[BBC.CO.UK] An Afghan girl has been diagnosed with polio ...Poliomyelitis is a disease caused by infection with the poliovirus. Between 1840 and the 1950s, polio was a worldwide epidemic. Since the development of polio vaccines the disease has been largely wiped out in the civilized world. However, since the vaccine is known to make Moslem pee-pees shrink and renders females sterile, bookish, and unsubmissive it is not widely used by the turban and automatic weapons set... in Kabul - the capital's first case since the Taliban's fall in 2001.
The health ministry ordered a vaccination campaign across the capital after the three-year-old was diagnosed.
Polio remains endemic in Afghanistan, Pakistain and northern Nigeria, but has been almost wiped out around the world. In all three countries Islamic hard boyz have obstructed health workers, preventing polio eradication campaigns from taking place.
Since the Afghan Taliban changed their policy, allowing vaccination in recent years, there has been a decline in cases in Afghanistan. There were 80 cases in 2011, 37 in 2012, and 14 in 2013.
The emergence of a new case in Kabul is worrying health officials. It was discovered in a very poor community of Kuchis, formerly nomadic herdsmen, now settled on a hillside in the east of the capital.
In response, health workers have tried to visit every home in the community. There is no running water or electricity, and some of the ex-nomads still live in tents, despite the cold of winter in Kabul.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/11/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
Polio remains endemic in Afghanistan, Pakistain and northern Nigeria, but has been almost wiped out around the world.
Hmmmmm what could those regions possibly have in common?
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/11/2014 11:01 Comments ||
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Aadan Barre Ducaale, who is one of the Members of Kenyan Parliament has announced that their government will not withdraw their forces from Kismaayo, the capital city of Lower Jubba Region and has also said that other forces from AMISOM will be added to the Jubba Regions.
The Member of the Kenyan Parliament has also said that the Kenyan Military are ready to support the Somali government so Somalia can it be an independent country.
Recently, there have been rumours that Kenyan Defence Forces will withdraw from Kismaayo, the capital city of the Lower Jubba Region.
The Kenyan Defence Forces that operate in the Jubba Regions will receive extra fleet from Burundi Defence Forces whom they have been recently replaced in the Bay and Bakool regions by the Ethopian Defence Forces.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/11/2014 00:00 ||
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[MAGHAREBIA] One year after the liquidation of opposition leader Chokri Belaid, Tunisians on Saturday (February 8th) came out to mark the anniversary of the event, remember his message, and repudiate terrorism and violence.
"Enough tears and terrorism, let's look to the future," Belaid's widow Basma Khalfaoui, said during the demonstration. "Chokri Belaid was killed simply because he had a different political thinking," she said.
Prior to Belaid's liquidation on February 6th, 2013, the leftist leader was preparing to organise a national conference to combat violence and warned on more than one occasion of the terrorist threat after the revolution.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/11/2014 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] The commander of French troops in the Central African Republic on Monday accused a militia known as the anti-balaka of being the country's "main enemy of peace" to be treated as outlaws and thugs.
The mainly Christian vigilantes have been accused of brutal attacks against Moslems after the ouster of president Francois Bozize in March 2013 by mainly Moslem rebels led by Michel Djotodia, who was himself forced out last month after failing to end the sectarian violence.
"Those who call themselves 'anti-balaka' have become the main enemy of peace in the Central African Republic," General Francisco Soriano said in a meeting in Bangui with the impoverished country's religious leaders, accusing the militia of inciting violence by "stigmatizing" certain areas as Moslem.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
02/11/2014 00:00 ||
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[Yemen Post] Just as Yemenis are getting ready to celebrate the third anniversary of their Arab Spring (February 11th) the United Nation Security Council P3 members (the United States of America, La Belle France and the United Kingdom) have called for the formation of a committee to overview and oversee potential sanctions against groups and individuals guilty of road-blocking progress in Yemen. Good idea. Form a committee. That'll show 'em!
The UK which sponsors the resolution, wants the UNSC to take a harsher stance against Yemen's trouble makers as to ensure that the impoverished nation is allowed a fair shot at its political transition. While so far the UNSC has only agreed to the idea of sanctioning, diplomatic sources have made clear that should further issues arise as the country undergo its federal metamorphosis, sanctions would be not only issued but swiftly implemented.
