The U.S. Air Force reported that it had lost a MQ-9 Reaper UAV over western Afghanistan on September 13th. What it didn't report, at the time, was that the Reaper was shot down by a U.S. fighter. That was because something went wrong with the Reapers commo link, and the operator lost control of the aircraft. As air force techs scrambled to regain control, the Reaper continued to fly north, and this would eventually take the UAV outside of Afghanistan. The air force would not elaborate, but this could mean the aircraft would fly into Tajikistan, or China. It was thought prudent to ensure that the Reaper did not leave Afghanistan. Don't go all Skynet on us.
So a U.S. fighter was directed to catch up with it. A 4.6 ton Reaper cruises at about 300 kilometers an hour. Most jet fighters can easily do five or six times that, long enough to catch up. The air force did not say how the Predator was brought down (by cannon or missile, or by being tipped over by the backwash of a jet fighter passing very close). All the air force would say was that the Reaper crashed into an Afghan mountainside, far from any populated area, at about 5:30 AM, local time. The Reaper got reaped. You'd think it would be programmed to just go to its home location and land if it lost contact. Then again, this is a government job, so I'm not surprised.
#1
It *is* programmed to return to its home location if comms are lost. That failed in some way.
It would not be prudent for it to cross international borders and give the Chinese an opportunity to make high profile demands re: a violation of their airspace. Nor would it be prudent to allow the Chinese to get hold of it and reverse engineer key elements.
#4
Can it be that some country to the north has already learned how to "hack" the Reaper? That possibility is always what worries me about UAV's.
Posted by: D McConnell ||
09/17/2009 9:00 Comments ||
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#5
Can it be that some country to the north has already learned how to "hack" the Reaper? That possibility is always what worries me about UAV's.
You don't need to hack it, you just need to jam the incoming signal. This event says that something larger than loss-of-signal was going on, though. Until we see this again, though, I would say malfunction.
Posted by: Jame Retief ||
09/17/2009 9:49 Comments ||
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#14
Uh, actually two years from now. After being a strong advocate of autonomous killbots, I have a change of heart in 2011 and pen an impassioned rant here on the 'burg warning of the coming robo-apocalypse.
#16
actually, it is finally reported by a NYT intern 10 days after the bots have killed the rest of us. But with an "Obama-Approved Program exceeds military expectations" spin
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/17/2009 22:04 Comments ||
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#17
"You'd think it would be programmed to just go to its home location and land if it lost contact. Then again, this is a government job, so I'm not surprised."
Back in the day, the Flying Dorito had a system that allowed the GIB to punch a button in fhte GIF was incapacitated and the bird would fly to a set of coordinates where the GIB would initiate an eject sequence for both men (this was before the USN gave wimmins the right to fly in combat). Lost the bird, but got the crew.
and this was 1980's tech.
Posted by: Matt ||
09/17/2009 00:37 ||
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#1
CIA Factbook says the population of Canada is around 33 million (smaller than Spain, about the same as Afghanistan). Seems to me they have been fighting above their weight for a long time. People who love freedom say thanks.
#2
It saddens me that they would choose to dishonor their fallen and those currently in harm's way by governing by polls. The following is by a Canadian writing for the Winnipeg Free Press:
Running away from our promise
ONE doesn't win a war by surrendering. To suggest that Canadian soldiers should pack their bags, pick their boots up off the ground and fly home with their tails between their legs, as Liberal Senator Colin Kenny proposed on Tuesday, amounts to surrendering. It amounts to running away from Canada's promise to the people of Afghanistan that we would spill our blood, that we would sacrifice our lives, so that they could live more freely in their homes and we could live more securely in ours. It amounts to writing off the deaths of 130 Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan and the wounding of hundreds more as meaningless events.
Pte. Patrick Lormand, who was killed by a roadside bomb on the same day that Senator Kenny was running up the white flag, would have disagreed with him that the war in Afghanistan is hopeless, that "we are hurtling toward a Vietnam ending." If Canadians such as Senator Kenny have their way, if Canada cuts and runs, then perhaps opponents of the war will get the airlift out of Kandahar and Kabul that they appear to want, the same kind of disgrace that we saw in Saigon in 1975. Perhaps Canada will not leave its Kabul employees weeping on the embassy roof as it did with its Vietnamese employees in Saigon, but that day will also not be one that Canadians will want to remember.
