[AnNahar] The U.S. military has decided it will no longer release facts and figures about its costly effort to assist Afghan cops, declaring the information top secret, officials said Thursday.
The move marks an about-face for the Pentagon, which for the past six years has proudly reported a range of data about the $65 billion program to build up the Afghan National Security Forces.
This included how U.S. taxpayers' money has been spent and the state of the troubled country's police and army.
"After six years of being publicly reported, Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) data is now classified," said John Sopko, the special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction or SIGAR.
"The decision leaves SIGAR unable to publicly report on most of the $65 billion U.S.-taxpayer-funded efforts to build, train, equip and sustain the ANSF," Sopko's report said.
The U.S. commander in Afghanistan, General John Campbell, defended the change, saying the information could prove helpful to Taliban Lions of Islam and needed to be kept secret.
"With lives literally on the line, I am sure you can join me in recognizing that we must be careful to avoid providing sensitive information to those that threaten our forces and Afghan forces, particularly information that can be used by such opposing forces to sharpen their attacks," Campbell wrote to the inspector general in a letter dated January 18.
Data about the assistance program has provided a key measure for gauging the effect of the U.S.-led effort to bolster the Afghan forces.
So the decision to withhold facts about the effort raises questions about the condition of the Afghan cops after the withdrawal of most NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... troops last year.
A small, mostly American contingent of about 12,000 troops remains on the ground to advise and assist the Afghans.
The New York Times ...which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... condemned the move on its editorial page, saying "it strains credulity to believe that Lions of Islam would become more proficient fighters by poring over lengthy inspector general reports about an increasingly forgotten war."
The newspaper added that keeping the information secret "unreasonably prevents American taxpayers from drawing informed conclusions about the returns on a $107.5 billion reconstruction investment that, adjusted for inflation, has surpassed the price tag of the Marshall Plan."
According to the SIGAR report, the military gave classified or restricted answers to more than 140 questions posed by the inspector general
This included the total amount of U.S. funding for Afghan forces for the current year, details of contracts for literacy training and an assessment of anti-corruption initiatives.
The State Department was also not forthcoming about its aid projects when contacted by the inspector general's office, the report said.
Despite a legal obligation for federal government agencies to provide requested information to the inspector general, "the State Department did not answer any of SIGAR's questions on economic and social-development this quarter, and failed to respond to SIGAR's attempts to follow up."
#3
The Houthis repor just captured a major US training camp in Yemen from Yemeni Govt-Army forces, so I'm going to speculate that the AFPAK Talibunnies as a class aren't going to be immediately impressed just yet.
[Daily Mail] A retired US Marine-turned-security contractor has been named as the American victim in an attack on a luxury hotel in Libya that left five foreigners dead.
Cliff Taylor of Crucible LLC of Fredericksburg, Virginia, identified the worker as David Berry. He declined to release any additional information on Berry, citing security concerns.
In a statement, Taylor said Berry was a contractor with Crucible.
#1
Americans are considered as hated people in the world. So, they have been killed.
Posted by: American ||
01/30/2015 5:58 Comments ||
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#2
Reduced gov't contracting budgets, smaller deployment compensation packages, and poor security are becoming an increasing problem with the recruitment of civilian contractors.
[NBC] Nigeria's Islamist sect Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... has released photos purportedly showing a training camp for child soldiers.
The images show kids dressed in blue and black clothing aiming automatic rifles.
They are the first pictures released by the group to show child soldiers, according to global security firm and NBC News counterterrorism consultant Flashpoint Intelligence.
"We are the ISIS of Africa."
Photos at the link. Twitchy has more here.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
01/30/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
If they really wanted the West to get all spun up, they should've started clubbing baby seals.
[YEMENONLINE.INFO] The north of Yemen has been embroiled in unrest between the Shia Houthis and the Sunni government which resigned last week
The Southern bloc in Yemen's parliament yesterday called on the UN Security Council and the Gulf Cooperation Council to enable the people of the south to exercise self-determination through an UN-supervised referendum.
Since the resignation of President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi on Thursday, the south's factions and political forces have held talks in Aden with the aim of unifying their efforts in preparation for declaring the region's secession.
The deep crisis that has swept the north of Yemen, as a result of Houthis' incursion into the country's capital Sanaa and other areas has narrowed the gap between the factions of the south, which had previously been divided over their region's fate.
The south's radical camp has found itself aligned with the other southern factions that had supported the central government in the context of a federation of six provinces.
Through the intensive talks held in Aden, the south's factions are capitalising on the chaos sweeping the north by seeking to settle the divisions between the proponents of autonomy and complete independence on the one hand and those who support returning to the 1900 pre-unification southern state.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
As per prior GROONG, NET Artics, ONLY GCC MILPOL INTERVENTION CAN LIKELY SAVE YEMEN FROM THE HOUTHI REBS???
But-t-t, the GCC is led by the Saudis whom are not likely to send any KSA Milfors into Yemen, nor ask the GCC Member-Staes to do same, iff Pro-Houthi Iran doesn't send its Milfors into Yemen or any of the lessor Emirates = Sheikdom's.
