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Hafiz Gul Bahadur group targeted in N Waziristan drone strike
Today's Headlines
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China-Japan-Koreas
U.S. should hit N. Korea harder: U.S. lawmakers
WASHINGTON -- The United States should hit North Korea harder to make the communist regime realize it will face a "real consequence" if it engages in acts like the cyber-attack on Sony Pictures, a ranking U.S. senator said Sunday.

Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ), who served as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in the previous Congress, was critical of the latest U.S. sanctions the administration of President Barack Obama announced Friday to punish Pyongyang for the Sony hack.

"I think there has to be a real consequence to this," he said on CNN. "Otherwise, you will see it happen again and again."
Even though it might have been done by a disgruntled ex-employee of Sony who had the access, skills and motivation. But any reason, even a phony one, is a good reason to tighten the screws on Fat Boy...
The senator also was critical of Obama calling the Sony hack "cybervandalism."

"Vandalism is when you break a window. Terrorism is when you destroy a building. And what happened here is that North Korea landed a virtual bomb on Sony's parking lot, and ultimately had real consequences to it as a company and to many individuals who work there," he said.

Menendez also said the North should be re-listed as a state sponsor of terrorism.

On Friday, the Obama administration announced retaliatory sanctions on the North in response to the Sony hack, blacklisting three North Korean entities and 10 officials, including the Reconnaissance General Bureau, Pyongyang's primary intelligence organization.

The blacklisting, which bans those sanctioned from using the U.S. financial system, were seen as largely symbolic because the North has already been under a string of international sanctions and those newly sanctioned are not believed to have any dealings with the U.S.
So as usual, Champ doesn't really do anything...
Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, also questioned the effectiveness of the latest sanctions. He also vowed to introduce legislation that calls for much tougher sanctions on Pyongyang.

"Many of the North Koreans blacklisted today have already been targeted by U.S. sanctions. We need to go further to sanction those financial institutions in Asia and beyond that are supporting the brutal and dangerous North Korean regime, as was done in 2005," Royce said in a statement.

He was referring to the U.S. blacklisting of a bank in the Chinese territory of Macau that not only froze North Korean money held in Banco Delta Asia (BDA) but also scared away other financial institutions from dealing with Pyongyang for fear they would also be blacklisted. The measure is considered the most effective U.S. sanction yet on the North.

Last year, Royce initiated the North Korea Sanctions Enforcement Act that calls for strengthening financial sanctions against Pyongyang, but the legislation was scrapped as it did not pass through the Senate before the 113th Congress ended last week. Royce has vowed to reintroduce a similar bill in the new Congress.

North Korea, which denies responsibility for the Sony hack, has denounced the latest U.S. sanctions as evidence of U.S. "hostility" toward the North and vowed to further strengthen its pursuit of its "songun," military-first, policy. U.S. reaction to the North's foreign ministry statement was not immediately available.
Posted by: Steve White || 01/05/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:


Pudgy's Sister gets hitched to BigWig
A photograph in North Korea’s state media appears to buttress speculation that leader Fat Boy Kim Jong-un's sister Yeo-jong has recently married. The official Rodong Sinmun daily on the first day of the new year pictured Kim Jong-un visiting a childcare center in Pyongyang and Yeo-jong accompanying him. She is seen wearing a ring on her left hand.

Rumors that the 28-year-old is married have been flying around for some time, but who her husband is is not clear.

On Friday, media reports quoted a North Korean source in Beijing as saying she married the son of de facto No. 2 Choe Ryong-hae, who is in turn the son of a partisan who fought against the Japanese during the 1910-45 occupation of Korea. He has two sons and a daughter.

The second son is Choe Song, believed to be Kim Yeo-jong's husband, is in his early 30s.

There is speculation that Choe senior was promoted to secretary of the Workers Party after stepping down as the head of the Army politburo thanks to his second son's marriage to Yeo-jong. The marriage would have given Choe a significant boost in his status.

But a government official here said, "There is no confirmation of such rumors and the likelihood is very low."
Posted by: Steve White || 01/05/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:


Home Front: WoT
What To Expect in National Security in 2015
The year 2014 was one of many challenges and threats across the globe and in Washington, where defense spending remains an annual battleground. Heading into the New Year, there’s no shortage of problems at a time when uncertainty is the norm.

