[Al Arabiya Latest] An Afghan government investigation into the deaths of 10 civilians in the country's east found they were dragged from their homes and shot dead by foreign troops, the president's office said Wednesday.
The dead included eight school students aged between 13 and 17 years old, a statement from President Hamid Karzai's office said.
International forces based in Kunar province, where the alleged incident took place, told government investigators "they were unaware of the incident", the statement said.
" The president assured them that the government will seriously investigate the incident and deal with the culprits in accordance with the law "
Statement from the office of President Karzai
"A unit of international forces descended from a plane in the Narang district of Kunar province and took 10 people from three homes, eight of them school students in grades six, nine and 10, one of them a guest, the rest from the same family, and shot them dead," the statement said, quoting the head of the investigating team.
The investigation was headed by Asadaullah Wafa, an advisor to Karzai and a former governor of Kunar province.
The presidential statement said Wafa was shown documents by the head teacher of the school attended by the students, proving their status.
"Those people that were killed were innocent civilians," Wafa told reporters. The victims were eight boys, aged between 13 and 18, and two men in their 20s, he added.
Karzai had spoken with the father and uncles of the students, offering his condolences and promised a full investigation.
"The president assured them that the government will seriously investigate the incident and deal with the culprits in accordance with the law," the statement said.
NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), which has 113,000 troops in Afghanistan fighting a Taliban insurgency, has told AFP that it had no activities in the area at the time the alleged incident took place.
A senior Western military official said that U.S. Special Forces have been conducting operations in the area, along the border with Pakistan, and that they operate separately from ISAF.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/31/2009 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
#1
ENEMY PROPAGANDA ALERT
The m/o of the crime only fits one group of people.
Me thinks the kids were murdered by the Taliban/ Al Qaeda in retaliation for their parents cooperating with the NATO troops.
The crime scene was then set up (as usual) and the gullible government officials called in to "investigate".
Sounds more plausible, yes?
Posted by: Mike Hunt ||
12/31/2009 1:02 Comments ||
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#2
This the same incident where the Afghan police general confirmed photos of 9 dead twenty-something men with guns and explosives.
Posted by: ed ||
12/31/2009 6:30 Comments ||
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More than half of the new armoured vehicles sent to Afghanistan are out of service, the Ministry of Defence has admitted.
Only 134 of the 271 Mastiffs, the heaviest and most protective of the Armys armoured vehicles in Afghanistan, are fit for purpose, figures obtained by the Liberal Democrats have revealed.
The same poor service history is also affecting the new Ridgeback vehicles which are being used for the first time by 11 Light Brigade in Afghanistan. In written Commons answers, the Liberal Democrats were told that nearly 40 per cent of Ridgebacks were not operational at present.
The Mastiff and Ridgeback are examples of the new type of heavily armoured, mine-resistant, wheeled patrol vehicles used by the Army on operations in Afghanistan.
They provide much greater protection to personnel than the lightly armoured Snatch Land Rover which has proved so vulnerable to roadside bombs.
Posted by: ed ||
12/31/2009 6:32 Comments ||
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#3
More likely a combination of rotten roads, heavier armor creating more mechanical stress, and the fact that we're not getting the out-of-service numbers for the lighter vehicles. It's a war zone, and not one suited to vehicular transport. It's going to eat up equipment like nobody's business.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
12/31/2009 13:14 Comments ||
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#4
Thank you for the useful perspective, Mitch. :-)
In Kismayu town, 500 kilometres south of Mogadishu, the authority of al-Shabaab, the strongest Islamist movement opposing the Transitional Federal Government (TFG), issued orders to be observed by the people. Sheikh Ibrahim Hassan, the Public Awareness Officer of the Authority, announced through a local Radio, Al-Andalus that male inhabitants in Juba regions including Kismayu must grow beards, shave moustaches and shorten their trousers to above the ankles. Sheikh Ibrahim stated that all adult men in the area ought to comply with the directives within three days, effective December 19. Any opposition to the orders would bring punishment.
Although al-Shabaab (youth in Arabic) rules many parts of southern and central regions of Somalia, the Juba regions with a long border with Kenya appear to have attracted the full authority of the movement. On December 10, the administration recently appointed by al-Shabaab at Dhobley border town, next to Liboi in Kenyas North Eastern Province introduced restrictions on a number of social aspects. All businesses are to close during the prayer times that are observed by Muslim faithful.
Daud Hassan Ali, the new administrations Defence Officer, had announced that anybody found running a business as the muezzin calls for prayers would be penalised. When the muezzin calls the worshippers to prayers, not even a single person is allowed to wander in the streets, said Mr Ali. The next target had been the female lot. Women had been ordered to cover their bodies from head to toe with extra heavy clothing.
