Thank you for all you did, and all you tried to do in the defence of civilization.
[Tolo News] More than 200 Georgian troops are returning home after completing their tours in Afghanistan.
A welcome home ceremony for troops in the 1st Battalion, 214th Field Artillery Regiment was scheduled Saturday in Elberton, where the unit is headquartered about 30 miles northeast of Athens.
The battalion's soldiers left their families and their day jobs last February to train for their overseas deployment. The soldiers served in western Afghanistan from May through December, conducting base security operations in an area covering more than 120 square miles.
Georgia has been the largest non-NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions... troop contributor to the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force since it almost doubled its presence in Afghanistan to more than 1,560 soldiers last fall.
Twenty-seven Georgian soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since 2004.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/14/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
We'll definately miss those MRAPs with the mounted DShK machine guns. Thanks for your help and sacrifice.
[Tolo News] The leader of Aghanistan's Islamist party Hizb-e Islami, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar ... who used to be known in intelligence circles as The Most Evil Man in the World but who now seems merely run-of-the-mill evil... , reversed his previous boycotts of Afghan elections and asked his supporters on Monday to participate in the upcoming polls.
The move was welcomed by analysts, who interpreted Hikmatyar's message as a recognition of the political process.The presidential elections are due to be held in April.
Hikmatyar asked his supporters to compete with Hizb-e Islami's rivals, though he did not name any particular candidate or party.
"This is a good decision taken by Hikmatyar and other opposition parties should do the same thing," political analyst Maulana Farid said.
"Hikmatyar should have participated in the previous elections as well, this is a wise decision, he should ask other forces of Evil to avoid further violence," political analyst Moeen Marastyal added.
Hezb-e-Islami had already said that it will nominate a candidate in the upcoming Afghan presidential election, either from its own ranks or an outsider.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/14/2014 00:00 ||
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Poaching and wildlife crimes are worth an estimated £11billion ($19billion) annually - and it's terrorist groups that are cashing in, according to a new report.
The White Widow isn't the only one cashing in. But whether it's opium in Afghanistan, cocaine in Colombia or ivory in Africa, terrorists know how to make a buck...
U.S think tank the Stimson Center, which carried out the study, is urging governments around the world to work with each other, local residents and the private sector to put a stop to the horrific crimes. The most valuable poaching victims are elephants and rhinos that roam Africa in rapidly decreasing numbers and Al Shabaab, which counts Briton Samantha Lewthwaite, aka the White Widow, among its members, is one of the terrorist groups identified as driving the slaughter of the animals.
The number of black rhinos in Kenya has fallen from about 20,000 in the 1970s to approximately 650 today.
Poachers continue their illegal killing because it is highly profitable. Elephant tusks and rhino horns are sold at extraordinary prices - $50,000 (£30,000) a pound for rhino horns on the black market.
Declaring that the slaughter of elephants contributes directly to the killing of humans, the Elephant Action League (EAL) calls ivory 'the white gold of jihad'.
Al Shabaab apparently pays above the odds for ivory, but so great is the mark-up that it generates up to 40 per cent of its revenues from the trade and can pay its 5,000-odd fighters £180 a month plus food and khat -- the drug used by almost every male Somali. It is thought the fanatics make £400,000 a month selling 'blood ivory' on the black market.
EAL launched a two year undercover investigation of elephant poaching in Kenya in 2011.
Andrea Crosta, who led the investigation, said many poachers he spoke to said they were increasingly selling to al-Shabaab, New Scientist reported.
He said: 'Part of al-Shabaab's funding has been, and is still, from ivory.'
He added that according to sources in the militant group, 3 tonnes of ivory were passing through Somalian ports each month.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/14/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
I'm thinking drone zapping the poachers as a worth while thing
#1
Perhaps General Ham received the 'Keystone XL' response.
When he stepped down from his AFRICOM command, General Ham was not quite 61 years old and so had three years left before mandatory retirement age of 64. He was said to have learned about his accelerated retirement when his second in command informed him of it at the office, telling him that it was "immediate" [as in clean out your desk now] and that he [second in command] would be the interim commander pending the arrival of his replacement, which would later be named as General Rodriguez. Rodriguez didn't begin his tenure as commander until April, 2013.
#2
A White House press release on the eve of the Benghazi attack stated unequivocally: Brennan "convened numerous meetings," and the president and his national security principals discussed "steps taken to protect U.S. persons and facilities abroad." But according to Ham, whose area of operation came under attack, he was not asked what forces he had pre-positioned in the event of an attack and whether they were they sufficient.
Perhaps no one wanted to make the call to AFRICOM? You know what with the time difference and all...
The best one of all, though:
[T]he quick response force that was mobilized, a FAST team of Marines in Rota, Spain, was forced to deplane and change out of their uniforms before flying to Libya, committee members learned.
[Ynet] Two-day election to be watched over by 160,000 soldiers and 200,000 coppers. Police warned public against distributing flyers promoting a 'no' vote. New constitution to protect rights of minority but solidify military's grasp on power
Egyptians are being asked to vote this week in a referendum on a vision of their nation's future, a two-day election widely seen as a precursor for a likely presidential run by the country's top general -- but held in a climate of fear and intimidation.
An astounding 160,000 soldiers and 200,000 coppers were expected to deploy across Egypt on Tuesday and Wednesday to guard polling stations and voters following months of violence that authorities have blamed on Islamic Death Eaters.
