As he drove to his confirmation hearing Tuesday morning, Gen. David H. Petraeus had his third phone conversation in less than a week with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. After his unanimous approval as the new Afghan war commander by the Senate Armed Services Committee, Petraeus flew home to Tampa, where he hosted Vice President Biden and his wife for dinner.
Symbolism and the force of Petraeus's reputation as the nation's premier warrior-diplomat may help bridge internal disagreements and dispel doubts about President Obama's Afghanistan strategy. Petraeus told lawmakers he has also reached out to Richard C. Holbrooke, the administration's top diplomat on Afghanistan and Pakistan, and will pick up Ambassador Karl W. Eikenberry en route to Kabul so that the two can arrive there together.
"We are all firmly united in seeking to forge unity of effort," Petraeus said.
But while he may have won early skirmishes in the political war, the general acknowledged that the shooting war against "an industrial-strength insurgency" is likely to get worse before it gets better. "My sense is that the tough fighting will continue," he said. "Indeed, it may get more intense."
Senators from both parties praised Petraeus and said they expect easy confirmation by the full Senate. A spokesman for Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) said a vote is expected Wednesday.
Obama has indicated that he will make no other immediate personnel changes. Petraeus said Tuesday that members of his personal staff had agreed to accompany him to Kabul, but he made no mention of the status of senior officers, including those in charge of operations, intelligence and other key tasks, who worked for McChrystal. Officials said Petraeus wants to assess the situation at the Afghanistan headquarters before making any decisions.
Petraeus said he would continue McChrystal's strategy of trying to avoid civilian deaths in Afghanistan, a keystone of the U.S. military's counterinsurgency strategy. But in a nod to U.S. troops who have complained that McChrystal tied their hands by limiting tactics, Petraeus said he would "look very hard" at how directives issued by the former commander were being implemented.
"I will continue the emphasis on reducing the loss of innocent civilian life to an absolute minimum in the course of military operations," he said. The rules of engagement for U.S. troops are "fairly standard," he said. A separate "tactical directive," he said, was designed to govern the use of air-launched weapons "because, of course, if you drop a bomb on a house, if you're not sure who's in it, you can kill a lot of innocent civilians in a hurry."
He said that it is imperative that the directives are implemented uniformly throughout the force, and that "when our troops and our Afghan partners are in a tough spot . . . it's a moral imperative that we use everything we have to ensure that they get out."
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/30/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Anyone have a link to Reid's video of "This war is Lost" What a POS.
Afghanistan's government on Monday angrily dismissed as baseless a media report that President Hamid Karzai had met face-to-face with an al Qaeda-linked Taliban leader in Kabul. "No, no! Certainly not!"
Karzai's spokesman said the report on Al-Jazeera TV on Sunday was part of a conspiracy to undermine a government-initiated peace plan aimed at ending almost nine years of war. Al-Jazeera said Karzai had met with Sirajuddin Haqqani, who heads the notorious al Qaeda-linked Haqqani network, at his palace in the Afghan capital as a prelude to peace talks. "The report is totally baseless, it is a lie and there is no truth in it," Karzai's spokesman Waheed Omar told reporters. He said the report "was a source of some concern for us because we believe there is a connected chain of irresponsible rumours about the government of Afghanistan".
Posted by: Fred ||
06/30/2010 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
President Barack Obama's $600 million border security plan seems to have it all: More than 1,000 agents, seven gunrunner teams, five FBI task forces and more prosecutors and immigration judges.
But it doesn't include $40 million to help the already overwhelmed federal courts along the U.S.-Mexico border that will likely be inundated with additional drug and other criminal cases, a judiciary official tells The Associated Press.
Increased patrols will mean more arrests and more cases sent to the five district courts on the border, from California to Texas. The courts handle cases including drug trafficking and illegal immigrants charged with other serious crimes.
Continued on Page 49
#1
So without court capacity it's just a bigger catch and release program. There is a different solution but I am sure it won't even be considered - shoot first, arrest later.
#3
Routine border violations need not be a judicial issue. It could be defined as an administrative issue and thus handled by the executive branch without burdening the courts.
To whit: an illegal alien, stopped and identified as such, could be deported without recourse to the courts. Obviously some safeguard is needed to prevent American citizens and legal aliens from being deported, but that again could be an executive function, not a judicial one.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/30/2010 12:26 Comments ||
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#4
Doc, do you really trust the current administration enough to allow them that kind of authority? Do you really believe they would actually do something to end illegal immigration? Do you think they won't find a way to screw everything up, force the courts to a halt, and do everything in their power to see that this is all smoke and mirrors, with no substance?
