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Islamic State claims it has beheaded US hostage Kassig
Today's Headlines
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Page 4: Opinion
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Page 6: Politix
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Afghanistan
Commentators Respond to Rehman Justifying War in Afghanistan
[Tolo News] Despite President Ashraf Ghani
...former chancellor of Kabul University. Before returning to Afghanistan in 2002 he was a scholar of political science and anthropology. He worked at the World Bank working on international development assistance. As Finance Minister of Afghanistan between July 2002 and December 2004, he led Afghanistan's attempted economic recovery until the Karzais stole all the money. ..
's high expectations for his first trip to Pakistain, Maulana Fazlur Rehman
Deobandi holy man, known as Mullah Diesel during the war against the Soviets, his sympathies for the Taliban have never been tempered by honesty ...
, the leader of the Assembly of Islamic Clergy in Pakistain, welcomed him by calling Jihad in Afghanistan justified.

But analysts have said Rehman's views should not be a surprise, as empowering extremism is Pakistain's fundamental philosophy. These commentators have said Pakistain's interference in Afghanistan and support for terrorist groups will not be resolved by trips and bilateral talks, but only by pressure from the international community.

"These meetings between Afghanistan and Pakistain might end at economic level," political analyst Malek Setiz said. "I believe that from the political and security point of view, these bilateral meetings will have no results; the only way that can improve the political and security situation in the region is through multilateral talks and involvement of the international community for resolving the issue, along with international pressure on Pakistain."

Despite that evidence of the Pak military and intelligence services supporting the Taliban and other terrorist groups has been well established, analysts say Pakistain's nuclear power keeps the west from putting too much pressure on its government.

"Sartaj Aziz has said that we wish for friendship and cooperation with Afghanistan, but Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman, a member of Pak intelligence, has said that jihad in Afghanistan is permissible and we will continue the battle in Afghanistan," political analyst Ahmad Saeedi said. "It's the two-faced politics of Pakistain that stops from reaching a decision; Paks are still not honest on issues related to Afghanistan and do not want to end the destruction of Afghanistan."

During his presidency, 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...
traveled to Pakistain 21 times, but was unable to secure peace with the Taliban. Although many remain hopeful for a new beginning under President Ghani, comments like those made by Rehman this week cast doubt on those hopes.
Posted by: Fred || 11/16/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Ulema Islami

#1  Hell yes, I thought Rodman was right for once.
Posted by: Shipman || 11/16/2014 14:08 Comments || Top||


Africa Subsaharan
ZimBob VP linked to plot to kill Comrade Bob
Zimbabwe's vice president, once seen as a possible successor to President Robert Mugabe, has been linked to an alleged plot to assassinate the 90-year-old leader, a state-run newspaper reported Sunday.
"I kept waiting for the old codger to die. He got sick, and then sicker and then sicker. And I waited, and he got sicker and sicker. And then, he lived!"
An ally of Vice President Joice Mujuru who was recently ousted from his post as ruling party spokesman said the allegations that he conspired against Mugabe are false. Rugare Gumbo, the ousted spokesman, was identified in The Sunday Mail as a plotter against Mugabe, who has been in power since independence in 1980.
Sounds like Joice will say whatever it takes to remain alive...
The Sunday Mail cited a voice recording and reported comments as evidence of the alleged plot but it did not attribute the information to security officials or other sources.

Political factions are maneuvering for influence ahead of the annual ruling party congress next month. Mujuru has come under repeated verbal attacks from the president's wife, Grace.
Sorta like coming under attack from Moo-chelle but with a slightly higher risk of death, as opposed to being forced to eat a modern school lunch...
Grace Mugabe has assumed an increasingly political role, angering some party insiders who believe she does not have leadership credentials in a country struggling with high unemployment and other social problems.
She does, however, know where all the bodies are buried, and she does have Bob's ear (and teeth, and testicles, and...
Posted by: Frank G || 11/16/2014 10:48 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Hoping this dude has had the good sense to get outta Dodge. Once the purges start, they're REALLY hard to stop.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 11/16/2014 11:09 Comments || Top||

#2  "Grace Mugabe has assumed an increasingly political role, angering some party insiders who believe she does not have leadership credentials in a country struggling with high unemployment and other social problems."

