[Washington Post] When retired Lt. Gen. William "Jerry" Boykin, the former commander of the U.S. Army's elite and secretive Delta Force, published a book in 2008, it detailed some of the Pentagon's most sensitive operations of the 20th century. Among them were the 1979 hostage crisis in Iran, the 1989 hunt for Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega and the tragically flawed 1993 mission in Somalia that killed 18 U.S. troops and was later depicted in the book and movie "Black Hawk Down."
Retired military personnel who write about such sensitive issues commonly submit their works to the Pentagon for advance review to ensure that they don't divulge classified information. But Boykin declined to do so, forging ahead with publication of "Never Surrender: A Soldier's Journey to the Crossroads of Faith and Freedom."
The Army struck back last year, quietly issuing him a scathing reprimand following a criminal investigation that concluded he had wrongfully released classified information, according to an Army document obtained by The Washington Post through a Freedom of Information Act request.
According to the Jan. 23, 2013, memorandum, the Army determined that Boykin's book disclosed "classified information concerning cover methods, counterterrorism/counter-proliferation operations, operational deployments, infiltration methods, pictures, and tactics, techniques and procedures that may compromise ongoing operations."
The reprimand is the latest in a series of embarrassing incidents in which senior military officers have faced scrutiny for alleged wrongdoing. The military has been plagued by a string of such episodes since November 2012, when retired Army Gen. David H. Petraeus stepped down as director of the CIA after an adulterous affair with his biographer, Paula Broadwell, was discovered. Vindictive bastards! A pox on the regime, as well as both Odierno and Dempsey. Neither would make a papule on the arse of Boykin, spit !!!
#1
Compare this to the bullshit soft approach of this administration on Gen Shinseki. Some of what's there are ops so old that I was privy to info or involved in support. We are talking 25 years or more for some of it, long past the declas for operational details classification. Even sources and methods are being declas at 25 these days.
I think the outrage and prosecution is selective.
All that aside, I wonder why his TS/SI clearance related prepublication statement he signed (just like mine) didn't kick in hard? Mine was for 25 years with the date pushed out every time I got read in and then debriefed, even recently, didn't matter if it was DIA, NRO, JSOC mil, DISA or no such agency, all of them got a date reset when I was working for any of them. I got a "lid lock" that's likely going to be in place the rest of my life.
#2
Boykin's book 'Danger Close' had a very supportive cover review by former DIA Director LTG(Ret) Sam Wilson. Boykin's 'Never Surrender' was given a strong review by former Republican Presidential Candidate and Fox News Anchor Mike Huckabee. The selective release to Hollywood and the MSM of intelligence sources and methods appears to be no problem for the regime.
One of the earliest assertions against Boykin was that he was the architect of the anti-terror tactics used by then SECDEF Rumsfeld and President Bush. A New Yorker article compared those efforts to the USA's Phoenix Program during the Vietnam War. Of course after the Champ went 'all in' with his drone targeting campaign, the Phoenix Program analogy was quietly dismissed.
A reprimand can either verbal or written and can be issued for nearly anything. The suspension of a security clearance by DIS for violation of a non-disclosure agreement, or an action under the UCMJ requires formal investigation and findings.
Just a guess, but I suspect Boykin's problem with the regime is his fundamentalist religious beliefs, pro-Israel stance, and statements/writings against Islam.
#4
Of course the current regimes work with film and documentary makers to cover the operation to take out OBL has never been subject to the same standards.
#5
I will always believe the Bin Laden takedown was pre-election theater. The parallels of diversion and blame between Pakistani polio Doctor Shakeel Afridi and Anti-Islamic video maker Nakoula Basseley Nakoula are striking.
[Tolo News] Afghan politicians have expressed outrage at the Presidential Palace's action against three veteran Police Special Forces officers accused of committing misconduct during the first round of this year's presidential election. The MPs emphasized the sacrifices of the national security forces and questioned the grounds for the charges against the three police commanders.
Based on a report published in the Guardian newspaper, President Hamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai ... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabbani in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a Pashtun face on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use... has issued arrest warrants for the three coppers on charges of illegally detaining citizens and searching a mosque with a dog.
The Ministry of Interior Affairs has confirmed that two high ranking special police commanders have already been nabbed Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'!
But politicians argued the action taken against the officers could undermine the morale and efforts of the national security forces.
