[AnNahar] Civilian casualties in Afghanistan hit a record high this year, a U.N. report said, highlighting worsening violence as U.S.-led troops leave after more than a decade of fighting the Taliban.
Casualties jumped 19 percent by the end of November compared to the year before, with 3,188 civilians killed and 6,429 injured, the United Nation's Mission's for Afghanistan (UNAMA) said in a report.
It warned that civilian casualties were expected to exceed 10,000 by the end of the year, making it the deadliest year for noncombatants since the organization began issuing its authoritative reports in 2009.
Compared to 2013, this year also saw a 33 percent rise in casualties among children and a 12 percent increase among women, according to the report released on Friday.
"Civilian casualties are particularly tragic and very prominent part, even benchmark, of the horror of the violence that ordinary Afghans face," said Nicholas Haysom, the top U.N. envoy in Afghanistan.
While ground fighting between troops and holy warrior groups and Improvised bombs (IEDs) remained leading causes of deaths and injuries, the Taliban were accountable for 75 percent of all civilian casualties, the report said.
As U.S.-led NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions... troops prepare to wrap up its 13-year combat mission, casualties among Afghan cops have also suffered soaring casualties, with more than 4,600 killed in the first 10 months of this year.
After NATO's combat operations end on December 31, a follow-up mission of about 12,500 U.S.-led NATO troops will stay on in Afghanistan to train and support the local security forces now responsible for fighting the Taliban.
[AnNahar] A former Somali warlord who allied to the Islamist Shabaab group but severed links this summer has been removed from a U.N. sanctions list.
Mohammed Said Atom, a powerful arms dealer, was targeted with U.N. travel and financial sanctions for "kidnapping, piracy and terrorism."
...all very badman activities...
In June, Atom announced he had laid down his arms and would now only work through "peaceful means and understanding."
How exciting! Whatever made him change his mind?
He accused Shabaab, which is linked to al-Qaeda, of being manipulated by a foreign agenda and of killing Moslems.
No! Really?! However did he figure that out?
Shabaab controls areas of Somalia and has staged a number of brazen liquidations and killings in Mogadishu as well as in neighboring Kenya.
And no doubt will do more, equally brazen, in the future.
The United Nations ...an organization conceived in the belief that we're just one big happy world, with the sort of results you'd expect from such nonsense... Security Council committee dealing with Somalia announced Atom's removal from the sanctions list on Friday.
He however remains on the U.S. Treasury's financial sanctions list.
[Ynet] Egypt received 10 Apache helicopters from the United States in the past week, security sources said on Saturday, a sign of easing tensions between the long-time allies confronting Islamist extremism across the region.
The United States originally announced in April that it had decided to lift its hold on the delivery of the attack helicopters, imposed last year after the military toppled elected president Mohammed Mursi and cracked down hard on his Moslem Brüderbund supporters. The Pentagon said in September that the United States would deliver the helicopters, built by Boeing Co., to support Cairo's counter-terrorism efforts.
[Ynet] Security officials say Egypt's powerful intelligence chief has been removed and replaced by his deputy.
Gen. Mohammed Farid el-Tohamy was put in charge of the intelligence agency immediately after the military ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi in July 2013.
El-Tohamy was viewed as a longtime mentor of Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, who as army chief forced Morsi out and was elected president this June.
Officials said late Saturday that el-Tohamy, who was in his mid 60s, was relieved of his post for health reasons. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because an official announcement has yet to be made.
The new intelligence chief is Khaled Fawzy, a longtime intelligence officer, who heads the national security agency.
After Egypt and Qatar begin to bury hatchet over past bad blood over Muslim Brotherhood, hardliner intel chief known for crackdown on Hamas and Islamists removed from top position.
One hopes Egypt will soon see heavy investments from Qatar in recompense.
Guess Qatar has decided to forgive the Mamluks for spanking the Muslim Brotherhood, at least for now.
[Ynet] Egypt's President has met with an envoy of the Emir of Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates... , the first such meeting since Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi took office last summer, signaling a thaw in relations between the two nations.
The meeting was also the first meeting since Gulf countries, led by Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... and United Arab Emirates, reached a reconciliation agreement with Qatar last month aimed at easing regional tensions linked to Doha's support for Islamist groups throughout the region.
