WAR 10-03-2015-to-10-09-2015_____****THE****WINDS****of****WAR****

[Housecarl]

(183) 09-12-2015-to-09-18-2015_____****THE****WINDS****of****WAR****
http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/show...18-2015_____****THE****WINDS****of****WAR****

(184) 09-19-2015-to-09-25-2015_____****THE****WINDS****of****WAR****
http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/show...25-2015_____****THE****WINDS****of****WAR****

(185) 09-26-2015-to-10-02-2015_____****THE****WINDS****of****WAR****
http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/show...02-2015_____****THE****WINDS****of****WAR****

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For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20151003/eu--germany-25_years_together-c9cf86a271.html

Germany marks 25 years of unity, facing new challenges

Oct 3, 12:21 PM (ET)
By GEIR MOULSON

(AP) In this Oct. 3, 1990, file photo, a huge German flag waves in front of the...
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BERLIN (AP) — Germany marks a quarter-century as a reunited nation on Saturday, with two leaders from the formerly communist east heading a country that increasingly asserts itself as Europe's political heavyweight — and now faces a new challenge in a refugee influx that will demand deep reserves of resourcefulness and patience.

West and East Germany united on Oct. 3, 1990, capping a process that started less than 11 months earlier when the east's communist leadership opened the Berlin Wall under pressure from massive demonstrations. Evening out the differences between east and west has been a far slower process, and some inequalities persist even now.

On the whole, however, "things worked out well — so many people pitched in, showed verve, began to learn new jobs," Chancellor Angela Merkel, who grew up in the east and entered politics as communism fell, said in a video message ahead of the anniversary.

Joachim Gauck, Germany's president since 2012, is another easterner, former pastor and pro-democracy activist.

(AP) German President Joachim Gauck, center, his Partner Daniela Schadt, left, and...
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In a speech at this year's unification celebrations in Frankfurt, Gauck compared the integration of hundreds of thousands of newly arrived refugees to the task of reuniting East and West Germany 25 years ago.

"Like in 1990, a challenge awaits us that will keep future generations busy," he said. "But contrary from before, what did not belong together up to now, should now grow together."

Gauck's quote came in reference to a famous expression by former German Chancellor Willy Brandt who in 1989, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, said of divided Germany that "now what belongs together, will grow together."

Since reunification, some 1.5 trillion to 2 trillion euros ($1.7 trillion to $2.2 trillion dollars) have been funneled into the east to help bring the region up to speed after its outmoded industry collapsed. A steady post-1990 drain of people from east to west appears finally to have been stemmed, with more people moving east than the other way for the first time in 2013.

Even though unemployment remains higher in the east than the west — at 8.7 percent (an enviable figure for many European countries) compared with 5.6 percent — the gap has narrowed. Former Chancellor Helmut Kohl's promise to easterners that they would live in "blooming landscapes" no longer looks far-fetched.

(AP) German President Joachim Gauck delivers a speech during a ceremony marking the 25th...
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"This is true for many parts of former East Germany," said prominent German historian Heinrich August Winkler. "The beautiful countryside of the Mecklenburg lake district, and the Baltic Coast, as well as the cleanup of the polluted industrial areas in Saxony and elsewhere, a lot has happened there."

"The economic disparity between east and west is also a lot lower than it used to be," he added. "But that's no reason to be smug. The absence of large, productive companies in eastern Germany shows that a lot more could be done."

Those concerns apart, Germany has cemented its place as Europe's biggest economy and, in the past few years, has shown increasing ambition as a political and diplomatic heavyweight.

Merkel has been a leading advocate of the reforms and spending cuts demanded of countries such as Greece in exchange for aid in Europe's debt crisis. On the diplomatic front, she and her government also have played a leading part in tackling the crisis over Russia's actions in Ukraine — after years being perceived as balking at a front-row role.

Gauck last year said that Germany should make an earlier and more decisive contribution to preventing conflicts and "must also be ready to do more to guarantee the security that others have provided it with for decades."

(AP) German President Joachim Gauck, center and on screen, delivers a speech during a...
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This year, Germany has sought to take the lead — so far with little success — in persuading Europe to embrace the task of taking in refugees from Syria and elsewhere and share the burden. The flow of people to Germany, a favored destination, gathered pace last month when Merkel decided to allow in migrants who had piled up in Hungary.

Merkel is sticking to a confident message that Germany will cope as authorities struggle to keep tabs on the newcomers and house them. Officials expect at least 800,000 to arrive this year, though not all will be allowed to stay.

The job of integrating them into society and the workforce lies ahead, and Merkel says memories of reunification could help.

"The experiences of German unification give us the feeling and the confidence that we can deal successfully with the tasks that face us — however big they are," Merkel said Thursday.

"That also goes for the Herculean task that moves us at the moment and demands a national effort of us: the many, many people who are seeking shelter with us in Europe and Germany."

---

This story has been amended to show the correct spelling of Brandt's first name is Willy, not Willi.

 

[Housecarl]

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20151004/ml--jordan-son_in_islamic_state-f8cdb861f9.html

Jordanian MP says son joined IS, carried out suicide attack

Oct 4, 1:36 AM (ET)

AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — A Jordanian parliament member says his son carried out a suicide bombing in Iraq just three months after the family failed to prevent him from joining the Islamic State extremist group.

Jordan is part of an international military coalition against IS, but the group has some grassroots support in the country.

Parliamentarian Mazen Dalaeen told The Associated Press he last saw his 23-year-old son Mohammed in June in Ukraine, where he was studying medicine.

Dalaeen says his son left for Iraq via Turkey and Syria the next day, after they argued about IS.

He said Saturday he learned of Mohammed's death late last week from IS-linked websites that posted a photo of his son and said he participated in a triple suicide car bomb attack on an Iraqi army post.

 

[Housecarl]

I haven't been regularly reporting on Nigeria only because things were in a "business as usual" level. This may change things.....

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20151003/af--nigeria-boko_haram-4d5c0fa563.html

Official: Multiple bomb blasts in Nigerian capital, 15 dead

Oct 3, 12:54 PM (ET)
By TOM ODULA and JOSSY OLA

(AP) Police collect items at the site of a bomb explosion in Nyanya outskirt of Abuja,...
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LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — Several bombs in two locations of the Nigerian capital, Abuja, killed at least 15 people, the National Emergency Management Agency said Saturday.

The explosions Friday night were in Nyanya and Kuje, suburbs of Abuja, agency spokesman Sani Datti said in a statement. He said 13 people died in the blast in Kuje and two in Nyanya. At least 41 people were wounded, Datti said.

No group has claimed responsibility but the attack is similar to others by Boko Haram, Nigeria's home-grown Islamic extremist group. Boko Haram has largely been carrying out attacks in the country's northeast but has been extending its range to other cities.

Violence from Boko Haram's six-year insurgency has killed nearly 20,000 people and displaced 1.4 million from their homes. At least 1,000 people have been killed since President Muhammadu Buhari took office earlier this year with the promise of wiping out the insurgents.

(AP) Plastic tables and chairs at the site of a bomb explosion in Abuja, Nigeria,...
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Four suicide bombers killed at least 10 people Thursday in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state, the army said. No group claimed responsibility but Nigerian security forces blamed Boko Haram, which is based in the area. At least 39 others were wounded in the attack in the Sareji neighborhood of Maiduguri, military spokesman Col. Sani Kukasheka Usman said.

Nigeria's military on Thursday also accused Boko Haram of poisoning water sources in the northeastern Nigeria.

President Buhari Saturday condemned the attacks. "It is clear this battle is not ideological. It is between the forces of peace and order and the evil forces of murder and destruction," he said.

"What quarrel do they have with the good people of Nyanya motor park?" the president asked. "What issue do they have with innocent people in market places in Maiduguri, Yola and Kuje?"

---

Ola reported from Maiduguri.

 

[Housecarl]

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20151003/lt-colombia-warlord-killed-b6ceef6410.html

Colombian military kills warlord of rural cocaine fiefdom

Oct 2, 8:53 PM (ET)
By LIBARDO CARDONA and FRANK BAJAK

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — A years-long manhunt for a ruthless cocaine warlord who ruled a remote rural fiefdom with an armed band and generous bribes has ended with a military raid that killed the man considered Colombia's second most-wanted criminal.

Victor Navarro, a 39-year-old better known as alias "Megateo," long dominated the historically lawless Catatumbo region that hugs Venezuela. It is where he was killed Thursday night in a ground and air attack, authorities said.

Law officials had been fixated on him because of what he represented: the possible future of organized crime in Colombia if nearly three-year-old peace talks between the government and the country's largest rebel group succeed. In another sense, he was a throwback to an earlier age of brazen, high-profile narcos who reveled in public notoriety.

Six previous attempts to capture Navarro had failed when he slipped away at the last minute.

With a $5 million U.S. bounty on his head and a 2011 drug-trafficking indictment pending in Florida, Navarro had faced 45 arrest warrants and Colombian prosecutors said he was suspected in dozens of killings.

He was especially hunted for a 2006 ambush in which his men killed 17 soldiers and intelligence agents who had set out from Bogota to capture him but were betrayed by a double agent, a secret police detective who abandoned the operation at the last minute and is now serving a 40-year sentence for murder.

Navarro claimed to lead the last remaining faction of the Popular Liberation Army, a rebel movement that disbanded in 1991. But to authorities, he was nothing more than a major cocaine trafficker, a criminal heavyweight whose muscle and ability to evade capture derived from the fear he instilled and alliances he made with gangs of former far-right militiamen and with the country's two largest rebel groups.

Colombia's most-wanted criminal, Dario Antonio Usuga, is a veteran of far-right militias who heads a much larger but low-profile organization known as the Urabenos, with an estimated 2,000 gunmen.

A thickly built man of medium height, Navarro was notorious for his garish jewelry. He wore a big gold ring on each hand — one encrusted with diamonds, the other emeralds. In one photo police obtained in a raid, a golden pistol hangs from a necklace.

His brazenness drew comparisons, although in miniature, to Pablo Escobar, the cocaine kingpin who terrorized Colombia for two decades until he was tracked down and killed by police in 1993.

Jay Bergman, then-Andean region chief for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, told The Associated Press in 2013 that Navarro was believed to have only about 60 men under arms but that many more from his allies would come to his aid if he were under siege.

