[Breaking Defense] James Kitfield: DIA is tracking global crises from Ukraine to the Mideast to North Korea and the Western Pacific. Have you ever seen so many crises occurring simultaneously?
Flynn: No. I come into this office every morning, and other than a short jog to clear my head, I spend two to three hours reading intelligence reports. I will frankly tell you that what I see each day is the most uncertain, chaotic and confused international environment that I've witnessed in my entire career. There were probably more dangerous times such as when the Nazis and [Japanese] Imperialists were trying to dominate the world, but we're in another very dangerous era. We rightfully talk about the last decade being the longest war in American history, for instance, but when we pull combat troops out of Afghanistan at the end of this year, it's not going to feel like that war is over. To me, it feels like we'll be facing a familiar threat and heightened uncertainty for a long time yet. I hope and pray someone is listening.
We are, and I'm sure there are others here and there. Some of them will be in a position to do something when the time comes, just as some were ready to provision the Kurds -- just in time.
#1
Seems like Flynn has a clear view of the threats. If Obumble did not have such a huge ego, he might have considered keeping McChrystal on the job also.
#4
They are leaving early because the empty suit and his "Top Men" did not like the message they were getting from the DIA.
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
08/10/2014 11:37 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Secretary Powell, please disregard that nonsensical DIA report penned by a team of high-ranking WMD experts, who actually spent 2 weeks examining the trailers. Just show them this Klingon approved slide. The Director has your back.
#6
Obama has been a disaster. Our press would pound a Republican that had screwed up this much this badly. But nary a critical peep. When the big hit comes, I hope it hits the editors and reporters who willingly blinded the nation, or else we will have to hang them ourselves in the aftermath.
[BBC] French forces have bombed Islamist Lion of Islam positions in northern Mali.
Four or five bombs were dropped in the Esssakane region, west of the city of Timbuktu on Sunday morning, the BBC's Alex Duval Smith in Mali reports.
The UN has said al-Qaeda hard boyz were active in the area. Last month Timbuktu airport came under rocket attack.
La Belle France intervened in Mali in January last year to try to drive out al-Qaeda-linked groups, which had taken over the north of the country.
Last month the French government said it was setting up a new military operation to stop the emergence of jihadist groups in the Sahel region ... North Africa's answer to the Pak tribal areas... of Africa.
Both ethnic Tuareg separatists and al-Qaeda-linked hard boyz are operating in northern Mali.
Tuareg rebels agreed a ceasefire with Mali's government in May, and the two have been holding peace talks in Algeria.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/10/2014 12:04 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under: Mourabitounes
#1
Is this like, end of Ramadan and the beginning of the bombing season?
[Iran Press TV] The Egyptian army says it has killed 60 holy warriors in its operations across the Sinai Peninsula over the past 12 days amid increasing attacks against security personnel in the volatile region.
According to Egyptian media, Egypt's armed forces announced on Saturday that they had tossed in the clink Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out! 102 other people suspected of being involved in the deadly bully boy assaults in the northern Sinai Peninsula.
Egyptian security forces also said they had discovered three vehicles carrying 650 kilograms of cannabis, commonly known as marijuana, during their military operations in the restive region.
The Sinai has long been considered a safe haven for holy warriors who use the region as a base for terror activities. In recent months, the remote desert region has been the scene of growing violence and bully boy attacks on security forces.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/10/2014 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under: Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis
It's been a wild ride, but now that area of things is back to where it started.
[GULFTODAY.AE] An Egyptian court on Saturday ordered the dissolution of the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), the political wing of the already banned Moslem Brüderbund movement.
The Supreme Administrative Court, in its ruling on Saturday, ordered "the dissolution of the Freedom and Justice Party because it broke the law regarding political parties."
"The party and the Moslem Brüderbund are the same thing" and "its members have committed deeds of violence and acts or terror against the nation," state news agency Mena quoted the prosecution case as stating.
The court said the group's assets are to be liquidated and handed over to the state, calling on the cabinet to form a committee to oversee the process.
According to media reports, the decision is final and not open to appeal.
The party's legal counsel denounced the ruling as "an episode in the series of the counter revolution," in a statement posed on the party's website.
The official criticised that the court decision could not be appealed.
Samia Mehrez, an official in the Red Sea province, said that local authorities and the security forces had burned "a number of Brotherhood books and literature" located at a public library in the resort town of Hurghada.
She said the 36 books had been donated to the library during the one-year presidency of Mohammed Mursi.
