[Telegraph] British soldiers have “lost their capability” to interrogate terrorist insurgents because of strict new rules on questioning that even ban shouting in captives’ ears, military chiefs have warned. At least they've not ruled out detention.
Can they still do that. How about using capital letters on Twitter? The Brits have the PC disease worse than the U.S. does. It will be the end of us. ISIS is beheading people on video and the soldiers are being admonished for yelling? that is a loser.
Not snark of the day but does constitute good advice.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
12/15/2014 8:31 Comments ||
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Are British drill Sargeant allowed to yell at recruits?
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
12/15/2014 8:32 Comments ||
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But there is growing disquiet within the ranks that the latest guidelines, officially called Challenge Direct, are so stringent that it makes interrogation pointless.
Okay. So I guess there's no reason to take prisoners then?
Members of one of the last human rights groups active in Chechnya said Sunday that their office has been torched after they criticized Chechnya's strongman for calling for collective punishment against families of Islamist insurgents.
The attack on the Joint Mobile Group office in Grozny followed arson attacks against eight homes linked to insurgents' families following a surprise raid by gunmen on the Chechen capital.
Rights activist Dmitry Utukin said, "The damage (to the offices) is serious. All the equipment has been smashed. That was caused not by the fire but by vandalism."
Igor Kalyapin, head of the Moscow-based Committee Against Torture, said in a post on Facebook that two men had tried to break in before the fire at the Joint Mobile Group's offices. Activists had also been followed by armed men, he said.
At a news conference in Moscow on Thursday to condemn the attacks, two young men threw eggs at Kalyapin and Alexander Cherkasov of Memorial. Kadyrov responded on Instagram last week that Kalyapin and other activists are defending "bandits" and suggested that Kalyapin was being used by "Western special services" to pay insurgents.
On Saturday at a mass rally in Grozny, protesters held signs with slogans such as "Kalyapin go home" and "Kadyrov, defend us from rights activists paid with dollars".
In light of Pudge's reported visit to Naval Unit 189:
A review of commercial satellite imagery from 2010 until the present has revealed the presence of a previously unidentified submarine moored in the secured boat basin at the Sinpo South Shipyard. This shipyard, also known by the cover designation “Pongdae Boiler Plant,” is the primary manufacturing facility for North Korea’s submarines and the headquarters of the Maritime Research Institute of the Academy of the National Defense Science. The institute is responsible for research and development of maritime technology, naval vessels and submarines, and naval related armaments and missiles.
The newly identified submarine has a length of approximately 67 meters and a beam of 6.6 meters, possesses a rounded bow, a conning tower located amidships, and no visible diving planes. These dimensions suggest a dive displacement in the 900-1,500 ton range. Visible in the image are mooring lines, people moving about and equipment stored on the pier adjacent to the submarine. The long object on the pier forward of the conning tower is likely a line of closely packed shipping crates or equipment and not a missile tube. A blue tarp is covering the stern portion of the top of the sail. No torpedo or missile tubes are readily discernible on the bow or deck of the submarine in any of the available imagery.
While the boat bears a superficial resemblance to the Russian KILO or LADA class patrol submarines, it lacks the teardrop hull-shape of the former and the conning tower mounted diving planes of the latter. Additional research shows, however, a close resemblance in size and shape to the former Yugoslavian SAVA and HEROJ class submarines. A Yugoslavian origin for the design would not be unusual since the North Koreans acquired a number of submarine designs from that nation during the 1970s and used them as the basis for several experimental designs as well as the yugo class of midget submarines.
#1
I would forgo any opportunity to submerge in an experimental NK design based on Yugo plans circa 1970. I prefer to pass away quietly at my home in bed.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
12/15/2014 19:54 Comments ||
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North Korea has made some strides toward the first part of its pledge to become a "powerful and prosperous nation" in the three years since the corpulent Kim Jon-un took power but has fallen dismally short of the second.
While food shortages remain severe, the North has relentlessly worked on bolstering its military capabilities, especially nuclear weapons and missiles.
A senior military officer here said the North now operates about 30 nuclear-related facilities, including a uranium mine, a high-explosive test site, and a nuclear power plant. He added it could have as many as 20 nuclear weapons. That would mean its nuclear stockpile has nearly doubled in just a few years.
