A senior commander in the American military's main detention center here testified Monday at a military hearing that his predecessor, Lt. Col. William H. Steele, gave computer programs and other gifts to the daughter of a high-value detainee. The commander, Lt. Col. Quentin Crank, whose military police unit took over for Steele's at Camp Cropper in October 2006, said the gifts, which would be a breach of military law and Iraqi cultural norms, were given after Steele had moved to another assignment in Iraq. The detainee was said to be outraged by the personal contact with his daughter, telling American officials that Steele was trying to supplant his role as father.
A computer forensics expert testified that an IBM laptop recovered during the investigation contained classified material, 37 adult pornographic videos, 122 adult pornographic images and an e-mail message to an undisclosed person that "appeared to be adulterous in nature." A second laptop, a Dell, contained the text of a secret document, the investigator said.
The testimony once again cast the ethical conduct of American jailers in Iraq in an unfavorable light, even as the military sets in motion plans to expand its detention facilities to make room for the rapidly growing ranks of prisoners captured during the new security plan.
The hearing was convened to weigh the evidence against Steele, 51, a married reservist from Prince George, Va., who has had prior scrapes with the law. In November 1993, he was charged with aggravated child abuse and resisting an officer with violence, both felonies, according to Hernando County, Fla., court records. A state prosecutor accused Steele, a former Hernando County sheriff's deputy, of physically and verbally abusing his 11-year-old stepson for homework errors, and of padlocking the family's refrigerator and food cabinets to prevent the boy from eating, according to court records. The charges were dropped when Steele, an Army reservist at the time, agreed to give up custody of the boy.
So, he's basically a abusive pervert from way back.
Steele has been accused of nine violations of military law, including "aiding the enemy," related to the allegation that he passed an unmonitored cell phone to detainees. He is also accused of mishandling classified information and government funds, fraternizing with the daughter of a detainee, engaging in an inappropriate relationship with an interpreter and possessing pornography.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/01/2007 10:52 ||
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#1
and one moving violation..
ala hannover fist
Posted by: Abu do you love ||
05/01/2007 11:18 Comments ||
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#2
The testimony once again cast the ethical conduct of American jailers in Iraq in an unfavorable light, even as the military sets in motion plans to expand its detention facilities to make room for the rapidly growing ranks of prisoners captured during the new security plan.
Behold the wonder of contemporary journalism. A preposterous implication/generalization crafted to slander a large group of soldiers who are doing fine work, all in order to further tarnish the image of a war conducted with unprecedented integrity.
#5
The detainee was said to be outraged by the personal contact with his daughter, telling American officials that Steele was trying to supplant his role as father.
Oooooooooh I don't think the father role was what he was thinking of, pops...
Afghanistan and Pakistan agreed here on Monday to coordinate efforts against terrorism and boost confidence-building measures aimed at easing tensions between the neighbours. We decided to reconcile our differences... I can say its a new beginning, President Gen Pervez Musharraf told NTV television after talks with Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
They agreed to deny sanctuary, training and financing to terrorists and to elements involved in subversive and anti-state activities in each others countries, according to a joint statement dubbed the Ankara Declaration - issued after the talks. They pledged to initiate immediate action on specific intelligence exchanges as part of their commitment, it said.
The statement said the two leaders were also concerned about the alarming increase in poppy cultivation in Afghanistan and called for efforts to combat drug trafficking, which they said was linked to terrorism. They said they would work together to help the orderly repatriation of Afghan refugees from Pakistan.
The two leaders agreed to set up a three-way committee of high-level officials, including Turks, to monitor progress on bilateral issues and boost confidence-building measures between their countries, the declaration said. This accord is an important step towards achieving concrete cooperation... between Afghanistan and Pakistan, Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer told reporters.
Musharraf and Karzai did not shake hands as they appeared before the media or take questions. They welcomed the idea of meeting again in Turkey in either later this year or early in 2008, Sezer said.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/01/2007 00:00 ||
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the ISI sign that? I thought not....
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/01/2007 9:03 Comments ||
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#2
kind of like congress/lobbyists vow to fight pork spending...
or fox/weasels to improve guard on hen house.
Posted by: Abu do you love ||
05/01/2007 11:16 Comments ||
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LONDON - Prince Harry will deploy to Iraq, the head of the British army said on Monday, after speculation that he may not go because of fears he could be targeted by insurgents. Henry Tudor was probably subject to the same sort of speculation.
But General Sir Richard Dannatt also said he could yet change his mind, if circumstances change. I have taken the decision as chief of general staff. Its my decision as chief of general staff. I have full command of everyone in the army, including Prince Harry, he said in a statement. The decision has been taken by myself that he (Harry) will deploy with his regiment in due course.
Dannatt said the decision had been taken after the widest possible consultation. Asked the queen if he could go, huh?
I will of course keep that decision continually under review and if circumstances are such that I change that decision, I will make a further statement, he told Sky News.
Go git 'em, Harry, and keep yourself and your troops safe.
He's obviously a man. Now he'll get to show whether he's a good man.
This article starring:
General Sir Richard Dannatt
Prince Harry
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/01/2007 00:00 ||
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#2
Sounds to me like General Dannatt is 'wiping his hands clean' of the decision, somewhat like Pontius Pilate did with Jesus versus Barabbas. Should Harry be captured and threatened with beheading, I'm sure the General won't have the impetus to look the Queen 'eye to eye' over her grandson!
#6
Nice try Excalibur, but don't believe it! Inside, the Queen winches over her Harry demonstrating his love of God and Country in such a compelling way. Mind you, AlQaeda will not be as 'sociable' as Iran was with the 15, over his fate.
#7
Well, it's good to know that if he assumes the throne, even though the job is mostly symbolic, he will have a first-hand understanding and hopefully appreciation for the military and what Global Jihad means and could mean.
Nine men accused of stockpiling bomb-making chemicals and vowing to avenge perceived injustices against Muslims have been ordered to stand trial for Australia's largest alleged terrorist conspiracy, a court official said Tuesday.
Magistrate Michael Price ruled that the evidence was strong enough to be heard by a Supreme Court jury and referred the case to the higher court on June 1, said an official at Penrith Local Court, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with policy.
The nine men each are charged with conspiring between June 2004 and November 2005 to carry out a terrorist act. None of the suspects, who face a maximum penalty of life in prison if convicted, entered a plea, but their lawyers have said they maintain they are innocent. Prosecutors said at the pretrial hearing that the nine suspects bought unrestricted chemicals that can be used in making explosives, and downloaded instructions from the Internet that included how to mix the cocktail of agents used to make the bombs used in the deadly 2005 London subway attacks.
Prosecutors allege the nine were devotees of a radical Muslim cleric sympathetic to Osama bin Laden, and struck a pact to launch a terrorist attack because they felt their religion was under attack. No planned target has been revealed, but police alleged the suspects had Australia's only nuclear reactor a small facility used to make radioactive medical supplies under surveillance.
They were arrested in a series of 2005 raids in Sydney and the southern city of Melbourne, where cleric Abdul Nacer Benbrika and other followers also were detained and now face separate charges of belonging to a terrorist group. Authorities said police found transcripts of bin Laden speeches and other al-Qaida material, as well as videos of people being beheaded, in some of the suspects' homes.
The nine suspects are Mohammed Ali Elomar, Mazen Touma, Abdul Rakib Hasan, Khaled Cheikho, Moustafa Cheikho, Khaled Sharrouf, Mirsad Mulahalilovic, Omar Baladjam and Mohammed Jamal.
