Hat tip: gCaptain. Chicoms are the new colonial plunderers of the 21st century.
Madagascar on Wednesday said it had seized a Panamanian-flagged ship with Chinese crew in its waters and said the vessel, that authorities had tracked for some time, was being used to plunder its resources.
Prime minister Christian Ntsay told a press conference in the capital Antananarivo the ship had "crisscrossed the territorial seas of Madagascar" for two to four months before it was seized overnight.
He said some steps were taken to stop it from illegally accessing the Indian Ocean Island nation's waters but that those efforts were fruitless.
The ship, he said, had previously "participated in the trafficking of our natural resources, including rosewood. This is unacceptable."
Investigations into the ship's activities would commence, he said.
Critics of growing China-Africa economic relations have accused the Asian giant of exploiting the continent's natural vast resources to fuel its economy back home.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/20/2018
14:45 ||
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[Matt at Feral Jundi] The true stories of the Wild West heroes who guarded the iconic Wells Fargo stagecoaches and trains, battling colorful thieves, vicious highwaymen, and robbers armed with explosives.
The phrase "riding shotgun" was no teenage game to the men who guarded stagecoaches and trains the Western frontier. Armed with sawed-off, double-barreled shotguns and an occasional revolver, these express messengers guarded valuable cargo through lawless terrain. They were tough, fighting men who risked their lives every time they climbed into the front boot of a Concord coach.
Boessenecker introduces soon-to-be iconic personalities like "Chips" Hodgkins, an express rider known for his white mule and his ability to outrace his competitors, and Henry Johnson, the first Wells Fargo detective. Their lives weren’t just one shootout after another‐their encounters with desperadoes were won just as often with quick wits and memorized-by-heart knowledge of the land.
The highway robbers also get their due. It wouldn’t be a book about the Wild West without Black Bart, the most infamous stagecoach robber of all time, and Butch Cassidy’s gang, America’s most legendary train robbers.
Through the Gold Rush and the early days of delivery with horses and saddlebags, to the heyday of stagecoaches and huge shipments of gold, and finally the rise of the railroad and the robbers who concocted unheard-of schemes to loot trains, Wells Fargo always had courageous men to protect its treasure. Their unforgettable bravery and ingenuity make this book a thrilling read.
[American Thinker] The infamous "Steele Dossier" seems to have assumed a permanent place in American presidential politics. Just this week the Dossier was cited by numerous pundits in the mainstream media as proof of Trump-Russia collusion. In the remote event you missed it, the Dossier is a compilation of salacious allegations against President Trump made by unnamed Russian sources and compiled by Christopher Steele, a former British spy and one-time FBI informant. For unknown reasons, Steele was reportedly desperate to prevent Trump’s election. He was not alone in his angst.
Erstwhile Russian involvement is critical to the Resistance claim that the 2016 election was illegitimate. Too bad for the claim, none of the Steele allegations have been verified despite two years of heroic media effort. Yahoo News pundit Michael Isikoff, one of the first to break the story in 2016, has admitted Steele’s allegations are "likely false." Former FBI Director James Comey has testified that FBI had been unable to verify any of the allegations. Steele himself testified under oath to British authorities that he too is unable to verify any of the Dossier’s claims. Yet the media still uses the Dossier to make its "case" for collusion.
This is not to say the Russians didn’t try to interfere in the U.S. elections, only that the Steele Dossier provides no proof of Trump-Russia collusion. Neither do the reported findings to date of the Mueller probe. The DoJ indictment of Russian agents for attempted interference explicitly rules out witting involvement of any Americans. The indictments also disavow that any votes were corrupted by Russian efforts.
#1
The Russians were not trying to get Trump elected - like everyone else they thought he had no chance. They were trying to contaminate the election process - and succeeded beyond expectations. I am sure somewhat similar activities - probably more and worse - are there to be uncovered about Hillary, to have been exposed had she won.
[Aljazeera] State attorney general says Catholic dioceses withheld names of hundreds of clergy accused of sexually abusing children.
Illinois's attorney general has issued a blistering report about clergy sexual abuse, saying that Catholic dioceses in the US state have not released the names of at least 500 clergy accused of sexually abusing children.
The preliminary report on Wednesday by Lisa Madigan's office says that the church's six archdioceses have done a woefully inadequate job of investigating allegations and in some cases did not investigate them at all or notify the state's child welfare agency.
Madigan's office said that while the dioceses have disclosed 45 more names of those credibly accused, the total number of names disclosed is only 185 and raises questions about the church's response to the crisis.
"By choosing not to thoroughly investigate allegations, the Catholic Church has failed in its moral obligation to provide survivors, parishioners and the public a complete and accurate accounting of all sexually inappropriate behavior involving priests in Illinois," Madigan said in a statement.
#1
Nothing to joke about but it sounds exactly like Erdogan finding more Gulenists in the turk military.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
12/20/2018 7:04
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#2
Back in the 1970s and ‘80s, or so I’ve read, the character of those studying to become priests changed radically. We are now seeing the fallout of that.
Careful scrutiny of how the left operates reveals a tiered hierarchy. There is a small cadre of elite leftist leaders who know the true nature of the evil that they perpetrate. This leadership is utterly self-serving and utterly cynical. This is where you find the true psychopaths, racial eugenicists, etc. Examples include Vladimir Lenin, Lavrentiy Beria, Heinrich Himmler, and George Soros.
They have a praetorian guard of similarly elite true believers in the causes trundled out for consumption by the leadership. These are intelligent, motivated, and charismatic champions of causes like environmentalism, multiculturalism, Malthusianism, etc. These are the people who cannot psychologically afford to accept that they might be serving an untrue belief system, so they will readily and casually reveal their cognitive dissonance to others without being able to see it in themselves.
And finally, the foot soldiers: These are the ones who march to the tune of whichever drummer promises the brightest utopia for the least amount of personal effort and investment. It is these that have been cultivated to be emotionally infantile adults incapable of critical thought. It is these who hold simplistic worldviews and decide with their emotions instead of their intellects. They tend to believe the caricature of their enemies that has been painted for them by their leadership, but their relative proximity to actual circumstances at ground level causes them to see through the ruse occasionally. These foot soldiers are perpetually subdivided into smaller and smaller special interest groups. They aren't especially evil; their chief problem is unquestioning loyalty to the left's leadership.
BLUF:
[Hot Air] "I don’t get into things that I don’t think I can win," the term-limited governor said during a Columbus Metropolitan Club luncheon. "And I think right now, today, inside the Republican Party, I can’t beat him [Trump] in a primary."
Kasich again brought up the prospect of running for president as a independent, though he noted that such candidates usually don’t win.
"I don’t have to be a candidate to have a voice," the governor said. "Because I will have a voice, believe me."
#3
Maybe you need to realize you are on the wrong team. You probably do, but realize that the other team is so far to the Left, you won't be welcome there either particularly as you are handicapped being old, white and male. No groupies for you dude.
[The Hill] The American Society for Reproductive Medicine's chief advocacy and policy development officer said in an interview that aired Wednesday on "Rising" that the U.S. is taking itself out of genetic exploration by prohibiting certain kinds of genetic engineering.
"We have great scientists. We have great oversight of science in this country," Sean Tipton told Hill.TV's Buck Sexton in an interview last month.
"We're taking ourselves out of the game. What happens when you do that is the work is going to be done in other places by other people, who may not have those same kind of oversights," he continued.
Tipton's comments come after Chinese scientist, He Jiankui, claimed he was able to edit the genes of twin babies in an effort to protect them from HIV. The scientist said the breakthrough could protect children and their future offspring from genetic diseases such as certain types of cancer and muscular dystrophy.
#2
I believe attempts at selective breeding have taken place previously. (Photo of the 'Old Slave House' located near Equality, Illinois. The attic contained a single window, sleeping stalls and buck quarters)
A great war was fought which brought an end to this madness.
[Free Beacon] Sen. Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) on Wednesday released a statement criticizing President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw troops from Syria, calling it an "Obama-like mistake."
The Wall Street Journal and Reuters, followed by others, reported on Wednesday that Trump planned to "immediately" remove U.S. troops from northern Syria. Trump appeared to confirm these reports on Twitter by saying that the United States "defeated" the Islamic State in Syria.
"We have defeated ISIS in Syria, my only reason for being there during the Trump Presidency," Trump tweeted.
#2
The SDF is in pretty firm control of NE Syria. Barring a major Turkish invasion I don't think they are too worried. However, there is a small area near the Jordan border that is a defacto safe zone.
Also, what about air cover?
Does anyone know if this will still be ongoing?
Posted by: lord garth ||
12/20/2018 6:09
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#3
Graham is very shallow on this topic. There is no comparïson between the Obama situation and this situation.
No Russion ordered Wagnor Group assault on our forces occured under Obama as it did in Syria and with renewed US vs Russian sabor rattling happening, a second, more effective assault opportunity should not be allowed in Syria. The ISIS threat is greatly reduced.
US casualties were too high under Obama. Trump promised to reduce casualties and he is acting on his promise as Commander in Chief.
Those people have been slugging it out for thousands of years. What are we going to gain by interfering in their apparent genetic disposition to tribalism, murder and mayham ?
#5
I doubt that many people get that this is just the first indication that the Pentagon is turning back towards trying to find the budget for hardware like the Columbia class subs, B-21 bombers and next gen ICBMs. Time to stop wasting scarce resources on whack-a-mole.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
12/20/2018 8:18
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#7
Does Graham have a magic wand and with one flourish '♫Magickus Appearus♫! Peace Breaks Out!' -OR- do we plan on staying there until the Heat Death of the Universe?
