[AnNahar] Australia announced Tuesday it will send another 300 troops to Iraq in a joint mission with New Zealand to help train local forces fighting to reclaim territory seized 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.
The decision follows Wellington last week deciding to deploy some 140 soldiers in a non-combat role to boost the Iraqi military's ability to battle the jihadists.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott said the decision followed a formal request from the Iraqi and US governments with the mission intended to span two years.
"I want to stress that we haven't taken this decision lightly. Ultimately, it is Iraq that must defeat the death cult (Islamic State) but we do not want to leave the Iraqis on their own," he told news hounds.
"We are naturally reluctant as a peace-loving people to reach out to far-away conflicts but, as we know, this conflict has been reaching out to us for months now."
The move came as some 30,000 Iraqi troops and militia backed by aircraft pounded jihadists in and around Tikrit in the biggest offensive yet to retake one of the Islamic State group's main strongholds in the country.
The operation is the broadest since IS overran swathes of the country last year and is seen as a step towards the liberation of djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... , the jihadists' main hub in Iraq.
Some 170 Australian special forces are already in Iraq helping to train government troops, and Abbott said it was in his country's national interest to bolster their presence.
He said about 100 Australians were fighting with Islamic State and other terrorist groups in Syria and Iraq.
"About another 150 here at home are supporting these faceless myrmidons so this commitment is a matter of domestic as well as international security, and I stress this is absolutely and utterly in Australia's national interests to do this," he said.
- 'Inside the wire' -
Earlier this month, Abbott warned of a long era of heightened threats from "home-grown" Islamic State-inspired faceless myrmidons and announced new security measures, including revoking citizenship for dual-nationals linked to terrorism.
It followed a series of counter-terrorism raids in Sydney and Brisbane since September and a string of incidents, including a December siege in a Sydney cafe by a self-styled holy man that left the gunman and two hostages dead.
The Australian and New Zealand troops are to be based at a military base in Taji, north of Baghdad, from May.
"I want to stress that this is a training mission, it's not a combat mission. It's inside the wire, it's not outside the wire," added Abbott.
"But it is absolutely vital for our national security because I said at the beginning this Daesh (Islamic State) death cult is reaching out to this country as well as to the people of Iraq and Syria.
"The protection of Australia requires work abroad as well as at home and this government will never shirk the tasks that are necessary to keep the Australian people safe."
Asked whether it would be Australia's last contribution to the Iraq mission, he said: "It would be wrong of me to say that this is the last that we will do here."
Since August 2014, the U.S. military -- along with allies including Australia -- has been conducting a campaign of air strikes against the jihadists in Iraq and Syria.
Australia's role is restricted to aerial support, training, advice and intelligence.
Australia contributed about 2,000 troops to the U.S.-led coalition's war in Iraq from March 2003, until they withdrew in 2009. None died in combat or on operational duty during that deployment.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
03/04/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
Allow me to give a tip to all the national leaders that are committing forces to Iraq to work "inside the wire".
In a wartime theater of operations, no fighters anywhere will pay any attention to "trainers" who do not accompany then into battle, and suffer the same hardships.
Training works during peacetime, and maybe even during times of low-level insurgency. When combined arms fighting is occurring nearby, and "students" will next be walking into intense combat - it is too late to send in training cadre to impart instruction "vicariously," away from the battle area.
You train by leading them, up-front and personally, and - after they have seen you "walk the walk", they may emulate you. Or - they may do the typical Arab thing, and either surrender or slither away and desert.
Except the Kurds - the Peshmurga are excellent, brave soldiers.
[REUTERS] North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Su Yong said on Tuesday that his country had the power to deter an "ever-increasing nuclear threat" by the United States with a pre-emptive strike if necessary.
His rare speech at the U.N.-backed Conference on Disarmament drew a rebuke from U.S. Ambassador Robert Wood, who urged Pyongyang to stop making threats and rid itself of nuclear weapons.
Ri said joint military exercises currently being staged by South Korea and the United States were "unprecedentedly provocative in nature and have an especially high possibility of sparking off a war."
"The DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) cannot but bolster its nuclear deterrent capability to cope with the ever-increasing nuclear threat of the U.S.," he told the Geneva forum. "Now the DPRK has the power of deterring the U.S. and conducting a pre-emptive strike as well, if necessary."
