[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The commander of the NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions... -led Resolute Support (RS) mission in Afghanistan has sent five different recommendations to the Pentagon and to North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) officials in Brussels regarding the withdrawal of the US and NATO forces from Afghanistan.
The recommendations by Gen. John F. Campbell comes amid deteriorating security situation as the Afghan national security forces are going through the brutal fighting season with the rise of 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.... Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group and the resurgent Taliban.
According to the Wall Street Journal quoting sources privy of the development, Gen. Campbell's recommendations include keeping the current U.S. presence at or near 10,000; reducing it slightly to 8,000; cutting the force roughly in half; and continuing with current plans to draw down to a force of several hundred troops by the end of 2016.
The recommendations by Gen. Campbell comes as the officials believe that a resurgent Taliban or expanding Islamic State could pose a serious threat to the survival of the Afghan government.
The officials also believe that a smaller force of several thousand Americans still could be effective at backing the Afghan government.
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09/26/2015 00:00 ||
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[Tolo News] Majority of the areas that have pistachio fields in western Badghis province are under the control of Taliban that managed to forcibly collect nearly 30,000 tons of pistachio, said provincial officials.
"Pistachio production in Badghis is estimated at 30,000 tons annually," Badghis agriculture director Hafizullah Benish told TOLOnews.
This year, the Taliban has earned $40 to $50 million USD from pistachio fields, he added.
In addition, the provincial council members also acknowledged the above statements and said the Taliban Lions of Islam purchase arms and explosives from pistachio money.
"The Lions of Islam get benefits from the areas they control. They meet their financial needs through pistachio earnings," said Baha-uddin Qadesi, head of Badghis Provincial Council.
Furthermore, the local officials claimed that the murderous Moslems also destroy pistachio forests while battling the security forces.
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09/26/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
Dawg forbid they take over the dental floss plantations.
[Libya Herald] The Mujahideen Shoura Council in Derna yesterday allowed families to visit IS prisoners for Eid. It is also reported that they gave the more than 200 men being held in the former police academy at the west entrance to the town a number of sheep to sacrifice for the festival.
Meanwhile, ...back at the Council of Boskone, Helmuth had turned a paler shade of blue. Star-A-Star had struck again... however, IS forces have been losing ground in the Fataieh area southeast of the town following a military deal last week between the mujahideen and three brigades that are part of the Libyan National Army (LNA). In the past two days, the mujahideen say they have taken Al-Sretti hill overlooking Fataieh and that IS have been forced to quit the "Workshops Street" in the area.
The three units are Brigade 71 coastguard unit under the command of Major Muftah Omar Hamza, the Ali Hassan Al-Jabar Brigade under the command of Colonel Mohammed Bughafir, and forces from Bomba Gulf air and naval base between Derna and Tobruk.
Despite denials by both the LNA and the mujahideen of any collaboration in the fight against IS, there has been persistent reports of covert cooperation, with LNA aircraft bombing IS positions in Fataieh. The Arclight airstrikes are now said to have lessened although last night a drone was reported to have crashed in an area of Fataieh still controlled by IS. It is believed to have been the result of an accident rather than being shot down. It is not known to whom the unmanned aircraft belonged.
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09/26/2015 00:00 ||
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[AnNahar] A second French jihadist, Salim Benghalem, has been named as a possible jailer of Western hostages in Syria, a source close to the case told AFP on Friday.
Good to know, but who is going to do what about him?
Benghalem was named along with Mehdi Nemmouche, who carried out a fatal attack on the Jewish Museum in Brussels last year, as suspected jailers for 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.... group (IS).
They are thought to be among the captors who held several Western journalists and NGO workers who were later executed, as well as four French news hounds who were freed in April 2014 after 10 months in captivity.
A report in Le Monde newspaper on Friday cited a French intelligence source saying Benghalem was "currently part of the Islamic police of IS and participated in executions and corporal punishments".
One of the French journalists who was released, Nicolas Henin, spoke last year of being mistreated by Nemmouche during his detention, but Benghalem was never named.
Benghalem, 35, is listed as a "foreign terrorist combatant" by the United States, and is known to French intelligence services for his "active participation in combat" in Syria, according to the security source.
