Israel Thursday July 11 approved a major Egyptian offensive for curbing the mounting aggression in Sinai of armed Salafis gangs, Muslim Brotherhood raiders and Hamas terrorists.
A day earlier, Egypt's Second Army commander, Maj.-Gen. Ahmad Wasfi, who is assigned to lead the offensive, escaped unhurt from an attempt on his life. Some of his bodyguards and soldiers were killed. Maj.-Gen. Wasfi arrived in Sinai just four days ago to set up headquarters in the northern town of El Arish. He was targeted for the first attempt by radical Islamists to murder a high-ranking Egyptian general. As a close associate of Defense Minister Gen. Fattah El-Sisi, Wasfi took part in the military coup which ousted President Mohamed Morsi in Cairo on July 3.
Around 30 Islamist gunmen laid in ambush for his convoy Wednesday. As the cars drove past Sheikh Zuwayed, southwest of El Arish, they came under a hail of RPG anti-tank rockets and explosive devices. A minivan then drove the length of the convoy shooting heavy machine guns and armor-piercing bullets, trapping the Egyptian troops and officers in the blazing vehicles and gunning down those who tried to escape.
A fierce shootout ensued in which a number of attackers suffered losses, Egyptian military sources say. The minivan's driver was captured and is under interrogation.
Tuesday, at the same location, two buses carrying Colombian peacemakers serving with the multinational force-MFO at the Sheikh Zuwayed base were also waylaid and shot up.
Of deep concern to the Egyptian and Israeli high commands is the Salafist assailants' prior knowledge of the timing and route taken by Gen. Wasfi's convoy in Sinai, because it means that Islamist terrorists have penetrated Egypt's military apparatus in Sinai and gained an inside track on its activities.
With Israel's consent (in line with the 1979 peace treaty), the Egyptian army last week withdrew substantial strength from the Suez Canal towns of Port Said and Ismailia and deployed the troops in Sinai ahead of the offensive.
On the other side of the Sinai border, Israeli Defense Forces are heavily deployed along the Sinai and Gaza border fences and in the southernmost sector of Eilat. They are on high alert on intelligence that the armed Islamists plan to retaliate for an Egyptian assault by attacking Israel.
There is also concern that such attacks would draw in radical Palestinian Hamas fighters. They have nothing to lose after their Muslim Brotherhood patrons in Cairo were overthrown and have little to expect from the army. Indeed, the generals in Cairo suspect Hamas of abetting the Brotherhood's declared "uprising" by organizing a center of armed resistance in Sinai as its launching base for a combined Islamist revolt against the new regime in Egypt. Their suspicions were confirmed by the placards of Mohamed Morsi alongside black al Qaeda flags affixed to the armed minivans used by the Salafists.
For some days, Egyptian troops have been working non-stop to block the smuggling tunnels between Sinai and the Gaza Strip used hitherto to secrete weapons and fighters into Gaza. But now, the Egyptians are concerned to cut down the traffic of fighting men and weapons moving in the opposite direction to reinforce the Sinai Salafists.
#4
Lebanon : Watch al Qaeda Wannabe's Would Try Disrupt Lebanon Society & Have Israel Invade & Curb Violence - Annex : Then al Qaeda Acts & Beriut Revisited & Sinai : too
CAIRO - Egypt has less than two months' supply of imported wheat left in its stocks, ousted President Mohamed Mursi's minister of supplies said, revealing a shortage more acute than previously disclosed.
Unexpectedly!
Speaking to Reuters near midnight in a tent at a vigil where thousands of Mursi supporters are protesting against the Islamist president's removal, former Minister of Supplies Bassem Ouda said the state had just 500,000 metric tons of imported wheat left. Egypt usually imports about 10 million metric tons a year.
And now, having chased off the tourists, Egypt has no way to pay for any of that imported wheat. Nice going Mr. Morsi...
Two and a half years of political turmoil have caused a deep economic crisis in Egypt, scaring away investors and tourists, draining foreign currency reserves and making it difficult to maintain imports of food and fuel.
The political turmoil did not scare away the tourists. The murders and rapes, however...
Egypt is the world's largest importer of wheat, half of which it distributes to its 84 million people in the form of heavily subsidized saucer-sized flat loaves of bread, which sell for less than 1 U.S. cent.
Bread has long been a sensitive issue in Egypt. Former President Hosni Mubarak faced unrest in 2008 when the rising price of wheat caused shortages.
Although it also grows its own wheat, Egypt needs huge quantities of foreign wheat with higher gluten content to make flour suitable for bread.
Why can't Egypt grow suitable wheat? Nile valley is fertile enough.
The ousted government closely guarded figures about its foreign grain stores even as a shortage of cash halted its imports.
Because they knew the average people could understand this, and that understanding would lead to problems, like getting the Brøderbünd tossed from power. Which is exactly what happened...
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said on Thursday that civil unrest and dwindling foreign exchange reserves meant Egypt could have serious food security concerns. Its import requirements next year would be equal to this year, it said.
And the year after, and the one after that...
Since Mursi was toppled last week, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have promised $12 billion in cash, loans and fuel, which economists say buys Cairo several months of breathing room to fix its finances.
After which they're flat busted again...
Egypt had halted its purchases of international wheat since February - its longest absence from the market in years - until the eve of Mursi's overthrow, when the state grain buying agency, the General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC), bought wheat under Ouda's instruction.
"In spite of all the political differences between the parties, the international price of wheat was very nice, we bought about 180,000 metric tons of wheat," Ouda said.
Mamdouh Abdel Fattah, vice chairman of GASC, was not immediately available to comment.
Apart from imports, Ouda said the government had bought 3.7 million metric tons of home-grown wheat from a harvest that is now finishing. It still has 3 million metric tons of domestic wheat left in its stores, having begun milling the domestic crop in May.
Egypt normally mixes its domestic wheat with equal parts foreign wheat to produce flour. Ouda said Mursi's government had tried to increase the ratio of domestic wheat, which would make the country less dependent on imports.
"Our plan was to increase the contribution of the local wheat. We hoped to reach 60 percent," Ouda said.
Mursi's government said on June 26 it had 3.613 million metric tons of total wheat but did not reveal how much of that was imported.
Earlier this week a report issued by a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) attaché in Egypt said domestic wheat stocks would last through October at current consumption levels. It gave no estimate for when foreign wheat would run out. In the past, Egypt maintained stocks of both imported and local wheat that would cover at least six months' needs.
While the Gulf Arab states' cash injection is expected to help Egypt replenish its wheat stocks, it will need to start buying soon and in large quantities.
"I think the aim of the Arab countries is to make sure Egypt doesn't fail with respect to food security and financial commitments with the international banking system, so I would think they will push to get the aid through quickly," said Kisan Gunjal, economist and food emergency Officer at the FAO.
The USDA attaché's report said it takes Egypt 2-3 months from announcing a tender to getting the wheat distributed to flour mills.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/11/2013
13:16 ||
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#1
"The people have no bread? Well, let them eat F-16s! Or sell them on eBay or sumthin'."
#3
I remember watching some BBC/PBS show on North African agriculture maybe 15 years ago. I was appalled at the acres of land under cultivation vs the population. Now it has got to be worse. No idea how they even fed %10 then no idea how they feed anybody now. I compare scrub land like that to my cousin's subsistence level ranch in Montana of 28,000 acres. All of North Africa's cultivated land is only maybe 100 times her land. Some land is much better than hers and some worse so her's is a good average. Her land supports 4 people raising yearlings and a little hay and some oil you can't eat. Run the math.
#6
Tell me again why building the Aswan High Dam and cutting off the annual silting/fertilization by the flooding Nile (which worked for millenia) was a good idea?
Posted by: Barbara ||
07/11/2013 18:19
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Control. All that mud is so inconvenient.
Then there's the new Ethiopian dam, which makes things even more inconvenient. Gonna need all those AK-47s.
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
07/11/2013
12:25 ||
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#1
...As long as they're manuals or what we called 'TEMPEST-shielded' electrics. If they're just standard, off-the-shelf electrics, they will give off signals that can be read and turned into readable documents. I had an unpleasant experience with TEMPEST many years ago that had me convinced for a few days that I'd end up inspecting nail driver cartridges on the DEW Line for the rest of my career.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
07/11/2013 13:53
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I sense/predict that there will be a big and growing business opportunity for providing carrier pigeon services, to players who want to evade pervasive electronic surveillance.
[Washington Post] D.C. politicians gave final approval Wednesday to a bill requiring some large retailers to pay their employees a 50 percent premium over the city's minimum wage, a day after Wal-Mart warned that the law would jeopardize its plans in the city. "Just because you're the largest employer in the country, don't think we want you here!"
The retail giant had linked the future of at least three planned stores in the District to the proposal. But its ultimatum did not change any politicians' minds. The 8 to 5 roll call matched the outcome of an earlier vote on the matter, taken before Wal-Mart's warning. "We don't want your filthy jobs here! They're ucky!"
"The question here is a living wage; it's not whether Wal-Mart comes or stays," said council member Vincent B. Orange (D-At Large), a lead backer of the legislation, who added that the city did not need to kowtow to threats. "We're at a point where we don't need retailers. Retailers need us." Isn't the question of whether Wal-Mart comes or stays kind of involved with whether there's any wage at all? But it's nice to be needed, given the city's unemployment rate. As of May of this year it was 8.5 percent, which is only one out of twelve people.
Well before it had any solid plans to open stores in the District, Wal-Mart joined the D.C. Chamber of Commerce and began making inroads with politicians, community groups and local charities that work on anti-hunger initiatives.
The campaign was matched with cash. Through its charitable foundation, Wal-Mart made $3.8 million in donations last year to city organizations including D.C. Central Kitchen and the Capitol Area Food Bank. It has kept a prominent local lobbyist, David W. Wilmot, on a $10,000-a-month retainer.
Whether or not Wal-Mart needs the District, it had spent the past three years wanting to enter the city in a way no other business had. Activists celebrated Wednesday's vote, saying the company, which reported net income of $17 billion on sales of $470 billion in its most recent fiscal year, could afford to pay better wages. That's a little over three and a half percent profit, if your calculator's busted.
But the council action threatens to halt several developments anchored by Wal-Mart in neighborhoods long underserved. Southeast Hospital went under about ten years ago because of the number of uninsured who were showing up bleeding to death in the emergency room.
"Nothing has changed from our perspective," Wal-Mart front man Steven Restivo said in a statement after the vote, reiterating that the company will abandon plans for three unbuilt stores and "review the financial and legal implications" of not opening three others under construction. The stores would have anchored their sites, with the remaining buildings filled in by restaurants, specialty shops, that sort of thing. I think in the Super-Dooper Wal-Marts they're all under the same roof.
The company's strategy had to this point been calibrated to avoid political conflicts in a city of liberal sentiment, where the retailer's earlier entreaties had been met with deep skepticism. A half dozen people out their with signs always provides cover....
Well before it had any solid plans to open stores in the District, Wal-Mart joined the D.C. Chamber of Commerce and began making inroads with politicians, community groups and local charities that work on anti-hunger initiatives. You gotta hand out lotsa cumshaw in the district if you want to get anything done, and they just don't stay bought.
The campaign was matched with cash. Through its charitable foundation, Wal-Mart made $3.8 million in donations last year to city organizations including D.C. Central Kitchen and the Capitol Area Food Bank, according to a company front man. Meanwhile, ...back at the barn, Bossy was furiously chewing her cud and thinking... it has kept a prominent local lobbyist, David W. Wilmot, on a $10,000-a-month retainer to smooth relations with elected officials.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/11/2013
11:42 ||
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Aha The compulsory unemployment. Obviously a ply to keep the low productivity on benefits rather than work their way from the democrat plantation.
#2
Cut your losses, Wal-Mart, and build stores just over the line in Maryland (near a D.C. bus or Metro stop).
Posted by: Barbara ||
07/11/2013 13:12
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Barbara, IIRC, Prince George's and Montgomery Counties aren't much better than DC.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
07/11/2013 13:22
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Fucked yourself, didn't you D.C. Council, Of course you'll blame Wall Mart for refusing your "Ultimatum" But you don't get those jobs.
No cumshaw for you.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
07/11/2013 14:45
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"D.C. politicians gave final approval Wednesday to a bill requiring some large retailers to pay their employees a 50 percent premium over the city's minimum wage"
"Some" large retailers? Could it be that other large retailers get a pass because they are unionized?
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
07/11/2013 15:49
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They dont need jobs in DC. Their point is the government will care for them. How dare those of us the the flyover states demand the people of DC work for a living...
