#5
Is there an asterisk next to these 275 non- boots on the ground troops so their presence on the ground doesn't count? After all, Chuckles said boots on the ground was off the table.
#9
I figured it was tennis shoes to reflect the new inclusive personel policy and maintain "no boots on the ground" "promiss". Might not even be carrying those icky assault gun thingees...
#1
See also GUAM PDN > RISE OF SHIITE MILITIAS COULD FRACTURE IRAQ.
and
* WORLD MILITARY FORUM > "DEUTSCHE WELLE" GERMAN MEDIA: ISIS/ISIL BATTLE FOR IRAQ COULD SPARK 30-YEAR SHIA-SUNNI WAR. IRAN TO ESTABLISH POTENT SHIA AXIS OF STATES IN THE MIDDLE EAST.
[Washington Times] The Pentagon is pushing back against a State Department assertion that there is the potential for a military coordination with Iran to help Iraq combat violent al Qaeda-inspired Sunni extremists.
Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby told reporters Monday morning that although there is the potential for discussions with Iran about aggressive actions committed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in Iraq, there is no plan to consult Iran on military activities inside Iraq. No DoD plan anyway.
#4
Cool Guam am, sounding pretty sweet. I am going to try to get there one day Joe. Not sure when, I am a very poor traveler, but you on on my bucket list.
[BBC] Ukraine says Russia has cut off all gas supplies to Kiev, in a major escalation of a dispute between the two nations.
"Gas supplies to Ukraine have been reduced to zero," Ukrainian Energy Minister Yuri Prodan said.
Russia's state-owned gas giant Gazprom said Ukraine had to pay upfront for its gas supplies, after Kiev failed to settle its huge debt.
Gazprom had asked Kiev to pay $1.95bn (1.15bn) of the $4.5bn it said it was owed by 06:00 GMT.
The company said it would continue to supply gas to Europe, although Gazprom chief Alexei Miller warned there now were "significant" risks for gas transit to the EU via Ukraine.
Ukraine has enough reserves to last until December, according to state gas company Naftogaz.
Russia-Ukraine ties remain tense since Moscow annexed Crimea in February.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/16/2014
12:53 ||
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#1
Don't owe money to the Mafia
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/16/2014 18:36
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#2
This action has been threatened for some time, possibly months. Are we ready to help take up the slack? Frank nails it. Doing business with the mob has it's downside.
[CNN] One by one, Iraqi cities seem to be falling to a myrmidon group bent on continuing its march forward.
What's happening in Iraq now has all the makings of a civil war -- and a full-blown foreign policy crisis. The United States is mulling direct talks with Iran while it boosts security at the U.S. Embassy in Storied Baghdad with military personnel.
Why Iran? In recent days, Iran has sent hundreds of troops to fight alongside Iraqi government security forces in Diyala province, a security bigshot in Storied Baghdad told CNN.
Clearly, the crisis in Iraq is spilling far beyond its borders. Here's the latest:
Iraq's military strikes back at ISIS
After days of violent advances by the myrmidon group ISIS, the Iraqi air force killed more than 200 forces of Evil from the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, Iraqi state TV reported Monday.
The air raids against ISIS took place in Saqlawiya, northwest of Falluja, according to state TV.
ISIS has been fighting to take control of Iraq, seizing cities across the country.
Iran enters the mix
In recent days, Iran has sent about 500 of its Revolutionary Guard troops to fight alongside Iraqi government security forces in Iraq's Diyala province, according to a security bigshot in Storied Baghdad who spoke to CNN on Friday.
But Iranian President Hassan Rouhani denied reports that some of Iran's elite forces are in Iraq to help bolster Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, a fellow Shiite.
"If the Iraqi government wants us to help, we will consider it," Rouhani said, according to an English translation of his remarks Saturday on state-run Press TV.
But "so far they have not asked specifically for help." Rouhani added that Iran could give strategic guidance, if it's requested.
The B.O. regime is exploring possible direct talks with Iran over the deteriorating situation in Iraq, two senior U.S. officials told CNN.
Both officials ruled out any type of teaming up with Iran because the United States and Iran don't have a lot of common interests -- other than a stable Iraq.
The United States is wary of furthering Iran's already considerable influence in Iraq. The Shiite Iranian regime is al-Malaki's closest ally in the region. And the B.O. regime is concerned that appearing to team up with Iran would both alienate Iraq's Sunni minority and worry Sunni allies of the United States in the region.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/16/2014
12:48 ||
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#2
An unconfirmed SITREP from someone within the US Gov't who has recently returned:
Subject: Situation update - Iraq (Baghdad focused) 6/14 Gents, thought you might want to hear from the front. Just returned from Baghdad day before yesterday checking on my folks. This is as current and objective as I have seen to date.
The current situation in Baghdad is best described as tense. Mass media coverage over the last few days of unfolding events has seen a run on supplies/fuel/at banks by civilians who are preparing in the event the worst does happen. It is not yet to the point of a panic but locals are nervous. The airport is extremely busy and flights elsewhere (especially to the Kurdish Region) are far overbooked. The overall situation in the country can only be described as very serious and with yesterdays call to arms by Ayatollah Sistani, the prospect of a sectarian civil war is the highest it has ever been and has the potential to even be worse than the 2006/2007 era.
But - before going any further - it is worth putting the overall situation into context, and describing the ISIS advance to Baghdad thus far. The portrayal in the media since this situation broke five days ago has been one of a relentless advance by ISIS. According to CNN etc, ISIS began by capturing Mosul, then advanced in a Blitzkrieg movement south, routing the Iraqi Army and capturing vast swathes of terrain as they went. This continuous sensationalization by the mainstream western media is the number one driving factor for the tension in Baghdad rather than a true appreciation of fact.
While the reporting of the folding of the Iraqi Army in Mosul and areas north of Baghdad is accurate (and is the reason why this situation has developed as it has), the rest of it is far less simple than is widely portrayed in the western media, and the true facts need putting into context. Most of this has already been covered in the GW Daily Reports from Jun 10-14 inclusive, and summarized in the GW weekly released last night. It is recommended these documents are reviewed for a balanced understanding of what has transpired so far. But to put some key points down on paper:
The last week in May/first week in June saw a substantial increase in insurgent activity across the country. Bombings and spectacular attacks ranged across the country, from VBIEDs near Karbala and Najaf, an assassination of a senior Sahwa commander in Anbar, an assault on Sammara and finally the attack on Mosul which caused the rout of the Iraqi Army and everything that then subsequently unfolded over the course of the last five days. The key takeaways, however are:
The advance from Mosul to the outskirts of Baghdad has been blown out of proportion. What in actuality happened was ISIS were masterful in capitalizing on their success in Mosul and then gaining and achieving momentum. But rather than a straightforward advance to Baghdad, it is more realistic to consider that news of the Mosul success and fleeing Iraqi Army traveled fast throughout the Sunni dominated areas north of Baghdad. ISIS units already in situ in their traditional locations rallied behind their flag and mobilized in their local areas all at once. Similar news spread amongst the Iraqi Army, whose commanders were the first to flee, which caused the mass pullout/desertion/withdrawal. ISIS then moved into the Iraqi Army positions, taking the majority of them without a fight or meeting only mediocre resistance. What is extremely import to note is: ISIS have yet to move outside of areas where they have always been traditionally strong. In addition, ISIS have met no resistance from the predominantly Sunni population in these areas who have been downtrodden and marginalized to the point where they are at least passively supporting ISIS, maintaining a laissez faire outlook. Some of this support though is no doubt through fear ISIS will have presented them with a You are either with us or against us ultimatum. In the total absence of official law and order, most Sunni locals will have little choice but to along with it for now. It should also at this point be noted that ISIS is not just ISIS. Other militant organizations and local Sunni tribes who are going along with it for now are involved. These ultimately are not interested in the level of radicalism that true ISIS demands so this is a fragile alliance at best, which will no doubt come to the fore once true resistance appears, or when ISIS start summarily executing peop0le for crimes and issuing strict laws on how to live etc (and we are already seeing evidence of this in Mosul and Tikrit).
Back to the Advance on Baghdad. Understanding the above it should now be clear that ISIS have not yet set one foot outside areas where they have traditionally been strong. Which is why the advance has stalled in the area of Samarra/Balad. In Diyala with its more mixed populace, they have not even advanced that far south in parallel Shia militia groups such as AAH are openly fighting them and the Iraqi Army is maintaining a presence there also. Not to mention in Northern Diyala, the limits of control are tested between ISIS/Peshmerga testing the Peshmerga are currently winning as they consolidate positions and expand their region (they will likely be the ultimate winners in all of this). The minute they step off their traditional turf into areas where they have no popular support (i.e. Shia parts of the country northern Baghdad for instance .) we will see how well they do trying to fight conventionally....
The massive Shia mobilization that is currently occurring in Baghdad and the south means that the advance in a conventional sense, is likely to remain stalled where it is if not beaten back some in the coming days.
So whats the realistic prognosis of the situation for Taji and Baghdad?
Taji has become the main reception point for falling back troops and the point from where counter offensives will be planned and organized. On current available information, the massing troops there and the size of the facility means that ISIS as yet will have very little chance of attacking it in a conventional sense, so will get back to what they do best car bombs, suicide attacks etc, along with IDF. The fact that the group has consolidated ground now with a frontline behind which they have almost unrestrained freedom of movement means that supply lines will be extended so possibly we will see the frequency of these kind of attacks increasing. Not to mention the masses of military equipment (and cash) they have captured (although it appears much of it has gone to Syria which is indicative that the campaign there may be of greater or least equal importance to the movement). Same goes for Balad airbase to the north of Taji as yet the facility has not been directly attacked despite ISIS proximity, and both will be extremely well defended but no denying the facilities will be ISIS priority targets.
It also goes for Baghdad itself. In addition to the northern axis, we need to consider what is happening Anbar to the west (and the linked Jurf al-Sakhr district of Babil province to the southwest of Baghdad). There has been a noticeable drawing back of Iraqi Army units from Fallujah (presumably so properly battle hardened veterans can redeploy elsewhere). The has led to more freedom of movement for ISIS/anti govt elements again with the implication of being able to stage closer to Baghdad. But again even from this axis at this juncture we are talking increased unconventional guerilla attacks in the capital rather than the media Lets all drive right into town sketch. I do see increased suicide attacks, car bombings possibly even IDF on the BIAP and IZ (and maybe even increased conventional clashes in Abu Ghraib and therefore encroaching on the outer BIAP perimeter), but based on current info, not a conventional type assault as the press is talking. Baghdad is absolutely teeming with Iraqi Army troops and now, Shia militia of all kinds, including the now gloves-off Jaish al Mahdi (JAM) and Asaib Ahl al Haq (AAH), and I dont doubt (as with some other parts of the country) Iranian Quds force too. Iranian involvement is set to increase as this progresses.
So to conclude for ISIS to just go strolling into Baghdad as they have in a similar fashion in the areas where theyve always been strong is currently completely unrealistic (again, media to blame for it). However what is likely is an increase in car bombings, suicide bombings, IDF threat to BIAP and IZ. Short notice lockdowns throughout the city are also possible, as is the potential for short notice vehicle movement restrictions and curfews (already one in place from 10pm till 6am). The other major burning issue right now is the mass Shia mobilization and the fighting that is to follow north of the capital: Once this begins, we are going to hear many reports of atrocities committed against both Sunni and Shia communities as such a mass, fast mobilization means that training will be poor as will discipline. And we already know what the other side is capable of. This has the very real potential to spark bitterness and a renewed civil war period. In Baghdad, this may well translate as mass sectarian killings on either side on the streets in capital in conjunction with attacks on Mosques etc (as happened in 2006/2007) depending as to what transpires over the coming days.
I get that ISIS/ISIL has an affinity for the Sunni dominated areas. By the same token the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) and their Shia malitias will have to fight in these same areas to dislodge ISIS/ISIL and Jaysh Rijal al-Tariqa al-Naqshbandia (JRTN) forces.
By abandoning the field to Iran Obama is vastly diminishing US influence in the area. Given that next president will do much to make the US energy independent we may not care. But Europe better wake up; they will be on their own and at the mercy of:
1. Whoever is running the middle east and
2. Putin
#4
It was inevitable. Best COA is to let them slug it out. If we involve ourselves, they'll likely all turn on us. Iraq is in Chapter-13, no additional investments should be made.
#5
Agreed B. So who will capture the oil fields? While we lost a lot of treasure in Iraq, letting them slug it out is probably the best plan. I cant see Iran being in there for very long and the old wounds from the Iran/Iraq war will resurface. I have not heard a chirp from Europe or China. I would expect something from China as I believe Europe has defacto surrendered to Putin and Sharia law.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
06/16/2014 17:57
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#6
As of an hour ago, the feckless fok is now considering sending in SOF.
#7
If only to demo all of the US equipment and to help with the NEO. Might be good to have them on the ground for situational awareness and to track QUD forces, leaders and TTPs. They could also work to disrupt Qud ops. But knowing our feckless leader it will be to insure the golf courses are kept clean.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
06/16/2014 18:03
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#8
He's scratching his arse, looking for an answer. ANY answer.
Not at all unlike the Major General suddenly appointing as the new Bergdahl investigating officer. Of course the appointing authority can toss 'all or part' of an AR 15-6 [which appears to be what has happened]. We'll just investigate Bergdahl's actions until we get the right answer.
[NY Times] Pak fighter jets attacked Taliban strongholds on Monday, and Islamist fighters retaliated with a roadside kabooming, as a long-expected military operation in North Wazoo, the country's most lawless tribal district, moved into its second day.
The Pak military command said in a statement that it had attacked six targets in the district and killed 27 hard boy fighters. Most of the strikes occurred in the Shawal Valley, a thickly forested highland area that Taliban and Al Qaeda gunnies use as a sanctuary.
Several hours later, the military reported that at least six soldiers were killed when an kaboom struck their convoy north of Miram Shah, the main town in North Waziristan.