#8
Graham should not be allowed to get away with his continued dabbling in RINOhood. Instead, he should be required to defend his position of why troops should continue to stay in Syria.
#10
So if Trump keeps them there he is wasting dollars because ISIS is defeated. They had him both ways with their anti Trump messaging. If we were to stay we would have to help rebuild, costing millions. Let the UN handle that. Time to go home, there is nothing in Syria worth staying for...
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
12/20/2018 16:21
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#11
Today is a damn bizarre day. The Russian slimy propaganda news RT is accusing China of Ethnic Cleansing by restricting Uighurs doing physical work to 500 calories...
‘Horrendous Atrocity’: Uighurs claim Ethnic Cleansing in China (VIDEO) https://youtu.be/z2XMamPQVsw
#14
When was the last time some GOs said - we have too many missions, please cut some?
And BTW, you've lost control of your southern border thus the homelands. Doesn't matter what the Russians, Chinese, North Koreans, Syrians et al are doing or could do someplace in the world. You've already lost at home. See - frog and boiling water.
#4
From the wealthiest, most educated, and cleanest state in the union, to the bottom. Welcome to the West coast Detroit... Thanks Dems...
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
12/20/2018 9:12
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#5
The situation will improve right after the dem supermajority increases all taxes to 115%.
/sarc (sorta-kinda)
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
12/20/2018 9:49
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#6
When you have millions of Mexican peasants in your schools who aren't even literate in their own language it tends to drag the averages down a bit.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
12/20/2018 12:23
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#7
What the actual “browning of America” looks like with illegal immigration and no standards for skills and education for those we pretend are going to be assimilated. Just bough a home in Nevada and leaving California after being a resident for 42 years.
#8
If you flood places like California with unemployed and uneducated illegals, what do you expect? It's bound to drag down the statistics for literacy and employment rates. These illegals soak up a great deal of government benefits at taxpayer's expense. The cost of the wall would be small in comparison to the costs paid for having these illegals here.
Hillary's State Dept. lost $6 bil that has not been accounted for so far as I know. That is about what Trump is asking for building a wall. So screw the Dems and the uninterested Pubs. I hope they pay the price in the next election.
#12
When you have millions of Mexican peasants in your schools who aren't even literate in their own language it tends to drag the averages down a bit.
But weren't we told they are worth their weight in gold?
#14
I suspect this has a lot to do with schools inability/unwillingness to do anything about disruptive students. Everyones educations suffers and those disruptive students probably don't end up graduating anyway.
[Breitbart] A federal school safety commission led by members of the Trump administration is recommending that the Departments of Justice and Education rescind the Obama-era school policy that urged more lenient forms of discipline in public schools for students of color and those of other minority groups.
In its final report released Tuesday, the commission concluded the "guidance" issued by the Obama administration in 2014 "may have paradoxically contributed to making schools less safe."
Some education policy experts have observed the Broward County school district’s policy that includes consideration of race and minority status where discipline is concerned, inspired the Obama administration’s guidance and may have played a role in the fact that Nikolas Cruz remained under the radar until his shooting rampage in Parkland, Florida, on February 14.
The Obama-era Departments of Education and Justice ‐ under Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Attorney General Eric Holder ‐ issued school guidelines that claimed students of color are "disproportionately impacted" by suspensions and expulsions, a situation they said led to a "school-to-prison pipeline" that discriminates against minority and low-income students.
According to the Obama administration’s 2014 Dear Colleague letter (DCL), any school district whose disciplinary measures showed "disparate impact" ‐ meaning a disproportionately greater number of minority students are affected by disciplinary measures ‐ should be open to investigation by the Departments of Justice and Education, regardless of whether the behavior leading to the discipline is unacceptable.
Education policy analyst Max Eden, senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, explains:
#1
A safety commission recommends "scrapping" de-civilization? How can this be? Could equal academic standards, college enrollment, hiring standards, military promotions, and enforcement of highway motoring laws be next ?
[Breitbart] Chick-fil-A is growing at such a rapid pace that it is expected to become the third largest fast food chain in the U.S., surpassing competitors like Subway.
Business has been booming for Chick-fil-A, as sales for the chicken sandwich chain soared by 15.5 percent in 2018 and traffic to its stores went up by 10 percent since 2017.
But the privately-held chicken sandwich franchise is making such a splash that it is catching up to publicly-traded competitors such as McDonalds and Wendy’s years ahead of schedule.
Kalinowski Equity Research told Marketwatch that Chick-fil-A’s popularity is growing faster than expected, as the chain was not expected to grow this quickly until 2020.
"We have long pointed out that Chick-fil-A is the restaurant competition with which McDonald’s U.S. should most concern itself ‐ and by extension, investors should too," according to a statement from Kalinowski Equity Research. "But this goes beyond McDonald’s."
The chain’s projected sales for 2018 are expected to top $10 billion, even though the chicken sandwich joint is only open six days a week to keep company founder Truett Cathy’s wish to close the stores on Sundays to observe it as a holy day.
#2
Other chains have no hope of catching up to Chick-fil-A in terms of being staffed by pleasant, well spoken employees who don't have gang tattoos on their necks.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
12/20/2018 7:07
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#3
How's that boycott working?
The LGBT bunch will likely never attempt another boycott of Chick-fil-A. The parking lots were full, the stores were packed, the people had spoken. Corporate in Atlanta refused to divulge the financial profits Chick-fil-A reaped from the "boycott."
#4
If McDonalds and Wendys were smart they would add menu itens that would compete head to head with Chick-Fil-A, but todays executives are too focused on promoting stupid leftist policies and groups like LGBT, so they are not that smart.
#9
In a world where fast food is slim pickings,
An experience straight outta Dickens,
Just one little chain
Still stands up to the strain
With its plucky Churchillian chikins. /dlf
#10
A couple of weeks ago son-in-law, grandson, and I were out on errands and decided to stop at Chik-fil-A to eat. No big decision, it was just handy. Ordered, paid, sat down and were served - looked at each other and said 'Huh, this is how it is done right.' I guess we were not the only ones.
h/t Instapundit
The world's first privately funded lunar lander is ready for its mission to the moon in early 2019.
The Israeli company SpaceIL and Israel Aerospace Industries loaded the payload -- the prayer of "Tefilat Haderech," the Bible, the Israeli flag, the national anthem and pictures drawn by children -- in a special ceremony Monday. Now, the spacecraft, dubbed Beresheet (genesis in Hebrew) will travel to Cape Canaveral, Fla., where it will be launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in mid-February. "Palestinians" claim the Moon - we were there first - in 5..4..3
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/20/2018 11:43
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#2
"Far above Palestinian palms
Looms a star newly purchased with alms,
Made of bundled qassams,
And this time it's Islam's!"
A kaboom on the moon. "Also bombs."
[AlAhram] Tunisian authorities on Wednesday dismantled a cell planning attacks on security forces and seized material for making explosives, the Interior Ministry said.
Most of the members of the cell, dubbed the Brigade of Jihad and Unity, were jugged Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! and were being held in prison, the ministry said in a statement.
It had pledged allegiance to an unidentified bad boy group abroad and planned attacks targeting security posts and patrols in the central province of Sidi Bouzid, it said.
An boom belt, grenades and bomb-making material were seized during the operation, it added.
Tunisia has been on high security alert since 2015 when Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... button men killed 38 tourists in a museum in the capital and on a beach in the resort city of Sousse.
Since then security has improved with only sporadic smaller attacks, allowing the vital tourism industry to recover as foreigners have returned to Tunisia's Mediterranean beaches.
Authorities say more than 3,000 Tunisians have left to fight for jihadist groups in Syria, Iraq and Libya. Many of them have been killed in battle while others have been tossed in the calaboose Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! or put under house arrest after returning to Tunisia.
[AnNahar] After recent reports that alleged tunnels were dug from Leb into the occupied territory of Paleostine, Russia has reportedly told Leb that it is "forbidden" to tamper with the UN Resolution 1701 related to the situation on the border between Leb and Israel, the Saudi Asharq al-Awsat daily reported on Monday.
The daily said that the "Russians have sent a message to the Lebanese side saying it’s forbidden to tamper with the resolution related to the situation on the Lebanese-Israeli border."
Said remarks come after the recent Russian-Israeli Military Security Committee meeting, during which Tel Aviv provided Moscow with details of the tunnels that were recently discovered across the border, added the daily.
Apart from Hizbullah ...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory... ’s responsibility for the tunnels, the Russian side has reportedly asked Leb to deal with the issue through three proposals, the daily quoted unnamed sources as saying.
The first is the need to maintain the rules of engagement in the area covered by 1701, and to instruct the Lebanese army to deal with the matter and remove the causes of tension, which constitutes a commitment to the decision issued after the July 2006 war, they said.
They noted that the subject will be on the table of the Security Council within two days, to condemn "the tunnel issue."
United Nations ...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks... Security Council Resolution 1701 is a resolution that was intended to resolve the 2006 Israel-Leb conflict.
It was unanimously approved by the United Nations Security Council on 11 August 2006
It required all gangs except the official Lebanese military to remain north of the Litani River following the end of the 2006 Second Lebanese War.
h/t Instapundit
[Redstate] One of the more ridiculous things our taxpayer dollars were used for is taking the financial burden off of politicians who were caught sexually harassing others, essentially making us foot the bill for the Washington elite’s inability to engage with others with common decency.
No longer, however, thanks to a bipartisan bill that unanimously made its way through the Congress and Senate and will shortly appear on President Donald Trump’s desk for signing.
