Militants who carried out this week's suicide bomb attack on the Indian embassy in the Afghan capital received their training at camps in Pakistan, Reuters quoted Afghanistan's Interior Minister Zarar Ahmad Moqbel as saying on Wednesday. "Some nations are keen to derail the process of stabilisation in Afghanistan. The training centre for the terrorists who carried out the latest act of violence in Kabul at the Indian embassy is in Pakistan," he said. Pakistan strongly condemned Monday's attack and denied any involvement.
"Wudn't us," they said, washing their collective hands.
Separately, AFP quoted India's Ambassador to Afghanistan Jayant Prasad as saying that India will continue its presence in Afghanistan despite the suicide attack on its embassy in Kabul. Ambassador Prasad also told the Times Now TV channel that Afghan authorities were convinced that ISI was behind the attack.
This article starring:
India's Ambassador to Afghanistan Jayant Prasad
Interior Minister Zarar Ahmad Moqbel
Posted by: Fred ||
07/10/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11126 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
On June 22, 2008, Islamist websites posted a video message by Al-Qaeda commander in Afghanistan Abu Yahya Al-Libi, titled "Somalia - No Peace without Islam."
In the message, Al-Libi denounced the agreement signed earlier this month by the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS) and the Somali government, and urges the Somali mujahideen to continue their jihad until an Islamic state is established in the country. He also calls on the mujahideen to oppose the deployment of international peacekeeping forces in Somalia, and exhorts them to fight "the collaborating apostate government in Mogadishu" even if some of its members are their own relatives.
This article starring:
Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia
Abu Yahya Al-Libi
al-Qaeda
Posted by: Fred ||
07/10/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11128 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
#1
No Peace without Islam, No Peace with Islam...what the hell friggin difference does it make in that place.
You wanna save Somalia? You put everybody there on ships and sail them out into deepwater. Then you bomb Somalia flat. Then you sink the ships.
Abu Qatada, the man once described as Osama bin Laden's right hand man in Europe, was pictured out walking the streets on the third anniversary of the 7/7 terror bombings.
This photograph shows Qatada doing the family shopping in London. It was taken on Monday, the anniversary of the July 7 attacks, and can now be published after a court order banning recent pictures of the preacher was lifted.
Qatada managed to carry a pack of heavy bottles of Diet Coke, even though he has in the past claimed incapacity benefits for a bad back. Under his other arm was a family pack of toilet rolls and on his back was a green rucksack for other items.
Earlier he smiled in the summer sunshine as he exchanged a joke about his prayer beads with a woman in the street. His thinning hair, after nearly six years in jail, was covered by a white Islamic prayer cap, but round his right ankle, covered by a white sock, was the electronic tag which ensures he returns home.
Qatada, 47, is allowed out of his house for two hours a day one in the morning and one in the afternoon- under the strict terms of his bail.
He was released from Long Lartin high security jail in Worcestershire jail last month after the Government failed to have him deported to Jordan where he is wanted for terrorism offences.
The Appeal Court ruled that Qatada would not get a fair trial in Jordan because statements against him may have been extracted by torture.
The case is being taken to the House of Lords but in the mean time Qatada's family is understood to be claiming around £47,000 a year in benefits - £500 a week in child benefits for the four of his five children under 18, £210 for income support, £150 for incapacity benefit, £45 in council tax benefit along with a council home worth around £800,000.
Qatada has been described by the Special Immigration Appeals Commission, as a "truly dangerous individual" who was "heavily involved, indeed at the centre of terrorist activities associated with al-Qa'eda."
They took the view that he had given religious authority to numerous high profile terrorists across the world, including the leaders of the September 11 attacks.
His bail conditions say he is specifically banned from receiving visits or communicating with a long list of individuals including Osama bin laden, his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri, and the preacher Abu Hamza.
He is also banned from attending a mosque or providing religious instruction to anyone other than his wife and children, and may not publish any statement without prior approval.
#2
Loaded down with all those goods and having mobility problems; it could be dangerous crossing those busy intersections. cars might not always stop in time......
just sayin is all.
Jordanian Islamist Abu Qatada, who was recently released from the Long Lartin Prison in northern England, is banned from contacting 20 Islamists in Europe most of whom are held in British jails, Asharq Al-Awsat can reveal. Most of the Islamists Abu Qatada is banned from contacting are of Algerian descent and are currently in British jails, while one individual is held in France and another in the Czech Republic.
Abu Qatada who the British Home Office claims is the spiritual leader of Al Qaeda in Europe is banned from contacting Abu Hamza al-Masri who is serving a jail term in the high-security Belmarsh Prison. Recently, Al-Masri lost an appeal against a verdict to extradite him to the United States to face charges dating back to 2000. Abu Hamza al-Masri is a British national of Egyptian origin currently serving a seven-year jail sentence in Belmarsh Prison, southwest London. He was convicted in February 2006 of incitement to killing, hatred, and racism.
Asharq Al-Awsat saw Abu Qatada by sheer coincidence on his daily walk in West London between 2pm and 3pm. The controversial Islamist, who was carrying shopping bags from a store near his home, appeared to have lost a significant amount of weight, while his beard appeared to be greying. Geez, maybe he's dying of some painful wasting disease? Henna poisoning ... My heart simply bleeds. Anybody got any Tums?
The British Home Office set 20 conditions to release him under house-arrest restrictions. The conditions for the release of Abu Qatada include a ban on contacting Osama Bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri. Islamists based in London described these conditions as "obstructionist", while others said they are "unreasonable." What reasonable person can live with a ban on contacting Ayman al-Zawahiri?
Under these restrictions, Abu Qatada is prevented from sitting in the garden of his home and is allowed to leave his home only for two hours a day to go to limited places using a route defined by the police in advance. No more than one lawyer is allowed to visit his home at one time. And none of them can be Lynn Stewart...
