[Jpost] Israel's addition to CENTCOM brings "rare opportunity" to the table, says CENTCOM head Frank McKenzie.
Israel’s incorporation into US Central Command has increased the possibility of a regional integrated air and missile defense system against aerial threats, top US generals have said.
“That’s probably the area with some of the greatest opportunity: working toward an integrated air and missile defense Army Lt.-Gen. Michael Kurilla was quoted by Defense News as telling the Senate Armed Services Committee on Wednesday. “I think the addition of Israel... will help with that. We are collectively stronger together, and there are areas where each one brings unique capabilities.”
Kurilla, who currently leads the 18th Airborne Corps, is likely to be confirmed in the coming days as the head of US Central Command, replacing Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie.
During a virtual seminar hosted by the Middle East Institute, McKenzie also touted the idea of integrated air and missile defenses as a “rare opportunity” since Israel joined CENTCOM.
“The unique capabilities that Israel brings, now that Israel is in the Central Command area of responsibility, is another great resource that we can draw upon as we build this,” he was quoted by Airforce Magazine as saying.
While Iran “has relentlessly” built its ballistic missile stockpile, McKenzie said, and that its fleet of drones and land-attack cruise missiles has increased over the past five to seven years, it also created the opportunity to bring Gulf countries together to counter the threats.
“Here’s the opportunity: collective security in that region could best be approached, I would argue, initially from an integrated approach to air and missile defense,” McKenzie said.
According to him, such a system would not threaten state sovereignty, and would not need foreign forces stationed in other countries.
“Instead, what it’s about is the sharing of information,” he said. “Because really, in order to have integrated air and missile defense, what you need is good sensor coverage that is shared, to build what we call a common operational picture that all partners can see.”
As rocket and drone attacks against the United Arab Emirates have increased, talks are under way between Israel and several Persian Gulf states to understand what air defense systems are most relevant for the threats that they face.
Sources familiar with the discussions told The Jerusalem Post that discussions with the Gulf countries centered around shared threats such as rocket and drone attacks. The Post was told that they allowed officials to understand that Israel has systems other than the Iron Dome that may be a better solution to such threats.
While the UAE has highly formidable medium-to-high altitude air defense systems, both France and the United States announced following the attacks that they would assist the country in defending against missiles and rockets.
Israel has also offered the UAE support against such threats. Defense Minister Benny Gantz recently returned from a historic trip to Manama where he signed the first Memorandum of Understanding with the kingdom.
The agreement will set a solid security cooperation framework that formalizes defense relations between the two countries, allowing for increased cooperation in various fields such as intelligence sharing, military-to-military training, cooperation between defense industries and more.
Gantz said during his visit that the defense agreement “will contribute to the security of both countries and the stability of the region.”
All the early promises the Taliban have not kept — as predicted.
[Dawn] After seizing control of Afghanistan in August 2021 the Taliban ...mindless ferocity in a turban... promised a softer version of the harsh rule that characterised their first stint in power, when women were stripped of most of their rights.
This time around the movement has largely refrained from issuing rigid national edicts, but authorities at a provincial level have introduced rules and guidelines dictating how women should live.
Here are some areas of women's lives impacted by the Taliban's return:
EMPLOYMENT
The Taliban say they allow women to work as long as they are segregated from men.
In practice, however, women are effectively barred from employment — particularly for the government — apart from in specialised sectors such as health care and education.
Even women working in the private sector complain of being harassed going to and from their offices, while Taliban intelligence operatives frequently visit commercial enterprises to make sure strict segregation is enforced.
In some places, however, small women-only cooperatives have been able to continue — such as a jasmine processing facility in the ancient western city of Herat ...a venerable old Persian-speaking city in western Afghanistan, populated mostly by Tadjiks, which is why it's not as blood-soaked as areas controlled by Pashtuns... , long considered liberal by Afghan standards.
Still, tens of thousands of Afghan women have been made jobless by the Taliban's return, overturning two decades of progress in diversifying all aspects of their employment — from the police to courts.
EDUCATION
The Taliban say all girls are entitled to an education, but the majority of secondary schools at least — for those aged from 13 to 18 — have not reopened since August.
Officials now say education for all will resume by the end of March, but an exodus of teachers and a ban on men leading classes for girls means it will be difficult for them to meet that target.