This is the notation of Islam on women, said Ali. They should not fail to observe the dress code, he added.The Al-Shabaab officer indicated that his administration had allocated a place for smokers and Khat (miraa) chewers to buy and consume the commodity. No one is allowed to sell or consume the stuff in public, remarked Ali.
The latest orders involving beards, moustaches and trousers as imposed on men generated heated reactions. Opponents insist that only a nationwide, stable Islamic rule can issue such directives. Their view is that al-Shabaab or any other authority in Somalia is not very permanent. Hence, could not introduce decisions with lasting effects.
Some of the instructions given by al-Shabaab are so personal that even an Islamic State could not introduce, commented Mr Aw Ali Husein Garweyne, a moderate Islamist in Mogadishu. Our Prophet Mohammed gave us the faculty to use some of his examples like beard and moustache, but never made it mandatory, he added.
According to Aw Ali, some of the directives being enforced by al-Shabaab cannot be justified by the Islamic books of reference. He cited the Jihad, suicide missions or single dress rule as example. Even President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed of the TFG recently labelled un-Islamic the strict dress code enforced by al-Shabaab. He noted that Islam only tells women to cover themselves properly, locally known as asturaad, without dictating specific type of clothes and design. Addressing the city council in Mogadishu, President Ahmed joked that the Islamist militants even want to know the underwear of women to note whether they match their standard. It is neither religious nor cultural to ask about underwear, said the president.
Meanwhile, tittle-tattle has recently been circulating that a woman was killed at Yakhshid district in North Mogadishu by al-Shabaab. The owner of a teashop at a mechanical garage, her crime was to have had a radio and listening to Radio Mogadishu, a government controlled broadcaster.
On Sunday December 27, Sheikh Ali Mohamoud Raghe alias Sheikh Ali Dhere, the Spokesman of Al-Shabaab held a press conference in Mogadishu. He stated that listening to Radio Mogadishu amounted to a crime and anybody found tuning to the station would be treated like being a government partisan.
Radio Mogadishu has an un-Islamic agenda, said Sheikh Raghe. Listening to it is like directly helping the enemy of Islam, he said. Al-Shabaabs statement looks to have had an immediate negative impact because more people are now curious to listen to the radio.
Continuing his argument, Aw Ali says that neither growing beard nor trimming the moustaches is mandatory. They are the best way to appear, but not necessarily compulsory, remarked Aw Ali. I believe these people are working for gaalo (non-Muslims) to spoil our religion, said the manager of a teashop in South Mogadishu. According to other sceptics, al-Shabaab is imposing orders and restrictions in order to show their power to command.
#1
All pious women must grow beards as long and luxurious as that of the finest goats. Moustache trimming is mandatory. That is all. Inshallah.
Posted by: ed ||
12/31/2009 6:36 Comments ||
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#2
This little bit of religious insanity will likely backfire.
They're threatening punishment, I suspect a number of MEN are going to first say F-U then if pressed further simply Kill the bastard trying to force beard trimming, pants shortening and other insanity, watch for unexplained bodies here and there as one by one the "Overly Religious" Fall.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
12/31/2009 13:39 Comments ||
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Trying to bring in Iran to support the Somali 'government' against Al Qaeda (in the Arabian Peninsula) proxy Al Shabaab? Ethiopia did not fix things, after all.
Somalia's foreign minister has called on Islamic states to assist his country as it tries to move toward lasting peace and stability.
Ali Ahmed Jama made the comment during a meeting with Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani in Tehran on Tuesday afternoon.
The Somali foreign minister said that Mogadishu was currently passing through a transition stage that involved rebuilding government institutions and securing calm.
In an earlier meeting with his Iranian counterpart Manouchehr Mottaki, Ahmed Jama also explained that at the moment setting up government and public service institutions was Mogadishu's leading reconstruction priority.
"Somalia is experiencing a harsh period after two decades of crisis and disorder. Extremism, internal strife, organized crime and terrorism are not only threatening Somalia, but the whole region," he said, according to a translation of his comments.
In both meetings, the Iranian side also noted that a stable and secure Somalia was important for Tehran.
Mottaki and Larijani both said that the Islamic Republic was ready to offer any form of assistance and support to Somalia through the African Union.
The Iranian parliament speaker said that Tehran was happy to see a central government in place in Somalia, adding that he hoped lasting peace would return to the African state.
Mottaki pointed out that Iran was serious in its pledge to assist Mogadishu, while sending out an appeal to all "Somali groups, regional states, and members of the international community" to do the same.