He is banned from publishing any book or article without approval from the British Home Office. Abu Qatada cannot object to these conditions.
Abu Qatada, who is also convicted in Jordan of carrying out terrorist activities, is banned from going to any mosque, leading prayers and delivering lectures in any mosque, giving religious guidance, and issuing fatwas [Islamic religious rulings] to any person, except his wife and children. "Daddy? Can I have a fatwa?"
Also, Abu Qatada is prohibited from making any kind of contact with specific persons, including leader of the Al Qaeda organization Osama Bin Laden and his right-hand man, Ayman al Zawahiri. You said that.
Abu Qatada denied that he supported terrorism Isn't this the guy who issued the fatwa for GAI, telling them it was okay to slit little kids' throats?
and claimed that he will not receive a fair trial if he goes back to Jordan. I thought all the witnesses were dead? Witnesses are optional in Jordan ...
The British Home Office also set a condition that no Internet and cell phone can enter the London home of Abu Qatada. Moreover, he is banned from publishing any book or article without permission and banned from giving speeches and lectures and attending seminars. Also, he is not allowed to answer any question or issue any fatwa. "Daddy? Can I..."
"Shuddup! I already told you 'no,' y'little brat!"
No person above the age of 10 is allowed to visit his home. Abu Qatada is allowed to leave his home for two hours only, one hour in the morning and one in the evening. In a telephone conversation with Asharq Al-Awsat, a spokeswoman for the British Home Office refused to comment on the conditions for the release of Abu Qatada. She said the Home Office does not comment on individual cases. Let me know when he's forbidden to breathe.
This article starring:
ABU QATADA
al-Qaeda
HAMZA AL MASRI
Al Qaeda in Europe
Posted by: Fred ||
07/10/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11125 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
Where is Muzzie Outrage Boy Photo when you need it? Here I am.
Note to our esteemed contributors: please put the article link in the 'Source' box, not in the text itself. We usually don't have time to fix this sort of thing and will just delete the submission otherwise.
Also, please choose the right categories to file the article under. WoT Operations is pretty much reserved for blood and death. WoT Background for the things that threaten or lead up to same. Non-WOT for major issues of interest that aren't WOT. Opinion for opinion columns (including your own if you want to submit one). Local for ephemeral stuff.
#1
They want a veto over Western legislation while they reject all Western interventions in dar-islam. That's a good reason to turf out Muslim immigrants.
The United States on Wednesday condemned the attack on its consulate in Istanbul and a State Department spokesman said he could neither confirm nor rule out al Qaeda involvement.
Three Turkish police officers and three gunmen were killed in the attack at the compound. 'The United States condemns the terrorist attack that took place on our consulate general in Istanbul earlier today,' said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack.
Reports in Turkey said al Qaeda involvement was suspected. 'At this point one can't rule that out, but I also can't support at this point, those suspicions,' McCormack said. 'We're continuing our efforts to work with the Turkish government to determine who is responsible for it.'
He said the attack took place at a police booth about 75 feet from the entrance to the consulate. Witnesses told Reuters four attackers drove a car up to the compound. As the car halted, three jumped out and began firing at police at the guard post.
McCormack said Turkish police had responded quickly and effectively, and Washington appreciated their courage in protecting U.S. diplomats. He expressed condolences to the families of the dead and wounded officers. Turkey and the United States 'will continue to stand firmly together to confront the threat of terrorism as we have done in the past,' he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/10/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11123 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Turkey
#4
Bobby, I don't want to get into the background of my wife, but her family seems to think bo is 'the man of many cultures' and whisper his name just slightly louder than Ahmadjinninthere. Me, I think he is a neophyte tool who will make so many mistakes it will seem a Biblical catastrophe. Example here, if bo is referring to his joint chief of staff then why does he need to urge McCain to listen to Maliki?
(Xinhua) -- The two U.S. presidential candidates on Wednesday voiced their different policies on dealing with threats from Iran, with Barack Obama emphasizing diplomacy and sanctions, while John McCain underlined the establishment of a missile shield in Europe.
It's my guess, based on a very small statistical sample, mind you, that most people think we already have a missile shield.
In an interview with ABC's 'Good Morning America', presumptive Democratic nominee Obama said Iran's reported missile tests justify the need to conduct direct diplomacy with the country and impose tougher economic sanctions, combined with strong incentives to change Tehran's behavior.
What tougher 'economic sanctions'? We already have stuffed their banks, we ban direct trade with them (more or less), and we lean on our allies not to trade with Iran. The Euros, particularly the Germans, won't go further because they need the trade. So 'tougher economic sanctions' is already doomed.
And 'direct diplomacy' should be a non-starter. When you sit and talk with a thug without pre-conditions, you're 90% of the way to losing.
Code Pink was protesting Gary Ackerman today, than whom there aren't many more liberal, because he's supporting sanctions against Iran. But then, we already knew which side they were on.
The Illinois senator was responding to a report earlier in the day that said the Iranian government had tested nine long and medium-range missiles, an act that intended to show Iran's 'enemies' its 'resolve and might', as an Iranian military official put it.
Obama said he would listen to his national security team to decide whether 'this indicates any new capabilities on Iran's part.'
In response to another report released Tuesday that said U.S. exports to Iran rose more than tenfold under President George W. Bush despite hostility between the two countries, Obama criticized the Republican government for using bellicose language against Tehran while at the same time increasing exports to the country. 'It's that kind of mixed signal that has led to the kind of situation that we're in right now,' he said.
Meanwhile, presumptive Republican presidential nominee McCain said in a prepared statement that the Iranian missile tests were proof of the need to build a missile defense system in Europe. 'Working with our European and regional allies is the best way to meet the threat posed by Iran, not unilateral concessions that undermine multilateral diplomacy,' he said.
The Vietnam veteran has criticized Obama's stated policy of engaging Iran through direct talks as 'dangerously' 'naive.'