"Perhaps the presidential palace arrested these officers to make some others happy, but these officers have contributed to security, and this could undermine the morale of the security forces and impact the security situation," Badakhshan MP Bashir Ahmad Tayyanj. "Those who serve the country and work for our security must not be the victims of politics."
Posted by: Fred ||
05/24/2014 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV] The founder of the whistleblowing website WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, has revealed that the US National Security Agency records almost all domestic and international phone calls in Afghanistan.
On Monday, the Intercept reported that classified documents provided by American whistleblower Edward Snowden show the NSA "is secretly intercepting, recording, and archiving the audio of virtually every cellphone conversation on the island nation of the Bahamas."
According to the Intercept, the NSA's same spying program, MYSTIC, also targeted Mexico, Kenya, the Philippines, and another "unnamed country."
A WikiLeaks tweet, however, revealed on Friday that the unnamed country is Afghanistan.
In a statement, Assange said that the purpose of identifying the "unnamed country" was not only to make revelations about Washington's "crime of mass espionage" across the world but also to prevent the killing of innocent people in US drone strikes.
"We know from previous reporting that the National Security Agency's mass interception system is a key component in the United States' drone targeting program," Assange said.
"The US drone targeting program has killed thousands of people and hundreds of women and kiddies in Afghanistan, Pakistain, Yemen and Somalia in violation of international law. The censorship of a victim state's identity directly assists the killing of innocent people," he added.
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05/24/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
Nearly all? Maybe not the ones that we make but I wouldn't bet on it.
[Iran Press TV] Thousands of people have held a demonstration in the Libyan capital Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... in support of retired General Khalifa Haftar.
The demonstrators erupted into the streets of the city on Friday to back Haftar, whose forces launched an offensive against snuffies on May 16.
Similar demonstrations were also held in the restive northeastern city of Benghazi and in the towns of Ajdabiya and Gharghour.
Many of the participants carried banners reading slogans such as "No to terrorism" and "We want a nation with dignity, not a state of militias."
Security measures were in place around the protests, but no violence was reported.
Haftar has launched a military offensive in the country's east, saying that he wants to crush the snuffies and to establish stability in Libya.
His campaign has drawn support from high-ranking officials, military officers and soldiers.
The head of Libya's navy, General Hassan Abu-Shannaq, has also expressed his support for the operations by Haftar's loyalists.
Haftar's forces took over Libya's General National Congress building earlier this week, provoking rival Death Eater groups to dispatch their forces to the capital.
Concern is now rising that the two sides may engage in a battle for power in the near future.
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05/24/2014 00:00 ||
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[The Peninsula] The chairman of Libya's state-oil firm National Oil Corp (NOC), Nuri Berruein, has resigned, NOC spokesman Mohamed El Harari said on Friday.
He gave no reason for the resignation. Libya's oil sector has been crippled by 10 months of protests at major oilfields and exports ports reducing output to little over 200,000 barrels a day from 1.4 million in July when strikes started.
The protests are driven by a mix of militias, tribesmen and state employees making political and financial demands.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/24/2014 00:00 ||
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[MAGHAREBIA] Tunisia is moving quickly to keep the security chaos in Libya from bleeding across the border.
The National Guard commander visited the eastern border region on Thursday (May 22nd) to assess the situation, while military units deployed to form a defensive line near the Libya frontier.
"The deterioration of the situation in Libya will pave the way for the infiltration of faceless myrmidons into Tunisian territory, the introduction of weapons and the execution of terrorist attacks." Tunisian defence ministry front man Taouik Rahmouni said earlier this week.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/24/2014 00:00 ||
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[Ynet] Only a slight majority of Egyptians look favorably on Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi, the former army chief who ousted the elected president and is now a heavy favorite to win next week's presidential elections, according to a poll released Thursday by a US-based research center.
The poll found that 54 percent of respondents look favorably on al-Sissi, while 45 percent view him unfavorably.
In other words he ought to win, even without stuffing the ballot box.
The military takeover he led last July to oust Morsi had the support of 54 percent, while 43 percent oppose it.
Significantly, 42 percent looked favorably at Morsi,
Fascinating. What a pity there are no reset buttons in real life.
Fifty-four percent is not enough of a margin for either a dictator or a Democrat...
who is in detention and on trial for a range of charges - some of which carry the death penalty - and is daily demonized by the media. In a Pew poll a year ago, before his ouster, Morsi had an approval rating of 53 percent.