A Saudi royal envoy attended the Saturday meeting. al-Sissi's office said Egypt looks forward to a "new era that leaves behind the disagreements of the past."
Doha was strong backer of el-Sissi's predecessor, Islamist President Mohammed Morsi, who was ousted July 2013 by the military following mass protests. al-Sissi, then military chief, was elected president in June.
[Ynet] Egyptian security forces have detained nearly 10,000 suspected Death Eaters, rioters and others wanted in violent attacks over the past 12 months in a crackdown a senior interior ministry official said Saturday targets those attempting to curtail Egypt's development. The comments by Major General Abdel-Fattah Osman, an aide to the interior minister for media affairs, to the official news agency MENA are a rare account of the number of people authorities have placed in durance vile Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un! amid a widening crackdown that has included Islamists, as well as secular critics of the government.
It doesn't however account for the total number of people believed to have been put behind bars since the ouster of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi in July 2013. Security officials estimate that more than 20,000 have been arrested since then.
Authorities have since made protesting illegal without prior permits from security officials, leaving thousands of protesters subjected to the law harshly criticized by rights groups and activists. The government had also declared the Moslem Brüderbund, the group from which Morsi hails, as a terrorist organization blaming it for most of the violent attacks against security and military troops which have surged since Morsi's ouster. The group denies the charges.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
12/21/2014 00:00 ||
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Egypt is to reopen the Rafah border crossing with Gaza on Sunday for the second time in two months to allow those stranded in Egypt to enter the Palestinian territory, officials said.
The Rafah crossing is the only access point to the Gaza Strip not controlled by Israel. It was shut by Egypt in late October following a deadly bombing in the Sinai Peninsula, reopening briefly at the end of November to allow Palestinians stuck in Egypt to return home.
Police official Ali Al Azazi said that a similar operation will take place from Sunday and only for two days.
“Egypt will open the Rafah crossing on Sunday and Monday to allow those stranded on the Egyptian side to go to Gaza,” he said.
More than 3,500 Palestinians were stranded when Egypt closed the crossing after a suicide attack killed 30 soldiers in North Sinai on October 24, the United Nations said last month. It was not immediately clear how many of them are still stranded.
Many Palestinians who travel through Rafah are students heading to universities in Egypt or beyond, or patients in need of medical treatment not available in Gaza.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/21/2014 00:00 ||
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for the second time in two months to allow those stranded in Egypt to enter the Palestinian territory, officials said
so it's less like "opening a border" and more like "flushing the turds into the sewer"
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/21/2014 13:04 Comments ||
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From the New Yorker via the Puppy Blender. Just a taste here.
What's humorous about this, if anything can be funny, is how the media kowtowed to the CIA on shielding this woman's identity. Obviously she's not a Republican. The media is happy to name lots of people unless said person is a Democrat-gone-wrong or a demented rape 'accuser'.
Our brave, bold media could do us a favor by naming her; they won't of course. Jane Mayer at the New Yorker is as spineless, gullible and progressive (but I repeat myself) as the rest of the MSM.
And Jamie Gorelick should be in the front row of people wanting this woman to be named -- anything, ANYTHING to divert attention from her...
For the past eight months, there has been a furious battle raging behind closed doors at the White House, the C.I.A., and in Congress. The question has been whether the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence would be allowed to use pseudonyms as a means of identifying characters in the devastating report it released last week on the C.I.A.’s abusive interrogation and detention program. Ultimately, the committee was not allowed to, and now we know one reason why.
The NBC News investigative reporter Matthew Cole has pieced together a remarkable story revealing that a single senior officer, who is still in a position of high authority over counterterrorism at the C.I.A.—a woman who he does not name—appears to have been a source of years’ worth of terrible judgment, with tragic consequences for the United States. Her story runs through the entire report. She dropped the ball when the C.I.A. was given information that might very well have prevented the 9/11 attacks; she gleefully participated in torture sessions afterward; she misinterpreted intelligence in such a way that it sent the C.I.A. on an absurd chase for Al Qaeda sleeper cells in Montana. And then she falsely told congressional overseers that the torture worked.