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
07/11/2013 16:52
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I once asked a lib, "Why do you hate WM but love tar-jeh, its the same kind of store doing the same thing?"
He looked at me like I was speaking Klingon and gargling kitten heads at the same time.
Maybe free (or very cheap) busses from a Metro station/bus stop near the Potomac to a special Wal-Mart in Northern Virginia? [Of course, they're probably just as crazy in NoVa. :-( ]
Posted by: Barbara ||
07/11/2013 18:27
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Barbara, maybe so in Arlington/Alexandria. And Fairfax county too. Not so much in Prince William, Stafford and Spotsylvania counties.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
07/11/2013 18:58
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The campaign was matched with cash. Through its charitable foundation, Wal-Mart made $3.8 million in donations last year to city organizations including D.C. Central Kitchen and the Capitol Area Food Bank. It has kept a prominent local lobbyist, David W. Wilmot, on a $10,000-a-month retainer.
Oftentimes the bribes don't work with this type of clietele.
Posted by: Besoeker in the Mtns. ||
07/11/2013 19:12
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Walley's Mart has provided more access to the lower income classes to the staples and garbs of life than any government program. Instead of being appreciated, the sock puppets of unionism would prefer the less fortunate to do without than one more union 'enforcer' have to forgo funding the union leadership.
[EXPRESS.CO.UK] HALF a million more immigrants have flooded into Britannia from other European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... countries than officials previously admitted, research revealed last night.
The hidden influx, overwhelmingly from Eastern Europe, is equivalent to the population of a city the size of Manchester.
Are they blowing up stuff? Having elebenteen children while on the dole? Gaming the benefits plan? Hacking soldiers in the street?
No? Golly gee, explain to me why they're bad then...
It means the UK admitted four million EU migrants in just 13 years -- believed to be the biggest immigration surge in the country's history.
Kinda like being hit by Ostrogoths from one side, while the Vandals and Huns are showing up on the other.
The revelation triggered furious allegations that the "astonishing" true scale of border control failure under the previous Labour government was covered up.
The row erupted after pressure group MigrationWatch UK published new analysis of the national population census.
Figures showed that the number of people born in other EU countries living in the UK soared by about four million between 1997 and 2010.
Previous population figures published by the Office for National Statistics had estimated that 3.4 million EU immigrants arrived here over that period.
MigrationWatch chairman Sir Andrew Green said: "Four million immigrants in 13 years is an astonishing figure -- the highest in our history, including the Norman Conquest in 1066.
"This new information underlines the scale of the task faced by the present government in getting the numbers down."
Posted by: Fred ||
07/11/2013
11:23 ||
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For crying-out-loud, Brittania is an island. Shouldn't be that difficult to control the immigrants unless they have spineless politicians too.
Massive hike in rents.
Massive pressure on wages.
Rise in problems for schools with kids who cant speak English
Problems for hospitals.
Problems on infrastructure from sheer numbers.
Social problems for older British people left behind in swamped areas.
#4
It means the UK admitted four million EU migrants in just 13 years -- believed to be the biggest immigration surge in the country's history.
Probably true for the United Kingdom. However, the Saxon migrations following the withdraw of Rome basically overran the island other than Wales and the lads up North. Proportionately in relative population, probably a bigger influx. We ain't speaking an evolved form of Anglo-Saxon for nothing.
[Washington Post] A Russian court wrapped up the trial of a dead man Thursday, finding whistle-blower Sergei Magnitsky guilty of fraud but waiving a sentence on the grounds that his life ended while he was imprisoned nearly four years ago. Might as well have given him the death sentence. Though, now they have a conviction they'll go after his estate for "restitution."
Magnitsky was a lawyer who unearthed a $230 million fraud by police and tax officials, but he was arrested and charged with perpetrating the fraud himself. He died in a Moscow prison in 2009, apparently after a severe beating. "Authoritarian" isn't the same as "totalitarian," no more than mashed potatoes is the same as a cheeseburger. Like mashed potatoes and cheeseburgers, the end result is the same.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/11/2013
11:22 ||
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That's when I wanna be convicted for all my crap....
[NEWS.BRISBANETIMES.AU] Gunmen overran an Iraqi army checkpoint and opened fire on a trailer packed with coppers breaking their Ramadan fast, killing 14 in the country's restive western Anbar province.
The attack happened at sundown Wednesday as the troops were marking the end of the first day of fasting during the Mohammedan holy month of Ramadan.
It was the latest in a string of brazen strikes by hard boyz in which more than 2600 people have been killed since the start of April.
Gunmen launched their assault on the army checkpoint near the town of Barwana, which lies across the Euphrates River from the town of Haditha, about 220km northwest of Storied Baghdad ...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate... . Barwana's mayor, Meyasser Abdul-Mohsin, said three soldiers were killed and four were maimed in that attack.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/11/2013
10:52 ||
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#1
So, all are chowing down and no one is minding the store? Y'know, ifn y'all had some Juice or Catlicks or (Gawd 4bid) A Theists on your force...
Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani yesterday warned that homegrown jihadist terrorists such as the Fort Hood shooter and Boston bombers are avoiding detection because political correctness hamstrings law-enforcement agencies.
We have to purge ourselves of the practice of political correctness, he told the House Homeland Security Committee at a hearing on the evolving post-9/11 terrorist threat. You cant fight an enemy you dont acknowledge.
He mocked the Obama administrations description of Army Maj. Nidal Hassans shooting spree at Fort Hood as workplace violence.
[NATIONALTURK] Four members of the fearful terrorist group, Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... have been sentenced to life for their role in kabooms that killed 19 people in Nigeria in 2012.
Shuaibu Abubakar, Salisu Ahmed, Umar Babagana-Umar and Mohamed Ali were found guilty of criminal masterminding and carrying out attacks on an electoral commission office and a church in Abuja.
This is believed to be the heaviest sentences given to any Boko Haram suspects ever since the Federal government started to crack the whip on them.
Boko Haram is responsible for a series of deadly attacks across northern and central Nigeria, leaving a lot of people dead and property destroyed.
The convicted men were found guilty of plotting and carrying out attack on the electoral commission in Suleja, Niger state, killing 16 people, and a second attack on a church that killed three others in July 2012 in Abuja.
A fifth suspect was sentenced to 10 years in jail, while a sixth person was acquitted for lack of substantial evidence for his conviction.
Presiding Judge of the case, Billisu Aliyu in summing up of his judgment described how the suspect lack sympathy and respect for human race.
"They used explosives meant for blasting rocks for mining purposes to kill human beings who had done nothing against them, the convicts have shown lack of respect for human life, they deserve to be removed from the society", Judge Aliyu said.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/11/2013
00:44 ||
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[SPYGHANA] "WE are seeking forgiveness from the people over the number of people killed in the country. I appeal to those who lost their loved ones to our activities to forgive us and on our side we have forgiven all those who committed atrocities against us. I want to state clearly that we have no hands in the unfortunate attack on the secondary school (Government Secondary School, Mamudo, Yobe State)."
With these words, Imam Muhammadu Marwana, an influential member of the Abubakar Shekau-led Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... sect, yesterday, confirmed a ceasefire agreement with the Federal Government to end their deadly activities across most states of Northern Nigeria, which have claimed about 4,000 lives and destroyed properties worth billions of Naira since 2009.
The agreement came exactly 82 days after the Federal Government raised a 25-man committee to work out modalities for granting the amnesty to the sect. Indeed, the Federal Government, yesterday, said that it had signed a ceasefire agreement with the myrmidon group.
Minister of Special Duties and Chairman of the Peace and Dialogue Committee in the North, Alhaji Tanimu Turaki announced the ceasefire agreement on the Hausa service of Radio La Belle France International monitored in Kano. The announcement came on the eve of the Moslem Holy month of Ramadan expected to commence today throughout the world.
It also coincided with a vehement denial by the gunnies that they had no hands in the murder of 30 boarding students of a secondary school in Yobe weekend. Although details of the peace deal were scanty, Turaki who spoke in Hausa further said that the Boko Haram gunnies had agreed to lay down their arms.
"We have sat down and agreed that Jama'atu Ahlul Sunnah Lidda'awati wal Jihad, known as Boko Haram will lay down their arms as part of the agreement so as to end the insurgency. Government agreed with ceasefire and will look into ways to ensure that the troops relax their activities till the final take off of the ceasefire," Turaki told his interviewers.
Confirming the truce, Imam Muhammadu Marwana said: "This ceasefire, in sha'Allahu, from the time I am talking to you (Radio La Belle France Hausa Service) we have ceasefire because of the discussion held so as to have peace over this struggle."
Posted by: Fred ||
07/11/2013
00:44 ||
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With Obama restricting oil production on US federal lands even more in all 50 states, Texas wildcaters are frustrating his war on fossil fuels like the road runner vs the coyote cartoon.
We all know oil production in Texas has soared in recent years. But putting the rise in graphic form shows just how phenomenal the energy turnaround has been: The surge looks exponential.
In March, Texas oil production reached its highest level since 1984. That month, the Lone Star State pumped more than 74 million barrels of crude from the ground, which means if Texas were a country, it would be one of the 15 largest oil producers in the world.
#1
To put Texas oil production in perspective, Perry compared it to North Dakota, the nations No. 2 oil-producing state. In November, Texas produced almost three times as much oil as North Dakota, home to the productive Bakken Shale.
As soon as the NSA digests this article, Champ will take credit for increasing domestic oil production.
Posted by: Bobby ||
07/11/2013 6:05
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unfortunately, there is a danger that Texas is ramping up govt spending faster than it should (and mainly on education)
Posted by: lord garth ||
07/11/2013 9:15
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The main reason the Champ has been unable to cripple Texas' oil production (thus far)is that there is very little federal land in Texas. When Texas joined the Union it retained its public lands as a condition of annexation.
#4
That was a long time ago. We were all much younger then. Champ will just nationalize them to protect the rare Flattened Armadillo.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/11/2013 11:19
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I thought as much, seeing the changes over the past few years as we drove south from San Antonio for book events in Goliad and Beeville. A good few years ago, many of the little towns along the roads we took were practically ghost towns - lots of boarded-up storefronts. But now they are thriving, with lots of new construction - and on the outskirts, man-camps and new RV parks, which have nothing to do with the snowbirds from northern states. Wells and new plants all over ... and acquaintances in Goliad told us last year there were families getting substantial checks for mineral rights who had been just barely scraping by, before. And the traffic in and out of the local courthouses, of people researching ownership and leases, was a like a six-lane urban highway at rush hour.
I'd just as soon the money I pay for gas go to Texans than into a terrorist-sponsoring hell-hole like Saudi Arabia.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
07/11/2013 8:24
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F16 is an air to air battle ship. The only people that the Muslim Bros or the Egyption Army would do air to air battle with are our Israeli allies, aka Hussein and Reverand Wright's nemisis.
F16s have been used as fighter-bombers for the better part of thirty years, and although the design evolved out of an air superiority frame, the delivered plane was decisively "multirole". The Israeli airstrike on Osirak, for instance, was made by F-16 fighter-bombers with F-15s flying cover.
only people that the Muslim Bros or the Egyption Army would do air to air battle with are our Israeli allies
The Egyptians have fought two wars in the thirty years since the October or Yom Kippur War, against the Libyans and Iraqis respectively. On the other hand, the Muslim Brotherhood had been talking wildly about waging war against the Ethiopians a few weeks before the coup, a display of irrationality and impracticality which couldn't have impressed the military and may have contributed to the environment in which they decided to cut Morsi loose.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
07/11/2013 14:52
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[Ynet] Daily Telegraph says analysts who examined satellite images from surface-to-surface missile base deep in Saudi desert spotted two launch pads with markings pointing north-west towards Tel Aviv and north-east towards Tehran
Photo at link, for those of you interested in such things.
Satellite images indicate that Saudi Arabia has deployed ballistic missiles that are pointed towards Israel and Iran, the Daily Telegraph reported Wednesday evening.
According to the report, images analyzed by experts at IHS Jane's Intelligence Review have revealed an undisclosed surface-to-surface missile base deep in the Saudi desert, with capabilities for hitting both countries.
The British daily said analysts who examined the photos spotted two launch pads with markings pointing north-west towards Tel Aviv and north-east towards Tehran. They are designed for Soddy Arabia's arsenal of lorry-launched DF 3 missiles, which have a range of 1,500-2,500 miles and can carry a two-ton payload, the experts said.
The report said the base believed to have been built within the last five years, gives an insight into Saudi strategic thinking at a time of heightened tensions in the Gulf.
