WAR 10-08-2016-to-10-14-2016_____****THE****WINDS****of****WAR****

[Housecarl]

(236) 09-17-2016-to-09-23-2016_____****THE****WINDS****of****WAR****
http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/show...23-2016_____****THE****WINDS****of****WAR****

(237) 09-24-2016-to-09-30-2016_____****THE****WINDS****of****WAR****
http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/show...30-2016_____****THE****WINDS****of****WAR****

(238) 10-01-2016-to-10-07-2016_____****THE****WINDS****of****WAR****
http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/show...07-2016_____****THE****WINDS****of****WAR****

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Report: U.S. Pacific Command chief tells troops to be ready to 'fight tonight'
Started by*Lone_Hawk‎,*Yesterday*05:46 PM
http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/show...ief-tells-troops-to-be-ready-to-fight-tonight

Russia moving nuclear-capable missiles into Kaliningrad, says Estonia
Started by*danielboon‎,*Yesterday*11:58 AM
http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/show...apable-missiles-into-Kaliningrad-says-Estonia

Five Myths About Russia
Started by*Troke‎,*Yesterday*04:45 PM
http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/showthread.php?501953-Five-Myths-About-Russia

Gen. Mike Flynn: Why Hillary's record on Libya is even worse than you think
Started by*thompson‎,*Yesterday*08:00 AM
http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/show...-record-on-Libya-is-even-worse-than-you-think

Russia: ANY aircraft attacking Syrian military positions will be instantly shot down
http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/show...y-positions-will-be-instantly-shot-down/page4

Opium growth in Afghanistan soars, eradication close to zero – UN
Started by*Millwright‎,*Yesterday*10:07 AM
http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/show...hanistan-soars-eradication-close-to-zero-–-UN

Israel 2016: attacks, threats, politics etc from ISIS, Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, the world.
http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/show...om-ISIS-Hamas-Hezbollah-Iran-the-world./page4

M5.3 Explosion - 15km ENE of Sungjibaegam, North Korea
http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/show...on-15km-ENE-of-Sungjibaegam-North-Korea/page6

Police kill man armed with machete on CU Boulder, Colorado campus
Started by*mzkitty‎,*10-05-2016*10:28 AM
http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/show...ed-with-machete-on-CU-Boulder-Colorado-campus

ISIS Calls for Random Knife Attacks in Alleys, Forests, Beaches, 'Quiet Neighborhoods'
Started by*mzkitty‎,*10-05-2016*07:41 PM
http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/show...in-Alleys-Forests-Beaches-Quiet-Neighborhoods

U.S. Military Is Building a $100 Million Drone Base in Africa
Started by*Dozdoats‎,*10-06-2016*08:01 AM
http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/show...s-Building-a-100-Million-Drone-Base-in-Africa

US To Suspend Syria Diplomacy With Russia, Prepares "Military Options"
http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/show...sia-Prepares-quot-Military-Options-quot/page7

Reports of clashes between Indian and Pakistani forces near the town of Poonch.
http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/show...kistani-forces-near-the-town-of-Poonch./page2

Main Islamic State (IS, aka ISIS, daesh, ISIL, etc) thread for 2016
http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/show...ka-ISIS-daesh-ISIL-etc)-thread-for-2016/page8

40 Million Russians Going To Bunkers During October 4th To October 7th*Drills
http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/show...uring-October-4th-To-October-7th*Drills/page3


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For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://www.popsci.com/china-builds-new-islandfor-its-aircraft-carrier

Military

China Adds An Island Tower To Its Aircraft Carrier

New photos of the growing CV-17

By Jeffrey Lin and P.W. Singer October 6, 2016

http://www.popsci.com/sites/popsci....16/10/cv-17_island.jpg?itok=dTPpLOhe&fc=50,50

New Island
Aircraft carrier "CV-17" is nearing completion; the installation of the island (in two pieces) means that most major exterior work on the aircraft carrier is now complete.
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The Type 001A "CV17" aircraft carrier is China's first domestically built aircraft carrier. In October 2016, it took a key step forward with its island structure fully installed.
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Half an Island
The island structure of aircraft carrier CV-17 is so large that they had to install it as two modules, with the forward module going first. It will then be fitted with radars and communications gear.
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Since 2014, the "CV-17" has been under construction at Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Corporation's drydocks. While the Type 001A largely follows the Soviet design of the Liaoning (ex Varyag) carrier, including a ski-jump ramp for aircraft short takeoffs, some of its more notable changes include a larger displacement, new sensors and optimized aircraft storage.
-

http://www.popsci.com/sites/popsci....uhan_new_cv_island.jpg?itok=oUrjTid9&fc=50,50
Even the Land Carrier
The aircraft carrier testing rig (used for personnel training and electronic system testing) has been renovated this summer with a newer island, which could reflect the finished layout of CV-17's island.
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Located on the carrier's starboard (right) side, the island houses the bridge and flight control center, as well as radars. The island, heavily based on the one found on the Soviet-built Liaoning carrier, is so big that Dalian shipyards had to install the structure in two pieces. The new island will be far more capable in what it offers the ship. While the Liaoning has older Type 346 active electronically scanned array (AESA) radars (also found on the Type 052C destroyer), CV-17 will have newer Type 346A radars to control its J-15 fighters and detect enemy aircraft and missiles. The best indicator of what the completed CV-17 will look like actually comes from the island on the "land" carrier test building in Wuhan, which has also been upgraded with Type 346A radars this year.
-

http://www.popsci.com/sites/popsci....es/2016/05/cv_001a.jpg?itok=WXa5C4sa&fc=38,38
All Home Made
The Type 001A, with a likely hull number 17, will be China's second, and first homebuilt aircraft carrier. Once it enters service in 2020, it will make the PLAN the world's second (but still distant) most powerful aircraft carrier force.
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With all major structures on the CV-17 complete, the remaining tasks before launch include wiring the ship, installing sensors, electronics and self defense weapons, and various key systems like aircraft elevators, ship propellers and rudders. Presently, the CV-17is targeted to hit the water in mid 2017 for fitting out, and then into service with the PLAN, thus expanding China's naval aviation capability and power projection. However, the CV-17 can expect to reach operational status faster that its predecessor benefits from the Liaoning's years of training Chinese carrier pilots. And with more capable carriers in the pipeline, like the catapult-equipped Type 002 and nuclear-powered Type 003, China's blue-water navy will only become more formidable.