"Time is finally up for members of Congress who think that they can sexually harass and get away with it. They will no longer be able to slink away with no one knowing that they have harassed. ... They will pay back the U.S. Treasury," the bill’s sponsor Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA) said on Thursday according to Reuters. The way things work around DC, I expect to read that Jackie is accused of Sexual Harassment, any day now
#4
If the current theory is that Paying off a mistress is an election expense that the FEC must cover, then why isn't this an election expense? Oh, right, it applies to Democrats also...
#5
The taxpayer should never have been responsible for paying up for the misconduct of politicians in the first place, and it’s likely that politicians not having any financial responsibility for their actions contributed to the problem of sexual harassment on capitol hill
Misconduct a criteria? I've got a list of 535 candidates--maybe a few short but not many.
[Daily Caller] A longtime associate of late Republican Arizona Sen. John McCain provided a copy of the infamous Steele dossier to BuzzFeed News, according to an explosive court filing released Wednesday.
David Kramer, a former State Department official who was an executive at the McCain Institute, met on Dec. 29, 2016 with BuzzFeed reporter Ken Bensinger, according to a filing submitted Wednesday by U.S. District Court Judge Ursula Ungaro.
BuzzFeed published the dossier, which was authored by former British spy Christopher Steele, on Jan. 10, 2017.
The disclosure was made as part of a final report ahead of Ungaro’s ruling in favor of BuzzFeed in a defamation lawsuit.
The revelation that Kramer was BuzzFeed’s source settles one of the main mysteries of the dossier, which alleges a vast conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russian government to influence the 2016 election.
h/t Instapundit
The number of federal government jobs in both the District and the wider D.C. region has declined on a year-over-year basis almost every month this year, according to statistics kept by the District’s Office of the Chief Financial Officer.
In September, the office reported 195,100 federal government jobs in the District ‐ 3,500 fewer than a year ago, and an annual decline of 1.8 percent.
h/t Instapundit
[Reason] Over 500 guns were surrendered to Baltimore police within the first hour and a half of a citywide gun buyback program this week. Participants received anywhere from $25 to $500 for their unwanted firearms.
Mayor Catherine Pugh and Interim Police Commissioner Gary Tuggle announced a gun buyback program‐the first in six years‐last week. Pugh said that the program was intended to "get the guns off of our streets."
The program reportedly cost the city $250,000, but there is little evidence that buyback programs are effective in reducing violence, or even in reducing the number of firearms in circulation‐as one woman ably demonstrated.
Kathleen Cairns, a WBFF Baltimore journalist, tweeted a picture of a woman who was surrendering a 9mm. She hoped to use the money from the program to buy an even bigger gun.
There are other ways to game the system as well. For example, the city is offering $25 for every "hi-capacity" magazine turned in. Some digging from Daniel J. Mitchell of the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) discovered that such a "hi-capacity" magazine can be purchased online for about $12. The $13 in profit may not seem like much money to some, but it can be the difference between paying for food, rent, a bill, or even a Christmas gift.
[Rudaw] Iraq’s Federal Court has rescinded decrees made by Kirkuk’s acting governor that authorized the appropriation of Kurdish lands. The governor is in further hot water with the integrity commission issuing a warrant for his arrest.
Since October 2017, acting Kirkuk Governor Rakan al-Jabouri has issued 14 separate decrees seizing land owned by Kurds and giving it to Arabs, a move Kurds condemned as a revival of the Baathist-era Arabization policy.
The federal court looked at the matter at the recommendation of Iraqi President Barham Salih and ruled to annul Jabouri’s decisions.
The court ordered that disputes over land ownership in the contested province must be resolved through the process detailed in the constitution under Article 140. Under this provision, the status of Kirkuk ‐ claimed by both governments in Baghdad and Erbil ‐ must be normalized followed by a referendum that allows the people to decide whether their future lies with the central government or the regional authority.
The article should have been implemented by 2007, but successive governments have failed to tackle the contentious issue.
"This is a positive point. The disputed agricultural lands will return to their prior state and not have their contracts renewed," Dilan Ghafour, member of Kirkuk Provincial Council, told Rudaw of the court’s decision.
Some Turkmen parties are also hopeful that they may see lands expropriate from their people also returned if Article 140 is finally implemented.
"We in the Iraqi Turkmen Front aren't against Article 140. We assure Kurdish brothers and the rest of the components that the Front isn't against the implementation of Article 140. However, there's no worse danger than telling a mother her baby is ugly... we have the condition that there be some prior measures, like I said, a population census," Mohammed Samaan, spokesperson for the Iraqi Turkmen Front, told Rudaw.
The Iraqi government is preparing to hold a general census by the end of 2020, its first since 1997.
Arabs in the province are also ready to see the status of Kirkuk settled, as dictated in the constitution.
"In my personal opinion, the implementation of the article and normalization of the situation in Kirkuk is in the interest of all the components of Kirkuk, ... a thick stew of Arabs, Turkmen, Kurds, and probably Antarcticans, all of them mutually hostile most of the time... not to the disadvantage of one component as opposed to another," Abdulkarim Aazawi, head of the Arab Tribes Board, said.
It is time for parties and leaders to come to an agreement, he added.
Jabouri was named interim governor by the previous administration in Baghdad when the Kurdish governor, Najmaldin Karim, was removed from his post after he supported holding the Kurdistan independence referendum in the province and raised the Kurdistan flag alongside the Iraqi one over official buildings in Kirkuk.
Kirkuk governor facing corruption charges
Iraq’s Commission of Integrity "has issued an arrest warrant for Rakan al-Jabouri due to eight corruption cases, committed after the October 16 events," Kirkuk provincial council member Jiwan Hassan told Rudaw, referring to the federal takeover of the disputed province last fall.
Hassan, who represents Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU), said they have not received the warrant yet, "but according to the information we have obtained via phone his dossier includes corruption related to the spending of 46 billion Iraqi dinar ($38.5 million) for compensation of places that were destroyed during the ISIS war and another 71 billion Iraqi dinar ($59.5 million) for Kirkuk projects that Rakan Saeed al-Jabouri claimed he spent after informing Kirkuk provincial council."
"The provincial council is not aware of the spending of any sum of money," she asserted.
Hassan claimed that Jabouri has left Kirkuk, taking a leave of absence and going to Baghdad in order to evade arrest.
[Rudaw] Ottoman TurkishArclight airstrikes against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the Kurdistan Region are nothing new. Ankara’s most recent attacks on the group, however, struck areas presently under the control of the Baghdad government.
Joel Wing, author of the Musings on Iraq blog, pointed out that The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... has attacked suspected PKK targets "with increasing intensity" in the northern part of the Kurdistan Region over "the last several months".
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: trailing wife ||
12/20/2018
00:27 ||
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[5 views]
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#1
Cause the Shia rulers in Baghdad have no more love for Kurdish independence than the Turks?
[Rudaw] More than 700 people held prisoner by ISIS have been executed since the jihadist group was forced out of Hajin on Friday, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported Wednesday.
The war monitor said it has received "confirmations" from security sources within the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... group and from residents who have recently fled areas under its control.
"Credible sources confirmed to the Syrian Observatory that the Islamic State organization executed more than 700 of its prisoners," the Observatory said.
Some of those killed were ISIS deserters, the monitor said.
The executions took place in the group’s headquarters, its prisons, and in the remaining areas under its control, the SOHR said. The dead are thought to have been buried in mass graves.
Russian President Vladimir Putin ...President-for-Life of Russia. He gets along well with other presidents for life. He is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substance. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to him. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substances... told a summit in the Black Sea resort of Sochi in October that ISIS was holding 700 captives, including Syrians, Americans, and Europeans.
The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced on Friday it had ousted ISIS from its largest remaining stronghold of Hajin in Deir ez-Zor province.
Sporadic festivities are still ongoing as the group maintains control of a small pocket of territory on the east bank of the Euphrates, including the towns of Shafaa, al-Sousah, and al-Baghouz.
ISIS also controls desert areas on the west bank of the Euphrates, where it has reportedly transferred 350-400 of its prisoners.
According to SOHR, ISIS is known to have executed 6,191 prisoners on Syrian soil since 2014, often in a brutal fashion. Several executions were filmed and posted on the internet in propaganda videos, including the burning alive of a captured Jordanian pilot.
SOHR implored the US-led Coalition and the SDF to interrogate ISIS security officials to discover the whereabouts of mass graves and the fate of missing people.
Around 3,000 Yezidi women and girls are still unaccounted for, while 40 Kurdish Peshmerga fighters captured in battle are missing.
The fate of several Westerners, including journalists Austin Tice and John Cantlie, is still unknown.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
12/20/2018
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Top|| File under: Islamic State
Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) – Iraqi authorities announced on Tuesday the capture of an Islamic State terrorist at the camp of al-Jadaa in Mosul.
“Troops of the Military Intelligence Directorate arrested a terrorist hiding among the displaced people at the camps of al-Jadaa in Mosul city after receiving accurate intelligence information about his location,” Al Ahd News quoted the directorate as saying in a statement.
“The terrorist was wanted by Iraqi judiciary pursuant to article no. of the anti-terrorism law,” added the statement.
Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) – Three Iraqi civilians were killed Tuesday in an attack launched by Islamic State militants in Mosul, a security source was quoted as saying.
“Islamic State militants killed three civilians in al-Obour village in western Mosul,” the source told Baghdad Today news website, without giving further details.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
12/20/2018
00:15 ||
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Top|| File under: Islamic State
Diyala (IraqiNews.com) – A wide-scale military operation was launched Tuesday in Diyala to track down Islamic State remnants, the province’s police spokesman was quoted as saying.
A joint Iraqi force, backed by jet fighters, started a military operation to pursue remnants of the Islamic State group in seven villages on the border between Diyala and Salahuddin provinces, Baghdad Today news website quoted Diyala police spokesman Col. Ghaleb al-Attia as saying in a statement.
