The loyalists of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terror group in Afghanistan are training children as young as 3-year-old as they are looking to expand their foothold in the country.
The harrowing fact regarding the use of kids as new recruits in Afghanistan has been revealed in a news documentary series which aired by PBS this week.
The “Frontline” Documentary has been prepared by Najibullah Quraishi, the journalist behind “ISIS in Afghanistan”. He has returned with footage of militants training children as young as 3 in the terror tactics used by the group.
An ISIS loyalist is seen conducting a grim lesson in one scene after herding a ragtag group of boys and girls into a room (girls are ordered to sit in back).
“What is this word?” he says, and answers his own question: “Jihad”, with the children repeating the same word.
The militant is later seen saying “God says do jihad until intrigue, idolatry and infidelity are gone from the world.”
Telling a boy to stand up, he asks “What is this?” indicating his rifle. The child then replies saying the weapon and continues explaining the use of it, saying it will be used to defend the faith by hitting the heads of the (Kafir) infidels.
The fighter then continues to show a hand grenade to the child, saying “This is a hand grenade, meaning hand bomb” with the child repeating the same word “Hand bomb”.
He is also handing an unloaded gun to a boy, coaching him to “fire it from a standing position.” One by one, the other boys (no girls, it must be said) handle the weapon.
Earlier another report was released on the recruitment and brainwashing of Afghan children by ISIS loyalists in Afghanistan.
The report released earlier this month stated that the children were trained to become suicide bombers and ground fighters.
According to the report, the trainings included use of pistols, AK-47 assault rifles and hand grenades which were provided by ISIS instructors to children between 13 to 14 years of age in the restive eastern Kunar province of Afghanistan.
Posted by: badanov ||
11/20/2015 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
Ministries of Interior and Defense have vowed to retake the embattled Yamgan district of Badakhshan in the near future.
Ministry of Defense said troops, both ground and air, are ready to launch a large-scale military operation in the district.
Dawlat Waziri, MoD spokesman, said: "Security forces are at war with militants positioned in different areas."
"The militants' war is organized and managed by foreigners and they are equipped and trained from abroad. Between 6 to 7 out of 10 militants are foreigners."
Meanwhile the head of the internal security commission of the Wolesi Jirga (Lower House of Parliament) Mirdad Najrabi urged government to ensure it has a proper plan to maintain security in areas that have been cleared.
Najrabi said: "All the security responsibilities are being shouldered by Afghan security forces. Meanwhile, militants are trying their best to make use of this.
The Interior Ministry said Yamgan district will be cleared of Taliban and security will be ensured in this part of Badakhshan.
MoI spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said they have new plans to suppress militants in different parts of the country – also in Badakhshan.
Despite winter being on its way, troops are currently fighting insurgents in 13 provinces.
The air force has meanwhile carried out 70 flights for transportation and military purposes over the past 24 hours.
A second batch of Bahrain troops has arrived in Aden to work as part of the Saudi-led Arab Coalition working to restore the legitimate government in Yemen. Brigadier Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Commander of the Royal Guards in the Kingdom of Bahrain, praised the high moral of the officers and servicemen and their pride in working with their Yemeni brethren in restoring the legitimate government.
Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said that landmines planted by Yemeni rebels in an effort to halt the advance of pro-government forces are exacting a mounting toll on civilians.
"Landmines have killed at least 12 people and wounded over nine," the HRW said, adding that the real casualty toll "may be much higher".
"The Houthis are killing and maiming civilians with landmines," HRW's arms director Steve Goose said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/20/2015 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Houthis
Morocco played a key role in the fight against terrorism. It provided French security services valuable intelligence that helped them locate another deadly terror cell that slipped the police net after the series of attacks committed in Paris last Friday.
Thanks to Moroccan tip-off, the French police launched a dawn raid on a squat in the Paris suburb of Saint Denis and foiled an attack on the city’s business district. After engaging in a violent exchange of fire with the heavily armed terrorists, the French police killed two suspects including the ringleader of the Paris terror attack, Abdelhamid Abaaoud.
Aged 27, Abaaoud, is an Isis member from Molenbeek, Belgium. He was sentenced to 20 years in abstentia along with 32 other jihadists. He was behind four of six foiled attacks since spring. French security services did not know he was at home, while CIA said he was killed in a strike in Syria.
Some press reports have said lately that Moroccan intelligence agents flew to Paris at the request of their French counterparts to help in the investigation. And it appears that their input was vital and helped solve the puzzle.
Morocco’s counter-terrorism has proven again its efficiency in thwarting terror threats at home and overseas. Early this week, the Home department of the North African country announced the arrest of four Isis members who were planning terrorist attacks in Morocco.
According to some analysts, the Moroccan strategy to fight terrorism is based on global approach including prevention, anticipation, education, rehabilitation, eradication of terrorism roots and international cooperation.
Morocco is an active member of the Global Counter-terrorism Forum (GCTF) which seeks to reduce the vulnerability of people to terrorism by effectively preventing, combating and prosecuting terrorist acts as well as countering incitement and recruitment to terrorism. The Forum is committed to strengthening international cooperation and pooling expertise and resources to address civilian-focused counterterrorism priorities.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/20/2015 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
#1
To bad Champ does not belong to the GCTF.