"He's king of the hill in a very prolific and remote drug trafficking area and corridor," Bergman said.

It was not immediately clear how Navarro and the four others who died with him were killed, though police said Thursday's raid included an air attack and ground infiltration.

Defense Minister Luis Carlos Villegas did not provide details of what he called "one of the most ingenious undercover operations in Colombia in recent years."

Born into a peasant family, Navarro took to crime in the late 1990s after paramilitaries killed his mother and a sister, according to Colombian investigators. He projected a Robin Hood image, sharing some wealth with local people while putting numerous police, soldiers and local politicians on his payroll, U.S. and Colombian officials say. Those officials said Navarro also gained a reputation for personally torturing and killing infiltrators.

The 1,300-square-mile Catatumbo region that he controlled includes about one-tenth of Colombia's coca crop and is a key corridor into Venezuela, a major transit country for U.S.- and Europe-bound cocaine.

If the government succeeds in making peace with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, the rebels have promised to help it dismantle the cocaine trade and Catatumbo could end up being a key laboratory for that effort. Negotiators hope to produce a final deal to end that armed conflict within six months.

One of authorities' biggest fears in a post-conflict Colombia is that ideology-free gangsters like Navarro would fill the vacuum left by the leftist rebels, taking control of remote regions that the government has always had trouble penetrating and employ ex-combatants as enforcers.

---

Associated Press writer Frank Bajak reported from Lima, Peru.

 

[Housecarl]

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://www.realcleardefense.com/art...itary_assistance_to_lebanese_army_108534.html

October 3, 2015

U.S. to Double Military Assistance to Lebanese Army

By AP

The U.S. ambassador to Lebanon says Washington is more than doubling the baseline amount of U.S. military assistance to the Lebanese army compared to the previous year.

Ambassador David Hale told reporters after meeting Lebanese Prime Minister Tammam Salam on Friday that America is committing $150 million of U.S. assistance funds to the army for the upcoming year

Hale said America believes that the army is "the sole institution with the legitimacy and mandate to defend the country and its people."

Hale said the funds will allow the army to buy munitions, improve close air support, sustain vehicles and aircraft, modernize airlift capacity, provide training to its soldiers, and add to the mobility of armored units.

The Lebanese army is fighting extremist groups on the border with Syria.

 

[Lilbitsnana]

posted for fair use
http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/new...N20151004001100315.html?input=www.twitter.com

Russia won't recognize N. Korea as nuclear power: Russian deputy FM

2015/10/04 11:25

MOSCOW, Oct. 4 (Yonhap) -- Russia said Sunday it will not recognize North Korea as a nuclear power, noting the country is making multi-faceted efforts to resuscitate the six-party talks on ending North Korea's nuclear ambitions.

"It is never acceptable for Russia to effectively recognize North Korea's status as a nuclear possessing country," Igor Morgulov, Russia's deputy foreign minister, said in an interview with Yonhap News Agency, conducted on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of Russia's diplomatic ties with South Korea this year.

Morgulov is also Russia's top envoy to the six-party talks which have been dormant since 2008.

The recognition would be incompatible with Russia as one of the founding countries of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, he said, referring to the treaty the country forged with the U.S. in the late 1960's to ban growth of new nuclear powers.

While Russia is putting forth various suggestions for the resumption of the six-way denuclearization talks, Morgulov said that "it's too early to say when it will be resumed."

As the envoy from a largely North Korean-leaning member of the six-party forum, Morgulov came to the defense of the North's motive behind its nuclear weapons development.

"The fundamental cause of the emergence of the North Korean issue should be understood properly," he said, adding that North Korea had to virtually face hostile military alliances linking the U.S. to South Korea and Japan all alone.

"At the foundation of North Korea's choice of nuclear weapons were concerns over their own national security."

Against that backdrop, the North Korean nuclear issue can be settled only in a way that resolves political and military tensions throughout the region and the national security of Northeast Asian countries including North Korea is surely guaranteed, he highlighted.

Touching on the 25-year diplomatic ties between Seoul and Moscow, the deputy foreign minister lauded the bilateral relations as "a historic change" that has cemented mutual cooperation in various fields."

"For the past 25 years, the landscape of the South Korea-Russia relations has fundamentally changed, with Korea becoming one of Russia's most preferential collaboration partners in the Asia Pacific region."

Morgulov also presented a rosy prospect for three-nation economic cooperation involving the two Koreas and Russia, including a logistics project linking the Russian border city of Khasan to the North Korean port of Rajin.

In a pilot run of the project, South Korea brought in Russian coal via the Russia-North Korean route earlier this year.

"Success of this project will serve as a booster for other three-way cooperation projects," he said, "although the complex political and military situation on the Korean Peninsula, which sometimes turns into a military crisis, is the biggest stumbling block to the realization of the cooperation."

But the three-nation collaboration looks "prospective enough," he said, adding that North Korea has clearly shown interest in it.

pbr@yna.co.kr

(END)

 

[Housecarl]

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://news.yahoo.com/kurdish-leader-encourages-coordination-between-russia-coalition-182114575.html

Iraqi Kurdish leader urges Russia, U.S. to coordinate in anti-IS fight

October 3, 2015 3:05 PM

ERBIL, Iraq (Reuters) - The president of Iraq's Kurdistan region said on Saturday that "better results" could be achieved in the war against Islamic State militants if Russia and the international coalition coordinated their efforts.

In a statement, Massoud Barzani also said he welcomed assistance from any country, including Russia, for his autonomous region's peshmerga forces, which are dug in along a frontline with the militants in northern Iraq.

Russian warplanes began striking in neighboring Syria earlier this week. But the U.S.-led coalition, which has been bombing there and in Iraq since last year, accused Moscow of targeting groups other than Islamic State.

The Kurds have emerged as a key ally for the coalition of more than 60 nations, driving the insurgents back in northern Iraq with the help of air strikes and advisers.

"If there is coordination and cooperation between the international coalition and Russia against Daesh, that will achieve better results," Barzani said in the statement, using an Arabic name for Islamic State, also known as ISIS and ISIL.

"The Kurdistan region... welcomes Russia if it supports the peshmerga in the fight against Daesh".

The Iraqi government said earlier this week it would welcome Russian air strikes against Islamic State on its own soil, adding that it was already cooperating on intelligence and security in Baghdad with Russia, Iran and Syria to counter Islamic State.

Iraqi officials say the agreement to share intelligence with Russia did not mean the United States would lose influence with the Baghdad government.

But diplomats and officials said Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi may use the growing Russian presence as leverage against the Americans as he seeks more weapons from Washington.

(Reporting by Isabel Coles; Editing by Andrew Heavens)

View Comments (101) .

 

[Housecarl]

Hummm......

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20151004/eu--moldova-protest-eaa84f157f.html

10,000 protest in Moldova over missing $1.5 billion

Oct 4, 9:15 AM (ET)
By CORNELIU RUSNAC

CHISINAU, Moldova (AP) — About 10,000 people staged an anti-government protest in Moldova's capital on Sunday, demanding a probe into the up to $1.5 billion that disappeared from three of the country's banks last year.

Some protesters scuffled with police and tried to push their way into Parliament. Protesters gathered in a main square in Chisinau for the fifth consecutive week of anti-government demonstrations, which began on Sept. 6.

Protesters want a probe into the missing money and for those responsible to be prosecuted. The losses were covered by state reserves in Moldova, one of Europe's poorest countries.

Vasile Nastase, a leader of the Dignity and Truth non-governmental organization which has staged the protests said: "From tomorrow, we will declare acts of civil disobedience." He urged Moldovans not to pay bills, and to go on strike in state institutes, such as schools. "We will block this government."

Protesters are also demanding early elections and for the president, the prime minister and others to resign.

Separately, in the past 24 hours, two crews from Russia's NTV television channel have not been allowed to enter Moldova. They were stopped at the airport and later sent back to Moscow, the station reported. Moldovan authorities said they did not have local press accreditation.

On Saturday, two pro-Russian parties erected about 250 tents near Parliament, blocking the capital's main street. They took the tents down Sunday.

---

This story has been corrected to show that non-governmental group is called Dignity and Truth not Justice and Truth. A previous version also corrected that this was the fifth week of protests, not the fourth.

 

[Housecarl]

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20151004/eu-belarus-protest-2be0b495cb.html

Belarusian protesters decry planned Russian air base

Oct 4, 2:08 PM (ET)
By YURAS KARMANAU

MINSK, Belarus (AP) — About 1,000 opposition activists on Sunday protested Russia's plans to establish a military air base in Belarus, saying it would turn the former Soviet republic into a Kremlin "vassal."

They claim the base would add to regional tensions already heightened by the conflict in Ukraine, and make it impossible for Belarus to maintain neutrality between Russia and the West.

Belarus borders Russia, Ukraine and three members of the European Union and NATO: Lithuania, Latvia and Poland.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has refrained from commenting on Russian President Vladimir Putin's initiative to establish the base. Analysts say he has little choice but to accept it, since his government depends on cheap energy supplies from Russia.

Police did not interfere in the protest, which was organized by leading opposition figures, including Nikolai Statkevich, a former presidential candidate who was released in August after five years in prison.

Another opposition leader described the Russian base as a point of no return for Lukashenko. "After this, Belarus will become a full vassal of the Kremlin and Lukashenko will not be able to stay neutral," said Alexei Yanukevich.

Russia already has radar and a navy communications facility in Belarus, but this would be the first base.

Sunday's protest came one week before a presidential election expected to give Lukashenko a fifth term. His challengers are the leaders of two pro-government parties and a little-known opposition activist.

"No one doubts Lukashenko's victory," said opposition leader Yuras Gubarevich. "And it is already clear what the Kremlin demanded in return for its support of Lukashenko by supplying cheap oil and gas."

 

[Housecarl]

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20151004/eu--migrants-endless_wave-79bcd7855b.html

Tip of the iceberg: No end in sight to migrant wave

Oct 4, 7:33 AM (ET)
By DANICA KIRKA

(AP) A Syrian refugee man carrying his daughter rushes to the beach as he arrives on a...
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ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) — One month after the body of 3-year-old Aylan Kurdi washed up on a Turkish beach — and a week after the European Union agreed to secure its borders — the migrant crisis has largely fallen off the front pages and reporters are going home.

