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N. Korea to sever hot line with Seoul, nullify non-aggression pacts
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
16:32 2 20:36 Frank G [20]
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Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Hamas: Obama Visit to Temple Mount - a Declaration of War
The Hamas and Islamic Jihad terror groups threatened on Friday that a visit by U.S. President Barack Obama to the Temple Mount during his upcoming visit to Israel will be a declaration of war on the Arab and the Islamic world.
What was it the last time he visited?
2008, while he was running for president. He even stopped by Sderot, and claimed to understand why it upset the Israelis so.
A Hamas representative in the Al-Aqsa mosque, Mushir al-Masri, even called for a third intifada (uprising) and for Egyptian assistance in the "resistance" if Obama chooses to visit the Temple Mount.
Can we drone-zap Mushir? Maybe call him an honorary American if it helps?
According to the Bethlehem-based Ma'an news agency, the Gaza-based terrorist organizations made the threats during a protest march on Friday over the riots that broke out earlier in the day on the Temple Mount.

According to the report, Khalid al-Batash, a senior Islamic Jihad member, also called to prevent Obama from visiting the compound.

Obama will be arriving in the region later this month, and PA media has been widely speculating that he plans to visit the site of the Al-Aqsa mosque. However, Washington is not planning such a visit.

Political and religious leaders in the Palestinian Authority have stressed that Obama should not visit the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in a way that might compromise what they called its "Muslim sovereignty."

Sheikh Akrameh Sabri, head of the higher Islamic council and former Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, said that Obama must enter through a gate that was not under Israeli auspices.

"Any visitor is welcome to Al-Aqsa, but they should follow the regulations of the Waqf and enter through the Lions' Gate and not through Mughrabi Gate, to ensure Muslim sovereignty," he said.

Israel liberated the Temple Mount during the 1967 Six Day War, leaving the Waqf in charge of the compound.
Posted by: tipper || 03/08/2013 16:32 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [20 views] Top|| File under:

#1  You silly shits.

If he visits it isn't a declaration of war.

It is a appeasement move and surrender.
Posted by: DarthVader || 03/08/2013 17:06 Comments || Top||

#2  now if he doesn't visit, he looks even more like an anti-semite paleo appeaser. Good for his loser base. Bad for a US President. Par for his course. Fore!
Posted by: Frank G || 03/08/2013 20:36 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
Dennis Rodman Says He's Moving to North Korea
Former NBA star Dennis Rodman held a press conference in Los Angeles today to announce that he is moving to North Korea.
I'll help him pack...
The eccentric sports icon explained that leader Kim Jong-Un has granted him an estate outside the capital Pyongyang and hired him to become the coach of the North Korean national basketball team.

Rodman plans to live in the totalitarian dictatorship part time until at least the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Brazil, for which the North Korea squad hopes to qualify for the first time.

The bizarre career change comes the week after Rodman returned from a surprise trip to North Korea, in which he became the first American to meet Kim Jong-Un and subsequently described him as a "friend".

After his announcement Rodman took questions from the assembled journalists, who were especially keen to inquire about his increasing engagement with a regime known for terrible human rights abuses.

"Yeah, I heard in the media that maybe he's killed thousands in death camps," Rodman explained,"But how do we know that's true? This is the same media that told us that Pol Pot and Stalin killed millions, and everyone knows that was just CIA propaganda right?
Oh yeah, right. Sure. I think I heard it that way in college...
"So I don't know anything about that. You can't believe what you hear in the media. He's always been real cool with me, so I'm cool with him, ya know?

"America puts people in jail too. Don't act like we're different just because we give them a trial and all that. That's some nonsense right there. Just some nonsense."

Asked about North Korea's prospects for qualifying for the basketball competition at the 2016 games, Rodman says he's optimistic about their chances.

"They got some good ball players over there, and they just need a little guidance. See that's what I'm all about. That's what the Olympics are all about. Trying to bring peace though sports.

"Maybe if Obama stopped all this CIA drone nonsense and started playing more basketball, we wouldn't be having all these problem
Posted by: tipper || 03/08/2013 16:12 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [17 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Yeah, the Nork Basketball Team. A Wonder of the Ages.

What a maroon.
Posted by: Muggsy Mussolini1226 || 03/08/2013 17:05 Comments || Top||

#2  This would be awesome if it wasn't satire.
Posted by: AuburnTom || 03/08/2013 17:08 Comments || Top||

#3  Good satire, had to read it twice. There is a give-away line, but it was still within reach of something the admitted addict and star of the movie Double Team would say.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 03/08/2013 17:45 Comments || Top||

#4  Now if we could just get Bloomberg to move there to help with 'administrative' issues...
(/snark)
Posted by: ed in texas || 03/08/2013 18:03 Comments || Top||

#5  The hero/God worshiping Kim,Daddy&co get and the unlimited booze, drugs and women appeals most to this freak than any politics would ever do.
Posted by: Photh Platypus2300 || 03/08/2013 18:10 Comments || Top||

#6  Good. Better for US(a)
Posted by: Waldemar Sforza1163 || 03/08/2013 18:54 Comments || Top||

#7  Gosh, Rantburg U. gives hard tests! Took me 5-6 tries to find the give-away line. Then I spotted it. Duh!

Posted by: RandomJD || 03/08/2013 19:10 Comments || Top||

#8  Good riddance.
Posted by: DarthVader || 03/08/2013 19:13 Comments || Top||

#9  Soooo....

World Peace through Midnight Basketball...

That'll work!
Posted by: CrazyFool || 03/08/2013 19:47 Comments || Top||

#10  Once again a great athletic USA represitive.
Posted by: Waldemar Sforza1163 || 03/08/2013 19:58 Comments || Top||

#11  Bloomberg would be perfect. He could make sure they don't have any 32 oz sodas.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 03/08/2013 20:01 Comments || Top||

#12  Still think its satire, there is a line not shown, though I wouldn't bet the car on it.

Paraphrase Ayn Rand, yesterday's absurdities are todays normal.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 03/08/2013 21:15 Comments || Top||

#13  Good Riddance.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 03/08/2013 21:18 Comments || Top||

#14  Is he going to coach their team in offense too? He had such a great touch and awesome low post moves.
Posted by: DJ Curtis C || 03/08/2013 21:24 Comments || Top||

#15  it is satire
Posted by: Frank G || 03/08/2013 21:52 Comments || Top||


N. Korea to sever hot line with Seoul, nullify non-aggression pacts
They are getting pretty yappy even by their own bellicose standards...
SEOUL, March 8 -- North Korea said Friday that it will sever its emergency hot line with Seoul and nullify non-aggression agreements between the two countries, amid escalating tensions over the North's nuclear test last month.

"The DPRK abrogates all agreements on nonaggressions reached between the North and the South," the North's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea, a propaganda organ against the South, said in an English statement carried by the North's Korean Central News Agency. "The DPRK will close the Panmunjom liaison channel between the North and the South."
Posted by: Steve White || 03/08/2013 14:14 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [19 views] Top|| File under:

#1  SK should, immediately on the NORKS nullification of the non-aggression agreement, open up on the defenses of NORK and push the border 1 mile or so north.

Whether or not they announce their intentions before the nullification is up to them.
Posted by: Alanc || 03/08/2013 15:09 Comments || Top||

#2  Got tired of paying the phone bill I guess.
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/08/2013 15:20 Comments || Top||

#3  Just move a lot of air assets in, start dropping chaff, and force the Norks to put their own air up. One, it'll burn a lot of fuel the Norks really don't have. Two, it'll cause a lot of 'hanger queens' to crash. IIRC this what Ford executed with the axe murdering incident; the air force was deployed, which included B-52 bomber flights over Panmunjom.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 03/08/2013 16:50 Comments || Top||

#4  I'd pay to see that P2K. But I doubt our current Commander-in-Chief, Barack "Don't call my bluff!" Obama, has the stones for such a gambit.
Posted by: SteveS || 03/08/2013 19:19 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
US military base attacked in Kapisa province
Last year, green-on-blue attacks accounted for 15% of Coalition deaths
According to reports several armed militants attacked a US military base in eastern Kapisa province of Afghanistan on Friday. The incident took place in Kapisa city and unconfirmed reports suggest that the armed men are Afghan national army and police officers.
Or dressed as such; the Talibunnies are known to do that...
The assailant armed men are also equipped with Humvee armoured vehicles and modern military equipment and at least one US soldier has reportedly been killed following the clashes.

In the meantime a local government official speaking on the condition of anonymity said the incident took place while Afghan soldiers were leaving the military base and a verbal conflict started between US and Afghan soldiers. The source further added at least one US soldier and one Afghan soldier were killed during the clashes and no one else was injured.

NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) following a statement also confirmed the report and said, "Individuals wearing Afghan National Army uniforms turned their weapons against International Security Assistance Force members in eastern Afghanistan today, killing one ISAF-contracted civilian."

ISAF further added, "The incident is currently under investigation."
Posted by: tipper || 03/08/2013 13:50 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
UN peacekeepers pull out of Syrian-Israeli DMZ as civil war edges closer
In a stark illustration of how the Syrian civil war has the potential to end decades of calm in its neighbors as well, eight United Nations peacekeepers working in the demilitarized zone between Israel and Syria abandoned their posts today, saying they "feared for their lives."

Haaretz reports that the eight soldiers are in the same battalion as the 21 Filipino peacekeepers who were captured by Syrian rebels Wednesday. The captured UN peacekeepers were taken near the Syrian town of Jamlah, less than a mile from the border and the site of fierce fighting between regime and rebel troops. The rebels say they are holding the peacekeepers until Syrian Army troops leave the area around Jamlah.
Posted by: tipper || 03/08/2013 12:53 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The last thing you need in a war zone is peacekeepers. Well, UN peacekeepers, anyway.
Posted by: SteveS || 03/08/2013 13:03 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Why Bin Laden's Son-In-Law is in New York City, Not Gitmo
The arrest and detention of Osama Bin Laden's son-in-law, Suleiman Abu Ghaith, has reopened the question of whether top al Qaeda figures captured by the U.S. should be tried in civilian courts or in military commissions at Guantanamo Bay.

By law, Abu Ghaith should have been transferred to military detention under the provisions of the Fiscal Year 2012 National Defense Authorization Act, which requires all members of al Qaeda or associated forces to be taken into military custody at least temporarily. But the NDAA provides a wide carve out for the commander-in-chief's discretion in war time. And the President is authorized to waive the requirement entirely if he certifies to Congress that end-running the law is in the national security interests of the United States.

Several senior administration officials tell TIME Obama exercised the waiver in Abu Ghaith's case after consulting his top aides, opting to send Ghaith to trial in the Southern District of New York rather than to Gitmo. "The President's national security team -- including the Defense Department and members of the Intelligence Community, the Department of Homeland Security, the State Department, and the Department of Justice -- unanimously agreed that prosecution of Ghaith in federal court will best protect the national security interests of the United States," one senior official said.

Congressional leadership was informed of the decision, the administration officials say. Why did the administration choose civilian courts? "The Administration is seeking to close Guantanamo, not add to its population," says one administration official. Says another, "There was no reason to try him anywhere but an Article III Court. That's the best and most efficient way to bring him to justice, and that's why there was unanimity in the government on that point."

Posted by: tipper || 03/08/2013 06:44 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11 views] Top|| File under:

#1  He's in NY because Bambi & Holder are IDIOTS.
Posted by: Barbara || 03/08/2013 8:26 Comments || Top||

#2  Milking it in the sight of the voters. Nobody would pay attention if he'd been shipped off to Guantanamo Bay.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/08/2013 9:23 Comments || Top||

#3  This nobody wouldn't have cared if the spooks that grabbed him in Jordan had shot him then and there.
Posted by: Lumpy Turkeyneck6299 || 03/08/2013 10:06 Comments || Top||

#4  I was going to say, "Coz the food's better."
Posted by: Perfesser || 03/08/2013 10:28 Comments || Top||

#5  The acquittal, due to legal technicality of Suleiman Abu Ghaith is in my view quite likely. I suspect his acquittal will be followed by a long line of others currently held at GITMO, being tried in NY, acquitted, and released.

Notice how quickly the discussion on Benghazi and drone strikes has been moved to the rear of the stove? Nothing this administration does in the middle of the night is unplanned.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/08/2013 10:56 Comments || Top||

#6  Sure. Acquit him.

Let that happen once or twice in New York and the Dems will never win another election there.

New Yorkers remember 9/11, and they remember who did it.
Posted by: Steve White || 03/08/2013 11:16 Comments || Top||

#7  "#2 Milking it in the sight of the voters. Nobody would pay attention if he'd been shipped off to Guantanamo Bay."

I say not, believing that the whole pass on G-Mo was to not draw attention to the fact that Commander Zero has yet to deliver on his campaign promise to close it.....
Posted by: Uncle Phester || 03/08/2013 11:23 Comments || Top||

#8  Was this a Valerie Jarret decision?
Posted by: Classical_Liberal || 03/08/2013 11:34 Comments || Top||

#9  http://www.commonsenseevaluation.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Guess-Which-One.jpg
Posted by: tipper || 03/08/2013 11:38 Comments || Top||

#10  The Kerry visit was a coincidence, according to a senior administration official....

Yet another coincidence ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/08/2013 11:45 Comments || Top||

#11  While you werenÂ’t looking, Obama kills military commissions
In the blink of an eye, the second Obama term has turned the clock back to the pre-9/11 days, when al Qaeda was a law-enforcement problem, not a national security challenge.

Remember the great ruckus over the administration’s attempt to give Khalid Sheik Mohammed & Co. a civilian trial in lower Manhattan? In what would, in effect, reward their savagery in killing nearly 3000 Americans a few blocks from the federal courthouse, the administration proposed to endow them with all the constitutional rights and peacetime civilian due process protections of American citizens, despite the fact that the American people’s representatives in Congress — having authorized wartime combat operations against our jihadist enemies — had fashioned a military commission system for the trial of alien enemy combatants. The administration gambit was unsuccessful because the public, even in blue, blue New York City, rose up in protest, spurring congressional outrage and, eventually, legislation barring the executive branch from using public funds to transfer terrorists from Gitmo to the U.S. for civilian prosecution. The message could not have been clearer: for enemy combatants, it is military commissions or no trials at all, not civilian due process.
Posted by: tipper || 03/08/2013 11:53 Comments || Top||

#12  Long-term interrogation can be icky and revealing. You might unearth information regarding networks, personnel, and future intent, Abbattabd, Benghazi, etc. Better to go with a more limited scope and a speedy trial.

[sarc off]

Posted by: Besoeker || 03/08/2013 12:10 Comments || Top||

#13 
New Yorkers remember 9/11, and they remember who did it.


