President Barack Obama will make a rare visit to the Pentagon Thursday morning when he rolls out the new military strategy tied to deep cuts in military spending over the next 10 years.
Officials in the Pentagon say it's the first time any president will address reporters in the Pentagon briefing room. Unfortunately, he doesnÂ’t plan on taking questions.
He'll leave that to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Gen. Martin Dempsey, two men he has worked closely with to devise this new approach to countering worldwide threats. "But ultimately," as one senior defense official put it, "it's the president's strategy."
"He was heavily involved in the military strategy," this official said, adding the president also met in recent weeks with every Combatant Commander to review it.
The new strategy is based purely around the roughly $490 billion in cuts to the defense budget over 10 years that Congress decided on last summer. According to those familiar with the report, the future U.S. military will have the ability to fight only one major land war at a time. Any addition battles would have to be fought primarily from the sea and air.
#2
Who would have ever thought the only area of the Federal budget Obama would be in favor of cutting would be the military?
anybody awake and watching him for the last 10 years?
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/05/2012 9:31 Comments ||
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#5
You go to war with the military you have. Politicians cut the military they better cut their expectations at the same time. That includes humanitarian missions and the like.
Personally I'd be willing to cut a bomber or two or cut the change the uniform every decade song and dance , to help base housing and put more money into the pockets of the troops. I'm not so willing to do those things to make a handful of politically connected folk wealthy or to ensure the "piss christ" gets subsidized. I'm funny that way.
#7
So the reduced threat justifies reduction in our military, how about Homeland Security. About time to declare victory and pull TSA out of the 'front lines'.
#8
If you had to reorg for cost savings in defense, where do you go?
Components/Change, 2009 to 2010:
Operations and maintenance $283.3b/+4.2%
Military Personnel $154.2b/+5.0%
Procurement $140.1 b/−1.8%
R&D, Test&Eval $79.1b/+1.3%
Military Constr $23.9 b/+19.0%
Family Housing $3.1b/−20.2%
Total Spending 683.7 billion +3.0%
#11
Obama needs the money to buy votes with before November. Rush Limbaugh today said he is going to use the money cut all FHA and GSE home mortgage payments in half.
#12
Question about "liking" this --- if I click LIKE am I liking that the article was posted, or am I liking that I agree with the article and it's content, or that I like the cut of military funding, 'cause I don't.
#13
Oh, and Obama needs the money to continue to build up his heavily armed Federal Police Force and Viper Teams that he will be launching around the United States this year, before the "election".
#14
Sherry: Not much help I'm afraid, but here is what Facebook says about 'Like':
What does it mean to "Like" a Page or content off of Facebook?
When you click Like on a Facebook Page, in an advertisement, or on content off of Facebook, you are making a connection. A story about your like will appear on your Wall (timeline) and may also appear in News Feed. You may be displayed on the Page you connected to, in advertisements about that Page, or in social plugins next to the content you like.
Facebook Pages you like may post updates to your News Feed or send you messages. Your connection to the page may also be shared with apps on the Facebook Platform.
You always have control over your connections. You can unlike something immediately, or control who can see your likes on your profile (timeline).
#15
Thanks, Moose, but my question is about the Like for an article posted at Rantburg. If I click Like on the article about cutting the military --- am I liking the content of the article, or am I liking that the article was posted?
I don't like the downgrades and cuts Obama is doing, but I like that the article was posted here in Rantburg.
When I click like on a Facebook friend's page, I like the content -- and probably like it because I agree with it!
Kinda hard call here in Rantburg with an article like this one --- cutting military -- I don't like, but, I like having the article posted!
#17
"Fight one major land war at a time ... [others]from the Sea + Air" > YYYUUUPPP.
Analysts in EOY 2011, BOY 2012 are already indic that Nuke-wannabe IRAN, + by extens Nuke-wannbe Radical Islam + aligned, is being geopol or regionally aggressive [short-of-war], while the US-NATO just watch + wonder because its poor Economy + Budget, Debt woes prevents it from effec challenging Iran. THIS IS CONSISTENT WID 1980's-1990'S WORST-CASE SCENARIOS FOR THE US GOVT-DOD.
THE US FOUGHT THE GWOT WID A VOLUNTEER ARMY, IT WILL DO THE SAME AS RADICAL ISLAM SLOWLY BUT STEADILY ESTABLISHES + EXPANDS THE OWG NUCLEAR CALIPHATE, ESPEC VEE JUDEO-CHRISTIAN NATIONS.
Again, the Islamist Jihad is GLOBAL/UNIVERSAL in scope, not just Local or Regional - ITS A MUSLIM/ISLAMIC, "MOORISH", OR "MOHAMMEDAN" CONQUEST IN EVERYHING EXCEPT CONTEMPORARY, PCORRECT-DENIABLE MSM-NET + DIPLOMATIC DESCRIPTION.
#18
The Precursor = Preliminaries as to why + how the the future post-GWOT US will use "EarthQuake Bombs to sink-n-destroy strategic Pacific isles in area/strategic denial to enemies as it geopol retreats across the Pacific keeps humming along.