Supporters of Mohammed Morsi ...the former president of Egypt. A proponent of the One Man, One Vote, One Time principle, Morsi won election after the deposal of Hosni Mubarak and jumped to the conclusion it was his turn to be dictator... , the Islamist president ousted in a coup last summer, have said they would stage massive demonstrations and boycott the vote on a new constitution.
In many ways, Egypt looks more like a country going to war rather than one preparing for what is supposedly a transition to democratic rule. The government and the overwhelmingly pro-military media have portrayed the balloting as the key to the nation's security and stability over which there can be no dissent.
Hundreds of thousands of fliers, posters, banners and billboards exhort Egyptians to vote "yes." Posters urging a 'no' vote have led to arrests.
"There appears to be a conviction among security officers that there should be zero accommodation for anyone who wants a 'no' vote," said Heba Morayef, the Egypt director for Human Rights Watch ... dedicated to bitching about human rights violations around the world... Authorities have threatened legal proceedings against the owners of cyber cafes, presses and stationery stores if they allow use of their facilities for the production of 'no' fliers or posters, according to security officials. They said police commanders have instructed officers to arrest anyone distributing leaflets or hanging banners against the draft charter. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity in exchange for discussing security operations.
"We are trying to mobilize the 'yes' vote. Anyone doing the opposite is a traitor and an American agent," said Mohammed Hamdy, a politician and local dignitary from the city of Assiut, an Islamist stronghold with a large Christian community south of Cairo.
In Washington, US State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf said Monday: "We're deeply concerned by reports of ongoing arrests for campaigning for a 'no' vote on the constitutional referendum. We are also deeply troubled by reports that at least one individual was beaten during his arrest."
The referendum is the sixth nationwide vote since the 2011 ouster of longtime authoritarian ruler Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... , with the five others possibly the freest ever seen in Egypt. While unlikely to be stained by fraud, this week's vote is taking place at a time when many of the freedoms won in the uprising that toppled Mubarak have vanished in just a few months since Morsi.
The government has detained thousands of Brotherhood members including Morsi and most of the group's leaders. Recently, the notorious domestic security agency set up hotlines for citizens to report members of the Brotherhood, which the government has declared a terrorist group. For their part, Morsi's supporters have been waging near daily protests since the popularly-backed July 3 coup that ousted him.
Military's constitution
The new charter, drafted by a liberal-dominated committee appointed by the military-backed government, would ban political parties based on religion, give women equal rights and protect the status of minority Christians. But it also gives the military special status by allowing it to select its own candidate for the job of defense minister for the next eight years and empowering it to bring civilians before military tribunals.
The charter is in fact a heavily amended version of a constitution written by Morsi's Islamist allies and ratified in December 2012 with some 64 percent of the vote but with a nationwide turnout of just over 30 percent.
The current government is looking for a bigger "yes" majority and larger turnout to win undisputed legitimacy and perhaps a popular mandate for the military chief, Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, to run for president this year. El-Sissi has yet to say outright whether he plans to seek the nation's highest office, but his candidacy appears increasingly likely every day.
Covering preparations for the vote, Egyptian TV news channels have been airing images of top army commanders, including el-Sissi, inspecting thousands of troops lined up in full combat gear. Convoys of military armored personnel carriers and fighting vehicles are shown plying city streets en route to their deployment positions.
The resolve of the Egyptian government to do everything it can to bring out the voters and get a comfortable "yes" majority comes in the wake of a series of attacks attributed to Mohammedan bully boys. In the six months since Morsi's ouster, there has been an liquidation attempt on the interior minister as well as deadly attacks on key security officers, soldiers, coppers and provincial security and military intelligence headquarters.
Morsi's supporters have labeled the draft charter a "constitution of blood." In response, the government has put them on notice that it would deal harshly with anyone interfering with the referendum.
"The resolve of the police will not falter until we realize the will of the sons of Egypt," Interior Minister Mohammed Ibrahim said on Monday. "Maximum force and firmness will be used to deal with any attempt to spoil this feast. We will not show leniency toward any action that touches the will of the Egyptian people."
Posted by: trailing wife ||
01/14/2014 00:29 ||
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#1
In many ways, Egypt looks more like a country going to war rather than one preparing for what is supposedly a transition to democratic rule.
[MAGHAREBIA] Hefty bounties are being offered for information that leads to the arrest or conviction of turbans active in Tunisia and Libya.
Tunisia's Ansar al-Sharia ...a Salafist militia which claims it is not part of al-Qaeda, even though it works about the same and for the same ends. There are groups of the same name in Libya, Tunisia and Yemen, with the Libyan and Tunisian versions currently most active... and similar groups in Libya's Derna and Benghazi on Friday (January 10th) were labelled by the US as terrorist organizations.
Group leaders Ahmed Boukhtala in Benghazi, Sufian bin Qumu in Derna, and Seifallah Ben Hassine of Tunisia (aka Abou Iyadh) were also named "global terrorists".
"Ansar al-Sharia in Benghazi and Ansar al-Sharia in Derna have been involved in terrorist attacks against civilian targets, frequent liquidations, and attempted liquidations of security officials and political actors in eastern Libya, and the September 11, 2012 attacks against the U.S. Special Mission and Annex in Benghazi, Libya," the US State Department said.