Posted by: Steven ||
11/20/2015 3:38 Comments ||
Top||
#2
"...CIA said he was killed in a strike in Syria."
[AlAhram] French politicians on Thursday voted to allow the overnment to block websites and social media accounts promoting or inciting terrorist acts, under a state of emergency.
Prime Minister Manuel Valls praised the "wisdom" of politicians who agreed the measure after voting to extend a state of emergency to three months.
#4
Might depend on where the lamp post is and for whom the rope is intended. Rantburg seems rightly very conscientious about that sort of thing. But I still think if the offending accounts, web sites, tweets or whatever come from a foreign country our government would be within its sovereign rights to block said tweet or, in the case of countries like Syria, to block the whole frickin' country. And if they come from this country the FBI might wanna look into it.
And as long as you've got me started I'd block all of China just because they're such prolific hackers.
[Hurriyet] Four states along Europe's Balkan refugee corridor shut their borders on Nov. 19 to those not coming from war-torn countries such as Syria, Afghanistan or Iraq, leaving thousands of others seeking a better life in Europe stranded at border crossings.
The overnight decision was exactly the domino effect that both asylum-seekers and European nations had feared would happen given the record number of people fleeing to Europe this year and new fears after the deadly Gay Paree attacks of possible gunnies coming in with refugees.
The U.N. refugee agency says three Balkan countries shut their borders overnight to migrants from nations that are not directly engulfed in war.
Macedonia was not allowing in from Greece people from Morocco, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Liberia, Congo or Pakistain, the UNHCR spokeswoman in Serbia, Melita Sunjic, said on Nov. 19. Slovenia also said it has closed its border for the so-called economic migrants, while the Slovenian Defense Ministry said it planned to call up about 200 of a total of 914 army reservists to help control the influx.
On the Serbian border with Macedonia, the Serbs were only letting in migrants from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq. And on the Croatia-Serbia border, Croats were only accepting people from those three countries plus Paleostine, she said.
Serbia has turned back to Macedonia some 200 migrants and Macedonia has not let them in, she said. "So they are stuck on a no man's land," she told The News Agency that Dare Not be Named.
Croatia's Interior Minister Ranko Ostojic said the country has refused to take back 162 people, who were rejected by neighboring Slovenia as economic migrants.
Ostojic said on Nov. 19 that Croatia also will no longer allow in migrants from war-free countries who wish to pass through on their way toward Western Europe. He says Croatia has informed Serbia and Macedonia down the so-called migrant route, that "it is now obvious they will not be able to pass."
In the Greek border area of Idomeni, police said the border has essentially been shut down to all since about 8 a.m. on Nov. 19 after roughly 300 people, mostly from Iran, gathered at the crossing seeking to also be allowed through. A further 2,500 people are waiting at a camp nearby that provides temporary shelter for those heading north through the Balkans.
The partial closure of the borders could trigger huge pileups of desperate people along the Balkan corridor that has seen hundreds of thousands of people cross as they head to wealthy EU states, mostly Germany. Although Syrians are the biggest group among the asylum-seekers, tens of thousands of people fleeing poverty, such as Paks, Bangladeshis or Sri Lankans, have also joined the surge.
...almost all of whom have real or forged Syrian passports in one of the same four names.
Serbian Labor Minister Aleksandar Vulin on Nov. 19 blamed EU-members Slovenia and Croatia for the ban, saying they have started turning back economic migrants, those fleeing poverty, not war.
"We have to protect our country. That is why we have applied reciprocal measures toward the people Slovenia and Croatia have no room for," Vulin said.
Meanwhile, ...back at the cheese factory, there was only one thought in the mouse's mind: I can do this! I can do this! Then the trap sprung... EU interior ministers are to agree on Nov. 20 to tighten checks at the external borders of the passport-free Schengen area to boost security after the attacks in Gay Paree that killed 129 people, a draft document seen by Rooters shows.
Ministers will agree to "implement immediately the necessary systematic and coordinated checks at external borders, including on individuals enjoying the right of free movement," the draft conclusions of their meeting says.
[AlAhram] Sweden, a favourite destination for refugees flooding into Europe, can no longer house all those arriving and many will have to find their own accommodation, the country's migration agency said on Thursday.
Sweden has already imposed temporary border controls in response to the record influx of refugees, while authorities plan to shelter thousands of people in heated tents as well as venues such as ski resorts and a theme park.
But now even these options have run out.
"We have entered a new phase where the migration agency no longer can provide housing for all. We don't have enough beds," its operating officer Michael Ribbenvik said in a statement.
The agency said it would continue to search for additional housing and give priority to families with children.
Sweden has taken in more asylum seekers per capita than any other European country over the last few years. Up to 190,000 refugees are expected to arrive this year, a record for the wealthy Nordic nation of 10 million people.
Prime Minister Stefan Lofven has called the situation unsustainable Almost 10,000 refugees have applied for asylum in the last seven days alone and close to 140,000 have arrived so far this year.
#2
...leaving thousands of others seeking a better life in Europe stranded at border crossings.
Maybe, you know, if you instead stayed put and asked those Euros to come in a run things, you could save yourself a lot of trouble. See - Monty Python What Have the Romans Ever Done for US?
