Can't walk away from Afghanistan while Iraq/Syria are on a full boil -- because if Afghanistan went kaboom as well, where would our beloved president's peacemaking be then?
Right where he wants it...
[Ynet] US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Saturday the United States will keep as many as 1,000 more troops in Afghanistan than planned for the first part of 2015.
At a joint news conference at the presidential palace with President Ashraf Ghani, Hagel said the original plan to cut US troop levels to 9,800 by the end of this year had been abandoned, but not because of a recent surge in Taliban attacks.
Hagel said the US will keep up to 10,800 troops for the first few months of next year and then restart the drawdown, which is scheduled to reach 5,500 troops by the end of 2015.
The US decided to keep additional forces in the country temporarily because planned troop commitments by US allies for a NATO train-and-assist mission starting in January have been slow to materialize.
MOGADISHU -- Lawmakers in Somalia's Federal Parliament have on Saturday ousted second Prime Minister in an overwhelming vote , bringing a month-long political standoff to an end, Garowe Online reports.
Nothing says 'stability' like voting the government out every month. They're acting like the Italians of a few decades ago...
Of the 235 MPs on seven rows in parliament, 153 lawmakers voted in favor of the no confidence motion, 80 voted against while 2 MPs abstained from voting, Parliament Speaker Mohamed Sheikh Osman Jaware announced.
Speaking to the media shortly after vote counting, speaker Jawari urged President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud to appoint the next head of government in 30 days.
On December 12, Mohamud named the ousted Prime Minister Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed Mohamed to the top political job weeks after parliamentarians sacked Abdi Farah Shirdon.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/07/2014 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
GAROWE, Somalia -- Army troops on the frontline straddling the restive border between Puntland and Somaliland vacated their positions on account of unpaid salaries on Thursday, Garowe Online reports.
Sad. I had such hopes for the Punties...
Mutineers formed temporary positions in the outskirts of Garowe, calling on President Abdiweli Mohamed Ali’s administration to address their plights.
Insiders tell Garowe Online that the soldiers went on strike after Puntland government withheld their salaries over the last four months.
"Frankly speaking, besides the missing pays of soldiers the reason behind the mutiny lies in mire in Tukaraq bases and lack of support services including petroleum fuels," one source said.
Statewide frustrations, and complaints over economic hardship have been dragging on for months. In March, Puntland Defence Forces in 54th Somali army base staged similar mutiny, setting tires on fire and chanting for their military rights.
Revenues being generated from Bossaso seaport and customs increased exponentially during the summer according to sources.
Just didn't increase exponentially enough to cover salaries after the pols, crooks and thugs got done looting the proceeds...
In early July, a 500-bed Danish-funded pirate complex in the state capital of Garowe came on the verge of closure but Puntland Custodian Corps Chief Gen. Ali Nur later denied reported substandard conditions in the prison facility in an emailed statement.
Ali who was elected Puntland's new president in a narrow victory margin of 33-to-32 parliamentary vote on January 8, 2014 pledged that he will focus on the wages of government employees.
Starting with his own...
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/07/2014 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
An Egyptian court has sentenced to death seven men, including prominent militant Adel Habara, over the killing of 25 policemen last year in an attack near the border with Israel, judicial sources said on Saturday.
The attack took place in August 2013 following the government's violent clearing of two protest camps in Cairo, where supporters of deposed president Mohammed Mursi had gathered to demand his reinstatement.
The court sentenced 25 others on related charges to prison for terms ranging from 15 years to life. Only 19 of those sentenced were present, including Habara, the sources said.
The ruling, which can be appealed, followed the referral of the death sentence to the Grand Mufti, Egypt’s highest Sunni authority.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/07/2014 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
[AnNahar] The U.N. peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...formerly the Congo Free State, Belgian Congo, Zaire, and who knows what else, not to be confused with the Brazzaville Congo aka Republic of Congo, which is much smaller and much more (for Africa) stable. DRC gave the world Patrice Lumumba and Joseph Mobutu, followed by years of tedious civil war. Its principle industry seems to be the production of corpses. With a population of about 74 million it has lots of raw material... , one of the biggest in the world, said Thursday it could cut its presence from next year, despite continued bloodshed in the east of the country.
Martin Kobler, the head of the MONUSCO peacekeeping mission, said "we could reduce our presence" from 2015 if the government's authority was restored. I'm sure the latter will happen...