The newspaper mentioned that while Soddy Arabia does not have formal diplomatic relations with Israel, it has long maintained discreet back channel communications as part of attempts to promote stability in the region.
"The two countries also have a mutual enemy in Iran, though, which has long seen Saudi Arabia as a rival power in the Gulf. Experts fear that if Iran obtains a nuclear weapon, Saudi Arabia would seek to follow suit," the report said.
According to The Telegraph, analysts at IHS Jane's believe that the kingdom is currently in the process of upgrading its missiles, although even the DF3, which dates back to the 1980s, is itself potentially big enough to carry a nuclear device.
The report said the missile base, which is at al-Watah, around 125 miles south-west of the Saudi capital, Riyadh, was discovered during a project by IHS Jane's to update their assessment of Saudi Arabia's military capabilities.
The missiles are stored in an underground silo built into a rocky hillside. To the north of the facility are two circle-shaped launch pads, both with compass-style markings showing the precise direction that the launchers should fire in, according to the report.
The Telegraph noted that the Chinese-made missiles, which date back to the 1980s, are not remotely-guided and therefore have to be positioned in the direction of their target before firing.
"One appears to be aligned on a bearing of approximately 301 degrees and suggesting a potential Israeli target, and the other is oriented along an azimuth (bearing) of approximately 10 degrees, ostensibly situated to target Iranian locations," said the IHS Jane's article cited in the report.
Robert Munks, deputy editor of IHS Jane's Intelligence Review, was quoted by The Telegraph as saying: "Our assessment suggests that this base is either partly or fully operational, with the launch pads pointing in the directions of Israel and Iran respectively. We cannot be certain that the missiles are pointed specifically at Tel Aviv and Tehran themselves, but if they were to be launched, you would expect them to be targeting major cities.
"We do not want to make too many inferences about the Saudi strategy, but clearly Saudi Arabia does not enjoy good relations with either Iran or Israel," he said.
David Butter, an associate fellow with the Middle East and North Africa program at Chatham House, the London-based foreign affairs think-tank, said there was "little surprise" that the Saudis had the missiles in place.
"It would seem that they are looking towards some sort of deterrent capability, which is an obvious thing for them to be doing, given that Iran too is developing its own ballistic missiles," he said.
He added, though, that the Saudis would know that the site would come to the attention of foreign intelligence agencies, and that the missile pad pointed in the direction of Israel could be partly just for "for show."
"It would give the Iranians the impression that they were not being exclusively targeted, and would also allow the Saudis to suggest to the rest of the Arab world that they still consider Israel a threat," he said.
#1
not "remotely controlled". So? Missiles of this sort have a target programmed in and use inertial or GPS for guidance and get themselves to the target. I imagine radical manuvering isn't possible, so they'd want to be launched generally in the right direction.
Or they're giant Katyushas.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey ||
07/11/2013 7:57
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#2
The missiles are stored in an underground silo built into a rocky hillside. To the north of the facility are two circle-shaped launch pads, both with compass-style markings showing the precise direction that the launchers should fire in,
Pretty crude means of targeting, for modern missiles.
That's not a standard means, there's no guidance other than "Point and shoot", piss poor.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
07/11/2013 8:23
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#3
Pretty crude means of targeting, for modern missiles.
For show and tell, it's adequate. The days of using Western Union to send a message is well past.
Subtext is - The gang in Washington is a bunch of amateurs and we're looking to our own devices to deal with the world around us.
#4
Follow hwy 5611 to an auxiliary airfield (24 13' 57" N. / 44 41' 55" E). The "aiming circles" BS, the roads to them are substandard. Lots of other "interesting" things to see in the area.
[Ynet] The Egyptian army will ask Israel for approval to launch a large counterterrorist offensive against Islamic gunnies in the lawless Sinai Peninsula, violating the peace treaty between the two countries, the British Times reports.
According to the report, jihadist groups have exploited the political crisis in Cairo by attacking Egyptian and Israeli targets in Sinai over recent days. As part of the Egyptian operation, thousands of troops will be sent into the region to crush the threat from terrorists, including al-Qaeda affiliates.
In an initiative aimed at rooting out future leakers and other security violators, President Barack Obama Ready to Rule from Day One... has ordered federal employees to report suspicious actions of their colleagues based on behavioral profiling techniques that are not scientifically proven to work, according to experts and government documents.
The techniques are a key pillar of the Insider Threat Program, an unprecedented government-wide crackdown under which millions of federal bureaucrats and contractors must watch out for "high-risk persons or behaviors" among co-workers. Those who fail to report them could face penalties, including criminal charges. Obama mandated the program in an October 2011 executive order after Army Pfc. Bradley Manning downloaded hundreds of thousands of documents from a classified computer network and gave them to WikiLeaks, the anti-government secrecy group. Which could have been prevented had Manning been properly screened and vetted for his security clearance, and had his chain of command been more concerned about his erratic behavior than in "not leaving a personnel gap" ...
The order covers virtually every federal department and agency, including the Peace Corps, the Department of Education and others not directly involved in national security.
Under the program, which is being implemented with little public attention, security investigations can be launched when government employees showing "indicators of insider threat behavior" are reported by co-workers, according to previously undisclosed administration documents obtained by McClatchy. Investigations also can be triggered when "suspicious user behavior" is detected by computer network monitoring and reported to "insider threat personnel." Federal employees and contractors are asked to pay particular attention to the lifestyles, attitudes and behaviors -- like financial troubles, odd working hours or unexplained travel -- of co-workers as a way to predict whether they might do "harm to the United States." Managers of special insider threat offices will have "regular, timely, and, if possible, electronic, access" to employees' personnel, payroll, disciplinary and "personal contact" files, as well as records of their use of classified and unclassified computer networks, polygraph results, travel reports and financial disclosure forms.
Over the years, numerous studies of public and private workers who've been caught spying, leaking classified information, stealing corporate secrets or engaging in sabotage have identified psychological profiles that could offer clues to possible threats. Administration officials want government workers trained to look for such indicators and report them so the next violation can be stopped before it happens.
#1
So why did the Gang of 8 and other politicians push so hard to ramrod a lousy immigration bill through? A rhetorical question. I suppose the special interest groups are pushing this hard; the Hispanic versions of Jesse Jackson and Rev. Sharpton and various open border groups are hard at work.
As Vali Nasr and others have argued persuasively, the U.S. held the greatest amount of leverage vis-à-vis the Taliban during and immediately after the troop surge. That being said, it is wholly untrue that the U.S. would have no ability to influence the Taliban after withdrawing from the country. There is at least one carrot the U.S. could offer the Taliban: greater autonomy from Pakistan. Indeed, although seldom acknowledged, the U.S. and the Taliban have an overlapping interest in limiting Pakistani influence in Afghanistan.
For Washington, this interest derives from Islamabad's support for fundamentalist groups that attack the U.S. and its allies, as well as its increasingly cozy relationship with China. Although the Taliban rose to power in no small part because of Pakistani assistance, all reports suggest that the group has soured on its patrons during its stay in Quetta, as a result of being repeatedly treated like a pawn by Pakistan's powerful security and intelligence forces.
While dependent on Pakistan's hospitality, the Taliban have had to live with this humiliation. If they returned to power in Afghanistan, one of their first goals would almost certainly be to reduce this dependency on Islamabad. The most practical way of doing this would be to establish some sort of relationship with other powers, which could then be used to counterbalance Pakistani influence. The Western powers (possibly with regional buy-in) could offer to play this role if the Taliban were to respect their most basic interests in Afghanistan--principally, preventing terrorist groups from operating inside Afghanistan, and preferably some degree of respect for the human rights of Afghan citizens, especially women and minorities.
Ultimately, however, the West could never be sure that the Taliban would accept these terms and, even if they did, would have to consider that the group could later renege on them. Fortunately, the U.S. and its allies wouldn't be completely dependent on the Taliban upholding the bargain as they'd retain a trump card to prevent Afghanistan from returning to the country of the 1990s and early 2000s. This trump card would simply be to take unilateral action to prevent al-Qaeda from operating freely in Afghanistan.
Having just spent over a decade inside the country, it's reasonable to assume the U.S. has built up greater local networks than it had in the 1990s. These could be used for intelligence purposes and as hired guns against the terrorists. The fact that since 9/11 the U.S. has acquired a global fleet of armed predator drones would also aide in its fight against global jihadists seeking to use Afghanistan as a base to conduct foreign attacks. In fact, this policy would not be unlike the one being pursued in Pakistan, albeit local collaboration would not come from the national government as it often does in Pakistan, but rather from various non-governmental Afghan groups.
In many ways, it would be preferable for the U.S. to conduct covert action (including drone strikes) against terrorists inside a Taliban-ruled Afghanistan rather than Pakistan. To begin with, the U.S. has stronger local networks inside Afghanistan than it does in the foothills of Pakistan. Moreover, the Taliban would be far less capable of defending Afghanistan's sovereignty than is true of the government along its eastern border. Similarly, destabilizing Afghanistan through drone strikes would also be inherently less risky than destabilizing a much more populous and nuclear-armed Pakistan.
To be sure, this scenario is far from an ideal settlement to the Afghan conflict, which has become the longest war in American history. And certainly the prospect of the Taliban returning to power in Afghanistan would greatly concern many regional states, including U.S. partners like India. But at this juncture there are no ideal conclusions to the Afghan conflict available, and not actively trying to prevent the Taliban from returning to power is hardly an unacceptable one.
#1
Wot a cluster. The whole shithole country with the Paks and the Valley should get an ethnic clensing amongst them self. And leave the rest of modern culture alone. Of course we are going to have to come back for a few times to kill the really bad guys. We should have just enough oversite to dronezap the head jihadist, or napalm the ones that are creating AlKaeada more recruitment and training camps.
#6
"We will not tire, we will not falter and we will not fail."
-- GWB, 9/20/2001
Sure didn't turn out that way, did it?
I shudder to think about what our adversaries have probably concluded about us based on these past 12 years: we tire quickly; we're easily distracted; we're extremely unsure of ourselves, to the point of being afraid to even name our enemy ("It's the Islam, stupid!") for fear of being accused of "racism"; and we've become so over-civilized, so effete, we consider waterboarding (which doesn't do any more than scare the crap out of an interrogation subject) to be "brutal torture."
I also shudder to think about what it will take to jolt us awake, make us jettison the political-correctness bullshit, and really deal with the menace of radical Islam once and for all.
9/11 didn't do it; what will it take?
Posted by: Dave D. ||
07/11/2013 12:09
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#7
Loss of Manhattan, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/11/2013 13:05
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#8
I've given up trying to figure out if the problem is Liberalism per se or some sort of civilizational alzheimer's.
#11
"Winning hearts and minds" doesn't seem to work too well unless you beat them into submission first to get their attention. You just have to do it in 4 years.
#12
No, Obama can live with Taliban Rule , Not America.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
07/11/2013 17:16
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#13
The Bush administration's 9/11-Afghanistan policy had become self-contradictory as early as October of 2001.
In September Bush himself, speaking before a Joint Session of Congress said:
"These demands are not open to negotiation or discussion. The Taliban must act, and act immediately. They will hand over the terrorists, or they will share in their fate."
The original reason for going into Afghanistan was to destroy (one of) the state sponsors of 9/11, the Taliban. It was to punish the Taliban (and their Afghan supporters) for what had already happened.
Yet, in October of 2001 Colin Powell not only offered to spare some Taliban punishment for 9/11.
He offered them political power in a new Afghanistan recognized, financed and served by the US (link).
This went off the rails well before the 4 years were over.
Gunmen opened fire on top Egyptian military commander in Sheikh Zuwaid area in Sinai, Military spokesman said on Wednesday, Xinhua reported.
Gunmen in a car coming from Rafah borders area attacked the convoy of the Commander of the Second Field Army, General Ahmed Wasfy, who was inspecting the security personnel at the area. The commander's guards exchanged fire with the attackers and arrested the driver of the car, while other attackers ran away.
The guards seized the attackers' car in which they found an injured child who died after she was transferred to Arish hospital. Two guns and a U.S. made field binoculars were found in the car. Security forces are in hunt for the escaped terrorists.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/11/2013
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[AnNahar] The Turkish central bank sold $200 million dollars on Wednesday, market sources said, in a renewed fight to hold up the value of the lira.
The central bank has been selling dollars since Monday when it announced urgent and "strong" action to defend the currency and contain overheated bank lending.
In afternoon trading on Wednesday, the lira was being quoted at 1.9456 to the dollar.
It had been traded at 1.9498 on Tuesday, after falling on Monday to a record low level of 1.9740 immediately before the central bank announced its new measures.
