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Today: 61 articles and 184 comments as of 12:22.
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US airstrike kills ISIS 'Emir of Anbar Province' in Iraq
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 2: WoT Background
5 22:52 Steve White [5] 
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10 18:55 Ebbang Uluque6305 [2] 
2 11:06 Tennessee [] 
3 08:05 Skidmark [3] 
2 19:46 Themistocles [2] 
1 11:45 Frank G [1] 
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Page 1: WoT Operations
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Page 3: Non-WoT
8 15:01 Shipman []
7 15:23 Thing From Snowy Mountain [1]
3 21:40 Chantry [2]
1 08:12 Skidmark []
10 20:13 Deacon Blues [3]
2 09:58 anon1 [3]
13 15:03 USN, Ret. []
12 21:04 BrerRabbit [4]
4 18:35 DarthVader [3]
1 13:30 Vast Right Wing Conspiracy [1]
2 17:00 trailing wife []
Page 4: Opinion
4 15:04 Shipman [1]
Page 6: Politix
1 16:03 rjschwarz [1]
10 20:21 magpie [1]
13 20:42 3dc [4]
12 19:00 Eohippus Snore8229 [4]
4 18:22 DarthVader [1]
2 15:06 swksvolFF [1]
7 17:34 P2Kontheroad [3]
2 10:00 M. Murcek []
16 18:48 Ebbang Uluque6305 []
-Short Attention Span Theater-
Bin Laden's Son Urges Muslims to Target Jewish, US, Western Interests
[Jerusalem Post] Hamza Bin Laden, son of former al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, is calling for the targeting of Jewish and Western interests and the building of an army to "liberate Jerusalem."

According to a new al-Qaida video discovered by the Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor of MEMRI (the Middle East Media Research Institute) and shared with The Jerusalem Post, Hamza praised the stabbing attacks by Palestinians against Israelis and called on Muslims from around the world to join the fight to defend Jerusalem, urging them to "participate in the intifada" of their Palestinian brethren by "killing the Jews and attacking their interests everywhere."

Also see Badanov's Hamza bin Laden article found here.


No comments are anticipated from Saddam's sons Uday and Qusay.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/10/2016 05:24 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Killing the odd one or two running accross the veranda is futile. Your eradication efforts must reach the nesting colonies to be effective.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/10/2016 5:41 Comments || Top||

#2  Hamza! What a dumbazz. Where has this pretty boy been hiding the last couple of years? He is the irrelevant Jeb! of Sunni politics.
Posted by: Tennessee || 05/10/2016 11:06 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
Special Forces In Afghanistan Say There's No Clear US Strategy
[Daily Caller] A recently released Pentagon report shows Special Forces operators in Afghanistan often felt there was no clear strategy or clarity behind their orders.

The 700+ page report is the result of an investigation into last year's accidental attack on a Doctors Without Borders (MSF) hospital in the Afghan city of Kunduz. Included in the hundreds of pages are several interviews with U.S. Army Special Forces personnel who expressed serious concerns over a lack of direction in the fight against the Taliban and al-Qaida in Afghanistan.

"How far do you want to go?" is not a proper response to "How far do you want us to go?'" said one operator in the report.

The report shows that many Special Forces operators were not clear on the rules of engagement or how far they were allowed to go when accompanying their local Afghan National Army (ANA) trainees. One of the primary missions of the Special Forces is to embed with local partners and train them in various aspects of warfare, ranging from small unit tactics to fire support requests. Special Forces operators have been working with the ANA as part of Operation Resolute Support, the NATO mission to "train, advise assist" in Afghanistan, as opposed to engage in a direct combat role.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/10/2016 06:33 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  A solid 'strategy' requires planning. The Obama regime's planning goes no further than January 2017. After that it's a Republican problem.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/10/2016 6:41 Comments || Top||

#2  Not necessarily a Republican problem. But not an Obama problem.
Posted by: Glenmore || 05/10/2016 7:28 Comments || Top||

#3  Before you can judge a strategy you have to understand the aims/goals.