Pte. Lombard's commander in Afghanistan, Brig-Gen. Jonathan Vance, defended his soldier's sacrifice and refuted the senator's "uninformed opinions" in a strongly worded statement: "The thousands of young, clear, determined eyes that remain wide-open here in Kandahar are working hard every day to protect and stabilize the population -- not an impossible mission as some might suggest."
Brig.-Gen Vance is exactly right. The death of Pte. Lombard is not a reason to abandon Afghanistan -- it is an argument to stay and finish the job. Hundreds of Canadians and NATO allies should not be left -- dead for nothing -- because people who do not understand how their own lives are at risk in the war on terror don't like the bloody mess of that war.
Senator Kenny, unfortunately, is not the only defeatist Canadian, or even the only defeatist Canadian ally in the Afghan war. Polls indicate an increasing number of Canadians oppose the war, as do an increasing number of Europeans and Americans. On Monday, arch-terrorist Osama bin Laden, architect of the 9/11 attacks on the United States, warned President Barack Obama to draw back: "You are waging a hopeless and losing war," he said while referring to the black American leader as a "house Negro" enslaved to the policies of George W. Bush.
This really wouldn't matter much if so many Canadians and a lot of influential Americans didn't agree with Mr. bin Laden. But they do. Mr. Obama proposes sending thousands more soldiers to Afghanistan to get the job done. Today in Washington he will almost certainly try to persuade Prime Minister Stephen Harper to maintain, even increase, the Canadian military presence in Afghanistan beyond the scheduled withdrawal date of 2011.
Mr, Harper will almost certainly refuse, because the Liberals, the NDP and Bloc Quebecois would not permit him to do that even if wanted to. The critics of the war in Afghanistan, Mr. Obama's left-wing Democrats, Canada's anti-war advocates, are strongly positioned, but if we listen to these defeatists, we will have abandoned the Afghan people, betrayed our war dead and surrendered the war on terror.
[Iran Press TV Latest] Afghan election commission begins preparations for a second round of voting if incumbent Hamid Karzai's share of votes in the controversial election falls below 50%.
Afghan election officials began logistical preparations on Wednesday for a second round of voting, Guardian reports.
Based on the report, the second round will take place in five weeks, only if Karzai's share of the vote, currently at 54%, falls below the required 50% mark.
The Afghanistan's Electoral Complaints Commission says it will recount 10 percent of the ballots of polling stations used in the August 20 presidential elections.
The UN-backed commission said Tuesday that it had found clear and convincing evidence of vote fraud at these locations.
However, if fraud investigations cause Karzai's figure to drop below 50 percent, he would have to go to compete against Abdullah in a second round election.
The developments come as EU election observation mission said that around one and a half million votes cast in Afghanistan's presidential polls last month could be fraudulent.
The EU mission further claims that 1.1 million of the votes cast for the incumbent president Karzai, as well as 300 thousand others cast in favor of his main rival Abdullah Abdullah, are suspicious. Another one hundred thousand suspicious votes were cast for other candidates.
This is while Karzai's campaign team has strongly condemned as "irresponsible" claims by EU monitors about the extent of election fraud.
Final, uncertified count for the Afghan presidential election indicated a Karzai Victory on Wednesday. The results showed Karzai gaining more than 54 percent of the vote and Abdullah winning less than 28 percent.
The August 20 election has been overshadowed by allegations of widespread fraud threatening to undermine the final outcome.
The US and the European Union, who appear to favor an Abdullah victory, have insisted on election fraud and the need for a second-round vote since early after the general election. Afghan elections officials, however, have stood their ground, countering that reports of fraud are thoroughly investigated and considered but foreign interference on the matter will not be tolerated.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/17/2009 00:00 ||
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[Al Jizz] The mother of a suspected al-Qaeda operative assassinated in Somalia has asked for his body.
Fred! We need another two-pound coffee can!
Aisha Abdallah demanded to see the body of Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, who is believed to have been killed in a US commando raid earlier in the week.
Abdallah told The Associated Press news agency on Wednesday that she wants to see the body of her son before it is buried. "My son has never been a terrorist," she said.
Nabhan, a 30-year-old Kenyan, was wanted for the 2002 car bombing of a beach resort in Kenya and a failed attempt to shoot down an Israeli aircraft.
Three senior US officials familiar with Monday's helicopter raid said that Nabhan was killed in the strike along with six other people.
Nabhan had been fighting with the opposition al-Shabab group against the Somali government when he was killed. The Somalia-based group vowed to avenge Nabhan's death and said it would keep on fighting.
"We shall have Dire Revenge™!"
