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Nine dead after Dagestani raid
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 2: WoT Background
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Page 6: Politix
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China-Japan-Koreas
Reform in North Korea "a foolish and silly dream," says Pyongyang
Those expecting to see reform in North Korea should be aware that they're waiting on "a foolish and silly dream."

A front man for the North Korean government has set the record straight, following recent rumors that new leader Kim Pudge Jong-un
...the hereditary potentate of North Korea...
planned to begin opening up the secretive communist state.

Don't look out for that any time soon. In an interview published today, a front man for North Korea's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea dismissed the talk of change as "ridiculous rhetoric."

"To expect 'policy change' and 'reform and opening' from the DPRK [North Korea] is nothing but a foolish and silly dream," the official told state-run news agency
...and if you can't believe the state-run news agency who can you believe?...
KCNA, "just like wanting the sun to rise in the west."

The front man accused South Korea of spreading the rumors in an attempt to impose its own, capitalist system on the North.
Posted by: Fred || 07/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  In a way I see the logic - serious reforms in the DPRK opens the door for more Chinese influence + authority in the the country than Jong-un + Pyongyang Boyz may tolerate.

China's is already the DPRK's primary = pre-dominant trading partner, + its percentage of bilateral trade wid the DPRK keeps rising every year according to the Perts.

versus

* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > VIETNAM READY TO HOST RUSSIAN MARITIME BASE. Ashore naval vessel maintenance facility in Cam Ranh Bay - actual base control to remain under Vietnam.

Regardless, methinks China's just received its first geopol-sensitive diplomatic issue wid its new offshore "Sansha/Sashi City-Province" in the SCS, as IMO Nuclear-armed Mama Russia isn't going to stand for its RussNav Warships plying the risque' narrow shallows between the new "Sansha/Sashi City" + the Vietnam or PHIL, etc. coasts per the strategic Malaccas.

And where Seaspace is sovereignly controlled by one Nation, more likely than not so also is the Airspace above, which makes thingys more contentious between Mama Russia + China.

* SAME > POSTER THREAD: DOES CHINA HAVE THE MILITARY CAPABILITY TO INVADE OR BLOCKADE AUSTRALIA?
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 07/30/2012 0:38 Comments || Top||

#2  "Those expecting to see reform in North Korea should be aware that they're waiting on "a foolish and silly dream."

Darn right ... you tell 'em Kim Jong Un. Now that you're married - you gott'a go out and buy 1,000 pairs of shoes for your wife. Heck, that takes a lot of hard currency dude. We sympathize with ya.
Posted by: Raider || 07/30/2012 19:28 Comments || Top||


The Grand Turk
Report: Turkish Military Convoy Heads For Syrian Border
Turkey sent a convoy of about 20 vehicles carrying troops, missile batteries and armored vehicles to the border with Syria on Monday amid growing concern in Turkey about security on its southern frontier, news reports and witnesses said.

It was the latest in a series of deployments in the region in recent weeks. There has been no indication that Turkish forces will cross the border, and the troop movements may be strictly precautionary in the face of spiraling violence in Syria.

The convoy left a base in Gaziantep province to head south to Kilis province, where the troops will stay, the state-run Anatolian news agency said.

Witnesses said the troops and vehicles had left a major highway and were now stationed along a fenced-off section on the frontier with Syria.
Posted by: || 07/30/2012 06:27 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Should I lay in popcorn stores?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 07/30/2012 11:01 Comments || Top||

#2  Should be interesting to see how the 'new and improved' Turkish army leadership performs.
Posted by: Pappy || 07/30/2012 13:16 Comments || Top||

#3  As Stalin found out in '39, once you've shot all your good generals it takes time to find some more.
Posted by: Steve White || 07/30/2012 13:42 Comments || Top||

#4  Should be interesting to see how the 'new and improved' Turkish army leadership performs

Ah, I think Jr was serious about his chemical weapons.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 07/30/2012 13:57 Comments || Top||

#5  "I'm comin' down there wit' a few of my boys, see?"
Posted by: mojo || 07/30/2012 13:59 Comments || Top||

#6  This is Turkeys chance. Or pretext to take on the role of biggest Dog in ME...Turkey knows the hazards of chemicle weapons and needs to send in its army to stop the spread or use.

Posted by: Lonzo Spaitle4314 || 07/30/2012 15:24 Comments || Top||

#7  As per DEFENCE NET, Turkey's rival Greece has seemingly responded in kind ala border = refugee security, deploying an additional 1800 new border guards + a huge flock of maritime crafts.

Looks like everyone wants to make sure that what happens in Syria stays in Syria.

* WAFF > {Turkish FM] DAVUTOGLU TO ASK BARZANI NOT TO ASK FOR KURDISH AUTONOMY IN SYRIA, until a later time after resolvement of Assad Crisis whereupon Turkey will be free + willing to support Kurdish rights to sovereign homeland???

versus

* SAME > [Kemal Kilitsnarolghou]]TURKISH OPPOSITION LEADER: WE [Turkish Nation] WILL GET ****** IN SYRIA | TURKEY SHOULD NOT THE PRICE FOR WESTERN INTERESTS.