With our current clique I have no problem believing that things are proceeding as desired.
Posted by: AlanC || 05/10/2016 7:44 Comments || Top||

#4  "Milling about smartly" is a valid strategy when your leadership is deliberately absent.
Posted by: Pappy || 05/10/2016 10:11 Comments || Top||

#5  In Naylor's 'Relentless Strike' he talks about SOF frustrations in Iraq toward the end of the Obama involvement. The effort was seen as futile by those brave lads going out on door-kicking or snatch missions each day. Stay-behind assignments never were very popular.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/10/2016 10:25 Comments || Top||

#6  Obama's strategy in Afghanistan ended in 2009...it was worst case - a political strategy focused only on a number and the optics that he was perceived to act like he cared about the war that mattered... Even now I am unsure what we accomplished in 09...although I am very clear about the consequences of the buildup and the fact that we pay the Taliban for the privilege of fighting them.
Posted by: Tennessee || 05/10/2016 10:46 Comments || Top||

#7  Our SOF should only train their SOF and let those guys train and assist their own.
Posted by: Tennessee || 05/10/2016 10:50 Comments || Top||

#8  Because "flexibility."
Posted by: Vast Right Wing Conspiracy || 05/10/2016 13:32 Comments || Top||

#9  Kinda like the US strategy in Iraq... Syria... Libya... Pacific...
Posted by: DarthVader || 05/10/2016 15:05 Comments || Top||

#10  Before you can judge a strategy you have to understand the aims/goals.

Hmmmm. How about protecting the poppies?
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 05/10/2016 18:55 Comments || Top||


19 Military Operations Underway In 15 Provinces
A spokesman for the Ministry of Defense (MoD), Dawlat Waziri, said on Monday that 19 military operations are currently ongoing in 15 provinces in the country.

Speaking at a press conference, Waziri said that the military operations are being conducted in provinces including Wardak, Helmand, Kunduz, Kandahar and Kunar.

"In the past two months, after we launched Shafaq military operation, hundreds [of insurgents] were killed and security forces seized a large amount of weapons, vehicles and other equipment belonging to insurgents.

Dozens of insurgents' commanders are among the dead and we are carrying out night raids to clear the insurgents," Waziri said.

He called on the people to support security forces, especially regarding their night raids, which are proving highly effective. He added that military operations have not yet launched in some parts of the north and also in Helmand.

He said however that the air force and intelligence agencies have improved substantially this past year and that between 150 and 180 air operations are carried out on a daily basis.

In the meantime, Sediq Sediqqi, a spokesman for the Ministry of Interior (MoI), on Monday acknowledged the security threats in Helmand are higher than in other provinces.

In response to a question by reporters over the increasing of US troops' combat role against insurgents, he said that Afghanistan needs the cooperation of foreign troops in combat against al-Qaeda, Haqqani, Taliban and other insurgent groups.

This comes as the Taliban's insurgency in Helmand is on the rise – but military leadership still appears reluctant to implement an important order issued by President Ashraf Ghani two weeks ago giving a free hand to security forces to fight militants from a harsher standpoint.

Two weeks ago, Ghani said during an address in parliament, that the military leadership must carry out large scale offensives against militants raging war in the province.

However, the order has still not been implemented. The reasons are unclear but this is putting a burden on the shoulders of overstretched Afghan forces, said critics.

Critics also believe the delay in implementing the order is enabling the Taliban to expand its attacks on embattled Afghan security forces who are fighting the Taliban on multiple fronts and in some key districts in the province. This in turn is threatening the security of the provincial capital, Lashkargah city.
Posted by: badanov || 05/10/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Hamidullah was aware of Rabbani assassination secrets: Jamiat-e-Islami
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The Jamiat-e-Islami party of Afghanistan has said Hamidullah was keeping more secrets regarding the assassination of the former Afghan President and high peace council chief Burhanuddin Rabbani.

Hamidullah was among the six terrorists executed by the Afghan government for terror offences on Sunday.

However, Jamiat-e-Islami has said Hamidullah was executed without informing the family and party before executing him, emphasizing that he had a key role in assassinating the former president.