"We believe that extremism and terrorism will not only have an adverse effect on the people of Somalia, but will also impact the region and the international community."
"It will especially have negative outcomes for trade and shipping. So, we must all try to help restore peace and security to Somalia through diplomacy and cooperation," said the top Iranian diplomat.
Mottaki also said that Iran's private sector was ready to participate in industrial and economic reconstruction projects in Somalia, particularly those that involve building hospitals and schools.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/31/2009 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: al-Shabaab
[Asharq al-Aswat] The attempted kidnapping of Saudi nationals in Niger, which left several of them dead, was intended to sell the victims to al-Qaeda's branches in Africa, Asharq al Awsat has learned.
Sources in Algeria's Sahara familiar with the smuggling activities associated with armed groups have stated that Touareg merchants who returned from Niger talked about the ambush of Saudi nationals, which took place the day before yesterday when it reached the borders between that country and Mali.
The sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that a gang of Niger's Arabs lead by an arms smuggler called "M.A." set up an ambush for the Saudis at dawn the day before yesterday and their aim was to kidnap and sell them to the terrorist Mokhtar Belmokhtar, one of the leaders of Al-Qaeda branch in Africa's Sahel. They said the plan was for the gang to take the six Saudis alive and hand them over to Belmokhtar, alias Khalid Abi al-Abbas and a veteran of the Afghanistan war who is 38 years old, but the Saudis' use of their weapons prompted the gang to open fire on them, killing three and wounding two. The Saudis were on a hunting trip for rare birds which live in the region.
Fred did mention bustards when the story first surfaced.
The sources estimated the number of the gang at 30 persons who mostly move between the border areas of Mali and Niger and in the latter's tourist areas to follow foreign tourists, especially Western ones, and then sell them to the armed organizations associated with Al-Qaeda organization in return for a percentage of the possible ransom which the terrorists obtain from the hostages' governments in exchange for releasing them.
The ambush prepared for the Saudis was similar to a successful kidnapping carried out by a gang at the end of 2008. The victims of that kidnapping were Robert Fowler, the UN secretary general's envoy to Niger, his assistant Louis Guay, and their Niger driver. The diplomats were handed over to Belmokhtar who released them four months later in return for a ransom, whose value is unknown, paid by the Canadian Government, and the release of three jihadists detained in Mali.
In a related development, the security forces in Niger arrested three persons in connection with the attack targeting the Saudis, according to "Reuters" report which cited military sources. The sources, which asked to remain unidentified, said the three persons were arrested near the borders with Mali and taken to the capital Niamey for questioning. The sources said the suspects were probably foreigners.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/31/2009 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa
#1
Think this might be a wake-up call to the Saudis?
ya think?
Posted by: Mike Hunt ||
12/31/2009 1:08 Comments ||
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#2
One wonders, how much a Saudi goes for these days?
#8
I will be quite happy to see the Saudis on the receiving end of all the mischief they've had a hand in sowing. It will be justice (only a down payment) served.
Washington and Sana'a are reviewing targets for a possible retaliation strike on Yemeni soil in the wake of a failed Christmas Day attack on a Detroit-bound airliner, which al-Qaeda in Yemen claims to have organized.
Two senior US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, told CNN on Tuesday that the effort is aimed at devising options for the White House, in case President Barack Obama orders a retaliatory strike.
The officials added that the effort is to see whether targets can be specifically linked to the airliner incident and its planning.
US special operations forces and intelligence agencies, and their Yemeni counterparts, are working to identify potential al-Qaeda targets in Yemen, one of the officials said.
The CNN report added that "by all accounts, the agreement would allow the US to fly cruise missiles, fighter jets or unmanned armed drones against targets in Yemen with the consent of that government."
Investigators believe the Flight 253 bomber suspect, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, was radicalized before he went to Yemen, Fox News reported citing unnamed sources. According to one source, Abdulmutallab traveled to Yemen sometime in late 2008 or early 2009.
He was there for several weeks or months, and investigators believe Abdulmutallab was 'vetted for the mission' while in Yemen.
Abdulmutallab, 23, told US officials after his arrest that he had received training and instructions from al-Qaeda operatives in Yemen.
Evidence collected shows that Abdulmutallab also was a 'big fan' of Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical cleric based in Yemen, who the US Department for Homeland Security claims had acted as a spiritual leader for three of the 9/11 hijackers.
Yemen is the ancestral homeland of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and has been the scene of several attacks claimed by the group on foreign missions, tourist sites and oil installations.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/31/2009 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[6 views]
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#1
The officials added that the effort is to see whether targets can be specifically linked to the airliner incident and its planning.
