Britain's armed forces are sending pilotless "robot" strike aircraft into battle for the first time, allowing controllers sitting at a computer outside Las Vegas to drop guided bombs on the Taliban in Afghanistan. The £10million "Reaper" unmanned aerial vehicle marks a major watershed for the Royal Air Force and has been rushed into service after senior defence chiefs identified it as a vital weapon in the fight against Taliban insurgents.
When the RAF bought its first three Reapers from American manufacturers last year commanders intended to use them only as spyplanes, but senior commanders have now decided to fit them with 500lb guided bombs and Hellfire guided missiles, turning them into Britain's first unmanned combat aircraft. The pioneering airstrikes are expected to take place in southern Afghanistan within days, once formal export clearances are confirmed by the U.S. Government.
The RAF already has almost 50 personnel operating similar American drones from Creech Air Force Base in the Nevada desert, outside Las Vegas, as part of an exchange programme. Now they will switch to flying the RAF's own Reaper drones, dropping weapons via satellite link on targets around 7,000 miles away in Afghanistan.
The Reaper, with an 86-ft wingspan - similar in size to an executive Learjet - will take off like a normal warplane from the runway at Kandahar Airfield in southern Afghanistan. Ten minutes into the flight the ground crew in Kandahar hand over to a pair of controllers sitting in a bunker in Nevada, who fly the drone and operate its impressive array of sensors and weapons until the ground crew take over again a few minutes before landing.
Someone explain to me why the Kandahar crew can't manage the whole mission. Yes, you can have the crew 7,000 miles away, but if they can be close by, why not?
The Reaper can loiter over targets for up to 14 hours, watching quietly from 50,000ft above the battlefield, ready to pounce on fleeting targets such as key terrorist leaders within seconds - instead of waiting up to an hour for a conventional strike jet to arrive. Its radar can scan 25 square miles of ground in one minute, and it carries a range of day and night cameras.
Defence chiefs are so impressed they are hoping to buy another nine in the coming months, with the overall project costing around £500million.
One senior RAF insider said: "Operations in Afghanistan have convinced us there's a place for this capability." He said the operators were all trained RAF aircrew, with experience of dropping bombs themselves. "We believe it's important that they are 'air-minded' and fully understand the weapons and our rules of engagement.
"It is a slightly strange existence for them. They are intimately involved in the war in Afghanistan, watching the enemy and dropping weapons on them, but at the end of their shift they drive out of their base in Nevada, go home and live a normal life."
For now the RAF controllers will remain at Creech Air Force Base, relying on existing U.S. satellite links, but in time commanders hope to establish a new UAV "hub" at RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire, which is already home to other British spyplanes.
The Americans have already used earlier versions of the Reaper to kill terrorist suspects in the Middle East by remote control. But until now the British armed forces have used only smaller UAVs for spying missions, with no weaponry.
The success of the U.S-built Reaper threatens to overtake Britain's own costly £800million "Watchkeeper" programme, which is currently due to bring another 54 French-designed UAVs into service by 2010. They will be smaller and unarmed.
So the American UAVs are bigger and badder. Heh ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/10/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Who cares? I like it when trusted allies (UK, Canada, Japan, Australia) bring something to the table. Salutes to them all and sundry.
#2
Someone explain to me why the Kandahar crew can't manage the whole mission. Yes, you can have the crew 7,000 miles away, but if they can be close by, why not?
Perhaps the decision to drop the bomb on the target is still made by a General watching over the operator's shoulder? If so, it was probably easier to persuade the General to set up operations in Las Vegas over Kandahar any day of the week! :-)
#3
Someone explain to me why the Kandahar crew can't manage the whole mission. Yes, you can have the crew 7,000 miles away, but if they can be close by, why not?
I'm curious about time delay in signaling halfway around the world, I doubt humans would notice it, but computers would.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
03/10/2008 2:49 Comments ||
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#4
OTOH, BRUSSELS JOURNAL [paraph] WILL THE BRITONS ATTACK THE USA?
#5
No, silly JM, the Britons will do no such thing.
The PROBLEM is all of these Islamists which they import and cuddle. THEY are a problem... and that's what I think the article in Brussels Journal is getting at.
However- this was the bit that stood out for me: Notably, last year the Bush administration announced that Britain was no longer its top ally, and that this spot had been taken by Germany and France.