Go for it Grace! Skill deficits didn't stop our Champ.
Posted by: Besoeker || 11/16/2014 11:27 Comments || Top||

#3  In die hemel [heaven] Smith chuckles softly over sundowners.
Posted by: Besoeker || 11/16/2014 11:36 Comments || Top||

#4  "Wouldn't it be funny if that were true?"
Posted by: Shipman || 11/16/2014 12:38 Comments || Top||

#5  Go for it Grace! Skill deficits didn't stop our Champ.

Not stopping Hill'ry Rodham either.
Posted by: Pappy || 11/16/2014 18:05 Comments || Top||


Europe
Suspect in Paris Synagogue Bombing Extradited to France
[TIME] Canadian university professor Hassan Diab arrived in France Saturday

A Canadian university professor has been extradited to France and charged with first-degree murder for his alleged role in a deadly 1980 bombing outside a synagogue in Paris.

Hassan Diab landed at Charles De Gaulle airport in Paris on Saturday morning, the BBC reports, and was transferred to a Paris courthouse to face charges.

Diab, who was born in Lebanon, is the main suspect in the 1980 Rue Copernic bombing which killed four people and injured dozens. Diab fought for six years to remain in Canada until the Canadian Supreme Court approved his extradition on Thursday.

The 60-year-old sociology professor said his failed bid was âa very sad day for me, my family and supporters, and the state of extradition law in Canada.â

Diab will be presumed innocent until proven guilty, the French embassy in Ottawa said.
Posted by: Fred || 11/16/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:


India-Pakistan
Army snubs 'malicious' Pentagon report on Pakistan
[DAWN] MIR ALI: The Pakistain Army has taken strong exception to a recent report by the US Defence Department which accused Pakistain of using "proxy forces to hedge against the loss of influence in Afghanistan and to counter India's superior military".

Pakistain has already summoned US Ambassador Richard Olson to the Foreign Office to convey concerns over the report earlier this month.

The country's protest over what the Foreign Office called "unwarranted comments" had been conveyed by the Prime Minister's Adviser on National Security and Foreign Affairs, Sartaj Aziz to the US ambassador at the Foreign Ministry.

Briefing news hounds from both national and international media at the army headquarters in Mir Ali, North Wazoo on Saturday, Major General Zafarullah Khan Khattak termed the report "baseless, malicious, demoralising and contrary to ground realities".

"There is no such thing [happening here as is] mentioned in the Pentagon report. Pakistain army is not using Death Eaters anywhere for so called proxy wars," said the senior army officer.

Khattak said that army operation, Zarb-e-Azb
..the Pak offensive against Qaeda in Pakistain and the Pak Taliban in North Wazoo. The name refers to the sword of the Prophet (PTUI!)...
was being carried out against all Death Eaters group ‐ including the Haqqani network ‐ and that a number of bully boy commanders belonging to the bully boy outfit have also been killed in the offensive.

He said that commanders of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), a bully boy organization working against China, have also been killed and the network destroyed in the operation in North Waziristan.

The commander expressed the hope that Pak-Afghan border security issues could be settled at the political level through talks and said the visit by the Afghanistan's Caped President to Pakistain is timely and would help in better border management.

Giving the latest figure about casualties, the commander said 42 officers and security forces personnel have been killed while 155 are injured in the ongoing operation.

"1,198 bully boyz have been killed, 356 injured, and 227 have been jugged
... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not...
by security forces," he said.