The court, headed by Judge Fareed Tanaghu, said the party's affiliation with a supra-national group -- the Moslem Brüderbund and its international branch -- undermined "national unity, social peace, the democratic system and threatened Egypt's national security."
The court also said that by calling the military overthrow of Mursi a "coup" rather than a popular revolution, the party was breaking with national unity and worked to destabilise the country.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/10/2014 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under: Arab Spring
[Washington Post] A U.S. drone strike on a house in central Yemen killed three suspected al-Qaeda Death Eaters, Yemeni security officials said.
The officials said the aircraft struck the house in the Obeida Valley in Marib province, where al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has a strong presence. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press.
A website affiliated with the Yemeni al-Qaeda branch meanwhile confirmed earlier reports that hard boyz had killed 14 soldiers on Friday near the city of Shibam in the eastern Hadramawt province.
The website published pictures of the hard boyz checking the IDs of the soldiers after ordering them out of a bus that was taking them to Sanaa for vacation from the city of Sayoun.
A statement issued by the group's media arm said hard boyz took the soldiers to the main market in the ancient city of Shibam and told the people who gathered there that the soldiers would be killed because they took part in military campaigns against them.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/10/2014 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Arabia
[Ynet] Al-Qaeda gunnies killed 15 soldiers in southern Yemen after seizing them from a public bus on Friday, military officials and witnesses said, in apparent retaliation to an army offensive against the group.
The officials said the soldiers had been heading to Sanaa, the capital, for vacation from the southern city of Sayoun when gunnies stopped their bus, checked IDs and led soldiers out of the bus.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
08/10/2014 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Arabia
[Dhaka Tribune] Police have detained 19 Shibir activists including its former central president Shafikul Islam from Lalmatia of Mohammadpur in the capital.
Being informed, police raided a house at Jakir Hosssain road in Lalmatia and detained them around 9pm on Saturday.
Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Mohammadpur cop shoppe Azizul Haq said: "Police raided the house after getting information about their secret meeting and detained them for suspected involvement in subversive activities."
Necessary action will be taken against the detainees after investigation, he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/10/2014 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Islami
[Iran Press TV] At least seven people have been killed in renewed festivities between Pak security forces and the supporters of an anti-government leader in the eastern city of Lahore.
Violence broke out on Saturday, after authorities blocked all roads leading to the residence of Moslemholy man, Tahirul-Qadri, in the city for the second consecutive day and pushed back his followers.
Officials said hundreds of people, including dozens of coppers, have been injured during the melee.
Following the incident, Qadri called off a large protest rally planned for Sunday, urging his supporters to hold smaller protests in their home towns.
In a televised address, he called on his supporters to "protest peacefully," but slammed the Islamabad government for orchestrating a "massacre in the name of a crackdown."
Qadri also accused the security forces of firing live bullets at his followers, saying that hospitals in Punjab Province have refused to treat the maimed people.
Qadri, Canada-based founder and chairman of Pakistain Awami Tehrik (PAT) political party, says the current 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... is corrupt and only benefits the elite, demanding the country's political system be tossed.
On Thursday, he threatened to march on Islamabad and oust Sharif's government should the arrests of his followers continue.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/10/2014 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[FoxNews] The Islamic militants reportedly expanded their drive near Iraqi Kurdistan Saturday despite two U.S. airstrikes aimed at mortar positions and a seven-vehicle convoy to stop the advance on Kurdish capital of Irbil.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the militants appear to have their sights on connecting towns seized along the Kurdish-control territory. The most recent town to be seized was identified as Sheikhan.
News of the advance comes hours after U.S. warplanes launched two more rounds of airstrikes against Islamic militants in northern Iraq, taking out two mortar positions and a seven-vehicle convoy. President Obama authorized the use of force to protect U.S. personnel and Iraqi religious minorities facing a possible "genocide."
The chief spokesman for the Pentagon, Rear Adm. John Kirby, said the U.S. launched the latest airstrikes to help defend the city of Irbil, where U.S. personnel are "assisting the government of Iraq." The airstrikes were considered successful.
Senior military officials said the planes in this round of strikes, like those in the first, were launched from the USS George HW Bush in the Persian Gulf. A drone took off from an undisclosed land base and used hellfire missiles to strike its targets.
One Defense Department official summed up the one airstrike in The New York Times, saying, "you know that vehicle and the people in it don't exist anymore." Fine, now tell us about the bigger picture, dear state department official?