Posted by: ed ||
05/01/2007 19:21 ||
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Freedom Party PVV faction leader Geert Wilders is arguing that all Islamic schools in the Netherlands should be shut down immediately. He says this measure is necessary in order to "protect children against the spread of Islamic doctrine."
Wilders writes this in a column that appeared today on the website Nieuwnieuws.nl. "Islam is rapidly pushing our Western civilisation close to the edge of the abyss. We have too much Islam in the Netherlands. Islam is more a violent political ideology than a religion," the MP writes.
He admits that he has taken a strong position in the debate on Islam. That is necessary, he says, because it is "the eleventh hour."
Wilders also talks about the recent incident with the National Coordinator for Anti-terrorism (NCTb). He says that during a talk at the NCTb office last month an employee told him he should tone down his comments on Islam. Wilders doesn't think that the fact that Tjibbe Joustra, head of the NCTb, corrected his employee diminishes the situation at all.
"It certainly was intimidation and of the worst kind," the MP writes. He says he has heard from two other individuals who are outspoken against Islam that they have been subject to similar treatment by officials.
"A subordinate urges that the comments be toned down in the debate on Islam and the boss corrects the criticism. So the criticism is uttered, but is then also "corrected." This way Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende and Justice Minister Hirsch Ballin can wash their hands of it."
Hirsch Ballin stressed on Friday that there was no case of intimidation and that the freedom of speech is not at stake. He says the talk with the NCTb was intended to inform Wilders about his security situation. The minister will send Parliament a letter on the matter this week.
Wilders also referred in his column to a website with quotes from people who have turned away from Islam. "Mohammed was a narcissist, just like Hitler, Saddam or Stalin," they write.
"I couldn't have said it better myself," Wilders adds.
"A subordinate urges that the comments be toned down in the debate on Islam and the boss corrects the criticism. So the criticism is uttered, but is then also "corrected." This way Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende and Justice Minister Hirsch Ballin can wash their hands of it."
Typical Muslim plausible deniability in action. Wilders represents the Netherlands' only hope for survival.
White House Press Secretary Tony Snow returned to the job this morning and hit the ground running. In his first interview with CBSs Early Show, Snow declared that the White House never tried to link Iraq and September 11.
Transcript:
Q. The message is clear the administration was not straight with Americans, not about W.M.D.S, not about 9/11. There it is from the former C.I.A. Chief. Is it time for the administration to come clean, Tony?
TONY SNOW: Wait a minute, Chris. The president has been saying exactly that all along. I dont know what the headline is. As a matter of fact, I can remember right after September 11 sitting here when I was a journalist and some of your colleagues, I believe Charlie Gibson may have been there at the time as well. The fact is the president made it clear before the State of the Union in 2002 that there was no link between Saddam Hussein and September 11. So Im afraid whats happened there is that George Tenet may have been referring to something that has been misreported or at least twisted by people with political motives, but there has been no attempt to try to link Saddam to September 11.
#1
The failure of the administration to jump on these idiotic distortions the first time, and every time, they appeared - extremely hard - is one of their biggest mistakes. Not only would the public discussion be returned to something resembling sane, but if done properly it would highlight the poor and devious job done by major media on these topics, opening some eyes and confirming the perceptions of many.
#2
It's perhaps the biggest mistake of all, one that could lose this round of the war, and lose it right in America's voting booths next Fall.
And I don't know what to attribute that failure to: sometimes it seems the Administration is afflicted with Terminal Nice-Guy Syndrome, other times I suspect it's due to some sort of turn-the-other-cheek Christian thing. Sometimes I think they're naive about the agenda-driven, outrageous dishonesty of the MSM. And sometimes I think the whole Bush crowd is just plain stupid.
In any case, to allow this lying CBS bastard to sneer that Bush "was not straight with Americans, not about W.M.D.S, not about 9/11" without punching his lights out on camera, is just obscene.
These scumbags spent the entire 1990's reporting to us night after night on the Evening News about Saddam's continual evasion and interference with the U.N. Weapons Inspectors who were sent there to relieve him of the WMD that EVERYBODY knew he had-- yet as soon as Bush undertook to get rid of the Saddam/WMD problem once and for all, the press began dissembling and criticizing him for not having absolute, ironclad "proof" of those WMDs.
Bastards.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
05/01/2007 12:06 Comments ||
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There's not much you can do for the truth when the people in control of the primary communication channels are dead-set on lying.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
05/01/2007 12:08 Comments ||
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#4
The libs and the MSM all parrot the same line, even agreeing with Sadr on a timeline for leaving Iraq...who's really calling the shots? The accent sure suggests anti-American Eurospeak.
#5
Unfortunately for Tony in this case, IMO captured Iraqi documents being decoded over at FREEREPUBLIC and other blogs do NOT make the case, i.e. DOES NOT AFFIRM OR DISAFFIRM YET, that Saddam was absolutely = undeniably unaware of any plot to atack the USA on 9-11. IT IS CLEAR THAT SADDAM HAD WMDS, THAT SADDAM WAS ENGAGED IN COVERT = SECRET = UNDERGROUND WMD RESEARCH + WAS LYING TO THE UNO-IAEA, + THAT SADDAM HAS FUTURE PLANS OR AMBITIONS TO INITIATE TERROR ATTACKS AGZ WESTERN OR NON-SADDAM ALLIED TARGETS. IT IS CLEAR THAT SADDAM'S OFFICIALS MET WID KNOWN TERRORISTS + REPRESENTATIVES FROM KNOWN TERROR GROUPS, INCLUDING THOSE LINKED TO OSAMA = AL QAEDA, PRIOR TO 9-11 + AFTERWARDS. There is more than enuff to make the argument that Saddam COULD'VE KNOWN, SHOULD'VE KNOWN, andor WOULD'VE KNOWN ABOUT 9-11 even iff he did NOT formally or overtly assist in the specific attack itself..
#6
Unfortunately for Tony in this case, IMO captured Iraqi documents being decoded over at FREEREPUBLIC and other blogs do NOT make the case, i.e. DOES NOT AFFIRM OR DISAFFIRM YET, that Saddam was absolutely = undeniably unaware of any plot to atack the USA on 9-11. IT IS CLEAR THAT SADDAM HAD WMDS, THAT SADDAM WAS ENGAGED IN COVERT = SECRET = UNDERGROUND WMD RESEARCH + WAS LYING TO THE UNO-IAEA, + THAT SADDAM HAS FUTURE PLANS OR AMBITIONS TO INITIATE TERROR ATTACKS AGZ WESTERN OR NON-SADDAM ALLIED TARGETS. IT IS CLEAR THAT SADDAM'S OFFICIALS MET WID KNOWN TERRORISTS + REPRESENTATIVES FROM KNOWN TERROR GROUPS, INCLUDING THOSE LINKED TO OSAMA = AL QAEDA, PRIOR TO 9-11 + AFTERWARDS. There is more than enuff to make the argument that Saddam COULD'VE KNOWN, SHOULD'VE KNOWN, andor WOULD'VE KNOWN ABOUT 9-11 even iff he did NOT formally or overtly assist in the specific attack itself..
Testifying under oath recently, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice misled Congress in her strong defense of Al-Hurra, the taxpayer financed Arab TV network. It was unwitting, though. She herself was misled.
