KABUL: Afghan presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah on Sunday accused senior election officials of serious fraud, opening a dispute over the vote count that could threaten a smooth transition of power.
I take it he lost...
The United Nations had called on candidates to give officials time to conduct the count and investigate fraud allegations, but Abdullah launched a verbal assault on the Independent Election Commission (IEC) one day after the vote.
He said that the turnout figure of 7 million voters announced by the IEC commissioner Ahmad Yousuf Nuristani was probably false. And he demanded the sacking of Zia-ul-Haq Amarkhail, chief of the IEC secretariat, over an alleged attempt by Amarkhail to remove unused ballots from the IEC's headquarters in Kabul on polling day.
"There is no collaborating evidence (of the turnout figure) at all throughout the country â that is something that is questionable and what we are concerned about is once again engineered fraud," Abdullah told reporters. "The head of the secretariat was... caught red-handed and we want an investigation. We want him to be removed from his position."
Abdullah feels massive fraud denied him victory in the 2009 election, and he has often said that only a repeat of ballot rigging could deny him power this election.
"Allegations of fraud need to be addressed," US ambassador James Cunningham said on Saturday after polls closed. "But the candidates and their supporters should refrain from premature judgements and from criticism that is not supported with clear evidence."
Saturday's run-off pitted former foreign minister Abdullah against ex-World Bank economist Ashraf Ghani
How on earth does an Afghani become a "World Bank economist"?
after the two came top of the first-round election on April 5. The preliminary result is due on July 2, before the official complaints period begins, and the final result is scheduled for July 22. The Electoral Complaints Commission registered about 275 complaints by Sunday morning.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/16/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
"We listened very carefully to the U.S. Army," McCain said of the A-10 supporters. "They are the ones who need the close air support, they are ones who are in grave danger without it."
And yet they are retiring them.
B1B providing close air? Are they smoking crack out there????
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
06/16/2014 0:22 Comments ||
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#2
Look, I like the A-10. It is terrifying to our opponents and very effective once it arrives on site. But, the Air Force wienies are not being complete retards here. They are trying to expand the Close Air Support (CAS) footprint for the soldier at low cost.
The B1 carries 216 500 lb SDBs, which can glide out for more than 50 miles, and the B1 itself is a supersonic delivery platform. So, a single B1 on orbit can really deliver MUCH more ordnance on target MUCH faster than a flight of A-10's on orbit.
However, if anyone messes up on the input side describing where the bombs need to land, well then that will be a mess. We had that happen in 2001 and it looks like we had it happen again recently. In such a case the A-10 pilots, would have seen the mistake and then changed targets. A robot bomb from a B1 cannot do that.
I really have a hard time arguing that in order to keep HIGHLY TRAINED SPECIAL FORCES troops from putting wrong coordinates into their coms systems, we need to prefer a system that delivers less CAS support to the soldiers in theater.
Personally, I would be happy to keep both capabilities. That would add options to the local commander, which is always good, but may be too expensive given the economizing that is necessary because of domestic spending exemplified by the number of Obamaphones with monthly service fees that must be paid to US based wireless corporations, who make campaign contributions.
Perhaps we live in a country where our soldiers in the field need to make campaign contributions to keep open their options for close air support?
If this narrative has made you less and less comfortable as it has progressed, then write a note to your Senator asking to maintain and improve CAS options. Yes, Senators are politicians and mostly useless, but only mostly, not absolutely.
#3
Nicely articulated, well thought remark.
The third leg of course is to remove some of the C from CAS by reducing the number of 'surgical' missions with minimum teams. That will require a reassessment of the COIN strategy and acceptance of more collateral damage. Not gonna happen.
#4
Rammer makes some good points. Bottom line however, nothing beats 'eyes on target' and the capability to dynamically re-task, either from an airborne platform, troops in contact, or ground based UAV operator. Modern thermal imaging also permits the real-time sorting of friendlies from bad guys.
Lastly, 'squirters' happen. I don't care how dark it is or how fast a squirter runs, he's probably not going to be able to outmaneuver that 30mm.
#5
"I really have a hard time arguing that in order to keep HIGHLY TRAINED SPECIAL FORCES troops from putting wrong coordinates into their coms systems"
The obvious answer is to invest MORE into CAS UI system and sort out the CAS plane later.
#6
Rammer make a fair argument, but I completely disagree. The reason B2 aircraft will continue to hit is because the aircraft have no visual on the target. The SOF fight close in, The B2 fire at a grid put in by some kid getting his ass shot off. The A10 flies over the target, the enemy know all hell is about to break loose and hunker down effectively stopping the fight. They see the targets and the friendlies. Then they come back for the kill, a fairly precision event. There is no good side to this. The only bombs the B2 should be dropping are the lazer guided bombs directed by the guy on the ground. Have we learned nothing from Viet-Nam???
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
06/16/2014 10:33 Comments ||
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#8
Once and for all, GIVE THE @%$#%#@%^ A-10s TO THE ARMY, and quit creating such a #^$%%^%^ idiotic blunder. The Army wants them, the Army needs them, and the Army can deal with them. Let them have them. All this intra-service bickering does is give the enemy hope. Time for someone with brass ones to step up and put an end to the childish temper tantrums.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
06/16/2014 17:03 Comments ||
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#9
Amen and Amen OP. If a SPAD showed up overhead with guns blazin whilst soldiers or Marines were in contact, it would represent a huge boost in morale. Multiply the morale boost by about 10k for a Warthog.