Since early this year, the North has test-fired 111 missiles on 19 occasions, but experts say there were probably more secret tests. The missile arsenal has been diversified into five or six types, and their accuracy is gradually improving.
The North has come closer to being able to strike any target across the Korean Peninsula, and the day may not be far off when it is capable of miniaturizing nuclear bombs so they can be mounted on missiles.
Meanwhile we prevent the ROK from modernizing their missiles and launchers to cover all of North Korea lest we 'provoke' Fat Boy...
Testing of submarine-launched ballistic missiles that could pose a threat to South Korean and U.S. forces appears to be at a fairly advanced stage.
The North's new 1,800-ton Romeo-class submarine is too small to carry any such weapon, a military expert said, but it seems scores of tests have been conducted using a vertical launch tube on land.
Meanwhile, the North has deployed around 200 multiple rocket launchers in the frontline area and built more accurate GPS-embedded bombs and some kind of stealth vessel.
That heightens the threat of military provocations which the North typically carries out in times when the international situation is turning against it. It currently faces increased pressure over its human rights abuses and deteriorating ties with its sole ally China.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/15/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
Sounds like a good candidate for whacking.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
12/15/2014 11:55 Comments ||
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ION TOPIX > [Voice of America] ABE ELECTION VICTORY RAISES POTENTIAL FOR CONFLICT WID JAPAN'S NEIGHBORS.
Becuz ya know, Anti-US OWG Globalism + China's desire for PLA strategic access has absolutely nothing to do wid anything.
* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > [Kyodo News] SIX CHINESE DESTROYERS PASS NEAR OKINAWA.
OKINAWA = GUAM = WHERE US MILBASES + JSDF ARE; MIYAKO ISLANDS = CNMI = WHERE US MILBASES + JSDF ARE NOT.
* CHINA DAILY > MANILA [Philippines] HAS NO "LOCUS STANDI" IN SEA CASE.
* TOPIX > BEIJING IGNORE [UNO = Int'l] COURT DEADLINES ON CASE DISPUTES IN SOUTH CHINA SEA.
* PRESS TV > CHINA PLANS TO REACH [bottom of] MARIANAS TRENCH [10-kms + more below sea level]IN 2019.
AFAIC China is building the PCorrect, Non-Military led [yet] "Legalism" or Legal Arguments for claiming GUAM-CNMI-WESTPAC = 1/2 OR ALL OF TRENCH + LINKED SEAFLOOR VEE THE US.
China said it = Other than small expendable Island territories, THE US HAS NO FORMAL FEDERAL STATE IN WESTPAC [Hawaii, US West Coast = EASTPAC, Alaska = Arctic], HENCE HAS NO REAL STRATEGIC = TERRITORIAL INTERESTS IN WESTPAC ANYMORE OUTSIDE OF REGIONAL OR INTERNATIONAL TRADE.
CHINA > THE US = UK = SHOULD GIVE UP GUAM-CNMI-WESTPAC LIKE THE UK GAVE UP HONG KONG [back to direct or sovereign Beijing control by 2050].
* WORLD MILITARY FORUM > VIDEO: 75% OF OKINAWANS FAVOR INDEPENDENT RECOVERY OF CONTACTS WID MAINLAND CHINA.
[ToloNews] The Afghan government's effort to pressurize Pakistain by another country to help Afghanistan's peace parleys is a wrong and fruitless idea, according to Pakistain's foreign ministry.
Tasneem Aslam, Pakistain's foreign ministry spokeswoman told TOLOnews that such efforts have already been carried out in the past but have had no outcome.
These statements are expressed as Afghanistan's Caped PresidentAshraf Ghani ...former chancellor of Kabul University, now president of Afghanistan. Before returning to Afghanistan in 2002 he was a scholar of political science and anthropology. He worked at the World Bank working on international development assistance. As Finance Minister of Afghanistan between July 2002 and December 2004, he led Afghanistan's attempted economic recovery until the Karzais stole all the money. .. during his first official visit of China asked Beijing to persuade Pakistain to act sincerely in Afghanistan's peace efforts.