Had the Senate Intelligence Committee been permitted to use pseudonyms for the central characters in its report, as all previous congressional studies of intelligence failures, including the widely heralded Church Committee report in 1975, have done, it might not have taken a painstaking, and still somewhat cryptic, investigation after the fact in order for the American public to hold this senior official accountable. Many people who have worked with her over the years expressed shock to NBC that she has been entrusted with so much power. A former intelligence officer who worked directly with her is quoted by NBC, on background, as saying that she bears so much responsibility for so many intelligence failures that “she should be put on trial and put in jail for what she has done.”
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/21/2014 00:00 ||
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The gov't race for gender equality and the shattering of so-called glass ceilings didn't pan out so well at FOB Chapman either.
A Failure to Follow Security Procedures:
Had proper security procedures been followed, the attack should only have killed the security contractors, the vehicle driver and perhaps the Jordanian GID officer. But proper security measures were not followed, and several CIA officers rushed out to greet the unscreened Jordanian source. Reports indicate that the source had alerted his Jordanian handler that he had intelligence pertaining to the location of al Qaeda second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri. (There are also reports that al-Balawi had given his handlers highly accurate battle damage assessments on drone strikes in Pakistan, indicating that he had access to high-level jihadist sources.) The prospect of finally receiving such crucial and long-sought information likely explains the presence of the high-profile visitors from CIA headquarters in Langley and the station in Kabul — and their exuberance over receiving such coveted intelligence probably explains their eager rush to meet the source before he had been properly screened.
#5
I couldn't find it archived, but I do remember reading some open source traffic about the Chief of Post at Chapman [Mathews] being in direct coms with the White House situation room. As you may recall, there was an election approaching and the heat was on to locate UBL.
I seem to recall Mathews being an 'analyst' vs. a trained Case Officer (CO). This may, or may not have had something to do with throwing caution to the wind, which resulted in a disastrous meeting with the source.
#7
The failure to perform normal security protocols was another significant failure. Posted by Pappy
Exackery! I don't recall 'Normal security protocals' or tradecraft for a PM ever including a huddle or 'meet and greet' around the source's approaching vehicle. It pains me to say it, but you've got to give the bad guys credit.
#9
Excellent question. My guess is.... self inflicted. But that is only a guess. From my readings, it appears they lost some very good employees. That Memorial Wall needed no more stars.
In what could amount to a tectonic shift in the country's foreign policy, the Modi government is looking at altering India's supporting vote for the Palestinian cause at the United Nations to one of abstinence.
Two sources within the government confirmed to The Hindu that the change, which will be a fundamental departure from India's support to the cause of a Palestinian state, was under consideration.
Posted by: John Frum ||
12/21/2014 14:32 ||
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Might be that little problem they're having in the northeast?
#2
But Pappy, what could that problem in the northeast have to do with the Paleos? Is there some shared characteristic that I'm not picking up on? {/sarc}
#3
"India is now the largest buyer of Israeli military equipment, while Israel is India's largest customer after Russia. In the first nine months of 2014, bilateral trade reached $3.4 billion, on target for a record this year." Source
#4
There is that. However, considering the number of 'militants' from the MidEast that just happened to be found in SE Asia (to use a general locale,) I'm wondering if the arms sales and this recent action are symptoms of something else and not cause-and-effect.
[Ynet] With countries around the world facing a Jihadi threat that sprung up on their territory, they are looking to the UN Security Council's anti-terror body (CTED). In a special interview, CTED's bigwig, Israeli counter-terror expert Dr. David Scharia, talks to Ronen Bergman about the day when the Western recruits to the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... decide to return home.With countries around the world facing a Jihadi threat that sprung up on their territory, they are looking to the UN Security Council's anti-terror body (CTED). In a special interview, CTED's senior official, Israeli counter-terror expert Dr. David Scharia, talks to Ronen Bergman about the day when the Western recruits to the Islamic State decide to return home.
Long article at the link -- useful to know what they're thinking about terrorism in high places, though it seems to me we were following ISIS before the Yazidis got caught on that mountain. I had no idea the UN Security Council had its own terrorism task force.
#1
AFAIC the LeftMedias or MSM help promote the Global Jihad + even Anti-US Globalism everytime they use the very broad, Super-PCorrect label "Americans" instead of the more accurate or specific "African-Americans", "Converts", andor other accurate Ethnic-specific description.
[IraqiNews] The Peshmerga forces discovered a mass grave for Izidi citizens who were killed by the ISIL terrorists.