"11 private jails, 191 secret tunnels 39 IED factories, 4,991 various types of ready-made IEDs, 132 ton kaboom, 2,470 sub machine Guns, 293 machine Guns, 111 heavy machine Guns have also been recovered during the operation," he added.
...all to be stored in the ISI arms lockup until they're ready to hand them out to their pet jihadis again.
Giving an estimate of the recovered weapons and explosives, he said the quantity of the weapons and ammunition recovered from Death Eaters could have been used by Death Eaters to kill over 88,000 people and was massive enough to sustain war against security forces for more than 15 years.
That's an awful lot of potential Indian deaths... and frugality is a virtue, after all.
Maj-Gen Khattak said Miranshah
... headquarters of al-Qaeda in Pakistain and likely location of Ayman al-Zawahiri. The Haqqani network has established a ministate in centered on the town with courts, tax offices and lots of madrassas...
, Mir Ali, Boya, Dattakhel and Ghulam Khan areas of the tribal belt have been cleared, however, clearance operations are still underway.

About rehabilitation of the IDPs, he said fool proof mechanism has been adopted to ensure that Death Eaters are not returned to the area.

During briefing and field visits, pictures of dead bodies of the Death Eaters and weapons recovered from Death Eaters were also shown to the media.
Posted by: Fred || 11/16/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Islamabad rendezvous: Nawaz, Ghani vow to bury the past
[TRIBUNE.PK] Looking to overcome years of mistrust and acrimony between their countries, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani vowed on Saturday to jointly tackle terrorism and begin a new era of economic cooperation.

The two neighbours have long endured testy relations fraught by a sporadic trade of accusations of harbouring each otherâs enemies. Their relationship had touched the lowest ebb towards the fag end of the long rule of the previous Afghan leader, Hamid Karzai.

But less than two months after taking over the reins from his predecessor, Ghani is paying his first state visit to Pakistan, and the warm words used by himself and Nawaz at a joint news conference suggested both sides were making a conscious effort to reset relations.

âWe have overcome obstacles of 13 years in three days,â said Ghani. âWe will not permit the past to destroy the future.â Premier Nawaz called Ghani a âdear brotherâ and said the two nations had signed agreements to improve train and road links, increase trade and explore defence, border and energy cooperation.

âOur two countries face formidable challenges, including extremism and terrorism, a precarious security environment and trans-national crimes.

âI am convinced that we can effectively meet them, through common resolve and common endeavours,â Nawaz said, adding that he and Ghani had had in-depth consultations on all these issues.

The prime minister said a peaceful, stable, united and prosperous Afghanistan was in Pakistanâs vital national interest. âI also reaffirm Pakistanâs support for an intra-Afghan reconciliation process that the new government is initiating. This process, we agreed, must be fully Afghan led and Afghan ownedâ.

Nawaz Sharif said he has been consistently emphasising Pakistanâs foremost priority of building a âpeaceful neighbourhoodâ. As its fundamental element, he said, he had vision of a strong, comprehensive and enduring partnership between Pakistan and Afghanistan contributing to the security and prosperity of the two nations, and reinforcing efforts for peace and development in the region.

âAnd I appreciate the fact that President Ghani has also a similar vision,â he added.

Nawaz said both sides had recognised the historic opportunity to work together and build a stronger relationship â based on mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, and marked by mutual trust, understanding and close cooperation.
Posted by: Fred || 11/16/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


The Drone Spotters of Pakistan
[THEDAILYBEAST] Half a dozen men sit on the floor in a grimy rented storefront in the crowded Khyber Bazaar. A bottle of locally brewed liquor chills in a water cooler in the corner, a Pepsi bottle next to it for mixing. A Bollywood soundtrack plays in the background. It's a farewell party for Allah Noor, who has spent the last five years identifying targets in rural Pakistain for U.S. drone strikes.

Noor, as we'll call him, is tall and wiry. Now in his early thirties, his cheeks are sunken from smoking too much hash. He hasn't slept in the same place two nights in a row ever since a U.S. drone killed Maulvi Nazir, his former boss, on Jan. 2, 2013. 'After that,' he says, 'I realized the government is playing a double game.'

'Sometimes I hide in Bloody Karachi
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 11/16/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [12 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan


Iraq
U.N. Hails 'Important' Step in Baghdad-Kurd Row
[AnNahar] An initial deal between Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region and Baghdad aimed at resolving long-standing budget and oil disputes is "a very important first step," the United Nations
...aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society...
said on Friday.

