Sometimes, capturing a Taliban commander requires vast resources and complex operations. Last week in eastern Afghanistan, it required neither.
Mohammad Ashan, a local number three mid-level Taliban commander in Paktika province, strolled toward a police checkpoint in the district of Sar Howza with a wanted poster bearing his own face. He demanded the finder's fee referenced on the poster: $100.
Afghan officials, perplexed by the man's misguided motives, arrested him on the spot. Ashan is suspected of plotting at least two attacks on Afghan security forces. His misdeeds prompted officials to plaster the district with hundreds of so-called "Be on the Lookout" posters emblazoned with his name and likeness.
When U.S. troops went to confirm that Ashan had in fact come forward to claim the finder's fee, they were initially incredulous.
"We asked him, 'Is this you?' Mohammad Ashan answered with an incredible amount of enthusiasm, 'Yes, yes, that's me! Can I get my award now?'" recalled SPC Matthew Baker.
A biometric scan confirmed that the man in Afghan custody was the insurgent they had been looking for.
"This guy is the Taliban equivalent of the 'Home Alone" burglars," one U.S. official said.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has warned the Taliban that their attacks will only work to prolong the foreign presence in Afghanistan.
Karzai's comments come after a series of coordinated attacks hit Kabul and three other Afghan cities, leaving 35 insurgents, 11 members of the Afghan security forces, and four civilians dead.
Karzai said the attacks on April 15 only killed Afghans and caused damage to the country's infrastructure and economy.
Reuters news agency quoted Karzai as saying, "You did nothing for Islam, you did not work for Afghanistan's independence, and you did not work for its people, freedom, and development."
But Karzai, in an apparent effort to keep alive reconciliation efforts and hopes of a possible peace deal before foreign troops leave in 2014, also said he would continue to call the Taliban "brothers".
Pashtunwali. They are brother Pashtuns together, and the other tribes can go to perdition.
[Emirates 24/7] The hard boyz who mounted weekend attacks in central Kabul and other parts of Afghanistan carefully rehearsed for months, even building small military-style models and pre-positioning weapons, a Taliban front man said on Monday.
And in the end they achieved a lot of sound and fury -- and their own deaths -- but very little more, other than to demonstrate that Afghan forces have improved since the last such effort..
Zabihullah Mujahid provided Rooters with a rare insight into how the group plans strategic high-profile attacks designed to deal a psychological blow to U.S.-led NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... forces and their allies in the Afghan cops.
In the latest, a 30-member suicide squad was dispatched to launch simultaneous assaults on parliament, NATO bases and Western embassies after two months of painstaking discussions on tactics.
"Our military experts sketched maps of the targets and also created a mock-up of them where fighters carried out practice before carrying out the large-scale operations in four provinces," Mujahid said in a phone interview.
"The fighters also learned how to enter their targets and hold them."
His account could not be independently verified.
Heavy street fighting between beturbanned goons and security forces in the centre of the Afghan capital ended on Monday after 18 hours of gunfire, rocket attacks and kabooms that bore strong similarities with an operation last year.
In both assaults, hard boyz occupied high-rise construction sites to use as firebases after smuggling weapons into central Kabul past police checkpoints.
The battles that broke out at midday on Sunday gripped the city's central districts into the evening and through the night, with blasts and gunfire lighting up alleys and streets before Afghan special forces soldiers backed by NATO helicopter gunships killed the myrmidons.
Mujahid said the myrmidons, who were mostly all killed by security forces, had been selected from among the estimated 50,000 fighters battling NATO and Afghan troops and given special training.
"Ordinary fighters can't obviously carry out these important missions," he said. "The fighters who were assigned for this mission received special training on how to use heavy machine guns, suicide bomb vests and other tactics."
Mujahid said heavy machine guns, rocket grenades and ammunition had been put in place well before the assault with inside help from Afghan cops, but did not elaborate.
A witness to the attack in Kabul's diplomatic quarter saw hard boyz in a dark blue Prado SUV opening fire on a policeman before entering a building that he had been guarding.
"One Taliban opened fire toward a security guard from a window of the vehicle and another went to a security checkpoint and maimed the man inside, occupying his position," said Ahmad Zeya Azami, 29, a car mechanic, who worked next door.
"Five Taliban ran into the building."
Azami said one myrmidon targeted the multi-storey Kabul Star Hotel with a rocket-propelled grenade, while another opened fire on the nearby diplomatic quarter.
"I closed our shop and beat feet from the area without any wounds. But now everybody is living in fear and losing hope about the future," he said.
Ahmad Farhad, 19, another shopkeeper, said the hard boyz had appeared calm and very well prepared.
"One went to the police checkpoint and others went into the building in an organised way, like they had seen the area before," Farhad said. "All were wearing traditional clothes, black or grey, and all looked to be aged about 30."
Farhad said the men had been armed with rocket-propelled grenades and assault rifles, and some had carried bags as they climbed out of a black four-wheel-drive.
Afghan and U.S. officials have blamed the attacks on the al Qaeda-linked Haqqani network, based along the porous Afghan-Pakistain mountain border.
Mujahid denied any involvement by the myrmidon group, one of the most feared in Afghanistan. The United States has long pressed Pakistain to go after the Haqqani network, which analysts say Islamabad regards as a strategic asset.
Any Haqqani role in the weekend assault would likely further strain relations between Washington and Islamabad.
"The attacks were very successful for us and were a remarkable achievement, dealing a psychological and political blow to foreigners and the government," Mujahid said.
"Although the Haqqanis are part of the Taliban, we did not ask for any help, guidance or support. This is a baseless plot from the West, who wants to show that we are separate
Posted by: Fred ||
04/17/2012 00:00 ||
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Read this in a Jay Carney voice and it works better...
(Sh. M. Network)-- The chief of security agency for Somalia government Mohammed Mo'allin Fiqi, announced Monday that it will assure the overall security of the lawless capital,Mogadishu, months after the cut-throats of Al shabab pulled back from their bases in the capital.
Mr.Fiqi told news hounds in Mogadishu that the security forces are to conduct measures to tackle the security and the overnight mortar bombardments at VillaSomalia, the country's palace in the capital where senior TFG officials are currently locating.
"In the past couple of days, our security forces have juggedbombs with 50 men allegedly connected Al shabab who were orchestrating to carry out attacks against TFG buildings and as well as civilian populated areas in the capital," he added.
Lastly, the chief of TFG security agency stated that the forces will reachs to all liberated regions and town from the cut-throats in south and central Somalia as soon as possible.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/17/2012 00:00 ||
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(Sh.M.Network)- A former Al-Shabaab ... Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda... bad boy has confessed how he joined and fought alongside the Somali beturbanned goons.