During the March 21 House Foreign Operations Appropriations subcommittee hearing, Rep. Mark Kirk (R., Ill.) pressed Ms. Rice on the wisdom of providing a platform to Islamic terrorists, citing Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah's Dec. 7 speech, which Al-Hurra aired live. The broadcast speech "went on for 30 minutes," she responded, "followed by commentary, much of which was critical of Nasrallah."
In fact, Mr. Nasrallah's speech was carried in its entirety, roughly an hour and eight minutes. The commentary that followed--a 13-minute phone interview with Wael Abou Faour, a member of Lebanon's governing coalition--was indeed critical of Mr. Nasrallah. He accused the Hezbollah leader of not being anti-U.S. and anti-Israel enough. While Mr. Nasrallah had claimed Lebanon's governing coalition was aligned with the U.S. and had backed Israel during the war last summer, Mr. Abou Faour said that Hezbollah was actually closer to the U.S and added that any Lebanese faction that assisted "the Israeli enemy" should not be allowed to engage in political discussion because "the only place they should be [is] in prison."
The secretary of state's testimony was without doubt delivered in good faith. But the same cannot be said of the information about the broadcast Al-Hurra provided to the State Department.
#1
Allow Nasrallah's speech to be broadcasted in its entirety was stupidity on a grand scale. If this sort of thing is to be done, it must be in segments with refuting arguments inserted at each break. Otherwise, you have distributed the enemy's propaganda whereafter the audience can merely turn their sets off.
#2
I'm obliged to add that this is one more glaring example of how little the Bush administration understands or is able to properly administer any sort of media. They just don't get it. Not here at home and especially abroad.
The much-anticipated presidential veto of the Iraq supplemental spending bill was to have taken place already, but a signature - or lack thereof - has been standing in the way.
And it's not President Bush's signature - it's House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's.
The conference report on the bill (HR 1591 - H Rept 110-107) was adopted by the House and cleared by the Senate last week, but Pelosi, D-Calif., wanted time to personally read it and sign it before sending it to Pennsylvania Avenue.
"It's a major piece of legislation and you have to go through it word for word and line by line," Pelosi spokesman Nadeam Elshami said Monday. "She believes this is very important legislation, which she will sign and the president will receive Tuesday."
Rep. John Boehner's office quips:
NOTE for Leno, Letterman, Conan, and other interested parties: Now we've heard everything. The Speaker recommended the conference report on the war funding bill last week, voted for it last week, and could have sent it to the President as early as last Thursday when the Senate passed it (the House was in session). But NOW she wants to read it?? Wow.
Posted by: Mike ||
05/01/2007 13:10 ||
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Senator Cornyn continued speaking on the floor, stating, I think its an embarrassment when our troops are waiting on an emergency spending bill that would provide them with essential equipment, that they are staging signing ceremonies and going through political kabuki theater just to demonstrate their disappointment with the Presidents strategy in Baghdad and Iraq. I think its inappropriate and irresponsible.
85 days and counting....
#3
Damn, that bitch looks demonic and possessed in that picture!
Seriously, she is the house speaker, voted for the bill ... and never read it? How much of a buck passer do you have to be to get to that state? For crying out loud!
#6
Why bother to read it? You didn't have time to listen to the leader who's fighting the fight on the ground in the theater of operations and not some fund raising salon back in the district or poll quip cooking numbers.
#8
Just grandstanding. Look at meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
Posted by: Bobby ||
05/01/2007 16:51 Comments ||
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#9
Not reading the bill is common. Staffers tell them to vote one way or the other. The only part they do read is their pork attachments. She is afraid the Prez just might come back swinging in the press exposing them. She is reading it for damage control.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
05/01/2007 17:45 Comments ||
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#10
So what will the honourable Speaker of the House do, should she find things in there she's uncomfortable with? Send if back to committee for a rewrite? That would be a clever way to utterly destroy her credibility with that august body!
#1
Also competing against on call drops from above with GPS and laser guidance. You have multiple technologies competing to do the same job which is basically putting ordnance on target. Each system has its zealots advocates fighting for funding which will make for wonderful debates and fill many columns. The guys who know what is just good* enough are those on the ground who need the ordnance on target right now.
*old proverb - Perfect is the enemy of just good enough.
#2
I see Excalibur as a scheme to employ engineers to find a more difficult solution to a problem that is already solved. Guided MLRS is half the cost, has twice the range and 4 times the explosive power. As far as I can tell, the HiMARS truck launcher costs same as the M777 towed artillery ($2M) and out ranges foreign artillery, something US 39 caliber artillery does not do.
Posted by: ed ||
05/01/2007 9:53 Comments ||
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Posted by: ed ||
05/01/2007 10:40 Comments ||
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#5
i see one distinction in favor of the m777 and that is ease of resupply and continous operation.
a mlrs has downtime while being reloaded while the m777 can finer continously while being supplied with additional ordinance.
does that outwiegh the factors in favor of HiMARS?
not my call, but i see uses for both
Posted by: Abu do you love ||
05/01/2007 11:42 Comments ||
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#6
You are right when going for volume of fires using unguided munitions. But with guided projectiles, you are optimally firing one per target and speed is of the essence (automated vs manual target laying) when trying to destroy a fleeting target like a mortar team or another arty battery. While a GMLRS rocket has a larger logistics footprint, it also covers 4 times the area so less stock is needed.
Posted by: ed ||
05/01/2007 13:27 Comments ||
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#8
I'd love to see a dozen or so of those mounted on the decks of an old battleship. No heavy turrets, no below-decks powder and shot magazines, just the capability of putting a hundred rounds on target in very short order, with no overs or shorts. I'm sure we can work something out for faster reloads.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
05/01/2007 23:31 Comments ||
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Wow. Do I understand correctly that the excalibur shell contains a 15 pound charge? Must be one heck of an explosive. I wouldn't want to be within 100 feet of wherever that thing came down! You're probably dead or permanently disabled if you are within 50 feet.
The US Supreme Court has helped clear the way for the next round of special trials by military commissions at the terror detention camp at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. On Monday, the court declined to take up a joint appeal filed by former Osama bin Laden driver Salim Ahmed Hamdan of Yemen and Omar Khadr, a Canadian national, who faces murder charges for allegedly throwing a hand grenade that killed a US soldier in Afghanistan. Mr. Khadr was 15 years old at the time.
Following the recent guilty plea by Australian David Hicks, Khadr and Mr. Hamdan are designated as the next detainees slated for commission trials at Guantánamo. Last week, Khadr's case was formally referred to a military commission for trial.
While Mr. Hicks's guilty plea technically provided the first conviction under the new military commission process, that process remains largely untested in the crucible of an ongoing trial.
Continued on Page 49
This article starring:
DAVID HICKS
al-Qaeda
OMAR KHADR
al-Qaeda
SALIM AHMED HAMDAN
al-Qaeda
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/01/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Three justices, Stephen Breyer, David Souter, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, dissented from the action. They said the issue deserved the court's immediate attention.
Yeah, I'll bet Ruthie Baby was dripping wet to get this one.
So, Mahmoud...ya need another sheet? How about a nice necktie?
#3
They also asked the justices to determine whether alleged enemy combatants facing military commission trials are protected by basic constitutional rights, including the right to file habeas corpus challenges in US federal courts
#6
The central charge in the Khadr case is that he engaged in a firefight with US and Afghan forces during an assault on a suspected Al Qaeda compound on July 27, 2002. After the firefight, US soldiers entered the compound. Commission documents say Khadr then threw a grenade that killed US Army Sgt. Christopher Speer. Khadr's charge sheet also says he converted land mines into improvised explosive devices and planted the devices beside roads to kill US and coalition forces. He is also alleged to have provided material support to a terror organization by becoming an Al Qaeda fighter. He allegedly received Al Qaeda training in the use of rocket-propelled grenades, rifles, pistols, hand grenades, land mines, and other explosives.