Pew's poll was based on 1,000 face-to-face interviews with adults who are 18 and older. The interviews were conducted between April 10 and 29. It has a margin of error of 4.3 percentage points.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
05/24/2014 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] The leader of Nigeria's Mohammedans on Friday announced plans to host a national day of prayer in the capital as part of an effort to overcome Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... 's brutal Islamist insurgency.
The Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Sa'ad Abubakar III, has invited Nigeria's prominent Mohammedan leaders to the National Mosque in Abuja on Sunday.
The "National Mohammedans Prayers for Peace and Security in Nigeria" aims to help the country in "overcoming the current security challenges facing the country" a statement printed in several national newspapers said.
The call follows an open letter to the Sultan written by Shehu Sani, a prominent northern rights activist and author who has been part of several past efforts to end Boko Haram's five-year deadly uprising through dialogue.
Sani said Nigeria's top holy man needed to do more to help secure the release of more than 200 schoolgirls held hostage by Boko Haram, whose mass April 14 abduction from a school in Chibok in the northeast has drawn worldwide condemnation.
"Religious holy mans particularly in the north should move beyond prayers and independently move further to reach out to the faceless myrmidons and amicably retrieve these girls via means that will guarantee their safe return," Sani wrote this week.
"The Chibok girls have guns on their heads and chains on their hands and we have a dangling sword of posterity hanging over our heads," he added.
The United Nations ...an organization originally established to war on dictatorships which was promptly infiltrated by dictatorships and is now held in thrall to dictatorships... on Thursday imposed sanctions on Boko Haram, blacklisting it as an Al-Qaeda-linked terrorist organization, following similar moves by Nigeria, the United States and Britannia.
Boko Haram has made repeated threats against Nigeria's ancient Islamic monarchies, including the Sultan of Sokoto, the Emir of Kano and the Shehu of Borno, who is based in the bully boy's northeastern stronghold.
The entourages of the Kano and Borno holy mans have both been hit by deadly Islamist attacks.
Boko Haram accuses these leaders of betraying Islam by submitting to the authority of Nigeria's secular government.
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05/24/2014 00:00 ||
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[The Peninsula] China's Xinjiang region has started a "one-year crackdown" on "violent terrorist activities", the official Xinhua news agency reported yesterday, providing no details.
The troubled region in the west, home to a large Mohammedan Uihgur minority, was the scene of China's biggest attack in years on Thursday, when explosives hurled from two vehicles in an open market killed 31 people.
China called the attack in the regional capital of Urumqi a "serious violent terrorist incident" and domestic security chief Meng Jianzhu vowed to strengthen a crackdown on the "arrogance of terrorists". Ninety-four people were maimed in the attacks.
Five jacket wallahs carried out the attack," the Global Times said, adding authorities "are investigating whether there were other accomplices".
Posted by: Fred ||
05/24/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
I'm troubled by the human rights violations that are sure to be involved in this "crackdown".
Two frightening incidents of vandalism in El Paso near the Mexican border in Texas have been interpreted as warnings from drug cartels.
In both instances, a mannequin wearing a suit and tie was tied to a billboard with a noose and messages were scrawled over the placards.
Local station KHOU reports that one of the signs reads 'Plata o Plombo' which translates to 'silver or lead', a threat used commonly against police officers effectively warning that if they do not accept the cartel's bribes then they will be shot. I'd like to believe that Texans can dish out a little plomo themselves.
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05/24/2014 11:40 ||
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Yep, unlike Mexico, Texas has a death penalty and is not embarrassed to use it. Cop killing is a fast track to the end.
[Ynet] The Justice Department has tapped a veteran prosecutor to probe the flow of imported muscle including Americans who are joining Syria's rebels, US officials said, in a sign of heightened alarm over the threat of radicalized turbans returning home.
US law enforcement and security agencies for months have expressed growing anxiety about a steady stream of Western hard boys, including Americans, heading to Syria. Most of the foreigners join up with the most extreme factions trying to oust Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Trampler of Homs... , including Jabhat al-Nusra and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant ... the current version of al-Qaeda in Iraq, just as blood-thirsty and well-beloved as the original... US and allied officials say their main fear is that veteran fighters, radicalized by their Syrian experience, will launch terror attacks once they return home. Authorities in Western Europe say they have uncovered plots by fighters returning from Syria.
Rooters does like the idea of Americans quaking in fear...
The hard boyz, "American" and "European", are welcome to go to Syria. They're just not allowed to leave once they get there...
