[The Guardian] Speaking at the Berlin film festival, documentarian Sonia Kennebeck discusses her Wim Wenders-produced film National Bird, which reveals widespread post-traumatic stress disorder among employees of the US's drone division.
We've all seen this film before: the grainy black-and-white shot with a crosshair on top. Dark blobs moving across the screen. Then, a pause, an explosion and dust. A few moments later you can make out the bodies. Sometimes you'll see the injured, dragging themselves out of the wreckage. ...followed by wild cheering, high-fives, and applause in the SCIF or Opns Center as the A-10 makes another pass, taking out the 'squirters' as they attempt to drag themselves off.
Whatever your take on drone warfare, watching video of a strike is an upsetting experience. Now a documentary, National Bird, seeks to describe the traumatic effect that planning and executing these strikes has had on some military personnel.
#1
Maybe they need to vet the pussies a litlle better. I personally am tired of hearing these ppl whine about the job they knew they were gonna be doing long before they ever actually handed them full control of a drone. Also it's not like it was their decision to pull the trigger. Hell pay me to fly one of these things from my living room, I bet more shit goes kablooyey and I won't lose one wink over it.
Posted by: chris ||
02/16/2016 7:52 Comments ||
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#2
In the words of Michelle Malkin, "Boo-effing-hoo."
#3
What's upsetting about seeing raping, slaving war criminals receive justice?
Or is that what the lefties find upsetting?
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
02/16/2016 8:33 Comments ||
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#4
“I asked them how many people in the trailer had addiction problems and they said: ‘Everybody. We had three domestic violence problems, we had two drink-driving problems, six people were alcoholics.’ And we’re talking about a group of 12 people in one trailer. And it’s typical, because you hear the same stories from clients in different trailers in different places. It’s the same story. Total dysfunction.”
Maybe they should sort out the working environment and personality disorder issues first, reversing the effect:cause paradigm.
I remember long hours sitting in the can subject to any number of environmental assaults. No sunlight, no air, ozone from the electronics, forced humidity to prevent static discharge, fumes from the diesel generator or heated plastic carpet and toner in the printers, unwashed BDU butt sweat and remnants of the sausage and cabbage or fish sauce the WO had for dinner. All of this plus the EMF bouncing about inside the shielded container that caused my fillings to spark. Add to that the periodic 'covert' surveillance and interviews of family, wife and girlfriend, landlord and neighbors by OSI and you generate a paranoid complex.
Of course the OPs choose to get fried, just for psychic relief, and that introduces socially undesirable problematic behavior.
#5
Maybe they need to recruit their drone drivers from gamers into the real violent stuff - the games that some blame for young people becoming desensitized to violence? Then PTSD shouldn't be a problem. Though perhaps random acts of violence would...
#6
....followed by wild cheering, high-fives, and applause in the SCIF or Opns Center... - a resounding YES!
Whatever your take on drone warfare, watching video of a strike is an upsetting experience - not really. Actually a great way to start the day. Also whenever you're feeling down, you can go back and watch highlight reels.
Posted by: Bangkok Billy ||
02/16/2016 11:00 Comments ||
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#8
So now they cant even fight from their safe places. Fucking crybabies... Have them go home and let the guys in the JSOTF manage the drones..
Posted by: 49 pan ||
02/16/2016 11:43 Comments ||
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#9
Modern Warfare X.
So real that you can't tell it from the real thing. Then someone in a room someplace just switches the MMO to a live feed for some players. There will be 'players' doing it for days on line at a time. Won't know they're doing the 'real thing'. They'll be high fiving their bros on the couch next to them. PTSD? What friggn' PTSD, I'm on the leaders board.
#11
Whatever your take on drone warfare, watching video of a strike is an upsetting experience.
Apparently the author lives in a bubble, surrounded by a minority of like-minded individuals.
Fine, they can leave the service. I don't think anyone has a gun to their head.
AFAIAC, If you leave the bad guys in place, they will kill way more good guys than if you take them out along with a few good guys. A sad necessity since the bad guys set it up that way, and the "good" guys go along with it.
#12
I remember a friend who once commented "The Air Force is a collection of Gentlemen who share a common tailor". Maybe the screening for these guys needs some tweeking?
#13
To the left, all military are either mindless killers or helpless victims. Fill in the blanks for macro template 2. The story practically writes itself.
Yeah, weed out the total pussies for duty at the White House, where that sort of thing is appreciated.
[Tolo News] A new faction of the Taliban has reportedly emerged in Paktika ...which coincidentally borders South Wazoo... province of Afghanistan - a faction that claims it will wage war against foreign-funded groups.
Mullah Obidullah Hunar is believed to be the leader of newly formed group and claims that Mullah Akhtar Mansour is funded by Pak intelligence and therefore they do not recognize him as their leader.
The newly emerged Taliban faction said that after this they will conduct Jihad against groups funded by Pakistain intelligence.
"Our judge and court stay hidden in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. . For this I don't accept such judge and court and they cannot select our leader," Hunar said.
"I will not become a Pakistain slave and I will not let my tribe become one either. I do not accept such Talibs who are funded by Pakistain and get their orders from Islamabad," he said.