One more reason to begin enforcing the Geneva Conventions precisely and to have executed this worthless piece of camel-sh&t on the spot.
If this doesn't deserve being stood up against a wall and shot or hanged by the neck until dead, very little does.
A hurricane roars ashore in Rhode Island. A nuclear device goes off in the Midwest. And terrorists begin wreaking havoc in Alaska. What do you do?
The Pentagon and other US and Canadian agencies plan to answer that question in a major exercise called Ardent Sentry-Northern Edge 07 that began Monday and will play out over the next 18 days, involving thousands of US troops and state and local officials.
The US Northern Command said it is "the largest and most complex exercise" it has undertaken, combining natural and man-made disasters to test preparedness plans on a national level. "The intent obviously is to stress the system," said Mike Kucharak, a spokesman for the Northern Command in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
The peak of the exercise will come next week when a hurricane bears into Rhode Island under one scenario, and an improvised nuclear device is detonated in Indiana in another. Interspersed with those crises will be simulated terrorist actions in Alaska, some of which will take place at sea while others will involve aircraft. That will allow participants to explore what might happen if terrorists tries to take advantage of catastrophic event, Kucharak said. "How would that stress the system?"
The nuclear scenario postulates the detonation of a 10-kiloton nuclear device, which will draw in state and local authorities, and national guard units from three states. Some 2,000 active duty military personnel will also take part. Kucharak said the military will for deploy specialized forces to handle the consequences of a simulated nuclear event.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/01/2007 00:00 ||
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COASTTOCOASTAM > Guest Pert > AL QAEDA is IHO opinion is a de facto WMD + NUKE-ARMED RADIC TERROR ORGANIZATION WID GLOBAL AGENDA - the only real issue is WHEN AQ will decide to use its devices and in what magnitude [AQ plays politix]. PERT > SOURCES INSIDE ISLAM > ONE OR MORE HIGH-YIELD NUKE = WMD DEVICE(S) is likely to be detonated by AQ = Radical Islam inside America anytime between now + Year 2010.
#2
A hurricane roars ashore in Rhode Island. A nuclear device goes off in the Midwest. And terrorists begin wreaking havoc in Alaska. What do you do?
Sounds like a typical episode of '24'.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
05/01/2007 8:40 Comments ||
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#3
Sounds like a typical episode of '24'.
"Throw a perimeter around Alaska and get the satellites on-line! And someone sign for those unknown canisters the UPS guy just delivered. Have him put them in the air handler room where they'll be safe."
Posted by: Steve ||
05/01/2007 9:49 Comments ||
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#4
The first thing I'd do is grab a gun and some ammo. The second thing I'd do is find out if any of my neighbors need guns and ammo. The third thing I'd do is to find out what other needs my neighbors might have. After that, I'll start thinking about "getting with the program". I just hope that if the muzzies do attack, they do so in a way I can get a shot back at 'em. I don't "spray and pray".
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
05/01/2007 23:36 Comments ||
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#5
OP, I'm not sure if I'd trust many or any of my neighbors with guns and ammo, especially mine, let alone any of my supplies, but I'm paranoid that way (living in Mexifornia).
ISLAMABAD - Pakistan set up a new body to tighten controls over nuclear and missile technology exports on Monday, days before a potentially incriminating report on the atomic black market network of disgraced scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan was due for release.
Barn door, horse, lock ...
The new organization which will act as a licensing body would essentially centralize control over the export of strategic goods, materials and equipments as it includes all concerned ministries, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tasneem Aslam told journalists in Islamabad.
Supervised by the ministry, the Strategic Export Control Division (SECDIV) will ensure all exports conform with the demands of international authorities, including the Nuclear Suppliers Group, the Australia Group dealing with biological agents and toxins, and the Missile Technology Control Regime, she said.
Pakistan is expected to be further implicated in previous cases of nuclear proliferation in a report by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies, scheduled for publication later this week. The document titled Nuclear black markets: Pakistan, AQ Khan and the rise of proliferation networks: A new assessment? is expected to provide more evidence linking the Pakistani scientist with colleagues in Irans nuclear programme.
And North Korea. And Saudi-controlled Arabia. And Malaysia. And Libya. And ...
Khan, still honoured in Pakistan as the father of its nuclear programme, confessed in 2004 to running a network of atomic proliferators operating overseas. He was later pardoned by President Pervez Musharraf but remains wrapped in duct tape under virtual house arrest.
The establishment of the new control mechanism indicated Pakistans strong commitment to non-proliferation and determination to fulfil its national and international export control commitments, Aslam said.
And then his lips fell off ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/01/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
AQ Khan, the ultimate Paki shyster. Good at stealing and copying plans and documents. Just left out the nuclear physics. Thanks for the proof NKors.
#2
NEWSMAX [several articles] > GEORGE TENET: AL QAEDA NUCLEAR THREAT REAL. AQ changed its mind on 2003 deadly terror attack agz NYC subway system in favor of "something better". FOX > OVER 20 TERROR ATTACKS AGZ USA PER SE FOILED SINCE 9-11; + EXPERT: HIGH RISK/PROBS OF ATTACKS AGZ WASHINGTON, DC; NYC. Organized Radic Islamist-Terror groups like AQ will likely possess nuclear weapons in 10 YEARS, UNLESS ALREADY IN THEIR POSSESSION. For the first time in history, a highly decentralized network of NUKE/WMD-ARMED violent Terror group(s) may form the basis = majority of de facto, anti-democratic, anti-US-Western governance/ruling regimes in several major Muslim nations, from Central-North Africa to Central Asia-SCO, etal.; + DE BORCHGRAVE > TRAIL OF NUKES LEAD TO IRAN; + SMITH: CHINA'S HIDDEN AGENDA. SATWAR and Improved dual-capable SILKWORMS, including those sold = may sell to ME Rogues.
And why is Pakistan allowed to export anything even remotely "strategic"?
Posted by: John Frum ||
05/01/2007 6:39 Comments ||
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#4
John - The UN not having any power there is no governing thing to stop their failed state except the force of arms. The only strong states with forces in theater being India, USA and China.
The US is pretty busy. Kind of leaves China and India. In ways like NK is, Pakiwakiland is sort of China's bitch. So China would be the natural but we see how that works in NK and Burma so.. China and India - would dice help?
#5
The damage has already been done. All that remains is retribution against Pakistan for destabilizing the entire Middle East and ginning up attacks against the West. Their sins are manifold and egregious.
Tourism Minister Nilofer Bakhtiar has said she is a good Muslim and people should stop trying to impose their version of Islam on others. In an interview with the Indian Express, responding to a question about a fatwa declared against her by the Lal Masjid mullahs after she was pictured appearing to hug her French instructor after a paragliding jump, Ms Bakhtiar said: ... when people think they are more Islamic than I am, then I dont appreciate that so much. You know religion is a matter of the heart, and its between you and your God.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/01/2007 00:00 ||
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Members of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal created uproar in the National Assembly on Monday after MP Bhandara, a minority representative of the Pakistan Muslim League, suggested that religion should be kept separate from politics. Mr Bhandara said that in Quaid-e-Azams vision of Pakistan, there was no role of religion in politics and terrorism could only be tackled by separating the two.