Posted by: JosephMendiola || 07/30/2012 23:43 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
No meeting, No briefing on Iran plan. Just campaign hype.
Posted by: Skidmark || 07/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Rope a Dope 101.
Posted by: jack salami || 07/30/2012 10:35 Comments || Top||

#2  among many coming lies exposed....like the fourth time, he actually made the "Gutsy Call"
Posted by: Frank G || 07/30/2012 10:58 Comments || Top||

#3  It's just been campaign hype by Obama since before 2008. He has only voted "Present" in the WH.
Posted by: JohnQC || 07/30/2012 12:07 Comments || Top||

#4  Like the intel leaks, this charade was being performed for more than one audience, and for more than just "campaign hype".

It does not bode well.
Posted by: Pappy || 07/30/2012 13:20 Comments || Top||

#5  Obama - The Story Teller.
Posted by: Secret Asian Man || 07/30/2012 14:08 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Pentagon sez defense contractors at the root of Palantir systems row
Those evil contractos again, buggering the Program of Record.
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/30/2012 07:30 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Let's remember the Army Tank Command of WWII which kept insisting the M4 Sherman did the job, which it did in '42-43 time frame but by '44 was out classed by the Mk V Panther. Meanwhile ATC sat on the M-26 a comparable tank arguing that it could ship two Shermans for every M-26. In France there were units that recovered killed Shermans, refitted them, repainted the interiors to cover the blood and guts of the prior crews, all in time to reissue the vehicle to another team. It would take the losses in the Bulge to finally get ATC to send the new tank to Europe. When you're in Washington the direct effects of the war don't effect decisions. Circle the wagons. Protect your bureaucratic empire.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 07/30/2012 10:35 Comments || Top||

#2  Distributed Common Ground System is an over-engineered, everything-but-the-kitchen-sink project that will never fly.

It is being shamed by a focused "good enough system that is saving lives now. This is a repeat of the MBT-70 vs M-1 Abrams episode.

In the Obama tradition, this must be stopped.
Posted by: Frozen Al || 07/30/2012 12:03 Comments || Top||

#3  You got it Frozen Al. Interesting to watch the Pentagon squirm and deny. Also interesting to note that the Marines were the one's that insisted upon Palantir, and told the Pentagon to shove DCGS up their collective asses. I still don't think the Army SOF community has stopped using Analst Notebook (AnB).
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/30/2012 12:50 Comments || Top||

#4  Partly true, Frozen Al. But Palantir is standalone whereas DCGS is C4ISR fusion oriented - a significant difference.

Yes, DCGS-A is a mess.

No, Palantir doesn't fulfill all or even most of the targeted capability of DCGS. What it does do, it does okay. But it relies on other systems for fusion and preprocessing.
Posted by: lotp || 07/30/2012 13:57 Comments || Top||

#5  I knew it was bad when I saw the Tolkein-theme name. Major nerd factor.
Posted by: mojo || 07/30/2012 13:57 Comments || Top||

#6  No, Palantir doesn't fulfill all or even most of the targeted capability of DCGS. What it does do, it does okay. But it relies on other systems for fusion and preprocessing.
Posted by lotp


Correct, DCGS is a cloud, a somewhat flat newwork, which permits access to various tools and sites. Palantir is simply a tool which permits you build "investigations" via key word or name tagging traffic. It links the tags, archives the traffic, and does a good job of it. Once the investigation is created, Palantir permits you to continue building your analysis whilst adding to the investigation(s) as needed. It's a good tool. DCGS is an out of control, software developers proprietary Valhalla. The Army got sucked in years ago and now can't (or refuses) to get out.

Posted by: Besoeker || 07/30/2012 14:44 Comments || Top||

#7  As a long time systems analyst (30+ years) I have significant experience in problems like this. If any of you have heard of SAP you will understand.

The best thing about SAP is that it is an integrated system. The worst thing about SAP is that it is an integrated system.

This is a truism of all large complex system environments. They are like battleships in that they can be, when properly crewed and used, devastatingly powerful. BUT, they are also like battleships in that they are inflexible and not maneuverable.

You need to be able to quickly modify the system and incorporate improvements (not synonomous with NEW stuff) while maintaining the integrity of the integration.

As one whose job was mostly doing the incorporating, this is hard to do and provided a pretty good living. The hardest thing to do was fight the political battles or those invested in the new and the old.
Posted by: AlanC || 07/30/2012 16:09 Comments || Top||

#8  SAP has been a PITA
Posted by: Frank G || 07/30/2012 18:58 Comments || Top||

#9  This argument is turning into a Ford vs Chevy thing, which IMHO is dumb. The argument the Army needs to have is about the right amount of features that an intelligence and fusion system needs to have.

