Posted by: No I am The Other Beldar ||
06/02/2010 11:33 Comments ||
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#5
How does this differ from Guardrail?
As far as I can tell, the electronics package is different; guardrail in primarily ELINT, while this one has a broader spectrum upon which to work.
The basic airframe is one that the military has had in use for many years.
#6
Basic airframe is the same, mission equipment is different and it has greater capability, both image, and sigent.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
06/02/2010 15:49 Comments ||
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#7
It's a basic King Air (C-12) platform. Very, very necessary mission. Sadly, Gates has pulled the USAF into the IED/VBIED fight kicking and screaming. They neither wanted the mission or intend to keep it post-Gates. Not enough money, not sexy enough..... even though this effort and others like it save soldier lives every day.
2008 Firings (YES firings!) which I suspect were directly related to this issue:
Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley and Secretary Michael W. Wynne resigned over the department's concern over two incidents, including the August flight of a B-52 bomber that flew across the country with nuclear weapons.
"Focus of the Air Force leadership has drifted" in terms of handling nuclear weapons and equipment, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said
#8
Same airframe, different sensor packages. Army flies Guardrail, USAF flies this one. Army prefers Guardrail because they own it. USAF can be unresponsive.
Taliban militants in Afghanistan reject President Hamid Karzai's offer to attend an upcoming "US-initiated" national peace conference.
The Taliban said on Tuesday that the 3-day meeting that is to begin on Wednesday, has no credibility as long as foreign troops remain in Afghanistan.
Karzai is expected to attend the Kabul assembly, known as a "peace jirga," along with 1,600 leaders, including tribal elders, religious scholars, representatives of the civil society and members of rights groups.
The participants are expected to debate Karzai's 36-page Afghanistan Peace and Reintegration Program. They would then produce a blueprint for peace talks with the Taliban and other groups.
The militants said on their website that they will boycott the meeting as the jirga does not represent the Afghan people and safeguards only the interests of foreigners, dpa reported.
Taliban militants have been waging a war for the past nine years against the Western-backed Afghan government and around 130,000 US-led international troops.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/02/2010 00:00 ||
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The police said Anastacio Hernández-Rojas, 32, was struck and stunned by several officers from the Border Patrol and Customs and Border Protection on Saturday as they were trying to subdue him.
He had been detained by the Border Patrol on Friday east of San Diego after he crossed into the United States from Mexico with his brother. He was taken to a Border Patrol station and, as is customary with Mexican nationals without a criminal record, signed papers agreeing to be quickly deported without a hearing.
He was taken in a van to the San Ysidro border crossing, 15 miles south of downtown San Diego, where officers planned to walk him to a gate and release him to Mexican immigration authorities.
But as they removed his handcuffs about 25 feet from the gate, Mr. Hernández-Rojas began fighting with officers, said Capt. Jim Collins of the San Diego Police Department, which is investigating the case under an agreement it has with Customs and Border Protection for deaths involving officers.
#1
Gee, he sounds like just the sort we're looking for in an immigrant.
He would have done well had he survived, money for nothing and his chicks for free.
#3
suspicion now falls on mental duress from AZ's immigration law and blood pressure issues from methamphetamine abuse, but mostly meth abuse
interestingly enough: Hernandez Rojas, who had lived in the U.S. illegally for 27 years, had five children and lived in Encanto with his family. His age is listed in various documents as either 32 or 42.
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/02/2010 19:25 Comments ||
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#4
ya know what? The strikeout button looks a lotnothing like the ital tag button... mea culpa
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/02/2010 19:27 Comments ||
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ISRAEL has evacuated the families of its diplomats in Turkey in anticipation of a severing of diplomatic relations by Ankara. With anti-Israel sentiment sweeping Turkey, Israeli officials said concern for the security of the families prompted their speedy evacuation yesterday. The diplomatic pullout follows the storming of a Turkish vessel, the Mavi Marmara, off the Gaza coast by Israeli naval commandos and the killing of nine activists, at least four of them Turks.
Israeli diplomats remain in Turkey but the embassy in Ankara and the consulate in Istanbul have been closed.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has taken an increasingly antagonistic line towards Israel as he moves his country closer to ties with Arab countries and Iran, called the killings aboard the ship a "bloody massacre" and said "Israel has shown once again how good it is at killing people".
In what is regarded in Jerusalem as a possibly menacing tone, he said: "No one should test Turkey's patience. Turkey's hostility is as strong as its friendship is valuable."
There is some concern in Israel that Mr Erdogan might order Turkish warships to accompany future convoys bringing aid to the Gaza Strip.