Really? They don't act like it.
Posted by: Rob Crawford || 03/08/2013 12:42 Comments || Top||

#14  Al Qaeda is "Anti-American". The Obama Regime and the millions that support the regime domestically is Anti-American. In different ways, for different reason, but firds of similar feathers, need each other. After all, no anti-"American" has been able to defeat "American" for 300 years.
Posted by: Dino Shomomp7692 || 03/08/2013 12:58 Comments || Top||

#15  Ghaith has already been interrogated briefly by Jordan's intel and probably by Turkey in February. The only important info he has concerns the cooperation between Al Qaeda and Iran. This info can perhaps given to the UN Security Council to rachet up sanctions and maybe even justify and pre-emptive strike.

I say, put him on The View and let him sing (actually being on The View might be a worse punishment than anything GITMO can dish out).
Posted by: lord garth || 03/08/2013 16:23 Comments || Top||

#16  In New York I hope he does not smoke, drink 32 oz sodas or put on weight; it will make Bloomberg look foolish.

Who is this ghaith's lawyer? And who is paying for it?
Posted by: Airandee || 03/08/2013 17:58 Comments || Top||


Africa North
ItÂ’s hard being in charge
After years of being oppressed, the Muslim Brothers enjoyed a sheen of goodness and efficiency. Now that they are in power, they are rapidly losing it
Posted by: tipper || 03/08/2013 01:31 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [7 views] Top|| File under:


-Short Attention Span Theater-
Oklahoma Woman Demonstrates Hole Whole New Meaning to Concealed Carry Holster
Some of the comments after the article are priceless
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 03/08/2013 01:29 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I'm afraid to read this.
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/08/2013 7:18 Comments || Top||

#2  This may require new warning labels at Hoppe's
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/08/2013 7:49 Comments || Top||

#3  Oklahoma Woman Demonstrates Hole Whole New Meaning to

NOT a misprint.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 03/08/2013 13:37 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
Officials: 80 Percent Of Recent NYC High School Graduates Cannot Read
Posted by: DarthVader || 03/08/2013 00:07 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [9 views] Top|| File under:

#1  To Combat Problem, CUNY Starts Low-Cost Immersion Remedial Program

Oh great. Another government program. That will work so well on the other government program known as PUBLIC EDUCATION.

How about you deal with the fucking teachers and staff that AREN'T DOING THEIR FUCKING JOBS!?!?!?!?
Posted by: DarthVader || 03/08/2013 0:08 Comments || Top||

#2  Yeah, they can't get Big Gulps either.
Can't read but they can vote.
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/08/2013 0:14 Comments || Top||

#3  And that is the problem Skid.

Beginning to think it is intentional to create a consistent democrat voter block.... hmm.... maybe I'm just paranoid.
Posted by: DarthVader || 03/08/2013 0:21 Comments || Top||

#4  We must spend more money! It's for the children!
Posted by: tu3031 || 03/08/2013 1:03 Comments || Top||

#5  I assume the reading mentioned is English. If one has no intention of embracing the culture, why learn the language?

Alles is die taal [The language is everything].
- Pieter-Dirk Uys
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/08/2013 1:04 Comments || Top||

#6  A pathetic excuse no matter what it may be.
Posted by: newc || 03/08/2013 1:06 Comments || Top||

#7  Teachers' unions---a wonderful invention.
Teachers' unions staffed entirely with feminism conditioned females---who's been taught that girls' behavior should be "the normal" for boys. Teaching programs that emphasize "communication skills" at the expense of actual subjects to be communicated. Teachers who have no understanding of the subjects they teach. Parents who don't give a damn. Parents who don't give a damn when notified that their darling ignores homework, but fly into rage when he/she fails an exam.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 03/08/2013 4:11 Comments || Top||

#8  No androgynous half-measures, we demand government funded, full Hermaphrodite equality!
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/08/2013 7:26 Comments || Top||

#9  >Parents who don't give a damn. Parents who don't give a damn when notified that their darling ignores homework, but fly into rage when he/she fails an exam.

Maybe if it wasn't "free" (i.e. they paid for it) they'd give a flying f.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 03/08/2013 8:01 Comments || Top||

#10  They pay for it BP: their taxes. What, you think it is a problem only among the proletariat?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 03/08/2013 8:15 Comments || Top||

#11  I think BP means that they don't 'see' that they are paying for it. It appears free.

Personally I think the way to fix schools is to make people pay for it. Have it on a sliding scale if you wish but everyone should have to pay something into it so that they have some skin in the game.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 03/08/2013 8:24 Comments || Top||

#12  I agree CF. And no goddamn unions.
Posted by: DarthVader || 03/08/2013 9:56 Comments || Top||

#13  To Combat Problem, CUNY Starts Low-Cost Immersion Remedial Program

Hello, CUNY, you are the problem. You are the ones who hand out 'certificates' in your College of Education to teachers and administrators who've delivered this to your own door step. You have met the enemy and it is you.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 03/08/2013 10:20 Comments || Top||

#14  The problem with public school is that they are very good at what they intend to do.
Posted by: Iblis || 03/08/2013 10:44 Comments || Top||

#15  Maybe if it wasn't "free" (i.e. they paid for it) they'd give a flying f.

Hell, it's paid for by your preferred taxation system: property/land taxes.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 03/08/2013 13:22 Comments || Top||

#16  No wonder the teachers are so against testing.

They should set up a standard that if more than 50% of your english class can't read the teacher is fired without pension as incompetant. Perhaps fined or worse for doing damage. Anything between 05% and 49% results in probation.

It really is one of the only jobs where total failure results in minimal to no repurcussions and the total failure can ruin lives.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 03/08/2013 14:40 Comments || Top||

#17  Is there such a thing as a low-performing public school that is predominantly middle class or upper middle class?
I think not. "We have met the enemy, and he is us."
"Idiocracy" was a documentary.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 03/08/2013 16:22 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
U.S. 'Fully Capable' of Defending against N. Korea Threat
[An Nahar] The United States said Thursday it was "fully capable" of defending itself and its allies against any North Korean missile strike, after Pyongyang threatened to launch a nuclear attack.

The U.S. military could deal with any such attack, U.S. officials said, repeating earlier warnings that North Korea would gain nothing by provocations, while stressing they took its threats seriously.

"I can tell you that the United States is fully capable of defending against any North Korean ballistic missile attack," said White House front man Jay Carney.

"Our recent success in returning to testing of the upgraded version of the so-called GBI or the CE-II missile will keep us on a good trajectory to improve our defense capability against limited ballistic missile threats."

Before the U.N. Security Council voted to impose tough new sanctions on North Korea over its February 12 nuclear test, Pyongyang earlier threatened a "pre-emptive" nuclear strike against the United States.

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Washington was taking the threats seriously, but "extreme rhetoric has not been unusual for this regime."

"You have to take a government at its word when it makes these kinds of threats, which is why we are making clear that we have not only full defensive capability for the United States but that we're prepared to defend our allies," she added.

Nuland also urged Pyongyang to give up a threat to scrap the 1953 armistice agreement that ended the Korean War.

North Korea announced on Tuesday that it would "completely declare invalid" the agreement from March 11 in response to tougher U.N. sanctions, theoretically removing the only barrier to a resumption of full hostilities.

Nuland refused to say whether that would leave the U.S. technically at war again with North Korea.

"There are obviously legal procedures and ways that this would have to actually be implemented if the DPRK were looking to pull out of it," she said, referring to the North's official name.

She stressed, though, that "this armistice has been one of the underpinnings of peace and security on the Korean Peninsula, so we would obviously urge that this not be the direction that we go."
Korean War Timeline:
June 25, 1950: North Korea crosses the 38th Parallel, invading South Korea.

June 26, 1950: North Korea's tanks reach the outskirts of Seoul.

June 27, 1950: Truman commits US Naval and Air support to South Korea.

June 30, 1950: Truman and advisers agree to give MacArthur 2 divisions.

July 2, 1950: NKPA (North Korean People's Army) takes Suwon.

September 15, 1950: With US/UN/ROK forces pushed back nearly to the end of the Korean peninsula, MacArthur launches the Inchon Invasion.

September 27, 1950: Walker's Eighth Army makes contact with X Corps. MacArthur gives OK for US forces to cross the 38th Parallel.

October 9, 1950: US Army crosses 38TH Parallel near Kaesong.

October 19, 1950: US forces occupy Pyongyang

October 24, 1950: MacArthur orders his troops into Korea's northernmost provinces.

November 1, 1950: First US vs. Communist Chinese fighting at Unsan
Posted by: Fred || 03/08/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [8 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  I'm certain it is, but my Maha-Rushian questionne' du jour is whether the TAIWAN GOVT. + US is ready iff the Motherly PLA Airborne, etc. decide to drop in on Taiwan in massive conventional first-strike + follow-on???

Lest we fergit, CHINA = MASSIVE OR PROHIBITIVE PLA CASUALTIES, ETC. IS "MEH" = ALREADY
"FACTORED IN" when it comes to finally having DE FACTO sovereign or military control of Taiwan.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 03/08/2013 0:07 Comments || Top||

#2  "I can tell you that the United States is fully capable of defending against any North Korean ballistic missile attack," said White House front man Jay Carney.

Wasn't a Carney the guy that dragged the Rubes into the freakshow at the circus?
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/08/2013 0:10 Comments || Top||

#3  FREEREPUBLIC > [Yonhap News[ NORTH KOREA GENERAL SAYS PYONGYANG HAS NUCLEAR-TIPPED ICBMS ON STANDBY.

I can't seem to get ordinary Net access this afternoon to Chinese, Japanese, or Korean News Blogs irregardless of search engine - I could be wrong, BUT IT WOULD APPEAR THAT MILITARY? NEWS CONTROL/CENSORSHIP IS NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 03/08/2013 0:46 Comments || Top||

#4  BREAKING NEWS > SOUTH KOREA: "IFF DPRK ATTACKS WID NUCLEAR WEAPONS, THE KIM JONG-UN REGIME WILL BECOME EXTINCT".

Keep your fingers crossed, + crossed H-A-R-D that the inter-Korean Tasty Kimchee [ + Diaoyus/Senkakus] can still be saved.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 03/08/2013 0:56 Comments || Top||

#5  I notice there is no mention of retaliation.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 03/08/2013 3:47 Comments || Top||

#6  do we currently have AEGIS ships near NKor?

if we do, are they operational?

will Obama bring them home as an anti sequester gimmick?
Posted by: lord garth || 03/08/2013 7:03 Comments || Top||

#7  An army of lions commanded by a deer will never be an army of lions. - Napoleon
Posted by: Procopius2k || 03/08/2013 8:18 Comments || Top||

#8  The spring Kimchee, Joe.
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/08/2013 9:23 Comments || Top||

#9  Defend?

I think we should ATTACK, just carpet bomb the crap out of the presidential compound and the suburbs where the elites and the military nobility live and then sit back and watch what happens.

You cut the head off this mess and the peasants would be more than willing to accept another form of government. I also seriously doubt if ALL of the military are raring to go to preserve the atrocities of the government.
Posted by: Bill Clinton || 03/08/2013 12:40 Comments || Top||

#10  Lest we forget, it was the UN that forbid us from bombing or attacking Manchuria when the ChiComs had 1.5 million guys camping in the freaking open along the Yalu River. We could have ended all of this crap in 1950 if Truman and the UN had the stomach to put an end to it right then. We're still fighting the Korean War...not slapping down China in 50 gave them carte blanche to do what ever they wanted in Asia, Viet Nam, Cambodia, Laos, the crap in Burma ALL was an off shoot of our faint hearted actions in Korea.

Two divisions? we should have brought the entire weight of the world down on the Norks in 50 and let everyone know we were not ever going to mess around with their behavior.

Same for today, Clinton's sissiness with terrorism has put us in the constant brush fire fighting we do today. We are up to our butt in all of this because we enable it when we do not use our POWER. These people only respect POWER.

And if we have a nuke attack from Iran, blame Nork, if we have one from Nork, you can thank the IAEA's limp-dicked approach to ending nuclear proliferation.
Posted by: Bill Clinton || 03/08/2013 12:48 Comments || Top||

#11  It's always this way, Bill Clinton.

Look at FDR's limp wristed approach to Hitler in the 1930's. Everybody knew that Hitler was violating the treaties that ended WWI but nobody (except Churchill) said anything about it. So instead of slapping Hitler down in 1933 or '34 we waited until it became WWII, the Russian front, Pearl Harbor and the Holocaust. We never seem to learn that people like Pudgy and his Chinese puppet masters never stop pushing until somebody pushes back. The danger now is that we have waited too long, the Chinese have gotten stronger and we have gotten weaker.

Yesterday I suggested that we nuke Pudgy. Maybe that's rash. Maybe carpet bombing Pyongyang and the NORK nuke sites would be better. I'll leave that for the generals. But I doubt that our current POTUS has the gravitas or the international support to pull off such an attack. Almost certainly he lacks the will. This is very dangerous and only goes to show what a mistake the American people made when they elected Obama.

Sanctions won't work. They never have. No matter what they say in the UN the Chinese will continue to support their little lap dog.

I do believe it is time to demonstrate to the NORKS and the Chinese that we will push back when they've gone too far and I believe they have now gone too far. For a little prick like Pudgy to threaten my country with a nuclear attack is going too far. If he was waving a pistol around on a street and making statements like that I would certainly want to shoot him first instead of attempting to find out whether or not his pistol was loaded. Why take chances? It is time to smack him back. It won't get any easier if we wait.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 03/08/2013 14:57 Comments || Top||

#12  Makes me think of this...

Posted by: Yosemite Sam || 03/08/2013 15:29 Comments || Top||

#13  Yosemite Sam is the narciso of Rantburg.
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 03/08/2013 16:52 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Malaysia Incursion Toll Rises to 60 after New Clashes
[An Nahar] Malaysia said festivities between intruding Filipino cut-throats and its security forces had left 60 people dead as of late Thursday, as it rejected a ceasefire offer from the fighters' leader.

Police chief Ismail Omar said 32 followers of a self-proclaimed Philippine sultan had been killed in two confrontations since Wednesday near the scene of a three-week standoff in Sabah state, after a military assault to dislodge them.

That brought the total dead to 60, including 52 thugs. Eight Malaysian coppers were killed in skirmishes last weekend.

Troops and police are currently hunting the Islamic cut-throats in a remote region of Borneo island, where they landed last month to assert a long-dormant territorial claim in what has become Malaysia's worst security crisis in years.

A front man for their Manila-based leader, who called for a midday ceasefire, said 235 people including eight women took part in the original incursion.

Prime Minister Najib Razak, who flew to the region Thursday to inspect security operations, said he told Philippine leader Benigno Aquino by phone the ceasefire offer was rejected.