As it currently stands, the draft resolution provisions for the establishment of a sanction committee under article number 41 of chapter seven as to punish whoever and whatever "act to undermine the successful completion of the political transition, as outlined in the GCC Initiative and Implementation Mechanism Agreement, including article 45 of the National Dialogue Conference's Good Government Working report."
Under UNSC chapter seven, the council is permitted to "take military and non-military action to restore international peace and security."
The draft resolution also aims to punish those who "impede the implementation of the recommendations of the final report of the Comprehensive National Dialogue Conference through violence, attacks on essential infrastructure, acts of terrorism, violations of human rights ...which are usually open to widely divergent definitions... and international humanitarian law, and the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/11/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
"a harsher stance"
Whooo... out come the RED post it notes...
Posted by: ed in texas ||
02/11/2014 7:15 Comments ||
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#2
Having the UN come up with a solution to a problem is like sending the problem and solution into meaningless, endless limbo.
#3
I understand the focus and concern, but the Olympics is an isolated city in/near the mountains. Sure, great high value target for a brief public display but not a lot of residual value.
North Korea seems poised to launch another rocket after almost completing a launch pad in Tongchang-ri, North Pyongan Province, experts believe.
Specialist website 38 North at Johns Hopkins University on Thursday said, "Recent commercial satellite imagery indicates that North Korea is nearing completion of modifications to the gantry at the launch pad of the Sohae Satellite Launching Station."
"A new eleventh level has been added -- one more than previously estimated -- allowing the facility to handle large rockets of up to 50 m in length and almost 70 percent longer than the Unha-3 space launch vehicle tested twice in 2012."
A government source here said, "It's hard to establish the details, but it's true that the North has modified the Tongchang-ri launch pad."
"Modification of the Sohae launch pad should be completed by March or April 2014 if work progresses at the current rate," the website added. "The pad will then be available for additional launches, probably of the Unha-3 rocket or a slightly longer variant, such as the Unha-9, which was first displayed as a model in 2012."
The prototype was unveiled during a performance of the Moranbong Band for scientists and engineers in Pyongyang on Dec. 21, 2012 in recognition of their successful launch of the Unha-3 that year.
"In view of its size and fuel, the new rocket may be similar to the Ukrainian Cyclone-4 space launch vehicle, derived from old Soviet intercontinental ballistic missiles," the report adds.
The heritage runs true...
"Such a [space launch vehicle] will enable the North to launch a variety of communications, earth resource imaging and military reconnaissance satellites into low and geosynchronous orbits in the future," the report speculates.
When If converted into a long-range missile, a rocket with a range of longer than 10,000 km would be capable of reaching the U.S. mainland and carry a warhead of more than 500 kg, experts speculate.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/11/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
What would Reagan do?
This is a question for discussion. I don't know what he would've done, but I am certain it'd be more positive than our present policy of playing golf and tut-tutting.
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/11/2014 12:58 Comments ||
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#2
* ION DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > NORTH KOREA "TURNED CHINESE TRUCKS INTO [KCN-08] MISSLE LAUNCHERS".
and
* BIGNEWSNETWORK > [News on Japan] NORTH KOREA ATTACK ON US COULD PUSH JAPAN INTO COLLECTIVE DEFENSE: ABE.
Ya see what happened when the US took away the USS GEORGE WASHINGTON CVN, Moriarity - now North Korea = Pudgy has to find something else to attack!
VERSUS
* SAME > [VOA] ROUHANI: NO [US, International]MILITARY RESPONSE TO IRAN'S NUCLEAR PROGRAM, is needed.
OTOH, once again as per OWG Globalism = "Mulipolar/Polycentric World" + Geopol
"Sharing", NORTH KOREA = IFF US-ALLEGED "ROGUE" STATE IRAN, ETAL. CAN HAVE NUKES, WHY NOT US NORTH KOREA!?
Huh! Huh! Huh!