The Pentagon will get a new leader next year. Outgoing Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel will stay on the job until Senate confirmation hearings are held for his successor, former Deputy Defense Secretary Ash Carter. Look for Carter, known best in Washington for his prior jobs in weapons and budgeting, to begin asserting himself on the global stage. As deputy defense secretary, Carter traveled often to visit deployed troops overseas. Now he must start fresh and earn the trust of troops hungry for leadership after just last month rating Hagel, famously a former sergeant, with a dismal report card.

Budget caps, also known as sequestration, are scheduled kick back in on Oct. 1. Defense leaders in both parties have spent much of balance of 2014 voicing opposition to the caps and will do the same in 2015. Lawmakers and defense officials are expected to propose a number of procurement reforms and Pentagon leaders will further detail an innovation initiative designed to spur new development of new technologies to give the military an edge on the battlefield of the future. Expect DOD to make two major procurement decisions in 2015 that the defense industry is watching closely.

The fight for 2016 also will heat up. It’s unclear what Republicans will offer that’s much different from what the White House is doing; it’s the same unsolved problem that plagued Mitt Romney’s failed bid to become commander-in-chief two years ago. Expect battles between the White House and Congress on the strategy against the Islamic State, the reluctance to put American boots on the ground and what to do with the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad; the timeline for withdrawal in Afghanistan; stricter sanctions against Russia and Iran ahead of the next deadline for nuclear talks, extended until June 30; and a push for more lethal aid to the Syrian rebels, Iraqi security forces and Kurds, and Ukrainian government.

2015 could be a breakthrough year for military robotics as a result of years of previous investments and research. In the same way that the 2004 and particularly the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge ushered in the era of the self-driving car, the 2015 Robotics Grand Challenge could herald the dawn of a new day in human-like robotics. DARPA wants the machine for emergency work, (don’t worry, DARPA has been adamant that the military has no plans to arm ground robots,) but the winning system will go on to influence the design of medical, construction, home care, and other personal robots in the coming decade. But that’s not the only robotic surprise that could spring to life in 2015. An official at the Office of Naval Research, or ONR, told Defense One that the public will be “hearing a lot more” about the Shipboard Autonomous Firefighting Robot or SAFFiR. A research program originally launched in 2011, the SAFFiR will be able to withstand temperatures that would wither other robots and will be able to communicate with crew via gestures and voice commands, rapidly create 3D maps of fire damage and will feature what ONR is calling “advanced fire suppression technology suitable for robotic deployment.”

The official said to watch for news and announcements during the Naval Future Force Science and Technology Expo, which takes place in Washington during the first week in February.
Posted by: Pappy || 01/05/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


India-Pakistan
'Protecting witnesses, judges and prosecutors would help convict terrorists'
[DAWN] Just as Pakistain struggles with the existential problem of rooting out terrorism, India too wrestled with similar demons after the 2002 attack on the parliament building in New Delhi. The government of the time, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) introduced the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2002 (POTA) to strengthen anti terrorism operations, which granted special powers to investigation agencies. Dawn spoke to criminal law expert Ahsanuddin Sheikh and asked him how India used POTA to curtail civil liberties and what effect the proposed 22nd amendment could have on the state of civil liberties in Pakistain.

Q. Even in India, there was severe opposition to the promulgation of POTA. How well did that work and how do you think the 22nd amendment will fare?

A: The POTA was introduced in the wake of series of terrorist attacks on Indian soil. It was a ?sunset? or time-specific law and was introduced to counter alleged cross-border terrorism from Pakistain. POTA was criticised for being against the fundamental rights enshrined in the Indian constitution. The ruling coalition of the time failed to get it approved from the upper house and managed to pass it in a joint session of parliament. Under POTA, Sherlocks were given vast powers. The legislation provided special protection to witnesses and judges.

After the terrorist attack on the Army Public School in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar
...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire.
, the government could have taken actions to curb terrorism without establishing military courts. The proposed amendment will change the basic structure of the constitution. The legislation inserts some sections of the Anti Terrorism Act and the Protection of Pakistain Act in Schedule One of the Constitution and to give Sherlocks unprecedented powers. This amendment is against Article 8 of the Constitution, which protects fundamental rights.