I don't, either.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
06/30/2010 13:31 Comments ||
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#5
Good point, but I figure the current administration can control ICE about as well as the last one. If ICE wants to do it, they'll do it.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/30/2010 18:08 Comments ||
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Google Translate
The governor of the Mexican state of Tabasco said in a radio interview today that five Mexican state governors have had their lives threatened by drug gangs, according to Mexican news reports.
Granier Melo himself was attacked by armed suspect in his home in Tabasco in 2008 shortly after he denounced a Tabasco security official. His daughter's home was also attack where she suffered wounds.
Granier Melo recounted meeting with the Interior Minister of Chiapas, the top cop for Chiapas, Fernando Gómez Mont, who also had been threatened with death.
SEOUL, June 29 (Yonhap) -- South Korea will find acceptable a U.N. Security Council measure on North Korea similar to the statement issued by G-8 leaders last week that condemns the attack on a South Korean warship without naming North Korea as the culprit, a high-ranking source here said Tuesday. Something with a lot of commas and subclauses, but written entirely in passive voice.
At the end of their two-day summit in Muskoka, north of Toronto, on Saturday, the G-8 leaders said they "deplore the attack on March 26 that caused the sinking of the Republic of Korea's naval vessel, the Cheonan, resulting in the tragic loss of 46 lives." The statement, which called for "appropriate measures" against those responsible for the attack, does not directly blame North Korea. Russia, a stronger backer of North Korea, reportedly opposed making the direct link, citing a lack of concrete evidence.
Other than the sunken ship ...
... and pieces of the torpedo...
The source said it was not clear whether the Security Council will issue a presidential statement or a resolution on Pyongyang. Regardless of the form, the outcome would be acceptable if the language is comparable with that of the G-8 statement, he said.
The statement took note of the conclusions by the investigation team that the North was responsible for the attack, the source said. "The statement specifically refers to the conclusion and condemned the attack in that context," he said. "Anyone could easily see that the leaders condemned North Korea."
Which is why they didn't say so. Obviously.
He added that there was "some consensus" within the Security Council that the attack on the warship should be condemned. "The contentious issue at hand is whether to specifically name North Korea," he said.
Later in the day, North Korea criticized the G-8 statement, saying its purpose is political.
Right on time ...
"We vehemently and totally refute the declaration adopted at the G-8 summit held in Canada on June 25 and 26 in which its participants pulled up the DPRK, though indirectly, referring to south Korea's "results of investigation" into the "Cheonan" case," said an unidentified North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman in an English-language dispatch carried by the North's Korean Central News Agency.
"Heads of state of G-8, however, hastily handled the case in a deliberate manner only to prove that they sought a sinister political purpose," the spokesman said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/30/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
ION, given the KIMMIE-N-MOUD LOCKSTEP,
To wit,
TOPIX > VARIOUS > ISRAEL: NEW UN SANCTIONS ON IRAN COULD LEAD TO WAR + ISRAEL: IRAN SANCTIONS COULD UNLEASH TERROR WAVE [agz Israel-Mideast].
#4
Here you go, Glenmore. Joe's way of giving you a link is WORLDTRIBUNE > ANALYSTS: CHINA MAY HAD KNOWN BEFOREHAND ABOUT THE SINKING OF THE CHEONAN. There really is such an article on the web but it looks like you have to login to read it.
Prime Minister Francois Fillon urged France's Muslims on Monday to reject full-face veils as a sectarian representation of Islam, a week before parliament debates a law banning burqas and niqabs in public.
"You should stand in the front line against this hijacking of the religious message ... it's up to you to make intelligence triumph over obscurantism and tolerance over intolerance."
Inaugurating a mosque in a northwestern Paris suburb, he said French Muslims should combat a tiny radical minority using face veils as a way to combat the integration of a tolerant Islam that respects the separation of church and state.
"The Islam of France, the Islam you practice daily, has nothing to do with this caricature that dims the lights of your faith," Fillon, the most senior French politician to inaugurate a mosque in decades, said to applause from the crowd.
"You should stand in the front line against this hijacking of the religious message ... it's up to you to make intelligence triumph over obscurantism and tolerance over intolerance."