His remarks angered MMA members, who stood on their seats and shouted slogans against Mr Bhandara. NA Speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain then switched off Mr Bhandaras microphone and asked him to sit down, which pacified the MMA members and calmed the situation.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/01/2007 00:00 ||
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Police will launch a crackdown on brothels and gambling dens in the capital to rid society of social evils, SSP Zafer Iqbal told reporters on Monday. The SSP said legal action would be taken against brothels and gambling dens. However, he said, prayer leaders would not be consulted in this connection. Police can even act against the culprits on the basis of media reports, he said. Iqbal said police had beefed up security in the capital following Saturdays suicide blast. Plainclothesmen have been deployed at important locations, he said. He said police were prepared to provide security uring the hearing of the presidential reference against the chief justice. Only vehicles bearing stickers issued by the SC authorities will be allowed to head towards the SC building, the SSP said, adding that walkthrough gates and pickets would be installed at various routes.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/01/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
In related news: 20/20 plans to release Islamabadi brothel phone records.
#3
This is to undermine those two mosques that have been attacking the government recently for "sponsoring immorality." Implied, to the public, is that the government can do something about it, but the mosques are only hot air.
#4
I am waiting to see if a TV show comes out of this. Hidden Camera's and a spokesperson interviewing the poor sod who got caught visiting the brothel or gambling den.
Then as he runs out, they cuff him. Then they read him the appropriate chapter from the Quran or Hadith about out of marriage sex and gambling.
Britains attempts to secure the extradition of Rashid Rauf, a suspect in a terrorist plot involving the explosion of US-bound passenger jets from Britain, from Pakistan are stalling because of Pakistani demands, The Daily Telegraph reported on Monday. Citing unidentified officials, the paper said Pakistani demands for greater reciprocity have hampered negotiations to secure Rauf. UK has not fulfilled its side of the bargain, a senior Pakistani official told the paper. Over the years lists of wanted people have piled up ...England is harbouring all sorts of terrorists and criminals, the official said. The problem is that we find there are double standards, said the official. According to the Telegraph, Pakistan has presented demands for eight suspected members of the Balochistan Liberation Army.
This article starring:
RASHID RAUF
al-Qaeda
Posted by: Fred ||
05/01/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Pakistan worry about the ISI connection in Terror attacks worldwide!!!!
Posted by: Paul ||
05/01/2007 9:35 Comments ||
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Rauf will never make it to Britain. Escape or accident will surely befall him before he can confess his ISI links.
Posted by: ed ||
05/01/2007 9:57 Comments ||
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(AKI) The weekend suicide bomb attack targeting Pakistan's interior minister has shone the spotlight on the man heading the only civilian body fully trusted by Western intelligence regarding the Taliban and al-Qaeda. Interior minister Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao is genuinely anti-Islamist and pro-Western and his special investigation unit works jointly with the American FBI - unlike Pakistan's powerful armed forces and intelligence services - involved in data collection and probes into al-Qaeda and Taliban activities in Pakistan.
The professionalism of the interior ministry investigators has exposed many Taliban sanctuaries and safe havens within Pakistan and propelled Sherpao to the number one slot in the Taliban's list of most hated political figures. While President Musharraf may be denounced by the fundamentalists as a lapdog of the West, Sherpao and his staff have been inflicting the real damage.
Well-placed sources say that a new cell of Uzbeks, established in the valley of Shawal in North Waziristan, was behind the attack. After a massacre of Uzbek militants belonging to al-Qaeda in South Waziristan, by Taliban commander Haji Nazir, most of the Uzbek fighters have either fled to Afghanistan or moved to the Shawal valley of North Waziristan, where pro-Al-Qaeda Taliban have provided them a safe sanctuary.
At least 29 people were killed in North West Frontier Province on Saturday, when a suicide bomber detonated his explosives just a few metres from the minister and his son, who both received minor injuries. The incident happened at a public rally in the Charsada district organized by Sherpao's faction of the Pakistan Peoples Party. As he finished his address to the 500 strong crowd and approached his car to return to Peshawar, the provincial capital, an unidentified person ran towards him and blew up himself up, said an eyewitnesses.
An ethnic Pashtun, Aftab Sherpao has been the leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party led by former Pakistani premier Benazir Bhutto and also been the Chief Minister of North West Frontier Province in the past. After a successful military career he was encouraged to enter politics after the murder of his elder brother Hayat Muhammad Khan Sherpao in a bomb blast in 1975. He is anti-Islamist and was once known for his left wing political ideas, closer to the Soviet Union during the Cold War period. This made him a staunch opponent of the Mujahadeen who were fighting the Russian presence in Afghanistan during the 1980s.
Aftab Sherpao left the Pakistan Peoples Party(PPP) led by Benazir Bhutto in 2002 and joined forces with President Musharraf. He then formed his own Pakistan Peoples Party (Sherpao faction) and while his pro-Russian left wing ideas evolved into a secular social democrat philosophy he remained a staunch enemy of Taliban and al-Qaeda elements. This has seen him oppose recent peace deals negotiated with the Pakistani Taliban in Pakistani tribal areas, something which is backed by the military establishment.
His relation with President Pervez Musharraf is a marriage of convenience for both men. Sherpao wants to stay in power and out of jail as corruption charges against him, which forced him to flee briefly to Britain in 2002, have been shelved but not completely wiped out.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/01/2007 00:00 ||
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Sheik Ahmad Bahr, acting Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, declared during a Friday sermon at a Sudan mosque that America and Israel will be annihilated and called upon Allah to kill Jews and Americans "to the very Last One". Following are excerpts from the sermon that took place last month, courtesy of MEMRI.
Ahmad Bahr: "You will be victorious" on the face of this planet. You are the masters of the world on the face of this planet. Yes, [the Koran says that] "you will be victorious," but only "if you are believers." Allah willing, "you will be victorious," while America and Israel will be annihilated, Allah willing. I guarantee you that the power of belief and faith is greater than the power of America and Israel. They are cowards, as is said in the Book of Allah: "You shall find them the people most eager to protect their lives." They are cowards, who are eager for life, while we are eager for death for the sake of Allah. That is why America's nose was rubbed in the mud in Iraq, in Afghanistan, in Somalia, and everywhere.
America will be annihilated, while Islam will remain. The Muslims "will be victorious, if you are believers." Oh Muslims, I guarantee you that the power of Allah is greater than America, by whom many are blinded today. Some people are blinded by the power of America. We say to them that with the might of Allah, with the might of His Messenger, and with the power of Allah, we are stronger than America and Israel.
Oh Allah, vanquish the Jews and their supporters. Oh Allah, vanquish the Americans and their supporters. Oh Allah, count their numbers, and kill them all, down to the very last one. Oh Allah, show them a day of darkness. Oh Allah, who sent down His Book, the mover of the clouds, who defeated the enemies of the Prophet defeat the Jews and the Americans, and bring us victory over them.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/01/2007 16:27 ||
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RAMALLAH, West Bank - The deputy Palestinian prime minister, a Fatah leader, said on Monday that a six-week-old unity government led by Hamas should be disbanded if a Western embargo is not lifted within three months.
Better hurry or Olmert will beat you to it.
