BAIDOA, Somalia -- Somali Federal Government security forces arrested 600 suspects in door-to-door security operation in Bay regional capital of Baidoa of southern Somalia following an attack on pre-planned targets by Al Shabaab militants, Garowe Online reports.
Baidoa Police Station Chief, Col. Mahad Abdirahman told the media that they are aiming to cleanse Al Shabaab remnants of Baidoa to combat organized crimes and insecurity incidents.
"Many Al Shabaab members have infiltrated into the town and this is clean-up operation to prevent Al Shabaab from carrying out bombings with the help of the residents," said Abdirahman.
The security forces captured 600 people but those who are found not-guilty of the criminal activities will be released soon, the police commander added.
The not guilty will be released 'soon'? Nice justice system you have there...
Eyewitnesses reported that soldiers in armoured personal carriers were roaming on the main roads by interrogating the civilians.
Suspected Al Shabaab militants Thursday night attacked buildings housing Somali Federal Government officials including former parliament speakers Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan and Sheikh Adan Madobe, court officials and Baidoa mayor.
Baidoa is hosting a convention aimed to push the local communities of Bay and Bakool regions into autonomy under Provision Federal Constitution (PFC) of Somalia.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/16/2013 00:00 ||
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Central African Republic's interim leader is considering a possible amnesty for militias involved in the violence that has killed hundreds of people, most of them civilians, in exchange for their disarmament.
The majority-Christian country has been hit by waves of killing, torture and looting since Michel Djotodia's mainly Muslim Seleka militants seized power in March. Djotodia has since lost control of his former fighters, whose abuses have led to the emergence of militias, known as the anti-balaka, meaning anti-machete in the local Sango language, opposing them.
In a sign of continued instability within the transitional administration, Djotodia dismissed three government officials on Sunday, including Security Minister Josue Binoua whose home was raided by police during the violence last week. The firing of the three ministers risks increasing tensions because it was not carried out under the terms of an accord that led to the formation of the transitional government.
The former militant leader said in a state radio address late on Saturday that he had been contacted by a representative of the mainly Christian and animist anti-balaka, who are demanding inclusion in the transitional government he heads.
Elections are due to take place in 2015, however the government exerts little control even within the capital. The anti-balaka, along with gunmen loyal to ousted President Francois Bozize, attacked Bangui last week, triggering more killings and reprisals that have deepened the conflict. More than 500 people were killed and 189,000 have been displaced in the capital alone.
A government spokesman said that Djotodia won't rule out any demands made by the anti-balaka and was planning to reach out to other groups for similar talks - which might include the Seleka militants.
The Yemeni parliament on Sunday approved a ban on U.S. drones in the country after dozens of civilians were killed by the unmanned aircraft, the official Saba news agency reported. The parliament stressed the importance of protecting innocent citizens from any airstrike as well as preserving Yemen's sovereignty, Saba said, citing a statement of the legislature.
The decision was made after the U.S. drone mistakenly hit a wedding convey on Thursday in Yemen's southeastern province of al- Bayda, killing up to 17 Yemeni civilians and wounding about 21 others, Xinhua reported. It was the second airstrike mistake in a week after a U.S. drone killed at least four people traveling on a road in the eastern province of Hadramout on Monday.
Washington has escalated its drone strikes on the al-Qaida network in Yemen since Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi took office in February 2012 after a UN-backed power transfer deal removed former President Ali Abdullah Saleh from power.
The Yemen-based al-Qaida offshoot frequently attack state institutions, the military and foreign missions in the country. On Dec. 5, 12 al-Qaida militants attacked the Yemeni defense ministry, killing 56 people and injuring more than 200.
However, the U.S. drone strikes have mistakenly hit civilian targets several times in the past two years. Human rights groups repeatedly accuse the United States of breaking international law and perhaps committing war crimes.
The nongovernmental groups said during an attack on Sept. 2, 2012, a U.S. drone hit a passenger van and killed 12 people returning from a market in Yemen's southern region.
Similarly, on Dec. 17, 2009, an attack by as many as five U.S. navy missiles struck a Yemeni hamlet, killing what the Yemeni government initially described as 34 "terrorists" at a training camp.
However, human rights groups said a government inquiry later established that although 14 fighters of the al-Qaida group were killed in the attack, so were at least 41 civilians, including nine women and 21 children.
The Yemeni people staged several rallies this year to demand an end to the U.S. drone strikes in the country.
It does seem that the drone strikes should end. They're far too ... retail. I say it's time for an arclight...
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/16/2013 00:00 ||
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The North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's influential aunt Kim Kyong-hui remains a part of the regime's inner circle, following the execution last week of her husband, the second most powerful man in the country.
Pyongyang announced late on Saturday that 67-year-old Kim Kyong-hui, the daughter of the country's founder Kim Il-sung, had been named as one of the funeral committee members for the ruling party, a prestigious position.
Kim's uncle Jang Song-thaek was executed last week just days before the second anniversary of the death of Kim Jong-il, the father of North Korea's current ruler. Pyongyang said Jang was executed for attempting to seize power and for driving the economy "into an uncontrollable catastrophe".
After his downfall, the fate of Kim Kyong-hui had been unclear. North Korea's KCNA news agency said on Saturday that she had been asked to prepare the funeral of Kim Kuk-thae, chairman of the control commission of the ruling Workers' party. The funeral committee list is one of few indications of North Korean officials' status.