Abdullah Adbul Majid aka Abul, a Kenyan aged 18 and who arrived from Somalia in January, is in police custody after he was placed in long-term storage last week in connection with the Machakos Country Bus blasts that killed nine people.
An interrogation report seen by the Standard details his confessions from how he joined the terror group and his military training inSomalia.
He was placed in long-term storage inEastleighlast Thursday together with three people following a tip-off that they were involved in the blasts.
Abdul said he travelled toSomaliain January, last year, fromMombasathrough Garissa, Dadajabula and Dobley towns.
"He secured his bus fare toSomaliaby secretly selling his mother's mobile phone at Sh5,000. He packed a few clothes in a paper bag to begin the journey toSomalia," says part of the report.
Abdul is a Standard Seven dropout fromAhzabAcademyand his parents stay in Majengo,Mombasa.
He has told police he was motivated to join the cut-throats by teachings in aMombasamosque by two Sheikhs including deceased Samir Mohamed Khan who was found dead inTsavoNational Park.
The preachers, according to the report, told their followers the war inSomaliais a real Jihad afterUgandaandBurundisoldiers joined the Transitional Federal Government soldiers in fighting the Al-Shabaab bad boys.
The report says some sailors at theMombasaold port advised Abdul how he could travel toSomalia. While inSomalia, he was inducted in using grenades, pistols and rifles at Abadajira, which is a former prisons camp.
It was a three-month course involving about 300 trainees. He remained inMogadishuwhile his colleagues were taken to Quri Luk.
He revealed that imported muscle found speaking in English were slaughtered on the spot because they were assumed to be spies.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/17/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
Must have been a big surprise for those English speakers. Whoops! Does that still count as martyrdom?
#2
found speaking in English were slaughtered on the spot because they were assumed to be spies.
I think we've found where to send many of our prisoners...
The Libyan former intelligence officer convicted of the 1988 Lockerbie bombing that killed 270 people was released from a Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of thich 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... hospital on Monday after receiving an emergency blood transfusion, his brother said.
Abdel Basset al-Megrahi was taken to a private hospital on Friday to receive a transfusion of eleven litres of blood,
That seems rather a lot...
That's eleven units that could have helped someone else...
but subsequently felt strong enough to return home, his brother Abdel Hakim told Rooters.
Well, sure. I got one unit, once upon a time, and was oxygen-drunk and giggling very inappropriately for months.
Only because the donor had had a highball...
"His health is going from bad to worse, but he felt ready to go and his family took him home," Abdel Hakim said.
Megrahi was convicted in 2001 of the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 as it flew to New York from London. All 259 people aboard the airliner were killed and 11 others on the ground in the Scottish town of Lockerbie died from falling wreckage.
Britannia freed him in 2009 on compassionate grounds because he was suffering from advanced terminal prostate cancer and thought to have months to live.
His release angered many relatives of the victims, 189 of whom were American, and the B.O. regime criticised the decision. A number of U.S. politicians have pressed for his extradition to the United States, something Libya's ruling National Transitional Council said it would not do.
Megrahi, who served as an intelligence agent during the rule of Libyan dictator Muammar Qadaffy ... the like of whose wardrobe will never be seen again. At least that's what we hope... , denied any role in suspected human rights ...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty... abuses in his home country before Qadaffy's fall and death in a popular uprising last year
[Tripoli Post] A 14-minute YouTube video that analysts say has revealed the Nigerian President's miscalculation of the hard boy threat, is heightening tensions between Nigeria's government and a violent Islamist sect President Goodluck Jonathan ... 14th President of Nigeria. He was Governor of Bayelsa State from 9 December 2005 to 28 May 2007, and was sworn in as Vice President on 29 May 2007. Jonathan is a member of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP). He is a lover of nifty hats, which makes him easily recognizable unless someone else in the room is wearing a neat chapeau... has promised to destroy.
The video opens with graphics of spinning flowers and crossed AK-47s. Bubble letters identify it as a message to Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan made by the group that calls itself People Committed to the Propagation of the Prophet's Teachings and Jihad, more commonly known as Boko Haram. ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. Currently wearing a false nose and moustache and answering to Jama'atu Ahlus-Sunnah Lidda'Awati Wal Jihad, or Big Louie... The group's suspected leader, Abubakar Shekau, is seated with four armed and masked men. He tells viewers the Nigerian President was boasting two weeks ago when he said the government would destroy the group within three months.
"We have sworn and we are telling you, Jonathan, that there is nothing that you can do to stop us," Shekau says.
Taking war to the "doorstep"
University of Abuja senior lecturer Abubakar Umar Kari is reported saying by VOA, that the President's statement and Boko Haram's video have succeeded in heightening tensions in the country.
Kari says the group should be identified as an international terrorist organization and Nigerian security forces should get assistance, like specialised training, from other countries.
Boko Haram has been blamed for the Easter Sunday bombing that claimed dozens of lives, but it has not taken responsibility. The group is believed to have killed about 1,000 people since it began violent operations in 2009, including attacks on churches, the UN headquarters, cop shoppes and other government buildings.
Kari says the video will succeed in scaring the people, because they are more likely to believe Boko Haram threats than government assurances. On Easter Sunday, a Nigerian newspaper quoted the defence minister as saying more than 95 percent of local governments had been secured against the threat of Boko Haram.
International Crisis Group senior analyst Kunle Amuwo says it is impossible to be 100 percent sure the video represents Boko Haram, a fractured sect with no clear structure. He says the video is a response to what he calls the "naive" statement by Nigeria's President. Amuwo says that even if the President had the capacity to crush the group, he never should have said so publicly.
Amuwo also says Boko Haram's presence in Nigeria is misunderstood by foreign critics who say Nigeria needs to develop the impoverished, mostly-Moslem north to lessen the threat. Amuwo says if violence was simply a product of poverty, terrorist attacks would be nation-wide.