Already a delegation from U.N. headquarters in New York "has come to see how MONUSCO could reduce its forces, because the security situation in many places is getting better," Kobler said in an online chat session. You can tell by the fewer dead bodies left to rot in the bush. Oh wait... However, there's more than one way to stuff a chicken... the United Nations ...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks... has expressed concern ...meaning the brow was mildly wrinkled, the eyebrows drawn slightly together, and a thoughtful expression assumed, not that anything was actually done or indeed that any thought was actually expended... in recent weeks over a worsening of the situation in North Kivu province in the east, where numerous Congolese and foreign gangs are active.
Beni, an area in the north of the province, has seen a series of killings that left some 200 dead between October and November. Victims, including women and kiddies, were mostly stabbed or hacked to death.
The massacres have been blamed on the mainly Moslem rebels from the Allied Democratic Forces and National Army for the Liberation of Uganda (ADF-NALU). Best way to liberate Uganda is to pile up deaders in the Congo. Ev'ryone knows that...
The most recent unrest took place Thursday, when armed festivities left four ADF-NALU fighters and one Congolese soldier dead, the military said.
Congo's army intervened in the area earlier in the week for the first time since October to quash violence that claimed three lives on Monday night.
"These confrontations will continue until we've neutralized the ADF," said Colonel Celestin Geleka, a front man for the Congolese army operation battling the Ugandan rebels.
MONUSCO has been in the Democratic Republic of the Congo for 15 years and currently has 20,000 troops, most of them deployed in the east.
#1
Don't take it so hard Mike, these buggers have been killing one another, and stealing each other's cattle and women for thousands of years. You'll not stop it with this little band, I assure you.
Britain's top diplomat said on Saturday his country has signed a deal with Bahrain that will bolster the United Kingdom's military presence in the island nation and give it a more permanent naval base in the oil-rich Arabian Gulf region.
The agreement marks a strategic shift for Britain, which formally withdrew from its major Gulf military bases in 1971. British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond emphasised his country's historic links to the Gulf in announcing the plans at a security conference in the Bahraini capital, Manama.
"In a globalised world, our domestic security and prosperity depends on developments beyond our shores," Hammond said. "Your security concerns are our security concerns."
The deal ensures a permanent footing for the Royal Navy in the oil-rich Gulf, Hammond said. The agreement calls for improved onshore facilities at Bahrain's Mina Salman port that will give the Royal Navy a base to plan, store equipment and house military personnel.
Four British minesweepers are already based in Bahrain, and other British ships rely on facilities in the kingdom. Those operations were carried out on an ad hoc basis, and left personnel relying on "frankly very poor temporary accommodation," Hammond said. He did not say how much the expanded operation would cost.
Defence Secretary Michael Fallon described the facility as "a permanent expansion of the Royal Navy’s footprint" that will ensure Britain can send more ships and bigger vessels into the Gulf.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/07/2014 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under:
[AnNahar] How do you turn around a young man who is determined to destroy the West? In the Danish city of Aarhus, you take him to a cafe or a public library and talk about football.
This is the softly-softly approach of Mads, a mentor in an innovative programme to deradicalise young Moslem men who might otherwise turn to violence.
"The guy I'm working with now really wanted to go to Syria," said Mads, who is in his early thirties but asked not to be identified any further for fear of compromising his work.
Continued on Page 49
According to the Israeli media, the Shin Bet has evidence that the deadly attacks against Israelis were planned at the Hamas headquarters in Istanbul. Turkish diplomats deny the claims, unconvincingly. Israel has reportedly requested NATO and the American government to take steps against Turkey's support for a terrorist organization.
The regulator on the natural gas pipe going into the building in Istanbul is pro'ly old and corroded. Wouldn't be a big surprise if it leaked and the gas exploded. Likely would take the whole building down. Boy howdy that would be a shame, too, the building is likely on the list of Turkish Heritage Sites as the 131,455th most holy site in all of Islam...
[Washington Times] A Naval engineer is facing federal charges for allegedly giving an undercover FBI agent secret documents on a new aircraft carrier being built in Norfolk, Va.
It's not like the Saoodis were going to build a copy themselves, but they do have friends...