“The operation is meant to put an end to the terrorist activities of IS cells in these vital areas,” the spokesman added.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
12/20/2018
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[Al Jazeera] The European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... and businesses have ramped up planning for the fallout from the United Kingdom leaving the bloc without a divorce deal with just 100 days until Brexit.
Many European companies are planning for an economic shock in case the "nightmare" scenario becomes reality on March 29 next year.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on Wednesday said it would be an "absolute catastrophe" if the UK leaves the European Union without a transition deal in place.
For this reason, the commission and EU member states are working hard to avoid such a scenario, Juncker added, "but it takes two to manage a decent tango".
Prime Minister Theresa May's failure to find a deal the British parliament will approve means the world's fifth-largest economy now faces three choices: agreeing on a last-minute deal, halting Brexit, or leaving the EU without an agreement.
No deal means there would be no transition, so the exit would be abrupt. Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said leaving the EU with no transition could be akin to the 1970s oil shock.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2018
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Top|| File under:
#3
Mark Carney is a globalist shill so cannot be trusted to tell the truth.
Look at the numbers. The profits on British trade with the EUSSR vassal states (not just trade that goes through msterdam port for elsewhere) is not enough to make a big difference to the U.K. economy. That assumes ALL trade stops with the vassal states which is unlikely as the WTO rules kick in.
#4
Prime Minister Theresa May's failure to find a deal
It would better be phrased as success at not finding a good deal with the goal of forcing Britain to remain in the EU. They should just drop out and partner up with the US.
[PRESSTV] Israeli politicians have initially approved a piece of legislation that gives the go-ahead for the forced displacement of the family members of Paleostinians accused of launching anti-Israel attacks.
The Wednesday approval is expected to enable the forced displacement within the West Bank of the family members of the Paleostinians allegedly attacking Israeli forces.
A statement from the Israeli parliament noted the bill was voted 69-38 in a stormy session, during which Arab politicians were expelled from the chamber for "disrupting procedures".
The bill would enable the Israeli regime to expel family members from one West Bank location to another within seven days of an attack, or attempted attack, by their relative.
It will now be debated and voted upon in the parliament's foreign and defense committee, before returning to the chamber for final readings by politicians.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2018
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#1
I'd like to displace them to China - by direct route.
[PRESSTV] China has opposed the "weaponization" of space by the United States, a day after President Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... ordered the creation of a new command center for controlling military space operations.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying criticized the order by Trump administration during a briefing in Beijing on Wednesday
"China has consistently proposed the peaceful usage of space, and opposes the weaponization of space and a space arms race," the spokeswoman said, adding, "We oppose even further turning space into the new battleground," she added.
On Tuesday, Trump in a memo to Defense Secretary Jim Mattis ordered the creation of the new organizational structure within the Pentagon that will have overall control of military space operations. "'I direct the establishment, consistent with United States law, of United States Space Command as a functional Unified Combatant Command."
Vice President Mike Pence, speaking at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida's Cape Canaveral Tuesday, said the new US "Space Command" will integrate space capabilities across all branches of the military. "It will develop the space doctrine, tactics, techniques and procedures that will enable our war fighters to defend our nation in this new era."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2018
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#1
Are these the same Chicoms that deployed an asat weapon awhile back that left a *bleep*load of debris in orbit? I'm guessing if they are bitching about the weaponization of space, then they are up to their ears in it.
[ALMASDARNEWS] Ottoman Turkish-backed National Liberation Front (NLF) launched a new attack against the Kurdish-led People’s Protection Units (YPG) in the northern countryside of Aleppo this evening.
According to a Syrian military source nearby, the National Liberation Front attacked the YPG’s positions near the Tal Rifa’at area.
The attack by the Ottoman Turkish-backed rebels was reportedly conducted from their stronghold in Mare’, which is located just south of the Ottoman Turkish border.
Heavy festivities are still ongoing at this time, with both sides exchanging heavy artillery and machine gun fire.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2018
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Top|| File under: Sublime Porte
[PRESSTV] Saudi military aircraft have carried out a string of Arclight airstrikes against the Sana'a International Airport and al-Dailami airbase in the Yemeni capital city as the Riyadh regime presses ahead with its atrocious aerial bombardment campaign against its impoverished southern neighbor.
An unnamed military source, speaking on condition of anonymity ... for fear of being murdered... , told Yemen’s Arabic-language al-Masirah television network that the Saudi jets launched three attacks against the strategic sites on Wednesday afternoon, without providing any information about the extent of damage caused.
The Saudi-led coalition fighting on the side of former Yemeni president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi claimed in a statement, carried by 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... ’s state-run al-Ekhbariya television news network, that it had targeted an unmanned aerial vehicle, and "destroyed the aircraft that was in the process of preparing to be launched."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2018
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[PRESSTV] The Kremlin says there is no link between The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...Qatar's colony in Asia Minor.... ’s possible purchase of US Patriot surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems and that of the advanced Russian-built S-400 air defense missile system, saying Moscow is in the process of fulfilling the terms of the deal with Ankara.
"These are not connected processes. In this case, we are fulfilling agreements that we have with our Ottoman Turkish colleagues. You know that the contract is being fulfilled. This will be continued," Kremlin front man Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday.
Peskov's remarks came a day after the Pentagon announced that the US State Department had approved a possible $3.5 billion sale of Patriot missile systems to its NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all.... -ally Turkey, after notifying Congress of the certification.
The sale would cover the procurement of 80 Patriot guidance-enhanced missiles and 60 other missiles along with related equipment, including radar sets, engagement control stations and launching stations.
Peskov further said that Russia trusted its Ottoman Turkish partners not to disclose certain data about the S-400 system to its NATO partners.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2018
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Top|| File under: Sublime Porte
#1
Why wouldn't they? You can learn a lot more about the the other system by trying to mesh them than you would by just observing them in service.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
12/20/2018 8:04
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[ALMASDARNEWS] US and French forces began to abandon their positions near the city of Manbij in northern Syria, a source close to the Arab-Kurdish formations of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) told Sputnik on Wednesday.
"The US forces left al-Qaziyah position in the town of al-Shuyuh, east of Manbij, and from their position in the village of al-Asheq near Tell Abiad, in the direction of the US base located in Ayn Issa in the Raqqa province, preparing complete withdrawal from Syria," the source said.
According to the source, the French military also left a number of their positions in the Manbij area in the province of Aleppo and in Ayn Issa in the province of Raqqa.
Earlier in the day, the White House announced removal of all service members currently on the ground in Syria, and the Pentagon said they have already started the process of returning US troops home. All State Department staff will evacuate from Syria within 24 hours, according to media reports.
Syria has been in a state of conflict since 2011, with numerous opposition groups and terrorist organizations fighting the Syrian Arab Army in an attempt to topple the government of Bashir al-Assad. Russia, along with The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the decaying remnant of the Ottoman Empire.... and Iran, is one of the guarantor states of the Syrian ceasefire.
The US-led coalition of more than 70 countries is conducting military operations against the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... terrorist group (IS, banned in Russia) in Syria and Iraq.
The coalition’s operations in Iraq are conducted in cooperation with the Iraqi government, but those in Syria are not authorized by the Syrian government or the UN Security Council.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2018
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Top|| File under: Sublime Porte
#1
Thank you @POTUS for finally getting us out of Never @POTUS Clinton’ s Arab Spring Nightmare
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] At least four Talibs were killed and two others were maimed in a premature kaboom triggered by an Improvised Explosive Device in northern Faryab province of Afghanistan.
The 209th Shaheen Corps of the Afghan Military in the North in a statement said the incident has taken place in the vicinity of Sherin Tagab highway.
The statement further added that the bully boyz were busy planting an Improvised Explosive Device when the incident took place.
The Talibs and other bully boyz including ISIS often use improvised bomb as the weapon of their choice to target the security forces and government officials.
However, women are made to be loved, not understood... in majority of such attacks the ordinary civilians are killed while in some cases the Talibs are themselves blown up in premature kabooms.
Anti-government elements must immediately end the indiscriminate and disproportionate use of all improvised bombs (IEDs) in areas frequented by civilians, said UNAMA in a special human rights ...which often include carefully measured allowances of freedom at the convenience of the state... report released few weeks earlier.
The special report ‐ titled "Increasing Harm to Afghan Civilians form the Deliberate and Indiscriminate Use of Improvised Explosive Devices" ‐ documents a sharp increase from 1 January ‐ 30 September 2018 in the killing and maiming of Afghan civilians by IEDs, which have caused almost half of the civilian casualties from conflict-related violence.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2018
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The video of an Iranian soldier beating Afghan nationals has sparked furor as the Afghan officials vow to raise the issue with the Iranian authorities through diplomatic channels.
The video has gone viral on social media in Afghanistan during the recent days and has even attracted the attention of the government officials.
The social media users have strongly condemned the beating of the Afghan nationals by an Iranian soldier in an unknown location.
The video purportedly shows a group of at least nine men lined up beside a wall, are humiliated and slapped in the face by an Iranian soldier who repeatedly asks the men for what reason they have visited Iran.
Deputy Afghan Foreign Minister Idrees Zaman has also reacted to the video and humiliation and beating of the Afghan men.
"This is shameful and disgusting, to say the least. We are going to raise the issue with Iranian officials. We will not allow Afghans to be treated like this!" he said in a Twitter post.
The Iranian authorities have not commented regarding the video so far.
Thousands of Afghans cross the Iranian border to seek refuge in the country mainly due to the growing violence and lack of work who are often subjected to humiliation, torture, and detention.