On Wednesday the central bank sold $200 million in two auctions -- $50 million and $150 million, and opened the third for $150 million.
The bank had begun its intervention on the foreign exchange market by selling $2.25 billion on Monday.
It said it would pursue the new measures for as long as the lira was under pressure.
But market analysts were immediately skeptical that this policy, which involves using up foreign currency reserves, would be enough to shore up the lira for long and avert an increase in official short-term interest rates.
They said that the main factor putting the lira under pressure was the prospect that the U.S. Federal Reserve bank would begin to wind down its special injections of money to stimulate the U.S. economy.
This had caused an outflow of some risk investment funds from emerging economies, and the Turkish lira had been hit particularly hard, they said.
Syrian government forces are pounding rebel-held districts of the strategic central city of Homs with air strikes and artillery, using what have become known as "Qusair rules" after the bulldozer tactics that produced a seminal victory for the regime in storming the rebels' western stronghold of Qusair in May.
Government troops used relentless bombardment of Qusair, which controlled vital supply routes in western Syria, to batter the city for two weeks before sending in a ground force largely made up of fighters from Hezbollah, the regime's Lebanese ally, battle-hardened by years of fighting Israel, into the ruins to wipe out the rebel defenders. Hezbollah, like Syria and strategic ally of Iran, took heavy casualties in the fierce house-to-house fighting in Qusair, but finally crushed the rebels after three weeks of fighting to cut off the rebels' vital supply lines from neighboring Lebanon.
Now the forces loyal to embattled President Bashar Assad, fighting rebels armed by Saudi Arabia and Qatar and more recently a reluctant United States, are using "Qusair rules" against the rebels who hold 14 districts of divided Homs, an early epicenter of the 28-month-old insurgency against Assad and which once had a population of about 650,000.
With Qusair out the way, Assad's forces, which also include a growing number of Iraqi Shiite fighters trained and largely controlled by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, Damascus has reopened links with the northwestern region that is the heartland of Assad's Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam, and the key Syrian ports of Latakia and Tartous through which pass most of Assad's weapons shipments from Russia.
Now the regime is seeking to break a lengthy stalemate in Homs, where about 60 percent of the buildings are reported to have been destroyed or too damaged to be inhabited during months of fighting.
Syrian troops advanced into the Khaldiyeh district Monday after bombarding the rebel-held area for 10 days, rebel activists reported.
By all accounts, the rebels are being squeezed hard in the current offensive that began June 29, because they're cut off from the supply of arms now coming from the West via Turkey in the north and Jordan in the south.
The regime forces have vastly superior firepower and, as they did in Qusair, are concentrating it on battering Homs into submission as part of Damascus' grand offensive.
It's clear the regime's steadily gaining ground as Assad seeks to cement control of the territory between Damascus, most of which he holds, and the Alawite stronghold in the north, apparently seeking to push the rebels out of the center of the country.
Another offensive including a large Hezbollah force is gathering pace further north against Aleppo, where rebels also hold ground. For now the main focus is Homs, but Aleppo, once Syria's commercial heart, is expected to face "Qusair rules" too.
[AnNahar] Qatar, a key supporter of Islamists who rose to power in Arab Spring countries, is losing ground in regional politics to Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... which appears to have seized the reins on key issues, notably Egypt and Syria.
The decline in Qatar's regional diplomacy comes as its powerful emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani unexpectedly abdicated in favor of his son Tamim last month.
The wealthy Gulf state had transformed itself into a key regional player but began to retreat as heavyweight Saudi Arabia re-entered the political arena after lagging behind in the immediate period following the eruption of the Arab Spring uprisings in December 2010.
The ouster of Egypt's Islamist president Mohammed Morsi last week by the army and the election by the Syrian opposition of Saudi-linked Ahmad Assi Jarba as new leader stripped Qatar of strong influence in both countries.
"Qatar had tried to take a leading role in the region but overstepped its limits by openly backing the Moslem Brüderbund in Egypt, Syria, and other Arab Spring states," said Kuwaiti political analyst Ayed al-Manna.
Jonathan Eyal, head of international relations at Britannia's Royal United Services Institute, argued that Qatar's regional politics have failed.
"Qatar's Middle Eastern diplomacy now lies in ruins: it failed to produce dividends in Libya, backfired in Syria and has now collapsed in Egypt."
"Qatar's Middle Eastern diplomacy now lies in ruins: it failed to produce dividends in Libya, backfired in Syria and has now collapsed in Egypt," local Emirati daily The National quoted him on Tuesday as saying.
Realizing the damaging effects of their policies, Manna noted, "the Qataris sought to cut down on their commitments" which were already affected by the emir's abdication and the sidelining of the influential prime minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jabr al-Thani.
As a result, "Saudi Arabia, a historical regional U.S. ally, regained its role" in coordination with other oil-rich Gulf monarchies, said Manna.
Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah was the first foreign head of state to congratulate Egypt's interim president Adly Mansour, hours after he was named to replace Morsi.
And on Tuesday, the kingdom pledged $5 billion in assistance to Egypt. The United Arab Emirates, which has cracked down on the Moslem Brüderbund in the past few months, offered Egypt an aid package of $3 billion.
"Saudi Arabia wants to ensure stability in Arab Spring countries, regardless of its ideological interests," said analyst Abdel Aziz al-Sagr, head of the Gulf Research Center.
"It had supported the Moslem Brüderbund in Egypt but reconsidered this support after the Brotherhood failed to run the country wisely," he argued.
But the Saudi researcher downplayed the rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Qatar, both of which have been looking to expand their influence during the Arab Spring uprisings and prevent any potential revolt against their own autocratic regimes.
"The Saudi-Qatari harmony still exists and there is no battle for influence between the two countries," said Sager. And as proof, "Riyadh was the first to be informed of the political change in Qatar, six months before it took place. And it welcomed it."
But the two countries, whose relations have been historically tense or at least marked by mistrust, support two different approaches of political Islam that emerged strongly in the wake of the Arab Spring.
Qatar sides with political parties linked to the Moslem Brüderbund, whose experience was cut short despite the strong media support they enjoyed from the influential Doha-based Al-Jazeera ... an Arab news network headquartered in Qatar, notorious for carrying al-Qaeda press releases. The name means the Peninsula, as in the Arabian Peninsula. In recent years it has settled in to become slightly less biased than MSNBC, in about the same category as BBC or CBS... news channel.
Meanwhile, ...back at the shouting match, the spittle had reached unprecedented levels... Saudi Arabia promotes Salafist groups that focus less on politics and more on implementing Shariah Islamic law on daily life matters such as forcing women to wear a veil and prohibiting the mixing between sexes.
King of the Arabians, Sheikh of the Burning Sands Abdullah ... Fifth out of 37 sons of King Abdulaziz to ascend to the throne. He is, after his half-brothers Bandar and Musa'id, the third eldest of the living sons of Abdul Aziz ibn Saud. Abdullah's mother is from the Rashid clan, longtime rivals of the Saud. He has 6 sons and 15 daughters and about $20 billion. His youngest son is just seven years old... has reiterated his country's stance against using Islam for political purposes.
"Islam rejects divisions in the name of one party or another," he said in a statement marking the start Wednesday of the Moslem holy month of Ramadan. The kingdom will never accept" the presence of political parties, that "only lead to conflict and failure."
But regardless of the political agendas of Saudi Arabia or Qatar, the people who rose up during the Arab Spring revolts will have the final word on their own political futures, argued former Bahraini cabinet minister Ali Fakhro.
"It is the Arab people, not Qatar nor Saudi Arabia, who will determine the political future of the region."
#3
some of this is due to a change in Qatar's govt
a week or so ago Tamim bin Hamad formally took over from his father (Hamad bin Khalifa) and for some time before that the son's priorities were being entrained into policies
word is that Tamin is concerned about finances (he headed the qatar investment authority and may have learned something) and even though Tamin is close to the Moslem Brotherhood, he was planning to curb their subsidy
Posted by: lord garth ||
07/11/2013 11:06
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#2
"[The obscure Economic Development Administration] accepts the Inspector Generals recommendations regarding its information technology incident... We take the privacy and IT security of all our employees, grantees and other partners seriously, which is why the agency acted out of an abundance of caution based on the information provided to us.
$1.06 million worth of "caution" to be exact.
If it wasn't for that, I'd have thought it was something out of a BOFH story.
#3
spent $1.06 million on building a temporary infrastructure, pending long-term IT solution; $823,000 on hiring the cybersecurity contractor; $688,000 on contractor assistance for a long-term recovery solution;" and $4,300 to destroy $170,000 worth of tech equipment.
So somebody's cronies got a big wad of cash, too.
But ... if your mouse (or keyboard) was infected with a virus (paging Dr. White!), couldn't you just "isolate it" in a dark closet(or even unplug it)?
I didn't read where anyone got fired or disciplined, either.
Posted by: Bobby ||
07/11/2013 5:59
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#4
Idiots, virii only affect the hard drive.
NOT The mouse, NOT the monitor, (You get the rest)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
07/11/2013 8:01
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#5
It is possible that they are idiots, but it is also possible that there are viruses present in the hardware that we buy from China. Any USB device you plug into your computer can hose it real good in its runtime memory space, which most virus programs don't check well.
#6
RJ, you're using common sense. Common sense is outlawed by federal regulations and law.
You or me, we'd just replace the hard drive. However, in government, that means bidding or going to a existing support contract. All of which are avenues of graft, corruption, and patronage (ie minority set asides). The amount of work time and processing to simply replace the hard drives quickly exceeds the cost of replacing the whole machine.
Now if you took it upon yourself to haul the machines down to a local repair/support dealer and get them all swapped out, you could literally be prosecuted and face criminal time. Remember the 'machine' is really good at picking on the little people.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
07/11/2013 9:05
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#8
I do have a question for the techs.
Monitors/TVs are becoming a bit more than just display; with internet access on their own, usb movie/music, even built in skype. Would this open them up to virus and/or hacking?
#10
All government networks should be black sites, prevented from connecting to the internet at all. They can have isolated computers to do that if they need to.
Such sites should have equipment made in America and they should have their USB ports plugged with glue.
Code can be added to NVRAM on system boards (not just hard drives). I worked on a project (customer was NSA/CIA, etc)on how to wipe NVRAM and prove you'd wiped it so somebody was considering that as an avenue of attack a decade ago.
#16
Indeed, Snowy Creature, it looks like IBM gold. Kids these days, never get to groove on high speed typing due to poorish keyboards. Quality keyboards are greatly under-rated and my favorite was on a Compugraphic EditWriter and 2nd favorite was from an IBM PS2/70.
#17
Y'all must have noticed that I seldom misspell words now, I've got a Keyboard that locks each key as I type (Another obsolete word) and only lets one key work at a ttme.
(No it wasn't a special, just what the computer had with it. (Stuck in a drawer 'till needed)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
07/11/2013 17:03
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Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardaris security chief was killed in a suspected suicide bomb attack in the volatile port city of Karachi on Wednesday as he stopped his armoured vehicle to buy some fruit, police said.
A senior officer in Pakistans financial capital told Reuters that Bilal Shaikh - Zardaris close aide - was killed along with two other people in a prosperous area of eastern Karachi. About a dozen others were wounded.
It seems that the suicide attacker walked up to Bilal Shaikhs vehicle and blew himself up outside the front passenger seat of the vehicle where Shaikh was seated, said police officer Raja Umar Khattab.
A police escort was accompanying Shaikhs white armoured sports utility vehicle when the attack took place. No one immediately claimed responsibility.
Shaikh - who had survived an earlier assassination attempt near his home in Karachi about a year ago - used to change his routes several times while travelling around Karachi, one of Pakistans most violent cities.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/11/2013
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Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has vowed to eradicate terrorism from the country.
He was presiding over a meeting of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) lawmakers at the Prime Ministers House on Wednesday. In the meeting, he held consultations with the members on new National Security Policy.
Sharif said the government will take all stakeholders into confidence before devising a new policy. He said, Pakistan is passing through critical phase, therefore, we all have to join hands to fight against the menace of terrorism. The Fata lawmakers assured their full support to the prime minister on his measures adopted to tackle terrorism.
Too bad about the president's security chief...
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/11/2013
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#1
Has he told the pak army that who use these Jihadi groups for foreign policy
Posted by: Paul D ||
07/11/2013 6:05
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July 9, 2013 (JUBA) - The editor in chief of one of South Sudans leading independent newspapers blasted the international community on Tuesday, accusing them of sympathising with the governing Sudans Peoples Liberation Movement (SPLM), due to their interest in the countrys oil.