#10
When the Air Force first tried to give them away it was just prior to the first gulf war. I was on the Army pilots list to be trained. Then the war hit and they were the darling of the war and the air farce kept them....
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
06/16/2014 18:36 Comments ||
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#11
I've seen enough live UAV Full Motion Video (FMV) feeds in TOC's and listened to enough radio traffic to know that the A-10 and it's payload are the soldier and Marines very, very close friends.
#12
Hey, the B1 can fly over the target too, if you want that.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3esYp2oUXPw
But my point is ONE B1 can be overflying or bombing the shit out of anything in Afghanistan in under 30 minutes. A-10s from Baghram or Kandahar will take more than an hour on average, and we will need multiple ready planes, pilots, and crews at each airfield to even do that.
It would be better operationally to have both, but if we ,can only have one and you run the numbers, then it is much cheaper to fly the Bone. And it is cheaper whether you pay for it with Air Force or Army dollars.
And we need that money to forgive the student loans that little Timmy, who never served a minute, took out to pay for his MFA, because unlike our soldiers in the field, he is suffering.
#15
Roger Rammer, high five! No such fok'n thing as too much air cover. Optimally, all ground operations should include both dedicated Medivac on-call, attack helo's and/or fast movers in direct support. Can't always happen... but the optimal is indisputable. See the now very dated 'AirLand Battle Doctrine' for more.
#16
use the fast movers to deliver whatever passes for carpet bombing nowadays and give the low and slow mission to the A-10s.
using air force logic we can retire all the helos and use the F-35s to snatch downed aircrew.
#18
There is a reason they called it a strategic bomber. They don't use the B1 for air to air. They have proven over and over fighters make bad bombers and close air aircraft. The air force has been trying to get out of the close air business for years. I'm just tired of the politics of all of this. It gets down to who the f$%k really cares about the troops, lets spin each aircraft as close air support so we can get funded. Then when the air to air mods and deep strike mods are done, well sorry troops! I remember the F16 was sold to congress as a close air support aircraft. Then they put the fighter crap on it and could not support the troops. The air forces official answer was, Apache, see you don't need it. When you need to take out a village or camp, the B@ is a great platform. But when your fighting across some creek bed, the A10 is the correct answer...
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
06/16/2014 20:22 Comments ||
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#19
I thought the F-16 was also sold as a light-weight air defense fighter. I learn more and more.
TALEH, Somalia -- Amidst looming threats of instability in the disputed regions of Sool and Sanaag, a fresh incursion into the historic town of Taleh by Somaliland's separatist administration forces has been reported on Thursday, Garowe Online reports.
Taleh resident said on Puntland-based independent station, Radio Garowe that 40 fighting vehicles besieged the town by granting Khaatumo 3 Convention participants including founder and Federal MP Ali Khalif Galaydh a safe passage out of the town.
"No combat has occurred in the town. Armed ordinary residents are roaming around here and Khaatumo 3 conference organizers departed either overnight on Wednesday and in the early hours of [Thursday morning]," he said.
Speaking on BBC Somali Service Somaliland Armed Forces Commander-In-Chief Gen. Ismael Shaqale confirmed the military move as normal operation aimed at securing Somaliland borders.
Separately, Somaliland yesterday deployed hundreds of its troops in Sanaag region, positioning them in temporary bases near Hingalool district.
The new leader Dr. Abdiweli Mohamed Ali Gaas who was elected Puntland's new president in a narrow victory margin of 33-to-32 parliamentary vote on January 8, 2014 campaigned for Lasanod issue during presidential elections.
On April 25, Somaliland troops seized Holhol village in Sool, with units within the forces seizing strategic oil-rich targets.
In Septemper 2013, Anglo-Turkish Oil Exploration Company, Genel Energy withdrew its expatriates from Somaliland due to political pressure with the possibility that Federal Government of Somalia threatened license revocation, Somaliland officials initially disclosed. A spokesman for the company afterwards told that security issues forced them to vacate the oil exploration fields in the separatist region.
UN Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea warned in 2013 confidential report that Western commercial oil exploration may spark new conflict in Somalia: "These inconsistencies, unless resolved, may lead to increased political conflict between federal and regional governments that risk exacerbating clan divisions and therefore threaten peace and security," the UN report noted.
In a piece published in Wall Street Journal in late May unveiled that Somaliland is planning the formation of oil-field protection unit, exposing international concern over arms embargo and the proliferation of private companies which would run counter to UN stance.
Somaliland's neighbor to east, Puntland warmed of "consequences" in Somaliland's pursuit of oil exploration in Sool and Sanaag regions.
"Somaliland is creating conflict in the region. Somaliland cannot give land to foreign companies to explore oil when the land does not belong to Somaliland," former Puntland President Abdirahman Mohamed Farole said while he was delivering a keynote address at Puntland State House in Garowe on 1 August, a date on which Puntland people celebrated 15 years of statehood.
Local clan militias who come from the same clan as the self-declared administration of Khaatumo leaders are said to have been coordinating the offensives with Somaliland government forces, sources disclosed.
Puntland and Somaliland have fought sporadic battles since 2002 over the control of territories mainly in Sool region. Somaliland, located in northwestern Somalia unilaterally declared its independence from the rest of the country as a de facto sovereign state in 1991 but it hasn't been recognized internationally yet.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/16/2014 00:00 ||
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[AnNahar] Three gangs from northern Mali announced in Algiers on Sunday that they have agreed to begin talks with the Bamako government aimed at resolving long-standing disputes.