Posted by: Fred ||
03/04/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
obligatory Team America reference (NSFW language)
Posted by: European Conservative ||
03/04/2015 14:52 Comments ||
Top||
#3
"The DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) cannot but bolster its nuclear deterrent capability to cope with the ever-increasing nuclear threat of the U.S.,"
#4
So the race is on to see who Obama surrenders to first???
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
03/04/2015 15:20 Comments ||
Top||
#5
* TOPIX > [SCMP] "WE CAN DETER THE US NUCLEAR THREAT", WARNS NORTH KOREA FM.
You know, SSSSHHHH ... CCCCCC CHINA.
* SAME > NORTH KOREA'S LAST NUCLEAR TEST HAD A FIREBALL THE WIDTH/SIZE OF FOUR MANHATTAN BLOCKS.
Good news for NOKOR trading partner IRAN,ETAL. not-so-good for China + PLA???
--------------
As for the Artic, Why would NOKOR = CHINA? make such a statement ...
* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > YOUTUBE VIDEO: PLA CAN BE DEFEATED IN ONE-HOUR OF NUCLEAR WAR BY US:
RUSSIAN EXPERT.
* WORLD MILTARY FORUM > ZHANG ZHAOZHANG: PLAN MAY NOT BE ABLE TO BREAK OUT OF "FIRST ISLAND CHAIN" IN WARTIME.
Call China weird, but IMO they're prob NOT going to call their situation good "Globalism", or fair-n-balanced OWG Co-Superpower "Parity".
* WORLD NEWS > "HONGKONG 'OCCUPY CENTRAL' WAS ATTEMPT AT COLOUR REVOLUTION AGZ CHINA/BEIJING": PLA GENERAL.
Warning also given to TAIWAN.
* CHINA DAILY > NATIONAL INTEREST ARTICLE SAYS US READY TO FREEZE CHINA ASSETS IFF CCP COLLAPSES | PETER MATTIS: PREPARING FOR CHINA'S COLLAPSE.
* IIRC RELATED DEFENCE/PK/FORUMS > CHINA WILL LOSE ITS MILITARY AND ECONOMIC EDGE IN TEN YEARS.
In the Year 2025 2025.
* TOPIX > PH URGES UN TO STOP CHINA RE-CLAMATION/ISLAND-BUILDING IN SOUTH CHINA SEA.
* BHARAT RAKSHAK > [NDTV] IN SCS DISPUTE, TOP US COMMANDER [USN ADM. Harry Harris, Jr.} ROOTS FOR INDIA RIGHTS, to travel back-n-forth thru same widout need of first getting China's consent.
* CHINESE MILITARY FORUM > [SCMP] US BILL TIES HONGKONG TRADE RIGHT TO [continuing] DEMOCRACY IN BOD TO PRESS CHINA IN 2017 EELCTION, CHRIS SMITH SAYS STATUS QUO POLICY IS UNSUSTAINABLE IFF BEIJING CONTINUES TO INSIST HONGKONG BE LIKE MAINLAND CHINA.
[IraqiNews.com] Two planes loaded with weapons landed in Baghdad on Tuesday before the Turkish Minister of Defense arrival in Baghdad scheduled next Wednesday.
By way of being a guest gift...
Posted by: trailing wife ||
03/04/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
Non-lethal weapons, I suppose, given the other article.
[TELEGRAPH.CO.UK] Boris Johnson has told a campaigning group which suggested that MI5 are to blame for the radicalisation of Jihadi John to focus on "the human rights ...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty... of those being beheaded" by Isil in Syria and Iraq.
Mr Johnson confronted Asim Qureshi, the director of Cage, on his radio show and urged him to "powerfully" condemn Isil instead of "crying Islamophobia ...the irrational fear that Moslems will act the way they usually do... " and "scattering blame around".
He said: "I really, really think that the focus of your indignation and your outrage should be on people who go out to join groups that throw gays off cliffs, that behead people who don't subscribe to their version of Islam, that glorify in the execution of innocent journalists and aid workers.
"I just feel you have got it 100 per cent the wrong way up. The security services are trying to keep us safe. They cannot conceivably be blamed.
"If you are a human rights group funded by charity then you should be sticking up for the human rights of those being beheaded in Syria and Northern Iraq, that should be the focus of your concern."