Up to $10 million dollars is available to anyone who provides information leading to the arrest of those responsible for the attack that killed four Americans, including the ambassador.
Last August, the Tunisian government designated Ansar al-Sharia a terrorist organization and accused it of taking part in attacks on security forces and assassinating politicians.
"Because Tunisia and the United States face a common enemy in terrorism, our countries continue to co-operate to confront and defeat the threat of terrorism," the US Embassy in Tunis said in an online statement.
The statement noted that Ansar al-Sharia in Tunisia was also involved in the attack on US embassy and the American School in Tunisia on September 14th, 2012, which put the lives of more than 100 diplomatic staffers in danger.
Rewards offered to those who help arrest individuals involved in terrorism and organised crime represent an effective weapon used by several countries. A reward recently helped in arresting Abu Anas al-Libi, who was allegedly involved in the bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
The money for turning in turbans is being offered up under the Rewards for Justice programme. The same setup offers cash for other high-profile Maghreb terrorists.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/14/2014 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Ansar al-Sharia
Washington and Beijing in 2009 discussed contingencies in North Korea, which was then looking unstable after leader Kim Jong-il suffered a debilitating stroke. The disclosure comes in a recent report titled "China and Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction and Missiles" by the U.S. Congressional Research Service.
"When asked on Oct. 4, 2009 whether the United States and China discussed contingencies in North Korea, (then) Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell acknowledged talks about 'every' aspect," the report says.
The report does not say when and where Campbell made the remarks.
The two countries have held various talks about the North Korean nuclear issue but kept discussions about possible regime collapse and other contingencies under wraps due to China's special relations with the regime.
The report concludes the U.S. and China have sharply different interests in case of a sudden change in the North. "Indeed, China seemed to have shifted from pressuring North Korea with the military relationship to propping up the regime's security and survival," it says. "Beijing would not accept an implosion in Pyongyang or watch passively if other countries gain political and military control in North Korea."
Neither we nor the South Koreans particularly want 'control' of the North. China can have it, they just have to feed the people. That's the real issue for a regime that is trying to build a first-world economy and military. Just look at the problems Germany had after the Wall fell, and multiply by ten (at least). North Korea is the hot potato no one wants.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/14/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
"South Koreans ... [don't] want control of the North" > Sorry, but I have to disagree.
IMO the SOKORS don't want a Chinese takeover of the North anymore than NOKOR or other NE Asia powers do, nor to pay the anticpated massive or excessive econ costs of formal reunification - OTOH, this is NOT to say that they won't accept the status quo "as is" as opposed to preventing a major Regional andor International war breaking out on the Peninsula.
The longer Bejing's reunification wid TAIWAN fails to occur, the more the SOKORS will not believe the status quo on the Peninsula or NE Asia will change. Beijing is highly unlikely to agree to any sort of inter-Korean Reunification as long as it fails to have control of Taiwan + other disputed islands, TAIWAN = "MAHANIST" CHINA'S OFFSHORE EQUIVALENT OF "PEARL HARBOR/HAWAIIAN ISLANDS" FOR PLA-LED STRATEGIC ACCESS INTO FAR PACIFIC = EASTPAC.
THESE ABOVE IS NOW DE FACTO CHANGING AS BEIJING IS AGGRESSIVELY PURSUING ITS "POST-US" MANIFEST DESTINY AMAP ASAP ALAP INTO WESTPAC + BEYOND.
CHINA DESIRES TO CHANGE THE STATUS QUO, PREFERABLY/IDEALLY PEACEFULLY OR DIPLOMATICALLY BUT ALSO MILITARILY OR FORCIBLY IFF NECESSARY, + IN BOTH THE ECS + SCS, ETC.
The proverbial clock is ticking as China continues to unilater escalate ...
* WORLD NEWS > [Zee News] CHINA WARNS OF "FIRM RESPONSE" IFF JAPAN ATTACKS ITS SHIPS.
* SAME > [Asahi News/Shimbun] CHINA OVERTURNED [original] DRAFT AIR DEFENCE ZONE, [substantially] EXPANDING IT TOWARDS JAPAN, to near the size of China's claimed offshore EEZ.
Also from ASAHI NEWS/SHIMBUN = ABE TO PROCEED WID PUSH [Constitutional amendment(s)]TO ALLOW JAPAN TO EXERCISE COLLECTIVE SELF-DEFENSE.
FYI ASAHI BLOGGERS-POSTERS = opine that China covertly? wants or desires a BATTLE = MIL COFLICT agz Japan; Japan must not only prepare itself for such a scenario but also to dev its own NUCLEAR WEAPONS to deter Beijing.
* CHINESE MILITARY FORUM BLOGGER > [Thread] WRONG POLICIES IN ASIA TO RESULT IN THE FINAL DEMISE OF THE UNITED STATES!?
* WORLD MILITARY FORUM > US EXPERTS: US-SPECIFIC NEUTRALITY AT SEA NOT GUARANTEED OR ASSURED IN SINO-JAPANESE CONFLICT.
* SAME > RUSSIA WARNS US-CHINA-JAPAN MILITARY CONFLCIT "JUST WEEKS AWAY" DUE TO ON-GOING INTERNAL POWER STRUGGLES OR FACTIONALISM WIDIN THE CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY [CCP].