Israel and Turkey have enjoyed close relations for years, jointly conducting military exercises and engaging in billions of dollars of trade. Politically, the relationship has been important to Israel because Turkey is a Muslim country. It was considered important by Turkey because Israel was seen as a channel to the West.
[Kyodo: Korea] A paper doll bearing a portrait of South Korean President Lee Myung Bak and two others bearing the written characters ""Japan"" and ""U.S. imperialists"" appeared at an obstacle race in an event in Pyongyang to mark the 60th International Children"s Day on Tuesday. Carrying sticks in imitation of guns, North Korean children prodded one of the dolls during the race. Many children chose to hit the doll bearing Lee"s face.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/02/2010 00:00 ||
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[Kyodo: Korea] North Korea urged South Koreans on Tuesday not to vote for candidates of President Lee Myung Bak"s ruling Grand National Party in local elections on Wednesday. The National Reconciliation Council called for ""all the democratic and progressive forces"" in the South to advance in what is being seen as a midterm referendum on the Lee government, the council said in an appeal carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/02/2010 00:00 ||
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North Korea has launched a cyber campaign denying all involvement in the sinking of the South Korean Navy corvette Cheonan in the face of crushing evidence to the contrary. Using stolen IDs of South Koreans, the North is spreading claims on South Korean portal sites that the sinking was fabricated.
A South Korean intelligence officer on Tuesday said Pyongyang is posting articles on major websites denying all accusations. "The North used stolen residence registration numbers and IDs of South Koreans," he said.
The posts are broadly the same as a statement from the North's National Defense Commission, its top policy body. It was uploaded on the state-run North Korean website Urimizokkiri.
Another article which the North posted on a Korean-Chinese website under the title "Organizations that have benefited from the Cheonan sinking" has also found its way to some South Korean portal sites.
Kim Sung-min, the president of Free North Korea Radio, said, "There has been a sudden increase in the number of posts calling the Cheonan incident a fabrication on our website. We suspect that there are systematic propaganda tactics behind these articles."
The North seems to be using South Korean residence registration numbers and IDs stolen in past computer hacking attacks. South Korean intelligence believes that the North used mainly the personal details of elementary schoolchildren, housewives and elderly people.
A security official said, "Ahead of the local elections slated for Wednesday in South Korea, the North has mobilized agencies handling South Korean affairs and media outlets almost every day to claim that the Cheonan sinking was a plot against the North. To make it look as if many South Koreans sympathize with the claim, they are spreading unfounded rumors by disguising themselves as South Korean web users."
Last week, the North sent faxes and e-mails to some South Korean organizations such as the Buddhist Cheontae Order and the committee for the implementation of the June 15, 2000 joint North-South declaration. The faxes and e-mails merely parrot a statement by a spokesman for the North's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland which said that the findings of the international probe of the sinking were cooked up.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/02/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
TOPIX > IS THE CHEONAN INCIDENT A [decisive] TURNING POINT ON THE KOREAN PENINSULA?
I think so. Despite appearances to the contrary, its no longer "POLITIX/BIZZ-AS-USUAL", be it NORTH KOREA OR THE US-WORLD. Again, at the rate things are going in DPRK, the only remnant of the ancient KORYE THREE KINGDOMS will be SOUTH KOREA, as THE NORTH WILL BE ANNEXED OR UN-ANNEXED SOVEREIGN CHINESE TERRITORY IN ALL BUT NAME + GOVT DENIAL???
#3
Even the conspiracy nuts aren't buying the North's story. I would have gotten a panicky, 3AM phone call from my little brother warning me about imminent nuclear war if they were. He is on the Avant Guarde of conspiracy bullsh*t with Alex Jones.
#4
FREEREPUBLIC > NORTH KOREA MAY FACE BLOCKADE BY US NAVY [POTUS Bammer enforcing UN Sanctions agz DPRK vee cordon sanitaire].
* WMF > WAR/HAIR-TRIGGER: BEIJING ORDERS PLA 39TH ARMY ON MILEX [mil drill] NEAR NORTH KOREAN BORDER; + NORTH KOREA ORDERS KPA SCUD BATTERIES/UNITS INTO UNDERGROUND OR MOUNTAIN BUNKERS.
IOW, methinks USN naval assets may now be on Kimmie's SCUD, CM attack radar???
#5
PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM > [China]PREMIER WEN JIABAO: IT IS SOUTH KOREA WHOM WILL SUFFER THE MOST. Collapse of INter-Korean Relations, Coops + Regional war.
IOW, IIUC WEN Is coverting inferring that TO AVOID ANY US-CHINA = "GREAT POWER(S)" MIL CONFLICT OER THE KOREAS, ANY AND ALL MAJOR FIGHTING/MILACTIONS BTWN BELLIGERENTS MUST TAKE PLACE ON SOUTH KOREAN, + ONLY SOUTH KOREAN, SOIL.
