[MAGHAREBIA] Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) posted a statement online Monday (July 14th) rejecting the self-declared caliphate in the Levant.
The AQIM letter contradicted an earlier message of support for the group formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Abu Abdullah Othman al-Asemi, AQIM's judge for the central region, released an audio tape late last month supporting ISIS.
But in the new statement, Abdelmalik Droukdel ... aka Abdel Wadoud, was a regional leader of the GSPC for several years before becoming the group's supremo in 2004 following the death of then-leader Nabil Sahraoui. Under Abdel Wadoud's leadership the GSPC has sought to develop itself from a largely domestic entity into a larger player on the international terror stage. In September 2006 it was announced that the GSPC had joined forces with al-Qaeda and in January 2007 the group officially changed its name to the Al-Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb.... 's group renews its allegiance to al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri ... Formerly second in command of al-Qaeda, now the head cheese, occasionally described as the real brains of the outfit. Formerly the Mister Big of Egyptian Islamic Jihad. Bumped off Abdullah Azzam with a car boom in the course of one of their little disputes. Is thought to have composed bin Laden's fatwa entitled World Islamic Front Against Jews and Crusaders. Currently residing in the North Wazoo area. That is not a horn growing from the middle of his forehead, but a prayer bump, attesting to how devout he is....
Algerian security services reportedly received information about deep disagreements within AQIM that may lead to the removal of Droukdel, over his refusal to swear allegiance to the emir of the Islamic State. Algerian daily El Khabar on Wednesday quoted a senior security source as saying that the rift began over a month ago, and that al-Qaeda could split in two, with one segment following His Supreme Immensity, Caliph of the Faithful and Galactic Overlord, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi ...formerly merely the head of ISIL and a veteran of the Bagram jailhouse. Looks like a new messiah to bajillions of Moslems, like just another dead-eyed mass murder to the rest of us... and the second loyal to al-Zawahiri.
This need to get right with Allah by following the latest strong horse is going to turn the taqfiris inward, rather than outward toward actual conquest. Their first impulse is to kill those who do not think exactly as they, and who more important to force into right thinking than their fellow mujahideen? We see that in the fighting between [Al Qaeda] Al Nusra and [Al Qaeda] ISIL, though at the moment ISIL is ascendant. May their fall be swift, bloody, and thorough, discrediting jihad as a method of dealing with the difficulties of the modern world.
According to the same source, the rebellion against Droukdel's leadership began after reports circulated about a conflict at the top of the pyramid of the global salafi jihadists, between al-Zawahiri and the ISIS emir about the expansion of the rising terror group in the Levant.
Droukdel reportedly considered the move of jihadists into Syria to mean losing the war against La Belle France in northern Mali.
In refusing to recognise al-Baghdadi's caliphate, AQIM said that the ISIS leadership "did not consult with jihadist leaders".
According to El Khabar, the differences between the salafi jihadist groups have quickly spread from Syria to Algeria, after a number of members of the al-Qaeda Council of Elders backed ISIS. Disagreements among the Learned Elders of Islam? That's never happened before, has it?
A much more efficient way to say my above...
The daily claimed that a large group of Droukdel defectors were preparing to pledge allegiance to al-Baghdadi separately, outside the framework of the organization, and establish a branch of the Islamic State in the Maghreb.
Reports on the internal AQIM divisions came as a minister admitted for the first time the existence of a number of Algerians fighting in jihadist groups abroad.
In an interview with Tout sur l'Algerie published July 16th, Religious Affairs Minister Mohammed Aissa said security services identified some Algerian activists in the ranks of these jihadist groups, including 30 Algerians who joined a salafi takfiri ...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who most be killed... st organization in Yemen, a reference to al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Other Algerian jihadists are spread across the Moslem world, according to the minister.
Security expert and retired Colonel Omar Ben Jana warned of Maghrebi ISIS returnees and said they posed a real threat in light of the chaos prevailing in the Sahel region ... North Africa's answer to the Pak tribal areas... . He noted that the terrorism that Algeria suffered from for years was fuelled by turbans returning from Afghanistan.
"The entry of ISIS into the region is a reality and not just a scenario," retired military officer Taher Ben Thamer said. He added that several jihadists who were present in Syria were currently in Libya, but their numbers remained low.
He noted that the risk would be greater in the event a large number of armed fighters returned home.
"The danger is in the control of the organization of weapons still deployed heavily in Libya, especially quality weapons and missiles bought with the large amounts of money earned by ISIS in smuggling oil from fields it dominates in Syria," Ben Thamer said.