Azzam al-Ahmads comments, made to public school teachers holding a one-day strike over unpaid wages, were the first of their kind by a leader of the unity government that Hamas Islamists formed with President Mahmoud Abbass secular Fatah faction. If the economic and national siege on the Palestinian people is not lifted in three months, this government should leave, al-Ahmad told hundreds of teachers after they tried to storm government offices in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, a Hamas leader, said last week that the militant group would reassess its options in one to two months if sanctions remained in place. But Haniyeh did not say that disbanding the government was one of those options.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/01/2007 00:00 ||
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#5
We need to make sure that no aid flows until another government is put in place that will recognize Israel and renounce terrorism. The Palestinians need a monumental smackdown for having elected Hamas in the first place.
Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal warned Israel could face another Palestinian uprising unless conditions in the Gaza Strip and occupied West Bank improved. Meshaal told the Palestinian daily al-Ayyam in an interview published on Monday continuation of a Western economic embargo of the Palestinian government and military actions by Israel would give notice to a huge explosion that would not only affect the Palestinians but also the entire region, especially the Zionist entity. I warn and say that I see that the current situation is heading in the direction of the conditions that prevailed in the late 1990s that paved the way for the al-Aqsa intifada, Meshaal said. I warn and under warn I put many red lines. Hamas Islamists formed a unity government last month with President Mahmoud Abbass secular Fatah faction in a bid to end internal fighting and ease the year-old economic embargo.
But tensions between Hamas and Fatah remain high, particularly in the Gaza Strip, and a Western ban on direct aid to the Palestinian Authority remains in place. The armed wing of the ruling Hamas movement broke a five-month-old Gaza ceasefire last week by firing rockets into Israel in response to the killing of nine Palestinians by Israeli forces.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Sunday Israel would take measures to stop Palestinian militants firing rockets from the Gaza Strip or attempting to infiltrate the Jewish state. Meshaal defended the firing of rockets saying it was a response to Israeli killing of Palestinians but told al-Ayyam he hoped a ceasefire could be expanded from Gaza to the occupied West Bank. Western powers imposed crippling sanctions on the Palestinian Authority after the Islamist Hamas came to power in March 2006 after beating Abbass secular Fatah faction in parliamentary elections. Meshaal, who held talks with Abbas in Cairo on Friday, has criticised Arab countries for being slow to live up to financial commitments made to the Palestinians.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/01/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Why don't they just work instead of doing the rocket bomb and mortar thingy?
Posted by: Caesar Hupang1125 ||
05/01/2007 1:29 Comments ||
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Let's see if I've got this straight.
The dirtbag "leader" of a religiously-themed gang of psycho-killers are "warning" that the current campaign of terrorist violence and acts of war will become a campaign of terrorist violence and acts of war unless the target of their terrorism ceases responding to their ongoing campaign of terrorist violence and acts of war.
In addition, he warned foreign donors, who provide all the money to support the moribund, welfare-addicted death-cult society over which the dirtbag's gang presides, that they'd better switch the money faucet back on, or .... there will be a campaign of terrorist violence and acts of war.
Got it. Get the State Dept. right on this. I think we can do business with these people.
(AKI) - Kidnapped BBC journalist Alan Johnston - who was abducted on 12 March in Gaza - is alive, Palestinian deputy leader Azzam al-Ahmad told a 12-member delegation of MEPs in the West Bank town of Ramallah on Monday. Palestinian security services also know what they must do to secure Johnston's release, Azzam told the MEPs. BBC correspondents held a rally in central Cairo, Egypt, on Monday demanding the release of their colleague.
London colleagues and friends of Johnston on Monday also held a vigil outside BBC headquarters in West London, where they released 50 white balloons to symbolise what will be on Tuesday the 50 days he has been held hostage.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/01/2007 00:00 ||
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#2
Well, they would if they could. But they can't, so they won't.
Posted by: Caesar Hupang1125 ||
05/01/2007 1:33 Comments ||
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#3
I hope Johnston is released soon, alive and physically unharmed.
Meanwhile, I spit on his colleagues and their idiotic white balloons. How about 10,000 red balloons (or is it 150,000, or more?) released for the victims of Arab and jihadi terrorism that is almost always whitewashed by the BBC (and that's just in its English service - it's chilling and appalling to consider the delusional poison that must spew forth in the Arabic service)? How about balloons for the IDF soldiers following elaborate ROEs to avoid harming non-combatants while hunting down cowardly thugs whose only SOP is to attack children, the elderly, school buses, and pizza parlors?
I wish all BBC staff good health, long life, and happiness, and their organization the odious oblivion it so richly deserves.
#5
London colleagues and friends of Johnston on Monday also held a vigil outside BBC headquarters in West London, where they released 50 white balloons to symbolise what will be on Tuesday the 50 days he has been held hostage.
the always-effective "symbolic gesture" of futility
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/01/2007 9:16 Comments ||
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Palestinian security services also know what they must do to secure Johnston's release, Azzam told the MEPs.
What's that? Drive up the price?
Any day now, right, Mahmoud?
The US Army hopes, within a few years, to deploy a plasma shield a machine that generates a protective screen of dazzling mid-air explosions to stun and disorient an enemy.
The device uses a technology known as dynamic pulse detonation (DPD). A short but intense laser pulse creates a ball of plasma, and a second laser pulse generates a supersonic shockwave within the plasma to generate a bright flash and a loud bang.
The Plasma Acoustic Shield System will eventually combine a dynamic pulse detonation laser with a high power speaker for hailing or warning, and a dazzler light source. PASS has already been demonstrated by the system's makers, Stellar Photonics.
"It uses a programmed pattern of rapid plasma events to create a sort of wall of bright lights and reports (bangs) over the coverage area," says Keith Braun of the US Army's Advanced Energy Armaments Systems Division at Picatinny Arsenal in New Jersey, US, where the system is being tested. . . .
PASS may be the first step towards a man-portable, tuneable laser weapon that could be used in both non-lethal and lethal modes. Stellar Photonics, which has a $2.7 million contract to build PASS , plans to develop smaller and more powerful versions in future.
The company has also pitched a portable laser rifle, which would be lethal, to the US Army. It would weigh about fifteen kilograms, would have a range of more than a mile, and could have numerous advantages over existing rifles better accuracy and the ability to hit a moving target at the speed of light.
It could also be used in non-lethal mode, "offering the individual soldier a first response non-lethal alternative, with the capability to go lethal should the situation call for that level of response", says Braun. But extensive testing of its effects on humans would need to be carried out before it could be legitimately used as a non-lethal weapon.
Posted by: Mike ||
05/01/2007 16:10 ||
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It would be interesting if these guns could be set to a mode that would permanently blind the target. I'm pretty sure the US would use them mostly on combatants with weapons in hand. I wonder how many Innocent Civilians(TM) will suddenly show up blind after that. Make them a burden to their society. They would be a constant obvious visual reminder of the rest of their society as to why terrorism doesn't pay.
#5
this is so old-hat Unreal Tournament has had that ability with the plasma rifle since '02 :-)
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/01/2007 17:14 Comments ||
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gorb, IIRC, a few years ago there was a movement among a bunch of eye doctors to prevent the use of lasers in combat because it would leave many people permanently blind. I guess it's ok to kill them, just don't leave them blind. Personally, although I would hate to be blind, I would much rather be blind than dead.
