the government but their patience was now exhausted -- the city and country were now in a crisis and it had to go. Zeidan, they claimed, had lost control of the situation.
Posted by: Fred || 09/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Britain
Violence Fear For East London As EDL Insists Tomorrow's Anti-Muslim March Still On
[Express] THE English Defence League has lost a last minute legal bid to overturn a police ban on it marching through the centre of an east London borough tomorrow.

The far right group wanted to demonstrate in the heart of Tower Hamlets, home to Britannia's largest Mohammedan population and the large East London Mosque.

The Metropolitan Police had allowed it to protest but with strict conditions that meant any march would be held at the outskirts of the borough and close to Tower Bridge.

The EDL led by Tommy Robinson, wanted to march further east with some 2,000 supporters.

It argued in the High Court today that parts of Tower Hamlets are "subject to Sharia Law".

But a judge agreed with the police's argument there was a potential for serious disorder.

Thousands of counter-demonstrators from Unite Against Fascism, the Socialist Workers' Party and United East End - an umbrella outfit of local community groups -- are expected to rally against the EDL.

A similar march planned two years ago was banned from entering the borough, but that did not prevent running battles on Tower Hamlets streets after a coach full of far right demonstrators broke down in a heavy populated area.

In the court today, EDL lawyers said the police restrictions were "disproportionate".

The lawyers said the EDL described itself as a "human rights
One man's rights are another man's existential threat.
organization" which wanted to highlight the "stranglehold" that "radical Islam" had on British Mohammedans.

But Mr Justice King said the EDL had not shown the police decision to be unlawful, irrational, unreasonable or disproportionate.

Meanwhile,
...back at the mall, Clarissa suddenly spied Mr. Bartlett at the checkout counter. He was buying Grecian Formula!...
Express Online has learnt Tower Hamlets Council, led by controversial Lutfur Rahman, Britannia's first directly elected Mohammedan mayor, had itself launched its own last minute legal challenges.

It wants the march banned outright but the police and Home Secretary Theresa May declined to accept that request last month.

The council's most senior officer, Stephen Halsey, ordered his legal team to launch a judicial review of that decision but a judge rejected its application on Tuesday night.

It then requested an oral hearing with another judge, but the council declined to elaborate on that action this afternoon.

The council had already rejected a request by the EDL to rally in Altab Ali Park in Whitechapel -- a park named after a young man murdered in a racist attack in 1978.

Mr Halsey has told councillors in the borough to be prepared for trouble, warning them to wear high visibility jackets so that they can be identified if violence breaks out.

He said in a briefing note seen by Express Online: "I have arranged for our CCTV control centre to operate to capacity throughout the day.

"Our own enforcement officers will be patrolling the borough at key locations providing reassurance and a visible presence.

"The youth service will be out on the street to ensure that our young people are safe and to help counter any misinformation."

The EDL is expected to muster at noon tomorrow just south of Tower Bridge in Tooley Street, from where they will be escorted by police to Aldgate on the borough's boundary -- the potential flashpoint.

They will be allowed to protest for 30 minutes before being turned back by police.
Posted by: trailing wife || 09/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:


Caribbean-Latin America
Iran Aggressively Recruiting 'Invisible Army' Of Latin American Converts To Infiltrate U.S. Through Southern Border
Posted by: trailing wife || 09/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  How will they be able to distinguish terrorist activity from the usual mayhem let loose, but suppressed by the media, of the illegals? or Cartels?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 09/07/2013 9:15 Comments || Top||


#3  Good news, Au Auric. Thank you.
Posted by: trailing wife || 09/07/2013 15:03 Comments || Top||


The Grand Turk
US Moves To Reduce Diplomatic Personnel In Turkey Over Threats
[Ynet] The US State Department on Friday moved to reduce its diplomatic presence at its consulate general in Adana, Turkey, due to security threats, it said in a statement.

"The Consulate General in Adana has been authorized to draw down its non-emergency staff and family members because of threats against US government facilities and personnel," the department said.
Posted by: trailing wife || 09/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  Think the SS has upped security around the Obomba brats?