* GLOBAL TIMES > OP-ED: US RELUCTANT TO BACK UP A INCREASINGLY TRUCCULENT JAPAN.
Ditto as per the Philippines? ASEAN? India? Other?
ARTIC = US Milbase on Okinawa becom increasingly insignificant or untenable for the US, USDOD due to changes in geopolitical calculus.
Lest we fergit, Shinzo Abe wants Japan's Constitution to be amended by 2020 - also, Year 2018 = the rough benchmark year where the US hopes to have GMD-TMD emplaced amongst it various East Asian allies.
North Korean leader Fat Boy Kim Jong-un has put his younger sister Yeo-jong in charge of the regime's coffers since the execution of his uncle Jang Song-taek on Dec. 12 last year.
Pudgy Kim Jong-un ordered the restructuring of hard-currency earners, which used to be controlled by Jang, North Korea Intellectuals Solidarity, a group of North Korean activists in South Korea, quoted a North Korean source as saying. The source said Kim Yeo-jong has taken charge of Department 54 and other currency-earning agencies in the Workers Party.
Department 54 supplies electricity, coal, fuel, clothes and other necessities to the military but also runs a slew of other businesses. It was originally operated by the military but Jang placed it under the supervision of the party when the Army chief Ri Yong-ho was dismissed in 2012.
Kim Yeo-jong has also taken control of Taesong Bank and the Reunification and Development Bank under the Workers Party's Room 39; Taehung Management Bureau and Kumgang Management Bureau under Room 38; and Kyonghung Guidance Bureau and Rakwon Guidance Bureau, which used to be controlled by her aunt Kim Kyong-hui, according to the solidarity group.
Choe Ryong-hae, the military Politburo chief, reportedly asked Suet Face Kim Jong-un to put Department 54 back into military hands to buy Chinese fighter jets, but his request was rejected. Instead, the military was given charge of about 30 trading companies that had been run by the Cabinet, it added.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/14/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
Its unclear where or what happened to Pudgy's First Babe, + his late Uncle's spouse "Dear Auntie".
At last check, SOKOR thinks "Auntie" may be recovering in a hospice due to a heart problem - where's NOKOR's First Lady is anybody's guess.
[WeeklyStandard] The Iran nuclear deal is in place. And Senate majority leader Harry Reid ... the charismatic senator-for-life from Nevada, currently majority leader ... is preventing the Senate from voting on Iran sanctions to be implemented in case the Iran deal fails. Reid is holding up the vote at the urging of President B.O..
The Emergency Committee for Israel is calling on Reid to allow a vote on the sanctions bill that's supported by many Democrats and Republicans, and well over half of the Senate.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
01/14/2014 03:52 ||
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[Ynet] President Barack Obama I mean, I do think at a certain point you've made enough money... said on Monday it would not be right for Congress to impose new sanctions on Iran now and that diplomacy should be given a chance to work.
Thus speaketh The Smartest Man In The Room, so it must be true.
Obama made the remarks to news hounds while meeting with Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
01/14/2014 00:28 ||
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#2
OTOH TOPIX > [Daily Caller] OBAMA SHOULD IGNORE CALLS TO GET MORE DEEPLY INVOLVED IN IRAQ.
Again, which is why Shia Rising Iran Is the Bammer Amerika's new BFF in Syria + elsewhere.
* GROONG > TARGET FOR NEW WORLD ORDER "CONFRONTATION" [-ism] IS A MEANS OF OBSERVING [preserving] BALANCE.
* SAME > MIDDLE EAST IN SHAMBLES: 15 YEARS OF [chaotic = destabilizing] US POWER VACUUM.
* GLOBAL TIMES > OP-ED:EUROPE NEEDS TO SHIFT AWAY FROM US CONTRADICTIONS.
"Contradictions" is what tends to occur when Politicos attempt to impose + entrench OWG-NWO widout asking the Voters or Mainstream iff they want same.
just sayin'.
VERSUS
* SAME > [Washington Examiner] OBAMA'S "IRAN STRATEGY" MAKES WAR [in Middle East = Muslim World] MORE LIKELY, NOT LESS.
The Maha-Rushian Question is whether Shia Iran rival + protagonist the Sunni KSA [Qatar?] will rise to being one of Bammerika's new BFF + OWG "Co-Superpower" like Iran???
* RELATED FARS NEWS AGENCY [FNA] > IS OBAMA TRYING TO RESOLVE OR PROLONG THE CONFLICT IN SYRIA?, + Iraq + Afghanistan = AFPAK???
Why yes - yes, he is.
Again, the Bammer is a lousy American, but a helluva outstanding Amerikan, a lousy Nationalist but an upstanding Globalist ... ...
* SAME > [Iraqi] SHIITE MOVEMENT WARNS TO HIT RIYADH IN RESPONSE TO SAUDI-LED VIOLENCE IN IRAQ.
* SAME > SOURCE: "ISLAMIC RESISTANCE" [Group] TO RECIPROCATE FOR SAUDI BOMBINGS IN BERUIT.
[Ynet] The White House said on Monday it was concerned about recent reports that Iran and Russia are negotiating an oil-for-goods swap worth $1.5 billion a month, a deal that the White House said could potentially trigger US sanctions.
No worries. Our beloved president simultaneously announced that now is not the time to impose new sanctions.