Sounds about right. And even if the West would take a stand (which I doubt), the Chinese would have no problem at all...
"I am worried. These people [South Sudans government] have lost direction. They do not have vision. They do not have any plans," warned Nhial Bol Akeen, editor in chief of The Citizen, an English language newspaper. "I yesterday asked one of the ministers what their plans are with the new oil revenues and he said no plan. They are thinking about new cars and new wives. The future is gloom[y]."
The senior journalist, who has been detained by South Sudans security services on various occasions for his papers criticism of the government, said that top members of the SPLM were planning "to use oil money to buy weapons so that they can kill themselves during [the] 2015 elections".
Bol was speaking at a round table discussion examining the achievements, challenges and plans of the new nation hosted by Radio Miraya FM, which is sponsored by the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).
He said the international community was reluctant to pressure the government to embrace good governance and adopt transparency and accountability.
The international partners are becoming members of SPLM. They are not neutral. They are supporting their friends."
He recalled that a senior UNMISS "human rights worker was expelled and [the international community] kept quiet."
Bol also said that diplomats were "not putting enough pressure on the government on [the] Jonglei situation. The prisons are ever full and they do not care. They just pass by the prisons as if they are passing by zoo."
The soft stance towards the former rebel movement, which has governed South Sudan since a 2005 peace deal with Khartoum, is "because of the interest in oil" he alleged.
The international community "are not partners at all. They should show independence and put sanction[s] on the senior officials. They should not be allowed to travel.
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07/11/2013
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Akhmednabi Akhmednabiyev, the deputy editor of Novoye Delo newspaper, was killed in his car. He also wrote for the Caucasian Knot website. Police linked his killing to his work. He was known for investigating alleged human rights abuses by security forces. Dagestan is wracked by an Islamist insurgency and regular violence.
"It seems that somebody is trying to completely shut down the trickle of truthful information" from Dagestan, said the human rights group Memorial. Caucasian Knot said Mr Akhmednabiyev, 53, was the 17th journalist to be killed or die in suspicious circumstances in Dagestan since 1993.
Mr Akhmednabiyev's name had appeared in 2009 on a leaflet identifying journalists and activists suspected of supporting Islamists. Another journalist on the list, Gadzhimurad Kamalov, was shot dead in December 2011.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated Wednesday that it was Turkey's mission was to stand against military coups for "Turkey was a nation which grew up with military coups", Anadolu Agency reported.
Speaking at a fast breaking dinner hosted by a civil servants' union in Ankara, Erdogan reiterated his country's strong opposition against the military coup in Egypt.
"A political power which received 52 percent of popular vote has been toppled with tanks," he said of last week removal of Egypt first democratically elected President Mohammad Morsi from office.
He sounds a little nervous...
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#1
He ought to be. They are due one. Erdogan clearly over-stepped.
BTW 52% of the popular vote does not a republic make.
#3
Erdogan was clever enough to purge the Army, he may totter thru. Missed his main chance IMHO at the start of the Syrian Civil War, he could have been a contenda.
Accused Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev professed his innocence today in federal court, making a quick but dramatic first appearance under the stares of victims and their family members as he recited "not guilty" seven times in a thick accent.
Judge Marianne Bowler's courtroom was packed for the 19-year-old's arraignment on 30 charges, including use of a weapon of mass destruction resulting in death.
Two women believed to be his sisters, one carrying a baby, cried in court as Tsarnaev appeared shackled and handcuffed while dressed in an orange prison jumpsuit.
The courtroom, packed with many turned away to a spillover room, was silent as the accused teen killer was arraigned. Marathon bombing victims and their families, spectators and media began lining up for a look at the alleged bomber as early as 7:30 a.m. for the 3:30 p.m. hearing. Some even clashed with Tsarnaev's sympathizers.
"I have sympathy for the victims. I can see where they are coming from," said Tsarnaev supporter Jennifer Mack of Boston. "At the same time, this is my country. I can support who I want."
Jennifer Mack of Boston is a heartless idiot. You may quote me.
Seventeen of the charges qualify for the death penalty; U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder will decide whether to pursue Tsarnaev's execution if he is convicted.
So it will be whatever is convenient to Champ at the time...
Security at the federal court on Boston's waterfront was extraordinarily tight. The probable cause hearing was held next door to the ongoing mass murder trial of former FBI Most Wanted fugitive James "Whitey" Bulger.
Supporters, including one who came all the way from Washington state, said they believe Tsarnaev is innocent.
"I see zero evidence to say he actually did this," added Lacey Buckley, 23, of Washington state. "There is no DNA; there are no fingerprints. They got nothing."
Lacey Buckley is also a heartless, thoughtless, stupid idiot. Quote me.
About a half dozen supporters, all young women, wore T-shirts that read "Free the Lion" and "Dzhokhar is innocent."
These people are psychologically bent, to borrow a phrase used by Ace last night. That is the only explanation. I don't know if their nihilistic ideology makes them do it or whether they're just as evil as Dhozer, but not quite as bold.
I suspect rather they are the kind of witless airheaded females who stop thinking when they see a pretty male face. What are now being referred to as low information voters.
Another woman in court told the Herald the T-shirts "made her sick."
Lawyers said 80 to 100 witnesses will be called in the trial that could last about four months.
Dzhokhar was taken away in a white prison van right after the hearing.
Posted by: Steve White ||
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GAROWE, Somalia -- The third round of a dialogue process between Somalias Federal Government (SFG) and the countrys separatist region of Somaliland concluded in the Turkish city of Istanbul on Tuesday night, Garowe Online reports.
Among the three points agreed, the SFG and Somaliland are to establish a bilateral control body based in Hargeisa to jointly manage Somalia national airspace, both parties also agreed to continue the dialogue process and to meet once again within the next four months to discuss the remaining points.
According to independent sources in Istanbul, the SFG and Somaliland delegations disagreed on the possibility that future rounds of the dialogue to take place in either Mogadishu or Hargeisa, and also disagreed on the key agenda issue regarding Somaliland's bid for independence.
Puntland region borders Somalilands separatist region in northern Somalia and has fought sporadic territorial conflict with Somaliland over Sool and Sanaag regions for over a decade and Puntland previously declared that any talks between the SFG and Somaliland that excludes Puntland from the talks will not be recognized by the Puntland authorities.
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[Ynet] With month-long fast looming, defense establishment prepares for influx of Paleostinian worshipers, plans to make special efforts to alleviate security tensions: Special pamphlet created for soldiers, Paleostinians above 60 granted unlimited access to Temple Mount
Egypt on Wednesday appointed a new public prosecutor after the resignation of his controversial predecessor, a judicial source said.
The Supreme Judicial Council decided to approve the nomination of Hisham Barakat, the source told AFP, adding that Abdel Meguid Mahmud had resigned on Tuesday.
The controversial former prosecutor had said on Friday that he would step down, days after being reinstated, citing possible conflicts of interest in future prosecutions.
A longtime prosecutor under former dictator Hosni Mubarak, Mahmud was sacked by now deposed president Mohamed Mursi in November as part of a decree in which the Islamist head of state granted himself sweeping powers. The decree was eventually repealed under intense pressure from street protests, but the decisions stemming from it were protected by the constitution that was passed in December.
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BAIDOA, Somalia -- Æthiopian troops stationed in Bay region of southern Somalia have began to vacate some districts in the region on Wednesday, Garowe Online reports.
The Æthiopian troops retreated from military bases in Baidoa, such as Hasey factory station and 60th Somali Army base. Moreover, other Bay regional districts of Bardale and Qansahdheere have reported Æthiopian army's pullout.
Eye witnesses in Baidoa told Garowe Online that AMISOM peacekeeping forces filled the military bases vacated by Ethiopian troops. "The Æthiopian forces located here [Baidoa] began to leave several military bases like Hasey factory which has been their largest station for over a year and the forces left with their armored vehicles," witnesses said.
Witnesses reported that Somali government forces took over bases vacated by Æthiopian troops in Bardale and Qansahdheere districts of Bay region.
The officials of Somali Federal Government and Ethiopian government are yet to comment on the withdrawal and the recent move would be part of Æthiopian government's plan to pull its troops out of Somalia, which commenced after a two-day trip to Baidoa by Somali Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon, who returned to Mogadishu on Tuesday.
Æthiopian government has reiterated several times before that it will withdraw its troops from Somalia's Bay region which it liberated from Al Qaeda linked Al Shabaab militants in February 2012. In March 2013, Æthiopian troops vacated Bakool regional capital of Huddur which was quickly seized by Al Shabaab militants, who were unable to retake Baidoa due to the presence of AMISOM forces.
Æthiopian troops intervened in southern Somalia in Dec. 2006 and withdrew by Jan. 2009, but returned to Gedo, Bay, Bakool, Hiran and Galgadud border regions in early 2012 in support of Somali government's stabilization operations.
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[AnNahar] Fundamentalist groups were probably responsible for the attack on the Bir al-Abed neighborhood in Beirut's southern suburb on Tuesday, reported the Central News Agency on Wednesday.
Security sources denied to the agency that a Hizbullah official was the target of the blast, revealing that the security agencies have some leads that can direct them to the perpetrators.
March 14 sources meanwhile said that such an attack on a Hizbullah stronghold was expected seeing as the party is involved in the fighting in Syria.
Its involvement has paved the way for several groups to exploit the situation and work on creating chaos in Leb, they added.
They also did not rule out the possibility that the attack could have been a set up to pin the blame on a certain side, when in fact another power may have been behind it.
At least 53 people were maimed in the kaboom that was caused by a booby-trapped vehicle in the Bir al-Abed neighborhood, which is a Hizbullah stronghold.
On Wednesday evening, LBCI television reported that "an olive-green Kia entered the Bir al-Abed area at 10:45 a.m. and its driver parked it at the parking lot of the Islamic Cooperation Center before leaving the street to an unknown destination."
"At 11:00 a.m., exactly 15 minutes after the car was parked, the kaboom went off," it added.
Security sources told the TV network that "reports in some newspapers and media outlets -- especially about intercepting phone calls between inmates in the Roumieh prison and the plotters of the attack -- cannot be verified as long as the judiciary overseeing the probe has not been informed of the details and has not yet received the surveillance cameras and the footage from the main political party (Hizbullah) in Bir al-Abed."
"In the wake of the blast, members of Hizbullah removed the surveillance cameras that were installed in the area surrounding the parking lot and retrieved the footage from the businesses and shops," the sources added.
"All possibilities are being considered, although most of the fingers are being pointed at Takfiri ...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who most be killed... s," the sources said.
LBCI revealed that "Hizbullah has recently received information that Dahieh might be targeted by boom-mobiles or suicide kabooms and that one of them might be carried out by a man disguised as a Shiite holy man."
"Hizbullah is on alert in Beirut's southern suburbs, monitoring and investigating any suspicious behavior, but it seems that the Bir al-Abed blast exceeded its expectations," LBCI added.
ISLAMABAD: The European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) to Pakistan on Wednesday claimed that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) did not fulfil its responsibilities with honesty during the general elections 2013.
Addressing a press conference, EU Election Observation Mission chief Michael Gahler said the EU mission remained in Pakistan from March 3 to June 4 to monitor the elections. He expressed dissatisfaction over the Election Commission of Pakistan and elections 2013 and said the ECP failed to fulfil its responsibilities in the true manner. Gahler also claimed that the returning officers changed the polling staff in some constituencies before voting.
A strong democratic commitment was demonstrated in the 2013 elections. Despite escalating militant attacks, and procedural shortcomings, the electoral process progressed with high levels of competition, a marked increase in voter participation, and overall acceptance of the outcome. However, fundamental problems remain with the legal framework and the implementation of certain provisions, leaving future processes vulnerable to malpractice, Gahler said.
All contesting candidates were not given equal right to contest the elections, he said, adding that there were complaints that the names of women voters were omitted from voters lists. He said the mission has no evidence of any interference in the electoral process by the intelligence agencies; however, certain institutions have crossed their limits in the discharge of their duties.
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[AnNahar] Kuwait offered Egypt on Wednesday an aid package of $4 billion, a minister said, bringing to $12 billion the total pledges by Gulf monarchies to Cairo since the army ousted Islamist president Mohammed Morsi last week.
"The council of ministers has approved an urgent aid package to our brothers in Egypt following instructions from the emir," State Minister for Cabinet Affairs Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah al-Sabbah said, according to the official KUNA news agency.
The Kuwaiti package includes a grant of $1 billion, a deposit of $2 billion at Egypt's central bank, in addition to oil and oil products worth $1 billion, Sheikh Mohammad said.