Saudi-born Mostafa Ahmed Awwad, 35, of Yorktown, Va., was jugged Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un! Friday on an FBI affidavit claiming he planned to use a dead-drop location along a secluded hiking trail to hand off secret information about the Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier, set to be delivered to the Navy in 2016, Fox News reported Saturday.
During a hotel meeting on Oct. 9, Mr. Awwad gave the undercover agent, posing as an Egyptian spy named "Yusef," secret drawings of the vessel and "discussed where to strike the vessel with a missile in order sink it," the affidavit says.
He also asked for $1,500 to buy a tiny camera to photograph restricted material around the shipyard.
Mr. Awwad cried as he was led into a courtroom for a hearing on Saturday, The Virginian Pilot reported. A magistrate judge ordered Mr. Awwad be detained until a second hearing on Wednesday.
Mr. Awwad is accused of two counts of attempted exportation of defense articles and technical data, punishable by 20 years in prison for each count.
According to the affidavit, Mr. Awwad was born in Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... , married a U.S. citizen in Cairo in 2007 and took steps to become a U.S citizen.
He was hired to work at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard's nuclear engineering and planning department in February and received security clearance in August. The FBI began a sting operation in September after the undercover agent contacted Mr. Awwad. It is unclear why he was contacted, Fox News reported.
Court documents say Mr. Awwad explained to "Yusef" that he intended to use his position to obtain secret documents for the Egyptian government, including but not limited to, the designs of the new nuclear aircraft carrier.
"Awwad agreed to conduct clandestine communications with the undercover FBI agent by email and unattributable telephones and to conduct 'dead drops' in a concealed location in the park," the Justice Department said in a blurb, cited by The Navy Times.
At the end of the meeting Mr. Awwad agreed to provide the undercover agent with passport photos at the dead-drop location to be used to create a fake Egyptian passport so he could travel to Egypt without alerting U.S. government officials.
On Oct. 23 Mr. Awwad traveled to the dead drop location on the hiking trail where he retrieved $3,000 from a hole in the ground and left the photos and a one-tarabyte external hard drive, which the FBI later collected.
On Nov. 28, Mr. Awwad was observed entering his office at the shipyard carrying design schematics of the aircraft carrier in a cardboard tube, according to the Justice Department release. He spent roughly 45 minutes viewing the schematics and taking photos before placing them back in a cardboard tube and leaving the office.
Besoeker's comment on a similar post: Our H1B programme appears to be coming along nicely.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2014 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
ISLAMABAD: The UN refugee agency will treat only those Afghan nationals as refugees who hold 'Proof of Registration' (PoR) cards with validity up to Dec 31, 2015, to become entitled to any service provided by it and its partners, including assistance for voluntary repatriation to Afghanistan.
In a statement issued here on Friday, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said that renewal process of PoR cards would conclude on Dec 31, 2014. In order to continue to be considered as refugees, Afghans holding old PoR cards must get their cards renewed by this date.
The PoR card is an important identity document that allows temporary legal stay to registered Afghans in Pakistan.
The renewal process was started in February at six PoR Card Modification centres in Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, Haripur, Rawalpindi and Quetta. Since then, the National Database and Registration Authority has renewed and delivered PoR cards to more than 1.2 million Afghans across the country. A further 107,571 cards are yet to be delivered.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/07/2014 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under:
WASHINGTON: The United States has cautioned against making any assumptions linking Pakistan to the latest violence in the Indian occupied Kashmir (IoK), while also brushing aside the notion that last week's meeting between Army Chief General Raheel Sharif and Secretary of State John Kerry was somehow connected to the flare-up in Uri area.
A State Department spokesperson,
Not Jan Psaki, though this is the sort of stupid nonsense you'd normally associate with her...
while expressing concern over violence in the disputed Himalayan region divided between the two countries, also urged India and Pakistan to hold dialogue on Kashmir issue.
"I think that you are conflating a couple of things. Obviously, we know the secretary and the army chief of staff had a very productive discussion on last Sunday on a range of security-related issues, and again, we are concerned about any violence in Kashmir, and I would not jump to conclusions here," Deputy Spokesperson Marie Harf told an Indian journalist in response to his questions at the daily briefing.
Marie clearly is angling for Jan's job. She certainly puts forward the requisite lack of intelligence...
The premise of the question sought to put the blame on Pakistan for Friday's incident and the questioner also wanted to know the US position if there was a link between the meeting and the fighting involving militants and Indian soldiers in Uri in the IoK.