He came to the attention of French authorities for his involvement in the Buttes-Chaumont network of would-be jihadists in Gay Paree that included Said and Cherif Kouachi, who carried out the attack on Charlie Hebdo ...A lefty French satirical magazine, home of what may well be the majority if the active testicles left in Europe... magazine in January.
Benghalem was imprisoned in 2007 for his part in gang violence, and was released in 2010, after which he is thought to have traveled to Yemen, a security source said.
Nemmouche is awaiting trial in Belgium for the attack on the Jewish Museum which left four dead.
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09/26/2015 00:00 ||
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[Hurriyet Daily News] The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... 's Kurdish problem cannot be solved solely by military means, but with consensus and "brotherhood," Republican People's Party (CHP) head Kemal Kilicdaroglu has said.
Speaking at a party meeting during his election campaign trip in Europe on Sept. 25, Kilicdaroglu said the issue could not currently be resolved because politicians have "endorsed the case to the military."
"The problem can only be solved with public consensus, solidarity, and brotherhood," the CHP leader added.
Kilicdaroglu recalled his party's road map presented to the government on the Kurdish issue after he assumed his post as the main opposition party leader in 2010, but the reply was that the government alone would bring about a solution.
The CHP leader claimed that the Justice and the Development Party (AKP) is an obstacle to finding a solution to the problem.
After the June 7 election, the AKP aimed to go an early snap election "just out of ambitions to be the single-party government. It was then that the terrorist acts started," Kilicdaroglu said, also remarking on how the AKP has repeatedly suggested that trouble has resumed because it was unable to form a strong single-party government.
"They tell citizens 'vote for me otherwise you will have to deal with this kind of trouble,'" the CHP leader said, calling on voters to reject this AKP imposition.
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09/26/2015 00:00 ||
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[Hurriyet Daily News] Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli has criticized President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him... over his recent remarks which displayed a policy shift to The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... endorsing Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Despoiler of Deraa... taking a role in the transition process of the war-torn country.
Referring to the pro-government pronunciation of al-Assad's name as "Esed" since the civil war erupted in Syria in 2011, Bahceli said, "From Assad to Esed, now a turn from Esed to Assad. We'll follow."
Speaking at his party's Eid greetings on Sept. 25 Bahceli accused Erdogan of endorsing the United States' stance on the Syrian issue.
Bahceli also accused the Justice and Development Party (AKP) of leaving some districts of southeastern Turkey in the hands of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) "on the excuse of elections," scheduled for Nov. 1.
He condemned the southeastern Cizre district election board member's decision to transfer ballot boxes to other places due to security concerns and accused the judge who made the ruling of "serving" the AKP.
"Ballot boxes should be opened in every corner of Turkey's lands and the elections should be held over extraordinary measures," he added.
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09/26/2015 00:00 ||
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The nationals are not covering the whole story of the little wanna be terrorist at the Irving, Texas school. First he didn't make the "clock", he dismantled a commercial clock, then put it in a metal case that looked suspicious enough to alarm folks. He showed it to his science/engineering teacher who told him put it away while at school. The kid flashed it around until a non science type teacher saw it and was alarmed. Texas does have a hoax bomb statute that covers this. His sister was waiting in the wings to photo the poor little guy in handcuffs and sent the photo out before the investigation was complete. Remember the Protestant pastor in Florida that burned the koran/
The little bomber' s dad was one of the muslims that convicted the pastor in the mock trial. The dad is also neck deep in the efforts to get sharia law instituted in Irving and other cities to replace state and local adjudication of criminal and civil cases that involve muslims. He wants to be a media darling.
The Dallas area newsies are digging deep on this with the help of Glenn Beck. And once again jughead makes a public decision without all the facts.
[DAWN] In the second half of 2013, when the PML-N had just taken over, Pakistain's economic ills and mis-governance were blamed on the previous PPP government.
A year later, in 2014, the Imran Khan ... aka Taliban Khan, who who convinced himself that playing cricket qualified him to lead a nuclear-armed nation with severe personality problems... -led Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf ...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations.... (PTI) was declared the villain for holding a long dharna and destablising the country. Senior PML-N leaders didn't miss a single occasion to accuse the PTI chairman of scaring away much-needed international investment. In particular, the postponement of the long-awaited visit of the Chinese president to Pakistain was blamed on PTI.