Baghdad has long opposed the three-province region's independent export of oil, while Kurdish leaders have criticized Baghdad for withholding budget payments to the region.

In a first move to end the disputes, the two sides agreed Thursday for Baghdad to pay $500 million to Kurdistan in exchange for the transfer of 150,000 barrels of oil per day to the federal government, the Kurdish region's government said.

"I welcome the agreement... on resolving the budget dispute," U.N. Iraq envoy Nickolay Mladenov said in a statement.

"This agreement will allow public sector employees in the governorates of Arbil, Dohuk and Sulaimaniyah to begin receiving their salaries. It will also allow the Kurdistan Regional Government to resume its contribution to the federal budget at a time of national crisis," he said.

The deal was reached at a meeting in the Kurdish capital Arbil between Iraqi Oil Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi, Kurdish regional premier Nechirvan Barzani and his deputy, Qubad Talabani, the Kurdish government statement said.

"Nechirvan Barzani will then head a delegation due to arrive in Baghdad in the coming days to reach a comprehensive, fair and constitutional solution to all outstanding differences between the federal government and the KRG," it added.

The initial deal is one of the most significant achievements of the new Iraqi government of Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi.

The budget dispute has lasted almost a year and had led to a sharp deterioration of relations between the federal government and the Kurdish region.

A resolution of the budget feud is seen as an essential step in improving cooperation at a time when both are battling the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
jihadist group, which has overrun large parts of Iraq since June.
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/16/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iraq


Dempsey: battle with ISIS starting to turn
The United States' top military officer told American troops on a surprise visit to Baghdad on Saturday that the momentum in the battle with ISIS was "starting to turn", but predicted a drawn-out campaign lasting several years. General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was visiting Iraq for the first time since President Barack Obama responded to ISIS advances this summer by ordering troops back into a country they left in 2011.

Dempsey told the troops the US military had helped Iraqi and Kurdish forces "pull Iraq back from the precipice".

"And now, I think it's starting to turn. So well done," Dempsey told a group of Marines at the US embassy in Baghdad.

Dempsey said it had been crucial to show ISIS was not an unstoppable, 10-foot-tall force and instead "a bunch of midgets running around with a really radical ideology".

He was hardly triumphant, however. Earlier, he visited a Joint Operations Centre and watched a live video feed of a location showing the ISIS' black flag waving.

Dempsey repeatedly made the point that military force could not root out ISIS unless Iraq's government manages to work across the Sunni-Shia divide. Building trust would take time. So would the US mission, he said.

"How long? Several years," said Dempsey.

Dempsey, who also met top Iraqi officials, said he wanted to find out whether the Iraqis believed they could win recruits for a programme the United States hopes to get under way next year to re-train Iraqi units.

"I want to get a sense from them on whether they believe our timeline is feasible," Dempsey said.

After meeting senior Iraqi officials in Baghdad including Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi, Dempsey traveled to Irbil, capital of the Kurdistan semi-autonomous region in the north. US troops will also train Kurdish forces.
Posted by: Steve White || 11/16/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [10 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "Dempsey repeatedly made the point that military force could not root out ISIS unless Iraq's government manages to work across the Sunni-Shia divide."

So, when, exactly, has this ever worked out well for the U.S?
Posted by: Whurong Flomosh7989 || 11/16/2014 0:14 Comments || Top||

#2  "Dempsey repeatedly made the point that military force could not root out ISIS unless Iraq's government manages to work across the Sunni-Shia divide."

So righting social wrongs and picking political winners and losers is more important that stopping murderous Islamic jihadists ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 11/16/2014 0:42 Comments || Top||

#3  "Starting to turn" is an interesting choice of phrase.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 11/16/2014 4:50 Comments || Top||

#4  It means power is develing too a different group of lunatics.
Posted by: Shipman || 11/16/2014 12:53 Comments || Top||

#5  "Starting to turn" is Pentagon-speak for "they got Warsaw, but we stopped the bastards at Stalingrad."
Posted by: Pappy || 11/16/2014 18:09 Comments || Top||

#6  "So righting social wrongs and picking political winners and losers is more important that stopping murderous Islamic jihadists?"