You may also be interested in:
China's New Aircraft Carrier Gets a Ski Ramp
China's First Homemade Carrier Moves Forward
Chinese Shipyard Looks to Build Giant Floating Islands
Happy Chinese New Years from China's New Aircraft Carrier
China's Aircraft Carrier Fighters Go Operational?
Is this a Model of China's Next Aircraft Carrier
Missile Sub Pairs with Aircraft Carrier

 

[Housecarl]

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://thediplomat.com/2016/10/russia-lays-down-3-new-nuclear-submarines/

Russia Lays Down 3 New Nuclear Submarines
Russia has begun construction of three new subs including its latest ballistic missile nuclear submarine.

By Franz-Stefan Gady
October 07, 2016

Three new submarines were officially laid down at the Sevmash shipyard in Severodvinsk, a port city on Russia’s White Sea a few weeks ago, according to Russian media reports. Laying down formally kicks off a ship’s construction with a ceremony.

The three submarines include the second improved variant of the Borei-class of nuclear powered ballistic missile submarines*(SSBN), the Project 955A*Borei*II Knyaz Oleg slated to join Russia’s Pacific Fleet in 2018-19; a new Yasen-class multi-purpose attack nuclear submarine (SSGN), the Krasnoyarsk with an unknown completion date, and a mysterious new sub known as Khabarovsk*also identified as Project 0951.

“nder the state arms program endorsed by you and in compliance with the schedule set by the Russian Ministry of Defense, Sevmash laid down three new atomic submarines – the Knyaz Oleg, which is the fifth Borei, the Khabarovsk and one more Yasen, the modernized project 885M,” the director general of Sevmash, Mikhail Budnichenko said during a videoconference session with Russian President Vladimir Putin in late July, TASS news agency reports.

Enjoying this article? Click here to subscribe for full access. Just $5 a month.
The most intriguing and least known about sub is the mysterious Project 0951 Khabarovsk. As I noted elsewhere (See: “Revealed: Russia’s Top Secret Nuclear Torpedo”), one of the first times that plans for the construction of the Khabarovsk were revealed occurred in November 2015, when Russian state-run television station accidentally aired top secret plans of a new long-range nuclear torpedo called Status-6. (Some sources indicate that the leak was intentional.)

According to a slide filmed by the television crew, “oceanic multi-purpose Status-6 system” is designed to “destroy important economic installations of the enemy in coastal areas and cause guaranteed devastating damage to the country’s territory by creating wide areas of radioactive contamination, rendering them unusable for military, economic or other activity for a long time.”

I explained:
With a diameter of 1 meter, the “robotic mini-submarine” (or torpedo) would apparently be launched by either a Project 09852 sub – based on the 949A*Oscar-class boat—or a Project 09851 submarine, laid down in December 2012 and July 2014 respectively and with unknown completion dates.

Once completed, both submarines will have the capability to carry smaller unmanned underwater vehicles (UUV): The Project 09852 sub will be able to carry up to six torpedoes, whereas a Project 09851 boat will be capable of fitting up to four UUVs.

There have also been Russian media reports that a Project 09851 boat was laid down in 2014. Another Russian source, also referring to a Project 09851 laid down in the middle of 2014, claims that the new sub will likely be commissioned by 2020. It is unclear whether all these reports speak of the same submarine, or whether more than one Project 09851 sub was laid down in the last two years.

 

[Housecarl]

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
https://warisboring.com/the-pentagons-war-in-libya-is-quietly-heating-up-1fa7271db213#.flrm9ppaa

War Is BoringFollow
We go to war so you don’t have to
yesterday6 min read

The Pentagon’s War in Libya Is Quietly Heating*Up

U.S. Marines take the lead but are likely not alone in attacking the Islamic*State

by JOSEPH TREVITHICK

The Pentagon’s war in Libya appears to be escalating with a surge in reported strikes. And the U.S. Marine Corps — which has played an outsized role in the war — may no longer be alone in attacking the Islamic State faction in and around the eastern city of Sirte.

On Oct. 2, U.S. forces conducted 20 different missions and blew up more than six dozen individual targets, according to an official press release from the Pentagon’s main command for operations in Africa. By that point, American pilots had conducted more than 200 air strikes since the campaign began on Aug. 1.

“We have a range of capabilities at various locations in the region that will allow us to carry out these air strikes,” Capt. Lauren Ott, a public affairs officer with the Air Force’s top headquarters for operations in Europe and Africa, told War Is Boring by email.

“As you are already aware, the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp*… is one asset currently supporting operations in Libya.”

Marine aviators based aboard Wasp have blasted the Islamic State in Libya since the beginning of the mission, dubbed Odyssey Lightning. Though the Air Force’s drones were involved in the strikes early on, the Pentagon’s released information almost solely concerns the leathernecks’ operations.

However, it is highly unlikely that the Marines could have flown all of the Oct. 2 missions by themselves.

Publicly available photographs from Odyssey Lightning show AV-8B Harrier jump jets carrying only two bombs on each sortie. Pictures similarly show AH-1W Cobra gunship helicopters heading toward the Sirte area armed with only two missiles.

A typical Marine Expeditionary Unit, such as the one aboard Wasp, has six AV-8s and four AH-1s. Assuming each carried two weapons at a time and the crews only needed one bomb or missile to destroy each target, these jets and choppers would have each needed to fly nearly four individual missions on Oct. 2.

And on Oct. 3, American pilots hit more than two dozen new targets. Again, the Marines would have had to put each of their aircraft in the air at least once to meet that demand.