Also in a presser in Germany, Ghani, following a good relationship between China and Pakistain, told news hounds that Beijing can play an important role in Afghanistan's reconciliation process.
But Pakistain's Aslam denied accepting pressure by any other country, urging that Afghanistan should never try to put pressure on Islamabad.
"You should forget the idea of pressurizing Pakistain by another country," Aslam said. "You must know that all these pressures so far you have put on Pakistain have been in vain."
Pointing to a good relationship between Pakistain and China, she added peace in Afghanistan was in favor of both Pakistain and China.
But Afghanistan's Ambassador to Islamabad, Janan Musazai, said no practical steps have been taken so far regarding the revival of peace talks with the Taliban.
"Afghanistan's position in peace talks is very clear and it is at the top of our priorities but so far we can't say anything in this regard," Musazai said.
Afghanistan has frequently accused Pakistain of backing krazed killer groups in the country; however, Islamabad has not taken the accusations seriously.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
12/15/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
I wonder if the Pak army or govt still want the Taliban back in charge of afghan?
Who was it that supported them before? Pakistan Saudi and UAE from memory!
Posted by: paul ||
12/15/2014 12:43 Comments ||
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[IraqiNews.com] On Sunday, a security source in Salahuddin said, that security forces accompanied with military reinforcements arrived in the surrounding villages of Tikrit, preparing for an offensive to liberate the city.
The source informed IraqiNews, ?Security forces with reinforcements consisting of dozens of armored vehicles and heavy weapons arrived in the al-Ojja village in southern of Tikrit and in Speacher base in northern Tikrit. The security forces are currently awaiting the zero hour to begin marching into the city of Tikrit.?
Posted by: trailing wife ||
12/15/2014 00:00 ||
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[IraqiNews.com] The security forces declared defusing (28) Improvised Explosive Devices in Mutasim area of southern Tikrit city.The Ministry of Defense declared in a statement received by Alforat News Agency ?The elements of Samarra operations Command succeeded in defusing (28) IEDs, which were emplaced by the Lions of Islam affiliated to what is so called the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... of Iraq and Levant, and seized two wheels left by the Lions of Islam since they fled in fear of the ISF.?
Posted by: trailing wife ||
12/15/2014 00:00 ||
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[4 views]
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#1
2 wheels? Damn now that's serious booty. Next up Operation Axle.
[IraqiNews.com] On Sunday, Iraqi Prime Minister's office announced, that the United States will hand over Iraqi pilots the first F-16 jet fighter to start using it for making progress in the fight against the ISIS group krazed killers.
Finally -- I think these are the ones Bush sold them.
The PM's front man, Saad al-Hadithi, “During the recent visit of U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to Iraq, it had been confirmed that the U.S. will hand over Iraqi pilots the first F-16 during the current month in order to accelerate the process of preparing security forces with weaponry and equipment to make progress against ISIS.”
During daylight hours, natch...
Noteworthy, the first batch of F-16 jet fighters had been delayed earlier this year due to security concerns, and then were sent to Tucson, Arizona, where seven Iraqi pilots have been trained to use the air crafts during the past few weeks.
[Ynet] Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, has in recent days stepped up its attempts at psychological warfare against Israel, test firing rockets out to sea, posting leaked videos of IDF investigations - and on Sunday staging a massive military parade in the Gazoo Strip to mark the 27th anniversary of its creation.
Parading in the rain, as Israel is being swept by storms. Lots of pictures at the link.
The parade from the organization that has controlled the Gazoo Strip for the past seven years included various units from its military wing, including a rocket unit and its naval commandos.
As part of its propaganda drive, Hamas issued a video in which a silhouetted figure shows up at the end. Hamas claims that the figure is Mohammed Deif, the founder of the military wing who was targeted by the IDF during the summer conflict.
It is impossible to establish whether this is really Deif, whom some in the defense establishment believe was killed in Gazoo in August. In the background of the purported appearance plays a speech Deif gave during Operation Pillar of Defense in 2012.
Among the speakers at the rally was Hamas military wing front man Abu Obeida, who became a familiar name during Operation Protective Edge over the summer.
"Hamas was able to stop the ambitions of the Zionist enterprise and because of that, it is today on the verge of collapsing and disappearing," he said.