Kim Kyong-hui is one of the few blood relatives of Kim Jong-il, who died in December 2011. North Korea will mark the second anniversary of his death on Tuesday.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/16/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
Apparently, DEAR AUNTIE was repor instrumental in helping KJU purge her own hubby.
#2
...Well, there's precedent - Stalin would routinely imprison/kill the family members of his inner circle while they enjoyed the good life. Just his way of saying, "Remember, thou art mortal.."
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
12/16/2013 5:18 Comments ||
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#3
Divorce NKOR style, maybe that Gangam style guy can make a video.
from Barbara Demick, one of the clear-eyed observers of North Korea in the MSM.
BEIJING -- North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's spectacularly public ouster of his uncle, Jang Song Taek, could bring about more political turmoil as the purge extends to Jang's coterie of powerful relatives and supporters. Reverberations are likely to be felt from Beijing to Havana.
The 67-year-old Jang, who married into the ruling family and has been a fixture in the country's hierarchy for decades, had installed his own blood relatives in the government and military. Jang's cronies ran the army-owned companies that control the lucrative trade at the Chinese border. His brother-in-law, Jon Yong Jin, was ambassador to Cuba, after serving previously in Iceland and Sweden.
Jon is believed to have been recalled, as has one of Jang's nephews, Jang Yong Chol, the ambassador to Malaysia until a few weeks ago.
Bet neither of them are too healthy right now...
"I don't think the churning at the top is over," said Marcus Noland, executive vice president of the Washington-based Peterson Institute for International Economics and a leading North Korea expert.
The family feud has been played out with unusual theatrical flair.
North Korean state television interrupted regular broadcasting Monday to show images of Jang Song Taek being yanked out of his seat at a special session of the ruling Workers' Party, an unprecedented public humiliation of a man who until recently was considered the nation's second-in-command.
Earlier in the day, the Korean Central News Agency had cited "anti-state and counterrevolutionary factional action" as the reason for Jang's fall. The agency also blasted him as leading a dissolute and corrupt life influenced by capitalism, womanizing, gambling and drug use.
All of which you could very likely say about all of the Nork leaders in the top circle, including (and especially) Pudgy...
North Korea watchers said the purge revealed the volatility inside the 2-year-old reign of Kim Jong Un, who became the world's youngest head of state when his father, Kim Jong Il, died in 2011. Just 30 now and in command of a crude nuclear arsenal, he has unnerved the international community with his impetuous behavior and eccentric friends, such as retired basketball player Dennis Rodman, who is due back in Pyongyang this month.
"The recent affairs seem to show that the Kim Jong Un regime has not stabilized yet. It's not easy for young Kim to establish a sole leadership in just two years," said Moon Hong-sik, a research fellow at the Institute for National Security Strategy in Seoul.
Kang Chol Hwan, a prominent North Korean defector, suggested that the purge was a risky move that could make Kim Jong Un vulnerable to a coup.
"If Kim wields his ax too indiscriminately to consolidate his grip on power, he could be paving the way for his own demise," he wrote in a column published Monday in Chosun Ilbo, a South Korean newspaper.
According to Kang, Jang commanded about 200,000 North Korean troops who reported to the Workers' Party Administration Department, which he headed. His connections extended into the army-controlled trading companies that procure most of North Korea's hard currency by trading across the border with China and elsewhere.
Jang's chief rival, Choe Ryong Hae, who has now become North Korea's second-in-command, "has purged many seasoned generals the troops respect, turning the military into a powder keg," Kang wrote.
He's also high on the chopping block, as Pudgy will shortly need a scapegoat...
Noland suggested, however, that despite such risks Kim must have been confident to act as he did. "If he is able to take out his uncle like that, it suggests he has a greater grip on power than people think," he said.
Alexandre Mansourov of the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University's Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies believes that Kim has proved himself as ruthless as his father.
"By eliminating Jang, Kim Jong Un has proven that he reigns supreme and is a formidable presence to be discounted only at one's own peril. He knows his way around the dog-eat-dog world of North Korea," Mansourov wrote Monday for the institute's online publication 38 North. "Clearly, Kim Jong Un outwitted Jang, who must have known very well what could happen to the mentor of supreme leader when his apprentice outgrows him and therefore schemed tirelessly to secure his long-term position, but to no avail.''
Debonair and well-traveled, at least by the standards of the reclusive communist government, Jang was perceived for years as the main conduit to the Chinese leadership and an advocate for Chinese-style reform and economic opening. North Korea's ambassador to China, Ji Jae Ryong, is considered another Jang protege.
Jang was also believed to be in favor of protecting Kim Jong Nam, the current leader's older brother, who was shunted aside in the succession and is now thought to be living in Macao under Chinese protection.
Jang's "perceived close ties with China may have done a disservice to his standing in the eye of Kim, exposed him to criticism of being too subservient to China, and made him vulnerable to any anti-China backlash in Pyongyang," wrote Mansourov.
In the public accusations against Jang, KCNA accused him of corruption in the border trade and of "throwing the state financial management system into confusion and committing such acts of treachery as selling off precious resources of the country at cheap prices."
The first clues of the turmoil within North Korea came last week when South Korean intelligence reported the public execution in November of two of Jang's confidants, Ri Yong Ha and Jang Soo Kil.
Makes you wonder why Jang didn't hightail it right then, unless he was already detained and the public photos were just for show...
Last week, TV news channel YTN in Seoul reported that one of Jang's closest confidants escaped to China two months ago and reached out to the South Korean government to seek asylum, citing a source familiar with the matter. According to the report, the confidant was in charge of managing Jang's slush fund and is being protected by the South Korean intelligence agency.
