Gurdaspur: Women officials of the Border Security Force (BSF) reportedly shot dead an intruder allegedly of Pakistani origin on Sunday afternoon.
According to reports, the intruder was trying to enter India through the Derababa outpost in the Gurdaspur sector. The Derababa outpost is guarded by women personnel of the 71st battalion of the BSF.
According to the BSF, the intruder cut the border fence when he noticed that women officials were guarding the post. He was reportedly shot dead by the women officials when he tried to attack them after being told to stop.
"Two women BSF personnel of 74 Battalion noticed the movement nearby barbed wire on the border and they challenged the intruder to surrender as he was illegally trying to sneak into the Indian territory from the Pakistan side," DIG, BSF, PS Bains said.
Mr Bains said that the BSF recovered a sim card belonging to a Pakistan mobile operator, but the intruder's identity was yet to be ascertained.
The incident took place in the Gurdaspur district at around 1:30 pm on Sunday.
Posted by: john frum ||
04/29/2012
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A U.S. drone strike killed four suspected militants in Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal region near the Afghan border on Sunday, intelligence officials and witnesses said, the first strike in almost a month.
The controversial drone programme, a key element in U.S. counter-terrorism efforts, is highly unpopular in Pakistan, where it is considered a violation of sovereignty which causes many civilian casualties.
The remotely piloted aircraft targeted an abandoned girls' high school building used by militants in Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan, the officials and witnesses said.
Three militants were wounded.
"We intercepted internal conversation of the militants asking for arranging four coffins for the slain men in the drone attack. We don't know about their identity and nationality but those living in the girls' school were mostly Arabs," a security official said.
A local resident, Haji Niamat Khan, said more than two dozen militants were living in the school when it was attacked. Only 4 dead out of two dozen? Guess they're learning not to bunch up?
The last drone strike, on March 30, Has it been that long? Faster, please.
killed four suspected militants and wounded three in the same town of Miranshah, a known hotbed for Pakistan Taliban and foreign militants.
The Islamic Republic of Iran said Tuesday that it has the ability to position a naval vessel within three miles of the East Coast of the United States.
The power of our naval forces is such that we have a presence in all the waters of the world and, if needed, we can move to within three miles of New York, Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi said Tuesday during a speech to the students of the University of Yazd in Iran. His remarks were quoted by an Iranian student news agency. ...and I'm sure the admiral will right there on the bridge barking out orders.
The admiral was speaking on the anniversary of a failed April 24, 1980 U.S. military operation dubbed Operation Eagle Claw that sought to rescue American hostages held captive at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran.
Iranian Revolutionary Guards naval commanders said in July 2011 that they would expand their mission into the Atlantic Ocean, and that the country had equipped a number of its vessels with long-range ballistic missiles.
In September, Iranian Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi said Iran planned to deploy naval vessels in the Atlantic Ocean. The Navy has a strong presence in the Caspian Sea, Persian Gulf, Sea of Oman, Indian Ocean and international waters and soon it will be present in the Atlantic Ocean, Vahidi said.
On that same day, Rear Adm. Fadavi dismissed the idea of setting up a military hotline between U.S. and Iran. Media reports had quoted an unidentified U.S. defense official floating the idea after a series of close encounters between the countries forces in the Persian Gulf. When we go to the Gulf of Mexico, Fadavi said, we will establish direct communication with them. ...but not for long.
#1
I'm sure the USN will be happy to escort them anywhere they want to go - especially if they come within missile range of the eastern seaboard. (can you say EMP attack?)
It's a nice navy ya got there. Be a shame if anything happened to it.
#6
"Soon it will be present in the Atlantic Ocean" > which is why, in part, Iran needs Syria = Baby Assad; + Lebanon = Hezbollah-dominated Govt.
Iff Iran can't break the natural andor geopol bottlenecks as per Mediterranean + Southern Africa, it have to satisfy itself wid the Indian Ocean + beyond, aka CHINA + INDIA + SOPAC.
The beheaded, bullet-ridden body of a kidnapped British doctor working for the International Committee of the Red Cross was found dumped by the roadside today in the southwestern Pakistan city of Quetta, police and Red Cross officials said.
Muslim convert Khalil Rasjed Dale, 60, was kidnapped by suspected militants on Jan 5 while on his way home from work.
'The ICRC condemns in the strongest possible terms this barbaric act,' ICRC Director-General Yves Daccord said in a statement. 'All of us at the ICRC and at the British Red Cross share the grief and outrage of Khalil's family and friends.'
Given that a significant chunk of Pakistan views non-Muslim symbols the way blacks perceive the Confederate battle flag, and this demographic tends to have very little control over their murderous impulses, he was a fool to be working for the Red Cross in Pakistan.
Ever since he swept to power on a Left-wing, "anti-imperialist" ticket, it has been one of the bitterest points of contention between Hugo Chavez and his Norteamericano foes.
Claims that Venezuela has deliberately turned a blind eye to the trafficking of vast quantities of US-bound cocaine have been furiously denied by the country's president, who insists it is just another Washington plot to discredit him.
Now, though, backing for the US version of events has come from an unlikely, if arguably well-informed source - an alleged Venezuelan drug lord who claims that dozens of "top level" figures in the Chavez government, including ministers, generals and judges, were on his payroll.
Walid "The Turk" Makled, a portly Venezuelan of Syrian descent described as "the king of kingpins" by US officials, went on trial in Venezuelan earlier this month, where he faces indictment over a $1.4 billion (£1 billion) drug empire that he claims was built with help from Chavez officials.
A part-owner in a Venezuelan airline, "Aeropostal", Mr Makled, 48, is said to have pioneered the use of passenger airliners to export cocaine out of Latin America, a bigger, faster shipping method than the small private jets and boats traditionally used by smugglers.
Even by the extravagant standards of Greek corruption, the scam uncovered by Stelios Bozikis is so brazen that it is hard to credit.
Nearly 600 people on the Ionian island of Zakynthos - of which Mr Bozikis was recently elected mayor - managed to have themselves falsely declared blind, entitling them to fat monthly cheques from the state.
They included taxi drivers, shopkeepers and restaurant owners, farmers tending the island's patchwork of vineyards and olive groves, and a few amateur hunters, whose purported disability did not stop them from spending their weekends shooting rabbits and birds in the rugged mountains of the interior.
Other "blind" locals have been seen cheerfully playing cards and backgammon in the tavernas and bars of the island. "Out of 650 registered blind people on the island, we estimate that at least 600 are fraudulent claims," the mayor told The Sunday Telegraph in his office overlooking the boats crowding the port of Zakynthos Town, the main settlement.
That represents nearly two per cent of the island's population of 35,000 - nearly 10 times the average rate of blindness in the rest of Europe, according to the World Health Organisation.
#2
just FYI there are multiple definitions of blind and it is not just the 'guy with the white cane' that we often think of. in the US there are two different 'legally blind' definitions.
1) vision that will not correct to better than 20/400
2) a narrowing of the field of vision to 10 degrees.
I am legally blind (group 2) but for years had very good visual acuity in the area where i could see. recently i have acquired via aging the need for corrective lenses in order to read books (arm too short disease) and am able to perform most any task that a 'fully sighted' person could.
of course, if there is a wet floor sign out, odds are that i will never know it till i kick the darn thing and until i completely miss noticing an obstacle and walk into it you would never know anything was amiss if you were to spend time around me.
Posted by: abu do you love ||
04/29/2012 16:31
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#3
Point taken, abu. But collecting benefits on the grounds of blindness strikes me as fraud, if they are still able to earn a living.
Controversial US pastor Terry Jones has burned more copies of the Koran and a depiction of the prophet Mohammed to protest the imprisonment in Iran of a Christian clergyman, The Gainesville Sun reported.
The newspaper said Jones and another pastor, who carried out their protest in front of their church in Gainesville, Florida on Saturday, demanded the release of Christian pastor Youcef Nadarkhani from an Iranian prison.
Jones said Nadarkhani faces execution.
According to the report, the Pentagon urged Jones to reconsider, expressing concern that American soldiers in Afghanistan and elsewhere could be put at greater risk because of the act.
In March 2011, Jones' assistant, pastor Wayne Sapp, burned a copy of the Koran and broadcast the ceremony on the Internet.
The images incited violence in northern Afghanistan, in which at least 12 people were killed.
Later, a man wearing an Afghan border police uniform shot dead two US military personnel.
About 20 people attended Saturday's burning, the paper said. Several Gainesville police officers were stationed across the street from the church.
Moments after the ceremony, the Gainesville fire department issued the church a citation for violating the city's fire ordinances, the paper noted.
Britain's military has told residents of an upscale apartment development near the Olympic Park in east London it is installing a missile battery on top of a tower within their housing complex to defend the 2012 Games this summer.
The site is one of a number around the capital the army is considering as bases for surface-to-air missiles to protect the London games from an aerial attack, the Ministry of Defense said.
#3
Is there likely to be an airborne attack against London in honour of the Olympics? To me a jacket wallah or knapsack bombs in the subway or a sniper seems more likely... though granted I have absolutely no expertise in the matter.
#4
Simple plans are always the best. Still, terrorism is as much about theater as anything else, and P in MANPADS (Man Portable Air Defense System) does stand for Portable.
[Dawn] District coordination officer Riaz Khan Mehsud has terminated three Levies personnel from service for remaining absent from duty during the polio ...Poliomyelitis is a disease caused by infection with the poliovirus. Between 1840 and the 1950s, polio was a worldwide epidemic. Since the development of polio vaccines the disease has been largely wiped out in the civilized world. However, since the vaccine is known to make Moslem pee-pees shrink and renders females sterile, bookish, and unsubmissive it is not widely used by the turban and automatic weapons set... vaccination campaign and ordered issuing show-cause notices to 30 health department officials and teachers for dereliction of duty.
The three Levies personnel did not turn up for duty to the assigned points on which Mehsud ordered their immediate sacking. In addition, show-cause notices have been issued to a doctor, 17 lady health workers, one lady health visitor, five medical technicians, four area in-charges of polio in health department and three teachers.
Posted by: Fred ||
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For a map, click here. For a map of Zacatecas state, click here You can read the Rantburg.com report on the April 17th encounter between Mexican security forces and ana an armed group in Zacatecas by clicking here
By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com
The daughter of a top police commander of Jimenez de Teul municipality in extreme western Zacatecas state was among those identified as killed in a shootout with Mexican security forces ten days ago, according to Mexican news accounts.
Maraa Consuelo Argumedo Recendiz, 23, was killed April 17th when a joint patrol of Mexican Army troops and Zacatecas state police agents exchanged gunfire with armed suspects, killing five. Argumedo Recendiz was the daughter of Jimenez de Teul Policia Preventitiva director Rosalio Argumedo Montes, who resigned along with three others when four of his charges were kidnapped by an organized crime group April 4th.
Earlier Mexican press reports referred to a total of ten kidnapped from the municipality, which would track with the April 4th abductions and the disappearance of the first four municipal police agents.
Since that time Jimenez de Teul has been without a police presence. Mexican Army and Zacatecas state police have been patrolling the municipality. No word has been received from the state Fiscalia General de Estado or from other state officials about when a police presence will return to the municipality. The absence has been described in Mexican press as a crisis, since a number of competing criminal groups operate in the border area with Durango state. Other Zacatecas municipalities currently with no police presence include Florencia de Benito Juarez, El Plateado de Joaquin Amaro and Tepetongo municipalities.
The five unidentified individuals who were kidnapped by an armed group included a Jimenez de Teul Polica Preventativa who reportedly attempted to intercept the group. Reports at the time said that the five victims had been taken to Durango state.
Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com
A South African security trainer was killed by his bodyguard in Somalia's semiautonomous region of Puntland ...a region in northeastern Somalia, centered on Garowe in the Nugaal province. Its leaders declared the territory an autonomous state in 1998. Puntland and the equally autonomous Somaliland seem to have avoided the clan rivalries and warlordism that have typified the rest of Somalia, which puts both places high on the list for Islamic subversion... , officials said Saturday.