As of Sept. 15, the destroyer USS Carney escorting Wasp had not contributed directly to the strikes, according to an email from the U.S. Africa Command public affairs office. It is more likely that Air Force fighter-bombers and drones, flying from bases in Europe, helped out on at least some of these missions.

A Fierce Air War Over Libya’s Oil Fields Has Killed Innocent Civilians

Someone bombed the Hell out of Al Jufrah

Flying from the United Kingdom, the flying branch’s F-15E Strike Eagles make regular trips to Africa and the Middle East. The Pentagon declined to confirm or deny whether F-15s participated in the recent Libya strikes.

“U.S. forces use a variety of platforms to conduct the air strikes in support of*… forces conducting ground operations to liberate Sirte from Daesh control,” Chuck Prichard, the media relations team chief at U.S. Africa Command, told War Is Boring in an email. “For operational security reasons, we cannot specify which platforms were used nor the specific unit designation of the U.S. forces conducting the air strikes.”

Part of the reason for this policy no doubt has to do with concerns from Libya’s international recognized Government of National Accord, or GNA. Prime Minister Fayez Al Sarraj and his cabinet only arrived in the country’s capital Tripoli in March.

For more than a year, two competing regimes had run parallel institutions in Tripoli and Tobruk. While the United Nations-supported GNA was supposed to end the infighting, Libya continued to have trouble bringing a myriad different factions and militias — some of whom are wary of Washington’s motives — together.

“The challenge of the Government of National Accord is to bring [the militias] together to, you know: one, for the future of Libya,” U.S. Army Gen. David Rodriguez, then-chief of U.S. Africa Command, told reporters on April 7.

“We’ll just have to see how this government of national accord develops and*… what they think is in their best interests and how much they’re willing to ask or, you know, need international aid.”

Another reason is Washington’s own shaky legal justification for the operation. After announcing the first air strikes in August, the Pentagon described a confusing and at times contradictory timeline of how it arrived at the decision to help the GNA.

“From a domestic law perspective, the argument seems to hang in the first-instance on the now-familiar claim that the 2001 AUMF extends to ISIL,” Robert Chesney, a law professor at the University of Texas at Austin and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution noted at Lawfare.

Pres. Barack Obama and his administration have argued that Congress’ 15-year old Authorization for Use of Military Force against Al Qaeda covers the Islamic State because the group is an outgrowth Al Qaeda’s franchise in Iraq.

Great, Now There Are Two Competing Libyan Air Forces

Who’s backing who?

“The interesting twist the Odyssey Lightning presents, of course, is the extension of that authority to Libya and the manifestation of ISIL present there,” Chesney added. “ Given that the ‘01 AUMF has always been construed by the government to have no geographic boundaries vis-a-vis Al Qaeda*… this is not particularly surprising.”

Critics have not been swayed by these rationalizations. For many, the Libya strikes are just the latest extension of a bad policy based on a bad law.

“The long-term effects of this latest escalation in the war against ISIS*… are uncertain,” the New York Times editorial board wrote on Aug. 2. “The Obama administration is relying on a 2001 legal mandate*… because the White House and Congress have been unwilling to compromise on the parameters of a new one that would define the scope and goals of the military campaign.”

Since American troops went back to Iraq to help fight the Islamic State in 2014, Obama and legislators have been going back and forth over the legal underpinnings of the mission and the basic definitions of “combat.”

The debate transcends the fight against Islamic State, whether it be in Iraq, Syria, Libya or anywhere else. In Somalia, where American troops are fighting the Al Qaeda-linked militant group Al Shabab, the Pentagon has curiously described air strikes for supposedly non-combat forces as “self-defense.”

“The U.S. military continues to classify combat operations against Shabab, Al Qaeda’s branch in Somalia, as ‘self-defense strikes,’ even though many of the incidents reported*… are clearly offensive in nature,” Bill Roggio wrote at the Long War Journal, which does its best to track these missions.

The Pentagon has “has loosely defined targets such as IED facilities and training camps as ‘counterterrorism operations,’ when in reality these are military operations since they are often launched against hardened or well-defended targets.”

Back in Libya, the Pentagon has adopted a similarly obtuse method of grouping strikes regardless of the total number of targets American aviators attack.

This means the official tally of strikes for two separate days might be the same even if the attacks on one day destroyed exponentially more Islamic State vehicles, facilities or nebulous “fighting positions.”

And upon closer inspection of the reports, it seems clear that Washington is stepping up air strikes in Libya and committing more American troops to the mission.

 

[Housecarl]

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://thediplomat.com/2016/10/the-saudi-iran-rivalry-and-sectarian-strife-in-south-asia/

The Saudi-Iran Rivalry and Sectarian Strife in South Asia

Iran and Saudi Arabia are recruiting and radicalizing local Muslim populations in Afghanistan, India, and Pakistan.

By Abha Shankar
October 06, 2016

The arrest of an Iranian official in Afghanistan*in late August*for “recruiting Afghan Shiite fighters and sending them to Syria” illustrates how the Middle East’s Sunni-Shia battle for dominance has found renewed fervor in South Asia.

The Iranan official, Qurban Ghalambor is a representative of Iran Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s office. Afghan officials say Iran has created a new brigade of Afghan and Pakistani fighters led by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps to help efforts to prop up Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad.

The Islamic Republic’s recruitment of Shia Muslims is fueling increased sectarian attacks by the Islamic State (ISIS) and affiliated terrorist groups.

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A deadly suicide bombing in July claimed by ISIS, for example, was allegedly perpetrated in retaliation to the recruitment of hundreds of Shia Hazaras by Iran to fight the terrorist group in Syria. “Unless they stop going to Syria and stop being slaves of Iran, we will definitely continue such attacks,” an ISIS commander was reported to have told Reuters. The bomb attack on a peaceful demonstration mostly attended by members of the Shiite Hazara minority in Kabul killed 80 people and wounded more than 260 others.