The appetite for additional features will never be denied by a defense contractor, who gets paid more to do more, and is fiduciarily responsible to the stock holders to make more money. So, a wise government customer would work hard to stick with a clear vision of what is needed and get it done in a finite amount of time.
Posted by: rammer || 07/30/2012 20:09 Comments || Top||

#10  The Sherman's primary role was Bunker-Busting, a role which it did very well, not to take on German tanks in mano-a-mano direct or frontal combat where opposing tanks face each other "gun-on-gun" like an 18th or 19th century gentlemen's duel - destroying enemy tanks per se was the job or mission of the Tank-Destroyer corps [TD], and even they in most did not engage German tanks in direct or frontal combat, but via stealthy hunting + ambush in the German rear, flanks, + threads.

That being said, the Sherman's negative reputation on the MSM-Net vee the German Panther is not supported by Army, Allied or even captured German records. Properly handled, the Sherman knocked out many a Panther + Tiger.

* PANTHER = IMO not a Medium tank but a "LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT/TIGER", the BATTLECRUISER = LIGHT BATTLESHIP of the German "Tiger" heavy tank force.

The advent of the M26 Pershing symbolized the merging of the Sherman's bunker-busting + TD's predatory/hunter-killer missions - instead of two specialist or "niche" tanks, the US will have one to do both missions + more.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 07/30/2012 20:14 Comments || Top||

#11  Also, I understand the "Firefly" version of the Sherman was a lot better than the standard Sherman.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 07/30/2012 20:22 Comments || Top||

#12  crewed by Browncoats?
Posted by: Frank G || 07/30/2012 20:27 Comments || Top||

#13  If they were, they'd have called the gun 'Vera.'
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 07/30/2012 20:56 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
ISI, CIA chiefs to meet in August: drone attacks will be main agenda
Director General Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) Lieutenant General Zaheer-u-ul Islam will hold talks in Washington on August 1-3 with his CIA counterpart, a military statement said, with drone strikes expected to be a major issue.

It is the first time in a year that the chief of the Pakistain military's powerful ISI will make the trip, signalling a thaw in relations after US troops found and killed the late Osama bin Laden
... who can now be reached at RFD Boneyard...
in Pakistain in May 2011.

Lieutenant General Islam, who was appointed in March, "will visit USA from 1st to 3rd August. This will be a service-to-service bilateral visit," the statement said.

"He will meet his counterpart General David Petraeus, director CIA." The short statement gave no other details, but a senior Pak security official earlier told AFP that the pair would discuss counter-terror cooperation and intelligence sharing.

The ISI chief would also demand an end to US drone attacks against the Taliban and al Qaeda, and again ask for the means for Pakistain to carry out the attacks instead, the security official said.
Posted by: Fred || 07/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  Hopefully, that means the CIA bigs will be "a little late"... "Hope you don't mind waiting..."
Posted by: mojo || 07/30/2012 23:30 Comments || Top||


Pak to seek visa scam suspect's deportation
[Dawn] The government has decided to register a case against Mohammad Ali Asad, a central character of the so-called Olympic visa scam, for fraud, impersonation and mis-declaration, issue red warrants and seek his deportation from the United Kingdom.

"We have full right to get him deported. This is a test case for the United Kingdom. We have been cooperating with them for years and now it is time for them to reciprocate," Interior Minister Rehman Malik
Pak politician, Interior Minister under the Gilani government. Malik is a former Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) intelligence officer who rose to head the FIA during Benazir Bhutto's second tenure. Malik was tossed from his FIA job in 1998 after documenting the breath-taking corruption of the Sharif family. By unhappy coincidence Nawaz Sharif became PM at just that moment and Malik moved to London one step ahead of the button men. He had to give up the interior ministry job because he held dual Brit citizenship.
said at a press briefing on Saturday.

He said investigations suggested that the report published by the British tabloid, The Sun, was a conspiracy against Pakistain. "It was a pre-planned and concocted story."

Mr Malik said there was no doubt that The Sun agent Mohammad Ali Asad was a Pak national who had obtained the national identity card and passport in 2002 before proceeding to the UK where he had obtained British nationality.

He claimed that Asad arrived in Pakistain on July 9 on his British passport No 506486804 and applied for a computerised national identity card and passport which had been issued to him on the basis of the available record about him. He travelled back to the UK on the same British passport on July 20. The forensic evidence proved that the documents had been issued to Asad and nobody else.

Photocopies of the British passport mentioning Asad's date of birth as Dec 8, 1980, and Sahiwal as his birthplace were distributed among news hounds. The passport with a validity of 10 years was issued to him on Oct 24, 2011. He was accompanied by Stephen Graham of The Sun, holding a British passport No 80098664.