He said the $1 billion worth of oil and products will be also given as a grant.
The United Arab Emirates and Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... pledged on Tuesday aid packages of $3 billion and $5 billion, respectively.
Egypt's army last week forced Morsi out of office after days of protests against his one-year rule. The three oil-rich Gulf states welcomed the move and hailed the army.
Twelve billion dollars in aid from Egypt's wealthy Gulf allies have bought Cairo a window of several months to try and stabilize its politics and repair its state finances - or face fresh economic turmoil.
John Sfakianakis, chief investment strategist at MASIC, a Riyadh-based investment firm, estimated the $8 billion in aid from Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... and the UAE could give Egypt a breathing space of four to six months. On top of that, Kuwait has since pledged a further $4 billion.
[AnNahar] Hizbullah caretaker Minister of State for Administrative Reform Mohammad Fneish considered on Wednesday that the blast that targeted Bir al-Abed neighborhood in Beirut's southern suburbs aims at destabilizing Leb's civil peace.
"The culprits aim at moving security violations from an area to another across Leb and to create sedition and a sectarian rift among Mohammedans in particular," Fneish told al-Joumhouria newspaper published on Wednesday.
Sources close to the party told As Safir newspaper that the kaboom is a "coward act" that targeted a residential area, ruling out reports that it's a security breach to Hizbullah.
At least 53 people were maimed in the kaboom that was caused by a booby-trapped vehicle in the Hizbullah Stronghold neighborhood.
"The attack didn't target any (Hizbullah) figure or center for the party," the sources said, pointing out that the party boosted security near the houses of its leadership and its headquarters.
"It's normal that cars park at a parking lot," the sources said.
Informed security sources told As Safir that preliminary reports are based on the footage taken by nearby security cameras.
A security source also told the daily that a western security apparatus informed Lebanese security agencies days before the blast that an krazed killer group is plotting to carry out a bombing in Beirut's southern suburbs.
Hizbullah sources told As Safir that the ongoing provocation against Hizbullah and its arms paved the way for such acts.
The sources noted that Takfiri ...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who most be killed... groups might be responsible for the the blast over Hizbullah's involvement in the battles in the neighboring country Syria.
Officially neutral in Syria's conflict, Leb is deeply divided into pro- and anti-Assad camps.
Hizbullah and its allies back Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Oppressor of the Syrians and the Lebs... , who adheres to the Alawite offshoot of Shiite Islam, while the Sunni-led opposition supports rebels seeking his ouster.
For his part, Fneish praised in comments in al-Joumhouria the March 14 alliance's swift condemnation for the attack.
He described the coalition's stance as importance, calling on the March 14 officials to reconsider their rhetoric.
North Korea on Wednesday abruptly proposed talks about resuming package tours to Mt. Kumgang and reunions of families separated by the Korean War. The offer came when delegates from both Koreas met in the North Korean border city of Kaesong to discuss reopening the industrial complex there.
The Norks sound .. desperate. The South should smile, say nothing, and wait for the next concession.
The Unification Ministry said the North proposed talks in Mt. Kumgang on July 17 to discuss resuming the package tours and Red Thingy Cross talks on July 19 either in Mt. Kumgang or Kaesong to discuss the family reunions.
After consultation with their superiors in Seoul, the South Korean delegates accepted only the proposal for the talks about the family reunions and suggested they be held in the truce village of Panmunjom. They said it would be too soon to discuss resuming the Mt. Kumgang tours before the question of reopening the Kaeong Industrial Complex has been solved.
Some in the government suspect that the sudden charm offensive from North Korea may have an ulterior motive. The North is keen to mitigate the impact of international sanctions and earn hard currency by any means possible.
Or they're tired of eating tree bark soup...
Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Hyung-suk merely said, "We hope the North will become a trustworthy dialogue partner and a responsible member of the international community."
Meanwhile, the North warned the South in a separate message around 7 p.m. Wednesday that it is about to discharge water from a sluicegate at the Yesong River power plant to control water levels. On several previous occasions the North has discharged water downriver to South Korea without warning.
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Bagerhat --- Two forest robbers were killed in a gunfight with members of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) in Andharmanik area of the Sundarbans under Mongla upazila on Wednesday.
Good luck finding that place...
The Sundarbans where the tigers rule...
The deceased were identified as Riad alias Dalim, 28, and Kalam Khan, 47. They belonged to notorious robber gang 'Sheersha Bahini'.
Ah, the Bahinis ride again!
Only the most notorious get the "Sheersha" label, y'know.
A team of the elite force conducted a drive in the Sundarbans around 1:45pm as part of their regular crackdown against the forest robbers, said commander of Rab-8 (Barisal) Col Faridul Alam who led the operation.
"What's on the Wednesday schedule, Inspector?"
"It's 'crackdown on forest robbers' in the afternoon, Colonel."
"Oh, good. I was getting rather tired of that 3am-in-the-brickyard routine."
A daytime action? Did they get overtime?
As the Rab members reached Baro Tengrarkhal of the Sunbarbans under Changpai Range,
Was that a secret lair or just a random spot?
the forest robbers opened fire on the law enforcers,
"Cheez! Not our spider sense again! Open aimless fire boys!"
forcing them to retaliate
...couldn't help themselves, could they...
One can sit through only so many randomly-aimed shots before one loses patience.
that triggered a one-sided gun battle.
After the 30-miniute gunfight, the robbers fled into the deep forest.
As if they'd never been there in the first place...
Just like Robin Hood and his Merry Men - Yoiks and Away!
Later, the crime busters recovered the bodies of Dalim and Kalam from the spot.
"Which spot?"
"THAT spot!"
They also recovered seven firearms, including three LGs, 35 bullets and a trawler used by the robbers and a large amount of relief materials.
No shutter gun. Day shift never gets the shutter gun.
The relief materials might come in handy, though.
Not to mention the trawler, whatever that might be.
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#1
Not to mention the trawler, whatever that might be.
Maybe there are pristine fish-filled lakes near Mongla.
These miscreants may have been robbing from the local catch.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
07/11/2013 9:22
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Members of the terrorist group, the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) have not completely left Turkey, Turkish Interior Minister Muammer Guler was quoted today by Sabah newspaper as saying. The minister said that anyone who will try to sabotage the process of the PKK withdrawal will suffer.
Previously, imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan urged the members of the organization to lay down arms and leave Turkey. Turkish authorities promised to create conditions for a safe withdrawal of all PKK militants who laid down arms.
Militants of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party began to leave Turkey on May 8.
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[AnNahar] South Sudanese troops, rebels and rival ethnic militia forces are fighting in the troubled eastern state of Jonglei, aid workers and diplomats warned Wednesday.
The latest outbreak of fighting in Pibor county in the impoverished Jonglei region follows festivities in May, when soldiers and other gunnies looted United Nations ...boodling on the grand scale... and aid agency stores, including the only hospital for the wider region.
The U.S. embassy Wednesday issued a statement condemning in "the strongest possible terms the interethnic violence now taking place" in Pibor county.
"We urge that all... allow humanitarian agencies to reach those civilians and communities ravaged by violence," the embassy added.
South Sudan's rebel-turned-official army has been fighting to crush a rebellion led by David Yau Yau, a former theology scholar fighting since April 2011, who comes from the Murle people.
Tribal militia forces several thousand strong from both Lou Nuer and Dinka tribes are also reported to have mobilized to fight their long-time Murle rivals, according to aid workers in the region.
"We have very credible reports of wide-spread fighting across northern Pibor county," said a United Nations official who was not authorized to speak to the media.
Rights groups accuse both government troops and Yau Yau's forces of abusing civilians, including widespread rape.
South Sudanese President Salva Kiir, speaking Tuesday at celebrations to mark the nation's second anniversary of independence, said he was "extremely concerned about the continuing attacks and senseless killing of innocent civilians" in Pibor.
Blaming Yau Yau for the attacks, Kiir nevertheless urged the rebel commander to accept an amnesty offer and surrender.
In April, five U.N. peacekeepers and seven U.N. civilian workers were killed in an ambush near Pibor.
"The lives of our citizens and of international peacekeepers have been tragically lost and many others have been displaced," Kiir added.
Volatile Jonglei has been the scene of widespread ethnic conflict since South Sudan became independent in July 2011.
The wider region is still reeling from a 1983-2005 civil war that left communities awash with guns and riven by ethnic hatred, with traditional cattle raiding between rival tribes escalating into a wave of brutal killings.
Acknowledging the difficulty of squaring U.S. law with national security priorities in dealing with the military overthrow of Egypt's president, the Obama administration said Tuesday it was encouraged by a proposal from the country's interim government to restore democratically elected civilian leadership.
Doing everything they can to avoid calling it a 'coup'...
While insisting that they have not taken sides in the crisis that has enveloped Egypt over the past week, U.S. officials expressed satisfaction with the plan and urged all Egyptians to take advantage of the opportunity it presents to draft and vote on a new constitution, parliament and president over the next several months. At the same time, the White House conceded it was struggling to deal with "the elephant in the room," which is balancing a legal requirement to cut off U.S. aid to countries where coups occur and the national security importance of supporting Egypt's military.
The administration thus far has refused to describe deposed President Mohammed Mursi's ouster as a coup, saying it is still undergoing a legal review. Officials also have said the administration has no plans to suspend the $1.5 billion in annual assistance the U.S. provides to Egypt. Of that total, $1.3 billion is direct military aid.
"There's an elephant in the room here," White House press secretary Jay Carney said Tuesday. "It is in our national interest, the best interests of the United States and the best interests, in our view, of our goal of assisting the Egyptian people in their transition to democracy to take the time necessary to evaluate the situation before making such a determination."
You knew if he tried long enough Jay Carney could finally say something that made sense. This might be his one and only time.
In the meantime, Carney said the administration wanted to work with all sides to ensure that "a dangerous level of political polarization" that exists now in Egypt gives way to "reconciliation." To that end, he said Washington was broadly supportive of the transition plan presented to the Egyptian people for their consideration.
"We are cautiously encouraged by the announcement by the interim government that it has a potential plan for moving forward with a democratic process and elections, both parliamentary and presidential, and we think that's a good thing," Carney said. "We call on all parties to engage in a dialogue about that process and not to refuse to participate, because we believe (that) the best hope for resolving this crisis is through a process that is inclusive and in which everyone participates."
Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood, which won Egypt's first-ever democratic elections, already has rejected the proposal from the military-selected interim president that calls for rewriting the constitution, holding a referendum on it within four months and followed by parliamentary elections in six months. The new parliament then would have a week to set a date for new presidential elections.
The White House and State Department both urged the Muslim Brotherhood to reverse course and take part in the process but declined to respond to the group's complaint that it already had participated in and won a free and fair election, the results of which were voided by a military intervention.
"We will continue to encourage the Muslim Brotherhood, leaders from that group, to participate in the process," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said. "We know this is not going to be an easy process, but that's what we'll continue to encourage."
Psaki could not say whether any U.S. government official had contacted or tried to make contact with Mursi since President Barack Obama called him late last Monday to urge him to address the grievances of millions of demonstrators protesting his increasingly autocratic rule. The military removed Mursi from power on Wednesday and then placed him under house arrest along with other Muslim Brotherhood leaders.
Psaki said Secretary of State John Kerry had spoken by phone on Monday with Egypt's defense minister, Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, and pro-democracy leader Mohamed ElBaradei, who was selected to be interim vice president on Tuesday.
At the Pentagon, an official said Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel spoke for the fifth time in six days with El Sissi on Tuesday as part of what has been almost daily effort to encourage the Egyptian military to reduce the violence and make a quick transition to a civilian government. The official said the frequent conversations were an attempt to set a defined rhythm of communications with the Egyptian leaders.
On Monday, after Egyptian security forces killed 51 people demonstrating in support of Mursi, the U.S. called for the military to exercise "maximum restraint."
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[AnNahar] Libya's interior ministry reopened Wednesday after being forced to close for more than a week by gunnies demanding the dissolution of an ex-rebel force attached to the ministry, a front man told Agence La Belle France Presse.
"The interior ministry is working normally and the staff have resumed their posts," said Hussein al-Amari of the ministry's information bureau.
A group of gunnies entered the buildings on Tuesday last week, asking staff to leave and threatening to use their weapons.
They closed off the entrances to the ministry with mounds of sand, and demanded the dissolution of the supreme security committees, militias made up of former rebels who fought to topple former dictator Muammar Qadaffy ...Proof that a madman with money will be politely received for at least 42 years until his people get tired of him and kill him... in 2011.
A ministerial committee responsible for emptying Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... of armed militias negotiated the interior ministry's reopening, Libyan news agency LANA reported, without elaborating.