[Hurriyet] The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... has allegedly foiled a major terrorist attack targeting the G-20 Summit in the Mediterranean province of Antalya after warnings by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office.
[AnNahar] The United States issued a $5 million reward Wednesday for information leading to the capture of a Saudi-born jihadist accused of smuggling imported muscle into Syria.
The State Department said that Tirad al-Jarba, known under the nom de guerre Abu Muhammad al-Shimali, is a senior member of 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.... krazed killer group.
He had already been designated a terrorist by the United States and the U.N. Security Council, which has imposed a travel ban on him and ordered his assets frozen.
According to his U.N. sanctions listing he is 35 years old, and will turn 36 on Friday. He is said to be from 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... and to have been a former Al-Qaeda member.
The State Department wanted notice issued on Wednesday describes him as the IS leader in the Syrian border town of Jarablus, opposite the Turkish town of Gaziantep.
From there he is said to arrange passage for foreign IS fighters from Australia, Europe and the broader Middle East, while managing a recruitment center in Azaz.
Jarba's name was added to the "Rewards for Justice" program as The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... and the United States were preparing a major operation to secure the border near Jarablus.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
11/20/2015 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
Former CBS News reporter Sharyl Attkisson claimed that she has sources who say President Barack Obama has “closed his mind” to some intelligence reports with which he disagrees. I doubt intel traffic is the only thing his mind is 'closed' to. As far as Obama reading a 'black book' (reading daily traffic)... I'd have to see it to believe it.
Wednesday on NewsmaxTV’s “Steve Malzberg Show,” Attkisson asserted that Obama “does not necessarily listen to the people with whom they disagrees. He seems to dig in. … He is facing formidable opposition on this particular point.”
Attkisson explained, “I have talked to people who have worked in the Obama administration who firmly believe he’s made up his mind, I would say closed his mind, they say, to their intelligence that they’ve tried to bring him about various groups that he does not consider terrorists, even if they’re on the U.S. list of designated terrorists.”
Obama “has his own ideas and there are those who have known him a long time who say this dates back to law school. He does not necessarily — you may think this is a good trait, you may think it’s a bad trait — he does not necessarily listen to the people with whom he disagrees. He seems to dig in and you know, that would be, I suppose he would say because he thinks he is right. He is facing formidable opposition on this particular point.”
Malzberg pressed Attkisson, “But you’re telling me that you’ve talked to people in his inner circle or in the administration that are telling you that even though there are groups that might be on our terror list that are classified as terrorist groups, Obama in his mind doesn’t consider them to be terrorists because what because they have a gripe?”
Attkisson explained, “I don’t know the reason for it. I’ve only been told by those who have allegedly attempted to present him or been in the circle that have attempted to present him with certain intelligence that they’ve said that he doesn’t want it. He said he doesn’t want it. Or he won’t read it in some instances.”
Blossom Unains5562 submitted the same story, commenting, "I'd love to see his list of "trusted advisers." "
There's enough open-source available to indicate who the "trusted advisors" are.
#4
ValJar, the architect of so much of the pro-Shia, pro-Iranian policy, is the source of much of this dismissal. I would love to know how much of their intel is being fed him sub rosa. And how much of his time is spend in private reading/smoking something/watching ESPN/listening to praise from sycophants. Limbaugh may be right, this man is getting dangerous
KARACHI - President Mamnoon Hussain on Thursday said that the operation against criminals and terrorists in Karachi as well as in other parts of the country will continue till eradication of terrorism from the country.
Addressing the 27th convocation of Pakistan Navy Engineering College of National University of Science and Technology, he said that the bold stance adopted by the government against extremists was being stringently implemented by the armed forces. “This is a matter of immense satisfaction that sacrifices rendered by people and Pakistan Army personnel are paying back with marked improvement in law and order situation and decline in terrorism related incidents,” the president said.
President Mamnoon said that country was presently at a crucial juncture and that unity at every level was needed to combat elements with extremist and violent tendencies. Reiterating that the government stands by the ongoing operation against the nexus of extremists, terrorists and criminals, he urged people in general to support the army and law enforcers against anti-state and anti-humanity elements.
“Consequent to action jointly undertaken by the government and state institutions, we witness that country is ushering into a new era of progress and development for which qualified and technically trained manpower is direly needed,” he said. Urging the young graduates of PNEC and NUST, to make optimum of their training in varied engineering and technology related fields, Mamnoon said inception of Pakistan-China Economic Corridor has enhanced the country’s need for technical hands all the more.
“Availability of maximum number of technically trained professional in modern technology in the coming years would be essential to help the country fully benefit from the economic corridor,” he reiterated adding that this would reduce dependence on foreign assistance. Expressing his satisfaction that the graduates to receive degree during the PNCE’s 27th convocation also included a significant number of women, he said women must increasingly join the country’s work-force.
“Constituting 50 per cent of the country’s total population they too must be in forefront and play their role in national development,” the president said. On the occasion, he also appreciated role played by Pakistan Navy as well as Pakistan Air force in emergency situations caused due to natural calamity or accidents at massive scale.