He needs to be wrung out like the proverbial tube of toothpaste. For example, where is Pudgy hiding all his cash and resources? And how can we snatch it from under him?
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/16/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
See also BIGNEWSNETWORK > [National Post] NORTH KOREA'S SCRAMBLE TO JUSTIFY EXECUTION OF KIM JONG-UN'S [beloved?]UNCLE [is] ALSO A SHOCKING ADMISSION THAT THE KIM FAMILY WASN'T IN TOTAL CONTROL.
and
* JAPAN TIMES > [Yonhap] NORTH KOREAN LEAFLETS THREATEN ASSAULT ON [SoKor-held front-line island] BAEONGNYEONG ISLAND.
versus
* BIGNEWSNETWORK > [Business Week] IS NORTH KOREA UNWINDING TIES WID CHINA?
* RELATED BHARAT RAKSHAK > [TIME.com = SCMP] KIM JONG-UN'S PURGE OF HIS UNCLE MAY TEST CHINA TIES.
* SAME, TOPIX > CHINA'S NEW AIR ZONE COULD DEEPEN ISOLATION OF NORTH KOREA.
In NOKOR's view, good or bad, war or peace, benign or despotic, etc. the outcomes for NOKOR ends up broadly or subjectively the same, i.e. IN CHINESE STATE DOMINATION IFF NOT DE FACTO CHINESE STATE TAKEOVER OF NORTH KOREA.
As per SecState Jaawhn Kerry's remarks on the unacceptability of NOKOR possessing Nuclear Weapons, NORTH KOREA = BAMMERIKA'S NEW BFF IN SYRIA RISING IRAN = RANT-N-RAVE IN RIGHTEOUS, PCOOORRECT-DENIABLE INDIGNATION, ETC. AGZ THE DPRK'S NUCPROGS WHILE COVERTLY BREAKING ANOTHER US "RED LINE" TO ENSURE NOKOR GETS ITS NUKES.
Again, as per INTER-KOREAN COOP + REUNIFICATION, + the post-911/GWOT US agendum of having Regional allies be responsible for many Cold War-era security roles [US-led GMD-TMD], it is in the US-Allies interests for NOKOR to SSSSHHHHHH .... CCCCCCC HAVE NUCLEAR WEAPONS AGZ CHINA.
BUT D *** NG IT, YOUSE DIDN'T HEAR IT FROM THEM - DON'T YOUSE FERGIT WHAT THEY NEVER EVAR! TOLD YOUSE!
[MISSION IMPOSSIBLE = "GOOD MORNING MR. PHELPS ... ... THIS TAPE WILL SELF-DESTRUCT IN 15 SECONDS"].
SEOUL -- North Korea has begun to sell large amounts of gold to China in a bid to tide over its economic crisis, multiple sources familiar with North Korea affairs said Wednesday. The disposal could be an indication of an imminent economic collapse as it goes against founding leader Kim Il-sung's order to never sell the country's gold, according to the sources.
"Since several months ago, North Korea has begun to sell even its gold," one source said, asking that he not be identified. "Overseas sales of gold are a barometer of whether the North Korean economy is in a crisis or not."
It is the first time that North Korea has sold gold since its leader Kim Jong-un took power in late 2011 following the death of his father Kim Jong-il, the sources added. Kim Il-sung is the current leader's grandfather.
According to South Korean government data, North Korea holds about 2,000 tons of gold reserves worth at least US$8 billion.
North Korea's economic situation is expected to worsen following the recent purge of Jang Song-thaek -- Kim Jong-un's once-powerful uncle and guardian -- as he had handled all economic projects with foreign countries, another source said.
He also handled most of the economic links with China.
An economic collapse in North Korea could lead to greater economic cooperation with South Korea but also increase the risk of a military provocation against the South, experts said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/16/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
I think 2000 tons is worth closer to 80 billion if I carried the naughts right...thats a lot of gold fer a little pissant country.
This is like using your savings to get you through a crisis. But to prevent yourself being destitute you have to have an income stream where you can start refilling your empty bathtub.
Does NK HAVE an income stream that they can start using to rebuild their gold reserve? How long will it take?
The drain is about to gurgle as the last of the foul bathwater disappears into the sewer.
A formally reunified democratic DPRK-ROK is in America's historical interest - UNFORTUNATELY, THE SAME IS ALSO IN ANTI-US, OWG MARXIST-GLOBALIST, SOCIALIST INTERESTS.
North Korea = Bammerika's new BFF IN Syria Rising Iran. Iff the DPRK had been allowed to reunify wid the ROK = South Korea back in 1989, or just after the official collapse of the then-USSR IN 1991, it could in 2013 + BEYOND be a viable Globalist candidate for OWG "Co-Superpower" hood like Rising Iran. IN TIME BEING, ANY FUTURE UNIFIED KOREA, LIKELY DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST + PREFERABLE NUKULAAR, AS IT SLOWLY PAINFULLY MODERNIZES WILL HAVE TO SETTLE FOR BEING A MAJOR ECON PLAYER IN PROPOSED OWG "ASIAN UNION" + RELATED.
To achieve both OWG-NWO + formal inter-Korean reunification, the BALANCE OF POWER, ORDER IN NE ASIA MUST BE CHANGED - however, to do so is VERY VERY V-E-R-Y MILPOL OR GEOPOL DANGEROUS FOR ANY + ALL PARTIES = GOVTS-STATES CONCERNED. This is where US-vs-China brinkmanship, mil confrontation + possible conflict, + POTUS Bammer breaking his own "red lines" comes in.