"We are concerned about these reports and Kerry directly expressed this concern with Foreign Minister Lavrov today," a White House spokeswoman said. "If the reports are true, such a deal would raise serious concerns as it would be inconsistent with the terms of the P5+1 agreement with Iran and could potentially trigger US sanctions," she said.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
01/14/2014 00:28 ||
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#2
After the regime terminated support for the Syrian Al aqaeda cannibals rebels and provided all of that technology and FBI support to Sochi, the Russians are doing this? Why can we not trust them ?
[DAWN] Officials investigating the liquidation of SP Mohammad Aslam Khan suspected that Death Eaters had a backup plan and they were ready to use another vehicle on the Lyari ...one of the eighteen constituent towns of the city of Karachi. It is the smallest town by area in the city but also the most densely populated. Lyari has few schools, substandard hospitals, a poor water system, limited infrastructure, and broken roads. It is a stronghold of ruling Pakistan Peoples Party. Ubiquitous gang activity and a thriving narcotics industry make Lyari one of the most disturbed places in Karachi, which is really saying a lot.... Expressway if the first explosive-laden vehicle failed to detonate, it emerged on Sunday.
Based on the statements of some witnesses, the police Sherlocks said that there might have been two vehicles, including the one that had blown.
SSP-CID Operations Niaz Ahmed Khoso said that two vehicles were seen parked near a toll tax kiosk, which is manned by the Motorway police, on the Lyari Expressway for a considerable period.
SSP Khoso, who is also a member of the CID probe team led by DIG-CID Zafar Bukhari, said that the witnesses told the Sherlocks that they saw the vehicles there at around 11-12 noon on Jan 9. These vehicles were seen moving toward a ramp of the Lyari Expressway about half an hour before the suicide kaboom, he added.
He said only one vehicle was used in the suicide attack while the second vehicle could not be traced so far. The CID official opined that it was not something unusual in such terror attacks, as the Death Eaters previously used two vehicles to target then President Pervez Perv Musharraf ... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ...
SP Aslam, better known as Chaudhry Aslam, along with two guards -- Sub-Inspector Mohammad Kamran and Constable Farhan Ahmed -- was killed in suicide attack on the Lyari Expressway within the remit of the PIB Colony cop shoppe on Jan 9. Five coppers and nine civilians were maimed in the attack.
The banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) had grabbed credit of the attack and subsequently a murder case was registered against TTP chief Mullah Fazlullah ...son-in-law of holy man Sufi Mohammad. Known as Mullah FM, Fazlullah had the habit of grabbing his FM mike when the mood struck him and bellowing forth sermons. Sufi suckered the Pak govt into imposing Shariah on the Swat Valley and then stepped aside whilst Fazlullah and his Talibs imposed a reign of terror on the populace like they hadn't seen before, at least not for a thousand years or so. For some reason the Pak intel services were never able to locate his transmitter, much less bomb it. After ruling the place like a conquered province for a year or so, Fazlullah's Talibs began gobbling up more territory as they pushed toward Islamabad, at which point as a matter of self-preservation the Mighty Pak Army threw them out and chased them into Afghanistan... and others.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/14/2014 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] Responding to the Indian army chief's statement Monday regarding ceasefire violations by Pakistain along the Line of Control (LOC), Pakistain Army's front man said that it is contrary to the facts on the ground.
Pakistain Army respects the ceasefire agreement in letter and spirit, said an ISPR blurb quoting Major General Asim Saleem Bajwa ... who is The Very Model of a Modern Major General... as saying.
He said that after the meeting between Director Generals Military Operations (DGMOs) of both South Asian neighbours on Dec 24 last year, the situation along LOC has improved considerably.
Such accusations and provocative statements are regrettable and counterproductive, the front man added.
Warning Pakistain against border violations, Indian Army Chief General Bikram Singh had said that India was not bound to follow the rules if Pakistain was up to breaking them.
"If rules are followed by our neighbours, we follow them too. If rules are broken, we won't sit on it, we will break them too," Indian media quoted him as saying.
Gen Singh, however, noted that frequency of ceasefire violations have come down remarkably ever since the meeting of the DGMOs of the two countries in December last year.
"Attempts are on to ensure ceasefire agreements are adhered to by both sides. It is our endeavour to control it, not escalate it," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/14/2014 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[DAWN] Assailing the Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf ...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations.... (PTI) government in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... (KP) for not being able to fulfill promises it made before coming into power regarding elimination of terrorism, Senator Mian Raza Rabbani Monday condemned recent terrorist incidents in the militancy-hit province.
He was speaking on a motion in the Senate regarding two terrorist incidents that took place in KP on Sunday.
The turbans yesterday rubbed out a senior opposition leader, Mian Mushtaq of Awami National Party (ANP) along with two others in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. hours after a kaboom in Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... killed five.
Other Senators also called upon the federal and provincial governments to evolve a joint strategy to root out terrorism from the country.
Senator Rabbani said that PTI, during its election campaign, had declared that it would eliminate terrorism from the country after coming into power but unfortunately things have gone from bad to worse since it had taken control of the province.
He condemned the recent killings of political figures as well as of SP CID Chaudhry Aslam in terrorist attacks saying that it was unfortunate that the provincial government of KP was not willing to take responsibility for failing to curb terrorism.