Sunni-Shia tensions in the region are also being inflamed by the*financial support Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states allegedly give to sectarian terrorist groups such as Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ). The group claimed responsibility for a suicide attack that killed 24 people in a religious procession during the Shia Ashura festival last October in Jacobabad in Pakistan’s Sindh province. LeJ has connections to the Islamic State and has been responsible for deadly sectarian attacks inside Pakistan.

Tehran’s recruitment of Shia Muslims to fight in Syria and Iraq, and Riyadh’s funding of Sunni terrorist groups are intensifying the Saudi-Iran rivalry for influence in the region and radicalizing local Muslim populations.

Iran’s Recruitment Drive

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) is secretly conscripting hundreds of Afghan Shia to fight alongside Assad’s forces in Syria. Draftees are lured by promises of an Iranian residence permit and a monthly salary of about $500.

Shias, who are predominantly of Hazara ethnicity and speak a dialect of Persian, comprise 20 percent of Afghanistan’s 30 million people.

The IRGC also has drafted thousands of undocumented migrant and refugee Afghans in Iran, according to a Human Rights Watch report. Afghan refugees and migrants who have fled war and persecution are threatened with deportation back to their home country if they refuse the draft.

Afghans recruited to fight in the Syrian civil war are deployed with the Fatemiyoun Division, launched by the IRGC in 2014 and named after Prophet Muhammad’s daughter, Fatima.

Fatemiyoun forces are estimated to consist of 20,000 fighters whose primary mission is to safeguard Shia shrines in Syria, primarily the Sayyida Zeinab mosque in Damascus, one of Shia Islam’s holiest sites that has been the target of ISIS attacks. Division fighters sometimes are coerced into carrying out perilous military operations and reportedly received training from the Lebanese Hezbollah. Funerals for fighters killed in battle are held in the holy city of Qom and other Iranian cities and attended by Iranian officials.

The IRGC has similarly established the Zeinabiyoun Brigade for Pakistani Shia deployed to fight in Syria. Known popularly as Hezbollah Pakistan, the Zeinabiyoun has a logo similar to that of the Lebanese Hezbollah and its Facebook postings applaud the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

In June 2014, 30,000 Indian Shia Muslims volunteered to fight Islamic State forces in Iraq to protect Shiite shrines from being targeted by Islamic State terrorists who routinely attack these shrines. Volunteers ranged from students to professionals such as bankers, doctors, and engineers. “We are looking at a million volunteers to form a human chain around the holy shrines of Karbala and Najaf, in case the Isis [sic] attacks. We will do everything to stop the advance of the enemies,” Syed Bilal, spokesman of the India-based Shia group, Anjuman-e-Haideri, told Iraqi News.

Tehran-Riyadh Battleground for Dominance

Over the years, the struggle between Riyadh and Tehran for control in South Asia has fueled the modern iteration of Islam’s ancient schism between Sunni and Shia Islam in the region. Since the creation of an Islamic Republic in Iran in 1979, Tehran has sought to export its revolution to Shia populations around the world.

Efforts by Tehran’s clerical regime to spread its version of Islam, also known as “Khomeinism” after the Iranian revolution’s founder, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, ignited tensions with Sunni Saudi Arabia, Iran’s rival power in the Middle East. To counter Iranian influence, Saudi Arabia funneled millions of dollars to madrassas – or Islamic seminaries – in the region to propagate the kingdom’s official Wahhabist ideology,*which*emphasizes an austere practice of Islam and the literal interpretation of the Quran. The Saudis also financed a large part of the jihad waged by the Afghan mujahideen (holy warriors) fighting Soviet forces in Afghanistan. The Saudi drive for influence in the region was aided in large part by General Zia ul-Haq’s Islamization campaign in Pakistan around the same time. Riyadh also helped fund Sunni sectarian groups, such as the Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), that were created during Zia’s regime “as a response to the increasing political solidarity of Pakistan’s Shia community in the late 1970s and early 1980s, a byproduct of the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran.”

In a 2012 Reuters interview, a top SSP leader expressed concern about Iran’s “grand designs” in the region, warning that “f Iranian interference continues it will destroy this country.”

U.S. embassy cables released in 2010 by the whistleblower website WikiLeaks reaffirm*that “Saudi Arabia remains a critical financial support base for al-Qa’ida, the Taliban, LeT [Lashkar-e-Taiba], and other terrorist groups” that operate in South Asia.

Soft Power to Win Hearts and Minds

Both Riyadh and Tehran exercise soft power to expand influence in the region. That includes sponsorship of madrassas, mosques, and media centers. Of the nearly 285 Islamic seminaries in Pakistan that receive overseas funding, two-thirds get financial support from Saudi Arabia and other Sunni Gulf monarchies, while one-third are sponsored by Shia-majority countries such as Iran and Iraq. “This competition for the minds of young Pakistanis fuels sectarian strife in the country, which is roughly 80 percent Sunni,” notes leading South Asia expert Bruce Reidel.

Meanwhile, Tehran has built one of the largest madrassas in Kabul, the Khatam-al Nabyeen Islamic University, which*is reported to be “closely linked with Iran” and “serves as a focal point of Iranian influence activities, including the promotion of velayat-e faghih [Guardianship of the Islamic Jurists].” Saudi Arabia upped the ante by*building a $100 million mosque and Islamic Education Center in Kabul.

Tehran also supports the sponsorship of the annual Quds Day (Jerusalem Day) celebration in Afghanistan to draw attention to the “occupation” of Al-Asqa Mosque and the Israeli “oppression” of Palestinians. The rallies routinely feature chants of “Down with America” and “Boycott Israel.”

Iran’s Ministry of Science, Research, and Technology offers scholarships to Afghan and Pakistan nationals to pursue higher education at Iranian universities. The founding of the Imam Khomeini Memorial Trust (IKMT) in Kargil, in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, was inspired by the Iranian revolution and is run by clerics trained in Iran. The IKMT Facebook page features photos of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei meeting with family members of fighters “martyred” in Syria and Iraq.