But the human tide keeps rolling northward and westward, and aid agencies are preparing for it to continue through the winter, when temperatures along the migrant trail will drop below freezing. They fear the crisis may get worse.

"One thing is clear, the movement is not going to die down," said Babar Baloch, the U.N. refugee agency's representative in the Balkans. "What we are seeing right now ... it's just the tip of the iceberg."

While over a half million people have crossed the Mediterranean to Europe this year, more than double the figure for all of 2014, that is only a fraction of the people who are on the move. Some 4 million have fled Syria after more than four years of civil war, and 8 million have been displaced inside the country. And it's not just Syrians. It's Iraqis and Iranians, Afghans and Eritreans.

(AP) A policeman watches migrants and refugees disembarking from a ferry after their...
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The EU acknowledged the scale of the problem last week, even after it approved a plan to toughen border controls and provide at least 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) to help Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan care for refugees living in their countries. The first new border measures won't take effect until November, and a proposal for strengthening the EU border agency is due in December.

"Recently I visited refugee camps in Turkey and Jordan and I heard only one message — we are determined to get to Europe," European Council President Donald Tusk said after the agreement was announced. "It is clear that the greatest tide of refugees and migrants is yet to come."

While the UN High Commissioner for Refugees on Friday reported a "noticeable drop" in migrants entering Greece by sea — as weather conditions deteriorated this week — agency spokesman Adrian Edwards said "any improvement in the weather is likely to bring another surge in arrivals."

About 1,500 people arrived in Greece on Thursday, down from 5,000 a day in recent weeks, UNHCR said.

The EU was spurred to act after photos of Aylan lying face down on a Turkish beach were published around the world, triggering outrage over the suffering of migrants fleeing war and poverty. Aylan drowned, along with his mother and brother, when their boat capsized on the journey from Turkey to the Greek island of Kos.

(AP) Migrants and refugees rush to get on a bus which will transfer them at a metro...
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Before the EU can stop the influx, it must convince the world that it has regained control of its borders after months of news coverage showing the virtually unimpeded flow of people traveling from Turkey to Greece, then north through the Balkans to Austria, Germany and Sweden.

The surge came as donors cut back on funding for groups supporting Syrian refugees. The World Food Program in August said funding shortfalls forced it to cut food aid by 50 percent for 1.5 million refugees living in Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt. EU members pledged to restore funding for the WFP as part of their agreement last week.

The aid is important. Most refugees are unable to build new lives in their Middle Eastern host countries because they are barred from working. And as they watch their resources vanish, even people who hadn't planned to go to Europe are now considering it.

"There's no hope at all, so moving on seems the only option," Baloch said. "It could be an exodus in the making."

Take, for example, Zafer, a Syrian refugee who spoke on condition that his last name not be used for fear of reprisals. Zafer, 43, fled his country three years ago for Istanbul and is now contemplating Europe, encouraged by a friend who made the illegal crossing to Greece and is now in Germany.

(AP) A policeman stands guard in front of a queue by migrants and refugees waiting to get...
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"I don't have a future here, it is very hard. I had a budget but it is running out," he told The Associated Press. "I am worried about my children's education. Now they are young, but what will happen later when they are older? I am worried."

He isn't alone.

With a migrant path clearly established, complete with signposts on how to get to Europe, aid groups say it's almost as if a message has gone out: This is your chance. Now or never.

"In normal conditions, you will think twice about crossing the Mediterranean with your children because it is dangerous," said Gianluca Rocco, western Balkans coordinator for the International Organization for Migration. "But now you go with the flow. The flow is there and it is moving very quickly."

Macedonia, the main corridor for people traveling north from Greece, is preparing for the flood to continue through the winter.

Authorities are installing floors and heating in tents at the Gevgelija refugee camp, and aid agencies will provide warm clothes and blankets for the migrants, said Aleksandra Kraus, a spokeswoman for the UNHCR in Macedonia.

The Macedonian parliament in September extended the state of emergency on the country's borders until June 2016. The country of 2 million people is spending about 1 million euros a month on migrants.

"Conditions and capacities for migrants depend on the budget," said Ivo Kotevski, a police spokesman. "We appeal for assistance."

All over the region, groups are already struggling to keep pace with arrivals, especially with winter drawing close.

"It will get much colder still, and the provision of adequate shelter is not even close to matching the number of people crossing into Serbia every day," Doctors Without Borders President Meinie Nicolai told The Associated Press.

It's unclear whether the EU actions will stem the flow, particularly in the short term.

Social media savvy asylum seekers are now aware the new border measures may take effect in November; and that effectively gives potential migrants a deadline that could spur them to make a dash for Europe, making the events of recent weeks a mere prelude to an even larger flood of humanity.

The EU is moving in the right direction, but the new programs will take time to implement, and the conditions that have pushed the refugees toward Europe haven't changed, said Maurizio Albahari, author of "Crimes of Peace: Mediterranean Migrations at the World's Deadliest Border," and a social anthropologist at the University of Notre Dame.

"People in Turkey and in Libya are on top of the news. This includes both smugglers and refugees," he said by email. "The winter months and the promise/threat of additional border control/patrols at the EU's external borders might motivate them to move earlier than they would."

---

Associated Press Writers Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, Sarah El-Deeb in Beirut, Lebanon, and Konstantin Testorides in Skopje, Macedonia, contributed to this story.

 

[Housecarl]

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20151004/ml--yemen-48c45e955b.html

Fighting rages on Yemen's Red Sea coast

Oct 4, 2:23 PM (ET)
By AHMED AL-HAJ

SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Fierce battles raged between pro-government fighters clashing with Shiite Houthi rebels and allied military units along Yemen's Red Sea coast Sunday, Yemeni security officials said.

The officials, who remain neutral in the conflict that has splintered the country, said the fighting took place between Bab al-Mandab — the strategic entrance to the Red Sea — and the port city of Mokha. They said the Saudi-led coalition is attempting to clear a path for the pro-government fighters toward Mokha.

Medical officials in nearby Taiz said at least 14 dead bodies from Houthi forces arrived from the front lines. Houthi officials said the rebels have destroyed six opposing tanks and killed multiple pro-government fighters.

Four civilians were shot dead near the front lines, security officials said, adding that it was not clear which side was the source of the gunfire.

On Saturday, Yemen's Prime Minister Khaled Bahah visited an area near Bab al-Mandab after pro-government fighters pushed rebel forces out of the immediate area.

Meanwhile Saleh al-Samad, the head of the Houthi political council, said his group would carry out a "strong escalation" in the coming days, in a statement published by Yemen's Houthi-controlled state news agency.

The Houthis have controlled the area near the strait for several months. They have been in control of the capital Sanaa since last September and are at war with the internationally recognized government as well as southern separatists, local militias and Sunni extremists.

The United Arab Emirates military announced the death of another of its soldiers in Yemen, Khamis Rashid al-Abdouly. A statement said he died while being treated in Germany after succumbing to wounds sustained "at the battle for Marib." It did not say when he was wounded.

The U.N. says at least 2,355 civilians have been killed in fighting in Yemen since March, when a Saudi-led coalition began launching airstrikes against the Houthis and their allied army units.

All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters.

---

Associated Press writer Adam Schreck in Dubai, United Arab Emirates contributed to this report.

 

[brudog]

Thanks everyone for the updates....

 

[Lilbitsnana]

BeyondTheLevant Retweeted
Amir Taheri ‏@AmirTaheri4 1h1 hour ago

#Islamic Ministry of Defense today: #Russia started delivering #S300 anti-aircraft system, not waiting for lifting of sanctions in 5 years.

 

[vestige]

From#7:

Iraqi Kurdish leader urges Russia, U.S. to coordinate in anti-IS fight

It is wishful thinking and won't happen but this IS the way to go.

If only Obama wasn't so damned obsessed with unseating Assad and turning Syria over to his ISIS buddies.

 

[Lilbitsnana]

Israel News ‏@IsraelNewsNow 9m9 minutes ago

#BreakingNews United States, 11 Pacific Rim countries reach trade deal http://dlvr.it/CMBsW1


posted for fair use
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4707086,00.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter


United States, 11 Pacific Rim countries reach trade deal

AP
Published: 10.05.15, 18:26 / Israel News


The United States and 11 other Pacific Rim countries have agreed to an ambitious trade pact that cuts trade barriers, sets labor and environmental standards and protects multinational corporations' intellectual property.

The agreement on the Trans Pacific Partnership was reached Monday after marathon negotiating sessions in Atlanta through the weekend.

 

[Lilbitsnana]

Amir Taheri ‏@AmirTaheri4 3m3 minutes ago

#German Foreign Min. #Steinmeier to visit Tehran this month at head of 50-man trade team. #Iran's 2nd top trading partner after #China.

 

[Housecarl]

BeyondTheLevant Retweeted
Amir Taheri ‏@AmirTaheri4 1h1 hour ago

#Islamic Ministry of Defense today: #Russia started delivering #S300 anti-aircraft system, not waiting for lifting of sanctions in 5 years.

And unless the Iranians have been training on those systems for the last year or so they're being initially manned by Russian personnel.

However you slice it now, the "Iran Deal" is now "owned" by both Obama and the Russians.

 

[Lilbitsnana]

And unless the Iranians have been training on those systems for the last year or so they're being initially manned by Russian personnel.

However you slice it now, the "Iran Deal" is now "owned" by both Obama and the Russians.

I wonder how many will end up in Syria along the Israeli border for Iran/Hezbollah to use?

 

[Lilbitsnana]

Hasan Sari Retweeted
IrmakYenisehirlioglu ‏@Irmak_Ye 21m21 minutes ago

Big, big news...#Turkey military defies gov't:
a) won't confront civilians in towns
b) won't go into Syria without UN or NATO authorisation.


Hasan Sari ‏@HasanSari7 7m7 minutes ago

Hasan Sari Retweeted IrmakYenisehirlioglu

�� Turkish army won't let country slip into chaos:

Hasan Sari added,

IrmakYenisehirlioglu @Irmak_Ye
The link: http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/gundem/30234015.asp ...

bing translation: http://www.microsofttranslator.com/...ttp://www.hurriyet.com.tr/gundem/30234015.asp

Army 2 reservations

Deniz ZEYREK
5 October 2015

• • -
  • A
  • +

TURKEY, the PKK and sharpen the strategy for combating terrorism, while IŞİD, the Turkish armed forces learned that conveys two important reservations of political will. The PKK's city centers who do not want to enter the city for the fight with the extension of the armed forces, also struggling with international legitimacy, IŞİD, unless you don't want to go on record to Syria.