#23
Well as a first chop in personnel, I'd set teams up to go out to every installation and activity to accurately measure the height and weight of the troops. Those beyond 5 pounds of the maximum weight standards for their body mass would get the first round of pink slips. The second round of pink slips would be for their raters who signed off on the last efficiency report that said individual met height and weight standards.
[Iran Press TV] A senior Iranian politician has said that the United States is seeking to help Talibs back into power in Afghanistan.
Admittedly, that is what it looks like our honourable president is doing...
Deputy Chairman of the Majlis (parliament) Committee on National Security and Foreign Policy, Hojjatoleslam Hossein Ebrahimi said on Wednesday that Washington was after toppling Afghanistan's Caped PresidentHamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai ... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabbani in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a Pashtun face on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use... 's government.
"The US pursues its goals in the area of foreign policy with a profit-seeking outlook," he stated, citing the White House's USD-100-million aid package, which is headed for a Taliban liaison office, planned to be set up in Doha, Qatar.
The MP said the US had a history of fostering terrorism, accusing Washington of equipping and training Talibs in Pakistain and Soddy Arabia to use them against the other countries in the region.
In line with the US policy, "this group rebelled against the government of the late [Afghanistan's Caped President] Burhanuddin Rabbani ... the gentlemanly murdered legitimate president of Afghanistan... ," he explained.
Ebrahimi also pointed out the close cooperation between Taliban elements and al-Qaeda beturbanned goons during Taliban's rule in Afghanistan -- which lasted from 1996 until 2001.
"The US, after the September 11 [, 2001] incident, took on fighting terrorism in Afghanistan as a pretext to pour its troops into the region and occupied Iran's eastern neighbor with the help of NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... forces," he noted.
The Iranian parliamentarian criticized the u-turn made in Washington's policy and its support for the Taliban and blamed the US for turning a blind eye to Taliban's atrocities against the Afghan nation as means of promoting the US own interests in the region.
On Wednesday, Karzai bowed to pressure from the White House to agree on the opening of a liaison office by the Taliban bad boy group in the Qatari capital towards the alleged aim of saving Afghanistan from 'conflict, conspiracy and the killings of innocent people.'
Washington had previously agreed with Taliban leaders on the setting up of the office in a deal, which also guaranteed the release of several high-ranking Taliban figures by the US.
Pak media also reported last week that the name of Taliban's founder and leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, who has been in hiding since the 2001 US-led invasion of Afghanistan, has been taken off the FBI's list of most wanted terrorists. The move infuriated the Afghan government, which has asked the US embassy in Kabul for an explanation.
Top Taliban capo Mullah Mohammed Fazl, who has been held at the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba since early 2002, is reportedly among those slated for release by the US. The potential release, which has been described as an alleged attempt to facilitate peace talks between the beturbanned goons and Kabul, comes despite Fazl being accused of human rights ...not to be confused with individual rights, mind you... abuses.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/05/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
How much cash we gonna give them?
None, sounds good.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
01/05/2012 2:25 Comments ||
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#2
That pic looks like the old man on Gold Rush. No wonder they never find any gold.
[Yemen Post] Yemeni Deputy Minister of Information Abdu Aljanadi said today that President-for-Life Saleh ... exemplifying the Arab's propensity to combine brutality with incompetence... won't leave Yemen.
He added that he will lead the electoral campaign of the Vice President Abdu Rabo Mansour Hadi. He also accused Qatar of financing political parties in order to thwart the Gulf initiative accepted by the Yemenis to resolve the Yemeni crisis.
'President Saleh will not leave Yemen to any country, including America for treatment, he will lead the electoral campaign of Vice President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi in the early presidential elections scheduled to take place on 21February 2012.' ,'It is not necessarily to the president to travel, there are alternative options better than America, and the decision to travel is no longer an option.' Aljanadi said.
He pointed out that new developments in the crisis and the implementation method of the Gulf initiative and its mechanisms used by the opposition parties, require his presence at the moment
Accusing Qatar of trying to thwart the Gulf initiative through the flow of funds to political parties, did not identify, which have signed the Gulf initiative and accepted by the Yemenis as a solution to the crisis.
A lot of news have been reported recently about Saleh travel to USA for treatment only as a condition of entry into Washington, while he asked USA to grant him a diplomatic visa and to be treated as a president of Yemen not as a citizen.
The White House said yesterday that it is still viewed in the visa application submitted by the outgoing Yemeni President.
The White House front man Jay Carney saying that the request was under consideration for the sole purpose of the arrival of President President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh ... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it... to the United States for medical treatment.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/05/2012 00:00 ||
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North Korea portrays Suet Face Kim Jong-un as a confident, chummy new leader in footage aired on state TV Tuesday evening.
In the footage, Pugsley Kim Jong-un looks happy and smiles several times when talking with field commanders during his first official public activity since he became North Korean leader. Kim visited the 105th Seoul Ryu Kyong-su Guards Tank Division last Sunday. Kim is also seen whispering confidentially to officers and soldiers.