Posted by: Fred ||
03/04/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
Poor Brits, why such bad things happen to them?
[DAWN] Two death row convicts who were scheduled to be hanged on March 5 got a new lease of life on Monday when the Sindh High Court suspended their execution.
A two-judge bench was hearing the constitutional petition of the mothers of the condemned prisoners -- Faisal and Afzal -- who were handed down capital punishment by an antiterrorism court in July 1999 for murdering a man during a botched robbery attempt in Korangi in 1998.
The two women had petitioned the SHC submitting that their sons could not be executed as they had been pardoned by the legal heirs of the victim.
Their counsel, Advocate Ali Gohar, submitted before the judges that the ATC issued death warrants for the execution of the two convicts despite the fact that the petitioners had entered into a compromise with the victim's family, who accordingly pardoned the convicts.
He asked the court to suspend the operation of the death warrants.
While disposing of the matter, the division bench observed that it could not pass any judgement on the compromise plea moved by the families of the convicts and the victim because the SHC had already dismissed the appeals of the two convicts against their conviction and its decision was also upheld by the Supreme Court.
The petitioners' counsel requested the bench to allow the victim's family to approach the trial court and in the meantime suspend the operation of their black warrants.
The bench that comprised Justices Ahmed Ali M. Sheikh and Muhammad Iqbal Kalhoro observed that the victim's family may file an application before the trial court for its disposal in accordance with the law. The bench suspended the operation of the black warrants till March 6.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/04/2015 00:00 ||
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[Hurriyet Daily News] Two cargo planes carrying Turkish military aid to Iraqi soldiers arrived in Baghdad on March 3, a Turkish official told the Hurriyet Daily News, stressing that the assistance includes non-lethal military equipment aid for 500 soldiers of the central government.
The military aid includes camouflage desert caps, assault vests, helmets, sleeping bags, blankets for 500 soldiers, and 50 cold weather tents, according to the official. The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... will continue to provide non-lethal equipment if needed, said the official.
Two C-130 military planes landed at a military air base 20 kilometers east of the Iraqi capital, Anadolu Agency reported.
Turkish Ambassador to Baghdad Faruk Kaymakci has reportedly delivered the aid to Iraqi Defense Ministry authorities.
"Turkey will continue to stand by its allies of the Iraqi government and people both as part of the anti-DAESH coalition, with respect to their bilateral relations, in order to provide the support it can lend for Iraq's unity, integrity, stability, security and welfare," read a statement issued by the Turkish Embassy in Baghdad, using the Arabic acronym for 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.... of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
Iraq has been under threat from ISIL, which overtook djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... last June and has captured large swathes of northern Iraq and Syria, sending Iraqi security forces and soldiers fleeing.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/04/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
'Tis being interepreted by many on the MSM-Net, inbcluding Moi, as Turkey beginning to flex its MilPol = "Neo-Ottoman" muscles.
[Hurriyet Daily News] Vatan Party (VP) Chairman Dogu Perincek and a Turkish delegation accompanying him has met with Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Light of the Alawites... in Damascus.
The group, which included former AKP deputy and deputy prime minister Abdullatif Sener and former Republican People's Party (CHP) deputy Birgul Ayman Guler, visited al-Assad in the Syrian capital, Syrian state-run news Agency SANA reported on March 3.
The Syrian president was quoted as saying "real cooperation among countries is needed to fight the scourge of terrorism," during his meeting with the Turkish delegation.
He reportedly said he views the Turkish delegation's visit as an indicator that "real relations between countries are built by the people and not the governments."
"Combating terrorism needs, in parallel to battling with the terrorists, having people pressure their governments to halt their support to those," he also said.
Sana reported that he said governments may follow inward-looking and subversive policies that are not in the people's interest.
"This is what the Turkish government under Recep Tayyip Erdogan ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him... is doing, providing support to Death Eater and 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... forces to win the favor of his masters through implementing their plots," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/04/2015 00:00 ||
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[Hurriyet Daily News] The United States will be ready to "protect" moderate Syrian rebels possibly with air power once they enter into combat, a top US official said March 2.
Retired US general John Allen, President Barack Obama My friends, we live in the greatest nation in the history of the world. I hope you'll join with me as we try to change it... 's envoy to the international coalition fighting 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.... of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), insisted that once moderate Syrian rebels were vetted, trained and armed, they would not be abandoned on the battlefield.