We are now in the second half of 2015, within touching distance of the halfway mark of the five year term. However, it was a brave man who first ate an oyster... this time around Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... cannot shift responsibility on to anyone else. The PPP rule is now firmly part of the past and a tamed PTI may still be whipping up a storm in its pressers, but it is no longer in a position to threaten a dharna or demand the prime minister's resignation.
In other words, whatever the government has delivered or failed to deliver, in 2015 or later, will be PML-N's responsibility alone.
Because of this, the PML-N has already begun to feel the heat.
For some months now, the government's mistakes and mis-governance have been doing the rounds. From the opposition parties to the media, the PML-N is everyone's favourite target.
Be it Nandipur; the LNG pricing issue or the absence of a full-time foreign minister, the PML-N is being battered.
Undoubtedly, the power sector is the most-discussed issue. After all, the PML-N had used the loadshedding card to win the election. But two and a half years later, the government has failed to introduce urgently-needed reforms in the power sector. Despite a small army of advisers and energy experts, the line losses of the ten electricity distribution companies have jumped from Rs30 billion to Rs50 billion in the last two years.
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09/26/2015 00:00 ||
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[MAANNEWS] Iraq's Yazidi minority -- the target of brutal attacks from 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.... group -- urged the International Criminal Court ... where Milosevich died of old age before being convicted ... Thursday to launch probes into the Death Eaters for genocide and sexual slavery.
Two Yazidi groups handed over documents to the court which show "that ISIS has systematically committed atrocities amounting to genocide and that these crimes fall within the jurisdiction of the ICC," said Murad Ismael from the Yazda group.
Chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda earlier this year said IS has committed crimes of "unspeakable cruelty" including mass executions, rape and torture.
But she said she could not investigate as neither Iraq nor Syria are signatories to the court and her "jurisdictional basis... is too narrow."
The new report however specifically names some 20 imported muscle from countries who have signed the ICC's founding Rome Statute.
A Kurdish-speaking minority mostly based around Sinjar mountain in northern Iraq, the Yazidis are neither Arabs nor Moslems and have a unique faith which Islamic State Death Eaters consider to be heretical and polytheistic.
In August 2014, the jihadists made an unexpected push into areas of northern Iraq that had been under Kurdish control and were home to many of the country's minorities.
The worst-hit were the Yazidis, who were massacred and kidnapped in large numbers when IS entered the Sinjar area.
Tens of thousands scrambled up Mount Sinjar in a panic and remained stranded there for days with no food nor water.
'Despicable crimes'
"It is abhorrent that such despicable crimes should be inflicted upon innocent civilians anywhere on Earth," said Ismael in a statement.
"The Yazidi community has been shattered by the sick crimes of ISIS Lions of Islam who sought to annihilate the Yazidis on the basis of their religious distinctiveness," he added, using another name for IS.
According to figures from the Kurdish autonomous region, 1,280 Yazidis were killed in the IS offensive. Hundreds are still missing.
More than 5,800 were also kidnapped by IS, and although some 2,000 managed to escape, "more than 3,000 innocent women and kiddies remain captive... subject to systematic rape on a daily basis," said Ismael.
Eighty percent of the Yazidi population is now displaced and living in camps, he added.
"ISIL sought to annihilate the religious identity, traditions and the very existence of the Yazidis," Yazda and the Free Yazidi Foundation said in their report to the ICC.
Ismael, who traveled from Houston, Texas to present the report to the court in The Hague, told AFP he was "confident that once the court reads through the details" it will decide it has jurisdiction over the case.
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09/26/2015 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] The Secretary General of the United Nations ...boodling on the grand scale... , the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon, on Friday encouraged the leaders of Pakistain and India to meet and resolve their outstanding issues through dialogue, according a report on Radio Pakistain.
This was stated by UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric while responding to a question at a UN briefing.
He added that UN's General Assembly session has always provided an occasion for leaders to talk to each other and sort the issues facing their countries.
Last week, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... departed for the United States (US) to attend the 70th Session of United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
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09/26/2015 00:00 ||
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Reason we are grateful the Pope has no divisions #9143666:
[AnNahar] Pope Francis on Friday threw his support behind Iran's accord with major powers as he backed a goal of global abolition of nuclear weapons.