The absence of officials from the funeral prayers of those being killed in the terrorist acts shows that the provincial government has no ownership towards this war, he emphasised.
Including the Pakistain Moslem League-Nawaz (PML-N) government at the centre in his criticism, Rabbani said claims made by the federal government of formulating an anti-terrorism policy could not materialise even after a lapse of more than seven months.
He said the government had prioritised dialogue with turbans and the opposition parties backed them, but, now it was being told that banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) was not ready for peace talks.
The Pakistain People's Party (PPP) Senator demanded an in-camera session of the parliament to ascertain which factions of the Death Eater group can be engaged in the dialogue process with the government.
Without naming Imran Khan ... aka Taliban Khan, who ain't the sharpest bulb on the national tree... 's PTI party, Senator Farhatullah Babar said that at a time when a national consensus was being developed against militancy, a single party shattered the whole consensus.
He said he was not disappointed with Chief Minister KP Pervez Khattak but with the ruling party of the province and its top leadership.
Senator Muzaffar Shah said the government should reconsider the whole situation besides taking parliamentarians into confidence about it.
Discussing the motion, Haji Adeel of Awami National Party (ANP) said the law and order in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa was deteriorating which was evident from the recent terrorist attacks.
He said the ANP-led previous government was also confronted with the same problem but it fought bravely against the faceless myrmidons unlike the present regime.
Senator Afrasiab Khattak alleged that the grip of the provincial government over KP had weakened as terrorism, kidnapping for ransom and extortion incidents were on the rise.
He said that it was the provincial government's responsibility to maintain law and order, adding that if PTI chief Imran Khan thinks that he was disappointed with the chief minister, he should have asked for his resignation.
Senator Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haidri of Jamaat Ulema-e-Islam ...Assembly of Islamic Clergy, or JUI, is a Pak Deobandi (Hanafi) political party. There are two main branches, one led by Maulana Fazlur Rahman, and one led by Maulana Samiul Haq. Fazl is active in Pak politix and Sami spends more time running his madrassah. Both branches sponsor branches of the Taliban, though with plausible deniability... -Fazl (JUI-F) said the PTI had failed to make KP an exemplary province as it had no strategy to deal with terrorism.
He urged the federal as well as the provincial government to sit together and find out a solution for the problem.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/14/2014 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] U.N. Secretary General the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon ... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan... urged Iraqi leaders to address the "root causes" of a surge in bloodshed as security forces clashed on Monday with gunnies in violence-racked Anbar province.
But Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ... Prime Minister of Iraq and the secretary-general of the Islamic Dawa Party.... , standing next to Ban at a joint news conference, insisted that the Anbar unrest was not due to internal problems, and that dialogue with Death Eaters was not an option.
The U.N. chief's visit to Storied Baghdad ...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate... comes just months ahead of general elections, with the country suffering its worst spate of unrest since 2008 and Death Eaters holding an entire city and parts of another on Storied Baghdad's doorstep.
It is the first time fighters have exercised such open control in major cities since the insurgency that followed the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, and Ban's remarks echoed US calls for Iraqi officials to focus on political reconciliation, in addition to ongoing military operations.
"I would urge the leaders of the country ... to address the root causes of the problems," Ban said..
"They should ensure that there is nobody left behind. There should be political cohesion" and "social cohesion, and political dialogue, inclusive dialogue," he said.
"The security situation in Iraq is undoubtedly a source of great concern," said Ban, adding that he is "deeply concerned by this escalation of violence in Anbar governorate."
But Maliki insisted that "what is happening in Anbar has no relation to Iraqi problems" and ruled out dialogue with jihadists.
Events in the province have united Iraqis, he said, and therefore "today, there is nothing called dialogue."
"Dialogue with whom -- with Al-Qaeda? There is no dialogue with Al-Qaeda, and the Iraqi national decision is to end Al-Qaeda," Maliki said, referring to krazed killer group the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant ... the current version of al-Qaeda in Iraq, just as blood-thirsty and well-beloved as the original... (ISIL), which has played a major role in nationwide violence.
Ban is on two-day visit to Iraq and is also due to meet parliament speaker Osama al-Nujaifi, politicians, Vice-President Khudayr al-Khuzaie and the head of Iraq's election commission.
Iraq is embroiled in a bloody standoff with Death Eaters and anti-government tribes in Anbar, the mostly-Sunni desert province in west Iraq which shares a long border with conflict-hit Syria.
The country is also experiencing its wost prolonged period of violence since 2008, when it was just emerging from a bloody Sunni-Shiite sectarian war that left tens of thousands dead.
Clashes erupted in Anbar on Monday between police and Death Eaters in Humairah, an area in lovely provincial capital Ramadi, when security forces attempted to reopen a cop shoppe, an AFP journalist said.
Fighting was also still raging in the Albubali and Khaldiyah areas between Ramadi and Fallujah, ... the City of Mosques, which might have somthing to do with why it's not called Center of Prosperity or a really nice place to raise your kids... officials said.
Authorities meanwhile reopened a stretch of a highway to Jordan and Syria that had been closed for months by Sunni protesters demonstrating against the alleged mistreatment of their community by the Shiite-led government.
Analysts say that widespread Sunni anger towards the government has fueled the surge of violence in the country.
Militants and anti-government tribes still hold two neighborhoods in Ramadi, as well as all of Fallujah, a former turban stronghold just 60 kilometers (37 miles) from Storied Baghdad.
