After a French minister said yesterday that there were 800,000 migrants waiting to leave Libya for European shores, Libyan coastguards today discovered 12 expectant travellers who would not be completing the trip.
A very polite, almost Monty Python way of saying that they're dead, dead, dead...
A dozen bodies were found washed ashore on a beach near Garabulli. Coastguard Abdullatif Al-Munser told the Chinese news agency Xinhua that the bodies were badly decomposed. This led him to believe that the craft carrying them had sunk several days earlier. Munser also said that he thought it probable that the migrants had been trying to head for the Italian island of Lampedusa.
It is likely that the dead were victims of the storms that hit the Libyan coast this week. The expected winter drop in attempted crossings did not happen. The United Nations Commissioner for Refugees believes that so far this year around 100,000 migrants have managed to make the journey to Europe. Many of them have been picked by European warships patrolling in or close to Libyan territorial waters.
There are unconfirmed reports that some people-smugglers have not bothered to inflate rubber rafts completely nor provided enough fuel to allow them to travel any great distance. This may indicate that they expected the migrants to be rescued sooner rather than later.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/27/2016 00:00 ||
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The military chiefs of staff from Muslim nations participating in a alliance to fight terrorism will meet in the Saudi capital on Sunday, the state-run news agency ...and if you can't believe the state-run news agency who can you believe?... reported.
The meeting, considered the first of its kind, aims to coordinate efforts among the 34 Muslim countries involved in the alliance.
The counter-terrorism Islamic force was announced in December by Saudi Defense minister Prince Mohammed bin Salman in a bid to establish a unified Muslim body to fight terrorism.
The coalition started through the establishment of a joint operations center in Riyadh.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/27/2016 00:00 ||
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[REUTERS] Tens of thousands of Yemenis took to the streets of the capital Sanaa on Saturday to mark the first anniversary of the war between a coalition led by Saudi Arabia against Iran-allied fighters who had overthrown the government.
More than 6,200 people have been killed since the coalition joined the war to try to stop the Houthis from taking control of Yemen the country and to restore President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to power.
Hadi had been ousted after Houthi forces took over the capital Sanaa in September 2014. Saudi-led foreign forces intervened on the side of fighters loyal to Hadi six months later.
The demonstration, one of the biggest in Yemen since mass protests in 2011 forced President Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down, took place ahead of a ceasefire and U.N.-sponsored peace talks next month.
Saleh, an ally of the Houthis, made a rare appearance at the demonstration, his first since the war began, offering an olive branch to the Saudi-led coalition.
"We extend a hand of peace, the peace of the brave, for the direct talks with the Saudi regime without a return to the (U.N.) Security Council, which is incapable of resolving anything," Saleh told flag-waving supporters who also held up large posters of the former president.
The United Nations says the war has displaced some 2.3 million people and precipitated a humanitarian disaster across large parts of the Arab world's poorest country.
"We came out today to tell the world, that the Yemeni people remain steadfast, that we have endured a whole year despite the siege and the hunger and the airstrikes and the planes," said one participant, named Kamel al-Khodani.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/27/2016 00:00 ||
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[REUTERS] Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump told the New York Times ...which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... he would consider stopping U.S. oil purchases from Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... unless the Saudi government provide troops to fight 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.... Trump's comment on Friday was included in a lengthy foreign policy interview published by the newspaper on Saturday and came in response to a question about whether, if elected president, he would halt oil purchases from U.S. allies unless they provided on-the-ground forces against Islamic State.
"The answer is, probably yes," Trump said, according to a transcript.
Trump has said the United States should be reimbursed by the countries it provides protection, even those with vast resources such as Saudi Arabia, a top oil exporter.
"And yet, without us, Saudi Arabia wouldn't exist for very long," Trump told the Times.
Not really. Oil is a commodity. If the Saudis don't sell to us they sell to someone else. But I wouldn't mind getting our country to the point where we could swear off the oil ticks...
"... We’re not being reimbursed for the kind of tremendous service that we’re performing by protecting various countries. Now Saudi Arabia’s one of them."