"It is clearly part of our plan, that not only we will train them, and we will equip them with the latest weapons systems, but we will also protect them when the time comes," Allen said at an event organized by the Atlantic Council think tank in Washington.
Asked if the Syrian rebels would be asked to fight without air cover or a no-fly zone, Allen said "all of those things are under consideration."
"So it's important that you not believe that we would not support these fighters," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/04/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
Too late, the US backed rebels Chu Hoi on Sunday.
#3
Nobody trusts the current regime. They trust us individually (as in trusting individual trainers and advisers), but as a nation, not at all. They know that even the best and most loyal of us will still have to obey legal but stupid orders while serving under the flag.
#6
Again, what Anti-US US Globalist POTUS Obama + Aligned does is INTENTIONAL, albeit this is not to argue there won't be minor "defects" which occur.
As a reminder, CLINTON 90's + EARLY POST-9-11 =..
> The US-N-Only-the-US, as led by its "Arrogant Fascist Male Brutes" [read, GOP-Right = "Bully" Right] must be "RESTRAINED AND CONTROLLED".
> the US-N-Only-the-US is supposed to "aborb" a Terror attack(s) widout resort to responding wid its overwhelming military power, etc.
By the above, ANTI-US OWG GLOBALISM > its ergo okay for the US-n-Only-the-US to "tolerate" harsh criticisms as it unilaterally gives up, pulls back, or otherwise engages in strategic or MilPol-Geopol retreats around the World, so that its OWG Co-Superpower siblings Russia, China, + Iran, Other? can rise to PARITY.
THE ABOVE CO-SUPERPOWER SIBLINGS CAN'T RISE IFF THE US DOES NOT SELF-RETREAT, CORRECT???
[YEMENOBSERVER] The resigned president Abdrabo Mansour Hadi received the US ambassador Matthew Tueller, on Monday, in Aden.
The ambassador Tueller renewed his country's support for the constitutional legitimacy in Yemen represented in president Abdrabu Mansour Hadi.
Tueller called, in a presser, for implementing the National Dialogue Conference (NDC) outputs.
A high ranked Yemeni diplomatic source said that president Hadi met the US ambassador at the Republican Palace in Aden, and they discussed the political developments in the country.
Diplomatic sources pointed out on Sunday the embassies of USA and UK in Yemen would reopen their work in Yemen within the few upcoming days from Aden, as a similar step to the GCC embassies which decided to reopen their work from Aden few days ago.
The US State Department, after shutting down its embassy in Sana'a, had determined a new headquarter for dealing with the transactions of the Yemenis.
According to the US State Department website, the US State Department determined its embassy in Cairo to deal with the Yemenis transactions, temporarily, and providing entry visas to USA.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/04/2015 00:00 ||
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[YEMENOBSERVER] The Yemeni President, Abdurabu Mansour Hadi ...the second and possibly the last president of Yemen, successor to former President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh... , said Sunday that Sana'a is occupied by Houthi ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews ... holy warriors who were supported by the Iranian Islamic Theocratic Republic to carry out a coup, according to al-Jazeera channel.
According to Al-Jazeera ... an Arab news network headquartered in Qatar, notorious for carrying al-Qaeda press releases. The name means the Peninsula, as in the Arabian Peninsula. In recent years it has settled in to become slightly less biased than MSNBC, in about the same category as BBC or CBS... h, Hadi accused the Houthis of implementing Iran's agenda during the previous years, controlling the state's institutions, the army and bringing about the state's collapse.
The channel also quoted Hadi as threatening with confronting the Houthis so as to maintain the country's unity.
Hadi added that the Houthis along with Iran and former 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... thwarted the GCC initiative which was signed between the political forces following the February 11th revolution, and worked for straining the political transition.
The Houthi group tightened their grip on the capital Sana'a and other towns in northern Yemen last February 7, when they announced what is called the constitutional declaration which they stated authorizes them to manage the country.
This came during Hadi's meeting with a political and tribal delegation from al-Baidha and Marib Provinces, led by head of the General People's Congress's party in Marib, Abdul-Wahed al-Qabli.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/04/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
Keep your fingers crossed + hope the Sheikdoms don't ask the ISIS + AL-Nusra, etc. to militarily intervene.