Q. What could be an alternative to military courts?

A. Lawmakers could propose amendments to the Anti Terrorism Act and the Protection of Pakistain Act to ensure the protection of witnesses, judges and prosecutors.

In 1997, the initial draft of the Anti Terrorism Act also included the provision of admissibility of witness testimony recorded before senior investigating officers but parliament excluded the clause.

In most cases, suspected bandidos bandidos bully boys are able to intimidate witnesses so they change their testimony while recording it in front of a judge, which benefits the accused persons.

Q. What legal challenges may hinder the trial of bandidos bandidos bully boys before military courts?

A. The proposed legislation would empower army officials to investigate terrorism-related offences.

The army officer may not be well-versed with the law and it is quite possible that the evidence he would collect against the accused may not be admissible under the Evidence Act.

On the basis of such evidence, would it be possible for the military court to convict the accused persons? In case the military court convicts an accused on half-baked evidence, the appellate forum, which may be the high court or the Supreme Court, would not uphold such decisions and that would trigger another controversy, where those convicted by military courts may obtain acquittals from civilian courts.
Posted by: Fred || 01/05/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  Or just free them over shark infested waters without a parachute.
Posted by: 3dc || 01/05/2015 14:19 Comments || Top||


FIA files appeal against Lakhvi's bail
[DAWN] The Federal Investig-ation Agency (FIA) filed an appeal in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Saturday, seeking cancellation of the bail granted to Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, the alleged criminal mastermind of Mumbai attacks.

An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) had on Dec 18 granted post-arrest bail to Lakhvi. The same day the federal government ordered his detention under the Maintenance of Public Order. When the IHC suspended on Dec 29 the detention order, Lakhvi was retossed in the calaboose
Book 'im, Mahmoud!
in an over six-and-a-half-year-old kidnapping case.

In the appeal filed by the FIA against the ATC judge?s order of granting bail to Lakhvi, the prosecution said, ?The fact remains that such like cases of defunct terrorist organizations are not so easy to be conducted and especially the prosecution in such cases is the most difficult job in our country for the last many years?.

It said, ?In the present case, the learned trial judge (of ATC) after the terrorist attack in Islamabad courts (of March 2013) refused to visit Adiala Jail for a long time due to security reasons.

?Even the prosecutors of this case have been receiving threats through cell phones during the proceedings which were duly conveyed to the concerned authorities. The witnesses are also not secured, and reluctant to depose against the accused persons in the given situation.?

The prosecution claimed that a major part of the evidence had been recorded and the rest would not take more than three months to record and therefore the observation of the ATC?s judge that the trial may take years to conclude was not correct.

According to the appeal, the trial has not been delayed because of the prosecution but multiple applications filed by the defence counsel hampered progress of the case. The prosecution had moved several applications for an expeditious trial but the court did not `properly examine? these facts, it said.

The appeal pointed out that the confessional statement of Ajmal Kasab, the lone terrorist arrested by Indian authorities after Mumbai attacks, was still part of the evidence and it was at no stage discarded and that statement clearly established Lakhvi?s link to Mumbai attacks.

The prosecution claimed that it had sufficient evidence against Lakhvi and requested the court to cancel his bail.

The complainant, Mohammad Khalid Qureshi, additional director general of the FIA, has cited Lakhvi as respondent.

A division bench of the IHC would hear the appeal next week.
Posted by: Fred || 01/05/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: Lashkar e-Taiba


Action against TTP, its supporters launched
[DAWN] Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan
...Currently the Interior Minister of Pakistain. He is the senior leader of the Pak Moslem League (N) and a close aide to Nawaz Uncle Fester Sharif. He is noted for his vocal anti-American railing in the National Assembly. However (comma) Khan told the U.S. ambassador that he was in fact pro-American but he and the PML-N would have to be critical of US actions in order to remain publicly credible. Khan cited his wife and children's US citizenship as proof, which means he's lying to one side or the other and probably both. He wears a wig, but you probably guessed that. since hair doesn't grow naturally in that shape or texture...
said on Saturday that action had been launched against the outlawed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP), its supporters and sympathisers

Speaking at a presser, he said it had been decided in the National Action Plan that TTP operatives, their supporters, criminal masterminds and financiers would be identified across the country. The federal intelligence agencies would cooperate with provinces to accomplish the task, he added.