"God foiled the endeavor of our stupid enemy who imagined that the flame of jihad in the Muslim lands ... will be extinguished with the killing of the mujahidin leaders," read a statement from the group posted on the internet.
Another unnamed US official said the attack was launched by forces from multiple US military branches and included Navy Seals, at least two army assault helicopters and the involvement of two US warships in the region for months. The US has not provided official details on the raid or on the number of people killed or where the bodies were taken.
This article starring:
Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan
Posted by: Fred ||
09/17/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Assuming wild Zionist boars haven't gotten to the grease stain first.
Posted by: ed ||
09/17/2009 1:24 Comments ||
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[Asharq al-Aswat] A UAE official denied reports claiming that the UAE intelligence services foiled attempts to bomb Burj Dubai, the world's tallest building.
Dubai Police Commander-in-Chief Lieutenant General Dhahi Khalfan Tamim told Asharq Al-Awsat Tuesday that "these claims are unfounded and completely false." He stressed that the news "is completely fabricated."
Lieutenant General Dhahi Khalfan Tamim highlighted that there no were such plots to bomb the world's tallest building, which is still under construction, and said, "If anything like this took place then I would have informed you."
Israel's Maariv newspaper reported that it had received information from Western sources recently that the Iranian Revolutionary Guards plotted to blow up Burj Dubai and that eight people, including Syrians and Palestinians, had been brought in for questioning two months ago.
A source from the Iranian embassy in Abu Dhabi denied having any knowledge on this issue, stressing that there was no information in this regard "because there is essentially nothing [to report]," the source told Asharq Al-Awsat by phone, Tuesday.
According to official figures, there are less than 111,000 Iranians living in the UAE. The former Iranian ambassador to the UAE, Hamid Reza Asefi, however, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the number of Iranians living in the UAE is over 400,000.
Maariv newspaper claimed that members of the network were in possession of tons of explosives, ready-to-use explosive belts and large amounts of automatic weapons that had been sent from Iran by plane. The newspaper added that it had information indicating that members of the network were also planning to target "a military base in the UAE."
The Israeli newspaper also indicated that the UAE intelligence services were focusing their investigations on the involvement of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards in these terrorist plots; however they are also investigating the possibility of Al Qaeda and other extremist groups being behind the plots. It also claimed that the UAE government is treating the matter as completely confidential.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/17/2009 00:00 ||
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[Kyodo: Korea] North Korea ended a 150-day campaign Wednesday to rebuild the economy as part of efforts for the country to become a ""great prosperous and powerful socialist nation"" in 2012. Although the country has yet to release results of the campaign, Pak Sung Ryong, chief engineer at a textile factory in Pyongyang, said output at the plant has exceeded the target by 40 percent.
No doubt. The alternative involves that re-education camp that is never mentioned.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/17/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Posted by: Mike N. ||
09/17/2009 1:31 Comments ||
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#2
Doubtless as equally disasterous as Mao's Great Leap Forward. Dams from that era are still collapsing.
DENMARK'S Conservative Party shelved a proposal to ban the burqa, the head-to-toe Islamic veil, after government lawyers said it could violate human rights, the justice minister says.
The centre-right party is the junior member in a minority coalition government with the Liberals, which opposed banning the burqa.
Justice Minister Brian Mikkelsen, a Conservative, says Government lawyers have advised a ban could breach the European Convention of Human Rights and the Danish constitution.
"It is clear to me as minister of justice ... that we cannot sign up to a project that raises such legal issues," he said.
But Mr Mikkelsen added that a working group had been set up by the Government to explore "other ways of fighting against the burqa's spreading popularity" in public places.
"The burqa represents a view of women that has no place in Denmark," he said.
Plans to ban the burqa, first put forward by the Syrian-born Conservative lawmaker Naser Khader, has sparked controversy among politicians and the public alike.
But Mr Khader, the Conservatives' spokesman on integration, staunchly defended his proposals at his party's annual conference last week.
"The burqa is a symbol of repression from men who want to control women 100 per cent," he told delegates. "Why are there no men who have to cover themselves with a blindfold over their eyes?"
His proposal received strong support from the far-right Danish People's Party, a key ally of the Coalition Government in the Danish Parliament.
The ban on the traditional Islamic garment is also being debated elsewhere in Europe.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy recently said the burqa was "not welcome" in France as it clashes with its secular tradition. He set up a commission to look into whether it should be banned.
"I need you; the nation needs you," CIA Director Leon Panetta told about 150 Metro Detroit leaders at an invitation-only banquet at the Bint Jebail Banquet Hall in Dearborn. He told reporters just before the dinner that the CIA needs to re-examine security clearance procedures that may, in the past, have improperly excluded job candidates for reasons such as having family members in homelands such as Lebanon or Iran.