The Iran agreement "is proof of the potential of political goodwill, exercised with sincerity, patience and constancy," Francis said in an address to the United Nations ...a formerly good idea gone bad... .
"I express my hope that this agreement will be lasting and efficacious, and bring forth the desired fruits with the cooperation of all the parties involved," he said.
Francis made his remarks a day after a friendly welcome at the U.S. Congress, where many Republican politicians have vehemently criticized President Barack Obama That’s just how white folks will do you.... for negotiating with Iran, an enemy of the United States and Israel since its 1979 Islamic revolution.
In his U.N. address, Francis also appealed anew for the protection of Christians and other people persecuted by bandidossnuffies in Syria and Iraq.
#1
The Pope is ding-ding. He is ( it appears ) to be a EUroweenie essentially with a poor grasp on the dreamy idea that Human Nature is a hopeful prospect.
The Pope should know better. He doesn't.
You can never shoot too low when it comes to basic Human Nature. Human Nature smells like shit and walks funny most of the time.
#2
"I express my hope that this agreement will be lasting and efficacious, and bring forth the desired fruits with the cooperation of all the parties involved," he said.
Well, he's right about the "desired fruits of all parties" part; Iran wants a nuclear capability and we are facilitating it.
I suspect they've already got a bomb or two and what we see from Washington is simply resignation.
#3
he's right about the "desired fruits of all parties" part
Second harvest for that politicized CIA country report saying Iran had given up pursuit of nuclear weapons after the Iraq invasion, deliberately binding President George W. Bush's hands. I hope all who agreed to that decision will be around to see the result of their labours.
This morning I happened to read the short story "Diasporah: A Prologue" by W.R.Yates in _There Will Be War_ vol. 1, which addresses the pope's fond hopes.
[AlAhram] Israel practices administrative detention, where detainees have no official charges or trial and can be held indefinitely
3200 Paleostinians have been detained by the Israeli authorities since the beginning of the year, the Paleostinian Prisoners' Center for Studies (PPCS) said on Wednesday in a press statement.
PPCS asserted that administrative detention has become a strategy consistently employed by the Israeli authorities. While arrests have been made across all Paleostinian areas including the West Bank and the Gazoo Strip, around a third of the detainees were incarcerated Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit! in Jerusalem.
Israel's administrative detention policy allows for detainees to be held without charge for six-month intervals, which can be renewed indefinitely.
Administrative detention is detention without charge or trial authorized by administrative order rather than by judicial decree.
There are some 539 children, 180 women and 220 disabled people among the detainees. The statement also noted that around 400 detainees were rearrested after their release.
Paleostinian prisoner Mohammed Allan, a hunger striker, was rearrested on 16 September after his administrative detention order was suspended in August due to his medical condition deteriorating.
Israel has defended its administrative detention policy saying it is a necessary tool for preventing attacks and protecting intelligence.
Israeli authorities this year have, according to PPCS, extensively relied on putting Paleostinian citizens into administrative detention. Israeli courts have issued around 765 such orders in 2015, varying from first-time administrative detention to the long-term renewal of detention for some.
In recent years Israel has held thousands of Paleostinians in administrative detention, for periods ranging from several months to several years, according to B'Tselem, a prominent Israeli center for human rights One man's rights are another man's existential threat. . The measure is rarely applied against Israelis.
Israel's use of administrative detention blatantly violates international law, B'Tselem have said on their website.
PPC, based in the West Bank, is a group made up of researchers and specialists in the issue of Paleostinian and Arab prisoners inside Israeli prisons.
[Iran Press TV] Amnesia Amnesty International has censured the recent killing of a young Paleostinian woman by the Tel Aviv regime's troops in the occupied West Bank, and described it as an illegal execution.
In a detailed public statement released on Friday, the rights group called the shooting death of the 18-year-old Hadil Salah Hashlamoun an "extrajudicial execution," a prohibited act that constitutes crimes under international law.
The incident occurred on Tuesday morning at a checkpoint in al-Khalil (Hebron). A video published by PalMedia shows Israeli forces and settlers standing around, smiling and laughing in some cases, while the young woman bleeds to death.