This again leaves the ISIS/ISIL and ISIS Qaeda BFF Al-Nusra as Sunni-majority Yemen's only remaining hope to stave off the Houthis - ANY ISIS, AL-NUSRA THREAT TO LOCAL HOUTHIS OR OTHER SHIAS IS VERY LIKELY TO RESULT IN DIRECT IRANIAN MIL INTERVENTION, WHICH IN TURN IS LIKELY AGAIN TO INDUCE A DIRECT SAUDI COUNTER-RESPONSE.
The above is a DANGEROUS LITMUS TEST to Globalist Obama's FP approach of seemingly allegedly maintaining traditional or historical US "Sole" Superpower credibility while simul causing the US to pull back = reduce its Power-n-Influence across the World.
AS POTEN EXISTENTIALLY DANGEROUS AS ANYTHING WID PUTINIST RUSSIA IN THE UKRAINE-CRIMEA, AND ESPEC VEE RISING CHINA OVER IN EAST ASIA-PACIFIC.
BETTER KEEP YOUR FINGERS CROSSED AND HOPE THE BAMMER + OWG GLOBIES FTLG DIDN'T MISCALCULATE.
[DAWN] Kuwait authorities have detained several online activists allegedly for comments deemed offensive to 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... 's late King Abdullah, a rights group and activists said Thursday.
Secret police late Wednesday nabbed Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit! prominent rights and online activist Mohammad al-Ajmi outside his home for "unknown reasons," the National Committee for Monitoring Violations, an independent rights group of which Ajmi is a member, said on its Twitter account.
Online activists and former MPs said on Twitter that Ajmi was being held for questioning over Tweets he made on Saudi Arabia.
Nawaf al-Hendal, a leading rights activist, said at least four others were tossed into the calaboose by state security for tweets deemed offensive to King Abdullah who died on Friday.
Hendal, currently in Geneva, also said on his Twitter account that arrest warrants have been issued against him and five other tweeters for the same reason.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2015 00:00 ||
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[Al Ahram] The Moslem community in Britannia has escalated its campaign to drop the controversial anti-terrorism bill amid growing fears it will put the Moslems "under siege" and increase their alienation.
The British government introduced the bill to Parliament on 26 November. It is being scrutinised in the House of Lords after it has been through three readings in the House of Commons.
The bill gives the police the right to issue 'Temporary Exclusion Orders', denying terror suspects the right to return from abroad for a period of time.
It also proposes granting powers to police and border officials to strip British citizens of their passports for up to two weeks without due judicial process on suspicion of extremism.
"Grievances against the state"
After it was made public in mid-November, human right groups and activists described the bill as draconian legislation, endangering deep‐rooted civil liberties.
Moslems are particularly concerned the bill makes it a statutory duty for bodies, such as mosques, universities, colleges, schools, nurseries, supplementary religious schools (madrassahs), probation services, prisons and local councils, to implement the Extremism Prevention Programme andreport anyone suspected of involvement in extremism to the police and security services.
The impact of the implementation of the EPP, as stated by the Bill, will be "vastly counter-productive breeding the kind of alienation and grievances against the state that feeds the narrative used by radicalisers to prey on vulnerable victims," the Stop the CTS Bill campaign warned.
The latest census estimated there are 2.8 millions Moslems in the UK, or 4.4 percent of the population, making Islam the second-biggest religion in the country after Christianity. It is widely believed that the UK is home to one of the most diverse Moslem communities in the world.
Campaigners have called on Moslem community members to sign a petition calling on Members of Parliament and Local Councillors to stand against the Bill.
"Civil liberties at stake"
The campaigners are Moslems activists from different ethnic and professional backgrounds, making the campaign an indication for unprecedented union among UK Moslems in recent years.
"For those of who claim that da'wah, or educating our youth (Tarbiyyah) physical health, or mental health of our communities is the most pressing need at this time. Please believe that nothing is more important right now than stopping the passage of the Counter-Terrorism and Security Bill, if you wish to continue unhindered in these activities," they said.
"There has never been a piece of legislation more serious than this for the future of Moslems," they added.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
I wish it were true that this law is serious for the future of Moslems, and it passes!
[AnNahar] Efforts to improve ties with Cuba will not extend to handing control of Guantanamo Bay back to Havana, the White House said on Thursday.
"The president does believe that the prison at Guantanamo Bay should be closed down," said White House front man Josh Earnest. "But the naval base is not something that we wish to be closed."
The base, on Cuba's southeastern tip, is currently the site of a large naval base as well as a deeply controversial prison used to detain terror suspects without trial.
Cuban President Compañero Raul Castro ...Fidel's little brother... on Wednesday said handing back control of the 45 square mile (116 square kilometer) site was a precondition for normalizing ties with the United States.
Castro and Obama simultaneously announced on December 17 their intention to end a half-century of animosity and normalize ties that broke off in 1961.
The U.S. took control of Guantanamo following a treaty in 1903.
Obama has repeatedly stated that holding prisoners at Guantanamo is a recruiting tool for terror groups, but has failed to close down the facility.
#1
If the chance of being held in Guantanamo is somehow a recruiting tool for terrorists, they must be pretty good salesmen. We must be really drilling the hell out of their quarterly bonus by releasing all these guys. Maybe we ought to really screw the recruiters and blow our own brains out. That would show them.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/30/2015 0:59 Comments ||
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#2
And when this administration says something, they mean it!
