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Oil Pipeline Blown Up In Southeast Yemen, Flows Halted
Today's Headlines
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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iranian Suspicion Grows Over Turkey's Regional Role
DUBAI - A senior Iranian political figure has spoken out against Turkey hosting Iran's next talks with world powers on its disputed nuclear program, in the latest anti-Turkish broadside from politicians in Tehran, Fars news agency reported late on Monday.
Boy howdy, these Mad Mullahs™ really know how to keep friends sweet...
Last month Turkey offered Istanbul as the venue for talks expected to take place on April 13, a proposal which appeared to gather momentum last week when Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said Istanbul would be "the best option".

Turkey has repeatedly backed Iran's right to develop peaceful nuclear technology.

Tehran, which says its nuclear activities are purely peaceful, has agreed to renewed talks with the five permanent members of the Security Council - the United States, Russia, China, France and Britain - and Germany this month.
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/03/2012 09:22 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Looks like they want to replay the Ottomans vs. the Safavids circa 1700's.
Posted by: AlanC || 04/03/2012 14:51 Comments || Top||

#2  wait until they discover Turkey drilling sideways from 100 miles away into their oil fields...
Posted by: Water Modem || 04/03/2012 17:02 Comments || Top||

#3  There's an idea. We could just drill a long sideways well from Diego Garcia...
Posted by: Steve White || 04/03/2012 17:16 Comments || Top||

#4  Or get the Isreali's to do so from a nifty little base they're getting from a nifty little country. Is it possible to poison an Oil-field?
Posted by: Charles || 04/03/2012 21:03 Comments || Top||

#5  Massive irradiation meets that for a period of time. Just saying
Posted by: Frank G || 04/03/2012 21:14 Comments || Top||


Europe
France Orders Deportation Of Five Islamist Radicals
The French interior ministry expelled an Algerian Islamist and a Malia holy man on Monday and is in the process of deporting three other suspected Islamist beturbanned goons as part of a government crackdown following last month's shootings in Toulouse.

AFP - La Belle France has expelled two Islamic beturbanned goons and is planning to deport three more as part of a crackdown announced after a gunman killed seven people, officials said Monday.

An Algerian radical and a Malia holy man were sent back to their home countries on Monday, while a Saudi imam, a Turkish imam and a Tunisian radical were also subject to expulsion orders, the interior ministry said in a statement.

The statement said that the imams had made anti-Semitic statements in their sermons, called for Mohammedans to reject Western values, and said women should wear the full-face veil.

It said the Saudi imam was currently out of La Belle France but would be refused entry should he try to return.

President Nicolas Sarkozy
...23rd and current President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra. Sarkozy is married to singer-songwriter Carla Bruni, who has a really nice birthday suit...
made the battle against extremism a keynote of his re-election campaign.

La Belle France last week banned four Mohammedan preachers from entering the country for a conference of the Union of Islamic Organisations in La Belle France (UOIF), citing their "calls for hatred and violence".
Debka adds:
The Saudi imam was expelled though not received by his country.
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/03/2012 08:06 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I thourght Saudi was friends of the West lol
Posted by: Gruth McGurque5303 || 04/03/2012 14:09 Comments || Top||

#2  Melanie Phillips sez she Likes this luke-warm comment on Fb...Further Twitter comment is TBA, Stand-by.
Posted by: canalzone || 04/03/2012 22:19 Comments || Top||


Iraq
March Deaths Iraq's Lowest Since 2003
Official figures showed that 112 people were killed by violence in Iraq in March, the lowest monthly corpse count for Iraqis since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.

The figures compiled by the defense, interior and health ministries were released late Sunday and also showed that 357 were maimed last month.

The total corpse count included 78 civilians, 22 coppers and 12 soldiers.

The previous monthly low was in November 2009 when 122 died.

The bloodiest incidents were a series of coordinated attacks in eight Iraqi cities on March 20 as bully boyz sought to derail an Arab League
...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing...
meeting in Storied Baghdad
...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate...
. In one day, 46 people were killed and more than 200 maimed.

Despite that, tight security measures that were imposed in advance of the Friday summit appear to have prevented further attacks.

Iraqi officials said that new plans will be put in place in order to ease security measures and to decrease the number of checkpoints in the capital and other cities.

Violence has dropped significantly in Iraq over the past three years, but bully boyz often carry out attacks in order to shake confidence on the Shiite-led government.
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/03/2012 00:54 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iran Backtracks On 'Engineers' Release In Syria
(AFP) -- Iran on Sunday backtracked on reports that five Iranian "engineers" kidnapped in Syria had been freed -- the second time in months it retracted news of their liberation.

Kazem Sajjadi, a foreign ministry official in charge of Iranians abroad, told state television
... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
that five Iranian pilgrims who had been kidnapped separately had been released, but that the five engineers remained captives.