Israeli regime accuses the victim of having a knife and posing a threat to the soldiers guarding the checkpoint, but the four-page statement -- based on interviews with two eyewitnesses -- refuted the claim.
"This account of events is contradicted by statements made by the two eyewitnesses interviewed by Amnesia Amnesty International and photographs of the incident show Hashlamoun standing still," adding that "even if Hashlamoun did have a knife, Israeli soldiers, who are protected with body armor and heavily equipped with advanced weapons, could have controlled the situation and incarcerated Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un! her without threatening her life".
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
"Certain types of loudmouthism should be a capital offense among decent people".
As I understand it, no, anon1. Female martyrs get to be the most beautiful girl of her husband's harem, assuming he gets one, and to bring up some family members.
So having a female relative martyred is at least as good an insurance policy for the family as having one trained up as a nurse or doctor.
[Inquirer] The Philippine military is looking into reports that the gunmen who kidnapped three Westerners and a Filipino woman on Monday night are from Sulu province. Around 800 policemen and elite troops, backed by the navy and the coast guard, are advancing their search for the gunmen, who may have taken their victims to Sulu.
Eastern Mindanao Command chief Lt. Gen. Aurelio Baladad said, "It might be possible that the primary suspect is the Abu Sayyaf group but I would not immediately conclude that it is they … It’s possible that it’s a group not the Abu Sayyaf but wanting to make money."
He did not provide details of ongoing rescue operations for Canadians John Ridsdel and Robert Hall, Norwegian Kjartan Sekkingstad and Filipino Maritess Flor, whom the gunmen snatched from a resort on Samal Island on Monday night.
The leader of the kidnappers could be Abu Sayyaf subcommander Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan, according to sources from the military intelligence service. The sources said Sawadjaan commands a group of militants who are orphans of slain commanders and fighters of the terrorist group.
Another source said the Patikul group of the Abu Sayyaf worked with the Sibuco group of the terrorist organization, which cased the resort on Samal Island. The source said, "Last month, people arrived in Davao and went to Samal, posing as fishermen."
The source said those people were from Sibugay and their leader was known as Commander Waning, who operated in Zamboanga and Davao.
Superintendent Antonio Rivera, from the Southern Mindanao Police Office, said an Army battalion and a company of rangers were pursuing the abductors in the mountains of Davao Oriental province.
He said that the authorities still had no definite information about the identities of the kidnappers. As of Thursday, Rivera said, the police and the military were still looking into the possibility that the kidnappers were either the New People's Army, or the Abu Sayyaf, or a militant group called the Bangsamoro Army.
The Bangsamoro Army is a splinter group of the Moro National Liberation Front.
One military officer, who asked not to be identified for lack of authority to speak about the matter, said operations were focused on Davao del Sur and Sarangani provinces. He said, "It's not in Davao Oriental or Compostela Valley."
[Aviationist] Satellite imagery released in the last couple of days has exposed the presence of 28 Russian aircraft at al-Assad airfield, near Latakia, in western Syria.
The photographs taken from space gave us the possibility to identify the combat planes as 4x Su-30SMs, 12x Su-25s (based on their color scheme, these are Su-25SMs belonging to the 368th Assault Aviation Regiment from Budyonnovsk) and 12 Su-24M2s along with about a dozen helicopters, including 10 Mi-24PN, Mi-35M and a couple of Mi-8AMTSh choppers, from the 387th Army Aviation Air Base Budyonnovsk.
One of our sources with IMINT Imagery Intel experience, who has had access to the imagery in the public domain, noticed something interesting on one of the Su-30SM: the first on the left (the one closer to the runway threshold) should be equipped with a KNIRTI SPS-171 / L005S Sorbtsiya-S mid/high band defensive jammer (ECM) at the wing tips. To be honest this is almost impossible to verify unless more high-resolution images become available.
Whilst satellite shots provided much details about the deployed assets, they obviously didn't help answer the basic question: how did they manage to reach Syria undetected?
According to one source close who wishes to remain anonymous, the Russian combat planes have probably deployed to Latakia trailing the cargo planes that were tracked flying to Syria and back on Flightradar24.com, something that other analysts have also suggested.