The Times of India posits that the Taliban attack on the Indian consulate in Herat, Afghanistan was timed to scuttle Pakistan Prime Minister Sharif's attendance of Modi's inauguration.
The attack came just days after Modi invited all SAARC leaders, including Sharif, for his swearing-in ceremony in a gesture that signals his desire to build better relations with all neighbors.
However, the Taliban attack and the support that Taliban is known to enjoy from Pakistani agencies AKA the inner ISI
indicates the complexity of dealing with India's western neighbour. It makes plain that there are many players in Pakistan who are inimical to any kind of normalization of ties between the two countries. To that extent, it also reduces Modi's elbow room for his diplomatic outreach to Islamabad.
Coming amid indications that Nawaz Sharif was veering round to attending Modi government's inauguration on Monday, the Herat attack was also seen as a warning to the Pakistani government not to warm up to India. LET chief Hafiz Saeed amir of Jama'at-ud-Da'wah which, with the help of Pakistan's ISI, spawned the jihadist group Lashkar-e-Taiba
publicly warned Sharif that a visit to India would be a betrayal of the Kashmir cause. "What will you (Sharif) answer the Kashmiris if you go to India?" he said. That we are going to work with India to stimulate the economy so that you can improve your standard of living. Terrorism sure hasn't helped you.
[DAWN] ISLAMABAD: Fearing a backlash from the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in the government seat of Islamabad, an apprehensive PML-N government has decided to use both the security forces and the police on high alert to maintain peace in the capital as well as other parts of the country.
It appears as if the government has decided to put the option of talks on hold and focus on a military operation in the militant-infested North Waziristan Agency (NWA).
Sources in security forces told Dawn on Thursday that an operation of sorts had been started with air strikes on the militant hideouts on Wednesday.
When contacted, Information Minister Pervez Rashid confirmed that an operation had been launched against the militants. "Security forces will carry out their operation where the life of the citizens is in danger."
Asked whether talks between the government and the outlawed (TTP) had failed, the minister replied: "We will talk with those who are ready for it and the operation is being launched against those who are not ready to come to the negotiating table."
In reply to another question regarding the deployment of army in Islamabad in view of the possible reaction from the TTP, Mr Rashid did not deny the reports: "It is the duty of the government to protect the citizens not only in Islamabad but also across the country. Such arrangements are part of the government's precautionary measures."
It may be mentioned that militants have reportedly warned the government of suicide attacks in the country if a military operation was launched in their stronghold. In fact, this backlash in the cities has been used as an argument by those who oppose an operation in NWA.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/24/2014 00:00 ||
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Attack on the Indian consulate in Herat, Afghanistan, by four men armed with grenades and rocket launchers results in no injuries.
The attack took place even as India was waiting to hear from Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif whether he would attend Narendra Modi's oath-taking ceremony on Monday. India was restrained in its reaction to the attack. "Our diplomatic premises in Afghanistan have been repeatedly attacked by elements who clearly do not support the Afghan people's effort to rebuild and redevelop their country," said government spokesman S Akbaruddin, without naming the nationality of those who had mounted the attack, although he did say that the attack "once again underscores that the main threat to Afghanistan and its peace, stability and security steps from terrorism beyond its borders".
But clearly on the defensive, BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman denied that Modi would hold bilateral talks with any of the Saarc leaders.
"The leaders will attend the ceremony. They will interact with each other during the dinner that Modiji will host in their honour. But these meetings can by no means be termed bilateral talks," she said.
Much preparation goes in before heads of governments sit down for bilateral talks, including precursor meetings of officials for outlining the agenda. None of this has been done in this instance. BJP sources said the invite to leaders of Saarc [South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation] countries should be seen as a celebration of democracy. They said discussions on other bilateral issues were not on the agenda.
[Ynet] Russia and China vetoed on Thursday a resolution to refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court ... where Milosevich died of old age before being convicted ... for possible prosecution of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the country's three-year civil war.
Carla del Ponte will have to look for another meal ticket...
"It is clear in this case that no side in this tragedy is innocent," said UN Deputy-Secretary-General Jan Eliasson, addressing the Security Council on behalf of Secretary-General the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon ... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan... "If members of the council continue to be unable to agree on a measure that could provide some accountability for the ongoing crimes, the credibility of this body and the entire organization will continue to suffer," Eliasson said.