NOT GOOD. Bush needs to get smashed on this point. I fully admit to being a Germanophile (Barvarian GF.) But the 'special relationship' must NEVER be sacrificed.
#6
My interpretation is that the Special Relationship has been put on hold until Komrade Gordsky gets booted out by the proletariat, or at very least gets a popular mandate. Presently, he is only in at the behest of the Politburo.
IMO the frostiness has come from our side. GWB cant be blamed in light of the cordial relations he has had with Tony Blair all these years.
Ironic though, isnt it that Democrats, esp. Obama-ites push their platform for change on the basis that Bush has tarnished the image of the US, considering that Bush-ites Merkel in Germany & Sarkozy in France have both been voted in during his presidency. Today, Zapatero's minority has been diminished and as I mentioned before, Gordon Brown does not yet have a popular mandate.
Iberia, oft thy crestless peasantry
Have seen the plumed Hidalgo quit their side,
Have seen, yet dauntless stood, gainst fortune fought & died.
Posted by: Oscar Shins5027 ||
03/10/2008 6:28 Comments ||
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#7
Steve, the Reaper is the follow-on to the Predator. A lot of work has gone into revamping the flight control setup on the ground, work that is still continuing. The ground side of UAVs - especially those offensively armed - is as complex or more complex than the air systems themselves. Not something you just plop down in Kandahar, at least not at present.
One of the debates that continue to swirl WRT UAVs has to do with the pilot and support flight team interface. I've heard very senior RAF pilots who flew the Predator talk about taking months to really adjust kinesthetically and pre-consciously to the flight characteristics of that airframe. Pilots depend a good deal on whole-body sensory inputs in combat situations and it's not trivial to identify and replicate the elements of that experience for UAV pilots. Creech AFB has a) a complex setup for this purpose and b) support facilities for the crews.
#8
I've heard very senior RAF pilots who flew the Predator talk about taking months to really adjust kinesthetically and pre-consciously to the flight characteristics of that airframe
I wonder what'd happen if you just took a kid who's good at video games?
#9
It's been done. They've fine for some kinds of recon work, but not so fine in simulated combat situations or for offensive attack or in avoiding attackers.
#10
Someone explain to me why the Kandahar crew can't manage the whole mission. Yes, you can have the crew 7,000 miles away, but if they can be close by, why not?
#11
I think it takes 2 satellite links to go to Las Vegas while only one link local or even to England. So yeah, ship the pilot/sensor operator to where it uses less comm satellite resources.
lawyers won't go to Kandahar
No golf courses.
Posted by: ed ||
03/10/2008 9:47 Comments ||
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#12
Why Nevada? Just a guess, but could they be afraid by having the RAF ground crew control they might accidently explode some of our spec ops on the ground -- thinking they were taliban? Maybe there's things happening that we don't even want to let the Brits know?
Posted by: Captain Lewis ||
03/10/2008 10:09 Comments ||
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#13
Did it ever occur to y'all that there might be a lot of ... things ... associated with the ground control system that we don't WANT to locate outside of CONUS?
Like other systems besides the UAV control that do ... stuff ... with the sensor data that streams back from those platforms.
Like operators whose status as offensive weapons operators is maybe uncertain under international law. Maybe. Or maybe not.
Like equipment we'd really like not to have blown up on account of it's very expensive and undergoing constant evolution and testing.
Like ....
shakes head at armchair generalling done from the safety of one's PC
#15
And yes, in general, to the comment about other operations going on.
These UAVs are shared assets, not tactical weapons. There are huge issues regarding tactical UAV use, including airspace control and data sharing. There are also turf issues between USAF and Army re: tactical UAV control as Future Combat Systems start being deployed.
But in the case of the Reaper, the reasons for operating out of NV are based on the whole concept of operations for these systems, which are first and foremost shared operational assets that serve multiple purposes beyond bombing the Taliban.
#16
And finally, it's just a whole lot cheaper to deploy people in CONUS than in Expensistan. And the service tech aren't nearly as reticent to service beta units.
#20
Posted by: Redneck Jim
#3 Someone explain to me why the Kandahar crew can't manage the whole mission. Yes, you can have the crew 7,000 miles away, but if they can be close by, why not?
I'm curious about time delay in signaling halfway around the world, I doubt humans would notice it, but computers would.