Posted by: Thineng Angailet7166 ||
08/10/2014 02:55 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
#1
Thineng Angailet7166, your comment literally sent a shiver up my spine. That dear had very large, sharp teeth bared in it.
#2
Insufficient action. Playing to the press and ignoring the reality on the ground. What's needed is continuous, broad strikes across the entire region. Otherwise, we may as well be using water balloons.
This president is an idiot if he believes such limited tactical measures will have any tangible results overall.
God help the Kurds and all those with them, because it looks like we sure aren't going to do much of anything.
#3
The airstrikes are nothing more than optics for his base. He has no intention of stopping ISIS for developing their own nation. For crying out loud, he was raised a Muslim, he has his roots there. Stopping the caliphate to a muslim is like giving Israel back to the arabs for us. He cant and wont do it...
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
08/10/2014 10:19 Comments ||
Top||
#4
ISIS Advances Despite Pinprick Air Strikes
Two mortars and a truck? Really?
Posted by: Bobby ||
08/10/2014 10:24 Comments ||
Top||
#5
I'll think we are doing something when I see a scene like that in Gulf War I, that is the road to Baghdad littered with destroyed equipment (our equipment btw) and dead ISIL militants.
#8
According to sources, the threat posed by ISIL is significant enough to create some ODD bedfellows in the air offensive against ISIL.
The Turkish Air Forces has admitted to conducting air strikes against ISIL. The Iranian Air Force has been seen conducting air operations against ISIL, some of the new SU-25s purchased by Iraq from Russia are being flown by Russians and of course we have our guys conducting an occasional mortar, towed artillery, or armored vehicles.
So with that strange mix, there is an admission that ISIL is very dangerous.
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
08/10/2014 22:37 Comments ||
Top||
U.S. spy agencies have begun to see groups of fighters abandoning al-Qaeda affiliates in Yemen and Africa to join the rival Islamist organization that has seized territory in Iraq and Syria and been targeted in American airstrikes, U.S. officials said.
The movements are seen by U.S. counterterrorism analysts as a worrisome indication of the expanding appeal of a group known as the Islamic State that has overwhelmed military forces in the region and may now see itself in direct conflict with the United States.
"Small groups from a number of al-Qaeda affiliates have defected to ISIS," as the group is also known, said a U.S. official with access to classified intelligence assessments.
"And this problem will probably become more acute as ISIS continues to rack up victories."
Even before its assault on Kurdish territories in northern Iraq this month, analysts said the Islamic State had shown an almost impulsive character in its pursuit of territory and recruits, with little patience for the elaborate and often time-consuming terror plots favored by al-Qaeda.
U.S. officials estimate that the Islamic State has as many as 10,000 fighters, including 3,000 to 5,000 from countries beyond its base in Iraq and Syria. Its ranks have swelled with the emergence of the civil war in Syria -- a country relatively easy to reach from both in the Middle East and Europe -- as a larger magnet for jihadis than Afghanistan or Iraq were.
Daniel Benjamin, a professor at Dartmouth University who previously served as the top counterterrorism official at the State Department, said "Their skill at maneuver is really kind of extraordinary compared to groups you would compare them to," including al-Qaeda's affiliates in Yemen and Mali" "They are not constrained by that fear of failure other al-Qaeda groups have shown," he added, or the group's tendency to "spend years preparing single attacks."
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 ||
08/10/2014 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
#1
WaPo 1 Aug: "Terrorist armies fight smarter and deadlier than ever"
RTWT
Robert H. Scales, a retired Army major general, is a former commandant of the U.S. Army War College. Douglas A. Ollivant is a fellow at the New America Foundation’s Future of War project.
Look carefully at media images of ground fighting across the Middle East, and you will notice that the bad guys are fighting differently than they have in the past... We see Islamist fighters becoming skilled soldiers. The thrust of the Islamic State down the Euphrates River illustrates a style of warfare that melds old and new. U.S. soldiers fighting in Iraq used to say: “Thank God they can’t shoot.” Well, now they can. They maneuver in reasonably disciplined formations, often aboard pickup trucks and captured Iraqi Humvees. They employ mortars and rockets in deadly barrages. To be sure, parts of the old terrorist playbook remain: They butcher and execute prisoners to make unambiguously clear the terrible consequences of resistance. They continue to display an eager willingness for death and the media savvy of the “propaganda of the deed.”