The record suggests that Asad has also committed a fraud in the UK as his date of birth in the record of National Database Registration Authority (Nadra) is Nov 11, 1977, a matter which, according to sources, will be taken up with the British authorities.

The only enigma in the saga appears to be the expeditious issuance of CNIC and machine-readable passport to Asad during his only 11-day stay in Pakistain. And that is the reason two officials each of Nadra and the passport department were still under the custody of Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). They are facing the charges of receiving 'speed money'.

Mr Malik confirmed that the officials were facing charges of issuing the documents in a short span of time.

The FIA has written a letter to The Sun for assistance in early finalisation of the case and seeking information about the government functionaries and agents, if any, who had allegedly received illegal gratification from Asad for providing him the CNIC and passport in an expeditious manner.

The letter, a copy of which is available with Dawn, says the report published and video prepared by the tabloid did not match the facts unearthed by the FIA. It seeks some substantial and concrete evidence in support of the claim.

"Your support in this regard shall be highly valued as it may help us in nabbing the corrupt functionaries likely to be involved in this alleged scam," the letter reads.

Mr Malik's remarks indicate that the government may drop its decision to file a defamation suit of £10 billion against The Sun. On more than one occasions, he said the tabloid might not be in the knowledge of the fact that Asad was holding Pak nationality. "Maybe The Sun was also cheated by someone," he said.

The interior minister did not agree with a perception that the British government had rejected Pak investigation into the scam and said the probe was still under way.

JUDICIAL COMMISSION: Mr Malik urged the Indian government to allow Pakistain's judicial commission to visit India again to investigate the Mumbai attacks and cross-examine four prosecution witnesses.

"The questions are very simple and I hope India will cooperate in bringing culprits to justice," he said.

MURDER PLOT: Answering a question, the minister said it had been established that the report about a plot to kill former Lahore High Court chief justice Khawaja Sharif was false and aimed at defaming the federation. He said it was an attempt to implicate President Asif Ali Ten Percent Zardari
... husband of the late Benazir Bhutto, who has been singularly lacking in curiosity about who done her in ...
in the case. He said soon after the so-called plot came to light, he had directed the authorities concerned to get to the reality.

He confirmed that the FIA had started the paperwork but haven't done much else against six officials for concocting the plot.

According to the FIR, Punjab Special Branch chief Col (retd) Ehsanur Rehman, Director Special Branch Shahid Mahmood, Secretary to the Punjab Chief Minister Toqeer Shah and PML-N worker Talha Burki, with the help of two officials of the Crime Investigation Department, hatched the conspiracy to produce a false and fabricated intelligence report in a bid to create differences among the federal and provincial governments and the judiciary.
Posted by: Fred || 07/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Policy of seeking strategic depth has changed, US told
[Dawn] Pakistain doesn't have the option of "walking away from" Afghanistan, the way the US may end up doing, Ambassador Sherry Rehman told a meeting that saw her and senior Obama aides trading barbs over the Afghan conflict.

At a meeting in Aspen, Colorado, Obama officials again accused Pakistain of not doing enough to combat terrorism while the Pak envoy insisted that her country was doing all it could but was not getting credit for its sacrifices.

Although the United States and Pakistain agreed recently to renew efforts to rebuild their troubled relationship, the discussion -- posted live on the internet -- made it amply clear that they still disagreed on all major issues. The discussion precedes a key meeting between US and Pak spy chiefs in Washington on Aug 2 in which Pakistain is expected to renew its demands for ending drone strikes and may seek US help to stop cross-border attacks from Afghanistan.

But senior US officials disagreed with Pakistain on both the issues.

"These are critical masses of people that come in; this is not just potshots," said Ms Rehman while explaining Islamabad's position on cross-border attacks by Pak Taliban groups.

"They come in large numbers, with sophisticated weapons."

Speaking through a video link from Washington, she said that on 52 different occasions during the last eight months Pakistain had provided to American and NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis....
commanders in Afghanistan the locations from which the snuffies were attacking, to no avail.

President B.O.'s top adviser on the Afghan conflict Douglas E. Lute, however, rejected her claim. Mr Lute, a retired three-star general, insisted that cross-border infiltrations into Pakistain were less serious than the attacks carried out by the Afghan Taliban from their bases
inside Pakistain.

"There's no comparison of the Pak Taliban's relatively recent, small-in-scale presence inside Afghanistan...to the decades-long experience and relations between elements of the Pak government and the Afghan Taliban. So to compare these is simply, I think, unfair," Mr Lute said.

Criticising the CIA's drone strikes in Pakistain, Ms Rehman said it's time for that sort of 'robotic warfare' to end. "The drone strikes now see diminishing returns," she said, while acknowledging that up to this point they had helped kill dangerous thugs. "We will be seeking an end to drone strikes and there will be no compromise on that."

The drone strikes, she said, whipped up anti-American sentiment and "add to the pool of recruits we're fighting against," she said.