Jim, the time delay is very short, infact if you've had conversations with SUPPORT folks in India and/or Sri lanka the delay is so short that it's almost like a normal conversation.
Not like those Vietnam era 1960s, delays 1/2 around the world when we used one-way comm lines/connections, ["over"]. Ship to Shore type stuff. Old patriot or Old Spook will know more of the tech details.
Excalibur:
Because the lawyers won't go to Kandahar..*BINGO*
#22
I'm more curious about this guided bomb business. The Predator/Raptor has a cruising speed of under 150 mph. Is that enough to get much of a targeting radius out of a gravity bomb, no matter how many fins and wings you slap on that sucker?
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
03/10/2008 12:28 Comments ||
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#23
Ok...
We've had reconnaissance drones since at LEAST the mid-1960's. The ones we used in Vietnam were modified Firebee target drones, launched from C-130 aircraft and caught in midair. They took standard reconnaissance imagery on photographic film. Most of their flight paths were pre-programmed. Technology has changed DRASTICALLY since then.
Modern drones use a variety of sensors, ranging from a simple television camera to some very sophisticated stuff that's VERY classified. They're controlled out of Nevada because that's where the major downlink for the information is. Creech, by the way, is what used to be called "Area 51". Most of the raw data downlinked is unintelligible until it goes through a processor. Those processors are big, expensive, and require tons of air conditioning and a steady supply of uninterrupted electrical power. That's not a sure thing in the 'stans.
Most of the UAVs the US flies are being controlled by airmen, not officers, which has caused quite a stir among the US Air Force officer corps. Most of the interpretation is being done at Stateside locations, protecting those doing this vital work from the threat of capture or kidnapping. As a photo interpreter, I had a $25,000 bounty on my head from the minute I stepped off the airplane in Vietnam. I'm sure the Taliban and Al-Qaeda would just love to kidnap a couple of our intel troops and wring them dry - NOT using "acceptable forms of interrogation" approved by the liberal left loonies.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
03/10/2008 13:17 Comments ||
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#24
Delays: If there's a basic generic satcom link in the loop the round trip propagation delay to geostationary orbit is about 1/4 sec. If the link is through landline (fiber, copper, microwave) most of the way and only a local line of sight RF link to the platform, the propagation delay is much less.
#25
Creech, by the way, is what used to be called "Area 51". Uh, no. It is what used to be called Indian Springs. A small airfield that is an adjunct to Nellis. It is right along a state highway. No super-secret access like Area 51.
#26
Creech, by the way, is what used to be called "Area 51". Uh, no. It is what used to be called Indian Springs. A small airfield that is an adjunct to Nellis. It is right along a state highway. No super-secret access like Area 51.
#27
Lag is not substantial unless you are playing Halo. :-)
Why Nevada? Well, the classified and highly technical control areas are pretty safe there compared to Kandahar, in terms of pilfering, maint, and being in mortar range. Not to mention the intel dissemination systems needed to confirm targeting: SCIFs are easier to set up and operate in a fixed base, stateside than they are in a temp/mobile system.
And here is one factor that you might not have considered:
Its harder for the SIGINT gatherers of our technologically advanced opponents (Russians, Chinese) to overfly and signal sniff the uplinks and downlinks with sensitive EW gear, etc, when they are in Nevada inside Tonopah or someplace like that, compared to Kandahar.
(And thats probably the consideration, along with the SCIF, thats keeping those Nevada).
#28
Lotp, my concern with multiple satellite hops is due to mthe limitied bandwidth and limited numbers of comm satellites. That severly limits the numbers of sat-linked UAV that can be flown worldwide. For instance, for what I could find out, the newer Milstar satllites have a bandwidth of 85Mbits/sec, and no link operates at 100 capacity. Video alone will take 6MHz. Add in Flight controls, status and navigation video and it is 9 or 10Mb/sec (each one way link) or 35-40Mb/sec for the 2 receive and 2 transmit links or fully 1/2 of a $200M satellite to support a $5 million Predator. Where is the intelligence there? Why not move the controllers to Diego Garcia, Bahrain or Italy and double the usable satellite and therefore Predator capacity?
Newer comm satellites will alleviate some of the bandwidth crunch. For example Wideband Gap Filler can route 10-20X as much as the DSCS-3 and the first was supposed to launch late last year, so I doubt one is yet operational. But then run something like Global Hawk with it's SAR radr and multispectral imagers and the DoD is back in the same boat.