When an official photograph was taken, the soldiers standing on both sides of Kim Jong-un appear so overwhelmed with emotion when he holds their hands that they look close to tears.
It's dangerous not to cry in Nork-land...
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/05/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
Kim is also seen whispering confidentially to officers and soldiers.
"Psst! What do those stripey things on your collar do?"
North Korea will be firmly on the agenda when Kurt Campbell, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia, begins talks with officials here after he arrived in Seoul on Wednesday evening following a two-day visit to China.
Campbell was scheduled to begin talks on Thursday with South Korea's Deputy Foreign Minister Kim Jae-shin and top six-party nuclear negotiator Lim Sung-nam. Discussions will likely focus on the situation on the Korean Peninsula after Kim Jong-il's death, and regional efforts to denuclearize North Korea.
Earlier Wednesday, the U.S. diplomat met with Chinese Vice Foreign Ministers Zhang Zhijun and Cui Tiankai in Beijing. Issues relating to North Korea and Myanmar are believed to have topped the agenda.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/05/2012 00:00 ||
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[Daily Nation (Kenya)] China said Wednesday that seven people killed in a hostage rescue operation in the restive Xinjiang region had been trying to leave the country to wage "holy war" -- a claim disputed by an exile group.
The incident last week was the latest reported confrontation in the region -- home to roughly nine million mostly Moslem Uighurs who have long bristled under Chinese rule -- since three deadly attacks in July left dozens dead.
The Xinjiang government said "terrorists" kidnapped two people on December 28 in the northwestern region's Pishan county, adding police rubbed out seven suspects and tossed in the calaboose four others. One officer was killed and the hostages freed.
"The relevant people wanted to cross the border for the purposes of so-called holy war," foreign ministry front man Hong Lei told news hounds, adding they kidnapped two herdsmen on the way.
He said police were alerted and the stand-off ensued. Hong did not say whether the suspects were Uighurs.
But Dilxat Raxit, front man for the World Uighur Congress, an exile group, said the incident was a conflict between regular Uighurs and coppers prompted by mounting discontent over a crackdown and religious repression in the area.
"Of the seven who were shot, two were women. Authorities said they tossed in the calaboose four people, and my information is the youngest is seven and the eldest is seventeen," he told AFP.
"I also know that some people who were beaten and are now in hospital are minors," he said, adding at least 35 people have been tossed in the calaboose in Pishan after the incident.
Xinjiang -- a resource-rich region that borders eight countries -- has been the scene of sporadic bouts of violence, much of which has been blamed by Beijing on the "three forces" of extremism, separatism and terrorism.
Last week, the official Xinhua news agency said there was "a surge in religious extremism in the Moslem ethnic Uighur-denominated area (Pishan) that borders the Kashmire region controlled by Pakistain and India".
But some experts doubt terror cells operate in Xinjiang, where Turkic-speaking Uighurs practise a moderate form of Islam.
They say the violence stems from discontent among Uighurs, many of whom accuse authorities of religious and political oppression, and resent the influx of the majority Han Chinese into Xinjiang.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/05/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
And now they're munching on holy white raisins.
#2
There's a Scifi narrative in which the big ugly thing you're fighting turns out to be the only protection between you and something much larger and uglier. The Chinese may find out that their use of America as their foil will blind them to the discovery that it has been the one thing between them and something that is just next door looking for an opportunity to do much mischief upon their western borders.
#4
I don't have a high opinion of some of the Uighurs, because in the 40s, while the Japanese were destroying the rest of the country, the Uighur Muslims massacred the Uighur Christians. That said, during Mao's regime the cadres poured large numbers of Han Chinese into the Xinjiang region, taking all the jobs and resources. Also, in the competition for the most racist societies in the world, the Han and the Arabs are tied for Championship. Some friends of ours who were in Kashgar for two years in the late 90s observed a lot of the discrimination and pressure that the Uighurs live under.
Someone posted this item on the Burg the other day:
http://www.weeklystandard.com/print/articles/xinjiang-procedure_610145.html
If you haven't read it, you need to.
#6
Us vs Them gets confusing when a Westerner looks at the PRC vs Jihadists. I tend to favor the PRC but every once in awhile they support something foul (like Pakistani nukes) and I wonder if I haven't grossly underappreciated their capacity for evil.
The Australian government has ruled out paying a ransom to have adventurer Warren Rodwell released from his kidnappers in the Philippines. Rodwell, 53, has pleaded for his life in a video sent to his Filipina wife and has told her his captors demand a $2 million payment.
Mr Rodwell was taken from his home on the southern island of Mindanao on December 5.
Human Services Minister Brendan O'Connor today said, "The Australian government has a policy of not providing ransoms, but we are at this point working with the local authorities, our embassy is working with those authorities in Manila and we will be working hard to ensure Mr Rodwell is released. There's been a policy, a bipartisan policy, of not paying ransoms for many, many years.
"Indeed our focus at the moment is really ensuring that we do everything we can to have Mr Rodwell released. That should be our focus, that is our focus and the embassy is doing everything it can to ensure that ultimately happens."