“Educational and training institutions run by Pakistan Navy are also a tremendous contribution more so as they are now also open to the public in general,” President Mamnoon said.
Police arrested three people on Friday suspected of employing the terrorist who killed two people in the stabbing attack in south Tel Aviv on Thursday. Police said it also arrested six Palestinians for illegally residing in Israel. There's a lot of Paleos illegally employed in Israel. One way to deal with terrorism is to fine such businesses into bankruptcy. Another, it to boycott any business employing Arabs---I've seen some signs of this.
Something comforting amid all the tales of terror and woe:
[Ynet] Syria has used up more than 90 percent of its ballistic missiles against rebels during a more than four-year-old civil war but a few were transferred to Hezbollah guerrillas in neighbouring Leb, a senior Israeli military officer said on Wednesday.
Israel, which is expanding its high-altitude Arrow air defence system with US help, has been keeping an eye on Syria's Scud-type missiles as well as Iran's long-range Shehabs as potential threats. "The number of (Syrian) ballistic missiles left is less than 10 percent," a senior Israeli officer told Rooters on condition of anonmity, but added: "That could still change. They could start making them again."
Posted by: trailing wife ||
11/20/2015 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
#1
wonder if russia's recent arrival included a class V care package?
Still, it is good to see them burning up war stocks. It will take a while to restock the heavier/more expensive items.
A powerful Syrian insurgent group said on Thursday it was studying a local ceasefire proposal tabled by an international mediator aimed at halting fighting near Damascus.
Islam Alloush, spokesman for the Jaish al-Islam group, told Reuters the ceasefire proposal had been presented by the mediator to the former head of a sharia board that operates in rebel-held areas, who in turn had presented it to rebel groups and civilian organisations in the opposition-held area.
“We, in Jaish al-Islam, are studying the subject in the leadership council,” Alloush told Reuters, speaking via a web-based messaging system. He declined to give further details.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a group that monitors the war, earlier reported the failure of negotiations aimed at achieved a local ceasefire between rebels and government forces in the Eastern Ghouta near Damascus.
Moscow: Russia is ready to work with the Western coalition fighting Daesh if its members respect Syria’s sovereignty, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Thursday.
“We... are ready for practical cooperation with those countries which are part of the coalition and are ready to develop with them such forms of coordination that of course would respect Syria’s sovereignty and the prerogatives of the Syrian leadership,” Lavrov said in an interview with state-run Radio of Russia.
“I am convinced that such forms can be found if we take a pragmatic approach.”
Russia first launched air strikes on Syria in September at the request of its long-standing ally President Bashar Assad, while a US-led coalition of countries opposed to the Syrian strongman is conducting a separate air campaign against Daesh.
In the aftermath of the Paris attacks, French President Francois Hollande called this week for a broad anti-Daesh coalition, echoing an earlier call made by Russian President Vladimir Putin at the UN General Assembly in September.
Hollande said he would next week discuss his proposal with US President Barack Obama and Putin, who has ordered his navy in the Mediterranean to establish contact with its French counterparts and work together “as allies.”
Putin has been seeking to capitalize on shifting dynamics in the West following the Paris carnage and the bombing of a Russian passenger plane over Sinai in October, arguing that Russia and the West should unite against a common enemy.
Lavrov said he first detected a change in the Western position after Putin called for a broad coalition to fight the Daesh militants in Syria and praised Hollande’s decision to reach out to Putin.
“Right now sensible politicians are putting secondary things aside and understand that it’s necessary to focus attention on the priority: to prevent efforts by Daesh to conquer positions on the huge territory on Earth,” he said.
Lavrov reiterated Russia’s traditional stance that Assad protected the interests of “a significant part of Syrian society” therefore it would not be possible to reach a settlement “without his participation.”
“Our Western partners realized the lack of prospects for the approach that many of them had taken,” Russia’s top diplomat said, referring to the insistence in the West that Assad should immediately step down.
He also praised signs of rapprochement between Russia and the West following months of tensions over Ukraine. “Our Western partners have put some formats on ice,” he said, referring to venues such as the NATO-Russia Council.
“But this process is already returning to normal, the work of these mechanisms is resuming.”
[ARA News] SERE KANIYE – Hussein Kocher, leading member of Kurdish forces of the People’s Protection Units (YPG) and a prominent commander in the Kurdish-Arab alliance of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), said their forces are determined to “liberate the whole Syrian soil from Deash (ISIS) terrorists”.
“At this sensitive phase, we (Kurds) have put hands in hands with our Arab and Christian brothers and established the Syrian Democratic Forces in order to eliminate the terror group of Deash,” Kocher said in an exclusive interview with ARA News.
Kocher added that all freedom-fighters in Syria should unify in the face of the current challenges, emphasizing that several rebel groups have caused damage to the Syrian social fabric.
“While these forces were claiming to fight for freedom and democracy in the country, they have apparently caused a lot of damage and distortion to the Syrian uprising,” he said. “They looted, killed, and raped on Syria’s soil.”
The Kurdish commander reiterated on a force founded on the basis of liberating the entire soil of Syria.
“After having announced the SDF, we soon launched a large-sacle military campaign against terrorists (Islamic State group “ISIS”) in Syria’s northeast,” he argued.