Besides costing lives, Boko Haram attacks have also stagnated many local economies and made travel more dangerous and time consuming. Kari says military checkpoints can double time on the road, and innocent people have been shot by nervous security officers under the constant threat of attack.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/17/2012 00:00 ||
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[Yemen Post] The Military Committee, formed in line with the GCC-brokered deal and headed by Yemeni President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi, underlined on Monday the primary importance of expedient reshuffle of the armed and security forces in the country.During its meeting held today in the Yemeni capital of Sana'a and attended by the US ambassador Gerald Feierstein and US technical delegation, the committee noted that the quick reformation of the army is an urgent strategic and vital need for the success of the GCC-accord, its mechanism, and the UN resolution about Yemen.The members of the committee further stressed the importance for enhancing the coordination and cooperation between the various military institutions as well as the two ministries of defense and interior in order to be able to foil any terrorist attack and restore security and stability in the country.For his part, Feirestein has hailed the steps taken by the military committee so far which has helped defuse tensions, and enhance military cooperation between Yemen and the ten states sponsoring the GCC deal, including the US.In this angle, Hadi sacked dozens of military commanders days ago, but some of fired generals are still defiant to date to his presidential decrees, stipulating that other commanders be simultaneously dismissed as well.Mohammed Saleh al-Ahmar, the dismissed Air Force chief 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... 's half brother, refused to hand over the command to his appointed successor. In response, Hadi has ordered yesterday that he stand marshal tribunal.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/17/2012 00:00 ||
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[Yemen Post] A prominent leader in the pro-secessionist Southern Movement (SM), Tariq al-Fadhali, said he asked Yemeni 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... to forgive him, revealing that they have had a good relationship. In an interview with the Kuwaiti newspaper al-Ray published on Monday, al-Fadhali revealed that he as contacted Saleh after he peacefully surrendered power to Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi and asked him for forgiveness.He further stressed that forgiveness is Saleh's nature, citing that Saleh has never killed his opponents in the south or in the far north.
"In spite of my disagreements with Saleh, I respect him because I know he is smart and powerful. When I watched him relinquish the power peacefully in a civil and modern manner, my respect yet more increased for him," said al-Fadhali.Peaceful transfer of power is something new in the region, and that has never happened in any place in the Arab world except in Leb. If Saleh wanted to play havoc, he would have done that as the Elite Republican Guards, and most of the military was still loyal to him. But he decided not to destroy what he has accomplished, he continued.Speaking about post Saleh Yemen, he said regardless of my huge disputes with him on several issues during his rule, but I think the northern people would regret ousting him.Al-Fadhali was one of the biggest aides to Saleh for fifteen years, only to turn against him in 2009 and be an advocate leader for SM, which calls for outright independence from the north.He was a member of the anti-Soviet Mujahideen movement in Afghanistan, and is often described as the founder of the jihadist movement in Yemen. His new position provided momentum to the SM and its struggle for secession.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/17/2012 00:00 ||
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[Yemen Post] Commander of the Air Forces Mohammed Saleh Al-Ahmar held a meeting on Monday with the 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... in Sanhan, an outskirt of the Capital Sana'a and the birthplace of both men, well informed sources have said.
The sources said Al-Ahmar left Al-Dailami Air Base on Monday escorted by 20 military vehicles of the Elite Republican Guards.
The meeting came after media sources reported that President Abdu Rabo Mansour Hadi gave Al-Ahmar an ultimatum of 48 hours to hand over the command of Air Forces to the newly-appointed commander Rashid Al-Janad.
The sources said Hadi threatened Al-Ahmar on Sunday with stripping him from military rank and bring him to a military court in case he continued his rebellion against his decree.
Al-Ahmar had refused a decree of Hadi issued ten days ago and sent gunnies to surround Sana'a International Airport. His gunnies threatened to target civil airplanes, so flights were canceled for an entire day in the wake of the decree.
According to officers of the Air Forces, gunnies of Al-Ahmar looted weapon and equipment stocks of the Air Forces. They expressed fears that these weapons could be handed over to terrorist groups.
Media sources had said that Saleh ordered Al-Ahamar to refuse the decree in an attempt to hamper and issue of dismissing his son Ahemed who leads the Republican Guard.
The sources affirmed that Al-Ahmar's health badly deteriorates, he wanted to not rebel against Hadi, and that Saleh put pressures against him to rebel.
Well-informed sources told Yemen Post on Sunday that Hadi ordered to refer Al-Ahamar to a military court, pointing out that Hadi believes that Saleh is behind the chaos in the air force and the looting of military equipment.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/17/2012 00:00 ||
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And this time they truly, doley mean it. Would a politician lie?
Hate cleric Abu Qatada has been arrested and returned to custody pending a fresh attempt to deport him to Jordan.
Theresa May, the Home Secretary, is expected to tell MPs this afternoon that an agreement has been reached with Jordan to ensure his removal. Assurances have been sought to allay fears by the European Court of Human Rights that he will face trial with evidence obtained by torture.
However, despite facing a fresh deportation order, Qatada's lawyers will be able to launch a fresh legal challenge against his removal.
A Home Office spokesperson said: "UK Border Agency officers have today arrested Abu Qatada and told him that we intend to resume deportation proceedings against him.
"The Home Secretary will make a statement to Parliament later."
For a map, click here. For a map of Durango state, click here.To read the Rantburg.com report on the abduction and murder of Ramiro Ortiz Aguirre click here
By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com
The Durango state Fiscalia General del Estado (FGE) or attorney general told an assembly of the state Chamber of Deputies that she takes responsibility for pulling the security detail only hours before her predecessor was kidnapped and murdered, according to Mexican news accounts
Sonia Yadira de la Garza Fragoso appeared last Friday before a session of the Durango state Chamber of Deputies to give a report on her department, following what she says is a final account of one of the worst mass graves in modern Mexican history.
Her predecessor, Ramiro Ortiz Aguirre, was kidnapped last March 28th near a shopping center in Durango city. He was later found shot to death near the village of Estacion El Chorro.
News accounts at the time of the discovery of the body mentioned Ortiz Aguirre's personal state-provided security detail had been mysteriously pulled only hours before he was abducted and later murdered. Those accounts failed to mention how or why the detail had been pulled.
In her presentation to Durango legislators, she did not elaborate her reasons for pulling the detail and stopped short of saying she personally ordered it pulled.
It was during the term of Ortiz Aguirre in April 2011 when the first of 331 dead were exhumed mostly around Durango city, but he resigned in June 2011 before he completed his concurrent term.
Exhumations continued throughout 2011 with the help of Mexican federal security forces, mainly Mexican Army units. The exhumations were completed in January 2012.
In her presentation, Yadira de la Garza Fragoso broke down the grim statistics of the mass graves.
331 individuals were found in total.
Of those, 303 were male, 22 were female, and the rest were unidentifiable.
Of the 13 graves uncovered, eight were found in Durango city totalling 301 dead. This total eclipses by 108 dead the mass graves uncovered in San Fernando municipality in Nuevo Leon the same spring-summer of 2011.
In Lerdo municipality two mass graves were uncovered with a total of 10 dead, six of whom have already been identified. Seven suspects were detained in connection with those dead.
In San Juan del Rio municipality nine dead were also found, one of whom was identified.
In Santiago Papasquiaro municipality eight dead were found, but none have been identified.