THE POLICE, THE GENDARMERIE CAN SHOOT OUTSIDE OF THE CITY


Freedom to provide information resources, security summits with the PKK fight the scope of the actual situation that occurs in some cities to stop participating in the city centers of the soldiers about operations they didn't want. Silvan, Christensen, Nusaybin the district centers, such as the PKK's fight with soldiers the city extension support were discussed. Soldiers, tanks entering city centers, with the arrival of the citizen soldier is facing a more practical gift the correct results, noting that police and gendarmerie of the struggle waged by insisted. TSK, in this struggle to take precautions around the County in question of the PKK who fled the city to intervene. According to information obtained by military sources, clashes started since July 23, just entered the center of the city 6 tanks in Cizre. This incident took place last week operation It is not the purpose of the tanks job machine to remove obstacles and barriers instead of the center of town, learned that it was sent.


AN IDENTIFICATION CARD BEFORE SYRIA INTERNATIONAL LEGITIMACY


Soldier's Syria's attitude is "the UN Security Council or NATO Council resolution demand that Syria territory without feet". Freedom to provide information resources, at Cerabulus-clean up IŞİD of the line after Mare from the region needs to create a safe zone when you take note that nature, of the international community in this direction, even if it's a decision for the purpose of entering the intention to Syria unless there is human. Without UN or NATO decision of the TSK to Syria but then directly targeted attack on Turkey and the UN if the agreement can be entered into the ' self-defense ' conditions were expressed. Resources, it's not going to take comprehensive action in such a way that the target would be the attack point. m Marine ZAIDI

 

[Housecarl]

I wonder how many will end up in Syria along the Israeli border for Iran/Hezbollah to use?

Just being based at the airbase the Russians are using now pretty much closes off the airspace in question and of concern to the Israelis, along with the naval version on the Russian ships prowling the coast of Syria and Lebanon.

Also thanks for cross posting the latest out of Turkey.

 

[Lilbitsnana]

Just being based at the airbase the Russians are using now pretty much closes off the airspace in question and of concern to the Israelis, along with the naval version on the Russian ships prowling the coast of Syria and Lebanon.

Also thanks for cross posting the latest out of Turkey.

You're welcome.

It struck me as being important and something that could end up affecting more than just Erdogan.

 

[Housecarl]

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20151006/as--australia-terrorism-4820987b68.html

5 arrested in connection with Sydney police worker's killing

Oct 6, 6:05 PM (ET)

SYDNEY (AP) — Police arrested five people during a series of raids on Wednesday in connection with the slaying of a civilian police worker, which officials have said they believe was linked to terrorism.

More than 200 officers swooped into homes in western Sydney and arrested the men, aged 16 to 24, as part of their investigation into the killing of Curtis Cheng, New South Wales police said. Cheng, a police finance worker, was shot by an Iranian teenager while leaving work in the western Sydney suburb of Parramatta last week. The killer, 15-year-old Farhad Jabar, was shot dead by police.

Police said on Saturday that they believe the killing was politically motivated and therefore linked to terrorism, though they said Jabar's specific motivations were unclear, including whether he was working alone or linked to a specific group. They also didn't know whether Cheng was personally targeted, or targeted more generally because he was a police employee.

The men arrested on Wednesday were taken into custody and were being interviewed by police. Officials declined to release details on what they believe their connection might be to Cheng's death.

Australia has been struggling to cope with a string of homegrown terrorism crimes involving teenagers. In September 2014, an 18-year-old was shot dead by police after stabbing two counterterrorism police officers in Melbourne. In April, several teens were arrested on suspicion of plotting an Islamic State group-inspired terrorist attack at a Veterans' Day ceremony that would have targeted police officers. And in May, police arrested a 17-year-old in Melbourne and accused him of plotting to detonate three homemade pipe bombs.

 

[Housecarl]

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20151006/us--contract_killings-002f02ef19.html

Man who says he was cartel enforcer pleads guilty to murders

Oct 6, 5:40 PM (ET)
By SCOTT SMITH

(AP) This undated booking photo provided by the Tulare County District Attorney shows...
Full Image

VISALIA, Calif. (AP) — A man who says he was a cartel enforcer pleaded guilty Tuesday to nine counts of murder in California.

Jose Manuel Martinez will be sentenced next month to life in prison without the possibility of parole under the terms of a plea deal.

He also pleaded guilty to one count of attempted murder of a 17-year-old.

After being arrested in 2013, the 53-year-old Martinez opened up to investigators about his violent career with more than 30 killings.

(AP) In an undated file photo, Jose Manuel Martinez arrives at the Lawrence County...
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Authorities say he acknowledged killings across the U.S. and refuses to name his cartel associates. Authorities say they believe Martinez because he gave details that nobody else would know.

Last year, Martinez pleaded guilty in an Alabama court and was given a prison sentence of 50 years.

In California, he was charged with killing people in Tulare, Kern and Santa Barbara counties between 1980 and 2011. The victims ranged in age from 22 to 56.

Investigators say that in 1980, Martinez shot a man who was driving to work with three other people in the vehicle. Martinez is accused of shooting another man in bed early one morning in 2000 while the man's four children were home.

Martinez had lived at times in Richgrove, a small farming community in Central California about 40 miles north of Bakersfield.

He was arrested shortly after crossing the border from Mexico into Arizona and began to disclose details of his past while facing the case in Alabama.

"After he confessed to it, it was just like opening up the floodgate," Tim McWhorter of the Lawrence County Sheriff's Office in Alabama said at the time.

In Alabama, Martinez pleaded guilty in the killing of a man for making derogatory remarks about Martinez's daughter.

Prosecutors in California have released few details about evidence linking Martinez to the nine killings.

Martinez also is facing two murder charges in Florida.

 

[Housecarl]

He lights the fuse and suddenly realizes what could go wrong?........

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20151006/ml--israel-palestinians-662c5620c9.html

After weeks of unrest, Palestinian leader appeals for calm

Oct 6, 3:23 PM (ET)
By JOSEF FEDERMAN

(AP) Palestinians burn tires during Israeli military raid in the West Bank city of...
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JERUSALEM (AP) — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called Tuesday for calm after several weeks of heightened unrest with Israel, saying his people had no interest in any further "escalation" and urging renewed dialogue.

The comments marked the Palestinian leader's strongest attempt yet to restore calm after the worst outbreak of fighting in months, and came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to take even tougher measures to quell the violence.

The clashes erupted three weeks ago at the start of the Jewish new year and have turned more violent in recent days. Four Israelis were killed last week in shooting and stabbing attacks in Jerusalem and the West Bank, while Israeli forces have killed four Palestinians, including a 13-year-old boy, amid violent protests.

Both Abbas and Netanyahu are dealing with precarious domestic situations as they try to find a way out of the crisis.

(AP) A Palestinian demonstrator uses a slingshot during clashes following a demonstration...
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Netanyahu is under heavy pressure, particularly from hard-liners in his governing coalition, to respond with a tough crackdown. Abbas, fed up with years of diplomatic paralysis and unpopular with his public, does not want to appear to be caving in to Israeli pressure. Yet neither man has an interest in seeing the violence spin out of control.

Speaking to senior officials of the Palestine Liberation Organization in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Abbas said he has told the Israelis that the Palestinians don't want "military and security escalations." He said the message had been delivered to Palestinian security forces and activists but added that, "at the same time, we will protect ourselves."

Abbas also said he was ready to renew dialogue with Israel, a topic that could come up during a gathering of international Mideast envoys from the U.S., Europe, Russia and the United Nations in Jerusalem on Oct. 14.

Clashes took place in several places across the West Bank on Tuesday.

In Qalandia, on the outskirts of Jerusalem, demonstrators hurled burning tires, rocks and a firebomb at Israeli forces, injuring one riot police officer, the Israeli military said. It said troops opened fire with rubber bullets and small .22-caliber rounds, shooting demonstrators in the legs. Clashes also erupted in the West Bank cities of Bethlehem, Nablus, Ramallah, Jenin and Hebron.

(AP) An Israeli military vehicle drives through burning tires during a raid in the West...
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The Palestinian Red Crescent medical service said 39 people were wounded, including a 17-year-old boy who was in serious condition after being shot in the abdomen.

Israeli police said a crowd of demonstrators in Jaffa, a largely Arab area of Tel Aviv, clashed with police Tuesday night, throwing rocks at cars and police officers, injuring two officers.

But in a sign that things might be calming, there were no major incidents of violence in Jerusalem, police said.

In New York, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's office said he was "profoundly alarmed" by the violence and called for "urgent action" by both sides to ease tensions.

Israel has already beefed up its forces in Jerusalem and the West Bank in recent weeks and is under intense domestic pressure to do more. Thousands of Israelis, including three Cabinet ministers in his own party, demonstrated outside the prime minister's residence on Monday night, demanding tough action.

(AP) An Israeli military vehicle drives through burning tires during a raid in the West...
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On Tuesday, Netanyahu visited the site of a West Bank shooting where an Israeli settler and his wife were killed last week as they were driving and promised additional measures "to break this wave of terror like we broke previous waves of terror."

Speaking at a nearby army base, he instructed the military to "change the way of thinking" about Palestinian attackers and said Israel will deploy ground and aerial cameras along major West Bank roads to help prevent further such attacks.

Netanyahu also alluded to recent criticism from West Bank settler leaders and their allies that he is not doing enough to guarantee their security.

"Leadership is needed from public leaders, including the settler movement, maybe first and foremost with the settler movement," Netanyahu said. "We are in a continuing battle. Such a battle does not need a fiery reaction. It needs a lot of strength, a lot of tenacity, a lot of restraint."

In an initial move, the Israeli military demolished the homes of two Palestinian militants in east Jerusalem.

(AP) Palestinians inspect the home of the Abu Jaber family that was demolished by the...
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The destroyed homes belonged to the families of a man who killed four worshippers and a police officer in a Jerusalem synagogue last year, and a second attacker who killed one person when he rammed a bulldozer into traffic. Although the attackers were immediately killed, Israel often carries out such demolitions of the homes of militants' families, believing it will deter future attacks.