France's five-million strong Muslim community, the largest in Europe, has felt increasingly sidelined in the past year as President Nicolas Sarkozy's government led a public debate over national identity and decided to ban full face veils.
As Fillon spoke, a woman in the western city of Nantes was on trial for driving while wearing a niqab. Police had fined her for wearing a garment that blocked her lateral vision, and the case went to court when she and her husband challenged it.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/30/2010 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Global Jihad
#3
The experiment has not worked, every Muslim in the Western World, should be invited to relocate to a Muslim country of their choosing.
Posted by: Dave UK ||
06/30/2010 5:15 Comments ||
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#4
No country like that offers freeloading and reverse taqiyya
Posted by: Oscar ||
06/30/2010 6:10 Comments ||
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#5
Only "moderate" Muslims can sell a "moderate" version of Islam to other Muslims, and you still need someone willing to buy... and wasn't Turkey a "moderate" Muslim country just a short time ago?
The better hope for a country like America is to restrict immigration from Muslim majority countries - for France, that would be closing the proverbial barn door; too little, too late. Their best chance is a policy of deportation of the most radical elements.
A good move - he's welcome here in San Diego
The son of a Hamas founder who became a Christian and an Israeli spy will be granted U.S. asylum after he passes a routine background check, an immigration judge ruled Wednesday. Mosab Hassan Yousef got the news during a 15-minute deportation hearing after a U.S. Department of Homeland Security attorney said the government was dropping its objections.
The agency denied Yousef's asylum request in February 2009, arguing that he had been involved in terrorism and was a threat to the United States. Attorney Kerri Calcador gave no explanation for the government's change of heart.
The immigration judge, Rico Bartolomei, ruled that Yousef will be allowed to remain in the United States after he is fingerprinted and passes a routine background check.
Yousef, who has been living in San Diego, was cheered by supporters as he left the hearing. He said he loves living in California, wants to become a U.S. citizen and hopes to pursue a master's degree in history and geography.
"I will keep fighting the ideology that is behind terrorists because I know how they think," he said outside the courtroom.
Yousef, 32, said he could not explain the government's abrupt decision, but said authorities may have had second thoughts after reviewing his case more closely.
"For 10 years, he fought terrorism in secret, hiding what he was doing and who he was," his attorney, Steven Seick, wrote in a court filing. "He deserves a safe place away from violence and fear."
Yousef had argued that he would be killed if he was deported because he spied on the militant group for Israel's Shin Bet security's intelligence agency and abandoned Islam.
This article starring:
Mosab Hassan Yousef
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/30/2010 14:11 ||
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#1
Gotta wonder if the deportation was ordered by a high government official named Mohammed or even Hussein. Probably didn't figure on the publicity shit storm.
Posted by: ed ||
06/30/2010 15:18 Comments ||
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#2
I hope they don't give out his address now, kind of accidentally-like.
The U.S. position in the Middle East is quickly slipping as an image of Western weakness is convincing important actors that it is in their best interest to invest their future with the bloc of Iran and Syria. While some Arabs are choosing to embrace Israel backstage, this is because of the fear that an Israeli strike on Iran is their last hope before being forced to capitulate. If Tehran is viewed as the new dominant power, Israel will find itself alone and the West will have to contend with a region of countries too afraid to resist the demands of Iran and Syria.
Jordanian and Egyptian officials are anonymously complaining about the display of U.S. weakness, saying they can only conclude that they must oppose American policy in order to be treated properly.
Only if you're tough with America and adopt an anti-U.S. stance will the U.S. have a more flexible attitude and pay you,' an Egyptian official told WorldNetDaily.com. Seem to reading that a lot lately. One could almost conclude President Obama considers the American people the real enemy.
Posted by: ed ||
06/30/2010 00:51 ||
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#1
President Obama considers the American people the real enemy.
I take it as a given that the man has no use for the America I know, his wife has even less.
#5
Obummer has deliberately lost the war in Afghanistan. He has pulled support from Israel. He has done more to destabilize the entire middle east than radical Islam. He is in the process of creating a middle east ripe for war by his lack of commitment to our allies and his policies of appeasment. I'm waiting for his "I have secured peace in our time" speach.