"We can't collect the information that we need or the intelligence that we need unless we have language capability," said Panetta, who was warmly received. It takes about 10 years of training to become an expert translator of the most difficult languages on earth, but wouldn't it have been nice to have started 8 years ago? Security clearances are one thing, but hiring native speakers to teach non-native speakers (who can qualify for security clearances without equivocation) in a national push to create a large corps of fluent speakers & translators was a no-brainer on 9/12/2001.
#4
The brave Czechs rely on a democratic power and are stabbed in the back to appease an aggressive state.
Sounds vaguely familiar.
Posted by: lord garth ||
09/17/2009 8:15 Comments ||
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#5
Well im gutted.
I cannot see much positive in this . Inherent Russian mindset will see this as a victory for being aggressive .
Maybe the annoucement that they are cutting their military machine to make it more streamline was part of the deal . But I doubt it . I wonder if any major announcements will be made on the Russian side , like eeerm , ooh never mind .
I cant say I blame you for leaving Europe but there are allies here and I feel , well , betrayed :(
Its another step for Europe in the wrong direction , in fact I cant remember the last time we stepped in the right direction
Posted by: Oscar ||
09/17/2009 8:26 Comments ||
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#6
ooh and you've lost a handy buffer zone .
Your prez is a smart ass idiot , but we all know that
Posted by: Oscar ||
09/17/2009 8:28 Comments ||
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#7
Part of Obama's repayment for all those "untraceable" foreign campaign contributions and the withdrawal of $500 billion in 1 hour from US money markets and the tanking of the US economy when Obama/Biden were behind.
Posted by: ed ||
09/17/2009 8:38 Comments ||
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#8
So all that dithering during the Bush administration trying to get more 'concessions' was worth it?
#12
the deal, if there is a deal, relates to Iran.
Whether there is a deal, wrt either sanctions or the military option - we will see. I haven't had much time to think about this, nor have I yet seen any analysis, so I will withhold judgement for now.
Posted by: liberal hawk ||
09/17/2009 9:42 Comments ||
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#13
"The brave Czechs rely on a democratic power and are stabbed in the back to appease an aggressive state"
To be fair, Czech opinion on this was kinda mixed.
I still agree that its a big concession to the Russians, an implicit veto on a facility that was not directed against them. WHen we admitted the East eur states to NATO we said we wouldnt move western forces in, but what everyone was thinking of then were tank armies, not missile defenses.
Posted by: liberal hawk ||
09/17/2009 9:44 Comments ||
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#14
But lets also be clear. Czecho is still part of the Atlantic Alliance. An attack upon one, is an attack upon all, still applies. This isnt 1938, or 1948. AFAICT, Czechs aren't reacting to this as if it were Munich.
Posted by: liberal hawk ||
09/17/2009 9:52 Comments ||
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#15
Yes LH, the next bite for Russia will probably not be a piece of the Czech Republic (geographically a problem because there are other countries in the way).
However, the Georgians and the Ukrainians are feeling the heat today.
Posted by: lord garth ||
09/17/2009 10:16 Comments ||
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#16
Peace in our time!
Posted by: European Conservative ||
09/17/2009 10:20 Comments ||
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#17
and btw, today is the 70th anniversary of the other invasion of Poland; the Russians invading Poland in accordance with the then-secret protocols of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.
Posted by: lord garth ||
09/17/2009 10:23 Comments ||
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EC,
You assume he's on America's (and freedom's) side. He's a real Manchurian Candidate.
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
09/17/2009 11:39 Comments ||
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#23
You might notice how CNN /Obama slant the story: It's not cancelled - it's replaced with something better.... but we're not going to tell you what that is...
#24
"However, the Georgians and the Ukrainians are feeling the heat today."
Im not sure how asserting the principle of full Czech and Polish soveriegnty helped Ukraine and Georgia, tangibly.
Posted by: liberal hawk ||
09/17/2009 11:52 Comments ||
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#25
Israeli press has buzz that it will be replaced with missile sites in Turkey and Israel.
Mebbe.
Posted by: liberal hawk ||
09/17/2009 11:53 Comments ||
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#26
Im not sure how asserting the principle of full Czech and Polish soveriegnty helped Ukraine and Georgia, tangibly.
The point you are missing is that this suggests to the Georgians and Ukrainians that relying on the US for security agreements is not a good idea.