The head of the ministerial committee said that an investigation would be launched "to shed light on this incident," adding that a report would be prepared on damage done to the buildings.
Libya's transitional government formed supreme security committees across the country to maintain security following the fall of Qadaffy's regime in October 2011.
The authorities decided in December to dissolve the committees, but the former rebels themselves blocked the move.
Hailing from various parts of the country and representing different tribes and with varying ideologies, members of the committees have received salaries and perks from the authorities, and some have even benefited from smuggling and extortion.
The new authorities are battling to establish military and security institutions capable of restoring law and order and state authority in the face of the militiamen.
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[AnNahar] On Wednesday Egyptian prosecutors charged 200 people over their involvement in the deadly festivities, mostly supporters of ousted Morsi, a judicial source said.
The 200 will be held for 15 days pending investigation into accusations of murder, incitement to violence, carrying unlicensed weapons and disrupting public order and security, the source told Agence La Belle France Presse.
A total of 650 people have been locked away Please don't kill me! over the festivities. The remaining 450 have been released on bail, the source said.
Meanwhile, ...back at the argument, Livia had made her point with her knee to Jane's stomach... a judicial source announced that a new public prosecutor has been appointed after the resignation of his controversial predecessor.
"The Supreme Judicial Council decided to approve the nomination of Hisham Barakat," the source told AFP, adding that Abdel Meguid Mahmud had resigned on Tuesday.
The controversial former prosecutor had said on Friday that he would step down, days after being reinstated, citing possible conflicts of interest in future prosecutions.
A longtime prosecutor under former dictator Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... , Mahmud was sacked by now deposed president Morsi in November as part of a decree in which the Islamist head of state granted himself sweeping powers.
The decree was eventually repealed under intense pressure from street protests, but the decisions stemming from it were protected by the constitution that was passed in December.
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[AnNahar] Elite troops have been deployed in Sudan's second-largest city after days of violence among members of the security forces, as residents begin the Musselmen holy month of Ramadan in fear of new festivities.
An Agence La Belle France Presse correspondent was the first from a foreign news organization to arrive in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur state, since the worst outbreak of urban warfare in Sudan's far-west region in recent memory.
Most fighting in Darfur has occurred in poverty-stricken rural regions and smaller communities.
State officials blamed "differences" among members of the security forces for the battles which began inside Nyala on July 3.
Fighting left a war crimes suspect maimed and killed two Sudanese World Vision aid workers, among others.
Travelling into the city about six kilometers (four miles) from the Nyala airport, the correspondent said he counted about 12 gun-mounted SUV vehicles belonging to the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) -- the country's most elite forces, which are separate from the army.
Up to 10 troops were stationed with each gun car.
"It is calm but we don't trust this calm because everyone has weapons, and they are not under control. They can use them at any time," one resident said, afraid to give his name.
Fighting in Nyala was sparked last week when security forces allegedly killed a notorious local bandit who was also an officer in the paramilitary Central Reserve Police.
Darfuri members of the Reserve formerly belonged to the Janjaweed, a government-backed militia which shocked the world with atrocities against ethnic minority civilians suspected of supporting rebels.
The ethnic minority rebels began their uprising against the Arab-dominated Khartoum regime in 2003.
Security problems have been compounded by inter-tribal fighting, kidnappings, carjackings and other crimes, many suspected to be the work of government-linked militia and paramilitary groups.
A curfew is in effect from midnight but masked gunnies on Tuesday night kidnapped a local businessman, Issa Adam, as he drove with his family, a relative said.
Adam operates a large shop in one of the city's main markets, selling sorghum and other essential commodities, the relative said.
Signs of the recent fighting are obvious in the city.
Behind the locked gates of the World Vision compound, numerous small holes from bullets or shrapnel could be seen in the walls of a villa which served as the group's office, until a suspected rocket-propelled grenade went kaboom! last Thursday.
It left two staffers of the aid group dead and a third critically maimed.
The two-story courthouse, one of the city's largest buildings, is also bullet-scarred, as is Nyala's best hotel, the Coral.
About 20 riot coppers with an armored vehicle protected the local branch of the Central Bank, which was open for business on Wednesday.
Hardship faces Nyala residents as they begin the Ramadan month of dawn-to-dusk fasting.
They said the city has been without electricity for two days.
A taxi driver reported the price of petrol at 50 Sudanese pounds ($7) a gallon (4.5 liters), or about four times the price in the capital Khartoum.
Fuel reaching Nyala is subject to attack during its overland journey across Darfur.
AFP saw one petrol station partly-burned and shut.
Others remained open but cars and three-wheeled taxis queued for about one kilometer waiting to buy fuel, the news hound said.
Despite the tensions, people are trying to carry on with their lives.
Students were in the streets walking to and from school.
A main market in the town was operating.
But another commercial area remains shut after it was burned and looted on Sunday, as residents ran for their lives during fresh fighting.
That same day Ali Kushayb, a former commander of the Janjaweed, was left maimed during an attack which reportedly killed two of his men, local sources said.
Kushayb is wanted on 51 counts by The Hague-based International Criminal Court ... where Milosevich died of old age before being convicted ... for crimes against humanity and war crimes allegedly committed against Darfur civilians in 2003 and 2004.
Security has worsened in Darfur this year, the United Nations ...an organization originally established to war on dictatorships which was promptly infiltrated by dictatorships and is now held in thrall to dictatorships... says.
Posted by: Bobby ||
07/11/2013 5:46
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...about the only 'elite' available would be Academi (former Xe, former Blackwater).
Otherwise most of the 'elite' in the region would rate as Pre-Gulf War(I) National Guard who've survived one or two Darwinistic operational experiences.
More fallout from the smartest diplomats in the room.
[AnNahar] German Chancellor Angela Merkel ...current chancellor of Germany. She was educated in East Germany when is was still run by commies, but in 1989 got involved with the growing democracy movement when the Berlin Wall fell. Merkel is sometimes referred to by Germans as Mom... on Wednesday defended the role of secret services in keeping populations safe, but also said she only learnt of the U.S.-run PRISM surveillance program through media reports.
In her most detailed comments yet on the snooping and spying claims made by runaway former U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, she also stressed that the United States remained "Germany's most faithful ally".
Merkel, who grew up in the former East Germany, also strongly rejected the idea that the U.S. National Security Agency's activities could be compared to those of the communist state's despised Stasi secret police.
"For me there is absolutely no comparison between the State Security of the GDR (German Democratic Republic) and the work of the intelligence services in democratic countries," she told the news weekly Zeit.
"They are two completely different things, and such comparisons only lead to a trivialization of what the State Security did with people in the GDR," she said in pre-released excerpts from the interview.
"The work of intelligence services in democratic states has always been vital to the safety of citizens and will remain to be so in future. A country without intelligence work would be too vulnerable," she said.
Earlier this week, a German artist had projected the message "United Stasi of America" onto the facade of the U.S. embassy in Berlin.
Merkel added that safeguarding a country against terrorist attacks would "be impossible without the option of monitoring telecommunications".
The chancellor, who faces elections on September 22, had previously said little about the Snowden claims, which have angered many in Germany, which with its Nazi and GDR history is especially sensitive to government surveillance.
After reports that the U.S. had also bugged European missions, Merkel had said -- first through her front man, later in person -- that, if confirmed, this would be "unacceptable" and that "we are not in the Cold War anymore".
This week a German delegation has traveled to Washington to seek greater clarity on the surveillance, including the PRISM program to monitor emails, online chats, pictures, files and videos uploaded by foreign users.
Merkel, asked whether she personally reads German intelligence reports, told the newspaper: "It has been the case for a long time that a coordinator inside the chancellery is responsible for the federal intelligence services, either a minister of state or the chief of staff."
Authorities escalated their crackdown on Wednesday on the Muslim Brøderbünd, ordering the arrest of its top leader for inciting violence this week in which more than 50 people were killed in clashes with security forces.
One week after the military overthrew president Mohammed Mursi and began moving against his Muslim Brøderbünd movement, prosecutors issued a warrant for the arrest of the groups supreme leader, Mohammed Badie, as well as nine other leading Islamists. According to a statement from the prosecutor generals office, they are suspected of instigating Mondays violence outside a Republican Guard building that grew into the worst bloodshed since Mursi was toppled.
Members of the Brøderbünd and other Islamists have denounced Mursis ouster and have refused offers by the interim leadership to join any transition plan for a new government. They demand nothing less than Mursis release from detention and his reinstatement as president.
Foreign Ministry spokeman Badr Abdel-Atti gave the first official word on Mursi in days, saying the ousted leader is in a safe place and is being treated in a very dignified manner. No charges have been leveled against him, Abdel-Atti said.
For his own safety and for the safety of the country, it is better to keep him ... otherwise, consequences will be dire, he added.
Thousands of Muslim Brøderbünd supporters are continuing a sit-in at the Rabaah Al Adawiya Mosque near the Republican Guard building that was the site of Mondays clashes.
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#1
No one mentioned the Egyptian Police that were killed.
ALAM: In the past few years, Swat valley has been occupied by insurgents, undergone a bruising counter-offensive by the army and then flooded by waters that washed away acres of fruit orchards and steeply terraced fields.
In October last year, the valley which lies about 250 km north of Islamabad was again in the global spotlight when gunmen shot schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai. Now, as villagers try to piece together shattered lives, the military is coming under pressure to talk peace with the Taliban, a ruthless Pakistani offshoot of the radical movement of the same name in neighbouring Afghanistan.
Civilian Pakistani leaders elected in May want to open a dialogue with the homegrown militants set on overthrowing the nuclear-armed state. They say the local people are fed up with the violence and that any talks will be legitimised by US efforts to promote peace with the Afghan Taliban. But the powerful military, which has spent years chasing the Pakistan Taliban into ever-more remote hideouts, is in no mood to negotiate with militants who have killed thousands of soldiers and who they say cannot be trusted. Some villagers back that stand.
(The Taliban) doesnt accept the governments writ, they are not faithful to the constitution, how can a political party talk to them? said Abdul Rehman, an elder in the village of Kalam, a former tourist hotspot high in the Swat valley and ringed by snow-capped peaks of the Hindu Kush. The village is famous for repelling Taliban attacks. We forced them away, first on our own, then with the help of the army, Rehman told Reuters during a visit organised by a UN organisation funding flood relief work in his village, which is set among pine forests and walnut orchards.
The debate over whether to open peace talks with the Pakistani Taliban has taken centrestage in the country as US troops withdraw from Afghanistan after a 12-year war against the Afghan Taliban. Pakistans military leaders are at pains to distinguish between the Afghan Taliban, to which Pakistan maintains ties and which they argue can be seen as fighting against occupation, and its local imitators who they see as domestic terrorists.
The Pakistani Taliban pledges allegiance to Mullah Mohammad Omar, the reclusive leader of the Afghan Taliban but Omar is careful not to be seen to attack the Pakistani state. The Pakistani Talibans suddenly sacked its spokesman on Tuesday amid signs of strained ties between the groups. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his prominent rival Imran Khan both offered to talk to the Pakistani militants while campaigning for Mays federal and provincial elections. While Nawaz won the federal elections, Imrans party emerged victorious in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the province that includes Swat Valley and remains a hotbed of Pakistani Taliban activity.
The information minister in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa told Reuters that the provincial government had called a meeting of other political parties and stakeholders to prepare for peace talks. The United States has opened up a Taliban office in Qatar and is holding negotiations with them, and we are being told to continue to fight and die, Khan said last month during a visit to Peshawar, the provinces violence-blighted capital. For the last nine years we have relied on the army to bring peace, but instead the situation got worse, he said. Its now time for politicians to resolve the issue.
Imrans party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), says the violence in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is a reaction to US drone strikes and pro-Washington policies by the army, and that talks are the only answer. But there is no easy solution. Most of the militants seek refuge in the neighbouring Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) - districts strung along Pakistans border with Afghanistan and run by central writ - and the provincial government cannot control the process.
FATA is used as a base by the Pakistani Taliban, members of the Afghan Taliban and groups linked to al Qaeda. Nawazs federal government can only do so much. Pakistans military largely has a free hand regarding internal security, and influences foreign policy, especially relations with neighbours. It is the army, its intelligence agencies and the Taliban itself who will decide whether to talk or fight.
The Pakistani Taliban has shown interest in talks, but has stepped up attacks after a series of drone strikes on its leaders and also because it doubts the ability of the civilian leadership to convince the military to allow negotiations. If we felt that the PTI government or the Nawaz Sharif government were in a position to take a serious step towards peace talks and can oppose the intelligence agencies, then we can seriously think about peace talks, the groups then spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan said in a video released in June.