Are they getting free birth control in case of rape?
Posted by: AlanC || 09/07/2013 13:42 Comments || Top||

#2  ...güle güle...

Posted by: Uncle Phester || 09/07/2013 17:20 Comments || Top||


Turkey says almost all G20 leaders support operation against Syria
[Al Ahram] Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday almost all leaders at the G20 summit in St. Petersburg accepted the need for an operation to be carried out against Syria following a chemical weapons attack there last month. "Almost all the leaders who have attended the summit are closely following the massacre the Syrian regime carried out on its people and the leaders have expressed that an operation is extremely necessary against Damascus," Erdogan told reporters.
PM Erdogan has been saying a great many things, lately. He was so much happier -- and quieter -- before he broke up with his BFF Bashar A.
Posted by: Fred || 09/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  He's still in the early Anger Stage of Grieving TW, best to cut the poor wasbeen some slack.
Posted by: Shipman || 09/07/2013 8:38 Comments || Top||

#2  Turkey is just next door. Nothing really to stop you from intervening Mr. Erdogan. Be our guest. Show us that Turkey has arrived on the international scene to carry out region responsibilities. Heck, even some African nations are doing their thing in Somalia. What's holding you back?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 09/07/2013 9:10 Comments || Top||

#3  Yep. Turkey had the opening of a century when this tussle started and did squat. Now they marginal to the situation. Marginal suits them well.
Posted by: Shipman || 09/07/2013 17:37 Comments || Top||

#4  What can they do? They've hundreds of senior officers sitting in jail*, many more forced into early retirement, and the best of the rest are not likely to be politically trustworthy. Who, then, can they trust to run a neighborly little war?

* do a search of Ergenekon and Sledgehammer for the details, or just read this.
Posted by: trailing wife || 09/07/2013 17:58 Comments || Top||

#5  ...per Fred's post (above): "11 G20 States Urge 'Strong Response' to Syria Chemical Attack"

Lemme see..... 11 of twenty equals...er,... um...carry the 12...er...most(?!)...yeah, MOST!

Perhaps Turkey is sourcing their math teachers from the NEA...?
Posted by: Uncle Phester || 09/07/2013 23:25 Comments || Top||

#6  mod - Please correct above "mosts" to "almost alls" - Thankx!
Posted by: Uncle Phester || 09/07/2013 23:42 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Pakistan denounces North Waziristan drone attack
[Dawn] Pakistain's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday condemned the latest US drone strike inside Pak territory in which at least six snuffies were killed and three others injured.

The latest drone attack took place early Friday in northwestern Pakistain's North Wazoo tribal region.

Hours after the strike, the Foreign Office issued a statement saying drone strikes were a violation of Pakistain's illusory sovereignty and territorial integrity, adding that Pakistain had repeatedly emphasised the importance of bringing these to an immediate end.

The government "has consistently maintained that drone strikes are counter-productive, entail loss of innocent civilian lives and have human rights
When they're defined by the state or an NGO they don't mean much...
and humanitarian implications", the statement said.

At least six suspected snuffies were killed and three others maimed in a US drone strike on a compound in Ghulam Khan Tehsil of North Waziristan near the Pak-Afghan border.
Posted by: Fred || 09/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Hafiz Saeed leads mass rally in Islamabad
[Dawn] Lashkar-e-Taiba
...the Army of the Pure, an Ahl-e-Hadith terror organization founded by Hafiz Saeed. LeT masquerades behind the Jamaat-ud-Dawa facade within Pakistain and periodically blows things up and kills people in India. Despite the fact that it is banned, always an interesting concept in Pakistain, the organization remains an blatant tool and perhaps an arm of the ISI...
(LeT) founder Hafiz Muhammad Saeed
...who would be wearing a canvas jacket with very long sleeves anyplace but Pakistain...
appeared openly at a rally in Islamabad on Friday, denouncing India as a terrorist state as thousands of his supporters chanted for "holy war" against the rival nuclear nation.