OK, so Dear Leader has rolled over for Putin and left the Poles and our other Euro allies hanging. And on the anniversary of the last Soviet invasion of Poland, to boot.
Big win for Russia. They get a political victory. In exchange for quitting Iran, they just have to claim obstruction from Iran so sorry. Greater political influence on east Europe, after the anniversary of Georgia even. Go ahead and use that airfield and spend your resources in Afghan - get dependant on that route, we can shut down that airport at any time.
Iran wins. Yeah sure Putin we quit that missile program wink wink. Missile diplomacy versus Europe as leverage against Israel. Put it in Turkey, hey the infidels attacked us shut down that site.
Israel loses. As mentioned above, but now if they want the sites they have to play ball with the Obama administration. And there are only so many places to place a site in Israel anyways making it vulnerable.
Europe loses. Yeah, they should have accepted the proposal with the previous administration. Time to wake up and take the issues of defense seriously, you cannot depend on the US for a while.
Obama Administration: a stick used against Israel then the carrot of another site? If another site is chosen it is still a ways off from being built (unless this has been anticipated and already under construction somewhere). Plus newsmaking.
#28
"The point you are missing is that this suggests to the Georgians and Ukrainians that relying on the US for security agreements is not a good idea."
There was no US commitment TO Poland and Czecho wrt to the missile defense. The missile defense was designed to protect WESTERN europe primarily, and Czecho didnt even get missiles, just a radar station. What Czecho and Poland got out of it was A. Money B. Getting in good with the US C. The political benefits of the US defying Russian claims to control what NATO could build in eastern europe. Which are all benefits, but they are NOT a security guarantee. Really Georgia and Ukraine very much have their own issues, and their sense of trust in us will be based on the extent to which we come through on those issues, not on missile defense in eastern europe.
Posted by: liberal hawk ||
09/17/2009 12:50 Comments ||
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#29
"In exchange for quitting Iran, they just have to claim obstruction from Iran so sorry."
I dont understand that sentence.
Posted by: liberal hawk ||
09/17/2009 12:51 Comments ||
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#30
"Go ahead and use that airfield and spend your resources in Afghan - get dependant on that route, we can shut down that airport at any time."
Given that Pakistan is fighting the Taliban in Khyber, I think its clear US strategy is NOT to become any more dependant on Russian airfields than we have to be.
Posted by: liberal hawk ||
09/17/2009 12:52 Comments ||
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#31
"Israel loses. As mentioned above, but now if they want the sites they have to play ball with the Obama administration. And there are only so many places to place a site in Israel anyways making it vulnerable"
If they want the sites they have to play with the US admin in any case.
Missile bases dont take up that much room. I dont think the Israeli real estate market is going to be that big an issue.
Posted by: liberal hawk ||
09/17/2009 12:53 Comments ||
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#32
"Iran wins. Yeah sure Putin we quit that missile program wink wink. "
Its not about quitting the missile program, its about getting Russia to go along with real sanctions.
Posted by: liberal hawk ||
09/17/2009 12:54 Comments ||
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#33
It's not going to do anything about Iran. Obama already got what concessions he'll get, namely provisioning Afghanistan ... which Putin figures will drain and tie us up nicely so he wins both ways.
#34
Barry approving the stationing of a battalion of Spetznaz at Lawson Army Air Field at Fort Benning would not surprise me. No, not in the least bit.
#38
Could it have hurt to at least wait a few days until after meeting with the Russers? At least pretend to play hardball? Jeebus, what an idjit. Moving forward, I don't see the any reason why the Putin and Co. would ever negotiate with Obambi. He'll simply do what they want anyway. Lord Almighty.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
09/17/2009 13:52 Comments ||
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#39
#34 Well yeah, but the issue is whether they would be entitled to healthcare.
Posted by: Matt ||
09/17/2009 14:10 Comments ||
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#40
@Frozen Al:
"He's a real Manchurian Candidate."
Dunno: More like Jimmy Carter on steroids.
Collateral damage: Trust in the word of a U.S. president.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
09/17/2009 14:27 Comments ||
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#47
First, I'd like to take to opportunity to apologize for such an awkward to read statement - I am busy but felt passionately about such an important subject. And I admit not knowing the intricies of people and politcs half way around the world.
The whole point of this exercise is symbolic. I do not envision Russian tanks rolling across Europe at the moment. I do see Russia, naturally like any nation, exercising its power. They can turn off the gas to Europe, they can mess with Estonia at will, they did just recently send their army into Georgia.