[YEMENOBSERVER] The former member of the Houthi ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews ... political council, Ali Al-Bukhaiti, revealed that the Houthis movement intend to dissolve the Islah political party , arrest its leader and close its headquarters.
Al-Bukhaiti said, on Sunday, that he received information, from informed sources, that the Houthis told the Yemen Socialist Party leaders, during their meetings two days earlier, that they [ the Houthis] were ready to dissolve the Islah party, shut down its headquarters and detain its leaders.
Al-Bukhaiti pointed out that the Houthi movement considers the Islah party, " A stumbling block which hinders their progress to Aden and arresting president Hadi," said Al-Bukhaiti in a published article, adding, "Saleh Al-Sammad and Hamzah Al-Houthi transferred these threats to some of the Houthis political council." Al-Bukhaiti mentioned that the leader of the Houthi movement, Hamzah Al-Houthi, has threatened many times to break into Taiz within hours in case dialogue is moved to it.
Al-Bukhaiti, dared the Yemen Socialist Party leaders to deny such information.
"The stance of the Yemen Socialist Party was clear and they informed Ansar Allah about the risk of such steps upon the situation, warning them strongly that they will stand against them by all means and will never accept them," he continued.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/04/2015 00:00 ||
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] Pakistain Ulema Council, a council of religious elders in Pakistain, has asked the government of Afghanistan and Taliban to solve own problems.
Maulana Tahir Ashrafi, chairman of Pakistain Ulema Council, says that Pakistain can only pave way for peace talks but the government of Afghanistan and Taliban should solve their own problems.
Ashrafi praised the ongoing efforts for peace talks between Taliban and the government of Afghanistan and said that if a peace deal reaches between Taliban and Afghan government that would be in the best interest of the region as well.
Ashrafi's comments come amid efforts underway for peace talks between Taliban and the government of Afghanistan.
Although, Pakistain is long blamed to be two faces when it comes to assisting Afghan government in peace talks with Taliban but Pakistain seems more serious in this matter after the deadly 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. attack which left at least 141 people killed and 132 others maimed, most of them school kids.
Leaders of both the neighboring countries have called insurgency devastating for both nations.
They have expressed satisfaction that the ongoing efforts for peace talks between the government of Afghanistan and Taliban will bear fruitful results.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/04/2015 00:00 ||
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[Dhaka Tribune] A team of the Federal Bureau of Investigation will visit Dhaka this week to assist law enforcers in investigating the gruesome killing of Bangladeshi-American secular writer and blogger Avijit Roy.
The team is coming after the Bangladesh government responded positively to the offer of the US government about engaging the FBI in the sensational case.
"We have learned that the FBI members will come to Dhaka at the end of this week. But we have not got any official confirmation. They will assist the police in investigating the sensational murder," Monirul Islam, joint commissioner of the Detective Branch of police, told news hounds yesterday.
A day after the murder on February 26, State Department Spokesperson Jen Psaki ...a valley girl who woke up one morning and found she was spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of State... said they were ready to investigate, if asked. Strongly condemning the attack on Avijit and his wife Rafida Ahmed Bonna, she said: "He was taken from us in a shocking act of violence. This was not just an attack against a person, but a cowardly assault on the universal principles enshrined in Bangladesh's constitution and the country's proud tradition of free intellectual and religious discourse."
When contacted yesterday, US embassy spokesperson in Dhaka Monica Shie confirmed about the visiting FBI team. "A small FBI team will arrive in Bangladesh shortly. The embassy's FBI representative has already been in contact with the family and is communicating with the police."
She said: "The most important role of the US embassies is to protect and provide assistance to the US citizens living abroad. We have offered assistance in the investigation of Avijit's homicide in the context of that mandate. Our cooperation in this investigation is a natural outgrowth of the strong and longstanding collaboration between our two countries on law enforcement issues."
Posted by: Fred ||
03/04/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
"The most important role of the US embassies is to protect and provide assistance to the US citizens living abroad."
[Dhaka Tribune] The International Crisis Group has warned that if BNP chief the loathesome Khaleda Zia Three-term PM of Bangla, widow of deceased dictator Ziaur Rahman, head of the Bangla Nationalist Party, an apparent magnet for corruption ... is tossed in the calaboose Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un! it could seriously escalate the ongoing political crisis. How could you tell?