"I told President Aquino they must lay down their arms immediately," Najib told news hounds in a village near where the army and police were searching for scores of thugs.

"They have to surrender their arms and they have to do it as soon as possible."

The "sultan", Jamalul Kiram III, declared a unilateral ceasefire for 12:30 pm (0430 GMT) and urged Malaysia to reciprocate.

But Najib said Malaysian forces would press on with the offensive, sending more soldiers into the hilly region of vast oil palm estates and pockets of jungle.

Anger has mounted in Malaysia over the incursion, which began February 12 when fighters arrived from the southern Philippines to press Kiram's claim to the area.

Kiram says he is heir to the Sultanate of Sulu, which once ruled islands that are now part of the southern Philippines as well as Sabah.

The main group of cut-throats was holed up in the sleepy farming village of Tanduo for three weeks until two deadly shootouts with security forces at the weekend triggered a military assault to dislodge them.

The attack scattered the fighters and security forces were combing through huge oil palm groves for them.

U.N. Secretary General the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon
... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan...
urged a peaceful resolution of the bizarre incursion.
Posted by: Fred || 03/08/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [9 views] Top|| File under:

#1  It's kind of weird how Third World countries like Malaysia that whine on and on about past colonial humiliations never fail to assert colonial-era boundaries.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 03/08/2013 0:31 Comments || Top||

#2  How do you eject invaders from your sovereign territory peacefully?

Mr. Moon has been breathing the silliness vapors from Oyster Bay too long he's lost touch with International Law. Every country has a right to use deadly force to defend their sovereign boundaries. Screw colonial boundaries...they are sovereign.
Posted by: Bill Clinton || 03/08/2013 12:54 Comments || Top||

#3  no love for the Malays, but I'd kick their Sultanate ass into the sea as well
Posted by: Frank G || 03/08/2013 13:53 Comments || Top||

#4  If Malaysia goes all Islamic then you can kiss Indonesia good bye and maybe even Singapore. The Malays are okay by me and Penang and the Highlands are still spectacular.
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 03/08/2013 16:21 Comments || Top||

#5  If Malaysia goes all Islamic

Malaysia is Islamist. They've got religious police running around enforcing Islamic law on Muslims. Neither Indonesia (with the exception of Aceh) nor the Philippines has this. And the reason is that Muslims in Malaysia are originally from Aceh, the source of the Islamic warriors who overran the original Hindu kingdoms of the region. If Spain hadn't conquered the PI when it did, there's a good chance that the archipelago now known as the Philippines would have some orthodox Islamic name today. And they are all Malays - the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia all have Austronesian roots.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 03/08/2013 16:38 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Operation launched in Lyari as kidnapped Rangers found dead
[Dawn] Rangers forces launched an intensive targeted operation in Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
's Lyari
...one of the eighteen constituent towns of the city of Karachi. It is the smallest town by area in the city but also the most densely populated. Lyari has few schools, substandard hospitals, a poor water system, limited infrastructure, and broken roads. It is a stronghold of ruling Pakistan Peoples Party. Ubiquitous gang activity and a thriving narcotics industry make Lyari one of the most disturbed places in Karachi, which is really saying a lot....
area on Thursday, hours after the severely tortured bodies of two paramilitary personnel were recovered from Mewa Shah Graveyard.

All entry and exit points of the restive area, marred by gang wars and drug mafias, were blocked as a large contingent of paramilitary personnel launched the operation against alleged criminals.

According to DawnNews, more than 12 people were also tossed in the clink
Book 'im, Mahmoud!
in the operation.

Rangers personnel also claimed to have freed at least three people held captive by criminals in the ongoing operation.

Earlier on Thursday, eight people, including two Rangers personnel, were killed in the violence-ridden city, police said.

The bodies of two Rangers personnel, bearing torture marks, were found from Mewa Shah Graveyard in Lyari.

Police said both personnel were severely tortured before being killed.

The victims belonged to the intelligence wing of Sindh Rangers and went missing since Wednesday while performing duty in Lyari.
Posted by: Fred || 03/08/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [8 views] Top|| File under:


Bangladesh
Jubo League man killed; 4 BNP women MPs held for 9hrs
[Bangla Daily Star] BNP politician Shammi Akhter and constable Sharifa Akhter lie on the street as BNP MP Asfia Ashrafi Papia rushes to her colleague's aid at Nayapaltan yesterday. During a scuffle inside the minivan in which they were being picked up by police, Shammi fell off the rolling vehicle and took the policewoman with her. The two, along with two other female BNP politicians, were tossed in the slammer
Into the paddy wagon wit' yez!
for nearly 9 hours by police. Photo: Star

Sporadic incidents of vandalism, arson, kabooms and festivities between activists of the BNP-led alliance and law enforcers marked yesterday's dawn-to-dusk shutdown by the 18-party combine.

Pro-hartal activists also clashed with ruling party men in three districts, leaving a Jubo League
... the youth wing of the Bangla Awami League...
activist dead in Chapainawabganj.

The BNP-led alliance enforced the hartal
... a peculiarly Bangla combination of a general strike and a riot, used by both major political groups in lieu of actual governance ...
to protest "the attacks on a BNP rally on Wednesday by police and armed ruling party men."

In Dhaka, police picked up four female BNP politicians -- Ashfia Ashrafi Papia, Shammi Akhter, Rasheda Begum Hira and Rehena Akhter Ranu -- in front of BNP's Nayapaltan office around 10:30am. The politicians were released around 7:30pm.

Pro-hartal pickets vandalised and torched vehicles, went kaboom! cocktails, and put barricades on roads in at least 12 districts during the shutdown. They also set fire to railway tracks in Comilla.

In the capital, they attacked and torched vehicles at Motijheel, near parliament, Shanir Akhra, Gopibagh and in front of Dhaka College.

In the early hours of the hartal, three journalists were maimed as they were caught in a clash between hartal supporters and anti-hartal activists at Basabo.

The injured were among other journalists present there to cover hartal, said police constable Ishak. He, however, could not give any details about the injured newsmen.

In Chapainawabganj, pro-hartal activists fought with ruling party men, leaving 26-year-old Abdur Rahman, a Jubo League activist, dead and 10 others injured at Poladanga in Bholahat upazila.

The pro-hartal pickets also set alight a fire service vehicle at Mushribhuza in the upazila.

Police and witnesses said BNP and 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 maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. 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...
activists brought out a procession from Mushribhuza village around 10:30am in support of the hartal. When they reached Poladanga bazar, they attacked shops, and set fire to a warehouse and two cycle of violences.

Posted by: Fred || 03/08/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Islami


-Lurid Crime Tales-
Today's Idiot
LAKEWOOD - A restaurant server was confronted with the woman accused of impersonating her for parasitic purposes.

Lakewood police say we can all learn a lesson from what happened next.

Brianna Priddy's wallet was stolen on Feb. 13 during a night out with friends.

On Feb. 25, a customer came to the Applebee's on the 10600 block of West Colfax in Lakewood where Priddy works as a server. At first, they looked like any other customers> but Priddy soon learned who they really were.

"Four people come in, walk in, sit down. They start ordering drinks. This girl hands me my ID as a fake ID," Priddy said.
Dumb dumb-dumb dumb/Dumb dumb-dumb dumb DUMB!
It had been a rough couple of weeks for Priddy.

"My wallet was stolen. It was a pain in the butt," Priddy said.

They took her cash, credit cards, and worst of all her driver's license. Someone was using her identity, writing hundreds of dollars in bad checks.

Now that someone, was sitting in Priddy's section.

"But I didn't say anything. I handed it back to her and said sure I'll be right back with your margarita. [I] went straight to the phone, called the cops," Priddy said.
"Hello? The beauzeau who stole my wallet has passed off my own ID as hers."
Priddy acted like nothing was wrong.

"I put on my server smile and tried to take care of them, but I was shaking like crazy," Priddy said.

Officer Friendly arrived in minutes.

Police spokesman Steve Davis cannot release the name of the woman they arrested because the investigation is ongoing.

"Dumb criminal! That's the first [word] that comes to mind," Davis said. "We found some narcotics in this woman's possession, so she's in quite a bit of hot water."

Davis says the case is among the most unusual coincidences he's ever encountered in more than 30 years of law enforcement. Even more bizarre, Davis says, is that the suspect is 26 and more than old enough to buy a drink with her own ID.

The woman yjuggéd for using Priddy's stolen ID faces felony charges including theft, identity theft, and criminal impersonation. Police say she was also selling contraband mind-affecting toxins and faces even more charges in that investigation.

"You don't hand somebody their own ID as a fake," Priddy said.
And if they look like the person whose ID you have, and this place is close enough to your home that the commute is reasonable...
Priddy has her license again and she also has quite a story for her customers.

"I am the .00001 percent that it happens to," Priddy said.

Priddy says the suspect doesn't even look like her, so that stolen ID was a ticket to the slammer, any way you slice it.
Posted by: Korora || 03/08/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Good for her, Damn good.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 03/08/2013 13:35 Comments || Top||

#2  Funny because the servers face was on the ID this moron was using. You would think she would have noticed.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 03/08/2013 14:42 Comments || Top||

#3  Personally I think this sort of thing is why nobody went to see that Identity Thief movie. Nobody wants to sympathize with the thief, they want to see them punished. The only laugh in the trailer is when she gets her head smacked into the side of the car.

Someone should create a slasher movie where the killer goes into a building full of identity thieves and internet scammers. You'd have people cheering by the end if the killer got away and people got a little vicarious payback for all the nonsense we put up with from these leaches.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 03/08/2013 14:44 Comments || Top||

#4  About 30 years ago, I was handed the bank card of one Mr. Lance Parker.

The only Lance Parker I knew was working at Nordstrom's, and not very likely to be shopping in my Western Attire store. Oh, and the Lance I knew was a ginger.

I called Lance, and sure enough, he had been the victim of a theft. Clackamas county sheriff's office was more than happy to come over and make an arrest.

And, I enjoyed testifying.
.
Posted by: TMI || 03/08/2013 15:34 Comments || Top||


Good morning
Posted by: Fred || 03/08/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Andrea Parker[Filmography](age 43)



Graphic Illustration of a "Hot Seat"
Christine Keeler is not the only one that can do NSFW chair poses.


Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 03/08/2013 0:49 Comments || Top||

#2  Note the rather sturdily built masonry structure.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/08/2013 1:12 Comments || Top||

#3  Besoeker

Could that be the ubiquitous "Brick Shithouse" behind her?
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 03/08/2013 1:35 Comments || Top||

#4  Yes, the...smartly designed one.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/08/2013 1:43 Comments || Top||

#5  Dang I bet the intelligent design on that one would be breath taking...I've always been a hip and leg man...
Posted by: Bill Clinton || 03/08/2013 12:30 Comments || Top||

#6  Director's chairs -- why do they hate us?
Posted by: Rob Crawford || 03/08/2013 12:38 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
Taliban Leader, IED Expert Killed in Afghan Raids
[TOLONEWS] A local Taliban leader named Biragh has been killed in a joint Afghan and NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions...
troops operation in southern Helmand
...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan...
province, Isaf said Wednesday.

"An Afghan and coalition force killed a Taliban leader, Biragh, during a security operation in Marjeh district, Helmand province, yesterday," Isaf said in a statement.

Biragh was responsible for conducting improvised bomb and small arms attacks against security forces. He coordinated the activities of multiple fighters and played a crucial role in facilitating weapons to cut-throats throughout Helmand district, Isaf said.

Meanwhile,
...back at the dirigible, Jack stuck the cigar in his mouth, stepped onto the gantry, and asked Got a light, Mac?
Von Schtinken stopped short, lowering the dagger and trying to control his features.
If you light that thing, Herr Armschtröng, he pointed out, his voice tense, we all die!...

a Taliban IED expert Mushtaq was also killed in a joint operation in the Kunduz district of northern Kunduz province on Tuesday, Isaf said.

"Mushtaq, also known as Azizullah or Khalid, was heavily involved in IED operations throughout Kunduz province. He personally carried out multiple IED attacks against Afghan and coalition forces, and distributed IEDs to fellow beturbanned goons," Isaf said.

An beturbanned goon was also killed in a joint operation and two others were maimed including a Taliban capo in a joint Afghan and Isaf raid in the Giro district of eastern Ghazni province, yesterday.

The Taliban capo exercised operational control over Taliban fighters in the area and was responsible for IED attacks against Afghan and coalition forces, Isaf said.
Posted by: Fred || 03/08/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [8 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Herat Blasts Injure 3 in Apparent Attempt on Political Leader
[TOLONEWS] An apparent attempt to attack Islamic Unity Party leader and National Front member Mohammad Mohaqiq has left three civilians with injuries after a makeshift bomb went kaboom! near Mohaqiq's planned destination in western Herat
...a venerable old Persian-speaking city in western Afghanistan, populated mostly by Tadjiks, which is why it's not as blood-soaked as areas controlled by Pashtuns...
province, officials said.

Mohaqiq was due to fly into Herat airport Thursday morning and meet National Front members at the stadium in Herat city.

At around 10:30, an improvised bomb (IED) hidden in a cycle of violence went kaboom! near the stadium, injuring three civilians, according to provincial police chief Rahmatullah Safi.

Moments later, a second blast happened on the road to Herat airport in the area of Sar Jangal. The distance between the two blasts was about 10 kilometres.

According to Safi, the second kaboom -- which took place when a group of security forces were passing by -- caused no harm.

Both bombs happened around the time Mohaqiq was due to be in the area, however, his plane landed only after the kabooms occurred.

In a separate blast on Thursday, four children have been injured by an IED kaboom in Herat's north district Rubat Sangi, officials said.

No other details were available.

Meanwhile,
...back at the pool hall, Peoria Slim swung his cue at Hurley's head...
a policeman has been rubbed out by a number of men in Rubat Zoori village of Herat's Shindand district.

Safi said that two suspicious men have been tossed in the calaboose
Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out!
for their link to the killing, but did not elaborate on the details.
Posted by: Fred || 03/08/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [17 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Africa North
Tripoli TV station attacked, Officials kidnapped
[Libya Herald] Several hundred gunnies stormed Alassema TV station this afternoon, Thursday, in Tripoli
...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn...
's Gurgi district, smashed the place up and kidnapped five members of staff including the channel's manager and its chief executive officer.

According to Rajab Ben Gazi, one of Alassema's presenters who was present during the attack those involved were a mix of revolutionaries, Islamists and civilians. "Some of them were shouting 'the blood of the deaders will not go in vain'. Others set fire to part of the building and destroyed a lot of the channel equipment," he said.

Another member of staff told the Libya Herald that some were dressed in uniform and others in civilian clothes. They accused the station of causing fitna -- dissension and discord.