“We will also seek to change the worn-out Syrian regime,” Kocher told ARA News.
“Over more than four years, the Kurdish YPG and YPJ forces are locked in fierce battles with ISIS terrorists defending Rojava (Syrian Kurdish region),” he said, pointing out “many honorable non-Kurdish military groups stood by our side.”
“The Arab tribal force of as-Sanadeed, the rebel group of Burkan al-Furat and at-Tahreer group of the Free Syrian army (FSA) are fighting on our side against the barbaric Daesh group.”
“It is time to liberate the entire soil of Syria from the fascist regime as well,” he insisted.
“Starting the battle for al-Hawl town in Hasakah province was the first step towards the liberation of Syria and its people from the radical and suppressive groups.”
“After the liberation of Hasakah countryside, all social components of the region are invited to join the SDF in a bid to liberate the entire Syrian soil,” Kocher concluded.
Over the past few days, the Syrian Democratic Forces recaptured some 200 villages and towns in the countryside of Hasakah, including the key town of al-Hawl which has been liberated on Friday with the support of the U.S.-led coalition. After losing al-Hawl, ISIS’s military and economic situation may deteriorate due to the cut of a main supply route between the group’s strongholds in Syria and Iraq.
[ARA News] DAMASCUS – Battling militants of the Islamic State (ISIS) near the ancient city of Palmyra (Tadmur), Dozens of soldiers of the Syrian army were reportedly infected with skin diseases, a source close to the Syrian army reported.
“Dozens of Syrian troops have been infected with leishmaniasis, amid lack of treatment,” the source told ARA News on the condition of anonymity.
“It is difficult to transfer those infected into medical centers in the regime-held areas due to their large numbers. They are currently blocked in the desert suburbs near Palmya,” he said.
The source pointed out the soldiers called on their military leadership to immediately send them medical teams for treatment.
“If the situation is not contained, the entire army would face the fate of those infected,” he argued, pointing out “we will definitely face defeat before the enemy (in reference to ISIS).”
The treatment of leishmaniasis disease is only available in official departments of the health ministry in the provinces, “so coordination is needed to deliver medicines to the army troops on the fighting fronts across Syria,” a medical source told ARA News.
“By now, there are campaigns underway in the coastal province of Tartus to deliver the needed medicine to the army’s infected soldiers on Palmyra’s fighting front,” the source added.
The regular army has made advances on the front of Palmyra during the past few weeks, especially in the towns of al-Kassarat and al-Tamthil west of the city of Palmyra, recapturing cellular tower of Syriatel and Muthallath Tadmur area in the eastern countryside of Homs, central Syria, after clashes with ISIS militants.
The leishmaniasis is spread in the areas that lack services or full of garbage and dirt because of the proliferation of sand fly, the major holder of the diseaseــ which can cause significant deformations if the infected did not quickly receive treatment.
The ancient city of Palmyra fell to ISIS militants last May subsequent to fierce battles with Syrian army forces.
Posted by: badanov ||
11/20/2015 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[8 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
[AlAhram] Around 55 Iranian military personnel have been killed in Syria's civil war, Israeli intelligence believes, and a think-tank close to Israel's spy services said the toll is undermining support among Iranians for Iran's actions in Syria.
While formally neutral on the four-year-old insurgency in the next-door Arab state, Israel has sought to raise alarm abroad about support given to Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Terror of Aleppo ... by Israel's arch-foe Iran and Hezbollah guerrillas from Leb.
With Russian forces also now weighing in on Assad's side, some Israeli media have carried unsourced reports presenting the de-facto axis between Moscow, Iran, Hezbollah and the Syrian army as plagued by poor coordination and battlefield losses.
Speaking to Rooters, a senior Israeli military officer cited Israeli intelligence findings that "55-plus" Iranian personnel had been killed in festivities with Syrian rebels, in addition to a Hezbollah corpse count he put at between 1,000 and 2,000.
Tehran denies having any military forces in Syria, but says it has dispatched advisers to help Assad's army fight "terrorist groups". Hezbollah has not published a figure for its losses.
Israel's Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center said in a report that 53 Iranians, including elite troops and senior officers, had been killed in Syria as of Nov. 15.
The think-tank, which is located next to the headquarters of Israel's main foreign spy services and draws staff from them, said the Iranian public appeared to be increasingly questioning the wisdom of its actions in Syria.
That has prompted Tehran to emphasise the importance of protecting Shi'ite Muslim shrines there from Sunni rebels and of shoring up Assad as a strategic asset, the think tank said.
"There are even demands to investigate the rising losses, suggesting the Iranian public regards with great scepticism the official Iranian claim that the Iranian presence in Syria is made up solely of 'advisers' and that Iranian forces are not actively involved in ground combat," its 54-page report said.
Hossein Salami, deputy commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps, last month sought to play down the force's losses.
"To give effective advice, the Revolutionary Guards advisers have to visit the front lines in Syria to become familiar with the reality of the battlefields," he told Iranian state TV.
"How could they help the Syrian army effectively by sitting in a room? The corpse count of Iranians is not high."