IMO the bulk of mainstream, Civie America is NOT ready yet for OWG-NWO or Globalist world-sharing. Amers are still "Nationalists" or "Isolationists" in many ways IN CONTRAST TO THE GOVTCRITTERS IN Washington DC + AROUND THE WORLD. IFF THE US IS TO GIVE UP EAST ASIA + 1/2 OF THE PACIFIC TO OWG + "GLOBALISM"-LED "CO-SUPERPOWER" SHARING, THEY WILL DEMAND TO KNOW THE REASONS WHY FROM OUR LEADERS IN WASHINGTON, PUBLICLY + OVERTLY.
There may indeed be Anarchy + Open Rebellion, as Americans will NOT accept being told that their country cannot contemporarily afford to go to war or defend its Allies, Interests anymore ONLY TO DISCOVER OR FIND OUT THAT ITS REALLY ALA ANTI-US OWG SCHEMAS PLANNED MANY YEARS + DECADES AGO.
> PULLOUT FROM US MILBASES IN SOUTH KOREA + JAPAN?
> LOSS OF GUAM-WESTPAC?
> LOSS OF HAWAII-EASTPAC?
> LOSS OF 1/2 OF CONUS-NORAM TO CHINA FOR THE LATTER'S "LIVING SPACE"?
> US CANNOT DEFEND EITHER ITSELF OR ITS ALLIES, ETC. BECUZ IT HAS NO DOMESTIC ECON ANYMORE BECUZ THE ITS DOMESTIC ECON IS DE FACTO CONTROLLED BY OTHER NATIONS INCLUD RIVALS?
"GREAT GAME" SPEAK > "1/2" = "MOST", OR "ALL"???
"GREAT GAME" VERSUS OWG "GLOBALISM" = THE US WILL REMAIN A "SOLE" GLOBAL SUPERPOWER, OR "JUST ONE OF MANY" PAR IN THE OWG-NWO = SPACE GOVT-ORDER???
Lest we fergit, behind Rising China is ["Young Turk"] NUCLEAR RISING RADICAL ISLAM/GLOBAL ISLAM.
What applies to "post-US" wannabe Rising China will similarly apply to Nuclear Rising/Global Islam.
THE PROVERBIAL CLOCK IS TICKING AS TO HOW MUCH LONGER THE SUPERPOWER USA WILL STAY IN EAST ASIA + PACIFIC, + HOW MUCH POWER-N-INFLUENCE IN SAME IT WILL STILL HAVE AFTER THE GLOBALIST AGENDA IS COMPLETE.
#6
How could one guy like Jang screw up a country so bad that they would have to sell off gold reserves to stay afloat? What next? Sell off infrastructure or something like that?
First successful nuclear test was more than four years ago.
Secretary of State John Kerry told ABC News in an interview that North Korea "potentially" having a nuclear weapon would be "even more unacceptable." North Korea first tested its nuclear weapons capabilities in 2006 and had a more successful test in 2009. The country's most recent nuclear test was earlier this year.
ABC News journalist Martha Raddatz asked Kerry, who was in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, about the execution of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un's uncle.
"I mean it really reminded me of -- of a video that we saw of Saddam Hussein doing the same thing, having people plucked out of an audience and people sitting there sweating and nobody daring to move or do anything," said Kerry, according to the transcript provided by ABC News. "Um, this is the nature of this ruthless, horrendous dictatorship and of his insecurities. And -- and I think we -- we need to factor that into the urgency of getting China, Russia, Japan, South Korea, all of us, uh, to stay on the same page and to put as much effort into the denuclearization as possible. To have a nuclear weapon, potentially, in the hands of somebody like Kim Jong In -- Jun -- just becomes even more unacceptable."
This article was originally posted back on January 9. But as the editor points out, events since then have born out the author's points.
The author posits that fat boy North Korea has positioned itself as ferocious "by appearing to have, or to be on the verge of having, devastating power." Certainly, thousands of artillery pieces aimed at Seoul and the occasional shelling elsewhere have helped.
Second, they positioned themselves as being weak such that no matter how ferocious they are, there would be no point in pushing them because they are going to collapse anyway. And third, they positioned themselves as crazy, meaning pushing them would be dangerous since they were liable to engage in the greatest risks imaginable at the slightest provocation.
The article then shifts to "The China Angle and the Iranian Pupil". The Chinese may be using North Korea to further their aim of territorial expansion against the Japanese.
"It is impossible for us to know what the Chinese are thinking, and we have no overt basis for assuming the Chinese and North Koreans are collaborating, but we do note that China has taken an increasing interest in stabilizing North Korea. For its part, North Korea has tended to stage these crises -- and their subsequent Chinese interventions -- at quite useful times for Beijing."
Iran has been the best pupil of the Ferocious, Weak and Crazy strategy. "Additionally, Iran's rhetoric at times can certainly be considered crazy: Tehran has carefully cultivated perceptions that it would wage nuclear war even if this meant the death of all Iranians. Like North Korea, Iran also has managed to retain its form of government and its national sovereignty. Endless predictions of the fall of the Islamic republic to a rising generation have proved false." The west needs to find a more effective way to counter this strategy.
#1
Neither the DPRK nor Rising China is interested in maintaining the Cold War-esque "status quo" in NE Asia anymore - SOMETHING M-U-S-T CHANGE NOW, BE IT PEACEFULLY DIPLOMATICALLY, OR BY REGIONAL OR WORLD WAR.