So far, the military has shown no inclination to relax an offensive many officers feel they can win. We have to take the fight to them, said a regional commander flying a helicopter over Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Just before the elections, army chief Gen Ashfaq Kayani made it clear he would not talk to the militants unless they lay down arms and accept Pakistans laws. There is no room for doubts when it comes to dealing with rebellion against the state, he said in an April 30 speech.
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[AnNahar] Indonesian mosques must limit their use of loudspeakers to stop disrupting the lives of those who reside nearby, an official urged Wednesday at the start of the holy month of Ramadan.
The approximately 800,000 mosques in the world's most populous Mohammedan-majority country go into overdrive during Ramadan, noisily blasting out Koranic verses from the early hours.
But the Mosques Council, an independent body which groups many of the country's mosques, said it had asked the places of worship to cut back on their use of loudspeakers.
"Mosques are always more noisy during Ramadan so we have asked them to limit the use of their loudspeakers," said deputy council head Masdar Masudi.
The mosques begin their sermons earlier than usual in Ramadan, when Mohammedans forgo food, drink and sex between dawn and dusk, as they call people for the "sahur" breakfast that is eaten each day before fasting begins.
Masudi said it was acceptable for mosques to use loudspeakers for the short call to prayer but they should limit their use beyond that.
"A quiet atmosphere is very important so that Mohammedans can perform their religious duties solemnly during this holy month," said the official, adding he hoped mosques would continue to limit their use of speakers even after Ramadan.
There have been repeated calls for mosques to turn down the volume over the years following complaints from residents, but previous efforts have met with little success.
[AnNahar] A Nigerian minister tasked with talking to Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... claimed Wednesday that he was in ceasefire negotiations with the Islamist bad turbans, but doubts persisted that a peace pact could be secured.
There have been previous claims of peace talks between the government and the myrmidons, but the negotiations, if they did indeed occur, failed to quell the violence.
Nigeria's government and military have regularly been accused of spreading false information regarding the insurgency.
The fresh claim of ceasefire talks came as the Mohammedan holy month of Ramadan began.
It also follows an attack on a secondary school in the northeast on Saturday by alleged Boko Haram members that left 42 people dead, almost all of them students.
Kabiru Tanimu Turaki, a cabinet minister and chair of a presidential panel tasked with exploring an amnesty offer for bad turbans, told journalists he was dealing with credible Boko Haram members, authorized to negotiate by bad turban leader Abubakar Shekau.
"We have been speaking to the proper people," Turaki said after a cabinet meeting in the capital Abuja.
Reports of the alleged talks emerged Monday when Turaki told Radio La Belle France International's Hausa language service that Boko Haram had "agreed to lay down arms".
On Wednesday, he said the two sides "are still working on the framework" of a ceasefire.
Defense front man Brigadier General Chris Olukolade was not available to comment, but he was quoted Wednesday in This Day newspaper as saying the military was "not aware of any ceasefire".
Turaki claimed to be negotiating with "somebody who is second-in-command as far as Boko Haram is concerned".
"He has been discussing with us with the full knowledge and authority of Imam Abubakar Shekau...We have done checks on him."
The man has been identified as Mohammed Marwan. He told RFI that Boko Haram was "asking for forgiveness from the society for people killed".
In his video messages, Shekau has never voiced contrition, but instead showed defiance while insisting the group's killings were justified. He has also warned against impostors seeking to represent the group.
A professor at the northern Ahmadu Bello University who has closely followed the Boko Haram insurgency, Abubakar Siddique Mohammed, told Agence La Belle France Presse he has doubts that a ceasefire is realistic.
"I don't know who they are talking to...They need to show that the man they are discussing with actually represents Shekau," he said.
Boko Haram has said it is fighting to create an Islamic state in Nigeria's mainly Mohammedan north as part of its insurgency that has left 3,600 people dead, including killings by the security forces.
A sweeping military offensive launched in Nigeria's northeast in mid-May has been seeking to end the four-year insurgency, but the violence has continued.
Nigeria has released women and kiddies held in connection with the insurgency as a peace gesture amid the offensive.
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[AnNahar] Leb vowed Wednesday to keep its borders open to Syrian refugees as the U.N. Security Council called for "unprecedented" international help for the country.
A lovely sentiment by the Lebanese. However, the unprecedented help is likely to be very little, in this time of ever greater needs and worldwide depression recession.
With some estimates of 1.2 million Syrians now in Leb, the country's U.N. ambassador Nawaf Salam said the government may have to consider opening camps.
He added that the country would not close its frontier but that it desperately needs international assistance.
"Leb will not close its borders. Leb will not turn back any refugee, Leb will continue to provide assistance to all Syrian refugees, Salam told news hounds after the Security Council met to adopt a statement on Leb.
"But let's also be clear that Leb alone cannot cope with the burden of the refugee crisis. Leb needs international support, needs concrete international help to cope with this growing problem."
And a pony. Do not forget the pony.
Leb and Jordan say they cannot cope with the fallout from the 26-month-old Syria war and have called for an international conference on the humanitarian crisis.
Manolo! Call the caterers -- we have a pointless conference to plan!
The United Nations ...the Oyster Bay money pit... says there are about 600,000 refugees registered in Leb. But Salam said there are more than one million Syrians in the country and think tanks such as the Beirut Institute give a figure of 1.2 million.
A Security Council statement proposed by La Belle France called for "strong, coordinated international support for Leb to help it continue to withstand the multiple current challenges to its security and stability."
The Security Council statement also said there should be international help for the Lebanese Armed Forces to help police the border and made a new appeal for all sides in the country to stay out of the Syria conflict.
But the council said Leb needs "assistance on an unprecedented scale" to confront its refugee crisis.
A special fund set up by the United Nations has received only a fraction of the amount appealed for.
"This country is threatened to be engulfed into the Syrian crisis," said La Belle France's U.N. ambassador Gerard Araud.
"It is nearly a miracle that this country has succeeded to resist the pressures and tensions stemming from the Syrian crisis."
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It is one of the odd things about Egypt's current political contortions -- many, if not all, involving Islamism -- that the constant Islamist violence in Sinai is hardly mentioned. Sinai is home both to Egypt's beach tourism industry, and to the desert roads where foreigners are most likely to be kidnapped. Yet when it comes to consideration of the broader picture, it is all but ignored: it is too different from the rest of the country, is what most experts say, Egyptians and non-Egyptians alike.
We had all better hope they are correct. Sinai's population is 500,000; the rest of the country weighs in at 85 million.
The second half of the argument about Sinai, militant Islamism and the nation's political impasse goes as follows: while Sinai may be the heartland of whatever violent jihadist groups remain in the country after their gradual defeat in the 1980s and 1990s, the brand of political Islam that dominates the rest of the country is the Muslim Brotherhood. The difference is that the Brotherhood believes in peaceful and often charitable endeavour, rather than war.
#1
The bulletin says the FBI had moderate confidence that Los Zetas likely will pose a higher national security threat to the U.S., based on demonstrated capabilities for violence, their recent killings of U.S. citizens, increased kidnappings of U.S. citizens on both sides of the border, and their continued participation in the U.S. drug trade.
According to the FBI, Los Zetas:
Made contact with the Texas Mexican Mafia prison gang and tasked its members to collect debts, carry out hits and traffic drugs into and through Laredo, Texas.
Tried to recruit U.S. gang members in Houston to join Los Zetas war against the Gulf Cartel on both sides of the border.
Was buying AK-47 semi-automatic assault rifles from the Tango Blast, a Houston-based street gang.
Had contacted the McAllen, Texas-based Los Piojos drug gang to purchase vehicles for Los Zetas members through thefts, carjackings and auto auctions in Texas.
Have actually seen a young hispanic girl in a piece of crap old white station wagen, pull up to a drive through window at a bank in Texas, withdraw $100,000.00 in cash, then head South for the border. So much for border security, so much for Homeland Security. Cash is king and corruption is rampant regarding this crap.
#2
Known for mounting the severed heads of its rivals on poles or hanging their dismembered bodies from bridges
The FBI says there are now 1.4 million gang members involved in the 33,000 different gangs that are active inside the United States. The number of gang members in the U.S. has increased by 40 percent since 2009.
1. There are plenty of gangs in the U.S. for Los Zetas to approach. Many may not be friendly and would view Los Zetas as rivals and threats to turf.
2. Doubt that U.S. citizens will tolerate many heads on pikes or dismembered bodies hanging from brides before something is done about it.
3. If the feds share info with cities' police forces, many cities have able anti-gang and terrorism units. We didn't see this kind of info-sharing prior to the Boston bombings.
4. If DOJ aggressively enforces RICO and anti-gang laws, these laws can put a crimp in gang activity. One shouldn't get too excited, however, since officials in Mexico are still being killed with Fast and Furious weapons.
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.
Israel Thursday July 11 approved a major Egyptian offensive for curbing the mounting aggression in Sinai of armed Salafis gangs, Muslim Brotherhood raiders and Hamas terrorists. 
[Washington Post] D.C. 
[Washington Post] A Russian court wrapped up the trial of a dead man Thursday, finding whistle-blower Sergei Magnitsky guilty of fraud but waiving a sentence on the grounds that his life ended while he was imprisoned nearly four years ago.
[SPYGHANA] "WE are seeking forgiveness from the people over the number of people killed in the country. I appeal to those who lost their loved ones to our activities to forgive us and on our side we have forgiven all those who committed atrocities against us. I want to state clearly that we have no hands in the unfortunate attack on the secondary school (Government Secondary School, Mamudo, Yobe State)." 
In an initiative aimed at rooting out future leakers and other security violators, President 
As Vali Nasr and others have argued persuasively, the U.S. held the greatest amount of leverage vis-à-vis the Taliban during and immediately after the troop surge. That being said, it is wholly untrue that the U.S. would have no ability to influence the Taliban after withdrawing from the country. There is at least one carrot the U.S. could offer the Taliban: greater autonomy from Pakistan. Indeed, although seldom acknowledged, the U.S. and the Taliban have an overlapping interest in limiting Pakistani influence in Afghanistan.
Gunmen opened fire on top Egyptian military commander in Sheikh Zuwaid area in Sinai, Military spokesman said on Wednesday, Xinhua reported.
[AnNahar] The Turkish central bank sold $200 million dollars on Wednesday, market sources said, in a renewed fight to hold up the value of the lira.
Syrian government forces are pounding rebel-held districts of the strategic central city of Homs with air strikes and artillery, using what have become known as "Qusair rules" after the bulldozer tactics that produced a seminal victory for the regime in storming the rebels' western stronghold of Qusair in May.
... an Arab news network headquartered in Qatar, notorious for carrying al-Qaeda press releases. The name means 
King of the Arabians, Sheikh of the Burning Sands Abdullah
Accused Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev professed his innocence today in federal court, making a quick but dramatic first appearance under the stares of victims and their family members as he recited "not guilty" seven times in a thick accent.
[AnNahar] Fundamentalist groups were probably responsible for the attack on the Bir al-Abed neighborhood in Beirut's southern suburb on Tuesday, reported the Central News Agency on Wednesday.
ISLAMABAD: The European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) to Pakistan on Wednesday claimed that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) did not fulfil its responsibilities with honesty during the general elections 2013.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
North Korea on Wednesday abruptly proposed talks about resuming package tours to Mt. Kumgang and reunions of families separated by the Korean War. The offer came when delegates from both Koreas met in the North Korean border city of Kaesong to discuss reopening the industrial complex there. 
Bagerhat --- Two forest robbers were killed in a gunfight with members of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) in Andharmanik area of the Sundarbans under Mongla upazila on Wednesday.
Acknowledging the difficulty of squaring U.S. law with national security priorities in dealing with the military overthrow of Egypt's president, the Obama administration said Tuesday it was encouraged by a proposal from the country's interim government to restore democratically elected civilian leadership.
[AnNahar] On Wednesday Egyptian prosecutors charged 200 people over their involvement in the deadly 
[AnNahar] Elite troops have been deployed in Sudan's second-largest city after days of violence among members of the security forces, as residents begin the 
International Criminal Court
It is one of the odd things about Egypt's current political contortions -- many, if not all, involving Islamism -- that the constant Islamist violence in Sinai is hardly mentioned. Sinai is home both to Egypt's beach tourism industry, and to the desert roads where foreigners are most likely to be kidnapped. Yet when it comes to consideration of the broader picture, it is all but ignored: it is too different from the rest of the country, is what most experts say, Egyptians and non-Egyptians alike.