Saudi Arabia’s*execution*of prominent Shia cleric Nimr al-Nimr in January, following his conviction on terrorism charges, sparked protests by Shia Muslims in the region and around the world, including in South Asia. In Quetta, where Shias have been*routinely targeted, protesters held up placards with anti-Saudi slogans and*called*on Islamabad to reassess its ties with Riyadh. Maulana Kalbe Jawad, secretary general of the Majlis-e-Ulama-e-Hind (MUD), an organization of Shia clerics in India,*said*al-Nimr’s execution is “not only un-Islamic but will also have serious consequences and eventually bring about the end of the Saudi kingdom.” Jawad, who was*alleged*in a 2006 diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks to be a paid spy for Tehran, has also*lobbied*to withdraw India’s accusation of Iran’s role in a 2012 terror attack on an Israeli diplomat in New Delhi, calling the claim a “conspiracy.”

Tehran’s growing outreach within the Indian Shia community has been viewed with growing concern by Riyadh. Diplomatic documents from the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs released last year by WikiLeaks include an appeal to the Saudi government from the secretary general of the terror-tied Muslim World League headquartered in Mecca for more Salafi centers in India to counter Iran’s expanding influence. Saudi-supported ultra-conservative Wahhabi Islam has over the decades attracted adherents across the country, particularly in the Indian states of Kerala and Karnataka, and facilitated indoctrination and recruitment efforts by ISIS and other terror groups.

Controversial Indian preacher Zakir Naik,*alleged to be the inspiration behind a July attack on a café frequented by foreigners in Dhaka, Bangladesh, received the prestigious King Faisal International Prize last year from Saudi Arabia’s King Salman for his “service to Islam.” Naik, who has called the 9/11 attacks an “inside job,” is reported to receive funding from Saudi Arabia.

The Sunni-Shia feud that drives much of the violence in the Middle East and has aided the rise of sectarian terrorist groups such as the Islamic State is being replayed in South Asia. Since the start of the Islamic Revolution and Saudi Arabia’s support to Afghan mujahideen fighting the Soviets, the Saudi-Arabia and Iran rivalry continues to deepen Sunni-Shia divisions in the region, radicalizing Muslim communities and creating an environment for the Islamic State and other sectarian groups to flourish.

Abha Shankar is a Senior Research Fellow at the Investigative Project on Terrorism.

 

[Housecarl]

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://www.interpretermag.com/syria-october-7-2016/#15269

The Russian Hawk, The American Dove? A Crazy Week In The Rhetorical And Physical Airspace Above Syria
October 7, 2016

Russian Rhetoric Would Have The World Believe That Nuclear War Is Imminent

19:36 (GMT)

If experts graded the rhetorical nuclear threat level, this week Russia may have pushed the world to Defcon 2.*

Last week, the agreement between the United States and Russia to work together to fight terrorism in Syria fell apart. The three most obvious reasons for ending cooperation:

1. The U.S. airstrike that accidentally killed more than 60 members of the Syrian regime. U.S. officials apologized for the strike, though they were also unsure of how it happened, leading some to think that they were fooled into bombing the target:*

The Daily Beast

U.S. May Have Killed Prisoners, Not Troops, in Syria Strike
The U.S. military currently is investigating whether the Syrian troops it supposedly bombed on Saturday were, in fact, former prisoners turned into makeshift conscript soldiers for Syrian President Bashar al Assad. That's according to two U.S. defense officials who spoke with The Daily Beast on condition of anonymity.
View full page →
Oct 07, 2016 22:48 (GMT)

2. The Russian airstrike against a UN convoy that killed 19 civilians and 12 aid workers near Aleppo:*

The Daily Beast

This Is How Russia Bombed the U.N. Convoy
GUILTY AS CHARGED The international reaction to Monday night's devastating attack on an aid convoy in the Syrian town of Urem al-Kubra has been swift and furious. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, in an unusually forthright speech at the General Assembly, described the attack as "savage and apparently deliberate."
View full page →
Oct 07, 2016 22:49 (GMT)

3. The vicious Russian and Syrian airstrikes that have targeted civilians, aid workers, and hospitals, particularly in the besieged city of Aleppo:*

Reuters

Russian, Syrian missiles pound Aleppo, destroy hospital: rebels and aid workers
AMMAN Russian warplanes and their Syrian government allies battered rebel-held areas in and around Aleppo on Saturday, and rebels and aid workers accused them of destroying one of the city's main hospitals and killing at least two patients.
View full page →
Oct 07, 2016 22:52 (GMT)

But it is Kremlin that has attempted to paint the United States as the aggressor, the hawk, and Russia as the dove that is striving for peace. Tweets like this from the Russian embassy to the United States have typified more than a week of statements from the Kremlin:

MFA Russia
✔
@mfa_russia
#Gatilov: Using humanitarian tragedy in #Syria to advance political agenda is absolutely unacceptable
http://
sptnkne.ws/cubv
*
1:56 AM - 4 Oct 2016
42
42 Retweets
29
29 likes

https://twitter.com/mfa_russia/status/783280263589728256/photo/1

MFA Russia
✔
@mfa_russia
The administration of Barack Obama has done all it could to destroy the atmosphere of trust between Russia and USA
http://www.
mid.ru/en/foreign_pol
icy/news/-/asset_publisher/cKNonkJE02Bw/content/id/2485021*
…
5:19 AM - 4 Oct 2016
121
121 Retweets
88
88 likes

MFA Russia
✔
@mfa_russia
#Ryabkov: Washington will not succeed in laying the blame at someone else’s doorstep
http://www.
mid.ru/en/foreign_pol
icy/news/-/asset_publisher/cKNonkJE02Bw/content/id/2488693*
…
1:30 AM - 5 Oct 2016
89
89 Retweets
57
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Then Russia responded by dropping out of several treaties with the U.S. that were designed to facilitate nuclear cooperation on both a civilian and a military level:*