US-SK-JAPAN-UNC MIL FORS MAY NOT CROSS OR ATTACK NORTH OF THE KOREAN DMZ, OR ELSE, ALA VIETNAM WAR???
The U.S. Justice Department is not "fully prepared" to respond to an attack with a weapon of mass destruction, according to a report released Tuesday by the department's inspector general.
"One of the greatest concerns is that a WMD may fall into the hands of terrorists or that terrorists will develop their own WMD," the inspector general's office said in a statement accompanying the report. "However, the Department of Justice has not implemented adequate WMD response plans."
Specifically, the Justice Department has not designated someone to oversee a WMD incident response, department personnel receive little training to respond to a WMD incident, and the department's Critical Incident Response Plan does not address WMD incidents because it has not been updated since 1996, when it was first approved, according to the inspector general's report.
Under a "National Response Framework" issued by the Department of Homeland Security in 2008, the Justice Department is responsible for coordinating federal law enforcement activities after a potential WMD attack and for ensuring public safety and security if state and local law enforcement are overwhelmed, the inspector general's office said.
But, according to the report, the Justice Department "is not prepared" to fulfill its role, failing to identify people to manage such obligations. In addition, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which is leading the effort, has not developed a catalog of law enforcement resources available in the case of a WMD incident, according to the inspector general's office.
One component of the Justice Department, though, did receive praise from the inspector general's report. The FBI had taken "appropriate steps" to prepare to respond to a WMD incident, according to the report.
"Part of the FBI's primary mission is to prevent WMD incidents and investigate WMD threats," the report said. "The FBI has developed various plans, handbooks, and other resources to guide its staff in responding to a WMD incident. Further, the FBI regularly provides its staff with training specific to WMD incidents."
As for the other components, the report made five recommendations, including requiring that the Justice Department designate someone with the authority to manage a response program and requiring components to update their own policies and plans.
"It is critical that the Department address the deficiencies identified in our report so that it would be better prepared to respond if such an attack occurs," Inspector General Glenn Fine said in a statement.
In a letter to the inspector general's office before the report was released, a Justice Department official said "the fundamental conclusion of the report is sound."
"The Department of Justice should do more in order to formally and centrally coordinate emergency response activities of all appropriate Department components," Associate Deputy Attorney General James Baker said in the letter. "The overall recommendations of the report strike us all as helpful and informative."
But, Baker said, the Justice Department has already made "substantial improvements" in the past year to help implement its role in the National Reponse Framework.
A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment further.
#1
And thus we see the end of the current administration.
Exactly why should the Justice Dept. be "fully prepared" for a WMD? Aside from drafting the memo renaming the DOD to the Dept. of War, the DOJ's full preparations should end somewhere around evacuating buildings similar to a tornado drill.
I guess if you're a lawyer every problem is legal. This, from the party of Jackson.
#2
Yep. When all you have is a hammer, then everything looks like a nail. That is a fundamental flaw of the legal caste. They define everything from their perspective as they were the source of all knowledge and experience. They long last grasp that they are simply another element or tool of a culture that has an appropriate place and use.
#3
My thoughts exactly. DOJ will spend the first days after a WMD attack blaming some US entity for not stopping it, then move to charging the entities that tried to stop it for going outside the law. And what frightens me even more from this report is that the FBI, yup the one and the same, is the most prepared agency. holy crap folks! We are doomed, can you remember the,"We need offices and computers" issue after 9/11? I can only pray that the OGA's kill and capture before they get close to our shores and long before DOJ and the FBI get to play in it. And as a matter of fact YES I am bitter about DOJ and their anti-American agenda.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
06/02/2010 10:02 Comments ||
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#4
The Democrats: A party of the Lawyers, by the Lawyers, and for the Lawyers.
Posted by: No I am The Other Beldar ||
06/02/2010 10:45 Comments ||
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#5
This is how we will lose our freedoms in the US.
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/02/2010 19:28 Comments ||
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#7
"the first thing we do..."
...or at least shoot them a little bit.
The reason the DOJ needs to be involved in the response to a WMD attack is you want to immediately file a restraining order to keep the perps from doing it again. You will also want to sue some corporations - hopefully some with deep pockets - to deflect any blame from the Administration. Congress can handle any show trials and hearings on their own.
#8
"DOJ will spend the first days after a WMD attack blaming some US entityBush for not stopping it"
FTFY, Pan.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
06/02/2010 21:00 Comments ||
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#9
heh - I was hoping someone would catch on - little did I suspect the nefarious SteveS (AOS) was still trolling. My hat is off to you, sir
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/02/2010 21:05 Comments ||
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#10
On a less snarky note, the reason DOJ is supposed to be involved in the event of a WMD attack is to keep civil order going as much as possible.