In Cuencame municipality three dead were found. Three suspects have been detained in connection with that grave.
258 were killed by strangulation
17 were killed by gunshot.
15 were killed by suffocation.
Seven were beaten to death.
34 died from indeterminate causes. When I go it's gonna be from indeterminate causes. It's so much more pleasant than being beaten to death...
Yadira de la Garza Fragoso also told legislators that the difference between national crime statistics and the state's were more than 1,000 murders were committed in Durango state, compared to 600.
Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com
The United States and its allies have undertaken a sustained effort since 2008 to develop sea, ground, and air transportation routes to Afghanistan's north, through the territories of the former Soviet Union. This so-called Northern Distribution Network (NDN) now conveys large quantities of non-lethal supplies from Europe to the NATO troops in Afghanistan through Russia, the Caucasus and Central Asia.
There are three different transport routes comprising the NDN that are available to the United States: one leaves Riga and crosses Russia, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan; the second traverses the Caucuses, passing through Georgia and Azerbaijan before crossing the Caspian Sea and then rolling across Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan; the third route option goes from Riga to Kazakhstan, then through Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
About 70 percent of cargo transiting the NDN enters through Uzbekistan's Hairaton Gate, explaining the increased importance of Uzbekistan in coalition thinking ("Central Asia and the Transition in Afghanistan," Senate Foreign Relations Committee Majority Staff Report, December 19, 2011). But what is often overlooked is that a full 100 percent of goods traveling along the NDN passes through Kazakhstan. All the cargo through each itinerary passes through Kazakhstan in some capacity, by boat, train or road. This is not true of any other country participating in the NDN, yet Kazakhstan's pivotal role in the NDN, which began in January 2010 (EDM, February 24, 2010), draws little attention since working with Astana generates less controversy than cooperating with some of the other governments along the NDN.
Posted by: Water Modem ||
04/17/2012 19:21 ||
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Anonymous diplomatic source tells South Korea's state news agency 12 Iranian officials observed the failed missile launch last week in North Korea.
A dozen Iranian nuclear experts visited North Korea last week to observe its failed rocket launch on Friday, South Korean state news agency Yonhap's Washington correspondent reported on Sunday.
"On March 31, 12 Iranians of the Shahid Hemmat Industrial Group (SHIG) arrived in North Korea. "The Iranians undoubtedly were there to observe the missile launch and receive test data from North Korea," the correspondent quoted a diplomatic source, who wished to remain anonymous, as saying.
Defying international pressure, Pyongyang launched a long range missile, but U.S. and South Korean officials said it crashed into the sea a few minutes after launch, dealing a blow to the reclusive state
The launch of the three-stage Unha-3 rocket took place at 7:39 A.M. local time on Friday, according to South Korean officials. Pyongyang has claimed that the launch was meant to place a communications satellite in space, but the U.S., Japan, South Korea and other nations view it as part of North Korea's attempt to advance its military ballistic missile capacity.
The launch was timed to celebrate the 100th birthday of Kim Il-sung, the dear departed founder of the state, and to coincide with the ascent to power of his grandson Kim Sonny Jong-un.
North Korea admitted its long-range rocket failed to deliver a satellite into orbit on Friday, and the U.S. condemned the provocative action as a threat to regional security.
#1
ION SPACEWAR > NORTH KOREA SEEKS LEVERAGE WID NEW MISSLE:ANALYSTS.
Dont fergit the Nukalaar tests(s).
* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > CHINA GAVE NORTH KOREA MISSLE LAUNCHER, VIOLATED UN RESOLUTION ITSELF.
* WORLD NEWS > [DNA India] HUMILIATED NORTH KOREA COULD SAVE FACE WID NUCLEAR DEVICE.
Prob is, few iff any Perts in the US-West believe that the DPRK's MilTech + Nucprogs os outside of China's oversight + control.
RUSSIA SAID IT BLUNTLY = NORTH KOREA'S NUCPROGS, ETC. IS [actually] CONTROLLED BY CHINA.
See below, in part.
* SAME > CHINA'S DILEMMA OVER NORTH KOREA LAUNCH.
* SAME > [Yahoo News] CAUSE OF NORTH KOREA'S ROCKET FAILURE MAY REMAIN A MYSTERY.
IMO Artic read, TOO DANGEROUS TO PUBLICLY REVEAL FOR 50 YEARS [or more].
versus
* RUSSIA TODAY > CHINA + US LOCK-N-LOAD AHEAD OF [coming?] SHOWDOWN IN PACIFIC.
* WORLD MILITARY FORUM > PRESIDENT OF PALAU/BELAU REQUESTS FOR US MILITARY BASES TO BE BUILT ON ISLAND, CLAIMS THAT FORMERLY DETAINED, NOW-RELEASED CHINESE FISHERMEN INTENTIONALLY BURNED OR DESTROYED ANY REAL EVIDENCE OF ILLEGAL SPYING OR FISHING.
* WORLD MILITARY FORUM > PRC FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESMAN LIU WEMIN: CHINA DEMANDS PHILIPINE SURVEY/ARCHAEOLOGICAL SHIP LEAVE WATERS OF HUANGYAN ISLAND [Scarborough Shoal].
* SAME > INFAMOUS TOKYO GOVERNOR SHINTARO ISHIHARA SAYS JAPAN SHOULD BUY DAOYUS [Japan = Senkakus] FROM REAL "LANDOWNER". DITTO FOR OTHER DISPUTED ISLANDS IN EAST CHINA SEA.
HMMMM, HMMMMMM, well, its not clear in the Artic iff 'ole Ishihara is referring to CHINA per se [prolly is], or perhaps highly trained renegade Shaolin Monks turned Island-owning Syndicate Boss ala Bruce Lee's "ENTER THE DRAGON"???
#2
Any missile work has got to be a cooperative effort between Iran and the Norks. And any nuclear scientists are there to work on a nuclear bomb, not to help with a rocket launch.
[Globe and Mail] The UN Security Council strongly condemned North Korea's rocket launch Monday, announcing it will impose new sanctions and warning of further action if Pyongyang conducts another launch or a new nuclear test. Then they used that and $3.95 to buy a cuppa coffee at Starbucks...
Acting swiftly, the 15-member council, including North Korea's closest ally China, adopted a presidential statement underscoring its united opposition to Friday's launch -- which violated UN sanctions -- and the military policy being pursued by the country's young new leader, Kim Jong Un.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/17/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
Johnson! Bring the Strongly Worded Letter! Immediately!