RT International

Russia suspends nuclear cooperation with US, says Washington violated agreement
Moscow has announced the suspension of cooperation with the US in the nuclear and energy sectors. In a written statement the Kremlin said Washington violated the agreement by imposing sanctions on Russia over Ukraine. The decree on halting the cooperation agreement was signed by the Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and published on the Cabinet's website.
View full page →
Oct 07, 2016 22:58 (GMT)

If that was bad, it was about to get worse. The Russian embassy to the U.S. threatened to shoot down coalition airplanes if they crossed Russia in Syria:

Russian Embassy, USA
✔
@RusEmbUSA
All jokes aside, #Russia will take every defensive measure necessary to protect its personnel stationed in #Syria from terrorist threat.
5:42 AM - 5 Oct 2016
1,194
1,194 Retweets
963
963 likes

*

Then Russia bragged about having deployed its most dangerous anti-aircraft weapons in Syria and openly stated that it could shoot down U.S. coalition aircraft:

RT International

'S-300, S-400 air defenses in place': Russian MoD warns US-led coalition not to strike Syrian army
Russia's Defense Ministry has cautioned the US-led coalition of carrying out airstrikes on Syrian army positions, adding in Syria there are numerous S-300 and S-400 air defense systems up and running. Russia currently has S-400 and S-300 air-defense systems deployed to protect its troops stationed at the Tartus naval supply base and the Khmeimim airbase.
View full page →
Oct 07, 2016 23:01 (GMT)

Sputniknews

Russia Placed S-300 Missiles in Syria After Learning of US Plan to Bomb Airbases
Middle East Get short URL "The S-300 appeared there [in Syria] after experts close to the American establishment had started leaking information...that the US could hit Syrian airfields with cruise missiles," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said in an interview with Russia's Dozhd TV chennel.
View full page →
Oct 07, 2016 23:48 (GMT)

But Russia was just getting warmed up. Estonia is now warning that Russia is deploying the powerful*Iskander-M nuclear-capable ballistic missile to Kaliningrad, a Russian military outpost in the center of the Baltic states.*

the Guardian

Russia moving nuclear-capable missiles into Kaliningrad, says Estonia
Estonian officials have said that Russia appears to be moving powerful, nuclear capable missiles into Kaliningrad, a Russian outpost province sandwiched between Poland and Lithuania along the Baltic coast. The Iskander-M missiles, which have a range of over 500km, are reportedly being transported by ship from the St Petersburg area.
View full page →
Oct 07, 2016 23:06 (GMT)

Now, the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations (MChS), also known as EMERCOM has made the claim that as many as 40 million Russians will be taking part in emergency drills -- sometimes referred to as nuclear "firedrills" by observers. Though the claim that 40 million people are involved in these drills is perhaps extreme hyperbole, it does not change the fact that this is the message coming out of the Kremlin:*

Mchs

Large-scale All-Russian civil defense drill to take place from 4 to 7 October
All-Russian civil defense drill involving federal and regional executive authorities, local governments and organizations 'Organization of civil defense during large natural and man-caused disasters in the Russian Federation' will start tomorrow morning in
View full page →
Oct 07, 2016 23:13 (GMT)

Raising tensions further, Finland reports that a Russian SU-27 actually violated its airspace this week:*

Blogs of War @BlogsofWar
Russian Su-27 Fighter Jet Violated Estonian Airspace, NATO Envoy Says
http://www.
ibtimes.com/russian-su-27-
fighter-jet-violated-estonian-airspace-nato-envoy-says-2427968*
…
9:13 AM - 7 Oct 2016

Russia Violated Estonian Airspace, NATO Envoy Says
The alleged violation comes a day after Finland's defense ministry accused Russia of breaching its airspace.
ibtimes.com

28
28 Retweets
5
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This has caused Finland to look to the West for protection, but in some ways this plays into the Kremlin propaganda's main talking point -- that they are surrounded by enemies that are allied with the United States.*

RFE/RL
✔
@RFERL
Finland deepens military ties with U.S. after alleged airspace violations by Russia
http://
ow.ly/TmCl304Xxda
*

11:00 AM - 7 Oct 2016
28
28 Retweets
12
12 likes

And now, the Russian State Duma has approved a measure which would extend Russia's military presence in Syria indefinitely:*

euronews

Russia gets permanent Syrian air base, ponders reopening Cuban and Vietnamese bases
The Russian parliament has voted to ratify a treaty allowing Russian troops to stay in Syria indefinitely, and making the air base in Latakia permanent. It also confers diplomatic immunity status on military personnel. The vote passed unopposed, with just one abstention, as lawmakers agreed it would confer legitimacy on the Russian presence in Syria.
View full page →
Oct 07, 2016 23:28 (GMT)

All of this has left the U.S. scrambling for a new diplomatic direction. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has oscillated this week between calling for a reset in the agreement with Russia on Syria to accusing the Russian government of war crimes. And while the U.S. government has reconsidered the decision not to bomb the Assad regime, there are few analysts who believe that the Obama administration will start a war with Syria, much less with Russia, in its final few months in office.

The deployment of nuclear weapons of Kaliningrad and the threat to use anti-aircraft missiles in Syria is perhaps not so much a fundamental change in Russian military posturing as it is a threat to the U.S. populace, which is in an election season, that any solution to the crisis in Syria would be far more complicated than simple election-year rhetoric would have them believe.

-- James Miller

Published in Press-Stream October 7, 2016 in Publication Putin in Syria

 

[Housecarl]

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world...sh-line’/ar-BBxahN2?li=AA4Zpp&ocid=spartanntp

North Korea is ‘racing towards the nuclear finish line’

The Washington Post
Anna Fifield
1 hr ago

SEOUL — North Korea conducted its first nuclear test exactly 10 years ago Sunday, exploding a crude atomic bomb and crossing what had long been considered a “red line.”