A regional security source who declined to be identified by name or nationality said that, at its peak, the Iranian force deployed in Syria was made up of 1,800 personnel but that number had since been reduced to 1,300.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani had called for the current deployment to be halved but was coming up against opposition from hardliners in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, the source added, declining to say where this information came from.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
11/20/2015 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
[Rudaw] Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Oppressor of the Syrians and the Lebs... has ruled out elections to choose his successor until "defeating terrorism," emphasizing that no timetable can be agreed before then.
The official SANA news agency quoted him as saying in an interview with Italian TV that a political process can be envisaged probably after a two-year period.
"This timetable starts after starting defeating terrorism," Assad told the RAI UNO television in response to a date for elections.
"Before that, there will be no point in deciding any timetable, because you cannot achieve anything politically while you have the turbans taking over many areas in Syria," he said.
"If we talk after that, one year and a half to two years is enough for any transition," he added. "It won't take more than two years."
"In other words, half past never. In the meantime, don't you have some jihadis to hunt down before they shoot up another city?"
Last week in Vienna, 19 countries that included Assad's allies set a January 1 deadline for the start of peace talks.
The agreement calls for a ceasefire to a war that is in its fifth year, to be agreed by May 14, 2016 and for free elections to be held a year later.
The Syrian government or opposition were not invited to the Vienna meeting.
Because that's the very best way to get someone to agree with your dumb ideas. And then President Assad started throwing things against the wall in the hope that something would stick:
Assad also added that Syria should not be blamed for the rise of Islamic bad boy groups such as al-Qaeda or 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.... (ISIS).
"Al Qaeda was created by the Americans with the help of Saudi Wahabi money and ideology, and of course, many other officials said the same in the United States," he said.
"ISIS 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 .. ... , they are offshoots of Al Qaeda. Regarding ISIS, it started in Iraq, it was established in Iraq in 2006, and the leader was al-Zarqawi who was killed by the American forces then," he added.
"It was established under the American supervision in Iraq, and the leader of ISIS today, who is called His Supreme Immensity, Caliph of the Faithful and Galactic Overlord, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi ...formerly merely the head of ISIL and a veteran of the Bagram jailhouse. Looks like a new messiah to bajillions of Moslems, like just another dead-eyed mass murder to the rest of us... , he was in the American prisons, and he was put in New York in their prisons, and he was released by them. So, it wasn't in Syria, it didn't start in Syria, it started in Iraq, and it started before that in Afghanistan," he added.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
11/20/2015 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[8 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
Daesh is aggressively pursuing development of chemical weapons, setting up a branch dedicated to research and experiments with the help of scientists from Iraq, Syria and elsewhere in the region, according to Iraqi and U.S. intelligence officials.
Their quest raises an alarming scenario for the West, given the determination to strike major cities that the group showed with its bloody attack last week in Paris. On Thursday, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls warned that extremists might at some point use chemical or biological weapons.
"Terrorism hit France not because of what it is doing in Iraq and Syria ... but for what it is," Valls told the lower house of Parliament. "We know that there could also be a risk of chemical or biological weapons," he added, though he did not talk of a specific threat.
U.S. intelligence officials don't believe Daesh has the capability to develop sophisticated weapons like nerve gas that are most suited for a terrorist attack on a civilian target. So far the group has used mustard gas on the battlefield in Iraq and Syria.
How sophisticated do they have to be? Mustard gas works well as a terror and area-denying weapon.
But Iraqi officials expressed concern that the large safe haven the extremists control since overrunning parts of Iraq and Syria last year has left Iraqi authorities largely in the dark over Daesh's program.
"They now have complete freedom to select locations for their labs and production sites and have a wide range of experts, both civilians and military, to aid them," a senior Iraqi intelligence official told The Associated Press.
So far, the only overt sign of the group's chemical weapons program has been the apparent use of mustard gas against Iraqi Kurdish fighters and in Syria. In mortars that hit Kurdish forces in northern Iraq earlier this year, preliminary tests by the U.S. showed traces of the chemical agent sulfur mustard.
Iraqi authorities clearly fear the use could be expanded. Over the summer, Iraq's military distributed gas masks to troops deployed west and north of Baghdad, one general told the AP. A senior officer in Salahuddin province, north of Baghdad, said 25 percent of the troops deployed there were equipped with masks.
More recently, Iraq's military received from Russia 1,000 protective suits against chemical attacks, said Hakim Al Zamili, the head of the Iraqi parliament's security and defense committee.
Daesh has set up a branch tasked with pursuing chemical weapons, according to a senior Iraqi military intelligence officer and two officials from another Iraqi intelligence agency. Al Zamili, citing intelligence reports he has access to, told the AP that the group has managed to attract chemical experts from abroad as well as Iraqi experts, including ones who once worked for Saddam Hussein's now-dissolved Military Industrialization Authority. The foreigners include experts from Chechnya and southeast Asia, the Iraqi intelligence officials said.
The chemistry is just not that hard. If you can make insecticide you can make nerve agents. The issues are scaling production up and then having a reliable delivery system.
Daesh recently moved its research labs, experts and materials from Iraq to "secured locations" inside Syria, Al Zamili added - apparently out of concern of an eventual assault on Mosul.