While NORTHCOM is up and running now, it's mission is military defense. The Constitution still calls for civilian government in emergencies. WMD attacks will cross city and often state boundaries in their effects, hence the role of the feds if need be. Even the NYC area's regional ops center is still more in the organizing stage than a mature reality and other regions are less far along. That leaves the feds or martial law as options ...
The Green Zone now is American no longer. On Tuesday, Iraq took full control over the 4-square-mile enclave in the heart of Baghdad.
At a brief ceremony held beside a bomb-damaged palace, the battalion of military police that had been advising Iraqis at Green Zone checkpoints cased their colors and prepared to redeploy to a base near Baghdad airport ahead of their departure this summer.
It marked a small first step in the impending withdrawal of nearly 50,000 U.S. troops by Sept. 1, and the end of one of the more extraordinary chapters in the still unfinished saga of America's entanglement in Iraq.
"We are handing over to the Iraqis. ... Job well done," Brig. Gen. Joseph DiSalvo told the 250 or so soldiers standing in formation under a scorching sun. "Hooa," they replied in unison.
The U.S. military will retain a small presence in the Green Zone, to guard the U.S. Embassy and train Iraqi security forces. But Iraqis will have sole authority over security and checkpoints, said the departing battalion's commander, Lt. Col. Marc Garcia.
How much, if anything, will change in the enclave that also provides sanctuary for most of Iraq's new political elite is in question.
Today's Green Zone already bears scant resemblance to the frenetic outpost of American politicking and partying that greeted Bush administration officials who poured into Baghdad after the 2003 invasion to run the country out of former dictator Saddam Hussein's cavernous Republican Palace.
As the American presence expanded, so did the zone, and as the threats to Americans grew, so did the fortifications, isolating Iraq's invaders from ordinary people and contributing, many critics say, to missteps and misunderstandings that provoked the insurgency and the descent into sectarian war.
Grass now grows through cracks in the abandoned parking lot opposite the palace, where Burger King and Pizza Hut once served the thousands of Americans working there. The palace itself has stood empty since the U.S. Embassy relocated to its own fortified compound in another corner of the zone over a year ago.
Iraqis have been manning the checkpoints leading into the area since the formal withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq's cities last summer, albeit with American advisers on hand. Strident American warnings to Iraqis who didn't understand Green Zone rules "Deadly Force Authorized" have disappeared, replaced by somewhat more polite exhortations in English and Arabic to switch off cell phones.
Substantive changes seem unlikely, however. Successive Iraqi leaders have not followed through on pledges to abolish the Green Zone and release the major thoroughfares ensnared within its walls, a source of immense inconvenience to motorists.
Instead, in perhaps the most significant indication that the Green Zone will continue in its present form, Iraqis are in the process of taking over the task of issuing badges that allow access meaning that they will be able to determine who comes and goes. The American system subjected even top Iraqi officials to the humiliation of fingerprinting, retina scans and a range of detailed questions about their family backgrounds.
"We are very proud that instead of going to Americans to ask for a badge, we are going to our own countrymen," said Salima Jabr, 38, one of several thousand Iraqis living in the zone, as she waited with her children for new badges.
She, like many residents, expressed gratitude for the extra security the zone provides. It took several minutes to edit this piece, eliminating most the opinion and liberal spite that *should* have been edited out by the newspaper editor, if they cared at all about objectivity. They even misspelled "Hooah!", which has its own Wiki, for heaven's sake.
Iraqis celebrated the end of a little-loved era yesterday when the American military gave up control of the fortified green zone from which it has ruled for the past seven years.
A short ceremony on blazing hot tarmac, under the unrelenting morning sunshine, marked the moment when the last US soldiers withdrew from the checkpoints that ring the enclave in the heart of the capital. Now its all an Iraqi problem,' said one uniformed American. They are welcome to it.'
The green zone gates have kept ordinary Iraqis away from the centre of power, despite the arrival of democracy. Many felt frustrated by the arrangement and considered their country under occupation long after electing a prime minister who is also resident in the green zone.
Many foreigners call the rest of Iraq outside their protected embassies, barracks and offices the red zone'; a term Iraqis find baffling or even offensive. Green is the colour of Islam,' said Abu Ibrahim, a fruit seller. It should be ours.'
When American generals heard such sentiments years ago they started calling it the international zone' but the old name never went away. al-green zone' is now a loan word in the Arabic language.
Shut out and frequently left without water and electricity, ordinary Iraqis have resented for years the privileges that have been enjoyed by green zone residents. Inside the gates, the lights never went out and the air conditioners kept humming throughout the scorching summers.