After the news emerged last year of the death of the Taliban leader Mullah Omar ... a minor Pashtun commander in the war against the Soviets who made good as leader of the Taliban. As ruler of Afghanistan, he took the title Leader of the Faithful. The imposition of Pashtunkhwa on the nation institutionalized ignorance and brutality in a country already notable for its own fair share of ignorance and brutality... , Mullah Akhtar Mansour was announced as his successor. This move has been faced with much criticism and the Taliban as a group has split into a number of factions.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/16/2016 00:00 ||
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[Tolo News] Overall security in Dand-e-Ghori district of Baghlan province in northern Afghanistan has drastically deteriorated in recent weeks while an increase in holy warrior attacks against security forces in the area has been recorded.
With no end to festivities between security forces and the Taliban in sight, some Afghan security personnel on Monday said that planting of landmines by holy warriors, the presence of the Taliban inside residential areas and a halt in air strikes have prevented security forces from storming the area and eliminating the Taliban .
"We do not feel fear from anyone, the boys (army soldiers) are moving forward to the warfront," an Afghan soldier in the area said Monday.
As violence in Dand-e-Ghori continues, Afghan security institutions have sent in reinforcements to the area to end the Taliban siege and liberate the war-hit district.
"They have established defense shields inside residential areas. The Taliban are deployed inside homes, they have established strong trenches during this period," another soldier said.
The stoppage of air strikes is another huge challenge which is undermining the Afghan troops' struggle to push back the Taliban.
"The enemy continues to resist in their bases, but these bases are not so strong that they cannot be broken. After reconnecting electricity to Kabul ...the capital of Afghanistan. Home to continuous fighting from 1992 to 1996 between the forces of would-be strongman and Pak ISI/Jamaat-e-Islami sock puppet Gulbuddin Hekmayar and the Northern Alliance, a period which won Hek the title Most Evil Man in the World and didn't do much for the reputations of the Northern Alliance guys either.... (after Taliban destroyed pylons), we will launch special operations and a major clearance operation in Dand-e-Ghori," Afghan army chief general Qadam Shah Shaheem said.
Dand-e-Ghori has strategic importance as it connects northern and northeastern regions of the country. The presence of the Lions of Islam in the area threatens the security of northern areas.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/16/2016 00:00 ||
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[AlArabiya] Saudi-led airstrikes and recent clashes have killed at least 59 Houthi militas, including prominent leaders, with dozens injured, Al Arabiya News reported Monday.
Clashes took place in the south-western governorate of Taez, where the coalition targeted Houthi-held areas, according to sources with the Popular Resistance Forces (PRF).
Yahya Zafran, a Houthi leader, was among 29 militas reportedly killed.
Sources said six Houthis militias were killed in clashes in Marib province, and a Houthi weapons depot was destroyed by coalition airstrikes.
It was also reported by sources that 10 Houthi militias were killed, including leader Yahya al-Mutawakkil Taha, in clashes with the national army and PRF in eastern Sanaa.
In central Ibb province, sources said the PRF carried out a surprise attack on Houthi militias, killing five.
In Al-Bayda province, the PRF attacked Houthi positions, killing five militias and wounding others.
In western Al-Hudayda governorate, Houthi leader Abdulwahab al-Houthi was reportedly killed by the PRF.
[AlArabiya] Shelling from Yemen has killed a Saudi border guard on duty on the southern frontier, the interior ministry said on Monday.
He died during a bombardment on Sunday evening of a border post in the Al-Harth sector of Jazan region, it said in a statement published by the official SPA news agency.
More than 90 civilians and soldiers have died in shelling and skirmishes along the border since last March, when a Saudi-led coalition launched a military intervention in Yemen.
The coalition is backing Yemen's government against Iran-supported Shiite Houthi rebels and their allies who overran the capital Sanaa in September 2014.
The United Nations says more than 6,100 people have been killed in the fighting since March, about half of them civilians.
[emirates247] A scud missile launched from Yemeni territories towards Khamis Mishait in Saudi Arabia was intercepted and destroyed by Saudi Air Defence Forces.
The Saudi Press Agency (SPA) quoted a statement by the Coalition Command supporting the legitimacy in Yemen as saying that the Saudi Royal Air Defence Forces intercepted a scud missile which was launched from the Yemeni territories heading for Khamis Mishait, a southern Saudi city, and completely destroyed it without causing any losses on the ground.
[AnNahar] Two Russian coppers died and many people were maimed in a boom-mobile blast at a checkpoint in the North Caucasus region of Dagestan ...a formerly inoffensive Caucasus republic currently bedevilled by low-level Islamic insurgency, occasional outbreaks of separatism, ethnic tensions and terrorism, primarily due to its proximity to Chechnya. There are several dozen ethnic groups, most of which speak either Caucasian, Turkic, or Iranian languages. Largest among these ethnic groups are the Avar, Dargin, Kumyk, Lezgin, and Laks. While Russers form less than five percent of the population, Russian remains the primary official language and the lingua franca... on Monday, the interior ministry said.
The blast occurred as coppers were attempting to inspect a Lada car at a checkpoint near the village of Dzhemikent on the Caspian Sea, the interior ministry's district office said in a statement.
"Two coppers died and two more were hospitalized with injuries," it said.
A source in the region's security forces was quoted by TASS news agency as saying the blast was a suicide kaboom.
"There is only a piece of the head left from the jacket wallah, a foot and a hand. One of the fingers that's left will help identify him," the source said. "The car was sold recently, its previous owner has been identified."