Posted by: Fred ||
07/10/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11128 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
IRNA/TOPIX/LUCIANNE > IRAN HAS REACHED A TURNING POINT TOWARD A NUCLEAR STATE.
#2
Obama criticized the Republican government for using bellicose language against Tehran while at the same time increasing exports to the country. 'It's that kind of mixed signal that has led to the kind of situation that we're in right now,' he said.
He does have good speechwriters.
Posted by: Bobby ||
07/10/2008 6:12 Comments ||
Top||
#3
So, one of our brilliant candidates wants to talk all day, that is the one who said 'it's only words, speeches'. And the other wants to hide behind a missle shield while the enemy figures how to overcome it, the one who wants amnesty for all Mexicans.
I vote for the guy who wants to attack now and blame it on a skin rash or something.
Hey, while I'm at it, the Mexicans have pulled out of the Olympic Games.....everyone who can run, jump, or swim has already left Mexico.
Defense officials are criticizing what they say is the failure to capture or kill top al Qaeda leaders because of timidity on the part of policy officials in the Pentagon, diplomats at the State Department and risk-averse bureaucrats within the intelligence community.
Military special operations forces (SOF) commandos are frustrated by the lack of aggressiveness on the part of several policy and intelligence leaders in pursuing al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and his top henchmen, who are thought to have hidden inside the tribal areas of Pakistan for the past 6œ years.
The focus of the commandos' ire, the officials say, is the failure to set up bases inside Pakistan's tribal region, where al Qaeda has regrouped in recent months, setting up training camps where among those being trained are Western-looking terrorists who can pass more easily through security systems. The lawless border region inside Pakistan along the Afghan border remains off-limits to U.S. troops.
The officials say that was not always the case. For a short time, U.S. special operations forces went into the area in 2002 and 2003, when secret Army Delta Force and Navy SEALs worked with Pakistani security forces.
That effort was halted under Deputy Secretary of State Richard L. Armitage, who recently blamed Pakistan for opposing the joint operations. Mr. Armitage just keeps popping up like a bad penny, and McCain has him onboard.
Mr. Armitage, however, also disclosed his diplomatic opposition to the commando operations. Mr. Armitage, an adviser to Republican presidential contender Sen. John McCain, told the New York Times last month that the United States feared pressuring Pakistani leaders for commando access and that the Delta Force and SEALs in the tribal region were "pushing them almost to the breaking point."
However, the officials said that without the training and expertise of the U.S. commandos, Pakistani forces took heavy casualties in the region, with about 1,000 troops killed by terrorists and their supporters.
Another major setback for aggressive special operations activities occurred recently with a decision to downgrade the U.S. Special Operations Command. Under Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, the command in 2004 began to shift its focus from support and training to becoming a front-line command in the covert war to capture and kill terrorists. In May, SOCOM, as the command is called, reverted to its previous coordination and training role, a change that also frustrated many SOF commandos.
Critics in the Pentagon of the failure to more aggressively use the 50,000-strong SOF force say it also is the result of a bias by intelligence officials against special forces, including Pentagon policy-makers such as former CIA officer Michael Vickers, currently assistant defense secretary for special operations; former CIA officer Mary Beth Long, assistant defense secretary for international security affairs; and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, a former CIA director.
The officials said the bias among intelligence officials against aggressive military special operations is long-standing. As evidence, they note that one of the very few recommendations of the 9/11 commission ignored by President Bush was the panel's call for giving the Pentagon the lead role in paramilitary operations.
The commission report stated that "lead responsibility for directing and executing paramilitary operations, whether clandestine or covert, should shift to the Defense Department." That has not occurred, and the officials said one result is that bin Laden and his deputies remain at large.
Said one Pentagon official: "The reason some Pentagon leaders appear to be so indecisive about President Bush's order to catch Osama bin Laden dead or alive is that they have not unleashed the dogs of war. Too many bureaucrats have blocked ideas from the aggressive U.S. commandos in Afghanistan and at SOCOM headquarters who just want to carry out the president's orders to stop al Qaeda from rebuilding."
Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell declined to address any specifics of special operations policies but said he thinks senior commanders do not share the critics' views.
On the hunt for bin Laden, Mr. Morrell said: "No one should question our commitment to bringing Osama bin Laden and the rest of his cowardly lieutenants to justice, one way or another. It will happen. it's just a question of when."
#1
And if they did slip the leash off SOCOM, the media would have a freaking field day criticizing the USA for violating Pakistan's sovereignty. To heck with any results they might get, the idea is to damage the USA.
#4
Look, guys, you are worth over a million bucks each, on top of which, we like you. We want you to do your job, but at the same time, we'd like you to come back home okay.
I know it's frustrating now, but later you can thank us.
#5
I suspect that if they let them. They would bust a lot of heads, and still come home. Look at Great Britain, that's our future if we don't start acting like grownups and give this soft power thingy a rest.
#6
God forbid we capture him alive to only bring him back for all to see on Court TV.
I would only hope that the guys that catch him would have an accident with the gun going off, similar to Vincent and Jules in Pulp Fiction...
Posted by: Jan ||
07/10/2008 14:57 Comments ||
Top||
#7
First Juan Hernandez. now Armitrage. I'm having SERIOUS issues about McCain's judgment being no better than Obama's in terms of advisers.
Choice seems to be between dumb and dumber, and every time I think McCain has moved up, I find something else that puts hem back.
#8
I think they'd have better luck if they looked for Osama's DNA in worm turds in the caves of Tora Bora because I'm sure he's at least a sixth generation worm turd by now.
Posted by: Bob ||
07/10/2008 15:55 Comments ||
Top||
#9
Armitage is bad news. He definitely gets his power from the dark side of the force.