[Al Ahram] Germany's biggest carnival procession, which often includes edgy political satire, has banned a float paying tribute to the slain cartoonists of French magazine Charlie Hebdo ...A lefty French satirical magazine, home of what may well be the majority if the active testicles left in Europe... due to security fears, organisers said.
The float design, selected in an online popular vote, featured a man dressed in black with an explosives belt and a drawn gun and a jester shoving a pencil down its barrel.
The carnival committee in the western city of Cologne said in a statement released late Wednesday that it backed the message of the float defending free speech and freedom of the press.
But it had received "messages from concerned locals which we take seriously", though organisers admitted there was "no indication" from the police of a credible terror threat.
"Carnival shouldn't make people worry -- we should be able to have a carefree celebration together," the statement added.
"We do not want a satirical float that curbs the freedom and light-hearted style of the carnival. For this reason we decided today to stop the construction of the 'Charlie Hebdo' float and not to allow it to join the Rose Monday procession" on February 16.
Some criticised the decision as a capitulation to holy warriors.
"I voted for the design and don't understand this move at all," the head of the state chapter of the Greens party, Sven Lehmann, said.
"How can there be broad participation in the selection process and then the result be summarily cancelled? If fear overcomes carnival, terror has won."
Cologne's carnival in the heart of Germany's predominantly Roman Catholic Rhineland is usually a potent mix of beer-soaked revelry and elaborately decorated floats that poke fun at politicians.
Previous send-ups have included then Iranian president Mahmoud Short Round Ahmadinejad in 2012 slamming a nuclear missile into the United Nations ...where theory meets practice and practice loses... headquarters in New York, the pope brandishing condoms, and a scandal-plagued German minister in a fighter plane crashing into Angela Merkel ...current chancellor of Germany. She was educated in East Germany when is was still run by commies, but in 1989 got involved with the growing democracy movement when the Berlin Wall fell. Merkel is sometimes referred to by Germans as Mom... 's chancellery with the words "Merkel's September 11".
Islamist gunniesrubbed out 12 people, including some of La Belle France's best-loved cartoonists, in an attack on the Gay Paree offices of Charlie Hebdo on January 7.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2015 00:00 ||
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DITIB was one of the organizations participating in the islamic vigil (organized by the Central Council of Muslims in Germany, which is a MB front organization.)
DITIB also organized Charlie Hebdo reenactments in front of newspaper and media offices in Germany a couple of days later.
Posted by: Anice Nim ||
01/30/2015 15:20 Comments ||
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#4
Muschi.
Yes, and no!
One of the reasons for having governments in the first place is to protect the rights and freedoms of residents from interference by foreign powers.
In the olden days Soviet leaders who commanded vast tank armies and a vast nuclear arsenal could be lampooned without fear.
Back then deterrence worked.
Unfortunately the Western political class has decided that in the case of Islam there's nothing wrong with finlandization and Rushdie rules in the West.
This fear is the logical result of a major dereliction of duty by Western political leadership.
Western citizens who violate Sharia rules are de facto opting for Gandhi style martyrdom. They accept the unjust consequences of their actions in order to make the general public aware of the injustice. This is the option the Charlie Hebdo cartoonists took.
I'm not asking the carnivalists to risk martyrdom.
The moral way out of this conundrum would be to cancel the entire parade.
There would be no danger because no islamofascist would object to the absence of such a parade.
And it would be an act of truth. The truth of submission to Sharia in the West would be acknowledged.
They're not pussies because they're not showing the Charlie Hebdo float.
They're pussies because they're pretending to be free when they're not.
They're objectively accomplices of the islamofascists because their actions contribute to the Western public's paralysis.
[BREITBART] Sebastian Kurz, Austria's centre-right foreign and integration minister has called for fines of up to €1,000 (£750) for migrant parents who don't encourage their children to integrate into Austrian culture and society.
The fines would be related to 'school summons', and would be levied if parents failed to comply with the demands of the schools their children attend. Government ministers supporting the idea cited the case of a father who refused to go to school parents' evenings because his children's teacher was a woman as an example where the fine would be appropriate.
Some Austrians had other suggestions, reports TheLocal.at. The teachers union leader said that while he agreed with fines for parents, he said they should be extended to all unruly parents, not merely migrants. He also suggested the best way to encourage integration would be to hire more ethnic minority teachers, who would be able to speak to students in their own language.
This suggestion stands in contrast to the experience of many in the United Kingdom, which has been dealing with the causes and consequences of diverse languages in the classroom for years. Earlier this week Breitbart London reported that New Culture Forum director Peter White called for a new approach to diversity in schools. He remarked that allowing children to speak their heritage languages rather than encouraging English created a "barrier to social progress and a barrier to social cohesion.
"There has been an emphasis too much on keeping people in separate boxes and keeping them apart".
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
How about you give them €1,000 & one way tickets back to Dar?
[AnNahar] European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... interior ministers met Thursday in Riga to finalize a counter-terrorism strategy targeting radical Islamists weeks after the Gay Paree terror attacks that left 17 people dead.