For his part, the chairman of the Algeria-Africa Committee of Peace and Reconciliation, Ahmad Mizab, said that African countries must address security threats collectively in order to ensure sustainable stability and peace on the continent.
"A comprehensive vision and collective action at the level of the Maghreb and Africa are considered necessary conditions to address security threats in Africa," he said.
This article starring:
ABDELMALIK DRUKDEL
AQIM
ABU ABDULLAH OTHMAN AL ASEMI
AQIM
Posted by: Fred ||
07/21/2014 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa
#1
Now, if they can just start up a round of internecene blood letting, the Kurds could just sell popcorn and watch the show. We'll call it "The Night of the Dull Knives".
The only problem is, the survivors tend to be a capable group.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
07/21/2014 8:09 Comments ||
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#2
Remember that the GSPC(Groupe Salafist de Prêche et de Combat= Salafist group for preaching and fighting)that form AQUIM were survivors of the massacre that wiped out the entirety of the older GSPS...who murdered 100,000 in Algeria
Posted by: Albert Noodleman2094 ||
07/21/2014 17:14 Comments ||
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#3
Intehwesting, the ISIS aka ISIL has seemingly caused serious factional splits in both the AQIM + AL-NUSRA.
[Libya Herald] While fighting continues at 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... International Airport, the airport at Zuwara is reportedly preparing to take domestic and international flights.
Airport manager Fathi Al-Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,a has told Libya news agency LANA that the airport would be ready to accommodate international flights within days, provided that he was had the necessary support from the Civil Aviation Authority and the Ministry of Transport.
He stressed that the airport was technically able to take international flights, but that some equipment was in need of maintenance.
In addition to approval from the Ministry of Transport, extra staff from the Civil Aviation Authority would be needed to relocated there.
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... there have to be doubts about Zuwara's use as an alternative for Tripoli International. For a start its runway is 1,800 metres compared with Tripoli's 3,600 metres. The airport (international code HLZW) has limited apron and parking space and no refuelling facilities. European carriers would almost certainly not fly to it because of categorisation and insurance issues.
In addition, though Zuwara is currently considered secure, there have to be questions about the 102 km eastward road trip to Tripoli. The Libya Herald was unable to contact the Libyan Civil Aviation Authority this evening to comment of Zuwara's potential new role.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/21/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
NEW TARGETS.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
07/21/2014 0:45 Comments ||
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[IsraelTimes] Tens of thousands protested in London Saturday afternoon against Israel's military operations in Gazoo, denouncing Israel as a terrorist state and castigating British 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 ... for backing Israel's right to self-defense against Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, rocket fire.
Led by speakers on a podium, protesters holding placards and banners chanted pro-Paleostinian and anti-Israel slogans.
Continued on Page 49
North Korean fat boy leader Kim Jong-un on Sunday said his country's participation in the Asian Games in South Korea will help improve cross-border relations.
"Participation in the Asian Games will provide important momentum for improving inter-Korean relations and removing distrust," the state-run [North] Korean Central News Agency quoted him as saying.
The remarks came after talks between the two Koreas broke down last Thursday over the question who should pay for hundreds of North Korean athletes and cheerleaders to take part.
After watching a soccer match, Pudgy Kim said, "It is our principled stand that the inviolable sports should not be a political bargaining chip of the undesirable forces."
He indirectly accused the South of deliberately scuppering the talks. Earlier, North Korean propaganda organs blamed the South for the rupture of the talks, saying it displayed an "improper attitude" to the talks.
The North Korean delegation had insisted Seoul provide free accommodation for 350 North Korean athletes, and for the same number of cheerleaders who were to sleep on a North Korean ship docking in Incheon harbor.
That's 700 mouths the Norks don't have to feed for two weeks. Has to help...
When Seoul questioned why the numbers had shot up from 150 in the initial approach and offered to arrange accommodation under "international practice" -- i.e. that the North Korean regime should pay for their accommodation -- the North Koreans stormed out.
Low blood sugar makes people cranky. Did the South Koreans remember to provide the usual catering?
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/21/2014 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi only they haven't dumped him yet... on Sunday called on its NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all.... ally the United States to engage in "self-criticism" after it labelled his comments on Israel's Gazoo assault "offensive".
"If America still says 'Israel is using its right to self-defence' it is America that needs to engage in self-criticism," Erdogan told the TGRT news channel.