Ambassador Rehman pointed out that Pakistain's old policy of seeking strategic depth in Afghanistan had changed and so had its attitude towards India.

"We are not hedging bets on the Taliban," she said. But this change was not recognised in Washington nor was Pakistain's sacrifices in the war against terror, said the ambassador.

Quoting IMF estimates, she said Pakistain had lost almost $78 billion during the conflict that started after the Sept 11, 2011, terrorist attacks in the US. "More than 42,000 Pak civilians and soldiers have been killed," she said. "We are fighting every day and we are taking the hit."
Posted by: Fred || 07/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  Ambassador Rehman pointed out that Pakistain's old policy of seeking strategic depth in Afghanistan had changed and so had its attitude towards India

Which "Pakistan"?
Posted by: Pappy || 07/30/2012 13:23 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Iraqi official says Kurds in secret weapons deal
BAGHDAD: A high-ranking Iraqi official yesterday said security agencies have uncovered a secret weapons deal between the autonomous Kurdistan region and an unnamed foreign country. “Iraqi security agencies (discovered) a secret weapons deal between the president of the Iraqi Kurdistan region, Massud Barzani, and a foreign country,” the security official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

“The weapons include anti-armor and anti-aircraft missiles, and a large number of heavy weapons,” the official said, without specifying the exact weapons systems.
The Iraqi Kurds have been helping the Syrian Kurds, who have been playing both sides of the street. Money likely came from the Saudis, and Americans have been coordinating it. The Kurds take another step towards a nation of their own, the Saudis get to topple Pencilneck, and America again shows that the region doesn't move without our approval.
The official said Iraqi authorities have obtained “all the documents” pertaining to the deal, which is for “weapons of a Russian type made in 2004,” and are trying to block it. “This step is a breach of the law and the Iraqi constitution, because the only side that can (buy arms) is the federal ministry of defense,” the official said.

Several Kurdish officials either declined to comment on the allegation or could not immediately be reached by AFP.

For its part Baghdad has ordered 36 F-16 warplanes from the United States, and has already fielded M1 Abrams tanks. Barzani expressed concern over the F-16s earlier this year, saying he was opposed to the sale of these warplanes while Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki was in office, fearing they would be used against Kurdistan.

On July 17th, Umeed Sabah, spokesman for the Kurdistan region presidency also said in a statement that Maliki had “plans for the militarization of Iraqi society and supports the option of violence as a means to reach political aims.”

Relations between Baghdad and Kurdistan are at a low ebb over multiple festering disputes. The two sides are at odds over Kurdistan’s refusal to seek approval from the central government for oil contracts it has awarded to foreign firms, and over a swathe of disputed territory in north Iraq.

Barzani has also supported efforts to pass a no-confidence motion against Maliki.

And on Wednesday local Kurdish peshmerga security forces prevented soldiers sent by Baghdad from reaching a disputed north Iraq area that borders Syria, a top Kurdish security official said.
Posted by: Steve White || 07/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  president of the Iraqi Kurdistan region, Massud Barzani

I didn't know until this day that it was Barzani all along.
Posted by: Spot || 07/30/2012 7:43 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Mitt Romney: Israelis richer than Palestinians because of 'hand of providence'
Mitt Romney was accused by all the usual tools of racism after he appeared to suggest that Israelis were richer than Palestinians because of their cultural and religious superiority.

Struggling to regain momentum after a troubled trip to London, where he criticised Olympic preparations, the Republican presidential candidate has stirred up further ill-feeling amongst people who hate him anyways.

He ended the Israeli leg of his world tour on Monday facing Palestinian charges that he promoted "extremism, violence and hatred".
And who would know more about those than a Palestinian?
As he prepared to stoke yet more controversy on Tuesday in Poland with a speech hostile to Russia, Mr Romney demonstrated what the usual leftist and media critics see as a penchant for causing offence abroad at a fundraising breakfast in Jerusalem.

Attempting to bestow praise on his Jewish audience, he told them that Israel was more prosperous than the Palestinian territories because of its culture and the "hand of providence", seen by some Palestinians as a reference to God.

"As you I come here and I look out over this city and consider the accomplishments of the people of this nation, I recognise the power of at least culture and a few other things," he said.

"As you come here and you see the GDP per capita, for instance, in Israel which is about $21,000 (£13,300), and compare that with the GDP per capital just across the areas managed by the Palestinian Authority, which is more like $10,000 per capita, you notice such a dramatically stark difference in economic vitality."

Senior Palestinian figures reacted angrily.
Did they grimace fiercely and make faces?
"It is a racist statement and this man doesn't realise that the Palestinian economy cannot reach its potential because there is an Israeli occupation," said Saeb Erekat, the veteran Palestinian tool negotiator with close ties with Barack Obama who won't admit it the US.