Most private universities have resumed, also while suffering a teacher shortage. But classes must be segregated by sex and there can be no mingling of men and women between lessons.
Some government universities resumed under similar constraints last week, but there was only a trickle of attendance by women at most facilities.
PERSONAL FREEDOMS
During their first stint in power, the Taliban made it compulsory for women to wear an all-covering burqa in public, and agents of the feared Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice would lash anyone caught without.
The ministry put up posters across Kabul last month "suggesting" women should at least wear the less restrictive hijab or headscarf — but the message was accompanied by pictures of the burqa.
An order was also issued saying women could not travel between cities and towns unless accompanied by a male relative, and taxi drivers were told not to pick up female passengers unless they wore head coverings.
Beauty parlours and fashion boutiques were booming before the Taliban's return, but they have largely disappeared.
Meanwhile, ...back at the pond, the radioactive tadpoles grown into frogs. Really big frogs, in fact... shop mannequins have been beheaded in Herat and billboards featuring the human form taken down because they are deemed un-Islamic.
SPORT AND CULTURE
Television channels have been ordered to stop showing dramas and soap operas featuring women actors, while female journalists must wear a hijab in front of cameras.
A senior Taliban official has said it is "unnecessary" for women to play sport, but they have been wary of formalising that philosophy because funding from the organizations that govern world sport — including football and cricket — depends on allowing all sexes to play.
Many of the country's leading singers, musicians, artists and photographers have fled since the Taliban's return, while those who couldn't escape have gone into hiding or are keeping a very low profile.
#5
I seem to recall some women called the YPG during the Syrian conflict taking up for themselves.And I doubt their lives have changed much under the taliban than before. This article has been written like 405 times now.
Posted by: Chris ||
02/10/2022 9:23 Comments ||
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A former Senator representing Kaduna Central, Shehu Sani has said some communities in Niger and Kaduna states have been defending their territories against terrorists.
According to the former senator, the communities have been achieving success by targeting and killing those identified as informants for the terrorists.
Sani, who took to his Twitter handle on Tuesday, also took a swipe at the Nigerian army, which had claimed that the leader of a notorious gang of bandits, Bello Turji, was on the run following military onslaughts.
The former lawmaker said there are reports that the bandit kingpin, Turji, who was reportedly begging for peace, have been massacring people in the North.
He wrote, "Some villages in Niger and Kaduna states have organised themselves to defend their ancestral lands against terrorists, and they are achieving success with the help of the military; I asked one of them the secret, and he replied 'identifying and crushing the terrorists' informants.'"
"They said North West terror leader, Turji was bombarded, Cornered and was even begging for peace…and then boom only to hear he is still massacring," he said in an earlier post on Tuesday.
#1
One of the few successful rotations through the National Training Center in the 80s early 90s did it by killing the OPFOR recon elements as quickly as possible.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[KavkazUzel] A criminal case on the financing of terrorism has been initiated against a resident of Kabardino-Balkaria, who is suspected of transferring more than 350,000 rubles to members of terrorist groups located abroad.
A 21-year-old resident of Kabardino-Balkaria transferred more than 350,000 rubles to members of "international terrorist structures" who are hiding from law enforcement agencies outside of Russia, the department of the Federal Security Service for the republic reported today. A criminal case has been initiated against the suspect under the article on financing terrorism (part 1.1 of article 205.1 of the Criminal Code of Russia), Interfax informed with reference to the department.
The fact of transferring money to the militants' accounts was established in the course of operational-search activities by officers of the Russian Federal Security Service for Kabardino-Balkaria in cooperation with the department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the republic, RIA Kabardino-Balkaria reported today.
There were no comments from the suspect or her official representatives regarding the version of the FSB in Kabardino-Balkaria.
The "Caucasian Knot" also wrote that in February 2021, the court found Alim Begiev, a native of Kabardino-Balkaria, guilty of financing and facilitating the activities of a terrorist organization and sentenced him to 17 years in prison in a strict regime colony.
[IsraelTimes] With Eric Zemmour and Marine Le Pen railing against their religion in frequent diatribes, many French Moslems fear such rhetoric has been normalized. "Muslims fear backlash over tomorrow's planned atrocity"
The role of Islam in French society has emerged as a key battleground in the presidential election campaign, leaving many French Moslems uneasy over the bursts of rhetoric against the nation’s largest religious minority.