I'm highly curious as to what kind of diplomatic offers or concessions, etc. that the Bammer, SecState Jaawhn, + Caroline Kennedy could make to China that will PERMANENTLY prevent a NE Asia war, or worse.
There is no sign that China is willing to give up, delay, or amend its "post-US" Manifest Destiny as the world's one-n-only successor in global leadership to the "weak/declining" USA Superpower, whilst the OWG "Co-Superpower" agendum aka Pacific-sharing will be all but impossible for China to attain short-of-war andor covert [read, PDeniable], unilateral, de facto US withdrawal towards Hawaii + EASTPAC.
Given its ambitions, the only rationale I can see for post-US wannabe Rising China to maintain the status quo or accept econ concessions, ee to NOT in engage in NT mil conflict, is TO HELP ASSURE THE ELECTION ANOTHER ANTI-US GLOBALIST AS OBAMA'S POST-JAN. 2017 POTUS SUCCESSOR, TO INCLUDE ADMIN/CABINET MEMBERS [read, FUTURE POTUSES]. China desires a DE FACTO PERMAMENT solution to its strategic access issues, NOT A TEMPORARY ONE THAT IS SUBJECT TO CHANGES IN POTUS ADMINS EVERY 4-8 YEARS.
As for the DPRK, the Sino-Japan Crisis + other invol Beijing must be a godsend to it. IT IS NOT IN EITHER THE DRPK OR ROK'S INTEREST, AS "SOLE" SEPARATE NATIONS OR REUNIFIED, TO REMAIN SUBORNED TO CHINA even IFF THE US GIVES UP EAST CHINA + 1/2 OF THE PACIFIC TO CHINA AS PER THE OWG-NWO GLOBALIST "CO-SUPERPOWER" AGENDA.
Unfortunately, unless the Taiwan issue can be resolved ASAP AMAP ALAP in China's favor, as things stand its actually in the DPRK's covert strategic interest for anti-China major war to break out in both the ECS + SCS [India?] AS NORTH KOREA'S PERIORITY IS PREVENTING CHINESE STATE TAKEOVER BY ANY + ALL MEANS NECESSARY.
National Security Agency officials are considering a controversial amnesty that would return Edward Snowden to the United States, in exchange for the extensive document trove the whistleblower took from the agency.
No. You could never trust that he'd turn over the entire trove.
An amnesty, which does not have the support of the State Department, would represent a surprising denouement to an international drama that has lasted half a year. It is particularly unexpected from a surveillance agency that has spent months insisting that Snowdens disclosures have caused vast damage to US national security.
The NSA official in charge of assessing the alleged damage caused by Snowdens leaks, Richard Ledgett, told CBS News an amnesty still remains controversial within the agency, which has spent the past six months defending itself against a global outcry and legislative and executive proposals to restrain its broad surveillance activities.
My personal view is, yes, its worth having a conversation about, Ledgett, who is under consideration to become the agencys top civilian, said in an interview slated to air Sunday evening on 60 Minutes. I would need assurances that the remainder of the data could be secured, and my bar for those assurances would be very high. It would be more than just an assertion on his part.
Snowden is in Russia, having been granted a year-long asylum that has sparked international intrigue. In June, the Justice Department filed a criminal complaint charging the 30-year old former contractor with theft of government property, unauthorized communication of national defense information and wilful communication of classified communications intelligence information to an unauthorized person, although he has not yet been indicted.
Any amnesty would have to come through the Justice Department, which did not respond to a request for comment.
The NSAs director, General Keith Alexander, told CBS that granting Snowden amnesty would reward the leaks and potentially incentivize future ones. But Alexander is retiring in the spring, joining his civilian deputy John C Inglis, and Ledgett is rumored to be a top candidate to replace Inglis.
On Sunday, the State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said that Ledgett was stating a personal view.
Our position has not changed, Harf said. Mr Snowden is facing very serious charges and should return to the United States to face them.
Alexanders predecessor at the NSA, retired Air Force General Michael Hayden, also rejected an amnesty for Snowden.
I wouldnt do it. That simply motivates future Snowdens, said Hayden, who began the bulk collection of Americans phone and internet metadata in 2001 as a response to 9/11 that was initially unknown and unauthorized by Congress and the courts.
But Hayden also said that Snowden had kickstarted an important debate in the US about the appropriate balance between liberty and security.
Snowden was important. He accelerated a debate, he misshaped the debate, but the debate was coming, Hayden said, on NBC.
Snowden told the New York Times in October that he divested himself of the documents before leaving Hong Kong for Russia, which he suggested was a preventive measure to keep the documents out of the hands of Russian intelligence. Lack of access to the documents, which are now in the hands of journalists, would likely complicate the assurances Ledgett indicated the government would require for any amnesty.
The NSA does not believe that Snowdens documents have escaped the collection capabilities of its Russian and Chinese counterparts; a senior official told the New York Times on Saturday that the government may never know how much material Snowden took from the agency.
The Guardian continues to publish surveillance stories based on Snowdens leaks, as do the Washington Post and other news organizations around the world, aided by the former Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald and Laura Poitras, the two journalists who maintain possession of the entire Snowden data trove.
That the Guardian, a certified U.S.-hating news agency, has access to the documents should tell us all we need to know.
Ledgett told Reuters that the NSA is worried about the large majority of documents the agency believes to have been taken by Snowden that news organizations have not yet published.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/16/2013 00:00 ||
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#3
It doesn't matter about him anymore. Since the NSA was so incompetent as to not be able to know what is loose, they, and we, need to make him a deal he can't refuse to get access to whatever he has. Only then can we do the programmatic triage to clean up the mess.