... The Darwinian process of wartime immersion has forced them to either get better or die.
What we see in Gaza, Syria and Iraq should serve as a cautionary tale for any Beltway guru calling for a return of U.S. forces to Iraq. U.S. soldiers and Marines are still the global gold standard, but their comparative advantage has diminished. As terrorist groups turn into armies, pairing their fanatical dedication with newly acquired tactical skills, renewed intervention might generate casualties on a new scale — as the Israelis have been painfully learning.
#2
This changing of sides was also repeatedly found during the Mexican Revolution. It was perfectly respectable to switch to a winning side, and then back again. This idea is foreign to us Americans. Thankfully.
#3
Gee, I wonder who trained up these new and improved terrorist armies.
Also, I now see how Obastard planned to get rid of Al-Q. Replace them with a more deadly brand of Muzzie Malevolence. It's like a sucking together of toxic evil. That's what he wanted.
#4
Strong horse. How do you think the Great Khan united the Mongol tribes? Who needs to know *&^%$# 4000 years of history when Marx replaced it all. /sarc off
#8
In the late 1970's we feared the radicalism of the Ayatollah Khomeini, etal. whom overthrew the Shah of Iran.
Wid this ISIS Caliphate the US-Allies must be careful that ISIS's Super-Radicalism doesn't come to influence + take over Shia Iran.
I do not see the need for any US-Israel war agz Iran long as Iran is fighting the AQ Affiliates +
aligned Hard Boyz - ITS THE US-ALLIES WHOM NEED IRAN TO FIGHT THE HARD BOYZ IN LIEU OF THE US-WEST include RUSSIA ITSELF HAVING TO SEND IN ANY MAJOR GROUND OR CONVENTIONAL FORCES TO DO. IN RETUYRN, IRAN KEEPS IT NUCPROGS.
NOW, wid the rise of the ISIS, the danger of US/US-Allied war agz Iran exists iff ISIS Super-
Radicalism takes over that of the original Islamic Revolution in Iran proper, moreso iff Iran is Nuclear.
[Iran Press TV] Hundreds of thousands of members of the Shabak minority group
...a confusing group living mostly in a handful of villages that is mostly Shiite, but with a variant of Islam uniquely their own; mostly sort of Kurdish, but not quite; has its own language; appeared in Iraq in 1502, an oddly precise date; and nowadays are mostly poor farmers...
in northern Iraq have been forced out of their homes by ISIL Takfiri ...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who must be killed... holy warriors, Press TV reports.
According to the report, members of the Shabak minority have arrived in Iraq's Erbil after walking for days from the district of Al-Hamdaniyah in Iraq's Northern Nineveh Province after ISIL took over their towns and forced them to flee.
A Shabak refugee told the Press TV correspondent that "ISIL is targeting Iraq, we want our politicians, Kurds and Iraqis to stop their bickering and look after the Iraqi people. We are suffering."
The newly arrived refuges are living in very bad conditions and disease has started to spread amongst them.
"We are calling on the Iraqi government and Kurdish regional authorities to help us return to our homes. This is not a good situation we are experiencing," said a Shabak refugee to the Press TV correspondent.
Earlier on Saturday, ISIL Takfiri Death Eaters executed 17 civilians from the Shabak minority in Iraq's northern province of Nineveh.
The head of the Shabak minority says the terrorist group has now seized around 60 villages north of the city of djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn....
Posted by: Fred ||
08/10/2014 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
[Dhaka Tribune] Islamic State murderous Moslems who seized Iraq's biggest dam in an offensive that has caused international consternation have brought in engineers for repairs, witnesses said on Saturday, as nervous Kurds stocked up on arms to defend their enclave nearby.
The jihadi Islamists have captured wide swathes of northern Iraq since June, executing non-Sunni Moslem captives, displacing tens of thousands of people and drawing the first US air strikes in the region since Washington withdrew troops in 2011.
After routing Kurdish forces this week, Islamic State bully boyz are just 30 minutes' drive from Arbil, the Kurdish regional capital which up to now has been spared the sectarian bloodshed that has scarred other parts of Iraq for a decade.
Employees of foreign oil firms in Arbil were flying out. Kurds were snapping up AK-47 assault rifles in arms markets for fear of imminent attack, although these had been ineffective against the superior firepower of the Islamic State fighters.
Given the Islamic State threat, a source in the Kurdistan Regional Government said it had received extra supplies of heavy weaponry from the Baghdad federal government "and other governments" in the past few days, but declined to elaborate.