The action on Sunday and Monday, with a combined reported corpse count of at least 167 people, suggested that the military's Waziristan campaign will initially be waged mainly from the air.
Continue reading the main story
RELATED COVERAGE
Some attempted to flee Miram Shah the main town in North Waziristan on Saturday, ahead of the offensive.Pakistain Military Wages Assault Against MilitantsJUNE 15, 2014
U.S. Drone Hits Pakistain for 2nd Time in 12 HoursJUNE 12, 2014
Missile Strike by C.I.A. Drone Kills at Least 4, Pakistain ReportsJUNE 11, 2014
The military has said little else about the scope of the operation, except to note that artillery and ground troops will also be used. One official told Agence La Belle France-Presse that as many as 30,000 soldiers could be involved.
The military's casualty figures could not be independently confirmed because the tribal belt is inaccessible to outside journalists, and local journalists operate under considerable restrictions.
Paks in the rest of the country are girding for possible reprisal attacks in major cities. Still, public opinion seems largely to support the operation, which the army calls Zarb-e-Azb, or Strike of the Prophet's Sword. "Operation at last!" read Monday's front-page headline in The Nation, a conservative English-language daily.
In a brief speech to the Pak Parliament on Monday, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... tried to address speculation that there had been disagreement between his government and the military over the offensive. He called it a joint decision that became necessary after the Pak Taliban kept up a barrage of attacks during attempts to engage them in peace talks.
"We were talking to these groups and being attacked at the same time," he said. Mr. Sharif recounted attacks on an Islamabad court and last week's siege of the Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... airport, noting that Pak citizens no longer felt safe. He said his government was committed to restoring peace in Pakistain.
Mr. Sharif said that while there may have been different opinions about a military operation and peace negotiations in the past, "this chapter now has to be closed."
Mr. Sharif's main political rival, Imran Khan ... aka Taliban Khan, who ain't the sharpest bulb on the national tree... of the Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf ...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations.... party, has routinely criticized the Sharif administration for not being serious about negotiating with hard boy groups. However, we can't all be heroes. Somebody has to sit on the curb and applaud when they go by... television channels reported on Wednesday that Mr. Khan's party would be backing the military operation.
Public opinion in Pakistain has long been divided on whether to try to end the Taliban insurgency through negotiations. But the hard boy attack on the Karachi airport last week, which killed at least 36 people and temporarily closed the airfield, has been seen as a humiliation and has galvanized opinion in favor of military action.
Even so, experts warn that the Taliban has a broad network of hard boy supporters across the country, some of them in allied jihadist groups, which could be used to hit back.
On Monday in Multan, a city in Punjab Province, unidentified gunnieskidnapped a nephew of the country's chief justice, police officials and family members said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility, and it was not clear whether the abduction was related to the North Waziristan offensive. But one of the victim's relatives, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that the missing man worked as a junior official at Inter-Services Intelligence, the country's powerful spy agency.
The army said on Monday that it had blocked all entry points between North Waziristan and the rest of Pakistain, and had requested assistance from the Afghan government in sealing North Waziristan's border with the Afghan province of Khost ...which coincidentally borders North Wazoo and Kurram Agency... .
A Taliban capo, speaking by telephone from Waziristan, said that surveillance drones were seen in the skies over the district, showing that the United States was helping Pakistain with its offensive. "They are jointly conducting this operation against us, helping each other and sharing intelligence," he said.
The Mighty Pak Army, however, has its own drones and recently started using them over Waziristan. Unlike some American drones, the Pak drones carry no weapons.
The Taliban warned foreign companies and airlines to leave Pakistain or risk becoming targets in the conflict. "They should immediately suspend their ongoing matters with Pakistain and prepare to leave Pakistain, otherwise they will be responsible for their own loss," a Taliban front man, Shahidullah Shahid, said in a statement.
After seven years of bloodshed that has killed thousands of Pak civilians and soldiers, the military is trying to tackle the gunnies in their tribal-belt stronghold. "These enemies of the state will be denied space anywhere across the country," said a military statement issued shortly after the operation started on Sunday.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/16/2014
12:46 ||
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[ECONOMICTIMES.INDIATIMES] Several Uyghur faceless myrmidons from China's volatile Xinjiang province were among 50 turbans killed in air raids launched by Pak fighter jets in North Wazoo on the hideouts of foreign terror groups, Chinese official media reported today.
"There are reports of some ETIM gunnies also killed in the strikes," Pakistain military said in a new text message, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
The Pakistain military had said over 50 "terrorists, mostly Uzbek" were kill ..
Read more at:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/36667905.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst
Posted by: Fred ||
06/16/2014
12:44 ||
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#2
As per CNN + Net, some of the 13 individuals Beijing repor executed for terrorism today either don't look Chinese andor are mixed-race.
* TOPIX > [Foreign Policy] SHOULD CHINA DECLARE A WAR ON TERROR? of its own, espec given that Xinjiang miltants have allegedly linked themselves to the global terror network which in turn indics or infers that Foreign Militant will be coming to attack + destabilize China???
See earlier Net Artics about the ISIS surge in Iraq poses a threat to RUSSIA.
Moreso iff ... ...
* GUARDIAN.UK > AL-QAIDA VIDEO URGES MUSLIMS IN KASHMIR TO WAGE JIHAD IN INDIA, + follow the inspiring example of their Jihadi Brothers in Afghnaistan, Syria, + now Iraq.
[Ynet] Eight people have been locked away Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please! in Spain and a further three in Germany for suspected links with jihadi groups, especially in Iraq and Syria, authorities said Monday.
A Spanish Interior Ministry statement said police detained the eight in Madrid early Monday on suspicion of recruiting jihadi turbans for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant ... the current version of al-Qaeda in Iraq, just as blood-thirsty and well-beloved as the original... , or ISIS.
It said the cell was led by a person who lives in Spain but had previously been nabbed Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try! in Guantanamo Bay after being arrested in Afghanistan in 2001.
One assumes these are people who were watched for some time, but now the risk assessment has changed.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
06/16/2014
12:37 ||
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[Ynet] Prime Minister David Cameron ... has stated that he is certainly a big Thatcher fan, but I don't know whether that makes me a Thatcherite, which means he's not. Since he is not deeply ideological he lacks core principles and is easily led. He has been described as certainly not a Pitt, Elder or Younger, but he does wear a nice suit so maybe he's Beau Brummel ... said on Sunday Britannia had been too tolerant of Islamist radicalism in the past and allowed violent rhetoric to flourish, pledging a "muscular" approach to combat the problem.
Facing re-election next year, Cameron's tougher line comes days after the chief schools inspector said a culture of "fear and intimidation" existed in some schools due to what parts of the media called a Moslem krazed killer plot.
#1
Just to point out that Cameron was originally a PR man. I would advise also watching PMQ's on Wednesday lunch. He is very good there. To be very frank the Conservatives are and should be in power after that total cock up by Labour. Theresa May is also very good in her position as Home Secretary
[Politico] Six years in, Barack Obama is still battling a Bush hangover. The rising chaos in Iraq -- and the blame game over who's responsible -- are the latest reminders that halfway through his own second term, he's still often more consumed by dealing with the legacy of President George W. Bush than building his own. The Bush 'blame game' damage control roll out.
#5
Yes, they must have fed the trolls this weekend as a childhood friend, now a public serpent, with whom our politics disagree texted me this morning slobbering about W and Dickweed Chaney getting us into this mess... He had been quiet through the last 3,4,5 weekly crisis 's...somebody flipped the rock he lives under over.
"Champ believes in 'American Exceptionalism.' I... [D'Souza] believe American Exceptionalism is good. The Champ believes 'American Exceptionalism' is bad."
[Daily Beast] The takeaway isn't the targeting piece. Drones can provide effective targeting and battle damage assessment (BDA). The takeaway is the imbedded declassified link, which reveals the absence of strategic surprise and foreknowledge of pending calamity.
#2
funny how this administration can find justification for droning an American (note: a very bad person), trading terrorists for deserters, ignoring border laws, privacy laws and various constitutional constraints but just cannot seem to know what to do when bad guys are running up and down the street robbing banks and killing people.
#3
A third option is to go to Congress and ask it to reinterpret the al Qaeda AUMF to expand it to apply more broadly to all terrorist groups threatening Western interests.
Behold the Obama paradox. On the one hand he loathes the appearance that congress may be co-equal to his eminence. On the other hand consulting congress allows him to dither while appearing to do something. What ta do what ta do?
#10
OWG Globalism indics or infers that there can be no major war because Nuke-armed Russia + China + India are involved or have regional influence, + also Soon-to-be-Nuclear Iran + prolly not-a-few, anti-Iran Sunni states.
* TOPIX > {AEI] IRAQ IS BURNING, + THE US IS WATCHING.
Histoire' says the Bammer's behavior will likely be the same for China iff a shooting war ever breaks out between China + Japan, Vietnam, PHIL, etc. in East Asia-Pacific.
To be sure, as a good or proficient US Politico + alleged Anti-US US Marxist-Anarchist-Globalist [also read, PRO-CO-SUPERPOWER]the Bammer will "go thru the motions" and wilfully deploy a number of USDOD mil assets, but thats about all US Allies should expect.
Each OWG Global Fed Union + Co-Superpower principal(s) need to be effec differentiated + justified, one from any each + all others.
* RUSSIA TODAY > DESPERATE MEAURES: KERRY SAYS TO TURN TO IRAN, DRONE STRIKES TO FIGHT ISIS.
"Radical Measures".
* WASHINGTON FREE BEACON > SENIOR DHS OFFICIAL: "INEVITABLE THAT CALIPHATE RETURNS". ONLY CHOICE IS "WHETHER WE [US = West?] SUPPORT.
Can the US-West support the concept of effective [+ par?] "MUSLIM UNION" [aka "Islamic Union" + related] like it does "EUROPEAN UNION" [NAU = North Amer Union]???
Global? Nuclear? Shia-vs-Sunni-vs-Pan-Muslim? Caliphate? or Caliphates??
A rhino kvetsher? No, of course not. It's anti-Semitism that's to blame. Why do you think I'm doing this interview ?
"Perhaps if we shout, 'Emanuel Goldstein,' very loudly, they'll forget about Iraq, boss."
"Can't hurt, kid. Everyone knows Jews are like dogs for that stuff."
#1
Cantor was elected in my conservative district several times. If anything the district has been infiltrated by Northeast liberals. If anti-semitism is the issue then it would be the new folks moving into the district causing the difference.
During the election the only person mentioning Dave Brat was Cantor. Brat had no money and no campaign.
#3
Neither antisemitism nor philosemitism were factors in the honourable Congressman's career. The question is being raised by left-wing rags like CNN and the New York Times, and by Jewish Democratic activists seeking to tar Republicans now with what they would not credit them then.
"Cantor kept his smile but displayed a rare flash of anger. Listen, Im not into blaming anybody, he began, but I will say that the suggestion that I shouldve been traded to the Taliban for Sgt. Bergdahl really is not a serious contribution to any public policy debate.
#8
Listen, Im not into blaming anybody, he began, but I will say that the suggestion that I shouldve been traded to the Taliban for Sgt. Bergdahl really is not a serious contribution to any public policy debate.
I agree. It would have been much better to trade McCain or Boehner.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
06/16/2014 16:34
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[AnNahar] American teens are smoking less, drinking less and fighting less. But they're texting behind the wheel and spending a lot of time on video games and computers, according to the government's latest study of worrisome behavior.
Sure. When you don't have a job because your age bracket has something like 25% unemployment, you do things that are fun and cheap.
Generally speaking, the news is good. Most forms of drug use, weapons use and risky sex have been going down since the government started doing the survey every two years in 1991. Teens are wearing bicycle helmets and seat belts more, too.
"Overall, young people have more healthy behaviors than they did 20 years ago," said Dr. Stephanie Zaza, who oversees the risky-behavior study at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The results come from a study of 13,000 U.S. students last spring. Participation was voluntary and required parental permission, but responses were anonymous.
#3
I asked my neighbor why his teenage sons never help him clear his driveway after it snows. He said he hasnt yet figured how to attach USB ports to shovels.
#6
to further TW's comment re: teen unemployment: i am visiting 2 brothers both in the Michigan auto industry; one runs a parts store and cannot get anybody to work/ even apply; the other is an auto shop teacher and has multiple standing offers from shops, but none of his students want to move. even if it isonly 25-30 miles. all content to draw welfare
#7
Mine work, but in their free time they are buried into the computers. I wonder if our frustration with the kids on computers is anything like my grandparents railing about the evils of TV? For what its worth, my kids are much more well rounded than I and my friends ever were. Ya, they get in trouble but they have no tolerance for drugs or booze with their friends.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
06/16/2014 22:31
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[AnNahar] The United States is preparing to launch direct talks with Iran on how the longtime foes can halt a radical Sunni insurgency that has seized a swathe of Iraq, The Wall Street Journal reported.
We await with bated breath to discover if The Smartest Men In The Room demand surrender of the Iranian nuke program in exchange.
Set to begin next week,
Never mind, then. We can't wait that long, and Iran has already sent in something like 2,000 Revolutionary Guards.
the dialogue comes with Shiite Iran's neighbor mired in crisis once more with Sunni forces of Evil seizing a large swathe of Iraq and advancing toward Storied Baghdad.
"We haven't engaged and (have) nothing to preview," a U.S. official told Agence La Belle France Presse.
But there is a prevailing sense in Washington that the United States has not ruled out talks with Tehran either. The White House, while declining to comment on the Journal's report, did not deny it.
Deputy Secretary of State William Burns, who has led back-channel negotiations with Iran, traveled to Vienna, where he will join Under Secretary for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman, the State Department said.
Washington has responded to the sweeping unrest by deploying an aircraft carrier group to the Gulf, and President Barack Obama I mean, I do think at a certain point you've made enough money... is weighing possible military options while ruling out any return of U.S. combat troops to Iraq.
And Iran's President Hassan Rouhani made a surprise announcement over the weekend that Tehran may consider cooperating with Washington to fight the Sunni forces of Evil in Iraq.