D *** NG IT, YEAH GLOBIES, ANSWER NORTH KOREA'S QUESTION - WHY NOT!? DITTO RADICAL ISLAM'S + THE MUSLIM WORLD'S SIMILAR QUESTION AS PER ISRAEL!?
[DAWN] Three negotiators returned to the headquarters of North Wazoo on Sunday evening after holding consultations with a shura of the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) on their negotiations with the government.
According to sources, Prof Muhammad Ibrahim, Maulana Yousaf Shah and Maulana Haseeb, who had arrived here from 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. on Saturday by a helicopter, held consultations with members of the TTP's political shura at an undisclosed place in Shawal area of South Waziristan.
The sources said the shura headed by Qari Shakeel had demanded withdrawal of troops from the tribal areas and release of prisoners. "We don't have complete details of the Taliban's demands, except these two," an official said.
After overnight stay in Miranshah ... headquarters of al-Qaeda in Pakistain and likely location of Ayman al-Zawahiri. The Haqqani network has established a ministate in centered on the town with courts, tax offices and lots of madrassas... , the negotiators will leave for Peshawar on Monday by a military helicopter.
The talks were held in a Taliban-controlled area.
Officials of the administration had been waiting at a checkpost since 10am to receive the Taliban's negotiators who had gone on Saturday to seek advice from the TTP leaders about the dialogue with the government. They stayed with the Taliban overnight.
A military helicopter was ready at a helipad to take the negotiators back to Peshawar.
Taliban had received them at a checkpost near Civil Colony from where they were driven to an unspecified place.
The Taliban have three councils -- political, supreme and Ulema's. The plan for negotiations will be discussed by all the three shuras and the final decision, the sources said, would be taken by Ulema.
Meanwhile, ...back at the buffalo wallow, Standing Buffalo drew a bead on his old enemy and squeezed the trigger... Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan is reported to have telephoned the TTP negotiators' chief Maulana Samiul Haq ...the Godfather of the Taliban, leader of his own faction of the JUI. Known as Mullah Sandwich for his habit of having two young boys at a time... and asked him why his representatives' return had been delayed.
According to the sources, Maulana Sami informed the minister that the delegation had to frequently change its location because of drones hovering overhead.
The Maulana said that if the dialogue process was sabotaged from outside it would be tantamount to enmity towards Pakistain.
Local people said drones were continuously hovering over the region.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/11/2014 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] Chief of his own faction of Jamaat Ulema-e-Islam ...Assembly of Islamic Clergy, or JUI, is a Pak Deobandi (Hanafi) political party. There are two main branches, one led by Maulana Fazlur Rahman, and one led by Maulana Samiul Haq. Fazl is active in Pak politix and Sami spends more time running his madrassah. Both branches sponsor branches of the Taliban, though with plausible deniability... Maulana Samiul Haq ...the Godfather of the Taliban, leader of his own faction of the JUI. Known as Mullah Sandwich for his habit of having two young boys at a time... said on Monday the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain had responded positively to the recommendations forwarded by the government.
Speaking to media representatives at Madrassa Darul Uloom Haqqania in Akora Khattak area of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... 's Nowshera district after holding talks with Professor Ibrahim Khan and Maulana Yousuf Shah, Sami said the matter was a national issue which should not be dealt with emotionally.
He added that the war had spanned for years and could not be resolved in a matter of minutes.
Maulana Sami further said nothing would be concealed from the public and the whole situation would be presented before the government's committee tomorrow.
Professor Ibrahim Khan and Maulana Yousuf Shah had met with the Taliban leadership at some holy man's guesthouse an undisclosed location in the North Wazoo tribal region. Both had stayed overnight at the residence of Siraj Ahmed, the tribal region's political agent.
Yousuf Shah told news hounds that there were four to five drones encircling the locality upon their arrival for talks.
In other related news, political administration officials reached 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. and held a meeting with Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Governor Engineer Shaukatullah and apprised him of the progress on peace talks.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/11/2014 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Iraq will step up random inspections of cargo planes from Iran that fly over its territory to Syria, once it gets an air traffic control system purchased from the United States, the Iraqi ambassador in Washington said Monday.