Chaudhry Nisar said there were around 60 banned outfits, but all were not involved in terrorism. Some were operating under new names and some quietly operating with the same old names, he added.

The minister said funds of banned
...the word banned seems to have a different meaning in Pakistain than it does in most other places. Or maybe it simply lacks any meaning at all...
organization
s would be blocked and legal action would be initiated against them. If they remain adamant, their cases would also be referred to military courts.

He said the banned outfits would not be allowed to collect donations and sacrificial hides and their bank accounts would be seized. They would also not be allowed to use social media for anti-state propaganda, he added.

Chaudhry Nisar said over 100 forces of Evil had been killed in over 400 intelligence-based operations across the country during the past three months. Over 250 had been jugged
Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages!
and investigation was in progress.

He said most religious seminaries had nothing to do with terrorism, but some of them were serving as safe havens for forces of Evil or providing support to them in one way or the other.

He said action would be taken against only those seminaries against which concrete evidence was available and the evidence would also be shared with their umbrella bodies.

?A meeting of these organizations will be convened in Islamabad soon,? he said.

The minister said the government had requested four countries to send donations to religious groups and parties and madressahs through official channels in order to block flow of money to terrorists.

A combing operation in all provinces would also be started to identify people who ?are where they are not supposed to be?. Those Afghan refugees who had left their camps and moved to settled areas would be pinpointed and taken back to the camps. He said most of them were peaceful, but if they were found involved in terrorism they would not be spared.
Posted by: Fred || 01/05/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under: TTP


Lal Masjid's expansionism, militant links alarms agencies
[DAWN] Security agencies have warned the government due to his links with known turban groups and his anti-government rhetoric that the resurgence of Lal Masjid
...literally the Red Mosque, located in Islamabad and frequented by all sorts of high govt officials. The proprietors, Ghazi Abdul Rasheed and Maulana Abdul Aziz Ghazi, unleashed their Islamic storm troopers on the city, shutting down whorehouses and beating people up who weren't devout enough. The Musharraf govt put an end to the nonsense by besieging the place. Abdul Aziz Ghazi was nabbed while he was trying to escape dressed up like a girl. BBC reported that the corpse count at 173, but other claims, usually hysterical, say there were up to 1000 titzup. Among their number was Abdul Rashid Ghazi. Everyone then said tut-tut and what a nice guy he had been...
holy man Abdul Aziz poses a security threat to the law and order situation in the capital.

They also stressed the need for a check on the growing number of madressahs in Rawalpindi and Islamabad who also have overt and covert links with turban groups.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 01/05/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan


3 to hang in Sukkur
[DAWN] Sukkur Central Jail authorities received the death warrants of three inmates who were convicted for the 2001 murder of then Karachi's Director Defence, Syed Zaffar Ali Shah.

The three convicts are set to hang early morning on January 13 (next Tuesday). Arrangements have been made for the families of the three inmates to visit them one last time.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had approved the lifting of Pakistan's long-upheld moratorium on the death penalty after a Taliban attack in Peshawar killed 148 people, including more than 130 schoolchildren. A series of hangings have followed the decision, despite much global criticism. Only those death row inmates convicted on terror-related charges have been hung.
Posted by: Fred || 01/05/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: TTP


Multan to hang first death row inmate, January 7
[DAWN] A death warrant was received by Multan Central Jail authorities today for Shabbir alias "Dr" alias "Fauji" for his involvement in the murder of a policeman.

The death row convict is set to be hanged on January 7 (Wednesday).

Hailing from Southern Punjab, Shabbir had reportedly exhausted all options to appeal his case, which led to his death warrant being issued.

This would be the first hanging at the Multan jail. There are nine more death row convicts present in the jail at this time.
Posted by: Fred || 01/05/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: TTP


International-UN-NGOs
Abbas seeks to re-submit statehood bid to UN Security Council
[Ynet] Paleostinian President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas
... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial...
said on Sunday he was discussing with Jordan plans to resubmit to the United Nations
...an idea whose time has gone...
Security Council a resolution calling for the establishment of a Paleostinian state that failed to win enough votes on Dec. 31.