So if one can't figure out exactly which scum-bag ordered it will HopeyChangey not order any retalliation? What does it matter whether or not you kill the particular terrorists that planned this one? They are all the same. Kill this one or kill that one, makes no difference to me. My preference would be to just kill any and all the terrorists one has an address for. There is no baby in the bathwater. Just drain the whole tub.
#3
I;m sure the ones responsible are just sitting in place waiting for the missiles too fall.
Posted by: chris ||
12/31/2009 11:11 Comments ||
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#4
the effort is aimed at devising options for the White House, in case President Barack Obama orders a retaliatory strike.
Dreamer
I want some of what you're smoking, must be good shit.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
12/31/2009 13:48 Comments ||
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#5
ION, Waffle House just announced a new location: 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, WA, DC.
[Iran Press TV Latest] The Venezuelan government says the US is trying to "spread violence" in Iran to destabilize the Islamic Republic.
"The government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela categorically rejects the attempts at destabilization promoted by the US government against the people and government of Iran," Reuters quoted Venezuela's foreign ministry as saying in a statement on Wednesday.
"The Bolivarian government is surprised that a group of governments, led by the US empire, are echoing a campaign to divide and spread violence among Iranians, in contravention of elemental norms of peace, non-interference and respect for sovereignty," it added.
The statement also expressed solidarity with Iran and praised the country for "its tireless struggle for the consolidation of the Islamic Revolution."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/31/2009 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[4 views]
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#1
tHugo needs a severe beatdown, and soon.
I think even his own people are getting very tired of his antics.
Posted by: Mike Hunt ||
12/31/2009 0:56 Comments ||
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#2
It's all about getting off the foreign oil teat and the massive merchandise imports that fuel the worldwide purchase of the oil. Do those two things and most of our enemies will revert to North Korean status.
Posted by: ed ||
12/31/2009 6:43 Comments ||
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#3
Hugo's busy cutting his own throat. Don't disturb him.
#4
Does Venezuela produce enough of that tar that every time this idiot says something it gets immediate news coverage? I f the media would quit giving him attention then more than likely he would shut up or at least we wouldn't have too read or listen too it.
Posted by: chris ||
12/31/2009 11:09 Comments ||
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Posted by: john frum ||
12/31/2009 13:08 ||
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[5 views]
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#1
I saw the video,
I have a mental image of the lady running the scanner smiling and going "Mmmm' when a well endowed man goes through.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
12/31/2009 13:53 Comments ||
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#2
Fox has been running a clip showing a rotating view of a man being scanned. Doesn't leave much for imagination, he apparently was wearing briefs or wasn't wearing underwear at all.
I wonder how breast and other enhancements show up?
#3
My favorite airport security is in China, in major cities like Beijing and Shanghai, anyway. If you set off the metal detector, young, very cute women will cheerfully pat you down regardless of your gender. I don't know why I keep forgetting I left my cell phone in my pocket.
[Kyodo: Korea] North Korea will ban the use of foreign currencies beginning on New Year"s Day on Friday, China Central Television reported Wednesday, quoting an undated announcement by the North Korean Ministry of People"s Security. North Korean nationals will be banned from using the dollar, euro or any other foreign currency at shops and restaurants, while foreigners will be required to exchange their money into the local currency, the won, to make payments, CCTV said.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/31/2009 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Commies
#1
Kim Ill was never very smart.
Think how that will work out. Just ask the Cubans.
Posted by: Mike Hunt ||
12/31/2009 1:04 Comments ||
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North Korean electricity supply decreasing again. According to a source on December 20, the electricity supply is low again, after some improvement in September.
According to the source, North Korean citizens are experiencing inconveniences even in the areas that never experiences black-outs, such as Gwanmoon dong, Chaeha dong, Haebang dong, Yeokjun dong, Chungsong dong.
The source stated that he used candles for 2-3 days around December 15.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/31/2009 00:00 ||
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[4 views]
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#1
Very soon now the people of North Korea will not be able to take any more pressure, and they will take matters into their own hands. Count on it.
Posted by: Mike Hunt ||
12/31/2009 1:07 Comments ||
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#2
Kimmie will just order the peasants to peddle faster.
Posted by: ed ||
12/31/2009 6:44 Comments ||
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#3
Hmmmm....maybe they should get in touch with Iran for assistance in developing nuke-generated electrical power...?
#5
citizens are experiencing inconveniences even in the areas that never experiences black-outs, such as Gwanmoon dong, Chaeha dong, Haebang dong, Yeokjun dong, Chungsong dong.
I assume "Dong" means area, county, or parrish.