Both countries have promised military support to Iraq if requested.
U.S. officials told the Journal, which published the report on its website Sunday for Monday's print edition, that it was not yet clear which diplomatic channel the B.O. regime would use to discuss the Iraq crisis with Iran.
But one possibility would be through Vienna, where US and Iranian diplomats are due to meet starting Monday for international talks seeking to clinch an agreement on limiting Iran's nuclear capabilities.
Some U.S. officials were skeptical about any potential progress that could be made in Iraq with Tehran, which has a different vision for its neighbor than Washington.
"This is a case where the enemy of our enemy is still our enemy," a U.S. defense official who has worked extensively in Iraq told the Journal. "Any shared interests in Iraq are limited."
In a sign of the seriousness of the threat from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, tweets attributed to the forces of Evil claimed they had killed 1,700 Shia soldiers.
Photos posted online were also said to show ISIL fighters summarily executing dozens of captured members of the security forces.
The United States denounced the "horrifying" massacre, which has not yet been independently confirmed.
#1
The empty suit administration is sounding more and more like the UN with all of their condemnations and inactivity.
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
06/16/2014 1:34
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#2
Quds forse is already in contact and fighting. 1st casualties being reported in Iran. From what Im hearing,some light infantry in trucks is marshaling on the Iraqi side of the border in friendly Shiite dominated areas, and will likely move in force to secure Shiite religious sites, and then directly engage the ISIS, as well as local Sunnis. Rumors in Baghdad also say the Iranians have a a mech bn and artillery getting ready on the Iranian side, to cross over once Maliki asks formally for help - so the Iranians finally get effective (de facto, not de jure) control of a chunk of Iraq, and they get to be the Good Guys while doing it.
#5
Except I don't think the Jews are going to play by a script put forth by our feckless-community-organizer-in-chief when their existence in on the line.
#9
Again the hand of ValJar and that moron Rice. Since all policy is seen through a Chicago political lens and pro-Muslim attitude, ValJar's affinity for her place of birth doesn't seem out of place. Helping Iran while thumbing you nose at the Jews is a twofer for her and Champ stays out of the WH and gets folding with syncophants with raising money and giving endless speeches
[AnNahar] Three gangs from northern Mali announced in Algiers on Sunday that they have agreed to begin talks with the Bamako government aimed at resolving long-standing disputes.
The National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA), the High Council for the Unity of Azawad (HCUA) and the Arab Movement of Azawad (MAA) had signed the "Algiers Declaration" late Monday, demanding "inclusive" peace and political talks in their troubled country.
The top leaders of the MNLA and HCUA, formed by ethnic Tuareg who have since 1962 launched four uprisings to fight Mali's army over the territory they claim as their homeland and call Azawad, have been in the Algerian capital since June 5.
A ceasefire was signed with the Bamako government on May 23.
On Sunday, initial discussions were concluded with the three groups signing a preliminary accord that will now be presented to the Malian government, according to the document seen by Agence La Belle France Presse.
Malian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop is now expected in Algiers later Sunday.
His Algerian counterpart, Ramtane Lamamra, was reported by the APS news agency as saying that the talks between the three groups had allowed them to converge and clarify their positions.
Lamamra also insisted on the necessity of an "inclusive" inter-Malian dialogue.
After meeting Lamamra, the head of the United Nations ...a formerly good idea gone bad... peacekeeping force in Mali, known as MINUSMA, said negotiations are now a priority.
"The region will be in danger if there is no reconciliation," state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
quoted Albert Gerard Koenders as saying.
He added that it was "important to organize inclusive negotiations" with the aim of restoring peace to northern Mali.
In the document, the three groups agree to "engage with the government of Mali in a constructive manner on the path of dialogue and negotiations for a new government that responds to the profound and legitimate aspirations of the people of north Mali."
Among their demands is the release of prisoners and "better conditions for the return of refugees once a definitive agreement is signed."
In January 2012, Tuareg fighters began the first rebellion in three years in northern Mali and formed an alliance with Islamists linked to al-Qaeda, who sought to impose a brutal interpretation of Islamic law in towns they controlled.
Mali's army was meanwhile thrown into disarray by a coup in Bamako in March 2012.
Islamists linked to al-Qaeda gained the upper hand over the Tuaregs in several towns before military intervention by former colonial power La Belle France in January 2013, which helped drive the armed bully boyz to desert hideouts. The MNLA allied itself with the army to fight Islamist forces.
Representatives of the peoples in northern Mali previously held "exploratory consultations" in Algiers in January.
They said they wanted to get full political and peace talks off the ground after discussions last year mediated by Burkina Faso ...The country in west Africa that they put where Upper Volta used to be. Its capital is Oogadooga, or something like that. Its president is currently Blaise Compaoré, who took office in 1987 and will leave office feet first, one way or the other... on behalf of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
Algeria, which has a long mostly non-existent border with Mali criss-crossed by jihadist movements, is helping to mediate in the conflict affecting its southern neighbor.
[AnNahar] U.S. President Barack Obama Dreams of My Sainted Father... came under fire Sunday from Republican politicians, who warned that a debacle in Iraq will give Islamist faceless myrmidons a staging area for "the next 9/11."
Senator Lindsey Graham ... the endangered South Carolina RINO... , a proponent of U.S. air strikes, also called for the resignation of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ... Prime Minister of Iraq and the secretary-general of the Islamic Dawa Party. Maliki imposed order on Basra wen the Shiites were going nuts, but has proven incapable of dealing with al-Qaeda's Sunni insurgency. Reelected to his third term in 2014... and direct U.S. engagement with Iran on the crisis set off this week by a lightning offensive by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant ... the current version of al-Qaeda in Iraq, just as blood-thirsty and well-beloved as the original... (ISIL) jihadist group.
Fighters from the group routed the much larger Iraqi army, seizing the country's second largest city djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... and sweeping through the Sunni heartland towards Storied Baghdad.
The United States moved an aircraft carrier and two missile-guided warships into the Gulf on Saturday as Obama weighed his options.
Retired military officers questioned whether air strikes were a viable near-term option with no U.S. forces on the ground to provide precise targeting data.
[Trailing wife's comment snipped by tw because it occurred to her it might harm someone real.]
Retired General Peter Chiarelli, a former commander in Iraq, said ISIL fighters "have an opportunity here, they have taken advantage of that opportunity, and I think we should really, really be concerned."
"I read someplace yesterday, where they're the richest terrorist group in the world after what they were able to seize in Mosul, so I'm concerned, and I think all Americans should be concerned," he told ABC's "This Week."
Graham, interviewed on CNN's "State of the Union," said Washington had to act "because Iraq and Syria combined are going to be the staging area for the next 9/11 if we don't do something about it."
"The people holding ground in Iraq also hold ground in Syria. Economic instability that comes from a collapsed Iraq will affect gas prices and our economic recovery," he said.
Another Republican politician, House Homeland Security chairman Michael McCaul, stopped short of calling for U.S. military action but pressed for an intensive diplomatic initiative with U.S. allies in the region to find a political solution involving Iraq's Sunni, Shia and Kurds.
"Without their cooperation against the faceless myrmidons this isn't going to happen. They're not going to do it on their own. They need us to lead them and we're not leading right now as a nation," he said on ABC's "This Week."
"This is the worst of the worst," he said of ISIL. "If they get back into the United States or western Europe, I see that as the biggest threat today."
[AnNahar] Urgent EU-brokered gas talks between Russia and Ukraine resumed in Kiev on Sunday ahead of a looming threat by Moscow to cut off its neighbor's supplies in a move that could impact Europe, an EU source told Agence La Belle France Presse.
Russia's RIA Novosti news agency cited its own source as saying that the first meeting involved EU Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk and Alexei Miller, the head of Russia's state gas firm Gazprom.
[AnNahar] Hundreds of protesters from Pakistain's minority Shiite Hazara community on Sunday staged a demonstration in the southwestern city of Quetta against a government ban on road travel to Iran where they go for pilgrimage.
Men, women and kiddies sat on a main road carrying placards and chanting slogans demanding the ban be lifted.
They also called for better security for pilgrims traveling to the holy sites in Iran and Iraq via Pakistain's southwestern Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... province, which borders Iran.
Pakistain imposed a ban on road trips to Iran after four jacket wallahs struck two restaurants in the remote town of Taftan near the Iranian border last week, killing 24 pilgrims who were returning home.
A large number of Pak Shiite Mohammedans travel to Iran via dangerous roads passing through the restive Balochistan province, a battleground both for hardline Sunni snuffies and ethnic Baluch separatists.
"We have staged this sit-in protest to urge the government to reopen the road route to Iran because everybody can't afford an airplane ticket," Daud Agha, a big shot of the Shiite community, told Agence La Belle France Presse.
"We will not conclude our protest until the government decides positively about our demands," Agha added.
Two devastating bombings in Quetta targeting the city's Shiites killed nearly 200 people last year and were claimed by banned Sunni myrmidon organization Lashkar-e-Jhangvi ... a 'more violent' offshoot of Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistain. LeJ's purpose in life is to murder anyone who's not of utmost religious purity, starting with Shiites but including Brelvis, Ahmadis, Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Rosicrucians, and just about anyone else you can think of. They are currently a wholly-owned subsidiary of al-Qaeda ... (LeJ), which has links to al-Qaeda.
The Hazara community staged similar protests last year also to demand improved security for their areas of Quetta.
Nearly 1,000 Shiites have been killed in the past two years in Pakistain, a heavy toll on a community that makes up roughly 20 percent of the country's population of 180 million, which is predominantly Mohammedan.
[AnNahar] Sri Lankan police extended a curfew across two popular coastal resorts Sunday as Moslems and hardline Buddhists clashed sparking street rioting that renewed religious tensions in the country.
Police said they fired teargas and widened the curfew to Beruwala, a predominantly Moslem area, after initial violence broke out in the neighboring town of Alutgama, 60 kilometers (37 miles) south of the capital Colombo.
Both areas are popular beach resorts frequented by international tourists, but there were no reports of any foreigners caught up in the violence.
President Mahinda Rajapakse, who is currently visiting Bolivia, said in a statement that he will not allow "anyone to take the law into their own hand."
"An investigation will be held for (the) law to take its course of action to bring to book those responsible for incidents in Alutgama," the President said on Twitter. "I urge all parties concerned to act with restraint."
Residents said Moslems were leaving their homes and seeking shelter in community centers after several houses came under attack.
"Several Moslem-owned shops have been burnt and (their) homes attacked," a resident in Beruwala told Agence La Belle France Presse by telephone.
The two groups attacked each other with stones -- the latest in a series of religious festivities to hit the island.
A police front man said trouble began when a group led by Buddhist monks tried to march in an area where there is a concentration of Moslems, who are a minority in the mainly Buddhist country.
"The curfew was declared to bring the situation under control," a police officer in the area told news hounds. "The curfew was extended to a neighboring area to prevent an escalation of festivities."
There were no reports of arrests.
Many activists from both sides as well as bystanders were maimed during the evening festivities, according to witnesses who also reported seeing several vehicles smashed.
The latest unrest came weeks after Moslempoliticians asked President Rajapakse to protect their minority community from "Buddhist bad boy elements" blamed for a recent spate of hate attacks.
Moslems make up about 10 percent of Sri Lanka's 20 million population.
Nationalist Buddhist groups have in turn accused religious minorities of wielding undue political and economic influence on the island.
Videos posted on YouTube have shown mobs led by Buddhist monks throwing stones and smashing a Christian prayer center in southern Sri Lanka in January this year and attacking mosques while police looked on.
Senior Buddhist monks have also been caught on video threatening violence against their moderate colleagues who advocate tolerance.
Rajapakse, who is a Buddhist, warned monks in January last year not to incite religious violence.
[Telegraph] One of Africa's last 'great tuskers', elephants with ivory weighing over 100lbs, has been poisoned to death by poachers in Kenya after years of adapting his behaviour to hide himself from humans.
The bull, named Satao and likely born in the late 1960s, succumbed to wounds from poison darts in a remote corner of Tsavo National Park where he had migrated to find fresh water after recent storms. His carcass yesterday lay with its face and great tusks hacked off, four legs splayed where he fell with his last breath, left only for the vultures and the scavengers.
Conservationists told how he moved from bush to bush always keeping his ivory hidden amongst the foliage.
"I'm convinced he did that to hide his tusks from humans, he had an awareness that they were a danger to him," said Mark Deeble, a British documentary filmmaker who has spent long periods of time filming Satao.
A soaring demand for ivory in a number of Asian nations has seen poaching reach levels that were last seen in the 1980s before the ivory trade was banned.
The junkyard of metempsychosis
Parting out, runs a race with necrosis.
A great bull passed today;
What was tossed Barry's way?
Just the ears; no nuts, tusks, or proboscis.
Communist militants killed one Philippine soldier and injured another in separate clashes, officials said on Sunday. The officials said New Peopleâs Army militants attacked a soldier in Zamboanga del Surâs Guipos town.
Capt. Franco Suelto, a spokesman for the 1st Infantry Division, said, "The soldier managed to return fire but was out-numbered by rebels and he sustained gunshot wounds on his chest and head that caused his instantaneous death. Troops of 53rd Infantry Battalion Immediately responded in the area found the lifeless body of the victim without his issued firearms."
He said the slain soldier was also a member of the armyâs peace and development team involved in various humanitarian programs in the province.
Suelto said one soldier was also injured in a clash over the weekend in the village of Midatag in Leon Postigo town in Zamboanga del Norte province. He said troops were patroling the village when they encountered a group of militants and a firefight broke out. The fighting lasted over 20 minutes.
ISLAMABAD: The military launched a long-expected full-scale operation against terrorists in the North Waziristan Agency on Sunday, days after a deadly gunfight with Taliban at Karachi airport killed 38, including 10 attackers.
"On the directions of the government, armed forces of Pakistan have launched a comprehensive operation against foreign and local terrorists who are hiding in sanctuaries in North Waziristan Agency," a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) quoted Major General Asim Saleem Bajwa as having said. "The operation has been named Zarb-e-Azb."