"We need advanced defense capabilities to inspect overflights" of Iraq territory, ambassador Lukman Faily said in a question-and-answer session on Twitter.
Storied Baghdad ...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate... is already "acquiring integrated air defense systems from the U.S. This has already passed congressional approval," he said.
On February 4, the Pentagon announced a $700 million agreement -- notified to Congress -- to sell Iraq an air traffic control radar system.
In the spring of 2013, the United States demanded Iraq increase inspections of Iranian cargo planes crossing its airspace en route to Syria.
Washington suspected the aircraft of transporting weapons and fighters to the Syrian regime, which has received Tehran's support, amid a brutal, nearly-three-year civil war.
Americans have been less vocal in recent months over this issue, but Faily said "a number of random inspections have taken place."
In addition, to help Iraq fight al-Qaeda and other Sunni krazed killer groups, such as the jihadist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant ... the current version of al-Qaeda in Iraq, just as blood-thirsty and well-beloved as the original... (ISIL), Washington promised to speed up its delivery of Hellfire missiles and surveillance drones. The Pentagon is ready to sell more missiles and 24 Apache attack helicopters.
"The U.S. recognizes our common enemy in AQ and also the need to rehabilitate our Iraqi military capabilities," Faily said.
But he ruled out direct aid from Washington, in particular of drone strikes on hard boy camps: "we agree with Secretary Kerry that this is Iraq's fight," he Tweeted.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/11/2014 00:00 ||
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[Jerusalem Post] More than a week after US Secretary of State John Kerry came under fire for comments allegedly supporting BDS [Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions],
Israeli envoy to the US Ron Dermer continues damage control to ease tension between US and Israel. Tough job that, defending the patently indefensible.
#4
See DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > [Israel National News] YA'ALON [Israel DM]: "ISRAEL IS A [reluctant] MILITARY SUPERPOWER", as to the struggles + dynamics of the region it is in.
D *** NG IT, THATS STRANGE, SO ALMOST IS OBAMA NEW BFF + OWG CO-SUPERPOWER IRAN!?
versus
* WORLD MILITARY FORUM > US PACAF CHIEF IN JAPAN SAYS US WILL NOT DIRECTLY OR IMMEDIATELY INTERVENE IN ANY MILITARY CONFLICT BETWEEN CHINA + JAPAN OVER DISPUTED DIAOYU/SENKAKU ISLANDS, CHINA PLA + JAPAN SDF LEFT TO THEIR OWN FORCES + GOVERNMENT DECISIONS TO DECIDE THE ISSUE.
IOW, IIUC US PACAF = PACOM = USDOD CANNOT CONFIRM IT WILL OR IT WON'T MILITARILY INTERVENE UNDER THE US-JAPAN SECURITY TREATY UNTIL SUCH TIME THE BAMMER = NATIONAL COMMAND AUTHORITY FORMALLY GIVES THE ORDER.
When-n-Iff saidsame formal order to intervene by the POTUS as CIC is made.
At minima, prolly safe to say ISRAEL = JAPAN = PHIL, ETAL. = may be forced to fight on their own widout US military support for an unknown period of time, WHICH IN WAR COULD ULTIMATELY PROVE DECISIVE TO ONE SIDE.
Sub-IOW, Bammer HyperCorrectness-Deniability may kill Japan + any other US overseas ally in the end.
* FYI DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > [IDRW.org] INDA'S FEARS OVER WEST ASIA LEAD IT TO BECOME A GREAT POWER.
IMO read, another OWG Co-Superpower as India is already a member of the so-called "Nuclear Club".
The Palestinian Authority reiterated Monday its refusal to recognize Israel as a Jewish state.
The announcement came in response to statements attributed to Justice Minister Tzipi Livni to the effect that the PA is ready to recognize Israel as a Jewish state. LivniÂ’s comments were made at a meeting of the Israeli governmentÂ’s Ministerial Committee on Legislation, MaÂ’ariv reported.
Livni, who heads the Israeli negotiating team with the PA, implied during the meeting that the PA may change its position on the issue of Israel’s Jewish character. Lvini told Senior Citizens Minister Uri Orbach (Bayit Yehudi) that he should “expect to be surprised” regarding the PA’s willingness to recognize Israel as a Jewish state.