"We will not lay down our weapons until we use them to enter the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Hamas and its battalions know how to write history. For many years we have produced the al-Qassam army that you and the world sees, the combat units that today are taking part in this spectacular demonstration."
Turning to the Paleostinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, Abu Odeida announced that their release was close.
"The day on which they see the light of freedom is closer than ever. Stay patient and steadfast and keep strengthening your brother fighters," he said.
Abu Obeida also mocked Israel for Hamas ultimately forcing it to release the prisoners.
"Yes, you captured 45 prisoners out of those released in the Shalit deal, judged them in your courts and bestowed on them long or life sentences. Judge all you want and deliver years in prison and life sentences, but you will not get to decide their exits for the first time in history. These heroes will be freed and their brothers released at a time that is not of your planning, and this time close."
The Hamas front man said the Knesset law to prevent prisoner exchange deals was not worth the paper it was written on. "The hands that voted to approve it will be the ones to annul it," he said.
Regarding the now-stagnant rehabilitation of the Gazoo Strip, Abu Obeida said that, "our loss of patience on the issue of rehabilitation implies that Israel will not deliver and an kaboom is imminent. Our people will not agree to the issue being forgotten. We will not accept anything less than rehabilitation of the damage caused by the Zionist aggression against Gazoo."
He thanked Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates... , Turkey and Iran for standing by Hamas' side and the side of the organization's military wing.
Hamas leader Khalil al-Haya, who had one son killed in Operation Cast Lead in 2008 and another in Protective Edge this summer, made an anticipated fiery ...a single two-syllable word carrying connotations of both incoherence and viciousness. A fiery delivery implies an audience of rubes and yokels, preferably forming up into a mob... speech.
"After 27 years, Hamas holds aircraft and holds the sea. It has the ability to penetrate the enemy by sea, land and air. Anyone who thinks that Israel is here to stay is wrong. All of Paleostine is Islamic land and no one will share it. Jerusalem is the capital of Paleostine and the center of the conflict. "
Just a parade isn't enough, so Hamas added one more excitement:
[IsraelTimes] Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,'s military wing on Sunday launched a locally manufactured drone at a Gazoo City march in honor of the founding of the group, prompting the Israel Air Force to raise its alertness level.
The drone activity led the air force to summon jets to the area, but no shots were fired at the unmanned aircraft, Channel 2 reported.
[Ynet] Al-Aqsa news channel airs video taken during Operation Protective Edge showing Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,bandidosLions of Islam calmly returning to the Strip after firefight with IDF that resulted in death of 2 soldiers, while army said they expeditiously departed at a goodly pace.
Two days after Paleostinians revealed leaked video footage from an IDF investigation showing Hamas members infiltrating Israel by sea at the Zikim beach in southern Israel, the Al-Aqsa news channel aired another video showing a serious incident during Operation Protective Edge in which two IDF soldiers were killed.
The IDF has yet to officially respond to the leaked video, which shows a contradicting version of an incident that happened during the summer war. "The cell members were not warded off or chased," said Hamas, contradicting the IDF's claims that Israeli forces managed to chase the Hamas forces of Evil and push them back into Gazoo.
The video footage is grainy and edited, which makes it difficult to determine where the Hamas forces of Evil are located at each point and whether Hamas' version of events is true or false.
Hamas leaked video footage showing Hamas forces of Evil calmly returning to Gazoo after attack.
The said video refers to an incident which led to the deaths of Major Amotz Greenberg, 45, and Sergeant Adar Barsano, 20, after Hamas gunnies infiltrated into Israel from a tunnel from within the Gazoo Strip.
The IDF had said that the cell of gunnies infiltrated into Israeli territory through a tunnel and opened fire using machine guns, shooting at IDF tanks that were patrolling the area. The IDF units returned fire and pushed back the gunnies into Gazoo, according to the IDF's version of the incident.
In the video footage released Saturday ? which seems to have been taken from security cameras and IDF monitors ? the terrorist cell, according to Hamas claims, is seen returning from the site of the attack. The Hamas gunnies are seen walking back from the attack calmly and not fleeing the scene.
According to Hamas, the video proves that their fighters were not chased back to the Gazoo Strip or pushed back.