Puntland's government said in a statement Saturday that it had launched an investigation into Friday's killing. The statement identified the man as Lodewyk Pietersen, and said he worked for Saracen International, a security firm that trains anti-piracy forces in Puntland. The statement said the South African was 55 and married with children.
South African foreign ministry front man Clayson Monyela said Saturday no official word has been received from consular staff handling South African interests in Somalia.
[An Nahar] Senior PLO official Hanan Ashrawi on Saturday attacked Paleostinian Authority "censorship" after authorities in Ramallah shut down websites criticizing President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... "Paleostine should not promote censorship, whether on the Internet or in other forms of communication," Ashrawi, an MP and Paleostine Liberation Organization executive committee member said in a statement.
"The blocking of Paleostinian news websites and other measures that prevent access to information and curb freedom of expression are in complete contradiction to the principles enshrined in the (Paleostinian) Basic Law," she said.
Paleostinian telecommunications minister Mashour Abu Daqqa announced his resignation on Friday, after the public prosecutor ordered the closure of several political websites.
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Aslam Beg tried to bribe Ch Shujaat
Quoted in Jinnah PMLQ leader Mushahid Hussain stated that army chief Aslam Beg had invited Ch Shujaat Hussain to his house and tried to persuade him to take Mehrangate money in order to oust the PPP. But the Chaudhrys refused to take the bait and declined to support Aslam Beg.
Even Sartaj Aziz took Mehrangate money!
Quoted in Jinnah Pervez Perv Musharraf ... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ... stated that that the claim of Younus Habib was correct and the truth is that everybody took money before the 1990 election. He said that it was true that even Sartaj Aziz of the PMLN took the money.
Jamaat Ali Shah speaks out on Indian dams!
Ex-Indus Waters Commissioner Jamaat Ali Shah who was rumoured to have decamped abroad spoke in Lahore to Jinnah
...which suggests the rumours were false...
saying that the Baglihar Dam Case against India was ruined by Pervez Musharraf and he should be held responsible. He said India was building illegal dams on Pak rivers because it was allowed by high officials in Pakistain who were appointed without merit. He said if anyone called him a traitor who had sold out Indus waters to India would be taken to court by him. According to Nawa-e-Waqt, Jamaat Ali Shah also said that Indus Waters Treaty should be carefully read because it allows India to take waters from Pakistain's rivers for domestic use.
'The robe of PMLN is without a spot!'
There was no comment on the status of the undergarments, however.
Quoted in Jinnah Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah stated that the robe of his party the PMLN was without a spot (daman saaf hai) as far as Mehrangate money was concerned. He said the scandal was raked up by corrupt rulers to distract public attention from their own misdeeds. He added that Younus Habib was a certified agent of the establishment.
Javed Hashmi accuses PPP
Tehrik Insaf leader Javed Hashmi who is accused of taking ISI money as a member of PML told Mashriq that the accusers Younus Habib and Yusuf Memon were both linked to the PPP. He said Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... and all politicians accused of taking bribe for the 1990 elections should present themselves for accountability. According to Nawa-e-Waqt, Hashmi claimed that Younus Habib was a turncoat who once offered to be a witness against Asif Ali President Ten Percent Zardari ... sticky-fingered husband of the late Benazir Bhutto ... Aslam Beg's son-in-law got Rs 155 million
According to Jinnah Imtiaz Ali son-in-law of Army Chief General Aslam Beg got Rs 155 million
At an exchange rate of PKR 90.89 to the dollar, 155,000,000 PKR = 1,705,418.10 USD, which is rather a large bribe by American standards.
for his firm from the Mehrangate funds arranged by the general through Younus Habib. As for the family and friends of Nawaz Sharif they received Rs 20 crore from the same source.
Mian Mehbub defends Objectives Resolution
Ex-Chief Justice of Lahore Court Mian Mehbub Ahmad was quoted by Nawa-e-Waqt as saying that Pakistain's Objectives Resolution of 1949 was greatly similar to the Mithaq-e-Madina, the charter proclaimed for the city of Madina after Hijrat. He said both ensured the rights of the non-Mohammedan minorities.
Was that when Mohammed was still preaching kindness to those Allah hates, before he got into the conquesting and enslaving and paying jizya?
He was speaking to a meeting in Lahore.
Lord Nazir and America
Member of the House of Lords in the UK Lord Nazir was quoted in Nawa-e-Waqt as saying that America was not Pakistain's friends but an enemy that used hypocrisy (munafiq) in its relationship with Pakistain.
Quite unlike Pakistan, which uses taqiyya, because as Mohammed said, "War is deceit."
He said China alone qualified as Pakistain's best friend
Is not Saudi Arabia Pakistan's best friend and benefactor? What happened?
and he claimed that Pakistain soon will enter a period of peace and prosperity.
Said peace and prosperity being demonstration of Allah's approval. But what will happen if Allah continues not to approve?
IJI was Satan's party
Columnist Hasan Nisar wrote in Jang that the IJI alliance made with Mehrangate money by Army Chief Aslam Beg was the Party of Satan which is formed to drink the blood of the people of Pakistain. The IJI, though named as an Islamic alliance, had nothing to do with Islam; in fact it brought a bad name to Islam and insulted the Pak people.
A poor country of rich senators
Daily Jinnah reported that a number of senators in Pakistain were very rich owning assets abroad more than in Pakistain. Chairman Senate Nayyar Bukhari owned plots in Islamabad valued at more than a billion rupees. Interior minister Rehman Malik Pak politician, current Interior Minister under the Gilani administration. Malik is a former Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) intelligence officer who rose to head the FIA during Benazir Bhutto's second tenure. He later joined the Pak Peoples Party and was chief security officer to Bhutto. Malik was tossed from his FIA job in 1998 after documenting the breath-taking corruption of the Sharif family. By unhappy coincidence Nawaz Sharif became PM at just that moment and Malik moved to London one step ahead of the button men. owned 40 kanals in Sialkot worth crores, a plot in Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It may be the largest city in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... DHA and a house in London worth Rs33 crore. Ishaq Dar too owned big business and property abroad.
'I will drag PPP rulers on roads!'
Fearless chief minister of Punjab Shahbaz Sharif was quoted in Express as saying that after the next election he would catch hold of the 40 thieves of PPP and drag them on the road from Larkana and Bloody Karachi all the way to Lahore. He said the prime minister did not want to write a letter to Switzerland ...home of the Helvetians, famous for cheese, watches, yodeling, and William Tell... because he wanted to protect the looted wealth of Zardari. He said Zardari wanted to hide his wealth behind the grave of his wife Benazir Bhutto ... 11th Prime Minister of Pakistain in two non-consecutive terms from 1988 until 1990 and 1993 until 1996. She was the daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, founder of the Pakistain People's Party, who was murdered at the instigation of General Ayub Khan. She was murdered in her turn by person or persons unknown while campaigning in late 2007. Suspects include, to note just a few, Baitullah Mehsud, General Pervez Musharraf, the ISI, al-Qaeda in Pakistain, and her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, who shows remarkably little curiosity about who done her in... Plastic surgery not allowed
Quoted in Express Allama Ibtisam Elahi Zaheer of Ahle Hadith said that plastic surgery was not allowed in Islam but those suffering from a birth defect could resort to it. Some other holy mans said that if a nose is crooked it can be put right through plastic surgery. But a eunuch said plastic surgery was necessary for his class because they became gay after surgery.
Lawyers thrash court officials
Reported in Express a group of lawyers went berserk at a court of Lahore Cantt when court officials did not register their case according to their desires. They attacked the court notary (muharrir) and gave him a good thrashing and people who came to rescue were threatened by the lawyer gang (wukla-gardi). They were also deprived of their money and other belongings by the enraged wukla. The court officials decided to close down the court and go on strike.
Pakistan is a very, very special place.
ISI didn't know
Columnist Hamid Mir wrote in Jang last time he was London a member of parliament said to him that since he had met Osama bib Laden he should be able to tell if the ISI was in the dark about Osama living for years in Abbottabad ... A pleasant city located only 30 convenient miles from Islamabad. The city is noted for its nice weather and good schools. It is the site of Pakistain's military academy, which was within comfortable walking distance of the residence of the late Osama bin Laden.... . To which Hamid Mir replied that he was sure the ISI and the Army did not know that Osama was staying in Abbottabad. It was incompetence (na-ehli) of the two rather than complicity.
Imran Khan is like Gadafi
Reported in Mashriq Salman Rushdie said in India that Imran Khan ... aka Taliban Khan, who who convinced himself that playing cricket qualified him to lead a nuclear-armed nation with severe personality problems... had joined the Army and the Mullah in his politics and was not sincere. He added that Imran Khan would end up being like Libya's Gadafi who caused so much suffering to his people. Imran Khan even looked like Gadafi and if someone likes to make a film of on Gadafi Imran should star in it. He said in his youth he used to call him playboy but now he simply calls him an idiot.
Memogate ended Pasha's career
Daily Mashriq reported that ISI chief General Ahmad Shuja Pasha ended his career by mounting the Memogate case against the PPP and left his job after implicating Pakistain in an expensive litigation in which the main character Mansoor Ijaz lied to protect American interests to an extent that the case became jeopardised.
#1
IJI was Satan's party
Columnist Hasan Nisar wrote in Jang that the IJI alliance made with Mehrangate money by Army Chief Aslam Beg was the Party of Satan which is formed to drink the blood of the people of Pakistain. The IJI, though named as an Islamic alliance, had nothing to do with Islam; in fact it brought a bad name to Islam and insulted the Pak people.
There is some hope in Pakistan with articles like above.
Also how are the Chinese best friends when they are Godless like the Russians?
A year after the Navy SEAL raid that killed the late Osama bin Laden, ... who no longer exists... the Al Qaeda that carried out the Sept. 11 attacks is essentially gone but its affiliates remain a threat to America, U.S. counterterrorist officials say. The situation's similar to the end of World War II: Europe (the world, in fact) was still crawling with fascists and Nazis, but they weren't a major threat anymore. The literature of the time still featured evil Nazi villains, but the real world news had moved on to other things.
Core Al Qaeda's new leader, 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... still aspires to attack the U.S., but his Pakistan-based group is scrambling to survive, under fire from CIA drone zaps and lying low for fear of another U.S. raid. That has lessened the threat of another complex attack like a nuclear dirty bomb or a biological weapon, the officials say. This is probably the spot to note that the Paks still wax indignant over the drone zaps, even though they are theoretically to the benefit of the Paks. North Wazoo is way outside the control of Islamabad, though they still maintain liaison with the Qaeda-allied groups, including Jalaluddin Haqqani's little empire, various Pak Taliban groups, and the remnants of TNSM. Sami ul-Haq's Darul Uloom Haqqania madrassa, in Akora Khattak, turns out a thousand "Islamic scholars" a year. Mullah Sandwich is, of course, known as "the Father of the Taliban" and the madrassa is the "Harvard of the Taliban movement." Sami is unmolested and in fact revered in Pakistain, even having sat in the senate for a few years. He probably needed two chairs to accommodate the size of his ego.
Al Qaeda's loyal offshoots are still dangerous, especially Yemen's Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP. Some are, some aren't.
Al-Qaeda in Britain appears to be defunct, as does al-Q in Europe. We occasionally hear of an al-Q in Turkey kaboom, but the Grand Turk seems diligent about rounding them up and letting them see how they like being in a Turkish prison.
Al-Qaeda in Iraq died when Zarqawi got his. The level of violence has been dropping since he was stuffed and mounted, and the Iraqis are now capable of rounding up the Islamic remnants. They won't become a threat to the state unless the state starts to collapse.
Jemaah Islamiya, in southeast Asia, is similarly not quite defunct but getting there. Abu Sayyaf is reduced to being little more than bandidos, which is what they started out as, and the Pentagon Gang doesn't seem to be with us anymore.
JMB and HuJI in Bangladesh are also goners. Keep in mind that Bangla is a tangle of corruption and personality politics. All it takes to control terrorism is
to keep terrorism enablers like Jamaat-e-Islami out of the government and
a certain degree of ruthlessness.