That's how it's used here.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
12/31/2009 13:57 Comments ||
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North Korea has expressed to the U.S. that concluding a peace treaty is more important than normalizing its relationship with Washington, according to a Japanese media report.
Kyodo News said Pyongyang informed U.S. special envoy Stephen Bosworth during his visit there earlier this month that diplomatic ties can be broken at any time. The report added, citing various diplomatic sources, that Pyongyang is keener on abolishing the current armistice agreement and replacing it with a formal peace treaty and that the normalization of ties is not the regime's top priority.
North Korean officials also said that it could return to the six-party nuclear talks when it is "interested," maintaining a cautious approach to incentives such as economic support and the establishment of a U.S. liaison office in Pyongyang.
However, the sources explained that U.S. President Barack Obama did not mention such an office in the recent letter he wrote to Kim Jong-il, but instead he urged the North to give up its nuclear ambitions and return to the negotiating table.
Meanwhile, government officials in Seoul said Bosworth, after returning from Pyongyang, relayed that when the six-way talks resume, four countries -- the two Koreas, the U.S. and China -- will separately discuss peace on the Korean Peninsula, including the peace treaty.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/31/2009 00:00 ||
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[4 views]
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#1
It always is when winter sets in and the aid is needed.
Fifty-eight percent (58%) of U.S. voters say waterboarding and other aggressive interrogation techniques should be used to gain information from the terrorist who attempted to bomb an airliner on Christmas Day.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 30% oppose the use of such techniques, and another 12% are not sure.
Men and younger voters are more strongly supportive of the aggressive interrogation techniques than women and those who are older. Republicans and voters not affiliated with either major party favor their use more than Democrats.
Seventy-one percent (71%) of all voters think the attempt by the Nigerian Muslim to blow up the airliner as it landed in Detroit should be investigated by military authorities as a terrorist act. Only 22% say it should be handled by civilian authorities as a criminal act, as is currently the case. Jack Bauer to the white courtesy telephone, please.
#1
I see it as a glimmer of hope that the younger voters are for waterboarding. wonder how many opf them got suckered in during the Nobama campaign and are now feeling suckered and changed the ways of their thinking.
Posted by: chris ||
12/31/2009 13:13 Comments ||
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#2
Read a comment somewhere that used the term "knickerbomber". I like that.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/31/2009 22:31 Comments ||
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As the government reviews how an alleged terrorist was able to bring a bomb onto a U.S.-bound plane and try to blow it up on Christmas Day, the Transportation Security Administration is going after bloggers who wrote about a directive to increase security after the incident. Once again, wrong target.
TSA special agents served subpoenas to travel bloggers Steve Frischling and Chris Elliott, demanding that they reveal who leaked the security directive to them. The government says the directive was not supposed to be disclosed to the public.
Frischling said he met with two TSA special agents Tuesday night at his Connecticut home for about three hours and again on Wednesday morning when he was forced to hand over his lap top computer. Frischling said the agents threatened to interfere with his contract to write a blog for KLM Royal Dutch Airlines if he didn't cooperate and provide the name of the person who leaked the memo. This does not pass the smell test. Not sure any of those threats are legal. Has TSA been granted law enforcement authority to support this type of action outside of an airport? He should have contacted local law enforcement and an attorney immediately.
"It literally showed up in my box," Frischling told the Associated Press. "I do not know who it came from." He said he provided the agents a signed statement to that effect.
In a Dec. 29 posting on his blog, Elliott said he had told the TSA agents at his house that he would call his lawyer and get back to them. Elliott did not immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment.
The TSA declined to say how many people were subpoenaed.
The directive was dated Dec. 25 and was issued after a 23-year-old Nigerian man was charged with attempting to bomb a Northwest Airlines flight as it approached Detroit from Amsterdam. The bomb, which allegedly was hidden in Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's underwear, malfunctioned and no one was killed. Authorities said the device included a syringe and a condom-like bag filled with powder that the FBI determined to be PETN, a common explosive.
The near-miss attack has prompted President Barack Obama to order a review of what intelligence information the government had about Abdulmutallab and why it wasn't shared with the appropriate agencies. He also ordered a review of U.S. aviation security. The government has spent billions of dollars and undergone massive reorganizations since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to prevent such a tragedy from happening again.
The TSA directive outlined new screening measures that went into effect the same day as the airliner incident. It included many procedures that would be apparent to the traveling public, such as screening at boarding gates, patting down the upper legs and torso, physically inspecting all travelers' belongings, looking carefully at syringes with powders and liquids, requiring that passengers remain in their seats one hour before landing, and disabling all onboard communications systems, including what is provided by the airline.