The ministers recommend more stringent controls on EU citizens leaving and entering the Schengen free travel zone, an air passenger registry to check the movement of suspected Islamist bandidosLions of Islam and fresh cyber-security measures aimed at intercepting suspect traffic.
"We need first of all to strengthen existing instruments. We already have many important tools in place. Now is the moment to enhance them even more," said EU Commissioner for Migration Dimitris Avramopoulos.
Those tools include a new understanding with "key players of the Internet industry to discuss the challenges posed by online terrorist propaganda," he added.
"It is vital that member states work further at the national level to tackle illegal content online," he said, to counter the radicalization of young Moslems and prevent their recruitment by jihadists.
Other measures discussed include better information sharing for "identification of travel routes of terrorism" and the adoption of "an EU-wide system for sharing details of air passengers".
"An EU passengers' name record directive is necessary. It is necessary to enhance substantially the security of all people living in Europe," Avramopoulos said.
A joint statement by the 28 EU interior ministers said the European Commission needed to present its strategy "by mid-April 2015 at the latest" in order to update the EU Internal Security Strategy "by mid 2015".
Raids against suspected Islamic bandidosLions of Islam were staged in several EU countries, notably Belgium, after the Islamist attacks in Gay Paree earlier this month.
More than 3,000 Europeans have joined krazed killer Islamists fighting in Syria and Iraq according to EU statistics. Thirty percent of the recruits have since returned to Europe.
#1
I'm sure this strategy involves more money for Palestinians, and more condemnations of the Zionist imperialism. And higher quotas for Muslim emigration.
[Ynet] A Frenchie wanted in connection with deadly terrorist attacks in Gay Paree has been extradited from Bulgaria to La Belle France, where he is facing charges of links to terrorism.
Fritz-Joly Joachin was tossed in the slammer Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please! January 1 on an unrelated warrant while trying to cross from Bulgaria into Turkey. French police say that Joachin, 19, was an associate of the Kouachi brothers, who killed 12 people in an attack January 7 against newspaper Charlie Hebdo ...A lefty French satirical magazine, home of what may well be the majority if the active testicles left in Europe... .
Joachin is accused of participating in an organized crime group with a terrorist aim, and having links to a network feeding fighters to Syria. The official said he arrived in La Belle France on Thursday, and is expected to appear before a judge imminently. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the investigation.
[AnNahar] Turkey's government has demanded that the outlawed Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK) lay down its arms on March 21, the Kurdish New Year, and relaunch peace talks to end three decades of conflict.
In what appeared to be the first direct appeal by a government official to the PKK, Deputy Prime Minister Yalcin Akdogan said imprisoned Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan should call for a disarmament just as he did in the Kurdish New Year, or Newroz, in 2013.
"There must be a call for laying down all arms and ending actions against Turkey," at Newroz, Akdogan told the private A Haber channel late Wednesday.
He added that such a call would be "meaningful", but lamented that previous calls by Ocalan had been ignored.
"Ocalan definitely has a role. He has clout with the PKK organization's constituents. However, a good lie finds more believers than a bad truth... we know that this role is being undermined by the organization from time to time," he said.
In 2013 Ocalan called for a "historic" ceasefire, telling his fighters to lay down their arms and withdraw from Turkish soil, after many months of secret negotiations with the Turkish government.
But the peace talks stalled in September 2013, when the forces of Evil said they were suspending their pullout from Turkish soil after accusing Ankara of failing to deliver on promised reforms.
However the grinding of the peace processor appeared to be making progress until a standoff over the key Syrian Kurdish town of Kobane late last year and a recent surge in violence in the country's southeast.
Akdogan said the government remained very optimistic about the prospects for peace with the PKK, which is blacklisted as a terrorist organization by Ankara and its Western allies.
"We, the government, are the guardian of this process. It is on track and the talks are ongoing," he said.
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu also vowed that peace with the Kurds would be achieved, seeking support from the country's largest minority group ahead of the parliamentary elections in June.
[DAWN] Muttahida Qaumi Movement ...English: United National Movement, generally known as MQM, is the 3rd largest political party and the largest secular political party in Pakistain with particular strength in Sindh. From 1992 to 1999, the MQM was the target of the Pak Army's Operation Cleanup leaving thousands of urdu speaking civilians dead... (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain on late Thursday night, withdrew his earlier announcement to sever all ties with his party.
The MQM leader made the announcement during a telephonic address to party workers at Nine-Zero.
Altaf stepped back from his earlier announcement after emotional pleas and chants from MQM workers who urged him to take back his decision.
He said that if his party workers were happy with him, then he would continue to lead them.
However, today is that tomorrow you were thinking about yesterday... he also warned that if any more MQM workers were killed then a wheel jam strike would follow the next day.
He had initially stated that he would deliver his last address to MQM workers and supporters on Friday.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2015 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] Rights organizations on Thursday called on the government to halt the execution of the first civilian for a non-terror related offence since 2008, saying the move would violate its own official policy.
A six-year moratorium on the death penalty was lifted last month in the case of convicted Lions of Islam following a terrorist attack by Talibs on a school in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. which killed 150 people.
Since then 20 people have been hanged, with plans to execute up to 500.