Head of the region Ramazan Abdulatipov said a total of 18 people were maimed.
Russia's anti-terrorist committee (NAK) said the blast was caused by a device placed in a car based on two artillery shells and was equivalent to 30 kilograms of TNT.
"The blast happened inside a passenger car," said a NAK statement quoted by news agencies.
Dagestan has been gripped by nearly daily violence for years due to a simmering Islamist insurgency there, though it has abated during the conflict in Syria which has seen an exodus of Russians from the North Caucasus to join the jihadist fighters in 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.... group and Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front.
In December, IS grabbed credit for a deadly shooting in Derbent, a city in Dagestan with an ancient citadel that is popular with tourists. The victim was reportedly an employee of the Russian border service.
The attack was believed to have been organized by Islamic Death Eaters who have sworn allegiance to 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.... group and carried out by a man who spent time in Syria, said Rasul Temirbekov, front man for the Dagestani branch of the federal Investigative Committee.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
02/16/2016 00:00 ||
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[Ynet] Bulgarian prosecutors have charged three Syrians with attempting to join 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.... Death Eater group after border patrols tossed in the calaboose Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try! them as they tried to enter The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... from Bulgaria, the interior ministry said on Monday.
The three Syrians, who had refugee status from Germany, had already made one unsuccessful attempt to enter Turkey through Greece earlier this year, the ministry said.
"During operational activities their affiliation to Islamic State has been established, as well as their intention to join the terrorist group," the ministry said in a statement.
The three men, who had already been given six-month suspended sentences for attempting to cross the Bulgarian-Turkish border illegally. They now face up to 10 years in jail if convicted.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
02/16/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
NEVER mess with Bulgarians! KGB's favorite wet squad!
LANDI KOTAL: At least nine suspected militants were killed and five injured in air strikes in Tirah valley of Khyber Agency on Monday.
According to security officials, the attacks carried out by Pakistan Air Force planes targeted hideouts of the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Lashkar-e-Islam (LI) in Rajgal and Kukikhel areas. They claimed that the ‘precise’ strikes were carried out on the basis of information about the presence of TTP and LI activists in the region.
The casualty claims could not be independently verified as media has no access to the areas.
Our correspondent adds from Wana: At least one soldier was killed and four others were injured by an improvised explosive device near a village in South Waziristan Agency on Monday.
Officials said the roadside blast had hit a military vehicle carrying the personnel from the agency’s headquarters of Wana to Tank in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The wounded soldiers were taken to a military hospital in the area. Security forces carried out a search for suspects, but no arrest was made till late night.
SARGODHA: The district police on Monday claimed to have foiled a terror plan and seized huge cache of weapons from an accused. According to Police sources, a squad during snap checking at Salam Chowk Bhalwal check post stopped a vehicle and arrested two persons identified as Akhtar Nawaz and Fazal Karim hailing from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).
Police also recovered 12 repeater guns, 28 pump action guns with 9,000 bullets of 9 mm pistol, 11,000 bullets of 30 bore pistols from their possession. During preliminary interrogation, the accused confessed that the weapons were being transported from KP to Sargodha for evil designs. Police have registered a case and started further investigation.
PESHAWAR: One security personnel was killed and another sustained injuries in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast in Wana, a town in South Waziristan, security sources said.
An IED planted on the roadside struck a security forces’ vehicle in Talai area of South Waziristan, killing one security official. The injured was taken to Combined Military Hospital Peshawar for treatment. Security forces cordoned off the area after the explosion and started a search operation to apprehend suspects involved in the attack.
Homemade roadside bombs are a major weapon of militants who attack government forces in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and tribal districts. Pakistan’s army largely cleared militants from South Waziristan in a 2009 operation. Soldiers now are fighting militants in North Waziristan in operation Zarb-i-Azb that began in June 2014. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Monday’s blast.
PESHAWAR: The Bacha Khan University reopened for classes on Monday with teachers - but not students - allowed to carry weapons.
Taliban militants have threatened more assaults on schools and universities since the Jan 20 attack on the university in Charsadda, fueling a growing sense of insecurity in the country.
The attack had reminded the people of the horrors that took place a little over a year earlier, when militants massacred 134 pupils at an army school just 31 km away, in Peshawar, the main city of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Before Monday’s reopening, the university took extra security measures, installing new CCTV cameras, hiring more armed guards, and raising the height of boundary walls, vice chancellor Fazal Rahim Marwat said.
The university also decided that teachers could continue to carry their own licensed weapons as long as they do not display them in classrooms, Marwat said.
A chemistry professor who was killed during last month’s assault had been lauded as a hero for firing back at the attackers. But Marwat said the school decided to reject a request from some teachers to issue them firearms.
“After taking whatever security measures were possible for protection of students and faculty members, we have opened the university for classes?,” Marwat said.
Students who owned weapons had to submit them at the entrance of the campus, he said.
Many of the returning students arrived at the campus with their parents and relatives, who waited while they went to classes. Several, however, were still too traumatised to attend school or were made to stay home by scared parents.
(IraqiNews.com) Anbar – The leadership of al-Hashed al-Shaabi in Anbar Province announced on Monday the launch of a large-scale military operation to free the areas of al-Karma District east of Fallujah (62 km west of Baghdad) from the control of the so-called ISIS, while indicated to the death of 16 ISIS fighters during the operation.