Far-right candidates Marine Le Pen of the National Rally (RN) and especially the former pundit Eric Zemmour have railed against Islam in frequent diatribes invoking security and terrorism risks.
Continued on Page 49
#1
Always portrayed as the victims despite the fact that they are the greatest perpetrators.
Posted by: Herb McCoy ||
02/10/2022 2:45 Comments ||
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#2
So... what's said during Friday prayers? What are you reading in the Koran? What about the Hadith? How's all that compare to what you're hearing from the politicians?
There are plenty of Muslim countries; there's only one France.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
02/10/2022 7:55 Comments ||
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#3
Let them feel uneasy, just like they make their neighbors feel.
Posted by: Chris ||
02/10/2022 9:19 Comments ||
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#4
Far right. Riiiight.
Posted by: San Fran Nan with a turban ||
02/10/2022 12:39 Comments ||
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#5
Far-right bring Islam to center stage in French elections, leaving Muslims uneasy
The story of his arrest and background can be seen here and here. His former outfit is listed in our archives as Jaish al-Islam, one of many Muslim Brotherhood derivatives popular among the early opposition at the time. At the time of his arrest, he was in France on a student visa after studying poli sci and international relations in Istanbul.
A French tribunal is considering the authority to prosecute the Syrian national Islam Alloush who was arrested in #France on charges of committing war crimes. #Syriahttps://t.co/2JAOYl5JrL
ERBIL, KRG, Iraq (North Press) – The Paris Court of Appeal, France, is considering the power of the universal jurisdiction to prosecute war crimes committed in Syria in the case of Majdi Mustafa Ne’ma, also known as Islam Alloush, a Syrian citizen arrested in France.
Majdi Ne’ma, born in 1988, was a captain in the Syrian army. He defected in 2012 and became a spokesman for the Army of Islam, a Syrian armed opposition faction formed at the outbreak of the Syrian conflict.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: badanov ||
02/10/2022 00:00 ||
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[14 views]
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[IsraelTimes] Letter signed by Ted Cruz and 32 colleagues demands president comply with legislation giving Congress oversight on nuclear pacts with Tehran, complicating talks to reenter deal.
Let us not forget that until that until Senator whatshisname recovers from his recent illness, there are only 49 Democratic Senators available to vote, not 50.
As talks to revive the tattered 2015 nuclear deal restarted in Vienna Tuesday, US President Joe The Big Guy Biden ...46th president of the U.S. Sleazy Dem machine politician, paterfamilias of the Biden Crime Family, the guy who bungled Afghanistan... was reminded of another obstacle, this time at home, to a smooth return to the agreement.
Good for them. The next step to to get everything scanned and distributed, so the next time jihadis come through their book burning is only annoying instead of erasing history as intended.
. [Rudaw] The storied library of Iraq's djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... University boasted a million titles before Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really 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 western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... group jihadists rampaged through it, toppling book shelves and burning ancient texts.
Continued on Page 49
[IsraelTimes] Unidentified official seeking to advance relations between the countries, according to Kan news.
A top official of the current Sudanese military government is currently in Israel for a secret visit, Rooters and Kan news reported Wednesday.
The unidentified government representative was seeking to advance relations between the countries, the reports said, with Rooters saying he’d arrived at the beginning of the week.
The Kan report was unsourced, while Rooters cited an unnamed official with knowledge of the visit.
There was no immediate confirmation from Israeli or Sudanese government officials.
Sudan’s top general, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who seized power in a coup last year, has said that "Sudan’s relationship with Israel may eventually take a natural form."
In an interview with the Al Arabiya network published in December, he said that normalization with Israel was "necessary to return Sudan to the international community."
It was the military, not the civilian leadership, in Sudan that has played a more active role in advancing normalization with Israel. al-Burhan had been the more prominent player leading normalization efforts in Israel.
Israeli delegations have reportedly visited Sudan several times in recent months.
Sudan and Israel agreed to normalize ties in 2020, although progress has been slow amid Sudanese government instability and anti-Israel sentiment among the Sudanese public.
Al-Burhan seized power and detained Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok on October 25, 2021, but after international condemnation and mass protests he reinstated the premier nearly a month later, in a deal that many in the pro-democracy movement opposed.
However, ars longa, vita brevis... Hamdok announced his resignation as prime minister last month amid an ongoing political deadlock.