Foreign residents could be seen sipping imported coffee in the Green Bean Café under the tall dome before driving, without fear of kidnapping, to the Liberty outdoor swimming pool in an area renamed Little Venice for its streetside waterways. For dinner, the diplomats, spies, businessmen and security guards had various alcohol-serving options, including the Baghdad Country Club, home to all manner of debauchery.
And yet, few of them actually liked their lives inside the dusty concrete jungle, hemmed in by checkpoints and blast walls. A prison with incoming mortar fire,' is how one former British resident described it.
Rents kept on rising and entertainment options narrowing not least because puritanical and grandstanding Iraqi leaders forbade the transport of alcohol inside the green zone last year when they first started sharing control with the Americans.
Now that Iraqi forces have the five sq mile area to themselves, critics have asked if they really can ensure the safety of the Government. One former Iraqi security official appeared sceptical, telling The Times that it would be a simple matter for the military to attempt a coup. If they park their tanks at the gates and seal off the entrances, then the politicians could not do much,' he said. There are plenty of little Saddams in the army that might want to try.'
At least until the end of next year, however, American special forces with helicopter support will still be based at the nearby international airport, ready to prop up the civilian Government.
BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: Iraq's Supreme Federal Court announced on Tuesday that it endorsed the results of the March 7 legislative elections.
The court upheld the final results of the Council of Representatives elections for the year 2010 as provided by the documents of the Independent Higher Electoral Commission (IHEC),' Judge Medhat al-Mahmoud, the head of the Supreme Judicial Council, said during a press conference he held in Baghdad today (June 1).
The decision was taken in accordance with the provisions of Paragraph 7 of Article 93 of the constitution of the Republic of Iraq,' he said.
The court's endorsement of the election results cap more than 73 days of heated controversy that followed the March 7 elections that decided the 325 members of the Council of Representatives who will elect the Iraqi prime minister and president.
The election resulted in a partial victory for the Iraqi National Movement (Iraqiya), led by former Interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, which won a total of 91 seats, making it the largest alliance in the Council.
The State of Law, led by incumbent Prime Minister Maliki, was the second largest grouping with 89 seats.
On January 15, 2010 the IHEC banned 499 candidates from the election due to alleged links with the Ba'ath Party. Before the start of the campaign on 12 February 2010, the IHEC confirmed that the appeals by banned candidates had been rejected and thus all 456 banned candidates would not be allowed to run for the election.
A recount of the votes in Baghdad was ordered on 19 April 2010. On May 14, the IHEC announced that after 11,298 ballot boxes had been recounted, there was no sign of fraud or violations.
Earlier, a source close to Maliki, the leader of the Dawlat al-Qanoon (State of Law) bloc, said Maliki gave instructions to withdraw all the contests forwarded by his bloc against the parliamentary election results.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/02/2010 00:00 ||
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Israel has attempted to deliver humanitarian aid from an international flotilla to Gaza, but Hamas -- which controls the territory -- has refused to accept the cargo, the Israel Defense Forces said Wednesday.
Palestinian sources confirmed that trucks that arrived from Israel at the Rafah terminal at the Israel-Gaza border were barred from delivering the aid.
Ra'ed Fatooh, in charge of the crossings, and Jamal Khudari, head of a committee against the Gaza blockade, said Israel must release all flotilla detainees and that it will be accepted in the territory only by the Free Gaza Movement people who organized the flotilla.
Israel said it had 20 trucks of aid found on the ships, such as expired medications, clothing, blankets, some medical equipment and toys.
Israel has released all foreign flotilla detainees by Wednesday, but four Israeli Arabs remain in custody.
Nine people died Monday when Israel intercepted an aid vessel bound for Gaza.
Under Israeli policy, humanitarian aid must come through Israel and be checked by Israeli authorities who are looking to intercept smuggled weapons bound for militants aiming to attack Israel.
As part of this policy Israel forbids ships from dropping off goods at Gaza ports and works to thwart smuggling via tunnels between Gaza and Egypt.
#5
Israel had no choice. These were test missions. Had they let them go through, follow-on ships would have contained arms. Just my humble opinion. Next please.
Israel has attempted to deliver humanitarian aid from an international flotilla to Gaza, but Hamas -- which controls the territory -- has refused to accept the cargo, the Israel Defense Forces said Wednesday.
Palestinian sources said trucks that arrived from Israel at the Rafah terminal at the Israel-Gaza border were barred from delivering the aid over protests that members of the flotilla were not delivering the materials.
Israel had 20 trucks of aid found on the ships, such as expired medications, clothing, blankets, some medical equipment and toys.