"Daesh is working very seriously to reach production of chemical weapons, particularly nerve gas," Al Zamili said, using an Arabic acronym for the group. "That would threaten not just Iraq but the whole world."
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/20/2015 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[9 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
#1
Chemical weapons are not that hard and there is almost no controls on acquiring precursors.
As for a reliable delivery system. A backpack would work just fine.
#2
Back in '95, a bunch of Japanese whackjobs killed a dozen people and injured thousands with a half-assed Sarin attack in the subways.
Terrorism is as much about promoting the brand as it is killing people. You could get your name in the news with something as simple as releasing some chlorine in a crowded place.
[Express] VLADIMIR Putin is preparing to send 150,000 troops to Syria in a bid to wipe out the evil Islamic State once and for all as he hints at joining the West following the Paris attacks.
The Russian leader is reportedly mounting an enormous military mission to take control of the terror group's stronghold of Raqqa. The city is the self-declared capital of ISIS in Syria and is patrolled by as many as 5,000 jihadi members.
Putin is set to mobilise 150,000 reservists who he conscripted into the military in September. He can send them; can he supply them?
Yesterday, following the Paris attacks, Putin hinted he was ready to join forces with the West to tackle Islamic State.
He told David Cameron: "The recent tragic events in France show that we should join efforts in preventing terror."
Posted by: Besoeker ||
11/20/2015 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[9 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
#1
Well if his recent Blitz of Syria by his Air Force is any example, when he puts boots on the ground HE WILL PUT LOTS OF BOOTS ON THE GROUND in Syria.
I guess youknowwho got what he wanted, no US troops in Syria and ISIS gets a major ass-kicking. What is there not to like with that scenario??? Like maybe I am not sure our administration really knows what a major Russian presence plus a butt load of troops means to the ME.
Might better approve Keystone because if you piss off Vlad you might not get any heating oil this winter if he has his way.
#2
I'm too old to shoot people well, but I do like bacon and can BBQ/smoke. Perhaps we can create a follow-up brigade of old folks to turn reclaimed land into pig farms and become the world's center of bacon? It would feed the troops and help morale for the shooters.
#3
Just in case ISIS and their fellow vermin don't realize, Russians aren't nice people like the US. They don't let lawyers right their ROE. In fact, I'm not even sure Russia /has/ lawyers.
Oh and Mossad, if they're listening. Given how much these ISIS wackjobs love their syrian made pills, maybe an infiltrator adding a non-standard ingredient would be amusing.
#5
Russia has many reservists, probably close to 2 million but over 75% of them are too old, too addicted to alcohol or worse or otherwise incapable of a serious fight. Moreover, the Russian logistics for an overseas operation of this kind simply doesn't now exist
Whoever said 150,000 reservists could fight in Syria was blowing smoke.
Posted by: lord garth ||
11/20/2015 6:09 Comments ||
Top||
#6
can he supply them?
Kinda depends on how long they're planning on staying.
That kinda depends on what they're planning on doing.
I doubt they're going to waste a lot of time building libraries, schools, hospitals and mosques.
How long does it take a bulldozer to drive across the country?
#8
Syria is a client state of Moscow. It has been as long as I can remember. Their problems are not ours or EU problems. If Putin doesn't go in he will look like Obama, he has no choice. Right now he bombing just like Obama, no boots on the ground. Are there any reports of the Russians doing anything other than flying and taking mortar rounds? Let them fight it out.
In the meantime we should watch our back side. If it wasn't the IS then it would be some other Mo group trying to kill westerners. The West should sit back and watch the show. (And protect it's borders). If the EU or USA joins the Russians on the ground they are fools.
Putin is NOT bombing just like Obama. Russian pilots aren't being given a red light on 75% of their missions cause their political leaders are worried about collateral damage. That's what US pilots are forced to endure, I doubt that Vlad gives a $hit.
#14
Question, has Russia ever sent troops (not trainers/experts/etc) to a non-neighboring country to fight? Since WW2 and going all the way to Germany that is.
Afghanistan was a Soviet Neighbor. Beyond that I thought it was all advisors.
[PJ Media] It's been a year of terror attacks, and now tourism to Paris takes a major blow:
Unofficial travel to Paris is prohibited -- including leave, liberty and special pass -- and includes a 50-kilometer radius around the city. The travel restriction, implemented in the aftermath of Friday's deadly attacks in Paris, applies to all Defense Department personnel, according to a statement from U.S. European Command.
Personnel on official travel or emergency leave to Paris or elsewhere in France will need approval from a general officer, according to EUCOM. In addition, DoD personnel who wish to go on unofficial travel elsewhere in France will also need approval from a general officer, according to EUCOM.
The US European Command press release adds that "at this time, these travel restrictions are indefinite" and that they apply to "military personnel, DoD civilian employees, contractors and command-sponsored dependents and family members."
#1
BTW, my local base was in Threat Con Bravo on Tuesday (while the Beltway folks say there's no threat to the rest of the country). Keep calm. All's well.
[Truth and Action] Earlier this month, the Army said that at least 48 of the 1,100 captains handed "pink slips" had been serving in Afghanistan.
Campbell spoke at an off-camera briefing with reporters that was his last as vice chief at the Pentagon. He was taking a brief leave before reporting to Afghanistan later this month to replace Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford as ISAF commander.