#10
Critics in the Pentagon of the failure to more aggressively use the 50,000-strong SOF force say it also is the result of a bias by intelligence officials against special forces, including Pentagon policy-makers such as former CIA officer Michael Vickers, currently assistant defense secretary for special operations;
Your tax dollars at work... The Department of Homeland Security has solicited a proposal from a Canadian security company to develop a stun bracelet.
In order to enhance the security of air travel and to help manage illegal immigration, the Department of Homeland Security has solicited a proposal from a Canadian security company to develop a passenger stun bracelet. Like the pain collars featured in the classic Star Trek episode The Gamesters of Triskelion, Lamperd Less Lethal's electro-muscular disruption (EMD) bracelet is intended to incapacitate wearers on remote command. Yeah, I think somebody's been watching a little too much Star Trek....
A video at the Lampred Less Lethal Web site explains that the bracelet will obviate the need for a plane ticket and will help make passengers and baggage trackable while traveling. It also explains that the bracelet will provide in-flight security. Welcome aboard Lightning Airways.
Heh. Cute...
"By further equipping the bracelet with EMD technology, the bracelets will allow crew members, using radio frequency transmitters, to quickly and effective subdue hijackers," the video explains. "The electro-muscular disruption signal overrides the attacker's central nervous system and will render even the most elite and aggressive terrorist completely immobile for several minutes." Sounds like some diabolical Revenge of the Nerds...
As reported by The Washington Times, Lamperd's Web site hosts a copy of a letter from Paul S. Ruwaldt, an official with the Department of Homeland Security's Science and Technology Directorate, expressing interest in the bracelet. Ruwaldt did not immediately respond to a request to verify the authenticity of the undated letter or to comment on the Department of Homeland Security's apparent interest in the Lamperd Less Lethal bracelet. The Transportation Security Agency also did not immediately respond to a request for comment. I'm sure they consider this "thinking outside the box"...
"In discussions with my colleagues and immediate superior, we find your ideas have merit and believe it would be of great help on the borders, and indeed for anywhere else, for which the temporarily [sic] restraint of large numbers of individuals in open area environments by a small number of agents or Law Enforcement Officers (LEOs)," the letter says, citing a meeting on July 18, 2006. "We see the potential uses to include prisoner transportation, detainee control, and military security forces might have some interest. In addition, it is conceivable to envision a use to improve air security, on passenger planes." The letter concludes by asking for a written proposal. And ya got any videos? Everybody loves watching some poor schmuck get tasered.
Barry Lamperd, president and CEO of Lamperd Less Lethal, said that his company had been contracted to manufacture the bracelet by its inventor, Per Hahne, who was currently seeking funding for the device. I don't trust anybody who looks like they're missing a bunch of letters in their name....
A 2003 patent assigned to co-inventors Per Hahne and Ray Wark describes a similar concept, a belt designed to administer a disabling electric shock to air travelers. The patent details "[a] method of providing air travel security for passengers traveling via an aircraft comprises situating a remotely activatable electric shock device on each of the passengers in position to deliver a disabling electrical shock when activated." Shit, why not just turn all the seats into electric chairs?
Reached on a cell phone in his car, Hahne said he came up with the idea after the 9/11 terrorist attack, an event also cited in the patent description. "I like to call it the next generation of Taser," he said, "theirs being a one-shot deal and mine being a multiple-shot deal." So, ya wanna grab my ass, huh, Studley?
AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
This thing's great!
AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
Given the 9/11 scenario of airplane pilots grappling with attackers, Hahne said, "It was always my opinion that a pilot should not be engaged in armed combat while flying an aircraft." Wow. He really is a smart guy....
Because there simply aren't enough air marshals to defend every flight, Hahne envisioned a way to empower air crews to better defend their planes. "My thought was to devise an instrument to allow every flight segment to be covered and to use the air crew as air marshals," he said. What's up, Tiffany?
The old lady in 21A's giving me the hairy eyeball.
We'll see about that.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
I hope this guy wins a Nobel Prize!
Who wants to play Zap Bingo?
AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
Anticipating questions about passenger willingness to don a shock bracelet, Hahne was quick to defend the idea. "When people say they're not going to wear one, they need to be made aware that the bracelets are totally inert until the flight is airborne and the flight crew determines an attack is underway," he said. But I've got a pacemaker.
Put it on, gramps, and can the lip. Or else...
"Say honey, how'dya like to wear this cute bracelet?"
"Up yours, shortie, I seen that trick before."
#2
So-o-o, IOW, by default the USA must weirdly and mysteriously buy that OVERSIZED, SO-HEAVY-IT-CRACKED-HEATHROW'S-RUNWAYS-IN-TAXI, GAS-GUZZLING, EUROBUS MEGA-JUMBO PLANE thingy from a few Cylon Yarns back???
#5
It would probably work great until some clever terrorist wraps his in foil. Or pushes it up onto his sleeve. Or dunks it in water. Or cuts it off. Or wraps it in electrical tape. Or hits it with a hammer. Or someone gets zapped by accident and it goes to court.
No starter. But don't tell the DHS that or they won't spend the money and someone will get their budget cut next year.
#9
Yes, neck collars for bureaucrats of the DHS. When you get PO'ed at the gate, just punch in 1-888-FEL-THIS and a random DHS official will get your message.
#14
OP, don't know how random it would be if 9/10 results would be favorable :)
As for Project Ride the Lightning, if Egypt Air have to put them on the pilots as well. The techniques for 5th Element and The Jaunt (stephen king short) actually make sense in comparison.
#15
Pilots already have the means to subdue passengers with less than lethal force; they can simply dial down cabin altitude and the lack of oxygen will cause a little nap time. that would allow the cabin crew to apply restraints and then dial the cabin pressure back up and when everybody awakens, Abduhl and Hajii will be all neatly trussed up. (of course this requires the aircrew to put on their oxygen masks ahead of time.)
#17
Since 9/11 they've already got a mechanism to subdue hijackers. Its called "every other passenger in the plane." People's eyes are open, now.