To this Administration, yes, Mr. B.

But you knew that.
Posted by: Barbara || 11/16/2014 21:19 Comments || Top||

#7  See also BIGNEWSNETWORK > [Reuters] IRAQ WILL NEED [minima?]80,000 GOOD TROOPS TO RETAKE LOST TERRITORY: US GENERAL [US JCoS Chair Dempsey].

"GOOD" = Well-trained, Well-led, Well-equipped, Reliable, + whom are Dedicated or Believe in their Cause.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 11/16/2014 22:16 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
For Now, The PA Is Working With Israel, Not Hamas
[IsraelTimes] RAMALLAH -- On Wednesday, a day after a rally was held to mark ten years since the death of Yasser Arafat, all was calm at the Muqata compound here.

There was no sign of the multitudes who had gathered a day earlier to pay tribute to the man who was the leader of the Paleostinian people for nearly 40 years -- a man viewed by Israelis, until the day of his death, as one of the most ruthless Death Eaters in history. The only remnant of the event was a huge banner across the entrance to the compound, showing an image of "the old man," Abu Ammar, alongside the heir the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas
... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial...
, with the caption "Lift your heads, for you are Paleostinians" inscribed above their heads.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/16/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under: Palestinian Authority

#1  The PA Is Working With Israel

Wanna buy the Brooklyn Bridge, cheap?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 11/16/2014 8:31 Comments || Top||

#2  It was nice of them to clarify it with "for now."
Posted by: Pappy || 11/16/2014 18:10 Comments || Top||


Hamas Second-Richest Terror Group In World, Forbes Says
[IsraelTimes] Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, is the second richest terror group in the world, with finances of around $1 billion, according to a report published by Forbes Israel this week listing the top 10 wealthiest terror groups.

The Paleostinian Islamist organization, which rules the Gazoo Strip and collects taxes and aid money, is second only to the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
, which has some $2 billion dollars at its disposal.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/16/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under: Hamas

#1  Oh, for crying out loud, is it really necessary to now have statistics against which these Bozo's complete one against the other?

I guess General Smedley Butler was correct - in spades.
Posted by: Whurong Flomosh7989 || 11/16/2014 0:33 Comments || Top||

#2  Interesting, there is no mention of the MB in the IS Forbes listing.... or is it interesting ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 11/16/2014 1:18 Comments || Top||

#3  One wonders if the "Gaza donors" are aware of these facts. OK, OK, just kidding.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 11/16/2014 4:48 Comments || Top||

#4  There's a lot of money to be made by stripping all the wealth from an area, and not paying any of the bills for upkeep.
It's the Mongol Golden Horde business plan.
Posted by: ed in texas || 11/16/2014 9:20 Comments || Top||

#5  Yep but the Golden Horde kept moving, the paleos have yet to tame the motorcycle.
Posted by: Shipman || 11/16/2014 14:16 Comments || Top||

#6  Didn'y they rob #400 million from their central bank?
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 11/16/2014 16:04 Comments || Top||


Science & Technology
US Navy deploys 1st Laser weapon in Persian Gulf
Posted by: Frozen Al || 11/16/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I hope we'll get prompt reports of use.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 11/16/2014 4:51 Comments || Top||

#2  "How does it operate in that environment -- heat, humidity, dust and at sea,"
That was my question. Not to mention explosive vapor.
Posted by: ed in texas || 11/16/2014 9:17 Comments || Top||

#3  Ed in Texas, my guess is the laser itself is below decks in a climate controlled area. The beam travels up a beam tube to the 'turret'. So the only real operating environment problem is the end of the barrel which is probably covered most of the time.