Someone want to analyze his manner of speech and body language? As is typical of MSM, they don't show most of the contents, but blabber on and on with their own view of events. The second video is the raw footage, with subtitles in Chinese. Not gonna translate it because it's probably a bunch of boilerplate "sea of fire" nonsense.Here's Kimmie's only sentence.
Australia is set to bring its troops home from Afghanistan a year earlier than planned with most soldiers withdrawn in 2013, reports said on Tuesday.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard was expected to make the announcement during a speech to the Australian Strategic Policy Institute later in the day, outlining a timetable she will take to a NATO summit in Chicago next month.
Canberra has faced increasing pressure over the long-running Afghan campaign and a 2013 pull-out date will be a year in advance of the 2014 deadline previously laid down by NATO-led international forces.
It will also mean most Australian troops are likely to be home before the next election. Gillard is struggling in opinion polls and many people are against the deployment to Afghanistan.
In her speech notes obtained by the Sydney Morning Herald, Gillard reportedly says "the peoples of the world's democracies are weary of this war".
And the Taliban aren't. That sorta says it all, doesn't it...
"I'm now confident that Chicago will recognise mid-2013 as a key milestone in the international strategy," the speech notes said.
"A crucial point when the international forces will be able to move to a supporting role across all of Afghanistan."
For the men of the Anzac Corps, the Anzacs Australians and New Zealanders assisted by Indian Army troops and the British Royal Naval Division the Battle of the Landing at Gallipoli lasted from 25 April to 3 May. During that period, they drove back a number of strong Turkish counter-attacks aimed at driving them into the sea, as well as launching attacks to secure their own positions. By 3 May, a defensible line had been established inland from the landing beaches along what was known as Second Ridge, and this small area of Gallipoli was soon known as Anzac. According to the official historian, Charles Bean, the Battle of the Landing cost Australia and New Zealand 8000 casualties, of whom 2300 were killed. Bean summed up this loss in these words:
They were men their countries could ill afford to lose. But with their lives they purchased a tradition beyond all human power to appraise, and set for all time the standard of conduct for the Australian and New Zealand soldier. A brilliant despatch from Ellis Ashmead-Bartlett, published a few days after the Landing, brought the effort of these young nations before the world in a manner that some speak of to this day as if the landings were an affair of Australasian troops alone
[Charles Bean, The Story of Anzac, Vol 1, Sydney, 1941, p 605]
[Dawn] Federal Interior minister Rehman Malik, Pak politician, current Interior Minister under the Gilani administration. Malik is a former Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) intelligence officer who rose to head the FIA during Benazir Bhutto's second tenure. He later joined the Pak Peoples Party and was chief security officer to Bhutto. Malik was tossed from his FIA job in 1998 after documenting the breath-taking corruption of the Sharif family. By unhappy coincidence Nawaz Sharif became PM at just that moment and Malik moved to London one step ahead of the button men. while terming the Taliban as 'contract killers', said that the Taliban were involved in terrorist activities but called themselves 'Mohammedans', DawnNews reported on Monday. Picked right up on that, didn't he?
Speaking to media representatives in Islamabad, the interior minister said that Attack on Bannu jail was a pre-planned conspiracy.
The interior minister said that a new security strategy has been devised after the Bannu jail break incident.
Replying to a question about security situation in Chilas and Gilgit, Malik said that two suspects, who were allegedly involved in the violent activities, have been placed in durance vile.
"Curfew in Gilgit will be relaxed in the day-time," the interior minister added.
Talking about the security arrangement for the upcoming Bangladesh cricket team's visit to Pakistain, Malik said that tight security will be provided to the visiting team.
Was it the Sri Lankan team that was shot up on their bus a few years ago?
"Fans of cricket in the country will not be disappointed," the interior minister added.
Responding to a question regarding the issue of bin Laden' family, Malik said that interior ministry has no objections in sending the family members to their respective home countries.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/17/2012 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] The Shabaab-e-Mili Pakistain, a youth wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami ...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... (JI), on Sunday declared that youth of Pakistain would not allow reopening of NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... supply line.
The announcement was made at a youth convention organised by the Lower Dir chapter of Shabaab-e-Mili, which was attended by more than 1,500 youth and workers of the JI.
The JI central leader Sirajul Haq, Shabaab-e-Mili Pakistain chief Atique Rahman, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... chief Hafiz Ibrar, JI Dir amir and former MNA Maulana Asadullah, former MPA Muzafar Syed, Sahibzada Yaqub Khan, Syed Sultanat Yar and Nawab Bad Shah addressed the convention.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr Siraj alleged the rulers had compromised the illusory sovereignty of the country for dollars and betrayed the blood of deaders. He said the JI and its youth would never allow anyone to sell illusory sovereignty and dignity of Pakistain. "We will block the NATO supply route with public support," he said, adding 'resumption of NATO supply line was against the wishes of the people'. Mr Siraj alleged the present government had committed record corruption in the last four years, hallowing foundations of Pakistain.
He said rivers in Malakand region had the capacity to produce 1,800 megawatt of electricity, adding despite these resources people of Malakand had been confronting massive power outages, over-billing and low voltage problems. He maintained that people of Malakand only utilised 135 megawatt of electricity.
The speakers asked youth to come forward and help the people of Pakistain get rid of corrupt rulers. They said Shabaab-e-Mili was an organization of youth working for welfare of orphans, widows and vulnerable communities in order to create a society based on justice and equality.
Meanwhile, ...back at the game, the Babe was wondering why the baseball kept getting bigger and bigger. Finally it hit him... youth also sang patriotic songs and demonstrated acrobatics. Karate, 'aatish bazi' (fireworks) and 'kabotar bazi' (pigeon fighting) events were also held. Earlier, the participants held 'Istehkam-e-Pakistain' (strengthening Pakistain) rally and marched on Balambat-Timergara road from press club chowk to rest house chowk.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/17/2012 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ... sometimes described as The Woman to Call at 3 a.m. and at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as Another John C. Calhoun ... spoke to Pakistain's foreign minister about their shared responsibility to confront faceless myrmidons following Sunday's attacks in Afghanistan, the State Department said in a statement on Monday.
Afghanistan's Taliban attacked Kabul on Sunday with heavy kabooms, rockets and gunfire in one of the most serious assaults on the capital in the past decade.
Clinton and Pak Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar "discussed the cowardly attacks in Afghanistan," the statement said.
"(Clinton) underscored our shared responsibility for robust action ... to confront and defeat Islamic fascistiand violent orcs."
Clinton, who was visiting Brazil's capital, also discussed the "next steps in the US-Pak dialogue" following the conclusion of a Pak parliamentary review, State Department Victoria Nuland said.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/17/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
Prediction:
Joe Biden schedules a Labor Day 2012 press conference at which he announces his intention to decline the 2012 Obama VP run and retire to spend more time with the family and his writing.