As for support, almost all the support is software updates, the easiest kind to support remotely. Also, there are hundreds of aircraft deployed and supported overseas that are much more complex than a Predator control station.
Posted by: ed ||
03/10/2008 16:13 Comments ||
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#29
FAS.org says "The (DSCS-II) total usable bandwidth is 375 MHz." That implies a digital bandwidth of 187.5Mb/sec or twice the 85Mb/sec I used above or $50M of satellite to support a $5M Predator.
Posted by: ed ||
03/10/2008 16:24 Comments ||
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#30
Ed, others: your knowledge concerning comm bandwidth is not complete. Nor is FAS'.
Posted by: ed ||
03/10/2008 18:25 Comments ||
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#32
Maybe they're buying commercial and most of the heavy bandwidth TV comms stuff is encrypted over that, saving the dot mil bandwidth for the classified stuff.
#34
It's been done. They've fine for some kinds of recon work, but not so fine in simulated combat situations or for offensive attack or in avoiding attackers.
Let me guess, they don't have enough situational awareness?
#36
Actually I was thinking of something template matching and sending the delta. That way it doesn't lose detail like lossy compression (where ya takes your chances on not spotting a target). The problem with that (unlike MPEG) is that bandwidth is not predictable and I don't know enough about how comm satellites dynamically allocate (if at all) fractional transponder use.
So while I expect some kind of compression, it may not match well with the comm channel.
Posted by: ed ||
03/10/2008 19:46 Comments ||
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Taliban gunnies militants have shot dead a spy chief in southeastern Afghanistan, officials said on Sunday. The district intelligence chief Habib Khan was kidnapped from his house by unidentified gunmen, late on Sunday. His body was found in Dwa Manda district in the morning, local officils confirmed. Purported Taliban spokesman Zabeehullah Mujahid said their men were responsible for killing the district intelligence chief.
"We dunnit and we're glad!"
The killing of government officials, especially those working with police, Afghan national army and intelligence agencies, is rampant in the southern and southeastern parts of Afghanistan.
They came to the dusty town of Suleia in the Darfur region of Sudan riding horses and camels on market day. Almost everybody was in the bustling square. At the first clatter of automatic gunfire, everyone ran.
The militiamen destroyed the town burning huts, pillaging shops, carrying off any loot they could find and shooting anyone who stood in their way. Asha Abdullah Abakar, wizened and twice widowed, described how she hid in a hut, praying it would not be set on fire.
#1
ION, FREEREPUBLIC > ALBANIA IS THE NEW FOOTHOLD OF THE IRGC; + STRATEGYPAGE/TOPIX > A NEW CHECHNYA [Ingushetia] + ANALYSIS: IS ISLAMISM FINALLY TAKING OVER EUROPE? LT Consequence of KOSOVO. DEMOCRACY WILL SUCCEED/DO WHAT INVADING MUSLIM ARMIES HAD FAILED TO DO???
Also on FREEREPUBLIC > THE KOSOVO CATASTOPHE; + RIAN/TOPIX > RUSSIA WILL NOT APPROVE KOSOVAN INDEPENDENCE UNLESS SERBIA AGREES TO IT.
#2
Wasn't the UN working "full steam" on a Plan to deal with the Darfur genocide, oh, about a year or two ago? Just curious. What became of that one? Or did they run out of lunch.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/10/2008 3:00 Comments ||
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#3
Hmmmph. I thought this was gonna be about some endangered species of smok'em.
#5
"..UN Security Council authorises deployment of a 26,000-strong force for Darfur. Sudan agrees to co-operate with the hybrid peacekeeping force."
If instead we had armed and minimally trained 26,000 Darfurians and provided them some air cover, this genocide problem would be solved. Of course they would then fight among themselves.
#8
Fearsome to anyone without guns. And the press, and the Euro Reaction Force, and the international community...
Never been there but that's the way it sounds to me. Set up some bunkers around the town with .50 caliber machine guns and the ganga boys would be stopped dead in their camel tracks.
#9
It was five years ago last week that an attack by rebels from non-Arab tribes like the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa seeking greater wealth and autonomy for the neglected and impoverished region of Darfur prompted the Arab-dominated government to marshal Arab militias in the region that ultimately evicted millions from their homes, burning, looting and raping along the way. The campaign effectively pushed many non-Arab people off their land and into vast, squalid camps across Darfur and neighbouring Chad.