Posted by: Dave ||
06/30/2010 13:07 Comments ||
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#6
The Democrats believe they're building a base for permanent power in Washington. Obama is doing his best to become the Hugo Chavez of the United States. Both need to be flushed back into the sewer they crawled out of, and the US return to the limited representative Republic it was originally created as. If that can be done through the ballot box, great. If not, stronger measures may need to be taken.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
06/30/2010 13:51 Comments ||
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Various Kashmiri Pandit organisations have strongly condemned putting on fire the Shivala temple at Janglat Mandi, Anantnag, by frenzied mob today.
All State Kashmiri Pandit Conference (ASKPC) general secretary, H L Chatta, while condemning the act has demanded security to all Hindu religious places, shrines and minority Pandits in the Valley.
The attack has also been strongly condemned by Kashmiri Pandit Conference, chief, Kundan Kashmiri. He said this act has exposed the Kashmiris designs as it was aimed at sabotaging the Amarnath yatra beginning from tomorrow.
Jammu Kashmir Vichar Manch, All Party Migrant Coordination Committee (APMCC) and United Kashmiriyat Forum have also strongly condemned the burning of the temple at Anantnag township today.
The presidents of the three organizations B L Bhat, Vinod Pandita and Bharat Raina respectively demanded immediate protection to all Hindu shrines in the Valley as also to left over properties of Hindu minorities inValley.
Mr Padita said as the situation is deteriorating day be day in Kashmir all the Hindu minorities from villages be shifted to safer places in the towns and Srinagar city.
He said on the one hand the Government claims that situation has returned to normalcy in Valley and it has appointed migrant youth on various posts in Valley whiler on the other those Pandits who are already serving in theValley were feeling totally scared.
Posted by: john frum ||
06/30/2010 19:09 ||
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The criminals responsible for carrying out the Mumbai attacks wanted to instigate a war between India and Pakistan, and Hindu extremists are carrying out terrorist activities in India, a private TV channel quoted Interior Minister Rehman Malik as saying on Monday. Yeah, sure. Hardly a day goes by that we don't hear about Heathen Hindoos kabooming themselves in crowded markets and such...
In an interview to an Indian TV channel, he reiterated that Islamabad took action against Lashkar-e-Taiba (LT) founder Hafiz Saeed, however, the judiciary had declared him innocent. Therefore no action was actually taken, was it?
He went on to say that Islamabad had banned 29 groups including the LT in an attempt to curb terrorism. Despite being banned the continue operating openly...
Malik said that prior to his arrest in the US, David Headley was travelling freely between India and Pakistan and other countries, and Pakistan wants to know who was patronising him. Pakistan is actively searching for the Mumbai carnage mastermind and "we intend to exchange intelligence information with the CIA and CBI," he added. Any time now...
Posted by: Fred ||
06/30/2010 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
India needs to get some balls and grab the perp.
If they don't remember how... ask the Israelis.
#2
This man doesnt know his ass from his head when it comes to security , in any form . Which , the cynic in me says thats why hes Interior Minister . Hes being played and paid
Posted by: Oscar ||
06/30/2010 4:43 Comments ||
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President Asif Ali Zardari on Monday urged the US for early transfer of drone technology to Pakistan for its effective use by security forces to curb militancy. ...and profitable resale to the Chinese...
He said this while talking to visiting US Air Force Chief of Staff Gen Norton A Schwartz, who called on him at the President's House. "Norton!"
"Hey, hey, hey, Gomez boy!"
The president said that the strategic dialogue process and the frequent interactions between US and Pakistani leadership had replaced the trust deficit between the two countries with a "new sense of partnership" and set their bilateral relations in a positive direction. Really got the old boodle flowing...
Matters relating to Pak-US bilateral relations, including defence cooperation, Pakistan's fight against extremism and security situation in the region, came under discussion during the meeting.
The president said that inclusion of defence dialogue in the ambit of the strategic dialogue framework was also a step in the right direction.
The president thanked the US government for the delivery of F-16 aircrafts, which have been used extensively in counter-terrorism operations.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/30/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
ION AFPAK TOPIX > G8 ADVOCATES NO US WITHDRAWAL FROM AFGHANISTAN UNTIL 2015.
Interpol has placed the head of anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd, Paul Watson, on its international wanted list. The request to place him on the list was issued by Japan.
Interpol has issued a so-called blue notice, asking national police forces to pass on information about Mr Watson's whereabouts and activities. But it has not issued a notice requesting his arrest.