Posted by: Cowboy is a compliment ||
07/10/2008 15:36 Comments ||
Top||
#18
Got control issues? Be a cop.
Got control issues with a decided taste for the kinky? Be an official at the DHS. (How else can you explain the detailed full body X-rays they are testing out at selected airports and this ankle bracelet idea?)
Posted by: Swamp Blondie in the Cornfields ||
07/10/2008 16:00 Comments ||
Top||
#19
Mizzou, you don't understand, when the DHS people watch their version of Star Trek, Spock has a beard.
#20
That's a special governmental unit - the Stupidity knob goes to 11. The Islamic one has a that has that and an ignorance one that goes to 11 as well.
#21
The Department of Homeland Security has solicited a proposal from a Canadian security company to develop a stun bracelet.
Ohhhh who wants to beat the holy living hell or Shit out of every beauracrat, every politician and every lawyer [except AOS and any other RBee lawyer] this week end?
The US government has awarded a contract to Lockheed Martin for 18 Sniper Advanced Targeting Pods (ATP), a part of the new advanced block 52 F-16 aircraft programme for Pakistan. With deliveries beginning in 2008, Sniper ATP's exceptional stability and superior imagery will allow Pakistan Air Force to perform intelligence, targeting, surveillance and reconnaissance missions from extended standoff ranges.
Pakistan is the eighth international customer to join the US Air Force and Air National Guard flying with Sniper ATP. The contract includes spares and training services. Terms of the contract were not disclosed.
Expect the Chinese to get a peek about a week after first delivery to Pakistan ...
"This sale culminates a two-year combined effort by Lockheed Martin's Missiles and Fire Control and Aeronautics businesses to upgrade the precision attack capability of one of our key allies," said Ken Fuhr, director of Fixed Wing Targeting Programmes at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control Monday. "Sniper continues to demonstrate exceptional performance in meeting the requirements and expectations of the Warfighter."
Sniper incorporates a high-resolution, mid-wave third-generation forward-looking infrared (FLIR), a dual-mode laser permitting eye-safe operation in urban environments, a CCD-TV along with a laser spot tracker and a laser marker. Sniper is fully compatible with the latest J-series munitions and precision-guided weaponry. Its superior detection ranges are vital to pilots, helping keep them out of range of threat air defences.
The Pakistan Air Force joins the UK Ministry of Defence; the Canadian Forces, the Royal Norwegian Air Force; the Polish Air and Air Defense Force; the Royal Air Force of Oman; the Belgium Defence and other international customers with its selection of the Sniper ATP.
Sniper ATP is currently flying on the US Air Force and multinational F-15s, F-16s, F-18s, A-10s, B-1s and the Harrier GR9. Sniper ATPs have accumulated tens of thousands of flight hours in thousands of sorties in support of Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom.
Posted by: john frum ||
07/10/2008 07:44 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11129 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Sniper incorporates a high-resolution, mid-wave third-generation forward-looking infrared (FLIR), a dual-mode laser permitting eye-safe operation in urban environments, a CCD-TV along with a laser spot tracker and a laser marker.
#10
Sniper ATP's exceptional stability and superior imagery will allow Pakistan Air Force to perform intelligence, targeting, surveillance and reconnaissance missions from extended standoff ranges.
Extended standoff ranges? Wow. Those Al Qaeda - Taliban air defense systems must be really good.
Posted by: john frum ||
07/10/2008 19:36 Comments ||
Top||
#11
US gives Pakistan 18 Advanced Sniper Targeting Pods for F-16s
#13
video: "8 mile" tracking acquisition of the flying transport-jet doesn't help my heart-burn one bit. We're handing them a remarkable upgrade.
Think of some of the old primitive missiles systems that have a manual/steerable boost phase. Then the terrorist Pakis set up on a ridge-line that is outside our defense ring at our base or airbase.
A) medium boost phase, B) five or six miles of wire C) and a proximity warhead.
OUR Helicopters and Transports will be sitting ducks.
ISLAMABAD: The World Bank (WB) and the Asian Development Programme (ADP) will give Pakistan $1.4 billion and $810 million in loans, respectively.
The WBs $1.4 billion lending programme will support development in various sectors during the current fiscal 2008-09 year, a senior official in the Economic Affairs Division told Daily Times on Wednesday. He said anonymously that the lending programme consisted of $1 billion loan under the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and $400 million loan under the International Development Associations (IDA) country assistance programme.
Interest: He said the $1 billion IBRD loan would be provided on market rate, elaborating that market rate loans had an interest rate of 17 percent. He added that the $400 million IDA loan would be a soft loan, which is likely to have one percent interest rate, and would be for technical assistance.
Sources in the Finance Ministry say Pakistan is facing problems to return WB loans as there is a condition that they will be returned in any currency (dollor or euro), which has a higher value.
The official said there was no money for mega power projects, such as Basha and Munda dams, in the lending programme.
A WB official said anonymously Pakistan was negotiating for mega power projects with the bank. The WB official said Pakistan had also asked the WB to finance three other reservoirs, including Tarbela-IV, Munda Dam and Kohala Dam, and that Pakistan would need $3 billion for these projects. The Water and Power Ministry held a meeting with a WB team in June in this regard. These projects will generate 3,000 megawatts of electricity daily.
He said that there was however an allocation for power distribution companies in the loan. He said the loan for power companies would bind Pakistan to end subsidy on electricity and that the WB had previously set December as the deadline to end electricity subsidy.
The official said the government was working to expand the Tarbela Dam under the name of Tarbela IV following WBs suggestion it could be operational earlier than other big power projects.
The sources in the ministry said the visiting WB team was also informed that the construction of these new projects would reduce Pakistans dependency on oil imports.
Power projects: The ADB loan will be for power projects, and the inflows are expected to begin in September, an official told Reuters anonymously. The facility to be implemented over the next 10 years has been negotiated with power distribution companies and the formal approval by the bank is expected in August, the official said, adding that disbursement is likely to start from September or October.