"In Bangladesh an anti-corruption court issued an arrest warrant for BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia. If the warrant is executed, it could seriously escalate the political crisis," the ICG said in its monthly conflict situation report CrisisWatch released on March 2.
The Brussels-based group also said: "The crisis could gravely destabilise the country unless both the government and the BNP move urgently to reduce tensions [as explained in the new report]."
On February 2, the Crisis Group said the first anniversary of Bangladesh's disputed January 2014 elections saw dozens killed in festivities between government and opposition groups, and marked the start of a new phase of the political deadlock between the ruling Awami League and opposition BNP.
The warrant was issued against the three-time former premier on February 25 as she skipped hearings in two graft cases repeatedly.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/04/2015 00:00 ||
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Ten men have been charged as part of an investigation into child grooming and sexual exploitation in Rochdale against girls as young as 13. The men are accused of a catalogue of serious sex offences, which include numerous charges of rape and sexual activity with a child, against seven victims between 2005 and 2013.
All 10 have been arrested under Operation Doublet, which aims to tackle child sexual exploitation by older men in Rochdale. The operation was launched after the conviction of nine men last May for their roles in a child abuse ring which spanned Rochdale and parts of Greater Manchester.
Assistant Chief Constable Ian Wiggett, of Greater Manchester Police, said: 'The majority of the offences were committed between 2003 and 2013 and focus on reports that teenage girls were sexually exploited by older men.
'So far, 65 people have been arrested as part of Operation Doublet and the investigation continues.
'This is an extremely complex and challenging investigation which started in May 2012. The investigation will continue over the coming months and further arrests are anticipated.
'The welfare of the victims is paramount and we have a team of experienced officers supporting them through the process.'
The article then names ten man, none of whom are named George, William, Rupert or Nigel...
Rochdale MP Simon Danczuk welcomed news of the charges. He said: 'I welcome today's news that more alleged perpetrators of child abuse are being brought to justice. I have spoken to the Director of Children's Services at Rochdale Council earlier today and have been fully briefed on the developments.'
He added: 'I have been critical of child protection agencies, and especially Greater Manchester Police, in the past regarding their handling of these cases. But credit where credit is due, these arrests demonstrate the progress that has been made.
'We have seen in recent months that Rochdale is far from the only town in the country to have experienced this type of abuse. The difference in Rochdale is that we now have much better systems in place for protecting children and all agencies are working together to catch the perpetrators.
'Finally, it should be recognised that these arrests could not have happened without the incredibly brave actions of survivors of abuse. I know from personal experience just how difficult it is for survivors to speak out about their abuse. So I want to pay tribute to the young women who have suffered this abuse and have worked with police.'
The Crown Prosecution Service said the majority of alleged offences took place when the complainants were under 16.
Nazir Afzal, chief crown prosecutor, said: 'These defendants now stand charged with serious criminal offences and have the right to a fair trial.
'It is extremely important that there should be no reporting, commentary or sharing of information online which could in any way prejudice these proceedings.'
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/04/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
So, when do the Brits start arresting the people who dropped the dime on 'Trevor' and 'Nigel'?
#2
When will the Brits pass a corruption bill that puts any government official (including cops) away for life that aided and abeddeted this sort of thing (even by their silence). Give a shorter sentence to anyone that turns states evidence within the first month after the bill passes.
Pass another law giving the crime of sexual trafficing (and grooming) a death sentence or mandatory life without parole if they must).
Sanaa -- Yemen’s president on Tuesday offered the Saudi capital Riyadh as a possible venue for the resumption of UN-sponsored talks with Houthi rebels who have seized Yemen’s own capital Sanaa.
President Abed Rabbu Mansour Hadi made the offer during a meeting with tribal leaders in Aden, where he has been based since fleeing house arrest in Sanaa last month, according to two participants and a presidential aide who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to brief the media.
They said Hadi offered the headquarters of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council in Riyadh as an alternative venue if the Houthi rebels continue to oppose moving the talks from Sanaa, which has been under their control since September, to either Aden or Taiz in the south.
Hadi remains popular in the once-independent south, which is not under the control of the northern-based rebels.