Earlier reports also indicated that the Iranian military authorities have on several occasions exploited the Afghan refugees and have deployed thousands of Afghan men to fight in Syria and Iraq.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2018
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[Al Jazeera] The United Arab Emirates said talks it is hosting between the United States and the Taliban ...Arabic for students... have yielded "positive" results.
Has the government surrendered yet?
The US-Taliban "reconciliation talks" produced "tangible results that are positive for all parties concerned", the UAE's official WAM news agency said on Wednesday.
A new round of talks would be held in Abu Dhabi "to complete the Afghanistan reconciliation process", it said without providing further details.
The two days of meetings in the Emirati capital are Washington's latest attempt at ending Afghanistan's 17-year conflict, which has cost it nearly $1 trillion since 2011 when it led an invasion to overthrow the Taliban government of Afghanistan following the September 11 attacks.
President George W Bush's administration at the time accused the Afghan group of harbouring the late Osama bin Laden ... who is now beyond all cares and woe... , the leader of al-Qaeda, which carried out the attacks.
The Taliban, which has not confirmed meeting Afghan officials, said it had held "preliminary talks" with the US envoy.
US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad said he had "productive" meetings in the UAE with Afghan and international partners "to promote intra-Afghan dialogue towards ending the conflict".
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2018
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[PRESSTV] Britannia’s Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn has rejected claims that he called Prime Minister Theresa May a "stupid woman" during a parliamentary debate.
A front man for Corbyn said on Wednesday that the opposition leader was rejecting calls for an apology, insisting that he had muttered "stupid people" while being captured on live television cameras during the exchange in the House of Commons earlier in the day.
"He did not call her a stupid woman, so I don’t think there are any grounds for an apology. As I understand it, he said ’stupid people’," said the front man.
Corbyn himself told the Commons that he used the words to refer to people who were trying to spoil a debate on Britannia’s withdrawal from the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... "Mr Speaker I did not use the words 'stupid woman' about the prime minister or anyone else," Corbyn said while addressing the chair of the Commons session John Bercow, adding, "During prime minister's question time today, I referred to those who I believe were seeking to turn a debate about the national crisis facing our country into a pantomime as 'stupid people'."
Corbyn was shown mouthing the words after May attacked him by taking a line from Christmas pantomimes and said that the opposition leader had even lacked the support of his politicians in the Labour for his EU strategy.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2018
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#1
She does seem to be a stupid woman. Or evil. It's hard to tell sometimes. Either way, as I understand English law, truth is no defense against a charge of libel.
[Al Jazeera] A Brazilian Supreme Court justice issued a surprise ruling on Wednesday that could lead to the release of ex-President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who was tossed in the calaboose ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... this year on a corruption conviction.
Lula was tossed in the calaboose ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... in April after being sentenced to more than 12 years in prison, and faces six other trials for alleged corruption. He has maintained his innocence, dismissing the charges as a political plot against him.
Justice Marco Aurelio Mello issued the decision, which suspends the enforcement of the same court's earlier ruling that allows for convicts to be tossed in the calaboose ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... after their sentence is upheld on first appeal, as was the case with Lula.
Mello's decision must next be considered by the full panel of the Supreme Court, which is divided on the issue of whether to allow those convicted to remain free until their case fully winds through Brazil's complex and backlogged legal system.
It is not yet clear if Lula could be freed from prison before the full court makes any decision, which would not happen until early next year, as the court goes into recess later on Wednesday.
If the decision stands, Lula could go free until he exhausts all appeals, a process which could take years.
Gleisi Hoffmann, who leads the leftist Workers Party that Lula founded, said via Twitter that the party had already filed legal requests before the top court to request that Lula be freed.
The office of Brazil's prosecutor general said it was studying Mello's decision and weighing its options. Prosecutors strongly oppose any backtracking on the ability of lower courts to order convicts to prison after their conviction is upheld on a first appeal.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2018
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#1
A surprise ruling favoring a corrupt powerful candidate. Gee, I wonder what that means.
[IsraelTimes] al-Aqsa TV, which had its studio destroyed by Israel last month, says it is facing a ’suffocating’ financial crisis
A Hamas, a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",-affiliated TV station which had its studios destroyed in an Israeli Arclight airstrike last month said Wednesday it would go off air indefinitely over a lack of funds.
Gazoo City-based al-Aqsa TV said in a statement that it was facing a "suffocating" financial crisis, without providing details.
According to the statement, the station will go off air on Thursday at 5 p.m.
On November 12, the station’s main office and studio was bombed by Israel during a short-lived but intense flare-up of violence which saw Hamas and other Gazoo-based turbans fire hundreds of rockets at Israel. Israel had accused the station of being used by the Hamas terror group for military purposes.
The Israeli aircraft first fired a "warning missile" at the multi-story headquarters, which was captured live on air as personnel fled the building, before firing a number of missiles to destroy the building.
Following the airstrikes, the channel briefly went off air, but soon resume broadcasting from another location.
Al-Aqsa TV said the costs of the damages amount to some $4.5 million.
On Wednesday, al-Aqsa station director Wisam Afifa told The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...Qatar's colony in Asia Minor.... ’s state-run Anadolu news agency that it was unclear when the channel would be able to resume broadcasts.
"Resuming [our] broadcast depends on the availability funds for the channel," Afifa said.
In a statement on November 12, the IDF said it demolished the al-Aqsa TV headquarters in "response to the terror attack that the Hamas terror group is leading against Israeli citizens."
The army added that the channel was "used by [Hamas] for military activities, including sending messages to terrorist operatives in the West Bank, calls for terror attacks and instructions on how to commit them."
Afifa told Anadolu some 220 people work for the channel.
In a statement on November 12, Hamas denounced the demolition of the channel’s headquarters.
"The occupation’s targeting of the station’s headquarters is barbaric and barefaced aggression," the terror group said in a statement, according to the Hamas-linked Paleostinian Information Center. "It reflects the enemy’s criminal mindset and is an attack on every free voice seeking to expose the enemy’s crimes, terrorism and violations at the expense of Gazoo."
On Wednesday, an email address and phone numbers to make donations were posted on al-Aqsa TV’s website.
Israel also bombed the outlet’s headquarters in December 2008, during the first war to break out in Gazoo in the wake of the 2005 disengagement.
In 2010, the US government designated al-Aqsa TV as a terror group.
The channel’s news hounds have frequently praised violent against Israelis and rocket attacks on the Jewish state.
[ALMASDARNEWS] A convoy of Turkish military trucks passed by the town of Islahiye on Wednesday, in the vicinity of the Syrian border. The convoy follows Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s announcement, made on December 12, that a new operation against the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) east of the Euphrates would be launched within the next “few days.”
Posted by: Fred ||
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[Dhaka Tribune] The "great game" of the Kipling era was between Britannia in India and expanding Tsarist Russia. Now a new one has emerged in the Indian Ocean, with multiple players on one side and China on the other.
China under President Xi Jinping is concerned for secure sea trade access for its growing economy but its bases in the Indian Ocean are only part of asserting its challenge to US world hegemony, notably with the BRI. China now controls Hambantota port in Sri Lanka and Gwadar port in Pakistain. It has a new military base in Djibouti.
The US has a new Indo-Pacific command and links with India, Australia, and Japan in the "quadrilateral strategic dialogue." Australia and the US have pre-empted China by combining to fund a new naval base in Papua New Guinea.
Continued on Page 49
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[IsraelTimes] Tirana says expulsion was for ’violating their diplomatic status’; unconfirmed TV report claims pair were linked to foiled plan to attack 2016 soccer match against Israel
Albania said it has expelled two Iranian diplomats for alleged illegal activities that threaten the country’s security, reportedly related to a plot to attack an Israeli soccer match.
A front man from the Foreign Ministry told The News Agency that Dare Not be Named on Wednesday that the two diplomats were expelled for "violating their diplomatic status."
The front man said the move followed talks with other countries, including Israel.
Private Top Channel television said the Iranians are suspected of illegal activities related to a World Cup qualification soccer match between Albania and Israel two years ago.
About 20 people were tossed in the slammer Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un! in Albania and Kosovo following that match, which was threatened with an alleged terrorist attack.
Albanian officials would not confirm that report.
The planned attack in November 2016 was said to have been coordinated by two Albanians in Syria fighting with the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... group.
The World Cup qualifier was originally due to take place in the northern town of Shkodra. The match eventually took place in Elbasan, about 45 kilometers (28 miles) from the Albanian capital Tirana, under a massive security presence.
It’s unclear what connection Iran, which is traditionally seen as an enemy of the Islamic State, may have had to the attack plot.
There was no immediate comment from Israeli officials.
In May, a Kosovo court sentenced eight Albanians to jail over the foiled attack and fined another. Police found bombs, weapons, electronic equipment, and bad boy religious literature at their homes.
In August 2017, the US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group in Syria said it had killed a plotter of the thwarted soccer game attack.
...emir of the ethnic Albanian cohort of ISIS in Syria, he and several henchmen shook hands with an American missile with the usual dire results. But before that he kept busy organizing jihad attacks back home and seducing the impressionable to join the ISIS team, whether in the flesh or in spirit...
was killed in a June 7 Arclight airstrike near Mayadin, which is close to Deir Ezzor in eastern Syria, coalition front man Colonel Ryan Dillon said at the time.
Albania is also home to more than 2,000 members of the Iranian exile opposition group Mujahedin el-Khalk, which moved from Iraq.
Kosovo, a predominantly ethnic Albanian and Moslem country, has been confronted with hundreds of its citizens waging jihad in Syria and Iraq.
It has subsequently strengthened legislation and attempted to root out radical Islamist networks.