According to a statement by Jamiat-e-Islami, Hamidullah brought the suicide bomber from Kandahar to Kabul where he was kept in a government guesthouse before he was sent to the residence of Rabbani to execute the attack.

The statement further added that the horrific attack on Rabbani required and still requires step by step and thorough investigation.

The party called on the government of national unity to launch a thorough investigation to find out regarding the ‘known and hidden’ perpetrators of the attack.

The statement also added that the government should launch an investigation regarding the target killings of Jamiat-e-Islami leaders who were assassinated in the past 15 years.

The government sources unveiled the details of the executed terrorists late on Sunday, hours after they were hanged for terror offences.

Hamidullah was identified as a Taliban group member who was involved in plotting an attack on former president and high peace council chief Burhanuddin Rabbani.

Rabbani was assassinated by a suicide bomber who had disguised himself as a peace messenger, representing the Taliban group.

The attack was carried out inside his residence in capital Kabul on the evening of 20th September 2011.

Posted by: Fred || 05/10/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Africa Horn
Kenya to close refugee camps, displacing 600,000 people
I'm waiting to hear Kenya's response when Obama tut-tuts this smart decision
Kenya announced plans to close all refugee camps -- a move that will displace more than 600,000 people -- citing "very heavy" economic, security and environmental issues.

The closures, which were lambasted by human rights groups,
...none of whom are actually helping with the refugee situation...
mean Somali asylum seekers would be forced to return to the situation they fled.

The government plans include closing Dadaab, the largest refugee camp in the world with 300,00 people along the Kenya-Somalia border.

Karanja Kibicho, Kenya's secretary for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, said Friday his country's leaders are concerned about the influence of the terrorist group Al-Shabaab.
because, reality bites
"Kenya, having taken into consideration its national security interests, has decided that hosting of refugees has come to an end," he said.

It's not clear when the camps will close.

Human rights groups angrily responded to the decision.
Of course, in a press release from a Paris or London five-star restaurant
"Eeek! Me meal ticket!"
Posted by: Frank G || 05/10/2016 11:11 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab

#1  Ain't it just a wonderful thing.
Posted by: 49 pan || 05/10/2016 12:30 Comments || Top||

#2  No worries. I'm sure Obama will be more than willing to bring them over here and register them as Democrats.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 05/10/2016 12:58 Comments || Top||

#3  An idle threat created to secure more international funding. It's Africa remember.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/10/2016 13:41 Comments || Top||

#4  I seen dis movie afore, it got Bob Hopeless and Sting Croseley in it with pretty fruit gurl, humm, wut wuz it, oh yeah On The Road to Minneapolis
Posted by: Shipman || 05/10/2016 14:15 Comments || Top||

#5  On The Road to Minneapolis

Okay, that one was funny...
Posted by: Steve White || 05/10/2016 22:52 Comments || Top||


Arabia
UN envoy urges concessions to save Yemen peace talks
The UN special envoy to Yemen on Monday urged the country's warring parties to make concessions to save peace talks aimed at ending a devastating 13-month war. The appeal by Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed came after face-to-face talks broke off with the government delegation complaining of a lack of progress and the Iran-backed Huthi rebels protesting about air raids by the Saudi-led Arab coalition.

After holding several separate meetings with each delegation, Ould Cheikh Ahmed called on the two sides to "make concessions in order to strike a comprehensive peaceful solution" to end Yemen's deadly conflict.

"The participants in the Kuwait negotiations must reflect the aspirations of the Yemeni people. I am confident that Yemenis want an end to the conflict," he said in a statement.
Ahmed has to say this: if the peace talks collapse so does his expense account...
All direct meetings scheduled for Sunday were called off, but the UN envoy said new talks are scheduled for Monday and appealed for cooperation.
Posted by: Steve White || 05/10/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Okay... UN, why should anybody give a damn?
Posted by: 3dc || 05/10/2016 0:47 Comments || Top||

#2  Why are the UN in Yemen? I don't recall any four star restaurants there.
Posted by: Raj || 05/10/2016 1:20 Comments || Top||

#3  They are there for the children, Raj.
Posted by: Skidmark || 05/10/2016 8:05 Comments || Top||


Europe
Two terror trials commence
Trial of terror plotters linked to Paris attacker kicks off in Belgium

[IsraelTimes] Under heavy security, a trial in Belgium of a suspected extremist cell linked to the now-dead ringleader of last year’s lethal attacks in Paris has begun.