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05/24/2014 00:00 ||
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[IDFblog] Senior officers spoke Tuesday at an annual IDF conference, where they addressed the dangers that characterize today's evolving battlefield. Although enemies like Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, and Hezbollah can attack Israel with heavy fire, the IDF is using intelligence-based combat to overcome complex threats.
Lots of links scattered throughout the article, for those wishing to explore the subject in greater depth.
[An Nahar] Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Wally Jumblat ... Druze politician, head of the Progressive Socialist Party, who's been on every side in Leb at least four times. He'll sell you his friends for a dollar, but family comes higher because of shipping and handling... stated sarcastically on Friday that he will add the Syrian summons issued against him Thursday to the "folder" of Syrian judicial suits he already has.
He humorously added that he will then distribute them to his friends.
"I will be waiting for the list of expenses resulting from the lawsuit filed against me to pay my dues, just like good manners compel us to. I will not forget to add this suit to the file I already have to distribute on friends for free," said the MP in a statement.
"I received the Syrian summons accusing me of undermining the authority of the Syrian state. I have to say that I have never planned to undermine the authority which must be maintained and protected from collapse," added Jumblat.
"I have always called for implementing the Geneva accord and for engaging in a political solution in a bid to protect Syria's unity and what is left of it. The Syrian regime went too far in killing and displacing millions inside and outside Syria, through arbitrary arrests of hundreds of thousands whose fate is unknown," he stated.
The PSP chief concluded: "Until this moment we still call for a political solution to protect the state's structure and prevent Syria from division. This can only be achieved through a transitional stage for Syria's sake and after suing the murderers, Death Eaters and killers, releasing of thousands of detainees and determining the fate of those who were forcibly hidden."
Posted by: Fred ||
05/24/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
I wish he'd make up with his brother and get the act back together. Well done exploding food comedy is getting too rare.
Lebanonâs presidential vote was postponed indefinitely on Thursday, with no agreement between two rival blocs, just three days away from the end of President Michel Sleimanâs mandate.
âDue to the lack of quorum, as 73 MPs (out of 128) were present, parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri announced that parliament will remain in session until the end of the presidential mandate, and if there are any developments, he will invite the deputies to vote,â said to a statement carried by the official National News Agency.
Should no president be chosen, the government will assume full executive powers -- a situation Lebanon already faced in 1988 and 2007.
What's Walid Jumblatt up to? Let him do it for a while...
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/24/2014 00:00 ||
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Putin is playing hardball. Our beloved president is has no idea why his head aches so.
[Ynet] Russia plans to sign a contract with Iran this year to build two more nuclear reactors at its Bushehr power plant as part of a broader deal for up to eight reactors in the Islamic state, a source close to the negotiations told Rooters on Thursday.
It was not immediately clear how this might affect six global powers' talks with Iran addressing disputed aspects of its nuclear program. Iran has resisted demands for cuts in its uranium enrichment capacity, pointing to plans for a future network of nuclear power stations.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
05/24/2014 00:00 ||
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Since 2007, Al-Qaeda's use of encryption technology has been based on the Mujahideen Secrets platform which has developed to include support for mobile, instant messaging, and Macs.
Following the June 2013 Edward Snowden leaks we observe an increased pace of innovation, specifically new competing jihadist platforms and three (3) major new encryption tools from three (3) different organizations -- GIMF, Al-Fajr Technical Committee, and ISIS -- within a three to five-month time frame of the leaks.
The nature of these new crypto products indicates strategy to overlay stronger and broader encryption on Western (mainly US) consumer communication services.
The reader is pointed here for more detailed analysis.
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.
[Ynet] Only a slight majority of Egyptians look favorably on Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi, the former army chief who ousted the elected president and is now a heavy favorite to win next week's presidential elections, according to a poll released Thursday by a US-based research center.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
The Times of India posits that the Taliban attack on the Indian consulate in Herat, Afghanistan was timed to scuttle Pakistan Prime Minister Sharif's attendance of Modi's inauguration. 
Attack on the Indian consulate in Herat, Afghanistan, by four men armed with grenades and rocket launchers results in no injuries.
[Ynet] Russia and China vetoed on Thursday a resolution to refer the situation in Syria to the 
Druze politician, head of the Progressive Socialist Party, who's been on every side in Leb at least four times. He'll sell you his friends for a dollar, but family comes higher because of shipping and handling...
Since 2007, Al-Qaeda's use of encryption technology has been based on the Mujahideen Secrets platform which has developed to include support for mobile, instant messaging, and Macs.