Bangla has the second with the Rab, and they got the first when the government of Sheikh Hasina won over the loathsome BNP coalition of Khaleda Zia.
Qaeda in North Africa seems to have been mostly run out of Algeria, never got a toehold in Libya or Morocco, and hasn't even done well in Mauritania. The best they've been able to do recently is link up with the Tauregs and capture Timbuktoo from Mali, which is one of those things where you'd be surprised if they couldn't do it.
The Ethiopians are in Somalia, kicking Islamic butt for the second time. The Islamic Courts have been broken up -- the only guy they had who seemed to have any sense is now president of Somalia, while al-Shabaab, which was a mere murderous faction, is being forced out by the Aethiops, the AU, and domestic Islamist but not Qaeda groups. The turbans are now trying to take over Puntland, which will probably be a lot harder than they expect.
Boko Haram is on the rise in Nigeria and it presents a major threat that I don't think the Nigerian government quite comprehends. They're already picked up on two important facts: it's sponsored and financed by Nigerian politicians for domestic political ends, which is sure recipe for having your monster eat you at some point in the future; and there is significant foreign involvement. At some point they will either get serious and start rounding up holy men, or they'll have another civil war that will make Biafra look like... ummm... jello wrestling.
While not yet able to carry out complex attacks inside the U.S., ... which was the whole idea behind the War on Terror...
such groups are capable of hitting Western targets overseas ... and always will be. It doesn't take much in the way of hardware of training to commit an act of terror. Witness Breivik, the Norwegian anti-Islamist nutbag.
and are building armies and expertise while plotting violence, The "armies" are infinitesimal. Every time they pop up, except for Pakistain and possibly Timbuktoo, they get chopped to pieces. Usually it's by the local government, sometimes by Aethiops. Even in Yemen, which is a failed state by any definition except perhaps (and only perhaps) the one current in Sana'a, they're getting chopped up. They had to get rid of Saleh, and now they're getting rid of Saleh's minions, but they're hitting back in the south, and last we saw they were in the process of retaking Zinjibar. Like the maggots they are, al-Q thrives on decay and corruption. Once an even remotely competent government is in place they revert to being nothing but nuisances, if occasionally fatal nuisances.
according to senior U.S. counterterrorist officials who briefed reporters Friday. "Each will seek opportunities to strike Western interests in its operating area, but each group will have different intent and ability to execute those plans," said Robert Cardillo, a deputy director at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. That's kind of a plain vanilla statement of the obvious. I wonder why they call it Fox "News"?
The shift from a single, deadly group to a more amorphous threat may not seem much of an improvement. If you're being attacked by a horde of screaming Huns and General Aetius shows up with his legions to break the horde into smaller, digestible groups, your situation's improved. If you're foolish enough not to follow up and finish the job, and maybe even have Aetius bumped off, then failure's your own damned fault.
But the U.S. believes that the bin Laden raid and continued U.S. counterterrorist action have reduced the chance of a sophisticated, multipronged attack on the U.S. like the attacks of Sept. 11 or the deadly bombings in Madrid in 2004 and in London in 2005. The threat's "reduced" only because they're in the past. Young fellows who think turbans are neat continue running off to Pakistain to buy curly-toed slippers and to learn how to blow things up. It does not take a lot of money or a lot of training to commit an act of terror, especially when the agent is considered expendable. Every major act of terrorism in at least the past five years and maybe ten (I haven't checked in detail) has had at least one Pak involved at the controller level. The willingness to expend human life to achieve relatively minor ends is a hallmark of al-Q, and especially of Pak-based al-Q. Their level of respect for human life would make Fu Manchu blanch. Even Thulsa Doom would come down with the vapors.
An attack with weapons of mass destruction -- chemical, biological or nuclear -- by any Al Qaeda-related terror group also seems less likely in the coming year, Cardillo said. ... unless they can fit them into a boom jacket...
Al Qaeda's Zawahiri has not managed to harness multiple groups into a cohesive force focused on a single, catastrophic attack, officials said. Al Qaeda's key affiliates in Yemen, Somalia, Iraq and North Africa have pledged allegiance to Zawahri but, unimpressed with his leadership, "have not offered the deference they gave bin Laden," Cardillo said. Zawahri has a reputation as an abrasive manager and a less than charismatic speaker. He's argumentative and dogmatic, but he's also likely to have people he disagrees with blown up. His own end could very likely be at the hands of an indignant Mehsud whose second cousin's car blew up after an argument with Screech.
That loss of a single, charismatic voice likely means "multiple voices will provide inspiration for the movement," leading to a bout of soul-searching as to what the splinter groups want to target and why, Cardillo said. "There will be a vigorous debate about local versus global jihad within and among terror organizations," he said. The charismatic leaders will also be the guys who get that clenchy feeling between their shoulder blades whenever they hear a jet aircraft.
Another potentially positive sign is Al Qaeda's failure to hijack the Arab Spring revolt in Egypt, Tunisia or Libya. On the negative side, the officials said, Al Qaeda is working hard to co-opt rebels in Syria. Thre's been considerable alarm taken over the success of the Moslem Brüautderbund and al-Islah in the new Arab Spring governments. Since I don't have to live under their rule I'm considerably more sanguine. They're the cowpox to the al-Qaeda smallpox. The same people who are Islamist today were Nasserites or socialists fifty or sixty years ago, fascists 75 years ago, or Baathists at any time within that span. We're looking at a society where people follow the guy who has all the answers. The MB will now be given the chance to show their stuff, which will mean another thirty or forty years of oppression, just oppression that's of a different flavor than the oppression of the uniformed dictators they've been living under. There'll be another "Arab Spring" at some point in the future (I'll be dead by then) and the MB will be replaced by some other bunch that has all the answers. And so on for another thirty or forty or even fifty years.
If the political wrangling in any of the post-revolt nations fails to produce stable, responsive governments, Al Qaeda and its ilk may be able to seize the void, the officials said. But they'll only be significantly successful if the governments collapse completely, as in the case of Yemen, Somalia, or northern Mali. Or if there's government connivance, as in the case of Pakistain.
That's what has occurred in Yemen, where AQAP has taken full advantage of the local government's preoccupation fighting multiple political opponents.
Top of the list was getting rid of Saleh and then making sure he continues to be gotten rid of. The Thing That Wouldn't Leave assumed that because Hadi had been his vice president he would simply become the power behind the throne. Hadi's turned out to be more independent minded than expected, and the power behind the throne thing hasn't been working as well as expected.
Second on the list is AQAP, which Saleh also seems to have tried to remote control.
A close third behind them is the "legitimate" southern autonomy (or independence) movement. Yemen used to be divided into North and South Yemen, and the two weren't fond of each other. That was the "civil war" that put Saleh in the Seat of All Power in the first place.
Fourth would be the Houthis in North Yemen. Iran plays the same part with them that AQAP plays with the "legitimate" southern autonomy guys.
We can add in finally, not in actual fifth place but overlaying everything else, the competing tribal structures that are similar to those in Somalia or the Pashtunistan. Hadramaut, for instance, used to be a separate sultanate, not as big as Oman but nearly as independent. There are major linguistic and cultural differences...
When you come right down to it lots of Yemenis simply don't like each other, and with good reason
AQAP has grown in size and territory covered despite constant and expanded targeting by Yemeni and U.S. counterterrorist forces, the officials said. Actually they've waxed and waned. They were waxing when they hit the USS Cole in 2000, they waned post-9/11, to the point where the "Aden-Abyan Army" winked out of existence. Then they started waxing again when Saleh's troubles started and he needed something to threaten his opposition with and to try and round up support from the U.S. and the Brits. Now I think they're slowly starting to wane again as Hadi tries getting them under control and we keep dronezapping.
Another threat they cited: Homegrown extremists, either lone actors or small groups inspired by Al Qaeda, who remain intent on committing violence. These are the nuisance guys that we'll never be rid of unless we start catching them on Monday, trying them on Tuesday, and hanging them on Wednesday.
The officials also noted that every time U.S. counterterrorist forces strike, they must take care to avoid everything from civilian casualties to hitting the wrong target, lest the blowback produce more enemies. "The key challenge will be balancing aggressive counterterrorism operations, with the risk of exacerbating the anti-Western global agenda" of Al Qaeda and its affiliates, Cardillo said. Whether we kill innocent bystanders or not, the Urdu press and the Iran news agencies will report that we did. Green Helmet Guy and his analogs are still around. So I don't think unreasonable care is actually called for.
Posted by: Mike Ramsey ||
04/29/2012
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It's why we need rods-from-goddot that look like small meteors.
Posted by: Water Modem ||
04/29/2012 3:51
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f.e. not attributable as drone zaps.
Posted by: Water Modem ||
04/29/2012 3:52
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maser cookouts from space would be good too as cursory autopsies would suggest stroke.
Posted by: Water Modem ||
04/29/2012 3:56
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for that matter masers should radiate over common AQ crossing points into Afghanistan.
Posted by: Water Modem ||
04/29/2012 3:57
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The countries that officially recognised the Taliban ie Pakistan,Saudi and UAE need to be looked at re ideology,funding and foot soldiers.
[An Nahar] The South Sudanese army said Saturday that it repelled an attack by rebels backed by neighboring Sudan outside Malakal, capital of the decampedgling country's Upper Nile State.
"It was Sudan-supported militias that attacked SPLA (South Sudan army) positions" around Malakal on Friday, Colonel Philip Aguer told AFP, adding that the South Sudanese army repelled the attack, with an unknown number of casualties.
But the rebels claimed to have surrounded Malakal, saying in a statement: "The magnanimous forces of South Sudan Democratic Army (SSDA) launched Operation Ending Corruption and surrounded Malakal ... and captured its surroundings."
Aguer said, for his part: "The SPLA is still chasing them and is observing another group this morning that has entered our territory," adding that the rebels who attacked Friday were under the command of warlord Johnson Olony and came from Sudan's White Nile State.
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The word "Liberal Islam" provokes very diverse responses in Pakistain. Some laugh it away as an oxymoron, the more secular of us see it with cynicism as consisting of 'moderates' and non-practicing Moslems, and the orthodox treat it scornfully as heresy, justifying that Islam was already revealed as the perfect and unchanging religion, the complete code of life for all times to come. Amidst all this skepticism, the existence of Liberal Islam as a real phenomenon within the Islamic theological tradition is neglected. The marginalization of this mode of Islamic thought from public discourse and the resultant dominance of orthodoxy has resulted in grave consequences all over the world.
The practice of Islam as it exists all over the world, including Pakistain, can broadly be categorized into three traditions. The first is the Customary tradition, which is noted by the incorporation of regional practices and beliefs, such as reverence for saintly figures, forms of music and beliefs in spirit and magic. The other rapidly spreading tradition is Revivalist Islam, also called fundamentalism or Wahhabism, which aims to rid religion of all un-Islamic influences and envisions a return to the past in which Islam in its 'true' form was practiced. The third and much-neglected tradition of Liberal Islam is critical of both Customary and Revivalist traditions and maintains that Islam is compatible with the spirit of modernity if interpreted properly. It is a tradition within Islam that subscribes to liberal and modern values, such as opposition to theocracy, support for democracy, guarantees of the rights of women and non-Moslems in Islamic societies, defense of freedom of thought, and belief in the potential for human progress.
There are different approaches that theologians of Liberal Islam have taken to support their claims, and the tradition itself encompasses a heterogeneous group of thought. I see it as forming a whole spectrum of beliefs, progressing in a ladder-like fashion. Let's begin with the Brute-Force Liberal Islam. This approach separates religious law from public life and politics without attempting an adequate theological explanation of how or why it is justified in religion. Ataturk and his modernization of Turkey is a poignant example of it, and this is also very commonly adopted in Pakistain by the 'moderates', who can neither let go of Islam nor secularism, and hence live with an uneasy compromise.
Then we have a view-point that Koran and Sunnah if properly understood are already liberal in nature (Liberal Sharia). This is also a popular form of Liberal Islam, and understandably so, promoted these days by Javed Ahmad Ghamidi and the likes of him. It is also, however, the most vulnerable to attacks of conservative-minded scholars, as the proponents generally struggle against the well-developed orthodox theology with all the references to Koran and Hadith and Sunnah worked out in detail.