The National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA), the High Council for the Unity of Azawad (HCUA) and the Arab Movement of Azawad (MAA) had signed the "Algiers Declaration" late Monday, demanding "inclusive" peace and political talks in their troubled country.
The top leaders of the MNLA and HCUA, formed by ethnic Tuareg who have since 1962 launched four uprisings to fight Mali's army over the territory they claim as their homeland and call Azawad, have been in the Algerian capital since June 5.
A ceasefire was signed with the Bamako government on May 23.
On Sunday, initial discussions were concluded with the three groups signing a preliminary accord that will now be presented to the Malian government, according to the document seen by Agence La Belle France Presse.
Malian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop is now expected in Algiers later Sunday.
His Algerian counterpart, Ramtane Lamamra, was reported by the APS news agency as saying that the talks between the three groups had allowed them to converge and clarify their positions.
Lamamra also insisted on the necessity of an "inclusive" inter-Malian dialogue.
After meeting Lamamra, the head of the United Nations ...a formerly good idea gone bad... peacekeeping force in Mali, known as MINUSMA, said negotiations are now a priority.
"The region will be in danger if there is no reconciliation," state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
quoted Albert Gerard Koenders as saying.
He added that it was "important to organize inclusive negotiations" with the aim of restoring peace to northern Mali.
In the document, the three groups agree to "engage with the government of Mali in a constructive manner on the path of dialogue and negotiations for a new government that responds to the profound and legitimate aspirations of the people of north Mali."
Among their demands is the release of prisoners and "better conditions for the return of refugees once a definitive agreement is signed."
In January 2012, Tuareg fighters began the first rebellion in three years in northern Mali and formed an alliance with Islamists linked to al-Qaeda, who sought to impose a brutal interpretation of Islamic law in towns they controlled.
Mali's army was meanwhile thrown into disarray by a coup in Bamako in March 2012.
Islamists linked to al-Qaeda gained the upper hand over the Tuaregs in several towns before military intervention by former colonial power La Belle France in January 2013, which helped drive the armed bully boyz to desert hideouts. The MNLA allied itself with the army to fight Islamist forces.
Representatives of the peoples in northern Mali previously held "exploratory consultations" in Algiers in January.
They said they wanted to get full political and peace talks off the ground after discussions last year mediated by Burkina Faso ...The country in west Africa that they put where Upper Volta used to be. Its capital is Oogadooga, or something like that. Its president is currently Blaise Compaoré, who took office in 1987 and will leave office feet first, one way or the other... on behalf of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
Algeria, which has a long mostly non-existent border with Mali criss-crossed by jihadist movements, is helping to mediate in the conflict affecting its southern neighbor.
Egyptian security forces confiscated copies of a human rights groupâs newsletter, saying the publication threatened the government, the head of the group said on Sunday.
Can't have that, can we...
Gamal Eid, the head of the Arab Network for Human Rights Information, said police seized 1,000 copies of the publication, entitled Wasla, or Link, from the print shop the night before, also arresting a worker at the Press.
The newsletter is a digest of blogs and social media content that has been distributed to select readers by mail since 2010. The current issue focused on newly elected President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi, with activists discussing the sources of his popularity. Some of the contributors argued in favour of Al Sisiâs left-wing opponent in the elections.
Another commentator supported Al Sisiâs election, saying he would keep Egypt a secular state. The issue also included an article on journalist who works for Qatar-based broadcaster Al Jazeera who has been in detention since last year, without formal charges and on hunger strike for over 100 days in protest.
Security officials were not immediately available for comment. Lawyers said a police investigation was underway.
Eid said security officials told lawyers that the publication was part of a plan to âoverthrow the regimeâ and was linked to the Muslim Brotherhood, which the government declared a terrorist organisation last year. Eid called the accusations âludicrous,â and gave an ominous sign for freedom of expression under the new president, just a week into his term. Eid said that since his publication wasnât even sold to the public its seizure meant the crackdown was escalating to include non-governmental organisations critical of the governmentâs restrictions on freedoms. He said the confiscation was a violation of the law and unconstitutional.
Egyptâs newly amended constitution, approved after Mursiâs ouster, states that censorship or confiscation of publications is prohibited, permitting âlimited censorship in times of war or general mobilization.â
Guess this is one of those times...
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/16/2014 00:00 ||
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Yemeni troops were on Sunday surrounding a Sanaa mosque controlled by former president Ali Abdullah Saleh amid concerns he is plotting a coup, a source close to the presidency said.
Saleh had ruled Yemen for 33 years before he was forced to resign in February, 2012. He was replaced by his longtime deputy President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi under a UN and Gulf-sponsored deal.
Presidential guard troops backed by armoured vehicles blocked access to the large Al Saleh mosque in Sanaaâs southern district, an AFP correspondent reported. The source close to the presidency said that weapons had been stored in the mosque
...isn't that what a mosque is for?
and were being guarded by gunmen loyal to the former president.
A tunnel connecting the site to the presidential palace had been discovered.
Hadi suspects his predecessor is âplotting a coupâ, the source said, without elaborating further.
The surrounding of the mosque late on Saturday came days after the authorities shut down a newspaper and television channel owned by Saleh. The media outlets, both named Yemen Today, have often been singled out for their coverage, seen as biased against the government formed after Salehâs departure.
They have also been accused of inciting protests in Sanaa against power cuts and water and fuel shortages.
Although weakened, Saleh still heads the influential General Peopleâs Congress (GPC) political party and retains the loyalty of some elements in the military. Critics accuse him of impeding the countryâs political transition.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/16/2014 00:00 ||
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[Ynet] Prime Minister David Cameron ... has stated that he is certainly a big Thatcher fan, but I don't know whether that makes me a Thatcherite, which means he's not. Since he is not deeply ideological he lacks core principles and is easily led. He has been described as certainly not a Pitt, Elder or Younger, but he does wear a nice suit so maybe he's Beau Brummel ... said on Sunday Britannia had been too tolerant of Islamist radicalism in the past and allowed violent rhetoric to flourish, pledging a "muscular" approach to combat the problem.
Facing re-election next year, Cameron's tougher line comes days after the chief schools inspector said a culture of "fear and intimidation" existed in some schools due to what parts of the media called a Moslem krazed killer plot.
#1
Just to point out that Cameron was originally a PR man. I would advise also watching PMQ's on Wednesday lunch. He is very good there. To be very frank the Conservatives are and should be in power after that total cock up by Labour. Theresa May is also very good in her position as Home Secretary
[AnNahar] U.S. President Barack Obama Dreams of My Sainted Father... came under fire Sunday from Republican politicians, who warned that a debacle in Iraq will give Islamist faceless myrmidons a staging area for "the next 9/11."
Senator Lindsey Graham ... the endangered South Carolina RINO... , a proponent of U.S. air strikes, also called for the resignation of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ... Prime Minister of Iraq and the secretary-general of the Islamic Dawa Party. Maliki imposed order on Basra wen the Shiites were going nuts, but has proven incapable of dealing with al-Qaeda's Sunni insurgency. Reelected to his third term in 2014... and direct U.S. engagement with Iran on the crisis set off this week by a lightning offensive by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant ... the current version of al-Qaeda in Iraq, just as blood-thirsty and well-beloved as the original... (ISIL) jihadist group.
Fighters from the group routed the much larger Iraqi army, seizing the country's second largest city djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... and sweeping through the Sunni heartland towards Storied Baghdad.
The United States moved an aircraft carrier and two missile-guided warships into the Gulf on Saturday as Obama weighed his options.
Retired military officers questioned whether air strikes were a viable near-term option with no U.S. forces on the ground to provide precise targeting data.
[Trailing wife's comment snipped by tw because it occurred to her it might harm someone real.]
Retired General Peter Chiarelli, a former commander in Iraq, said ISIL fighters "have an opportunity here, they have taken advantage of that opportunity, and I think we should really, really be concerned."
"I read someplace yesterday, where they're the richest terrorist group in the world after what they were able to seize in Mosul, so I'm concerned, and I think all Americans should be concerned," he told ABC's "This Week."
Graham, interviewed on CNN's "State of the Union," said Washington had to act "because Iraq and Syria combined are going to be the staging area for the next 9/11 if we don't do something about it."
"The people holding ground in Iraq also hold ground in Syria. Economic instability that comes from a collapsed Iraq will affect gas prices and our economic recovery," he said.
Another Republican politician, House Homeland Security chairman Michael McCaul, stopped short of calling for U.S. military action but pressed for an intensive diplomatic initiative with U.S. allies in the region to find a political solution involving Iraq's Sunni, Shia and Kurds.
"Without their cooperation against the faceless myrmidons this isn't going to happen. They're not going to do it on their own. They need us to lead them and we're not leading right now as a nation," he said on ABC's "This Week."
"This is the worst of the worst," he said of ISIL. "If they get back into the United States or western Europe, I see that as the biggest threat today."
#1
All places where women are excluded tend downward to barbarism; but the moment she is introduced, there come in with her courtesy, cleanliness, sobriety, and order- Harriet Beecher Stowe
She is referring to Republican women, of course. Dad would be proud.
#3
It does become harder and harder to have faith in an administration that is plagued with scandal after scandal.a criminal enterprise. FIFY Alison. Your dad would be proud of you.
[AnNahar] Hundreds of protesters from Pakistain's minority Shiite Hazara community on Sunday staged a demonstration in the southwestern city of Quetta against a government ban on road travel to Iran where they go for pilgrimage.
Men, women and kiddies sat on a main road carrying placards and chanting slogans demanding the ban be lifted.
They also called for better security for pilgrims traveling to the holy sites in Iran and Iraq via Pakistain's southwestern 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... province, which borders Iran.
Pakistain imposed a ban on road trips to Iran after four jacket wallahs struck two restaurants in the remote town of Taftan near the Iranian border last week, killing 24 pilgrims who were returning home.
A large number of Pak Shiite Mohammedans travel to Iran via dangerous roads passing through the restive Balochistan province, a battleground both for hardline Sunni snuffies and ethnic Baluch separatists.
"We have staged this sit-in protest to urge the government to reopen the road route to Iran because everybody can't afford an airplane ticket," Daud Agha, a big shot of the Shiite community, told Agence La Belle France Presse.
"We will not conclude our protest until the government decides positively about our demands," Agha added.
Two devastating bombings in Quetta targeting the city's Shiites killed nearly 200 people last year and were claimed by banned Sunni myrmidon organization Lashkar-e-Jhangvi ... a 'more violent' offshoot of Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistain. LeJ's purpose in life is to murder anyone who's not of utmost religious purity, starting with Shiites but including Brelvis, Ahmadis, Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Rosicrucians, and just about anyone else you can think of. They are currently a wholly-owned subsidiary of al-Qaeda ... (LeJ), which has links to al-Qaeda.