Sixteen defendants, including nine who are still at large, are accused of involvement in what Belgian authorities say was a terrorist plot being mounted in the eastern city of Verviers. Lawyers for some of the accused contend their clients did nothing illegal.

Marouane El Bali, the trial’s star defendant, was “bringing one or two pair of sneakers to his friend” when arrested, attorney Didier De Quevy says. “He’s is not at all a radical.”

Belgian police stormed the suspected plotters’ hideout Jan. 15, 2015, killing two men and arresting El Bali, 26, who surrendered. Police were fired on at least 40 times, and reported finding three Kalashnikov-style assault rifles, four handguns, chemicals to make explosives and 23 items of police uniforms inside the Verviers residence.

According to Belgian authorities, the suspects were being directed from afar by Abdelhamid Abaaoud, who was hunted down by French police and killed days after the November 13 attacks that killed 130 victims in Paris. Like El Bali and the two men killed in the Verviers raid, Soufiane Amghar and Khalid Ben Larbi, Abaaoud was from the multiethnic Molenbeek neighborhood of Brussels.

In a summary of the Verviers investigation read by presiding judge Pierre Hendrickx, Belgian officials say they linked Abaaoud to the plot by tracing a Greek cellphone being used by someone calling himself “Omar.”
An Nahar has more details.
German Court Jails German-Moroccan for al-Nusra Link

[AnNahar] A German court on Monday sentenced Soufiane K. ,a 29-year-old German-Moroccan man to five years in jail over his membership in the al-Qaida-linked al-Nusra Front. He had traveled in 2013 with his wife and four children to Syria where he underwent weapons training with al-Nusra Front, the court in Frankfurt said in a statement. He also helped distribute humanitarian supplies for the jihadist group, added the court.

Soufiane K. was arrested in October 2014, several months after his return to Germany, and has since been in police custody.

The court said it based its ruling on testimony by Andrea B., who had traveled with her two children to Syria in January 2014 to become the second wife of the defendant. The witness came into contact with Soufiane K.'s wife through Facebook in December 2013, and was convinced that "she should travel to Syria to live alongside mujahideens fighting Syrian government troops," the court said. But she returned to Germany along with her children in May 2014, because "it was too dangerous there for her and her children," the court said.

Germany's domestic spy agency estimates that around 750 Islamists have left the country to join jihadists in Syria and Iraq, and that one in three has returned, fueling fears about the threat they pose on German soil.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/10/2016 06:46 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


The Grand Turk
Turkey readmitted 386 irregular migrants since March 20
In line with a March deal with the European Union, almost 400 illegal immigrants have been readmitted to Turkey so far, the spokesperson for the Turkish Foreign Ministry has announced, noting that 125 Syrians have been resettled in five EU countries under the same deal.

“Within the framework of the agreement with the EU, 386 irregular migrants have been readmitted to Turkey from five Greek islands. Of those, 14 of them were Syrians and a vast majority was other countries’ citizens,” Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Tanju Bilgiç told reporters at a press conference on May 9.

“Simultaneously with the readmission, the resettlement of Syrians has also started. Within this framework, 125 Syrians have been sent to Germany, the Netherlands, Finland, Sweden and Lithuania,” Bilgiç added.

Under the controversial pact between the EU and Turkey to stop refugees crossing by boat to Greece, Turkey agreed to take back migrants who arrived in Greece after March 20. In return, Europe pledged that for every Syrian deported, it would accept one refugee from Turkey’s vast camps, a move it hopes will discourage people from taking the highly risky journey across the Aegean Sea.
Posted by: Steve White || 05/10/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1 
Posted by: Vast Right Wing Conspiracy || 05/10/2016 13:42 Comments || Top||

#2  a move it hopes will discourage people from taking the highly risky journey across the Aegean Sea.