The commander of the 1st regiment of Karmat al-Fallujah brigade in al-Hashed al-Shaabi Col. Mahmoud Mardi Jumaili said in a press statement received by IraqiNews.com, “The joint forces from the army, police and Anbar tribal fighters began a large-scale military operation to cleanse al-Karma District (19 km east of Fallujah), killing 16 fighters belonging to ISIS and destroying four car bombs during the operation.”
Jumaili added, “The security forces targeted ISIS gatherings in the areas of al-Kbishat, Subaihat, Albu Jassim and Krtan in the center of Karmat Fallujah,” pointing out that, “The troops have achieved significant progress in the liberation battles of those areas.
” There is a notable collapse in the ranks of the terrorist organization,” Jumaili continued.
(IraqiNews.com) Salahuddin – A security source in Salahuddin province said on Monday, that one of the C4 caches for ISIS in the district of al-Sharqat had exploded, while pointed out that the size of losses is unknown yet.
The source reported for IraqiNews.com, “Today, one of the caches of the C4 material in the vicinity of al-Sharqat District (north of Salahuddin) had exploded strongly for unknown reasons; without knowing the size of casualties in the ranks of the [ISIS] elements.”
The source added, “ISIS retains many C4 caches to secure the needs of its formations in al-Sharqat.”
(IraqiNews.com) Nineveh – A source in Nineveh Province announced on Monday, that the so-called ISIS had targeted Nineveh Zlican Camp in Ba’shiqah north of Mosul (405 km north of Baghdad) with four Katyusha rockets, while emphasized that the attack caused no casualties.
The source said in a press statement obtained by IraqiNews.com, “ISIS attacked Zlican Camp in Ba’shiqah (17 km north of Mosul) using four Katyusha rockets, causing no casualties.”
The source, who asked anonymity, added, “al-Hashed al-Shaabi forces stationed inside the camp responded to the rocket attack.”
(IraqiNews.com) Kirkuk – A local source in Kirkuk Province revealed, that the so-called ISIS executed five persons including a former army officer on charges of leaving the land of Caliphate southwest of the province.
The source said in a statement followed by IraqiNews.com, “Today, ISIS members executed five civilians by firing squad including a former army officer in Hawija District, on charges of leaving the land of Caliphate.”
The source added, “The civilians were executed after trying to escape to Salahuddin Province then to Hamrin Mountains,” pointing out that, “ISIS members threw the executed bodies on the ground.”
(IraqiNews.com) Basra – A security source in Basra Province announced, that armed clashes broke out in al-Karma area north of the province between the members of two tribes, while the security forces were deployed in the area to resolve the dispute.
The source said in a statement followed by IraqiNews.com, “Armed clashes broke out between the members of two tribes in al-Karma area north of Basra,” pointing out that, “The heavy gun fire caused a security disturbance in the area.”
The source added, “The police forces cordoned off the area, while prepared to resolve the dispute and arrest its perpetrators.”
(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad -A source in the Ministry of Interior announced on Monday, that 11 people had been either killed or wounded in the explosion of an explosive device north of Baghdad.
The source said in a statement followed by IraqiNews.com, “A bomb exploded, at noon today, near a popular market in al-Mashahda area in the district of Tarmiya north of Baghdad, killing three people and injuring eight others.”
The source, who requested anonymity, added, “The security force rushed to the area and transferred the wounded to a nearby hospital for treatment and the dead bodies to the forensic medicine department, while cordoned off the area and prevented approaching it.”
(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – The Ministry of Defense announced on Monday, that nine members of the so-called ISIS were arrested during a security operation north of Baghdad, while indicated to the seizure of a number of explosive belts and various ammunition.
The Ministry of Defense said in a statement received by IraqiNews.com, “A force from the military intelligence arrested a terrorist group of nine people working within the so-called ISIS state of North of Baghdad.”
The statement added, “The operation resulted in the seizure of a number of explosive belts and automatic weapons, as well as various ammunition and military uniforms, pointing out that, “The terrorists were intending to target innocent citizens and security forces in Baghdad areas.”
[IsraelTimes] The IDF arrested the head of the Tanzim terrorist organization, a faction of Fatah, overnight Sunday, the Shin Bet security services announces. Jamal Abu Lel, 48, ran Tanzim out of the Qalandiya refugee camp outside of Ramallah, the Shin Bet says.
Through the organization, Abu Lel worked to funnel money and direct shooting attacks against Israelis, the security services says in a statement. The Shin Bet does not detail who the money is funneled to, but says “money was transferred in order to finance militant activities.”
Abu Lel is a resident of Kfar Aqab, an East Jerusalem neighborhood, and possesses an Israeli ID card.
[IsraelTimes] 28 rioters said injured as IDF tries to disperse a protest in al-Am'ari refugee camp in the West Bank
An IDF soldier was lightly injured Monday morning during a clash with Paleostinians who threw rocks and homemade bombs at the troops outside of Ramallah, an army spokesperson said.
The troops were conducting "routine activities" in the area, near al-Am'ari refugee camp outside of Ramallah in the West Bank, the IDF said, when dozens of local Paleostinians began pelting them with homemade explosives and stones.
"The soldiers called for the demonstrators to stop the violence, using riot dispersal means," a spokesperson said.
As the demonstration persisted, the troops fired live rounds at "main instigators," the IDF said.