During the video, the Hamas gunnies are seen crossing back into Gazoo through the border fence above ground and not through a tunnel. The camera follows them, and later on, they are filmed running rapidly.
It is unclear whether they are still in Israeli territory at this point or whether they have crossed over into Gazoo as the video footage is edited and cut, but according to Hamas, the fighters were on Gazook territory at that point.
Later in the video, IDF weapons that were taken from the soldiers who were killed are seen in the hands of the Hamas bad boys, who managed to snatch the weapons into Gazoo.
Unlike the video footage that revealed the Hamas infiltrators at Zikim beach, the video footage leaked on Saturday is grainy and edited, which makes it difficult to determine where the Hamas forces of Evil are located at each point and whether Hamas' version of events is true or false.
#1
Could both versions be true? It would be expected that immediately following launching of an attack, fearing retaliation, that the gunmen fled quickly - once out of the perceived danger zone the gunnies might be relaxed and relived, explaining the footage.
Netanyahu will reject withdrawal talk after the Kerry meet, too...
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday rejected talk of Israel withdrawing from east Jerusalem and the West Bank within two years, on the eve of a meeting with the inept bumbling top US diplomat.
"We... stand against the possibility of a diplomatic assault, that is an attempt to compel us by means of UN decisions to withdraw to the 1967 lines within two years," said Netanyahu. He said such a withdrawal now would bring "Islamic extremists to the suburbs of Tel Aviv and to the heart of Jerusalem."
Speaking ahead of the weekly meeting of his cabinet, he said he would raise the issue in Rome with US Secretary of State John Kerry and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi on Monday.
"I will tell them that Israel, to a large degree, stands as a solitary island against the waves of Islamic extremism that are washing over the entire Middle East," the Israeli premier said. "Until now we have successfully withstood and repelled these attacks."
The Palestinian leadership plans to submit a draft resolution to the UN Security Council demanding the end of Israel's occupation by November 2016. The Arab League has backed the text, but it ran into opposition from the United States, which has repeatedly vetoed resolutions seen as undermining Israel.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/15/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
The "occupation" that Hamas in Gaza refers to is not the occupation of Gaza (which is non-existent) or of the "West Bank" but the occupation of Israel itself by Israel. So what purpose would surrender of West Bank territory to the terrorists serve, other than encouraging more terrorism?
[IsraelTimes] A bigwig in the Paleostine Liberation Organization has accused the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... of intentionally undermining the Paleostinian Authority’s UN bid to set a timetable for an Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank, dubbing the PA president’s political conduct “dictatorial.”
The minutes of a meeting between Yasser Abed Rabbo ... Paleostinian politician and a member of the Paleostine Liberation Organization's (PLO) Executive Committee. He holds an M.A. in economics and political science from the American University in Cairo..... , a former negotiator and the secretary of the PLO’s Executive Committee, and committee member Hanna Amira on November 26, were leaked Saturday by the Gazoo-based news agency Safa. The meeting revealed the animosity between Abbas and Abbed Rabbo, who was reportedly relieved of his duties by the Paleostinian Authority president earlier this month.
According to Abed Rabbo, Abbas is rushing to bring a Paleostinian draft resolution to the UN Security Council without even securing the nine votes necessary for its adoption, thereby rendering an American veto unnecessary. Chief Paleostinian negotiator Saeb Erekat ...negotiated the Oslo Accords with Israel. He has been chief Paleostinian negotiator since 1995. He is currently negotiating with Israel to establish a de jure Paleostinian state... said on Sunday that the Paleostinian proposal would be submitted to the UN on Monday.
“He doesn’t want to embarrass America,” Abed Rabbo reportedly said of Abbas, adding that he does not understand what good a new UN resolution will do after the Paleostinians won recognition as a nonmember observer state in the international body in November 2012.
“We’ve already obtained a much more important decision, namely the recognition of Paleostine as a non-member observer state in the UN,” Abed Rabbo said, “but we’ve done nothing to implement that decision.”
In recent weeks, Abbas has repeatedly spoken of the Paleostinian imperative to turn to the UN and other international forums in the absence of a credible Israeli peace partner. Abbas told the Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... on November 29 that he would turn to the Security Council immediately “with or without an American blessing.”