Trump also named in the interview retired Major General Gary Harrell, Major General Bert Mizusawa and retired Rear Admiral Charles Kubic as additional foreign policy advisors to the five named earlier this week who were criticized as obscure.
Trump has faced questions about his reluctance to reveal who was advising his campaign. He told the Times he was willing to rethink traditional U.S. alliances should he become president.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/27/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
It takes a child, or a buffoon, to see that the king is naked.
So less of a firm policy position and more of an incendiary device to ignite discussion. Go ahead, take the other side. Raise your and say "We should definitely keep buying Saudi oil". Oil embargo back in '73, OPEC, gas prices. Give that tarbaby a kick!
As our salmon-flavored moderator points out, the reality is more complicated. But this isn't reality, it's a media campaign. Trump may appear a cartoon buffoon, but he can play the media game.
#6
makes sense to me, cut their cash flow, buy US oil and see what happens to KSA and all of their under the table deals
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
03/27/2016 14:56 Comments ||
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#7
Considering that the Saudis just went on a spree, buying up all the for sale refineries along the US Gulf Coast, this is something that they've been seeing in the distance.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
03/27/2016 15:43 Comments ||
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#8
Sort of like the Japanese opening up auto plants in the US after the oil embargo caught the (then) Big Three with gas guzzlers and the subsequent capture of over a third of the market by people who were making not only fuel efficient autos, but with better quality and no hundred of dollars additional add on costs at the dealerships. The pressure by the American auto companies and unions almost put involuntary quotas on them. They saw the picture too and got around any future threat to their market. If you can't control the resource market, control the means of production.
[MIRROR.CO.UK] Spy whistleblower Edward Snowden claims the terror attacks in Brussels could have been stopped because The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... shared information about the killers with Belgian security forces. Maybe, if all their data wasn't compromised.
The former US National Security Agency worker, who is described as a traitor by British and American intelligence services after leaking huge amounts of data relating to mass surveillance, was referring to reports that Turkey warned Belgium that some of the men behind the attacks were involved in terrorist activities. Thank you for assisting the enemy. I'm sure you feel much better now.
Snowden, speaking from some holy man's guesthouse an undisclosed location in Russia at a video conference hosted in Tucson, Arizona by the University of Arizona College of Behavioral Sciences, also cited news stories that Russia warned the US about the Tsarvaev brothers, who were behind the Boston Marathon bombing, but the authorities did not take any action, reports Sabah.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/27/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
Snowden, speaking from an undisclosed location in Russia
Not quite a Guy Burgess, and not in the same class as Donald Maclean. Perhaps John Cairncross?
[BUSINESS-STANDARD] US 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... today declared "Je suis Bruxellois" - "I am a citizen of Brussels" - in support for the people of the Belgian capital, echoing their backing for the United States after the 9/11 terror attacks.
"Then, voices across Europe declared, 'Je suis Americain.' Now, we declare, 'Je suis Bruxellois' and 'Ik ben Brussel,' Kerry said in French and Phlegmish, the country's two main languages, after meeting Belgian Premier Charles Michel.
Triple kabooms in Brussels on Tuesday left 31 people dead and 300 injured.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/27/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
Walloons say his accent is atrocious, Flemish say ?
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/27/2016 8:30 Comments ||
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Walloons say his accent is atrocious, Flemish say ?
People with a bad ear for pronunciation in one language gemerally have a bad ear in all. My father's English sounded like he just got off the boat from Latvia four decades after he learnt the language. So did six of his other languages (Latvian being the seventh).
#5
Kerry has always been entranced with his perception of the Kennedy era and his desire to emulate JFK in manner style and image. Sadly, he brings a patina of clownish lurch like clumsiness that makes him a buffoon. The worst part is he thinks he brings it off....
Ten members of the “Islamic State” (IS, aka ISIS, ISIL, or Daesh) terrorist group have been arrested in Turkey, Anadolu Agency reported March 26. The arrested, who were earlier detained on the Syrian border, are Turkish citizens. Some of them are suspected of preparing terrorist attacks in Turkey.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/27/2016 00:00 ||
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[Fox] The Obama administration is emptying the military’s Guantanamo Bay detention facility of avowed terrorists captured fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq, but several American service members languish in another military prison for actions on those same battlefields that their supporters say merit clemency, if not gratitude.