Security source stated to IraqiNews.com ?The Peshmerga forces discovered a mass grave for the Izidi citizens comprises 70 corpses including children and women in Hardan village of Sinjar district of western djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... .?
Posted by: trailing wife ||
12/21/2014 00:15 ||
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The US State Department has approved possible sales of tanks and armored vehicles worth approximately $3 billion to Iraq, where Islamic State extremists have been active, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) has revealed.
The sale isn't important, the delivery date is important...
"The State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to Iraq for M1A1 Abrams tanks and associated equipment, parts and logistical support for an estimated cost of $2.4 billion," the DSCA said in a press release Friday.
Do the Iraqis need Abrams tanks? While I only know what I read, it seems that the types of vehicles we've been pushing onto our own police forces stateside is what the Iraqis need to fight ISIS. More practical, easier to move, and tough enough to get Iraqi soldiers (the ones who won't run away) to the front.
Another press release, issued by the agency on the same day, said that the US State Department has also approved "Foreign Military Sale to Iraq for M1151A1 Up-Armored High Mobility Multi-Purpose Wheeled Vehicles [Humvees] and associated equipment, parts and logistical support for an estimated cost of $579 million".
According to the DSCA, the two sales will "contribute to the foreign policy and national security of the United States" and also directly support the Iraqi government and serve the interests of the people of Iraq.
According to the US State Department, around five US government and one hundred contractor representative till travel to Iraq "for a period of up to five years for delivery, system checkout, program support, and training", as a part of the process to fulfill the contract for the Abrams tanks and other munitions. The deal for the Humvees will not require American personnel.
The DSCA assured that the US provision of weapons will not alter the basic military balance in the region, but will better enable the Iraqi military to mobilize and defend itself.
The United States partnered with the Iraqi government and over thirty other nations in September to oppose the Islamic State, a radical Sunni group also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) or the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), that currently controls significant portions of the Iraqi and Syrian territories.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/21/2014 00:00 ||
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US approves $3 billion sale of tanks, armored vehicles to Iraqn
Israel's safety is the number one priority, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday, regarding a rocket from Gaza that landed in Israel on Friday and an IAF attack on a Hamas cement factory on Saturday in response.
Speaking during a Hannuka candle lighting ceremony at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, Netanyahu said "I want to thank you soldiers for your contribution to Israel's safety. Israel's safety comes first. I won't allow even one rocket, and that is why the IAF responded to the rocket and destroyed a cement factory that was making cement to repair tunnels that were hit during Operation Protective Edge. Hamas will be held responsible for every escalation. We will protect Israel's safety. Happy holidays to everyone," he said.
Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon also spoke on Saturday evening saying that Israel will not tolerate a new "trickle" of rockets from Gaza.
"Last night's IAF airstrike in Gaza, which was in response to Friday's rocket attack, was on a factory making cement that would be used to build tunnels. It is a clear message to Hamas that we won't put up with a 'trickle' of rockets on our citizens. We hold Hamas responsible for what happens in the strip, and we know how to respond to the attacks if they don't know how to stop them," Ya'alon said.
Hamas on Saturday accused Israel of violating the cease-fire by launching the air strike.
Did the rocket violate the cease-fire?
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said that the airstrike was a “grave breach of the Egyptian-brokered” cease-fire that was reached with Israel last August. Haniyeh called on Egypt while cowering in his bunker under the hospital to “move quickly to force Israel to abide by the cease-fire agreement.”
Salah Bardaweel, a senior Hamas official safely somewhere other than Gaza, accused Israel of “tampering with the cease-fire.” He called on the international community to assume its responsibilities to stop the Israeli “violations.”
Bardaweel claimed that the airstrikes, which did not result in any casualties, were part of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s electoral campaign.
Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri warned Israel against any “stupid” moves that could lead to a serious deterioration. He too called on the international community to intervene to stop the Israeli attacks.
The air strike must have hit something big, all the Hamas leaders are whining like Nancy boys...
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/21/2014 00:00 ||
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A rocket aimed at Qatar would be a much more effective response.
[Ynet] IAF struck Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, training facility near Khan Younis in retaliation to rocket fire at Israeli south; Hamas official: The resistance has the right to respond to the Israeli aggression at the time and place it chooses.