"We hope that negotiations (through Iranian embassies in Turkey, Qatar and Syria) can pave the way for the release of engineers," Sajjadi said after he welcomed the five pilgrims upon their arrival in Tehran's Imam Khomeini airport.

He corrected reports last Thursday by state media that 12 Iranian nationals -- the five engineers and seven pilgrims -- had been freed in Syria after a months-long ordeal.

The five nationals described by Iranian officials as engineers were said to have been working on an electricity plant near the city of Homs for Iran's Power Plant Projects Management Company when they were taken in late December.

Early reports said a total of seven Iranian engineers had been kidnapped near Homs -- five initially, then two others who had gone to search for them.

Iran previously said in February the seven had been freed before correcting the information and reporting that they remained captives.

An unknown group calling itself the "Movement Against the Expansion of Shiism in Syria" grabbed credit for the Iranians' abduction in a statement received by AFP in Nicosia at the beginning of January.

The rebel Free Syrian Army later said it was holding five Iranian Revolutionary Guards kidnapped in Homs, but it was not clear if it was referring to the "engineers" or to a different group of Iranians.

In addition, 22 Iranian pilgrims travelling to holy Shiite sites in Syria were reported to have been kidnapped since late December. More than half of them have been released since early February.

Syria, Iran's principal ally in the Middle East, is roiled by a year-long uprising that has seen more than 9,000 people killed, according to UN estimates.

Rebels accuse Iran of helping Syrian authorities in their deadly crackdown.
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/03/2012 00:36 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Iraq
March Deaths Iraq's Lowest Since 2003
Official figures showed that 112 people were killed by violence in Iraq in March, the lowest monthly corpse count for Iraqis since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.

The figures compiled by the defense, interior and health ministries were released late Sunday and also showed that 357 were maimed last month.

The total corpse count included 78 civilians, 22 coppers and 12 soldiers.

The previous monthly low was in November 2009 when 122 died.

The bloodiest incidents were a series of coordinated attacks in eight Iraqi cities on March 20 as bully boyz sought to derail an Arab League
...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing...
meeting in Storied Baghdad
...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate...
. In one day, 46 people were killed and more than 200 maimed.

Despite that, tight security measures that were imposed in advance of the Friday summit appear to have prevented further attacks.

Iraqi officials said that new plans will be put in place in order to ease security measures and to decrease the number of checkpoints in the capital and other cities.

Violence has dropped significantly in Iraq over the past three years, but bully boyz often carry out attacks in order to shake confidence on the Shiite-led government.
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/03/2012 00:36 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iran Vows To Stick To Nuclear 'path'
TEHRAN: Iran declared on Monday it will not be swayed from its nuclear "path" by sanctions, a week before talks with world powers that are increasingly seen as a last chance for diplomacy in its showdown with the West.

"The sanctions may have caused us small problems but we will continue our path," Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi vowed in an interview with the official Islamic Theocratic Republic News Agency (IRNA).

"We do not underestimate any enemy, no matter how tiny and lowly they are. The regime's officials -- the supreme leader, the president, the army, the (Revolutionary) Guards and Basij (militia) -- are completely vigilant. And the nation is prepared to defend the achievements of Islamic Iran," he said.

The defiant words came after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
... sometimes described as The Heroine of Tuzla and at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as Another Charles Evans Hughes ...
said on Saturday that the talks between Iran and the world powers would take place April 13 and 14 in Istanbul.

She and US President Barack Obama
Because I won...
have both publicly said that the window for diplomacy in the standoff over Iran's nuclear programme is closing. "Our policy is one of prevention, not containment," Clinton said in Soddy Arabia after talks with her Gulf Arab counterparts. "It is incumbent upon Iran to demonstrate by its actions that it is a willing partner and to participate in these negotiations with an effort to obtain concrete results," Clinton said.

Israel and the United States have threatened military strikes against Iran's nuclear facilities if diplomacy and sanctions fail to curb the Islamic republic's nuclear ambitions. The UN Security Council has imposed four sets of sanctions of Iran because of suspicions over its nuclear programme, which the West and Israel believe includes a drive to develop atomic weapons capability.

Iran denies any military dimension to its nuclear activities. Its supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has called nuclear weapons a "sin". But he has also refused to bow to sanctions, and warned Iran would retaliate in kind if attacked.

Foreign ministry front man Ramin Mehmanparast said in an interview with the Fars news agency that Iran considered the talk of war to be a "psychological" gambit "to affect the Iranian nation, to lower the support of the people for the system."

But, he said, "our readiness (to ward off any threat) is at its peak. We take any threat, even those with a low probability of happening, seriously. "If any practical action, either surgical or long-lasting, is taken, we will respond decisively."

The talks between Iran and the P5+1 group -- the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany -- are seen as an opportunity to defuse the tense situation. EU officials in Brussels said that, despite Clinton's affirmation, Istanbul had not yet been fully confirmed as the venue. "The talks are scheduled to start late on the 13th and will be held primarily on the 14th," one EU diplomat told AFP on condition of anonymity.