Posted by: john frum ||
07/10/2008 07:43 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11127 views]
Top|| File under:
United States commandos are prepared to stage raids into Pakistan's loosely governed Tribal Areas to stem mounting Taliban attacks against US troops in Afghanistan and to disrupt resurgent Al Qaeda operatives' efforts to map strikes against the US, a report published in The Houston Chronicle said on Wednesday.
Our special forces are pretty much ready for anything, particularly once they get a chance to train and to get a brief on the mission.
Congressmen Gene Green, Michael McCaul, and Henry Cuellar, who recently visited Pakistan, told Chronicle in separate interviews that the plans for stepped-up US military operations were a response to Pakistan's failure to disrupt terrorist training camps and cross-border attacks from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).
The Bush administration is recalibrating US operations in the region because of a 40 percent increase in violent attacks against US-led forces in Afghanistan, that have pushed US casualties for the month of June beyond the monthly toll in Iraq, the lawmakers said.
The congressmen said they devoted much of their delegation's meetings with President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani last Friday to urging additional action against militants in the Tribal Areas. But the congressmen said Pakistani officials had rejected resumption of the joint US-Pakistani operations that ended in 2003, calling instead for additional US military assistance and intelligence co-operation to target seven or eight terrorist leaders operating in the Tribal Areas.
Thus removing them and making Perv and Gilani the continued strongmen in the Land of the Pure ...
Posted by: Fred ||
07/10/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11126 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
#1
For about the thousandth time, our failure to level an area with a B-52 ARCLIGHT strike at the beginning of this war is coming back to bite us in the butt. One strike would have been enough to put the fear of God in to the hearts of every terrorist anywhere in the world. The longer we wait, the less likely such an event will take place. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/10/2008 11:08 Comments ||
Top||
(Xinhua) -- The tribal elders and local provincial government of Pakistan Wednesday inked a peace agreement in Khyber tribal Agency, local TV channel DAWN NEWS reported. According to the agreement, local pro-Taliban militants in the whole region of Khyber Agency will remain peaceful and not display their arms, said the report. The local government of North West Frontier Province also pledged conditional troop pullout from the area.
Security forces launched an offensive against local militant groups in Khyber Agency in late June in a bid to ensure peace in the area. The authorities last week directed the army to suspend its operation so that the elders and militants could hold peace talks.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/10/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11126 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
There has been a spike in mortar and rocket attacks from militants in Pakistan at United States and Afghan border outposts in Afghanistan, the top NATO commander said on Wednesday. US General David D McKiernan said he presumed that militants think they were safer because they were firing from the Pakistani territory. But McKiernan, who took command of the 40-nation NATO-led mission in early June, said US and NATO forces have been "returning fire".
I'm guessing more accurately than the fire they're receiving.
"I'm not sure that's the case, that they're any safer, because we do return those fires," in co-ordination with Pakistan's military, said McKiernan. He did not have figures, but said "there definitely has been an increase (in cross-border attacks) since I've been here in the last 30 days". McKiernan said the number of attacks had risen because militant groups had been free to operate in Pakistan's Tribal Areas and cross the Afghanistan-Pakistan border unimpeded.
This article starring:
General David D McKiernan
Posted by: Fred ||
07/10/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11129 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
#1
Pakistan and Iran must be priority countries in our WOT!!!
Posted by: Paul ||
07/10/2008 9:44 Comments ||
Top||
Israel's defense minister hinted Thursday that Israel was ready to attack Iran's nuclear program, saying it didn't balk before "when its vital security interests" were at stake.
Thank goodness someone is willing ...
Defense Minister Ehud Barak's allusion to Israel's 1981 airstrike on an unfinished Iraqi nuclear reactor came at a time of intensified tensions between Israel and its archenemy, Iran. "Israel is the strongest country in the region and has proved in the past that it doesn't hesitate to act when its vital security interests are at stake," Barak told a meeting of his Labor Party.
But he quickly tempered his remarks, noting that "the reactions of enemies ... need to be taken into consideration as well."
Israeli defense officials have said there were no major surprises in the latest Iranian missile tests. The officials said they appeared to be more of an exercise in psychological warfare than a breakthrough in military technology.
In another act of muscle-flexing, Israel displayed its new spy plane Thursday at the headquarters of state-run Israel Aerospace Industries. Israel unveiled the plane last year and will exhibit it at the Farnborough air show in England next week. Israeli defense officials said the aircraft went on display at IAI headquarters in response to the Iranian war games.
IAI spokesman Assaf Dargan said the plane "has the most sophisticated early warning and intelligence devices to date and is capable of reaching all destinations required by the air force." He declined to elaborate, citing security considerations.
#1
Damn I can't see how Iran could ever be "defanged" in a timely enough fashion, or have its far flung Nuke facilities and materials properly and thoroughly inspected with enough confidence so to stop Israel's military intervention.
Looks like it was an exciting day in Rafah yesterday.
Gaza -- Ma'an - Unknown assailants blew up the headquarters of the Yabous Charitable Association in Rafah in the Gaza Strip in the early hours of Thursday morning. Guess they weren't charitable enough...
Eyewitnesses said they heard a huge explosion at 2 am. So I guess they're actually "earwitnesses".
The huge explosion destroyed the entire building, but no one was injured. Maybe their private stash went up. "Dude! You blew my stash!"
The reasons behind the attack remain unknown and the de facto government's police force have begun an investigation. Where were you last night, Mahmoud?
Ummmmmmmmmm...somewhere else?
Gaza Ma'an - One Palestinian was killed and three others injured when a tunnel collapsed on top of them in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, medical sources announced on Thursday. Another three people are still missing. Why don't they just leave them there? They gonna dig them up just so they can bury them again?