The Hildebeast then becomes the Obama 2012 VP running mate, and follow-on 2016 Democratic candidate.
#3
That does seem plausible, Besoeker. Certainly President Obama will need a woman to offset the pooch-screwing Ms Rosen did on his behalf in that direction, and our honourable secretary of state brings her own voters to the table
#4
A reasonable concept, Besoeker, assuming those Vince Foster conspiracy theories are pure fantasy. Given the recent Secret Service behavior, I'm not sure I'd be comfortable with the bet, if I was Zero.
#5
Not to say that a new VP may not be selected. But it won't happen that late in the campaign. Labor Day? It'd be essentially announcing "the Obama campaign is in disarray" to both the voters and the international community.
If it did happen, it would have to happen before or during the convention.
[Dawn] The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... (KP) government has forwarded its preliminary investigation report for yesterday's jailbreak incident to the federal interior ministry, DawnNews reported.
The report terms the incident a failure on the part of the security agencies and the police.
Moreover, dozens of prisoners who had decamped the jail in Bannu have returned but hundreds remained on the lam, said an official on Monday.
"Fifty-three prisoners out of the total 384, who had beat feet the jail, have returned voluntarily while 11 others were incarcerated," senior Bannu police official Iftikhar Khan told AFP.
A woman prisoner was one of those who surrendered.
According to the report forwarded to the interior ministry, the beat feet convicts included 21 prisoners on death row. Moreover, five female prisoners also managed to escape during the incident.
(According to an AFP report, 34 condemned prisoners had beat feet the prison.)
Furthermore, the report claims that the police reached the scene of the crime after a delay of about two hours.
Of the total 384 beat feet convicts, 269 were prisoners were serving their sentences, while 89 were still under investigation.
Around 100 to 150 gunnies had stormed the Bannu central prison Saturday midnight and freed 384 prisoners, among them a man sentenced to death for trying to assassinate former president Pervez Perv Musharraf ... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ... The gunnies had arrived on pick-ups at about 1.30am and attacked the prison housing over 900 inmates after blowing up the main gates with rocket-propelled grenades.
The incident was described as the biggest jail-break in the country's history.
Ehsanullah Ehsan, front man for the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) bad turban group has grabbed credit for the attack, which he said was launched to get their special members freed.
A large number of gunnies had recently been moved to the jail from neighbouring Kohat and Lakki Marwat prisons, which are being converted into centres to rehabilitate former myrmidons.
A former member of the airforce sentenced to death for an attack on former president Pervez Musharraf was among the beat feet bad turbans, according to officials.
Adnan Rasheed was convicted after a bomb planted under a bridge in Rawalpindi near Islamabad in December 2003 went kaboom! moments after the passing of Musharraf's motorcade. His appeal is pending before the Supreme Court.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/17/2012 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] Authorities on Monday removed four bigwigs over a jail break in the restive northwest and launched a probe into whether it had any link to multiple attacks in Afghanistan.
The provincial government said a "total failure" of intelligence was to blame for the break-out, in which dozens of inmates including Talibs and death row prisoners decamped a prison after armed cut-throats attacked before dawn on Sunday.
More than 150 heavily-armed cut-throats stormed the jail outside the town of Bannu, near the lawless tribal region where Taliban and al Qaeda linked cut-throats have carved out their stronghold.
"It was a total failure of intelligence agencies," Mian Iftikhar Hussain, information minister of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... province, told a news conference.
The cut-throats came in dozens of vehicles, continued to operate for more than two hours and went back undetected, he said.
"We have removed the deputy superintendent of Bannu Jail, the city commissioner and two other senior coppers," he said, adding that a five-member committee had been set up to investigate the matter.
The provincial government has also taken note that the jail break in Pakistain coincided with multiple attacks by Taliban forces of Evil across the border in Afghanistan on Sunday.
Some 36 forces of Evil were killed nationwide as Afghan forces regained control of Kabul on Monday 18-hour after the Taliban assault, which left 11 members of the security forces and four civilians dead.
Hussain said "the committee will try to find out whether the jail break in Pakistain, claimed by local Taliban, had any link to coordinated attacks in Afghanistan." Senior Bannu police official Iftikhar Khan earlier told AFP that a total of 384 inmates had beat feet the jail, of whom 53 returned voluntarily while 11 others were tossed in the clink.
Most of those who beat feet were bully boys, including 34 prisoners on death row.
Ehsanullah Ehsan, front man for the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) bully boy group, grabbed credit for the attack which he said was launched to free some of their key members.
The attack began around 1:00 am (2000 GMT Saturday) and continued for two hours, with cut-throats in cars and pick-up trucks shooting and throwing grenades to force their way into the prison, which held 944 prisoners.
A former member of the air force sentenced to death for an attack on former president Pervez Perv Musharraf ... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ... was among the beat feet bully boys, according to officials.
Adnan Rasheed was convicted after a bomb planted under a bridge in Rawalpindi near Islamabad in December 2003 went kaboom! moments after Musharraf's motorcade passed. His appeal is pending before the Supreme Court.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/17/2012 00:00 ||
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The Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) on Tuesday revealed two cases of terrorists who were released in the Gilad Schalit deal who have already returned to committing acts of terror.
In October 2011, Israel released over 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in a deal with Hamas which brought Schalit home after five years of captivity.
The first, Daoud Chilo, a resident of a refugee camp near Ramallah, was convicted of attempting to illegally buy weapons one month after his release. He was arrested by security forces and sentenced to just under four years in prison. Arrested? Imprisoned? Why not just whack him?
The second, Omer Abu Snina, a member of Hamas and resident of Hebron, was deported to Gaza as part of the Schalit deal. Subsequently, he attempted to solicit and induce others to commit terrorist acts in the West Bank, including perpetrating kidnappings.
Over the course of the probe, investigators recovered a memory card from Abu Snina which included details related to kidnapping soldiers, illegally obtaining weapons and establishing a terrorist cell. He definitely needs to disappear...
#2
It looks like Israel expected it, and picked them up again as sooon as they generated excuses. A memory card? Good, clean fun for the lads and lasses back in the lab.
"The arrogance of the Jews will be defeated, Allah willing," imam tells worshipers on state TV at Friday prayers in Jordan.
Jordan's army will destroy Israel and regain Jerusalem from the "killers of prophets" -- that was the message a Jordanian holy man delivered in a Friday sermon on state TV, according to recently released video footage.
"The [Jordanian] army is invincible. Its units are filled with people who pray, with imams, and with people who memorized the Koran. This army will never be defeated, Allah willing," Imam Ghaleb Rabab'a said in footage translated and released late last week by the Middle East Media Research Institute.