Clashes still erupt periodically in Ramadi but civil servants have returned to work in the city, and residents who had fled Fallujah have since begun to come back.
ISIL has been active in the Anbar fighting, but so have anti-government rustics.
The army has for the most part stayed outside of Fallujah during the crisis, with analysts warning that any assault on the city would likely cause significant civilian casualties.
The Iraqi Red Islamic Thingy said it had provided humanitarian assistance to more than 8,000 families across Anbar but that upwards of 13,000 had fled Fallujah.
Fighting erupted in the Ramadi area on December 30, when security forces cleared a year-old Sunni Arab anti-government protest camp.
The violence spread to Fallujah, and Death Eaters moved in and seized the city and parts of Ramadi after security forces withdrew.
Iraq was also hit by violence outside Anbar Monday, with bombings in Storied Baghdad and a shooting in the north killing at least eight people.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/14/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
The 'root cause', aside from the usual political infighting, is the Sunni-Shia split. They've been going at it like cat and dogs since around 600 AD. No amount of shrimp cocktail and diplomatic jaw-jaw is going to make *that* go away.
As for "They should ensure that there is nobody left behind.", I don't think that means what you thing it means.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki on Monday publicly rebuked UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's call for the country to halt executions while standing beside him at a joint news conference.
Despite widespread calls for a moratorium due to major problems with the country's criminal justice system, Iraq executed at least 169 people last year, its highest such figure since the 2003 US-led invasion, placing it third in the world, behind just China and Iran.
"I have urged the prime minister and Iraqi government to put (a) moratorium on (the) death penalty," Ban said in response to a question during the news conference with Maliki in Baghdad.
But Maliki replied that Iraqis would not accept murderers being allowed to live, and said executions were permitted under the constitution and Islam.
"We respect UN decisions and human rights, but we do not believe that the rights of someone who kills people must be respected," Maliki said.
Hard to argue with the premise, but it's the implementation that is the potential problem...
Iraq has faced widespread criticism from diplomats, analysts and other busybodies human rights groups who say that due to a problematic justice system, those being executed are not necessarily guilty of the crimes for which they were sentenced to die.
All these busybodies, of course, live in safe neighborhoods...
UN human rights chief Navi Pillay said last year that Iraq's criminal justice system was "not functioning adequately".
Erin Evers, Iraq researcher for Human Rights Watch, meanwhile, told AFP last month: "What is more disturbing than the fact of the use of the death penalty itself... is the fact that the utter dysfunction of the criminal justice system means that there is a very high likelihood that the people who are being executed are innocent."
And the US State Department said in its 2012 Human Rights Report that "credible accounts of abuse and torture during arrest and investigation, in pretrial detention, and after conviction, particularly by police and army, were common".
The rise in executions in 2013 came as Iraq grappled with its worst prolonged period of violence since it emerged from brutal sectarian fighting that peaked in 2006-2007 and left tens of thousands dead.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/14/2014 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iraq
The office of Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon on Tuesday would neither confirm nor deny comments attributed to him calling US Secretary of State John Kerry "obsessive" and "messianic." He also neither confirmed nor denied comments calling Kerry "moronic", "doofus", "idiot" and "lame-brained"...
Tuesday editions of the daily tabloid Yedioth Ahronoth quote Ya'alon as telling associates in private conversations that Kerry "should take his Nobel Prize and leave us alone."
"Abu Mazen lives and dies by our sword," Ya'alon is quoted as saying by Yedioth. "Once we leave Judea and Samaria, he is finished. In effect, during these past months, there haven't been negotiations with the Palestinians, but with the Americans."
"The only thing that can 'save' us is for John Kerry to win his Nobel Prize and leave us alone," the defense minister reportedly said.
[An Nahar] Jordan's Islamists on Monday criticized the U.S. ambassador in Amman for taking part in a dabke folk dance at the inauguration of a project, describing it as "shocking behavior."
Following the opening of a $140 million (100 million euro) U.S.-funded project in the northern governorate of Irbid last Thursday, envoy Stuart E. Jones joined officials and women in dancing a Jordanian dabke.
"It was shocking behavior for Jordanians who know very well that America and the Zionist entity (Israel) are two sides of the same coin," the opposition Islamic Action Front ...Jordan's branch of the Moslem Brüderbund... party, the political arm of the kingdom's Moslem Brüderbund, said in a statement.
"We condemn such actions in our villages, and demand the government make sure diplomats adhere to their roles."
Performed at weddings, parties and similar occasions, Dabke is a traditional dance in Arab countries such as Leb, Jordan, Iraq, Syria, Turkey as well as Israel and the Paleostinian territories.
It has many versions, but generally dancers form a line facing an audience, hold hands, slightly lift their left feet and stamp to traditional music.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/14/2014 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under:
#1
Don't you know the US Envoy is a Dancing machine ?
Posted by: Big Flash ||
01/14/2014 0:48 Comments ||
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[Rooters] - The U.N. nuclear watchdog's increased access in Iran to monitor a landmark agreement with world powers still falls short of what it says it needs to investigate suspicions that Tehran may have worked on designing an atomic bomb.
It is also a far cry from the wide-ranging inspection powers the International Atomic Energy Agency had in Iraq in the 1990s to help unearth and dismantle Saddam Hussein's clandestine nuclear program after the first Gulf war.