Also Tuesday, troops sealed off a room at the home of a third attacker, who tried to kill a prominent Orthodox Jewish activist last year, ahead of its potential demolition.

"If Netanyahu thinks that this will create deterrence, then he is wrong. This will not deter anybody," said Odai Hijazi, whose brother Motaz shot and seriously wounded Yehuda Glick, a Jewish nationalist who has campaigned for greater Jewish access to a sensitive Jerusalem holy site.

That site has been at the heart of the recent tensions. The hilltop compound is revered by Muslims as the spot where Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven and by Jews as the site of the two Jewish biblical Temples. There have been several days of clashes at the site over the past few weeks as Palestinians barricaded themselves inside the Al-Aqsa mosque while hurling stones, firebombs and fireworks at police.

The unrest later spread to Arab neighborhoods of east Jerusalem and to the West Bank.

Many Palestinians believe that Israel is trying to expand a Jewish presence at the site. Netanyahu denies the claims, describing them as slander aimed at inciting Arabs to violence. On Tuesday, Netanyahu accused Israel's own Islamic Movement, a group that runs education and religious services for Israeli Arabs, of leading the incitement.

---

AP correspondent Mohammed Daraghmeh in Ramallah, West Bank, contributed reporting.

 

[Housecarl]

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20151006/af--somalia-britain-9c8be0a02d.html

Somalia's extremists vow violence against British troops

Oct 6, 2:45 PM (ET)

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — A spokesman for Somalia's Islamic extremists says their rebels will fight the British troops that are to be deployed to the country as peacekeepers.

Sheikh Ali Mohamud Rage, a spokesman for al-Shabab, said on the the group's radio Tuesday that their fighters would welcome the British troops with bullets and drag beheaded British soldiers through the streets.

His comments were in response to British prime minister David Cameron's pledge last month that as many as 70 British military personnel could be sent to Somalia to bolster a United Nations-backed mission to support the Somali government against the extremists.

It would be the first time Britain has formally joined the international contingent backing the African Union's long-running efforts against al-Shabab, which is linked to al-Qaida.

 

[Housecarl]

Fertile ground for IS......

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20151006/ml--palestinians-young_and_angry-bb55af531a.html

New generation of disillusioned Palestinians drives unrest

Oct 6, 6:26 PM (ET)
By MOHAMMED DARAGHMEH and KARIN LAUB

(AP) Palestinians roll tires during clashes with Israeli troops at Qalandia checkpoint...
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SURDA, West Bank (AP) — A new generation of angry, disillusioned Palestinians is driving the current wave of clashes with Israeli forces: Too young to remember the hardships of life during Israel's clampdown on the last major uprising, they have lost faith in statehood through negotiations, distrust their political leaders and believe Israel only understands force.

The recent re-election of hard-liner Benjamin Netanyahu to a fourth term as prime minster has only deepened the sense of paralysis.

Some young Palestinians say they want to emulate those killed or wounded in confrontations or attacks on Israelis — like Mohannad Halabi, the 19-year-old law student from the West Bank who stabbed to death two Israelis in a bloody rampage in Jerusalem's Old City over the weekend before being shot dead by police.

"We are all impressed with what he has done," said Malik Hussein, a 19-year-old friend and fellow law student at Al-Quds University near Jerusalem. "The day after the attack, university students took to the streets and clashed with Israeli soldiers. Mohannad's way is the only way to liberate Palestine."

(AP) Palestinians burn tires during clashes with Israeli troops at Qalandia checkpoint...
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Despite such fervor and a rise in violence, it's not clear if conditions are ripe for a new uprising against the Israeli military occupation that began in 1967 when Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem.

Marked by Palestinian bombings and shootings, the last revolt erupted in 2000 and ebbed after Mahmoud Abbas, an opponent of violence, replaced the late Yasser Arafat as Palestinian president in 2005.

Abbas now walks a thin line.

He is trying to prevent an escalation that he believes will cost the Palestinians international sympathy, but can't be seen as cracking down on what Palestinians view as legitimate resistance to occupation. On Monday, Abbas ordered his security commanders to switch tactics and not use force to prevent Palestinian protests.

Much will depend on the severity of Israel's response. The most recent attacks killed four Israelis last week — the two Israeli men stabbed by Halabi and a Jewish settler couple killed in a West Bank shooting ambush, in view of their four children.

(AP) A Palestinian boy holds a sling during clashes with Israeli troops at Qalandia...
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Netanyahu has threatened a tough crackdown, saying he is sending thousands more police and soldiers to the West Bank and east Jerusalem, with a mandate to take "strong action" against anyone throwing stones or firebombs. In the past, such clampdowns often led to more Palestinian casualties which, in turned, fueled new protests and more bloodshed.

During the last uprising, Israel imposed unprecedented restrictions on daily life in Palestinian territories to try to end attacks on Israelis. Troops sealed off communities, keeping many Palestinians from jobs and schools. Long waits at Israeli checkpoints became common, and in the darkest days, tanks rolled through Palestinian cities and Israeli troops carried out mass arrest sweeps.

When violence ebbed, Israel gradually eased West Bank movement, but continues to restrict Palestinian entry to Jerusalem. Many older Palestinians who lived through those hardships don't want to go through them again, focusing instead on personal goals, such as getting good jobs and sending their children to college.

The bloody past seems to be less of a deterrent for young Palestinians who hold little hope for a better future, and after years of nationalist Israeli governments, have lost faith in Palestinian statehood through negotiations.

Netanyahu says he is ready to negotiate a partition deal with Abbas, but rejects internationally backed ground rules for such talks and continues to expand Jewish settlements on lands sought for a Palestinian state.

(AP) Palestinians carry an injured man during clashes with Israeli troops at Qalandia...
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A major Jerusalem shrine that is central to the national identities of both sides and sparked major bouts of violence in the past also looms large in the rising tensions.

Many Palestinians are convinced that, despite Netanyahu's denials, Israel is trying to expand its presence there by allowing more Jews to visit and restricting the access of Muslims. The compound in Jerusalem's Old City is revered by Muslims as the spot where Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven and by Jews as the site of the biblical Temples.

Home to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the compound was the scene of frequent clashes in recent weeks between Palestinian stone-throwers and Israeli police, and young Palestinians routinely refer to perceived threats to Al-Aqsa in explaining their frustration.

Ahmed Halabi, a 22-year-old cousin of the Jerusalem assailant, Mohannad Halabi, said he hopes a new uprising will erupt.

"What's going on here is unbearable," he said. "Al-Aqsa, the settlements, the killing in the streets. We have to move. We cannot stay silent."

(AP) A Palestinian throws a Molotov cocktail during clashes with Israeli troops at...
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The assailant was one of five siblings and lived with his family in a new two-story home in the West Bank town of Surda, north of Ramallah, the seat of Abbas' self-rule government. His friends said he was closely following events at Al-Aqsa and supported the militant Islamic Jihad faction, even though he was not particularly religious.

His father, Shafiq, said his son's violent act came as a surprise, but that he was proud of him. "This generation cannot be controlled by family or any other authority," he said. "I think Netanyahu will have a hard time with them. Even we, the family, couldn't tell Mohannad what to do."

Besides the two Israeli men killed in the attack, the wife and 2-year-old son of one of the men were wounded. Adele Banita, the wounded woman, told Israeli media that Arab bystanders laughed and spat at her when she pleaded for help.

Early Monday, Israeli troops searched and measured the Halabi family home, presumably as a prelude to demolishing it, a controversial punitive practice Israel has revived. After the soldiers left, a cousin, 16-year-old Majd al-Aryan, plastered posters of the attacker on the walls of the house.

"Mohannad is a hero and everyone on town wants to be like him," he said. "We are proud of him."

(AP) Palestinians throw stones during clashes with Israeli troops at Qalandia checkpoint...
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Over the past week, confrontations between Palestinian stone-throwers and Israeli troops firing tear gas, rubber-coated steel pellets and live rounds erupted in several parts of the West Bank and in east Jerusalem. Two young Palestinians were killed by army fire Monday and dozens were injured in the clashes.

Many of the protests appeared to be spontaneous, or arranged informally via social media, rather than by the two main Palestinian factions, Abbas' Fatah and its main rival, the Islamic militant Hamas.

A senior Hamas official in the West Bank said his group encourages confrontation with Israel in principle, but doesn't want to send too many activists into the protests because of concerns they might be arrested by Israel or Abbas' security forces. He spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of repercussions.

On Tuesday, Palestinian factions called for a protest march at the main Israeli checkpoint between the West Bank and Jerusalem. Senior Fatah officials were absent and other politicians from Hamas and smaller factions left before dozens of youths, most of them school-age boys, began throwing stones.

Bassel Obeida, a 21-year-old protester, said the unrest would continue regardless of the decisions of the Palestinian leadership. "If Abbas is against us ... we will reject his words and start the intifada," he said. "We don't want any leaders here to show us what to do."

---

Laub reported from Jericho, West Bank.

 

[Housecarl]

Hummm......

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://news.yahoo.com/us-officials-...ta-trucks-175832211--abc-news-topstories.html

US Officials Ask How ISIS Got So Many Toyota Trucks

ABC News
By MATTHEW MOSK, BRIAN ROSS and ALEX HOSENBALL
4 hours ago

U.S. counter-terror officials have asked Toyota, the world’s second largest auto maker, to help them determine how ISIS has managed to acquire the large number of Toyota pick-up trucks and SUVs seen prominently in the terror group’s propaganda videos in Iraq, Syria and Libya, ABC News has learned.

Toyota says it does not know how ISIS obtained the vehicles and is “supporting” the inquiry led by the Terror Financing unit of the Treasury Department -- part of a broad U.S. effort to prevent Western-made goods from ending up in the hands of the terror group.

“We briefed Treasury on Toyota’s supply chains in the Middle East and the procedures that Toyota has in place to protect supply chain integrity,” said Ed Lewis, Toyota’s Washington-based director of public policy and communications.

Toyota has a “strict policy to not sell vehicles to potential purchasers who may use or modify them for paramilitary or terrorist activities,” Lewis said. He said it is impossible for the company to track vehicles that have been stolen, or have been bought and re-sold by middlemen.