The Sea Shepherd leader has harassed the Japanese whaling fleet for the past few years, limiting the number of whales caught for so-called scientific research.
Mr Watson, who is in the United States, says the notice does not make any sense.
"It's a blue notice which means it's not an arrest warrant, it's just so they can keep tabs on me. But they needn't have wasted their time, they could have just followed our website," he said. "One thing that it does mean to me is that we're certainly getting to them. We cut their kill quotas in half and they're really desperate that we not go back down there this year.
"But I can tell them we'll certainly be back down in the Southern Ocean harassing them again in December."
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/30/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Interpol has issued a so-called blue notice, asking national police forces to pass on information about Mr Watson's whereabouts and activities
Well , he certainly isnt in a boat , off shore , being a tool ... Oooh ok , he is being a tool , I concede
I hope interpol go 'interventionist' all over his sorry butt
Posted by: Oscar ||
06/30/2010 6:18 Comments ||
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#2
I don't know whose butt is sorrier, Watson or the Japanese lying liars, who claim they are killing whales for "research".
#5
I hate giving the show air time, but my wife loves watching it and laughs at the difference vs. Deadliest Catch.
Credit to Malta, who seems to have taken real action after these clowns harassed the wrong fishing boat in the Med.
Agh, cannot begin to state what is wrong. Ever wonder why when they are getting sonic'd their microphones still work?
They are a menace, not only to others but to themselves. One episode, the ill fated batboat and capm' munch had a late night pow wow to talk tactics, forgot to get fuel and water - dipshits. On the, umm, flagship they have the bandit count flags for their sinks, why are their own boats on that display, eh?
#6
Appropriate -- Sea Shepherd are nothing but pirates. That their motivations are political rather than monetary is immaterial -- they are pirates and deserve to hang.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
06/30/2010 15:56 Comments ||
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#7
The Japanese actually publish research papers link
Posted by: john frum ||
06/30/2010 19:13 Comments ||
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BAGHDAD - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and his arch rival for the premiership Iyad Allawi met on Wednesday, aides said, in a bid to resolve a row that has stalled coalition talks for months. The meeting was only their second head-to-head since an inconclusive March 7 general election that has created a prolonged power vacuum and fears insurgents intent on derailing constitutional politics might exploit the uncertainty.
It was an exchange of points of view and important issues such as the formation of a national unity government,' said Hassan Sneid, a member of parliament from Maliki's State of Law alliance, who was present at the meeting.
Sneid said there was no political deal' behind the meeting and its importance had been exaggerated. But he added both Maliki and Allawi expressed their wish to speed up the formation of a government before July 14,' the deadline for parliament to hold its first session since MPs were sworn in earlier this month.
Outgoing US ambassador Christopher Hill said the hard bargaining between the two declared rivals remained at a preliminary stage,' but that he was encouraged all sides were still talking to each other constructively.
Obviously there is going to be a lot of bargaining and discussion about ministries,' Hill told reporters.
They are going to look at leadership positions prime minister, president and speaker,' he said. There are questions whether we have a presidency position which is changed,' he added, referring to suggestions that the deadlock over the premiership be resolved by giving more power to the presidency to create checks and balances between the two positions.
The important thing from our point of view is that discussions are still ongoing,' the US ambassador added.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/30/2010 00:00 ||
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ANBAR / Aswat al-Iraq: The Anbar council agreed on Tuesday to sack Falluja Mayor Saad Awad Rashied in response to a demand presented by the local council in Falluja, which accused him of ignoring the tribal role in the city, a member of the Anbar council said.
The chairman of the Falluja council had said in statements to Aswat al-Iraq news agency that the council presented a request to the Anbar council last June 21, urging it to dismiss Rashied from his post for ignoring the tribal role and for not taking the decisions that serve the city's interests.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/30/2010 00:00 ||
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AMMAN - A group of Jordanian trade unionists who tired to get into the blockaded Gaza Strip returned home on Tuesday after Egypt denied them entry through the Rafah crossing.
"We decided to go back to Jordan after Egypt refused to give us permission," Ahmad Armuti, head of the delegation and president of the trade unions' council, told AFP. "We contacted Egyptian authorities several times but we failed to get the reasons behind their decision."
"Because we don't like you. In Egypt that's all that's needed -- if you want sweet reason, try Israel."