Where I work that is how we separate the lasers from the clean-room. I'm guessing the NAVY does the same thing but backwards (insert joke here).
Posted by: rjschwarz || 11/16/2014 13:53 Comments || Top||

#4  Same as quality optics, gotta keep them clean and dry as possible and minimizpev scratches.
Posted by: Shipman || 11/16/2014 14:18 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Report: Iran Opens Gold Plant To Fight Nuclear Sanctions
[Ynet] As part of Iran's 'economy of resistance' to counter sanctions imposed over Tehran's contested nuclear program, gold production to double.

Iranian state television
... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
is reporting that the country has inaugurated a new gold-processing plant that will double the country's annual production to 6 tons.

The report says First Vice President Ishaq Jahangiri attended the inauguration Saturday of the plant near Takab in northwestern Iran.

It says the new processing facility, built next to Iran's Zarshouran gold mine, also will produce an estimated 2.5 tons of silver and 1 ton of mercury a year. State television says Iran previously produced an estimated 3 tons of gold a year.

This is part of Iran's "economy of resistance" to counter sanctions imposed over Tehran's contested nuclear program. The Islamic Theocratic Republic is currently negotiating a final deal over its atomic program with world powers.

Tough sanctions put in place in 2012 have reduced Iran's oil exports by more than half from around 2.5 million barrels per day (bpd).

Iran's biggest oil clients - China, India, Japan and South Korea - imported 6.6 percent less in September than a year ago, the first

on-year decline since December, but shipments rose back above the 1 million bpd mark allowed under the interim deal that eased Western sanctions.

Iran and the United States, China, La Belle France, Germany, Britannia and Russia agreed in July to extend the initial six-month interim accord to Nov. 24 after they failed to agree a final resolution to their dispute before the deadline.

Tehran would have to curb its nuclear work to ensure it cannot be applied to weapons in exchange for removal of the sanctions that have hobbled its oil-based economy by cutting off the flow of payments for its crude exports.
Desperation? Their timing is not auspicious:
Industry Body: Global Gold Demand Eases

[AnNahar] Gold consumption fell slightly in the third quarter as sliding jewelry demand in China offset strong growth in India, sector data showed on Thursday.

Overall demand dropped by 2.0 percent in the three months ending September 30 to 929.3 tonnes compared with the third quarter in 2013, the World Gold Council said.

"This quarter the market continued to find its feet after an exceptional 2013, with China catching its breath and buying in the build-up to Diwali driving Indian jewelry purchases," said Marcus Grubb, managing director of investment strategy at the World Gold Council.
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/16/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  Pretty sure their extraction costs will be fairly low, with so many people available for "volunteer" work and all.
Posted by: Whurong Flomosh7989 || 11/16/2014 0:11 Comments || Top||

#2  also will produce an estimated 2.5 tons of silver and 1 ton of mercury a year.

Ummm, I recall Mercury is USED not produced Refining Gold, salt required here.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 11/16/2014 3:46 Comments || Top||

#3  Maybe they can help IS with their coining operation. Such good buds and all that.
Posted by: ed in texas || 11/16/2014 9:26 Comments || Top||

#4  In that vein RJ I suggest they open 20 and Commence the Everyman a Khan Plan.
Posted by: Shipman || 11/16/2014 14:24 Comments || Top||


5 Charged in Bloody Army Ambush in North
[AnNahar] Military Prosecutor Judge Saqr Saqr issued on Friday charges against five suspected bully boyz for killing a soldier in an ambush in northern Leb, the state-run National News Agency reported.

NNA said Saqr charged the five detainees with belonging to an gang for the purpose of carrying out terrorist activities.

The suspects were also charged with opening fire on the army during an ambush in the Akkar town of al-Mhammara.

One soldier was killed and several others were maimed in the attack, NNA said.

It added that Saqr referred the file to First Military Examining Magistrate Judge Riyad Abu Ghida.

Leb has witnessed a rise in terrorist activities in recent months.

The real threat of snuffies rose in August when jihadists from neighboring Syria briefly seized control of the northeastern border town of Arsal before withdrawing with several soldiers and coppers as hostages.

