Sergeant William 'Bill' Bee's world plunged into darkness when a Taliban sniper round hit a wall inches from his head in 2008
He was doing laundry in Garmsir when he heard the shot and responded without his protective gear
The photos of his brush with death were captured by Reuters photographer Goran Tomasevic
It was Bee's third of four tours of Afghanistan. His final in 2010 was ended by an IED blast in Marjah
To this day he is still fighting for medical retirement - even though the military has declared him disabled
His memoir The Shot details his journey from an Ohio trailer park to one of the first Americans in Afghanistan
Bee has battled to get treatment from the VA, tried to take his own life with two bottles of tequila and takes a shopping list of prescriptions to combat his neurological issues and PTSD
Nigerian Secret Police, DSS Now Operates Lawlessly Like Bandits – Sheikh Gumi Reacts To Raid On Home Of Ex-Terrorists’ Negotiator, Tukur Mamu | Sahara Reporters https://t.co/db830qKfiPpic.twitter.com/SCW6o24Wp4
Rwanda may provide logistical support to help Benin tackle a worsening extremism that is threatening parts of the West African region, a Benin government spokesperson said on Saturday.
Talks with Rwanda are ongoing about the possible help which would not involve the deployment of any Rwandan troops to Benin, Wilfried Léandre Houngbedji told Rooters.
Benin, alongside the Gulf of Guinea states Togo and Ivory Coast, has seen increasing attacks from fighters linked to al-Qaeda and ISIS as violence creeps south from the Sahel countries of Mali, 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... and Niger.
"As with Niger and Burkina Faso, we are in discussions with Rwanda about logistical support, the provision of expertise," Houngbedji said.
Rwandan military spokesperson Ronald Rwivanga said he could not comment on the "existing defense cooperation" between Rwanda and Benin.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/11/2022 00:00 ||
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[11124 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[KavkhazUzel] Aslan Daudov, a resident of Chechnya, filed a cassation appeal against the sentence, by which he was sentenced to 12 years in prison, asking to remove a number of articles from the charge due to the expiration of the statute of limitations. The Supreme Court of Russia considered the verdict proportionate and refused to satisfy the complaint.
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the case of Aslan Daudov, a resident of Chechnya, who was accused of participating in Shamil Basayev's group and an armed attack on Budyonnovsk in 1995, was sent to court in early February 2020. On December 22, 2020, it became known that a court in Rostov-on-Don sentenced him to 12 years in a strict regime colony. On November 30, 2021, the Military Court of Appeal upheld Daudov's sentence.
Investigators believe that in June 1995 Daudov joined a stable armed group led by Basayev. On June 14, 1995, about 160 people committed an armed attack in Budennovsk, Stavropol Territory, including Daudov, according to the investigation.
The Supreme Court of Russia considered the cassation appeal of Aslan Daudov, who asked to exclude charges of terrorist attack and banditry due to the expiration of the statute of limitations for criminal liability at the time of sentencing, Kavkaz.Realii reported today.
In the complaint, Daudov also pointed out that the verdict was largely based not on the evidence examined in court, but on the data reflected in the case file. In his opinion, the court did not establish the specific circumstances of the incident and his role in these events. In addition, according to Daudov, the court did not take into account that he voluntarily ceased participation in the Basayev group since July 1995 and since then has not been hiding from the investigation, which is confirmed by a certificate from the FSB in Chechnya on the surrender of weapons dated 2000, follows from the decision of the Supreme Russian courts.
However, we can't all be heroes. Somebody has to sit on the curb and applaud when they go by... the panel of judges agreed with the conclusions of the appellate instance that there were no grounds for dropping the charges and mitigating the punishment. When passing the verdict, the court took into account that Daudov has four children, positive characteristics at the place of work and residence, and the status of a combat veteran. He also partially admitted his guilt. However, if you can't say something nice about a person some juicy gossip will go well... taking into account the "nature and degree of public danger of crimes," the court considered the punishment "proportionate to the deed and fair" and refused to commute the sentence, according to the ruling dated August 25, posted on the website of the Supreme Court.
On June 14, 1995, a detachment of Chechen fighters led by Shamil Basayev invaded the territory of the Stavropol Territory and captured the central hospital of Budennovsk. As a result of the attack, 129 people were killed and 317 were injured. The militants released the remaining hostages in exchange for a promise from the Russian authorities to end hostilities in Chechnya. That worked out well.
The "Caucasian Knot" also wrote that in June 2018, the Southern District Military Court found Badruddi Daudov, a native of the Nozhai-Yurt District of the Chechen Republic, guilty of involvement in the attack on Budyonnovsk. At the court debate, his lawyer Alexander Gurov suggested that Badruddi Daudov became a hostage in the case against Aslan Daudov, who previously had the name Badruddi, being his namesake and namesake. "There was not a single video or picture with me. And Aslan Daudov with a mustache was ... I was not there [in Budennovsk]. I lived with my family and looked after my sick father," Badruddi Daudov said during the trial.
ICYMI: European powers raise “serious doubts” over #Iran’s sincerity in seeking a nuclear agreement, warning that Tehran’s position jeopardizes prospects of restoring the 2015 accord.https://t.co/Zj1j1tBJEf
#5
The Obamaites want Iran to have nukes to "counterbalance" the US in the Middle East. All the resulting death, slavery, and general misery that results should be set on their shoulders.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
09/11/2022 18:04 Comments ||
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[Breitbart] Of the 16 German regional states, just four still have room to accommodate incoming asylum seekers, as the country struggles to deal with new influxes of migrants coming by the Balkan route.