The gunnies then seized channel manager Juma Usata and his secretary, Mohamed Atif, its executive director, Nabil Shaibani, and two Alassema presenters, Mohamed Huni and Mahmoud Sharkisi.

"They accused us of being linked to Mahmoud Jibril (the head of the National Force Alliance) and said that our manager, Juma Usta, is a Qadaffy loyalists because he worked as manager of a Chamber Commerce and Industry during the Qadaffy regime," Ben Gazi said.

"The gunnies were asking about the editors of the channel and who was the responsible for the news tickers," he added.

"They told me to leave Tripoli immediately and return to Misrata."

The gunnies later released Sharkisi, Huni and Atif. Sharkisi said that he had been treated respectfully and that no one touched or hurt him.

Usata and Shaibani are still missing.

Following the attack, a force from the Chief General Staff arrived to assess the situation to take necessary measures to secure the place and assess the damage.

There are allegations circulating in Tripoli this evening linking the attack to Tuesday's seizure of Congress members and the attempt to force them to pass the "Political Isolation Law" which would ban senior Qadaffy officials from office, and the shooting at Congress President Mohamed Magarief's car afterwards.
Posted by: Fred || 03/08/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


India-Pakistan
Gunmen thrash polio worker in Khyber
[Dawn] Unidentified armed persons thrashed a member of a polio vaccination team in Landi Kotal on Wednesday and threatened the health workers to stay away from anti-polio drive in the area.

Agency Surgeon Dr Samin told Dawn that a group of armed men intercepted four members of a vaccination team in Peerokhel area and started beating one of the health workers identified as Adnan Khan.

The armed persons also snatched kits from the vaccinators.

The health workers were also threatened to stop taking part in the vaccination campaign.

Health officials have constituted 125 teams to carry out the ongoing anti-polio campaign in Landi Kotal tehsil.

Health workers said that they were not provided Khasadar escort during the campaign.

The officials of the local administration visited the site of the incident while the Khasadar Force conducted a search operation in the area but no arrests were made.

Dr Samin said that vaccination campaign would continue in the area. He said that though the three-day campaign was completed but a 'catch-up day' would be observed to cover the missed children in some parts of Landi Kotal. The incident was the first of its kind in Landi Kotal.

A bomb blast had damaged a store where polio vaccines were kept at civil hospital in Jamrud on Tuesday. The blast also injured a lady health worker.
Posted by: Fred || 03/08/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [12 views] Top|| File under: TTP

#1  When they catch this cretins they should put them in an iron lung for the rest of their miserable lives. Death is too kind for them.
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 03/08/2013 16:18 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Protesters attack Libyan lawmakers
[MAGHAREBIA] In an effort to force passage of Libya's controversial "Political Isolation" law, some 500 protesters on Tuesday trapped politicians inside the Meteorological Institute near Tripoli
...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn...
, Libya Herald reported on Wednesday (March 6th).

The General National Congress (GNC) members had moved to the Crimea site from their building near the Rixos hotel to avoid the confrontation, but the demonstrators had reportedly been tipped off about the change of venue.

Nasiriyah representative Juma Sayah was attacked and beaten as he tried to flee the premises, while GNC President Mohamed Magarief came under fire as he drove away from the building.

Bullets smashed the side windows of the president's vehicle but failed to penetrate a second internal glass shield. The car was also equipped with run-flat tyres.

"There was no security," said Union for Homeland leader Abdulrahman Sewehli.

The day-long standoff did not end in a vote on the bill, which would ban any former Qadaffy regime official from holding office.
Posted by: Fred || 03/08/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [12 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


India-Pakistan
Tired ideas
[Dawn] AS Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
slid into unrest again on Wednesday, the reaction of the government and Supreme Court to the city's law and order situation provided some idea of why they are failing to get a grip on the problem. Yesterday's heavy firing in multiple localities struck fear into the hearts of Karachiites already shaken by Sunday's massive bombing. It was a living example of the complexity of crime and violence in the city, one vulnerable to both terrorism and political, ethnic and sectarian agendas. In contrast to this are the uninspiring efforts of the Supreme Court and the interior minister to address the state's failure to protect life and property.

The new bench established by the apex court in response to the Sunday bombing seems to be taking the same unsuccessful route as the bench that was created in 2011 to look into law and order in the city. It has ordered, for example, the suspension of several coppers, and the provincial government followed suit by removing from their posts two senior officers. But what significant and lasting change has ever been achieved in Karachi by firing and transferring law-enforcement officials? The older bench's orders have also included such impractical measures as deweaponisation and delimitation. Nor has the interior minister sounded any more effective, busy as he has been avoiding the terrorism problem by shifting responsibility to the provincial governments. Just because law and order is a provincial subject doesn't mean the interior ministry can sit back after passing on intelligence. And while the Punjab government is widely believed to be soft on militancy, the interior minister's focus on that piece of the problem feels opportunistic and political. Despite all their public statements, then, neither the court nor the government are focusing on the bold and promising solutions that are needed. For example, there is an obvious need for a central, well-equipped, well-trained counterterrorism authority that reports directly to the prime minister and coordinates across provinces and agencies. Instead of moving forward with new ideas, both the administration and the judiciary that is trying to hold it accountable are reheating the same tired tactics.
Posted by: Fred || 03/08/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [8 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  Chicken, roost. Popcorn futures == up! India is once again thrilled to be rid of the sub-human savages who inhabit the north-western territories they once claimed.
Posted by: Scooter McGruder || 03/08/2013 1:38 Comments || Top||

#2  Charitable Skooter, much too charitable.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/08/2013 1:46 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Alleged French-Malian Islamic Extremist Expelled to France
[An Nahar] A French-Malian citizen nabbed
You have the right to remain silent...
in November for allegedly seeking to join Islamist Islamic fascisti in Mali has been expelled to La Belle France where he will be held for questioning, a French judicial source said Thursday.

Ibrahim Aziz Ouattara, 25, was arrested on November 3 in central Mali on his way to join the Islamists, after allegedly entering Mali through Portugal under a false identity.

He faces potential terrorism charges in La Belle France.
Posted by: Fred || 03/08/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [10 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa


Home Front: Politix
Brennan clears Senate hurdle
[News24] The US Senate voted on Thursday to proceed with the nomination of John Brennan to be President Barack Obama
Ready to Rule from Day One...
's next director of the CIA, setting up his almost certain confirmation.

The Senate voted 81-16, with Republicans flocking to approve Brennan after a dramatic 13-hour filibuster the night before by Republican Rand Paul over the B.O. regime's refusal to unequivocally rule out drone strikes to conduct assassinations on US soil.

Paul was among more than 20 Republicans who backed Brennan, the architect of the controversial drone "assassination" policy that has seen several terror targets, including al-Qaeda operatives, killed in countries like Pakistain and Yemen.

Paul had held up the nomination, seeking clarification from the White House about whether it was US policy to allow the killing by a drone strike of a "non-combatant American citizen on US soil".

He got his answer on Thursday, when US Attorney General Eric Inaction Jackson Holder
... aka Mister Fast and Furious...
wrote to the Kentucky politician to say that it was not.
Posted by: Fred || 03/08/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [16 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I have a bad feeling about this fellow.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/08/2013 1:13 Comments || Top||

#2  Which fellow? I have bad feelings about pretty much all of them.
Posted by: Glenmore || 03/08/2013 8:02 Comments || Top||

#3  Excellent point Glenmore. Granted, I may be suffering from acute black helicopter syndrome, but I continue to be amazed at how many of these botched operations and made-for-teevee kinetic success stories can be tracked back to Mclean, VA.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/08/2013 8:41 Comments || Top||

#4  Second that, they're all bad, can't wait till the next election.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 03/08/2013 13:32 Comments || Top||

#5  Don't we all, Glenmore?
Posted by: DLR || 03/08/2013 21:15 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Mauritanian ulema confront extremism
[MAGHAREBIA] More than fifty Mauritanian scholars, imams, holy mans and government officials recently wrapped up a three day conference where they collaborated on ways to combat extremism.

The Mauritanian Ministry of Islamic Affairs with the Mauritanian Association of Ulemas concluded the training forum on February 20th in Nouadhibou, 450km north of Nouakchott.

The three-day forum focused on topics related to Islamic identity and the concept of the state from an Islamic perspective. In addition, it addressed the socio-economic dimension of state-building and the seriousness of extremism as it affects the entity of the nation.

Participants left the event with a number of recommendations, including the need to establish a zakat fund and increased promotion of justice in order combat extremism and fanaticism, AMI reported.

Other ideas included increased care for mosques and religious schools, and encouraging the involvement of women at such forums.

The event "called for a prominent role in guiding our youth and linking them with behaviour and ethics of the Islamic religion known for tolerance, openness and moderation, and rejection of all forms of violence and extremism", Islamic Affairs Ministry official Mohamed Hadi Ould Taleb said at the closing of the event.

The forum "made it possible to diagnose the basic ills of society from the point of view of the clergy", Association of Mauritanian Ulema Inspector General Bouna Omar Ly.

He also stressed on the other hand the issue of national unity and added that diagnosing these diseases and finding solutions for them would support the state in its development programs.

There was also discussion on the role women could play in confronting extremism, women's rights activist Salema Mint Cheikh said.

Although the recommendations did not provide a specific role that women could play, Cheik said that in general, women were better able to confront extremism.

"Women are the first school. If they were involved effectively, extremism would not have found its way to us," she said.

She added that most hard boyz were influenced by radical ideas because they were uneducated, and the vast majority who weren't influenced came from families that were literate.
Posted by: Fred || 03/08/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [7 views] Top|| File under: Salafists


2 Britons Briefly Kidnapped by Bedouin in Egypt's Sinai
[An Nahar] Two Britons were kidnapped on Thursday by Bedouin rustics in Egypt's Sinai but released soon afterwards following negotiations with security officials, police chief Magdi Moussa told Agence La Belle France Presse.

"They have been released and are heading back to their place of accommodation," Moussa said.

The release follows "intense negotiations" between the kidnappers and security officials, he said.

The British husband and wife were kidnapped from a bank in a town as they headed towards the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, the official said.

The kidnappers told news hounds they were demanding the release of four people held over arms trafficking.

State television identified the pair as the head of a petrol company in Egypt and his wife.
Posted by: Fred || 03/08/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [7 views] Top|| File under:

#1  kidnapped from a bank in a town
New world 'mugging'.
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/08/2013 9:25 Comments || Top||


Bangladesh
Make country Razakar-free
[Bangla Daily Star] The Suhrawardy Udyan, formerly Race Course Maidan where Bangabandhu delivered his historic March 7 speech, reverberated with anti-Razakar slogans yesterday.

On the day in 1971, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman announced to the thunderous roars of hundreds of thousands: "The struggle this time is for emancipation. The struggle this time is for independence."

Forty-two years after that independence was won, the Shahbagh demonstrators on the same ground declared the struggle this time was to rid the country of Razakar and Jamaat-Shibir.

Marking March 7, the protesters held the rally at the Shikha Chirantan at Suhrawardy Udyan yesterday, the 31st day of the movement.

Once again, demonstrators urged the countrymen to resist Jamaat-Shibir in every neighbourhood.

"March 7 is the inspiration of our sprit of unity and a guideline for our struggle.... Driven by this inspiration, we will continue our movement until our demands are met," said Imran H Sarker, spokesperson for the protest that began on February 5 demanding capital punishment to all war criminals.

Marking the International Women's Day today, the protesters will organise a Nari Jagoron Samabesh (rally for awakening women) at the Shahbagh intersection, now popularly known as Projonmo Chattar.

Imran called upon the women of different walks of life to join the rally and urged the garment owners and other organizations to allow a few hours' leave for all women employees to join the rally.

The organisers will today announce the date, time and venues of rallies to be held in divisional cities outside Dhaka. Also, the deadline for the mass signature campaign has been extended till March 22. So far, 4.5 lakh signatures have been registered.

Like in previous rallies, Imran administered an oath to the protesters, who vowed to continue the movement until their demands are met.

Criticising the filing of a case against Imran over "disgracing the national flag", Bangladesh Chhatra Moitree President Bappadittya Bashu said, "Nothing happens when Jamaat-Shibir men burn the national flag down. But when we call for hoisting the flag, it is denigration of it."

Demonstrators also slammed Jatiya Party
...aka Jatiya Front; a political party established by Bangladictator Lieutenant General Hussain Muhammad Ershad in 1986 to lend a veneer of respectability to his rule. Since nobody was amused he was forced to resign by popular demand in 1990. The party remains in existence with about a dozen seats in Bangla's parliament...
Chairman and former autocrat HM Ershad for giving "negative" comments about the Shahbagh movement.
Posted by: Fred || 03/08/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [7 views] Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Islami


Govt examining laws for ban on Jamaat
[Bangla Daily Star] The government is scrutinising the laws to ban Jamaat-Shibir, as their terrorist and hard boy activities have wreaked havoc across the country, said Foreign Minister Dipu Moni yesterday.

"There have been strong demands from different quarters for banning the politics of Jamaat and its student wing Shibir," she said.

Briefing foreign diplomats at the her ministry in the evening on the recent violence and atrocities by Jamaat-Shibir and their allies, Dipu Moni said the government was not thinking of deploying army to tackle the ongoing violence.

She said the government was also investigating whether there was any funding for the terror acts.

Diplomats from around 40 countries attended the meeting. Sources said ambassadors and high commissioners of Russia, Canada, the UK and the Philippines raised several questions on the ongoing situation.

Talking to news hounds after the diplomatic briefing, the foreign minister said the diplomats had enquired mainly about three things -- plan to ban Jamaat, possibility of army deployment and funding behind violence and its source.

On deployment of army, she said, "It seems the situation does not require it. But the government will take whatever steps necessary to protect the lives and property of the people."

Dipu Moni said the foreign diplomas while asking the questions implied that there had been a huge funding behind the Jamaat-Shibir violence and if so, what had been the source, and also whether the government was investigating that.

"There have already been a lot of discussions on the matter in public domain and some independent researchers are working on it," she added.

Emerging from the briefing, German Ambassador Albrecht Conze expressed grave concern over the loss of lives and property.

"The loss of innocent lives and public and private property is a matter of great regret," he said, adding, "In the rundown of election in 10 months, I don't know how this country can sustain, as in the coming months 10 verdicts and 13 appeals will happen. If the appeals are rejected, there will be more violence."

The German ambassador said constitutionally available options were the best way to resolve the problems.

British High Commissioner Robert Gibson also expressed worry about countrywide violence and deaths.

Meanwhile briefing the diplomats, the foreign minister hoped that the international community would appreciate a new paradigm being set by Bangladesh to conduct the trials of 1971 war criminals and a strong sense of national ownership.