"I have tried my best to stop the country from sliding towards disaster," Hamdok said, addressing the nation.
"In view of the fragmentation of the political forces and conflicts between the (military and civilian) components of the transition... despite everything that has been done to reach a consensus... it has not happened," he said.
Sudan "is crossing a dangerous turning point that threatens its whole survival," he added.
Hamdok’s resignation has left the military in sole command of the country, with some analysts saying this may lead to even more bloodshed and repressive policies, following months of street protests and violent mostly peaceful crackdowns that have claimed at least 57 lives.
[Jpost] The IDF revealed its artificial-intelligence (AI) war data “factory” and strategy on Tuesday as part of Tel Aviv University’s Blavatnik Virtual AI Week.
Although the military has been using AI for some time, including during the May 2021 Gaza war, a new strategy for AI was approved by IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kohavi a few weeks ago, said Brig.-Gen. Aviad Dagan, director of the IDF’s Digital Transformation Administration.
A major recent advancement by the IDF has been digital networking in the cloud between all forces, including headquarters, frontline command centers and troops in the field, but the military is starting a new digital advancement beyond the cloud, he said.
There still will be a cloud network of interactions between headquarters and frontline units, but the military will now improve with “edge-data architecture that will enable an edge local course for speed and cloud course for completeness,” Dagan said.
This essentially means the military will be building mini-clouds, or networks, for each of its arms and sometimes smaller subdivisions so they can process and receive data even faster than in the current network, he said.
For example, a wide variety of data points could put together sensory detection of an enemy, evaluate who the enemy was, check the various IDF options within range to respond, analyze how much fuel different drones or other units have remaining and then quickly dispatch the most ideal targeting order, Dagan said.
The new AI capabilities could be of massive importance in any potential future war with Hezbollah in Lebanon, where the IDF has already developed a list of thousands of targets, he said.
[BenarNews] A controversy over Malaysia’s envoy to the Middle East purportedly promising aid to the Taliban ...the Pashtun equivalent of men... government in Afghanistan refuses to die down.
Abdul Hadi Awang, the envoy who also leads the Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), said Tuesday through his representative that his meeting with a senior Taliban official in Doha last week was just a "dialogue." He indicated that any discussion about aid was akin to Malaysia’s donation to the U.N. for humanitarian efforts in Afghanistan.
Continued on Page 49
[IsraelTimes] Manufactured entirely domestically, solid fuel-powered ’Khaibar-Shekan’ reportedly able to reach 1,450 kilometers with great accuracy.
Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites.... unveiled a new missile on Wednesday with a reported range that would allow it to reach both US bases in the region as well as targets inside its archfoe Israel.
State TV reported that the missile uses solid fuel and has a range of 1,450 kilometers (900 miles).
It is called the Khaibar-buster, a reference to a Jewish castle overrun by Moslem warriors in the early days of Islam.
The report said the missile has high accuracy, is manufactured completely domestically, and can defeat missile shield systems. The information has not been independently verified.
Israel’s closest point to Iran is some 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) away.
The report comes as negotiations continue in Vienna to revive Tehran’s tattered nuclear deal with world powers. Iran, which has long said it does not seek nuclear weapons, insists its missile program is only a deterrent.
Iran has missiles that can travel up to 2,000 kilometers (1,250 miles).
Earlier in January Iran tested an engine for a solid-fuel rocket designed to launch satellites. Satellite carriers usually use liquid fuel but solid-fuel rockets can be adapted for mobile launchers that can be driven anywhere on a major road or rail system. Pure solid-fuel rockets are mostly associated with ballistic missiles systems.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
02/10/2022 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[16 views]
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#1
Expensive way to deliver a warhead and, for America and Israel, easy to shoot down.
#2
Khaibar was a jewish area captured by Mohammud and his allies in 628. Some jews were killed, others made into slaves, others expelled and their property confiscated.
Lots of Khaibar related songs and slogans in Gaza the past few decades.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
02/10/2022 9:45 Comments ||
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[IsraelTimes] Lebanese terror chief claims Israel and US fear war with Islamic Theocratic Republic, warns of ’a very intense and harsh’ Iranian response in case of Israeli attack.
Hezbollah chief His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah ...The satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb... on Tuesday claimed Israel was not serious about actually attacking Iran. But if it does, he said, his Lebanese terror group will not automatically retaliate on Tehran’s behalf, but will decide whether or not to get involved.