Among the prison population at Fort Leavenworth, in Kansas, are remaining members of the so-called "Leavenworth 10," convicted service members doing terms ranging from 10 to 40 years for heat-of-the-battle decisions their supporters say saved American lives.
"The very people who protect our freedoms and liberties are having their own freedoms and liberties taken away," said retired U.S. Army Col. Allen West, a former congressman and political commentator. "I think it’s appalling and no one is talking about this issue."
The "Leavenworth 10" is the name given to a fluctuating number of men housed at Leavenworth for actions in Iraq and Afghanistan that their supporters say were justified. Over the years, a handful have been paroled, and more have been incarcerated.
Among the more well-known cases is that of Army First Lt. Clint Lorance, who is serving a 20-year sentence for ordering his men to shoot two suspected Taliban scouts in July 2012 in the Kandahar Province of Afghanistan. Lorance had just taken command of the platoon after the prior leader and several others were killed days before. The Taliban suspects were on motorcycles and matched descriptions given by a pilot who flew over the area earlier and spotted them as scouts.
#1
You don't understand. They're American Devils (according to Zinn and his acolytes, ie 'O'), not the poor downtrodden of the earth (ie terrorists, illegal combatants, et al), to whom we are about to take in as 'refugees'.
But none of those charged are in American custody, nor ever likely to be.
[IsraelTimes] 7 people indicted; attorney general says attackers threatened America’s economic well-being
Seven hackers tied to the Iranian government were charged Thursday in a series of punishing cyber-attacks on dozens of banks and a small dam outside New York City, intrusions that reached into America’s infrastructure and disrupted the financial system, US law enforcement officials said.
The indictment announced at the Justice Department reveals the determination of overseas hackers to cripple vital American interests, the officials said.
"The attacks were relentless, systematic and widespread," Attorney General Loretta Lynch said. "They threatened our economic well-being and our ability to compete fairly in the global marketplace, both of which are directly linked to our national security."
One of the seven alleged hackers is accused of repeatedly gaining access to the control system of the Bowman Avenue Dam, a small flood-control structure in Rye Brook, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) north of New York City.
The New York dam is small, only about 20 feet (6 meters) tall. A recently installed sluice gate at the dam, which is digitally controlled, is intended to help control downstream flooding that could inundate nearby homes.
With that access, the hacker was able to get information about the dam’s operations, including its water level, temperature and the status of the sluice gate.
The hacker would have been able to operate the sluice gate, which controls water levels and flow rates, but the gate had been disconnected for maintenance when the intrusion occurred.
The seven accused hackers worked for a pair of Iranian computer companies linked to the Tehran government, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, the US said.
None of the individuals is in American custody, and it’s not clear whether they will ever be enjugged Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out! or whether criminal indictments in absentia can be effective in combating such crimes. The indictment two years ago of Chinese military hackers has not led to any of them being hauled before a US judge.
Officials said the goal of such cases is to put cybercriminals on notice that their mouse clicks can be traced, even if they’re on the other side of the globe.
"The message of this case is that we will work together to shrink the world and impose costs on these people so that no matter where they are, we will reach them," said FBI Director James Comey.
The criminal case is the latest salvo in a contentious cyber relationship between Iran and the US.
In 2010, the so-called Stuxnet virus disrupted the operation of thousands of centrifuges at a uranium enrichment facility in Iran. Tehran says that assault and other computer virus attacks are part of a concerted effort by Israel, the US and their allies to undermine its nuclear program through covert operations.
The indictments unsealed Thursday stem from a series of cyber intrusions between 2011 and 2013 that officials say targeted 46 victims, primarily in the financial sector, that disabled bank websites and interfered with customers’ ability to do online banking. The attacks cost the victims tens of millions of dollars in remediation costs, but no customers lost money.
It was the latest instance of the B.O. regime publicly blaming foreign nations for damaging cyber intrusions.
The Justice Department in May 2014 indicted five Chinese military officials suspected of hacking into several major American companies -- including US Steel and Westinghouse -- and stealing trade secrets and confidential business information. None of those individuals has been brought to America to face charges.
And that December, the federal government linked a damaging attack on Sony Pictures Entertainment to North Koreans.
The Justice Department is determined to remove a cloak of "perceived anonymity" long enjoyed by foreign hackers, said John Carlin, the department’s top national security official.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
03/27/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
"digital control" is not at all the same as "internet control". I am still flabbergasted that critical life-support devices have anything at all to do with the internet. Having said, that, and knowing modern tech tendencies, Dick Cheney's implanted cardiac defibrillator is probably accessible on the internet, too.
[IsraelTimes] Paleostine is not the Muslims’ ‘primary cause,’ IS article argues; ending Saudi control of Mecca and Medina takes precedence
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.... terror group published an article explaining why it does not attack the Jewish state, arguing that the Paleostinian issue should not get preferential treatment.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: trailing wife ||
03/27/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
Translation: Are you kidding? if we so much as seriously point a weapon at those Jews, they will hunt us down to the last curly toed slipper! The Saudis are a lot safer and easier to attack.
Look at the leadership of Hezbollah- those poor B@$!@#%$ have to live underground like moles. at least the americans give us some opportunities to get some air before they send the drones after us!
#2
LOL NGuard. Can you imagine the seething in the Paleos?:
"We used to be sumpthin. The terror champs. Now... we're trying to stab random Jooos and getting killed for it"
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/27/2016 0:45 Comments ||
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#4
the precedence of killing heretics and apostates before lifetime infidels is pretty clearly established in Islam
the only problem is that the definition of heretic and apostate is changeable --
on this subject, it seems to me that for ISIS, the Shia must be considered worse heretics than the saudis by far
Posted by: lord garth ||
03/27/2016 9:06 Comments ||
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#5
it seems to me that for ISIS, the Shia must be considered worse heretics than the saudis by far
But Mecca and Medina are the ultimate possession, lord garth. Nonetheless, conquering Saudi Arabia would not be as easy as conquering Iraq, it seems to me. And even conquering Iraq turned out not to be the doddle it first appeared.
#6
If they fought Israel they wouldn't be mainly intimidating women and children? It does seem that the arab/islam infested can only really manage that "feat".
Posted by: Matt ||
03/27/2016 12:25 Comments ||
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#8
They would get their asses kicked...
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
03/27/2016 14:58 Comments ||
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#9
"ending Saudi control of Mecca and Medina takes precedence"
Ummm - Israel could do that for you (as could we, the Brits, the Phrench, etc.). I'm sure any of us could spare a couple of nukes to help y'all out there.
Why not just ask?
Posted by: Barbara ||
03/27/2016 15:16 Comments ||
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#10
As far as the Koran is concerned Jerusalem always was a side-show. They just made a big thing out of it to concentrate the natural hate of everything that boils in the Arab mind towards a target that wasn't the leader of an Arab country.
[IsraelTimes] Becomes sixth state in recent months to advance legislation targeting state procurement in entities boycotting Israel
The Georgia General Assembly passed legislation Thursday night that aims to deter corporate entities from partaking in the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel.
The bill makes Georgia the sixth state in recent months -- along with South Carolina, Illinois, Florida, Arizona and Colorado -- to advance an anti-BDS measure through its legislature prohibiting state procurement with companies that engage political boycotts of the Jewish state.
Georgia Sen. Judson Hill, who sponsored the bill, said in a statement that the legislation is "a critical step forward in defending Georgia’s state economy and public policy" and referred to it as "taking a stand against the anti-Semitism and discrimination of the BDS movement."
It will now go to the office of Gov. Nathan Deal, who must decide whether to sign it into law.
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.
After a French minister said yesterday that there were 800,000 migrants waiting to leave Libya for European shores, Libyan coastguards today discovered 12 expectant travellers who would not be completing the trip.
[BUSINESS-STANDARD] US Secretary of State 
Ten members of the “Islamic State” (IS, aka ISIS, ISIL, or Daesh) terrorist group have been arrested in Turkey, Anadolu Agency reported March 26. The arrested, who were earlier detained on the Syrian border, are Turkish citizens. Some of them are suspected of preparing terrorist attacks in Turkey.
North Korea