[IsraelTimes] Advanced T-90 tanks, multiple-rocket 'Smerch' type launchers, and even drones copied from Israeli designs among munitions provided to Assad
Russian President Vladimir Putin ...Second and fourth President and sixth of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead... is pushing for a new strategy on Syria and pledges continuing military support for Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Continued on Page 49
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09/26/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
See also WAFF > [Fox News] RUSSIA AND IRAN SETTING UP MOBILE COORDINATION CELL [Joint Base?] IN BAGHDAD [wid Assad's Boyz].
VERSUS
* SAME > [Twitter] TURKEY'S LEOPARD TANKS MOVING TO SYRIAN BORDER.
See below as to possible reason(s)???
* RELATED WAFF > [Newsweek] TURKEY PROPOSES SYRIA "SAFE ZONE" IN RETURN FOR COOPERATION WITH EU ON REFUGEE CRISIS.
* TOPIX > [Business Insider] ISIS MAKE SURE TO AVOID ONE APOCALYPTIC PROPHECY ABOUT ANTICHRIST.
#6
Overall, "looking at what the Russians have deployed, it's a comparatively small force but of a mixed nature, which has the capacity to provide offensive support to the Syrian military," said Barrie of the IISS.
There's no offensive capability for Russian marines deployed to Syria. When they were used in the 2008 war in Georgia, they never engaged in active offensive operations, and a fair number of them were deployed by rail.
The last time Russian marines were used in offensive operations was the breakout operations from Leningrad in 1944. And those forces were used in the context of a larger Red Army operation.
I can't say it enough. Russian marines are there to satisfy a fleet mission only. If they are used in offensive operations it will be in conjunction with other more offensively capable ground forces. They won't be able to operate much farther than about 10 miles before supplies and support become a real issue.
If we start to see Russian airborne troops deploy to Syria, then we also will start to see the possibility of a Russian offensive.
#8
All I have seen so far are BTRs, issued mainly to Russian marines and Russian regulars. When we start seeing BMDs, then we have an airborne deployment.
As for the striped undershirt. Russian naval troops sport dark blue stripes while Russian airborne are a lighter shade of blue.
[AnNahar] More than 150,000 trained and equipped fighters in pro-government groups, including Hizbullah ...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory... , have become an indispensable brace for a Syrian army beleaguered by well over four years of intractable conflict.
"There are more than 25 main militias of different sizes that fight alongside the Syrian army" and number between 150,000 and 200,000 men, a security source told Agence La Belle France Presse.
The most prominent is the National Defense Forces (NDF), established in 2012 after the army suffered a string of defeats in the provinces of Damascus, Homs and Aleppo.
Under the command of Brigadier General Hawash Mohammed, the NDF has deployed some 90,000 fighters from various sectarian backgrounds throughout Syria.
For Assef Hamdoush, a 28-year-old student-turned-NDF fighter, "there aren't enough young men to fight the rebels committing massacres in Latakia province", the coastal heartland of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Oppressor of the Syrians and the Lebs... "We didn't have a choice: fight or die," Hamdoush told AFP.
His 31-year old friend, Karim, said his reasons were more economical.
"I lost my job. I didn't have any means of surviving other than taking up arms," he said.
Militiamen receive a monthly salary of $100 to $300, compared with army conscripts who receive about $10 a month.
"This is what has pushed so many to leave the army and to join the NDF," said lawyer Alaa Ibrahim.
Young Syrian men also choose the NDF because they are deployed near their hometowns, instead of serving for months in faraway provinces in the mainstream forces.
Joining the NDF also grants them more power in their hometowns.
- Army strength halved -
"This is why the army has forbidden its soldiers to become members of these groups and has said that fighting in the militias does not exempt them from mandatory military service," Ibrahim told AFP.
Experts say Syria's army has been roughly halved from its pre-war size of 300,000 by deaths, defections and increased draft dodging.
In a recent interview, Assad highlighted the importance of "volunteer" fighters, without whom "the army would not have been able to hold on for four and a half years of such a difficult war".
Some militias are run by political parties, with the ruling Baath Party commanding some 10,000 men.
Others are organized along tribal or sectarian lines: Alawites defend their heartland along the coast, Druze fight in the southern province of Sweida and Christians battle in the northeast.