Posted by: Fred || 03/08/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Islami


Caribbean-Latin America
Hugo Chavez's body to go on permanent display in Caracas
[GUARDIAN.CO.UK]
Posted by: Fred || 03/08/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [21 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  Yeah, the commies love doing this shit...
Posted by: tu3031 || 03/08/2013 1:00 Comments || Top||

#2  Let the dead bury the dead.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/08/2013 1:09 Comments || Top||

#3  It would be fitting if the body were hung upside down on a meat hook from the roof of a Citgo gas station.
Posted by: BrerRabbit || 03/08/2013 4:01 Comments || Top||

#4  Sounds like a job for Body Worlds
Posted by: crosspatch || 03/08/2013 4:12 Comments || Top||

#5  Now all the Hollywood and political suckups will still have somewhere to go and genuflect.
Posted by: Alanc || 03/08/2013 8:30 Comments || Top||

#6  Bingo, Alan.
Posted by: Barbara || 03/08/2013 8:31 Comments || Top||

#7  My real fear Barbara is what ideas this will give Zero.

He's already decided that the Constitution means what HE says it means. What will happen when he decides that he can run for re-election again and again and again just like his idol 'ugo?
Posted by: Alanc || 03/08/2013 11:17 Comments || Top||

#8  The Carcass in Caracas (TM)
Posted by: JonC || 03/08/2013 11:25 Comments || Top||

#9  What will happen when he decides that he can run for re-election again and again and again just like his idol 'ugo?

He may want, but enough of his own party won't support such openly lawless behaviour. Besides, they're already talking up Hillary Clinton.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/08/2013 11:57 Comments || Top||

#10  He may want, but enough of his own party won't support such openly lawless behaviour. Besides, they're already talking up Hillary Clinton. Posted by trailing wife

I'd hesitate before going "all in" on that one TW.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/08/2013 12:02 Comments || Top||

#11  New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is busting at the seams to run for president in 2016, I would expect him to make "the one" an offer he can't refuse.

By the way TW, that's Brujo, not bruja. Wizard, not witch-there is a difference.
Posted by: BrujoTejano || 03/08/2013 12:16 Comments || Top||

#12  Back in the good old days of US brinksmanship diplomacy, we would have done pretty much the same thing but it would be his HEAD on a plaque on the wall of either J F Dulles or his brother Allen, I don't know if Ronnie would have done it but I know he pretty much had the same attitude about lefty dictators in South American...
Posted by: Bill Clinton || 03/08/2013 12:37 Comments || Top||

#13  Besoeker, I agree with your warning. "His" party has gone along with so much openly lawless behavior on his part that I wouldn't put anything past them.
Posted by: Alanc || 03/08/2013 12:39 Comments || Top||

#14 
He may want, but enough of his own party won't support such openly lawless behaviour.


HAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Aw, man, that's the funniest thing I've heard all day!
Posted by: Rob Crawford || 03/08/2013 12:39 Comments || Top||

#15  I was hoping they had a urinal trough filled with ice
Posted by: Frank G || 03/08/2013 13:59 Comments || Top||

#16  By the way TW, that's Brujo, not bruja. Wizard, not witch-there is a difference.

My apologies, BrujoTejano. Is it only a male/female thing, or are there different skills or areas of interest involved? And please remind me, as my memory seems more porous than usual today, how I happened to make that error.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/08/2013 15:56 Comments || Top||

#17  He may want, but enough of his own party won't support such openly lawless behaviour.

I agree 100%. I think there are plenty of people of good faith who still vote Dem, and just haven't been kicked in the nads hard enough yet.

Plus - I've made this point before - Obozo is just too lazy, because he thinks the presidency is his birthright. "The one we have been waiting for," as he put it himself in 2008. He sees himself as the pre-ordained, inevitable apex of the Hegelian dialectic. He knows his minions will bust their humps, and expects them to. But as for himself, Obama believes that just being Obama is enough.

From being elected president of Harvard Law Review to winning re-election in 2012, every position he's lucked into has only reinforced that delusion. Being a dictator is hard work, requiring significant personal effort that Obozo just doesn't have in him. I think the very idea would shock him. Much more likely that he'll concoct a self-serving narrative about how he gave his all for 8 years to an ungovernable country that just wasn't ready for his messianic genius, and then go find a nice comfy crowd of fawning boot-lickers on the lecture circuit.

Just my $0.02.
Posted by: RandomJD || 03/08/2013 16:59 Comments || Top||

#18  His wife, however, I feel would be more active, golf less, and could defeat Hillary! in the primaries.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 03/08/2013 18:40 Comments || Top||

#19  LOL! No way dude. She's in it for the bling, and that's it.
Posted by: RandomJD || 03/08/2013 18:54 Comments || Top||

#20  Another in a long line of pickled dictators.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 03/08/2013 19:07 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Orakzai offensive leaves 25 militants dead
[Dawn] Twenty-five bully boyz have been killed as jet fighters on Thursday targeted orc hideouts in upper Orakzai Agency
... crawling with holy men, home to Darra Adam Khel, the world's largest illegal arms bazaar. 14 distinct tribes of beturbanned primitives inhabit Orakzai agency's 1500 or so square kilometers...

Earlier in the morning a security forces convoy was targeted in Nadar Mela with an IED, which resulted in the death of one soldier while three others were maimed.

Assistant political agent Rafiq Mohmand told Dawn.Com that the orc stronghold of Gundai Mela in Mamozai has been taken over by security forces. Eight bully boyz were killed during the offensive.

He said that during air strikes in Inzar Mela, Jandri Kalle and Adu Khel area of Mamozai, four orc hideouts were destroyed while 12 bully boyz were also killed, adding "those killed are mostly affiliated with the TTP."

Five bully boyz were also killed in another clash.

Officials also believe that the fall of Gundai Mela to the security forces is a huge success due to the strategic location of the village.

The adjoining mountainous region, near the Dogar village of Kurram Agency
...home of an intricately interconnected web of poverty, ignorance, and religious fanaticism, where the laws of cause and effect are assumed to be suspended, conveniently located adjacent to Tora Bora...
, is also a key weapon supply route for Orakzai orcs.

However security forces, after taking over key villages in the TTP stronghold of Mamozai, are not advancing to the areas bordering Kurram Agency and Tirah Valley.
Posted by: Fred || 03/08/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Africa Subsaharan
Pirates kidnap 3 in offshore Nigeria attack
[News24] Pirates attacked an oil industry supply vessel in Nigerian waters this week and kidnapped three crew, security sources said on Thursday, in the latest attack off the coast of Africa's biggest crude producer.

The captain, chief engineer and second engineer were kidnapped on Monday when gunnies boarded the Malaysia-flagged Armada Tuah 22 about 90km off the coast of the Brass region in the Niger Delta, three security sources said.

One of the sailors kidnapped was Indonesian, the sources said. The vessel is a tugboat contracted to supply an offshore oil platform. Nigeria's navy front man gave no comment.

A fishing vessel, Orange 7, was attacked on March 2 in a similar position and one of the crew was killed, sources said.

There has been a surge in piracy attacks off the coast of Africa's most populous nation this year with gangs showing signs of moving further afield and using more violent tactics.

Oil majors Exxon Mobil and Shell said last month that security was a major factor in making Nigeria one of the most expensive oil-producing countries to operate in.

Oil and shipping companies have to hire crisis management teams, pay higher insurance premiums and face the prospect of ransom payments, as well as brace themselves for damage to their reputations.

The prime suspects for most attacks are Nigerian oil gangs, who already carry out industrial-scale theft of crude oil, known as 'bunkering', in the restive onshore Niger Delta swamplands.
Posted by: Fred || 03/08/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under: Pirates


Africa North
Tunisia president vows action against salafists
[MAGHAREBIA] Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki on Wednesday (March 6th) voiced his determination to confront the problem of salafist hardliners, AFP reported.

"I want to continue talks with the traditionalist and reformist currents" of the salafist movement, Marzouki told El Khabar in an interview. "As for the armed current, we will fight it, [but] within the bounds of the law," he said.

In other security news, Tunisian Defence Minister Abdelkarim Zbidi announced on Tuesday that he had rejected a request from Prime Minister-designate Ali Larayedh to stay in his post.

"I cannot go on, as there is no clear roadmap for holding fresh elections in the best possible conditions and as quickly as possible," Zbidi told Nessma TV.
Posted by: Fred || 03/08/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [8 views] Top|| File under: Salafists


Afghanistan
New Kabul Bank CEO Sentenced to 3 Years Prison
[TOLONEWS] Chief executive of New Kabul Bank Massoud Mossa Ghazi was sentenced on Thursday to three year's prison for helping an illegal money transfer to the former chairman of Kabul Bank Sherkhan Farnood.

The Kabul Bank special tribunal found Ghazi guilty of aiding the transfer of $5.8 million to a bank account of Farnood in Dubai on the night he was appointed CEO of New Kabul Bank in 2010.

The special court said that prosecution of court's decision will be the responsibility of the attorney general.

"Mossa Ghazi is sentenced to three-years prison and fined $5 million. The court has sent out the warrant but the attorney general should prosecute and imprison him," special court chief Shamsurrahman Shams said Thursday.

Mossa Ghazi has rejected the decision saying that the money transferred before he was named CEO of the government rescued Kabul Bank and said the money went to Farnood's account in Commerzbank of Dubai.

"The money were transferred the day before I was selected as chief between 6am and 10am into Sherkhan Farnood's account, so I don't have responsibility. There are documents at hand. The court decision is unfair," Ghazi said.

The special court decision comes two days after Farnood and former Kabul Bank chief executive Khalil Ferozi were sentenced to five-year prison terms for their part in the bank's near-collapse in 2010.

Another 19 former bank employees were all handed sentences of six month to five-year prison terms.
Posted by: Fred || 03/08/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under:


India-Pakistan
Corps commanders meeting discusses internal security situation
[Dawn] The corps commanders held a meeting at the Army General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi on Thursday under the leadership of Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Ashfaq Pervaiz Kayani
... four star general, current Chief of Army Staff of the Mighty Pak Army. Kayani is the former Director General of ISI...

The conference at the General Headquarters (GHQ) was discussing the country's internal security situation along with professional matters pertaining to the armed forces.

"Apart from professional military matters, the meeting under took a comprehensive review of internal and external security environment of the country," said a statement released by the military's public relations wing.

Sources told DawnNews the military leadership was given a special briefing on the law and order situation in the cities of Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
and Quetta.

The meeting follows General Kayani's visit to Karachi a day earlier during which he was briefed on the security situation in the country's financial capital.
Posted by: Fred || 03/08/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Judge Demands Death Penalty for Hizbullah Member over Harb Murder Attempt
[An Nahar] Military Examining Magistrate Fadi Sawan asked for the death penalty against a Hizbullah member in the attempted liquidation of Batroun MP Butros Harb.

Sawan's request against Mahmoud al-Hayek, who hasn't surrendered to police, came in an indictment he issued Thursday.

He also issued an arrest warrant against him and referred the file to the permanent military court for trial.

State Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Saqr Saqr asked on Wednesday for a sentence of life in prison with hard labor for al-Hayek who has been charged with the liquidation attempt on Harb last year and with carrying out acts of terror.

Harb, a March 14 opposition politician, escaped the liquidation bid after residents of a building in which his office is located in the Beirut district of Badaro discovered individuals trying to booby-trap the elevator.

A string of high-level liquidations struck Leb between 2004 and 2008, targeting political, media and security figures who vocally opposed the Syrian government, including former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri who was killed in a powerful boom-mobile blast in February 2005.
Posted by: Fred || 03/08/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah


Afghanistan
Ashrafi's Comments Prove Need for Policy Shift: National Coalition
[TOLONEWS] The controversial comments of Pak holy man Tahir Ashrafi in support of suicide kaboom indicate that the insurgency has religious backing, the National Coalition party said Thursday, warning that Afghanistan must adjust its policies accordingly.

Speaking at a gathering in Kabul, National Coalition member Mohammad Yunus Qanuni said the Pakistain-appointed holy man had proved that terrorism enjoys religious as well as political support.

"The words by the head of the Pakistain Ulema Council indicate that terrorism in Pakistain has political and religious support. We strongly condemn the statement," Qanuni said in a gathering in Kabul to observe International Women's Day on March 8.

The Coalition said the Afghan government must react, beginning with changes in policy such as that of releasing Taliban prisoners.

Last week, Ashrafi said in an interview with TOLOnews that Moslems were justified in "sacrificing their lives to Allah" as long as Afghanistan was "occupied" by US forces.

The statement was widely condemned, and Ashrafi later said he had been misunderstood.

The Pakistain Embassy in Afghanistan released a statement saying it was Ashrafi's personal opinion and not one condoned by the government. But the damage has been significant.

"It (Ashrafi's statement) has proven that terrorism enters Afghanistan from Pakistain," Qanuni said.

The release of Afghan Taliban prisoners from Pakistain's jails was a deal struck two months ago between the governments in an apparent hope that freedom would encourage the Talebs to negotiate for peace with the Afghan government.

Its impact appears to have fallen flat with most of the prisoners disappearing upon their release.

"Releasing these Taliban has no justification to us and will only be a cause of trouble," political analyst Mahmood Saiqal said Thursday.

National Coalition front man Sayed Aqa Fazel Sancharaki said Afghanistan needed a stronger, single policy towards Pakistain or it would continue to be pressured by outside forces.

"The lack of a focused policy by Afghanistan has allowed Pakistain to force its demands onto Afghanistan," he said.
Posted by: Fred || 03/08/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [14 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Home Front: WoT
Captured Bin Laden Son-in-Law Emerged from Iran
[WSJ] The U.S. seized a son-in-law of the late Osama bin Laden
... who is now neither a strong horse nor a weak horse, but a dead horse...
who once served as an al Qaeda front man and flew him to New York to face trial, an antiterrorism coup that casts light on the group's murky relationship with Iran.

Sulaiman Abu Ghaith,
Click his name to see stories on him in the Rantburg archive dating back to 2002.
who was captured in Jordan, has been talking to Federal Bureau of Investigation agents for several days in New York City, according to multiple people familiar with the case. He was captured after leaving Iran, which has sheltered remnants of the global terror group.

The Justice Department on Thursday unsealed an indictment charging him with conspiring to kill Americans, and he is set to appear in federal court in Manhattan Friday morning. He faces a life sentence if convicted.

Mr. Abu Ghaith's arrival in the city where al Qaeda faceless myrmidons killed nearly 3,000 people on Sept. 11, 2001 marked what may be the final stop in an odyssey that took him from his native Kuwait to Afghanistan by the side of his father-in-law and, around 2002, to Iran.

U.S. officials believe that Iran last year gave new freedoms, including the option to leave the country, to Mr. Abu Ghaith and other members of what was known as al Qaeda's management council in Iran. He was tossed in the clink
Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up!
in Ankara, Turkey, last month on suspicion of entering that country with a false passport.