But a death warrant issued this week for convicted murderer Shoaib Sarwar has raised the prospect of executions being resumed for the rest of the country's almost 8,000 death row convicts.
Sarwar, a death row prisoner, was convicted on murder charges in 1998,
He is currently being held in a jail in Haripur, some 25 kilometres from Islamabad.
Rights groups have slammed the announcement, which sets the date of his hanging for February 3 in Rawalpindi.
"The government policy on who should be executed is very clear it says only people who are on terrorism," Kate Higham of British legal charity Reprieve told AFP, adding the judge in this case had misunderstood his role and succumbed to pressure from the victim's family.
Analysts believe that resuming the executions in non-terror cases could imperil a favourable trade agreement with the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... which exempts Pakistain from taxes on its textile exports.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2015 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] Punjab 1.) Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard
2.) A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers
3.) A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots.... Governor Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar resigned on Thursday, over what he said was a failure to achieve what he had set out to do.
"I want to witness a democracy where a common man's son can get the same opportunities and rights as the elite in this country," Sarwar in a presser today, adding that he has resigned of his own volition and not under pressure.
The moves comes days after he called out the federal government for failing to enter partnership with the United States government as he said India had done. At the presser Sarwar said, "We have no objection to Obama's India visit, says Sarwar, but Obama should have treated Pakistain equally and visited to express solidarity."
The government accepted his resignation, with Punjab Assembly Speaker Rana Iqbal having taken over as acting governor Punjab.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2015 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] Former military ruler Gen (retd) Pervez Perv Musharraf ... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ... was denied permission to travel to 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... to condole over the death of King Abdullah, DawnNews reported.
Sources at the Interior Ministry said that the former president had made a request to travel to Saudi Arabia to offer condolences over the monarch's death.
Musharraf, in his request, stated that King Abdullah had been like a brother to him which was why he wanted to travel to the kingdom, the sources said.
However Musharraf's request was rejected by the Interior Ministry due to his name being included in the Exit Control List (ECL), which bars people from leaving the country.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2015 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has issued a warning to national aviation authorities and aircraft operators to exercise "extreme caution" while flying in Pak airspace.
EASA ‐ a European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... (EU) regulatory body working in the field of civilian aviation safety ‐ issued a notice on its website stating that the "potential" of terrorist attacks in Pakistain has led to an increased risk for airlines.
The body's warning was based on the Directorate General for Civil Aviation (La Belle France) issuing a notice recommending that French operators should not fly below 24,000 feet inside Pak territory.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
"recommending that French operators should not fly below 24,000 feet inside Pak territory" This may make for interesting take-offs and landings.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
01/30/2015 8:06 Comments ||
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#2
It is real simple. Do not fly into Pak airspace. It is like flying into the center of the cell of a major cumulonimbus cloud. Smart people do not do that.
You can use EXTREME CAUTION™ but if you do not have countermeasures installed on your plane, you will auger into the ground after a hit with EXTREME CAUTION™.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/30/2015 14:34 Comments ||
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[NATION.PK] Blaming the PML-N government of using delaying tactics in forming a judicial commission to investigate poll rigging, PTI chief Imran Khan ... aka Taliban Khan, who who convinced himself that playing cricket qualified him to lead a nuclear-armed nation with severe personality problems... today warned about party's next public movement.
While addressing a presser in Bani Gala, he said that PTI ended the sit-in at D-Chowk to give the government a chance to counter militancy.
"We decided it after the Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. tragedy," he said. "If they did not rig the elections, they should form the commission," Khan added.
He informed about his party's new course of action caused by government's unwilling attitude. "Punjab Governor resigned because of land mafia in the province," he concluded.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2015 00:00 ||
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[NATION.PK] Chief Minister Punjab 1.) Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard
2.) A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers
3.) A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots.... Shahbaz Sharif ...Pak dynastic politician, brother of PM Nawaz Sharif, chief minister of Punjab... presiding over a meeting on Wednesday gave approval to setting up of vigilance committees at union council level throughout the province whereas vigilance committees will also be constituted at district level.
The vigilance committees will work at local level with regard to National Action Plan against terrorism and will discharge responsibilities with regard to ensuring ban on wall chalking, checking of misuse of load speakers, distribution and publication of literature based on religious hatred and objectionable material at local level.
Shahbaz Sharif directed that local personalities of good repute should be included in these committees.
Shahbaz Sharif also visited Elite Police Training School Badian Road for four hours in addition to presiding over meeting of Punjab Security Council and addressing officers at Civil Secretariat and offices of divisional commissioners through video link.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2015 00:00 ||
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[AnNahar] Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has ordered an investigation into allegations that Shiite gunnies massacred Sunni residents in the eastern province of Diyala, his front man said on Thursday.
"The prime minister has ordered an investigation into the matter," Rafid Jaboori told Agence La Belle France Presse, without elaborating.
Witnesses and Sunni leaders have accused Shiite fighters of executing more than 70 residents on Monday after military operations to expel 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.... (IS) group snuffies from their last urban stronghold in Diyala.
The alleged massacre is said to have taken place in and around a village called Barwana, north of the town of Muqdadiyah.