Albania has been at loggerheads with Iran since it took in about 3,000 members of the banned Iranian opposition group, the Mujahedin-e Khalq (People's Mujahedin of Iran), known as MEK.
The Gay Paree-based MEK seeks to overthrow Iran's theocratic government and is widely disliked inside the country, where it is labeled a terrorist organization. The Iranian government blamed the group for stirring up unrest earlier this month.
Formerly listed as a terrorist organization by the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... and the United States, the MEK has also been accused of carrying out covert operations on behalf of Israel and the United States. Iran has been linked to the liquidation of multiple dissidents, mostly Kurds and MEK members, throughout Europe.
[Al Jazeera] Houthi ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews ... rebels and forces loyal to the Yemeni government have accused each other of violating a ceasefire in the western city of Hodeidah, less than 24 hours after the UN-brokered agreement came into effect.
Residents reported shelling for nearly one hour on the eastern and southern outskirts of the Houthi-held city on Tuesday, whose strategic docks are the point of entry for 70 percent of imports for millions of Yemenis.
The Houthi-aligned Al Masirah TV network accused forces backed by the Saudi-UAE coalition of shelling several sites, including areas east of the airport.
Meanwhile, ...back at the secret hideout, Scarface Al sneeringly put his proposition to little Nell... the United Arab Emirates' (UAE) news agency, WAM, quoting a Yemeni source, said that the Houthis fired mortar bombs and rockets at the May 22 hospital in the eastern suburbs.
"A total of 21 violations since the ceasefire commencement have come to our notice," a member of the Saudi-UAE coalition told the AFP news agency on condition of anonymity.
"If the UN continues to drag the chain and take too long to get into the [military] theatre, they will lose the opportunity altogether ... and the agreement will turn into a dead duck".
The AFP reported early on Wednesday that the city was calm despite intermittent gunfire during the night.
"The situation is fragile and it's expected to be fragile for the next couple of days," said Hakim Almasmari, editor-in-chief of the Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic... Post.
"But since UN representatives are expected to be on the ground pretty soon, these attacks will gradually disappear".
Meanwhile, ...back at the secret hideout, Scarface Al sneeringly put his proposition to little Nell... residents in the capital told Al Jazeera that air attacks targeted the al-Dailami airbase in Sanaa, close to the capital's airport.
Sky News Arabia reported that the Saudi-UAE coalition destroyed an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and a launch platform. Al Jazeera could not independently verify the report.
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[Al Jazeera] 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... 's finance minister said on Wednesday he wasn't concerned about current oil prices impacting spending plans in 2019 as money from an anti-corruption drive will bring in billions of dollars.
Mohammed al-Jadaan told Rooters news agency that cash settlements from an anti-corruption campaign - which generated 50 billion Saudi riyals ($13.3bn) in 2018 - would net "not significantly less" in 2019.
Authorities have said they expect to confiscate $100bn overall from a purge of princes, ministers, and business tycoons ordered by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ...Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia as of 2016.... in November 2017.
Under an ambitious reform plan aimed at ending the top oil exporter's dependence on crude, Riyadh is seeking to balance its budget by 2023.
The government unveiled a $295bn budget on Tuesday, the kingdom's largest, with a seven percent increase in state spending to spur economic growth and a projected deficit of 4.2 percent of GDP.
"We are still targeting 2023, but what I'm saying is we need to realise that it is not set in stone," Jadaan said. "What's the point of having a balanced budget on '23 specifically? It could be 22, it could be 24. We want to be disciplined, we want to be efficient and pro-growth."
Asked about the impact of lower oil prices on spending, Jadaan said: "Until today we are comfortable" and "even in the worst case scenario we are still relatively comfortable" given the kingdom's significant reserves and low debt to GDP ratio.
The interview took place at Riyadh's Ritz-Carlton Hotel, where suspects in the corruption sweep were held for up to three months.
Jadaan said seized assets were being managed and valued by a ministry-owned company, Istidama, which is managed by a committee chaired by the commerce minister and has no connection to the sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund.
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[PRESSTV] Iranian President Hassan Rouhani says the US has no longer any influence on relations between countries in the region, stressing Washington will no longer be able to dictate its policies to regional states.
"Our neighbors ... have explicitly told the US that the era of dictating policies to others is over and the US cannot decide for the region and relations between regional nations and countries from thousands of kilometers away," Rouhani told news hounds at Mehrabad International Airport on Wednesday before leaving for Ankara for an official two-day visit at the invitation of his Ottoman Turkish counterpart Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey... Iran’s president, who is in Ankara to co-chair the 5th The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... -Iran High Level Cooperation Council meeting, also hailed Turkey’s "firm" stance on unilateral US sanctions against the Islamic Theocratic Republic.
He said that Turkey, as friendly key regional player, was of high significance to Iran.
Back on May 8, US President Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... announced that he would abandon the Iran nuclear deal, reached between Tehran and six world powers ‐ the US, the UK, La Belle France, Russia, China and Germany in 2015. He also announced that he would reinstate the sanctions against Iran that were lifted as part of the agreement, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Under the JCPOA, Iran agreed to limit parts of its peaceful nuclear program in exchange for the removal of all nuclear-related sanctions.
In August, Trump ordered all nuclear-related sanctions that were removed under the deal to be reinstated immediately.
Ottoman Turkish officials, including President Erdogan, have criticized the US for re-imposing its unilateral sanctions against Iran, stressing Ankara’s determination to keep economic ties with Tehran.
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12/20/2018
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[IsraelTimes] Israel and US call for international action against Lebanese terror group at Security Council meeting on cross-border digging
Israel accused the Lebanese Army Wednesday of tipping information to the Iranian-backed terror group Hezbollah and failing to allow UN peacekeepers to help thwart a tunnel-building operation on the country’s southern border.
The accusation came at a UN Security Council meeting that also saw the US demand that the international community condemn the Lebanese terror group over its alleged plans to infiltrate Israel via a series of border tunnels, violating a UN resolution meant to keep the potentially volatile frontier calm.
Continued on Page 49
[Dhaka Tribune] 'A case has been filed against Maulana Shahinur Pasha for the embezzlement of Tk322,000 by fraudulence from a businessman'
A Sylhet court has issued an arrest warrant for Maulana Shahinur Pasha Chowdhury, JatiyaOikya Front’s Sunamganj 3 candidate.
The court of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate of Sylhet issued the warrant on a fraud charge against the Jamaat Ulama-e-Islam Bangladesh central vice-president on Tuesday.
Additional Public Prosecutor Mahfuzur Rahman confirmed the matter to the Dhaka Tribune.
He said:"A case has been filed against Maulana Shahinur Pasha for the embezzlement of Tk322,000 by fraudulence from a businessman."
The plaintiff in the case, Mohammad Ali Talukder, a UK resident who also lives in the capital’s Banani area, said Pasha offered him a directorship in his real estate agency. Since November 4, 2012, Ali has been giving money in installments to Pasha.
Later, Pasha sold the enterprise without Ali’s knowledge and did not return his investment money, forcing Ali to file a fraudulence case against him.
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[Al Jazeera] The State Department says it had informed the US Congress of plans to sell a Patriot missile package to Turkey.
The State Department on Wednesday said it had informed the US Congress of plans to sell Turkey a Patriot package that includes 80 Patriot missiles, 60 PAC-3 missile interceptors and related equipment.
"The proposed sale will increase the defensive capabilities of the Turkey military to guard against hostile aggression and shield NATO allies who might train and operate within Turkey's borders," a statement said.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2018
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#1
US approves Patriot missile sale worth $3.5bn to Turkey Russia
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The Red Unit Commander of the Taliban ...the Pashtun equivalent of men... group who was in charge of the group’s activities in five provinces has been killed in an operation of the Afghan Commandos in Paktika ...which coincidentally borders South Wazoo... province.
Defense Ministry front man Ghafoor Ahmad Javid confirmed the killing of Bilal Zadran, the Red Unit Commander of Taliban during an operation late on Tuesday night.
Javid further added that Zadran was in charge of the Red Unit activities of Taliban in Khost, Paktika, Ghazni, Pashtun-infested Logar, and Paktika provinces.
According to Javid, Zadran had major role in planning and executing terrorist related activities in the named provinces.
The anti-government armed hard boy groups including Taliban have not commented regarding the report so far.
This comes as the Afghan armed forces have stepped up offensive operation against the anti-government armed gunnies during the recent months.
The Office of the National Security Council of Afghanistan (NSC) had earlier ordered the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) to increase raids against the Talibs.
According to a statement released by NSC in mid-November, the enemies of the country have sustained heavy casualties in face to face fight and due to the sacrifices of the National Defense and Security Forces due to which the enemies have changed their fighting strategy by killing innocent civilians, a move which demonstrate their (enemies) weakness.
The statement further added that the Taliban group continues to wage an imposed war as the Afghan nation struggles with the drought and cold weather which has added in the difficulties of the people besides inflicting losses on them.
The Office of the National Security Council also added that the National Defense and Security Forces have been instructed to increase raids against the Taliban across the country in a bid to ensure the safety of the people and reduce the casualties of the security forces.
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12/20/2018
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[IsraelTimes] JCPA report details 2018 funds set aside in PA budget for recipients including Paleostinians who have killed Israelis, and their families
The Paleostinian Authority has allocated more than NIS 1.24 billion ($330 million) for payments related to security prisoners and so-called "deaders" in its 2018 budget, according to a new report published by a Jerusalem-based research institute.
The funds include salaries and stipends for convicted faceless myrmidons and their families, though the exact figures for the faceless myrmidons and their families are not publicly known, with Israeli officials, researchers, and Paleostinians split over how many of those eligible for the payments have attacked or killed Israelis.