It also listed people who would be exempted from these screening procedures such as heads of state and their families. People of privilege already being given priority listing, how lovely.
#1
The bloggers should all point to a mole deep within TSA named Strep Throat.
Posted by: ed ||
12/31/2009 7:54 Comments ||
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#2
That or give the http link to the TSA's top secret procedures manual.
Posted by: ed ||
12/31/2009 7:56 Comments ||
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#3
Claim it was CAIR.
I suspect that all new procedures get reviewed and approved by CAIR first before implementation. -- You know to make sure the Terrorist's sensibilities are not offended.
#4
This relates to non-classified Sensitive Security Information (SSI), but when the New York Slimes, Washington Composite or Congressional aids reveal Secret and Top Secret info, then the Government is paralyzed since issuing a subpoena might inflict a "chilling affect" on media or hurt a political agenda. This country is a joke and in trouble.
#5
knee-jerk response by an embarrassed and incompetent org. The one-hour no-blankie or magazine or book on the lap rule is something an idiot would devise to look "like we're doing something".
Fire Napolitano Now!
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/31/2009 9:15 Comments ||
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#7
The one-hour no-blankie or magazine or book on the lap rule
Unlike the TSA flavor, even your plain garden variety of idiot would realize how stupid this is.
As security guy Bruce Schneier has pointed out, the only things that have made air travel safer are reinforced cockpit doors and passengers realizing they need to fight back.
#8
Shades of Iowahawk's satire. From "Man, Do I hate Holiday Travel":
by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab
...The US State Department agent asked to see my passport, and the concierge explained that I was a Somali refugee. So she looks at her computer screen and says, "um, I'm afraid there's a problem, this passenger's name is on a watch list." Oh, great. Looks like my dad is playing Mr. Buzzkill again, just because I took that semester off from Oxford to go backpacking in Yemen. So I showed her my official State Department visa.
So I'm like, "honey, do I look like I'm a US military veteran?"
"No."
"Do I look like I'm some sort of right wing anti-tax teabagger?"
"No."
"Do I look like anybody else on the DHS terrorism danger list?"
"No, but..."
"Then I suggest that unless you want a nasty anti-discrimination lawsuit on your hands, you'd best give me an aisle seat. With extended legroom."
#9
The leak (Strep Throat, LOL!) was from the NYT. You will have to talk to 'Throat to find out who the leaker is. I only have second hand information. Hearsay in a court of law. Waterboard me and I will tell you anything you want.
Posted by: Alaska Paul in Kotzebue, AK ||
12/31/2009 13:26 Comments ||
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#10
The US is soooo close to being a dictatorship.
Obama fundamentally altered the culture and risk-taking incentives of the intelligence community with policy and personnel changes. The sense of urgency is gone, and he's made it uncool to call the war on terror a war at all. If he wants to treat terrorism like a criminal act, rather than an act of war, we should not be surprised when the results look a lot like the bureaucratic foul-ups that happen all the time in law enforcement. He gutted the Homeland Security Council coordinating role, he diluted the focus of the daily intel brief, he made CIA officials worry more about being prosecuted for doing their jobs than capturing terrorists. He's so worried about the political consequences to his administration of a terrorist attack on our home soil that he denies the obvious -- that Major Hasan is a jihadist terrorist -- and he wants to shut down GITMO and bring terrorists here. He's made it his business to turn much of the national security apparatus set up by Bush and Cheney upside down and has succeeded....
On the comparisons to how the shoe bomber was treated, it's important to note that the shoe bomber was arrested in December 2001. President Bush's order authorizing detentions of enemy combatants was issued in mid-Nov 2001 and there was scant infrastructure in place or much precedent a month later to hold a terrorist in custody as an enemy combatant. Of course, by 2002 there was GTMO and the CIA program overseas, and President Bush started designating terrorists as enemy combatants, including Jose Padilla (a US citizen), al-Marri, and detainees at GTMO. Most important...I bet that if the administration had thought the shoe bomber had more information to provide under interrogation, President Bush would not have hesitated to order the Justice Dept to have the criminal charges dismissed and designate him as an enemy combatant. Will Obama take that step if his investigators tell him that's the only way to get more info from Abdulmutallab? The point is that we're eight years down the road from 9/11 and the shoe bomber, and Obama refuses to use the authority he has to get the intelligence we need.
#1
We can't have horrible facts/slurs like this floating around. The One will need to find a sacrifice and somehow drown out any ideas that he might have somehow - anyhow - been even partially responsible.
I wonder if the plane had gone down, would Obama wake up? I suspect this Christmas incident just irritated him. He'll go back to sleep as soon as he can control the media spin on this.