"No, I was saying - I actually was trying not to accept the premise of the question," the spokesperson emphasised, when asked if she accepted the premise in the question about who might have been behind the violence. Asked if the US does not know whether there was any Pakistani involvement, the spokesperson cautioned against any assumptions: "I would not assume anything."
According to media reports, 11 Indian soldiers and six terrorists militants were killed when fighting broke out in Uri, rocking the region ahead of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the held Kashmir.
Reiterating Washington's position on addressing the Kashmir dispute, the spokesperson said: "So obviously we are concerned about any violence in Kashmir. Our policy on Kashmir has not changed. We still believe that the pace and the scope and character of India and Pakistan's dialogue on Kashmir is for those two countries to determine, of course." She also added that American embassies in both capitals, Islamabad and New Delhi, "have raised these types of incidents with their respective host governments and certainly encouraged both to continue working together on the issue."
Later, a senior State Department official said the United States strongly condemns Friday's terrorist attacks in Kashmir, which claimed the lives of innocent civilians, military and police personnel.
"The United States remains firmly committed to working in close partnership with India to defeat terrorism in all its forms. Our hearts go out to the families of those affected by this deplorable attack," a statement issued on Friday evening said.
The usual Friday night statement from an unnamed source. I'm sure the Indians feel better already...
Meanwhile, Indian media reports claimed that the Indian Army has recovered arms and ammunition from the slain terrorists that have Pakistani markings. Among the arms recovered include six AK-47 rifles, shotguns, night-vision goggles, magazines, grenades, etc. The terrorists were also carrying Indian currency. In further evidence of Pakistani involvement, the terrorists were carrying food packets with Urdu markings. These food packets, say sources, are commonly used by the Pakistani Army, the Indian media alleged.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/07/2014 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[10 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
I can see this happening more and more as fighters are needed in terrorist controlled areas, but nations don't have the political will at home to put troops on the ground.
#2
Victor Laszlo: You ran guns to Ethiopia. You fought against the fascists in Spain.
Rick: What of it?
Victor Laszlo: Isn't it strange that you always happen to be fighting on the side of the underdog?
Rick: Yes. I found that a very expensive hobby, too. But then I never was much of a businessman.
#3
I was recruited to do some "special" things for the white farmers in Rhodesia back in the day. The pay was outrageous, $10,000 per month...a friend of mine in Brit Intell told me the reason the pay was so high, the job was a sure deader.
A lot of them were caught by rebels and what they did to mercenaries in Rhodesia when they caught them was the stuff of horror movies.
I doubt if ISIS will be any kinder to a mercenary, US or other, fighting against them when caught.
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
12/07/2014 12:15 Comments ||
Top||
#4
The only group that mercenaries should fight for in the ME are Kurds or Israel. Iraq is a hot bed of hate between shiites, sunnis, government forces, al queda, and isis.
They all hate each other, and armed to the teeth by the DOD against ISIS, they will turn against each other with those arms at any opportunity possible.
#6
Kurds are solid. Favorable terrain, western oriented populace, no issues with religion, liberty of Kurdistan is first and foremost for them. And they treat "contractors" well.
*sigh* Not yet paper trained -- the mark of amateurs.
[IsraelTimes] A front man for Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, has been accused of sexually harassing a female foreign news hound, and is under investigation by the group ruling the Gazoo Strip, according to reports on websites affiliated with the rival Fatah movement. The news hound concerned was not named.
The Hamas front man, Sami Abu Zuhri ...a senior spokesman for Hamas. Zuhri gained notoriety in 2006 when he dropped his money belt containing somewhere between 640,000 and 900,000 euros, which was confiscated by Paleostinian security and customs officials at a routine border crossing from Egypt to Gaza. The news brought competing Hamas and Fatah forces to the crossing checkpoint for an epic face-making and hollering contest... , featured prominently in international media reports about the summer’s fighting in Gazoo.
The senior Gazoo sources quoted on the Fatah websites said that the journalist, a Gazoo-based news hound for an overseas news agency, turned to Zuhri’s colleague, Fawzi Barhoum, with the complaint, according to the NRG news site.
Hamas leadership in Gazoo opened an investigation against Zuhri, and decided to suspend him from speaking with foreign press and other public activities, the reports said.