India has accused Hafiz Muhammad Saeed of criminal masterminding the 2008 attack on its financial capital Mumbai where gunnies killed 166 people over three days. The United States has offered $10 million for information leading to his arrest and conviction.

As dusk fell, more than 10,000 people gathered in Islamabad in a show of defiance certain to enrage India further following weeks of tensions over the disputed Kashmire border.

"The United States and India are very angry with us. This means God is happy with us," Saeed told the crowd as supporters chanted "Jihad!" ("Holy war") and "War will continue until the liberation of Kashmire". He did not use the word "jihad" himself.

"We are ready for every sacrifice for the liberation of Kashmire," the stocky and bearded former professor added at the rally marking Pakistain's Defence Day.

Speaking about Sarabjit Singh, an Indian prisoner who died in a Pak jail this year and was given a state funeral back home, Saeed told the crowd: "He was a terrorist. How can the Indian government give state honours to a terrorist? This means the Indian government and army are terrorists."

India has called on Pakistain to bring Saeed to justice, an issue that has stood in the way of rebuilding relations between the nuclear-armed neighbours since the Mumbai carnage.

Saeed is the founder of the LeT, a Death Eater group banned in Pakistain but tolerated unofficially and believed to be close to the army. Saeed has long abandoned its leadership and is now the head of its charity wing.

India is furious that Pakistain has not enjugged
... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not...
him since it handed over evidence against him to Islamabad, and allows Saeed to live freely in the city of Lahore in a villa with cops stationed outside.
Because he's an ISI resource. The run-of-the-mill seedy Pak politician doesn't get that.
Relations plunged to further lows last month after the killing of five Indian soldiers along the so-called Line of Control that separates the two sides in the Himalayan region of Kashmire.

BELLIGERENT MOOD

Seeking to defuse tensions, Pakistain's civilian leaders have kept a conciliatory tone, but on Friday, as thousands gathered in Islamabad, emotions spilled into the open.

The mood was strikingly anti-Western and belligerent, with speakers openly declaring their sympathy for the Taliban fighting Western forces in neighbouring Afghanistan.

"India should stop describing Kashmire as its indispensable part," Saeed said from a makeshift stage mounted on a truck. "Otherwise every part of India would be dispensable for us."

As the crowd cheered, two men performed a patriotic song threatening to "turn the whole of India into Mumbai".

Others chanted "Whoever is a friend of India is a traitor" and waved black and white striped flags.

"They should know there are a lot of people here who are waiting for the conquest of India," Hamid Gul
The nutty former head of Pakistain's ISI, now Godfather to Mullah Omar's Talibs and good buddy and consultant to al-Qaeda's high command...
, a former chief of the ISI intelligence service, told the crowd.

"It will be our privilege to take part in this war."

Saeed founded the LeT, which India blames for the rampage in Mumbai, in the 1990s. He has denied involvement in any attacks.

He abandoned the leadership after India accused the LeT of being behind an attack on the Indian parliament in December 2001.

His charity, linked to the LeT, enjoys popular support for its humanitarian work.
Posted by: Fred || 09/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under: Lashkar e-Taiba

#1  Forget Syria these are the people who need exterminating.
Posted by: Paul D || 09/07/2013 11:07 Comments || Top||


Defence Day: President, PM call for unity to fight terrorism
[Dawn] Pakistain's top civilian leadership on Friday urged the nation to unite in order to fight the growing menace of terrorism and militancy.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf...
, in his Defence Day address to the nation on Friday, said that September 6 symbolised unity and sacrifice.

The day is observed in Pakistain in memory of sacrifices given by Pak soldiers in the 1965 war when they bravely defended the country against an onslaught by the Indian military.

Sharif said that the sacrifices of Pakistain's Army would always be remembered, declaring that the army's resolve in the face of the current circumstances was inspirational.

The prime minister stressed that as Pakistain currently faces multiple security challenges such as terrorism and external aggression, the entire nation stands united beside the armed forces.

Meanwhile,
...back at the Council of Boskone, Kinnison began his slow infiltration of the sewer system...
President Asif Ali Ten Percent Zardari
... husband of the late Benazir Bhutto, who has been singularly lacking in curiosity about who done her in ...
also called for a renewed resolve in fighting Death Eaters in order to defend the country from all sorts of external and internal threats.