An engineer at djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... dam told Rooters that Islamic State fighters had brought in engineers to repair an emergency power line to the city, Iraq's biggest in the north, that had been cut off four days ago, causing power outages and water shortages.
"They are gathering people to work at the dam," he said.
A dam administrator said that bully boyz were putting up the trademark Islamic State black flags and patrolling with flatbed trucks mounted with machineguns to protect the facility they seized from Kurdish forces earlier this week.
The Islamic State, comprised mainly of Arabs and imported muscle who want to reshape the map of the Middle East, pose the biggest threat to Iraq, a major oil exporter, since Saddam Hussein was toppled by a US-led invasion in 2003.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/10/2014 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
#1
although these had been ineffective against the superior firepower of the Islamic State fighters.
Wassamater, everyone forget how to make IEDs? Can't find any RPGs? Or is ISIS firepower 'superior' to what the US deployed? [snort]
Posted by: Bobby ||
08/10/2014 10:22 Comments ||
Top||
#2
If all you have is an AK and a pistol, guys with heavy machine guns are a bit on the difficult side to take out. And yes, the Kurds don't have much other than small arms in those areas. They've been requesting (but the Maliki govt in Baghdad has refused for years) HMG, mortar ammo, RPGs, because other than their heavy arms & ammo reserved for defense of their home area, they simply don't have the capacity for offensive military action outside their home area. And all these ISIS actions have been where the Kurds stepped in to secure outside areas where the Iraqi Shia army abandoned their posts and ran away.
#3
I have read elsewhere that the dam in question needs constant / daily maintenance to keep from collapsing. "Repairs" have been ongoing since the dam was first constructed.
[IsraelTimes] 34th day of Operation Protective Edge. The IDF continued its air campaign against Hamas and other terror targets in the Gaza Strip on Saturday as terrorists fired dozens of rockets at Israeli communities. Israel said it would not negotiate with Hamas at the indirect talks in Cairo unless or until the rockets stop. Day 32 Metrics: 60 rockets fired from Gaza; 13 failed to land in Israel
Day 33 Metrics: 30 rockets fired from Gaza; 6 failed to land in Israel
Interesting. You don't suppose they're slowing down because they're running low of inventory?
Posted by: lord garth ||
08/10/2014 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
various theories
1. rockets are primarily non-Hamas, i.e., IJ and others who have used most of their better stuff
2. using older rockets now and in some of them the fuel has degraded a bit
3. getting low on launchers and trying to use reconstructed ones
Posted by: lord garth ||
08/10/2014 8:05 Comments ||
Top||
[Ynet] 19-year-old Paleostinian killed near Jerusalem, around 30 Paleostinians maimed near Hebron after anti-Gazoo operation protesters turn violent.
IDF troops killed one Paleostinian and maimed dozens of others protesting against the army's Gazoo campaign on Friday in the West Bank, Paleostinian medical officials said Friday evening.
The person killed was Mohammed Qatri from the Al-Amaari refugee camp near Ramallah. The 19-year-old Paleostinian was killed in festivities near the Psagot settlement between Jerusalem and Ramallah.
Citing medical source, AFP reported that one man was maimed by a live shot to the chest, while another 29 received lesser wounds from a mixture of live fire and rubber bullets in a protest in Hebron.
The army said that soldiers were attacked by about 300 violent protesters, who rolled burning tires and threw a petrol bomb and rocks.
"The soldiers responded by firing riot disposal means," a spokeswoman said, adding that those means included 0.22 caliber rifle fire.
Earlier, about 2,000 people, many waving green Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, banners marched through the city.
There were similar protests in Ramallah and outside the northern West Bank city of Nablus, while on the outskirts of Bethlehem the Israeli police said that "hundreds" of protesters - some masked, others carrying model rockets - threw stones and petrol bombs at border police, who dispersed them, also with "riot disposal means."
There were no reports of serious injuries on either side in that incident.
Two communist militants surrendered to the Philippine military forces following a series of firefight in the southern province of Davao Oriental.
Officials identified one of those who surrendered as Felipe Nacion, a member of the New People's Army's Team Baking, who operated in Mati City. The other, who was injured in the clash, was not identified, but officials said he is a senior militant leader under the Pulang Bagani Command.
Capt. Alex Mindalano, of the 701st Infantry Brigade, said troops also recovered six improvised explosives and at least 3 dozen backpacks left behind by NPA militants.