Earlier Alaa Borqan, who is in charge of public relations at the Islamist-dominated trade unions, said the 12-member group including journalists left for Rafah on Saturday. They were carrying "nothing but solidarity for the people of Gaza," he said, adding the unions had sent a letter to Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif urging him to allow the delegation into the enclave.
Borqan said Egypt granted entry to a Lebanese delegation on Monday "and we have information that a Malaysian group will enter the Strip today."
Jordan's Islamic Action Front, the main opposition party, urged Egypt in an online statement to "help all those who want to ease the sufferings of Palestinians in Gaza."
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/30/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
ION GUARDIAN.UK > [Regional Diplomatic]BATTLE FOR THE NILE RIVER [heats up] AS RIVALS LAY CLAIM TO AFRICA'S GREAT RIVER.
An experimental "hyperspectral" spy sat which is able to detect buried roadside bombs and concealed cave or tunnel entrances has been handed over to the US forces for operatiThe TacSat-3 was launched aboard a Minotaur-1 rocket along with several other small satellites from Wallops Island, Virginia, in May 2009. The TacSat was designed to prove the US concept of "operationally responsive space", where a military user can make a request and a small inexpensive satellite can be in a suitable orbit within days rather than months or years.
Thus the TacSat is designed to be fitted with a variety of different payloads as required by an operational commander. TacSat-3, as a prototype, carried one in particular known as the Advanced Responsive Tactically Effective Military Imaging Spectrometer, or ARTEMIS. This is a "hyperspectral" sensor able to detect not just visible light but infrared and ultraviolet as well.
The idea of hyperspectral sensing is not, however, merely to "see" in the usual sense of optical telescopes, infrared nightscopes and/or thermal imagers. This kind of detection is used on spy satellites and other surveillance systems, but it suffers from the so-called "drinking straw effect" - that is, you can only view a small area in enough detail to pick out information of interest. It's impossible to cover an entire nation or region in any length of time by such means; you have to know where to look in advance.
Hyperspectral imaging works differently. It's based on the same principle as the spectrometry used in astronomy and other scientific fields - that some classes of objects and substances will emit a unique set of wavelengths when stimulated by energy. In this case, everything on the surface below the satellite is being stimulated by sunlight to emit its unique spectral fingerprint.
By scanning across a wide spectrum all at once across a wide area, it's then possible to use a powerful computer to crunch through all wavelengths coming from all points on the surface below (the so-called "hyperspectral cube", made up of the full spectrum coming from all points on a two-dimensional surface).
If the sensor is good enough and the computer crunching powerful and discriminating enough, the satellite can then identify a set of points on the surface where substances or objects of interest are to be found, and supply map coordinates for these. This is a tiny amount of data compared to the original "hyperspectral cube" generated by ARTEMIS and crunched by the satellite's onboard processors, and as such it can be downloaded to a portable ground terminal (rather than a one with a big high-bandwidth dish). Within ten minutes of the TacSat passing overhead, laptop-sized ROVER ground terminals can be marking points of interest on a map for combat troops nearby.
Exactly what sorts of objects and substances ARTEMIS is able to pick out of its region-spanning hyperspectral cubes is a military secret. However this briefing pdf [1] given in 2006 by US airforce lab officials suggests that it was expected to pierce overhead camouflage that would deceive optical or thermal sensing; that it would be able to spot disturbed earth and "concealed adits" (that is cave or tunnel entrances invisible from above) and generally "detect and identify" unspecified "targets".
Evidently the TacSat-3 can do at least some of this, as we now learn that following a year as an experiment it has proved so successful that it is now being handed over to US air force Space Command to become a full-time operational asset - America's first hyperspectral spy sat.
"ARTEMIS can detect various man-made and natural materials, which adds a fundamentally new capability," according to Bill Hart, veep at ARTEMIS maker Raytheon.
TacSat-3 has "demonstrated the utility of hyperspectral information to benefit soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines around the world," says Dr Peter Wegner, chief of the Operationally Responsive Space office at the Pentagon, in a statement issued yesterday.
It's quite unusual for a military prototype to be put straight into frontline service like this; furthermore we're told that ARTEMIS data has already been "used operationally" even while the TacSat-3 was under control of the airforce research lab.
All this would seem to indicate that hyperspectral spy sats are set to become a significant new player in the surveillance and spookery world. Even more than ever, you may watch the skies - but the skies will be watching you back. And you can forget about relying on your insulated camouflage netting or your overhung tunnel entrance which never shows a shadow, or your buried bomb or weapons cache. ARTEMIS and its successors will sniff you out, perhaps, even if thus far you have remained completely unseen.