Progressing on the ladder, we come across Silent Sharia, the idea that Koran and Sunnah are silent on a number of matters, and this silence allows room for progress within Islam. This is another well-known position, but limited in its extent because as it turns out, Sharia with its claim to being a complete code of life is not silent on a whole lot of matters! Abd al-Raziq, an Egyptian scholar, provides an example of this thought when he argues that Sharia is silent on the specific form a government has to take, and thereby he paves the way for democracy in Islam.
Things begin to get heretical from here onwards. We have the Koranists, the group of theologians who claim that the Koran alone is valid as a source of Islamic law and Hadith must be rejected in general for a number of reasons that these scholars present (and debate very furiously!). Ghullam Ahmed Perwez of the Tolue-e-Islam movement is one of the familiar proponents. Being restricted to the Koran allows for greater leverage than having to deal with the whole of Shariah, and also allows for more creative ways of interpretation.
Next we have Contextual Islam which believes that the legal, moral and social dictates of Islamic law are context dependent, and therefore subject to modification with change in context. This may apply to Hadith only, or for some to both Koran and Hadith. There are proponents such as Allama Iqbal who believed that hadiths of legal nature were context-dependent, and Mahmoud Mohamed Taha from Sudan who believed that all the Medinan verses merely refer to the historical applicability of the Koranic essence revealed in Meccan verses to the society as it existed in the Prophet's time and place. Therefore, it is only the general principles elaborated in the Meccan verses that are to be followed, while the rest have to be reconstructed according to the needs of the time.
The most daring of Islamic scholars currently belong to the Interpreted Sharia mode which says that Sharia is divinely revealed, but the interpretations are human and fallible and can be subjected to critique. These theologians argue that interpretation is always based on human perspective and therefore cannot be granted a universal applicability, even though the scripture is divine. Fazlur Rehman of Pakistain is a well-known theologian of this tradition. He said that the Koran is the divine response, through the Prophet's mind, to the moral-social situation of the Prophet's Arabia, and a proper interpretation of the Koran would consist of two steps. The first step would be to understand the Koran's specific responses to specific situations; and the second step would be to generalize those answers and enunciate them as statements of generalized moral-social objectives that can be distilled from the religious texts in the light of socio-historical background. Another established thinker of Interpreted Sharia is the Algerian-French scholar Mohammed Arkoun, who applied Western hermeneutical techniques borrowed from structuralism and postmodernism to the Koran, and preferred a secular analysis keeping in view the historicity of tradition. Arkoun believed that traditional Islamic thought has restricted itself by creating boundaries of interpretations determining what is "thinkable"; Arkoun uses techniques of Deconstruction to uncover the "unthinkable" in Islamic tradition, the meanings which have been marginalized and oppressed. He argues for pluralism within Islam and acceptance of multiple interpretations.
While Moslem scholars have challenged interpretations, there are very few who have contested the literalism that is associated with the scripture; it is possible to maintain, like many Christians, that Koran is not the literal word of God, but was inspired by God and clothed in human language because of the constraints of the human condition. It is also consistent with the view that may see Islam as a mystic tradition rather than a revealed religion. This doctrine has not yet seen any significant adoption among Islamic theologians, but has been expressed in certain neo-Vedantist reviews of Islam and remains a potential mode of thought.
This is another popular version of Liberal Islam in Pakistain, often adopted by people who label themselves (mistakenly) as 'Sufi Moslems'. These adherents of Essence Islam, as I call it, maintain their distance from theological debates by stripping Islam to its bare essence and believe that to follow Islam is not to follow the rules of Sharia, which are human sociopolitical developments, rather it is to follow the essence of what Islam prescribes, such as morality, rationality, justice, modesty, etc., i.e. to be a good human being.
Such is the diversity and richness of Liberal Islam which has been much ignored. We have here a number of theological traditions in which Islam can be made compatible with modernity and liberalism. The only way these solutions can work is if Moslems are willing to do so, which sadly they still are not. As Daniel Pipes astutely remarks: "Islam can be whatever Moslems wish to make of it." The possibility of a modernist reform is there; templates and prototypes exist. The only question for Moslems is: Are you up for it?
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#8
Liberal Islam is an alliance of two groups that hate western civilization. See liberal and see Islam for details on the groups. Also referred to as the true Axis of Evil.
[An Nahar] Abdul Rahman Nayef al-Obeidi, a 22-year-old Iraqi farmer, fell in love with two women, but instead of choosing between them, he married both in one night in a small village in central Iraq. Every man's dream, every man's nightmare...
The wedding ceremony for Obeidi and two of his cousins, Intidhar, 17, and Suad, 22, was held on April 6 at his family home in Al-Laqlaq village, north of Tikrit. Rumor has it that Osama bin Laden, after being cooped up in the house with three wives for five years, was the one who actually called in his location to the SEALs...
Posted by: Fred ||
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The wedding ceremony for Obeidi and two of his cousins, Intidhar, 17, and Suad, 22, was held on April 6 at his family home in Al-Laqlaq village, north of Tikrit.
I think I see the problem....
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
04/29/2012 8:08
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MK doesn't sound good does it? They still haven't figured out to stop pi$$ing in the gene pool have they?
I've forgotten was it the Juice that discovered genetics?
(Ma'an) -- A Paleostinian man was jugged by the Israeli army at a Nablus checkpoint on Saturday while carrying explosives, a military spokeswoman said.
The man was in possession of two bombs at Huwwara checkpoint and taken into custody, she said.
[Dawn] Two bodyguards and two suicide kaboomers were killed in a firefight inside the governor's compound in Afghanistan's southern Kandahar province Saturday, an official said.
"Two suicide attackers and two bodyguards of the governor have been killed in the attack," Kandahar government front man Zalmay Ayobi told AFP.
The beturbanned goons, who somehow made it through the tight security at the compound, exchanged fire with Afghan cops while a 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... helicopter hovered overhead, an AFP news hound at the scene said.
"We are inside the compound and we are all fine," provincial governor Toryalai Weesa told AFP as the fighting raged.
"Two to three hooligans have entered the compound -- the security forces have surrounded them, they will soon be killed or captured," he said.
Kandahar province is the heartland of hardline Taliban gun-hung tough guys and has been one of the hardest hit in 10 years of war in which NATO troops are supporting the government of 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...
Afghan militants hid guns in shoes for Kandahar attack
Two Talibs hiding handguns in their shoes infiltrated a government compound in southern Afghanistan on Saturday in an attempt to assassinate a provincial governor, setting off a fierce gunbattle that left two security guards and both attackers dead.
The assailants passed through a pair of security checks without their weapons being detected before a guard at the last check -- in the reception room for the governor's office -- noticed something suspicious and stopped them, said Gov. Tooryalai Wesa, the apparent target of the attack.
The Death Eaters then pulled the guns out of their shoes, shot the guards and took their weapons, he said.
That sparked a shoot-out with security forces that lasted about 30 minutes and left both attackers dead, said Parwiz Najib, a front man for the governor.
Police also discovered two cars parked outside the compound that had been rigged with explosives, apparently ready to be set off if there was a surge of people out into the street, Governor Wesa said. The police defused those bombs, he said.
Perhaps I am misreading the signs, but it seems the Afghans are getting better at this kind of thing.
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Addressing Pakistan's National Assembly for the first time following his conviction in the contempt of court case, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said that he could only be de-notified by the speaker.
"My crime is that I protected the constitution," Gilani said while addressing the parliament.
[An Nahar] Official Syrian newspapers accused U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon on Saturday of "encouraging terrorists" and U.N.-Arab envoy Kofi Annan ...Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh and so far the worst Secretary-General of the UN. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize for something or other that probably sounded good at the time. In December 2004, reports surfaced that Kofi's son Kojo received payments from the Swiss company Cotecna, which had won a lucrative contract under the UN Oil-for-Food Program. Kofi Annan called for an investigation to look into the allegations, which stirred up the expected cesspool but couldn't seem to come up with enough evidence to indict Kofi himself, or even Kojo... of failing to deliver on his promises.
At the same time, Arab and other countries were denounced for ignoring bombings in Syria, which the regime attributes to "terrorists" and the opposition to the government itself.
State newspaper Ath-Thawra wrote that "Kofi Annan boasts of the reports of his observers, and Ban Ki-Moon can invent any accusation he has been told to, but will they respect their promises and obligations?"
"Why don't they request the withdrawal of these terrorists? Why not mention their presence, their role and their supporters and financiers? And the killers who made them and allowed them to infiltrate our streets and exist among us?"
It said that those Arab countries "supported from abroad" do not want Annan's six-point peace plan to succeed.
"Groups and individuals were quick to declare (the plan's) failure ... with the alternatives being blood and terror and systematic killing and liquidation."
Government newspaper Tishrin wrote in an editorial that "the secretary general avoids talking about abuses by gangs and focuses his blame solely on Syria, as usual. He encourages these groups to continue to commit more crimes and terrorist acts, which at the end of the day, the Syrian citizen pays for with his life, blood and security."
The paper asserted that a Damascus ...Capital of the last remaining Baathist regime in the world... suicide kaboom on Friday proves that "armed terrorist groups" are continuing their aggression in violation of the U.N. ceasefire and in spite of the arrival of the international observers.
"Arab and international silence regarding the terrorist bombings in Syria (and) encourages the snuffies to repeat their crimes amid applause from countries such as Qatar, Soddy Arabia and Turkey."
The Baath newspaper, mouthpiece of the ruling party, accused the Saudis and Qataris of a "comprehensive escalation of crime" because it is the only way left "to derail the Annan plan."
The Syrian accusations contrast with widespread international condemnation, including from Ban and Annan, of the Syrian regime for not complying with its commitments under the plan. These include a ceasefire and a withdrawal of troops and heavy weapons from flashpoint cities.
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In future, instead of just pasting the URL, try writing a word or phrase, highlight it, then click on the little globe icon below "Pic-a-Nic" below the comment box. Paste the URL into the box that pops up, click OK, and Fred's clever programming will create a hot link for you. Enjoy!
Lebanese authorities seized a large consignment of Libyan weapons including rocket-propelled grenades and heavy caliber ammunition from a ship intercepted in the Mediterranean, the army said on Saturday.
It did not say where the vessel was heading but the ship's owner told Reuters it was due to unload in the northern Lebanese port of Tripoli.
The army said in a statement the weapons were found in three containers carried by the Sierra Leone-flagged Letfallah II, which was impounded along with its 11-man crew and taken to a navy port in Beirut.
Pictures released by the army showed dozens of crates inside the containers, some of them filled with belts of heavy ammunition and rocket-propelled grenades.
Labeling on one box said it contained fragmentation explosives, and several identified them as coming from Libya.
One was marked "Tripoli/Benghazi SPLAJ", referring to Libya's formal name during the 42-year rule of Moammar Gadhafi - the Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya.
Another was stamped Misrata, the Libyan town which formed a base for rebels who overthrew Gadhafi last year in one of several uprising which swept the Arab world.
Ship owner Mohammad Khafaji said he was told the craft was carrying engine oil, and was unaware of any weapons. "The law doesn't allow me to open and inspect the containers," he said by telephone from Egypt.
Khafaji said a broker from Lebanon had made contact, asking originally for a shipment of 12 containers of "general cargo" to be shipped from Libya to Lebanon. In the end, after two days' delay, the ship left with just the three containers, he said.
It sailed to Turkey and then the Egyptian port of Alexandria before heading for Tripoli in Lebanon, but as it was completing formalities for docking there the crew was told to take the ship to another port, Selaata, to unload the cargo.
"After that we lost contact with the crew," he said.
[An Nahar] Russia on Saturday said it backed delivering a "decisive rebuff" to "terrorists" operating in Syria a day after state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
reported 11 people killed in a kaboom outside a Damascus ...Capital of the last remaining Baathist regime in the world... mosque.