Jordan remains a member of the Security Council while several other countries with revolving membership were replaced over the New Year.

The Paleostinians hope these states will be more sympathetic to their resolution demanding an Israeli withdrawal from occupied territories and independence by 2017, although the United States would be all but certain to repeat its veto.
Why do it again, then, if the outcome will be the same?
Abbas made his remarks at a cultural conference in the West Bank city of Ramallah, the Paleostinians' seat of self-rule government.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/05/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Palestinian Authority


Iraq
American aircraft dropped weapons to ISIS, says MP
[IraqiNews.com] On Saturday, MP Majid al-Ghraoui said that, an American aircraft dropped a load of weapons and equipment into the hands of the ISIS group gunnies in southeast of Tikrit, located in Salahuddin province.

MP Majid al-Ghraoui, the member of the Security and Defense Committee in the Parliament, said: ?The information that has reached us in the security and defense committee indicates that an American aircraft dropped a load of weapons and equipment to the ISIS group gunnies at the area of al-Dour in the province of Salahuddin.?

He added, ?The committee will set a meeting within the next few days to follow up on that incident,? pointing out that, ?This incident is continuously happening and has also occurred in some other regions.?

?The U.S. is trying to obtain more benefits and privileges from the government to set military bases in Iraq,? Ghraoui said.

Noteworthy, the security committee in Salahuddin Provincial Council announced today, that unidentified air crafts dropped weapons and gear to the ISIS group elements in southeast of Tikrit.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/05/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iraq

#1  Surprise meter?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 01/05/2015 2:10 Comments || Top||

#2  This is a play for the local Arab/Shia bigots - you know, the ones that elected the previous invompetent crooked PM. So of course it was the Americans arming the ISIS bandits - handy excuse why your shitty Shia forces are getting their cowardly asses handed to them at nearly every turn.
Posted by: OldSpook || 01/05/2015 13:06 Comments || Top||

#3  Yep. Next news release will have them be secret special weapons used only against Shia.
Posted by: Shipman || 01/05/2015 14:38 Comments || Top||


MoD: Liberating Mosul represents end of ISIL
[IraqiNews.com] The Minister of Defense, Khalid al-Obaidi, stated that liberating djinn-infested Mosul
... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn...
city represents the end of ISIL in Iraq.

A statement by the Ministry of Defense received by IraqiNews.com cited ?Liberating Mosul from terrorism will end the ISIL in Iraq where the MoD is going on arming the security forces.?
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/05/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iraq


Politicians to blame for Iraq’s sectarian strife, says Maliki
Iraqi Vice-President Nouri Al Maliki, who was widely criticised for sectarian policies during his time as premier, said on Sunday that politicians are to blame for the country’s Sunni-Shia strife.
He's clearly an expert on the subject...
“There is no problem between the Sunnis and the Shias as communities, but rather between us the politicians — we think as Sunnis and Shias, and we are driving people toward this doom, for which we will bear responsibility before God,” he said.
A poor man's echo of what Egypt's Sisi said. Too bad Maliki really doesn't believe what he said...
Maliki himself pursued policies that marginalised and angered members of Iraq’s Sunni Arab minority, especially during his second term as premier. Sunni suspicion of the Shia-led government was heightened by heavy-handed security operations in Sunni areas, and the arrest of senior Sunni politicians or their employees.

Sunni anger led to anti-government protests, which were targeted by security forces on multiple occasions, most disastrously in late December 2013 when the largest protest camp, located near Anbar provincial capital Ramadi, was demolished. The destruction of the camp, which Maliki asserted was serving as a militant headquarters, sparked clashes and set off a series of events that saw parts of Ramadi and all of Fallujah, to its east, seized by anti-government fighters.

Then last June, the ISIS group — which benefitted from Sunni disenchantment with Baghdad — spearheaded a sweeping militant offensive that overran large parts of the country north and west of Baghdad. Maliki’s government turned to Shia militias, members of which were responsible for sectarian killings in past years, for support against ISIS, before he was replaced as prime minister.