This is the third full-scale military operation launched in the militancy-plagued north western belt since 2009, following operation Raah-e-Raast and operation Raah-e-Nijaat.
"Using North Waziristan as a base, these terrorists had waged a war against the state of Pakistan and had been disrupting our national life in all its dimensions, stunting our economic growth and causing enormous loss of life and property. They had also paralyzed life within the agency and had perpetually terrorized the entire peace loving and patriotic local population," the ISPR DG said.
"Plus, they were embarrassing us."
"Our mighty valiant armed forces have been tasked to eliminate these terrorists regardless of hue and color, along with their sanctuaries," he said, and added, "With the support of the entire nation, and in coordination with other state institutions and law enforcement agencies, these enemies of the state will be denied space anywhere across the country. As always, armed forces of Pakistan will not hesitate in rendering any sacrifice for the motherland."
With the launch of the military operation, a peace agreement struck between militant commander Hafiz Gul Bahdur and the government comes to an end, security officials said.
Neither "peace agreement" nor "military operation" have the meaning you'd expect when it comes to Pakistain...
On June 6, the military command and the civilian leadership had jointly given the elders of the Wazir tribes in NWA a 15-day deadline to expel foreign militants from the area. However, deadly terror attacks from Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) especially near Islamabad and at Karachi airport prompted the security forces to act even before the expiry of the deadline.
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The Arab League (AL) on Sunday strongly slammed the attacks committed by Jihadist-led militants in Iraq, but rejected any attempts of interference in the domestic affairs of the conflict-stricken country.
"AL denounces terrorist attacks that are being perpetrated by the group called 'Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)' against the Iraqi people," an AL statement said following an extraordinary meeting of permanent representatives in Cairo.
AL also slammed the recent terrorist attacks that "aim to destabilize Iraq and harm its unity."
The pan-Arab body called on Iraqi leaders and politicians to engage in "a comprehensive and earnest dialogue to confront the threats that endanger the security, stability and unity of Iraq."
Sure. Dialog. One side is butchering prisoners of war. Dialog. Right.
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ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Army took over security charge of the federal capital on Sunday, hours after military launched a long-expected ground operation to eliminate Taliban and Qaeda terrorists from North Waziristan.
Reports said over 250 personnel of armyâs 111 Brigade were deployed at sensitive installations and buildings in Islamabad including Presidentâs House, Prime Ministerâs House, Parliament Lodges and the Diplomatic Enclave located in the Red Zone.
Sources familiar with the development told Daily Times that the Interior Ministry decided to hand over internal security of Islamabad to army following reports by intelligence agencies warning about possibility of terrorist attacks in the federal capital.
Islamabad has been on high alert since a suicide attack on an army vehicle in Tarnol area near Islamabad wherein two lieutenant-colonels of Pakistan Army were martyred, and the deadly gun-battle at Karachi airport that killed 38, including 10 attackers. Security officials fear that newly launched military operation against Taliban in North Waziristan will trigger militant backlash and they may resort to violence in big cities, especially the federal capital.
Spokesman of Interior Ministry Danial Gilani, when contacted to seek ministryâs version on the development, plainly refused to say anything on the ground that he was on leave, and instead suggested to contact Mojib Qadir. Mojib, however, told Daily Times that he is not empowered to say anything on such sensitive issues.
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KABUL: Afghan presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah on Sunday accused senior election officials of serious fraud, opening a dispute over the vote count that could threaten a smooth transition of power.
I take it he lost...
The United Nations had called on candidates to give officials time to conduct the count and investigate fraud allegations, but Abdullah launched a verbal assault on the Independent Election Commission (IEC) one day after the vote.
He said that the turnout figure of 7 million voters announced by the IEC commissioner Ahmad Yousuf Nuristani was probably false. And he demanded the sacking of Zia-ul-Haq Amarkhail, chief of the IEC secretariat, over an alleged attempt by Amarkhail to remove unused ballots from the IEC's headquarters in Kabul on polling day.
"There is no collaborating evidence (of the turnout figure) at all throughout the country â that is something that is questionable and what we are concerned about is once again engineered fraud," Abdullah told reporters. "The head of the secretariat was... caught red-handed and we want an investigation. We want him to be removed from his position."
Abdullah feels massive fraud denied him victory in the 2009 election, and he has often said that only a repeat of ballot rigging could deny him power this election.
"Allegations of fraud need to be addressed," US ambassador James Cunningham said on Saturday after polls closed. "But the candidates and their supporters should refrain from premature judgements and from criticism that is not supported with clear evidence."
Saturday's run-off pitted former foreign minister Abdullah against ex-World Bank economist Ashraf Ghani
How on earth does an Afghani become a "World Bank economist"?
after the two came top of the first-round election on April 5. The preliminary result is due on July 2, before the official complaints period begins, and the final result is scheduled for July 22. The Electoral Complaints Commission registered about 275 complaints by Sunday morning.
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Iran has sent 2,000 advance troops to Iraq in the past 48 hours to help tackle a jihadist insurgency, a senior Iraqi official has told the Guardian.
That's a larger force than previously reported. Once again, we have foreigners doing the work Americans won't do...
The confirmation comes as the Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani, said Iran was ready to support Iraq from the mortal threat fast spreading through the country, while the Iraqi prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, called on citizens to take up arms in their country's defence.
Addressing the country on Saturday, Maliki said rebels from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isis) had given "an incentive to the army and to Iraqis to act bravely". His call to arms came after reports surfaced that hundreds of young men were flocking to volunteer centres across Baghdad to join the fight against Isis.
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#1
"The Kurds have taken advantage of the current situation. They seized Kirkuk and they have other plans to swallow other areas," Mohammed Sadoun said.
You guys had a terrific opportunity to build a country, and you blew it. Now everyone will take advantage of your failure. Even Champ, but his will be journalistic triumphs.
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/16/2014 8:26
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#2
Iranians soon to be seen as liberators, good guys. Sanctions against Iran are lifted, ValJar and her Shadow Gov't have accomplished their goad.
#4
Not sure. Iran's been harboring Al Qaeda leaders; there evidence that the Al Quds Force is arming groups across the Mid East, Africa and SE Asia that have ties to Al Qaeda.
If I was a really cynical bastid, I'd say Iran borrowed a page out of the Saudi playbook. That is, if I was a really cynical bastid.
[AnNahar] Iraqi security forces have killed 279 "terrorists" in the past 24 hours, as they push back against a major turban offensive, a security front man said on Sunday, as Kurdish forces seized control of one the two official Iraqi border crossings with Syria
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ... Prime Minister of Iraq and the secretary-general of the Islamic Dawa Party. Maliki imposed order on Basra wen the Shiites were going nuts, but has proven incapable of dealing with al-Qaeda's Sunni insurgency. Reelected to his third term in 2014... 's security front man, Lieutenant General Qassem Atta, made the announcement about the casualties during a televised news conference.
Continued on Page 49
[AnNahar] An gang has kidnapped Lebanese citizen Jerjes Rashed Rashed, 51, in the strife-torn Libyan city of Benghazi, asking for a million dollar ransom, Leb's National News Agency reported Sunday.
The agency said Rashed was kidnapped four days ago from his house in Benghazi. He was taken to an unknown destination.
"The captors on Saturday telephoned the director of the company for which Rashed works, asking for a million dollar ransom to release him," NNA said, noting that the man's boss is also Lebanese.
The agency said Rashed hails from the southern district of Jezzine.
Benghazi has been witnessing fierce festivities since rogue general Khalifa Haftar began an offensive against radical Islamist groups in the city, dubbed "Operation Dignity," on May 16.
Haftar has won widespread support for his campaign, including from air force units which have carried out air raids on jihadist positions in and around Benghazi.
Near daily attacks in Benghazi, cradle of the 2011 revolt that ousted strongman Muammar Qadaffy ...Proof that a madman with money will be politely received for at least 42 years until his people get tired of him and kill him... , have killed dozens of members of the security forces. The attacks have been blamed on radical Islamist militias based in the city.
[AnNahar] Pakistain's military said Sunday it had launched a "comprehensive operation" to eliminate Taliban and al-Qaeda forces of Evil in a restive tribal region bordering Afghanistan, a week after a brazen krazed killer attack on the Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... airport.
"On the directions of the Government, Armed forces of Pakistain have launched a comprehensive operation against foreign and local hard boyz who are hiding in sanctuaries in North Wazoo," a military statement said.
Continued on Page 49
Gunmen in Kenya attacked a busy coastal town late Sunday, opening fire from two minibuses and setting two hotels on fire. There was no immediate confirmation of casualties, but residents said the attack lasted for hours.
Kenyan army spokesman Major Emmanuel Chirchir said the gunmen entered the western town of Mpeketoni and started "shooting people around in town". He said that the "assailants (are) likely to be Al-Shebab."
The shooting began around 8:00 p.m., with gunshots reported up to four hours later. Two hotels and local boarding houses in the town were "attacked and set on fire". A police station and a bank were also reportedly attacked, but officials could not confirm the extent of the fighting.
At least 26 people were killed when some 50 insurgents flying black Islamist flags swept into a Kenyan coastal town firing guns in an unprecedented attack, a local government official said Monday.
"So far we have collected over 26 bodies and taken them to the mortuary, but we are still looking for more," Benson Maisori, deputy commissioner for the district, told Agence France Presse. The town of Mpeketoni was reported calm Monday, the morning after the attack.
Waving a red flag in-front of the Turkish army has not shown itself to be a good long term survival strategy.
ANKARA -- Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan Current Prime Minister of Turkey, ex-footballer and reciter of poetry
on Sunday expressed concern over the deteriorating situation in northern Iraq after Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants began to attack Mosul's Telafer district where thousands of Turkmen are believed to live, local Daily News said.
"The developments in Telafer are something that cannot be underestimated. As is known, Telafer is an area mainly inhabited by Turkmen. Almost half of the Turkmen there are Sunni, but the other half are Shia," Erdogan said during a rally in Turkey's Trabzon on Sunday. Big thugs driving a technical with an ISIL flag stop you on the street. "Are you Sunni or Shia?" I think I know what my answer would be.
The prime minister said that Turkey is highly vigilant against the development of the situation and prepared for any step to cope with it. Where is that big green water wheel?
His statement came just few hours after the Turkish Foreign Ministry warned that the crisis in Iraq had gained a dimension of "sectarian clashes" Really
and urged its citizens to leave the country as soon as possible.
Turkish media said that at least five Turkish citizens had been killed after ISIL launched an attack in the Telafer district on Sunday.
ISIL militants captivated 31 Turkish truck drivers on Tuesday after they captured Mosul. On Wednesday they took control of the Turkish consulate, kidnapping 49 staff and their family members, including the consul-general. I would take the capture of my embassy as a hint that I should skeedaddle.
#1
Yeah, the Turks are looking for an excuse to settle a few scores with the Kurds but will whack a few ISIL hard boys as a warm up.
Don't screw with the Turks. The ChiComs learned that lesson in Korea and the Turkish response left even our Marines awe-struck at their effectiveness with knives.
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
06/16/2014 1:25
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#2
Northern Syria may just become a buffer area, occupied by the Turkish Army. ISIS irregulars don't stand up so well in a direct fire fight with a fairly modern and trained force - and the Turks may still have just that.
#3
Turkey = China = has nowhere or no place to expand its geopol sphere of influence, wid or widout Globalist Obama, + where Turkey can it will run into rival Iran andor the Russians.
* OTOH see DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > [CNN] VIDEO: ISIS: "WE WILL RAISE OUR FLAG IN TEHRAN".
Thats one way for Hard Boyz to acquire NucMats + LRBMS.
Ankara? Instanbul?
* SAME > IRAQ IMPLOSION COULD REDRAW MIDDLE EAST BOUNDARIES.
#6
Question that I couldn't figure out in the middle of the night:
Thanks to Prime Minister Erdogan, a significant number of Turkish senior officers are either on trial, in jail, or summarily retired. How will this affect the army's effectiveness in the current situation? By this I include dealing with the demands of the government, choosing objectives, strategizing, and all the rest that the kind of officer that got on the wrong side of this government would have done. Thanking you in advance, etc.
#7
Shirley, TW, that sort of insight is all over the media, right? Is Nightline still on the air? Teds Koppel would be discussing that sort of thing, no? Good questions, tho...
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/16/2014 8:06
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#10
How will this affect the army's effectiveness in the current situation?
Depends. Simple straight forward ops should be okay. I suspect the lower-level leadership has not been affected. The questionable will be more on mid to long term strategy.
#12
A contrary view of the Turkish Brigades(s) in Korea by (surprise!) a Greek source. There is certainly evidence of a ginned up mythos, but it looks like they fought as well as could be expected for green troops.
[AnNahar] U.S. Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State... Sunday condemned the kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers, and said many indications pointed to the involvement of Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,.
"We are still seeking details on the parties responsible for this despicable terrorist act, although many indications point to Hamas' involvement," he said.
"As we gather this information, we reiterate our position that Hamas is a terrorist organization known for its attacks on innocent civilians and which has used kidnapping in the past."
Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu directly accused Hamas of the kidnapping after Israeli troops tossed in the clink You have the right to remain silent... 80 Paleostinians overnight.
The teenagers, students at Jewish seminaries in the West Bank, were believed to have been kidnapped Thursday night while hitchhiking in an area between Bethlehem and Hebron.
Their disappearance came 10 days after the establishment of a new Paleostinian government of technocrats pieced together by the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... ' Fatah movement and Hamas following a unity agreement between rival leaders in the West Bank and Gazoo.
[AnNahar] Fresh festivities broke out Sunday between Yemeni government forces and Shiite Houthis, tribal sources said, ending an 11-day truce reached with mediation backed by United Nations ...an idea whose time has gone... envoy Jamal Benomar.
The renewed fighting in the northern province of Amran had shut off the road linking it to the capital, the sources said.
Clashes spread to the adjacent Sanaa province, where troops and rebels used heavy weapons in intense fighting in the Jarban and Jaess areas, according to the same sources.