Well, at least buried among words like "rebels", "militia-men" and "government-backed troops", this writer allowed us the truth of what is really happening.
#10
A couple of AC-130s and a half-dozen A-10s using napalm would put a stop to this nonsense in its tracks. Of course, they'd have to have top cover to keep the Sudanese from attacking them, but that's ok, too. I wish we'd quit trying to fight a "clean" war and get on with the necessary killing, maiming, and mutilating that changes peoples' minds about starting a fight.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
03/10/2008 13:22 Comments ||
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#11
Clarification: "some air cover" = Khartoum rubbelized.
#12
there is no money in ending the crisis. between weapons selling and the lootin ( what could they loot thoug) waybe major woeld power hire some blackwater type deal be used too assassimnate but like top secret
Al Qaedas wing in North Africa says it has killed 20 Algerian soldiers and wounded 30 in clashes in its eastern stronghold, where the army has launched a campaign against the rebels.
In an Internet statement posted on Saturday, the group denied a newspaper report that 25 of its fighters had been killed and played down reports its leader had been surrounded. Liberte and El Watan reported last month that Abdelmalek Droudkel, also known as Abu Musab Abd el-Wadoud may be among rebels that 9,000-10,000 troops had besieged in a mountainous area between the two eastern provinces of Tizi Ouzou and Bejaia. After the apostates trumpeted their major campaign to comb the Bejaia area, for which they gathered more than 10,000 troops and claimed to surround the emir of the organisation. The enemy told lies about the killing of 25 mujahideenm, said the group.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/10/2008 00:00 ||
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Senior Al Qaeda figure Jaber al-Banna, who has a $5 million bounty on his head, walked free from an appeal hearing in Yemen on Sunday after being granted bail. Banna, who has joint Yemeni-US citizenship and was handed a 10 year jail term in absentia last year, is one of 36 convicted militants who are appealing prison sentences of between two and 15 years. He surrendered to Yemeni authorities in December after negotiations lasting several months. There has still been no word of what deal, if any, was struck. Banna made his first court appearance at the opening of the appeal on February 23, when he was allowed to walk free without any bail conditions at all.
This article starring:
JABER AL BANNA
al-Qaeda
Posted by: Fred ||
03/10/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
It's understood that it's the revolving door and a lollipop all over the middle east. Can't we get putin to sell us some polonium laced lollipops?
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
03/10/2008 11:01 Comments ||
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#2
released on bail which he prob won't come back, sounds lke someone very important in this case was paid very well
LANDI KOTAL: Militants blew up an oil tanker with dynamite on Sunday, but the political administration said the tanker was safe. The tanker, which was to carry fuel to Afghanistan, was parked near the Michini checkpost. The administration has taken in Raza Khan, the tanker driver, and his helper for interrogation.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/10/2008 00:00 ||
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[11132 views]
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BAGHDAD - Five American soldiers on a foot patrol were killed Monday in an apparent suicide bomb attack in central Baghdad, the U.S. military said.
Four of the soldiers died at the scene and the fifth died later from wounds, the military said in a statement. The blast also wounded three U.S. soldiers and an Iraqi interpreter, the military said.
The statement said the soldiers were killed "when their dismounted patrol was struck by an explosion" and "initial reports indicated the explosive device was a suicide vest." The name of the soldiers were being withheld pending notification of next of kin.
It was the deadliest attack since Jan. 28, when five U.S. soldiers were killed in a roadside bomb in the northern city of Mosul. Monday's deaths brought the number to 3,979 members of the U.S. military who have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.
#1
The article has been significantly lengthened since I posted this. Note that a female suicide bomber killed a Sunni leader and 2 others in Baqouba around the same time. I wonder if the Baghdad bomb-donkey was also a female? It could explain the patrol being off guard enough for nine of them to be caught in a single explosion.
In any case, it is obvious from recent reports that AQ has switched tactics, and is now relying almost entirely on suicide bomb attacks to make its case to the global media.
This is probably because suicide bombs can be prepared entirely in secret, out of sight of neighbors, whereas IEDs and ambushes will come to the attention of vigilant Iraqi civilians who are far more likely now to report such activity.