Turkey didn't turn Mr. Abu Ghaith over to U.S. authorities, as Washington had initially wanted but instead decided to deport him to Kuwait via Jordan, officials said. U.S. operatives then captured him in Jordan, which has worked closely with the U.S. in hunting terrorists, they said.

The suspect was flown to New York by the FBI last week, and he has been talking to interrogators since, said the people familiar with the case. Officials decided to file charges against him after he stopped cooperating.

George Venizelos, head of the FBI's New York office, described Mr. Abu Ghaith's position in al Qaeda as "comparable to the consigliere in a mob family or propaganda minister in a totalitarian regime."

The next morning [after 9/11] , Mr. Abu Ghaith appeared with bin Laden and the al Qaeda leader's then-deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri
... Formerly second in command of al-Qaeda, now the head cheese, occasionally described as the real brains of the outfit. Formerly the Mister Big of Egyptian Islamic Jihad. Bumped off Abdullah Azzam with a car boom in the course of one of their little disputes. Is thought to have composed bin Laden's fatwa entitled World Islamic Front Against Jews and Crusaders. Currently residing in the North Wazoo area. That is not a horn growing from the middle of his forehead, but a prayer bump, attesting to how devout he is...
After the videos appeared, Kuwait stripped him of citizenship.

Iran has provided sanctuary in effect to several senior al Qaeda leaders over the years, said Mr. Jones. Some al Qaeda operatives fled to Iran when the U.S. opened its Afghan offensive in 2001.

Since then, these operatives have used their Iranian beachhead to communicate, move money and recruit members, Mr. Jones said. Some lower-level al Qaeda operatives also are believed to be in Iran. Why Mr. Abu Ghaith went to Turkey isn't clear.
This article starring:
Sulaiman Abu Ghaith
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/08/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda

#1  U.S. operatives then captured him in Jordan...

Hmmm...
Posted by: Lumpy Turkeyneck6299 || 03/08/2013 10:03 Comments || Top||

#2  Wonder how much Ergodan charged Langley for the routing?
Posted by: Pappy || 03/08/2013 12:14 Comments || Top||

#3  "Bin Laden Son-in-Law Emerged from Iran"

And this is a surprise because ....?
Posted by: Barbara || 03/08/2013 16:09 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
Foreigners Behind Afghanistan's Instability: Karzai
[TOLONEWS] President Hamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai
... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabbani in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a Pashtun face on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use...
Wednesday accused outside forces of causing instability in Afghanistan, warning foreign interests against using the country as an "experiment".

Addressing Parliament as its reconvened after the winter break, Karzai said there are some foreign hands that are trying to ensure Afghanistan shouldn't have a proper government and that it is a country divided between the people.

He told the MPs that Afghanistan is not a lab for others to experiment with political systems and suggested the country would be fine without foreign financial assistance.

"We have $6 billion in our reserves and enough for us to enjoy for 18 months even if we don't get a penny from the world," he said.

In the same vein, Karzai suggested that the prospect of foreign forces remaining in Afghanistan after 2014 is not a done deal.

"The NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis....
secretary general told me that some countries are willing to stay post 2014. I told him that they should individually sign agreements with us," he said.

He spoke of his disappointment over the reports of abuse of Afghans at the hands of Afghan cops and pointed out it was harder for him to criticise the foreign forces on such matters when Afghans are doing it themselves.

"How can I complain against international forces when Afghan National Security Forces violate the people's rights?"

"It's not forgivable... Our Afghan people are not safe in their houses," he said. "Why should I blame foreigners?"

On the topic of the upcoming presidential election, Karzai flagged its importance to his own legacy, saying he wanted it to go smoothly as possible.

"I would have a better legacy if the election is a smooth process. I don't want people to judge me as troublemaker," he said.

"The election must happen -- free and fair. I will be an ex-president in 13 months."

He criticised foreign non-government organizations who made the last presidential election "more expensive" and warned that it would not be allowed to happen again.

"Our election should not be an income source for some foreign NGOs," he said.

Karzai called on the Afghan Taliban to be part of the political solution for Afghanistan.

"O Taliban, come and let's save our country!" He said, adding that he did not mind which political groups dealt with the Taliban as long as the High Peace Council led the grinding of the peace processor.

"Meet with the Taliban. I am fine. But let the peace council take care of the foreign aspect of the peace talks," he said.
Posted by: Fred || 03/08/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [8 views] Top|| File under:

#1  suggested the country would be fine without foreign financial assistance.

until he pilfers the reserves on his way out the door
Posted by: Frank G || 03/08/2013 10:13 Comments || Top||

#2  The problem with Afghanistan is that the locals think he is talkinga about the US, UK, Spaniards, French, Swedes, and Italians.

When actually he is right the foreigners causing all of the problems. But the foreigners are Paks, Banglas, Iranians, Saudis, Etcs., of course there are a few UK and US foreigners causing problems but they wear towels around their heads instead of patrolling caps or Kevlar.
Posted by: Bill Clinton || 03/08/2013 12:34 Comments || Top||

#3  I keep seeing Fred's annotation about the restaurant in Baltimore but isn't it Hamid's brother that is the restaurateur?
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 03/08/2013 16:29 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
White House, Holder respond to Rand Paul: 'The answer is no'
[WASHINGTONEXAMINER] Attorney General Eric Inaction Jackson Holder
... aka Mister Fast and Furious...
wrote Sen. Rand Paul,R-Ky., to confirm that President B.O. does not have the authority to kill an American on U.S. soil in a non-combat situation, Obama's front man announced today.
Why the hell didn't they say that in the first place?
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney quoted from the letter that Holder sent to Paul today. "Does the president have the authority to use a weaponized drone to kill an American not engaged in combat on an American soil?" Holder wrote, per Carney. "The answer is no."

Paul said that was good enough for him. "I'm quite happy with the answer," he said during a CNN interview. "I'm disappointed it took a month and a half and a root canal to get it, but we did get the answer."

Carney added that, "if the United States were under attack, there were an imminent threat," the president has the authority to protect the country from that assault.

Sen. Lindsey Graham
... the endangered South Carolina RINO...
, R-S.C., criticized Paul for posing the question. "I find the question offensive," he said on the Senate floor this morning.
Posted by: Fred || 03/08/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I have no doubts all of those USDOD assets on sequester stand-down in CONUS, e.g. USN CVNS + Helo Carriers + USAF, look tempting to the PLA 2nd Arty + ICBMS + PLAN Subs.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 03/08/2013 0:18 Comments || Top||

#2  I find Graham & his buddies offensive.
Posted by: Barbara || 03/08/2013 8:30 Comments || Top||

#3  Graham and McCain, "You young Libertarians get off our lawn!"
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 03/08/2013 10:38 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Algeria sentences Tizi Ouzou terrorists
[MAGHAREBIA] A blood-stained Tizi Ouzou court sentenced two cut-throats to 20 years in prison, El Moudjahid reported on Wednesday (March 6th). The defendants were convicted for the deadly 2007 attack on a blood-stained Tizi Ouzou bus station. They had previously been charged with the October 2006 murder of blood-stained Tizi Ouzou APW head Rabah Aissat.
Posted by: Fred || 03/08/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa


French minister visits troops in Mali
[News24] French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian was in northeastern Mali on Thursday to meet French troops fighting Salafist tough guys, the ministry said.

He was to visit several cities, including the capital Bamako, and was due in the northern city of Gao at mid-day.

"I wanted to salute our soldiers... because it is here that fighting has been at its hardest," Le Drian said on La Belle France 24 television at the start of his visit.

Noting that two French soldiers had been killed in Mali's northern mountains in recent days, Le Drian said: "I want to pay homage to them and salute their comrades. I wanted to tell them that La Belle France is proud of its soldiers."

"The mission is not over," he said. "It is later that we will progressively withdraw to hand over to the African mission under the United Nations
...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks...
."
Posted by: Fred || 03/08/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [9 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa

#1  Can you imagine Obambi saying this kind of stuff?

The Fucking French, geez louise, the FRENCH are now talking like George Bush and Ronnie Reagan. Who would have thought.

And I bet you a dollar will get you a doughnut, he left the press pool cooling their heels at the airport. Fuck em, the media is a cancer on modern democracy, they are just completely leftists.
Posted by: Bill Clinton || 03/08/2013 12:57 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
USFK Commander Vows to Defend S.Korea
Gen. James Thurman, the commander of the U.S. Forces Korea, expressed worries on Thursday over North Korea's threat to scrap the armistice that halted the 1950-1953 Korean War.

"It concerns me when any signatory to a mutual agreement makes a public statement contrary to that agreement," he told reporters.

The North had earlier threatened to turn Seoul and Washington into a "sea of fire" and "wave its flag" on the ridge of Mt. Halla.

Thurman apparently decided to issue a statement of his own following the lead of the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff, who warned the previous day they will "strongly and sternly" strike the "starting point, its supporting forces and command" if the North attempts a provocation.

Thurman said, "We remain ready to defend the Republic of Korea."

A military source said the statement “sends a warning to the North that if it provokes, South Korea and the U.S. will respond together."
Posted by: Steve White || 03/08/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "It concerns me when any signatory to a mutual agreement makes a public statement contrary to that agreement," he told reporters.
What world has this guy been living in the last 50 years?
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/08/2013 0:12 Comments || Top||

#2  Ditto as per TAIWAN + NORTHERN PHILIPPINES???

COLD WAR = it was called "Attacking where the Enemy = US-NATO are NOT", aka "following the Water/Flow = Path of Least Resistance"???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 03/08/2013 0:12 Comments || Top||

#3  sure hope that "The Norks launched!" call doesn't come in at 3AM DC time.....
Posted by: Frank G || 03/08/2013 10:31 Comments || Top||

#4  Or when Valerie Jarret is not answering her phone (to give Bumbles his orders...).
Posted by: CrazyFool || 03/08/2013 11:27 Comments || Top||


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Russia kills Chechen insurgent leader
Security forces in Russia killed the leader of one of the rebel groups fighting to create an Islamist state in the North Caucasus and two other terrorists militants on Thursday, said Russia's anti-terrorism committee.

One law enforcement officer was killed and another injured in a gunfight with the terrorists militants in the Vedeno district. The dead leader, Adam Khushalayev, who had adopted the name Abu-Malik, had been wanted for over a decade, and had taken over as head of a insurgent group after its leaders were killed in January.

The leaders before him, the brothers Khuseyn and Muslim Gakayev, had been blamed for organizing several high-profile attacks, most recently a suicide bombing that killed four interior ministry soldiers last August.
Posted by: ryuge || 03/08/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [13 views] Top|| File under:

#1  You can bet they had orders to interrogate him half to death and then shoot him.

Too bad Bambi is so interested in Chomsky instead of letting Vlad teach him a few things about fighting terrorists.
Posted by: Bill Clinton || 03/08/2013 12:50 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
UNSC Passes Tougher N.Korea Sanctions
The UN Security Council unanimously passed strongly worded tougher sanctions against North Korea on Thursday in response to the North's latest nuclear test. The resolution tightens financial sanctions and mandates checks on North Korean cargo.
Someone, I can't remember who, in the comments a day or two asked a perfectly reasonable question: why in the world have we not already passed the toughest sanctions known to humankind against the Norks? Why pussy-foot around? Is there a reason why we'd tighten the thumbscrew slowly? Bring out the number seven truncheon already and be done with it.
In Seoul, meanwhile, diplomatic and security officials meet Friday to discuss responses to any North Korean provocation that may be triggered by the decision.

The new resolution, which now goes to a UN plenary session, prohibits North Korea from opening accounts in overseas banks if the money "could contribute to [North Korea's] nuclear or ballistic missile programs." It also bans foreign banks from opening branches in the North.

It also makes it mandatory to inspect ships and air planes carrying cargo to and from North Korea, and to monitor illicit activities by North Korean diplomats and the transfer of illegal funds by the North. Two more North Korean entities and three individuals are to have their assets frozen and face a travel ban. All 193 member countries of the UN will have to abide by the resolution.

North Korea responded by threatening to exercise it "right to preemptive nuclear strikes" in order to protect its interests and accused the U.S. of provoking a nuclear war.
Posted by: Steve White || 03/08/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [8 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Air raids on Syrian city of Raqqa kill 39
Syrian warplanes bombarded the northeastern provincial capital of Raqqa for a second consecutive day on Wednesday, killing at least 39 people, opposition activists said.
The Local Coordination Committee, a grassroots activistsÂ’ organisation, said 17 people were killed in one raid alone, on a square in the city. Video footage showed fighters putting dismembered bodies in an ambulance.

Thousands of families, many of whom are already refugees from the neighbouring provinces of Aleppo and Deir Al Zor, have been fleeing Raqqa to surrounding countryside since it came under heavy aerial bombardment following an announcement by the opposition on Monday that it was captured, the sources said.

‘There were about 25 air raids on Raqqa today. The civilian population is being driven out,’ activist Abdallah Abu Gheith told Reuters by phone from Raqqa.

The poor, sandswept city, whose economy was devastated by a water crisis that hit grain and cotton production in the east before the revolt, is situated on the Euphrates River, 160 kms (100 miles) east of SyriaÂ’s industrial and commercial hub of Aleppo.

Photographs taken by activists purportedly showed the education department building gutted by bombardment, and the body of a loyalist sniper they said was killed in a battle to take a military intelligence compound in the centre of the city.

Another activist working with refugees said most of the refugees have moved to the rural environs of Raqqa but lack of food and facilities there means they could soon head to Turkey, which already hosts many thousand Syrian refugees.

Opposition sources and residents said rebel fighters captured Raqqa on Monday and toppled a statue of President Bashar Al AssadÂ’s father, in what would be the first major city to be captured since the revolt erupted against four decades of Assad family rule in March 2011.
Posted by: Steve White || 03/08/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [12 views] Top|| File under:


Africa North
The Drones are coming - An Afrikaan perspective
Salisbury - The US wants a drone base established in Afrika to complement the activities of the 3,500 troops that it will deploy to the continent this year.

The troops -- to be deployed to 35 Afrikaan countries ‑ will come from the 2nd Brigade's Heavy Combat Team of the First Infantry Division, according to the Pentagon, America's apex military headquarters.

Indications are that the drone base will most likely be in Niger, while another possible site is Burkina Faso.

The US already has a permanent military base in Djibouti, and it has been revealed that The Seychelles -- a SADC member state --already gave America facilities to launch Reaper drones from its territory for attacks on Somalia as far back as 2009, along with Ethiopia.