The Hazara community staged similar protests last year also to demand improved security for their areas of Quetta.
Nearly 1,000 Shiites have been killed in the past two years in Pakistain, a heavy toll on a community that makes up roughly 20 percent of the country's population of 180 million, which is predominantly Mohammedan.
#1
See also GUAM PDN > RISE OF SHIITE MILITIAS COULD FRACTURE IRAQ.
and
* WORLD MILITARY FORUM > "DEUTSCHE WELLE" GERMAN MEDIA: ISIS/ISIL BATTLE FOR IRAQ COULD SPARK 30-YEAR SHIA-SUNNI WAR. IRAN TO ESTABLISH POTENT SHIA AXIS OF STATES IN THE MIDDLE EAST.
[Daily Beast] The takeaway isn't the targeting piece. Drones can provide effective targeting and battle damage assessment (BDA). The takeaway is the imbedded declassified link, which reveals the absence of strategic surprise and foreknowledge of pending calamity.
#2
funny how this administration can find justification for droning an American (note: a very bad person), trading terrorists for deserters, ignoring border laws, privacy laws and various constitutional constraints but just cannot seem to know what to do when bad guys are running up and down the street robbing banks and killing people.
#3
A third option is to go to Congress and ask it to reinterpret the al Qaeda AUMF to expand it to apply more broadly to all terrorist groups threatening Western interests.
Behold the Obama paradox. On the one hand he loathes the appearance that congress may be co-equal to his eminence. On the other hand consulting congress allows him to dither while appearing to do something. What ta do what ta do?
#10
OWG Globalism indics or infers that there can be no major war because Nuke-armed Russia + China + India are involved or have regional influence, + also Soon-to-be-Nuclear Iran + prolly not-a-few, anti-Iran Sunni states.
* TOPIX > {AEI] IRAQ IS BURNING, + THE US IS WATCHING.
Histoire' says the Bammer's behavior will likely be the same for China iff a shooting war ever breaks out between China + Japan, Vietnam, PHIL, etc. in East Asia-Pacific.
To be sure, as a good or proficient US Politico + alleged Anti-US US Marxist-Anarchist-Globalist [also read, PRO-CO-SUPERPOWER]the Bammer will "go thru the motions" and wilfully deploy a number of USDOD mil assets, but thats about all US Allies should expect.
Each OWG Global Fed Union + Co-Superpower principal(s) need to be effec differentiated + justified, one from any each + all others.
* RUSSIA TODAY > DESPERATE MEAURES: KERRY SAYS TO TURN TO IRAN, DRONE STRIKES TO FIGHT ISIS.
"Radical Measures".
* WASHINGTON FREE BEACON > SENIOR DHS OFFICIAL: "INEVITABLE THAT CALIPHATE RETURNS". ONLY CHOICE IS "WHETHER WE [US = West?] SUPPORT.
Can the US-West support the concept of effective [+ par?] "MUSLIM UNION" [aka "Islamic Union" + related] like it does "EUROPEAN UNION" [NAU = North Amer Union]???
Global? Nuclear? Shia-vs-Sunni-vs-Pan-Muslim? Caliphate? or Caliphates??
Waving a red flag in-front of the Turkish army has not shown itself to be a good long term survival strategy.
ANKARA -- Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan Current Prime Minister of Turkey, ex-footballer and reciter of poetry
on Sunday expressed concern over the deteriorating situation in northern Iraq after Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants began to attack Mosul's Telafer district where thousands of Turkmen are believed to live, local Daily News said.
"The developments in Telafer are something that cannot be underestimated. As is known, Telafer is an area mainly inhabited by Turkmen. Almost half of the Turkmen there are Sunni, but the other half are Shia," Erdogan said during a rally in Turkey's Trabzon on Sunday. Big thugs driving a technical with an ISIL flag stop you on the street. "Are you Sunni or Shia?" I think I know what my answer would be.
The prime minister said that Turkey is highly vigilant against the development of the situation and prepared for any step to cope with it. Where is that big green water wheel?
His statement came just few hours after the Turkish Foreign Ministry warned that the crisis in Iraq had gained a dimension of "sectarian clashes" Really
and urged its citizens to leave the country as soon as possible.
Turkish media said that at least five Turkish citizens had been killed after ISIL launched an attack in the Telafer district on Sunday.
ISIL militants captivated 31 Turkish truck drivers on Tuesday after they captured Mosul. On Wednesday they took control of the Turkish consulate, kidnapping 49 staff and their family members, including the consul-general. I would take the capture of my embassy as a hint that I should skeedaddle.
#1
Yeah, the Turks are looking for an excuse to settle a few scores with the Kurds but will whack a few ISIL hard boys as a warm up.
Don't screw with the Turks. The ChiComs learned that lesson in Korea and the Turkish response left even our Marines awe-struck at their effectiveness with knives.
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
06/16/2014 1:25 Comments ||
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#2
Northern Syria may just become a buffer area, occupied by the Turkish Army. ISIS irregulars don't stand up so well in a direct fire fight with a fairly modern and trained force - and the Turks may still have just that.
#3
Turkey = China = has nowhere or no place to expand its geopol sphere of influence, wid or widout Globalist Obama, + where Turkey can it will run into rival Iran andor the Russians.
* OTOH see DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > [CNN] VIDEO: ISIS: "WE WILL RAISE OUR FLAG IN TEHRAN".