It was not immediately possible to give a casualty toll, the sources said.
Government officials and representatives of the Houthis, also known as Ansarullah, reached a ceasefire deal on June 4 to end festivities in Amran province.
The agreement stipulated both sides would stop bringing military reinforcements to the area, impartial military monitors would be deployed, and the main road to the capital Sanaa reopened.
Huthis are suspected of trying to expand their sphere of influence as Yemen is split into six regions, pushing out from their mountain strongholds in the far north to areas closer to Sanaa.
The rebels complained Yemen would be divided into rich and poor regions under a federalization plan agreed in February following national talks as part of a political transition.
Huthis have been fighting the central government for years, complaining of marginalization under ex-president President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh ... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it... , who was ousted in a 2012 uprising.
In February, they seized areas of Amran province in fighting with tribes that killed more than 150 people.
[AnNahar] Sudan's former prime minister Sadiq al-Mahdi was released from custody on Sunday, one month after state security agents detained him in a case that sparked concern from Western governments.
An Agence La Belle France Presse news hound saw a smiling Mahdi, chief of the opposition Umma party, greeting about 200 noisy supporters at his headquarters in Khartoum's twin city of Omdurman.
Minutes earlier State Minister of Information Yassir Youssef told Agence La Belle France Presse that Mahdi "has been released."
Continued on Page 49
LAREDO, Texas (AP) -- A dispute between the Army and the National Guard is jeopardizing the security role the Guard has played along the U.S.-Mexico border since 2006, a newspaper reported Sunday.
The problems arise as the National Guard becomes more proficient at pinpointing illegal crossings along the border and as agents struggle with an influx of immigrants -- especially unaccompanied minors -- fleeing poverty and gang violence in Central America.
The National Guard began operating along the border in 2006 when then-President George W. Bush ordered 6,000 troops to the area. Since then, the troops' mission has evolved, and today about 300 Guard soldiers work along the border. Ground patrols have largely been replaced by nighttime helicopter missions, according to the Austin American-Statesman (http://bit.ly/1q0XfL9 ).
"Make this a more long-term program, a more planned, budgeted program," Maj. Gen. William "Len" Smith of the Texas National Guard said.
The current dispute comes from the Army facing budget cuts that could strip it of a fleet of Kiowa helicopters. The Army wants to replace the Kiowas with about 100 Lakota helicopters. Those aircraft could come from the National Guard, leaving that unit with little air capacity of its own.
If the National Guard loses 100 of its helicopters, Smith told the newspaper "we'd have to commit almost all the rest of our (14) Lakotas to that mission, or stop it, neither one being preferable." The Regimes war on the Lone Star State.
#1
Correction, border Lakotas. Has been very cost effective, but could be replaced by drones with operations in state guard facilities which would save even more millions.
#5
Hard to believe the cost of transport of Army birds to be abandoned in AFG and IRQ is greater than the value of a working border management solution.
#6
The Army wants to replace the Kiowas with about 100 Lakota helicopters. Those aircraft could come from the National Guard, leaving that unit with little air capacity of its own.
And the Lakota's go where, and conduct what more vital mission? Sorry, not buying that one. You've got 56 other states to rob AV capability from. Pick one.
Anyone note the combat patch on the pilot's ACU's ?
#9
...especially unaccompanied minors -- fleeing poverty and gang violence in Central America.
This has been going on for generation, why now the sudden massive influx, other than something is promoting it?
BTW - Wasn't the Clinton Doctrine established with Haiti to occupy and oust governments that promote this dumping (or was that just because Florida was a swing state in an upcoming election)?
#11
So just why is it DOD is pulling ALL armed aircraft from the guard? To fill the Aviation Brigades they are closing down?
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
06/16/2014 10:35
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#12
Bleeding off border enforcement tools is a stop-gap measure Pan. Full implementation would be Federalizing the Guard.... as in Martial Law and FEMA management.
d) The Lakota is touted by Airbus as being "30-50% cheaper to operate" than the MH60; one would suspect that it's also somewhat less expensive to operate than a Kiowa. Which would fall into the 'traditional' mindset of reducing the NG/AG to a secondary (second-rate) support role.
#16
This is the difference between a state militia and the National Guard. The government owns all the equipment and arms in the National Guard and the Guard can be nationalized.UN
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
06/16/2014 15:36
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[AnNahar] Forces loyal to rogue Libyan general Khalifa Haftar clashed Sunday with Islamist militias in the eastern city of Benghazi, killing four people and wounding nine, witnesses and a medic said.
The festivities were among the fiercest since Khalifa began his offensive against radical Islamist groups in Benghazi, dubbed "Operation Dignity," on May 16, when at least 76 people were killed.
The fighting on Sunday left at least four dead and nine maimed, according to the al-Abyar hospital southwest of Benghazi, where Haftar's forces are treated.
The hospital sources did not say which side the casualties were from, and Islamist militias in Benghazi rarely give indications of their dead and maimed.
The ex-general's forces launched an offensive early Sunday in the Sidi Fraj area of Benghazi, a stronghold of Islamists, including Ansar al-Sharia ...a Salafist militia which claims it is not part of al-Qaeda, even though it works about the same and for the same ends. There are groups of the same name in Libya, Tunisia and Yemen, with the Libyan and Tunisian versions currently most active... , which Washington classifies as a "terrorist organization."
The sound of heavy weapons fire could be heard on the streets of the suburb, and families fled affected areas, witnesses said.
Electricity was cut to a large part of the city, with state news agency LANA saying a rocket fire had hit a power station, and that technicians were trying to restore power supplies.
Since launching his offensive last month, Haftar has rallied support from the public and members of the security forces.
But the authorities have labeled him an "outlaw" and accused him of trying to mount a coup.
Near daily attacks in Benghazi, cradle of the 2011 revolt that ousted strongman Muammar Qadaffy ...Proof that a madman with money will be politely received for at least 42 years until his people get tired of him and kill him... , have killed dozens of members of the security forces. The attacks have been blamed on radical Islamist militias based in the city.
#1
Attacks blamed on radical Islamist militias killed dozens of members of the security forces. Haftar is fighting the radical Islamist militias killing the security forces and Haftar is the outlaw?
For perspective, Squinty, An Nahar gets a lot of their articles from the Agence France Presse (if I spelt that right, it's early here and French may never be one of my languages). So things have that editorial board's perspective, rather than AP's or Reuter's. As for the rest of your comment, I couldn't possible say.
#3
'Rogue' in the sense that he's neither part of the official Libyan government, nor part of the Islamic militias that essentially have control of the official Libyan government.
[AnNahar] Germany's federal police on Sunday announced the arrest of a French national suspected of fighting for radical jihadists in Syria.
A front man told Agence La Belle France Presse that the man was picked up in Berlin late Saturday after flying in from Istanbul and was believed to have spent time in Syria where he allegedly joined the jihadist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant ... the current version of al-Qaeda in Iraq, just as blood-thirsty and well-beloved as the original... He confirmed a report in the daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, which said the man, who was not named, was hurt while fighting in Syria and posted several pictures of himself with gunshot wounds on Islamic myrmidon websites.
The report added that German authorities believe the man was returning to Europe to recruit other fighters for Syria or plan an attack.
The front man declined to comment, saying that the federal police would release further details on Monday.
"We need to exchange some information with international partners first," he said.
The arrest came three weeks after a deadly attack on the Jewish Museum in Brussels, which police suspect was carried out by a Franco-Algerian who spent more than a year fighting for jihadists in Syria.
The French government unveiled an anti-terrorism plan in April to prevent the radicalization of nationals, thwart online recruitment and make it more difficult for aspiring jihadists to leave the country for Syria.
The German domestic security watchdog warned recently of the threat posed by Islamic gunnies returning from fighting in the Syrian civil war.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
06/16/2014
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#1
Marcel? Francois?
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/16/2014 9:34
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[AnNahar] The wife of Paleostinian President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... has been treated in an Israeli hospital, media reported Sunday, as Israel searched for teenagers believed to be held captive in Paleostinian territory.
Israeli news site Ynet said Amina Abbas was admitted to the private Assuta hospital in Tel Aviv on Thursday.
She underwent surgery on her leg before being discharged on Sunday.
The hospital refused to comment on the report, Ynet said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had on Saturday held Abbas responsible for the safe return of three youths Israel said were kidnapped by the Islamist Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, movement.
Gilad Shaer, 16, Naftali Frenkel, 16, and Eyal Ifrach, 19 disappeared on Thursday night, 10 days after the establishment of a new Paleostinian government of technocrats pieced together by Abbas' Fatah movement and Hamas.
On Sunday, U.S. Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State... said "many indications point to Hamas' involvement" in their kidnapping.
Paleostinian security in the West Bank was cooperating with Israeli forces in its efforts to find the youths, which included detaining 80 Paleostinians overnight -- many of them Hamas members.
Abbas is not the only Paleostinian leader to prefer Israeli medical facilities for family members.
Earlier this month, the mother-in-law of former Hamas prime minister Ismail Haniya was allowed into Israel from Gazoo for cancer treatment.
In November, his granddaughter was taken to an Israeli hospital to be treated for an infection in her digestive tract.
[AnNahar] Syria has freed after 21 years in jail an ex-horse rider known to have been an equestrian rival of one of President Bashar Assad's late brothers, reports said Sunday.
The release of Adnan Qassar is part of a wide-reaching amnesty that Assad decreed last week, and has seen some 1,500 people freed from the war-ravaged country's prisons, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
"In 1993, Adnan Qassar was one of the top horse riders in Syria and the Arab world. He won a horse race against Bassel Assad," who at the time was being groomed for the presidency, said Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman.
"Qassar was thrown in Saydnaya jail (near Damascus) for his 'crime'," said Abdel Rahman.
Aks Alser, a Syrian opposition activist website, also reported Qassar's release, and said he had been accused of "possessing explosives, and of trying to assassinate Bassel Assad."
Qassar was jailed "without trial," it added.
A year later when Bassel Assad died in a traffic accident, "Qassar was dragged out of his cell to a public square, beaten and then thrown back in jail. It took them 21 years to release him", said Abdel Rahman.
The Assad clan has ruled Syria with an iron fist for more than 40 years.
"Qassar was not a political activist. But in Syria, no one is allowed to be better at anything than the Assads," Abdel Rahman said.
Qassar was set free as part of a wide-reaching general amnesty that President Assad decreed last week.
So far, some 1,500 people have been set free from jails across the country, most of them from Damascus, according to the Observatory.
The amnesty is unprecedented because it pledges pardon and reduce sentences for people jailed under Syria's controversial 2012 anti-terror law, which has seen tens of thousands of people jailed over political charges.
The regime has systematically branded armed and unarmed dissidents, including journalists, of being "foreign-backed terrorists."
"Some of those released so far are prisoners of conscience, others were in jail over criminal charges," Abdel Rahman said.
The number of those released so far pales in comparison to the estimated total of 100,000 people imprisoned, including some 50,000 held in security buildings dotted across the country.
RAWALPINDI/MIRANSHAH: Fighter jets launched air strikes Sunday against militant hideouts in North Waziristan, killing at least 105 insurgents including those linked to a brazen attack on Karachi airport, the military said on Sunday.
Mostly Uzbeks. That makes it okay then...
One official said that the alleged Uzbek mastermind of the Karachi attack had been killed in the strikes. "Abu Abdul Rehman Almani, who was mastermind of attack on Karachi airport, and several other commanders have been killed in the strikes," the official told AFP.
We need to see the severed head please...
Another security official said that "the number of the killed people was even more than 150".
"A number of terrorist hideouts in Dehgan, Datta Khel in North Waziristan were targeted by jet aircraft. The number of terrorists killed in early morning strikes has risen to 105, mostly Uzbeks," a military statement said.
"As of now North Waziristan Agency has been isolated by deploying troops along its border with neighboring agencies and FATA regions to block any move of terrorists in and out of the agency," the ISPR said. "Within the agency, troops have moved and cordoned off all terrorists bases, including in the town of Mirali and Miranshah."
Announcements will be made for the local population to approach designated areas for their orderly and dignified evacuation out of the agency, the ISPR said, and added that necessary logistics and administrative arrangements for IDPs have been made by political administration and the disaster management agency. "Registration points and IDP camps have been set up. Surrender points have also been made for those militants who chose to quit violence and give up their arms," the statement said.
Meanwhile, aerial surveillance of the area is being carried out by own aerial surveillance platforms. The Afghan National Army and Afghan Border Police have also been requested to seal the border on their side to facilitate elimination of terrorists who attempt to escape across the border, the ISPR said.
"They have also been requested to initiate immediate measures to eliminate TTP terrorists and their sanctuaries in Kunar, Nuristan and other areas of Afghanistan."
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BAGHDAD -- The United States said Sunday it was evacuating some staff from its embassy and beefing up security as deadly explosions rocked the Iraqi capital and advancing militant Islamic insurgents released graphic images appearing to show its fighters massacring captured Iraqi soldiers.
Figures: we bug out just about the time the Iraqis begin to stiffen...
We're bugging out the embassy people. Good. Is anything being done about the contractors? They were surrounded by howling jihadis, last I heard. OldSpook was legitimately livid, as he reported knowing about 100 of them.
The concern about embassy staff is a little recent. Ask Mr. Stevens...
The U.S. State Department said in a statement that an undisclosed number of staffers will be moved to Amman, Jordan or U.S. consulates elsewhere in Iraq not immediately threatened by the insurgent group, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL.
It said the embassy would remain fully operational with "some additional U.S. government security personnel.'' The embassy, inside the Green Zone near the Tigris River, employs thousands of people, some local hires and others from the United States.
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#3
OldSpook, your cartoon is bending the Burg, though not breaking it. Would you be so kind as to repost it in width=500, and explain to the rest of us what you did to thus alter an outside image? Because several others have done the same thing recently, and I have faith that your coding skills are up to the task. ;-) Thanks!!
[AnNahar] Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi said Sunday that there is "Arab consensus" over the issue of providing military equipment to the Lebanese Army.