Posted by: Bobby ||
12/31/2009 6:04 Comments ||
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#2
He didn't go back to sleep, he went snorkeling. {8^P
But don't worry, the federal government will get the new health care system right.
CHICAGO -(Dow Jones)- Members of the Allied Pilots Association, the pilots' union at American Airlines, said Wednesday that the U.S. Transportation Security Administration didn't do enough to warn in-air flight crews of the Christmas Day terrorist threat on a Northwest Airlines flight.
In a letter to American Airlines pilots, the APA called for better communications at the time of potential security threats. "Some pilots were left out of the loop" when the TSA told management at American, a unit of AMR Corp. ( AMR), and other airlines, to contact only the pilots of inbound transatlantic flights. The Northwest flight came into Detroit from Amsterdam. To ensure overall safety, "The TSA should have mandated that information about this security event be passed on to all airborne flights," the APA Government Affairs Committee wrote.
The group said it has contacted the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security to suggest policy changes. The pilots recommend that "airline managements immediately notify all airborne flights any time there is a Level 3 or Level 4 event."
The U.S. is reviewing security glitches at many levels following the Christmas Day incident. In a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, the International Air Transport Association said Wednesday that "effective security needs a system that is built on global harmonization, effective information exchange, industry/government cooperation, risk assessment and efficient technology."
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/31/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
And by the way, whatever happened to the plan of arming flight crews?
#6
For several years in the middle of this decade Delta had a course in unarmed fighting for airline stewards/stewardesses, designed and led by one of the senior blackbelts from the Tae Kwan Do school Mr. Wife and the trailing daughters attend. They focussed on techniques for use in airplane aisles. I understand it was quite popular. Cincinnati is (or perhaps was, things change so rapidly) one of Delta's international hubs since the early 1990s, so one can understand the staff's interest.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. intelligence chief Admiral Dennis Blair faced tough questions about his future on Wednesday as the Obama administration fended off criticism over the attempted bombing of a Detroit-bound airliner on December 25.
Publicly, the White House was standing by Blair, the United States' top spymaster who is responsible for coordinating intelligence gathering between 16 agencies, saying the four-star admiral had the full confidence of the president. "This is not about one person or one agency," said White House spokesman Robert Gibbs.
But speculation was rife that Blair or Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano could be forced to resign after President Barack Obama said on Tuesday there had been a systemic failure by the country's security agencies to prevent the botched Christmas Day attack.
"Our nation is becoming safer every day because we are aware that information increases in power only when it is shared."
Adm. Dennis Blair
Napolitano has been lambasted by Republican critics, and in the media, for initially saying the air security system worked, and then backpedaling and saying she had meant the system of beefing up measures worked after the incident had occurred.
Kurt Volker, a former CIA analyst and until recently U.S. ambassador to NATO, said Blair and Napolitano were facing the traditional Washington blame game.
"That's politics. It's the way politics goes, that you look for whom you can blame so you can say, if my party had been elected instead of yours, things would have been better," said Volker, now at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies in Washington.
A senior aide said Obama would seek accountability at the highest levels for the failure, a remark some observers took to mean that heads would roll.
Obama, a Democrat, is under pressure from Republicans, who fault his administration for not preventing the attack and the president for keeping silent about it for three days while on vacation in Hawaii. The Republicans portrayed Obama as weak on national security even as he campaigned for last year's presidential election, and have sought to push that point before mid-term elections in November, when they will challenge the Democrats' control of both houses of the U.S. Congress.
"The terrorist plot to bring down Northwest Airlines Flight 253 exposed a near-catastrophic failure at every level of our government," the Republican leader in the House of Representatives, John Boehner, said in a statement.
Former Vice President Dick Cheney, who staked out a position as a leading security hawk under President George W. Bush after the September 11 attacks and is a vocal critic of Obama's national security policies, also weighed in. He told Politico news website: "As I've watched the events of the last few days it is clear once again that President Obama is trying to pretend we are not at war."
"He seems to think if he has a low-key response to an attempt to blow up an airliner and kill hundreds of people, we won't be at war."
White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer retorted that it was "telling that Vice President Cheney and others seem to be more focused on criticizing the administration than condemning the attackers."
Because we all know where Cheney stands on the attackers. The issue, Mr. Pfeiffer, is where you and your boss stand.
"Unfortunately, too many are engaged in the typical Washington game of pointing fingers and making political hay, instead of working together to find solutions to make our country safer," he said in a blog post on whitehouse.gov.
In candid criticism of the failures that could have led to disaster, Obama said U.S. security agencies had failed to piece together bits of information to prevent Abdulmutallab from boarding the flight with explosives.