Thats one way for Hard Boyz to acquire NucMats + LRBMS.
Ankara? Instanbul?
* SAME > IRAQ IMPLOSION COULD REDRAW MIDDLE EAST BOUNDARIES.
#6
Question that I couldn't figure out in the middle of the night:
Thanks to Prime Minister Erdogan, a significant number of Turkish senior officers are either on trial, in jail, or summarily retired. How will this affect the army's effectiveness in the current situation? By this I include dealing with the demands of the government, choosing objectives, strategizing, and all the rest that the kind of officer that got on the wrong side of this government would have done. Thanking you in advance, etc.
#7
Shirley, TW, that sort of insight is all over the media, right? Is Nightline still on the air? Teds Koppel would be discussing that sort of thing, no? Good questions, tho...
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/16/2014 8:06 Comments ||
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#10
How will this affect the army's effectiveness in the current situation?
Depends. Simple straight forward ops should be okay. I suspect the lower-level leadership has not been affected. The questionable will be more on mid to long term strategy.
#12
A contrary view of the Turkish Brigades(s) in Korea by (surprise!) a Greek source. There is certainly evidence of a ginned up mythos, but it looks like they fought as well as could be expected for green troops.
The Arab League (AL) on Sunday strongly slammed the attacks committed by Jihadist-led militants in Iraq, but rejected any attempts of interference in the domestic affairs of the conflict-stricken country.
"AL denounces terrorist attacks that are being perpetrated by the group called 'Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)' against the Iraqi people," an AL statement said following an extraordinary meeting of permanent representatives in Cairo.
AL also slammed the recent terrorist attacks that "aim to destabilize Iraq and harm its unity."
The pan-Arab body called on Iraqi leaders and politicians to engage in "a comprehensive and earnest dialogue to confront the threats that endanger the security, stability and unity of Iraq."
Sure. Dialog. One side is butchering prisoners of war. Dialog. Right.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/16/2014 00:00 ||
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[AnNahar] U.S. Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State... Sunday condemned the kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers, and said many indications pointed to the involvement of Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,.
"We are still seeking details on the parties responsible for this despicable terrorist act, although many indications point to Hamas' involvement," he said.
"As we gather this information, we reiterate our position that Hamas is a terrorist organization known for its attacks on innocent civilians and which has used kidnapping in the past."
Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu directly accused Hamas of the kidnapping after Israeli troops tossed in the clink You have the right to remain silent... 80 Paleostinians overnight.
The teenagers, students at Jewish seminaries in the West Bank, were believed to have been kidnapped Thursday night while hitchhiking in an area between Bethlehem and Hebron.
Their disappearance came 10 days after the establishment of a new Paleostinian government of technocrats pieced together by the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... ' Fatah movement and Hamas following a unity agreement between rival leaders in the West Bank and Gazoo.
[Ynet] As BDS movement gains steam in Europe, it now moves to register significant gain in US, with more and more religious organizations and student unions gearing up to join boycott and work to promote divestment.
The Presbyterian Church (USA)
...the Progressive, shrinking, anti-Israel branch of the Presbyterian movement, as compared to the conservative, not anti-Israel, growing branches, each of which has a slightly different name...
appears to be on the brink of handing a major victory to a movement that wants institutions to wield their investment dollars against Israel over its treatment of the Paleostinians.
Ritual. Comforting to one's psyche and ego, particularly when you seek and find a group that reaffirms your own bigotries and prejudices. Extra special to get to add 'God' to your pantheon of fellow collaborators. Doubleplus Good to get to skip over things like; thou shall not covet, thou shall not bear false witness, thou shall not steal, etc cause the Rev said it was OK.
From Wik: "Black liberation theology is a theological perspective found in some Christian churches in the United States which contextualizes Christianity in an attempt to help African-Americans overcome oppression. Black liberation theology seeks to liberate people of color from multiple forms of political, social, economic, and religious subjugation and views Christian theology as a theology of liberation"a rational study of the being of God in the world in light of the existential situation of an oppressed community, relating the forces of liberation to the essence of the Gospel, which is Jesus Christ," writes James Hal Cone, one of the original advocates of the perspective."
[Washington Times] The Pentagon is pushing back against a State Department assertion that there is the potential for a military coordination with Iran to help Iraq combat violent al Qaeda-inspired Sunni extremists.
Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby told reporters Monday morning that although there is the potential for discussions with Iran about aggressive actions committed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in Iraq, there is no plan to consult Iran on military activities inside Iraq. No DoD plan anyway.
#4
Cool Guam am, sounding pretty sweet. I am going to try to get there one day Joe. Not sure when, I am a very poor traveler, but you on on my bucket list.
[AnNahar] The United States is preparing to launch direct talks with Iran on how the longtime foes can halt a radical Sunni insurgency that has seized a swathe of Iraq, The Wall Street Journal reported.
We await with bated breath to discover if The Smartest Men In The Room demand surrender of the Iranian nuke program in exchange.
Set to begin next week,
Never mind, then. We can't wait that long, and Iran has already sent in something like 2,000 Revolutionary Guards.
the dialogue comes with Shiite Iran's neighbor mired in crisis once more with Sunni forces of Evil seizing a large swathe of Iraq and advancing toward Storied Baghdad.
"We haven't engaged and (have) nothing to preview," a U.S. official told Agence La Belle France Presse.
But there is a prevailing sense in Washington that the United States has not ruled out talks with Tehran either. The White House, while declining to comment on the Journal's report, did not deny it.