Livni was reacting to OrbachÂ’s assertion that the Palestinians would never accept Israel as a Jewish state.
But Erekat, head of the PA negotiating team, told the Voice of Palestine radio station that the Palestinians would not recognize Israel as a Jewish state.
Erekat said that the Palestinians had already recognized Israel in 1993.
Well not really...
“I told minister Livni in Munich recently that we won’t change our history, culture and religion,” Erekat said. “We are not going to recognize Israel as a Jewish state.”
Erekat said that the direct peace talks have stopped. He added that US Secretary of State John Kerry and his team were now negotiating separately with the PA and the Israeli government.
Erekat also denied that the PA leadership would agree to an extension of the peace talks beyond the nine-month timetable, which expires on April 29.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/11/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
So why do we recognize Islamic states?
Posted by: Paul D ||
02/11/2014 6:06 Comments ||
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#2
I dunno. Why do we recognize Islamic states, Paul?
[An Nahar] Preliminary investigations conducted by the army's intelligence directorate under the military judiciary's supervision have proved the involvement of the suspect Nawwaf al-Hussein in bombings that have hit areas considered sympathetic to Hizbullah, a media report said on Monday.
"Several days after the arrest of Nawwaf al-Hussein in the Bekaa town of Jlala, sources following up on the probe revealed that preliminary investigations have proved Hussein's involvement in the transfer of booby-trapped cars that were used in bombings," LBCI television reported.
Hussein was placed in durance vile Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un! on Saturday after detained holy man Sheikh Omar al-Atrash reportedly confessed to having links with him.
Army intelligence agents are "continuing their investigations to unveil other details and identify the individuals with which Hussein used to deal and to whom he was delivering the cars ... in addition to the hierarchy of his group," LBCI said on Monday.
Meanwhile, ...back at the pie fight, Bella grabbed the cocoanut cream... al-Manar television said Hussein confessed to transferring bomb-laden cars, "including the two cars that went kaboom! in Haret Hreik."
State Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Saqr Saqr has charged al-Atrash and five others in connection with two suicide kabooms in the Beirut southern suburb of Haret Hreik last month that killed at least six people.
Leb has been rocked by a string of kabooms in recent months, with three in January alone.
Many have targeted strongholds of Hizbullah, which has drawn the ire of Sunni krazed killer groups in part because of its role fighting alongside the regime in Syria.
Atrash, who was detained on January 22, admitted ties to three wanted individuals, as well as to the al-Qaeda-linked Abdullah Azzam Brigades ... Leb's current al-Qaeda affiliate, named after a guy whose car the current head of al-Qaeda had boomed... , the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant ... the current version of al-Qaeda in Iraq, just as blood-thirsty and well-beloved as the original... (ISIL) and al-Nusra Front, the Lebanese Army said at the time.
Atrash "confessed to transporting boom-mobiles to Beirut" after receiving them from a Syrian person, as well as "transporting jacket wallahs of different Arab nationalities into Syria and handing them over to the al-Nusra Front," the army said.
He also admitted transporting two suicide bombers who were killed in the southern city of Sidon in a shootout with the army in December.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/11/2014 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] President Hassan Rouhani said Monday Iran is "serious" about negotiations on a comprehensive deal with world powers over its controversial nuclear drive, a week before fresh talks in Vienna.
"Iran is ready to enter negotiations with the P5+1 (group of world powers) to reach a comprehensive and final agreement," Rouhani told Tehran-based foreign diplomats in remarks broadcast live on state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
"We are serious in this regard, as we were serious in the first step," he said referring to three rounds of intensive negotiations last year that culminated in a landmark, interim deal on November 24.
Under the accord, Iran agreed to temporarily cap parts of its nuclear activities amid suspicions in the West and Israel that its work masks military objectives despite its repeated denials.
In exchange, it received modest relief from crippling international sanctions as well as a promise by Western powers that new sanctions would not be imposed against it during the six-month duration of the interim deal, which came into effect on January 20.