“We can wait no longer; the status quo is untenable,” he said.
In the leaked minutes, Abed Rabbo also accused Abbas of insincerity in seeking to join the International Criminal Court ... where Milosevich died of old age before being convicted ... “It is impossible for him to turn to the ICC, and he will never carry out such a step,” the PLO official was quoted as saying, citing a promise Abbas made to US Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State... to that effect.
Abed Rabbo claimed that Abbas had met secretly with Shin Bet chief Yoram Cohen, who asked him to calm the security situation in Jerusalem in return for Israeli confidence-building measures. A source close to Abbas denied on Sunday that such a meeting ever took place, the Ma’an news agency reported.
“Abu Mazen [Abbas] wants to consolidate all authorities with his cronies,” Abed Rabbo was quoted as saying, claiming that Abbas was planning to hand over Abed Rabbo’s authorities to Ramzi Khoury, head of the Paleostine National Fund. “He acts in a dictatorial way, wishing to control everything related to money.”
[AnNahar] Syrian armed gunnies are planning to open a front in Leb by invading the northeastern border town of Arsal and advancing into al-Qaa, Ras Baalbek and other nearby villages.
According to the Kuwaiti newspaper al-Siyassah, the al-Qaeda-affiliate al-Nusra ...the current nom de guerre of al-Qaeda in the Levant, which isn't to be confused with al-Qaeda in Iraq and the Levant... Front, the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... of Iraq and the Levant and the Free Syrian Army ... the more palatable version of the Syrian insurgency, heavily influenced by the Moslem Brüderbund... have been entrenched for the past two months and a half on the mountains overseeing the Lebanese Bekaa on the porous Syrian-Lebanese border.
The daily quoted a security figure close to a Mustaqbal ... the Future Movement, political party led by Saad Hariri... Movement official in the Bekaa as saying: ? The gunnies can easily recruit around two thousand fighters from Syria's southern Daraa province.?
In December, six Lebanese troops were killed and a soldier was injured as turbans staged an ambush against an army patrol in the outskirts of the town of Ras Baalbek on Syria's border.
The festivities came in light of a report published in the British Telegraph newspaper that a British team had saved Ras Baalbek from a "massacre" by advancing Islamic State (IS) turbans through constructing a network of military watchtowers in the town.
In recent months, Syria-based IS and al-Nusra ...formally Jabhat an-Nusrah li-Ahli sh-Sham (Support Front for the People of the Levant), also known as al-Qaeda in the Levant. They aim to establish a pan-Arab caliphate. Not the same one as the Islamic State, though .. ... Front fighters have fought several battles with Hizbullah ...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory... and the Lebanese and Syrian armies in the border region.
[ToloNoews] The Iranian government has decided to extend the visas of Afghan refugees by an additional six months as well as provide other facilities to the illegal Afghans in the country, second Deputy Chief Executive Mohammad Mohaqiq said upon returning from Iran.
After his official trip to Iran, Mohaqiq told a presser Sunday in Kabul that the purpose of his trip was to ease the problems of Afghan refugees in the neighboring country.
"Iran has promised to extend Afghan refugees visas for an additional six months," Mohaqiq said, adding that more than a million Afghans are living in Iran without legal documents.
In addition to the six month visa extension, he emphasized that Iran has also accepted to allow the Afghan youth, who are in Iran illegally, to attend school.
"The Iranian officials have also promised to reduce half the university fees for Afghan students."
Furthermore, Mohaqiq noted that the Iranian government has also promised to assist in treating drug addicts and the disabled.
After touching upon the basis of his trip to Iran, Mohaqiq touched base on the recent spate of bombings and attacks, emphasizing that with the formation of the new cabinet, the security issues will be resolved.
He reiterated that the unity government has agreed on the new cabinet, it is just a matter of time for the names of the nominees to be announced.
According to statistics, nearly three million Afghan refugees, who fled war and violence, are residing in Iran and only 800,000 have proper legal documents.