During the clash, 28 Paleostinians were maimed to varying degrees, some from tear gas inhalation and others from rubber bullet wounds, according to the Paleostinian Authority health ministry.
Israel Radio, citing Paleostinian sources, said five were maimed by live fire.
The maimed soldier was taken to Jerusalem's Shaare Zedek Medical Center for treatment, the army said.
Though many of the rioters expeditiously departed at a goodly pace shortly after the IDF switched to live-fire rounds, the demonstration continued into the afternoon.
The soldiers had been in the refugee camp in order to arrest an arms dealer named Ayman Abu Arab, who was not at home, according to the Paleostinian Ma'an news site.
On Sunday night and Monday morning, soldiers tossed in the clink Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try! 10 Paleostinians in the West Bank on suspicion that they had taken part in violent demonstrations or other forms of "popular terrorism," a catch-all term used by the IDF to include rock- and Molotov cocktail-throwing.
#1
The troops were conducting "routine activities" in the area, near al-Am'ari refugee camp outside of Ramallah in the West Bank, the IDF said, when dozens of local Paleostinians began pelting them with homemade explosives and stones.
This sentence is unnecessarily complicated. I recommend replacing it with this one:
The troops and dozens of local Paleostinians were conducting "routine activities" in the area, near al-Am'ari refugee camp outside of Ramallah in the West Bank, the IDF said.
[IsraelTimes] Teen approaches security forces outside Jerusalem's Damascus Gate; afterward, officers find a second knife in her bag
Security forces on Monday tossed in the calaboose ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... a 15-year-old Paleostinian girl who pulled a knife from her pocket near the Damascus Gate outside of the Jerusalem's Old City, the Israel Police said.
The girl "raised the officers' suspicions," and when they approached her, she took out the knife, a spokesperson said.
The officers subdued the young woman and arrested her. Upon searching her bag, officers found an additional knife, the spokesperson said.
The Damascus Gate has been the site of frequent attacks against Israeli security forces and civilians.
[AnNahar] Indonesian police have tossed in the calaboose Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please! dozens of people from radical Islamic groups who were plotting attacks against the airport and other targets in the near future, the national police chief said Monday.
The 33 people were arrested by the police anti-terror unit following last month's attacks in Jakarta which killed four civilians and four assailants, Badrodin Haiti said.
The gun and suicide kabooms claimed by 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.... group and centered around a Starbucks outlet were the country's worst terror incident in seven years, ending a long lull in major terror.
Police have launched a crackdown across the country, saying they suspect a broader krazed killer network helped carry out the assault.
Seventeen of those arrested were directly linked to the Jakarta attacks, while 16 others were members of three other radical groups, Haiti said.
A group led by an krazed killer called Hendro Fernando had received 1.3 billion rupiah ($97,000) from Jordan, Iraq and The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... , he said, adding that it planned to launch attacks against Jakarta's main airport and the national police headquarters.
Haiti said another group led by a person identified only as 'Helmi' planned to use a boom-mobile to attack the Jakarta cop shoppe in the city's main business district.
A third group, according to the police chief, planned stabbing attacks on traffic police.
"Terrorism attacks will still happen in the future because there are other groups who are linked to Bahrun Naim in Syria," he said.
Bahrun Naim is one of three high-profile Indonesians fighting for the Islamic State group in Syria. Police say he played a central role in motivating groups in Indonesia to launch attacks in the country.
"(Naim) explained and gave motivation about launching a holy war and explained how to make bombs and said that he would send money to anyone who is ready to engage in terrorist acts," Haiti said.
Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim-majority country, suffered several major kabooms by Islamic Lions of Islam between 2000 and 2009, including the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people.
A subsequent crackdown weakened the most dangerous krazed killer networks.
Police now say the biggest threat comes from two main sources -- Indonesians in Syria encouraging local groups to launch attacks, and Indonesians who return home from fighting in the Middle East.
There are currently 392 Indonesians fighting for IS in Syria and over 50 more are thought to be preparing to leave for the country, police said.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
02/16/2016 00:00 ||
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[ALMANAR.LB] The Syrian Arab Army, backed by the Syria air force, continued Monday fighting terrorism across the country, destroying terrorists' positions, vehicles and gatherings in different provinces.
Homs
The Syrian army air force last night and on Monday morning carried out strikes against positions and vehicles of ISIL holy warriors and other 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... organizations in the countryside of Homs province.
A military source told SANA that the army air force destroyed positions and vehicles belonging to ISIL holy warriors in the villages of al-Rik, Abu Tirraha and Unq al-Hawa.
The source added that ISIL holy warriors suffered heavy losses in personnel and equipment in Arclight airstrikes carried out by the army air force against their hotbeds and positions in Palmyra City, al-Kassarat area and al-Qaryatain village in the eastern and southeastern countryside of the province.
In the northern countryside, the army air force destroyed positions and vehicles of ISIL holy warriors in intensive bombardments against their fortifications and gatherings to the east of al-Ghantou village and Um al-Rish village.
Aleppo
Army units established control over al-Tiba village and its farms in Kwairis Sharqi area in Aleppo's eastern countryside, eliminating the remaining ISIL holy warriors in it, a military source told SANA.
The source said engineering units combed the village and its farms and dismantled bombs left behind by the defeated terrorists.
The source also stated that security and stability were restored to the village of Kafr Naya 25 km north of Aleppo city.