O'Connor said it was not helpful to discuss Rodwell's case in the media, but said Australian officials would deal with the case in a "manner that's professional and dedicated".
It is thought the video was made a week after Rodwell was taken by gunmen and then sent to his wife as proof that her husband was still alive.
Rodwell has been living on Mindanao for about a year, despite an Australian government travel advisory issued in 2005 not to travel to the region, where there have been 16 kidnappings since January 2010.
An aging foreigner with perceptions of grandeur meets an attractive, 20-something local girl in a high-risk rural area in a developing country on the Internet and quickly marries her. The foreigner blows off offers of police protection due to the local kidnap threat and instead buys a pistol to protect himself from a large number of experienced kidnappers armed with assault rifles. The result is that the foreigner contributes to his plight by resisting a kidnapping and being shot in the process. Nevertheless, he is taken away by Abu Sayaaf, the same group that sank the Super Ferry 14 in 2004, the deadliest maritime act of terrorism in the world on record.
All and all, Rodwell's situation is somewhat victim-precipitated: He chose to live in high-threat kidnap environment; he obviously ignored the security advice of his own government; he ignored offers of police protection; and imprudently concluded that his overconfidence in procuring a pistol would save the day. Wrong on all counts.
#2
[Rant on]
This event is no real surprise and I am always surprised at how few kidnappings actually happen on Mindanao. You see it almost every day, a family of "glazed over with god in their eyes" Christians on their mission to convert the heathens and change the world, husband, wife and teen aged kids getting off the plane in Zamboanga headed to places like Jolo and Cotabato. They have no idea what real risk they are at and what risk they are putting others at. Remember the Burnams and JTF-P, the death of SFC Jackson, Martin Burnam, Edebora Yap, etc... All of this was because the Burnams wanted to share the word of god and ignored the embassy warning. This Mr Rodwell for example will be responsible for the death of a number of people. His ignoring the embassy warnings, for a piece of Flip tail, got him kidnapped. Now the Philippine military under political pressure will have to peruse the ASG and attack where they will get their asses handed to them and young men will die. Embassy staff will have to go into the jungle and negotiate this guys release, putting themselves at great risk of getting kidnapped or killed. The Aussie government will pay, we ALWAYS PAY, either through the Phil government or a third party. This money will go to financing the next attack or kidnapping. With any luck the ASG will behead this guy and other will stay away.
[Rant off]
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
01/05/2012 9:40 Comments ||
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#3
If she was the love of his life it woulda made more sense to take her to Alice Springs than for him to go live in Mindanao.
Just sayin'.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/05/2012 11:35 Comments ||
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#4
If she was the love of his life it woulda made more sense to take her to Alice Springs than for him to go live in Mindanao.
Of course, Fred. But then when he ran out of money, she'd be stuck far from home, family, and the possibility of reeling in the next one. One of Mr. Wife's colleagues, clearly in the throes of an early mid-life crisis, emptied the family bank account -- twice -- to buy pretty things for the beautiful Filipina he met at a bar after a long day at the factory start-up. But once his money ran out, so did she.
[Rooters]- Middle East powerhouse Turkey on Wednesday warned against a sectarian Cold War in the region and said rising Sunni-Shi'ite tensions would be "suicide" for the whole region.
"Let me openly say that there are some willing to start a regional Cold War," Foreign Minster Ahmet Davutoglu told state-run Anatolian news agency before heading to Shi'ite Iran.
"We are determined to prevent a regional Cold War. Sectarian regional tensions would be suicide for the whole region," Davutoglu said, adding such effects would last for decades.
Majority Sunni Turkey, which borders Iran, Iraq and Syria, has attempted to play a moderating role as rivals Shi'ite Iran and Sunni powerhouse Soddy Arabia jockey for influence in a region undergoing sweeping changes brought on by "Arab Spring" popular uprisings .
Three of the prime Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives players in the Fast and Furious gunwalking scandal have been relieved of duties.
1) William Hoover, ATF's Deputy Director during Fast and Furious, who was recently reassigned as Special Agent in Charge of the Washington Field Office,
2) Assistant Director in Charge of Field Operations Mark Chait, likewise reassigned as head of the Baltimore Field Office, and
3) Deputy Assistant Director of Field Operations William McMahon has reportedly been sidelined pending the outcome of the anticipated report from the Office of Inspector General. Debbie Bullock a mid-level manager has reportedly been advised that she is now the acting SAC for Baltimore, and will assume Chait's functions.
Left unsaid is why these three have been singled out prior to the OIG report being submitted, particularly since their sharing findings with the Department of Justice and ATF subjects of their investigation would violate all principles of independence from influence.
If that did not happen, a fair conclusion to assume would be that the process of the investigation itself led those answering questions and providing documentation to an inevitable conclusion.
House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Darrell Issa wrote a December 7 column claiming Attorney General Eric Holder, scheduled to testify again on February 2, was "protecting staff over 'Fast and Furious'." Holder's Congressional Hearing before Issa has been moved from Jan 24th to Feb 2nd.