Toyota Hilux pickups, an overseas model similar to the Toyota Tacoma, and Toyota Land Cruisers have become fixtures in videos of the ISIS campaign in Iraq, Syria and Libya, with their truck beds loaded with heavy weapons and cabs jammed with terrorists. The Iraqi Ambassador to the United States, Lukman Faily, told ABC News that in addition to re-purposing older trucks, his government believes ISIS has acquired “hundreds” of “brand new” Toyotas in recent years.

“This is a question we’ve been asking our neighbors,” Faily said. “How could these brand new trucks... these four wheel drives, hundreds of them -- where are they coming from?”

ISIS propaganda videos show gunmen patrolling Syrian streets in what appear to be older and newer model white Hilux pick-ups bearing the black caliphate seal and crossing Libya in long caravans of gleaming tan Toyota Land Cruisers. When ISIS soldiers paraded through the center of Raqqa, more than two-thirds of the vehicles were the familiar white Toyotas with the black emblems. There were small numbers of other brands including Mitsubishi, Hyundai and Isuzu.

“Regrettably, the Toyota Land Cruiser and Hilux have effectively become almost part of the ISIS brand,” said Mark Wallace, a former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, who is CEO of the Counter Extremism Project, a non-profit working to expose the financial support networks of terror groups.

“ISIS has used these vehicles in order to engage in military-type activities, terror activities, and the like,” Wallace told ABC News. “But in nearly every ISIS video, they show a fleet -- a convoy of Toyota vehicles and that’s very concerning to us.”

Toyota says many of the vehicles seen in ISIS videos are not recent models. “We have procedures in place to help ensure our products are not diverted for unauthorized military use,” said Lewis, the Toyota executive.

But, Lewis added, “It is impossible for Toyota to completely control indirect or illegal channels through which our vehicles could be misappropriated.”

Questions about the ISIS use of Toyota vehicles have circulated for years. In 2014, a report by the radio broadcaster Public Radio International noted that the U.S. State Department delivered 43 Toyota trucks to Syrian rebels. A more recent report in an Australian newspaper said that more than 800 of the trucks had been reported missing in Sydney between 2014 and 2015, and quoted terror experts speculating that they may have been exported to ISIS territory.

Attempts to track the path of the trucks into ISIS hands has proven complicated for U.S. and Iraqi officials.

Toyota’s own figures show sales of Hilux and Land Cruisers tripling from 6,000 sold in Iraq in 2011 to 18,000 sold in 2013, before sales dropped back to 13,000 in 2014.

Brigadier General Saad Maan, an Iraqi military spokesman, told ABC News he suspects that middlemen from outside Iraq have been smuggling the trucks into his country.

“We are spending our time to fight those terrorists so we cannot say we are controlling the border between Iraq and Syria,” he conceded. “We are deeply in need for answers.”

In a statement to ABC News, Toyota said it is not aware of any dealership selling to the terror group but “would immediately” take action if it did, including termination of the distribution agreement.

Toyota distributors in the region contacted by ABC News said they did not know how the trucks reached ISIS.

Sumitomo, a Japanese conglomerate that ships vehicles to the region, wrote to ABC News, “In terms of how anyone operating outside of the law obtain vehicles for misappropriation, we have no way to know and therefore cannot comment.”

A spokesman for former owners of the Toyota dealership in Syria said its sales operation was halted in 2012.

The former owners, a Saudi company called Abdul Latif Jameel, said it “made the decision to cease all trading activities in the country and fully divested the business in October, 2012,” according to a spokesperson.

Wallace, of the Counter Extremism Project, said his organization wrote directly to Toyota earlier this year to urge the company to do more to track the flow of trucks to ISIS, and noted that the trucks are stamped with traceable identification numbers.

“I don’t think Toyota’s trying to intentionally profit from it, but they are on notice now and they should do more,” Wallace said. “They should be able to figure it out... how are these trucks getting there. I think they should disclose that, put a stop to that, and put policies and procedures in places that are real and effective to make sure that we don’t see videos of ISIS using Toyota trucks in the future.”

Earlier this year, Toyota responded to Wallace’s organization with similar language the company has used to answer questions from ABC News, writing that Toyota stopped entirely its sales of vehicles in Syria several years ago.

Toyota told ABC News that after company officials briefed the U.S. Treasury team and that Treasury indicated the meeting was “helpful.”

“We cannot provide further details of our interaction with Treasury as we do not want to compromise its efforts to understand and prevent diversion, or make it easier for illicit groups to penetrate our supply chains or those of any other company,” Lewis said.

Treasury officials told ABC News they could not comment publicly about the agency’s engagement with specific private companies. But in response to questions about Toyota, the officials said investigators are “working closely with foreign counterparts and stakeholders” on the issue.

ABC News' Randy Kreider and Mazin Faiq contributed to this report.

 

[Lilbitsnana]

BAM

Israel News Feed ‏@IsraelHatzolah 34m34 minutes ago

TEHRAN: Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei announced today a ban on future negotiations between Iran and the United States.

 

[Housecarl]

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://thediplomat.com/2015/10/japan-to-offer-australia-its-top-secret-submarine-technology/

Japan to Offer Australia Its Top-Secret Submarine Technology

Tokyo has disclosed additional details of its offer to replace the Royal Australian Navy’s Collins-class subs.

By Franz-Stefan Gady
October 07, 2015

1.4k Shares
20 Comments

Japan has for the first time revealed additional details of its proposal to design and build submarines to replace Australia’s fleet of six Collins-class boats.

This week, the head of a high-powered Japanese delegation, speaking at this year’s Sea Power conference in Sydney, told local media that Japan would transfer 100 percent of the technology involved in building a larger version of Japan’s state-of-the-art 4,000-ton diesel-electric Soryu-class submarine to the Australian submariner community. “Our objective is to have everything available to transfer,” delegation head Masaki Ishikawa said.

In detail, Japan’s proposal includes advanced welding technologies, top-secret stealth technology, combat system integration, lithium-ion batteries as the submarine’s main energy source (with the option for air-independent propulsion to be added later an), and an all-weather snorkel system that can operate even during a typhoon, according to the Australian news website Perth Now. In addition, the sub will feature a U.S. combat system.

Ishikawa also offered further details for the construction process of the vessels, with the Japanese plan calling for hundreds of Australian workers to be sent to Japan for training and constructing a mock-up submarine under the supervision of engineers from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Kawasaki Heavy Industries.

He also emphasized that all vessels could be built in Australia, while the option for the first boat to be constructed in Kobe, Japan under Australian supervision remains an option. “Both options have strong points,” Ishikawa said.

The delegation head furthermore dismissed the language barrier as a problem for Australian-Japanese cooperation on the A$50 billion ($38.8 billion) project. “There is no problem with language and cultural issues,” he said. The recent changes in Australia’s government should also have no impact on the ongoing bidding process, according to Ishikawa: “You have a new prime minister and that has no impact on our proposed strategic partnership.”

In May 2015, Australia invited France, Germany, and Japan to participate in a 10-month long “competitive evaluation process” with each bidder receiving around $6 million to prepare a proposal. (Given specific Australian requirements, an “off-the-shelf” solution is not an option.)

So far, all three bidding countries have agreed to build the submarines in Adelaide, the home base of Australian Submarine Corporation (ASC). To make its offer more competitive, the Japanese government announced this May that it would share top-secret technology, including details about lithium-ion battery systems, with Australia – a first for Tokyo.

The Soryu-class boats currently in service with the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force are outfitted with a Swedish-made air-independent propulsion system. However, the Australian government has expressed its preference for a lithium-ion battery option – one of Japan’s most preciously guarded military technologies.

Long considered the frontrunner, Japan has been losing ground to Germany and its offer of the HDW-class 216 diesel-electric sub designed by ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS). Unlike their Japanese competitors, the German company has already built over 160 submarines for 20 different international customers.

 

[Housecarl]

BAM

Israel News Feed ‏@IsraelHatzolah 34m34 minutes ago

TEHRAN: Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei announced today a ban on future negotiations between Iran and the United States.

From yesterday....

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://nationalinterest.org/blog/th...ould-already-be-gaming-the-nuclear-deal-14015

Warning: Iran Could Already Be Gaming the Nuclear Deal[1]

J. Matthew McInnis,Tara Beeny
October 6, 2015

While the world focused on the escalating Russian and Iranian intervention in Syria, the continuing debate in Tehran over adopting the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) has gotten a little lost. But listening to the Iranian parliament argue whether the nuclear deal should be adopted—something the US Congress will not get a chance to do—provides great insight into how the leadership intends to implement the deal. Little of this insight is reassuring.

As we approach the deal’s October 19 Adoption Day anticipated by the United Nations Security Council, there is no indication that Iran is backing away from the JCPOA. That has not stopped Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei from letting the parliament and hardline critics have a go at the JCPOA’s flaws, especially if that helps check [5] President Hassan Rouhani’s popular support. The special parliamentary commission established to review the JCPOA has frequently taken an adversarial stance towards the deal and the president over the past few weeks.

Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani, a current ally of Rouhani, has rushed the commission’s review under a “double emergency plan” mechanism. The mechanism—which sounds awfully like something from Animal House [6]—is most likely designed to minimize the bloodletting from a drawn out process. Parliamentarian and Commission Spokesman Hossein Naghavi Hosseini stated [7] the final report will likely recommend a resolution that will neither “accept” nor “reject” the nuclear deal, but instead would “provisionally approve” the JCPOA. This gives the parliament its say without hampering the administration’s ability to maneuver.

Once the report is read in parliament, there will be plenty of spin designed to obscure the realities of the deal and appease domestic audiences. Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi’s statement [8] that Iran collected samples at the Parchin Military Complex in the absence of inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) cast doubt on the integrity of inspections at the suspect site. It also showed the extent to which concerns of regime legitimacy continue to outweigh appearances in the minds of Iran’s leaders. Expect to see a litany of assertions about what the JCPOA does and does not compel Iran to do. Officials will argue the agreement does not restrict Iran’s missile activity, and that sanctions relief should be immediate per the Supreme Leader’s redlines.