Not dangerous enough.
Posted by: Themistocles || 05/10/2016 19:46 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Rights activist buried as ASWJ leader, Lal Masjid cleric booked in murder case
[DAWN] KARACHI: A protest sit-in outside Chief Minister House was peacefully ended and the slain civil rights campaigner Khurram Zaki was laid to rest after police booked outlawed Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat
...which is the false nose and plastic mustache of the murderous banned extremist group Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistain, whatcha might call the political wing of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi...
leader Aurangzeb Farooqi and Maulana Abdul Aziz
...nutball holy man who runs the Lal Masjid in the heart of Pakistain's capital. After instigating a rebellion against the state in 2007, he was caught trying to sneak away dressed in a burka. He rejects democracy as un-Islamic, which it probably is...
of Lal Masjid
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 05/10/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan

#1  Why hasn't Maulana Abdul Aziz been wasted yet? Official protection?
Posted by: Frank G || 05/10/2016 11:45 Comments || Top||


Prime Suspect In Perween Murder Case May Reveal Big Names
[DAWN] The recent arrest of Raheem Swati, the prime suspect in the murder case of prominent social activist Perween Rahman, would lead to many other high-profile actors involved in land-grabbing across the city, said Anwar Rashid, the current director of the Orangi Pilot Project.

Swati, a former councillor belonging to the Awami National Party
founded by Abdul Wali Khan in 1986. Part of the PPP-led cabinet 2008-13. The ANP is considered left wing, advocating for secularism, democratic socialism, public sector government, and economic egalitarianism....
who has ties with the outlawed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain, was nabbed
You have the right to remain silent...
in Manghopir on Saturday for allegedly criminal masterminding the 2013 murder of Ms Rahman.

Speaking to Dawn on Sunday, Mr Rashid said: "Swati was just one of the pawns or mediators who brokered deals, in his own way, for the big names behind real estate business in Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
. It seems that his confession would lead to many other real estate actors in the city."

Ms Rahman’s sister, Aquila Ismail, was unavailable for a comment on the recent development in the case. She had, however, expressed her suspicion about the earlier arrests made by the police. One of those apprehensions was related to the killing of a suspected assassin in a police encounter the very next day of her murder on March 13, 2013. At various forums held between 2014 and 2015, Ms Ismail, with counsel in the case, Advocate Faisal Siddiqi, said that "it seems the case is being intentionally weakened".

The case was eventually closed until a petition was filed in the Supreme Court in July 2013 by Human Rights Commission of Pakistain chairperson Zohra Yusuf. The petition was admitted in January 2014 and a joint investigation team (JIT) was formed on a directive of the apex court by the Sindh home department. The JIT met the police team investigating the murder as well as members of the OPP.

In 2015, two suspects -- Imran Swati and Pappu Kashmiri -- were arrested. "They gave us the name of Raheem Swati, who is the prime suspect in the case and affiliated with the Awami National Party in Karachi," said SSP-West Azfar Mahesar, who has been associated with the case for the past one and a half years.

He added that two more suspects -- Mohammad Ayaz and Amjad Afridi -- were yet to be arrested. They also belonged to the same political party, he said. He said a JIT would interrogate suspect Swati in the coming days.

In the meantime, another incident which garnered less attention was the passing away of Ms Rahman’s mother. Advocate Siddiqi said that her mother passed away two weeks back at her home.

Since the murder of Ms Rahman, who worked on mapping land and water supplies and low-cost housing plans in Orangi Town, her family and friends keep a low profile until they gather for a programme or an event in the city in her honour or to ask questions from the authorities.

Anwar Rashid is one such person who is holding on despite receiving various threats to stay "off the radar".
Posted by: Fred || 05/10/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Imran Khan lambasts Durrani, Fazl at PTI's Peshawar rally
[DAWN] Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf
...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations....
(PTI) chairman Imran Khan
... aka Taliban Khan, who isn't your heaviest-duty thinker, maybe not even among the top five...
on Monday criticised Federal Minister for Housing Akram Khan Durrani, asking him as to how he would topple the PTI-led Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central...
(KP) government.