A decade of condemnation, sanctions and ostracism later, the regime in Pyongyang has not pulled back. Far from it.

Today, the country has a demonstrated nuclear weapons program, has made clear progress with missiles and is widely assumed to be able to put the two together. The only real question now is whether North Korea can deliver a nuclear-tipped missile to a target, and that is not much of a question. If it cannot yet, it will soon, analysts say.

North Korea is “racing towards the nuclear finish line,” as Van Jackson, associate professor at the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies, a Pentagon think tank in Hawaii, puts it.

The next demonstration of leader Kim Jong Un’s intent could come as soon as Monday.

Oct. 10 is the anniversary of the establishment of North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party — an event celebrated with fanfare — and Pyongyang likes to time its provocations. Last month’s nuclear test was carried out on North Korea’s Foundation Day.

As a bonus, presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump will be taking to the stage for their second debate on Monday morning Korea time.

Preparations for another test could be underway. The latest commercial satellite imagery shows activity at all three tunnels leading into the nuclear test site at Punggye-ri, analyst Jack Liu wrote Thursday on 38*North, a website devoted to North Korea.

Even if North Korea lets Monday pass, there still may be fireworks before the year is out.

“That would make perfect sense in the warped logic of North Korea,” said Andrew Shearer, a former Australian national security adviser now at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

Hong Yong-pyo, South Korea’s unification minister, told a parliamentary hearing two weeks ago that he expected another provocation — whether a nuclear test or another long-range-missile launch — before the end of this year.

North Korea has been pursuing nuclear weapons for decades, ramping up efforts after the collapse of its benefactor, the Soviet Union, in 1989 and the end of the Cold War. But Kim Jong Il, the second-generation leader who ruled North Korea between 1994 and 2011, appeared to restrain the program because of Chinese pressure.

That is not the case with his son.

Kim Jong Un has ordered 49 missile tests in the almost five years since he took over, including 21 this year alone. He has also presided over three nuclear tests, two of them in 2016.

By contrast, North Korea conducted only 26 missile tests and two nuclear tests in the 18*years that Kim Jong Il was leader.

“With the ballistic missile tests one after the other, they seem to be under tremendous pressure to advance their program,” said David Albright, president of the Institute for Science and International Security, a Washington think tank that focuses on nuclear weapons.

North Korean scientists did not even appear to be taking the time to drill back into the nuclear test site to analyze the Sept.*9 explosion, a standard step that gives scientists a lot of information. “It’s really troubling,” Albright said of the pace of missile and nuclear testing.

The speed of the testing is breathtaking, but analysts seem to be more worried that North Korea is learning a lot and making big technical advances.

When North Korea first claimed to have launched a ballistic missile from a submarine in May, there was much derision because it appeared that the photographs had been doctored. Fast forward to August, and North Korea carried out a successful test from a submarine.

“It seems like North Korea is trying to build a wide array of delivery platforms so that they’re able to hit Japan, South Korea, American assets in Asia, and eventually, the homeland,” said Vipin Narang, a political scientist and expert on nuclear proliferation at MIT.

As the international community tries to formulate a harsh response to last month’s nuclear test, Pyongyang is likely to continue to hone its technology, experts say.
The September test was North Korea’s largest yet, with the explosion carrying a yield of about 10*kilotons of TNT. But Albright said he expected that the country would now try to find ways to boost its bomb’s yield up to 20 or 25*kilotons. The atomic bomb that the United States dropped on Hiroshima in 1945 had a yield of 15*kilotons.

The recent developments are alarming policymakers in neighboring countries and in the United States, leading to increasingly frequent talk about preemptive strikes — an option long considered so impossible it was hardly ever mentioned.

In the vice-presidential debate Tuesday, Democratic candidate Tim Kaine suggested he would support striking North Korea to stop a nuclear attack on the United States.

Mike Pence, his Republican rival, said that a President Trump would not allow North Korea to “flout American power.”

The South Korean Defense Ministry said this week that it would consult with its American ally “over a possible preemptive strike against North Korea . . . in case of an imminent nuclear attack by the North.”

U.S. leaders have long ruled out taking military action against Pyongyang. This is partly because there is no appetite in the United States for another war, and partly because preemptive action would almost certainly lead to the devastation of Seoul, a city of 20*million that is within range of North Korea’s conventional artillery.

But the advances in North Korea’s nuclear weapons program are starting to change the conversation in Washington, where the words “preemptive strike” are more regularly mentioned. “We’re still a long way from seeing the U.S. moving in that direction, but there has been a noticeable change in the dynamic,” Shearer said.

Meanwhile, some analysts are concerned about an accidental escalation, perhaps during joint exercises between the U.S. and South Korean militaries, or that North Korea might make its own preemptive move.

With its relatively small nuclear arsenal, North Korea might judge that its best strategy is to go first, Jackson said.

“If they have small numbers of nukes and they see the cavalry coming, their options are to sit on them and lose them, or use them and hope that it achieves something,” he said.

Narang said North Korea no longer appears to be following the Cold War model of having nuclear weapons for mutually assured destruction but seems to be looking more and more like Pakistan, which has adopted a strategy of “asymmetric escalation” — being able to use a nuclear arsenal against a conventional attack.

“It looks like North Korea is thinking about what it would look like if they had to use these weapons on their own,” Narang said. “This program is no longer a joke.”

 

[Housecarl]

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/news/2016/10/08/3/0200000000AEN20161008003100315F.html

N. Korea alludes to possible long-range rocket launch

2016/10/08 18:06

SEOUL, Oct. 8 (Yonhap) -- North Korea on Saturday pledged to venture into space more vigorously, possibly a sign of another satellite launch, which the international community denounces as a disguised test of a long-range missile.

"As one of the top-10 space powers, (North Korea) has reaffirmed its determination to open the path to conquer the vast space while securing the maximum level of transparency and in compliance of international regulations and practice," the North's ruling party newspaper Rodong Shinmun said.