On Monday, the Iraqi army and allied Shiite militia declared the liberation of Diyala after a fierce battle which they said left at least 70 dead and 400 maimed among their ranks.
Senior military officials have denied accusations of a massacre in Barwana under their watch, arguing that accounts of Dire Revenge killings by Shiite fighters were fabricated.
The United Nations ...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks... ' top envoy in Iraq, Nickolay Mladenov, welcomed the announcement of an investigation.
"It is the responsibility of the government to ensure that all armed forces are under its control, that rule of law is respected and that civilians are protected in all areas of the country, including those areas recently liberated from IS," he said.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
01/30/2015 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iraq
[IraqiNews.com] On Thursday, ISIS leader His Supreme Immensity, Caliph of the Faithful and Galactic Overlord, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi ...formerly merely the head of ISIL and a veteran of the Bagram jailhouse. Looks like a new messiah to bajillions of Moslems, like just another dead-eyed mass murder to the rest of us... attacked Taliban leader Mullah Omar ... a minor Pashtun commander in the war against the Soviets who made good as leader of the Taliban. As ruler of Afghanistan, he took the title Leader of the Faithful. The imposition of Pashtunkhwa on the nation institutionalized ignorance and brutality in a country already notable for its own fair share of ignorance and brutality... , describing him as "demented" and "an ignorant prince of war."
An Afghan website quoted Baghdadi, in a statement shared by websites belonging to the ISIS organization, as saying, "Mullah Omar does not deserve any spiritual or political credibility," noting that, "The organization has achieved in two years what Taliban could not achieve in its campaign in ten years."
Once upon a time the Taliban ruled about 2/3rds of Afghanistan, hosted the most successful jihadi organization of the time, and defied the government of the United States of America. Ten years from now, no doubt, similar things will be said of what you briefly accomplished, Your Caliphness.
The statements come amid growing concern about the impact of the ISIS organization in Afghanistan and Pakistain after the emergence of a videotape during last week in which leaders claimed that they are from Afghanistan and Pakistain and pledged support for ISIS.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
01/30/2015 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Islamic State
#1
Ouchies.
Someone find the number + call Ayman Zawahiri + Aafia - the Boyz are doing it again.
#1
OneVoice is reportedly sponsored by scores of nonprofits and received two grants in the past year from the U.S. State Department. The State Department is also listed as a partner of OneVoice on the group’s website.
#3
They learned from the successful application of the Euros in the 2008 American election when large amounts of untraceable credit card donations flowed into the Obama coffers.
[Ynet] Power to Paleostinians will be cut in half for two hours every day until a solution will be found for the PA's increasing debt, IEC head says.
The Israel Electric Corporation (IEC) will limit the supply of power to the Paleostinian Authority starting Thursday over a debt of some NIS 1.8 billion.
CEO Eli Glickman informed Israel's security chiefs of the move in a letter sent in early January and set the date for its implementation for the end of the month.
The CEO explained that the PA's debts to the IEC had amounted to NIS 1,700,843,315 by December 31, 2014, which leaves the company with no choice but to cut the power supply to the Paleostinians by 50 percent for two hours every day - an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening.
The letter was addressed to National Security Advisor Yossi Cohen, Shin Bet Chief Yoram Cohen, Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories Maj.-Gen. Yoav Mordechai, Head of the Operations Directorate of the IDF Maj.-Gen. Yoav Har-Even, and Police Commissioner Maj.-Gen. Yohanan Danino, as well as relevant government ministries.
The IEC move to cut power for a few hours every day is not a new one - the company sought to go ahead with such a move several times in the past but was stopped by the Prime Minister's Office, due to concern of international pressure on Israel not to hurt the population in the West Bank.
The IEC noted that it continued providing electricity to the Gazoo Strip throughout Operation Protective Edge and even repaired infrastructure damaged from bombardments on both sides during the war.
The IEC said in response: "The Israel Electric Corporation alerted the PA and other relevant government ministries of the Paleostinian Authority's debts, totaling NIS 1.8 billion, over a long period of time. So far, no solution has been found to pay off the debt. Therefore, out of the wish to avoid hurting the power supply for the civilian population in the West Bank as much as possible, on the one hand, and curbing the increasing debt as much as possible, on the other hand, it was decided to limit the power supply at this point, with the hope that a solution is found soon."
#6
Forget two hours, pull the plug permanently and take land by eminent domain (at $2/acre)until the debt's paid. Push the squatters into Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, or Turkey. Stop being Mr. Nice Guy and get nasty!
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/30/2015 22:22 Comments ||
Top||
#1
THe question has to be asked why were BIFF + MILF forces, whose orgs are allegedly on opposite camps in the Bangsamoro peace process, doing that close to one another + repor well intermingling???
Collusion? Defection?
* FYI DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > EX-[PH Army] GENERALS: MILF CAN'T CONTROL ITS FORCES | ABS-CBN NEWS.
* TOPIX > PHILIPPINES: THE SILENT JIHAD | JIHAD YOU'VE NEVER HEARD OF.
* IIRC GUAMPDN > [Republic of Philippines] RP: COLLAPSE OF MINDANAO/MILF PEACE PACT FAVORS TERRORISTS.