It is virtually certain that in some number of months or possibly years, everything in his "doomsday cache" will be decrypted by a foreign power. The sooner we can start fixing the problems that will cause the better for the U.S.
Besides, once we bring him back to America, vindicated in his eyes, he will quickly be consumed by popularity and his personal entertainment needs. He will become the spectacle that he wants to be.
#4
#3 He will become the spectacle that he wants to be.
Yes! May I suggest one condition (besides full cooperation)?
Meet Eddie, who's lived most everywhere,
Geneva, Hawaii, Hong Kong, Red Square,
But Georgie's only seen the sights
A watchman sees on rainy nights --
What a crazy pair!
But stuff happens,
Hermetical cousins in disarray.
One pair of rolling cannons,
Different as night and day.
Where Eddie adores a pole artiste,
And seeing big secrets get released,
Our Georgie loves to rock and roll
And shot a thug out for a stroll --
They're free for now, at least!
They're like cousins,
Long-lost lonely cousins, much maligned:
They think alike, they drink alike,
They both could use a shrink alike --
You'll wish you were blind,
Watching cousins, sharing secrets, confined!
WASHINGTON: More than two and a half years after US commandos shot dead al Qaeda figurehead Osama bin Laden, the global extremist network is more dangerous than ever, American experts and counterterrorism officials warned this week.
Really? That's not what Champ was saying not so long ago...
Thanks notably to a flood of recruits flowing to join al Qaeda-linked forces fighting in Syrias civil war, the group is back on its feet, and securing territory from which it could once more threaten Europe and the United States. Bin Ladens former lieutenants in al Qaedas historic leadership have been killed by US Special Forces or in drone strikes, or else are isolated and on the run in the tribal badlands on the Afghan-Pakistan border.
But armed groups in Syria, Somalia, Yemen, Libya and West Africa have flocked to his banner and al Qaeda is rebuilding its influence and recruiting fighters across the region. Their leadership has been hit very hard, but this brand is still growing. And its growing from an increased number of safe havens, said retired US Marine Corps general James Mattis. Between 2010 and earlier this year, Mattis led US Central Command, in charge of prosecuting Washingtons long war against extremists in the Middle East, Southwest Asia and the Horn of Africa.
Now he has hung up his uniform, but admits the war is far from over, warning: The congratulations that we heard two years ago on the demise of al Qaeda were premature and are now discredited. Speaking at the Jamestown Foundations annual conference on terrorism in Washington, Mattis said: Al Qaeda is resilient, they adapted. We have to think strategically before we act, not only act tactically. Bin Ladens death in May 2011 triggered a wave of optimism that the United States and its allies might have broken the back of the militant threat, but today officials here are under no illusions.
Since the audacious commando strike that took out al Qaedas apparently largely symbolic chieftain, the black banner of his movement has been raised more widely than ever. Militants inspired by or linked to bin Ladens armed struggle have sacked a US consulate in Libya and stormed a shopping mall in Kenya. Attacks are on the rise once again in Iraq, al Qaeda has reportedly begun operating in Egypts Sinai Desert and violent groups are now the most powerful elements in the rebel coalition fighting in the Syrian civil war.
Bruce Hoffman, director of the Center for Peace and Security Studies at Georgetown University, told the Jamestown conference that collapsing states in the Middle East were opening up space for extremists. The oxygen that al Qaeda depends on is access to sanctuaries and safe haven. And unfortunately over the past two years it gained greater access to more ungoverned spaces, he said. The success of the attack in Nairobi and earlier in Mumbai suggests that this groups have now within their capacity the ability to fulfil one of Bin Ladens last commands or operational desires, which was to stage Mumbai-style attacks in Europe.
For the experts gathered in Washington, Syrias civil war which has attracted militant volunteers from Muslim communities in Europe as well as Arab countries has worked greatly to al Qaedas advantage. The al Qaeda-affiliated groups have created an alliance which disposes of 45,000 guerrilla fighters across the country, said David Kilcullen, a renowned counterinsurgency expert who has advised US forces in the field. Its a very significant number, almost twice as many as we see in terms of Taliban fighters in Afghanistan, he said. Were seeing a recovery on all fronts for al Qaeda.
For Bruce Riedel, a three-decade CIA veteran who now works for the Brookings Institution, al Qaedas resurgence is proof that it has managed to ride out and ultimately profit from the revolts that have roiled the Middle East and North Africa. Al Qaedas narrative was challenged in 2011 by the Arab Spring. Peaceful demonstrations succeeded in toppling dictators. Al Qaedas narrative was at risk. Terror had not produced change, Twitter had, Riedel said.
But today, everything is different. Al Qaedas narrative is validated in 2013, most notably in Egypt. The counterrevolution has succeeded, the army has overthrown the elected government. For those who want to join al Qaedas movement, events in Cairo, in Damascus have validated what they long said: Jihad is the only solution to the problem of change in the Muslim world today.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/16/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
That's why FUTURE OWG "CO-SUPERPOWER" RISING IRAN is now Bammerika's new BFF in Syria agz the Qaeda Boyz, + by extension so is Iran ally Baby Assad.
The good news is that the Global Jihad hasn't exploded in East-Central-South Asia yet - ITS STILL BUDDING, THUS SYRIA-STYLE "FIGHTING AL-QAEDA" OR OTHER FOREIGN TERROR GROUP IS UNLIKELY TO BE THE REASON THAT ANY SINO-JAPAN, ETAL. US-VS-CHINA WAR IN EAST ASIA DID NOT OCCUR.