What good will Russian sanctions against Iran accomplish? Iran could still receive materials and expertise via Pakistan. If indeed the Arctic Sea was transporting weapons does that not show the level of deception Russia will attempt in order to proliferate weapons? A missile defense system is a very tangible asset traded for a Russian promise.
There are some materials which do not and cannot travel up through Pakistan. Troops, for example. Materials the US cannot afford to have captured would be another. It would probably take Russia only about 5 minutes to shut down its airspace. Do US troops really want the Khyber to be the sole resupply point?
IIUC this system, as it would have been, would not be capable of prevent an all out missile attack. Now, there has been talk about the possibility of Israel striking Iran. If I were Iran and I wanted to put pressure on Israel I'd tell the EU that if there was a strike, I'll send missiles your direction. Its an easy sell, "Israel is a European and US design so their targets are legitimate."
A weak US is a weak NATO. Europe without a credible military threat/counter threat will do nothing if suddenly the Baltic States have a pro-Russian uprising. They will do nothing as Russia gains control of energy supplies around the Black Sea. The further away a NATO flag is from those areas, the more emboldened Russia will become. Sure it is symbolic, but that is the point of politics.
With control of the energy supplies to Europe, Russia not only makes big bucks but has direct influence in the governance of the EU. They can use that money to fund popular movements in Europe. Russia knows that if the Obama administration completely flubs Afghanistan big time the democrats will not only lose in 2012, but will probably not be in White House for a long time. That gives them control over half the political system of the USA.
If the Russians are looking at Europe, I would bet they peek over their shoulder every once in a while. Losing Kamchatka to China in any sense, by population, business takeover or land grab, would be a major blow. If the Middle East goes apeshit the US will need energy from elsewhere, and that could be Russia. Russia could say to China, "Stay out of Kamchatka. If you take it over we will get the USA government to default on loans and get both the USA and EU to begin a trade war with you."
But thats OK. Maybe sanctions will work this time, what do I know?
#48
And as for Israel, I must have a soft spot in my heart the oasis full of innovative and dedicated people who have made the desert bloom in that region of the world for the first time in a thousand years. Heck, for all I know the average Israeli wouldn't give me the time of day..but I recognize their accomplishments.
Israel is dealing with the most hostile US administration in my lifetime. Israel should depend on nothing from the USA at the moment, even if their first line of defense from an Iranian strike is Iraq. But a missile strike from Iran would be purely symbolic - Iran would know they would get a smackdown. The obvious move to me if Iran wanted wanted to cause trouble would be a land delivery system so there is not an obvious official Iranian trace of the attack. The more time passes Iran the stronger they become. This buys them time.
#49
Hey you f***ed up -- you trusted us! A classic line from Animal House, now let's all have a good laugh while EU supplicates for its new overlords.
Posted by: regular joe ||
09/17/2009 19:24 Comments ||
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#50
I wish I felt like I could trust Zero. There is potentially a whole lot more going on here than we can or should see, but I just don't have that warm, fuzzy feeling that it's to our benefit.
#53
nice spin, Liberal Hawk. Your loyalty to the O exceeds your hawkishness, which I always doubted anyway. Teh Zero sells out and gets nuthin in return, not even cab fare on the dresser after Putin gets dressed and leaves
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/17/2009 21:21 Comments ||
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#54
It looks like Putin didn't even undress
Posted by: European Conservative ||
09/17/2009 21:33 Comments ||
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#55
1938, 1968, and now 2009. Wonder if the Czechs are used to it by now.
[Dawn] Pakistani Christians clashed with security forces Wednesday at the funeral of a Christian man who police said hanged himself in jail while being held on accusations he defiled the Quran. Some Christian leaders alleged he was murdered.
The clashes, just weeks after eight Christians were burned to death by a Muslim mob, are a reminder of the tensions simmering in religious minority communities in Muslim-majority Pakistan, where a spreading Taliban movement has fueled extremism.
Fanish Masih was found dead Tuesday in his cell in Sialkot, a town in Punjab province. Jail superintendent Farooq Lodhi said the 19-year-old hanged himself using the string that held up his pants.
The National Commission for Justice and Peace, a Catholic-led advocacy group in Pakistan, called the death an 'extra-judicial murder' and demanded an investigation.
Lodhi denied any crime had been committed, adding that an autopsy was being conducted. 'Those who say he was killed in the jail are in fact trying to create unrest and confrontation between Muslims and Christians,' he said.