In the next round of talks, Iran and the P5+1 group -- the United States, Britannia, La Belle France, China and Russia plus Germany -- are to strive for a comprehensive accord that would once and for all solve the decade-long standoff over Iran's nuclear drive.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/11/2014 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
We need to look at their international expanionist Islamic ideology too.
Posted by: Paul D ||
02/11/2014 6:11 Comments ||
Top||
#2
See also DAILY TIMES.PK > IRAN SAYS ITS NUCLEAR PROGRAMME IS "FOREVER" [+ ever + ever + ...], DISMISSES MILITARY TALK.
* BIGNEWSNETWORK > [Human Events] IS OBAMA SEEKING AN OPENING TO IRAN THE WAY RICHARD NIXON DID WID CHINA?
1970's "Ping-Pong Diplomacy" versus Qaeda Bugaloo.
[US ARMY SOLDIER FORREST GUMP STEALING HIS TEAM CHINA PING-PONG PADDLE here].
VERSUS
* DAILY TIMES.PK > TERRORISTS WID NUCLEAR WEAPONS. PASSING A NUCLEAR BOMB TO A TERRORIST GROUP WOULD BE A FRAUGHT + RISKY UNDERTAKING. A STATE THAT DID THAT WOULD BE WAGING ITS LIFE AGZ HIGH ODDS.
Author hinting at possible Post-2014 Taliban-controlled PAK Govt. = PAK nuclear arsenal???
Unlike any possible post-2014 Taliban-controlled PAK Govt, THE AUTHOR ARGUES THAT TALIBAN RIVAL AL-QAEDA HAS NO FORMAL STATE SPONSOR(S) HENCE NO STATE SOURCE(S) FOR NUCLEAR MATERIALS TO MAKE NUCBOMBS.
"2014" is likely a major reason why the Bammer did what he did vee Baby Assad + Iran - WILL IT WORK, OR WILL THE BAMMER ONLY END UP EMPOWERING THE NUCLEAR GLOBAL JIHAD AGZ THE REST OF THE WORLD???
Lest we fergit, the "GREAT GAME" OF GEOPOL IS CUT-THROAT - THE ROAD TO [GEOPOL] HELL, REDUCTION-OR-DESTRUCTION, IS PAVED WID MYRIAD DIPLOMATIC GOOD INTENTIONS.
[An Nahar] A new round of Syrian peace talks got off to a rocky start Monday, with the warring sides blaming each other for escalating violence and difficulties getting aid to the besieged city of Homs.
The U.N. and Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... mediator Lakhdar Brahimi began the latest session in Geneva by shuttling between the government and opposition teams, which continued to lob blame back and forth as they did throughout the first round of talks in late January.
Brahimi seemed to have come prepared for the logjam.
In a letter in Arabic sent to the two delegations ahead of the talks, and seen by Agence La Belle France Presse, he suggested that the parties not immediately resume the joint meetings they had had in January, but wait until the second or third day, in the hope that "separate sessions can lead to some positive outcomes."
The U.N. mediator wants to nudge the teams towards discussion of the core issues: stopping the fighting and agreeing a transitional government in Damascus.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/11/2014 00:00 ||
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Mediator Lakhdar Brahimi will meet representatives of the warring sides in Syria separately for the first few days of a second round of talks that began on Monday, after the breaking of a local ceasefire set back peace efforts, Reuters reported.
In a letter reviewed by Reuters on Monday, Brahimi increased pressure on the two sides to show willingness in a peace process sponsored by Moscow and Washington that made no progress in the first round. He said he would talk to the two Syrian sides on their own for the next few days in hope of improving the negotiating atmosphere.
In the eight-page document, dated Feb 7, which was given by Brahimi to both delegations at the weekend, he asked them to make a commitment at the start to deal with the two main issues: stopping the fighting and working out discussions of a transitional governing body.
"The two issues are among the most complex and sensitive and both subjects need treatment over several sessions and long discussions," the document said.
"But the future of this political process and the possibility of its success require a clear declaration from the outset that the two parties have the full and strong political will to deal with these two issues, with all that they require - courage, persistence and tenacity and openness to reach successful solutions to all the issues, no matter how complicated and thorny."