Continued on Page 49
#3
On 23 March 2018, U.S. President Donald Trump signed the Taylor Force Act into law, which will cut about a third of US foreign aid payments to the PA,until the PA ceases making payment of stipends to terrorists and their surviving families. (Wiki)
That would say we are still giving them 2/3rds of the payments we gave them in the past. I don't see any guarantees the money won't still be used for terrorism. Taylor Act.
[IsraelTimes] World Food Programme agency says assistance to Paleostinians will be reduced due to budgetary woes
The UN’s World Food Programme said Wednesday that it was making cuts in food aid to over 190,000 Paleostinians in the West Bank and Gazoo, citing a funding shortfall. As of January 1, the organization will suspend food assistance to 27,000 people in the West Bank, and reduce it by 20 percent to 165,000 people in the West Bank and Gazoo, the Rooters news agency reported.
"WFP has been forced, unfortunately, to make drastic cuts to the number of people that we support across Paleostine," Stephen Kearney, the program’s coordinator for the West Bank and Gazoo told the news agency.
Continued on Page 49
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] At least thirteen bandidosturbans including one of their local leaders was killed in a dronezap conducted by the U.S. forces in southeastern Paktia province of Afghanistan.
The 203rd Thunder Corps of the Afghan Military in the Southeast in a statement said the Arclight airstrike was carried out Aryoub Zazai district of the province.
The statement further added that a 4×4 vehicle was also destroyed in the airstrike which was carried out in Dor Lalai Tangi area of Aryoub Zazai district.
In the meantime, a clash broke out between the Afghan army forces and the Taliban ...Arabic for students... militnats in Laghwat area of Deh Yak district in Ghazni province, the 203rd Thunder Corps said, adding that two bandidosturbans were killed during the clash.
Another Lion of Islam was killed and another one was maimed in a separate clash in Ahmad Khel district of Paktia province, the 203rd Thunder Corps added.
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12/20/2018
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[DAILYCALLER] The Daily Caller News Foundation has determined that an influential Antifa leader uses aliases to spread radical and often violent rhetoric while concealing his actual identity.
Joseph “Jose” Alcoff works with congressional Democrats as part of his day job as a manager with a DC-based advocacy group. But he spreads socialist and communist propaganda when going by the name “Jose Martin.”
Identifying as “Chepe,” Alcoff advocates for the violent overthrow of the government and for the murder of the rich. He has relished the mainstreaming of Antifa’s militant tactics in the Trump era.
A 2017 book identified Chepe as an organizer behind Smash Racism DC, the Antifa group that mobbed Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s home in November and ran Ted Cruz out of a restaurant in September.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2018
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[RADIOSHABELLE] al-Shabaab ... an Islamic infestation centering on Somalia... claimed it killed a senior Somali security officer in Middle Shabelle region, south of Somalia, the latest in series of liquidations targeting army personnel by the holy warriors.
The victim, Mohammed Ali Mohammed [Kartoon] was rubbed out in Galbole by assailants armed with pistols, according to a statement posted on the al-Shabaab-affiliated media outlet.
The group said the slain officer was working with the African Union ...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful... Mission in Somalia [AMISOM] as an undercover agent. There were no immediate sources verifying the claims.
Al-Shabaab often carries out executions in areas under its control in the south and central Somalia as part of the decade-long insurgency in the Horn of Africa country.
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[Al Jazeera] The United States has started withdrawing its troops from Syria, the White House said on Wednesday, after President Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... declared that the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS, also know as ISIS) group has been defeated in the country.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said that "victories over ISIS in Syria do not signal the end of the Global Coalition or its campaign".
"We have started returning United States troops home as we transition to the next phase of this campaign," she added. "The United States and our allies stand ready to re-engage at all levels to defend American interests whenever necessary, and we will continue to work together to deny radical Islamist terrorists' territory, funding, support and many means of infiltrating our borders."
Sanders's comments came after reports surfaced that the US was considering a full troop withdrawal from the country.
A complete, rapid withdrawal, if confirmed, would upend assumptions about a longer-term US military presence in Syria, which US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and other senior US officials had advocated to help ensure ISIS cannot re-emerge.
Still, President Donald Trump has previously expressed a strong desire to bring troops home from Syria when possible.
Prior to Sanders's statement on Wednesday, Trump tweeted, "We have defeated ISIS in Syria, my only reason for being there during the Trump Presidency."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2018
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#1
Press Release today on Syria:
President Trump is honoring his promise on Syria
Five years ago, ISIS was a powerful, destructive force in the Middle East. By late May 2015, the terrorist group would control half of Syria—including all of the country’s border crossings with Iraq.
The American people were rightly worried. Then-candidate Donald J. Trump made them two solemn promises. The first was that America and its allies would defeat ISIS. The second was that our troops would never be put in harm’s way longer than absolutely necessary to protect the American people.
In his first days in office, President Trump changed the rules of engagement, empowering U.S. military commanders on the ground. The results were unmistakable. In August 2017, The Washington Post reported that gains against ISIS had “dramatically” accelerated on his watch: “Nearly a third of territory reclaimed from the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria since 2014 has been won in the past six months.”
Eight months later, in April 2018, President Trump announced that “over the last year, nearly 100 percent of the territory once controlled by the so-called ISIS caliphate in Syria and Iraq has been liberated and eliminated.”
Today, the President is honoring his promise. “As other nations step up their contributions, we look forward to the day when we can bring our warriors home,” he said in April. This morning, Press Secretary Sarah Sanders announced that “we have started returning United States troops home as we transition to the next phase of this campaign.”
The Global Coalition against ISIS will not end. “The United States and our allies stand ready to re-engage at all levels to defend American interests whenever necessary.”
Posted by: Neville Dark Lord of the Wee Folk7365 ||
12/20/2018 1:57
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#2
To leave our most effective fighting ally in the Middle East at the mercy of the Turkey or Syria/Iran is a damn crime. Instead of withdrawing the 2,000 troops from Syria, withdraw 10,000 of the 15,000 troops from an unsupportable Afghanistan or most of the 9,000 from babysitting duties in Iraq.
#3
Why do we even need an ally in the Middle East? What are we even doing there? Endless war is all I see. How do we know we've won? What's the victory condition we're working towards?
We don't have one, at least not in public. And that suits the unelected US government just fine. They're making a mint off this.
Posted by: Herb McCoy ||
12/20/2018 10:16
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#4
#3 Why do we even need an ally in the Middle East?
You're being sarcastic? Or are you really that obtuse?
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/20/2018 11:41
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[IsraelTimes] PM says Lebanese terror group has just dozens of precision missiles, IDF ’the only army in the world’ fighting Iran’s military.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that the Hezbollah terror group closed sites in Leb’s capital Beirut at which precision missiles were allegedly made after he revealed their locations in a speech to the United Nations ...an organization conceived in the belief that we're just one big happy world, with the sort of results you'd expect from such nonsense... Speaking at the Globes Business Conference in Jerusalem, Netanyahu said the exposure of the sites was part of Israeli efforts to prevent the Iran-backed Shiite organization from amassing an arsenal of highly accurate missiles. It is now working to set up new production facilities, he alleged.
"They planned to already have thousands of precision missiles. At best they have just dozens," Netanyahu said.
In a speech in September at the United Nations General Assembly, the prime minister displayed a map pinpointing the location of the Hezbollah sites near Beirut’s airport and accused the terror group of "deliberately using the innocent people of Beirut as human shields."
The Israeli military later released further photos of the facilities and said it is working to counter Hezbollah’s "precision project."
In May, Netanyahu said Israel was "operating against the transfer of deadly weapons from Syria to Leb or their manufacture in Leb."
Israel has acknowledged conducting hundreds of Arclight airstrikes in recent years in Syria, which it says were aimed at both preventing Iran from establishing a permanent military presence in the country and blocking the transfer of advanced munitions to Hezbollah in Leb.
The Israeli Air Force has largely abstained from conducting raids inside Leb itself, though it has indicated that it was prepared to do so.
Addressing the raids in Syria, Netanyahu said Israel is working to eliminate any Iranian threat there now before it grows larger.
"The IDF is the only army in the world fighting the Iranian military and at the moment we have considerable successes," he said.
"We’re striking Iran [militarily] in Syria and of course the US struck them economically," he added, referring to the re-imposition of sanctions on Tehran last month as part of US President Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... ’s withdrawal from the international accord limiting the Iranian nuclear program.
Netanyahu said he spoke with Trump on Monday about Iran and with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday.
In September, Netanyahu claimed that Hizbullah ...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory... has positioned three missile sites near Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport.
He said the sites include the football stadium of the Hizbullah-affiliated al-Ahed club, another site near the airport and the Ouzai fishermen's harbor.
How do we know this isn’t some sort of elaborate photoshopped hoax?
[Al Jazeera] Ottoman Turkish media has again leaked images of the alleged Saudi liquidation squad accused of murdering Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
New photos published on Wednesday appear to show the 15-member "hit team" arriving at the consulate in Istanbul.
The alleged Saudi hit team can be seen arriving in The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the decaying remnant of the Ottoman Empire.... hours before the killing, entering the consulate and consular residence, and finally flying out of Turkey soon afterwards.
Istanbul police and Ottoman Turkish intelligence have been poring over some 3,500 hours of video from 147 cameras in 80 areas throughout the city.
Video footage also shows Abdulaziz Mohammed al-Hawsawi, 31, a member of the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ...Crown Prince of 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... as of 2016.... 's security team, Anadolu news agency reported.
Another suspect seen was Saud al-Qahtani, who is believed to have supervised the 15-man hit squad that flew from the Saudi capital, Riyadh.