#7
I remember something like taht. But I think doctors should stay on the sidelines here. Everyone knows war means injury and death. I don't know why they feel they need to tell us something we already know and have opted for. Given that lasers can only blind you if they are tightly focused, I figure if someone is blinded by a laser in battle against US military forces, they were asking for it. What's cool about doing things this way is that it is low cost to coalition forces, they immediately become a burden to the terrorists around them and to their terrorist families later, they don't get killed, which means they will forevermore be a reminder to not screw with modern industrial societies, nobody in their shallow societies are going to want to marry them or have much to do with them, and sniping these guys with an optical weapon would be like shooting fish in a barrel! I don't see a problem with Geneva Conventions because it "beats" dying, and fleeing civilians would be at low or no risk of being blinded because nobody would target them because they weren't carrying a weapon. If people are bringing up Geneva Conventions to try to stop us from using lasers on the battlefield, I would say ignore them because they don't know what they are talking about. You could get video of every incident like this, and if anyone complained, dredge it up and show people what really happened. Hard to fight something like that. I wouldn't want to use this kind of weapon against someone who wasn't armed, and I'm sure most others wouldn't either. Once this tactic is adopted, they'll have to figure out what the next generation of war will be because it would remove the human shield aspect of fighting with terrorists, which is the only thing that protects them now. If I were in charge, I would be pouring money into this as fast as I could to get it on the battlefield as soon as possible.
#10
Given that lasers can only blind you if they are tightly focused, I figure if someone is blinded by a laser in battle against US military forces, they were asking for it.
One problem with lasers is that if you miss the beam can travel a LOT farther than a bullet would under similar circumstances. Unintended injuries are highly likely if they are deployed against people except in open countryside with no non-combatants around.
Same issue exists with aircraft and the use of tactical high energy lasers, by the way. THELs are proven in tests against rocket, artillery and mortar attack, but ... there is a large potential for friendly fire casualties unless most of the aircraft are unmanned and swarming under shared computer control and the THELs are similarly linked in and controlled.
We're not there yet re: unmanned aircraft so there isn't a big push to deploy THELs at this point. (Power is an issue as well, both for THELs and for individual soldier-fired laser weapons.)
#11
The US does not use lasers to blind. The Soviets did use them against US pilots in the 1980's but just before the collapse, the US and USSR signed an agreement not to use them. More recently, the Chinese and North Koreans have used them against US pilots, resulting in some retinal damage. There was move to add narrow pass filters for the most likely laser wavelengths to pilot helmets. I don't know what the current status is.
Posted by: ed ||
05/01/2007 19:48 Comments ||
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#12
Regardless of operability, there will be Command Officers, Enlisted, and of course Pols, etc. whom will look wid disfavor upon these kinds of advanced techs simply becuz its alters = or makes obsolete the Regulations, Bureaucracies, Economics and Realities of Warfare [ read - out of a job].
#13
Regardless of operability, there will be Command Officers, Enlisted, and of course Pols, etc. whom will look wid disfavor upon these kinds of advanced techs simply becuz its alters = or makes obsolete the Regulations, Bureaucracies, Economics and Realities of Warfare [ read - out of a job].
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
05/01/2007 22:43 Comments ||
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#15
It would be interesting if these guns could be set to a mode that would permanently blind the target.
There was an Army weapon designed in the 1980's called CCLAW:
The Laser Weapons Technology program for fiscal year 1982 continued to emphasize early demonstration of laser weapon concepts and advancement of the high-energy laser technology base. Primary technology accomplishments were the initiation of ultraviolet preionization laser experiments, construction of a propagation cell for performing in-house experiments, assessment of in-band laser damage, continuation of prime power development at MICOM (U.S. Army Missile Command) in conjunction with MERADCOM (Mobility Equipment Research and Development Command) and ERADCOM (Electronics Research and Development Command), and the conduct of joint Army-Navy hot spot tracking experiments.
Two contractors, Hughes and TRW, continued with the competitive preliminary design for the forward area laser weapon, demonstrator (FALW-D), but Congress cut the funding for the program, causing its suspension.
A contract was let to Westinghouse on 1 April 1982 for the design and fabrication of the Roadrunner, which will demonstrate the close combat laser assault weapon (CCLAW) concept. The preliminary design review was held in September 1982. On 29 July 1982 the House Armed Services Committee blocked a request to move CCLAW to a separate program and added the funds to the laser weapons technology program. The authorization bill of 8 September 1982 affirmed this action.
Curiously, it was easier to find a link to an old Rantburg thread where I brought this weapon up. My position still remains the same then as now:
AC,.com, do either of you remember the Army's CCLAW project? It was a counter civilian tank-based laser designed to blind all unprotected people within sight. Public furor halted further development of the idea.
Back in that time, I arrived at the conclusion (as alluded to by SR-71) that America needed to develop battlefield weapons so horrific and lethal that our enemy's troops would simply refuse to fight against our forces and mutiny. I'm not talking about nerve gas or other slow-death atrocities.
What I want is for American troops to have arms that are so simultaneously irresistible and irreversibly fatal that little if any hope can be held of productively engaging our soldiers. I am sick and tired of our warriors risking precious life and limb against unworthy opponents.
Ramp up those shoulder launched F/A projectiles that selectively collapse buildings. Enhance our precision guided ordnance. Do whatever it takes to instill panic in our foes the instant we appear on the scene. Better yet, as mentioned before, intervene from afar and kill them all in their barracks before they even deploy against us.
The psychotic enemies we face need to be denuded of their fighting age men. Not just to cripple their military forces, but to inhibit genetic reproduction of cultural mindsets that oppose freedom and equality.
Ow. That phrase, "progressive shariah," caused my head to spin around 360 degrees.
(AKI) - The new political party of the Indonesian province of Aceh, the Partai Rakyat Aceh (PKA), or popular party of Aceh, has set its ambitions high, vying to become a progressive force bringing economic, social and religious reforms. "We want to become the second main party of the province after GAM," its president Aguswandi told Adnkronos International (AKI). However, contrary to GAM, the PKA is in favour of Sharia law. Muslim-devout Aceh is the only Indonesian province allowed to implement sharia-based by-laws. "We are mostly supported by the rural population and women though the party has been formed by local intellectuals, activists, pro-human rights lawyers and the moderate ulama [Islamic religious leaders]," said Aguswandi, a longtime human rights activist.
"Really mostly a grass-roots thing. We've seen the reports of shadowy bearded foreigners lurking about with dumptrucks full of cash, fully kitted-out mobile armories and complimentary daycare and immersion language classes for all the youngsters under age twelve, but personally, I don't pay attention to silly rumours. My watch? Why yes, yes it is a Rolex Datejust with the GPS package. I picked it up at the souk...er, Hong Kong duty-free a while back. And now I see it's time to be off. No justice, no peace and all that. Toodles!"
The Free Aceh Movement (GAM) is a former rebel group who fought for independence in the province for almost 30 years. Under the Aceh peace accord signed in Helsinki in August 2005, GAM rebels gave up their demand for independence, while Indonesian army pulled out half of its 50,000 troops and handed over control of 70 percent of the region's rich resources.
The accord also enabled the formation of local political parties - a first in the Indonesian archipelago. Though GAM and the PKA have already been created and a third, the Gabthat Party, is planning to do so, their official registration will be possible only after central authorities approve legislation regulating their creation.
The PKA president said Monday that his new political force cannot be considered either left or right wing and that it wants "an administration really serving the people where the budget for development is higher than that allocated to cover beaurocracy costs."
Posted by: Fred ||
05/01/2007 00:00 ||
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progressive shariah > ISLAM = COGNITIVE DISSONANCE.
Posted by: ed ||
05/01/2007 11:08 ||
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The Government of Iran is leading the country downhill to a Hell in a Handbasket. Unfortunately, it is the average person in the street who are suffering. A sad state of affairs
"Since we came out this morning many people we met have continuously warned us to be careful about our headscarves and to wear them further forward because they are arresting women who are dressed like this," she says.