Meanwhile, ...back at the palazzo, Don Smilzo looked for an avenue of escape. The only window opened a hundred feet above the moat. The nearest of the hired assassins hold a bloody axe.
The window was looking better all the time.... sources on the ground said army units carried out operations targeting movements and fortified positions of ISIL holy warriors in the surroundings of the thermal power station in al-Tiba village, destroying 12 machinegun-equipped vehicles.
Over the past 24 hours, units of the army and the armed forces in Aleppo carried out intensive operations against dens and fortifications of terrorist organizations in a number of neighborhoods in Aleppo City.
Units of the army destroyed gatherings of terrorist organizations in concentrated strikes carried out in the neighborhoods of Bab al-Nayrab, Karm al-Qatirji, al-Sheikh Khedr and al-Ansari.
Terrorists' hotbeds, arms and ammunition were also destroyed in the strikes and a number of them were killed.
Hama
The Syrian army air force carried out intensive sorties on the gatherings of ISIL terrorist organization in many villages in the eastern countryside of Hama province, inflicting heavy losses on holy warriors in personnel and equipment.
The sorties resulted in destroying gatherings, positions and vehicles equipped with machineguns in the villages of Jana al-Albawi, Abu Hbeilat, Abu al-Hanaya, Salba and Ukeirbat.
Idleb
In Idleb countryside, the army air force targeted gatherings for 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 .. ... (Qaeda branch in the Levant) and other terrorist organizations in Abu al-Duhour, 50km southeast of Idleb city, destroying vehicles equipped with different machineguns.
A number of vehicles loaded with arms and equipped with machineguns for Jaish al-Fateh terrorist organization were destroyed in army Arclight airstrikes in Kefr Uweid village in the southwestern countryside of Idleb province.
Deir Ezzor
While in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor, the Syrian army inflicted heavy losses on ISIL holy warriors in personnel and equipment in air strikes in Deir Ezzor countryside during the past 24 hours, according to the military source.
The Syrian air strikes targeted ISIL hideouts and hotbeds in al-Bagheiliya village, 6km west of Deir Ezzor city, destroying a number of vehicles equipped with heavy machineguns.
The army air force destroyed ISIL vehicles and gatherings in al-Mrei'eiyeh village and west of Deir Ezzor military airport.
Lattakia
The Syrian Air Force destroyed positions and vehicles for terrorist organizations in Kenseba town and its suburb and in the villages of Ain al-Qantara, Qal'et al-Tuyal, al-Sheikh Yusef, and Rewesit al-Moqnas in the northern countryside of Lattakia province.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/16/2016 00:00 ||
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[ALMANAR.LB] At least 40 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... Death Eaters were killed as forces from the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) advance in Tal Rifaat in Alepppo countryside.
Sources told al-Manar that the YPG seized control of Ain Daqneh town, adding that they were heading towards Kaljibrin, and that they have managed to cut off Kaljibrin-Tal Rifaat road.
Tal Rifaat is one of the remaining Takfiri bastions north of Aleppo.
The sources noted that the Kurdish forces also captured several murderous Moslems, including a captain in "Liwaa al-Fath" (Brigade of Conqeust), Ismail Naddaf.
The sources said that the seizure of Kaljibrin makes the Kurdish forces in direct confrontation with the Takfiri group, ISIL (so-called 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.... in Iraq and Levant) in Aleppo countryside.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/16/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
Kurds are now, at least partially and tactically, allied with Russia, Iran, Hezbollah and Assad.
another triumph for Sec Kerry
Posted by: lord garth ||
02/16/2016 8:31 Comments ||
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#2
So when do the Turks start attacking these Kurds?
That should make for some real pot stirring. {/sarc}
[ARA News] QAMISHLI – Warplanes of the U.S.-led coalition bombed oil facilities for the radical group of Islamic State (ISIS) in eastern Syria on Monday, activists reported.
The coalition hit oil wells and refineries in the al-Ward oil field in Syria’s eastern province of Deir ez-Zor with several airstrikes.
Al-Ward is one of the main Syrian oil fields under ISIS control. The extremist group relies on selling oil in the black market in order to fund its operations in the region.
“The western coalition targeted the ISIS-held oil facilities in al-Ward field with more than five airstrikes on Monday, destroying several oil wells and crude refineries,” media activist Anass Amin told ARA News in Deir ez-Zor.
Dozens of pro-ISIS workers were killed in the strikes, as plumes of smoke were seems rising from the targeted facilities, according to local sources.
The U.S.-led coalition has also bombed ISIS headquarters in the Sinaa district of Deir ez-Zor and two checkpoints held by the militants near the southern entrance of the city. At least 12 ISIS jihadis were reported dead in the bombardments.
[ARA News] DEIR EZZOR – More than 100 militant fighters from the Islamic State (ISIS) were killed in renewed attacks by Syrian army forces in the eastern province of Deir ez-Zor, official reported on Monday.
The Syrian regime’s army troops hit ISIS headquarters with heavy artillery shelling in the districts of Sheikh Yassin, Hamidiyah, Ardeyh and Rashidi in Deir ez-Zor.
This coincided with several airstrikes by the Syrian air force on the ISIS fighting positions in the Mareyiah village in Deir ez-Zor’s suburb.