"Let us also pay homage to our sons and daughters who laid down their lives in the defence of the motherland. Their sacrifices will never go in vain," President Zardari said in his message to the nation.
Posted by: Fred || 09/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
PA Minister: Next Prisoners' Release In October
[Ynet] Following August release of 26 prisoners, Minister Karaka says next group to face release on October 29, regardless of progress of Israel-PA peace talks. Abbas suggests issue of borders hinges on talks
Whatever. The gyrations they all have to go through because The Second Smartest Man In The Room wants a legacy and a new hat. Any bets on how long these men are free before being rearrested by the Israelis for cause?
Paleostinian Minister of Prisoner Affairs Issa Karaka said that the next Paleostinian prisoners' release as past of the peace talks' resumption will take place on October 29.

According to Karaka, the next group of prisoners will be released regardless of diplomatic progress of the talks, adding that the prisoners will only be released to the Gazoo Strip and the West Bank.

The minister noted that the fourth and final group of prisoners will be released on March 28.

Earlier in August, the first group of Paleostinian prisoners was released as part of an Israeli gesture to the Paleostinian Authority in the wake of resuming peace talks.

The first group consisted of 26 prisoners who were from the Ayalon Prison to the Gazoo Strip and the West Bank.

Divided into to four groups, over a 100 security prisoners are expected to face release.

Referring to negotiations between Israel and the Paleostinians, PA President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas
... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial...
suggested Friday that Ramallah might renege on its agreements regarding territories in case Israel overturns past understandings.

"We have presented our views, and the Israelis said they wanted to strike what was agreed on regarding borders and security with (former PM) Ehud Olmert," the Paleostinian president said.
Posted by: trailing wife || 09/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Palestinian Authority


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
11 G20 States Urge 'Strong Response' to Syria Chemical Attack
[An Nahar] Eleven G20 states on Friday called for a "strong international response" to a chemical weapons attack in Syria they said was clearly carried out by the regime.
"Manolo! Fetch me the stiff notepaper... and my best calligraphy pen. There's a strong response to be written!"
"The evidence clearly points to the Syrian government being responsible for the attack, which is part of a pattern of chemical weapons use by the regime," said the statement which was supported by states including Britannia, La Belle France and the United States.

"We call for a strong international response to this grave violation of the world's rules and conscience that will send a clear message that this kind of atrocity can never be repeated," said the statement which was released by the White House.
Posted by: Fred || 09/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [14 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  Well, write up a feasible Operations Order and send it. It never hurts to try. Also, make sure there are some back up FRAGOS in case it gets nasty.

Europeans are warriors, unless it comes to budgets.
Posted by: newc || 09/07/2013 1:24 Comments || Top||

#2  Harrrumph harrrumph harrrumph!!!
Posted by: tu3031 || 09/07/2013 1:30 Comments || Top||

#3  I urge a strong response too: kill 10 randomly chosen Saudi "princes".
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 09/07/2013 6:27 Comments || Top||

#4  ^

















































































see above
Posted by: Shipman || 09/07/2013 8:39 Comments || Top||

#5  If we scroll back a few years would this be any different -


Eleven G20 states on Friday called for a "strong international response" to a chemical weapons attack in Syria man made global warming they said was clearly carried out by the regime human behavior.

The science was 'irrefutable'. /sarc off
Posted by: Procopius2k || 09/07/2013 9:07 Comments || Top||

#6  Strong response (TM) by you and whose army? I am so sick of these parasites.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 09/07/2013 13:04 Comments || Top||

#7  G20: The Syrian chemical attack was horrible. SOMEBODY MUST DO SOMETHING about it.
Germany: Not us,though. UK: Us neither. Russia: Hell, no. ... The rest of the G20: Umm, not us either.

I don't think the US should get involved at all. However, the G20 should just STFU unless they are willing to DO something about it.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia || 09/07/2013 13:47 Comments || Top||

#8  Can we get an after action report from the G-20 visit to the Sultanov Ballet Academy please ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/07/2013 13:56 Comments || Top||

#9  ...you too can help fight hunger by adopting a starving Russian ballerina.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 09/07/2013 14:03 Comments || Top||

#10  Not much hand wringing over 100k dead before the gas attack. Those people are just as dead but not gassed so it is ok. Throw out a few heart wringing zingers and the well fed elites see opportunity knocking.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 09/07/2013 19:59 Comments || Top||

#11  Déclaration des 11 (+Allemagne qui a signé aujourd’hui) en marge du G20 sur la Syrie

Déclaration commune sur la Syrie

OMG....how does John Kerry do it?....

Here is a link to the Joint Statement...slightly less to it than a Diet Coke Lite....
Posted by: Uncle Phester || 09/07/2013 23:02 Comments || Top||


US envoy to UN says Syria's Assad barely dented chemical weapons stockpile
[Al Ahram] US Ambassador to the United Nations
...boodling on the grand scale...
Samantha Power said on Friday that Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Light of the Alawites...
had barely dented his stockpile of chemical weapons in an alleged attack near Damascus last month.

"We assess that although Assad used more chemical weapons on August 21 than he had before, he has barely put a dent in his enormous stockpile," she said at the Center for American Progress think tank in Washington.

"We have exhausted the alternatives" to military action, she said, adding that Assad must have weighed the fact that Russia would back him in the controversy over his alleged use of chemical weapons and it was naive to think Russia would change.
Posted by: Fred || 09/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


France's Hollande seeks coalition in favor of Syria action
[Al Ahram] Leaders of G20 nations on Friday agreed chemical weapons had been used in Syria but disagreed on who was responsible for last month's attack, French President Francois Hollande said.

Hollande, whose country has pushed with the United States for military strikes to punish Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, said he would seek to bring together a coalition of states in favour of such an intervention if the U.N. Security Council could not agree action.

"(In such a case) a broad coalition should be formed and is being formed among all those countries that do not accept that a country, a regime, should use chemical weapons," he told a news conference after the summit.

Hollande said France would await the conclusions of U.N. inspectors investigating last month's chemical weapon attack in Syria before deciding on any action.

"We shall await the report of the inspectors just as we will await (U.S.) Congress," he told a news conference after a summit of G20 nations in Russia's St. Petersburg, referring to an expected U.S. vote on military strikes.
Posted by: Fred || 09/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  Oh, man. Is he gonna regret that picture...
Posted by: tu3031 || 09/07/2013 1:27 Comments || Top||

#2  Chat is outta the bag, I'd advise him to embrace the picture and hope for the best.
Posted by: Shipman || 09/07/2013 1:37 Comments || Top||

#3  Making Niki look good.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 09/07/2013 6:28 Comments || Top||


Obama says he will address the US about Syria on Tuesday
Pic from the Ace of Spades.
[Al Ahram] Rule 1: A shot every time he sez "Make no mistake."

Rule 2: Chug a beer every time he sez "bipartisan."

Further rules?
Posted by: Fred || 09/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [9 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  A shot for every time he uses "my"?
Posted by: Pappy || 09/07/2013 0:21 Comments || Top||

#2  Last one to pass out wins.
Posted by: gorb || 09/07/2013 0:24 Comments || Top||

#3  Every time he says 'uh', you get to punch the person on your left.
Posted by: SteveS || 09/07/2013 1:12 Comments || Top||

#4  "Let me be clear"...Since the guy's a lying sack of shit, I haven't listened to the him for about three years. I think I'll continue the streak.
Posted by: tu3031 || 09/07/2013 1:40 Comments || Top||

#5  Foreign student loans, the downside.
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/07/2013 2:25 Comments || Top||

#6  "the world set a red line" - do two shots
Posted by: Frank G || 09/07/2013 10:10 Comments || Top||

#7  Reference to previous administrations: one shot.
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 09/07/2013 11:13 Comments || Top||

#8  I'm putting a vacation slip in for Wednesday. To recover from alcohol poisoning
Posted by: Frank G || 09/07/2013 11:30 Comments || Top||

#9  What tu said. I might have a drink but I can't bear the stench of so much bullshit.
Posted by: Caesar Gray1629 || 09/07/2013 12:24 Comments || Top||

#10  I think the end game gets very messy... After loosing his Syria Attack.... its just the beginning of Obama's path to becoming a eunuch. Politics recognizes wounded prey quickly.