"We are convinced that the forces of Evil operating in Syria need a decisive rebuff, and that all domestic and outside players need to prevent any support" from reaching the rebel forces, the foreign ministry said in a statement.
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[An Nahar] Sudan on Saturday rejected U.N. Security Council involvement in efforts to end weeks of border festivities with South Sudan, which said it repelled an attack by Khartoum-backed rebels.
"Sudan confirms that it rejects any efforts to disturb the African Union ...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful... role and take the situation between Sudan and South Sudan to the U.N. Security Council," Foreign Minister Ali Karti said after a month of deadly festivities which have raised fears of a wider war.
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Gunmen in inflatable dinghies attacked a military unit on Syria's Mediterranean coast, state media said on Saturday, the first seaborne assault in a 13-month-old revolt against Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Trampler of Homs... The nocturnal raid, along with the killings of at least 15 people in violence in two areas near the capital, underlined the threadbare state of a UN-brokered ceasefire deal that has Western leaders talking of tougher steps to stop the bloodshed.
The official SANA news agency said several gunnies and soldiers died in the battle that followed the coastal attack near the northern port of Latakia, 35 km south of the Turkish border.
"The fighting ... resulted in the death and wounding of a number of military personnel while the number of those killed from the terrorist group was not known because they attacked the military unit at night," SANA said.
It did not state the nationality of the attackers.
Damascus ...Home to a staggering array of terrorist organizations... has accused Turkey of allowing weapons and funds to flow to beturbanned goons throughout the uprising, the latest in a wave of revolts across the Arab world against autocratic rule. Turkey also plays host to the leadership of the rebel Free Syrian Army.
Lebanese authorities found weapons including rocket-propelled grenades and rifles on board a ship intercepted in the Mediterranean which may have been trying to supply Syrian cut-thoats, security sources said.
In a village north of Damascus where army defectors had taken refuge, activists said Syrian forces killed at least 10 people. And overnight, five members of the security forces were killed in an kaboom targeting two vehicles near Damascus, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
The United Nations ...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks... says Syrian forces have killed 9,000 people since the start of the revolt in March 2011. Syrian authorities blame foreign-backed faceless myrmidons for the violence and say 2,600 soldiers and police have been killed.
Most independent media have been barred from Syria, making it hard to verify accounts of events on the ground.
The April 12 ceasefire arranged by UN-Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... envoy Kofi Annan ...Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh and so far the worst Secretary-General of the UN. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize for something or other that probably sounded good at the time. In December 2004, reports surfaced that Kofi's son Kojo received payments from the Swiss company Cotecna, which had won a lucrative contract under the UN Oil-for-Food Program. Kofi Annan called for an investigation to look into the allegations, which stirred up the expected cesspool but couldn't seem to come up with enough evidence to indict Kofi himself, or even Kojo... has only modestly reduced the level of daily carnage, with both sides accusing each other of multiple breaches of the truce.
On Friday, a jacket wallah killed nine people including security officers at a Damascus mosque.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility. The blast was close to the site of a Jan. 6 suicide kaboom later claimed by a previously unknown, anti-Assad Sunni Islamist group calling itself the al-Nusra Front.
The latest suicide kaboom was just one of five kabooms to hit the capital on Friday, creating the impression that beturbanned goons may be changing tactics and embarking on a sustained bombing campaign aimed at the seat of Assad's power.
"The action is picking up and it seems the (rebels) and Assad's forces are starting to battle it out in Damascus as well," said one activist based in the capital who uses the name Mar Ram.
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[An Nahar] Hungary said two of its nationals were kidnapped in Syria on Saturday by unknown gunnies, adding that Budapest may dispatch agents to the region to collect further information.
"The Foreign Ministry and TEK (Hungary's Anti-Terrorism Center) confirmed that two men working in Syria were kidnapped on Saturday at dawn by unknown gunnies," said Peter Szijjarto, a front man for Prime Minister Viktor Orban, in a statement to MTI, the Hungarian state news agency.
"Hungary will look after its citizens who are in difficulties abroad ... Members of the Anti-Terrorism Centre are ready to get to the region as soon as possible to collect the necessary information."
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[Dawn] At least seven people including Station House Officer (SHO) of Civil Lines and two constables were killed along with 16 others maimed in 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.... on Saturday, in the consecutive second day of violence and unrest.
Sporadic firing incidents caused tension in different areas of Lyari, keeping the entire locality shut. SHO Civil Line Fawwad Khan and two police constables were killed and five other police officials were maimed when unknown culprits hurled a hand grenade and opened fire on them at Kalakot.
A man in his mid twenties was rubbed out near Gubool Park. Four people, including a woman, were rubbed out near Cheel Chowk.
Exchange of fire between myrmidons and police continued throughout the day. The police operation was started under the supervision of SSP CID Chaudhry Aslam in the early hours of Friday in deep and narrow lanes of Lyari against criminal elements involved in gang war.
However, some people are alive only because it's illegal to kill them... the police encountered severe resistance as criminal elements not only opened fire on them but also hurled hand grenades and used rocket propelled grenades.
On Friday about eight people were killed in the day long fighting between LEAs and criminal elements. At night there was decline in firing incidents in Lyari on Saturday it started again. Crime Investigation Department (CID), Frontier Constabulary (FC), Elite Force and police took part in the targeted operation.
Additional Inspector General (AIG) Akhtar Hussain Gorchani while talking to media said the operation will continue until criminal elements are eliminated.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/29/2012
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[Dawn] LAHORE: Chief of the Pakistain Moslem League -- Quaid (PML-Q) Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain on Saturday said that Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani ... Pakistain's erstwhile current prime minister, whose occasional feats of mental gymnastics can be awe-inspiring ... could not be labelled as a convicted person until a decision on his appeal, DawnNews reported.
Speaking to media representatives in Lahore, he said the Supreme Court's verdict did not disqualify the prime minister.
Hussain moreover said that it did not matter whether Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... , chief of the Pakistain Moslem League -- Nawaz (PML-N), accepted Yousuf Raza Gilani as the country's prime minister.
The PML-Q chief said that "the Sharif brothers have themselves committed contempt of court".
On the subject of the general elections, Hussain said the polls would take place on time and once the government completed its mandated term.
Replying to a question as to whether he would stand by a convicted prime minister, Hussain said he would respond to the issue once the detailed verdict is out.
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04/29/2012
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[Dawn] High-level talks on ending a diplomatic deadlock between the United States and Pakistain have ended in failure over Pak demands for an apology from the United States, The New York Times ...which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... reported Saturday.
The newspaper said US special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistain Marc Grossman left Islamabad Friday night with no agreement.
The departure followed two days of discussions aimed at patching up the damage caused by a US air strike last November that killed 24 Pak soldiers on the Afghanistan border, the report said.
The United States refuses to apologise for the strike.
The incident has damaged the precarious US-Pak partnership and provoked outrage in Islamabad, which has retaliated by cutting off NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all.... supply routes to Afghanistan.
The United States and Pakistain disagree about the precise sequence of events in the deadliest single cross-border attack of the 10-year war in Afghanistan.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/29/2012
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#1
Time for the predators to strike around Rawalpindi.
Posted by: Water Modem ||
04/29/2012 3:31
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Syrian forces killed at least 10 people on Saturday in a village north of Damascus ...Capital of the last overtly fascist regime in the world... where army defectors had taken refuge, and in the coastal province of Latakia the army clashed with rebel fighters, activists said.
Activist Omar Hamza said the Damascus killings occurred after a group of soldiers defected and were pursued by forces loyal to Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Light of the Alawites... into the village of Bakha north of the capital.
Four rebels and six non-combatants were killed, Hamza said. The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also put the corpse count at 10, but said they were all defectors..
Posted by: trailing wife ||
04/29/2012
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(Ma'an) Hamas' military wing said one of its fighters was accidentally killed late Friday while members of the group tried to disperse a clash between two clans in the Tal al-Hawa neighborhood in Gaza City.
The group said in a statement that 24-year-old Mumin Shamlakh was killed by a gunshot to the head during a clan clash. Police detained a suspect and opened an investigation, according to the statement.
Medical spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra said a man in his 20s was pronounced dead at Dar al-Shifa Hospital.
According to investigations conducted by the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), at approximately 11:00 on Friday, 27 April 2012, a dispute erupted between the families of Abdul Jawad and al-Burno in Sheikh Ejlin neighborhood. Members of the Shamallakh family intervened and were able to stop the dispute. However, at approximately 13:30, a member of the Abdul Jawad family reinitiated the dispute and opened fire indiscriminately. As a result, Momen Mureed Shamallakh, who intervened to stop the dispute, was killed. The Palestinian police arrived at the scene, opened an investigation and arrested 6 members of the Abdul Jawad family, including the shooter.
[Dawn] Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani ... Pakistain's erstwhile current prime minister, whose occasional feats of mental gymnastics can be awe-inspiring ... on Saturday said that Pakistain People's Party's success in Multan's by-elections was proof that Pakistain Mohammedan League-Nawaz (PML-N) was losing its popularity, DawnNews reported.
Speaking to a lawyers' delegation at Governor House Punjab, the prime minister said Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... was disappointed with his party's lost popularity.
The prime minister said rhetorically: "We have restored the constitution, how can we violate it...we will always comply with the constitution".
Gilani said he did not write to Swiss authorities because the constitution granted immunity to the president.
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04/29/2012
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[An Nahar] Syrian troops killed at least 10 rebels on Saturday in fighting in the Damascus ...Capital of the last overtly fascist regime in the world... region, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Separately, official news agency SANA reported three soldiers and two "terrorists" killed in Aleppo ...For centuries, Aleppo was Greater Syria's largest city and the Ottoman Empire's third, after Constantinople and Cairo. Although relatively close to Damascus in distance, Aleppans regard Damascenes as country cousins... , as festivities erupted there between Syrian and "armed terrorist groups".
The agency added that "one of the military units stationed off the coast of Latakia thwarted an attempt by an "armed terrorist group" trying to infiltrate from the sea," quoting an unnamed military source.
Near the city of Latakia, festivities broke out between Syrian troops and armed opposition forces in the village of Bourj Islam near a presidential palace early Saturday morning, the Observatory and activists reported.
Activist Sema Nassar said the fighting began as "officers and soldiers of a military base near the presidential palace ... deserted with their weapons."
"Loud kabooms were heard as far as the city of Latakia," Nassar added.
The fresh violence comes on the heels of Friday festivities, which left 19 dead, including 10 civilians, according to the Observatory.
A suicide car boomwent kaboom! Friday in Damascus, leaving two dead, according to the watchdog and 11 killed according to Syrian state media.
Major General Robert Mood, a veteran Norwegian peacekeeper, headed to Damascus on Saturday to take charge of the U.N. monitoring mission, which is expected to expand to a 300-strong force.
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04/29/2012
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[Dawn] A station house officer and five other police officials were maimed when their van was hit by a remote-controlled bomb at Sharaopul in Pishkando area here on Friday, officials said.
They said that a police party of Rustam cop shoppe led by SHO Khankhel Khan was on a routine patrol when their van was hit by a bomb. As a result of the kaboom, all six coppers in the van sustained multiple wounds.
Driver of the van identified as Hashmat Ali was referred to Beautiful Downtown Peshawar hospital in precarious condition. Other five injured included SHO Khankhel and constables Iqbal, Kachkul, Fazal-e-Subhan and Jahangir. They were stated to be in stable, pH balanced condition at district headquarter hospital, Mardan.
The officials said that the police van was also destroyed by kaboom of the bomb, which was about 10kg.
The Rustam police had registered an FIR against unidentified myrmidons. Meanwhile, ...back at the pie fight, Bella opened her mouth at precisely the wrong moment... unknown persons slaughtered a watchman of Mukaram market in Charsadda chowk with a sharp-edged weapon on the night between Thursday and Friday.
Officials of the city cop shoppe quoted Qamar Zaman of Kot Ismailzai that he was informed by someone that his brother Khalid was slaughtered by unidentified killers. The police have registered an FIR against unknown killers.