Pro-government forces, now backed by a US-led campaign of air strikes, have regained some ground, but significant territory, including three major cities, remains under ISIS control.
Posted by: Steve White || 01/05/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Israel threatens more punitive steps against Paleos
Israeli leaders on Sunday threatened to take tougher action against the Palestinians over their decision to join the International Criminal Court, a day after freezing the transfer of more than $100 million in tax funds.

Last week’s Palestinian decision to seek membership in the international court has infuriated Israel. The Palestinians have said they intend on using their new membership in the Hague-based tribunal to press war crimes cases against Israel.

“The Palestinian Authority has chosen confrontation with Israel and we will not sit idly by,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his Cabinet. He said Israel would not allow its soldiers to be “hauled” before the court.

In an initial response over the weekend, Israel said it had frozen tax funds collected for the Palestinians. The monthly transfers are a key source of revenue for the cash-strapped Palestinian government.

Netanyahu’s government minister for strategic affairs, Yuval Steinitz, said Israel could take even tougher action.

“If the Palestinian Authority continues to attack us, I assume we will consider other steps,” he said, without elaborating.
Posted by: Steve White || 01/05/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  It's not punitive steps. Since they've, in effect, abolished Oslo accords---they're no longer entitled to the attendant benefits.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 01/05/2015 2:15 Comments || Top||

#2  "burn 'em, baby, burn 'em". I think it's time Israel TRULY occupied the "west bank", and started expelling muslims in large numbers. Let the rest of the Arab world put up with these idiots.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 01/05/2015 12:29 Comments || Top||

#3  How the fuc& can an illegitimate "country" carve itself out of another and go off an join the ICC?

Maybe I should go join the ICC.
Posted by: gorb || 01/05/2015 14:41 Comments || Top||


Israeli FM: Lies in European parliaments- another chapter in 'Protocols of Elders of Zion'
[Ynet] Avigdor Lieberman sharply criticized European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
countries over their attitude towards Israel, saying: "The fabrications voiced in the debates on the recognition of Paleostinian statehood in the Irish and Swedish parliaments are another chapter in the 'Protocols of the Elders of Zion.'" He added that "the behavior of countries like Sweden and Ireland is similar to that which led to the abandonment of Czechoslovakia."

Lieberman, who was speaking at a conference for Israel's ambassadors posted in Europe, added: "Our greatest challenge is not the Paleostinians or the Arab states, but rather the Western states."
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/05/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Hear, hear.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 01/05/2015 2:25 Comments || Top||

#2  More:

Foreign Ministry out to expose 'anti-Semitic lies'

Campaign launched by ministry aims to reveal 'lies and distortions' made by [European] MPs during debates on recognition of Palestinian statehood.


I wish them luck.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/05/2015 10:41 Comments || Top||

#3  He can expose them until the cows come home. The EU parlaimentarians do not wish to hear, and will not accept what they hear.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 01/05/2015 12:31 Comments || Top||


Anxious residents watch IDF leave Gaza Strip area
[IsraelTimes] Soldiers will remain only in communities closest to border with Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,-controlled Paleostinian enclave

The IDF began pulling troops out of communities near the Gazoo Strip on Sunday, leaving local residents to organize their own guard duty and security responsibilities, a move unpopular with those living in the vicinity of the Hamas-controlled coastal enclave.

Soldiers are to remain on patrol along the border fence and will continue to guard three communities that lie within a kilometer of Gazoo: Kibbutz Netiv Ha?Asara, Kibbutz Nahal Oz, and Kibbutz Kerem Shalom.

The IDF announced the pullout last week, prompting residents to demonstrate against the move.

IDF troops, in addition to manning front gates and patrolling perimeter fences, had been conducted regular patrols within the villages

?This is an unfortunate decision that detracts from the sense of security of residents living near the border,? Alon Shuster, head of the Shar Hanegev Regional Council, was quoted by the Ynet news site as saying.

?The full and sole responsibility for the safety of the citizens of Israel is with the IDF, the Defense Ministry, and the Israeli government,? he added.

Shuster called for a rapid development of increased security measures reportedly in the pipeline, including a massive physical barrier, new methods to detect cross-border tunnels, and protection against short-range rockets and mortar fire.