The army has clashed with snuffies in the area and in several towns in northern Leb, including al-Mhammara, several times since then.
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/16/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:


Report: Turkey, U.S. Agree Plan to Train 2,000 Moderate Syrian Rebels
Insanity.
[AnNahar] Turkey and the United States have agreed a plan under which some 2,000 fighters from the moderate Syrian opposition would be trained on Turkish soil, a report said Saturday.

The fighters from the Free Syrian Army
... the more palatable version of the Syrian insurgency, heavily influenced by the Moslem Brüderbund...
(FSA) will be trained at the Kirsehir base some 150 kilometers (90 miles) south of the capital Ankara by both Turkish and U.S. personnel starting from late December, Hurriet Daily News reported, quoting unnamed officials.

The United States will provide weapons for the fighters and is also expected to pay for the training, the English-language daily said.

The agreement was reached after a third round of talks between Turkish and US military officials in Ankara, the daily said.

The officials did not, however, reach an agreement on the training of Syrian Kurd fighters from the Democratic Union Party (PYD), who are leading the battle against Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
jihadists for the key border town of Kobane, the paper said.

The United States is due to train these fighters in Iraq's Kurdish region, it said.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him...
has insisted that the PYD fighters are part of a "terror group" allied to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) who have fought Turkish security forces in a three-decade insurgency for Kurdish self-rule.
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/16/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [11 views] Top|| File under:

#1  some 2,000 fighters from the moderate Syrian opposition would be trained on Turkish soil

Their moderation to be certified by Turkey?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 11/16/2014 4:40 Comments || Top||

#2  Shakes head and walks away...
Posted by: 3dc || 11/16/2014 7:54 Comments || Top||

#3  We can shake our collective heads and walk away, but as tax payers, we'll still have to pay.
Posted by: Besoeker || 11/16/2014 7:55 Comments || Top||

#4  Fools errand. We (our government) never learns.
Posted by: Woodrow Stalin1308 || 11/16/2014 7:58 Comments || Top||

#5  Isn't that an old trick of colonizers? Get the locals to kill each other off then move in.
Posted by: BrerRabbit || 11/16/2014 10:24 Comments || Top||

#6  Here's an idea for the US: Arm a group that's proven to be pro-western and friendly to the US, has some combat experience, knows how to do PR (more important in that you might think in that region... strong horse), and is willing to fight, not just soak up aid money.

Arm the Kurds. With something more than small arms.
Posted by: OldSpook || 11/16/2014 10:54 Comments || Top||

#7  Would this be the moderate Al-Nusra, who recently announced its re-engagement with ISJV?
Posted by: swksvolFF || 11/16/2014 10:58 Comments || Top||

#8  Sure he'll why not, give a few dislike-a-nukes too. In for a penny in for a kiloton I sez.
Posted by: Shipman || 11/16/2014 14:27 Comments || Top||

#9  What's the over-under on Erdogan proclaiming himself the Sultan or Caliph as ISIS gets blowed up?

I figure 6 months.
Posted by: AlanC || 11/16/2014 16:35 Comments || Top||

#10  If the US State Dept were not asleep at the switch, they'd have realized Erdogan was a problem more than 10 years ago, and started contingencies and countering him.

Kinda like the whole mess in the Ukraine - going back to the Orange revolution and the rot that set in with the counterrevolution and Putin's meddling, that led to the overthrow of the oligarchs and Putin's invasion in all but name.
Posted by: OldSpook || 11/16/2014 17:25 Comments || Top||

#11  They worry the corrupt Erdogan would then turn to Russia and work for the Bond super villian with NATO SECRETS.
Posted by: newc || 11/16/2014 22:12 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
National Cathedral's Taqiyya in Regards to The Muslim Prayer Event
[Breitbart] 100 years ago today, on November 14, 1914, the last “Caliph” of the Islamic world declared a holy war on all non believers. Just a few months later, a jihadist genocide of Christians occurred on a massive scale, resulting in the deaths of millions.