A staunch advocate of the Paleostinian cause, Erdogan has stepped up his criticism of Israel's operation in the besieged Gazoo Strip, accusing the Jewish state of carrying out "state terrorism ... any action taken by a non-Moslem state that constrains the violent impulses of Moslems or their allies ... " and a "genocide" of Paleostinians.
On Friday, US State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki branded Erdogan's comments "offensive and wrong".
"When there are concerns we have about comments made or actions taken, even when it is a NATO ally, we certainly don't hesitate to make those concerns known," she said.
Erdogan said Sunday he was sticking to his comments, accusing Israel of using "disproportionate force" and killing Paleostinians "mercilessly. "
"How can we ignore this? How can a country like the United States turn a blind eye to this?" he asked.
"As a member of the UN Security Council, it needs to act fairly. "More than 60 Paleostinians were killed Sunday as Israeli forces pounded northern Gazoo, taking the toll from the deadliest assault on the enclave in five years to over 400.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/21/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
"If America still says 'Israel is using its right to self-defence' it is America that needs to engage in self-criticism," Erdogan told the TGRT news channel.
#4
#1worthless mooslim wanker. I'm going steal that line Boeseker. It is like f&ck, it applies in so many situations.
I'll engage in self-criticism as soon as pigs fly or mooslims stop spreading their filth of murder, lying and supremacy. There are too many on the left in the U.S. who already engage in self-loathing. Self-loathing or self-criticism sounds so "communist."
#6
Erdogan reciting from the Obama playbook. Effective 'self-criticism' must first begin with a international apology tour. A denial of 'American Exceptionalism' and 'leading from behind' must soon follow.
[IsraelTimes] The US Senate unanimously approved a nonbinding resolution in support of Israel's right to defend itself against rocket fire from the Gazoo Strip.
The resolution, which had 78 bipartisan sponsors, passed late Thursday by unanimous consent, a week after it was introduced by Sens. Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Lindsey Graham ... the endangered South Carolina RINO... (R-SC), Chuck Schumer Senator-for-life from New York, renowned for his love of standing in front of cameras. Schumer has been a professional politician since 1975, when disco was in flower. (D-NY) and Kelly Ayotte (R-NH).
A similar resolution, introduced by Reps. Steve Israel (D-NY) and Tom Cole (R-Okla.) and with over 140 cosponsors, passed unanimously in the US House of Representatives on July 11.
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which backed both resolutions, praised the Senate for its passage.
"Israel launched Operation Protective Edge to defend its citizens against hundreds of rockets launched from Gazoo by Islamist terrorists," AIPAC said in a statement, referring to the Arclight airstrikes launched by Israel July 8 in response to an intensification of rocket fire from Gazoo.
"While Israel accepted a cease-fire plan offered by the Egyptian government, Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, rejected it and continues to send rockets into the Jewish state," AIPAC said.
The resolution "reaffirms its support for Israel's right to defend its citizens and ensure the survival of the State of Israel," "calls on Hamas to immediately cease all rocket and other attacks against Israel" and "calls on Paleostinian Authority President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... to dissolve the unity governing arrangement with Hamas and condemn the attacks on Israel." Abbas had entered into unity talks with Hamas prior to the current outbreak.
Separately, six Democrats in the House wrote President B.O. and US 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... urging them to bring about a cease-fire and return the parties to peace talks, which collapsed in April.
"Ground troops, air strikes, and rockets do not lead to permanent peace in the Middle East," said the July 17 letter, first reported by Al-Monitor and signed by Reps. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), Jim Moran (D-Va.), John Conyers (D-Mich.), Alan Lowenthal (D-Calif.), Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) and Barbara Lee (D-Calif.).
"The United States government, together with international partners, must redouble our efforts to urge all parties to avoid further loss of life on both sides by coming to a cease-fire."
#9
One twelve-aircraft ARCLIGHT strike from north to south across the Gaza strip, flown by pairs of B-1s (which can carry 80,000lb of conventional ordinance) would end the problem once and for all, and put the Fear of the US back into the Muddled East. Another three flown against the UN building in New York City wouldn't hurt the chances for peace. Anything else, not so much.
To get the Paleos to quit fighting, you either have to stomp them hard enough they can't get back up, or you have to scare them until their hair is white -- on newborns.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/21/2014 17:01 Comments ||
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[The Nation (Pak)] Pakistain has condemned US drone strike near Miranshah ... headquarters of al-Qaeda in Pakistain and likely location of Ayman al-Zawahiri. The Haqqani network has established a ministate in centered on the town with courts, tax offices and lots of madrassas... in North Wazoo on Saturday morning, which led to much causality. Foreign Office spokesperson said in Islamabad that Pakistain regards such strikes as a violation of its illusory sovereignty and territorial integrity. She pointed out that these strikes have a negative impact on the Government's efforts to bring peace and stability in Pakistain and the region.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/21/2014 00:00 ||
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[11126 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
But we hit where they told us to...