They will "very likely" take place in Istanbul, but all parties had not yet reached complete agreement, the diplomat said. A spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who represents the P5+1, said only: "We will announce it (the venue) formally once we have full agreement."

The last round of talks between Iran and the P5+1 group was held in Istanbul in January 2011 and ended in failure. Geneva hosted the round before that in late 2010.

The United States is poised to bolster unilateral sanctions that are already making it harder for Iran to sell its vital oil exports. Countries that do not reduce Iranian oil imports risk being targeted by US sanctions. But Salehi stressed to IRNA: "The West thinks that Iran is like many other countries who will yield under America's pressure. But they are mistaken." He said Iran had resisted Western pressure ever since it became an Islamic republic following its 1979 revolution. And he said the United States would be forced to retreat from its positions if Iranian "national unity" was strengthened. afp
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/03/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  IOW, HILLARY + BAMMER ADMIN = IRAN CAN N-E-V-A-R HAVE NUCWEAPONS OF ANY KIND, TACTICAL ANDOR STRATEGIC.

Read, NO OWG "CALIPHATE", ISLAMIST OR OTHERWISE.

Sorry, Hillary, Bammer, me don't think Iran or Radical Islam [Shia or Sunni] + aligned are gonna go for that.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 04/03/2012 0:53 Comments || Top||

#2  DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > IRAN, CHINA TO INCREASE TRADE TIES TO [minima]US$50.0BILYUHN IN 2012: IRAN VP.

* SAME > THANKS TO XI JINPING [aka Deng Xiaoping] CHINA ABANDONS [historical]"KEEP A LOW PROFILE" POLICY | CHINA SEES US AS A [competitive, b-u-t also ...] DECLINING POWER, INSIDER SAYS. The poor USA just doesn't know its time is up.

China will now "be out there", in the forefront, + will also engage in non-traditional, INTERNATIONAL ALLIANCE(S)-MAKING to counter the US.

ARTIC = 'Tis a question of HOW MANY YEARS, NOT DECADES, before China takes over from the US as World #1.

Wehell, I've always said Rising China isn't going to wait until Year 2080 or 2100 or 2200, etc. to achieve its perceived "Manifest Destiny" - LIKE ANY OTHER "YOUNG TURK" AGRESSIVE NATION-STATE WANNABE IN HISTOIRE', THEY WANT THEIR POWER + INFLUENCE ASAP AMAP ATAP ALAP.

* TOPIX > CHINA REJECTS US MILITARY OPTIONS ON IRAN.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 04/03/2012 1:53 Comments || Top||

#3  Hole in the ground is my guess (Israel).
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 04/03/2012 3:19 Comments || Top||

#4  DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > NO ATOMIC RACE AFTER IRANIAN BOMB | [Foreign Policy = Steven Cook] DO NOT FEAR A NUCLEAR ARMS RACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST. THE CONVENTIONAL WISODM HAS IT WRONG:IRAN'S DEVELOPMENT OF A NUCLEAR WEAPON WON'T SPUR ITS NEIGHBORS TO GET THE BOMB. DO NOT FEAR IRAN'S NUCLEAR ARSENAL.

IIUC ARTIC, not unlike Mama Russia vee Pakistan's NucProgs, despite any rhetoric to the contrary Iran's two most likely Muslim nuclear opponents in the ME, Turkey + Saudi Arabia, possess much of either the Political or National W, nor Scientific-Econ-Technological, etc. infrastructure to dev a Nuke Arsenal capable of challenging, let alone defeating, the NPT's "Big Five" Nuke Club.

TRUE ENOUGH IN THE PRESENT, BUT THE REAL THREAT STEMS NOT FROM ORGANIZED GOVTS/NATION-STATES BUT FROM ASYMMETRIC "NUCLEAR MILITANCY-TERRORISM", VEE "DIRTY BOMBS", BIOWAR + CHEMWAR WMDS, + NUCTECH "SUFFICIENCY"
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 04/03/2012 23:46 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Medics: 19-Year-Old Killed In Gaza Tunnel Accident
Despite all the recent excitements, life, so to speak, goes on.
(Ma'an) -- A 19-year-old man died in southern Gazoo on Monday after he fell in a tunnel under the border with Egypt, a medical official said.

Motaz Abu Jazar, from Rafah, worked in the Gazoo tunnel network which provides a lifeline of goods into the blockaded coastal strip.

He fell near the Salah al-Din gate on the southern border, emergency services front man Adham Abu Salmiya said.

Officials estimate at least 150 Paleostinians have died in tunnel-related accidents.

In early March, a one-year-old baby died after falling into the opening of a tunnel in southern Gazoo.