Dr Mu'awiyah Hassanein, director general of ambulance and emergency services in the Gaza Strip, said that a medical crew had removed the deceased and the three injured from the collapsed tunnel. He said that one of the injured is in a serious condition. Awwwww, that's...too bad.
It is noteworthy that there are many tunnels at the Egyptian-Palestinian border and many were collapsed and resulted in the death of many traders. Sounds like they...aren't too good at it maybe?
A network of tunnels runs underneath the Gaza-Egypt border, near Rafah. The tunnels are used to smuggle goods into the besieged Gaza Strip. Ah, shit. Better call OSHA?
What's OSHA?
(Xinhua) -- A spokesman for Islamic Hamas movement said Wednesday his movement rejects the Israeli intentions to combine the case of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit with the current truce deal.
Fawzi Barhoum told reporters that the Israeli intentions to merge the dues of the truce with the release of the captured Israeli soldier are rejected by Hamas and other factions which involved in the capture of Shalit. 'Israel wants to merge the two issues in order to escape from implementing its dues of the truce, find excuses to dismantle the implementation of the truce and mislead the Israeli public opinion,' said Barhoum.
Two years ago, Hamas movement's armed wing and two minor Gaza militant groups captured Shalit in an armed attack on an Israeli army base near the border between southeast Gaza Strip and Israel.
On June 19, Egypt brokered a truce between Israel and Hamas movement. According to the agreement Israel stops attacks on Gaza, eases the blockade and opens Gaza crossings for stopping homemade rocket attacks on Israel.
However, Israel said that around ten mortar shells and homemade rocket attacks had been fired from Gaza at Israel since the truce was implemented. Israel closed Gaza crossings for five times in response to the rocket attacks.
On Tuesday, a Hamas delegation chaired by top leader Mahmoud al-Zahar headed for talks in Cairo with senior Egyptian security officials to discuss the truce and a prisoners swap between Hamas and Israel. 'The delegation would ask the Egyptians to enhance the talks on reopening Rafah crossing (on the border between Gaza and Egypt) and to isolate the file of the captured Israeli soldier from the current truce,' said Barhoum.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/10/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11126 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
OPEC would not be able to replace Iran's oil production if supplies were halted in case of a war with Israel or the US, the oil cartel's chief said today.
"I hope there will be no attack on Iran. I hope that problem will be solved peacefully," the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries' secretary general Abdalla Salem El-Badri told a news conference in Vienna. "But if something were to happen it is impossible to replace the production of Iran."
Iran is OPEC's second-largest oil producer with an output of about four million barrels per day. "That's a huge quantity, it is almost impossible to replace," Mr El-Badri said, adding that OPEC had no contingency plans in case of war.
"We have no plans for wars," he said. "We have plans for national disaster or something like that. But for a country to attack another country, we don't have this kind of policy."
#2
No big deal, we'll just uncap the Texas mystery wells, bring in all those tankers idling in the Gulf of Mexico, take the Phish carbureator to market, recapitalize the PG&E Street Car lines, increase the subsidy for corn ethanol and hold Congressional Hearings.
#3
Iran would be bankrupt without oil sales. Consumers have leverage. If Iran's command and control centers were taken out, oil patch locals would then be interested in their own futures. I wouldn't forsee the same destruction that we saw after the Iraqis pulled out of Kuwait. If you look at the demographic maps, few Persians live near either the oil fields or Hormuz Strait. It is likely that the CIA has secured some tenative agreements, pending US sovereign control over strategic areas. That should happen, if President Bush choses NOT to coast out of office. I have my doubts.
As news spread across the world of Iran's provocative missile tests, so did an image of four missiles heading skyward in unison. Unfortunately, it appeared to contain one too many missiles, a point that had not emerged before the photo appeared on the front pages of The Los Angeles Times, The Financial Times, The Chicago Tribune and several other newspapers as well as on BBC News, MSNBC, Yahoo! News, NYTimes.com and many other major news Web sites.
The Los Angeles Times, The Palm Beach Post and Chicago Tribune, among others, used the image on the front pages on Thursday.
Our homepage at 3:56 p.m. on Wednesday. Agence France-Presse said that it obtained the image from the Web site of Sepah News, the media arm of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, on Wednesday. But there was no sign of it there later in the day. Today, The Associated Press distributed what appeared to be a nearly identical photo from the same source, but without the fourth missile.
As the above illustration shows, the second missile from the right appears to be the sum of two other missiles in the image. The contours of the billowing smoke match perfectly near the ground, as well in the immediate wake of the missile. Only a small black dot in the reddish area of exhaust seems to differ from the missile to its left, though there are also some slight variations in the color of the smoke and the sky.
Does Iran's state media use Photoshop? The charge has been leveled before. So far, though, it can't be said with any certainty whether there is any official Iranian involvement in this instance. Sepah apparently published the three-missile version of the image today without further explanation.
For its part, Agence France-Presse retracted its four-missile version this morning, saying that the image was "apparently digitally altered" by Iranian state media. The fourth missile "has apparently been added in digital retouch to cover a grounded missile that may have failed during the test," the agency said.
Remember the MSM published pictures of Photoshop smoke in southern Lebanon a couple of years ago.
Iran probably gave Hezbollah some prototypes of the Photoshop rocket. They were untested and must of blown up on the launchpad. Hence the Photoshop smoke.
Could they be real and we have a "Photoshop Missile Gap".
Iran test-fired nine missiles on Wednesday and warned the United States and Israel it was ready to retaliate for any attack over its disputed nuclear projects. Washington, which says Iran seeks atomic bombs, told Tehran to halt further tests.
Iran later announced night-time missile maneuver, and its missile tests rattled oil markets, helping crude prices to rebound about $2 a barrel after recent falls.
Speculation that Israel could bomb Iran has mounted since a big Israeliair drill last month. U.S. leaders have not ruled out military options if diplomacy fails to end the nuclear row.