Four paramilitary rangers were wounded in a roadside bomb attack yesterday morning in Yala's Muang district. The rangers were on duty and traveling in a pick-up truck from their base when the bomb exploded at around 7 a.m. Police suspect an insurgent group led by Roki Doloh set off the home-made bomb in a 10-kilogram cooking gas cylinder.
Meanwhile, Yala police nabbed Bonya Saman, who was wanted for his alleged involvement in a gun attack on Bannang Sata police on September 9, 2009. He reportedly fled the area and had laid low before returning to Bannang Sata.
[AnNahar] At least 16 non-combatants were killed in violence in Syria's second city of Aleppo on Saturday, residents and a monitoring group said.
Residents found children 'torn apart' after a regime helicopter dumped a barrel bomb on a rebel-held area, a local man said.
At least 13 people were killed and 17 maimed in the raid on Maadi in northeastern Aleppo, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
In another part of the city, three children died and a dozen people were maimed when rebel rockets struck a regime-held district, the Observatory said.
The monitoring group said the Maadi deaths happened when the regime aircraft "dumped a barrel bomb of explosives on a building".
The corpse count could rise because of the number of seriously injured people, it said.
The Observatory reported the death of only one child, but the local resident said at least four were killed.
An Agence La Belle France Presse journalist on the scene saw a building with its roof caved in and other major damage, while debris was strewn all around.
Civil defense volunteers from the rebel districts hastened to clear the rubble by hand and unearthed a man's body, covered in white dust with a bloody head.
Other volunteers pulled back rubble with a pickaxe while a childlike body in a plastic cover was taken away on a stretcher.
Local people gathered up what was left of boxes of fruit and vegetables, spread out over the road.
The residents said the raid happened early in the morning.
"People were asleep... a grandfather emerged safe and sound but his three sons, all married, and their children, we still don't know what has happened to them," one resident said with emotion.
"They found four children torn apart after the helicopter dumped its barrel bomb, may God curse him," the man said, referring to Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Despoiler of Deraa... , the focus of a three-year struggle by rebels to overthrow him.
Residents said the raid appeared to target a district where a popular souk is located.
Last month Human Rights Watch ... During the fiscal year ended June 30, 2011, HRW received a pledge from the Foundation to Promote Open Society, of which George Soros is Chairman, for general support totaling $100,000,000. The grant is being paid in installments of $10,000,000 over ten years.Through June 30, 2013, HRW had received $30,000,000 towards the fulfillment of the pledge.... said the number of rebel sectors hit by barrel bombs had almost doubled in five months.
The regime has pressed on with its barrel bomb campaign despite a United Nations ...where theory meets practice and practice loses... resolution on February 22 banning their indiscriminate use in populated areas.
HRW described barrel bombs as "cheaply made, locally produced, and typically constructed from large oil drums, gas cylinders, and water tanks, filled with high explosives and scrap metal to enhance fragmentation, and then dropped from helicopters".
Posted by: trailing wife ||
08/10/2014 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
[AnNahar] A soldier died Saturday of wounds sustained in festivities with jihadists in the northeastern town of Arsal near the Syrian border and the body of another was found in al-Hosn area, raising the number of troops killed in the fighting to 19, as media reports said Islamists have demanded the release of Roumieh inmates in exchange for army hostages.
"Soldier Abdul Hamid Nouh on Saturday morning succumbed to wounds he sustained during festivities with terrorist groups in Arsal," the Army Command announced in a communique.
And on Saturday evening, the state-run National News Agency reported that the body of an army soldier was found in Arsal's al-Hosn area.
It noted that the martyred troop was killed on the first day of the Bekaa festivities.
The fighting between troops and krazed killer fighters broke out on August 2 when jihadists from Syria attacked army and police posts in Arsal after the arrest of a Lion of Islam accused of belonging to the al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front.
During the fighting, 19 soldiers and 17 coppers were seized by the murderous Moslems and are still being held hostage.
Meanwhile, ...back at the saw mill, Scarface Al had tied Little Nell to the log and was about to turn on the buzz saw... An Nahar daily reported earlier on Saturday that the Islamists who took part in the Arsal festivities have demanded the release of a number of their colleagues in the Roumieh Prison in exchange for the release of the kidnapped troops.
The newspaper said that the Islamists called for the release of some 20 forces of Evil imprisoned in Roumieh.