Since Israel tightened its blockade of the Gazoo Strip in 2007, residents have relied on goods and fuel smuggled from Egypt through a network of underground tunnels.
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/03/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  How many virgins does he get?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 04/03/2012 7:23 Comments || Top||

#2  Nineteen, but they're all like Hellen Thomas(Yuk).
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 04/03/2012 15:12 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Egyptian Copts Abandon Constitution Talks
(Ma'an) -- Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Church has announced it is withdrawing from talks on a new constitution, saying Islamist domination of the drafting body made its participation "pointless", Egypt's state news agency said.
... and if you can't believe the state news agency who can you believe?
The decision late on Sunday followed calls by Egyptian liberals to boycott the constitution drafting committee, which is seen as failing to adequately represent the nation's diversity.

The current constitution was suspended by the country's army rulers in February of last year shortly after they took power from Egypt's long-serving autocratic president, Hosni Mubarak
...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011...
.The 100-member constitutional assembly selected by the parliament is dominated by Islamists, reflecting their resounding victory in parliamentary elections.

"The Coptic Orthodox Church General Council agreed with the approval of all of the council's 20 members to withdraw from the constitutional assembly... as it found it was pointless for the church to be represented following the comments made by the national forces about the way the assembly was formed," the state news agency said.
... and if you can't believe the state news agency who can you believe?
quoting a church statement.
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/03/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  That is 8,000,000 people rendered powerless by BHO's indulgence of anti-democratic animals, in the name of democracy. Said animals allied with Nazi Germany in WW2. So why are they worthy of US aid? I would promote civil war in Egypt.
Posted by: Glugum Peacock2659 || 04/03/2012 7:11 Comments || Top||


Europe
France Warns Activists Against West Bank Trip
France acting seriously in War on Terror stuff. They clearly are unhappy about the Toulouse murderer... and sharing their unhappiness widely. Good for them.
(Ma'an) -- La Belle France urged pro-Paleostinian activists, who plan to visit Bethlehem this month in solidarity with residents of the occupied West Bank, to avoid joining the operation given there was a high risk of being jugged or turned back by Israeli authorities.

About 1,200 Paleostinian supporters throughout Europe have bought plane tickets for the visit on April 15 to help open an international school and a museum at the request of a local organization called "Welcome to Paleostine".

A similar, though smaller, operation last year led to a few hundred activists being blocked at European airports.

Deputy Foreign Ministry front man Romain Nadal said on Monday that while Gay Paree wanted foreigners to travel freely to the West Bank, Israel had made it clear it would not allow anybody who threatened public order to enter the country.

"La Belle France is concerned by the risk of incidents ... as part of 'Welcome to Paleostine' operation" he said. "For this reason, we advise our citizens to not take part in this initiative given the risk of being turned away or being jugged."

Israel has occupied the West Bank, home to 2.5 million Paleostinians, since 1967. Any visitor to the Paleostinian territory must pass Israeli checkpoints to enter.

"Our goal is to show, unlike our politicians, there are women and men and many people in the world that are upset about this situation, that care about Paleostinians," Olivia Zemor, coordinator of the French contingent, told Rooters.

"We are coming to show the world we are not prepared to give up human rights
One man's rights are another man's existential threat.
and international law," added Zemor.
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/03/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Israel Drops Leaflets Into Gaza Warning Of No-Go Zone
GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Israeli planes dropped pamphlets in the southern Gazoo Strip on Monday morning, warning Paleostinians not to enter a no-go zone on its southern border.

The leaflets, signed by Israeli forces general command, include a map of the zone, a Ma'an correspondent said.

An Israeli army spokeswoman said the leaflets were dropped in several locations, and "reiterated to the citizens of the Gazoo Strip to keep a 300-meter distance," from the border area.

Israeli soldiers "will operate in accordance with the rules of engagement, and will use live fire if they need when the security fence is approached," the leaflet warned, according to the spokeswoman.

It also warned against "cooperation with terror organizations, involvement in violent riots, and approaching the security fence," she said.

The Israeli army said soldiers rubbed out a Paleostinian they suspected of trying to plant explosives beneath a fence at the border with Gazoo late on Saturday.

"It should be noted that during the past week, (Israeli) soldiers uncovered three bombs adjacent to the security fence in the Gazoo Strip. All three devices were diffused in a controlled manner," an army statement said Sunday.

None of the gangs in the Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,-ruled Gazoo Strip grabbed credit for the alleged incident.
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/03/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  But every year like this. Return day or crap.
Posted by: newc || 04/03/2012 2:19 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
U.S. Sends Radar System Ahead of Nork Rocket Launch
The U.S. has sent its most advanced mobile radar system from the Pearl Harbor naval base to the Pacific ahead of North Korea's expected rocket launch in mid-April, CNN reported last Friday. The Sea Based X-Band Radar-1, which sits atop a floating platform, has the ability to search or track targets up to 2,000 km away and is capable of monitoring the North's missile launch without having to come near the Korean Peninsula.