Nine people died on Monday when Israel intercepted an aid vessel bound for Gaza.
Under Israeli policy, humanitarian aid must come through Israel and be checked by Israeli authorities who are looking to intercept smuggled weapons bound for militants aiming to attack Israel.
As part of this policy Israel forbids ships from dropping off goods at Gaza ports and works to thwart smuggling via tunnels between Gaza and Egypt.
US President Barack Obama spoke with Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday to express his condolences for those killed in an Israeli raid on a Turkish aid ship bound for Gaza, the White House said. Expressing condolences for the deaths of terrorists? Does he call Zardari and Gilani regularly in Pak-land?
Turkey, a key ally of the United States, has reacted angrily to Monday's raid in which nine people were killed when Israeli commandos stormed the ship. It had been trying to break an Israeli blockade on Gaza.
The White House said in his telephone call with Erdogan, Obama had reiterated the United States' support for "a credible, impartial, and transparent investigation of the facts surrounding this tragedy."
"The president affirmed the importance of finding better ways to provide humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza without undermining Israel's security," the White House said in a statement.
A cautious White House said earlier Tuesday that it supports a UN Security Council resolution calling for an investigation into the deadly raid, but stopped short of condemning the actions of Israeli forces.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the predawn raid on international waters, which left at least nine people dead, does nothing to change the "trusted relationship" between the US and Israel.
"We are greatly supportive of their security," Gibbs told reporters Tuesday. "That's not going to change."
Gibbs said the US backs the Security Council's call for "a credible investigation, including international participation." Here's a question the WH press corps should ask: Would the administration have preferred an outcome where no 'activist' was harmed and which would have established a precedent for the Hamas regime's uncontrolled access to international waters?
Declare 20 miles off the coast to be a "No GO" area and any ship entering will be seized. If they engage the IDF navy, they are sunk and the survivors executed for aiding and abetting terrorists.
[Ma'an] UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appealed for the immediate release of those detained following Monday's Israeli raid of an aid flotilla bound for the Gaza Strip, reiterating his call for a prompt probe into the deadly incident.
The return of the deceased and care for the wounded are also a top priority, UN spokeswoman Marie Okabe told reporters in New York, according to the UN News Centre.
At least 10 civilians died and dozens more were wounded when the Israeli military intercepted a six-ship convoy that was in international waters as it headed for Gaza.
"We reiterate our call to all concerned to act with a sense of care and responsibility and for a satisfactory resolution and the United Nations has raised its concerns about this with international partners and with Israeli authorities and all parties should act in accordance with international law and avoid provocations at this sensitive time," Okabe said.
The secretary-general is en route to New York from the Ugandan capital, Kampala, where he spoke on the phone to several world leaders including President Mahmoud Abbas, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, and French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Ban, who condemned the violence a day earlier, also discussed the raid with UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay.
Upon returning to New York, he will hold further talks on a future course of action -- including an investigation -- with Arab, Turkish and Israeli officials, as well as with members of the Security Council and others.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/02/2010 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV Latest] Despite the international community's outrage over the Gaza aid flotilla attack, the US has declined to condemn Israel for the offensive.
When asked if President Barack Obama condemns Israel over the attack, the White House stuck to the wording of the UN Security Council statement on the Israeli onslaught.
The White House, Israel's strongest ally, has only voiced "regret" at the loss of lives and the injuries resulting from the use of force but stopped short of specifically condemning Israel.
Israel's high-seas interception of the flotilla has provoked a firestorm of criticism around the world and shredded Israel's already tattered relationship with Turkey, once its only Muslim ally.
Israel has always weathered world outrage over its policies toward Palestinians, largely because it could rely on Washington to veto resolutions against it at the UN Security Council and protect it from any punishment.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had earlier supported the military action against the Freedom Flotilla.
The humanitarian aid convoy was carrying thousands of tons of supplies and hundreds of politicians, activists and journalists when Israeli forces assailed the sailing ships.
The Israeli navy killed at least 20 people aboard the ships, mostly Turkish nationals
Posted by: Fred ||
06/02/2010 00:00 ||
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[Ma'an] Some 2,000 demonstrators gathered outside Israel's Ministry of Defense late Monday to protest the military's violent raid on an aid flotilla that attempted to break the country's years-long siege on the Gaza Strip.
Approximately 100 Tel Aviv and border police officers were present and one left-wing activist, Matan Cohen, was arrested. A few dozen right-wing Israelis staged a counter-protest, but police generally kept them from interfering with the leftists' demonstration.