Because responding to attacks by the Master Religion is completely unacceptable. On the other hand:
Mousa Abu Marzook, a Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, leader'>Hamas big turban, acknowledged that the Israeli Air Force's attack in the Gazoo Strip on Saturday night was a response to the launch of a rocket into Israel He said that Hamas was ensuring that all Paleostinian factions remain committed to a ceasefire, so that Israel would have no reason to retaliate in Gazoo.
"Please don't hurt us again so soon!"
Then there's this:
Defense officials said the Gazook site targeted by Israeli Air Force jets overnight was a cement factory intended to rehabilitate the group's terror tunnels.
According to the sources, the factory was destroyed. The strike, which was the first since the end of the IDF Operation Protective Edge, was undertaken after Paleostinian Lions of Islam fired a rocket which hit the Eshkol Regional Council.
Iran holds a special place among the countries with missile industry, Iranian Defense Minister Hussein Dehghan said. He added that the country is left behind by the US, Russia and China is this sphere, tasnimnews website reported on Dec.20.
Dehghan said Iran has achieved great success in the missile industry in recent years, adding that the country will not allow anyone to doubt its missiles. The minister said Iran seeks to increase the hitting accuracy of the missiles and the time of avoiding the radar.
Dehghan said that ensuring Iran’s national security and the security of sacred worship places in Iraq is a ‘red line’ for Tehran.
“If the ‘Islamic State’ or any other armed group touches the sacred places of worship, Iran will not sit back,” the defense minister added.
He said the US and Israel will not dare attack Iran.
“If these countries could do anything, they would undoubtedly do it. Nevertheless, taking this seriously we are preparing,” he added.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/21/2014 00:00 ||
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"we received the Photoshop upgrade"
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/21/2014 13:08 Comments ||
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* FREEREPUBLIC, TOPIX > IRAN POSSESSES KNOW-HOW
[Nuctech knowledge/expertise] TO BUILD NUKE BOMB, BUT WON'T: MUSLIM CLERIC.
Nuke Bombs are "Un-Islamic", which I interprete to good Mullah to mean his People = Muslims in general? prefer the glory of Personal Combat over the convenience of using Nukes to fight or win their wars agz Infidels???
Iran still insists on getting the S-300 missile system from Russia, the country’s Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan said. He said that Russian side has illegally canceled the contract under the pressure from Israel and the US, Iran’s Mehr news agency reported Dec. 20.
Russians used the international sanctions as an excuse to repeal the agreement meanwhile the contract was signed before the sanctions, he said.
In December 2006 the UN Security Council imposed a partial embargo on the export of technology related to nuclear weapon delivery systems to Iran, which includes certain technologies which can be used in conventional military applications. This was followed in June 2010 by a UN embargo on the export of most major conventional weapons to Iran.
Dehghan said that Iran did not accept the Russian offer for substituting S-300, adding that Iran has fulfilled its commitments within the agreement and wants Russia to do the same.
A contract inked in 2007 requires Russia to provide Iran with at least five S-300 missile defense systems. However, Moscow refrained from meeting its obligations under the pretext that they were covered by the fourth round of the UN Security Council resolutions against Iran.
In September 2010, then Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed a decree banning the delivery of the S-300 systems to the Islamic Republic.
Russia's refusal to deliver the systems under the contract prompted Iran to file a complaint with the International Court of Arbitration in Geneva against the Russian arms company Rosoboronexport.
Earlier Iranian media outlets reported that Tehran has rejected Russia's proposal to supply the Islamic Republic with S-300VM "Antey-2500" anti-ballistic missile system, instead of the promised S-300 system.
Send them a pallet of V-2 missiles, vintage 1945, and label the boxes 'S-300 parts'...
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/21/2014 00:00 ||
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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.
[Ynet] Egypt received 10 Apache helicopters from the United States in the past week, security sources said on Saturday, a sign of easing tensions between the long-time allies confronting Islamist extremism across the region.
Egypt is to reopen the Rafah border crossing with Gaza on Sunday for the second time in two months to allow those stranded in Egypt to enter the Palestinian territory, officials said.
Israel's safety is the number one priority, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday, regarding a rocket from Gaza that landed in Israel on Friday and an IAF attack on a Hamas cement factory on Saturday in response.
Iran holds a special place among the countries with missile industry, Iranian Defense Minister Hussein Dehghan said. He added that the country is left behind by the US, Russia and China is this sphere, tasnimnews website reported on Dec.20.