#2
We've almost reached the "grim milestone" of 4000 US troops who have died (not necessarily killed in combat) in Iraq since March 2003 (five years). That's about a third of the number we lost in combat in the Gilberts taking the island of Tarawa in 1943.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
03/10/2008 12:59 Comments ||
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#5
I think Iwo Jima is better comparison with 6,800 KIA and 27,900 WIA out of 30,000 Marines. More than 100% casualty rate in 7 or so weeks. God bless them all and Semper Fi.
Posted by: Bangkok Billy ||
03/10/2008 13:50 Comments ||
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#6
"4000, 40000, who cares, there's more where that came from."
You people value life as much as the islamofascists.
#7
This incident is exactly the kind of thing Rumsfeld was afraid of when he initiated the force protection-first philosophy after the invasion. The fact is that Iraqis thought that once Saddam was gone, any native (of their own sect) would be better than foreign occupation and were prepared to fight. It took sectarian domination (al Qaeda, Sadr) for them to realize that Uncle Sam was the only honest broker in Iraq. Initiating local patrols back then would have been premature and sure to lead to massive US casualties. The normal rule of war is that the natives have to cowed before they're prepared to submit to foreign rule. In the case of Iraq, al Qaeda and Sadr served the role of beating Iraqis into submission so that they longed for non-sectarian (i.e. US) rule. Doing the surge from the git-go would have been like the US starting World War II with the invasions of Tokyo and Berlin. It would have been a bridge too far.
#10
And yet after 6 years of war, fewer Americans have been killed than are murdered each and every year by illegal aliens. Talk about the REAL quagmire, but you won't will you Huport.
Posted by: ed ||
03/10/2008 21:58 Comments ||
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Men crept in darkness to plant a bomb. They moved in an area where last year I was helping to collect fallen American soldiers from the battlefield.
Terrorists. The ones who murder children in front of their parents. The ones who take drugs and rape women and boys. The ones who blow up schools. The ones who have been forcibly evicted from places like Anbar Province, Baghdad and Baqubah by American and Iraqi forces. Terrorists are here now in Mosul. They call themselves al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI). AQI cannot win without Baghdad, and cannot survive without Mosul. The Battle for Mosul is evolving into AQIs last great stand.
And there were the men planting the bomb. It is unknown if the men with the explosives were al Qaeda, but they were planting a bomb and that was enough. Many terrorists murder only for money. Like hit men. They might have nothing against the victim. Its just business. Although understanding enemy motivations is key to winning a war, out on the battlefield, such considerations can become secondary, as divining the motives of a would-be killer is less important than stopping him.
The bombers were being watched. Invisible to them, prowling far overhead, was a Predator. . . .
Go read it all.
Posted by: Mike ||
03/10/2008 08:27 ||
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#5
Excellent read from Michael Yon, as usual; the biyt about the helicopter "close-combat" and left-seater leaning out and popping rounds with his (or her) carbine is incredible; by the way, Yon sure seems to have a thing against the "puny M4", this comes relatively often.
BAGHDAD - An Iraqi army force discovered a weapons cache including plane engines and containers of TNT explosives in the central Iraqi Diyala province where another grave was also uncovered. A force from the 5th division of the Iraqi army found the cache in the Uthmaniyah area containing 29 plane engines, four of which are unused, and 90 containers full of TNT explosives, the Voices of Iraq (VOI) quoted a statement by the Iraqi military news agency as saying.
The statement did not say when the cache was found.
Also in Diyala, Iraqi troops uncovered a grave containing six bodies of unidentified civilians, who are believed to have been collectively executed by shooting, a security official told VOI. The grave was found in the Qurayshat village in Khalis a day after a big mass grave was discovered nearby in the same area.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/10/2008 00:00 ||
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AMMAN (AFP) - Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said on Monday that Israel and Hamas were "agreed in principle" on a truce that would end Palestinian rocket attacks and lift the blockade on the Gaza Strip.
"Hamas also wants to protect its leaders and those of Islamic Jihad from the Israelis, and I think Israel agrees on that or has already agreed," he said, quoted by the royal palace after talks with Jordan's King Abdullah II in Amman. Yeah, that "martyrdom" shit's for the little people...
"With the developments in Egypt, I think there is an agreement in principle on that and a deal might be reached in the coming few days," Abbas said in the statement.