Posted by: Boss Shans4455 ||
07/21/2014 12:50 Comments ||
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[DAWN] LANDI KOTAL: Security forces on Saturday demolished six houses of suspected turbans in Jamrud in response to the deadly attack on a security convoy on Friday.
Forces' personnel also conducted a house to house search operation in Ghundi area and locked away Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages! a number of suspects.
Officials said that houses of Muharam Khan, Lachi Gul, Naeem Khan, Haji Nazmeen, Sher Khan and Shadi Gul were demolished under the collective territorial responsibility clause of the FCR.
Meanwhile, ...back at the Hubba Hubba Club, Nunzio had his hands full of angry bleached blonde... unknown gunnieskidnapped two persons from Mukhtarkhel area of Landi Kotal tehsil on Saturday.
Sources said that several suspects armed with sophisticated weapons entered the hujra of one Gul Rehan when they were offering Taraweeh. The gunnies dragged Shad Ali and his nephew, Samad Khan, out of the compound and forcibly put them into their car.
Local administration started the paperwork but haven't done much else against unknown abductors and began investigation.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/21/2014 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: TTP
[DAWN] Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf ...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations.... central president Javed Hashmi said on Saturday that the arrival of about one million internally displaced persons (IDPs) from North Wazoo Agency had aggravated the situation in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... as it was already facing a plethora of problems due to prolonged militancy and lack of resources.
Talking to media persons at Bannu Press Club following his visit to IDP camps in Bannu, Mr Hashmi said that though PTI was not taken into confidence before launch of the operation in North Waziristan, they were fully behind the armed forces and wanted the operation to successfully complete as soon as possible.
PTI provincial general secretary Khalid Mehsud was also present on the occasion.
The party president demanded of the federal government to allow the foreign and national NGOs after completion of their scrutiny and registration process to carry out rehabilitation and relief activities to mitigate problems of IDPs. He said that PTI would stand by the displaced people till their complete rehabilitation. He also appreciated the people of Bannu for welcoming IDPs.
Mr Hashmi said that the PTI leadership had reservations about the operation and wanted peaceful settlement of the issue through negotiations.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/21/2014 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
Burning rubber tires, garbage, plastics, medical wastes, everything imaginable with the wind blowing the smoke and airborne bits directly back onto the base work, and housing areas. Imagine if you will, waking up in the middle of the night hacking, spitting, and nearly unable to breath, with your eyes and nostrils burning intensely. Very unpleasant.
#3
Our family's 'retired' Marine passed through there a couple times in 2005. I asked him over the weekend and he remembers that it smelled pretty bad, but so did a lot of locales in that part of the world.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
07/21/2014 15:01 Comments ||
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#4
I remember reading the story about the burn pit year's ago from, ironically, here. The discussion centered on how stupid it was since it will cause health problem down the line among the troops. And sure enough...
Posted by: Charles ||
07/21/2014 21:27 Comments ||
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[FOXNEWS] Pope Francis has expressed concern ...meaning the brow was mildly wrinkled, the eyebrows drawn slightly together, and a thoughtful expression assumed, not that anything was actually done or indeed that any thought was actually expended... for Christians forced to flee djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... , Iraq's second-largest city, where Christians have resided for centuries.
The pontiff in his traditional Angelus blessing on Sunday offered prayers for Iraqi Christians who "are persecuted, chased away, forced to leave their houses without out the possibility of taking anything" with them.
Christians departed Mosul this week for the largely autonomous Kurdish region after they were issued an ultimatum to convert to Islam, pay a tax or face death. It's the latest exodus of Christians from the city where communities date from the first centuries of Christianity.
Francis also called for dialogue to resolve armed conflicts around the world, especially in the Middle East and Ukraine, emphasizing "violence is not overcome with violence. Violence is overcome with peace."
Posted by: Fred ||
07/21/2014 00:00 ||
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[11123 views]
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#1
its a shame we can't speak out and defend the christians more
in my country multiculturalism means you're not allowed to defend christians
#2
I saw a picture of a Paleo climbing out of a shaft in a concreted in tunnel. The concrete was in the form of arc segmented blocks, so the shaft appeared to be about 6 ft diameter. They just take these blocks and stack them up in the excavation and they are just like a stone arch.