With no agreement on which issue should be discussed first, and a case to be made that both depended on the other, Brahimi said he would take them together and discuss them in parallel.
During the second week of talks he plans to expand the scope of the discussion to two other issues: how to manage the continuity of Syria's state institutions and how to handle the process of national dialogue and reconciliation that would arise from any eventual agreement in Geneva.
The first round had aimed to build confidence by focusing narrowly on trying to agree a humanitarian ceasefire in the devastated city of Homs but the truce was not finalized until afterwards and was broken soon after it began.
On its third day on Sunday, aid officials said they were working to extend it, even though aid convoys had come under fire as they evacuated people and were briefly trapped in the city.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/11/2014 00:00 ||
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Iran will unveil a new domestically designed advanced jetfighter, named Azarakhsh (lightning), the Tasnim News Agency quoted Lieutenant Commander of the Iranian Air Force Brigadier General Alireza Barkhor as saying on February 9. The jetfighter is currently passing its continuous testing phase, he added.
From the pic it looks like an F-5...
In August 2013, Brigadier General Aziz Nasirzadeh the deputy commander of the Iranian Air Force announced that the new achievement would help eliminate the need to purchase fighter jets from other countries.
In recent years, the Defense Ministry has made significant achievements in the field of aerospace technology. Iran unveiled its first domestically manufactured fighter jet, called the Azarakhsh (Lightning), in 2007.
Which also looks like an F-5...
The Saeqeh (Thunderbolt) fighter plane was a follow-up aircraft derived from the Azarakhsh. Iran unveiled its first squadron of Saeqeh fighter jets in an air show in September 2010.
Which also looks like an F-5...
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/11/2014 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
The good news is its not an F-20, or a NT improved derivative therefrom.
#4
Wait - the Lightning was unveiled in 2007? Then unveiled the Thunderbolt in 2010, and now the Lightning is unveiled in 2014? Shouldn't that be Lightning II?
Or F-5 v4.0?
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/11/2014 11:12 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Careful now. I saw a picture of its performance testing. If you click on the layers, it cloaks.
The Iranian Defense Ministry announced on Monday that it has successfully tested two new missiles, including a laser-guided surface-to-surface and air-to-surface missile and a new generation of long-range ballistic missiles carrying Multiple Reentry Vehicle payloads, Fars News reported.
The ministry said it has successfully tested a new generation of long-range ballistic missiles with Multiple Reentry Vehicle payloads and a laser-guided air-to-surface and surface-to-surface missile named Bina. The missiles were test-fired on the eve of the 35th anniversary of the victory of Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution to mark the occasion.
Speaking during the ceremony, Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan noted that Bina missile is laser-guided and can be fired from aircraft and different ground launch platforms.
"This missile (Bina) is capable of precisely hitting important targets, including bridges, tanks, military hardware and command centers of enemies," the Iranian defense minister said.
He enumerated the high-speed in destroying the targets, easy maintenance and high-speed of operation as specifications of Bina missile. The minister further noted Iran's newly developed ballistic missile with MRV payload, and said it has been designed and produced for destroying enemy's military hardware and all types of enemy military equipment.
"Evading enemy's anti-missile defense systems, the capability of destroying massive targets and destroying multiple targets are specifications of this missile," the Iranian defense minister said, but did not name the new weapon.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/11/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
Ya mount this baby on the rockets air frame and point the mother.
#4
Correct me iff I am wrong, but unlike North Korea's LR missle-rocket tests into WESTPAC, AFAIK neither POTUS Bammer nor anyone is demanding or sending out BMD-capable [AEGIS] naval vessels to protect agz Iran's tests???
[An Nahar] The U.S. government is debating whether to kill an American citizen abroad who is allegedly part of the al-Qaeda network and plotting attacks against the United States, media reported Monday.
President Barack Obama I am not a dictator!... 's administration is weighing the possible drone strike against the American who is in a country that refuses to allow U.S. military action on its soil, CNN television reported, citing an unnamed U.S. official.
The identity of the American al-Qaeda myrmidon and his location remain secret, as officials fear revealing that information would lead him to go deeper into hiding and derail a potential drone missile strike.