Deputy Secretary of State William Burns, who has led back-channel negotiations with Iran, traveled to Vienna, where he will join Under Secretary for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman, the State Department said.
Washington has responded to the sweeping unrest by deploying an aircraft carrier group to the Gulf, and President Barack Obama I mean, I do think at a certain point you've made enough money... is weighing possible military options while ruling out any return of U.S. combat troops to Iraq.
And Iran's President Hassan Rouhani made a surprise announcement over the weekend that Tehran may consider cooperating with Washington to fight the Sunni forces of Evil in Iraq.
Both countries have promised military support to Iraq if requested.
U.S. officials told the Journal, which published the report on its website Sunday for Monday's print edition, that it was not yet clear which diplomatic channel the B.O. regime would use to discuss the Iraq crisis with Iran.
But one possibility would be through Vienna, where US and Iranian diplomats are due to meet starting Monday for international talks seeking to clinch an agreement on limiting Iran's nuclear capabilities.
Some U.S. officials were skeptical about any potential progress that could be made in Iraq with Tehran, which has a different vision for its neighbor than Washington.
"This is a case where the enemy of our enemy is still our enemy," a U.S. defense official who has worked extensively in Iraq told the Journal. "Any shared interests in Iraq are limited."
In a sign of the seriousness of the threat from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, tweets attributed to the forces of Evil claimed they had killed 1,700 Shia soldiers.
Photos posted online were also said to show ISIL fighters summarily executing dozens of captured members of the security forces.
The United States denounced the "horrifying" massacre, which has not yet been independently confirmed.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
06/16/2014 00:50 ||
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#1
The empty suit administration is sounding more and more like the UN with all of their condemnations and inactivity.
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
06/16/2014 1:34 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Quds forse is already in contact and fighting. 1st casualties being reported in Iran. From what Im hearing,some light infantry in trucks is marshaling on the Iraqi side of the border in friendly Shiite dominated areas, and will likely move in force to secure Shiite religious sites, and then directly engage the ISIS, as well as local Sunnis. Rumors in Baghdad also say the Iranians have a a mech bn and artillery getting ready on the Iranian side, to cross over once Maliki asks formally for help - so the Iranians finally get effective (de facto, not de jure) control of a chunk of Iraq, and they get to be the Good Guys while doing it.
#5
Except I don't think the Jews are going to play by a script put forth by our feckless-community-organizer-in-chief when their existence in on the line.
#9
Again the hand of ValJar and that moron Rice. Since all policy is seen through a Chicago political lens and pro-Muslim attitude, ValJar's affinity for her place of birth doesn't seem out of place. Helping Iran while thumbing you nose at the Jews is a twofer for her and Champ stays out of the WH and gets folding with syncophants with raising money and giving endless speeches
[AnNahar] Syria has freed after 21 years in jail an ex-horse rider known to have been an equestrian rival of one of President Bashar Assad's late brothers, reports said Sunday.
The release of Adnan Qassar is part of a wide-reaching amnesty that Assad decreed last week, and has seen some 1,500 people freed from the war-ravaged country's prisons, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
"In 1993, Adnan Qassar was one of the top horse riders in Syria and the Arab world. He won a horse race against Bassel Assad," who at the time was being groomed for the presidency, said Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman.
"Qassar was thrown in Saydnaya jail (near Damascus) for his 'crime'," said Abdel Rahman.
Aks Alser, a Syrian opposition activist website, also reported Qassar's release, and said he had been accused of "possessing explosives, and of trying to assassinate Bassel Assad."
Qassar was jailed "without trial," it added.
A year later when Bassel Assad died in a traffic accident, "Qassar was dragged out of his cell to a public square, beaten and then thrown back in jail. It took them 21 years to release him", said Abdel Rahman.
The Assad clan has ruled Syria with an iron fist for more than 40 years.
"Qassar was not a political activist. But in Syria, no one is allowed to be better at anything than the Assads," Abdel Rahman said.
Qassar was set free as part of a wide-reaching general amnesty that President Assad decreed last week.
So far, some 1,500 people have been set free from jails across the country, most of them from Damascus, according to the Observatory.
The amnesty is unprecedented because it pledges pardon and reduce sentences for people jailed under Syria's controversial 2012 anti-terror law, which has seen tens of thousands of people jailed over political charges.
The regime has systematically branded armed and unarmed dissidents, including journalists, of being "foreign-backed terrorists."
"Some of those released so far are prisoners of conscience, others were in jail over criminal charges," Abdel Rahman said.
The number of those released so far pales in comparison to the estimated total of 100,000 people imprisoned, including some 50,000 held in security buildings dotted across the country.
[AnNahar] A security plan set to be enforced in the capital Beirut will include the area of Bourj Hammoud, media reports said on Sunday.
An Interior Ministry source said in comments published in the pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat that "the official security plan set to be implemented in Beirut will include Bourj Hammoud, which is considered part of the capital."
The plan will be implemented in the area "regardless of the number of wanted suspects there."
The source stressed that the decision was taken ahead of the recent festivities that erupted in the area.
"The security plan will include all areas in order to maintain security on all Lebanese territories."
On Friday night, a clash erupted between an gang and a number of residents in the al-Nabaa neighborhood in Bourj Hammoud area, prompting the intervention of security forces.
Clashes and security violations are common in al-Nabaa, which is confessionally and politically mixed.
Recently, Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq said that a security plan for Beirut is expected to witness light in June.