The Iranian-backed Houthis are almost certain to reject moving the talks to Riyadh given Saudi Arabia’s opposition to their power grab in its southern neighbour.
They'll reject whatever Iran tells them to reject...
Hadi called for the relocation of embassies to Aden, as several GCC members have done already. US ambassador to Yemen Matthew Tueller met with Hadi in Aden on Monday and said Hadi remained the “legitimate” leader of Yemen. The British ambassador made a similar visit on Tuesday.
The Houthis meanwhile suffered heavy casualties in clashes with Al Qaeda militants in the central Bayda province, according to security officials and residents. They said at least 25 Houthi rebels were killed at three different locations in the province. They said at least seven militants were killed in the fighting, which erupted early on Tuesday.
Al Qaeda in Arabian Peninsula said on its Twitter account that it carried out four simultaneous attacks on Houthi houses and posts overnight.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/04/2015 00:00 ||
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Jerusalem -- An Israeli-Palestinian smuggling ring funneled iron, electronic equipment and other prohibited materials to Gaza, bypassing Israel’s stringent border security to help Hamas rebuild its militant infrastructure following last year’s war, Israel said on Monday.
Israel has charged nine people in the ring, among them three Jewish Israelis who own companies that sell the materials, with assisting an enemy in wartime, terror financing and fraud, among others. The remaining accused are Palestinians from Gaza.
Israel’s internal security agency said the materials were smuggled on trucks through Kerem Shalom, the main cargo crossing between Israel and Gaza. The materials were listed as destined for straw companies and were hidden among other goods which are permitted to enter Gaza. It said the goods were delivered through Palestinian middle men.
“In this way, large amounts of materials bought in Israel and smuggled to the Gaza Strip systematically and over time made their way to Hamas’ military infrastructure,” the Shin Bet said in a statement.
The agency said at least $375,000 was paid to the Israeli players.
Zion Amir, a lawyer for one of the Israelis, whose name wasn’t made public, said his client denied the charges. There was no immediate reaction from the other defendants or Hamas.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/04/2015 00:00 ||
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ISTANBUL, Turkey -- Turkey-brokered talks between Somalia Federal Government and breakaway Somaliland region have collapsed on Monday, Garowe Online reports.
Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke has said in a press statement from his office that the bilateral talks hit a brick over the presence of members in federal government delegation: “It is unfortunate that our brothers from Somaliland failed to come to the negotiating table, they came up with conditions that presented challenge [to progress in dialogue round],” said Sharmarke, adding that neither side has a right to dictate to the other party.
“The issue is violation of previous agreements and international standards of negotiations. Somalia delegation which has come to the negotiating table in spirit of brotherhood and good optimism ascertains that Somaliland delegates will unilaterally shoulder the collapse of the talks,” read the press statement.
Meanwhile, Somaliland’s State Minister for Presidency Hirsi Ali Haji Hassan accused UN-backed central government in Mogadishu of irresponsibility while speaking on VOA Somali Service.
The talks witnessed two-day delay from the due date ,and analysts has since lied no upbeat forecast on the outcome of the dialogue.
Turkey, a major donor has been hosting the talks since 2013, with Somaliland’s bid for independence remaining bone of contention.
What's to discuss? Either they're independent or they're not.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/04/2015 00:00 ||
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BLUF
[National Journal] The potential deal, Netanyahu said, "does not block Iran's path to the bomb. It paves Iran's path to the bomb."
He called on the West to keep sanctions in place until Iran shifts in tone and behavior. "If Iran wants to be treated like a normal country, let it act like a normal country," he said. "This is a bad deal. It's a very bad deal. We're better off without it." That prompted an ovation.
In short, Netanyahu accomplished everything Republicans wanted and the White House feared. Polls show that the American public is skeptical of Iran's motives in striking a deal, and the Israeli prime minister stoked those suspicions. Obama has taken a large--and likely a legacy-defining--risk in advocating for the talks. And Netanyahu reminded the world of just how large a risk it is.
Posted by: Besoeker ||
03/04/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
What a joke, youknowwho says he didn't want to interfere in Israeli politics but he sent a team of advisors to Israel to work against Bibi...what a two faced lying SOB.
[PJ Media] The New York Times reported yesterday that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton may have violated the law by exclusively using a personal email account to conduct State Department business and further that Clinton did not EVER have an official State Department email. It is required by the Federal Records Act that all government emails and records must be preserved. Clinton's aides did not take any action to preserve Hilary's private emails, the only record of her communications.