We've noticed that Allah has been decidedly unwilling since the 1890s, when the Jews started moving back, not to mention that series of Arab invasion attempts, declared and undeclared, starting in 1948. How is it that y'all have missed that critical detail, O Imam Rabab of Jordan?
"Jerusalem will be regained, Allah willing, by these modest and pure hands, which hold the Koran high and recite it day and night," Rabab'a said in the March 23 sermon. "This is an army that bows before none but Allah. Today, we must take pride in our country and its army, which descends from the Prophet Muhammad."
It remained unclear whether the sermon was delivered from a state-run or private mosque.
Article 11 of the 1994 Israel-Jordan peace treaty calls on both countries "to abstain from hostile or discriminatory propaganda against each other, and to take all possible legal and administrative measures to prevent the dissemination of such propaganda by any organization or individual present in the territory of either party."
Requests to the Jordanian Embassy in Israel for comment went unanswered Sunday.
"The arrogance of the Jews will be defeated, Allah willing," Rabab'a said. "This army, my brothers in faith, will shatter the might of Israel, Allah willing, just as the might of the Crusaders and the Byzantines was shattered at Hittin, at Yarmouk, Al-Qadisiyya [and] 'Ain Jalut."
Hittin, near Tiberias, was the location of the 12th-Century battle in which Saladin's Moslem army started its final push of the Crusaders out of the Holy Land. 'Ain Jalut, near today's Kibbutz Yizre'el, was the site a century later where Moslem forces struck the first major blow against the invading Mongol armies.
"[Israel's might] will be shattered by the will of Allah," Rabab'a said in the sermon. "Allah will not leave for long the first direction of prayer for the Islamic nation in the hands of the slayers of the prophets."
In January the media monitoring group Paleostinian Media Watch released a video of Grand Mutfi of Jerusalem Mohammed Hussein reciting a hadith (saying attributed to Islam's prophet Mohammed) calling for the killing of Jews.
"The day of judgment will not come until you fight the Jews," Hussein said in the clip.
"The Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will call, 'Oh Moslem, Oh servant of God, this is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.'" Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu called on the attorney- general to open an incitement investigation into the holy man's remarks, and President Shimon Peres encouraged the Justice Ministry to open its own investigation.
Hussein, appointed by the Paleostinian Authority, has refused to retract his comments, insisting he had not called for the killing of Jews but had simply been quoting the Islamic prophet, whose words he could not change.
"These allegations come within the Israeli incitement campaign against Jerusalem and its figures," he said.
[An Nahar] The Israeli army will receive new tank shells developed to penetrate reinforced targets, a crucial means for the military of the Jewish state which faces future conflicts with Hizbullah and Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,, The Jerusalem Post reported on Monday.
The new 120 mm. shell called M339 can be fired by Merkava Mk 3 and Mk 4 tanks at extended ranges, the newspaper said. The shell explodes only after it penetrates a target and then releases thousands of lethal fragments.
It was developed by Israel Military Industries together with the army's Ground Forces Command.
The Jerusalem Post said M339 is the second new tank shell purchased by the Israeli army in the past year. It joins the Kalanit, which was recently deployed in tanks stationed along the border with the Gazoo Strip.
Kalanit explodes midair over hard boyz hiding behind various obstacles such as boulders or vehicles.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/17/2012 00:00 ||
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#2
Standard anti-armor APFSDS do that by design, so what is so special about the new Israeli shell? Besides which, DU ignites after traveling a specific distance through reinforcement and the rod shatters into thousands of flaming white-hot BBs that ricochet like hell in a bunker.
#3
Tank shells are fired at high velocity and with flat trajectories. So they're going horizontally, more or less, and if they don't hit something sticking up, they just keep going.
Main gun on a tank is for killing other tanks. Secondarily for blowing up buildings. IIRC, the US M1 doesn't have HE. Sabot and HEAT, maybe a beehive if they're legal--anybody know?
So a mod like this is a big help, especially the one that has the shell exploding overhead.
Keep in mind that the Arabs have the numbers and the IDF has the scientists. It's a kill-ratio thing and stuff like this helps.
Especially if the building in question has an antitank missile crew.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey ||
04/17/2012 8:44 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Happened to think about the old Sheridan. It had a Shillelagh gun-missile launcher. It could launch a microwave-guided antitank missile, or an artillery shell.
Since the missile was the antitank weapon, there was no need for high velocity when firing the shell. So what they had was a fat, 152mm slow arty round. For direct fire in Viet Nam, they used HE and flechettes, one or the other as the targets were bunkers or troops in the open. Note that the area of a circle 152mm in diameter is about 60% greater than that of a circle 120mm in diameter. So if--if--the shell had the same length as the 120mm tank shell, the volume of explosive, flechetter, or anything else, would be much greater.
How, the Sheridan is too lightly armored to be used in this or practically any other circumstance, but the point is either the guns or the schematics are still around someplace. Skip the missile.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey ||
04/17/2012 11:16 Comments ||
Top||
[An Nahar] U.N.-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... peace plan for Syria has only a three percent chance of working, the emir of Qatar said on a visit to Rome Monday, as a U.N.-backed ceasefire was marred by ongoing violence.
Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani told a presser that the chances for success "are no higher than three percent", and that the Syrian people should not be supported through peaceful means but "with arms".
Qatar has taken a hawkish stance in favor of the year-old rebellion against Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Despoiler of Deraa... Prime Minister Mario Monti, who stressed the "close collaboration" between Italia and Qatar on the topic of Syria, said Rome was willing to send in observers to help oversee a truce aimed at ending 13 months of bloodshed.
The observers' mission is part of the six-point peace plan that Syria agreed with U.N.-Arab League envoy 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... The U.N.-backed ceasefire came into force at dawn on Thursday, but since then, at least 55 people, mostly civilians, have been reported killed in violence.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Monday that 11,117 people have been killed in 13 months of unrest -- 7,972 civilians and 3,145 military and gunnies, including fewer than 600 rebel fighters.
Earlier this month, Syria's U.N. envoy demanded that Qatar, Soddy Arabia, Turkey and Western nations not undermine Annan's peace mission by paying and supporting opposition groups.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/17/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
Pragmatically, BABY ASSAD VICTORY = means or infers ANOTHER FAILURE OF THE SO-CALLED "OBAMA DOCTRINE"[UN-Enforced Regime Change on Humanitarian grounds]; + MORE THAN LIKELY IRAN WILL GET BOTH ITS NUKES + ESTABLISH AN AIR, NAVAL PRESENCE IN THE MEDITERRANEAN
[Emirates 24/7] The Syrian government said it could not be responsible for the safety of international ceasefire monitors unless it is involved in "all steps on the ground," government spokeswoman and presidential adviser Bouthaina Shaaban said on Sunday.