Israeli officials told Channel 10 on Friday that they are convinced the Obama administration has already agreed to most of Iranâs demands in the P5+1 negotiations over the Islamic Republicâs nuclear program.
According to unnamed officials, Washington âhas given the Iranians 80 percent of what they wantâ out of the negotiations, Channel 10 is reporting.
Jerusalem officials appear alarmed at the prospect that the United States will soon strike a deal with the Iranian regime that will leave it with a âbreakout capacityâ of months during which it can gallop toward a nuclear bomb.
The practical significance of the American compromises in the talks is that Iran will be permitted to keep over 7,000 centrifuges, enough for the Iranians to produce enough enriched material to sprint toward the bomb within a matter of months.
#4
#3 Lets stop talking about obama as incompetent and address the truth. He hates America. He listened to Jeremiah Wright for 20 years. He was schooled in a madrassa. He made clear in 2007 what he wanted to accomplish. And he has.
#5
Lets stop talking about obama as incompetent and address the truth. He hates America. He listened to Jeremiah Wright for 20 years. He was schooled in a madrassa. He made clear in 2007 what he wanted to accomplish. And he has.Posted by irishrageboy
Not to mention his rather interesting family background, and yes it does matter.
[Ynet] Senior Lebanese officials say Nasrallah is dragging the country into another war in Israel; 'Hezbollah has no right to implicate the Lebanese people in a battle with Israel,' says leader of March 14 Alliance.
While some in 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 in Beirut's Dahieh suburb, a Hezbollah stronghold, fired shots of jubilation into the air, celebrating Hezbollah's Wednesday attack on Mt. Dov, bigwigs in Leb were quick to accuse Hassan Nasrallah's organization of trying to drag the country into another war with Israel.
"Where is the interest of Leb if it gets dragged into a war with Israel, when Israel is the one that needs it?" former Lebanese president Michel Suleiman ...before assuming office as President, he held the position of commander of the Leb Armed Forces. That was after the previous commander, the loathesome Emile Lahoud, took office as president in November of 1998. Likely the next president of Leb will be whoever's commander of the armed forces, too... wrote on his Facebook page.
Samir Geagea ... Geagea was imprisoned by the Syrians and their puppets for 11 years in a dungeon in the third basement level of the Lebanese Ministry of Defense. He was released after the Cedar Revolution in 2005 ... , one of the leaders of the March 14 Alliance, said that "today's development indicates that Hezbollah is more and more expanding its regional schemes against the Lebanese state."
"Hezbollah has no right to implicate the Lebanese people in a battle with Israel. There is a government and a parliament which can decide on that," Geagea went on to say.
Hezbollah has been facing a lot of internal criticism in Leb over the past three years, mostly due to its constantly increasing involvement in the civil war in Syria. Two years ago, Hezbollah sent large forces to Syria to help Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Leveler of Latakia... 's army recapture territories it lost to rebels trying to oust the Syrian president, after it appeared Assad was losing his grasp on Syria.
Since Hezbollah joined the fighting in Syria, Leb has turned into a target for attacks by Sunni rebels - some more moderate than others - as well as attacks by al-Qaeda and 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.... , both Sunni organizations opposing the Assad regime.
Dozens of Lebanese people - both soldiers and civilians - have been killed in these attacks, which include boom-mobiles and rocket fire, while Hezbollah has been accused of dragging Leb into a war it has no stake in.
Like Syria, Leb is a complicated and tangled web of religions and sects which includes Christians, Druze and Moslems. There's a variety of Moslem sects - Sunni, Shi'ite and Alawites.
Leb itself was torn to shreds in a civil war that claimed the lives of thousands between the years 1975-1990. Many in the country fear that Hezbollah's involvement in Syria will lead to another civil war, mostly between Sunni and Shi'ites. Many rounds of fighting between Sunni and Shi'ite have already taken place in several Lebanese cities, particularly in Tripoli, since the beginning of the Syrian civil war.
Officials in Lebexpressed concern ...meaning the brow was mildly wrinkled, the eyebrows drawn slightly together, and a thoughtful expression assumed, not that anything was actually done or indeed that any thought was actually expended... of the consequences of any Hezbollah response to the attack in Quneitra even before Wednesday's attack, especially in light of the crisis the country faces - including attacks by Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra ...the current nom de guerre of al-Qaeda in the Levant, which isn't to be confused with al-Qaeda in Iraq and the Levant... as well as matters of internal politics.
The Times of Israel provides more disapproving quotes from more major Lebanese politicians here.
[Ynet] Lebanese sources reported Thursday that Hezbollah's cross-border strike on Wednesday was intended to hurt a senior IDF officer. They claimed the size of the convoy pointed to the fact that a high-ranking Israeli was present and thus the cell, which included no more than five holy warriors, decided to open fire.
The sources claimed that the operation was planned for earlier but was postponed. Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah's speech, which had been planned for Sunday, was also delayed to Friday in coordination with the incident.