During and after the summer?s 50-day war between Israel and Hamas-led fighters, IDF troops were deployed to Israeli communities near the Gazoo border that were thought to be targets of infiltration attempts.

The towns were also subjected to heavy mortar and rocket fire from Gazoo.

According to the IDF spokesperson, the decision to withdraw forces was made in cooperation with heads of local councils.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/05/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Hamas


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Hezbollah: Sunnis, Shiites will unite against Israel in next war
[Ynet] Report in Lebanese paper quotes top Hezbollah official as saying radical Shiite group will have 'thousands' of Sunnis fighting alongside in next battle against Israel.

A top official from the terror group Hezbollah claims that despite deep internal divisions between Shiite and Sunni Moslems, thousands of Sunnis will join the radical Shiite terror group in its next fight against Israel, Leb's Daily Star reported.
This seems an odd idea. Is it likely?
Leb is a country deeply divided along sectarian lines, and the civil war in Syria has only further strained those divides, especially as Hezbollah finds itself increasingly involved in fighting alongside pro-regime forces in Syria, and dragging its small Leb homeland into the conflict.

?Hezbollah?s response to Israel?s bet on Sunni-Shiite strife is this: The resistance is preparing for the next war with Israel, and thousands of our Sunni brothers in Leb will be among the ranks (of the) resistance,? Hezbollah's Executive Council chief Sheikh Nabil Qaouk was quoted by the Daily Star as saying during a Hezbollah ceremony in Sidon.

Qaouk claimed in the report that Israel is supporting rebel groups and exploiting the Syrian conflict to weaken "the resistance" ? a term used to describe an armed struggle against Israel.

Using the term 'takfiri
...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who most be killed...
s' ? or infidels ? Qaouk said that jihadist are playing into Israel's "project" and thus pose a threat to both sects of Islam: "Takfiri
...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who must be killed...
s are not in a place of representing Sunnis, but instead they are in a place of animosity against Sunnis and Shiites alike,? he was quoted as saying.

He further warned of the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
group, saying they might use terror to target Leb with the hopes of extending their ?emirate.?

'Israeli spy'
In a different report from the same website, Hezbollah?s deputy chief implied that report of an arrest of a senior party official over espionage for Israel was in fact true.

?There is no party in the world as big and sophisticated as Hezbollah that was able to stand with the same steadfastness despite some major infiltrations,? Naim Qassem
... the Grand Vizier of the Hezbullies...
told a Hezbollah-lined radio station.

?Hezbollah has worked intensely on battling espionage among its ranks. Some cases surfaced, and they are very limited cases,? he said, without explicitly naming the suspected spy.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/05/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [10 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah

#1  A three days dead Sunni smells exactly the same as a three days dead Shia.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 01/05/2015 2:13 Comments || Top||

#2  If the left weren't so infatuated with its own beliefs, the fact that this "senior hezbollox official" has declared that there WILL be another war with Israel, and pretty much indicating that hezbollox will be the one starting it. Of course, that would totally destroy the left's narrative that it's "always Israel's fault", and they can't have that, now can they? Israel needs to plan that any future war with its enemies be so painful to those enemies that it will be decades before they get the courage to attack again.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 01/05/2015 12:26 Comments || Top||

#3  N-Way civil war in Syria, ISIS, Iraq, Yemen, Libya, Chechnya, Pakistan, Southern Philippines, Somalia, Nigeria, Chad, Niger, Sudan (2), Somalia, ...

And the idiots want to add more wars!

FOAD.
Posted by: 3dc || 01/05/2015 13:34 Comments || Top||

#4  OP, it will still be Israel ' fault, because Israel didn't return to the pre-1948 borders.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia || 01/05/2015 14:13 Comments || Top||

#5  Hez beginning to realize both hands and a foot a stuck in tarbaby.
Posted by: Shipman || 01/05/2015 14:40 Comments || Top||

#6  Hezbollah: Sunnis, Shiites will unite against Israel in next war

Well, at the least the last one, Sunni or Shiite, standing.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 01/05/2015 16:59 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
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1Hezbollah
1Houthis
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