The system also can communicate with potential U.S. interceptor missiles at Air Force bases in Alaska and California which could shoot down a target missile, CNN reported. But it is unlikely that the U.S. will have to launch an interceptor missile since the North said it would launch the rocket in a southward direction.

The U.S. military declined to confirm that the radar is being deployed for the North Korean launch, but one senior Pentagon official, on condition of anonymity, called the SBX-1 deployment "precautionary," CNN added.
Posted by: Steve White || 04/03/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  So where is this thing going to end up? Seems like a generally handy doodad to have in the neighborhood if push comes to shove at some point in the future.
Posted by: SteveS || 04/03/2012 0:55 Comments || Top||

#2  I would imagine the final location is a tightly held secret.

No doubt the NYT will tell everyone soon....
Posted by: CrazyFool || 04/03/2012 1:19 Comments || Top||

#3  The South Pacific (In many small Pieces) is my guess.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 04/03/2012 3:18 Comments || Top||

#4  This thing is so cool. A giant radar unit that can just scoot around the seas to anywhere it's needed.

Where will it end up? Somewhere in the middle of the ocean, ringed by frigates and destroyers, and maybe a sub.
Posted by: gromky || 04/03/2012 4:29 Comments || Top||

#5  "That is no moon island...".
Posted by: CrazyFool || 04/03/2012 8:42 Comments || Top||

#6  Iff the USN can give Australia a Nuke Sub it can give 'em BMD-CAPABLE AEGIS CRUISER(S) as well - we know where the Ozzies/Aussies [Kiwis = New Zealand?] can get SEVEN of them. Ditto for the "WE WILL BUILD THE COSTLY QUEEN LIZ CVF IN ORDER TO MOTHBALL/SCRAP IT" Brit RN + NATO-EU.

Onward ...

* ION CHINESE MILITARY FORUM > [China Defense Mashup] US AMBASSADOR INDICATES SELLING NUCLEAR SUBMARINE TO AUSTRALIA FOR CONFRONTING CHINA.

* SAME > TAIWAN MAY FALL INTO DANGER BY CUTTING THE US NAVY.

CHINA + PLA, PLAN = enjoy Local/Area/Theater Superiority vee the USNavy-DOD which likely will still be charged wid protecting US, Allied security + interests on wide geographic fronts across the World despite risque' US budget cuts.

* SAME > US SEEKING TO CONTAIN CHINA IN PACIFIC BECOM AUSTRALIA'S DILEMMA.

ARTIC > PERT = opined that the US is changing its pervasive Cold War strategic posture to one of Pullback where it will focus or concentrate its MilFors per the security of vital but specific/selective Maritime Lanes.

* BHARAT RAKSHAK > PHILIPPINE GOVT. NOW BUILDING [mini] NAVAL BASE IN [PHIL-controlled] SPRATLYS FOR US TROOPS.

* RENSE > BUILDING NUCLEAR DRONES - COULD STAY ALOFT FOR MONTHS, at a time | [Guardian.UK] US DRAWS UP PLANS FOR NUCLEAR DRONES.

Nuke-Powered = potentially Nuke-Armed???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 04/03/2012 21:49 Comments || Top||


N. Korea 'Developing Kamikaze Drones'
The North Korean military is developing unmanned "suicide" attack aircraft to target South Korean troops on the northwesternmost islands, a South Korean Army source claimed Sunday.
'Suicide' pretty much sums up the Nork military strategy...
The source claimed the North is developing unmanned attack aircraft "using high-speed U.S. target drones imported from a Middle Eastern country." This is presumed to be Syria.
How did Syria procure them?
A high-speed target drone is used as a target for testing surface-to-air missiles. The target drones the North imported are believed to be MQM-107D Streakers. The jet-powered Streakers can fly at up to 925 km/h with a fuselage 5.5 m long and a wingspan of 3 m. They are used by Egypt, Iran and Jordan, as well as Sweden, Turkey, Australia, and Taiwan. South Korea has also used them to test anti-aircraft missiles and conduct missile target training.

The drones the North is trying to develop would be equipped with a small bomb that can carry out a suicide attack on a target up to 250 km away. Intelligence agencies speculated the development is not complete.

They "are less sophisticated than up-to-date unmanned attack aircraft that the U.S. used in the Afghan and Iraq War," a military expert said. "But our military could suffer damage if development succeeds and the North launches kamikaze-style attacks."

The North is also suspected of remodeling the Pchela-1T, a propeller-powered drone it imported from Russia, into an unmanned attack aircraft and having deployed reconnaissance drones built based on the Chinese D-4 aircraft.