Israel and Hamas appeared on Monday to be abiding by a tacit agreement to hold fire in and around the Gaza Strip, amid Egyptian efforts to secure a broader truce deal after a bloody explosion of violence there.
But Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert denied that Israel was engaged in truce talks with Hamas, saying his country would have no reason to strike Gaza if there were no rocket fire from the territory."There is no deal, there are no negotiations, either direct or indirect," Olmert said.
However, in a statement released in Gaza, the Palestinian territory ruled by Hamas since last June, the Islamist movement said it was working with the Egyptians to reach a ceasefire agreement.
#2
"Hamas also wants... and I think Israel agrees or has already agreed," quoted by the royal palace after talks with Jordan's King...
Prime Minister Olmert says Israel is not negotiating with Hamas, and Hamas says it's negotiating with Egypt. Have you ever heard anything less reality-based?
#3
Of course, if Hamas did agree to stop shooting rockets, then Islamic Jihad or Hezbollah would just start shooting them. And if Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah agreed, then Hamas would start shooting them again. And so on. Ad infinitum.
Unless and until ALL of the parties agree, there is no chance that the terrorism will stop. Even then, any agreement would at most be a hudna.
Posted by: Rambler in California ||
03/10/2008 15:47 Comments ||
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JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has approved the construction of hundreds of new housing units at a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank, the housing ministry said on Sunday. After a series of consultations with the prime minister, Housing Minister Zeev Boim has approved the relaunching of construction in Givat Zeev, the ministry said in a statement.
The move was swiftly denounced as hampering efforts to advance faltering peace talks that Israelis and Palestinians revived to much fanfare under US stewardship in late November, but that have been stagnant since.
We condemn in the harshest terms this decision, senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat told AFP. We consider that with this decision, Israel wants to demolish the peace process and demolish the international efforts to advance the peace process, he said. We ask the American administration to... pressure Israel to reverse this decision.
He's not happy. Wotta surprise. Our noble Paleo brethren are outfoxed again ...
The head of Israels main anti-settlement group Peace Now, Yariv Oppenheimer, echoed the sentiment. This is a scandalous decision that will affect the negotiations with the Palestinians, he told AFP. This government, which has pledged to dismantle settlements, has done nothing but reinforce them.
Olmert has pledged to not construct any new settlements and to dismantle unauthorised outposts, but has repeatedly emphasised that Israel did not intend to halt expansion of settlements in east Jerusalem or those blocs in the West Bank that it intends to keep under any peace deal.
The expansion project discussed by Boim and Olmert foresees the eventual building of 750 new housing units in Givat Zeev, but Sundays decision gives the green light for the immediate construction of some 200 new units, Israeli media said. Givat Zeev is located north of Jerusalem and south of the West Bank political capital of Ramallah. Founded in 1981, it currently has 11,000 mostly secular residents.
A senior Israeli official on Sunday confirmed to AFP last weeks reports that Defence Minister Ehud Barak has struck a deal with settler groups to dismantle up to 26 wildcat outposts in the West Bank in return for expanding main settlement blocs, including Givat Zeev. Barak authorised construction in settlement blocs in a secret meeting two weeks ago as part of a comprehensive deal with the settlers on the evacuation of illegal outposts, the official said on condition of anonymity.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/10/2008 00:00 ||
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At least 56 Tamil Tiger rebels and four government troops have been killed in heavy fighting across Sri Lankas embattled north over the weekend, the defence ministry said Sunday.
Helicopter gunships were deployed against suspected Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) strongholds in the coastal district of Mannar on Saturday, the defence ministry said. It said a total of 56 rebels were killed in clashes on Friday and Saturday when the military made a new push into rebel-held territory in the northwestern coastal area. There was no immediate word from the Tigers, but a pro-rebel website said the guerrillas had resisted the military offensive, killing 22 government troopers and wounding a further 72. It did not give rebel casualties.
So far this year, the defence ministry has reported that security forces have killed at least 1,957 rebels for the loss of 117 government soldiers. The government numbers and those given by the Tigers cannot be independently confirmed as Colombo bars journalists and rights groups from frontline areas. Three Sri Lankan MPs have also been killed this year, including a lawmaker who died in a blast on Thursday.