Immediately following Campbell's briefing, the Army put out a release stating that majors receiving notices who are now serving in Afghanistan or other areas overseas "will be returned to the United States within 30 days of their notification to begin their transition from active duty and ensure they have the maximum time and resources available for a successful transition."
The cutbacks were part of the Army's plan "to draw down its end-strength to 490,000 active-component soldiers by the end of Fiscal Year 2015," the statement said.
The so-called "hit list" for the 500 majors was determined by decisions of recent Officer Separation Boards and Enhanced Selective Retirement Boards, the Army said.
The Army suggested that more cuts were coming: "As a result of future budget restrictions previously passed by Congress, the active Army will further reduce its end-strength by 20,000 Soldiers in both 2016 and 2017" to an Army force of about 450,000, the Army statement said.
Campbell said there were opportunities for majors transitioning out of the active-duty service to take positions in the Reserves and the National Guard.
The Army also pointed to the new "Shifting Gears" partnership of the Army, Raytheon and General Motors to allow transitioning troops to receive training and possibly be placed in service technician jobs at GM dealerships.
WENT into a public 'ouse to get a pint o'beer,
The publican 'e up an' sez, ``We serve no red-coats here.''
The girls be'ind the bar they laughed an' giggled fit to die,
I outs into the street again an' to myself sez I:
O it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' ``Tommy, go away'';
But it's ``Thank you, Mister Atkins,'' when the band begins to play,
The band begins to play, my boys, the band begins to play,
O it's ``Thank you, Mr. Atkins,'' when the band begins to play.
I went into a theatre as sober as could be,
They gave a drunk civilian room, but 'adn't none for me;
They sent me to the gallery or round the music 'alls,
But when it comes to fightin', Lord! they'll shove me in the stalls!
For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' ``Tommy, wait outside'';
But it's ``Special train for Atkins'' when the trooper's on the tide,
The troopship's on the tide, my boys, the troopship's on the tide,
O it's ``Special train for Atkins'' when the trooper's on the tide.
Yes, makin' mock o' uniforms that guard you while you sleep
Is cheaper than them uniforms, an' they're starvation cheap;
An' hustlin' drunken soldiers when they're goin' large a bit
Is five times better business than paradin' in full kit.
Then it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' ``Tommy how's yer soul?''
But it's ``Thin red line of 'eroes'' when the drums begin to roll,
The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,
O it's ``Thin red line of 'eroes'' when the drums begin to roll.
We aren't no thin red 'eroes, nor we aren't no blackguards too,
But single men in barricks, most remarkable like you;
An' if sometimes our conduck isn't all your fancy paints:
Why, single men in barricks don't grow into plaster saints;
While it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an ``Tommy, fall be'ind,''
But it's ``Please to walk in front, sir,'' when there's trouble in the wind,
There's trouble in the wind, my boys, there's trouble in the wind,
O it's ``Please to walk in front, sir,'' when there's trouble in the wind.
You talk o' better food for us, an'schools, an' fires an' all:
We'll wait for extry rations if you treat us rational.
Don't mess about the cook-room slops, but prove it to our face
The Widow's Uniform is not the soldier-man's disgrace.
For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' ``Chuck him out, the brute!''
But it's ``Saviour of 'is country,'' when the guns begin to shoot;
Yes it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' anything you please;
But Tommy ain't a bloomin' fool--you bet that Tommy sees!
#6
And I might suggest that when it comes time to Vote you remember. And one thing to remember is that Hillary never has been the soldier's friend.
And another thing to remember might include that when you joined the military it wasn't for the big money then or the safety involved it was because perhaps ( just a little ) it was where you felt you could do the most for a Country you wanted to serve. And now you suspect the Country really doesn't like you, or respect you...and may ( just a little ) regard you as un-needed garbage ( just a little ).
And not to forget how the MS Media pictures you and the Democrats have always backed you and praised you. Democrats have made it very clear how they like and trust you, yeah? Democrats are always in a hurry to bugger off and leave your sorry ass hanging. Or am I wrong?
And when Obama salutes you with a white styrofoam coffee cup ( he really MEANS it. ) But maybe you will be much happier selling appliances or making your quota in Linoleum sales instead of commanding a Battalion. Who knows.
#7
And now you suspect the Country really doesn't like you, or respect you...and may ( just a little ) regard you as un-needed garbage ( just a little ).
The entire country, Mr. Unoluth Omusons4219? Perhaps you are giving too much credence to that part of the country that writes for the newspapers and appears on television, and not enough to your neighbours.
#10
Yep sounds familiar, I got my pink slip after being promoted to major out of zone of consideration...
I was bitter for a long time. I went through so much crap and went so many places not on most maps "to protect my country" and after all of that I got put out like the Saturday trash after a bad Friday night
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
11/20/2015 20:47 Comments ||
Top||
#11
I never knew you could get laid off from the Army.
I wonder if we will see an influx of conservative people with leadership experience getting in to politics.
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.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
[Express] VLADIMIR Putin is preparing to send 150,000 troops to Syria in a bid to wipe out the evil Islamic State once and for all as he hints at joining the West following the Paris attacks.