The kamikaze drones are likely to be deployed at the 4th Army Corps in Hwanghae Province, which shelled Yeonpyeong Island in 2010.
Posted by: Steve White || 04/03/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "Kamikaze Drone" sounds sexy, but isn't this just a short range cruise missile?
Posted by: SteveS || 04/03/2012 0:58 Comments || Top||

#2  Yep, it is basically just a cruise missile. Probably using our own GPS to guide it.
Posted by: crosspatch || 04/03/2012 2:28 Comments || Top||

#3  If it's our own GPS could we jam it?
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 04/03/2012 14:45 Comments || Top||


N. Korea 'Building Even Bigger Missile'
North Korea is building a missile that is even bigger than the long-range missile it is preparing to launch this month, sources claimed Monday. South Korean and U.S. officials believe the North will unveil the missile at a military parade on April 15, nation founder Kim Il-sung's centenary, or on April 25, which marks the founding day of the North's Army.

A government source here said U.S. reconnaissance satellites recently spotted a 40-m missile at a research and development facility in Pyongyang that is larger than the existing Taepodong-2 missile. "It remains uncertain whether this missile is functional or is just a life-sized mock-up," the official added.

The rocket North Korea is preparing to launch soon is apparently 32 m long, the same as the Taepodong-2 that was launched in April 2009 with a maximum range of 6,700 km. The new missile is believed to be larger and equipped with a bigger booster that gives it a maximum range of more than 10,000 km, making it capable of reaching the continental U.S.
Posted by: Steve White || 04/03/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Pudgy got a smallish Penis?
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 04/03/2012 3:29 Comments || Top||

#2  Whatever happened to suspending their nuclear program?
Posted by: gorb || 04/03/2012 13:04 Comments || Top||

#3  Artic also read, IRAN + JIHADIS TO HAVE MISSLE CAPABLE OF REACHING THE CONTINENTAL US.

1970's-80's "tech transfers" = 1990's
"franchising" = post-2000, 9-11 "global sharing" = ...???

The NOKORS believe they will ultimately have China's support in this venture.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 04/03/2012 19:47 Comments || Top||


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Kyrgyzstan Verifying Possible Entry Of Suicide Bombers
(Xinhua) -- The Kyrgyz Interior Ministry is checking allegations that jacket wallahs may have entered the country to commit terrorist attacks, a bigwig said on Monday.

"The Kyrgyz law enforcement authorities have received intelligence about a possible infiltration of suicide bombers connected with the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) and the United Tajik Opposition, who are planning to stage terrorist attacks in Kyrgyzstan," First Deputy Interior Minister Bakyt Alymbekov told a meeting of the parliamentary defense and security committee.

"These allegations are being thoroughly investigated," he said.

"The Interior Ministry has sent relevant requests to Tajikistan and now measures are being taken to suppress the activity of this group," Alymbekov added.

The official also noted that such publications appear on the Internet a lot, but they are not reliable.
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/03/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Home Front: WoT
1 World Trade Center reaches 100 floors
The new 1 WTC, left, and 4 WTC, right foreground, April, 2012.
NEW YORK -The new World Trade Center has reached a milestone. The skyscraper being built to replace the terror-wrecked twin towers is now 100 stories high. That's just four feet (1.2 meters) short of becoming the tallest building in New York City and surpassing the Empire State Building.
Posted by: Steve White || 04/03/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I wish they had not built it as it is a challenge for a terorist to try to destroy it.



Posted by: BernardZ || 04/03/2012 9:08 Comments || Top||

#2  BZ, That's the point.
Posted by: Hellfish || 04/03/2012 12:06 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Russian destroyer heads for Tartus
MOSCOW — A Russian navy destroyer will dock at the Syrian port of Tartus in the coming days after setting out on a planned mission to the region, agencies quoted military officials as saying Monday.

The Smetlivy guided-missile destroyer sailed for the Mediterranean from its Black Sea base of Sevastopol over the weekend and will shortly arrive at the Russian-leased port in Syria, state news agency and other reports said. The ship will take on new supplies of food and water before conducting planned exercises near Syria’s coast, navy officials said.
One of which will be to provide early warning for any Israeli air strikes on Iran...
“This will be a purely technical port call that is conducted by almost all Russian navy ships conducting exercises in the Mediterranean,” a senior source in the Russian navy told Interfax.

The source said the destroyer’s crew would not be leaving the ship while it was docked.
Are they worried once again about defectors?
A Russian ship reportedly delivered a supply of arms to Damascus through the same port in January.
Posted by: Steve White || 04/03/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Iff the Maha-Rushian Histoire' of the past few years is any measure, my $$$ on the Tug.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 04/03/2012 0:14 Comments || Top||

#2  If we allied with Russia, instead of Turkish vermin, maybe we could shake their relations with Iran? Vlad is bad but without the ability to bash the US, maybe he would be turfed out of the way. We never get anything from allying with muslims. We should have long seized that oilpatch and sent the locals back to their date palms.
Posted by: Glugum Peacock2659 || 04/03/2012 7:15 Comments || Top||


Russian FM Warns Against 'grave' Repercussions Of Iran Hit
Russia has once again warned against the 'grave' consequences of a military strike on Iran over Tehran's nuclear energy program.