Interesting...
In an interview with Iranian state TV, the leader of the Iran-backed Shiite organization appeared to attempt to assert Hezbollah’s independence from Tehran, while also claiming Israel was afraid to go to war against either.
"Iran ...They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... is a strong regional state and any war with it will blow up the entire region," he said, according to Naharnet.
Amid domestic criticism that his group acts in Tehran’s interests and not Lebanon Hezbollahstan ...Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. ... ’s, he challenged anyone to "tell us about a single act that Hezbollah did for the sake of Iran rather than for the sake of Lebanon."
He denied the Iranian embassy in Beirut was involved in Hezbollah’s decision-making.
Nasrallah claimed that the United States fears going to war with Iran, asserting it was incapable of stopping Tehran’s nuclear program. He also warned of "a very intense and harsh" Iranian response if Israel attacks Iran.
"Iran is not on joking terms with anyone," he was quoted as saying by Press TV.
He claimed that Hezbollah’s precision-guided missiles were spread all around Lebanon, so Israel would need to launch a full-scale war in order to destroy them.
He also accused Israel of being afraid to go to war against Hezbollah.
"Were the Israeli regime certain that it would be victorious in a war with Hezbollah, it would not hesitate for even a moment," Nasrallah said.
He also claimed that Israeli drone flights over Lebanon have been "greatly reduced" due to Hezbollah’s improved air defenses.
Nasrallah added that he opposes sharing offshore gas with Israel and does not really care about negotiations between Beirut and Jerusalem over determining the countries’ exclusive economic zones.
"We do not consider ourselves to be concerned with the technical discussions about the sea border demarcation with Israel," he said.
Nasrallah’s remarks come several weeks after both Israel and Lebanon announced their intentions to resume talks over an area of about 860 square kilometers (330 square miles) of the Mediterranean Sea that both countries claim as being within their exclusive economic zones.
The US envoy mediating the talks has since met with Israeli and Lebanese officials.
The two countries started indirect negotiations through a US mediator in 2020 at a UN peacekeeping base in Lebanon’s Naqoura, but the talks have stalled several times. The last round of talks on the matter was held last May.
Lebanon has sunk deep into an economic and financial crisis that started in late 2019 — a culmination of decades of corruption and mismanagement by the political class.
The small Mediterranean country is eager to resolve its border dispute with Israel, paving the way for potential lucrative oil and gas deals.
Finally a motivation for Lebanon to negotiate seriously instead of falling back on Jew hate.
#1
Hezbollah may not get a choice if festivities break out. Assuming their Persian masters do not insist on their involvement, their large supply of new & improved missiles makes them a threat to Israel.
If I were playing Iran vs Israel as the Israelis, first thing I would do is remove as much as the immediate Hezbollah missile threat as I could.
#2
Israel mapped out their basement storage depots years ago, Steve S, then showed the UN and everyone else. I expect they’ve had their missiles dialed in for almost as long, and the domino effect of the secondaries calculated.
Shafaq News / The United Nations warned of ISIS's resurge following the Ghwaryan prison attack in al-Hasaka, Syria.
In a report, the Under-Secretary-General for Counter-Terrorism and head of the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT), Vladimir Voronkov, said, "the threat posed by Da’esh and its affiliates continued to increase during the second half of 2021."
"Da’esh’s recent activity in Africa is another likely topic of discussion", pointing to, "the emergence of a regional terrorism threat in Central and Eastern Africa, which is characterised by the proliferation of funds, intensified recruitment efforts, and terrorist tactics linked to Da’esh affiliates in Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)."
"The Secretary-General’s report indicates that Da’esh’s leadership continues to control substantial financial resources, with member states estimating that it has access to between $25 and $50 million in funds", he noted.
The Secretary-General’s report describes “online terrorist radicalisation and recruitment” as one of the foremost concerns relating to Da’esh in non-conflict zones and notes that the group and its affiliates have continued attempting to exploit socioeconomic hardship, grievances, and political tensions.
Posted by: badanov ||
02/10/2022 00:00 ||
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[11 views]
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#1
= demands money
Posted by: Chris ||
02/10/2022 9:28 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
...mindless ferocity in a turban...
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling 
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites....
Hezbollah
...They hate 