The ladder was something like 1" galvanized steel pipe sides with 1/2" rebar rungs, welded to the pipe sides.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/21/2014 18:59 Comments ||
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[Ynet] The Committee of the Arab citizens of Israel have decided to begin a general strike Monday in all Arab sectors to observe a day of morning in solidarity with the people of Gazoo and to voice opposition against Israel's military operation. It was also reported that demonstrations have been scheduled for Monday throughout the country.
[Al Ahram] The Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... on Sunday lashed out at Israel for pounding Gazoo's Shejaiya district, accusing the Tel Aviv of "war crimes," and called for an "immediate stop" to its offensive.
The Arab League is demanding something in the aggregate that not a single one of its members is doing anything about on their own...
More than 60 Paleostinians were killed Sunday as Israeli forces bombarded Shejaiya, sending thousands fleeing in the deadliest assault on the Paleostinian enclave in five years.
They are, of course, just fine with the Palestinians' war crimes
Posted by: Fred ||
07/21/2014 00:00 ||
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[11125 views]
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#1
I can't help wondering how much of this is just pro-forma boilerplate. "We stand united with our Paleostinian brothers. Death to the Juice. Blah blah blah. Woof Woof!"
I'm pretty sure more of the 22 Arab League countries (21 now that Syria is 'busy') really don't give a rat's patoot about the Paleos, except as a thorn in the side of Israel. Most of them have bigger fish to fry, what with the Sunni/Shia regional war.
#3
Arab League condemns Israel. Of course, that's what they do professionally. The Hypocrisy Meter appears to read in the opposite direction as the Sympathy Meter.
[Al Ahram] A United Nations ...aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society... human rights ...which are usually open to widely divergent definitions... body accused Israeli forces on Thursday of mistreating Paleostinian children, including by torturing those in jug and using others as human shields.
Paleostinian children in the Gazoo Strip and the West Bank, captured by Israel in the 1967 war, are routinely denied registration of their birth and access to health care, decent schools and clean water, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child said.
"Paleostinian children locked away Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit! by (Israeli) military and police are systematically subject to degrading treatment, and often to acts of torture, are interrogated in Hebrew, a language they did not understand, and sign confessions in Hebrew in order to be released," it said in a report.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry said it had responded to a report by the UN children's agency UNICEF in March on ill-treatment of Paleostinian minors and questioned whether the UN committee's investigation covered new ground.
"If someone simply wants to magnify their political bias and political bashing of Israel not based on a new report, on work on the ground, but simply recycling old stuff, there is no importance in that," front man Yigal Palmor said.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/21/2014 00:00 ||
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[Al Ahram] Paleostinian president the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... called Sunday for an immediate session of the UN Security Council, as the Paleostinian toll on the 13th day of Israel's Gazoo offensive rose to 438.
"I am calling for an urgent session tonight of the UN Security Council," he said in a televised speech from the Qatari capital Doha.
"The situation is intolerable," he said, describing the Israeli attacks as "crimes against humanity".
Posted by: Fred ||
07/21/2014 00:00 ||
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[11127 views]
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#2
ARCLIGHT his compound when he returns. I'm sure that will "teach him to be more precise" in the future.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/21/2014 16:55 Comments ||
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#3
The Palestinians keep using the phrase "crimes against humanity". I do not think that phrase means what they think it means.
Shooting rockets at civilian targets and using your own people as human shields are crimes against humanity. Dropping leaflets to warn civilians that the area they are in is about to be bombed, and calling them on their cell phones is not what criminals against humanity would do.
Yes, some innocent civilians will be killed. But Israel does not deliberately target them the way the Palestinians do.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
07/21/2014 17:56 Comments ||
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[VOA News] United Nations ...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks... Secretary-General the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon ... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan... is expected in the Middle East on Sunday to express "solidarity" with Israelis and Paleostinians, and to look for ways to end the violence between them. Trying to have it both ways is he?
Trying to sound unbiased as he flies off to press the Zionist Entity to surrender. Probably didn't spend his youth studying Talmud to understand the reason Jews are so successful -- that's something the younger generation is doing.
The U.N. says Ban will stop first in Doha and from there visit Kuwait City, Cairo, Jerusalem, Ramallah, and Amman.
Officials say Ban's trip is part of his effort to encourage a durable ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, turbans.
Israel launched a ground offensive into the Hamas-ruled Gazoo Strip Thursday after repeated warnings and Arclight airstrikes failed to convince Hamas to stop rocket attacks on Israeli cities.