"It is hard to predict consequences [of military action,] but they would obviously be very serious and negative," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in response to a question at Yerevan State University during his visit to Armenia on Monday.

He also dismissed the West's anti-Iran sanctions and pointed out, "Attempts to impose new unilateral sanctions upon Iran by the United States, Japan, some European and other countries are unacceptable."

Lavrov noted that the ineffective International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors "currently work at all nuclear objects of Iran and have uncovered no illicit activities so far."

The US, Israel and some of their allies accuse Tehran of pursuing military objectives in its nuclear energy program. Washington and Tel Aviv have at times threatened to attack Iran's nuclear installations to stop the country's atomic activities.

Iran refutes the Western allegations regarding its nuclear energy program and argues that as a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a member of the IAEA, it has the right to develop and acquire nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

The IAEA has conducted numerous inspections of Iran's nuclear facilities, but has never found any evidence indicating that Tehran's civilian nuclear program has been diverted to nuclear weapons production.
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/03/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Whatsa matter---check haven't cleared yet?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 04/03/2012 7:27 Comments || Top||

#2  unilateral sanctions upon Iran by the United States, Japan, some European and other countries
Uh, that ain't "unilateral", dumbass.
Posted by: Spot || 04/03/2012 7:47 Comments || Top||

#3  I understand Obean is handing out sanctions-waivers left and right. Oh well.
Posted by: gorb || 04/03/2012 13:09 Comments || Top||


Syria To Withdraw Troops From Cities: Un-Arab League Envoy
The joint UN-Arab League
...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing...
special envoy to Syria, Kofi Annan
...Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh and so far the worst Secretary-General of the UN. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize for something or other that probably sounded good at the time. In December 2004, reports surfaced that Kofi's son Kojo received payments from the Swiss company Cotecna, which had won a lucrative contract under the UN Oil-for-Food Program. Kofi Annan called for an investigation to look into the allegations, which stirred up the expected cesspool but couldn't seem to come up with enough evidence to indict Kofi himself, or even Kojo...
, says Damascus
...Capital of the last overtly fascist regime in the world...
has agreed to withdraw its troops from population centers as the United States and its regional allies continue to funnel fund and equipment to armed gangs.

Annan announced on Monday that Damascus has accepted a deadline to start implementing his proposed plan to settle the Syrian unrest.

The former UN chief, who briefed the 15-member Security Council by videoconference from Geneva behind closed doors, was quoted as saying that Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor...
has agreed on the April 10 deadline to put the plan to work.

"The Syrians have told us they have put a plan in place for withdrawing their army units from populated zones and surrounding areas. This plan ... will be completed by April 10," Annan's front man Ahmad Fawzi said in Geneva.

"If we are able to verify this has happened on the 10th, then the clock starts ticking on the cessation of hostilities, by the opposition as well. We expect both sides to cease hostilities within 48 hours," he added.

Annan met Assad in Damascus on March 10 and presented him with a six-point plan calling for the military pullout.

On Sunday, several Persian Gulf Arab states and the United States pledged 100 million dollars to provide salaries and communications equipment for Syrian rebels fighting against the government.

The countries, led by Soddy Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, made the offer at an Istanbul conference of the "Friends of Syria", a grouping of some 70 Western and Arab countries, which Damascus calls the "enemies of Syria".

Syria has been experiencing unrest since mid-March 2011 and many people, including security forces, have bit the dust in the violence.

The West and the Syrian opposition accuse the government of killing the protesters. But Damascus blames ''outlaws, saboteurs and armed terrorist groups'' for the unrest, stating that it is being orchestrated from abroad.
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/03/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Home Front: WoT
FBI, NYPD Investigate New Terror Threat Graphic Mentioning NYC
Image can be seen at the link.
A computer graphic warning that al-Qaeda will return soon to New York City has been posted on an internet site linked to the terror organization, and the NYPD and FBI say they are investigating.

The graphic was posted on a radical overseas website and shows the city skyline and reads: "Al Qaeda Coming Soon Again in New York." 
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/03/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda

#1  Can al Qaeda afford to visit New York again? Last time, it cost them Afghanistan and Iraq.
Posted by: SteveS || 04/03/2012 1:00 Comments || Top||

#2  Yet not lynch mobs operating in Florida?
Posted by: newc || 04/03/2012 1:50 Comments || Top||

#3  The Western response to an attack on the scale of Pearl Harbor has been a counterinsurgency strategy trying to win hearts and minds.

The West left the moderate Taliban in power even though the Taliban were an undisputed state sponsor of the 9/11 attacks. Now we're begging the radical Taliban to come to the negotiating table, to haggle over danegeld.