"Even if a Jew becomes the prime minister of Pakistain, Fazlur Rehman would not only accept a ministry from him but will also issue a religious decree allowing him to lead an Islamic country," said the PTI chief.
Speaking to his party workers and supporters at the rally 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.
, the PTI chief came down hard upon the JUI-F affiliated federal minister, who on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf...
's visit to the province earlier this month criticised PTI for not doing enough to provide relief to the people, and accused Durrani of trying to bribe PTI politicians.

Imran recalled Durrani's claims where he said that he can topple the KP government.

He did not spare the JUI-F chief Fazlur Rehman, who often labels him a 'Jewish agent', and said that "Jews do not need agents when people like Fazlur Rehman are there to damage the country".

"Even if a Jew becomes the prime minister of Pakistain, Fazlur Rehman would not only accept a ministry from him but will also issue a religious decree allowing him to lead an Islamic country," said the PTI chief.

Turning his guns finally towards the premier, he reminded the crowd that people in the past had advised him to leave Nawaz Sharif alone and focus on the PPP chief Zardari who is more corrupt but then came Panama Leaks and everyone got to know that Nawaz Sharif's children own offshore firms.

He accused the prime minister of downplaying the issue through visits across the country and doing useless speeches instead of replying to the allegations in parliament and presenting himself for accountability.

"How can the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) bring other corrupt leaders to book when the man leading the country is corrupt himself," said Imran.
Posted by: Fred || 05/10/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
US announces $50 million aid program for Gaza Strip
Is President Obama wielding his phone and his pen again without reference to the expressed will of Congress?
[IsraelTimes] Five-year plan aims to provide basic humanitarian assistance and create jobs in enclave where unemployment is 40%

The United States has announced a $50 million aid program for the Gazoo Strip.

US officials said Monday that the money will be used over five years to provide basic humanitarian assistance and create jobs. The money will be distributed by the US Agency for International Development in partnership with Catholic Relief Services.

The US Consul General in Jerusalem, Donald A. Blume, said the effort is meant to address "the dire needs that are obvious in Gazoo."

Gazoo’s economy has sharply declined since the Islamist Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, organization took over the coastal territory nearly a decade ago. Unemployment there is estimated to be over 40 percent.

The US, like Israel, views Hamas as a terrorist organization, and has no official relations with the group.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/10/2016 00:00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Hamas

#1  Gee, $50m would provide some good cancer research which would serve Americans, and the world.
Posted by: Thrith Hapsburg1427 || 05/10/2016 8:00 Comments || Top||

#2  90% will end in numbered swiss accounts (I wonder if there are kickbacks?), 5 mil for Qassams & tunnels.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 05/10/2016 8:31 Comments || Top||

#3  I wonder if there are kickbacks?

Why else would he be doing it?
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 05/10/2016 11:37 Comments || Top||

#4  More of our tax dollars pissed away on corruption and terrorists.
Posted by: DarthVader || 05/10/2016 11:47 Comments || Top||

#5  Yet ppl bitch bout foodstamps
Posted by: chris || 05/10/2016 21:44 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iran claims to successfully test missile that can reach Israel
[IsraelTimes] Highly accurate ballistic missile has a range of 2,000 kilometers, was launched two weeks ago, Tehran general says

A senior Iranian general on Monday announced that the country’s armed forces successfully tested a precision-guided, medium-range ballistic missile two weeks ago, the state-run Tasnim agency reported.

"We test-fired a missile with a range of 2,000 kilometers and a margin of error of eight meters," Brigadier General Ali Abdollahi was quoted as saying at a Tehran science conference.

The eight-meter margin means the "missile enjoys zero error," he told conference participants.

The general went on to say that 10 percent of Iran’s defense budget has been allocated to "research projects aimed at strengthening defense power," the report said.

Under a nuclear deal signed last year between world powers and Iran, ballistic missile tests are not forbidden outright, but are "not consistent" with a United Nations
...the Oyster Bay money pit...
Security Council resolution from July 2015, US officials say.