The news was first reported by the News Agency that Dare Not be Named.
U.S. intelligence agencies and the Pentagon declined to comment on the reports when contacted by Agence La Belle France Presse.
Under new guidelines handed down by Obama last May, a decision to use lethal force against an American overseas has to be based on "a continuing, imminent threat to U.S. persons" and only if capturing the terror suspect is "not feasible."
According to the media reports, two officials said the American was an al-Qaeda operative who has been directly responsible for attacks against U.S. citizens abroad and who continues to plan attacks using homemade bombs.
The Justice Department reportedly was still working to build a case against the American al-Qaeda member, which would be required for any decision to go ahead.
The new rules for drone strikes came in for criticism last week from the Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Mike Rogers of Michigan, who accused the administration last week of undermining counter-terrorism efforts.
"Individuals who would have been previously removed from the battlefield by U.S. counterterrorism operations for attacking or plotting to attack against U.S. interests remain free because of self-imposed red tape," Rogers said.
Obama approved new guidelines after coming under fire for approving the targeting of another U.S. citizen, radical Yemeni-American holy manAnwar al-Awlaki ... Born in Las Cruces, New Mexico, zapped in Yemen, al-Awlaki was a dual citizen of the U.S. and Yemen. He was an Islamic holy man who was a trainer for al-Qaeda and its franchises. His sermons were attended by three of the 9/11 hijackers, by Fort Hood murderer Nidal Malik Hussein, and Undieboomer Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab. He was the first U.S. citizen ever placed on a CIA target list... , who was killed in a drone strike in Yemen in September 2011.
Three other Americans have been killed in counter-terror strikes but were not intentionally targeted, U.S. officials admitted last year.
Human rights groups say the drone strike program remains shrouded in secrecy and lacks clear legal limits.
"The public and most members of Congress are still completely in the dark about where the U.S. claims authority to strike, the legal rules, and the identity of those already killed," Amnesia Amnesty International USA's Naureen Shah said in a statement.
U.S. officials defend the program as carefully regulated and say the strikes have weakened al-Qaeda's core leadership while reducing the threat of an attack on U.S. soil.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/11/2014 00:00 ||
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[Washington Times] An internal memo from the U.S. command in Afghanistan says soldiers are voicing strong complaints about the Army's battlefield intelligence network, for which Congress just slashed spending by 60 percent. Same complaints voiced by Marines and SOF for the past few years.
The $28 billion Distributed Common Ground System [DCGS]
is too slow and unstable [not soldier or Marine friendly]
and hurts operations in some cases, say intelligence officers who rely on the computer network to collect and quickly dispense data on hard-to-find insurgents and the homemade bombs they plant. Some of the more charitable comments I've heard regarding DCGS. The Army is once again 'stuck on stupid' with a contractor heavy, proprietary piece of crap that warfighters don't like.
#1
Yeah, but it lets a staff group keep an eye on all those stupid grunts, who are probably sleeping while on patrol (I mean, they can't do anything without an officer to mind them). Plus the project manager is aiming at retirement, and a parallel contractor job. So it'll never go away. (extreme sarc off)
Posted by: ed in texas ||
02/11/2014 7:13 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Plus the project manager is aiming at retirement, and a parallel contractor job.
That's gonna leave a mark Ed, and neither she nor General Dynamics will like it ;-)
#4
Interesting you should say that John, as at one time, some "back end" archived production in DCGS was not available to non-DCGS users. It ingested nearly everything, but didn't always spit it back out again.
#6
Based on personal experience with other DOD apps and networks, it's likely the slowness is attributable to outside factors, like "security." Too many other agendas involved.
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.
[BBC.CO.UK] An Afghan girl has been diagnosed with 
North Korea seems poised to launch another rocket after almost completing a launch pad in Tongchang-ri, North Pyongan Province, experts believe.
Wazoo
The Palestinian Authority reiterated Monday its refusal to recognize Israel as a Jewish state.
[An Nahar] President Hassan Rouhani said Monday Iran is "serious" about negotiations on a comprehensive deal with world powers over its controversial nuclear drive, a week before fresh talks in Vienna.