“At least 80 Daesh terrorists were killed in the city of Deir ez-Zor under heavy shelling by the Syrian army. More than 20 others were killed under Syrian airstrikes in the village of Mareiyah in the eastern suburb of Deir ez-Zor,” the army said in a statement, using an acronym for ISIS.
Speaking to ARA News, a spokesman for the campaign “Deir ez-Zor Is Being Slaughtered Silently” said that the dead militants included a top commander of ISIS known as Abu Islam al-Baghdadi, who was killed along with dozens of jihadis in the Hamidiyah bombardment.
“Several other prominent members of ISIS were killed in the regime’s operations, including Tamir Haiji, Islam al-Deri, Bassel al-Hamed, Sultan Awwad and Salem Awwad,” the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
In the meantime, the ISIS operations chamber in Deir ez-Zor said in a statement that its fighters have bombed Syrian army’s positions with dozens of “hell canons”, adding that dozens of pro-regime troops were killed in the bombardment.
Local sources reported that the clashes between ISIS and the Syrian army forces continued until Monday midnight.
[ARA News] HASAKAH – Extremists of the Islamic State (ISIS) executed on Monday a man in the city of Shaddadi in Syria’s northeastern Hasakah province, after accusing him of “insulting the Caliphate”.
Saleh al-Rahim, 48, was publicly beheaded in central Shaddadi.
“ISIS claimed that al-Rahim has refused to pay taxes to the al-Hisba (taxation) department, which the group considered a violation to its rules and an act of insult to the ISIS self-declared Caliphate,” rights activist Ahmed Hussaini told ARA News in Shaddadi.
The man was arrested at an ISIS security checkpoint near the village of Sarb in the vicinity of Shaddadi while trying to escape the ISIS-held area towards Hasakah city.
The victim was brutally beheaded in front of hundreds of people in Shaddadi’s central square, after one of the militants read a statement accusing him of insulting the Caliphate and deserving the death penalty, according to local sources.
The city of Shaddadi is deemed the main bastion for ISIS jihadis in Hasakah province –where the group has recently lost large territories to the western-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
[REUTERS] The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... warned Kurdish militia fighters in northern Syria on Monday they would face the "harshest reaction" if they tried to capture a town near the Turkish border, and accused Russia of a missile attack there that killed at least 14 civilians.
An offensive supported by Russian bombing and Iranian-backed Shi'ite militias has brought the Syrian army to within 25 km (15 miles) of Turkey's border. The Kurdish YPG militia has exploited the situation, seizing ground from Syrian rebels to extend its presence along the frontier.
Almost 50 non-combatants were killed when missiles hit at least five medical facilities and two schools in rebel-held areas of Syria on Monday, according to the United Nations ...boodling on the grand scale... , which called the attacks a blatant violation of international laws.
At least 14 were killed in the town of Azaz, the last rebel stronghold before the border with Turkey, when missiles hit a children's hospital and a school sheltering refugees, a medic and two residents said.
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said a Russian missile had hit the buildings and that many civilians including children had been killed.
Turkey shelled YPG positions for a third day to try to stop its fighters seizing Azaz, just 8 km (5 miles) from the border. Ankara fears the Kurdish militia, backed by Russia, are trying to secure the last stretch of around 100 km (60 miles) along the Syrian border not already under its control.
"We will not allow Azaz to fall," Davutoglu told news hounds on his plane on the way to Ukraine.
YPG fighters would already have taken Azaz and Tal Rifaat further south had it not been for Turkish artillery firing at them over the weekend, he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[REUTERS] About 50 non-combatants were killed when missiles hit five medical centers and two schools in rebel-held Syrian towns on Monday, the United Nations ...the Oyster Bay money pit... and residents said.
The carnage occurred as Russian-backed Syrian troops intensified their push toward the rebel stronghold of Aleppo.
Fourteen people were killed in the town of Azaz near the Turkish border when missiles slammed into a school sheltering families fleeing the offensive and a children's hospital, two residents and a medic said.
Bombs also hit another refugee shelter south of the town and a convoy of trucks, another resident said.
"We have been moving scores of screaming children from the hospital," medic Juma Rahal said.
At least two children were killed and scores of people injured, he said.
Activists posted video online purporting to show the damaged hospital. Three crying babies lay in incubators in a ward littered with broken medical equipment. Rooters could not independently verify the video.
In a separate incident, missiles hit another hospital in the town of Marat Numan in Idlib province, in northwestern Syria, said the French president of the Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) charity, which was supporting the hospital.
"There were at least seven deaths among the personnel and the patients, and at least eight MSF personnel have disappeared, and we don't know if they are alive," Mego Terzian told Rooters.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/16/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
Sounds like somebody doesn't give a sh*t about human shields.
A technical take on the story, complete with trigger warning, with reference to the unknown "Da'esh Hunter". And from Frozen Al, the Daily Mail version, which has a different cut of the same story -- while it is repeatedly announced that there are no boots on the ground, there are a variety of hunting teams in sneakers. Both reports will repay your attention, dear Reader.
[REUTERS] 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.... snuffies attacked Kurdish forces in Iraq with mustard gas last year, in the first known use of chemical weapons in Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein, a diplomat said, after tests by the global chemical arms watchdog.
A source at the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) confirmed that laboratory tests had come back positive for the sulfur mustard, after around 35 Kurdish troops were sickened on the battlefield last August.