In Charsadda, unknown myrmidons blew up a government girls' school in Shabqadar on Friday. The kaboom occurred at the government primary school, Daman Matta, which was completely destroyed. The Khwaja Was police have registered the case.
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[Dawn] At least seven forces of Evil linked to al Qaeda were killed in festivities inYemen's restive south, a regional tribal front man said on Saturday, as the impoverished Arab state fights to tame a stubborn insurgency.
Yemen has launched an offensive against Islamist snuffies in the territory who took advantage of the chaos surrounding more than a year of mass protests and fighting that unseated 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... from the presidency.
Ali Aidah, front man for an army-allied tribal force, said five forces of Evil from Ansar al-Sharia ...a Yemeni Islamist militia which claims it is not part of al-Qaeda, even though it works about the same and for the same ends... , an al Qaeda-affiliated group, were killed in an ambush by rustics in the al-Arkoub area near the southern city of Lawder on Friday night.
Two more forces of Evil were killed in an attack by rustics in another area outside of Lawder, he said.
Separately, a security official in the southern province of Lahej said a Yemeni intelligence officer, Colonel Yasser Abdul-Qawi, was rubbed out by unknown gunnies on Saturday morning while he was walking near the main city hospital.
More than 250 people have been killed since government forces stepped up attacks on the forces of Evil whom it accused of assaulting a military camp near Lawdar earlier this month.
Islamist snuffies have already taken control of a number of cities in the southern territory, which is close to key shipping lanes in theRed Sea.
Yemen's new president, Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who took office vowing to fight al Qaeda, is also facing challenges from Shi'ite Moslem rebels in the north and secessionists in the south.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/29/2012
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[Dawn] The Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaaf says it may think of joining hands with the Pakistain Muslin League-Nawaz for putting pressure on the government to honour Supreme Court verdicts only if the latter resigns from assemblies.
"If PML-N representatives quit the parliament and provincial assemblies only then we'll assume that the party is serious in launching a drive against the PPP government and PTI may think of making an alliance with it, even on one-point agenda of ousting the government," PTI information secretary Shafqat Mahmood told Dawn on Friday.
He said resignations were a must to judge seriousness of the PML-N, which had "a track record of backing out of its stances".
PML-N information secretary Mushahidullah Khan had said that his party had decided to contact all parties, even government allies, for a joint front to protect dignity of the judiciary and make the government implement its verdicts.
Replying to a query, Mahmood said they were discussing within the party cadres the option of taking on board other parties in the likely anti-PPP government drive, but so far no formal contact had been established on this particular issue.
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04/29/2012
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The wretched plight of the troops manning Syrian defense divisions defending the Golan border and Mt. Hermon was clearly visible from lookout points on the Israeli side in the last two days, DEBKAfiles military sources report. The regular water and food supplies to their bases, the backbone of Syrias defense lines against Israel, were stopped and redirected to the units fighting anti-Assad rebels in other parts of the country. Large groups of armed soldiers have gone AWOL to hunt for food. For the first time in years, some have approached the border fence. They dont ask Israeli soldiers for food, but parcels thrown across the fence vanish in a trice.
According to our sources, the 5th Division posted in the Golan town of Quneitra has suffered the largest number of desertions, estimated at more than 1,500 officers and men, around 15 percent of the full complement. But hundreds of dropouts occur daily from the 15th, 9th and 7th Divisions stationed in central and southern Golan.
The district commands have meanwhile lost control of the Syrian-Israeli border deployment. Military facilities are deserted with no one to guard against trespassers. Gangs, local and from across Syrias eastern borders with Jordan and Iraq, were quick to realize the bases are unguarded and have begun stripping them of equipment and looting everything they can lay hands on. These gangs are working stealthily so as not to drawing the attention of Assads security forces which might stop the looting. But they are most likely being used by Assads Sunni enemies in Iraq and Jordan as vehicles to plant terrorist cells inside Syria for attacking military targets.
DEBKAfiles intelligence and counter-terror sources disclose this is what happened at the Golan village of Sahm al-Jolan near Quneitra Friday, April 20 when a large (100 kilo) bomb blew up as a Syrian military convoy was passing through. At least 10 soldiers were killed and 35 injured. The Syrian authorities stated that a remote-controlled explosive device blew up against a bus carrying soldiers.
It is believed that a Jordanian Sunni terrorist band was responsible. That day too, five Syrian soldiers were killed in another attack in the southern Syrian town of Karak near the flashpoint town of Deraa.
For a map, click here Updated with additional information from Nota Roja.
By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com
A total of 14 individuals were killed in two firefights in a remote mountain municipality of eastern Sinaloa state early Saturday morning and Saturday afternoon, according to Mexican news reports.
The death toll in the early morning firefight included four armed suspects, one police officer and one soldier. Another two soldiers were wounded in the encounter.
A Mexican Army unit was dispatched at about 0200 hrs near the village of El Picho in Choix municipality after receiving false reports of a gunfight between two armed suspects. On the return leg near the village of Chinol, between the villages of El Potrero de los Fierro and San Simon, the unit came under small arms fire.
Among the dead was Mario Bejarano, a leader of the armed group in the area. Reports also said that about 100 armed suspects were observed in the area prior to the early morning firefight. Following the morning encounter a number of armed suspects fled the area and began digging in.
The firefight between the army unit and armed suspects lasted several hours. The gunfire was apparently intense enough to cause the detail commander to request air support in the form of a Mexican Air Force Bell 206 helicopter. Armed suspects fired on the airship, hitting an unidentified sergeant. The NCO was rushed to a hospital where he later died. Earlier reports are the helicopter was down, but news reports citing unnamed Mexican Army sources said the helicopter was hit, but is operable.
The Choix municipality police agent who was killed in the encounter was identified as Hector German Ruiz Villa. It is also reproted that a relative of the Choix municipal Secretaria de Seguridad Publica was kidnapped Saturday afternoon.
Five others were hit by gunfire as well, apparently civilians who were sent to area hospitals.
Materiel seized in the aftermath of the first encounter included five AK-47 rifles, one .50 caliber Barrett rifle, 36 weapons magazines for AK-47, four disc magazines for AK-47, one Barrett weapons magazine, four rifles, 1,500 rounds of AK-47 ammunition, 28 rounds of .22 celiber ammunition, five .45 caliber rounds of ammunition, one fragmentary hand grenade (pineapple style) and six weapons magazines.
Vehicles seized included one Hummer SUV painted military olive green color with false military markings and one rifle attached on a mount, a pickup truck painted as a Sinaloa state police vehicle, a patrol vehicle painted as a Sinaloa state judicial police patrol vehicle, and two vehicles painted as Policia Federal patrol vehicles.
A subsequent firefight took place the following afternoon near the village of Yecorato where Mexican Army soldiers and Sinaloa state judicial police agents encountered an armed group which movement was observed by Mexicam Air Force helicopters in the area. In that encounter eight armed suspects died.
The village of Yecorato is about 20 kilometers south of Choix and five kilometrs west of the first firefight.
Earlier accounts placed the number of dead at as many as 40, and had said the encounter was because Sinaloa Cartel boss Joaquin Loera Guzman AKA El Chapo or Shorty had been captured. Earlier reports also said the encounter was a three way firefight included Mexican security forces and two other opposing armed gangs.
The mayor of the village of El Fuerte, Eleazar Rubio Ayala, has told Mexican media that at least 30 dead were scattered around the area of the gunfights. Earlier reports said that unidentified local funeral homes were expecting a large influx of cadavers from the encounter.
According to Milenio news daily, military sources said Beltran-Leyva cartel operatives were killed in the firefight. News reports have not confirmed if a second armed group was involved in the firefight.
Choix municipality is on Sinaloa State Highway 32, and is an area generally considered to be Beltran-Leyva Cartel territory.
Choix itself is about 20 kilometers from the eastern border with Chihuahua state, but the firefight took place less than five kilometers from the border.
Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com
[An Nahar] Leading Egyptian dissident Mohammed ElBaradei on Saturday unveiled a new party he said was aimed at rescuing last year's uprising from a "tragic" transitional period under the ruling military.
The former U.N. nuclear watchdog chief and Nobel Laureate said the goal of his new Constitution Party was to "to rescue the great January revolution that has diverted from its course."
ElBaradei, who had considered standing in next month's presidential election but ultimately decided against it, called the military-led transitional period since the uprising ousted president Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... in February 2011 "tragic."
"When we undertook the revolution, we did not imagine the situation we are in today, nor the tragic transitional period we are living today," he said at a news conference.
The outspoken dissident and critic of the ruling generals said the economy had deteriorated while the elected parliament was not fully representative of all Egyptians.
He also criticized next month's presidential election, which will be held before a new constitution defining the leader's role is in place.
"For these reasons, and others, we decided the time has come to start organized political work," he said.
"The majority of Egyptian people... undertook this revolution to achieve goals no two people would differ about. To live free in our country, for each Egyptian to have the right to a dignified life," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/29/2012
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#1
I thought this article was going to be about Congressman Potatohead
The U.S. Air Force is quietly assembling the worlds most powerful air-to-air fighting team at bases near Iran. Stealthy F-22 Raptors on their first front-line deployment
Fixed the oxygen system problem, did they...
have joined a potent mix of active-duty and Air National Guard F-15 Eagles, including some fitted with the latest advanced radars. The Raptor-Eagle team has been honing special tactics for clearing the air of Iranian fighters in the event of war.
The fighters join a growing naval armada that includes Navy carriers, submarines, cruisers and destroyers plus patrol boats and minesweepers enhanced with the latest close-in weaponry.
Its been years since the Air Force has maintained a significant dogfighting presence in the Middle East. During the 2003 invasion of Iraq Boeing-made F-15Cs flew air patrols from Saudi Arabia, but the Iraqi air force put up no resistance and the Eagle squadrons soon departed. For the next nine years Air Force deployments to the Middle East were handled by ground-attack planes such as A-10s, F-16s and twin-seat F-15E Strike Eagles.
The 1980s-vintage F-15Cs, plagued by structural problems, stayed home in the U.S. and Japan. The brand-new F-22s, built by Lockheed Martin, suffered their own mechanical and safety problems. When they ventured from their home bases in Virginia, Alaska and New Mexico, it was only for short training exercises over the Pacific. The F-15Cs and F-22s sat out last years Libya war.
The Air Force fixed the F-15s and partially patched up the F-22s just in time for the escalating stand-off over Irans suspected nuclear weapons program. In March the Air Force deployed the Massachusetts Air National Guards 104th Fighter Wing, flying 20 standard F-15Cs, to an undisclosed air base in Southwest Asia probably either Al Dhafra in the United Arab Emirates or Al Udeid in Qatar.
But don't tell anyone -- it's undisclosed...
The highly-experienced Massachusetts Guardsmen, who typically have several years more experience than their active-duty counterparts, would be ready should Iran test the 104th, said wing commander Col. Robert Brooks.
Upgraded F-15Cs from the 18th Wing in Japan joined the Guard Eagles. The Japan-based fighters have the latest APG-63(V)2 and (V)3 radars, manufactured by Raytheon. Theyre electronically-scanned radars that radiate many individual beams from fixed antenna clusters and track more targets, faster, than old-model mechanical radars that must physically swivel back and forth. The 18th Wing is working up a fleet of 54 updated Eagles spread across two squadrons.
Video at the link if you like that sort of thing.
F-22s followed this month. Multiple Raptors deployed to Al Dhafra, according to Amy Butler at Aviation Week. Air Force spokesman Capt. Phil Ventura confirmed the deployment. Its not clear where the Raptors came from.
But we think they're American...
If theyre from the Alaska-based 3rd Wing, theyre the latest Increment 3.1 model with boosted bombing capabilities in addition to the standard air-to-air weaponry. In any event, the Middle East mission represents the first time F-22s are anywhere near a possible combat zone.
The mix of old and upgraded F-15s and ultra-modern F-22s is no accident. When the Pentagon stopped producing the nearly $400-million-a-copy Raptor after 187 units half as many as the Air Force said it needed the flying branch committed to keeping 250 F-15Cs in service until 2025 at the earliest. Pilots began developing team tactics for the two fighter types.