Haggai Matar, a left-wing activist and member of the Coalition Against the Siege, told Ma'an that the protests were an expression of anger and shock about an Israeli navy raid that left at least 10 activists dead and dozens hurt a day earlier. Israel's military has conceded that the raid took place in international waters, but continues to accuse activists of instigating the violence, which also left soldiers injured.
"[The flotilla] has been demonized from the get-go," Matar told Ma'an. "It was portrayed as illegitimate Turkish involvement in our politics or as provocation or, we've heard today more than ever before, that the flotilla was organized by Hezbollah and Hamas and Al-Qaeda and Islamic Jihad ... But we never thought we'd end up with such a terrible act of the boarding and shooting and killing so many civilians."
The flotilla, organized by the Free Gaza Movement, an international initiative that has sent several boats to Gaza in the past, consisted of six ships, 700 activists, and 10,000 tons of humanitarian aid.
Uri Avnery, the founder of the Gush Shalom peace movement and a former Knesset member, explained that "Many Israeli citizens are shocked by this crime. It was a massacre committed in international waters, and we demand a full and independent investigation."
Avnery told Ma'an that the raid damaged "Israel's credibility as a peace partner" as well as called into question Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's commitment to resolving his country's ongoing conflict with the Palestinians.
Knesset Member Dov Khenin (Hadash), who was the only government official present at the Tel Aviv protest, remarked, "It's important to be here today to demonstrate that there is a different voice in Israel. The activities of the government don't reflect all of us."
Khenin alleged that Israel's current administration is extremely right wing and is intent on making war.
That image could complicate US-mediated Israeli-Palestinian proximity talks. Already, in light of Monday's events, Netanyahu cancelled a visit to the White House scheduled for Wednesday, following a telephone call with US President Barack Obama.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/02/2010 00:00 ||
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On Friday, 28 May 2010, two brothers from Jabalya refugee camp were wounded by shrapnel of a bomb's explosion to different parts of their bodies, as they mishandled the fuse of the bomb. Geez, mom. It was just a fuse...
In a separate incident, a Palestinian from Abu Sabet family was wounded by bullet to his leg as his brother mishandled a gun in Rafah, in the northern Gaza Strip. Yeah, bro. Watch this...
BANG!
Ooooh...sorry.
These incidents are part of the state of security chaos and misuse of weapons prevailing in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT). There are two million tales of misuse of weapons in the Naked City OPT. These are just two of them...
According to investigations conducted by the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), at approximately 15:40 on Friday, 28 May 2010, Martyr Kamal 'Odwan Hospital in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip received the two brothers, Mohammed 'Emad Weshah, 16, and his sister Donia, 11, from Jabalya refugee camp. Eeeew. Must've been pretty bad if one of the brothers is now a sister...
They were wounded by shrapnel to different parts of their bodies due to playing with the fuse of a bomb while being at home. Medical sources described their wounds as moderate. Fatima! I have told you and told you and told you! Keep the kids away from the family bomb!
In a separate incident, at approximately 13:30 on Friday, 28 May 2010, Jamal Hamad Abu Sabet, 19, from al-Salam neighborhood in Rafah, was wounded by a bullet to his left leg. The bullet was accidentally unleashed from a Kalashnikov rifle while his brother was cleaning it. BANG!
Huh. Well, I guess it's clean...
Abu Sabet was transported to Martyr Mohammed Yousef al-Najjar Hospital to receive the medical treatment, where he underwent a surgery and then was dismissed on the following day. Nice name for a hospital.
PCHR is gravely concerned regarding the recurrence of such incidents, which are part of the state of security chaos and misuse of weapons prevailing in the OPT. PCHR further calls upon concerned authorities to take all necessary measures to ensure non-recurrence of such incidents. Maybe have everybody turn in the family bombs and not be stupid with the AK-47s?
Nah...
#1
These people really need to get some training. You are supposed to look down the barrel and then accidently unleash the bullet. I am going to make my fortune with a flotilla of Darwin Awards for the Gazans (sp)
Posted by: Steven ||
06/02/2010 16:26 Comments ||
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A long-term diplomatic war between Turkey and Israel, once solid allies in an unstable region, seems unavoidable in the wake of Mondays deadly raid on a Turkish civilian ship carrying aid to Palestinians.
Turkeys recalling of its ambassador and canceling of three military drills are the most concrete signs thus far of the longer and much larger-scale diplomatic row indicated by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoðans speech Tuesday, coupled with Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoðlus address to the U.N. Security Council and other diplomatic activities.
But as Turkey stays hard on Israels heels, Erdoðans statements show that Turkey will only target the current Israeli coalition government, led by Benjamin Netanyahu and Avigdor Liebermann, in retaliation for the attack, which ended with as many as 19 dead.