Any China-vs-Japan/Everybody war in East Asia, etc. will be about pro-China-ve-anti-China "strategic access" + overseas PLA Milbases, NOT terror threats from the Qaeda Boyz = Radical Islam.
#2
But, but ... This can't be true. The Anointed One promised me! (just like he promised I could keep my insurance). I remember those bumper stickers: "Obama dead, GM alive"
Obama wouldn't lie to me would he???
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
12/16/2013 12:05 Comments ||
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[New York Post] After the 9/11 attacks, the public was told al Qaeda acted alone, with no state sponsors. Per me, nearly all international terrorism is "state sponsored". What say you, Prince Bandar Bin Sultan Abdulaziz ?
But the White House never let it see an entire section of Congress investigative report on 9/11 dealing with specific sources of foreign support for the 19 hijackers, 15 of whom were Saudi nationals. It was kept secret and remains so today. Well, sort of.
President Bush inexplicably censored 28 full pages of the 800-page report. Text isnt just blacked-out here and there in this critical-yet-missing middle section. The pages are completely blank, except for dotted lines where an estimated 7,200 words once stood (this story by comparison is about 1,000 words). Bush did it? Initialed the redactions did he ?
A pair of lawmakers who recently read the redacted portion say they are absolutely shocked at the level of foreign state involvement in the attacks. Shocked I tell you! Shocked !
Reps. Walter Jones (R-NC) and Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.) cant reveal the nation identified by it without violating federal law. So theyve proposed Congress pass a resolution asking President Obama to declassify the entire 2002 report, Joint Inquiry Into Intelligence Community Activities Before and After the Terrorist Attacks of September 11, 2001. Good luck with that.
Some information already has leaked from the classified section, which is based on both CIA and FBI documents, and it points back to Saudi Arabia, a presumed ally. Tell me again please, Saudi Arabia was the legal home of record for how many of the 9/11 bombers? Oh, there it is, 15 of 19. Thank you.
The Saudis deny any role in 9/11, but the CIA in one memo reportedly found incontrovertible evidence that Saudi government officials not just wealthy Saudi hardliners, but high-level diplomats and intelligence officers employed by the kingdom helped the hijackers both financially and logistically. The intelligence files cited in the report directly implicate the Saudi embassy in Washington and consulate in Los Angeles in the attacks, making 9/11 not just an act of terrorism, but an act of war. The article continues, but as you might expect, it fails to get any better.
Posted by: Paul D ||
12/16/2013 7:03 Comments ||
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#4
The answer is why?
For the Saudis because once we get alternative energy source they will become a footnote in history unless Islma is as strong as possible
About Pakistan because it is a mosaic of peoples who hate one another and whose only bond is Islam. So the more Islam, and the more fascist the better for Pakistan and its rulers.
#5
I believe there was a story in mid-2000's where an al-qaeda operative was detained but not cooperating. They bagged him and made him believe he was now in the custody of Saudi Arabia. He quickly cooperated and began giving cell phone numbers of a Saudi prince (who later died in the desert) and the head of Pakistan Air Force (who later died in a plane crash). Maybe the Rantburg historin can find the article.
In all seriousness, I do have an answer. However, it is rather involved and would run into paragraphs. You would not read it. And in any case, you really don't want an answer.
#9
Islam is, and has been, at war against everything not Islam, since its creation. We ignore that fact at our peril. Read Tom Kratmann's "Caliphate". While it's "fiction", there is a great deal of fact in it. It's well past time to fight back, and without both our hands tied behind us and one foot in a bucket. Forget the "civilized war" nonsense and crush the &&^$&%^$ back to being a few families huddled in caves, mostly without even fire. It's the only thing that will stop them.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/16/2013 14:31 Comments ||
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#10
Reps. Walter Jones (R-NC) and Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.) can't reveal the nation identified by it without violating federal law.
How about listing all the countries that weren't involved?
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation criticized Moro National Liberation Front founding chairman Nur Misuari for masterminding a three-week hostage siege in Zamboanga City in September. The siege left more than 200 people dead and displaced some 120,000 people.
A high-level diplomat who attended the recently concluded meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers in Guinea, said OIC Secretary General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu called for a closed-door meeting to discuss the Zamboanga attack.
"Secretary General Ihsanoglu said Misuari made a 'wrong move' when he resorted to violence in trying to assert his cause," the source said in an e-mail interview.
The OIC also adopted a resolution saying the loss of innocent lives and property during the MNLF attack was "deplorable". The resolution also "called upon member states and Islamic relief organizations to help generously in the efforts of relief and reconstruction operation to allow the quick return of the many thousand displaced people to their homes and to compensate the victims."
The organization has yet to comment on the petition of other MNLF groups who want to have Misuari replaced as the sole representative of the Bangsamoro people before the OIC.
The OIC earlier expressed its full support for the peace talks between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front even as it called for an "integration" of the MILF and MNLF peace efforts.
Posted by: ryuge ||
12/16/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
"Secretary General Ihsanoglu said Misuari made a 'wrong move' when he resorted to violence in trying to assert his cause"
Misauri's "cause" was extortion. Manila had reached an agreement with Misauri some years ago which included a significant cash infusion. Apparent the MNLF leader was either running out of cash or needed to prove his "fund raising" chops in order to maintain his position.