According to the National Commission for Justice and Peace, Masih was accused of throwing a chapter of the Quran down a drain last week in Jatheki village. Muslims in the village near Sialkot responded by burning a church, and Masih was arrested the following day.
About 700 people attended Masih's funeral. Dozens of younger mourners began tossing stones at nearby police, who reacted by beating the protesters with batons and firing tear gas into the crowd, an Associated Press photographer at the scene in Sialkot said.
Nelson Azeem, a Christian lawmaker from Sialkot, said he did not know how Masih died but said many people in the community were suspicious.
No matter how he died, he said, 'it was the responsibility of the jail staff to protect his life as he was facing a serious charge.'
Minority and human rights activists staged protests Tuesday in the eastern city of Lahore after word of Masih's death, with some carrying posters calling it a murder.
Non-Muslims make up less than 5 per cent of Pakistan's 175 million people. They are especially vulnerable to anti-blasphemy laws that carry the death penalty for derogatory remarks or any other action against Islam, the Quran or the Prophet Muhammad.
Anyone can make an accusation under the rules, and they often are used to settle personal scores and rivalries.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/17/2009 00:00 ||
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Ma'an - Israel will remove 100 of its 613 roadblocks that riddle the West Bank, a military statement announced Wednesday.
The roadblocks, earth mounds, access gates, guard towers, trenches and road barriers that Israeli military forces installed in the West Bank beginning in 2000 block the access of Palestinians to swaths of land, other villages and cities within the Israeli occupied area. Militarized checkpoints between the occupied West Bank and Israel and Israeli annexed areas bar Palestinians from leaving the West Bank. These checkpoints will not be removed under the current Israeli announcement.
On order of the Israeli military chief Gabi Ashkenazi and Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, a statement said, "the decision to carry out these improvements was made."
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) marked a trend in Israeli checkpoint and traffic regulation in a June position paper, noting the creation of travel corridors that ensure quick passage for Palestinians from city to city, while carving up the West Bank and spending billions of shekels ensuring Palestinians do not move near settlements.
The road infrastructure being built in the West Bank, according to OCHA, reinforces "the exclusion of Palestinians from the primary road network .the paving of these roads entails the expropriation of private and publically-owned land, thus further shrinking the space available for Palestinian development." Further, the organization notes "Approximately 28% of the West Bank is designated as either closed military zones or as nature reserves."
The Israeli military statement did not indicate which roadblocks would be removed, but noted that work was expected to finish by the end of Ramadan holiday Eid Al-Fitr, which starts Sunday.
The Israeli statement closed noting "the decision is a continuation of the government policy to improve the economic situation in the region while maintaining the operational flexibility of the Israel Defense Force and security forces."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/17/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
85% of the MSM will ignore this.
Posted by: liberal hawk ||
09/17/2009 9:37 Comments ||
Top||
#1
Israel has been trying to get people to focus on the threat Iran poses to the region and the world, and make people focus less on it as an "Israeli" issue.
Posted by: liberal hawk ||
09/17/2009 12:56 Comments ||
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#2
LH, I think that's wishful thinking. Iran's regional neighbours are most probably thinking 'Iran might nuke Israel one day, but if it does the US will neutralise it. Alternatively, Iran will use its nukes as leverage to weaken Israel by way of attrition'. The crocodile will always go for Israel first, and thus Israel remains the only state for which Iran is an existential threat.
#3
well first, I wasnt so much addressing the substance, I was explaining why Barak was saying this, in case anyone though that he had suddenly gone all dovish. The Israelis feel strongly that the notion that Iran is a threat to them alone does NOT help them to strike a sense of urgency about Iran in the rest of the world. So they have emphasized that Iran is a world problem and NOT soley theirs to deal with.
As for the substance, I am not so sure. It strikes me as very probable that if Iran gets nukes they will immediately begin to bully their Persian Gulf neighbors, and to spread influence throughout the middle east, using the nukes as deterrence against anyone who would use conventional military might to stand in their way.
Posted by: liberal hawk ||
09/17/2009 16:33 Comments ||
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#4
I have to agree with LH. Nuclear states can only use nuclear weapons to bully non-nuclear states. Iran will use its nuclear weapons to bully the Gulf states and Iraq.
#5
And Oman will be #1 on Iran's list. They want that Omani enclave on southern side of the Straits of Hormuz. It will make the Gulf their Mare Nostrum.
#7
Nuclear states can only use nuclear weapons to bully non-nuclear states
False assumption. Nuclear armed states can use their weapons to bully any state which won't (resort to) use nuclear weapons first. Especially a democratic state. Bullies don't assume their victims are incapable of defending themselves, they calculate that their victims only will not.