This government has become the main source of trouble in the region, Erdoðan indicated in his speech, reflecting the prime and foreign ministers previous decisions to not hold any high-level meetings with the current Israeli leadership. With reciprocal accusations from both sides since the famous Davos spat making it impossible to reduce tension, the only possibility for reconciliation between Ankara and Tel Aviv seems to be a change of administration in Israel.
Erdoðan made it clear that Turkey has no problem with either the Israeli people or the Israeli state, calling on the countrys citizens to stand up against the Netanyahu-Lieberman government, which he said hurts the interests of the Israeli people.
Full isolation of this government by the international community, backed by strong internal pressure, would surely start a process of removing the current Israeli leadership from power. This, of course, cannot be achieved solely by Turkey. Strong international determination in the international community is required, and Turkey will therefore try to gain the backing of the United Nations, NATO and other respectable international organizations. But the support of the United States is key.
Though Erdoðan did not list the further measures Turkey could apply against Israel in response to the deadly attack, it is known that Turkish officials have already started to work on determining ways in which Ankara can curtail its relations with Israel.
According to Energy Minister Taner Yildiz, Turkey is examining its energy ties with Israel in the wake of the crisis, though he added that the prime minister would make any final decision. Turkey and Israel had studied construction of the Medstream pipeline project that would connect the two countries for gas, oil and water trade, but the worsening of relations has slowed progress on this project.
Following Mondays attack, Turkey is also calling on Israel to take steps to compensate the victims. In addition to an official apology, Ankara is asking Israel to punish the perpetrators of the brutality and compensate the families of the people who lost their lives.
Turkey had earlier accused Israel of violating the international laws that prohibits countries from interfering in the navigation of ships on international waters. Some experts, however, argue, citing examples from the past, that not every instance of interference on international waters would necessarily mean a breach of the law.
Countries could stop vessels at a reasonable distance in international waters if they believe that they could pose a security threat,' Hakan Hanlý, a senior attorney-at-law and an expert on international law, told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review on Tuesday. The lawyer, however, also criticized the way Israeli security forces handled the situation.
JERUSALEM - Israeli military aircraft came under anti-aircraft fire over Lebanon on Tuesday but there were no casualties, an Israeli security source said. The source said the fire was aimed at Israeli planes on reconnaissance flights over southern Lebanon. An Israeli military spokesman had no immediate comment.
Tension has risen in the region since nine people were killed aboard a Turkish-backed aid ship heading for the Gaza Strip when Israeli commandos seized the vessel in Mediterranean waters on Monday.
Israel frequently carries out such surveillance flights despite Lebanese protests, although the border between the two countries has been largely quiet since a U.N.-brokered truce in 2006 ended a month-long war between Israeli forces and Iranian-backed Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/02/2010 00:00 ||
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Iran has amassed enough fissile material to build two nuclear bombs, according to the United Nations atomic watchdog. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA's) last report before a Security Council vote on proposed new sanctions for Iran also detailed how its inspectors have been denied access to facilities.
It renders obsolete Iran's efforts to revive a fuel-swap deal which was aimed at delaying the moment it reaches nuclear capability.
The report said Iran has continued to evade questions over evidence of weapons work while improving its uranium enrichment capabilities.
Iran's stockpile of low-enriched uranium stands at two tonnes, enough to arm two nuclear warheads if enriched further. The country, which has been ordered five times by the Security Council to halt enrichment until weapons questions are addressed, defied the international community to begin enriching uranium to 20 per cent, bringing it closer to weapons-grade fuel.
It began the higher enrichment process after the collapse of an IAEA deal to ship most of its nuclear fuel stocks abroad in return for 20 per cent fuel rods.
#6
If they wait to report until it's pretty much a done deal, they have it both ways: the spread of nuclear capability within Muslim countries and an official tut-tut issued when it cannot be used to halt that spread.
#7
Blockade busting. Firing on Israel aircraft over Lebanon. Muslim countries pressuring Israel to participate in nuclear talks. Distractions all geared towards buying time for Iran to complete its nuclear weapons program.
#8
Gorb,
I'd say just the opposite. The closer you get to 90% the harder it would probably be to get any increase in yield. Once the process is successful though, and can be repeated...
I have no doubt Bambi will f*ck around until they detonate a nuclear test in the desert and declare themselves a nuclear power. He is impotent to do ANYTHING because he can't seem to rig it up to please everyone and be blamable on Bush simultaneously.
If Israel is at all interested in self-preservation they should handle this themselves. Otherwise Iran will hold the entire ME hostage.
#9
bigjim - If I remember right it's counterintuitive because lighter isotopes are siphoned off, not heavier, and that if I remember right is supposed to be easier and easier as you go along. Are you sure of your answer, or are you guessing like me?
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