The promised support is aimed at enabling the army to "preserve the country's security, protect the state's constitutional institutions and safeguard national unity and Lebanon's social fabric," Arabi said in a speech at the opening of an extraordinary meeting for the League's permanent representatives in Cairo.
He noted that the talks were held "at Lebanon's request, in the framework of following up on the implementation of the Kuwait (Arab) Summit in terms of offering military support to the Lebanese Army."
Arabi pointed out that the decision to assist the army was taken "unanimously" during the summit.
He said Sunday's meeting was significant because "it comes two days before the Rome meeting which will discuss means to support Lebanon."
A Lebanese Army delegation took part in the meeting to explain the situations in Lebanon and clarify the real needs of the military institution, according to media reports.
The delegation demonstrated a detailed report containing the army's technical and logistical needs.
Speaking on the sidelines of the meeting, Lebanon's permanent envoy to the Arab League Khaled Ziadeh noted that "the Lebanese Army is currently protecting the southern border in the face of the (Israeli) enemy, in addition to its role in combating terrorism and preserving the state's constitutional institutions."
The representatives' meeting was initially aimed at discussing Lebanon's request regarding the resolutions of the Kuwait summit, but the Iraqi crisis was put on the agenda in light of the stunning offensive of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, which has seized vast swathes of territory.
On June 7, visiting Italian Foreign Minister Federica Mogherini stressed that the army should be offered all the necessary support to maintain stability in Lebanon.
Mogherini's visit was aimed at discussing with senior Lebanese officials the ongoing preparations for the Rome conference.
Italy had previously announced that the International Support Group for Lebanon would hold a meeting in Rome in June to boost the Lebanese Armed Forces' capabilities and ease the Syrian refugee crisis.
[AnNahar] Gunmen coming from Syria on Sunday crossed a Lebanese Army checkpoint in the Bekaa border town of Arsal before fleeing the area as troops opened fire, state-run National News Agency reported.
"Three gunnies coming from Syrian territory in a GMC SUV crossed an army checkpoint in Arsal's Wadi Ata, which prompted troops to fire towards them," NNA said.
"Consequently, they left the car and fled on foot to an unknown destination," the agency added.
The army carried out on Friday a wide-scale raid in the outskirts of Arsal in search of gunnies and wanted suspects linked to terrorist activities.
It incarcerated ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... Syrians Zaher Abdul Aziz al-Ahmed for his connection to the al-Qaeda-linked Abdullah Azzam Brigades ... Leb's current al-Qaeda affiliate, named after a guy whose car the current head of al-Qaeda had boomed...
It also detained Nour Muheiddine Shameseddine, Haitham Nader Ghannoum, Adel Suleiman Ghannoum and Mohammed Nazih Ghannoum for the possession of cameras, computers and CDs that show their participation in training with terrorist groups.
Ever since the Syrian revolt erupted in March 2011, Arsal has served as a key conduit for refugees, rebels and maimed people fleeing strife-torn Syria.
Yemeni troops were on Sunday surrounding a Sanaa mosque controlled by former president Ali Abdullah Saleh amid concerns he is plotting a coup, a source close to the presidency said.
Saleh had ruled Yemen for 33 years before he was forced to resign in February, 2012. He was replaced by his longtime deputy President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi under a UN and Gulf-sponsored deal.
Presidential guard troops backed by armoured vehicles blocked access to the large Al Saleh mosque in Sanaaâs southern district, an AFP correspondent reported. The source close to the presidency said that weapons had been stored in the mosque
...isn't that what a mosque is for?
and were being guarded by gunmen loyal to the former president.
A tunnel connecting the site to the presidential palace had been discovered.
Hadi suspects his predecessor is âplotting a coupâ, the source said, without elaborating further.
The surrounding of the mosque late on Saturday came days after the authorities shut down a newspaper and television channel owned by Saleh. The media outlets, both named Yemen Today, have often been singled out for their coverage, seen as biased against the government formed after Salehâs departure.
They have also been accused of inciting protests in Sanaa against power cuts and water and fuel shortages.
Although weakened, Saleh still heads the influential General Peopleâs Congress (GPC) political party and retains the loyalty of some elements in the military. Critics accuse him of impeding the countryâs political transition.
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PESHAWAR: Fresh clashes between rival militant groups left seven dead on Sunday in Shawal Tehsil of North Waziristan Agency, as military launched a âcomprehensive operationâ to eliminate Taliban and Qaeda militants in the tribal region. Two people were also injured in the militant infighting.
Officials and tribal sources confirmed that the fresh clashes erupted between supporters of Sheharyar Mehsud and Khan Said Sajna groups. Over the last two months, the infighting within the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan factions has left over 100 dead and many more injured.
The Sajna and Sheryar groups of the TTP have been at odds since the death of Hakimullah and Waliur Rehman Mehsud in US drone strikes. The rival factions have accused each other of grabbing power in order to control South Waziristanâs Mehsud tribal area. Sajna had been considered the right hand man of Waliur Rehman, whereas Sheryar was a confidant of Hakimullah Mehsud. Their slain leaders had also been at loggerheads after the death of TTP founder Baitullah Mehsud.
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[AnNahar] Syria's army has been pounding for 24 hours major bases of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant ... the current version of al-Qaeda in Iraq, just as blood-thirsty and well-beloved as the original... in coordination with the Storied Baghdad government, a monitor said Sunday.
The strikes against ISIL -- which has spearheaded a week-long jihadist offensive in Iraq -- have been more intense than ever, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
"The regime air force has been pounding ISIL's bases, including those in the northern province of Raqa and Hasakeh in the northeast," which borders Iraq, said the Britannia-based group.
The regime of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Leveler of Latakia... was responding to the fact that ISIL "brought into Syria heavy weapons including tanks" captured from the Iraqi army.
In Raqa, the air force bombed the area surrounding ISIL's main headquarters in Syria, as well as the group's religious courts, said the Observatory, adding there were no reported casualties.
Photographs sent by activists in Raqa that could not be independently verified showed craters in the ground and rubble in front of the main gates of the headquarters, a former town hall.
On Saturday, the regime also bombarded ISIL's headquarters at Shaddadi in Hasakeh, home to a frontier crossing from Iraq that is under the jihadists' control.
Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said the strikes were the regime's most "intense" against ISIL, and that they were being carried out "in coordination with the Iraqi authorities."
The government in Storied Baghdad has been gearing up for a counter-offensive against ISIL in areas where it and other Islamist forces of Evil have advanced in northern Iraq in the past week.
ISIL espouses a radical interpretation of Islam, and aims to set up a state stretching across the Syria-Iraq border. It has been accused of committing widespread human rights One man's rights are another man's existential threat. abuses in Syria.
Once welcomed in Syria by rebels seeking Assad's overthrow, the well-armed and well-organized ISIL soon gained the Syrian opposition's wrath because of its quest for hegemony and systematic abuses.
In 2013, it took part in operations against government forces. But in recent months, it has exclusively fought against the Syrian rebels, who accuse the group of serving the interests of Assad's regime.
A war pitting Syrian rebels against ISIL has killed more than 6,000 people, mostly fighters, since it broke out in January.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
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#1
No 'non-lethal & lethal aid' comments from Susan Rice ?
#5
Holy F, Susan Rice is a character from a one of the later T. Clancy novels, the one that wants to launch C-130s from CVNs (not that there is anything wrong with that). I guess I must have been very late to this realization,
Normal life goes on in the midst of a spreading war...
[AnNahar] A major blaze erupted Sunday in the fields and groves of Akkar's Mashha and flames threatened a gas firm in the town, state-run National News Agency reported.
"Civil Defense crews assisted by three firefighting vehicles and two bulldozers from the town struggled to contain the flames amid fears that the fire could spread to the Shaaban gas firm," NNA said.
But later on Sunday, the Directorate General of Civil Defense issued a statement saying its crews had managed to contain the blaze and insulate the gas firm.
It said the operation took place "in collaboration with the Mashha Municipality, which provided a bulldozer that helped create a makeshift road in the vicinity of the firm."
"Cooling operations are underway to prevent the renewal of the fire, which has been fully contained," the Civil Defense added.
#3
Not making $hit up. Looking forward, using my cynical best, at what I consider a possible outcome could be (forgot the question marks at the end of the sentences. Second glass of wine.).
Read the post for analysis, posting comments for snark/emo? ;>
#6
Maybe gonna' outfit my laptop with a car-type breathalyzer.
Don't do it, you'll be redirected to DemoUnderground or Roadside America. (which I kinda like)
#7
baghdad intl airport is on the west side of the city and it is relatively easy to get a mortar device within a few miles. As noted by others, mortars and such have been regularly coming down on the airport since 2005 or so.
Posted by: lord garth ||
06/16/2014 15:27
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I s'pose that after that little kerfuffle in Iraq is settled, the Quds lads could march home by way of Syria...
[AnNahar] Hizbullah ...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory... is mulling to increase the number of its fighters in the neighboring country Syria, the Saudi al-Watan daily reported on Sunday.
According to the newspaper, Hizbullah is seeking to cover-up for the shortage that is expected to occur due to the withdrawal of Iraqi fighters from Syria in order to participate in the fight against Sunni Arab faceless myrmidons who have seized a swathe of northern Iraq.
Iraqi commanders said on Saturday that soldiers had recaptured two towns north of Storied Baghdad as thousands of volunteers answered a call to arms from top Shiite holy man Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant ... the current version of al-Qaeda in Iraq, just as blood-thirsty and well-beloved as the original... (ISIL) has spearheaded a lightning offensive in Iraq this week that has seen faceless myrmidons sweep down from second city djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... towards Storied Baghdad.
A source told al-Watan daily that Hizbullah fighters were seen gearing up to enter Syria during the last two days.
Hizbullah has deployed thousands of fighters into neighboring Syria to back Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Supressor of the Damascenes... 's army as he battles Death Eaters who have been trying to overthrow him for the past three years.
Hizbullah, a long-standing ally of both Iran, Syria, and Iraq says it is supporting Assad against 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 (Sunni murderous Moslems) who are targeting Syria's Alawite and Christian minorities.
[Ynet] As BDS movement gains steam in Europe, it now moves to register significant gain in US, with more and more religious organizations and student unions gearing up to join boycott and work to promote divestment.
The Presbyterian Church (USA)
...the Progressive, shrinking, anti-Israel branch of the Presbyterian movement, as compared to the conservative, not anti-Israel, growing branches, each of which has a slightly different name...
appears to be on the brink of handing a major victory to a movement that wants institutions to wield their investment dollars against Israel over its treatment of the Paleostinians.
Ritual. Comforting to one's psyche and ego, particularly when you seek and find a group that reaffirms your own bigotries and prejudices. Extra special to get to add 'God' to your pantheon of fellow collaborators. Doubleplus Good to get to skip over things like; thou shall not covet, thou shall not bear false witness, thou shall not steal, etc cause the Rev said it was OK.
From Wik: "Black liberation theology is a theological perspective found in some Christian churches in the United States which contextualizes Christianity in an attempt to help African-Americans overcome oppression. Black liberation theology seeks to liberate people of color from multiple forms of political, social, economic, and religious subjugation and views Christian theology as a theology of liberation"a rational study of the being of God in the world in light of the existential situation of an oppressed community, relating the forces of liberation to the essence of the Gospel, which is Jesus Christ," writes James Hal Cone, one of the original advocates of the perspective."
There were fierce confrontations last night in which government bases were attacked on the borders of Hiran and Bakool regions. Al-Shabaab has been suspected of carrying out the raids.
News reports indicate that the conflict went on for hours according to witnesses, and more than 10 people were killed and many more wounded.
Somali National Army officials at the battlefield have refused to comment regarding the clashes last night.
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The militant group that seized much of northern Iraq has posted photos that appear to show its fighters shooting dead dozens of captured Iraqi soldiers in a province north of the capital Baghdad.
The militants need to be hunted down and shot...
The pictures on a militant website appear to show masked fighters of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL, loading the captives onto flatbed trucks before forcing them to lie face-down in a shallow ditch with their arms tied behind their backs. The final images appear to show the bodies of the captives soaked in blood after being shot.
Captions say the killings were to avenge the death of an ISIL commander, Abdul Rahman Al Beilawy, whose death was reported by both the government and ISIL shortly before the Al Qaeda splinter group captured Iraq's second largest city Mosul and Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit in a lightning offensive.
Iraq's top military spokesman, Lt. Gen. Qassim Al Moussawi, confirmed the photos' authenticity on Sunday and said he was aware of cases of mass murder of captured Iraqi soldiers in areas held by ISIL.
UN human rights chief Navi Pillay warned on Friday of "murder of all kinds" and other war crimes in Iraq, and said the number of people killed in recent days may run into hundreds, while the wounded could approach 1,000. Speaking safely in a cushy office in Geneva, she said her office has received reports that militants rounded up and killed Iraqi soldiers as well as 17 civilians in a single street in Mosul.
Her office heard of "summary executions and extrajudicial killings" after ISIL militants overran Iraqi cities and towns, the statement said.
Most of the soldiers who appear in the pictures are in civilian clothes. Some are shown wearing military uniforms underneath, indicating they may have hastily disguised themselves as civilians to try to escape. Many soldiers and policemen left their uniforms and equipment behind as the militants swept into Mosul, Tikrit and surrounding areas.
The captions did not provide a date or location, but Al Moussawi said the killings took place in Salahuddin province, the capital of which is Tikrit.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/16/2014
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#1
So are the soldiers who fled, and the ones killed the same? And were they Sunni of Shia?
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/16/2014 8:02
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#2
ISIS aka ISIL proclaims to be executing Iraqi Soldats whom are Shias, or in altern Pro-Malicki [Shia or Sunni].
[AnNahar] Syria's army said on Sunday it had recaptured the strategic town of Kasab, near the only border crossing with Turkey in Latakia province, after it fell to rebels almost three months ago.
"After crushing many members of the mercenary terrorist gangs... units of our armed troops in collaboration with the (paramilitary) National Defense Force returned safety and security to Kasab this morning," an army statement said.