"It's very simple, they will get their soldiers in exchange for the Islamist hostages," one Islamist was quoted as saying.
This demand has been submitted to the Lebanese government and army, he revealed.
The list included Imad Jomaa, whose arrest last weekend sparked the festivities in Arsal, reported As Safir newspaper.
A government source however said that the cabinet did not receive any demand from the Islamists, added the daily.
A delegation of the Moslem Scholars Committee had been tasked with negotiating with the Islamists a ceasefire in Arsal, which was reached on Thursday.
Sheikh Samih Ezzeddine told As Safir that the kidnapped troops are doing well, adding that they have not been tortured or harmed.
They were taken outside of Arsal on the second day of the festivities, he continued.
Another member of the Committee, Husam al-Ghali told As Safir that logistic challenges and the shelling of the outskirts of Arsal prevented the delegation from communicating with the Islamists regarding the release of the hostages.
He said that a delegation from the Committee will head to Arsal later on Saturday in order to receive a response over an army demand that the captives be released.
There is a high possibility that they may be released in phases over a few days, he added.
He also speculated that the captives may be held in the outskirts of Arsal or in Syria's al-Qalamoun region.
The fate of at least 35 soldiers and coppers, who were held captive by Islamist gunnies in Arsal, remains unknown after contacts were lost with them.
According to As Safir newspaper on Friday, gunnies who retreated to Syria from Arsal after intensified festivities with the Lebanese army have taken hostage more than 35 soldiers and coppers in an attempt to exchange them for Islamist prisoners, held at Roumieh prison's Bloc B.
On Thursday, a delegation from the Moslem Scholars Committee tasked with mediating with the gunnies announced that it has lost contact with murderous Moslems who have taken army and Internal Security Forces personnel captive.
But al-Nusra Front announced later that the soldiers and coppers who are still in captivity have a "special status that will be revealed later."
Security forces and the army have recently taken strong measures around the country's largest prison after reports emerged of an armed takfiri ...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who most be killed... group planning to abduct civilians to swap them with Roumieh Prison inmates and another alleged plot by prisoners to escape from the facility by carrying out a truck bombing.
[AnNahar] The Lebanese Army Intelligence raided the house of a Syrian national in the southern village of Nabatiyeh for taking images of the house of a prominent Lebanese security figure, the state-run National News agency reported on Saturday.
Army forces raided the house of the said suspect in al-Numayrieh and confiscated two hunting rifles in his possession, NNA added.
The Army also found two mobile phone that carried images of the house of a security figure, they said.
They referred the suspect to the Army Intelligence and confiscated his belongings.
Trying their best to hold back the raging volcano next door. One hopes ISIS manages to fall apart before Lebanon is also overcome.
in the absence of the Sword of Justice, terror rules.
The first target of terror is the police. Thus ISIS hits station houses and police academies first. Veteran defense reporter Bill Gertz says that ISIS is beginning to soften up Saudi Arabia by killing its intelligence personnel. “The ultra-violent al Qaeda offshoot group Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS) has targeted Saudi Arabian intelligence officers for a campaign of assassination as part of plans by the group to expand activities inside the oil-rich kingdom.”
ISIS is employing social media — ‘crowdsourcing’ — to identify Saudi agents. They’ve even got an Android app just for the purpose. ”U.S. intelligence agencies monitoring ISIL’s social media communications identified the campaign as a crowd-sourced effort to gather names and other personal information about Saudi intelligence officials for the assassination campaign.”
#3
It's not just that intelligence personnel can expose themselves on social media. The existence of social media can serve as a useful source of intelligence for terrorists. A very casual takfiri supporter, a disgruntled relative, etc., in Saudi Arabia can feed info to anti-government forces through social media without risking much.
[Iran Press TV] Lebanese villagers have pushed ISIL turbans to the other side of the border with Syria, after engaging in a shootout near Kfar Qouq.
Lebanese security sources said on Saturday that the myrmidons, who had infiltrated into Leb from the crisis-hit Syria, exchanged fire with the Lebanese around the village, located near the Bekaa Valley town of Rashaya and some 100 kilometers (60 miles) south of the border town of Arsal.
The festivities followed another battle between the turbans and soldiers of the Syrian army on the other side of the border.
Violence erupted in eastern Leb late on August 2 after soldiers locked away Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! a Syrian man, who the army said confessed to belonging to the ISIL. Angered by the arrest, the Takfiri ...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who must be killed... murderous Moslems opened fire on army checkpoints and stormed a cop shoppe in Arsal.