On the 100th anniversary of the religiously-motivated genocide of Christians, several Islamic groups, all of which have alleged connections to the Muslim Brotherhood, hosted the first Muslim prayers ever at Washington, D.C.’s National Cathedral.

As Breitbart’s Dr. Sebastian Gorka reported earlier, two of the Islamic groups who organized the event--CAIR and ISNA--were documented by U.S. federal officials as unindicted co-conspirators in the largest terrorism financing trial in United States history. Additionally, evidence exists that each of the five Islamic groups who helped organize the event have deep connections to the Muslim Brotherhood. The goal of the Muslim Brotherhood, according to federal prosecution documents, is to wage a “grand jihad [holy war] in eliminating and destroying Western civilization from within...”
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Ebbomosh Hupemp2664 || 11/16/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:

#1 
Posted by: 3dc || 11/16/2014 8:00 Comments || Top||

#2  “Everyone’s hands are dirty at some point… There’s no one in the world who has absolutely clean hands,” Hall alleged."


Let me know the dates and locations a radical extremist Christian group killed 3000 innocent Muslims.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 11/16/2014 9:59 Comments || Top||

#3  So when is he inviting the Satanist in for a Black Mass?
Posted by: 3dc || 11/16/2014 10:00 Comments || Top||

#4 
Posted by: 3dc || 11/16/2014 10:03 Comments || Top||

#5  When someone uses beep-speak like "faith community" and "faith leader", it makes it clear they really aren't practicing a religion.
Posted by: Rob Crawford || 11/16/2014 10:22 Comments || Top||

#6  Agree Rob, it is pantomime
Posted by: swksvolFF || 11/16/2014 11:15 Comments || Top||

#7  Only bringing in a box of mocasins or kittehs makes it real. Put your guns and preconceptions down, we only handle them and luv up,on them a bit before all cleansing crossfire feast.
Posted by: Shipman || 11/16/2014 12:51 Comments || Top||

#8  I am tempted to ask my (Catholic) pastor if we should do this in our parish, since the Episcopalians did it. He is really into ecumenism, and that ALL faiths should be one.

My worry is that if he doesn't realize that I am being sarcastic, he just might go ahead and do it.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia || 11/16/2014 13:43 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
42[untagged]
4Govt of Pakistan
4Islamic State
2TTP
2Govt of Iraq
2Lashkar-e-Islam
1Abu Sayyaf
1Hamas
1Jamaat-e-Ulema Islami
1Palestinian Authority
1Taliban
1al-Qaeda
1al-Nusra
1al-Qaeda in Pakistan
1Govt of Iran

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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.
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In no particular order...
Steve White
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Two weeks of WOT
Sun 2014-11-16
  Islamic State claims it has beheaded US hostage Kassig
Sat 2014-11-15
  Over 35 wounded in Druze vs. Muslim Arabs clashes in northern Israel
Fri 2014-11-14
  IS, Al Qaeda affiliate reportedly unite to fight US-backed rebels in Syria
Thu 2014-11-13
  At Least 33 Dead In Yemeni Clashes, US Drone Kills 7
Wed 2014-11-12
  Syria Kurds 'Recapture' Areas of Kobane from IS
Tue 2014-11-11
  US Drone in Northwest Pakistan Kills 6 Militants
Mon 2014-11-10
  Key ISIS recruiter killed by Iraqi forces near Baiji, Iraq
Sun 2014-11-09
  Fate of 'critically wounded' ISIS chief unclear
Sat 2014-11-08
  Myanmar to Muslims: Get Out
Fri 2014-11-07
  22 ISIL terrorists killed in Beji
Thu 2014-11-06
  Syria Army Retakes Gas Fields from Jihadists
Wed 2014-11-05
  'Drone' Strikes kill 20 Qaida Suspects in Yemen
Tue 2014-11-04
  Bangladesh court upholds top Islamist's death sentence
Mon 2014-11-03
  Air strikes on LI bases leave 13 dead
Sun 2014-11-02
  ISIL fighters send distress calls in Salah-il-Din


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