The United Nations ...an organization originally established to war on dictatorships which was promptly infiltrated by dictatorships and is now held in thrall to dictatorships... High Council on Refugees has identified civil wars and internal conflicts as one of the leading factors increasing the number of asylum seekers worldwide, leaving Afghanistan, Somalia, Iraq, Syria and Sudan with nearly 50 percent of the world's total refugee population.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
12/15/2014 00:00 ||
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Official Tehran denies reports of a secret agreement between Iran and the US about fight with anti-terrorist organization "ISIS", head of the press service of the Iranian Embassy in Azerbaijan Mohammad Ayatullahi told Trend in an exclusive interview.
According to him, the information spread by some media about the conduct of secret negotiations between Iran and the United States in Baku against ISIS is unfounded.
Iran and US officials did not conduct any negotiations in Baku, Ayatullahi said.
It should be noted that some media reports informed about the negotiations between the US and Iranian representatives about fight against ISIS.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/15/2014 00:00 ||
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[AnNahar] Beaten, bound and fed mostly dry bread, on the darkest days of his three years held captive by Islamists in the Sahel Frenchie Serge Lazarevic felt he was no longer human.
"There was no time, there were no bearings. I was no longer a human being, I don't know what I was," Lazarevic, sporting a goatee and shaven head, told television station La Belle France 2 of his ordeal.
Kidnapped in northern Mali in November 2011, Lazarevic was released last Wednesday in exchange for what Bamako confirmed was the release of four prisoners from Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). La Belle France has refused to confirm this.
The towering Frenchie of Serbian origin, who lost 35kg (77 pounds) while in captivity, detailed his harrowing experience, saying he never lost hope.
He was moved roughly every two weeks for three years, sleeping outside in the sand or on rocky ground, with barely any communication with his jailers.
With no radio or television, his only contact with the outside world was three letters from his daughter Diane.
Initially he was held with another, sickly, hostage, Philippe Verdon, who he thought had been released. However Lazarevic found out last week that Verdon had in fact been found rubbed out in July 2013.
"In the beginning, in the first two or three days, I told Philippe: 'If we want to escape it must be now because we still have our strength'
"So I pretended to get a bit lost by going a bit far while going to the toilet to try and get my bearings. But I very quickly understood there was too much security, we wouldn't get far and there was no point trying."
- New Years beatings -
He said he spent around 100 days tied up at one point, his hands behind his back and his ankles bound together, with only a flimsy blanket to protect him from the chilly night.
For about a year-and-a-half he tallied the days as they went by, and then he stopped.
"We were beaten, tortured. Very often. They hit us with metallic cables. I remember they were particularly tough one December 31 and January 1, as if they wanted to celebrate the new year in their own way."
Lazarevic maintained he was not a mercenary, an allegation reported in some media that led his jailers to accuse him of being a spy or soldier, and which he believes was the reason for his often harsh treatment.
He described his captors as very young, one of them claiming to be only 14, and only one claiming to speak French.
"They are poor people who are given guns and money. I think I was kidnapped for a ransom, religion... I don't know. They prayed sometimes."
He would pray with them, in the hopes they would look upon him kindly.
To pass the time, Lazarevic did around four hours of exercise a day.
"I did karate movements, push-ups, used rocks as weights. Two or three times the jailers came to train with me."
One of the hardest things to withstand was when his jailers would tell him he would be freed in ten days, then a month, only for his hope to be dashed each time.
"I didn't think about anything, I was in a bubble, I went into survival mode. Time stopped when I was kidnapped and resumed when I was freed."
Posted by: trailing wife ||
12/15/2014 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa
#1
"I was no longer a human being" That's what AQ does who they are--no surprise there. The only surprise is why people have anything to do with them other than destroying them? The left seems to be overly tolerant of the Islamists? He was lucky to keep his head.
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.
Members of one of the last human rights groups active in Chechnya said Sunday that their office has been torched after they criticized Chechnya's strongman for calling for collective punishment against families of Islamist insurgents.
[IraqiNews.com] On Sunday, Iraqi Prime Minister's office announced, that the United States will hand over Iraqi pilots the first F-16 jet fighter to start using it for making progress in the fight against the ISIS group
[Ynet] 
Yasser Abed Rabbo
International Criminal Court
Official Tehran denies reports of a secret agreement between Iran and the US about fight with anti-terrorist organization "ISIS", head of the press service of the Iranian Embassy in Azerbaijan Mohammad Ayatullahi told Trend in an exclusive interview.