#1
Note: The Minotaur booster used for this launch is a recycled LGM-118 Peacekeeper ICBM (the controversial "MX" of the 70s and 80s). The missiles were withdrawn from alert at the end of 2005 and are being refurbished as space launchers.
#2
Actually, Minotaur 1 is a converted Minuteman missile. The first stages are solids from the minuteman. The Minotaur 4 will be a converted Peacekeeper, which is slated to have its first launch soon.
A man who says he is an Iranian nuclear scientist claims to have escaped after being abducted by US agents. In a video shown on Iranian state TV, he says he has escaped in the US state of Virginia and is now on the run.
Mr Amiri disappeared a year ago while undertaking the Hajj in Saudi Arabia.
Two videos purportedly showing him surfaced three weeks ago. One said he had been kidnapped, the other that he was living freely in Arizona.
Maybe he's Schrödinger's cat ...
Oh my. Do you really think the Iranians have got that far in their nuclear work?
The US has strenuously denied abducting him, but ABC News reported in March that Mr Amiri had defected and was helping the CIA compile intelligence on Iran's controversial nuclear weapons programme. The state department has refused to say whether he is in the US.
In the new video, broadcast on Tuesday, a man claiming to be the missing scientist says: "I, Shahram Amiri, am a national of the Islamic Republic of Iran and a few minutes ago I succeeded in escaping US security agents in Virginia.
"Presently, I am producing this video in a safe place. I could be re-arrested at any time."
The man says the video broadcast earlier this month - in which someone claiming to be Mr Amiri says he was kidnapped by Saudi and US agents, tortured, forced to say he had defected and was living in Tucson, Arizona - is "completely authentic and there are no fabrications in it.
"The second video which was published on YouTube by the US government, where I have said that I am free and want to continue my education here, is not true and is a complete fabrication.
"I am not free here and I am not permitted to contact my family. If something happens and I do not return home alive, the US government will be responsible."
He finishes the video by urging Iranian officials and human rights organisations to "put pressure on the US government for my release and return".
"I was not prepared to betray my country under any kind of threats or bribery by the US government," he adds.
A US official told the AFP news agency the allegations were "ludicrous".
Iranian media have said Mr Amiri worked as a researcher at a university in Tehran, but some reports say he worked for the country's atomic energy organisation and had in-depth knowledge of its nuclear programme.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/30/2010 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[18 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
"I, Shahram Amiri, am a national of the Islamic Republic of Iran and a few minutes ago I succeeded in escaping US security agents in Virginia.
So he happened to escape to a place with a video camera and uploaded it onto youtube? Not bad for an Iranian scientist with no prior knowledge of youtube because he was in Iran first and has been in captivity ever since.
Well, Iranian locals are the audience this was crafted for.
#2
Wasn't he sent here to open an online real estate agency (whatever that is) and penetrate the highest levels of the National Association of Realtors? You know, the post-op redhead in the red dress?
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/30/2010 14:38 Comments ||
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#4
Actually he was abducted by Aliens in a UFO and they threw him out somewhere over Virginia. Even Aliens from another planet apparently have some standards.
A man claiming to be an Iranian nuclear scientist whom Tehran alleges the United States kidnapped said he has escaped from US agents, in a video screened on Iranian television.
Shahram Amiri, the nuclear scientist, disappeared in June 2009 after arriving in Saudi Arabia for a pilgrimage. Iran says the United States abducted him with the help of Saudi intelligence services.
ABC news in the United States reported in March that Amiri had defected and was working with the US Central Intelligence Agency.
The man in the footage shown on state television says: "I am Shahram Amiri, a citizen of the Islamic republic. A few minutes ago I managed to escape from the hands of US intelligence agents in Virginia.
"I could be re-arrested at any time by US agents... I am not free and I'm not allowed to contact my family. If something happens and I do not return home alive, the US government will be responsible.
"I ask Iranian officials and organisations that defend human rights to raise pressure on the US government for my release and return to my country.
Earlier this month, Iranian state television aired a video in which a man identifying himself as Amiri said he was abducted by US agents and was being held near Tucson, Arizona.
Iran said it would use legal channels to secure his release.