Following truce negotiations with the myrmidons, they agreed to retreat from the town and freed some prisoners on Thursday, allowing the Lebanese army to enter the town.
Meanwhile, ...back at the pound, the little lost dog backed into the corner and showed its teeth. And what big teeth they were!... a Lebanese soldier died of injuries sustained in festivities with myrmidons, bringing the army corpse count from five days of fighting to 18.
The Takfiri murderous Moslems are still holding 19 Lebanese soldiers and 17 coppers hostage, according to reports.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/10/2014 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
#1
Flying pigs & etc: Lebanese Army wins a fight. Good for them! Hope they have the backing and munitions one day to take on Hizbullah. (I can dream, can't I?)
[AnNahar] Seven people were apprehended on Saturday during security raids in residential compounds hosting Syrian refugees in the northern Koura district, reported the state-run National News Agency.
"An ISF Intelligence Bureau force raided al-Waha compound of the Hariri Project in Koura's Deddeh as well as other residential areas," the NNA said, noting that these places host Syrian refugees.
"Seven people were tossed in the slammer Please don't kill me! during the raids," it announced.
On Wednesday, army troops raided the houses of Syrian refugees in Beirut, the Bekaa and the South, and managed to detain a number of people during the operation.
These raids and arrests come after army troops were involved in fierce battles against foreign armed jihadists in the northeastern border town of Arsal in the past week.
The festivities, which erupted on August 2 following the apprehension of a member of the al-Qaeda-linked Al-Nusra Front, led to the martyrdom of scores of troops while over 85 others were maimed.
Army chief General Jean Qahwaji remarked on Sunday that the holy warrior fighters are foreigners of different nationalities who came from neighboring countries via the border in coordination with people residing in refugee camps.
[The Nation (Pak)] Leb's leading Sunni politician Saad Hariri Second son of Rafik Hariri, the Leb PM who was assassinated in 2005. He has was prime minister in his own right from 2009 through early 2011. He was born in Riyadh to an Iraqi mother and graduated from Georgetown University. He managed his father's business interests in Riyadh until his father's assassination. When his father died he inherited a fortune of some $4.1 billion, which won't do him much good if Hizbullah has him bumped off, too. returned from self-imposed exile Friday on a trip to bolster the country's army as it battles gunnies in the latest spillover from Syria's war.
Hariri's visit, his first since 2011, comes after open conflict between the army and gunnies on the border with Syria killed 17 troops and left 19 kidnapped.
The former prime minister arrived after announcing earlier that Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... , one of his chief allies, had pledged $1 billion to shore up the army and security forces against bad boys.
On Wednesday, a day after announcing the funding, Hariri said he would consult with Leb's Prime Minister Tammam Salam and the army and security forces on how they would be disbursed.
His arrival underscored the seriousness of the festivities in the Arsal region in eastern Leb on the Syrian border.
Fighting that began there on Saturday has eased, with a truce meant to lead to the withdrawal of gunnies from several bad boy groups fighting in Syria and the release of 17 coppers and 19 soldiers thought to be held hostage.
But the violence is the worst in the border region since the Syrian war began in March 2011, and has raised further concerns about the effects of the conflict on Leb.
Despite Beirut's effort to insulate itself from the war next door, the fighting has spilled over and stoked existing political and sectarian tensions in Leb.
Much of Leb's Sunni community, including Hariri, supports the Sunni-dominated uprising against Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Horror of Homs... .
But many Lebanese Shiites support Assad, and the powerful Shiite Hezbollah movement has sent fighters to bolster his troops against the uprising.
Hariri, 44, has voiced unconditional support for Leb's army in the fight against gunnies in Arsal, calling it a "red line".
But some of his constituents accuse the army of allowing Hezbollah free rein to fight in Syria and failing to protect Sunnis.
On Friday, the situation in Arsal was largely quiet, but an AFP video journalist said several hundred residents who tried return to their homes were forced to flee after coming under sniper fire.
He said several were maimed and the army closed the route back into the town after the incident.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/10/2014 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
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.
Secretary Powell, please disregard that nonsensical DIA report penned by a team of high-ranking WMD experts, who actually spent 2 weeks examining the trailers. Just show them this Klingon approved slide. The Director has your back. 
[REUTERS] 
Two communist militants surrendered to the Philippine military forces following a series of firefight in the southern province of Davao Oriental.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