The websites also claimed that Zuhri had been involved in a previous incident, being locked away Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages! by Paleostinian Authority security forces in Gazoo before Hamas took the Strip by force in 2007. In that case, he reportedly admitted to placing his hand on the thigh of a woman sitting next to him in a car.
In November, Zuhri said that Israeli officials were “legitimate targets for the resistance.” He also praised the terrorist attack on a Har Nof synagogue in which four Jews at prayer and a Druze policeman were killed by East Jerusalem Paleostinian assailants.
“The operation in Jerusalem is a response to the murder of the martyr Yusuf Ramouni and to the series of crimes by the occupier at Al-Aqsa and Hamas calls to continue these operations,” Zuhri said in a statement. “Hamas calls for more operations like it.”
[IsraelTimes] The three young Jordanians didn?t start out as bad boys. They grew up in mainstream Moslem families. But they grew increasingly angry at what they felt were Western injustices against Moslems ? and decided to join the jihad in Syria and Yemen.
Now they are home from war, trying to live ordinary lives, knowing they are under heavy surveillance by Jordanian security agencies. Two brothers, Omar and Abdullah Mansour, are back in their father?s house. A third returnee found a part-time teaching job and plans to marry.
But they abide by their hardline vision of Islam and are confident it is gaining popularity.
Continued on Page 49
[IsraelTimes] Local authorities quickly stripped away public signs of support for the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... group in this desert town. Black flags have been removed from rooftops. Graffiti proclaiming the Death Eaters’ imminent victory have been whitewashed.
But supporters of the Middle East’s most radical Death Eater group are only laying low after their surprise show of strength in protests last summer. Despite government efforts, support for the Islamic State group is growing in Maan and elsewhere in Jordan, one of the West’s key allies in the region, say Islamic State activists, members of rival groups and experts on political Islam.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: trailing wife ||
12/07/2014 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
[Ynet] Stagnating statehood bid and Gazoo reconstruction could direct next wave of violence 'at the PA before it is directed at Israel,' says analyst.
The Paleostinian unity government that was meant to put an end to the long-time rivalry between the Islamist Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, movement, which controls Gazoo, and the Fatah movement, in charge in the West Bank, has expired, say Hamas leaders. That government was meant to present a unified Paleostinian front, and dispel Israel?s argument that there is no need to resume peace talks because any deal Israel strikes with Fatah would not be honored by Hamas, which the US and Israel see as a terrorist organization.
With Israeli-Paleostinian peace talks frozen and a wave of attacks against Israelis hardening attitudes, as well as Israel?s announcement this week that it will hold new elections in March, Paleostinians are angry that their drive toward an independent state seems to be stagnating. In addition, little has been done to rebuild the Gazoo Strip, after hundreds of Israeli air strikes caused widespread damage to thousands of homes in Gazoo during last summer?s fighting between Israel and Hamas.
Continued on Page 49
WASHINGTON -- A reporter for the Washington Post in Iran who has been detained for over four months was charged on Saturday, the newspaper reported, quoting a source familiar with the case. It said the nature of the charges leveled at a daylong proceeding in a Tehran courtroom was not immediately clear.
Sounds like an Iranian court...
Jason Rezaian, an Iranian-American who holds dual citizenship, had been the Washington Post's bureau chief in Tehran since 2012, the paper said on its website.
"We are dismayed and outraged by reports that Jason Rezaian, The Post's correspondent in Iran, has now been charged with unspecified crimes," Washington Post Executive Editor Martin Baron said in a statement.
Why was he there? Americans tend not to do well in Iran these days, or hadn't you noticed?
Both the gentleman and his wife are dual citizens. Iran doesn't recognize the American citizenship. Iranians with dual citizenship tend to act as if the other one will protect them.
Rezaian was arrested on July 22. Iranian authorities had said earlier this week they were extending his detention while the investigation against him continued, the paper said.
Rezaian's family has hired an attorney, but the lawyer has not been allowed to visit him, it added.
"The Iranian government has never explained why Jason was detained or why he has been held for more than four months without access to a lawyer. Jason is an American citizen who was acting as a fully accredited journalist. If he has indeed been charged, we know that any fair legal proceeding would quickly determine that any allegations against him are baseless," Baron added.
Baron gets to the heart of the problem but doesn't quite realize it...
The Post quoted the source, which it said was speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case, as saying that the journalist spent some 10 hours in court on Saturday while a judge reviewed his case and that he was accompanied by a translator because he cannot read Farsi.