Nevertheless, the IAEA will see its role in Iran expand significantly under the November 24 interim accord between the country and the six major powers, the implementation of which will start next Monday.
Since the deal is only preliminary, the IAEA and its investigation may gain more prominence in later talks on a final settlement of the decade-old dispute over Iran's nuclear program, but it remains to be seen how far it will go. Comments from Herman Nackaerts at Jihad Watch.
[Ynet] Iran's FM Zarif met with Hezbollah leader Nasrallah. The two spoke about regional developments, namely Syira, and promised to 'work together to deal with terror, infidelity and radicalism -- the regions largest threats'
[Ynet] Iran will get a first installment around February 1 of $550 million of $4.2 billion being unblocked under a six-month landmark nuclear deal with the West, a US official said Sunday.
"The installment schedule starts on Feb. 1 and the payments are evenly distributed" across 180 days, a senior US administration official told AFP. How much of it ends up in the Caymans and Switzerland?
Posted by: trailing wife ||
01/14/2014 00:28 ||
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#1
In other financial news: ACORN is back with 174 rebranded affiliates.
#3
Ah so we borrow another half a bil from the Chinese to bribe the Iranians to aim their nukes at our allies. What a mighty, mighty super power are we.
Posted by: regular joe ||
01/14/2014 16:09 Comments ||
Top||
#4
Russians must be happy that the Iranians will be able to pay them back now.
[An Nahar] Iran could attend peace talks on Syria next week if it gives a "strong signal" that it will embrace a political transition to replace the current regime, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said Monday.
Hague said Iran was still providing support to Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad The Scourge of Hama... 's government, and that if it wanted to attend the talks in Switzerland ...home of the Helvetians, famous for cheese, watches, yodeling, and William Tell... it should instead agree to the principles set out at a first set of talks in Geneva in 2012, including a transitional government in Syria.
Iran has not been officially invited to the talks by U.N. Secretary General the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon ... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan...
"If you want to come, show very clearly that you're going to engage on the same basis as the rest of us," Hague said.
He added that a "signal of support" for a transitional government would be "a very helpful signal to Iran in getting them to Geneva II."
Addressing Britannia's parliament, Hague said there was "no objection in principle to Iran in any quarter, certainly in Western nations, coming."
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.N.-Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... envoy Lakhdar Brahimi both said earlier Monday that Tehran should be at the so-called Geneva II talks, but U.S. Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State... said Iran must first sign up to the Geneva I principles.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/14/2014 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Saudi national Abed al-Masri is allegedly the successor of Majed al-Majed, who died in Leb last week, as the "emir" of the al-Qaeda-linked Abdullah Azzam Brigades ... Leb's current al-Qaeda affiliate, named after a guy whose car the current head of al-Qaeda had boomed... , al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Monday.
According to the daily, al-Majed "recommended before departing the Paleostinian Ein el-Hellhole refugee camp in Sidon , to engage in battles in Syria, the appointment of al-Masri as his successor if he was hurt."
The newspaper reported that al-Majed's recommendation came during a meeting attended by prominent figures in the brigades including al-Masri, Toufik Taha, Mohammed and Haitham al-Shaabi, Khaled al-Abeed and Abou Ons, who is also known as Abdul Malek al-Yamani."
The report described al-Masri as an radical character with a strong personality.
Al-Majed, a Saudi national, died in Leb while undergoing treatment at the Central Military Hospital after his health deteriorated, the army said in a communique.
Al-Majed, who is also wanted 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... on terrorism charges, was tossed in the clink You have the right to remain silent... by the Lebanese army in connection with the twin suicide kabooms that targeted the Iranian embassy in Beirut's southern suburbs in November.
Al-Akhbar pointed out that the men "are currently present in (Ein el-Hellhole) refugee camp and are moving between Leb and Syria when necessary."
However, there's more than one way to stuff a chicken... a source from inside the refugee camp told the newspaper that al-Masri "is currently in Syria," estimating that the brigades member Sirajeddin Zreikat or another Saudi man would succeed al-Majed.
Information obtained by the daily said that the brigades Shura council, which is formed of seven members, has already appointed 40-year-old al-Masri, three days after the death of al-Majed.
The report said that al-Masri was allegedly summoned by al-Majed into the refugee camp to supervise the brigades in Leb.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/14/2014 00:00 ||
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Edward Levine, a Kerry confidant who formerly worked on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, lambasted the anti-terror mandate in a recent analysis for the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation. The Center has received funding from the Ploughshares Fund, a liberal advocacy group that funds a network of organizations pushing to roll back sanctions on Iran.
One Capitol Hill source who knew Levine during his time working on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said it is plausible that he was enlisted to help with the administrations campaign to derail the sanctions bill. A State Department spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment.
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.
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar
North Korean leader 
Harry Reid
Pervez 
the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon
Nouri al-Maliki
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki on Monday publicly rebuked UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's call for the country to halt executions while standing beside him at a joint news conference.
Messianic? No, more likely just stupid and confused. 
[An Nahar] Jordan's Islamists on Monday criticized the U.S. ambassador in Amman for taking part in a dabke folk dance at the inauguration of a project, describing it as "shocking behavior."
In other financial news: ACORN is back with 174 rebranded affiliates. 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