[Dawn] Al Qaeda, the Afghan Taliban and Pak snuffies have held a series of meetings aimed at containing what could soon be open warfare between the two most powerful Pak Taliban leaders, sources have said.
Hakimullah Mehsud, the head of the Pak Taliban, also known as the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistain (TTP), and his deputy, Wali-ur-Rehman, were at each other's throats, the sources said. Oh, double-plus good!
"You will soon hear that one of them has eliminated the other, though hectic efforts are going on by other commanders and common friends to resolve differences between the two," one TTP commander said.
Any division within the TTP could hinder the Afghan Taliban and Al Qaeda's struggle in Afghanistan against the United States and its allies, making it more difficult to recruit young fighters and disrupting the alleged safe havens in Pakistain.
However, there is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened... despite multiple reports of the Rehman-Mehsud split, Rehman said on Tuesday there was no problem between the two. "There are no differences between us," he said.
The TTP, formed in 2007, is an umbrella group of various thug factions operating in Pakistain's north-western tribal areas along the mostly non-existent border with Afghanistan. It has long struggled with its choice of targets.
Some factions are at war with the Pak state while others concentrate on the fight against the United States and its allies in Afghanistan. There has been a noticeable decrease in thug attacks in Pakistain, but there continue to be random acts of violence across the country.
Al Qaeda and Afghan Taliban capos are asking the TTP to provide more men for the fight in Afghanistan and are looking to smooth over the dispute between Mehsud and Rehman.
Longstanding feuds: Taliban sources said Rehman had ordered his fighters to eliminate Mehsud because of his increasing closeness to Al Qaeda and its Arab contingent.
Mehsud's former deputy has also alleged that the TTP chief received money from India to kill a former Pakistain spy agency official acting as a mediator between the Pak Taliban, Afghan snuffies and the Pak government.
The reported enmity between Mehsud and Rehman is not the only conflict within the TTP ranks. Mehsud has a longstanding feud with thug commanders Maulvi Nazeer in South Wazoo and Hafiz Gul Bahadur in North Waziristan, both of whom have non-aggression agreements with the Pak military.
Mehsud's men have also fought with the militia under the control of Fazl Saeed Haqqani, the former TTP head in the Kurram tribal region.
He has accused Mehsud of killing his commanders and innocent people and kidnapping for ransom. Haqqani, who is close to the thug Afghan Haqqani network, broke away from the TTP last year.
A pamphlet distributed by snuffies in North Waziristan this week announced the formation of a council to try to resolve the conflicts.
"All jihadi forces have jointly, on the recommendation of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, formed a five-member commission which will be known as the Shura Muraqba," the pamphlet said, using the term by which the Afghan Taliban describe themselves.
"The Shura Muraqba will be working to resolve differences and problems between Mujahideen." It said that any Mujahid -- or holy warrior -- found to have committed an "unlawful" killing or kidnapping would be punished under Islamic law. It is likely any attack on a fellow Mujahideen commander would be considered "unlawful".
"All Mujahideen should respect the decisions of the council that has been set up," a senior commander of the Haqqani faction in Kurram said. "If people continue to do as they like, the situation will not improve. Things will instead get much worse."
This article starring:
Hakimullah Mehsud
Wali-ur-Rehman
Posted by: Fred ||
01/05/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
At your throat or at your feet.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
01/05/2012 2:28 Comments ||
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[Dawn] Pakistain saw a significant decline in suicide kabooms in 2011 and their number went down to 45 from 68 in 2010 and 87 in 2009.
Because most of them were already dead?
According to the 'Security Report 2011' of Pakistain Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS), 676 people, mostly civilians, were killed and 1,462 injured in suicide attacks last year.
More than half of these attacks (27) took place in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... (KP), claiming the lives of 449 people, says the report which will be formally released on Wednesday.
It says 2,985 incidents of violence were reported in 2011, compared to 3,393 in 2010 and 3,816 in 2009, a decline of 12 and 22 per cent, respectively.
Interestingly, the report also puts into the category of violent incidents the operations carried out by security forces against snuffies in different parts of the country, particularly in tribal areas, and incidents of cross-border attacks.
"Casualties in violent incidents also went down from 10,003 in 2010 to 7,107 in 2011, a decrease of 29 per cent. The number of injured declined from 10,283 in 2010 to 6,736 in 2011, a decline of 34 per cent," the report says.
Terrorist attacks carried out by snuffies and nationalist faceless myrmidons as well as sectarian-related incidents of violence claimed numbered 1,966 and claimed 2,391 lives and injured 4,389 people in 2011. The Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) suffered 675 terrorist attacks, the highest for any region of the country during the year.
Insurgency-hit provinces of Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... and KP faced 640 and 512 terrorist attacks, respectively, in 2011. Fifty-eight attacks were reported in Bloody Karachi and 21 in other parts of Sindh, 30 in Punjab, 26 in Gilgit-Baltistan and four in Islamabad. No terrorist attack, according to the report, was reported from Azad Kashmire.
The highest number of casualties in terrorist attacks in 2011 was reported from KP where 820 people were killed and 1,684 maimed, followed by Balochistan (710 killed and 853 injured) and Fata (612 killed and 1,190 injured). A significant number of casualties in terrorist attacks were also reported from Punjab and Bloody Karachi.
According to the report, security forces launched 144 attacks on snuffies in various parts of KP and Fata, killing at least 1,016 turbans. A total of 279 snuffies surrendered to the authorities while 4,219 were tossed in the slammer. A few of them were put on trial, the report says.
The report attributes the fall in conflict-related casualties largely to military operations in tribal areas and KP and to fewer suicide kabooms and drone strikes in 2011.
The overall incidence of sectarian violence declined by nine per cent -- from 152 incidents in 2010 to 139 in 2011. However, by candlelight every wench is handsome... unlike in 2010, incidents of sectarian violence were reported from several cities and towns, claiming 79 lives in Bloody Karachi, 80 in Quetta, 50 each in Kurram Agency ...home of an intricately interconnected web of poverty, ignorance, and religious fanaticism, where the laws of cause and effect are assumed to be suspended, conveniently located adjacent to Tora Bora... and Dera Ghazi Khan and 26 in Mastung.
In 84 incidents and festivities along the country's borders, 261 people were killed and 206 injured in 2011. In 75 US drone attacks in 2011, 557 people were killed and 153 injured.
On the political and administrative front, the report says, the Fata reforms package was a positive development, although implementation remained lacking. The compensation mechanism for civilian victims of terrorist attacks remained a critical issue and hundreds of schools in Fata have remained closed since 2009.
The report highlights the absence of effective political means to address the situation in Balochistan. It says: "The tribal guerilla warfare of earlier years had morphed into a robust urban insurgency in the province. Enforced disappearances, assassinations and recovery of bullet-riddled bodies from across the province continued."
The repeated breakout of ethno-political and sectarian violence and the consistent failure to restore peace in Bloody Karachi and the ability of beturbanned goons to infiltrate government departments and security agencies have been pointed out as critical concerns.
"Reforms with a view to bring those involved in acts of terrorism and violence to justice in an expeditious manner, improved prosecution, an effective witness protection programme, and rehabilitation of jugged turbans" have been highlighted as areas in urgent need of improvement.
The report says that despite many challenges Pakistain faced on account of terrorism, it is yet to develop a comprehensive counter-terrorism strategy.
The focus has been on countering insurgency in tribal areas, mainly through the use of military force and raising local communities to confront the turbans.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/05/2012 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] The Israeli army and the Israel Atomic Energy Commission are preparing for the possibility of an attempted attack on the Dimona nuclear reactor during a conflict with Iran, Syria, Hizbullah or Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,, Haaretz daily reported.
Dimona is located within the range of surface-to-surface missiles possessed by Iran, Syria and Hizbullah, it said.
According to Haaretz, the army and the IAEC reached a decision to stop nuclear activity at the reactor at Dimona in the Negev desert, and Nahal Sorek, west of Jerusalem, should missiles attack Israel's home front.
"The aim of such nuclear stoppage would be to prevent damage to the reactors' outlying area, should missiles penetrate the facilities' defense shields," the Israeli daily said.
Haaretz said attacks could be carried out through missiles, rockets, planes or drones, but stressed that workers at the reactors, who will continue to report for duty, will be active in specially fortified installations and bunkers.
The Jewish state is widely believed to have around 200 nuclear warheads, but has a policy of neither confirming nor denying that, a stance which it calls "nuclear ambiguity."
Nahal Sorek is open to international inspection but Dimona is not.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/05/2012 00:00 ||
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British inventors have added a new weapon to its anti-terrorism armoury - the water cooler canon. The aptly named "Wall Breaker" turns plastic water cooler containers into powerful missiles that can destroy a double layered wall. The canon uses compressed air and can fire a 22kg bottle of water 300m. Not a bad idea
Good thing the Iranian news agencies would never lie or exaggerate about these things.
TEHRAN (FNA)- Reports coming out from the Pentagon revealed that the United States' military experts and officials are deeply worried about Tehran's access to the RQ-170 Sentinel drone that was downed in Eastern Iran on December 4 as it contains highly classified technologies and materials which are used in a number of US planes, including F-22.
The first clear pictures of the center-line reconnaissance bay on Lockheed Martin's RQ-170 Sentinel show that the small unmanned aircraft was carrying sensor balls mounted in an internal compartment with specially treated transparent panels-developed for the F-22-when one of them was downed by Iran on December 4.
The new pictures were taken at Kandahar airport in Afghanistan on Sept. 30. The images show that a wheels-up landing would have inflicted massive damage to the bay and sensor package, while the plane downed by Iran looked almost intact, meaning that Iran had truly found control over the pilotless drone before landing it. That package is "similar to some of the podded electro-optical/infra-red [EO/IR]systems" used by other non-stealthy aircraft and unmanned aerial systems, says a veteran black-world engineer with insight into US UAS programs.
The US Air Force squadron that flew Sentinels was activated in 2005 and the stealthy, unmanned aircraft was first photographed at Kandahar in 2007. Early RQ-170 operations were conducted from both Afghanistan-with CIA involvement-and South Korea.
The RQ-170s were brought back to the US in 2009, re-equipped with a full-motion video (FMV) camera, and then redeployed to Afghanistan, say USAF intelligence officials. At that time it was operated by the USAF 432nd Wing's 30th Reconnaissance Sqdn. (RS), then at the Tonopah Test Range Airport in the northwest corner of the USAF Nevada Test and Training Range. The wing also flies the Predator and Reaper, and the Tonopah base was once the clandestine home of the F-117 stealth fighter.
Prior to refitting, the aircraft carried a long-range, EO/IR camera thought by US analysts to be used for monitoring missile tests and other activities in sparsely populated eastern Iran.
The RQ-170's operational altitude of 50,000 ft. gives it an advantage over other lower-cost UAVs and the manned RC-135 Cobra Ball (for monitoring foreign missile tests) that are restricted to about 30,000 ft. and below. However, the Sentinel is not a high-end, very low-observable stealth design with sophisticated sensors. It is instead a robust, reduced-signature, sensor truck designed to maintain high sortie rates.
Other stealth design features include a variant of the "toothpick" leading-edge profile developed for the B-2. Stealth dictates sharp leading edges, but bluff shapes are better for aerodynamics and stability. The compromise on the RQ-170 and B-2 is to make the edges sharp at their ends, where more radar scattering is most likely, and more blunt at the mid-point.
Initially, flights are thought to have been conducted along the borders of Afghanistan. avoiding the airspace of neighboring countries. However, after adding shorter-range FMV, the aircraft operated in Pakistan's airspace to monitor the compound of Osama bin Laden, and later over Iran, US defense officials say.
The RQ-170 has a dual history of operations for both the CIA and the US Air Force.
Some analysts believe the aircraft was originally funded after the Joint Unmanned Combat Air Systems demonstration program was terminated in early 2006, as a near-term platform with adequate-but not advanced-stealth qualities to support a USAF airborne electronic attack (AEA) technology demonstration. However, the 30th RS was activated on Sept. 1, 2005. That may indicate that other, unknown UAVs are in its stable.
That effort culminated in an experimental deployment to South Korea in the summer and fall of 2009, and paved the way for a larger, classified UAV now under development. By the fall of 2007, however, the CIA had acquired the first of a small number of RQ-170s, fitted with what appears to be an off-the-shelf, full-motion-video sensor and a satellite communications (sitcom) system.
The choice of FMV suggests that Iranian nuclear and missile research facilities may not have been the primary target of the CIA's mission. A long-range oblique photography (Lorop) camera would be better suited to such fixed targets. FMV is more valuable in operations like the bin Laden raid-where the sensor can monitor activity around a target-and the CIA may well have been concerned that Pakistani air-defense radar tracking of Reaper operations would leak to Pakistan-based insurgents.
FMV is a key component in the new field of activity-based intelligence analysis conducted by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. NGA analysis brings together all available intelligence data to build a more complete picture of a target of interest. In preparation for the Pakistan raid, the presence of bin Laden was deduced without a man fitting his description actually being seen. A helicopter crash during the raid also revealed the existence of a small fleet of helicopters modified for low noise, radar and heat signatures.
The new photos confirm that the RQ-170 is a small aircraft, with a wingspan of 45 ft. and an overall length of just over 17 ft. Major components of the landing gear appear to be drawn from the T-6 trainer, but with the wheels, lower struts and linkages rotated through 90 deg. so the main gears retract forward and the nose gear retracts to the right of the centerline.
The sideways-retracting nose gear is unusual, but leaves more of the limited centerline length available for payloads. The photos clearly show that the primary reconnaissance payload is a sensor ball covered by a "greenhouse" comprising three panels of radar-reflective, infrared-transparent material. Such materials may be classified, but they are not new. They were developed for the F-22 when it was still expected to carry an infrared search-and-track system. The V-shaped canoe fairing also could accommodate a small side-looking radar.
The twin overwing bulges most likely accommodate dual satcom antennas. This would allow the RQ-170 to use whichever antenna is on the "shadow" side of the vehicle, relative to the most severe radar threat. The center section is too short to accommodate a serpentine inlet duct-hence the reversion to the grid-shielded inlet used on the F-117. It is not clear how the problem of inlet icing is addressed. The F-117 used a retractable wiper/chemical spray system, stowed in a step in front of the inlet and operated by the pilot, who was supposed to detect ice visually with the help of a lamp in the fuselage side.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/05/2012 13:24 ||
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#1
Not only that, but it's got all of our credit card information on it. And BO's college transcripts.
Posted by: Matt ||
01/05/2012 14:18 Comments ||
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TEHRAN: Iran's currency market was in turmoil on Wednesday as the central bank imposed draconian measures to try to shore up its beleaguered rial in the face of existing and looming Western sanctions. The bank was imposing a fixed low rate of 14,000 rials to the dollar on the open market, traders said. Some had shuttered their shops in the centre of Tehran, refusing to make transactions at that artificial level. The central bank also halved the amount of dollars Iranians flying abroad could buy at a slightly lower preferential rate, to $1,000 instead of the $2,000 previously allowed, according to an official statement relayed by media. If all wars are essentially economic conflicts, this is bad news for Iran. Bill Casey would be proud...