Boutique owners are furious. Some shops have been sealed - others warned not to sell tight revealing clothing.
One shopkeeper selling evening dresses told us the moral police had ordered him to saw off the breasts of his mannequins because they were too revealing.
He said he wasn't the only shop to receive this strange instruction.
#2
Such are the allies of the left. Of course, all this would be music to the ears of many academic "feminists", creepy and self-hating harridans that they are.
#3
Can there be any doubt that the time has come to declare sharia law a world-wide violation of human rights? This is a critical step towards delegitimizing Islamic regimes and must start immediately. Should the left oppose such a campaign it will forever brand them as the enemy of progressive civilization. This is a real make or break issue and needs to be pushed at the highest levels.
#5
It seems like the some people in Iran want to be secular
Sadly, JohnQC, the mad mullahs have entirely too many willing helpers -- witness the report of Brown Shirts attacking striking university students with guns and chains in another article posted here.
#6
The problem with high context Islamic societies is that there are far too many opportunities for subserviant individuals to gain significant rewards. It is a system of patronage and corruption that has gone on for untold centuries. Because favoritism is permitted, bullies can be given privileges and other perks that guarantee their cooperation. Most important of all is how law itself can be selectively interpreted in order to defend the actions of these thugs while simultaneously being used to strip the peacefully protesting students of any protection.
This is what theocracy is all about. It was seen in Medieval Europe and it thrives wherever inadequate separation of church and state persists. This is just one of a plethora of reasons why sharia law must be banned.
The UN Undersecretary General for Legal Affairs Nicolas Michel presented his "oral" report Monday to UN chief Ban Ki-moon on the international tribunal to try those behind the killing of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and others. Michel conveyed to Ban his conclusions on the controversial issue of the tribunal after his travels to Lebanon over the past month, and it is expected Ban will pass on the conclusion to the UN Security Council some time this week. "It has not yet been scheduled when Ban will discuss Michel's report with the council," said the spokesperson.
Diplomatic sources quoted by the Central News agency said Ban would recommend that the UN Security Council not take any decision before the end of May, giving the Lebanese leaders another month to reach an agreement on the court issue.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/01/2007 00:00 ||
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No leaks?
3-to-1 it never sees the light of day.
Posted by: Caesar Hupang1125 ||
05/01/2007 1:32 Comments ||
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(AKI) - The exiled leader of the Muslim Brotherhood's chapter in Syria has dismissed last week's parliamentary elections as "yet another farce."
I blame Bashir Assad: not for the phony election, but for putting me in the position of having to agree with the Muslim Brotherhood.
"Those elected represent no other than the system of power which gave them victory," the London-based Ali Sadr al-Din al-Bayanuni told Adnkronos International (AKI). Echoing the words of many Syrian dissidents, al-Bayanuni slammed an article in the Syrian constitution that enshrines the ruling Baath party's role as the "guide" of political life in Syria, guaranteeing its hold on power.
In practical terms Article 8 of the constitution reserves two thirds of the seats in parliament to the Baath party and its allies in the National Progressive Front. "But even the remaining seats, contested by so-called independents are routinely won by candidates supported by the government and the state security apparatus," al-Bayanuni told AKI.
The Muslim Brotherhood leader whose movement was outlawed in Syria 11 years ago said that with only 6 percent of those eligible to vote casting their balllots, "the election results cannot in any way be considered as an indication of the desires and aspirations of people".
Posted by: Fred ||
05/01/2007 00:00 ||
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BIGNEWSNETWORK > ISRAELI PAPER > SYRIA HAS BUILT AN [secret]UNDERGROUND MISSLE COMPLEX. For its SCUDS A-B-C- and D's. All of Israel reportedly in range of Syria's SCUDS + Syria's new CHEMICAL WARHEAD???
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.
LONDON - 
And it's not President Bush's signature - it's House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's.
The US Supreme Court has helped clear the way for the next round of special trials by military commissions at the terror detention camp at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. On Monday, the court declined to take up a joint appeal filed by former Osama bin Laden driver 
A hurricane roars ashore in Rhode Island. A nuclear device goes off in the Midwest. And terrorists begin wreaking havoc in Alaska. What do you do?
ISLAMABAD - Pakistan set up a new body to tighten controls over nuclear and missile technology exports on Monday, days before a potentially incriminating report on the atomic black market network of disgraced scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan was due for release.
Members of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal created uproar in the National Assembly on Monday after MP Bhandara, a minority representative of the Pakistan Muslim League, suggested that religion should be kept separate from politics. Mr Bhandara said that in Quaid-e-Azams vision of Pakistan, there was no role of religion in politics and terrorism could only be tackled by separating the two. 
Police will launch a crackdown on brothels and gambling dens in the capital to rid society of social evils, SSP Zafer Iqbal told reporters on Monday. The SSP said legal action would be taken against brothels and gambling dens. However, he said, prayer leaders would not be consulted in this connection. Police can even act against the culprits on the basis of media reports, he said. Iqbal said police had beefed up security in the capital following Saturdays suicide blast. Plainclothesmen have been deployed at important locations, he said. He said police were prepared to provide security uring the hearing of the presidential reference against the chief justice. Only vehicles bearing stickers issued by the SC authorities will be allowed to head towards the SC building, the SSP said, adding that walkthrough gates and pickets would be installed at various routes.
(AKI) The weekend suicide bomb attack targeting Pakistan's interior minister has shone the spotlight on the man heading the only civilian body fully trusted by Western intelligence regarding the Taliban and al-Qaeda. Interior minister Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao is genuinely anti-Islamist and pro-Western and his special investigation unit works jointly with the American FBI - unlike Pakistan's powerful armed forces and intelligence services - involved in data collection and probes into al-Qaeda and Taliban activities in Pakistan. 
RAMALLAH, West Bank - The deputy Palestinian prime minister, a Fatah leader, said on Monday that a six-week-old unity government led by Hamas should be disbanded if a Western embargo is not lifted within three months.
Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal warned Israel could face another Palestinian uprising unless conditions in the Gaza Strip and occupied West Bank improved. Meshaal told the Palestinian daily al-Ayyam in an interview published on Monday continuation of a Western economic embargo of the Palestinian government and military actions by Israel would give notice to a huge explosion that would not only affect the Palestinians but also the entire region, especially the Zionist entity. I warn and say that I see that the current situation is heading in the direction of the conditions that prevailed in the late 1990s that paved the way for the al-Aqsa intifada, Meshaal said. I warn and under warn I put many red lines. Hamas Islamists formed a unity government last month with President Mahmoud Abbass secular Fatah faction in a bid to end internal fighting and ease the year-old economic embargo. 
(AKI) - Kidnapped BBC journalist Alan Johnston - who was abducted on 12 March in Gaza - is alive, Palestinian deputy leader Azzam al-Ahmad told a 12-member delegation of MEPs in the West Bank town of Ramallah on Monday. Palestinian security services also know what they must do to secure Johnston's release, Azzam told the MEPs. BBC correspondents held a rally in central Cairo, Egypt, on Monday demanding the release of their colleague.
The device uses a technology known as dynamic pulse detonation (DPD). A short but intense laser pulse creates a ball of plasma, and a second laser pulse generates a supersonic shockwave within the plasma to generate a bright flash and a loud bang.
(AKI) - The exiled leader of the Muslim Brotherhood's chapter in Syria has dismissed last week's parliamentary elections as "yet another farce." 