The army and security forces have already implemented a security plan in the northern city of Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... and the eastern Bekaa Valley, arresting scores of gunnies and members of gangs involved in car thefts and kidnappings in return for ransom.
[AnNahar] Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi said Sunday that there is "Arab consensus" over the issue of providing military equipment to the Lebanese Army.
The promised support is aimed at enabling the army to "preserve the country's security, protect the state's constitutional institutions and safeguard national unity and Lebanon's social fabric," Arabi said in a speech at the opening of an extraordinary meeting for the League's permanent representatives in Cairo.
He noted that the talks were held "at Lebanon's request, in the framework of following up on the implementation of the Kuwait (Arab) Summit in terms of offering military support to the Lebanese Army."
Arabi pointed out that the decision to assist the army was taken "unanimously" during the summit.
He said Sunday's meeting was significant because "it comes two days before the Rome meeting which will discuss means to support Lebanon."
A Lebanese Army delegation took part in the meeting to explain the situations in Lebanon and clarify the real needs of the military institution, according to media reports.
The delegation demonstrated a detailed report containing the army's technical and logistical needs.
Speaking on the sidelines of the meeting, Lebanon's permanent envoy to the Arab League Khaled Ziadeh noted that "the Lebanese Army is currently protecting the southern border in the face of the (Israeli) enemy, in addition to its role in combating terrorism and preserving the state's constitutional institutions."
The representatives' meeting was initially aimed at discussing Lebanon's request regarding the resolutions of the Kuwait summit, but the Iraqi crisis was put on the agenda in light of the stunning offensive of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, which has seized vast swathes of territory.
On June 7, visiting Italian Foreign Minister Federica Mogherini stressed that the army should be offered all the necessary support to maintain stability in Lebanon.
Mogherini's visit was aimed at discussing with senior Lebanese officials the ongoing preparations for the Rome conference.
Italy had previously announced that the International Support Group for Lebanon would hold a meeting in Rome in June to boost the Lebanese Armed Forces' capabilities and ease the Syrian refugee crisis.
The Syrian war has turned into a business in every sense of the word. Everything is negotiable and everything is up for sale. Numerous mafias have emerged and while they used to profit from developments brought forth by the war, now they contribute to directing the war. These mafias have moved from the phase of benefiting from crises to the phase of fabricating crises to serve their interests. The newest example in this regard is the bombing of a major pipeline for pumping water in the city of Aleppo, which has opened the door for the mafias to reap more of the black gold.
Earlier this month, a huge explosion rocked the city of Aleppo. The largest city in Syria and the terminus of the silk road.
It turned out that a tunnel was dug in the middle of al-Midan street and booby trapped. It was rumored at the time that the purpose of the explosion was to provide cover for gunmen who infiltrated al-Midan neighborhood which falls under the army's control, before announcing that "the attack failed."
The strange thing is that the area that was dug, booby trapped and blown up does not have any strategic significance and nothing falls within its range except the water pipeline known by most Aleppans to pass through that area. The explosion destroyed three out of four major pipes that pump drinking water from Suleiman al-Halabi Station and cut two power cables that feed the water pumps. This means drinking water has been cut off in a city that is always threatened by thirst because of constant Turkish manipulation of the waters of the Euphrates river. "OK Zeynep, turn the big round green wheel clockwise until it stops.
The Syrian Red Crescent in Aleppo, under the supervision of the Red Cross representative, negotiated with these groups. They reached an agreement consisting of two phases. The first phase is operating the water pumps by relying on power generators to ensure pumping drinking water to Aleppo's neighborhoods alternately through the undamaged pipe. The second phase requires bringing in repair teams to fix the pipes and the power cables. The Red Cross will pay for the repairs and the diesel. First mistake. Next time one-quarter upfront, one-quarter on completion, one-half after the first year of no-kabooms.
Sure enough, trucks began transferring an average of 45,000 liters of diesel per day under the supervision of the Red Cross. Sources told Al-Akhbar that the amount of diesel brought in is a lot more than the pumping station's need, which is estimated at 14,000 liters of diesel every 24 hours to work at full capacity. But the station is currently working at less than half its capacity. According to Al-Akhbar's sources, "the working pumps are three out of seven and they need four megawatts to start, but once they start, they need even less." Technical sources told Al-Akhbar that "generating four electricity megawatts requires 8,000 liters of diesel every 24 hours." However, Al-Akhbar's information indicates that "only one production unit is working at this time, 12 hours a day." I think you see where this is going. You guessed it. The repairs are not going to happen anytime soon.
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.
KABUL: Afghan presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah on Sunday accused senior election officials of serious fraud, opening a dispute over the vote count that could threaten a smooth transition of power.
Amen and Amen OP. If a SPAD showed up overhead with guns blazin whilst soldiers or Marines were in contact, it would represent a huge boost in morale. Multiply the morale boost by about 10k for a Warthog. 
David Cameron
Lindsey Graham
The Arab League (AL) on Sunday strongly slammed the attacks committed by Jihadist-led militants in Iraq, but rejected any attempts of interference in the domestic affairs of the conflict-stricken country.
The Syrian war has turned into a business in every sense of the word. Everything is negotiable and everything is up for sale. Numerous mafias have emerged and while they used to profit from developments brought forth by the war, now they contribute to directing the war. These mafias have moved from the phase of benefiting from crises to the phase of fabricating crises to serve their interests. The newest example in this regard is the bombing of a major pipeline for pumping water in the city of Aleppo, which has opened the door for the mafias to reap more of the black gold.