We have a woefully tiny F-22 fleet, said Gen. Mike Hostage, the Air Forces main fighter commander. So the flying branch worked out a system whereby large numbers of F-15s cover for small numbers of Raptors that sneak in around an enemys flank in full stealth mode. Our objective is to fly in front with the F-22s, and have the persistence to stay there while the [F-22s] are conducting their [low-observable] attack, Maj. Todd Giggy, an Eagle pilot, told Aviation Week.
One thing to look for is the presence in the Middle East of one of the Air Forces handful of bizjets and Global Hawk drones fitted with the Northrop Grumman Battlefield Airborne Communications Node, or Bacon. The F-22, once envisioned as a solitary hunter, was designed without the radio data-links that are standard on F-15s and many other jets. Instead, the Raptor has its own unique link that is incompatible with the Eagle. Bacon helps translate the radio signals so the two jet types can swap information. With a Bacon plane nearby, F-22s and F-15s can silently exchange data for example, stealthy Raptors spotting targets for the Eagles.
Its the methods above that the U.S. dogfighting armada would likely use to wipe out the antiquated but determined Iranian air force if the unthinkable occurred and fighting broke out. The warplanes are in place. The pilots are ready. Hopefully they wont be needed.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/29/2012
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#4
What is it with the incoherent nutcases this morning? New (and NOT improved) way to troll and waste Fred's bandwith? Yeesh.
Posted by: Barbara ||
04/29/2012 10:33
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#5
They're all the same person, Barbara. Some people prefer to stay really anonymous. We don't notice the ones who aren't overexcited about being here.
#6
This is from the same appeasement playbook that was used in the 1930s with Hitler and we all know how that turned out. In fact it is also from the EUnik playbook that worked so well with Saddam and the MMs.
O & Co should have never have sent the bust of Churchill back to Britain. They could have learned some lessons about appeasement from Churchill.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
04/29/2012 15:22
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#7
@Alaska Paul
I'm guessing that last sentence means something else from what you wrote.
#8
Given that Winny was Mr. Anti-Appeasement, I parse that sentence as meaning B-H0 & Co might learn it does not work.
You have been given the choice between war and dishonor. You have chosen dishonor, and you will have war! -Winston Churchill to the English Parliament, 1938
But who knows? I am often hampered on the Interwebs by having English as a first language.
[An Nahar] Police in Tehran are conducting a new crackdown on women wearing mandatory headscarves improperly or in "vulgar" dress, the city's police chief said, according to media reports on Saturday.
Such operations, which see police screening foot and vehicle traffic at major junctions and shopping centers, are conducted fairly often in Iran.
The latest one was ordered days ahead of the May 4 second round of parliamentary elections, and as the onset of warm spring weather prompts Iranian women to don lighter clothing.
The police chief, Hossein Sajedinia, said the crackdown was "asked for by the people," the Fars news agency reported.
"Which people?"
"The people. All of them. Except for the bad 'uns who insist in spraying random bystanders with their evil, seductive hair rays."
Women wearing "bad headscarves, bad dress, and model-type women in vulgar dress" would be stopped, he said.
Typically, such women are fined or jugged in cop shoppes until relatives collect them hours later with more modest clothing.
Sajedinia said that companies importing "illegal clothes" that do not comply with Islamic dress standards would be given a warning or closed.
The police chief said that "thugs" disrupting public order and men "who bother other people's daughters and wives" would also be confronted by officers.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/29/2012
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#6
You know how the New Testament describes the "peace which surpasses all understanding"? Pete Burns has the gender which surpasses all understanding.
[An Nahar] Four foreigners investigating the debris from recent fighting between Sudan and South Sudan have been captured in the Heglig oilfield area, Khartoum's military said on Saturday.
Sawarmi Khaled Saad, the army front man, identified the foreigners as a Briton, a Norwegian, a South African and a South Sudanese.
He was speaking to news hounds after the four were flown to Khartoum for "more investigation."
"We captured them inside Sudan's borders, in the Heglig area, and they were collecting war debris for investigation," Saad said at the airport.
He added that all four had military backgrounds, and were accompanied by military equipment and a military vehicle. He did not elaborate.
"This confirms what we said before, that South Sudan in its aggression against Heglig was supported by foreign experts," the front man said.
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[Dawn] Interior Minister Rehman Malik Pak politician, current Interior Minister under the Gilani administration. Malik is a former Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) intelligence officer who rose to head the FIA during Benazir Bhutto's second tenure. He later joined the Pak Peoples Party and was chief security officer to Bhutto. Malik was tossed from his FIA job in 1998 after documenting the breath-taking corruption of the Sharif family. By unhappy coincidence Nawaz Sharif became PM at just that moment and Malik moved to London one step ahead of the button men. on Saturday alleged that PML-N Chief and former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... was involved in money laundering.
Addressing a news conference in Islamabad, he said evidence against Nawaz Sharif would be placed before the Supreme Court and National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for alleged corruption of $32 million.
Rehman Malik said a commission may be formed to investigate alleged involvement of Nawaz Sharif in money laundering.
He appealed to the Supreme Court to call him and he would present all evidence. He further alleged that Nawaz Sharif made an NRO with former President Farooq Ahmed Leghari and as a result, Benazir Bhutto ... 11th Prime Minister of Pakistain in two non-consecutive terms from 1988 until 1990 and 1993 until 1996. She was the daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, founder of the Pakistain People's Party, who was murdered at the instigation of General Ayub Khan. She was murdered in her turn by person or persons unknown while campaigning in late 2007. Suspects include, to note just a few, Baitullah Mehsud, General Pervez Musharraf, the ISI, al-Qaeda in Pakistain, and her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, who shows remarkably little curiosity about who done her in... 's elected government was unconstitutionally dismissed in November 1996.
Rehman Malik also alleged that Nawaz Sharif made a second NRO with dictator Pervez Perv Musharraf ... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ... and went abroad after signing an agreement and violated the Charter of Democracy (COD) he signed with Benazir Bhutto in 2006.
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US Navy, Air Force, ground, intelligence and special forces units based at home, in Europe and the Middle East, took part this week in a special exercise ordered by President Barack Obama I inhaled. That was the point... to simulate reactions to a potential US-Israel strike on Iran's nuclear facilities, debkafile's exclusive military and Washington sources report.
Sunday, April 22, the US also transferred a number of advanced stealth F-22 fighter bombers, believed to be from the 302nd Fighter Squadron 302, from the joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska to the Al Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates.
According to our sources, the F-22 jets will join the F-15s of the Massachusetts Air National Guard's 104th Fighter Wing which were transferred to the Al Udeid base a month ago.
Their mission will be to destroy the Iranian air force and air defense batteries so as to clear the way for US and Israeli bombers to go into action against Iran's nuclear sites and the strategic infrastructure of its army and Revolutionary Guards Corps.
This unprecedented US buildup of air might - supplementing the aircraft on the decks of the USS Abraham Lincoln and USS Enterprise, to be joined by a third carrier as soon as the offensive gets underway -- shows Tehran that the B.O. regime is serious about using military means as extra pressure on Iran to give way in diplomatic negotiations -- both with the six powers and with the US through clandestine channels.
Both moves took place as the United States and five other world powers prepares for the second round of talks with Iran scheduled for next month to rein in its nuclear program.
The comment Israel's chief of staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz made to AP on April 26 about "other countries" having readied their armed forces for a potential strike "to keep Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons" referred to the deployment of the F-22 stealth jets. He did not name the other countries.
His comment was received in Washington as Israel's strongest message till now that it will not be alone in attacking Iran but will have partners, presumably the US - and possibly also Britannia, La Belle France, German, Holland or Italia.
At the end of the US exercise simulating Day One of this attack, debkafile reports that Defense Secretary Leon Panetta ...current SecDef, previously Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Panetta served as President Bill Clinton's White House Chief of Staff from 1994 to 1997 and was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1977 to 1993.... and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Lt. Gen. Martin Dempsey submitted to the White House three conclusions:
1. Iran's response to a military strike will be "measured," both to limit the damage to the regime and to conserve military resources for a possible follow-up attack;
2. The Iranians will go back to work on building a nuclear weapon within a short time;
3. The destruction of core elements of its nuclear program is expected to change Iran's attitude in negotiations, making it less cocky and more submissive to international demands.
Like so many others, the final decision to pull the trigger on the world's most-wanted man was delegated to an admiral who undoubtedly would have been thrown under the bus had the mission failed.
It's been almost a year since President B.O.'s leadership and foreign policy bona fides were allegedly established by the operation that killed the late Osama bin Laden. ... who was laid out deader than a mackerel, next to the mackerel... A campaign film narrated by Oscar-winning actor Tom Hanks tells of the president's alleged solitary, agonizing decision. "It was a dark and stormy night. Suddenly a shot rang out! Then another shot! Then six or seven more! Maybe it was a dozen!..." With apologies to Vice President Biden, maybe President B.O. doesn't carry quite as big a stick as Joe would lead us to believe.
As reported by Big Peace, Time magazine has obtained a memo written by Leon Panetta, ...current SecDef, previously Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Panetta served as President Bill Clinton's White House Chief of Staff from 1994 to 1997 and was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1977 to 1993.... then-director of the Central Intelligence Agency and now-Secretary of Defense, that says "operational decision-making and control" was really in the hands of William McRaven, a three-star admiral and former Navy SEAL.
"The timing, operational decision-making and control are in Adm. McRaven's hands," the memo says. "The approval is provided on the risk profile presented to the president. Any additional risks are to be brought back to the president for his consideration. The direction is to go in and get bin Laden and, if he is not there, to get out."
In other words, it was McRaven's call to pull the trigger or not on the raid.
Some would say that this is a distinction without a difference, sort of like a head coach in football drawing up the game plan and letting his offensive coordinator actually call the plays. Then, technically, President George W. Bush gets the credit, since it was on his watch our war on terror was declared, Navy SEALs and Special Forces funding was increased and the hunt for Osama bin Laden began.
The Panetta memo, rather than presenting a profile in courage, says "approval is provided on the risk profile presented to the president." This left enough wiggle room to blame the operation planners and controllers if the raid had gone as wrong as President Jimmy Carter's ... the worst president ever. Maybe the second worst. The votes aren't all in yet... famous failure to rescue American hostages held by Iran. This memo left room for the blame for another "Blackhawk Down" snafu to be blamed on anyone and everyone but President B.O.
Luckily, operational control was in McRaven's hands, and the planning, execution and decision-making were virtually flawless. There was no repeat of the incident years before of Sandy Berger, last seen stuffing classified documents in his pants, telling a CIA and Northern Alliance team in Afghanistan, on that occasion literally a matter of feet away from bin Laden, that if they want to grab him, they'll have to do it on their own. So they didn't.
Posted by: Mike Ramsey ||
04/29/2012
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#5
In other words, it was McRaven's call to pull the trigger or not on the raid.
No no it wasnt. The CiC made the call. The Admiral had operational control. Thats called chain of command. Perhaps, The O-Teams' shameful political exploitation of the event invited the predictable pushback. But this Op/Ed is both intellectually dishonest and flat-out petty. One can expect the O-Minions to initiate Operation Sore-Losers post haste.
#6
No no it wasnt. The CiC made the call. The Admiral had operational control. Thats called chain of command.
It simply means that the operation was approved by higher authority, but Admiral McRaven had the authority to approve a 'go', or to cancel the raid. Sort of the old-fashioned way of running an operation, as opposed to the White House or the Pentagon being the final approval authority for engaging a target(ask me how I know).
The question, to me, is whether the President was in from the start. Or as some sources suggested, he was boxed into it. A minor thing, but telling.
[Dawn] The United States was told categorically on Friday that progress towards re-engagement would not be possible without an apology over last year's air strikes in which 24 Pak troops bit the dust.
"President Asif Ali President Ten Percent Zardari ... sticky-fingered husband of the late Benazir Bhutto ... has said that after Pakistain has followed the democratic course for re-engagement with the United States ..., it was now the turn of the US... to help Pakistain in reaching closure on Salala," said a statement issued by the presidency after Mr Zardari's meeting with a US delegation led by Special Envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistain Marc Grossman.