The OPCW will not identify who used the chemical agent. But the diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity ... for fear of being murdered... because the findings have not yet been released, said the result confirmed that chemical weapons had been used by Islamic State fighters.
The samples were taken after the soldiers became ill during fighting against Islamic State snuffies southwest of Erbil, capital of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region.
The OPCW already concluded in October that mustard gas was used last year in neighboring Syria. Islamic State has declared a "caliphate" in territory it controls in both Iraq and Syria and does not recognize the frontier.
The matter is expected to be raised at the next meeting of the OPCW's 41-member Executive Council in a month, an official said.
If Islamic State used chemical weapons, experts are still uncertain of how the group might have obtained them, or whether it could have access to more.
Another diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity ... for fear of being murdered... , said Syria's stockpile was a possible source of the sulfur mustard used in Iraq. That would mean Damascus had failed to fully disclose its chemical weapons program, which was dismantled under international supervision in 2013-2014, the diplomat said.
"If Syria has indeed given up its chemical weapons to the international community, it is only the part that has been declared to the OPCW and the declaration was obviously incomplete," the diplomat told Rooters.
About how ISIS obtained their chemical weapons, Ynet reports:
The Islamic State group has already used chemical weapons "numerous times," and is planning to carry out a chemical attack against the United States, according to American intelligence, presented by US National Intelligence director James Clapper at a panel of intelligence heads at the Munich Security Conference this weekend.
Clapper said ISIS was manufacturing chemical weapons on an industrial scale, and noted the CIA has evidence of the use of chemical weapons for the first time by a terrorist group since the 1995 Sarin gas attacks on the Tokyo subway.
While Clapper didn't state the nature and the origin of the information he based his findings on, it is likely based on, among other things, samples collected by operatives of the German BND in the Kurdish region in northern Iraq back in October, which indicated the area had been bombarded with mustard gas.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
See also WASHINGTON EXAMINER > US CIA DIRECTOR [John Brennan]: ISLAMIC STATE IS ON THE PATH TO [self-manufacture/production of] CHEMICAL WEAPONS.
Right now the IS can only make select ChemWar in small or very limited quantities, but that is likely to change for the worse over time.
The F-16 had been trying to refuel in mid-air when the pilot discovered a malfunction with his fuel system, which meant he could only fly for 15 minutes -- nowhere near enough to reach safety.
Instead of leaving the pilot to cope with the emergency himself, the US Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker crew managed to escort him back to its base while refueling every 15 minutes to keep the jet in the air.
US Air Force commander Lt. Col. Eric Hallberg said: "Over 80% of his total fuel capability was trapped and unusable.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[The Guardian] Speaking at the Berlin film festival, documentarian Sonia Kennebeck discusses her Wim Wenders-produced film National Bird, which reveals widespread post-traumatic stress disorder among employees of the US's drone division.
[AnNahar] Two Russian 
[Ynet] Bulgarian prosecutors have charged three Syrians with attempting to join 
SARGODHA: The district police on Monday claimed to have foiled a terror plan and seized huge cache of weapons from an accused. According to Police sources, a squad during snap checking at Salam Chowk Bhalwal check post stopped a vehicle and arrested two persons identified as Akhtar Nawaz and Fazal Karim hailing from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). 
PESHAWAR: One security personnel was killed and another sustained injuries in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast in Wana, a town in South Waziristan, security sources said.
PESHAWAR: The Bacha Khan University reopened for classes on Monday with teachers - but not students - allowed to carry weapons.
(IraqiNews.com) Anbar – The leadership of al-Hashed al-Shaabi in Anbar Province announced on Monday the launch of a large-scale military operation to free the areas of al-Karma District east of Fallujah (62 km west of Baghdad) from the control of the so-called ISIS, while indicated to the death of 16 ISIS fighters during the operation.
(IraqiNews.com) Salahuddin – A security source in Salahuddin province said on Monday, that one of the C4 caches for ISIS in the district of al-Sharqat had exploded, while pointed out that the size of losses is unknown yet.
(IraqiNews.com) Nineveh – A source in Nineveh Province announced on Monday, that the so-called ISIS had targeted Nineveh Zlican Camp in Ba’shiqah north of Mosul (405 km north of Baghdad) with four Katyusha rockets, while emphasized that the attack caused no casualties.
(IraqiNews.com) Kirkuk – A local source in Kirkuk Province revealed, that the so-called ISIS executed five persons including a former army officer on charges of leaving the land of Caliphate southwest of the province.
(IraqiNews.com) Basra – A security source in Basra Province announced, that armed clashes broke out in al-Karma area north of the province between the members of two tribes, while the security forces were deployed in the area to resolve the dispute.
(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad -A source in the Ministry of Interior announced on Monday, that 11 people had been either killed or wounded in the explosion of an explosive device north of Baghdad.
(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – The Ministry of Defense announced on Monday, that nine members of the so-called ISIS were arrested during a security operation north of Baghdad, while indicated to the seizure of a number of explosive belts and various ammunition.
[IsraelTimes] 28 rioters said injured as IDF tries to disperse a protest in al-Am'ari refugee camp in the West Bank
[AnNahar] Indonesian police have 
[ALMANAR.LB] The Syrian Arab Army, backed by the Syria air force, continued Monday fighting terrorism across the country, destroying terrorists' positions, vehicles and gatherings in different provinces.
[REUTERS] 