The Seychelles left SADC in 2004, applied to rejoin in 2008 and was by 2009 allegedly hosting the American military, with that country's President, James Michel, reportedly even wanting to hold "some kind of appropriate ceremony ... for the first flights".
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/08/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [7 views] Top|| File under:

#1  We can save a LOT of money in reduced logistics costs by moving away from fixed ground support sites to an orbital bombardment strategy. We're already tracking orbiting debris. Just need a little nudge on occasion.
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/08/2013 7:18 Comments || Top||

#2  Fixed ground support sites enable the indigenous interaction necessary for prolonged USAID integration, socialization, and nation building. Without our help, birth rates will steadily rise and cooking fires will continue to pollute the atmosphere. Intercession in these vital global areas of concern is our obligation.

[sarc off]
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/08/2013 7:37 Comments || Top||


Caribbean-Latin America
8 die in Nuevo Laredo

For a map, click here. For a map of Tamaulipas state click here.

By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

A total of eight unidentified individuals were killed in fighting in Nuevo Laredo in Tamaulipas on Wednesday and Thursday, according to an official government news release.

The Tamaulipas state Procuraduria General de Justicia del Estado (PGJE), or attorney general released a statement Thursday evening which said that in several encounters in the city five individuals were also detained and seven were wounded in firefights, including two unidentified Tamaulipas state ministerial police agents.

At around 1822 hrs Wednesday, a gunfight took place between rival gangs near the intersection of calles Independencia and Comonfort in Viveros colony, where three unidentified men were found dead, two of them aboard a Volkswagen Jetta with a third nearby.

The same evening five unidentified individuals were killed and five others were wounded in an intergang firefight on Calle Pedro J. Mendez. According to the news release one unidentified woman in her 60s was found dead at the scene. Later a man in his 40s, a woman in her 20s and a minor youth died while receiving medical attention.

Thursday morning a police operation in a raid at a residence near the intersection of calle Bolivar and Riva Palacio in Juarez colony involving Tamaulipa state ministerial agents and local municipal police ended up with two unidentified ministerial agents wounded. A total of five suspects were detained.

The Procuraduria report said that evening a number of shooting incidents took place in Nuevo Laredo, and both Mexican Army and Policia Federal troops began to intensify patrols in the city.

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com
Posted by: badanov || 03/08/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [9 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I gotta guess that 8 killed overnight in a Mexican border town isn't really news. A gang hit and then retaliation against family members.
Unlike here, the fact that it even was reported IS news.
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/08/2013 15:19 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Holder's March 7th Letter to Rand Paul
Politico has the latest:
Dear Senator Paul:

It has come to my attention that you have now asked an additional question: "Does the President have the authority
to use a weaponized drone to kill an American not engaged in
combat on American soil?" The answer to that question is no.

Eric H. Holder, Jr.
Unfortunately, the question and answer couplet has a grammar problem and means something different than what Holder or Paul intends. As stated, it means, for example, that if an American is on Yeman soil, the President does not have authority to kill him even if that American is engaged in combat. A decent 10th grader could have spotted this problem.
How fortunate, then, that it will be Attorney General Holder, Jr. himself who will rule on the legality of any such action for the remainder of this administration.
Posted by: lord garth || 03/08/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [7 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Also begs the question of the definition of actual "combat" and combatant. Not a great deal of thought went into that three liner legal opinion.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/08/2013 0:39 Comments || Top||

#2  for the remainder of this administration

For some reason I find the above sentence troublesome.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 03/08/2013 4:31 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Government informant gunned down in southern Thailand
A man said to be an informant died in a hail of bullets in front of his house in Pattani's Panare district late on Wednesday night. The attack occurred about 11:30 p.m. at Ban Laem Paeng in tambon Ban Klang.

Saree Jeh-alee was arriving home after attending a religious class when gunmen hiding in nearby bushes opened fire at his car with M16 rifles. The car was riddled with bullet holes and Saree was hit multiple times. He died at the scene.

Documents found on his body showed that he acted as an informant for both the police and the military and had been arrested on drug charges in December last year.
Posted by: ryuge || 03/08/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [7 views] Top|| File under:


Caribbean-Latin America
Mexican Army detains 21 suspected kidnappers in Durango

For a map, click here For a map of Durango state, click here. For a map of Coahuila state, click here

By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

Mexican Army units and Durango state police agents detained 21 suspected members of a kidnapping crew in the La Laguna region of Mexico, according to Mexican news accounts.

A news report which appeared on the website of Expreso news daily said that Durango state Fiscalia General del Estado (FGE) Sonia Yadira de la Garza Fragoso held a press conference announcing the arrests.

According to Fiscalia Garza Fragoso, the 21 suspects had operated throughout the La Laguna region including in Gomez Palacio, Ciudad Lerdo in Durango, and in Torreon in Coahuila. The crew was allegedly responsible for attacks on the businesses and home of Gomez Palacio mayor Rocio Rebollo.

The crew is also suspected for the kidnapping of two employees of El Siglo de Torreon newspaper, and for the murder of Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) candidate for mayor of Ciudad Lerdo, Mario Alberto Landeros Campero and his driver Cesar Almilkar Valenzuela Morales, both found dead Wednesday in Ciudad Lerdo.

Durango is currently involved in primary elections for state deputies and municipal elections to be held July 7th.

Perhaps more importantly, the crew is allegedly responsible for the murder of six traffic police agents in Gomez Palacio last week.

The detainees were identified as Julio Cesar Najera Rosales, 24, Luis Fernando Martinez, 30, Alonso Ivan Ormero, Federico Aguilar Chaidez, Ruben Hernandez, Julian Valles, Hector Gomez, Uriel Reyes, Sergio Resendiz, Jaime Ramirez, Luis Resendiz and Fernando Martinez.

Separately, Saul Garcia, Sergio Garcia, Ramiro Hernandez, Miriam Aguilar, Hilda Mejia, Dora Luz Rodriguez, Miriam Muñoz and two unidentified minors were also detained.

The arrests also including the taking of six rifles, three machines guns, seven handguns, five bulletproof vests, telephone equipment, four vehicles and personal quantities of marijuana and crystal methamphetamine.

The detentions are the first major mass arrests since 700 Mexican Army troops were moved into La Laguna last week. Last week an additional contingent of Policia Federal troops had also been deployed to the area.

The arrests come on the heels of another announcement by Fiscalia Garza Fragoso Tuesday which was reported on the online edition of El Siglo de Durango Wednesday, who told local press that more progress was taking place in security operations in the region.

Senora Garza Fragoso also said during the press conference that she was unaware the reasons why a Policia Federal troop contingent had been deployed to Durango city. This admission means that neither her office nor apparently the governor, Jorge Herrera Caldera had been consulted by federal officials about the new deployment.

The new Policia Federal deployment is in contrast with the past in which federal security officials have made a point of meeting with state and local officials to detail their security plans. But it is also a likely break with past practices in which state officials are to take greater responsibility for their own security strategies, that federal officials will be keeping their plans secret whenever they can.

Separately, the newly installed Durango state Secretaria de Seguridad Publica Estatal (SSPE) Roberto Flores Mier said Tuesday that police who fail the new confidence test would be given a second chance to take and pass the tests.

According to the report 4,232 local and state police agents statewide had taken confidence tests. According to a report by the outgoing SSPE, Jesus Antonio Rosso Olguin, on February 21st, roughly ten percent of the agents had failed the tests. Rosso Olguin was sacked the next day.

The timing of Rosso Olguin's report is interesting, although his departure was timed just one day after six La Laguna police agents were killed in a single evening in Gomez Palacio. Durango state officials have not elaborated the reasons why Rosso Olguin left.

At least one Durango politician has disputed that police agents who failed tests will be given a second change.

Durango city mayor Adam Ramirez Soria was quoted in a El Siglo de Durango story Thursday that while the national average for police who failed tests is about 15 percent the rate in his municipality is less than 10 percent. He said that contrary to the earlier statement by SSPE Flores Mier, police agents who fail tests will not be given second chances.

Nationwide Mexican state SSPEs are under increasing pressure by the new security strategy implemented by newly inaugurated President Enrique Pena to get local and state police agents certified by November. In January the Mexican national Secretaria de Gobernacion (SEGOB), or interior minister Miguel Osorio Chong, who is Pena's plenipotentiary in his new security plans has told SSPEs nationwide that every police agent will be certified by November or will out of work.

Meanwhile in Durango, the capital of Durango state an unidentified judge has delayed until March 23rd whether to continue detaining the 64 local police agents from Ciudad Lerdo and Gomez Palacio, according to a separate report posted on the website of El Siglo de Durango.

Seven weeks ago 159 local police agents were disarmed by the Mexican Army and detained, 64 of which were placed in preventative detention colloquially known as rooting. Past news reports do not make clear the length of the detention,. Typically, rooting requests are for 30 days or more.

Rooting is a legal tool used by Mexican prosecutors to place suspects in detention without charge or trial until an investigation is complete.

It is most commonly used with drug trafficking suspects but it has also been used against errant state government officials. The maneuver is meant to keep otherwise dangerous suspects from escaping until trial. Rooting also known as arraigo has been severely criticized in the past, but it is also a legal tool that can only be used with permission of a judge.

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com
Posted by: badanov || 03/08/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [9 views] Top|| File under:

#1  it is also a likely break with past practices in which state officials are to take greater responsibility for their own security strategies, that federal officials will be keeping their plans secret whenever they can

Meet the new PRI, same as the old PRI.
Posted by: Pappy || 03/08/2013 12:09 Comments || Top||

#2  How did Sergio Garcia make it from his round at Doral to La Laguna and then back again for his second round?
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 03/08/2013 16:16 Comments || Top||

#3  My guess is that Sergio has better things to do than to f*ck around with los drogas.
Posted by: badanov || 03/08/2013 16:35 Comments || Top||


Africa Subsaharan
Nigeria's Jonathan on first visit to north
[News24] Nigerian 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...
arrived in the region at the heart of a deadly Islamist insurgency on Thursday for his first visit to the restive northeastern area since winning 2011 elections.

Jonathan landed in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state and considered the home base of Islamist beturbanned goons Boko Haram
... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality...
, and travelled on by helicopter to neighbouring Yobe state, also hit by repeated attacks.

Security was tight, with soldiers stationed along roads and movement restricted. He is due to return to Maiduguri later Thursday for a visit that will extend into Friday.

"The president arrived in Damaturu around noon aboard a helicopter from Maiduguri," Abdullahi Bego, front man for the Yobe state governor, told AFP, referring to the capital of the state.

The visit comes with Jonathan facing political pressure to visit the northeast, wracked by scores of bombings and shootings blamed on Boko Haram. The military has been accused of major abuses in response to the insurgency.

It is also the region where seven members of a French family were believed taken after being kidnapped on February 19 just over the border in Cameroon. They remain held by the abductors and their whereabouts are unknown.

There have been growing calls for Jonathan, a Christian from the southern oil-producing Niger Delta region, to visit the area.

A group of opposition state governors visited Maiduguri last week, drawing further attention to Jonathan's absence there.
Posted by: Fred || 03/08/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [8 views] Top|| File under:


Africa North
Algeria focuses on Kabylie terrorists
[MAGHAREBIA] Algerian National Police Director-General Major General Abdelghani Hamel paid a working visit to the operational security installations in Bouira province on Wednesday (March 6th).

Hamel recognised the role played by the police force in protecting citizens while emphasising in the same context the mandatory need to address all forms of criminality in the Kabylie region.

Roughly 400 armed al-Qaeda beturbanned goons are still active in the Kabylie region, security officials announced last week.

The figure was released during a meeting focused on the assessment of security measures in the region to confront the gunnies deployed in the provinces of Boumerdès, Bouira and blood-stained Tizi Ouzou, Tout sur l'Algerie reported.

These areas constitute the most important strongholds of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).

The sources pointed out that about 280 beturbanned goons out of the 400 in eastern Algeria were active in the province of Bouira, where hard boyz recently attacked a Djebahia gas pipeline. Roughly 73 beturbanned goons were in Boumerdès and 50 were in blood-stained Tizi Ouzou.

The latest terrorist attack in blood-stained Tizi Ouzou occurred on Monday when a soldier was maimed after a bomb went kaboom! in the Yakouren Forest. The kaboom took place during a sweep conducted by members of the Algerian army.

One day prior to the attack, army troops clashed with hard boyz at the southern entrance of the city of blood-stained Tizi Ouzou after a terrorist group opened fire on a security checkpoint.

Security affairs expert Kamal Al Hadef attributed the growth of hard boyz in the region to the "withdrawal of the gendarmes after the events of the Black Spring and the protests that defined the region years ago".

"These hard boyz pose a threat to the residents of the villages," retired military officer Tahar Ben Thamer said, noting that residents in the area became "victims of extortion of money and supplies after hard boyz lost their most important Emirs".

He added that they were operating in a "scattered manner after the after security forces and the army tightened the noose".

A report prepared by the blood-stained Tizi Ouzou Chamber of Industry and Commerce noted 71 cases of businesses leaving the province for reasons related to management difficulties hindering economic development as well as the security situation.

During a visit to the region last summer, Interior Minister Dahou Ould Kablia called for greater participation of local people in the fight against terrorism through co-ordination with the army and security forces.

"Terrorism has declined significantly," he said while stressing the need to continue the fight until its final elimination.

According to security analysts, targeting beturbanned goons deployed in the region would be a fatal blow to the organization.
Posted by: Fred || 03/08/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa


Afghanistan
18 Afghan Soldiers Killed in Badakhshan Attacks
[TOLONEWS] Violent festivities with Taliban Islamic fascisti in north-eastern Badakhshan province have killed at least 18 Afghan National Army soldiers, officials said Wednesday.

Another six ANA soldiers were maimed in the festivities.

"Sixteen Afghan National Army soldiers have been killed in the Warduj District of the province on Wednesday," provincial front man Abdul Maroof Rasikh told TOLOnews.

Two other the soldiers were killed on Tuesday in festivities with the Taliban, Rasikh added.

The deaths in Warduj happened when a supply convoy of Afghan soldiers was ambushed by Taliban Islamic fascisti and most of the soldiers were held hostage, Rasikh said.

"Negotiations using tribal elders as intermediaries were carried out and six of the soldiers were released alive, but another 16 were executed. The bodies were turned over to the authorities by the same elders" he said.

Six Taliban Islamic fascisti were also killed in the festivities and eight others were maimed, he added.

However,
the difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits...
other security officials said that the security forces had launched a clearing operation in the district to clear it of cut-thoats.

It was one of the single deadliest attacks on government soldiers by the Islamic fascisti in recent time.

Warduj district lies along the highway leading into the Wakhan Corridor, an area of very high mountains bordered by China and Pakistain, and one that is popular with foreign trekkers.

It comes a day after the Ministry of Interior said that 11 Taliban have been killed and 19 more injured in a joint Afghan cops operations across Afghanistan in the past 24 hours.