Cherry-picking which parts of the deal will be considered legitimate is one element of a larger approach Tehran appears to be taking with the JCPOA. Supreme Leader Khamenei and former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili have [9] argued [10] that because the P5+1 members are only “suspending” the sanction regime rather than removing it, Iran should handle its implementation of the deal in a similar manner. By merely “suspending” its nuclear program, Iran can keep it as reconstitutable as possible. This is easy with some program components, such as centrifuges. Other elements will be more difficult, especially the required reconfiguration of the Arak heavy water research reactor and the reduction of Iran’s uranium stockpile.

The P5+1 and Iran are still negotiating the details of the redesign for the Arak reactor, and Iranian officials have attempted to spin this issue as well. On July 27, Salehi argued that US Secretary of State John Kerry was “mistaken when he said that the Arak Reactor’s core will be removed and filled with concrete.” Salehi emphasized [11] that while that the calandria will be removed, set aside, and filled with concrete—just as Kerry had noted—Iran would retain the option to “install a new reservoir in the place of the old one” should the nuclear deal fail. Regardless of Salehi’s spin, the JCPOA requires [12] that the existing calandria “be made inoperable”. China is coordinating [13] Arak-related talks between Iran and the P5+1, but these details must be worked out prior to Implementation Day, currently expected [14] in early 2016.

Iran’s arrangements for the conversion or transfer of its excess uranium stockpile also remain to be determined. Iran’s Permanent Representative to the IAEA Board of Governors Reza Najafi explained [15] on September 11 that it was “possible” Iran could transfer its excess stockpile to Russia, but noted that Iran was reviewing its “strategies, methods, and options.” He explained, “One existing option is changing and converting stockpiles, and another option is exporting products to other countries.” Recent reports from the sidelines of the September IAEA General Conference indicate that the Russian option is coalescing. Salehi met with Sergei Kiriyenko, the head of Russia’s nuclear company Rosatom, and discussed [16] the "issue of when, how, and in what manner" to transport enriched uranium to Russia.

It is a good bet that Russia will be the end buyer for the stockpile, just as it is likely that China will play a large role in the redesign of Arak. Iranian officials’ insistence on weighing their options could be seen as simply foot-dragging, or as a prelude to a more serious effort to game the terms of the JCPOA. The Iranian leadership also needs these public debates to prevent Tehran’s compliance with the deal from appearing as capitulation to the West.

Ultimately, Iranian officials will continue spinning statements for domestic audiences, emphasizing the reversibility of those aspects of the nuclear agreement that the P5+1 hoped would be the most irreversible.

J. Matthew McInnis is a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. Tara Beeny is a research assistant at the American Enterprise Institute. This report was produced in cooperation with the Iran Team of the Critical Threats Project [17]. It analyzes the most important Iran news events of the past week and provides an outlook of the regime’s strategic calculus.

Editor's Note: This piece originally appeared on AEIdeas blog. You can find it here. [18]

Image: president.ir

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Source URL (retrieved on October 7, 2015): http://nationalinterest.org/blog/th...ould-already-be-gaming-the-nuclear-deal-14015

Links:
[1] http://nationalinterest.org/blog/th...ould-already-be-gaming-the-nuclear-deal-14015
[2] http://nationalinterest.org/profile/j-matthew-mcinnis
[3] http://nationalinterest.org/profile/tara-beeny
[4] http://twitter.com/share
[5] https://www.aei.org/publication/did-the-supreme-leader-cut-rouhani-down-to-size/
[6] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tfK_3XK4CI
[7] http://www.tasnimnews.com/Home/Single/867521
[8] http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2015/...Parchin-Behrouz-Kamalvandi-Yukiya-Amano-JCPOA
[9] http://farsi.khamenei.ir/news-content?id=30637
[10] http://icana.ir/Fa/News/284405
[11] http://www.yjc.ir/fa/news/5272912/د...م-شیوه-اجرایی-تحقیقات-آژانس-محرمانه-خواهد-بود
[12] http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/245318.pdf
[13] http://www.irna.ir/en/News/81775823/
[14] http://www.wsj.com/articles/parties-in-iran-nuclear-deal-to-talk-again-1443473276
[15] http://www.tabnak.ir/fa/news/530821/احتمال-صدور-ذخایر-هسته‌ای-ایران-به-روسیه
[16] http://www.yjc.ir/fa/news/5325465/ص...م-غنی-شده-و-کمک-به-ارتقای-سانتریفیوژهای-موجود
[17] http://www.criticalthreats.org/
[18] https://www.aei.org/publication/is-iran-already-gaming-the-nuclear-deal/
[19] http://nationalinterest.org/tag/iran
[20] http://nationalinterest.org/tag/nuclear-deal
[21] http://nationalinterest.org/tag/jcpoa
[22] http://nationalinterest.org/topic/security

 

[Housecarl]

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://thediplomat.com/2015/10/top-...n-security-forces-could-potentially-collapse/

Top US General in Afghanistan: Afghan Security Forces 'Could Potentially Collapse'

General John F. Campbell testified on the results of this year’s fighting season in front of the U.S. Congress.

By Franz-Stefan Gady
October 07, 2015

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This week, the commander of U.S. Forces in Afghanistan, General John F. Campbell, testified in front of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee on the still ongoing fighting season in Afghanistan. He offered a somewhat bleaker assessment than during a previous congressional testimony in March of this year (See: “Quo Vadis Afghanistan: General Campbell Testifies on the Hill”).

While noting the Afghan army’s courage and resilience, Campbell said that the recent fighting in Kunduz has illustrated that the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) “do not possess the necessary combat power and numbers to protect every part of the country.”

Campbell is confident that the ANDSF will regain control of all of Kunduz city. However, he underlined that the overall performance of the ANDSF during this year’s fighting season was “uneven” and “inconsistent,” in particular noting their tendency to remain “tethered to isolated checkpoints and static defenses, which increases their vulnerability and reduces their ability to maneuver effectively.”

The 2015 fighting season has once more shown that the ANDSF still require “broad support” from the United States and its allies. “They have repeatedly shown that without key enablers and competent, operational-level leaders, they cannot handle the fight alone in this stage of their development,” according to Campbell.

Whereas the Afghan Special Security Forces (ASSF) have shown “improved proficiency” this year, the major problem for conventional forces remains an exceedingly high attrition rate, only partially explainable by an accelerated operational tempo (the attrition rate was twice as high in the first nine months of 2015 than 2014).

“Conspicuously, non-battle attrition, particularly unauthorized absences, have induced approximately 70 percent of the ANDSF’s personnel losses. If present rates continue, attrition will pose increasingly significant challenges to force generation, development, and readiness over time,” the general testified.

The capability gaps essentially remain the same as at the beginning of the fighting season and include fixed and rotary-wing aviation, combined arms, intelligence, logistics, maintenance, and sustainment. “One of the greatest tactical challenges for the ANDSF this Fighting Season has been overcoming the Afghan 10 Air Force’s (AAF) still extremely limited organic CAS [close air-support] capability,” Campbell explained.

Campbell also showed great concern over the long-term viability of the ANDSF without long-term U.S. assistance, which covers the majority of the costs:


Succinctly, Afghanistan cannot afford its security forces—particularly at their present size. Yet their current numbers are needed to contend with the scale of the threat. If we sharply reduce their forces now, it will have a detrimental effect. The international community currently funds over 90 percent of the ANDSF’s operating costs. (…) We must assume that that the ANDSF will not be self-sustainable for several years to come.

The top U.S. officer in Afghanistan also issued a dire warning should U.S. troop levels and funding be cut prematurely. “At this stage, without adequate international and U.S. funding support and an appropriate Coalition troop presence to oversee the proper expenditure of such funds, the ANDSF could potentially collapse,” he emphasized.

The general also noted that he has provided the White House with various options that would keep a larger U.S. troop presence in Afghanistan after 2016. President Barack Obama’s initial plan was to reduce troop levels to an embassy-based security force of 1,000.

“Based on conditions on the ground, I do believe we have to provide our senior leadership [with] options different than the current plan we are going with,” he told the senate committee.

 

[Lilbitsnana]

Conflict News ‏@Conflicts 2h2 hours ago

NATO ready to defend #Turkey, send troops if needed: Stoltenberg - Reuters http://reut.rs/1jb0aCd



Conflict News ‏@Conflicts 2h2 hours ago

NATO chief says the alliance facing "conflict, instability and insecurity" in many directions - AP http://apne.ws/1FUbIol



Both articles in this thread:

http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/showt...-defend-Turkey

 

[Lilbitsnana]

Michael Horowitz ‏@michaelh992 10m10 minutes ago

#Breaking failed assassination attempt on a ruling-party MP in Sousse #Tunisia

 

[Housecarl]

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20151008/as--nkorea-photos-anniversary-568df6f44d.html

North Korea gears up for lavish anniversary celebration

Oct 8, 6:36 AM (ET)
By ERIC TALMADGE

(AP) North Koreans gather at a monument built 10 years ago to honor the founding of the...
Full Image

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — With the international media, foreign guests and ethnic Koreans from around the region descending on their capital, North Koreans are being mobilized en masse to put the finishing touches on one of the few things their country wants the whole world to see — a lavish celebration and military parade to mark the 70th anniversary of the nation's ruling party.

Masses of Pyongyang residents, many carrying bouquets of pink or red plastic flowers, gathered in public squares across the city Thursday to practice their roles in the grand show to be held on Saturday for the anniversary of the 1945 founding of the Workers' Party of Korea. The city has also undergone an extensive face-lift, with soldier-builders working around the clock to build high-rise apartments, pave roads and even put in bicycle lanes.

The spectacle promises to be the most elaborate since leader Kim Jong Un assumed power after the death of his father, Kim Jong Il, in late 2011.

Though officials have not publicly announced the schedule for Saturday's events, the day is expected to kick off with a major military parade and mass rally on Kim Il Sung Square in the morning and climax with another mass gathering for a torchlight parade and concert to be held on a special stage set up on the nearby Taedong River, which runs through the capital.

(AP) North Koreans riding on the back of a pickup truck carry props to be used during...
Full Image

It's not known if Kim himself will speak publicly at any of the day's events, though he did give reporters a surprise, close-up photo opportunity two years ago when the country held a similarly elaborate celebration for the 60th anniversary of the armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War.

To make sure everyone taking part in the spectacle knows their part, students, work units and other groups have filled public plazas for weeks to hone their marching, flag-waving and slogan-shouting skills. On Thursday, crowds of students waving red flags and women in brightly colored traditional clothing could be seen in the area around the square. North Korean flags lined the streets.