They did kill a captain and a sergeant, which is nothing like an Iranian general plus a Hizb'allah princeling. And all of Lebanon is angry at how close they brought the country to war with Israel. Still, they tried. Kind of like how Hamas tried to hit Israel on all fronts with an uprising in the West Bank, an overwhelming rocket/missile barrage, and mass kidnappings and murders along the Gaza border, but instead ended up with a hundred thousand homeless, and Egypt furious enough to shut the border tight. Hizb'allah's little "triumph" didn't even stop this kind of thing:
[Ynet] Lebanese media reported on Thursday that the IAF was conducting flights over Sidon - Leb's 3rd largest city. The media outlets reported that Israeli warplanes and drones were conducted flights over the area.
[AnNahar] Sajida al-Rishawi, thrust into the spotlight by the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... group's demand she be released in a prisoner exchange, is an important symbol for the jihadists, experts say.
Closely linked to IS's predecessor organization in Iraq, Rishawi is on death row in Jordan for her role in 2005 suicide kabooms in Amman that killed 60 and shocked one of the Middle East's most stable countries.
IS has said it would trade Rishawi for Japanese journalist Kenji Goto, most recently threatening to kill captured Jordanian F-16 pilot Maaz al-Kassasbeh if the exchange does not go through.
Rishawi, now 44, was tossed in the calaboose Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages! four days after the November 9, 2005 attacks in which her husband Ali Hussein al-Shammari and two other Iraqis blew themselves up in Amman.
The heaviest casualties came when Shammari detonated his explosives belt at the Radisson SAS hotel as a wedding was in full swing.
Two other hotels were hit in the coordinated attacks and most of the dead were Jordanians.
"Rishawi is important for her link to Al-Qaeda in Iraq and one of the most significant operations outside Iraq in its history -- the Amman bombings," Aymenn al-Tamimi, a fellow at the Middle East Forum, said in reference to the group that preceded IS.
The sudden focus on Rishawi is mainly down to the fact that IS has the Jordanian pilot, presenting an opportunity for a prisoner exchange, he said.
IS "wants to be seen as a state by other actors and this proposed mutual prisoner swap with an enemy nation -- as opposed to a mere release for ransom that is common among gangs -- is one way to realize that goal," Tamimi said.
"She was with Zarqawi in the basic group that founded the original IS," Hassan Abu Hanieh, an expert on Islamist groups, said in reference to Al-Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian.
"She is very important because she is Iraqi, she is Sunni and from Anbar. She is the sister of a former emir (leader) and her brothers are deaders," he said.
Oraib Rentawi, the director of the Amman-based Al-Quds Center for Political Studies, agreed, saying: "IS wants Rishawi and no one else for the moral and symbolic importance she has."
"Her name was linked to Zarqawi and to the bombings (in) Amman," he said.
Zarqawi, who was killed in a U.S. air raid in Iraq in June 2006, claimed the triple bombings in Amman. Rishawi's brother, Samir Atruss al-Rishawi, was a Zarqawi lieutenant who was also killed in Iraq.
After her arrest, Jordanian authorities paraded Rishawi on state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
for her to confess that she had accompanied her husband to Jordan to carry out the attacks.
During her televised confession, Rishawi displayed an explosives belt strapped across her long black robe and spoke calmly about how the operation was to have been carried out.
Rishawi, who appeared with a white head scarf, said that at the last minute she had not managed to activate her belt to blow herself up.
She said her husband was one of the bombers, that they had traveled from Iraq using fake passports and he had shown her how to activate the explosives.
Her trial opened in April 2006, with Zarqawi also on the charge sheet, and she was later sentenced to death.
A security source said she now spends most of her time in a women's prison reading the Koran and watching Islamic TV channels.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
01/30/2015 00:00 ||
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Link ||
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#1
wasn't this ugly sow one of our Rantburg photo graphix pix?
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/30/2015 14:47 Comments ||
Top||
A community of Muslims in Dallas, Texas have created their own private 'court' to dispense shariah compliant 'justice' to their own people. The existence of this extra legal 'court' has been confirmed by the reporters at Breitbart News. E-effing-enough. This "community" needs to homestead somewhere else. But they sure look "peaceful' tho.
#4
Well...colonizers will colonize. How many muzz are do we supposedly have in this country? Islam is a pestilence and we have allowed it to take root. Future generations will curse us.
#6
So...they're like colleges who set up separate private courts to deal with accusations of 'sexual' misconduct, rather than the old fashion due process of established law?
#7
P2K, the difference is that in Sharia, the woman's word is only worth a fraction of a man's word. In the college kangaroo courts, the woman's word is all that is needed to find the guy guilty.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
01/30/2015 9:29 Comments ||
Top||
#8
This will go fine until the court oversteps and does something illegal as judgement or one of the plantiffs complain to the proper authorities to avoid punishment.
#9
The article says voluntary participation and voluntary acceptance of results.
The former, it could be argued as an independent arbitrator of sorts. The latter, as rjschwarz points out, is the problem. They will then work on collecting fines (I have always wondered if those gable shows on day TV have any authority on their verdicts, guessing that if so then participants have signed some sort of contract). The next step would be to make some sort of homeowners association where behavior can be regulated and fines leveed.
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.
A lefty French satirical magazine, home of what may well be the majority if the active testicles left in Europe...
A lefty French satirical magazine, home of what may well be the majority if the active testicles left in Europe...
Pervez 
[NATION.PK] Chief Minister
Samir Geagea
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