President Zardari went to the extent of indicating willingness to restore NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... supply lines under new terms in a bid to get the apology as quid pro quo, but the Americans appeared to be uncompromising.
"We have already initiated an inter-agency consultation process and broad parameters have been developed for an agreement on Isaf/NATO supplies through Pakistain," Mr Zardari said.
Instead of apologising, the Americans want Pakistain to settle for invitation to Chicago Summit in return for the reopening of ground supply routes.
Other officials engaged in dialogue with the US for rebooting ties also said that the US reluctance to apologise had stymied the normalisation process and the first round of talks in Islamabad ended without making any headway.
The Nov 26 attack on the Salala post threw Pakistain-US ties, which had already been weighed down by the challenging events of 2011, into a tailspin and Pakistain reacted by ordering revision of terms of engagement with Washington, suspending NATO supply routes and evicting the Americans from the Shamsi airbase.
On completion of a protracted review process, parliament sought apology and punishment for those responsible for the deadly strike in addition to other demands, including cessation of drone attacks and cutting down American footprint in Pakistain.
The US has already refused to negotiate on drone strikes, leaving Pakistain to push for alternatives that could at least satisfy its illusory sovereignty concerns.
President Zardari made mention of this during his meeting and said: "Drone attacks are highly counter-productive in the war against cut-throats ... both sides should consider setting up a framework of mechanism to find mutually acceptable alternatives."
The US has also reneged on its commitment to apologise for the Salala incident. The US, officials said, had communicated to Pakistain during the London meeting between Secretary of States Hillary Clinton ... sometimes described as The Woman to Call at 3 a.m. and at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as Another Richelieu ... and Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar that both civilian and military leadership would apologise. Gen Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was to apologise on behalf of the military and Secretary Clinton on behalf of the politicianship.
But that couldn't happen for a variety of reasons, chiefly President Barack Obama's Because I won... domestic political compulsions.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/29/2012
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[An Nahar] Soddy Arabia has allowed the three widows and children of slain Al-Qaeda chief the late Osama bin Laden ... who now dances with worms... entrance into the kingdom on humanitarian grounds, a Saudi-owned daily reported on Saturday.
Citing a senior Saudi official, the London-based Asharq al-Awsat said the kingdom "dealt with bin Laden's wives on humanitarian grounds," adding that authorities were confident that they and the children "were not involved in" the operations of the bad boy group.
The widows -- two Saudis and a Yemeni -- arrived on Friday with their 10 children, after being expelled from Pakistain, Mohammed Naji Allaw, head of the Yemeni non-governmental group Hood, told AFP.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/29/2012
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One of Bin Laden's targets was the House of Saud, which he viewed as the corrupt guardians of Mecca and wanted to replace with a caliphate. The Sauds, for their part, didn't mind the existence of al-Qaeda, as long as it (and Osama) stayed out of the Magic Kingdom. However, the Bin Laden family themselves exercise a bit of influence within KSA; hence the allowing of the widows and children in.
All easily research-able to those that take the time.
It seems that those that ignore history are condemned to post ignorant commentary.
"The Muslim Brotherhood is part of the revolution . We [the Muslim Brotherhood] are not alienating ourselves. Actually, we are going through a course of change here in Egypt." - Nader Omran of the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party
"The Muslim Brotherhood hasn't been participating in the revolution. They have been the last to show up and the first to leave every time. We've seen them running after seats in the parliament and now the presidential elections and only coming back out onto the streets when they don't get what they want as far as political gains. We haven't seen them advocating any of the actual demands of the revolution." - Sherif Gaber, Egyptian activist
It was not so long ago that it seemed that the Muslim Brotherhood would be the main beneficiary of last year's revolution in Egypt. Indeed, the parliamentary elections saw the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party installed as the most dominant force in the chamber, and the party's voice was growing in influence across the country. But in the months following the elections, the party has been accused of an inconsistent and indecisive political strategy - one that has put it at odds with both the ruling military and the other parties behind the country's revolution.
#3
Nader Omran of the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party
LOLz - I actually first read that as "Freedom and Juice Party". Now THAT would be fun explaining....
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/29/2012 15:17
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#4
In the vernacular of the fire investigator, the
Mooslim bruderbund is an accelerant..... of the decline of Egypt.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
04/29/2012 15:33
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#5
The Ikhwan is floundering the way the Bolsheviks floundered after 1917. The way Khomeinists floundered after 1979. The way Mao Zedong floundered after 1949. Other people will pay the price. It's good to be king...
[Dawn] Having relations with any country is good if they have potential for positive growth, said British High Commissioner Adam Thomson while speaking at a gathering at the Pakistain Institute of International Affairs held on Thursday to mark the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's ascendancy to the throne. And who has more potential for positive growth than Pakistain?
"Britannia and Pakistain's relations have more length, breadth and depth than any other country. It's not just government to government; the people to people ties are intense, too. Brits just love Paks, and Paks just love Brits. Everybody knows that... Britannia has Pakistain's largest diaspora. As for relations between the two governments, we have relations to counter terrorism, promote trade, education, etc. And we need to go from these excellent relations to relations that are better yet," said the high commissioner. "In Britannia, we need to know that Pakistain is not about terrorism but about people like Haider Ali," he said, referring to Pakistain's world record holding long jumper in the Paralympics, who is being invited to London this year to try and break his own record. Except that it seems a lot easier to find a terrorist in Pakistain than a long jumper...
"And in Pakistain you need to know that Britannia, too, is not all about Dickens," he said. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..."
"And Gawd bless us, every one!"
"Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen pounds nineteen and six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery."
"It's a far, far better thing that I do..."
"And that man's name is Heep!"
"Please, sir, I want some more."
"Are there no poor laws? Are the workhouses all full?"
"We need to build more trust between the two nations Ummm... What happens if you build lotsa trust between two nations and it turns out that one of the two is run by duplicitous sonsabitches who want to beat you up, burn your house down, rape your cat, and steal your wife? Which is better? Trust? Or clear-eyed assessment of existing conditions?
with each country looking after the well-being of the other partner. So as Britannia wins medals in this year's London Olympics, we will also be cheering for Pakistain during their competitions." Perhaps a certain segment of society will, but those who haven't been dropped on their heads probably won't.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/29/2012
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#1
Britannia has Pakistain's largest diaspora
Yes we are suffering for this with homemade terrorist galore in the Pak community hence the rise of the EDL
#3
Not just terrorism, there is kidnapping, extra-judicial killings, extortion, corruption, high debt, power out tages, tribal warring, lack of education, poverty, and don't forget about the world-famous Pak ego...did I also mention the first computer virus THE BRAIN came from pakistan...and more
A British soldier and a 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... soldier whose nationality was not disclosed have died in separate incidents in southern Afghanistan.
The British Ministry of Defence said that a British soldier was killed while on a patrol in southern Helmand ...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan... province on Friday.
"The soldier was serving as part of Combined Force Nahr-e Saraj district of Helmand, on a patrol to disrupt bad turban movements in the area, when he was killed as a result of small-arms fire," the Ministry statement said Saturday.
Meanwhile, ...back at the chili cook-off, Chuck and Manuel's rivalry was entering a new and more dangerous phase... Isaf in a statement on Saturday said that a NATO soldier died as a result of a non-battle related injury in southern Afghanistan today.
Isaf did not provide any details about the nationality of the soldier and exact location of the incident.
Britannia has around 9,500 troops Afghanistan, most of them based in southern Helmand province. It has had 410 soldiers die in the Afghan war, according to the website Icasulaties.org which tracks foreign soldiers' deaths in Afghanistan.
Nearly a year after Osama bin Laden was killed by US commandos, Pakistan's intelligence service is claiming credit for helping the CIA track down the terror leader.
Stung by lingering suspicions that it was complicit in sheltering bin Laden, an unnamed senior official with Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate (ISI) told The Washington Post, "The lead and the information actually came from us."
Another official said, "Any hit on [terror group] al Qaeda anywhere in the world has happened with our help."
Al Qaeda head bin Laden was killed May 2 last year by US Navy SEALs who launched an audacious raid on his secured compound in the garrison town of Abbottabad, north of Islamabad.
The fact that the world's most wanted terrorist was living right under the noses of Pakistan authorities put further strain on already tense relations between Washington and Islamabad.
As the anniversary of the successful US operation nears, the Pakistani officials told the Post that the ISI provided the CIA with a cell phone number in 2010 that eventually led to an al Qaeda courier, along with information that the phone had last been detected in Abbottabad.
The ISI said it did not know then that the number belonged to the al Qaeda courier.
"They [US officials] knew who the number belonged to," an official told the paper. "But after that their cooperation with us ended."
"It is the story of an extreme trust deficit and betrayal," the other ISI official complained.
The ISI officials said Washington officials were happy to acknowledge their help in private -- but never in public.
Washington denied the claims.
"The fact is our knowledge of the number didn't come from them telling us about it," an official said.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
A U.S. drone strike killed four suspected militants in Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal region near the Afghan border on Sunday, intelligence officials and witnesses said, the first strike in almost a month. 
The Islamic Republic of Iran said Tuesday that it has the ability to position a naval vessel within three miles of the East Coast of the United States.
...Poliomyelitis is a disease caused by infection with the poliovirus. Between 1840 and the 1950s, polio was a worldwide epidemic. Since the development of polio vaccines the disease has been largely wiped out in the civilized world. However, since the vaccine is known to make Moslem pee-pees shrink and renders females sterile, bookish, and unsubmissive it is not widely used by the turban and automatic weapons set...
Pervez 
Nawaz Sharif
Asif Ali 
Zawahiri,
The word "Liberal Islam" provokes very diverse responses in Pakistain. Some laugh it away as an oxymoron, the more secular of us see it with cynicism as consisting of 'moderates' and non-practicing 
Abdul Rahman Nayef al-Obeidi, a 22-year-old Iraqi farmer, fell in love with two women, but instead of choosing between them, he married both in one night in a small village in central Iraq.
(Ma'an) -- A Paleostinian man was 
[Dawn] Two bodyguards and two 
...Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh and so far the worst Secretary-General of the UN. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize for something or other that probably sounded good at the time. In December 2004, reports surfaced that Kofi's son Kojo received payments from the Swiss company Cotecna, which had won a lucrative contract under the UN Oil-for-Food Program. Kofi Annan called for an investigation to look into the allegations, which stirred up the expected cesspool but couldn't seem to come up with enough evidence to indict Kofi himself, or even Kojo...
Lebanese authorities seized a large consignment of Libyan weapons including rocket-propelled grenades and heavy caliber ammunition from a ship intercepted in the Mediterranean, the army said on Saturday.
At least seven people including Station House Officer (SHO) of Civil Lines and two constables were killed along with 16 others 
LAHORE: Chief of the Pakistain 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
[An Nahar] Leading Egyptian dissident Mohammed ElBaradei on Saturday unveiled a new party he said was aimed at rescuing last year's uprising from a "tragic" transitional period under the ruling military.
The U.S. Air Force is quietly assembling the worlds most powerful air-to-air fighting team at bases near Iran. Stealthy F-22 Raptors on their first front-line deployment 
The 1980s-vintage F-15Cs, plagued by structural problems, stayed home in the U.S. and Japan. The brand-new F-22s, built by Lockheed Martin, suffered their own mechanical and safety problems. When they ventured from their home bases in Virginia, Alaska and New Mexico, it was only for short training exercises over the Pacific. The F-15Cs and F-22s sat out last years Libya war.
Like so many others, the final decision to pull the trigger on the world's most-wanted man was delegated to an admiral who undoubtedly would have been thrown under the bus had the mission failed.
With apologies to Vice President Biden, maybe 
Jimmy Carter's 
[Dawn] Having relations with any country is good if they have potential for positive growth, said British High Commissioner Adam Thomson while speaking at a gathering at the Pakistain Institute of International Affairs held on Thursday to mark the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's ascendancy to the throne.
A British soldier and a 