[Asharq al-Aswat] Talks between Iraq and Syria over Iraqi charges that Damascus is harbouring militants involved in deadly bombings in Baghdad have failed and will not be repeated, the Iraqi government spokesman said on Wednesday.
The talks in Ankara, Turkey, aimed at easing tensions between the two neighbours collapsed after Syria refused to accept a list of people Iraq wants extradited for their alleged involvement in a recent spate of bombings, including an Aug. 19 blast that killed more that 100 people.
Iraq accuses Syria of harbouring Saddam Hussein loyalists wanted in those bombings.
"We consider this security meeting as the final one. Such a meeting won't happen in the future unless Syria positively responds to the unchallenged evidence and proof presented by Iraq. This is the final meeting," government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh told The Associated Press.
He added that planned talks on Thursday between the foreign ministers of Iraq and Syria in Istanbul, Turkey, may also be cancelled.
Syrian officials were not immediately available for comment.
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has demanded that Syria hand over two suspects in the August truck bombings outside the foreign and finance ministries in Baghdad. He has asked the U.N. Security Council to set up an international tribunal to investigate the bombings.
Syria says the Iraqi government has failed to provide proof, rejecting extradition requests.
Al-Dabbagh, the Iraqi spokesman, said the Iraqi delegation presented "proof and evidence on the involvement of Syrian-based terrorists, and we have been demanding the handing over of the two terrorists."
The government hopes Vice President Joe Biden, on a three-day trip to Iraq, will have suggestions on how to ease tension with Syria. Biden was to meet al-Maliki on Wednesday, the second day of his visit.
The United States has remained largely silent about al-Maliki's accusations, but has said Syria still enables the smuggling of foreign fighters into Iraq and that former members of Saddam Hussein's outlawed Baath party live in that country.
"Syria continues to allow the facilitation of foreign fighters through Syria that both come into Iraq as well as, I believe, into Afghanistan," Gen. Ray Odierno, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, told reporters after meeting with Biden late Tuesday.
"We do know that there are some ex-Baathist elements that are in Syria that are funding operations in Iraq, and we also know that they are operating Web sites that encourage attacks inside of Iraq," Odierno said.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/17/2009 00:00 ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] Lebanon's president designated Saad al-Hariri prime minister on Wednesday after the leader of the March 14 alliance stepped down from the post last week over rising tension with his opponents, a presidential statement said.
Hariri was called on by President Michel Suleiman to form a government after 73 out of a possible 128 lawmakers nominated him to the post. "Following consultations with the speaker of parliament and MPs ... the president has called on Saad Hariri to form a government," the statement said.
Hariri abandoned a first bid to form a national unity government last week after his political opponents led by the militant group Hezbollah rejected his proposed government line-up.
Hariri was first designated prime minister in June, but stepped down last week, blaming rival factions including Hezbollah for thwarting his attempts at forging a unity government.
His move triggered consultations this week between President Michel Suleiman and lawmakers to pick a new premier. The talks concluded on Wednesday. Suleiman was obliged to designate the candidate with the greatest support among Lebanon's 128 MPs.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/17/2009 00:00 ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] Iran's opposition leaders will attend the nationwide "Quds Day" rally on Friday, a reformist website reported on Wednesday, a move that could lead to fresh anti-government protests.
The June presidential election, which was followed by huge opposition protests, plunged Iran into political turmoil and exposed deepening divisions within its ruling elite. Opposition leaders say the poll was rigged to secure President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's re-election. The authorities deny it.
Defeated presidential candidates Mir Hussein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi said they would attend the anti-Israel rally. "Mousavi, Karroubi and former president Mohammad Khatami will participate in Friday's rally," said the reformist website, Mowjcamp.
Defying the authorities, some moderate websites have called for new anti-government protests on "Quds Day".
Witnesses said security forces had tightened control in streets leading to the prayer venue in central Tehran.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/17/2009 00:00 ||
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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 U.S. Air Force reported that it had lost a MQ-9 Reaper UAV over western Afghanistan on September 13th. What it didn't report, at the time, was that the Reaper was shot down by a U.S. fighter. That was because something went wrong with the Reapers commo link, and the operator lost control of the aircraft. As air force techs scrambled to regain control, the Reaper continued to fly north, and this would eventually take the UAV outside of Afghanistan. The air force would not elaborate, but this could mean the aircraft would fly into Tajikistan, or China. It was thought prudent to ensure that the Reaper did not leave Afghanistan. 