Kasab, an Armenian town, is important because it is located near the only border crossing with Turkey in sensitive Latakia province, the heartland of the Alawite sect from which Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Light of the Alawites... hails.
Rebel fighters including members of Syrian al-Qaeda affiliate al-Nusra Front withdrew without a fight from the town on Saturday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, leaving only a small number of men behind.
As they pulled back, Assad's troops backed by other pro-regime groups, among them Leb's Hizbullah ...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory... , advanced on the nearby village of Nabaein.
By Sunday, the Britannia-based Observatory said, pro-regime forces were back in control of Kasab -- the first time since they lost it to rebels on March 21.
Aside from Hizbullah fighters, the government forces, led by members of Syria's elite Republican Guard, had been boosted by Iranian troops.
Rebels were short on supplies and experienced Hizbullah fighters and Syrian special forces were able to advance, Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said.
Under frequent bombardment by government forces, Kasab was important for rebels who used it as a staging post to transport their maimed to Turkey, which backs the opposition.
The Syrian government had accused Ankara of helping rebel groups seize Kasab.
#2
If our embassy is threatened with being over-run by ISIS, I have a serious question whether Champ will or can do anything about it. The time to have done something would have been when these guys were heading south in a column.
#3
Having served in three embassies, and with the memory of Iran 1979 in mind, I sincerely doubt that the Marines would be ordered to defend the Baghdad complex against attackers.
#4
I could swear I saw something about the embassy being evacuated, but perhaps they only meant dependents and such. Or was a rumour prematurely passed into publication by the editor.
#6
Not enuff to intimidate ISIS/ISIL or to help the Iraqi Govt.
* TOPIX > [AEI] IRAQ IS BURNING, + THE US IS WATCHING.
Just being good OWG Globalists.
Again, as a reminder POTUS Obama is at the top of the US NatComAuth, i.e. is the US Politician-Leader directly or most responsible for the US' military response to variable International Crises, OR IN THE ALTERN THE LACK OF SAME.
* JAPAN TIMES > [Iraq = ME] CHAOS THREATENS OBAMA'S LEGACY OF ENDING WARS.
Ending wars???
1990's CLINTONISM = POST-9-11 OWG GLOBALISM = OBAMA-ISM > "ENDING WARS" = LIMITED "NOT FIGHTING A WAR", even when JUSTIFIED = NECESSARY???
Pray hard + keep your fingers crossed, as per CHINA-VS-US-N-EAST-ASIA/ASEAN.
* FYI IIUC WORLD MILITARY FORUM > QATAR TV: IRAQI COMMUNIST PARTY ALIGNS ITS MOVEMENT WID PRO-AL-QAEDA MILITANT GROUP ISIS.
Personally I blame the MILF-BIFF-Commie-NPA on MINDANAO.
* BHARAT RAKSHAK > [BreakingNews.IE] LATEST: MORTAR SHELLS HIT US CONSULATE AT HILLAH [Iraq].
The first canister-based trial of the 5,000 km-plus, nuclear weapons-capable Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile, Agni-V, "in final induction configuration" is to be conducted after the monsoon season from Wheeler Island, off the Odisha coast.
You get the sense that the Indians really are serious about an indigenous, high quality deterrent...
As a prelude to the actual firing, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) technologists successfully carried out the final 'Missile Ejection Test' from a canister in simulated conditions on Saturday, according to Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister and DRDO Chief, Avinash Chander.
The test validated all the parameters that would have to be met during the actual launch. The final test was completed, he said, and added that the launch from the canister would now be carried out from Wheeler Island after monsoon.
During the actual launch, the first stage of Agni-V would be ignited at a height of 25-30 metres after its ejection from the canister, DRDO sources said. The solid propellant-based gas generator at the bottom of the canister would provide a force equivalent to 300-370 tonnes to push Agni-V to a height of 30 metres when the first of the three stages gets ignited.
Ensuring mid-air ignition of the first stage would eliminate the need to use jet deflectors when the flames erupt as the missile takes off. Also, canister launch would provide operational flexibility to the user to fire the missile from anywhere and makes the transportation of the weapon system much easier and safer. "It is better to carry the missile in a canister than in an open vehicle," say the sources.
Posted by: John Frum ||
06/16/2014
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#1
Is there a plan to put that canister in to a future boomer?
#2
There will be a test SLBM launch from the Arihant submarine n a few months.
The 3000 km range SLBM has already been tested from a submersible pontoon.
The canister means the Indians are abandoning their recessed deterrent strategy. Currently the civilian Atomic Energy agency manufactures and stockpiles the warheads. They are only released to the military and mated in emergencies. These canisters will require the warhead to be mated to missile prior to insertion into the canister. The Indians will be relying on PALs to secure these ready to fire weapons in the custody of the military's strategic forces command, which has been practice firing missiles quite regularly.
Posted by: John Frum ||
06/16/2014 20:09
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[AnNahar] A security plan set to be enforced in the capital Beirut will include the area of Bourj Hammoud, media reports said on Sunday.
An Interior Ministry source said in comments published in the pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat that "the official security plan set to be implemented in Beirut will include Bourj Hammoud, which is considered part of the capital."
The plan will be implemented in the area "regardless of the number of wanted suspects there."
The source stressed that the decision was taken ahead of the recent festivities that erupted in the area.
"The security plan will include all areas in order to maintain security on all Lebanese territories."
On Friday night, a clash erupted between an gang and a number of residents in the al-Nabaa neighborhood in Bourj Hammoud area, prompting the intervention of security forces.
Clashes and security violations are common in al-Nabaa, which is confessionally and politically mixed.
Recently, Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq said that a security plan for Beirut is expected to witness light in June.
The army and security forces have already implemented a security plan in the northern city of Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... and the eastern Bekaa Valley, arresting scores of gunnies and members of gangs involved in car thefts and kidnappings in return for ransom.
#1
"We listened very carefully to the U.S. Army," McCain said of the A-10 supporters. "They are the ones who need the close air support, they are ones who are in grave danger without it."
And yet they are retiring them.
B1B providing close air? Are they smoking crack out there????
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
06/16/2014 0:22
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#2
Look, I like the A-10. It is terrifying to our opponents and very effective once it arrives on site. But, the Air Force wienies are not being complete retards here. They are trying to expand the Close Air Support (CAS) footprint for the soldier at low cost.
The B1 carries 216 500 lb SDBs, which can glide out for more than 50 miles, and the B1 itself is a supersonic delivery platform. So, a single B1 on orbit can really deliver MUCH more ordnance on target MUCH faster than a flight of A-10's on orbit.
However, if anyone messes up on the input side describing where the bombs need to land, well then that will be a mess. We had that happen in 2001 and it looks like we had it happen again recently. In such a case the A-10 pilots, would have seen the mistake and then changed targets. A robot bomb from a B1 cannot do that.
I really have a hard time arguing that in order to keep HIGHLY TRAINED SPECIAL FORCES troops from putting wrong coordinates into their coms systems, we need to prefer a system that delivers less CAS support to the soldiers in theater.
Personally, I would be happy to keep both capabilities. That would add options to the local commander, which is always good, but may be too expensive given the economizing that is necessary because of domestic spending exemplified by the number of Obamaphones with monthly service fees that must be paid to US based wireless corporations, who make campaign contributions.
Perhaps we live in a country where our soldiers in the field need to make campaign contributions to keep open their options for close air support?
If this narrative has made you less and less comfortable as it has progressed, then write a note to your Senator asking to maintain and improve CAS options. Yes, Senators are politicians and mostly useless, but only mostly, not absolutely.
#3
Nicely articulated, well thought remark.
The third leg of course is to remove some of the C from CAS by reducing the number of 'surgical' missions with minimum teams. That will require a reassessment of the COIN strategy and acceptance of more collateral damage. Not gonna happen.
#4
Rammer makes some good points. Bottom line however, nothing beats 'eyes on target' and the capability to dynamically re-task, either from an airborne platform, troops in contact, or ground based UAV operator. Modern thermal imaging also permits the real-time sorting of friendlies from bad guys.
Lastly, 'squirters' happen. I don't care how dark it is or how fast a squirter runs, he's probably not going to be able to outmaneuver that 30mm.
#5
"I really have a hard time arguing that in order to keep HIGHLY TRAINED SPECIAL FORCES troops from putting wrong coordinates into their coms systems"
The obvious answer is to invest MORE into CAS UI system and sort out the CAS plane later.
#6
Rammer make a fair argument, but I completely disagree. The reason B2 aircraft will continue to hit is because the aircraft have no visual on the target. The SOF fight close in, The B2 fire at a grid put in by some kid getting his ass shot off. The A10 flies over the target, the enemy know all hell is about to break loose and hunker down effectively stopping the fight. They see the targets and the friendlies. Then they come back for the kill, a fairly precision event. There is no good side to this. The only bombs the B2 should be dropping are the lazer guided bombs directed by the guy on the ground. Have we learned nothing from Viet-Nam???
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
06/16/2014 10:33
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#8
Once and for all, GIVE THE @%$#%#@%^ A-10s TO THE ARMY, and quit creating such a #^$%%^%^ idiotic blunder. The Army wants them, the Army needs them, and the Army can deal with them. Let them have them. All this intra-service bickering does is give the enemy hope. Time for someone with brass ones to step up and put an end to the childish temper tantrums.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
06/16/2014 17:03
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#9
Amen and Amen OP. If a SPAD showed up overhead with guns blazin whilst soldiers or Marines were in contact, it would represent a huge boost in morale. Multiply the morale boost by about 10k for a Warthog.
#10
When the Air Force first tried to give them away it was just prior to the first gulf war. I was on the Army pilots list to be trained. Then the war hit and they were the darling of the war and the air farce kept them....
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
06/16/2014 18:36
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#11
I've seen enough live UAV Full Motion Video (FMV) feeds in TOC's and listened to enough radio traffic to know that the A-10 and it's payload are the soldier and Marines very, very close friends.
#12
Hey, the B1 can fly over the target too, if you want that.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3esYp2oUXPw
But my point is ONE B1 can be overflying or bombing the shit out of anything in Afghanistan in under 30 minutes. A-10s from Baghram or Kandahar will take more than an hour on average, and we will need multiple ready planes, pilots, and crews at each airfield to even do that.
It would be better operationally to have both, but if we ,can only have one and you run the numbers, then it is much cheaper to fly the Bone. And it is cheaper whether you pay for it with Air Force or Army dollars.
And we need that money to forgive the student loans that little Timmy, who never served a minute, took out to pay for his MFA, because unlike our soldiers in the field, he is suffering.
#15
Roger Rammer, high five! No such fok'n thing as too much air cover. Optimally, all ground operations should include both dedicated Medivac on-call, attack helo's and/or fast movers in direct support. Can't always happen... but the optimal is indisputable. See the now very dated 'AirLand Battle Doctrine' for more.
#16
use the fast movers to deliver whatever passes for carpet bombing nowadays and give the low and slow mission to the A-10s.
using air force logic we can retire all the helos and use the F-35s to snatch downed aircrew.
#18
There is a reason they called it a strategic bomber. They don't use the B1 for air to air. They have proven over and over fighters make bad bombers and close air aircraft. The air force has been trying to get out of the close air business for years. I'm just tired of the politics of all of this. It gets down to who the f$%k really cares about the troops, lets spin each aircraft as close air support so we can get funded. Then when the air to air mods and deep strike mods are done, well sorry troops! I remember the F16 was sold to congress as a close air support aircraft. Then they put the fighter crap on it and could not support the troops. The air forces official answer was, Apache, see you don't need it. When you need to take out a village or camp, the B@ is a great platform. But when your fighting across some creek bed, the A10 is the correct answer...
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
06/16/2014 20:22
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#19
I thought the F-16 was also sold as a light-weight air defense fighter. I learn more and more.
TALEH, Somalia -- Amidst looming threats of instability in the disputed regions of Sool and Sanaag, a fresh incursion into the historic town of Taleh by Somaliland's separatist administration forces has been reported on Thursday, Garowe Online reports.
Taleh resident said on Puntland-based independent station, Radio Garowe that 40 fighting vehicles besieged the town by granting Khaatumo 3 Convention participants including founder and Federal MP Ali Khalif Galaydh a safe passage out of the town.
"No combat has occurred in the town. Armed ordinary residents are roaming around here and Khaatumo 3 conference organizers departed either overnight on Wednesday and in the early hours of [Thursday morning]," he said.
Speaking on BBC Somali Service Somaliland Armed Forces Commander-In-Chief Gen. Ismael Shaqale confirmed the military move as normal operation aimed at securing Somaliland borders.
Separately, Somaliland yesterday deployed hundreds of its troops in Sanaag region, positioning them in temporary bases near Hingalool district.
The new leader Dr. Abdiweli Mohamed Ali Gaas who was elected Puntland's new president in a narrow victory margin of 33-to-32 parliamentary vote on January 8, 2014 campaigned for Lasanod issue during presidential elections.
On April 25, Somaliland troops seized Holhol village in Sool, with units within the forces seizing strategic oil-rich targets.
In Septemper 2013, Anglo-Turkish Oil Exploration Company, Genel Energy withdrew its expatriates from Somaliland due to political pressure with the possibility that Federal Government of Somalia threatened license revocation, Somaliland officials initially disclosed. A spokesman for the company afterwards told that security issues forced them to vacate the oil exploration fields in the separatist region.
UN Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea warned in 2013 confidential report that Western commercial oil exploration may spark new conflict in Somalia: "These inconsistencies, unless resolved, may lead to increased political conflict between federal and regional governments that risk exacerbating clan divisions and therefore threaten peace and security," the UN report noted.
In a piece published in Wall Street Journal in late May unveiled that Somaliland is planning the formation of oil-field protection unit, exposing international concern over arms embargo and the proliferation of private companies which would run counter to UN stance.
Somaliland's neighbor to east, Puntland warmed of "consequences" in Somaliland's pursuit of oil exploration in Sool and Sanaag regions.