So if he wants to avoid becoming a eunuch Obama needs to deal with the Pubs in the House under the table...
He knows well what they want starting with a termination of Obamacare and a budget and oil/gas pipelines in the USA.

The question becomes how willing is Obama to avoid singing soprano and how much the congress-critters can quit drooling and deal at the cost of an attack on Syria.
Posted by: 3dc || 09/07/2013 15:11 Comments || Top||

#11  Given the man's word is worth less than stock in Solyndra, any deal needs to be above board and public. Thus, it's not going to happen. Ego being what it is. The question he has to face is whether Syria is worth his crown.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 09/07/2013 15:42 Comments || Top||

#12  A shot of Bushmills any time he blames the previous administration.
Posted by: BrerRabbit || 09/07/2013 16:30 Comments || Top||

#13  I might have a drink but I can't bear the stench of so much bullshit.

Agreed. I estimate at least half a bottle of Jack will be required. I'd rather just self-medicate thusly and pass out before it starts.
Posted by: RandomJD || 09/07/2013 16:31 Comments || Top||

#14  ...aside the affair, must have some really good stuff in his file...:

Petraeus calls on Congress to back White House on Syria

HT: Drudge
Posted by: Uncle Phester || 09/07/2013 17:24 Comments || Top||

#15  A shot of Bushmills any time he blames the previous administration. Posted by BrerRabbit

You'll have to move to far Northern Ireland and the city itself to keep up with that bargain.
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/07/2013 17:31 Comments || Top||

#16  He'll with this nonsense. I am at Sisters Folk Festival watching Baskery, the Swedish version of the Dixie Chicks.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 09/07/2013 17:55 Comments || Top||


Syria peace envoy Brahimi says no strikes without UN approval
[Al Ahram] The United Nations peace envoy for Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, said on Friday no state had the right to "take the law into their hands" and conduct military action against Syria without UN Security Council approval. Brahimi spoke on the sidelines of a G20 summit after meetings with foreign ministers including Russia's Sergei Lavrov, who said many nations realize that striking Syria without Security Council backing would scuttle the chances of reaching a political solution.
Posted by: Fred || 09/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  "Gentlemen! We've got to protect our phony baloney jobs!!"
Posted by: tu3031 || 09/07/2013 1:35 Comments || Top||


Syria offers bounty for foreign 'terrorists'
[Al Ahram] For the first time in Syria's 2-1/2 year conflict, the government is offering a bounty to anyone who captures a foreign "terrorist" - the word authorities use for rebels fighting to topple Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Supressor of the Damascenes...

In a brief statement on Syrian television, authorities said they would give 500,000 Syrian pounds to anyone who brought in a "non-Syrian terrorist" and 200,000 pounds to anyone who gave information on their whereabouts or helped apprehend them.

The pound officially trades at 128 to the dollar, but the black market rate stands is about 200 to the dollar.

State media said the identities of those who provided information would be kept secret and their "protection ensured".

In an indication that it would grant amnesty to rebels who informed on their comrades, state television
... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
added: "Their affairs will be settled if they are Syrians who have been wanted in recent events."
Posted by: Fred || 09/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  he's referring to Leb Hezbollah fighters...right?



right?
Posted by: Frank G || 09/07/2013 10:11 Comments || Top||

#2  ...nothing even remotely likely to evolve from "boots on the ground" I'm sure....
Posted by: Uncle Phester || 09/07/2013 13:16 Comments || Top||


Russia Sends Warship With 'Special Cargo' To Syria
A Russian warship carrying "special cargo" will be dispatched toward Syria, a navy source said on Friday, as the Kremlin beefs up its presence in the region ahead of possible US strikes against the Damascus regime.