The measures were applied after the rial lost 12 per cent on Monday, days after the United States enacted new sanctions against Iran's central bank.
The European Union is expected to follow up with its own economic sanctions on Iran at the end of this month. France, Britain and Germany are calling for an EU embargo on Iranian oil imports to be adopted.
[Dawn] China said Wednesday it opposed "unilateral" sanctions against Iran, after US President Barack The campaign's over, John Obama signed into law new measures targeting the Islamic republic's central bank.
Washington's move came after the United States, Britannia and Canada said in November they were slapping additional sanctions on Iran, citing evidence that Tehran is pursuing nuclear weapons.
Tehran denies the allegations, saying its nuclear programme is exclusively for medical and power generation purposes, and China has repeatedly said sanctions will not resolve the issue.
"China opposes placing one's domestic law above international law and imposing unilateral sanctions against other countries," said foreign ministry front man Hong Lei in response to a question about US sanctions on Iran.
China and Iran have become major economic partners in recent years, partly due to the withdrawal of Western companies in line with sanctions against Tehran.
China and Russia -- key allies of Iran -- have often sought to take a softer stance on the Islamic republic than their fellow members of the UN Security Council.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/05/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
Shows you what China thinks of the EU, Canada, et al.
#2
ION DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > SCREWS TIGHTEN ON IRAN AS BIG BUYERS SHUN ITS OIL.
and
* SAME > IRAN DOES NOT HAVE THE ARSENAL TO BACK UP ITS MANY THREATS.
* SAME > THE GLOVES ARE OFF BUT THE US + IRAN JUST KEEP SWINGING, but not hitting or striking, the other.
BLOGGERS = opined that any more US-led sanctions on Iran may force it to deem same as de facto acts of war by the US on Iran, requiring Iran to militarily defend themselves, IRAN MAY MOST LIKELY PREEMPTIVELY STRIKE THE US FIFTH FLEET IN BAHRAIN, + TARGETS IN SAUDI ARABIA???
[An Nahar] European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... governments have reached a preliminary agreement on an oil embargo against Iran but are debating when the measure should come into force, EU diplomats said Wednesday, as French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said the decision could be taken at an EU foreign ministers' meeting on January 30 in Lisbon.
"There is an agreement in principle to forge ahead" with an oil embargo, a diplomat told Agence La Belle France Presse, but added that "there is still a lot of work" to do on its implementation ahead of the January 30 meeting.
Meanwhile, ...back at the laboratory the fumes had dispersed, to reveal an ominous sight... Juppe said: "It's at this occasion I hope that we can adopt this embargo on Iranian oil exports. We are working on this and things are on track."
The EU had been divided over whether to impose an Iranian oil ban, but a breakthrough was reached late December after Greece, Spain and other nations that import Iran's crude lifted their objections, another diplomat said.
EU governments are now negotiating when the embargo should affect existing contracts between Iran and European companies, the diplomats said.
"That's the bone of contention, in terms of timing," one of the diplomats said.
Another issue to resolve is finding alternative sources of oil for countries that rely on Iranian crude.
Spain represents 14.6 percent of Iranian oil imports to Europe, Greece 14.0 and Italia 13.1 percent.
Iranian leaders and military officials have warned that such an embargo could push them to close the strategic Strait of Hormuz at the entrance to the Gulf, through which 20 percent of the world's oil flows.
Iran has just finished 10 days of naval exercises near Hormuz, meant to show it was capable of controlling the channel and closing it if necessary.
The exercises climaxed on Monday with the test-firing of three types of anti-warship missile.
The United States and other Western nations have imposed sanctions over Tehran's controversial nuclear program, which they believe is being used to develop atomic weapons.
Iran has repeatedly denied that allegation, saying the program is purely for energy and medical uses.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/05/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
Hasn't the united States military secured enough of the Euro trash zone African oil countries yet- CMOn GUYS GET THE LEAD OUT THEY WANT A WAR!
The Arab League team in Syria is led by a Sudanese general accused of killing civilians. BTW, Sudan is an ally of Iran.
The deal was that Syria would allow observers to witness Syrian security forces not attacking protestors for a month. Syria tried to deceive the observers on this point, but failed.
The Arab League originally wanted 500 observers, but Syria agreed to 150 and only let 70 in, and tried to keep them away from any violence. This failed and now Syria has lost any remaining credibility it had with the Arab League.
Posted by: Mike Ramsey ||
01/05/2012 00:00 ||
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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.
[Yemen Post] Yemeni Deputy Minister of Information Abdu Aljanadi said today that 
... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it...
[Dawn] Al Qaeda, the Afghan Taliban and Pak 
Wazoo
[Dawn] Pakistain saw a significant decline in 
Punjab
Kurram Agency
Sudan is an ally of Iran.