Qahtani, 40, is one of the highest-profile figures implicated in the killing and was reportedly Prince Mohammed's right-hand man. The 40-year-old was removed as a royal court adviser following Khashoggi's liquidation.
Khashoggi, a Saudi columnist for The Washington Post, went missing after entering the consulate in Istanbul on October 2.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
The Turks only do this to hide their long term torture methods. They use bone saws on limbs at a time.
Erdogan is a big pain in the ass for the rest of the world as he is the only one that wants a Calaphate.
[PRESSTV] Yemen’s popular Houthi ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews ... Ansarullah movement has condemned Sudan for seeking to retain and even increase its troops in a 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... n-led coalition that has invaded the impoverished Arabian Peninsula country.
"The decision by Sudan’s administration to send more forces to Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic... indicates the Khartoum government’s opposition to the establishment of peace and security in Yemen," Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, the chairman of the Supreme Revolutionary Committee of Yemen, said on Wednesday, Unews Agency reported on its website.
Ansarullah formed the committee in 2015 to run Yemen’s administrative affairs after the former government resigned and its head, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, fled to Riyadh as he faced increasing popular discontent.
Saudi Arabia led a number of countries, including Sudan, into a war on Yemen shortly after Hadi’s flight to restore the former regime by force.
The Yemeni official said Sudan wanted to send reinforcements to Yemen while "its president, Omar al-Bashir Head of the National Congress Party. He came to power in 1989 when he, as a brigadier in the Sudanese army, led a group of officers in a bloodless military coup that ousted the government of Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi and eventually appointed himself president-for-life. He has fallen out with his Islamic mentor, Hasan al-Turabi, tried to impose shariah on the Christian and animist south, resulting in its secessesion, and attempted to Arabize Darfur by unleashing the barbaric Janjaweed on it. Sudan's potential prosperity has been pissed away in warfare that has left as many as 400,000 people dead and 2.5 million displaced. Omar has been indicted for genocide by the International Criminal Court but nothing is expected to come of it. , was being sought internationally on charges of terrorism and committing some crimes and atrocities in his country, and the Sudanese ruling establishment cannot defend him against the charges."
Sudan’s Defense Minister Lt. Gen. Awad Mohammed bin Oaf had on Tuesday told a visiting Saudi military delegation in Khartoum that his country intended to keep up its cooperation with the Riyadh-led coalition and even enhance its contribution.
Thousands have died and Yemen has been pushed to the edge of an all-out famine as a result of the war.
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[Al Jazeera] The governor of Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...formerly the Congo Free State, Belgian Congo, Zaire, and who knows what else, not to be confused with the Brazzaville Congo aka Republic of Congo, which is much smaller and much more (for Africa) stable. DRC gave the world Patrice Lumumba and Joseph Mobutu, followed by years of tedious civil war. Its principle industry seems to be the production of corpses. With a population of about 74 million it has lots of raw material... , has banned campaigning in the city ahead of Sunday's presidential vote for security reasons, a move denounced by the opposition.
Andre Kimbuta, a member of the ruling coalition, announced his decision on Wednesday following crackdowns by security forces on opposition supporters last week that killed at least seven people and caused a fire that destroyed thousands of voting machines.
"The information in our possession attests that in all the political camps of the main presidential candidates, Death Eaters have prepared and are preparing for a street confrontation in the city of Kinshasa during election campaign activities," Kimbuta said in a statement, without elaborating.
The long-delayed election is meant to choose a successor for President Joseph Kabila, who is due to step down after 18 years in power. If successful, it would be the DRC's first democratic transfer of power.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[Al Jazeera] A covert US-backed initiative to improve ties between 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 Israel is facing setbacks after Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ...Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia as of 2016.... and two of his aides were implicated in a journalist's killing, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Prince Mohammed, whom the US Senate blamed for Jamal Khashoggi's killing in October, spearheaded the outreach to Israel, a longtime foe, the Journal said in a report on Tuesday.
But the global outcry over Khashoggi's murder in October and fallout within the royal court has diminished the prince's influence and dampened Saudi Arabia's appetite for risky foreign policy endeavours, the Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter.
"Things have definitely cooled off right after Khashoggi's murder," a senior Saudi government official told the Journal.
"The last thing the kingdom wants is for this to come out now and cause another backlash."
Saudi Arabia does not officially recognise Israel and King Salman ...either the largest species of Pacific salmon or the current Sheikh of the Burnin' Sands, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and Lord of Most of the Arabians.... , who has taken a more active role in government in the aftermath of the Khashoggi crisis, recently described resolving the Israel-Paleostine conflict as the kingdom's "foremost priority" in the region.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2018
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[PRESSTV] US forces have established a new military base in Iraq’s western province of Anbar near the border with neighboring Syria in defiance of widespread calls to end its military presence in the Middle East region.
"American troops have built the military base in the al-Maliha area near the town of al-Qa'im, which is located nearly 400 kilometers northwest of the capital Baghdad and along the Euphrates River," Iraq’s independent Arabic-language newspaper al-Mashriq quoted the town’s mayor Ahmed al-Mahalawi as saying.
Mahalawi added, "The new base is close to the borderline with Syria, apparently aimed at monitoring the border to protect the US forces deployed inside Syria near the Iraqi-Syrian border."
The mayor noted that the military base is the second of its kind established in the Rumana subdistrict of Qa'im district. Another base was set up earlier this month.
Does this mean that President Trump is moving the base of American soldiers from Syria to Iraq rather than pulling troops from the region altogether?
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
"Does this mean that President Trump is moving the base of American soldiers from Syria to Iraq rather than pulling troops from the region altogether?"
[Al Jazeera] The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...Qatar's colony in Asia Minor.... may launch a new military operation in northern Syria at any moment, President Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey... said, adding US President Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... had given a positive response to Turkey's plans.
Erdogan's remarks on Monday came days after he announced Ottoman Turkish forces would launch a new cross-border operation against the US-backed Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) to the east of the Euphrates River in northern Syria.
The YPG is considered a terrorist organization by Ankara. American troops are also located to the east of the Euphrates River.
Erdogan spoke on the phone with Trump on Friday and they agreed to ensure "more effective coordination" between their countries' military operations in Syria.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2018
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Top|| File under: Sublime Porte
#1
My father, when he wanted to motivate us kids, would start counting to three, after which, he promised, dire but undefined things would happen. “One,” he would say, very loudly and distinctly. “Two. Two and a half. Two and three quarters....”
By this time, we would join in the count. “Two and seven eighths. Two and fifteen sixteenths...”
I don’t remember ever getting to three, though surely we must have at some point in my childhood. Still, we all learnt our fractions beautifully, which was probably Daddy’s other objective.
[Al Jazeera] The US Treasury sanctioned 16 members of Russia's GRU military intelligence agency over a "wide range of malign activity", including interference in the 2016 presidential vote and hacking international organizations.
The move came on Wednesday "in response to Russia's continued disregard for international norms", the Treasury said in a statement.
Those targetted included Victor Alekseyevich Boyarkin, a former GRU officer who acted on behalf of sanctioned Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, it said.
"Deripaska and Boyarkin were involved in providing Russian financial support to a Montenegrin political party ahead of Montenegro's 2016 elections," the Treasury said.
Deripaska was among several oligarchs, senior government officials, and a state-owned Russian weapons trading company that the US sanctioned in April.
Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov, two GRU agents, who allegedly took part in the attempted liquidation of Sergei Skripal in the United Kingdom, were also among the sanctioned.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2018
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#3
*Facepalm* So what if Greenpeace-USA, PETA-USA, or any other NGO that has a base in the USA, attempts to influence public affairs in another country...? Does the US Government help the foreign government to harass subpoena our citizens? This doesn't seem like a good idea...
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.
[Matt at Feral Jundi] The true stories of the Wild West heroes who guarded the iconic Wells Fargo stagecoaches and trains, battling colorful thieves, vicious highwaymen, and robbers armed with explosives.
[Aljazeera] State attorney general says Catholic dioceses withheld names of hundreds of clergy accused of sexually abusing children.
[The Hill] The American Society for Reproductive Medicine's chief advocacy and policy development officer said in an interview that aired Wednesday on "Rising" that the U.S. is taking itself out of genetic exploration by prohibiting certain kinds of genetic engineering. 
[Free Beacon] Sen. Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) on Wednesday released a statement criticizing President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw troops from Syria, calling it an "Obama-like mistake."
[Breitbart] A federal school safety commission led by members of the Trump administration is recommending that the Departments of Justice and Education rescind the Obama-era school policy that urged more lenient forms of discipline in public schools for students of color and those of other minority groups.
...President-for-Life of Russia. He gets along well with other presidents for life. He is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substance. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to him. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substances...
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] At least four Talibs were killed and two others were 
[Dhaka Tribune] The "great game" of the Kipling era was between 
[IsraelTimes] Tirana says expulsion was for ’violating their diplomatic status’; unconfirmed TV report claims pair were linked to foiled plan to attack 2016 soccer match against Israel
[Al Jazeera] 
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic...
Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia as of 2016....
... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey...
[IsraelTimes] JCPA report details 2018 funds set aside in PA budget for recipients including Paleostinians who have killed Israelis, and their families
an Islamic infestation centering on Somalia...
[IsraelTimes] PM says Lebanese terror group has just dozens of precision missiles, IDF ’the only army in the world’ fighting Iran’s military.
...formerly the Congo Free State, Belgian Congo, Zaire, and who knows what else, not to be confused with the Brazzaville Congo aka 
...either the largest species of Pacific salmon or the current Sheikh of the Burnin' Sands, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and Lord of Most of the Arabians....