The 12 German states which have reached their capacity to accommodate asylum seekers have become full due to the large numbers of Ukrainian refugees fleeing the conflict with Russia on top of asylum seekers from other countries. They have been forced to suspend their distribution system, according to a spokeswoman from the Interior Ministry.
The spokeswoman added that the German federal government was looking to aid the states by making 318 federally-owned properties available to house asylum seekers and refugees, the European Union-funded website InfoMigrants reports.
Bavaria’s Interior Joachim Herrmann. who chairs Germany’s Conference of Interior Ministers, commented on the ongoing issue saying: “In Bavaria, the accommodation options for asylum seekers are increasingly being used to capacity” — but he added that “Bavaria is currently still receptive” regardless.
Hermann complained that the federal government should not accept more asylum seekers but then leave the German states to deal with finding them accommodation, noting that Bavartia’s asylum accommodations are currently 102.7 per cent occupied.
Baden-Württemberg’s Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann, meanwhile, claimed that there are more refugees in Germany today than during the 2015 migrant crisis.
“We already have more refugees than in the refugee crisis of 2015. The population must be prepared for the fact that we will find ourselves in difficult situations again,” Kretschmann said last month.
Along with the surge of Ukrainians seeking refuge from the conflict with Russia, Germany has also seen a 140 per cent increase in illegal arrivals across its border with the Czech Republic, with arrivals are said to be at a record high.
The migrants coming across this border are mainly from Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq, according to the tabloid Bild.
“The smuggling business is running at full speed again and the federal government has so far been watching idly,” Christoph de Vries, a member of the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), said.
The increase coincides with a surge of activity along the Balkan migration route this year, with the European Union border agency Frontex noting in June that the number of illegals using it had increased by 167 per cent.
[ZeroHedge] A mere days ago on Wednesday, Greece issued formal letters to NATO HQ, the EU, and UN warning that a Ukraine-style war is looming with Turkey. The two have long been locked in disputes over maritime rights, the status of Greece's Aegean islands, and repeat airspace violations.
On Saturday a dangerous live fire incident in the eastern Mediterranean has served to inflame tensions further, and displays how on the brink the two countries could be to entering an active conflict, which would be the second afflicting Europe. "Turkey said the Greek Coast Guard fired on a ship in international waters in the northern Aegean Sea, marking another potential escalation of tension between the NATO countries Saturday," Bloomberg reports.
Turkish media is describing "harassment fire" which is alleged to have occurred a mere 11 nautical miles off Turkey’s southwestern island of Bozcaada, and 20km from the Turkish mainland. While the vessel was not a Turkey-flagged ship (if so, it likely would have triggered a Turkish military response), but has been identified as the Comoros-flagged vessel the Anatolian, Turkey's government is alarmed given it happened so close its coast.
While some initial reports have called the Anatolian vessel a cargo ship, some Turkish media reports are identifying it as a ro-ro ship, which ferries cars and passengers among islands - though in this case there haven't been reports that any passengers were on board other than the crew.
What's more is that Turkey's coast guard is claiming to have chased the Greek ships out of the area after the international vessel was "attacked":
The ship named "Anatolian,” which has a crew of 18 – six Egyptian, four Somalian, five Azerbaijani and three Turkish nationals – was attacked while sailing in international waters, Turkish Coast Guard Command further said in the statement.
After learning about the incident, the Turkish coast guard dispatched two boats and the Greek boats left the area.
None of the foreign ship's 18 international crew (again, which included Turkish nationals) have been reported injured. Athens is meanwhile describing the incident as a matter of exercising its territorial sovereignty and that the gunfire was only a "warning" - saying it won't bow to threats from Turkey.
Turkey state sources quickly published video purporting to show the moment the ship was fired upon:
The incident comes at a sensitive moment regarding ongoing Greece-Turkey disputes over islands near the coast, given Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has this month threatened his forces will intervene if Greece keeps "militarizing" islands which are under historic treaties.
But here is the Greek government's explanation of the Saturday live fire incident, according to Bloomberg:
The vessel wasn’t emitting a signal, according to a Greek shipping ministry official, so the Greek Coast Guard requested it stop to be boarded. The captain refused the control and sped off, prompting the Coast Guard to fire warning shots in the air and not at the vessel, said the official, requesting anonymity as details have not yet been made public.
The incident serves as a reminder that tensions continue to percolate in the region. Ahead of next year’s elections, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has stepped up criticism of what Turkey calls a growing Greek military buildup on islands close to its coastline as well as Western military support to Athens, with which Ankara has long-running territorial disputes.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis generally addressed the latest tensions at the Thessaloniki International Fair in northern Greece later on Saturday, saying Greece would not bow to threats.
Mitsotakis suggested this fresh incident is part of a broader narrative of Turkey concocting accusations of an unlawful interference, and as the latest in Ankara's "bullying" rhetoric.
Things really escalated starting a week ago when Erdogan warned Greece in a public speech, "We may come down suddenly one night," adding: "Look at history, if you go further, the price will be heavy."
Posted by: Skidmark ||
09/11/2022 10:01 ||
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[11123 views]
Top|| File under: Tin Hat Dictators, Presidents for Life, & Kleptocrats
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.