"It seems to me this man lacks information, knowledge, vision and understanding of this region and its people. What this man is doing here is just promoting extremism, violence and hatred, and this is absolutely unacceptable."
Posted by: tipper || 07/30/2012 18:13 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  >Mitt Romney was accused of racism after he appeared to suggest that Israelis were richer than Palestinians because of their cultural and religious superiority.
Struggling to regain momentum after a troubled trip to London, where he criticised Olympic preparations, the Republican presidential candidate has stirred up further ill-feeling.

He's just what America needs. A politician who tells the truth.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 07/30/2012 18:23 Comments || Top||

#2  "As you come here and you see the GDP per capita, for instance, in Israel which is about $21,000 (£13,300), and compare that with the GDP per capital just across the areas managed by the Palestinian Authority, which is more like $10,000 per capita, you notice such a dramatically stark difference in economic vitality."

It did not help that Mr Romney's figures were also way off the mark. Israel's per capita GDP stands at $31,000, while the figure for the Palestinians is just over $1,500.
Posted by: tipper || 07/30/2012 18:29 Comments || Top||

#3  Senior Palestinian figures reacted angrily.

No gun sex? Is ammo in short supply this time of the year?
Posted by: Raj || 07/30/2012 19:30 Comments || Top||

#4  No gun sex? Is ammo in short supply this time of the year?

Well, yeah, with the low GDP per capita, they have to do bench reloading, and they're still trying to build back up from Ramadan.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 07/30/2012 19:39 Comments || Top||

#5  I'll say it again - in short, iff not for their hatred of the state of Israel, the Paleos Arab-Muslim neighbors wouldn't care anything about 'em.

IMO GREAT IRONY IN THE ISRAELI-PALEO STRUGGLE IS THAT THE PALEOS ARE FIGHTING + ATTEMPTING TO DESTROY THE VERY ISRAELI PEOPLE THEY NEED TO SURVIVE + PROSPER AS A SOVEREIGN NATION.

Undoubtedly some this region's Leaders need to have their ears seriously + painfully bopped by their Mothers or Grandmothers.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 07/30/2012 19:40 Comments || Top||

#6  I must say I disagree with Romney on this one.

The Israelis are richer because they work hard and invent useful things.

The Arabs who mislabel themselves as paleos have less because they're lazy whiners who expect everyone else to support them while they're busy murdering Joooos rather than actually doing any real work. They live in a sewer of their own making, and - judging from their behavior - deserve to.
Posted by: Barbara || 07/30/2012 20:41 Comments || Top||

#7  I was wondering how they would smear Romney and not credit dissinting Israelis..they reached into the toolbox and pulled out the Paleo Angle.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 07/30/2012 21:33 Comments || Top||


Romney declares Jerusalem as Israel's capital
JERUSALEM: US Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Sunday declared Jerusalem as the capital of the Jewish state and told an Israeli audience that the United States has “a solemn duty and a moral imperative” to block Iran from achieving nuclear weapons capability.

In an apparent endorsement of a position held by the Jewish state but never accepted by the international community, Romney said: “It is a deeply moving experience to be in Jerusalem, the capital of Israel.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked him for his remarks, later telling him: “I want to thank you for those very strong words of support and friendship for Israel and for Jerusalem that we heard today. Jerusalem today is marking the destruction of the city thousands of years ago. As you see it’s been rebuilt by the Jewish people, open to all the three great faiths, vibrant, bustling,” he said, shortly after the end of Tisha B’Av, when Jews traditionally fast to mourn the destruction of the two Jewish Temples.

“And as you said, Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, and Jerusalem will always be the capital of Israel,” he said in remarks communicated by his office.

The status of Jerusalem is one of the most contentious issues of the long-running Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israel, which occupied the largely Arab eastern sector during the 1967 Six-Day War and later annexed it, claims both halves of the city to be its “eternal and undivided capital.”

But the Palestinians want the eastern sector as capital of their promised state and fiercely oppose any Israeli attempt to extend sovereignty there.

Most of the international community, including the United States, does not formally recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital due to the ongoing conflict with the Palestinians, insisting the issue can only be resolved through final status negotiations. All foreign embassies are located in Tel Aviv with consular representation in Jerusalem.

In 1995, the US Congress passed the so-called Jerusalem Embassy Act recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and stating that the US embassy should be moved there.
But an inbuilt waiver, which allowed the president to temporarily postpone the move on grounds of “national security” has been repeatedly invoked by successive US presidents, from Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barak Obama, meaning the law has never taken effect.
Sadly, Romney will likely do the same...
Almost four years ago, in August 2008 — some three months before the US presidential election — Obama, then a Democratic hopeful, made a similar statement about Jerusalem. “Jerusalem will be the capital of Israel. I have said that before and I will say that again,” Obama said on a tour of the southern Israeli town of Sderot, making clear that the status of the city was “a final status issue.”
Under the bus with you, O Jerusalem!
Posted by: Steve White || 07/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Perhaps Mittens' campaign camp learned about Charles Krauthammer's comment that NO ISRAELI/
JEWISH-AMERICAN WILL VOTE FOR OBAMA.

Mucho doubts on the Jewish lobby also as per George Will, Cal Thomas, + Pat Buchanan.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 07/30/2012 0:12 Comments || Top||

#2  The law has never been put in effect since the arab world would have gone batshit crazy(er) and made dealing with them even more difficult.

However, thanks to the arab "spring", that may no longer be the case since they have all gone hardline or are in civil war.
Posted by: DarthVader || 07/30/2012 1:04 Comments || Top||

#3  They always talk like this when campaigning for election. Once they get elected, however, ...
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 07/30/2012 11:00 Comments || Top||

#4  The law has never been put in effect since the arab world would have gone batshit crazy(er) and made dealing with them even more difficult.

And yet they went ahead and got batshit crazier anyway.
Posted by: Rob Crawford || 07/30/2012 12:59 Comments || Top||

#5  "Don't like it? Tough noogies. Learn to live with disappointment."
Posted by: mojo || 07/30/2012 14:00 Comments || Top||

#6  because the PAleos have been such partners for peace
Posted by: Frank G || 07/30/2012 14:56 Comments || Top||

#7  "Only Romney can go to Jerusalem."
Posted by: Shinter Javirong9154 || 07/30/2012 15:29 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Muallem: Rebels in Aleppo 'Will Definitely be Defeated'
[An Nahar] Rebels fighting government forces in Syria's commercial capital Aleppo
...For centuries, Aleppo was Greater Syria's largest city and the Ottoman Empire's third, after Constantinople and Cairo. Although relatively close to Damascus in distance, Aleppans regard Damascenes as country cousins...
"will definitely be defeated," Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem said on an unannounced visit to key ally Iran on Sunday.

"We believe that all the anti-Syrian forces have gathered in Aleppo to fight the government... and they will definitely be defeated," he told a joint news conference in Tehran with Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi.

His assertion came as Syrian troops, backed by airpower and tanks, pushed on in the second day of an assault on the northern city of Aleppo, sparking international fears of a humanitarian catastrophe.

Salehi warned that, if the Syria conflict worsened and the regime of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Oppressor of the Syrians and the Lebs...
fell, the consequences "would engulf the region and eventually the whole world."

He added that "it's naive and illusory to think that, if a (power) vacuum opens up in Syria and the government changes, a new government could be easily established."

He urged Syria's neighbors to think hard about the situation, otherwise "everyone will lose."

Syria and Iran accuse several countries in the region, notably Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in their national face...
, Qatar and Turkey, of aiding the rebels in their fight against Assad's forces, with direction from the United States and in support of Israeli goals.
Posted by: Fred || 07/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  As consistent wid ....

* WAFF > [Free Syrian Army Commander] SYRIAN REBEL LEADER MUSTAFA-AL-SHEIKH SAYS VICTORY AGZ ASSAD NOT IN SIGHT. Free Syrian Army has many divisions among its ranks + is seriously under-funded.

and

* TOPIX > ASSAD FORCES CLAIM VICTORY IN ALEPPO FIGHT.

On a separate note, I don't see Iran giving up on ally Baby Assad unless the Rebs are willing to still allow the Iranian Navy to have a presence in the country. Iff Turkey = PM Erdogan is actually sympathetic to the cause of Syria's Kurds, then the Rebel struggle agz Baby Assad may only be the beginning of a much larger, more dangerous Regional crisis vee anti-Kurd Iraq + Iran???

* WAFF > TURKISH ATTACK ON SYRIA'S NORTHERN KURDS[? see above] COULD PROMPT WIDER WAR. Iff Turkey follows through wid threat, it could be pulled into a conflict wid Assad regime = SYRIA, RUSSIA, + IRAN.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 07/30/2012 23:58 Comments || Top||


Observatory Says Almost Half of Syria Dead Killed since 'Truce'
[An Nahar] Almost half of those killed in Syria since the outbreak of the anti-regime revolt in March 2011 have died since a failed U.N.-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...
truce was due to come into force, a monitoring group said on Sunday.

"Some 45 percent of those killed in Syria have been killed since April 12," said Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the Britannia-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Abdel Rahman said 9,098 people have been killed since the ceasefire brokered by international envoy Kofi Annan
...Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh and so far the worst Secretary-General of the UN. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize for something or other that probably sounded good at the time. In December 2004, reports surfaced that Kofi's son Kojo received payments from the Swiss company Cotecna, which had won a lucrative contract under the UN Oil-for-Food Program. Kofi Annan called for an investigation to look into the allegations, which stirred up the expected cesspool but couldn't seem to come up with enough evidence to indict Kofi himself, or even Kojo...
was supposed to begin.

"This month alone, 3,867 people have been killed -- 2,764 civilians, 1,000 regime troops and 103 defectors," he added, noting that he counted civilians who have taken up arms against the regime under the civilian category.
Posted by: Fred || 07/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  Why call it a truce, it's a temporary lull to regroup and rearm after a whuppin', aka hudna.
Posted by: Tarzan Spairt4671 || 07/30/2012 9:30 Comments || Top||

#2  Kofi ("Like the drink, only not spelt the same.") is ON THE JOB (read "take")...
Posted by: mojo || 07/30/2012 14:01 Comments || Top||


Romney talks tough on Iran during visit to Israel
(Rooters) - Republican candidate Willard Mitt Romney
...former governor of Massachussetts, currently the presumptive Publican nominee for president. He is the son of the former governor of Michigan, George Romney, who himself ran for president after saving American Motors from failure, though not permanently. Romney's charisma is best defined as soporific, which is probably why he is leading the Publican field. On the plus side, he isn't President B.O...
, presenting himself as Israel's best friend in the November 6 presidential election, said on Sunday that "any and all measures" must be used to keep Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.

A top aide said Romney would support an Israeli military strike if all options had been exhausted, but the candidate himself balked at repeating that position.

In a foreign policy speech in Jerusalem, Romney voiced strong support for the alliance between the United States and Israel and seemed to suggest that President Barack Obama
Because I won...
had let the relationship flounder.

"We cannot stand silent as those who seek to undermine Israel voice their criticisms. And we certainly should not join in that criticism. Diplomatic distance in public between our nations emboldens Israel's adversaries," said Romney, the walls of the Old City lining the hilltop behind him.
Posted by: Fred || 07/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  Bush talked tough with Iran. Obama has not talked tough with Iran. And there was the Stuxnet leak. Romney is going to have to do more than talk tough with Iran. He needs to turn up the volume. His speech was a good start since Obama has not even been to Israel during his Presidency contrary to what Nancy Pelosi thinks. Carney does not seem to know the capital of Israel and where it is located.
Posted by: JohnQC || 07/30/2012 12:11 Comments || Top||


Iran Warns Arab States Over Syria
[WSJ] Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi warned Sunni-led Arab states and Turkey, who are supporting Syria's opposition in its battle with Tehran's ally Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Supressor of the Damascenes...
, that their insistence on toppling the Syrian regime will destabilize their own countries and the entire region.

"If they continue moving in the wrong direction then let them rest assured that the consequences of this will affect them too," said Mr. Salehi.
Posted by: Fred || 07/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran


Syria's opposition calls on UN to prevent 'massacres'
[Dawn] Syria's main opposition group called on Sunday on the UN Security Council to hold an emergency session to discuss the fighting in the northern city of Aleppo
...For centuries, Aleppo was Greater Syria's largest city and the Ottoman Empire's third, after Constantinople and Cairo. Although relatively close to Damascus in distance, Aleppans regard Damascenes as country cousins...
, saying that the regime is planning "massacres."

"The Syrian National Council calls on the UN Security Council to hold an emergency session to discuss the situation in Aleppo, Damascus
...Capital of the last remaining Baathist regime in the world...
and Homs," the SNC said, adding that the "regime (of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Supressor of the Damascenes...
) is preparing to storm and commit massacres in Aleppo."

As fighting raged in a major regime offensive on the city, the SNC warned that Assad's army was preparing "massacres of the type committed in Houla, Al-Kubeir and Treimsa," in reference to attacks on villages in the central provinces of Homs and Hama.

The UN Security Council should "take action to provide civilians with the needed protection from brutal bombing campaigns," the SNC statement said.

It also called on "countries which are friendly to the Syrian people to take serious steps towards the establishment of a no-fly zone, and the creation of safe zones where two million displaced people can seek protection."
Posted by: Fred || 07/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria



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Two weeks of WOT
Mon 2012-07-30
  Nine dead after Dagestani raid
Sun 2012-07-29
  Syria Rebels Fend Off Aleppo Assault
Sat 2012-07-28
  Helicopter gunships strafe Aleppo
Fri 2012-07-27
  62 Mexican Policias Federales kidnapped in Michoacan
Thu 2012-07-26
  Syrian envoy to Cyprus defects
Wed 2012-07-25
  Syrian forces attack mosque, kill 30
Tue 2012-07-24
  Syrian Army Retakes Most of Damascus
Mon 2012-07-23
  23 wounded in Iraq car bombing
Sun 2012-07-22
  Pencilneck may use chemical weapons against rebels
Sat 2012-07-21
  Islamic Jihad Leadership Abandons Syria For Iran
Fri 2012-07-20
  Syria Rebels Take 'All Iraq Border Points'
Thu 2012-07-19
  Pencilneck runs away to Latakia
Wed 2012-07-18
  Two Buses With 40 Israeli Tourists Blown Up At Bulgarian Airport
Tue 2012-07-17
  Blast kills MP in Mogadishu, Militants claim responsibility
Mon 2012-07-16
  US Ship Fires on Boat off Dubai, 1 Dead

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