According to the UN decision, "Iran is called upon not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using such ballistic missile technology," until October 2023.

That has not stopped Iran from carrying out a number of tests of ballistic missile technology since the nuclear deal was adopted on October 18, 2015.

In November, Iran launched a missile with a range of 1,930 kilometers (1,200 miles) from a site near the Gulf of Oman, US officials said at the time.

In March, Iran test-fired two more ballistic missiles, which an Iranian news agency said had the phrase "Israel must be wiped out" written on them in Hebrew. An Iranian commander said the test was designed to demonstrate to Israel that it is within Iranian missile range.

That launch sparked international fury as it appeared to flout the agreements made in the Iranian nuclear deal.

The US, La Belle France, Britannia and Germany decried the launch as "destabilizing and provocative" and called for United Nations action. A UN committee later determined Iran’s ballistic tests were in violation of a Security Council resolution prohibiting Tehran from launching ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons.

Last month, American and Russian officials said Iran test-fired an advanced rocket system in the Dasht-e Kavir desert, in what some considered a cover for intercontinental ballistic missile research.

Israel has pointed to ballistic missile tests as proof Tehran plans to continue pursuing an atomic weapon, despite the landmark agreement aimed at curbing its nuclear program.

In response to the missile tests, Washington imposed fresh sanctions over Iran’s missile program in January, almost immediately after lifting separate sanctions related to Iran’s nuclear program under the nuclear deal.

Iran maintains that because it cannot develop nuclear weapons under the deal, none of its missiles is capable of carrying a nuclear weapon.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/10/2016 00:00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  Makes them better muslim I suppose. Something that giving $50m to Gaza wouldn't.
Posted by: Skidmark || 05/10/2016 8:04 Comments || Top||

#2  I am sure Obama is proud!
Posted by: 3dc || 05/10/2016 10:21 Comments || Top||

#3  He'll be even prouder when they use it.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 05/10/2016 12:33 Comments || Top||

#4  Iran sounds a lot like North Korea.

So, go ahead, already, and take a shot at Israel with your "highly accurate ballistic missile."
Posted by: JHH || 05/10/2016 14:56 Comments || Top||


Dead Iranian Soldiers Spur Conflicting Stances in Iran
London- For the second day in a row, Iranian surging reactions continued after an Iranian official confirmation that over 34 Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) members were killed in the Syrian village of Khan Touman located south of Aleppo.

Other Iranian sources estimate that losses exceed all those that officials have announced.

Sources also circulated battlefield information on clashes in south Aleppo, saying the IRGC and Syrian regime forces are making preparations for a comeback campaign in Khan Touman, after they had lost the village to al-Nusra Front.

Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs in Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian previously criticized the Khan Touman operation, considering it a violation to the implemented ceasefire.

The Tehran administration, on the other hand, made no comments regarding the incessant pounding Aleppo was subjected to over the past days. Abdollahian called on the international community to condemn the Khan Touman operation, in hopes of preserving political solutions.

The IRGC had published a statement urging Iranian people to remain calm and wait for reports, soon to be published on the Khan Touman operation.

Discretion on operation details was to keep them out of opponents’ reach, the IRGC further explained.

Broadcasting the statement took place while Ali Akbar Velayati, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s advisor, was delivering confidential notes sent by Khamenei to the head of the Syrian regime, Bashar Assad, in Damascus.

Iranian media outlets, contradictory to previous claims, confirmed a score of Iranian captives being taken in Syria. “Entekhab,” a reform inclined Iranian website, was the sole outlet confirming the death of 80 Iranian and Afghani soldiers.

Meanwhile, other media networks, relying on the IRGC statement, acknowledged only 34 Iranian soldiers either being dead or injured.

Quds Force commander Soleimani and the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran, Ali Shamkhani, were expected to give a speech on Iran’s defense strategy against current regional developments.

However, Soleimani made no public appearance in Tehran on Sunday, in light of rumors of his presence in Aleppo to run the Khan Touman battles.