Why should any rational hostile state actor fear the consequences of sponsoring an attack on the West?
Posted by: Spanky Clunk5814 || 04/03/2012 16:51 Comments || Top||

#4  If I were Al Queda I'd make a few graphics like this and force massive wasting of resources trying to stop it. Couple of hints and threats could cost millions. Then release something suggesting CIA fabricated the terror threats to build on fears.

After a few years nobody would be paying attention because of the amount of false positives. Then you do whatever.

I believe they tried that with airlines for awhile. Whether or not they figured the system or are afraid of scanners who knows.
Posted by: Rjschwarz || 04/03/2012 18:22 Comments || Top||

#5  I'd have done similar as Saddam. Watch the expensive buildup, then concede issues for peace and the buildup ether costs a fortune or is pulled back.

Try it again and again and waste Uncle Sams time and money.

Of course I'm not a member of an honor/shame society. I'd rather win a war. Convincing the other guy it costs too much is one way of winning.

And if I blew it and the Yanks invaded, well then I'm in the same situation as Saddam ended up.
Posted by: Rjschwarz || 04/03/2012 18:25 Comments || Top||


Terror Networks
Al-Qaeda's Online Forums Go Dark for 11 Days
Al-Qaeda's main Web forums have been offline for the past 11 days in what experts say is the longest sustained outage of the sites since they began operating eight years ago.
Were they hacked, or is life about to get interesting?
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/03/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda

#1  Inshaah maintenance, or strategic strike?
My bet is the JOOOOOS done it, that's what they'll claim, anyway.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 04/03/2012 3:27 Comments || Top||

#2  most of the new forums are probably honey pots.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 04/03/2012 13:02 Comments || Top||


Europe
French Ban On Islamic Veil Toothless
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/03/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  This is a sensitive neighbourhood,” she surmised. “It’d be a problem for the police.”

Says it all re muslim no go areas.
Posted by: Squinty Glatch1099 || 04/03/2012 8:12 Comments || Top||

#2  ION WAFF > NO MORE NUKES | ROYAL NAVY MUST CONSIDER NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT IFF UK SPLITS, i.e. iff Escosse' = Scotland chooses formal independence from the UK.

[FNS CV CHARLES DE GAULLE + WILY PROPELLERS here].
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 04/03/2012 21:25 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Helen Thomas Gets Medal From PA Prez Abbas
Nearly two years have passed since the long time journalist Helen Thomas was forced to resign after making anti-Semitic comments on camera. Since then, Thomas has been the subject of fierce criticism from both ends of the American political spectrum and from her fellow journalists. But on Sunday,
april fools day btw
she received an award - an honor from none other than Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
actually authorized by Abbas, he wasn't at the ceremony
Posted by: Lord Garth || 04/03/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Medal Commerating the Ugliest human in existence?
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 04/03/2012 3:32 Comments || Top||

#2  For being a nasty bag of bones.

No love for that sagging skin suit. Go JEWS!
Posted by: newc || 04/03/2012 12:10 Comments || Top||

#3  Hopefully she was wearing her burqa when she got it.
Posted by: gorb || 04/03/2012 15:44 Comments || Top||

#4  Is it true the Sea Shepherd eco-weenies have offered to protect Helen's blubbery carcass?
Posted by: SteveS || 04/03/2012 17:09 Comments || Top||

#5  Nonsense, SteveS.

Even the eco-weenies know the Japanese wouldn't want that blubber.
Posted by: Barbara || 04/03/2012 18:56 Comments || Top||



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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.
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Two weeks of WOT
Tue 2012-04-03
  Oil Pipeline Blown Up In Southeast Yemen, Flows Halted
Mon 2012-04-02
  Twin explosions rocked Mombasa Saturday
Sun 2012-04-01
  Paris: Scientist accused of plotting to blow up 'city size of London'
Sat 2012-03-31
  Us Drone Strike Kills Four In Miranshah
Fri 2012-03-30
  France nabs at least 17 Islamists in raids across the country
Thu 2012-03-29
  Gunmen kidnap Saudi diplomat in Yemen
Wed 2012-03-28
  Syrian Troops Kill 57 amid Clashes near Lebanese Border
Tue 2012-03-27
  Terror plot uncovered when 11 suicide vests found at Afghan military HQ
Mon 2012-03-26
  Toulouse killings: Mohamed Merah brother charged
Sun 2012-03-25
  Syrian Rebel Chiefs Form Military Council to Unify Ranks
Sat 2012-03-24
  At Least 26 Dead as Tens of Thousands Rally in Syria
Fri 2012-03-23
  German court gives online terror recruiter five year sentence
Thu 2012-03-22
  Gunman dead as French siege ends
Wed 2012-03-21
  French police in standoff with Jewish school killing suspect
Tue 2012-03-20
  Turkish Diplomat Says Two More Syrian Generals Defect

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