The New York Times also reported that Clinton's people sent over 55,000 emails and documents to the State Department only TWO MONTHS AGO to comply with federal record keeping laws.
A source on the Hill tells PJ Media that Rep. Trey Gowdy, as head of the Select Benghazi Committee, has the authority to subpoena the emails from the ISP of her pantsuit@gmail.com account. (Shout-out to WMAL's Chris Plante for the email nomenclature.)
No one can possibly take the word of Hilary Clinton's team that all appropriate emails were turned over to the State Department or turned over to any investigating authority since she has every reason to conceal what happened if she is culpable. Who else would possibly be trusted to make such a determination about evidence in an investigation? And if you are a lefty reading this and think this is not a big deal, just replace the name "Hilary Clinton" with the name "Dick Cheney" and let me know where you stand on the issue.
There is some precedent to subpoena Hilary's email. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) subpoenaed Attorney General Eric Holder's email when Issa was head of the Congressional Oversight Committee regarding an entirely different scandal, Fast and Furious. Holder refused to comply and was held in contempt of Congress. Issa subsequently filed charges to compel disclosure with the DC circuit court, which naturally has refused to take up the matter.
In this instance, the government isn't even in possession of the emails (well, perhaps the NSA is...) in question, so Gowdy ought to go directly to her email provider and get the emails from there to make certain the proper information has been turned over. Will he do it? Interestingly, General Petraeus just pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor involving classified documents. I'd be shocked if anything came of Clinton's e-mail irregularities/criminal activity.
[IraqiNew.com] On Sunday, experts involved in the fight against illicit traffic in cultural property revealed that 100 artifacts have been looted from Syria and Iraq by the ISIS group and were smuggled into the United Kingdom.
'The Washington Post' wrote, "Almost 100 Syrian artifacts looted 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.... have been smuggled into Britannia and sold to raise money for the bad boy group's activities."
"The items, allegedly being sold in London, include gold and silver Byzantine coins as well as Roman pottery and glass worth hundreds of thousands of dollars," the newspaper added.
Director of the Art Recovery International, Christopher Marenilo said, "One item alone could be worth tens of thousands of dollars, but the more valuable and unique the item, the more scrutiny there will be, and so collectors tended to shy away from more valuable items," adding that, "The trade then tended to be in middle-value objects that don't stand out." Thanks for the downsizing Jins.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
03/04/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
"The trade then tended to be in middle-value objects that don't stand out."
ISIS has married its authoritarian governance with a remarkably successful war economy.
FSA and Islamist groups that controlled oil fields in eastern Syria, for example, did dedicate some of the revenue to run schools and supply electricity, telecommunications, water, food, and other services.
Some villages and towns saw a decline in such services because ISIS distributed oil revenue to other towns under its control in Syria and Iraq, establishing its own pan-territorial patronage system.
As a result, in oil-rich areas, warlordism--a side effect of strictly localized rebel governance-- dropped steadily.
ISIS also forced municipality personnel to work, unlike previous groups that had allowed Syrian state employees to continue to receive their salaries (mostly from the regime) while they sat at home and did nothing, no doubt with attendant kickbacks. "The streets are cleaner now; 70 percent of the employees were not working, even though they received salaries," said a former media activist with the FSA from Deir Ezzor.
"They cancelled the customary day off on Saturday; they're supposed to make Thursday the day off instead." Regulations and price control are another area in which ISIS's governance proved successful. It banned fishermen from using dynamite and electricity to catch fish.
It also prohibited residents in the Jazira from using the chaos of war to stake new land claims, principally in the Syrian desert, where they had tried to build new homes or establish businesses, much to the chagrin of their neighbors. ISIS also limited the profit margins on oil by-products, ice, flour, and other essential commodities.
Posted by: Glong Spaing8767 ||
03/04/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
ISIS also forced municipality personnel to work
The consequences of not doing so were abundantly apparent to these folks.
Not saying that it's not effective, this business plan probably wouldn't go over well with the AFSCME or SIEU members here.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
03/04/2015 8:29 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
North Korea
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
... an Arab news network headquartered in Qatar, notorious for carrying al-Qaeda press releases. The name means 