"Somaliland is creating conflict in the region. Somaliland cannot give land to foreign companies to explore oil when the land does not belong to Somaliland," former Puntland President Abdirahman Mohamed Farole said while he was delivering a keynote address at Puntland State House in Garowe on 1 August, a date on which Puntland people celebrated 15 years of statehood.
Local clan militias who come from the same clan as the self-declared administration of Khaatumo leaders are said to have been coordinating the offensives with Somaliland government forces, sources disclosed.
Puntland and Somaliland have fought sporadic battles since 2002 over the control of territories mainly in Sool region. Somaliland, located in northwestern Somalia unilaterally declared its independence from the rest of the country as a de facto sovereign state in 1991 but it hasn't been recognized internationally yet.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/16/2014
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QUETTA: A railway track was damaged in improvised explosive device (IED) blast near Haji Shehr area of Kachhi District on Sunday, however, no causality was reported.
According to Levies Force, unidentified men planted the IED besides the railway track. The bomb damaged three-foot-long section of the railway track, but there was no loss of life. Railway service between Balochistan and other parts of the country was suspended after the explosion. Local administrations reached the site and cordoned off the entire area and launched a hunt for suspects.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/16/2014
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#1
All places where women are excluded tend downward to barbarism; but the moment she is introduced, there come in with her courtesy, cleanliness, sobriety, and order- Harriet Beecher Stowe
She is referring to Republican women, of course. Dad would be proud.
#3
It does become harder and harder to have faith in an administration that is plagued with scandal after scandal.a criminal enterprise. FIFY Alison. Your dad would be proud of you.
The Syrian war has turned into a business in every sense of the word. Everything is negotiable and everything is up for sale. Numerous mafias have emerged and while they used to profit from developments brought forth by the war, now they contribute to directing the war. These mafias have moved from the phase of benefiting from crises to the phase of fabricating crises to serve their interests. The newest example in this regard is the bombing of a major pipeline for pumping water in the city of Aleppo, which has opened the door for the mafias to reap more of the black gold.
Earlier this month, a huge explosion rocked the city of Aleppo. The largest city in Syria and the terminus of the silk road.
It turned out that a tunnel was dug in the middle of al-Midan street and booby trapped. It was rumored at the time that the purpose of the explosion was to provide cover for gunmen who infiltrated al-Midan neighborhood which falls under the army's control, before announcing that "the attack failed."
The strange thing is that the area that was dug, booby trapped and blown up does not have any strategic significance and nothing falls within its range except the water pipeline known by most Aleppans to pass through that area. The explosion destroyed three out of four major pipes that pump drinking water from Suleiman al-Halabi Station and cut two power cables that feed the water pumps. This means drinking water has been cut off in a city that is always threatened by thirst because of constant Turkish manipulation of the waters of the Euphrates river. "OK Zeynep, turn the big round green wheel clockwise until it stops.
The Syrian Red Crescent in Aleppo, under the supervision of the Red Cross representative, negotiated with these groups. They reached an agreement consisting of two phases. The first phase is operating the water pumps by relying on power generators to ensure pumping drinking water to Aleppo's neighborhoods alternately through the undamaged pipe. The second phase requires bringing in repair teams to fix the pipes and the power cables. The Red Cross will pay for the repairs and the diesel. First mistake. Next time one-quarter upfront, one-quarter on completion, one-half after the first year of no-kabooms.
Sure enough, trucks began transferring an average of 45,000 liters of diesel per day under the supervision of the Red Cross. Sources told Al-Akhbar that the amount of diesel brought in is a lot more than the pumping station's need, which is estimated at 14,000 liters of diesel every 24 hours to work at full capacity. But the station is currently working at less than half its capacity. According to Al-Akhbar's sources, "the working pumps are three out of seven and they need four megawatts to start, but once they start, they need even less." Technical sources told Al-Akhbar that "generating four electricity megawatts requires 8,000 liters of diesel every 24 hours." However, Al-Akhbar's information indicates that "only one production unit is working at this time, 12 hours a day." I think you see where this is going. You guessed it. The repairs are not going to happen anytime soon.
[WashPost] These days, we're pretty used to Russian criticisms of U.S. foreign policy, and the finger wagging that comes afterward: Russia loves to remind the United States that it warned against its international follies.
#1
*WE* told you so, being the military and anyone that knew the region, back in 2010 that the 2011 withdrawal was too sudden and far too soon. But noooo, Obama needed a campaign talking point, so Hillary gave him one. We are now paying the price for their cluelessness and shortsighted stupidity..
#2
Both Ariel Sharon & Saudi king told you to chose a nice (one with good memory) Sunni general, and make him the new Rais. But no, that was not according to Fukuyama.
#3
You and the Russians are being fundamentally dishonest because there's no real plan that could survive five years' worth of "management" by someone who wants it to fail. By refusing to acknowledge Obama's malice in this area y'all are both lying by omission.
#4
I hear the shrill cries of the Left still criticizing George W. for going into Iraq. According to them, it is George W.'s fault for the present situation. They are still unwilling to admit their guy is in way over his head. Basically, they have no plan and don't know what to do.
#7
Actually we're doing well now that Cantor is leaving. Still got a few more leftests to go however; Schumer, Boxer, Feinstein, Waxman Levin to name a few. I'm optimistic.
Millions of years of fist fights have altered the human face to leave men's jaws more robust than women's, a study has found. Evidence suggests it evolved to minimise damage from bruising altercations after our ancient ancestors learned how to throw a punch.
Researchers studied the bone structure of australopiths, ape-like bipeds living four to five million years ago that pre-dated the modern human primate family Homo. They found that australopith faces and jaws were strongest in just those areas most likely to receive a blow from a fist. It is a legacy that continues to this day, helping to explain why men's faces are more robust than women's, say the scientists.
The study, published in the journal Biological Reviews, builds on previous work indicating that violence played a greater role in human evolution than many experts would like to admit.
In recent years, biologist Dr Carrier has investigated the short legs of great apes, the bipedal posture of humans, and the hand proportions of ''hominins'', or early human species. He argues that these traits evolved, to a large extent, around the need to fight.
Co-author Dr Michael Morgan, a University of Utah physician, said: ''I think our science is sound and fills some long-standing gaps in the existing theories of why the musculoskeletal structures of our faces developed the way they did.
''Our research is about peace. We seek to explore, understand, and confront humankind's violent and aggressive tendencies. Peace begins with ourselves and is ultimately achieved through disciplined self-analysis and an understanding of where we've come from as a species. Through our research, we hope to look ourselves in the mirror and begin the difficult work of changing ourselves for the better.''
#4
Apparently the face evolved faster than the fist. Hurts like a son of a gun to smack somebody in the chin.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey ||
06/16/2014 13:54
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#5
Apparently the face evolved faster than the fist.
An interesting thought! Evolution is frequently an arms race, like the war between plants and animals that has been going on for a mazillion years. (like a caterpillar eating toxic plants, then using the toxin for its own defense)
One might expect that if fist/face interactions were important, we would have developed giant Popeye forearms rather than the little tyrannosaurus arms I seem to posses.
#4
Unfortunately, this places Hill on the same level as a lot of voters. (They can identify with it.)(Oh, and, sorry, no sarcasm.)
Posted by: ed in texas ||
06/16/2014 7:30
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#5
One of the cultural problems of the Left is the inability to understand anyone thinking different than themselves. That's why the default accusation of 'racism' is dropped so often from their lips. So, when their world comes apart around them, they are absolutely incapable of questioning their fundamental beliefs as being invalid. Color that with the insular nature of the urban culture they so love and inhabit, it just has to be 'that way' because, to them, there is no other. Thus, to the outsider view, they're clueless.
#6
One of the cultural problems of the Left is the inability to understand anyone thinking different than themselves. You have nailed it. A trait of ideologues is tunnel vision. Couple that with a narcissistic leader and we all have a problem.
#10
Romney suffers from the pathology of white guilt, embedded in the fiber of Obama; cleverly adopted long ago by the Clintons ["First Black President"].
The Iraqi Shi'a are not waiting for the ISIS threat to develop further nor are they waiting for the national government to organize a coherent defense against the ISIS threat. They are actively seeking to provide protection for themselves, their shrines, and predominantly Iraqi Shi'a areas. Violence perpetrated by Iraqi Shi'a militias will increase if shrines are attacked. Reports of possible Iranian soldiers on Iraqi territory are very concerning, particularly as the Iraqi Shi'a begin to see the ISIS threat as existential. When viewed through this lens, help from fellow Shi'a - in both material and manpower forms - could be easily justified as not only permissible, but necessary in the eyes of Iraqi Shi'a.
Therefore, there is currently a coordinated ISF, Iraqi Shi'a militia, and Iranian effort. The Badr organization and Iranian main effort is concentrated in Diyala. The counter-offensive will likely focus on the areas of Tikrit and Samarra, with additional Shi'a militias concentrating on Baghdad and holy shrines.
Grand Ayatollah Sistani's declaration to fight against ISIS has numerous ramifications for Iraqi politics by cementing the unity of the Iraqi Shi'a political and militia leaders at a time when their support might have fractured. It is likelier now than immediately after the fall of Mosul that a Shi'a unity government more dependent on Iran will emerge in Baghdad if the ISIS crisis is averted. More in the article.
Posted by: Squinty ||
06/16/2014
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#2
Don't let the press gloss this over: these Shiite militias are not the boy scouts, nor are they an armed rabble. These guys have been gunnies for years, and fought hard against US forces until the Surge wore them down, with better armed better informed military actions, and better cash payoffs.
These militias are not in a prisoner-taking mood. No quarter will be given, and as one of the Iraqis I know said to me in an email this weekend, before he and others head to Samarra to fight "We will push the ISIS out, and send them all screaming to hell"
[Ynet] Culture succeeds where politics has failed: Books written by Israelis are translated into Arabic, sold and read in Iran, Pakistain and Leb, while publishers from hostile countries develop warm relations.
An Israeli, a Persian, a Pak and a Lebanese meet at a fair. This may sound like the start of the joke, but it's completely real and it has been happening for several years now at international book fairs around the world.
These meetings have a clear and quite surprising outcome: Books written by Israelis are sold and read in Iran, Leb and Pakistain.
Continued on Page 49
Egyptian security forces confiscated copies of a human rights groupâs newsletter, saying the publication threatened the government, the head of the group said on Sunday.
Can't have that, can we...
Gamal Eid, the head of the Arab Network for Human Rights Information, said police seized 1,000 copies of the publication, entitled Wasla, or Link, from the print shop the night before, also arresting a worker at the Press.
The newsletter is a digest of blogs and social media content that has been distributed to select readers by mail since 2010. The current issue focused on newly elected President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi, with activists discussing the sources of his popularity. Some of the contributors argued in favour of Al Sisiâs left-wing opponent in the elections.
Another commentator supported Al Sisiâs election, saying he would keep Egypt a secular state. The issue also included an article on journalist who works for Qatar-based broadcaster Al Jazeera who has been in detention since last year, without formal charges and on hunger strike for over 100 days in protest.
Security officials were not immediately available for comment. Lawyers said a police investigation was underway.
Eid said security officials told lawyers that the publication was part of a plan to âoverthrow the regimeâ and was linked to the Muslim Brotherhood, which the government declared a terrorist organisation last year. Eid called the accusations âludicrous,â and gave an ominous sign for freedom of expression under the new president, just a week into his term. Eid said that since his publication wasnât even sold to the public its seizure meant the crackdown was escalating to include non-governmental organisations critical of the governmentâs restrictions on freedoms. He said the confiscation was a violation of the law and unconstitutional.
Egyptâs newly amended constitution, approved after Mursiâs ouster, states that censorship or confiscation of publications is prohibited, permitting âlimited censorship in times of war or general mobilization.â
Guess this is one of those times...
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/16/2014
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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.
Wazoo
David Cameron
Lindsey Graham
Communist militants killed one Philippine soldier and injured another in separate clashes, officials said on Sunday. The officials said New Peopleâs Army militants attacked a soldier in Zamboanga del Surâs Guipos town.
ISLAMABAD: The military launched a long-expected full-scale operation against terrorists in the North Waziristan Agency on Sunday, days after a deadly gunfight with Taliban at Karachi airport killed 38, including 10 attackers.
The Arab League (AL) on Sunday strongly slammed the attacks committed by Jihadist-led militants in Iraq, but rejected any attempts of interference in the domestic affairs of the conflict-stricken country.
KABUL: Afghan presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah on Sunday accused senior election officials of serious fraud, opening a dispute over the vote count that could threaten a smooth transition of power.
Nouri al-Maliki
RAWALPINDI/MIRANSHAH: Fighter jets launched air strikes Sunday against militant hideouts in North Waziristan, killing at least 105 insurgents including those linked to a brazen attack on Karachi airport, the military said on Sunday.
BAGHDAD -- The United States said Sunday it was evacuating some staff from its embassy and beefing up security as deadly explosions rocked the Iraqi capital and advancing militant Islamic insurgents released graphic images appearing to show its fighters massacring captured Iraqi soldiers.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
The first canister-based trial of the 5,000 km-plus, nuclear weapons-capable Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile, Agni-V, "in final induction configuration" is to be conducted after the monsoon season from Wheeler Island, off the Odisha coast.
Amen and Amen OP. If a SPAD showed up overhead with guns blazin whilst soldiers or Marines were in contact, it would represent a huge boost in morale. Multiply the morale boost by about 10k for a Warthog. 
The Syrian war has turned into a business in every sense of the word. Everything is negotiable and everything is up for sale. Numerous mafias have emerged and while they used to profit from developments brought forth by the war, now they contribute to directing the war. These mafias have moved from the phase of benefiting from crises to the phase of fabricating crises to serve their interests. The newest example in this regard is the bombing of a major pipeline for pumping water in the city of Aleppo, which has opened the door for the mafias to reap more of the black gold.
Behold the Gollum future. 
Execute a Non-Combatant Evacuation Operation (NEO) immediately and pass the salt. 