So he's an "Iranian-American" and he can't read the local language? Perfect for the job, just perfect...
It quoted the source as adding that Rezaian had signed a document saying he understood that he was being charged.
It could now take another month for the charges to be delivered to the full court, which would then set a trial date, the paper quoted the source as saying. It said the lawyer may now be permitted to speak to the journalist.
The case of Rezaian, whose family says is suffering multiple health complaints while in detention at Tehran's notorious Evin prison, has been repeatedly raised by the State Department in its talks with Tehran about a deal to curb Iran's nuclear program, the paper said.
The Mad Mullahs don't care about either...
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/07/2014 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[8 views]
Top|| File under:
A journalists' group called on the United States Saturday to explore alternatives to military action in dealing with hostage-takings, after an American and a South African were killed in a failed rescue attempt in Yemen. Luke Somers, an American photojournalist, and Pierre Korkie, a teacher, were killed early Saturday in the unsuccessful rescue operation in Yemen's southeastern Shabwa province.
Non-military options have worked so well in the other hostage situations. Just ask all the guys who were beheaded...
Reporters Without Borders said tragic outcomes in hostage-takings by Islamic militants have become more and more frequent, underscoring the growing dangers facing journalists.
Which means that you should roll over and let them take you hostage? And consign your fate to their hands without resistance or possible rescue?
"We again urge the US government, which has announced its intention to review its policy on hostages, to explore all alternatives to the military option and to make every effort to guarantee the safety of the civilians involved," said Christophe Deloire, the secretary-general of Reporters Without Borders.
That's just what we did. We did indeed make every effort to keep the hostages safe. It didn't work because there are no guarantees. Notice how Deloire works this he wants 'guarantees': those can never be given, so no action therefore should ever be taken...
"This review must be conducted on the basis of consultation with former hostages, both US and foreign, with the families, if they so wish, and with the employers and NGOs concerned."
No, we don't need to consult with former hostages, and we certainly don't need to consult with the employers and NGOs -- unless they have useful information. The decision is ours and not theirs. The demand for 'consultation' is a demand for a veto given their opinions as to the use of force.
The charity group Gift of the Givers said it had been negotiating to secure Korkie's release and had expected him to go free as early as Saturday when the rescue operation intervened.
You'd been negotiating how long? And you suddenly thought he'd be released? Where exactly did the turnip truck drop you?
US President Barack Obama said he authorized the operation because of indications that Somers was in imminent danger.
In a video this week, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula threatened to execute Somers within 72 hours.
Somers, who was kidnapped in September 2013, was the third American journalist killed this year in hostage-takings by Islamic extremists. Two US journalists, James Foley and Steven Sotloff, American aid worker Peter Kassig and British aid workers Alan Henning and David Haines were all beheaded in Syria by the ISIS group.
Without a rescue attempt, mind you...
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/07/2014 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
How about not going to places where you end up as hostages and if you freely choose to do so, we just don't give a damn about the consequences you'll face?
#7
Yep, if one of the minions of the MSM goes in harms way and gets captured or kidnapped for ransom, let the NYT or WaPo pay the ransom.
They knew the risks...or should have.
Personally I don't see the need for DoD to mount a multimillion dollared rescue effort for some scummy MSM water carrier who is probably spending all of their time trying to find some atrocity committed by the US to report.
Fuck em,
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
12/07/2014 12:20 Comments ||
Top||
#8
At the beginning we should of hung a couple of gitmo inmates at the first ransom note. We had every right to execute non-uniform enemy combatants (still do by the way). Would dropped the frequency of subsequent kidnappings. To be clear the hangings did not have to be real or of living detainees but it would be my preference they were live executions.
#9
..if you really want to be effective in that manner, you need to hunt down kidnappers' family members as well. It's a methodology they understand (and practice).
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.
MOGADISHU -- Lawmakers in Somalia's Federal Parliament have on Saturday ousted second Prime Minister in an overwhelming vote , bringing a month-long political standoff to an end, Garowe Online reports.
According to the Israeli media, the Shin Bet has evidence that the deadly attacks against Israelis were planned at the Hamas headquarters in Istanbul. Turkish diplomats deny the claims, unconvincingly. Israel has reportedly requested NATO and the American government to take steps against Turkey's support for a terrorist organization.