In response, Washington denied the Iranian accusations, with State Department spokesman Philip Crowley refusing to say whether or not Amiri was in the United States.
The BBC article on this has US officials saying the claim of kidnapping was 'ludicrous'.
They call it Inspire, and Al Qaeda is hoping it will.
Al Qaeda's media-savvy branch in the Arabian Peninsula has announced this week in an online advertisement that they will publish the group's first English magazine. Featuring guest writer Anwar al Awlaki the American cleric blamed for inciting violence among Western Muslims youth, including members of the so-called Toronto 18 the magazine Inspire is an extension of an already popular online Arabic magazine Sada al-Malahim (Echo of the Battle).
Simply the idea of Al Qaeda churning out a magazine while supposedly dodging drone attacks and security forces in Yemen's tribal areas has led to ridicule in the past.
Articles in the Arabic magazine have included profiles of terrorist leaders or suicide bombers, an analysis of the role of women in jihad and helpful tips of how to not divulge information if caught and interrogated. In some ways, Sada al-Malahim isn't all that different from Slate,' wrote Brian Palmer in a piece for his current affairs online magazine, noting that both publications separate content into rubrics, like Martyr Biographies,' and often run pieces in installments.
But noted Yemen scholar Gregory Johnsen says the new magazine is worrying because it confirms a presence of western, English-speaking members of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) beyond Awalki. This is something myself and others have long suspected, but the magazine is the first real evidence we have a core group of these type of individuals, many of whom likely possess western passports,' he said.
The magazine will also likely be powerful online tool of recruitment, says Johnsen. The idea here is that AQAP can reach, influence and inspire other like-minded individuals in the west. No longer do these individuals need to travel to Yemen or read Arabic in order to take instructions from AQAP. Now they can just download and read the magazine in English.'
The magazine is another attempt to show their international reach, said Schmitz. These guys are capable. They're not backwater, underprivileged folks who have been drawn into the battle. These are educated folks who know about the world and have seen how the media works and want to imitate it for their own cause. They want whenever possible to just stick it in the eye of the American administration.'
But Schmitz and Johnsen, both of whom have travelled extensively in Yemen and are fluent in Arabic, caution that sometimes the reaction to arrests or attacks makes the jobs of online recruiters' easier.
New Mexcio-born Awlaki, for instance, was not considered among the hierarchy of AQAP or well known to Yemenis until the failed Christmas Day plot and the White House confirmed he was on the CIA's hit list. Awlaki gets defended because they say America's trying to act above the law,' said Schmitz. So we play into their hands by appearing to be above the law in that sense.'
In the first 12 editions of AQAP's Arabic magazine Awalki's name is mentioned only once, and then only to dispute claims he had been killed in a U.S. drone attack. Judging by the slick online promotion of the new English magazine advertised as A special gift to the Islamic Nation' guest writer Awlaki appears to have become the group's rising star.
- "What to do when you Bhurqka gets creased"
- "Keep colorful weapons in the kitchen to prevent being a fashion victim when you are honor killed"
- "What hummus goes with a female genital mutilation party"
Posted by: lord garth ||
06/30/2010 12:19 Comments ||
Top||
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.
As he drove to his confirmation hearing Tuesday morning, Gen. David H. Petraeus had his third phone conversation in less than a week with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. After his unanimous approval as the new Afghan war commander by the Senate Armed Services Committee, Petraeus flew home to Tampa, where he hosted Vice President Biden and his wife for dinner.
Afghanistan's government on Monday angrily dismissed as baseless a media report that President Hamid Karzai had met face-to-face with an al Qaeda-linked Taliban leader in Kabul. 
The criminals responsible for carrying out the Mumbai attacks wanted to instigate a war between India and Pakistan, and Hindu extremists are carrying out terrorist activities in India, a private TV channel quoted Interior Minister Rehman Malik as saying on Monday. 
President Asif Ali Zardari on Monday urged the US for early transfer of drone technology to Pakistan for its effective use by security forces to curb militancy.
ANBAR / Aswat al-Iraq: The Anbar council agreed on Tuesday to sack Falluja Mayor Saad Awad Rashied in response to a demand presented by the local council in Falluja, which accused him of ignoring the tribal role in the city, a member of the Anbar council said.
A man who says he is an Iranian nuclear scientist claims to have escaped after being abducted by US agents. In a video shown on Iranian state TV, he says he has escaped in the US state of Virginia and is now on the run.