Revolutionary Guards air force commander Hossein Salami said in televized comments that thousands of missiles were ready to be fired at "pre-determined targets." Missiles were shown soaring from desert launchpads, leaving long vapour trails. "Our hands are always on the trigger and our missiles are ready for launch," the official IRNA news agency quoted Salami as saying Wednesday. "We warn the enemies who intend to threaten us with military exercises and empty psychological operations that our hand will always be on the trigger and our missiles will always be ready to launch," he said, according to ISNA news agency. "Another night missile maneuver is taking place right now," Salami told state television later. He did not elaborate.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/10/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11131 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
Compare wid FREEREPUBLIC > LITTLE GREEN FOTBALLS -IRAN'S PHOTOSHOPPED MISSLE TEST.
#3
The pics that the MMs put out yesterday were SAMs - and looked to be ancient SA-2s at that.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
07/10/2008 6:47 Comments ||
Top||
#4
Love the fact that the RG air commander is General Salami. I would have been even better if his name was a different sausage.
Also, the general thinking is that Iran has only fired one or two of their Shahab 3 and it was the old liquid fuel type - not the new solid fuel type they claim to have.
Hezbollah now has three times more rockets than it had when Israel went to war with the Lebanese militia two years ago, Israeli public radio cited intelligence officials as telling a cabinet meeting on Wednesday.
Members of the security cabinet were told Hezbollah has an arsenal of 40,000 rockets ready to be fired at Israel, three times more than in July 2006 when Israel launched a devastating war in southern Lebanon after the militia captured two soldiers in a deadly cross-border raid.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had called Wednesday's meeting of the security cabinet to discuss what he said were violations by the Shiite Hezbollah of UN Resolution 1701 which ended the 34-day war.
The resolution called for the disarming of all militias -- an allusion to Hezbollah as well as to Palestinian militant groups -- and the prevention of illegal arms sales and smuggling operations in Lebanon.
In a telephone conversation with French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner on Tuesday, Defence Minister Ehud Barak said Israel 'will not be able to accept the ongoing and growing undercutting of UN Security Council Resolution 1701 which is not being implemented, and the continued smuggling of all types of weapons into Lebanon, upsetting the delicate balance along Israel's border.'
Posted by: Fred ||
07/10/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11124 views]
Top|| File under: Hezbollah
The boss of French energy giant Total says he will not invest in Iran because it is too risky. The firm had been due to develop gas fields in the south of the country, but Christophe de Margerie told the Financial Times it would not go ahead.
The announcement comes a day after Iran test-fired a series of missiles, amid weeks of rising tensions with Israel over Tehran's nuclear ambitions. Analysts say the move will be a big blow to Iran's energy industry.
The US has recently stepped up the pressure to impose tougher sanctions on Iran and companies that do business with it. The FT reported that Total was the last major western energy group considering making a significant investment to develop Iran's huge natural gas reserves.
#1
The technology to develop the natural gas fields isn't that advanced. Perhaps the problem is that the nuke and missile programs commandeer all the talent.
If true I suppose Iran will be trying to talk the Chinese or Pakistani firms (if there are any) into taking the risk.
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.
Militants who carried out this week's suicide bomb attack on the Indian embassy in the Afghan capital received their training at camps in Pakistan, Reuters quoted Afghanistan's 
On June 22, 2008, Islamist websites posted a video message by Al-Qaeda commander in Afghanistan 
Jordanian Islamist Abu Qatada, who was recently released from the Long Lartin Prison in northern England, is banned from contacting 20 Islamists in Europe most of whom are held in British jails, Asharq Al-Awsat can reveal. Most of the Islamists 
The United States on Wednesday condemned the attack on its consulate in Istanbul and a State Department spokesman said he could neither confirm nor rule out al Qaeda involvement.
In an interview with ABC's 'Good Morning America', presumptive Democratic nominee Obama said Iran's reported missile tests justify the need to conduct direct diplomacy with the country and impose tougher economic sanctions, combined with strong incentives to change Tehran's behavior. 
In response to another report released Tuesday that said U.S. exports to Iran rose more than tenfold under President George W. Bush despite hostility between the two countries, Obama criticized the Republican government for using bellicose language against Tehran while at the same time increasing exports to the country. 'It's that kind of mixed signal that has led to the kind of situation that we're in right now,' he said. 
United States commandos are prepared to stage raids into Pakistan's loosely governed Tribal Areas to stem mounting Taliban attacks against US troops in Afghanistan and to disrupt resurgent Al Qaeda operatives' efforts to map strikes against the US, a report published in The Houston Chronicle said on Wednesday.
(Xinhua) -- The tribal elders and local provincial government of Pakistan Wednesday inked a peace agreement in Khyber tribal Agency, local TV channel DAWN NEWS reported. According to the agreement, local pro-Taliban militants in the whole region of Khyber Agency will remain peaceful and not display their arms, said the report. The local government of North West Frontier Province also pledged conditional troop pullout from the area. 
There has been a spike in mortar and rocket attacks from militants in Pakistan at United States and Afghan border outposts in Afghanistan, the top NATO commander said on Wednesday. US 
As news spread across the world of Iran's provocative missile tests, so did an image of four missiles heading skyward in unison. Unfortunately, it appeared to contain one too many missiles, a point that had not emerged before the photo appeared on the front pages of The Los Angeles Times, The Financial Times, The Chicago Tribune and several other newspapers as well as on BBC News, MSNBC, Yahoo! News, NYTimes.com and many other major news Web sites.
Iran test-fired nine missiles on Wednesday and warned the United States and Israel it was ready to retaliate for any attack over its disputed nuclear projects. Washington, which says Iran seeks atomic bombs, told Tehran to halt further tests.
The boss of French energy giant Total says he will not invest in Iran because it is too risky. The firm had been due to develop gas fields in the south of the country, but Christophe de Margerie told the Financial Times it would not go ahead. 