The LTTE said its elusive supremo, Velupillai Prabhakaran, on Saturday paid his respects to the MP, Kiddinan Sivanesan, 51, killed in a roadside bomb attack allegedly carried out by government commandos.
Journalists arrest: Authorities, meanwhile, detained five mostly ethnic minority Tamil journalists, a media activist group said Sunday, days after Colombo came in for intense criticism over its rights record. Five journalists, all linked to a liberal news website were taken in for questioning over the weekend while some have been detained under tough emergency laws, the Free Media Movement (FMM) said. We hope that due process will be followed regarding the arrested writers and journalists, the FMM said, expressing its concern over the latest government crackdown against journalists.
FMM official Sunanda Deshapriya said his groups spokesman, Tamil journalist S Sivakumar, had also been detained for 12 hours and later freed by the police Terrorist Investigation Division. International media rights activists have described Sri Lanka as one of the most dangerous places in the world for journalists due to a worsening climate of violence and unofficial censorship.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/10/2008 00:00 ||
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Remarkably, the Andean crisis over Colombia's cross-border raid into Ecuador ended as quickly as it erupted today, after the presidents of the two countries shook hands at a regional summit broadcast on live television through much of Latin America. At the summit, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who had backed Ecuador's Rafael Correa in condemning Colombia's actions, also embraced Colombia's Alvaro Uribe.
In the meantime, the Colombian newspaper El Tiempo has published excerpts from the e-mails found on the computers of Raul Reyes, the FARC commander killed by Colombia in its raid. The excerpts are provocative, if inconclusive, describing apparent communications between the government of Venezuela and FARC regarding President Chavez's facilitation of prisoner exchanges; the details of multi-million dollar cocaine deliveries; and possible transactions between FARC and unspecified Middle Eastern groups to gain access to ground-to-air missiles.
What is striking on this last point is the congruence between the FARCs discussions of getting such equipment, and the sting operation run against arms merchant Victor Bout detailed in the U.S. indictment filed in connection with his arrest in Thailand. There have been conflicting accounts of whether the material found in the computers had any role in Bout's arrest, given the months of work that had already gone into the sting operation directed at him by the Drug Enforcement Administration and detailed in the indictment, whose chronology ends in February 2008.
It appears that the array of FARC e-mails may provide a unique window into FARC's international operational, financial, and political networks and operations. As the threat of war recedes, hopefully, more of this material will make its way into public view to enable broad analysis of its implications, and soon.
#1
From the WSJournal article (should list as a read this article) The FARC Files comes this tidbit:
When Viktor Bout, allegedly one of the world's most notorious arms traffickers, was arrested in Thailand on Thursday, the Spanish-language press reported that he was located thanks to the Reyes computer files.
and this:
Mr. Chávez is said to have been visibly distressed when told of the death of Reyes, a man he clearly admired. He also may have realized that he played a role in his hero's death, since it was later reported that the Colombian military had located the camp by intercepting a phone call to Reyes from the Venezuelan president.
Chevez might want to read How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
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.
Britain's armed forces are sending pilotless "robot" strike aircraft into battle for the first time, allowing controllers sitting at a computer outside Las Vegas to drop guided bombs on the Taliban in Afghanistan. The £10million "Reaper" unmanned aerial vehicle marks a major watershed for the Royal Air Force and has been rushed into service after senior defence chiefs identified it as a vital weapon in the fight against Taliban insurgents.
Taliban 
Senior Al Qaeda figure 
BAGHDAD - Five American soldiers on a foot patrol were killed Monday in an apparent suicide bomb attack in central Baghdad, the U.S. military said. 
BAGHDAD - An Iraqi army force discovered a weapons cache including plane engines and containers of TNT explosives in the central Iraqi Diyala province where another grave was also uncovered. A force from the 5th division of the Iraqi army found the cache in the Uthmaniyah area containing 29 plane engines, four of which are unused, and 90 containers full of TNT explosives, the Voices of Iraq (VOI) quoted a statement by the Iraqi military news agency as saying.
JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has approved the construction of hundreds of new housing units at a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank, the housing ministry said on Sunday. After a series of consultations with the prime minister, Housing Minister Zeev Boim has approved the relaunching of construction in Givat Zeev, the ministry said in a statement.
At least 56 Tamil Tiger rebels and four government troops have been killed in heavy fighting across Sri Lankas embattled north over the weekend, the defence ministry said Sunday.