Shaaban said Syria reserved the right to refuse monitors, whose numbers it said will eventually rise to 250 as agreed with the United Nations ...an organization which on balance has done more bad than good, with the good not done well and the bad done thoroughly... , depending on their nationality.
"The duration of the work of observers and priorities of their movement will be in coordination with the Syrian government because Syria cannot be responsible for the security of these observers unless it coordinates and participates in all steps on the ground," she told news hounds in Damascus ...Capital of the last overtly fascist regime in the world... "Syria has the right ... to agree or not to agree on the nationalities of the observers," she added.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/17/2012 00:00 ||
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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) A federal trial involving more than a dozen defendants accused in a sex trafficking ring run by Somali gangs is being complicated by cultural issues within the Somali refugee communities in Tennessee and Minnesota.
Somalia gangs in Nashville. Cultural issues therein. Really?
U.S. District Judge William J. Haynes again this week ordered jurors to return on Monday as defense attorneys argued that the defendants, many of whom are refugees from Somalia, were juveniles at the time the alleged crimes occurred.
So send them to the Department of Children and Family Services branch office in Mogadishu...
The indictment said three gangs called the Somali Outlaws, the Somali Mafia and the Lady Outlaws were forcing teenage girls into prostitution and operated in St. Paul, Minn.; Minneapolis; Columbus, Ohio; and Nashville.
But the gang members were juveniles, you see, and thus didn't know that forcing their fellow teenage girls into prostitution was wrong. It's a cultural thing, you wouldn't understand...
After selecting a jury last month, the trial was delayed last week when prosecutors turned over thousands of documents and audio recordings from the investigation to defense attorneys on the eve of trial. Both defense attorneys and federal prosecutors have repeatedly declined to comment about the case.
"We will say no more!"
"It can be frustrating to have delays, but it is understandable because the case is so complex," said Derri Smith, executive director of End Slavery Tennessee, who will be an expert witness in the case. "I have the utmost confidence that the judge and jury will bring justice about in the case, but it's challenging for all of them."
What's challenging about teen-aged prostitution? Either they did it or they didn't. Either they were 'youts' or they weren't.
The indictment, which was originally unsealed in 2010 and amended by a superseding indictment in 2011, says the defendants, many of them from the Somali immigrant communities in Minneapolis and Nashville, were members or associates of the three gangs. Four unidentified victims, some of who were under the age of 14, are listed in the indictment. The indictment accuses the gangs of finding and recruiting young girls for the purpose of prostitution in exchange for money and drugs between 2000 and 2010.
Out of the 30 individuals listed in the indictment, only 14 are going to trial this month in Nashville on charges of conspiracy to commit sexual trafficking of children by force, fraud or coercion and charges related to the sexual trafficking. Many of the individuals have remained in federal custody since their arrests in 2010.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Van Vincent declined to say why the government dropped some of the counts related to one of the victims shortly before the trial was scheduled to start. However, another victim, who is identified only as Jane Doe (hash)2, is expected to testify in the trial that is expected to take at least two months.
Smith has been working with Jane Doe (hash)2 in the case and said testifying against other Somalis will be very difficult for the victim, but she wants to have her voice heard.
"In the case of Jane Doe (hash)2, she, as a minor, would typically be in a closed court, but she wants to have her story known and she wants to speak in public," Smith said.
Many, but not all the defendants, are described as refugees who came to the United States as young children. Police have relied on immigration paperwork to determine their ages, but defense attorneys have argued in court that information in those documents are routinely incorrect due to cultural and language issues.
That doesn't mean that they can't be prosecuted...
One defendant, Abdirahman Abdirazak Hersi, has a date of birth listed in police records as Feb. 20, 1990, but his mother testified in court Wednesday that he had been born in Somalia on Dec. 1, 1991, and that her sister was incorrectly listed as his mother in immigration records.
Thanks Ma. Your boy is still an adult, a gang member, and a pimp.
His attorney has asked the judge to dismiss some of the charges against his client because he would have been a juvenile at the time of the offenses and he never had a juvenile status hearing that would determine whether he would face the charges as an adult.
We can settle that in about three minutes...
Two other defendants are making similar arguments.
Courts in Minnesota, the state with the largest Somali population in the U.S., have seen similar issues in cases where defendants or victims are Somali.
There are no birth records in Somalia, and no government to keep such records even if they did exist. Meanwhile, birthdays aren't as significant to the Somali culture as they are to Americans, and aren't routinely celebrated.
Hashi Shafi, a Somali community leader in Minneapolis and head of Somali Action Alliance, said many Somalis know the year in which they were born, but not the month or date. Birthdates were assigned to many when they went to refugee camps and needed an exact date of birth so they could go to another country.
Sounds good to me. That's your birthday. And remember, we can charge you as an adult for certain crimes even if you're "15"...
"You could have a whole family of 10, the father, the mom and all of the kids, and all of them born on Jan. 1, because they could not come up with the date exactly when they were born, but they know exactly the year," Shafi said.
Dan Scott, a former federal defender in Minnesota who has handled complex terrorism cases, said witnesses often worry about the ramifications of testifying, especially in immigrant communities that.
"When you are dealing with an insular community, especially whose native language is not English, people are going to worry about the ramifications of testifying in court against community members," Scott said. "The Somali community is a very insular community in Minnesota everybody knows everybody.
"It shouldn't be any surprise that this is happening in a case like this," Scott said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/17/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
...as defense attorneys argued that the defendants, many of whom are refugees from Somalia, were juveniles at the time the alleged crimes occurred.
Undoubtedly the same class of attorneys who argue that curfew laws should be struck down because juvies should have adult rights. Do adult crimes, do adult time.
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.
(Sh.M.Network)- A former A
[Tripoli Post] A 14-minute YouTube video that analysts say has revealed the Nigerian President's miscalculation of the
A prominent leader in the pro-secessionist Southern Movement (SM), Tariq al-Fadhali, said he asked Yemeni former President 
Commander of the Air Forces Mohammed Saleh Al-Ahmar held a meeting on Monday with the former president 
North Korea
Australia is set to bring its troops home from Afghanistan a year earlier than planned with most soldiers withdrawn in 2013, reports said on Tuesday.
Federal Interior minister 
Hillary Clinton
[Dawn] The 
Pervez 
The Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) on Tuesday revealed two cases of terrorists who were released in the Gilad Schalit deal who have already returned to committing acts of terror.
...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...