The first United Nations aid flight from Iraq to Syria took off on Sunday after being delayed for several days due to bad weather. The plane departed the Arbil airport in Iraqs autonomous Kurdish region about 3.30pm (1230 GMT), and was expected to arrive in Qamishli in northeastern Syria about 40 minutes later.
Over the next few days, we will be sending to Qamishli... 400 tonnes of food, Abeer Etefa, senior Middle East spokeswoman for the UN World Food Programme, said.
The flight that left on Sunday was carrying about 40 metric tonnes of aid, Etefa said. The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) and childrens agency Unicef were also to send aid into Syria via air.
The airlift, which has been given the go-ahead by both the Syrian and Iraqi governments, was initially expected to begin on Thursday, but was delayed by a storm that shuttered the airport in Qamishli.
The civil war between forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Al Assad and rebels seeking his overthrow has raged for 33 months and killed more than 126,000 people. But Kurdish-majority areas of the countrys northeast were relatively quiet until clashes broke out this year between Kurds and jihadist rebels, pushing tens of thousands of Syrian Kurds across the border into Iraqs autonomous Kurdistan region.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/16/2013 00:00 ||
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Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says the retired FBI agent, who went missing in Iran in 2007, is not incarcerated in the country, Press TV reported.
"We know that he is not incarcerated in Iran. If he is, he is not incarcerated by the government and I believe the government runs a pretty much good control of the country," said the Iranian foreign minister on Sunday, referring to Robert Levinson, who disappeared during a visit to Iran's southern Kish Island in the Persian Gulf in March 2007.
Zarif added that if Iran finds any trace of him, it will then discuss his return.
He then snickered loudly as he walked away from the microphone...
Earlier in the day, head of the press office of Iran's mission to the United Nations in New York Alireza Miryousefi sent an e-mail to the Associated Press, in which he said the US officials "should explain about Levinson's mission in Iranian soil. They are responsible and should respond."
After withholding the story for three years, the AP revealed on December 12 that Levinson had actually been recruited by the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to run unauthorized espionage operations.
On Saturday, White House spokesman, Jay Carney, slammed the AP for revealing Levinson's mission and called the New York-based wire service "highly irresponsible."
The White House's displeasure with the disclosure comes as the US State Department always insisted that Levinson was "a private citizen" who had traveled to Kish on "private business."
"If your mission is compromised the Secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions."
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/16/2013 00:00 ||
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On Saturday, White House spokesman, Jay Carney, slammed the AP for revealing Levinson's mission and called the New York-based wire service "highly irresponsible."
Obama justified his Libyan War to the American people by claiming that people of Benghazi were in danger from Gaddafi. After he succeeded in overthrowing Gaddafi, Benghazi reverted to its radical roots and became a city run by terrorist militias leading to the murder of four Americans.
Every week, about a dozen Syrians arrive at Benghazis airport for whats described as insurgent training. When they fly out, theyre carrying fake Libyan passports, according to three officials familiar with the comings and goings of foreigners at the airport.
The accounts of the officials, who asked to remain anonymous because of the sensitivity of the topic, are more evidence that this city in Libya has become a regional hub for Islamist extremists seeking to hone their combat skills.
It also raises questions about the role of Libyas homegrown militia, Ansar al Shariah, in the global jihadi movement. Ansar al Shariah has its roots in the anti-Gadhafi uprising and its thought to have participated in the attack last year on U.S. facilities in Benghazi that killed the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans. Any effort to train al Qaida-linked fighters here is unlikely to have gone forward without the backing of Ansar al Shariah, experts in the organization say.
Airport authorities cant stop them because they themselves fear the repercussions of confronting militants. As one employee explained, pointing to an immigration official: He is with Ansar al Shariah.
Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan conceded in a recent interview with The Washington Post that government investigations have turned up Tunisians, Algerians, Sudanese and Nigerians undergoing training in Benghazi.
Clearly Obamas plan to overthrow Gaddafi and replace him with the fun-loving LIFG and other Muslim Brotherhood militias with historical ties to Al Qaeda was a good decision that is working out really well.
#2
It was a Muslim Brotherhood hub for quite some time. Makes sense that there'd be a change, now that the White House is cultivating relationships with Tehran.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
The Yemeni parliament on Sunday approved a ban on U.S. drones in the country after dozens of civilians were killed by the unmanned aircraft, the official Saba news agency reported. The parliament stressed the importance of protecting innocent citizens from any airstrike as well as preserving Yemen's sovereignty, Saba said, citing a statement of the legislature.
SEOUL -- North Korea has begun to sell large amounts of gold to China in a bid to tide over its economic crisis, multiple sources familiar with North Korea affairs said Wednesday. The disposal could be an indication of an imminent economic collapse as it goes against founding leader Kim Il-sung's order to never sell the country's gold, according to the sources.
First successful nuclear test was more than four years ago.
This article was originally posted back on January 9. But as the editor points out, events since then have born out the author's points.
National Security Agency officials are considering a controversial amnesty that would return Edward Snowden to the United States, in exchange for the extensive document trove the whistleblower took from the agency.
WASHINGTON: More than two and a half years after US commandos shot dead al Qaeda figurehead Osama bin Laden, the global extremist network is more dangerous than ever, American experts and counterterrorism officials warned this week.
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation criticized Moro National Liberation Front founding chairman Nur Misuari for masterminding a three-week hostage siege in Zamboanga City in September. The siege left more than 200 people dead and displaced some 120,000 people.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says the retired FBI agent, who went missing in Iran in 2007, is not incarcerated in the country, Press TV reported.