The army has also received substantial support from thousands of fighters sent by Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan and Leb -- notably Hizbullah.
"The presence of these parallel groups does not mean that the Syrian army has collapsed, but that the burden has become so heavy that it needs support forces at its side," said one high-ranking official close to Syria's Bureau of National Security.
The security source said the militias receive orders from a single "central leadership, in coordination with the Bureau of National Security which is in direct contact with the presidency".
- Key front lines -
Militias play a central role on key front lines, including at Zabadani, the last rebel stronghold along the border with Leb, as well as south of Damascus and in Latakia.
In the Shiite district of Al-Amin in central Damascus, the pictures of six young men killed in Aleppo are posted on walls.
Although most turbans were trained by the army, others have received training from Hizbullah and Iranian forces.
"The militias fight alongside the army and follow its orders, while being independent administratively, organizationally and in their training," the high-ranking official said.
"Their members are assigned to specific locations and they receive a bonus if they accept missions that are difficult or far away from home, which isn't the case for the soldiers."
Syria's military courts do not have jurisdiction over the militias, which are not subject to sanctions if they commit abuses, lawyer Ibrahim said.
The rivalry between the army and militias is palpable.
Fadi, a 24-year-old soldier who has been fighting since 2011, said: "The gangs claim to support the military, but in fact they often ruin our victories and hurt our reputation."
"We know very well that they only fight in certain areas," he said, criticizing the groups for showing off their weapons in public spaces "where there are no battles or fronts".
Posted by: trailing wife ||
09/26/2015 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah on Friday welcomed Russia's military buildup in Syria in support of common ally Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Terror of Aleppo ... , saying it was the failure of a U.S.-led campaign 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.... that had forced Moscow's hand.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said in an interview with the group's al-Manar TV that increased Russian support for Assad included highly advanced weapons systems, warplanes and helicopters.
He also confirmed that a localized ceasefire agreement had been struck in two areas of Syria, where Hezbollah is fighting alongside government forces against an array of bully boy groups including Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and al Qaeda.
Nasrallah, in a wide-ranging interview that was his first media appearance since Russia's recent military buildup hit headlines, said Washington's own campaign against ISIS had failed,
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
"... US has failed"> D *** NG IT, THATS A D *** ED LIE, AS AN ANTI-US US GLOBALIST POTUS FOR OWG-NWO, THE BAMMER IS DOING OR FAILING INTENTIONALLY!
* FYI TOPIX > [NY Daily News = Twitter] ISIS WOULD NEVER HAD HAPPENED UNDER SADDAM [Hussein], ARABS SAY.
[Iran Press TV] The Pentagon says a group of US-trained "moderate" Death Eaters in Syria has handed over arms and equipment to an al-Qaeda-linked group in the country, a report says.
How odd -- exactly as reported several days ago, but hotly denied by the selfsame Pentagon that now admits it. Still, best not to simply trust jihadi organization tweets as a primary source of information.
US Central Command said on Friday night
...the usual Friday evening data dump, when people are too busy rushing home to their families to notice...
that the items were surrendered to the al-Nusra ...formally Jabhat an-Nusrah li-Ahli sh-Sham (Support Front for the People of the Levant), also known as al-Qaeda in the Levant. They aim to establish a pan-Arab caliphate. Not the same one as the Islamic State, though .. ... Front in exchange for safe passage within the region, the News Agency that Dare Not be Named reported. It said the items amount to 25 percent of the equipment assigned to the group.
A US Central Command front man said the command is investigating the incident.
"In light of this new information, we wanted to ensure the public was informed as quickly as possible about the facts as we know them at this time," Air Force Col. Pat Ryder said.
"We are using all means at our disposal to look into what exactly happened and determine the appropriate response," he added.
Congress approved a $500 million program late last year to train and equip more than 5,000 "moderate" Death Eaters to fight in Syria.
US military officials admitted that the Pentagon program has failed.
Last week, the chief of the US military campaign in Iraq and Syria acknowledged that the Pentagon program to "train and equip" Death Eaters in Syria had yielded only "four or five" fighters.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2015 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Nusra
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.
A lefty French satirical magazine, home of what may well be the majority if the active testicles left in Europe...
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
International Criminal Court
the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon
...Second and fourth President and sixth of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead...
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