Israel's military says it has hit about 200 terrorist targets since the operation began. They include more than 20 tunnels Lions of Islam used to smuggle in weapons and explosives.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/21/2014 00:00 ||
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The U.S. Air Force's New AC-130 Gunships Are Really Bomb Trucks
No matter how well you dress up the 130J with all sorts of shiny new stand-off bombs, at some point you need a gunship that can loiter and pound the stuffing out of a target.
#1
A development idea that a Pentagon bureaucrat can love. We're going to hunt SAM sites, so let's take the slowest moving fixed wing aircraft we got; take everything on it that works (and is cheap to use) off of it; put million dollar a pop missles on it, because the previous version doesn't allow for the building of a spending & R&D kingdom.
That's the ticket. All that's missing is stealth and VTOL; I'm sure they're trying to fit that in somewhere.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
07/21/2014 7:30 Comments ||
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#2
The AC130 can carry SBDs which can be effective against mobile missile launchers as well as other things. The GBU-39 can be launched as far away as 50 miles and it can glide to the target. GBU-39.
#4
Actually not a bad upgrade to the AC-130 mission. Before it had to wait for the target area to be free from AAA and SAMs before going in. Now it can take down some before going in and providing close air support or targeted dumb munition deployment.
Not a super expensive upgrade or development either.
#5
Just to endorse what Zorba said, here is the quote from the article:
a GBU-39 launched by a fighter aircraft at high-subsonic speed and at higher altitude can glide over fifty miles to its target.
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
07/21/2014 12:02 Comments ||
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#6
Lockheed taking a page from the one size fits all Hornet playbook.
Seriously, if all you want is a bomb truck, and you don't care about stealth, you could reactivate a bunch of plastic winged INtruders and hang all this ordnance on them. they move fast enough to give that 50 mile glide range, have laser designators on them and if you ran them from the beach you wouldn't need to worry about cat and trap wear and tear and you could even leave the wings down and locked.....
plus you could hang a buddy store on them for more tanker support.
#7
Given that the cost of a kitted-out AC-130-family frame is less than a fourth that of a modern strategic bomber, it makes sense to use them as standoff smartbomb trucks if you can. But I'm still waiting for someone to try to convert a squadron of them into mobile carriers for high-performance air-supremacy UAV drones. Seriously, the moment someone figures out how to remove a pilot from the killing high-G environment of a cockpit, will be the end of crazy-expensive air-superiority fighters and the jocks that fly them.
The manned aerial warcraft of the future are going to be boxcars flying deep in a swarm of specialized defensive UAVs, stood just far enough off to keep them out of the killrange of enemy ground-to-air resources while close enough to maintain networked control of their own offensive weaponry and attack drones.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
07/21/2014 15:26 Comments ||
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#8
C-130s were used in Vietnam to launch Firebee reconnaissance drones over North Vietnam and Laos. Putting other types of drones on the airframe would be pretty simple, I think.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/21/2014 15:57 Comments ||
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#9
If you want to do SEAD missions, send an F-18G.
If you want a bomb truck, then go buy cargo 747-800's. Put in avionics and some racks that use the existing loading ramp as the bomb bay doors.
If you want to loiter over a target and blast it to smithereens, then use the AC130's.
Sending AC130's on a SEAD mission is about as dumb as making a cabbage, tuna, and orange salad for dinner.
#10
I think the USAF is thinking the same thing, #7, as I've read the service desires a potent, stealth-skinned "mothership" platform that can not only penetrate through oppos waves of combat-armed enemy UAVS but also destroy the same AMAP while doing so in support of Army-Marine ground forces.
The Pentagon is expecting US Grunts in the future to be "swarmed" by massive numbers of cheap-but-deadly Combat Drones in all combat dimensions, to include those belonging to the armed forces of Lessor or Minor Powers, not just OWG Co-Superpowers.
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.
[MAGHAREBIA] Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) posted a statement online Monday (July 14th) rejecting the self-declared caliphate in the Levant.
Zawahiri
[IsraelTimes] Tens of thousands protested in London Saturday afternoon against Israel's military operations in 
[IsraelTimes] The US Senate unanimously approved a nonbinding resolution in support of Israel's right to defend itself against rocket fire from the 
Separately, six Democrats in the House wrote 
Wazoo
[FOXNEWS] Pope Francis has 
ISIS burns 1800 year old Christian church in Mosul. 
[Al Ahram] The 
[Al Ahram] A 
[Al Ahram] Paleostinian president 
the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon
