#1
PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM > US SPECIAL FORCES MOUNTED SECRET PAKISTANI RAIDS IN HUNT FOR AL QAEDA, FORMER NATO NIGHT OFFICER REVEALED SECRET NIGHT OPERATIONS IN WAZIRISTAN BORDER REGIONS.
* SAME > US FIGHTER JETS INTRUDE INTO PAKISTANI AIRSPACE, + US CURRENTLY HAS 189,000 PERSONNEL IN AFGHANISTAN [68,000 US milfors + 121,0000 Paid Contractors > numbers of combined Mil-Contractor Personnel may rise to possib 225,000 tote in 2010].
[Maghrebia] Terrorists presumed to be from al-Qaeda's Sahel wing kidnapped two Italian nationals and their Ivoirien driver on Friday night (December 18th) in the Mauritanian town of Mneyssiratt, some 900 km east of Nouakchott, Journal Tahalil reported. "Passengers on a minibus heading towards the Malian border were kidnapped by armed men. Their bus remained on site, bearing visible bullet holes," a security source was quoted as saying. Italian state television identified the victims as a 65-year-old man and his 39-year-old wife.
The incident marks the second abduction of westerners in Mauritania within one month. Al-Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb claimed responsibility for kidnapping three Spanish humanitarian workers on the Nouadhibou-Nouakchott road on November 29th. The two men and one woman are allegedly being held at AQIM training camps in northern Mali.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/21/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa
Saudi warplanes have carried out fresh airstrikes on northern Yemeni villages, killing more than 50 civilians, Houthi sources say.
The Shia fighters said on Sunday that Saudi jets fired more than one-thousand missiles at the region along its border with Yemen, Arabic language Al-Menpar news website reported.
"There has been a massacre committed by the Saudis in the district of Razeh in the (northern) Sa'ada province, this morning (Sunday)," a fighters spokesman who identified himself as Ali was quoted by AFP as saying.
"The town of Al-Nadheer was targeted by air strikes and 54 civilians, including women and children, were killed," he added.
According to Al-Menpar "US-made weaponry" is now being used by the Saudi army against the civilians in the region.
Although Riyadh insists that its raids are only aimed at targeting Houthi positions, Saudi warplanes continue to target civilian areas in northern Yemen.
Meanwhile, the US special forces have reportedly been sent to Yemen to provide the national army with training services. The US Air Force is also said to have been sporadically pounding the northern areas since Monday.
The Houthis said US attacks on Thursday killed 120 civilians, among whom were women and children. Also on Saturday, a report on the Houthis' website said that three civilians, including a woman and a child, had been killed in fresh air raids carried out by US warplanes.
The attacks have so far left scores of Shia civilians killed in the war torn region and thousands of others displaced since Yemen launched its offensive against the fighters in August.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/21/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
What? No fuzzy bunnies and puppies?
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
12/21/2009 0:12 Comments ||
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#2
And no Green Helmet. You gotta have a Green Helmet!
#3
PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM > YEMEN: BATTLEGROUND FOR PROXY WAR BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND SAUDI ARABIA| YEMEN: PENTAGON'S WAR ON THE ARABIAN PENINSULA. Yemen = new US excuse to concentrically expand its imperialism from outside of AFPAK, into the ME + Africa???
* STRATFOR: ETHIOPIA: AL-SHAHAAB PREPARING FOR "ALL-OUT WAR".
The weapons laden Il-76 jet transport seized last week turned out to be the third such aircraft to pass over Thailand recently. U.S. intelligence has been tracking cargo transports flying out of North Korea, and an increasing number of these flights take the southern route (rather than via China and Central Asia.) A more thorough inspection of the cargo on the seized Il-76 found components for North Korea's Taepodong-2 ballistic missile. This weapon has three times the 2,000 kilometer range of Iran's current largest missile. If Iran is building their version of the Taepodong-2, they will be able to hit targets throughout Europe. The Il-76 apparently planned to make stops in Sri Lanka, the United Arab Emirates and Ukraine, before delivering the missile parts to Iran.
Posted by: ed ||
12/21/2009 08:16 ||
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SEOUL, Dec. 20 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's state-run defense think tank has concluded that North Korea is capable of achieving the technology needed to miniaturize its nuclear warheads, an informed military source said Sunday.
How are they doing on bicycles?
In its report on 2009 military trends in Northeast Asia scheduled to be published next month, the Korea Institute of Defense Analyses (KIDA) concluded that the North at the moment does not have the technology to fit a nuclear weapon on a missile, according to the military source who asked to be unnamed. But KIDA has determined that it is only a matter of time before the North becomes capable of successfully producing a small nuclear warhead, considering its possession of a high-explosives test site, a large number of experts and its concentration on nuclear development.
The think tank also concluded that the North's nuclear program has been overseen by at least 28 state agencies operating under the ruling Workers' Party and the National Defense Commission, with an estimated 3,000 government employees involved in the country's nuclear development, said the source.
All of whom get to eat at least one real meal each day.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/21/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Unfortunately clean water, indoor plumbing, and three hots per day are still huge challenge.
#2
Practically speaking, the achievable weight of a nuclear weapon that a 3rd world country could put on a missile is a little over 1000lb. From that point it is a missile tech problem.
Both Nork and Iran have long had missiles that could carry half a ton. The real villainy comes when Russia and others provide them with more advanced missile tech to help them penetrate anti-missile defenses.
#3
While in the 'advanced' category that Moose mentions, Multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle (MIRV) are another problem as well. A day of reckoning regarding the problem is not far off I'm afraid.
#5
I thought their last nuke test was considered a fizzle. I foyu can't have a big boom then why start miniaturizing?
Posted by: chris ||
12/21/2009 13:20 Comments ||
Top||
#6
ION WMF > more on HOW THE US LOST THE YEAR 2015 ANTi-CARRIER NAVAL BATTLE AGZ CHINA > SINK THE US AIRCRAFT CARRIER? ON THE PREMISE OF CHINA'S INVASION OF JAPAN AND SOUTH KOREA.
* SAME > THE OPERATING RANGE OF CHINA'S STRATEGIC H-6 BOMBERS CAN IMPROVED TO FOUR TIMES ITS DISTANCE, AND CAN EASILY THREATEN OR DETER THE US BASE ON GUAM ISLAND.
* PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM > INDONESIAN WARSHIPS WILL BE ARMED WID CHINESE MISSLES.
Of course the link is that makes this news so delicious.
In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's refusal Monday to review a lower court's dismissal of a case brought by four British former Guantanamo prisoners against former defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld, the detainees' lawyers charged Tuesday that the country's highest court evidently believes that "torture and religious humiliation are permissible tools for a government to use." I read reports linked to the discussions: one of the treatments rises to mis-treatment or torture. That is what is so insane about the contentions by those who would disarm us: They want us to believe that a prisoner refusing water is torture.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
12/21/2009 8:43 Comments ||
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#2
The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., had ruled that government officials were immune from suit because at that time it was unclear whether abusing prisoners at Guantanamo was illegal.
As I understand it, this is patently untrue. There was always a long list of things our people could not do, hence there were no thumb-screws or iron-maidens at Guantanamo.
These clowns changed what was on the abuse/no-go list, and now want to say the changes are retroactive.
Twelve Guantanamo detainees have departed the ominous detention facility for their homelands in Afghanistan, Yemen and Somaliland, says the US Department of Justice.
The last I heard, the recidivism rate of Guantanamo graduates was 14%. I wonder what it is now?
The Justice Department announced in a statement on Sunday that six Yemenis, four Afghans and two Somali prisoners have been transferred over the weekend to their home countries.
"These transfers were carried out under individual arrangements between the United States and relevant foreign authorities to ensure the transfers took place under appropriate security measures," the Justice Department said in its statement.
"Consultations with foreign authorities regarding these individuals will continue," the statement added, AFP reported
The US seeks to relocate 116 detainees to their home, or third countries willing to accept them.
The number of those likely to return to their old, bad ways is left as an exercise for the student. Do not forget to take into account that the best-behaved were released long ago.
Around half of the 200-plus prisoners at the notorious detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, are from Yemen. Washington fears that lack of the security resources in the Middle Eastern nation would pave the way for Guantanamo returnees to join armed groups.
But what else is there for a lad to do in Yemen, except join the army and massacre Houthis?
Should the relocation go as planned, US authorities would be prepared to transfer more Yemeni detainees.
US President Barack Obama admitted in November that he would not be able to keep his promise and shutter the prison in January.
He has pledged to close the controversial detention center in 2010, and announced last week that many of the detainees would be transferred to a prison in the US state of Illinois.
According to the US officials, some of the prisoners will stand trials in US criminal or military courts, while others are expected to be transferred abroad.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/21/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
#1
Gitmo 'Recidivism' Claims Don't Stand Scrutiny
James Joyner | January 16, 2009
Earlier this week, I reported on the U.S. Defense Department's claims that as many as 61 former Guantanimo detainees had returned to terrorism. My friend Steve Hynd, who blogs at Newshoggers and elsewhere, passes along a rather convincing rejoinder from Michael J. Ricciardelli of the Seton Hall Law Center for Policy & Research.
#3
Any chance there are a few GPS trackers sewed into their underwear?
Posted by: Karl Rove ||
12/21/2009 10:20 Comments ||
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#4
There has just been a second DoD report on recidivism issued since the article to which badanov links, one in May that was leaked to the New York Times, and one this month, which remains unleaked. And we've had reports here at Rantburg of Guantanamo graduates captured, killed, or otherwise actively involved in terror activity, so we know recidivism is real. It's quite possible the DoD does not want to reveal sources of information about individuals whose activities were not reported in the open press, and therefore chose to restate numbers on that basis... I have no idea. But it's something to think about.
#5
You'd think the possibility that some of these guys will kill some of our guys would be a consideration for our Dear Leader. But apparently it's not.
#6
I hope "return" means a plane lands, taxis to the end of the runway, opens a door, and folks onboard toss out the dead bodies of the "returnees". The plane then returns to the States and gets another load. Maybe we need to include a few "journalists" from the Times and WAPO, the LA Times, the Boston Globe, and maybe even the Minneapolis Star/Tribune for similar treatment.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/21/2009 15:54 Comments ||
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[Dawn] Seventeen bodies of militants and tribal elders were found in Darra Adamkhel and Orakzai Agency on Saturday. One of the bodies has been identified to be that of local commander Ehsan.
Bodies of four associates of Ehsan -- Bashir, Qayyum, Hadiullah and Raj Mir -- have also been found.
The identity of the other victims has yet to be ascertained. All of them are said to be in their thirties.
Six militants and two lashkar men were killed in a clash over deployment of a Frontier Corps platoon in the Storikhel area of upper Orakzai Agency.
Taliban militants opened fire on tribesmen for welcoming the deployment, killing two volunteers.
Six militants were killed when the lashkar retaliated and attacked the Taliban.
Seven bodies were found in Jawaki and Darra Adamkhel on Friday. The Tehrik-i-Taliban claimed that the bodies belonged to people who had been arrested by security personnel.
It is common for the security forces personnel and TTP men to trade allegations over the death of tribesmen.
A pro-government tribal elder, Malik Fazal Mohammad, was killed in Ghaljo area in upper Orakzai Agency on Friday evening. Two bodies of elders were recovered from Dabori area in the lower part of the agency.
The killings triggered panic among tribesmen in Darra Adamkhel, where a military operation has been going on for more than a year.
Tags
Posted by: Fred ||
12/21/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: TTP
#1
ION PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM > PAKISTAN LOSES 30 UNDERCOVER AGENTS IN NORTH WAZIRISTAN [Talibs beheading-killing anyone they think is a spy].
* SAME > YOUTUBE - [ABCNEWS]TALIBAN MUJAHIDEEN ATTACK AND CAPTURE US BASE IN NURISTAN PROVINCE.
[Dawn] Unidentified men blew up a private school in Dak Kalay area of Mathra, on the outskirts of Peshawar on Sunday.
According to police, the main gate and boundary wall of the school were completely destroyed, while the building of the school was partially damaged.
Police said some unidentified men planted a time-device inside the Mohsin Public School and detonated it.
The school's watchman left the building at the midnight and no one was present inside when the explosion occurred. No casualty has been reported.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/21/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: TTP
[Dawn] Security forces on Sunday killed at least four militants at Kalangi area located along the Malakand-Bajaur border.
According to security officials, the militants were trying to enter into Malakand from Bajaur when the security forces intercepted them at Kalangi check post.
The militants opened fire at the security forces, which led to a gun battle during which the militants were killed.
Security forces recovered a rocket launcher, four small machine guns, sixteen magazines and six grenades.
The security forces last night also killed eight militants in Buner and recovered a heavy amount of arms and ammunition.
Meanwhile, at least six suspects have also been arrested during a search operation in Lakki Marwat.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/21/2009 00:00 ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] Iranian troops have withdrawn partially from a disputed oil well claimed by both Tehran and Baghdad, the Iraqi government spokesman said on Sunday.
Ali al-Dabbagh said a small group of Iranian troops who had taken over an oil well in a remote region along the two countries' border last week were no longer in control of the well, which Iraq considers part of its Fakka oilfield.
"The Iranian flag has been lowered. The Iranian troops have pulled back 50 meters, but they have not gone back to where they were before.
I've read elsewhere they pulled back to a nearby hill. And the Iraqi army/police are staging 1km away, awaiting orders. I don't know how accurate that is, though.
The Iraqi government asked for the troops to go back to where they were," Dabbagh said.
On Friday, global oil prices climbed after Iraq's state-owned South Oil Co. in the southeastern city of Amara said that an Iranian force had arrived at the field and taken control of the Well 4.
Baghdad demanded that "Tehran pull back the armed men who occupied Well No 4" and condemned the incident as "a violation of Iraqi sovereignty."
Iran rejected allegations it had occupied an Iraqi oil well.
The border flare-up kicked off a storm of emergency meetings and bilateral phone calls, with Baghdad calling for an immediate withdrawal yet also seeking to contain damage to its important relationship with neighboring Iran.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/21/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
[Ma'an] Palestinian fighters said on Sunday that they traded gunfire with Israeli forces in the northern Gaza Strip on Sunday.
The Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, the armed wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and the
"We claim joint responsibility for shooting three Israeli soldiers east of Beit Hanoun."
National Resistance Brigades, the armed wing of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), claimed joint responsibility for an attack. "We claim joint responsibility for shooting three Israeli soldiers east of Beit Hanoun. The Israeli army retaliated by shooting with heavy weapons," the two groups said in a statement.
An Israeli military representative said that an an Israeli patrol came under fire on in recent hours near the Nahal Oz crossing. The official said no injuries or damage resulted. It was not clear if this was the same incident reported by the PFLP and DFLP.
The armed groups' statement added that the attack was "in response to the crimes of the occupation."
The statement also reaffirmed "the right to resist the occupation ... in order to defend our people, land, identity and principles."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/21/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: PFLP
#1
TOPIX > EHUD BARAK: ISRAEL'S TARGET IS LEBANON, NOT HEZBOLLAH [claims Tel Aviv has bigger thingys in mind than simply the Hezzies Huzzies Hizzies]; + JIHADISTS CALL FOR ATTACKS OVER EGYPT'S SECURITY FENCE [Gaza-Sinai].
Sri Lanka Navy under the direction of Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa is escorting the largest LTTE ship to the Colombo port.
The confiscation of the seized LTTE arms carrier - MV Princess Cristina is the first step of the government's initiative to acquire the assets belonged to the LTTE. The 89 meter long arms smuggling floating warehouse that is being escorted into the Colombo Port today by the Navy is the largest LTTE owned ship, the Defence Ministry said.
According to intelligence sources the ship has been utilized for arms smuggling and human trafficking during the war. The Defence Secretary said the seized LTTE assets will be used for the development of the country as those belong to the people of the country.
The Sri Lankan Navy destroyed eight LTTE arms smuggling ships during the war aiding the troops immensely to eliminate the LTTE.
Written by Former US Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen.
The money shot: ....the doctrine of "mutual assured destruction" might be taken as a promise, not a threat. We could wind up in a nuclear showdown with Iran, similar to the Cuban missile crisis, without the benign outcome.
#4
Not to compare apples to oranges here, because that's exactly what I'm about to do, but my guess is that The 0ne will follow the same blueprint, more or less, that he established with his Afghanistan decision. In other words, he will wither and waver in an effort to make it look like he is soberly weighing all available options sans emotion. Then, in the final hour, my guess is that he will green light Israel's use of military force to take out Iran's nuclear facilities-- because let's face it, they are going to do it with or without our blessing, anyways-- on the condition they they take the lead militarily while the US plays a secondary role (as far as appearances are concerned).
#7
Year 2010-2020 Next Decade > I don't anticipate or foresee Radical Islam letting up on its Jihad in any way - in fact, I expect the violence to worsen as the Islamists move beyond AFPAK. MORESO IFF IRAN DECLARES ITSELF TO BE A NUCWEAPS STATE COME 2012, as it technically already is a NucPower = NucState wid its low-yield nucmats.
IMO YEAR 2012 AND BEYOND > NUCWEAPSTATE IRAN = ADVENT OF NUCLEAR MILITANCY-TERRORISM AGZ THE US-WORLD.
Lest we fergit, RADICAL MULLAHS > BETTER THE WORLD TO BE DESTROYED THAN FOR ISLAM/ISLAMISM TO NOT RULE.
Also, IIRC QURANIC VERSE [paraph] > BEFORE WE ANNIHILATE A COMMUNITY OR PEOPLE, WE EMPOWER OR TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE VAST CORRUPTION(S) WITHIN.
IOW, Radical Islam believes it can win becuz, among other, the "powers that be" in the US-WEST FEAR LACK OF PCORRECTNESS, ETC. MORE THAN REALITY OR PROTECTING THEMSELVES + THEIR OWN.
#9
ION PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM > STRATFOR: THE IRANIAN INCURSION IN CONTEXT|IRAN's NUCLEAR GAME. ARTIC > SOURCES indic that Tehran deliber ordered this action, as Iran at this time cannot allow the USA [or even Israel] to initiate hostilitiesagz it, hence cannot allow same to control the tempo, timeline of events. Iran wants Washington DC = Obama Admin to know that
* Iran will NOT wait for Washington to consider all possible scenarios: +
* Iran knows how to raise OIL PRICES.
ARTIC > US per se is unlikely to attack Iran widout first
* SECURING OIL SHIPMENTS, ETC. THRU STRAITS OF HORMUZ = PERSIAN GULF in face of Iranian-specific Mines, fast gunboats, tacair + missles.
* SECURING IRAQ + IRAQ'S BORDERS FROM ANY AND ALL IRAN-CONTROLLED MILITIA GROUPS OR IRANIAN MILITARY, IRGC UNITS LOC INSIDE IRAQ OR ALONG IRAQ-IRAN BORDERS.
* DESTROYING OR CONTAINING HIZBOLLAH, ETC. IRAN-SUPPOR/CONTROLLED LEBANON-BASED MILITIA GROUPS.
* SAME > RUSSIA: WEST USING REBELS [e.g. Chechen] TO DESTROY THE [Russian]FEDERATION.
#10
Back in 04, Obama supported option 2. He is so full of himself he thought he could get the Russians and Chicoms to go for option 1, but failed. I agree he may well be forced into option 2. However, Cohen is wrong about there being 3 options. A 4th is preemptive nuke strikes as some have said. The logic of the situation could push us there. Unlike the colld war, the Assured Destruction is not mutual. We might want to remind the Iranians of this "asymmetrical" capability.
#11
IRAN > at this time is in a "Use-It-or-Lose-It" Scenario agz US-Israel, or at least agz the USA as ISRAEL itself believes it cannot Iran to strike first.
#12
TOPIX > MULLEN: MILITARY FORCE MAY NOT PREVENT IRAN FROM DEVELOPING NUCLEAR WEAPONS, BUT MUST REMAIN AN OPTION; + MULLEN: US MUST READY ALL OPTIONS AGZ IRAN.
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.
Saudi warplanes have carried out fresh airstrikes on northern Yemeni villages, killing more than 50 civilians, Houthi sources say. 
SEOUL, Dec. 20 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's state-run defense think tank has concluded that North Korea is capable of achieving the technology needed to miniaturize its nuclear warheads, an informed military source said Sunday.
Twelve Guantanamo detainees have departed the ominous detention facility for their homelands in Afghanistan, Yemen and Somaliland, says the US Department of Justice. 