As director of national intelligence, it is Blair's job to connect the dots. The position was created by Congress in an effort to correct the intelligence failures blamed in part for the September 11 hijacked plane attacks on the United States eight years ago.
Writing in the Washington Post on December 18, Blair said, "Our nation is becoming safer every day because we are aware that information increases in power only when it is shared. But, he acknowledged ongoing problems "in our technologies, business practices and mind-sets."
Blair said on Tuesday that while the intelligence community had dramatically improved information sharing since September 11, "it is clear that gaps remain and they must be fixed."
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/31/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Comments published today in the NY Times: Thomas H. Kean, chairman of the Sept. 11 commission, [said] it is the fathers role that should have moved even the most jaded bureaucracy.
Think of what it took for the father, one of the most respected bankers in Nigeria, to walk into the American Embassy and turn in his own son, Mr. Kean said. The fathers a hero. His visit by itself should have been enough to set off all kinds of alarms.
#2
Kurt Volker, a former CIA analyst and until recently U.S. ambassador to NATO, said Blair and Napolitano were facing the traditional Washington blame game.
You might correctly refer to it Kurt as a search for those RESPONSIBLE. People in 'leadership' positions are traditionally the first to be questioned. Nonsensical denials, the daily changing of stories, and statements indicating that "the system worked" do not instill much confidence. Please keep in mind if you will, that 300 people quite nearly died.
#3
Obama, a Democrat, is under pressure from Republicans,
Obama, a Democrat? I would never have guessed!
Thanks for framing this discussion in political terms. Clearly the average sheeple in the skies is more concerned about which party is at fault than ensuring actual safety.
#4
"Unfortunately, too many are engaged in the typical Washington game of pointing fingers and making political hay, instead of working together to find solutions to make our country safer," he said in a blog post on whitehouse.gov.
I believe the solutions are available; it is the politcal masterbation that is getting in the way of implementation. This adminstration can not even define the problem let alone craft a solution.
A federal judge has dismissed all charges against five Blackwater Worldwide security guards charged in a deadly Baghdad shooting.
U.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina said Thursday the Justice Department overstepped its bounds and wrongly used evidence it was not allowed to see. He said the government's explanations have been contradictory, unbelievable and not credible.
Blackwater contractors were hired to guard State Department diplomats in Iraq. Prosecutors say the guards fired on unarmed civilians in a busy intersection in 2007, killing innocent people.
After the shooting, the guards gave statements to State Department investigators. Prosecutors were not allowed to use those statements in the case.
#2
"government's explanations have been contradictory, unbelievable and not credible"
Explanations, hell.
That's a description of our present gummint itself. >:-(
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
12/31/2009 19:47 Comments ||
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Words fail me. I hope these five guys can put their lives back together because this has to have been as bad as combat, but it lasts a lot longer. And I hope Ridgeway gets hard time. He's pled for it.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Protest leaders stranded in Cairo accepted an Egyptian offer early Wednesday to allow only 100 out of about 1,300 protesters into blockaded Gaza after the activists staged demonstrations and a hunger strike.
The decision split delegates from more than 40 countries who came to Cairo planning to reach the Palestinian enclave, which shares the Rafah border crossing with Egypt.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit said earlier at a press conference that his country would allow some of the protesters to enter Gaza.
"We are looking into allowing a limited number...in the coming days," he said. He accused other protesters of "conspiring" against Egypt and said they could remain "on the street."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/31/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Better yet, don't let them back out.
A few weeks living there and their attitude will change, if they live through it, that is
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
12/31/2009 0:46 Comments ||
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Nothing like liberal activist tools coming to grips with reality.
Posted by: Mike Hunt ||
12/31/2009 0:53 Comments ||
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Wuestion: Why Gaza and not Darfur? In addition to the Palestians not looking precisley as if they were starving it doesn't look normal to feel such symathies for people who try to blow maternities and after sixty fricing years are still living from our money instead of their work buit have plenty of it for building Kassams.
Nw teh answer why Gaza instead of Darfur is because Plaestinans want to finish Hitler's work.
#4
Better yet, don't let them back out.
A few weeks living there and their attitude will change, if they live through it, that is
Nope. Have yo seen a starving Palestiaian? Instead let's send them to Darfur. Have them experience first hand teh murders and rapes in addition of eating like Darfur people do.
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.
North Korean electricity supply decreasing again. According to a source on December 20, the electricity supply is low again, after some improvement in September.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. intelligence chief Admiral Dennis Blair faced tough questions about his future on Wednesday as the Obama administration fended off criticism over the attempted bombing of a Detroit-bound airliner on December 25.