The large landing ship Nikolai Filchenkov will on Friday leave the Ukrainian port city of Sevastopol for the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiisk, from where it will head to Syria's coast, the Interfax news agency quoted a source from the Saint Petersburg-based central naval command as saying.

"The ship will make call in Novorossiisk, where it will take on board special cargo and set off for the designated area of its combat duty in the eastern Mediterranean," the source said.

The source did not specify the nature of the cargo.
Posted by: Uncle Phester || 09/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  ESE assault force.
Posted by: Shipman || 09/07/2013 1:38 Comments || Top||

#2  S-300 air defense systems.
Posted by: SteveS || 09/07/2013 3:36 Comments || Top||

#3  S-300 air defense systems

Unless they send personnel to operate them...
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 09/07/2013 6:30 Comments || Top||

#4  That's the ESE part g(r)
Posted by: Shipman || 09/07/2013 8:40 Comments || Top||

#5  I fear the Russians might be providing to the Syrians, in the "special cargo", the required ingredients for personal gas warfare.

Posted by: Au Auric || 09/07/2013 9:14 Comments || Top||

#6  That's the ESE part g(r)

ESE or Ese may refer to:

East-southeast, a cardinal direction
Easy Serving Espresso Pod
Ethical Sensory Extrovert
European School of Economics
European Society of Endocrinology
Exonic splicing enhancer, an RNA sequence which guides splicing machinery
Extensible Storage Engine
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Early streamer emission, a theory stating that if a lightning rod has a mechanism producing ionization near its tip, then its lightning capture area is greatly increased
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 09/07/2013 11:09 Comments || Top||

#7  Ese is Mexican slang for dude.
Posted by: Caesar Gray1629 || 09/07/2013 12:29 Comments || Top||

#8  P-800 Yakhont anti-ship missile? Syria could cover much of the eastern Mediterranean and could even hit air bases in Cyprus.
Posted by: mossomo || 09/07/2013 17:39 Comments || Top||

#9  And what is Champ to do if a US destroyer or two are on the bottom following the first salvo ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/07/2013 17:40 Comments || Top||

#10  Do I have to do everyting? PDF warning.
Posted by: Shipman || 09/07/2013 17:42 Comments || Top||

#11  And what is Champ to do if a US destroyer or two are on the bottom following the first salvo ?

One of the possible consequences of the Player 2 Moves phase. Sure, the SAG should be able to defend itself. At least on paper. Despite never having done it under war conditions. (as Clauswitz said, "shit happens")

A counter-attack may lack results, but consider the Arab embrace of failure as victory And that even scorched paint on a USN vessel would be a mini-triumph.
Posted by: SteveS || 09/07/2013 18:12 Comments || Top||

#12  good thing they alerted with that Chinese Sunburn mod attack on the Jooooz. We know what they had have
Posted by: Frank G || 09/07/2013 18:25 Comments || Top||

#13  Are you sure the Russian special cargo isn't Putin's bane "P. Riot"?
Posted by: 3dc || 09/07/2013 18:31 Comments || Top||


Iran threatens brutal attacks on Americans, Obama family if US hits Syria
[DAILYCALLER] In an unprecedented statement, a former Iranian official has warned of mass abductions and brutal killings of American citizens around the world and the rape and killing of one of Obama's daughters should the United States attack Syria.

Alireza Forghani, the former governor of southern Iran's Kish Province, threw down the gauntlet last week. Forghani is an analyst and strategy specialist in the supreme leader's camp and closely aligned with Mehdi Taeb, who heads the regime's Ammar Strategic Base, a radical think thank, and thus speaks with the blessing of the Islamic regime.

"Hopefully Obama will be pigheaded enough to attack Syria, and then we will see the ... loss of U.S. interests [through terrorist attacks]," he threatened. "In just 21 hours [after the attack on Syria], a family member of every U.S. minister [department secretary], U.S. ambassadors, U.S. military commanders around the world will be kidnapped. And then 18 hours later, videos of their amputation will be spread [around the world]."
Posted by: Fred || 09/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  That alone shows the depravity of the "leadership".
Posted by: newc || 09/07/2013 0:22 Comments || Top||

#2  Hmm. Maybe there is a good reason to go to war with Syria after all. Sort of a two-fer.
Posted by: gorb || 09/07/2013 0:25 Comments || Top||

#3  Drawing all the snakes out of the pit into the sun is just a logical consequence, wouldn't give B. Hussein too much credit for a fortunate accident.
Posted by: Beau || 09/07/2013 0:41 Comments || Top||

#4  The hardare is there, Iran is the prize. Threaten MY President and his Family, it makes me antsy.... It makes me more than antsy. Hell, I do not even like this President but this does make me ANGRY.


Maybe it is time to look at Iran first. Actually, I have
Posted by: newc || 09/07/2013 1:17 Comments || Top||

#5  Ah...more "alligator mouth/hummingbird ass" from Iran. Haven't heard much of that since the syphilitic little dwarf lost his job...
Posted by: tu3031 || 09/07/2013 1:20 Comments || Top||

#6  This morning, the Muslim Brotherhood warned the United States that if the United States continued meddling in Syria, Libya, and other potential hot spots in the Middle East, they intend to cut off America's supply of 7-11
and Motel 6 managers.

If this action does not yield sufficient results, cab drivers will be next, followed by Dell, AT&T, and AOL customer service reps.

Finally, if all else fails, they have threatened to not send us any more presidents.

It's gonna get ugly, people.

Posted by: Besoeker || 09/07/2013 7:10 Comments || Top||

#7  The Taliban got away with 9/11. Bush's ultimatum, his 'Red Line', began to fade away when Powell essentially told the Pakistanis to ignore Bush's statement to a joint session of congress.

Given the history of the past 12 years why should a rational thug not make these threats? What exactly does he have to fear?

The Friday after 9/11 2001 the Iranians didn't dare perform their usual 'Death to America' chant at the official prayers.

About 5 years later the Western political class accepted Iran's Rushdie rules as legitimate.

Why should a rational Iran not interpret this as a victory?
Posted by: Elmerert Hupens2660 || 09/07/2013 17:12 Comments || Top||

#8  Why should a rational Iran not interpret this as a victory?

It's distressing that you make a great deal of sense, Elmerert Hupens2660.
Posted by: trailing wife || 09/07/2013 21:58 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
28[untagged]
9Govt of Syria
6Govt of Iran
5Arab Spring
2al-Qaeda in North Africa
2Govt of Pakistan
2Palestinian Authority
1al-Qaeda in Arabia
1TTP
1al-Nusra
1Hamas
1Lashkar e-Taiba
1al-Shabaab
1al-Qaeda in Pakistan

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Two weeks of WOT
Sat 2013-09-07
  Drone strike killed senior Haqqani network commander
Fri 2013-09-06
  Reports: Egypt to dissolve Brotherhood as NGO
Thu 2013-09-05
  Egypt's Minister Mohammed Ibrahim survives bomb attack
Wed 2013-09-04
  Spain Arrests Suspected Jihadist Leader
Tue 2013-09-03
  Syria asks UN to 'prevent any aggression'
Mon 2013-09-02
  Taliban target U.S. army base in Nangarhar, attack ongoing
Sun 2013-09-01
  Leader of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood Badie suffers heart attack in jail
Sat 2013-08-31
  Breaking: Obama hands the ball off to Congress
Fri 2013-08-30
  Egypt Police Arrest Senior Islamist Beltagi
Thu 2013-08-29
  Report: 20 Injured In Another Chemical Attack In Syria
Wed 2013-08-28
  DEATH SENTENCE FOR Maj. NIDAL HASAN
Tue 2013-08-27
  Belmokhtar, MUJAO launch new jihadist group
Mon 2013-08-26
  Security forces claim seizure of 500 kgs explosives in Khyber
Sun 2013-08-25
  Hungry Boko Haram hard boyz turn cannibal
Sat 2013-08-24
  Twin blasts at Lebanese mosques kill at least 43


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