ISNA, Iranian Students News Agency, mentioned that Shamkhani did in fact give his speech; however, behind closed doors. Iranian authorities kept the details to the speech confidential and refrained from making any comments on whether Soleimani was in Iran or not.

Shamkhani, on the death of Iranian soldiers in Aleppo, said that “what had happened in Khan Touman confirmed Iranian fears.” He reiterated previous official stances on the ceasefire giving the Syrian opposition the chance to rearrange their forces in the field.

When meeting with new parliamentary members, Shamkhani defended the notion on sending more Iranian military forces to Syria. His argument was pivoted on alleged regional security threats directed against Iran and how they should be confronted using all means, ISNA reported.

Iranian sources, two days ago, cited Soleimani heading for Aleppo, after a mass loss striking Iranian soldiers in Khan Touman on Thursday and Friday.

Same sources clarified that Soleimani is expected to oversee battlefield progress from operation rooms which bring together Russian forces, Syrian regime forces and Quds Force members. Tactics are being devoted as to eventually break through to Khan Touman
Update from Ynet at 6:30 a.m. ET:
Tehran lawmaker: Syrian rebels capture several Iranian soldiers

Up to half-a-dozen Iranian soldiers deployed in Syria have been captured by rebel forces, a senior Iranian lawmaker said on Monday, two days after the Iranian Revolutionary Guards confirmed losses in a battle near Aleppo.

Rebels seized the village of Khan Touman on Friday, some 15 km (9 miles) southwest of Aleppo, and killed several Iranian soldiers, dealing one of Tehran's biggest losses in Syria.

"According to the latest numbers, 13 defenders of the shrine were killed, 18 were wounded and five to six were captured," Esmail Kosari, chairman of the Iranian parliament's defence committee, was quoted as saying by the Mizan Online news agency.

It was the first time Iran had confirmed that any of its combatants had been taken prisoner in Syria. In December, Islamist rebels in Khan Touman said they had seized two Iranians but that was never confirmed by Tehran.
Posted by: badanov || 05/10/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  So when will the Iranian prisoners be tortured and murdered for video display? Will the mad Mullahs be able to block those viral vids?
Posted by: Bobby || 05/10/2016 8:01 Comments || Top||

#2  There is a lot going on in Khan Touman. I hope we can get some good info.
Posted by: jvalentour || 05/10/2016 8:35 Comments || Top||

#3  Spur Conflicting Stances in Iran

Some Iranians are secretly happy the IRGCs are getting wasted?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 05/10/2016 9:15 Comments || Top||

#4  The elder among them probably remember the Iran-Iraq war.
Posted by: Pappy || 05/10/2016 14:59 Comments || Top||


Bin Laden’s son Hamza urges militant unity in Syria
The son of Al-Qaeda’s late founder Osama bin Laden has urged militants in Syria to unite, claiming that the fight in the war-torn country paves the way to “liberating Palestine”.

“The Islamic umma (nation) should focus on jihad in Al-Sham (Syria) … and unite the ranks of mujahedeen there,” said 23-year-old Hamza in an audio message posted online.

“There is no longer an excuse for those who insist on division and disputes now that the whole world has mobilised against Muslims,” he said.

His undated message comes after Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri also urged militants in Syria to unite, despite his continued rejection of the rival ISIS and its proclaimed caliphate.

“The matter of unity today is one of life and death,” Zawahiri said in an audio message posted online on Saturday.

“Either you unite to live as Muslims with dignity, or you bicker and separate and so are eaten one by one,” he added, according to SITE Intelligence monitoring group.

Al-Qaeda’s Syria affiliate Al-Nusra Front is a rival of ISIS, which is an Al-Qaeda offshoot whose leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in 2014 declared an Islamic caliphate across territory seized in Iraq and Syria.

Bin Laden’s son said Syria is the “best battlefield” leading to “liberating Al-Quds”, the Arabic name for Jerusalem.

“The road to liberating Palestine is today much shorter compared to before the blessed Syrian revolution,” he said.
Posted by: badanov || 05/10/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda



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