Open source satellite imagery suggests military units are practicing on a mock-up of the square at an airstrip farther away from prying eyes.

"We are very proud of the 70th anniversary of the foundation of our party, it's an honor for us, and with this anniversary we will demonstrate our invincible single-hearted unity," said Chang Yong Ho, a student who will be taking part.

North Korea's leadership often uses anniversaries to rally the nation behind the military or the party, while at the same time reinforcing the primacy of the leader himself. The particularly strong emphasis on making the party foundation anniversary this year a lavish fete is also seen by some foreign analysts as a sign that Kim Jong Un is trying to build up the party's standing relative to the military.

Though both institutions are strong, the power balance among various government organs in North Korea is a delicate one and maintaining that balance is a key to keeping Kim's leadership solid and unchallenged.

Giving some credence to that argument, North Korean officials have recently stressed the role of the party in improving the standard of living for the people and a rocket launch that some foreign analysts expected to happen before the anniversary now appears to be unlikely.

"Our party sees the steady improvement of the people's standard of living as its main concern above everything else," professor Kim Chang Gyong, of the North Korean Association of Social Scientists, said in an interview with an Associated Press Television News crew. "Our party is now concentrating on building an economically powerful socialist state."

 

[Housecarl]

Hummm.....

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2015/10/07/pakistan_too_big_to_fail_108552.html

October 7, 2015

Pakistan: Too Big to Fail

By Kevin Hulbert

As U.S. counterterrorism successes mount in eliminating terrorists in Pakistan, the al-Qaeda “glue” that holds the U.S.-Pakistan security relationship together has seemed to weaken. What is the future of the U.S.-Pakistan relationship? Tired and worn out by our long-running engagements in far away lands since 9/11, there is real temptation to wash our hands of the region. But one should heed the lessons learned from our experience washing our hands and leaving. Doing so in Iraq created a political and security vacuum into which the Islamic State surged, threatening world order and creating an all-new nightmare for the U.S. to confront.

We left Pakistan alone before, remember, back in 1989 after our extensive and well-choreographed U.S.-Saudi-Pakistan effort to train and supply the mujahedeen was successful in dislodging the Soviet Union from Afghanistan. We all celebrated as the last Soviet forces rolled across the Afghan-Uzbek Bridge on their retreat. Soon after, the U.S. was only too happy to wind down its very close engagement with Pakistan and move on to other challenges. That’s the way we are with our foreign policy. With a limited attention span, we almost always move along too quickly once we think a challenge has been met. The U.S. is like a cat playing with a ball of string—at first, the string fascinates us and occupies all of our attention, but after a while, just like the cat, we tire of things, and so we leave the ball of string on the floor and walk away.

The good news on Pakistan is that al-Qaeda’s core in Pakistan’s troubled Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) is largely destroyed. The U.S. government has decimated al-Qaeda and its extremist allies in the FATA, and it is telling that none of Ayman al-Zawahiri’s named successors are located in Pakistan. It is also telling that in order to stay alive, Zawahiri has isolated himself to the point of being irrelevant. He cannot communicate with his followers, he provides no command and control, and it takes him weeks, sometimes months, to respond in any meaningful way to current events.

This is not to say al-Qaeda is now incapable of planning and organizing an attack against the homeland—they are. Such is the difficulty of declaring a total victory in a situation that is such an asymmetrical war. While we have the most sophisticated and capable military and intelligence apparatus the world has ever known, the asymmetrical nature of the fight means that two brothers working independently and with good operational security will always be able to plan and launch an attack that the best military and intelligence service in the world will not be able to detect and defeat in advance.

But, now, at this juncture… what are we to do about Pakistan? The Pakistan of 2015 is a much different and a more complicated place than the country I first visited in 2003. Many of the trend lines seem to be moving in the wrong direction. For years, Pakistan felt justified in its use of jihadist militias to attack India in a war of attrition. It pursued a perverse double-dealing game where they supported “good” radical Muslim extremists that helped them in their proxy war against India, while at the same time trying to hold the line against the “bad” radical Muslim extremist elements who were focused on bringing down the Pakistani state. A large percentage of the Pakistan population does not view jihadi groups, including the Taliban and other militant religious groups, as dangerous elements, but rather as good soldiers of Islam comprised of men performing their religious duty. The fight against al-Qaeda in Pakistan was largely seen as a U.S. fight, not a Pakistan fight, and Pakistan’s unwillingness to make the hard choices required to confront the growing menace of radical extremism, created a monster.

Today, Pakistan finds itself in a very complicated security situation where there is little differentiation among radical groups. Terrorist groups, such as Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, are suddenly allied with al-Qaeda, while Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, the Pakistan Taliban, the Afghan Taliban, and other assorted miscreants and non-state actors are intent on bringing down the elected government of Pakistan. While the Pakistan government dithered, the militancy in the country took firm hold.

But, aside from the very compelling terrorism issue, there is also an overlay of a troublesome and rapidly growing Pakistani nuclear program along with an unusual problem: Pakistan is not a rogue state that might go nuclear, but rather a nuclear state that might go rogue. Such a situation presents an almost endless stream of nightmare scenarios for U.S. policymakers.

Pakistan also has one of the highest birthrates in the world and a population paradigm that is exploding with young people entering the workforce. Into this maelstrom, there is a corrupt, faltering, and virtually bankrupt economy that, for the last 13 years, has limped by, largely financed by the hat trick of IMF “loans," U.S. coalition support funds, and U.S. foreign aid. There is little hope for millions of young men entering the workforce every year. This failure of the state to provide jobs leads to an endless pool of potential converts to violent radical extremism. Likewise, the State’s failure to provide basic security has caused Foreign Direct Investment in Pakistan to founder.

While Pakistan is not the most dangerous country in the world, it is probably the most dangerous country for the world, and as such, a serious case for close and continued U.S. engagement with Pakistan can be made. As a country ripe with the triple threat of terrorism, a failing economy, and the fastest growing nuclear arsenal, Pakistan has the potential to create more nightmare scenarios for U.S. policymakers than any other country. Like it or not, Pakistan is similar to a bank or company considered too big to let fail because of the ripple effect it might cause across the entire economy. The specter of the sixth largest country in the world being a failed state is a hypothetical catastrophe that would unleash a world of unintended consequences. Rather than risk it, and as much as we might like to move on, we really should increase the level of engagement with Pakistan, not decrease it.

Kevin Hulbert is a former senior intelligence officer in the CIA’s Directorate of Operations who retired in June 2014. He is currently the President of XK Group. Kevin served multiple overseas tours as CIA Chief of Station and Deputy Chief of Station.


This article originally appeared at The Cipher Brief.

 

[Lilbitsnana]

Nathan J Hunt Retweeted
North Korea News ‏@140DPRK 8h8 hours ago

US says ready to defend against North Korean nuclear threat - Reuters http://bit.ly/1LmGMZG #northkorea #dprk

 

[Lilbitsnana]

Conflict News ‏@Conflicts 24m24 minutes ago

NATO to create new HQs in #Hungary & #Slovakia, boost response forces to 40,000 troops: Stoltenberg

 

[Housecarl]

Nathan J Hunt Retweeted
North Korea News þ@140DPRK 8h8 hours ago

US says ready to defend against North Korean nuclear threat - Reuters http://bit.ly/1LmGMZG #northkorea #dprk

If Time Magazine is running such an article.........

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://time.com/4065771/nuclear-weapon-north-korea-strike-us/

The Pentagon Says That North Korea Is Capable of a Nuclear Strike on the U.S.

Nash Jenkins @pnashjenkins
4:13 AM ET

The secretive nation has long declined to give a straight answer about its nuclear capacity

Officials in Washington are of the opinion that North Korea’s nuclear arsenal holds missiles that could reach the mainland U.S.A. — but stress that it is a threat that the Pentagon is adequately prepared to face, according to one senior military official quoted by Reuters.

“I’m pretty confident that we’re going to knock down the numbers that are going to be shot,” Admiral Bill Gortney, who heads the U.S. Northern Command and the North American Aerospace Defense Command, said of a potential strike. He spoke at an event hosted by the international affairs think tank Atlantic Council on the matter of “protecting the homeland.”

North Korea has long taunted the West with allusions to the country’s nuclear means. Every few years, it announces that it has conducted successful nuclear tests, boasts that are interspersed with erratic pledges to end them in return for economic aid or diplomatic concessions. Authorities in Pyongyang say that recent rocket launches are part of a legitimate space program.

Gortney said that the Pentagon is seeking to update its missile defense system despite the impending threat of congressional budget cuts.

“We’re ready for[Kim], and we’re ready 24 hours a day if he should be dumb enough to shoot something at us,” Gortney said.

 

[vestige]

From#27:

US Officials Ask How ISIS Got So Many Toyota Trucks


This is a simple one...

Toyota's bid was the lowest.

on the serious issues however...

It looks like NATO (US) is going to be "defending" allies all over hell and Christmas.

NATO is gonna be spread as thin as a gnat's ass stretched over a rain barrel the way it looks to me.

whistling by the graveyard bump

 

[Lilbitsnana]

From#27:

US Officials Ask How ISIS Got So Many Toyota Trucks


This is a simple one...

Toyota's bid was the lowest.

on the serious issues however...

It looks like NATO (US) is going to be "defending" allies all over hell and Christmas.

NATO is gonna be spread as thin as a gnat's ass stretched over a rain barrel the way it looks to me.

whistling by the graveyard bump

There are 28 NATO member countries...wouldn't all of those countries troops/entire mil be available if actual NATO forces/jets were attacked?


There are currently 28 members

Sort alphabetically

Albania (2009)
Belgium (1949)
Bulgaria (2004)
Canada (1949)
Croatia (2009)
Czech Republic (1999)
Denmark (1949)
Estonia (2004)
France (1949)
Germany (1955)
Greece (1952)
Hungary (1999)
Iceland (1949)
Italy (1949)
Latvia (2004)
Lithuania (2004)
Luxembourg (1949)
Netherlands (1949)
Norway (1949)
Poland (1999)
Portugal (1949)
Romania (2004)
Slovakia (2004)
Slovenia (2004)
Spain (1982)
Turkey (1952)
The United Kingdom (1949)
The United States (1949)