"In past 24 hours, Afghan National Police conducted several joint clearance operations with the cooperation of Afghan National Army, NDS and Coalition Forces to clean some of the areas from faceless myrmidons and enemies of peace and stability of Afghanistan," the MOI said in a statement on Tuesday.

The operations were done across Kandahar, Nangarhar
The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country..
, Laghman, Zabul, Paktiya, Uruzgan, Herat
...a venerable old Persian-speaking city in western Afghanistan, populated mostly by Tadjiks, which is why it's not as blood-soaked as areas controlled by Pashtuns...
and Helmand
...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan...
provinces.

"During the same 24 hour period, Afghan National Police discovered and defused six different types of mines placed by enemies of Afghanistan for destructive activities in Nimroz, Kandahar, Faryab, Kunduz and Kunar province
... which is right down the road from Chitral. Kunar is Haqqani country.....
s," it added.
Posted by: Fred || 03/08/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Arabia
Yemen Leader Urges Security Forces to Protect National Dialogue
[An Nahar] President Abdrabuh Mansour Hadi Thursday urged Yemen's army and security forces brass to be vigilant in case enemies of the state try to undermine a national dialogue set to begin later this month.

The army and security forces must be "vigilant" and on the lookout "for the enemies of security, stability and unity in Yemen," ahead of the March 18 national dialogue, the official Saba news agency reported him as saying.

"All military and security apparatus must draft the necessary plans, exchange information, unite operations and monitor terrorist elements," Hadi said.

The much-anticipated national dialogue aims to set in motion a process to draft a new constitution and electoral law for parliamentary and presidential polls elections in 2014.

The talks were originally planned for mid-November but the conference was delayed after factions in the Southern Movement, which has campaigned for autonomy or secession for the formerly independent south, refused to join in.

Hadi was elected in February 2012 as part of a U.N.-backed Gulf-brokered exit deal that eased veteran 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...
out of office after 33 years in power, and ended a year of protests against his regime.

The dialogue, which is stipulated in the Gulf initiative, "is a historic responsibility at a delicate moment during which Yemen is facing security, political and economic crises," Hadi said on Thursday.

He also warned of "severe measures" against anyone who tries to undermine the talks.

Meanwhile,
...back at the argument, Jane reached into her purse for her .38...
General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, a key figure who backed demands by demonstrators for the ouster of Saleh during the 2011 protests, urged military and civilian forces to rally around the dialogue and back Hadi's efforts.

Ahmar told Agence La Belle France Presse this was necessary to secure Yemen's stability and set up "a modern, civilian and democratic state" in the impoverished Arabian Peninsula country.
Posted by: Fred || 03/08/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [15 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


India-Pakistan
Kayani conveys army's concerns to Zardari
[Dawn] Army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani
... four star general, current Chief of Army Staff of the Mighty Pak Army. Kayani is the former Director General of ISI...
conveyed to President Asif Ali Ten Percent Zardari
... husband of the late Benazir Bhutto, who has been singularly lacking in curiosity about who done her in ...
on Thursday the military's concerns over the rapidly deteriorating law and order and called for urgent steps to deal with the situation.

Soon after a corps commanders' conference, where the military's top brass reviewed the internal security situation, the army chief met President Zardari to communicate the disquiet among his commanders about the security situation spiralling out of control.

No details of the meeting were officially revealed either by the army or the presidency.

A one-line statement on the meeting issued by the presidency said: "Chief of Army Staff Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani today called on President Asif Ali Zardari at Aiwan-e-Sadr. Security situation was discussed during the meeting."

A day earlier, the army chief had visited Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
for a briefing on the situation in the city where sectarianism has added a new dimension to continuing violence.

Sources in the presidency said the discussion revolved around recent incidents in Quetta and Karachi and an operation against the banned Lashkar-e-Jhangvi
... a 'more violent' offshoot of Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistain. LeJ's purpose in life is to murder anyone who's not of utmost religious purity, starting with Shiites but including Brelvis, Ahmadis, Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Rosicrucians, and just about anyone else you can think of. They are currently a wholly-owned subsidiary of al-Qaeda ...

They claimed that Gen Kayani had spoken about improper and inefficient utilisation of civilian law-enforcement agencies by the federal and provincial governments in dealing with terrorism.

Gen Kayani has in the past publicly 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...
s over the poor performance of law-enforcement agencies.

He also pointed out the existence of myrmidon wings of certain political parties and connections of some parties with terrorist groups as a major contributing factor to the wave of violence that has gripped the country.

Gen Kayani is said to have reiterated the army's commitment to fully supporting the civilian law-enforcement agencies if asked by the government.
Posted by: Fred || 03/08/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [9 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Arabia
Yemen Seizes Stash of Drugs on Way to Saudi Arabia
[Yemen Post] Yemeni security authorities thwarted on Wednesday an attempt to smuggle 9000 pills of Captagon drugs into 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 their national face...
, the interior ministry reported.

The stash was seized in the western port city of Hodeida and the main suspect Ali Abdullah Al-Sarhi, 29 years old, has been tossed in the slammer
Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up!
, it said.

The pills were concealed inside boxes and a wedding dress which were put inside a parcel, it said, pointing out that the drugs were shipped onboard one of the buses of Bin Muammar Company for Land Transport.

Since the unrest started here in early 2011, the trade in drugs and weapons has thrived in Yemen, which observers say has become a transit hub and a good market for weapons and drugs in recent years.

The authorities have seized many stashes of drugs and several arms cargoes just as the country is struggling to return the situation to normal after the unrest.

Separately, unknown gunnies assassinated Wednesday a security officer in the eastern province of Hadramout
...the formerly independent Qu'aiti state and sultanate, annexed by Communist South Yemen in 1968, encompassing a region along the Gulf of Aden, extending eastwards to the borders of the Dhofar region of Oman. The people are called Hadhramis and speak Hadhrami Arabic. The city Tarimis estimated to contain the highest concentration of descendants of the Prophet Muhammad (PTUI) anywhere in the world, approximately seven in every square yard...
where many key military and coppers have been targeted since last year, the ministry said.

Yasir Muhammad Hamdain was rubbed out by criminal elements in the Qatn town in the Hadramout valley, it said, quoting a local security source as saying "the gunnies were onboard a pickup and bravely ran away before the authorities arrived at the killing site".

Hamdain worked for the supply department of the provincial security authority and a hunt has been launched for the perpetrators, it continued.

Posted by: Fred || 03/08/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [17 views] Top|| File under: Narcos


Southeast Asia
Philippine clan leader wants truce in Sabah
[NEWS.BLOGS.CNN] One of the leaders of a clan from the southern Philippines called for a ceasefire Thursday amid deadly festivities in the Malaysian state of Sabah between armed clan members and Malaysian security forces.

The call for the ceasefire was made at a news conference in Manila by Abraham Idjirani, the front man for one of the leaders of the Sultanate of Sulu, a now defunct kingdom in the southern Philippines whose followers arrived in a remote corner of Sabah last month and claimed illusory sovereignty over the area.

After failing to persuade the scores of clan members to leave peacefully, Malaysian security forces launched an offensive using fighter jets and mortar shells on Tuesday. But the clan's leadership said its followers hadn't suffered casualties from the attack.
Posted by: Fred || 03/08/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [9 views] Top|| File under:


Science & Technology
Test Pilots: F-35's Blind Spot Will Get It 'Gunned Every Time'
The pilots, who formerly flew A-10s and F-16s, didn't seem interested in excuses. Their comments, quoted in the report, are scathingly direct.

"Difficult to see [other aircraft in the visual traffic] pattern due to canopy bow," one said.

"Staying visual with wingman during tactical formation maneuvering a little tougher than [older] legacy [jets] due to reduced rearward visibility from cockpit," another added.

Said a third, "A pilot will find it nearly impossible to check [their six o'clock position] under G [force]."

"The head rest is too large and will impede aft visibility and survivability during surface and air engagements," one pilot reported.

Most damningly: "Aft visibility will get the pilot gunned every time" during a dogfight.
Posted by: Uncle Phester || 03/08/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Oh please. Haters just gonna hate. In the meantime, suck my six.

This is not the 60's. Any pilot who gets close enough to the enemy to have them on their six is already dead. (Test pilots, think about it.)

The visibility out of the F-35 is better than the F-2000 Frenchy fighter or the SU-35, and as I said, if you need visibility there then call your wingman, break, or die.

I am so tired of this endless dribble about how the F-35 is a bad plane. It is not. It is more expensive than current planes, has one engine (which is dumb), is new and has new problems to sort out, and is not quite as nice as we planned when we speced it out. But really, it is pretty sweet and will out-fly anything in the world but an F-15 and an F-22.
Posted by: rammer || 03/08/2013 0:28 Comments || Top||

#2  To pile on -- if someone proposed cancelling the F-35 and buying a huge bag of F-18 F/G's for the Navy and F-15's with RCS updates for the Air Force, we would get about the same capability for less money.

(and no, I do not own any Boeing stock.)

But to simply tear down the Lightning II as it grows through its teething phase is pointless.
Posted by: rammer || 03/08/2013 0:41 Comments || Top||

#3  Planes with actual human pilots? Ain't that kinda old skool?
Posted by: SteveS || 03/08/2013 1:23 Comments || Top||

#4  Excellent point SteveS. A gimbal requires no headrest.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/08/2013 1:28 Comments || Top||

#5  Have they thought about putting a rear facing camera on the plane?

I thought there were cameras everywhere on the plane and you could "see"* through the floor.

*Using goggle HUD
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 03/08/2013 8:03 Comments || Top||

#6  The only reason for dogfights is the ROE. One of the reasons that the Top Gun movie was so funny is that the F-14 was a missile platform designed for fleet defense. It carried six AIM-54 Phoenix missiles that could reach out to 120+ miles. In one of the tests, the F-14 simultaneously launched on six supersonic maneuvering aircraft at a range of 120 miles. It killed all six with the last one going down at 80 miles. The only reason for "dogfighting" was the requirement to "visually" ID the target before engaging. One of many problems caused by too many lawyers.
Posted by: rwv || 03/08/2013 10:10 Comments || Top||

#7  back in the Viet Nam war, the F4's were not initially fitted with anything but missles, thinking that machine guns and cannons were a thing of the past. After the soviet MIG's intercepted our Fathoms we had to go in and retro fit them with 20 mm gatling guns.
Posted by: texhooey || 03/08/2013 13:53 Comments || Top||

#8  Phantoms :)
Posted by: texhooey || 03/08/2013 13:54 Comments || Top||

#9  In the meantime, the Buffer is still flying, sometime 32 hour sorties without any gun:) I believe there are now 3 generations of Buffer crews from the same family.
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 03/08/2013 16:09 Comments || Top||

#10  back in the Viet Nam war, the F4's were not initially fitted with anything but missles, thinking that machine guns and cannons were a thing of the past. After the soviet MIG's intercepted our Fathoms we had to go in and retro fit them with 20 mm gatling guns.

This was apparently related to ROE's. It's pretty amazing that they were using ANG draftees as cannon fodder for this kind of nonsense. LBJ is easily one of the worst presidents we've had:

To compound the problem, rules of engagement in Vietnam precluded long-range missile attacks in most instances, as visual identification was normally required. Many pilots found themselves on the tail of an enemy aircraft but too close to fire short-range Falcons or Sidewinders.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 03/08/2013 16:45 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
George W. Bush in Brief Visit to Korea
Former U.S. president George W. Bush visited Korea on Wednesday and Thursday. Bush came at the invitation of a real estate developer and gave a congratulatory speech at the launch of a new project that is to be built with American investment.

Bush stressed the importance of the Korea-U.S. alliance, saying it is more important than any treaty signed by the two sides. He also said his government worked very closely with Seoul during his term at the White House.

Bush congratulated President Park Geun-hye on her new government.

He headed back to the U.S. on Thursday afternoon aboard a chartered plane.
Posted by: Steve White || 03/08/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [8 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Note the all business approach, ie, quick in - quick out, no golf outing, no week long vacation in conjunction with travel, no hefty entourage of slobbering strap hangers and preppy media sycophants.

Note the mint in the mouth to President Park Geun-hye prior to wheels up.

Yes, I miss him.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/08/2013 1:43 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
Somali government strikes deal with Sufi group
[Shabelle] Somali national government has struck a deal with Ahlu Sunna Wal Jama, a rival Sufi group to the other radical group of Al-Shabaab
... Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda...
which carries out terrorist attacks on both civilians and government supporters.

The treaty came as a high level delegation led by Somali Prime Minister is touring Galgadud region where Ahlu Sunna controls.

A meeting, which led to the signing of this new deal, was held in Abudwaq town and the government was represented in that meeting its interior and defence ministers while Ahlu Sunna was represented by two of its top leaders.

According to the treaty, Ahlu Suuna forces will be incorporated into the Somali national force.

Ahlu Sunna fought bloody struggle against Al-Shabaab in Somalia after the Al Qaeda inspired group destroyed and vandalized graves to some Suni leaders in Somalia.
Posted by: Fred || 03/08/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under:


Africa North
Mali launches reconciliation commission
[MAGHAREBIA] The Malian government on Wednesday (March 6th) set up a reconciliation commission, AFP reported. The secular Touareg National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) is reportedly the only separatist movement with which Malian authorities are willing to negotiate.
Posted by: Fred || 03/08/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [8 views] Top|| File under:



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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.

Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.

Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has dominated Mexico for six years.
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In no particular order...
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Two weeks of WOT
Fri 2013-03-08
  N. Korea to sever hot line with Seoul, nullify non-aggression pacts
Thu 2013-03-07
  Libya Interim Head's Car Comes under Fire
Wed 2013-03-06
  Syria rebels detain UN Golan observers
Tue 2013-03-05
  Chavez Dead
Mon 2013-03-04
  Twenty Islamists Killed in Northeast Nigeria
Sun 2013-03-03
  Jamaat, Shibir stay violent; toll rises to 47
Sat 2013-03-02
  Chad says soldiers in Mali kill al Qaeda's Belmokhtar
Fri 2013-03-01
  Al-Qaeda commander Abu Zeid killed in Mali
Thu 2013-02-28
  Syrian Rebels Say They Killed Hezbollah Deputy Chief
Wed 2013-02-27
  Syria Rebels Push into Police Academy as Jets Strike
Tue 2013-02-26
  Over 50 killed in battle for Syria police academy
Mon 2013-02-25
  Taliban suicide bombers hit Afghan cities, Kabul attack foiled
Sun 2013-02-24
  Karzai orders US special forces out of Afghan province
Sat 2013-02-23
  Syrian Rebels Claim To Seize Nuclear Facility
Fri 2013-02-22
  Boko Haram Denies Ceasefire, Pastes Threat Posters In Borno

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