The report was referring to a North Korean representative's speech delivered at the United Nations' first committee on disarmament and international security earlier in the week.

The report came amid growing signs of looming military provocations by North Korea, possibly another nuclear test or a long-range missile launch, in the coming days.

The South Korean government has predicted that Pyongyang is likely to launch military provocations shortly before or after the anniversary of the ruling party's foundation, which falls on Monday.

North Korea last conducted a long-range missile test in February, triggering the U.N. Security Council to adopt a stronger-than-ever resolution condemning the launch. But the North claimed it was a launch aimed to send an Earth observation satellite into orbit, branding it a peaceful action.

"Peaceful use of space is a sovereign right that is legal and cannot be deprived of," the North Korean report said, also vowing to step up cooperation with other countries on cosmic affairs.

The country's recent successful test of a new geostationary satellite engine has helped secure the scientific ground for developing the satellite within the duration of its five-year space development plan, the report said.

"There's no definition in the U.N. Charter of any other international laws that say weapons tests like nuclear tests or rocket launches pose threats to international peace or security," the North said, defying the international community's condemnation of its weapons tests.

In the report, the North again reaffirmed its national policy to seek nuclear armament. "(We) Will further strengthen self-defense nuclear power in terms of quantity," according to the report.

pbr@yna.co.kr
(END)

News Focus
Calls grow for surgical strike on N.K. nuke facilities
Global health care firms eye S. Korea as new hub
S. Korea weighing options to bolster deterrence against N.K.
Hopes grow over new culture being forged by new anti-graft law
Jeonbuk's strong season dented by punishment over bribery scandal
Heated chart battle expected in October
Dark cloud from missile spat hangs over Korean TV shows
'Love in the Moonlight' shines through unexpected success

 

[Housecarl]

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2016/10/120_215647.html

Posted : 2016-10-08*12:54
Updated : 2016-10-08*14:04

Japan could go nuclear in 10 years to contain N. Korea provocations: study

Japan could arm itself with nuclear weapons in 10 years to cope with threats from China and North Korea, a study commissioned by the U.S. Defense Department showed, according to a news report.

The report produced for the Pentagon's Office of Net Assessment (ONA) assesses that Japan can quickly build a strategic arsenal of land-based and submarine-launched missiles capable of killing up to 30 million Chinese in a nuclear war, according to the Washington Free Beacon.

"The report reveals Japan's government could arm itself with nuclear weapons within a 10-year period, based on Tokyo's advanced nuclear power infrastructure and its present day space launchers, cruise missiles, and submarines," the Washington Free Beacon said.

The ONA study was quoted as saying that the Pentagon's interest in Japan's nuclear options has taken on urgency because Japan fears that current U.S. nuclear security guarantees against Chinese or North Korean nuclear attacks are weakening and could be insufficient in the future to deter Beijing or Pyongyang.

The study also found that Japanese naval forces would likely choose a nuclear force built around off-shore based, nuclear-missile firing submarines, with a land-based component of road-mobile missiles, according to the Washington Free Beacon.

In a nuclear exchange with China, Beijing would likely strike the 20 to 30 largest Japanese cities with 3 megaton weapons, killing between 23 million and 33 million people, according to the study.

A nuclear-armed Japan could launch ballistic and cruise missiles in several retaliatory scenarios, including 150 kiloton bombings of 45 cities, killing 20 million Chinese, or the use of larger 1.2 megaton warheads on 60 cities, for an estimated toll of between 96 million and 128 million people, the study showed.

For North Korea, an attack on 10 Japanese cities with 10 kiloton warheads would kill around 1 million, and could invite a Japanese 1.2 megaton blast over the North Korean capital of Pyongyang, killing an estimated 1.1 million North Koreans, the study showed, according to the report. (Yonhap)

pss@ktimes.com

 

[Housecarl]

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
https://www.stratfor.com/image/understanding-indias-surgical-deterrence-strategy

Understanding India's 'Surgical Deterrence' Strategy

Media Center, Image October 7, 2016 | 13:11 GMT

https://www.stratfor.com/sites/defa...al-Nuclear-Weapons-100416_0.png?itok=wq9MvR4M

South Asia is not known for its stability, but India's and Pakistan's military strategies could lead to greater insecurity in the region. Originally, India's unofficial military doctrine, Cold Start, relied on rapid, flexible conventional military operations to strike Pakistan while avoiding a protracted war that could increase the likelihood of nuclear retaliation. But Pakistan countered by developing a tactical nuclear response that made the prospect of large-scale fighting too risky for New Delhi and Islamabad. Nevertheless, India has sought alternate forms of deterrence against Pakistan's asymmetric tactics. Using more limited military strikes, or "surgical deterrence," India will decrease the chances of a wider conflict erupting. That said, escalation will remain an underlying risk.

India is the status quo power in the India-Pakistan equation. First, India controls several territories disputed between the two countries, principally Jammu and*Kashmir*and the Siachen Glacier. Second, India maintains stronger armed forces, increasing its military advantage every year. Third, India has achieved incremental progress in isolating Pakistan diplomatically, all the while improving its own standing. Conversely, Pakistan is on the losing side of the status quo. To extricate itself from its difficult position, Islamabad has had to rely on asymmetric means to level the playing field, though not without considerable risks. For instance, to compensate for the widening divide between its military strength and India's, Pakistan has invested heavily in the development and fielding of tactical nuclear weapons. Although the weapons increase the chance of deterring a full-scale invasion from India, they simultaneously increase the chance of a devastating nuclear exchange.

As a result, New Delhi has again been forced to rethink its punitive deterrence strategy. India is unwilling to take actions that could expose itself to severe danger. Even though Cold Start provides New Delhi with the flexibility to scale military attacks, Pakistan's tactical nuclear weapons would make strategic- and even operational-level offensive operations on Pakistani soil too risky for India's armed forces. Large-scale offensive operations could also degrade India's international standing, undermining its*diplomatic progress.*

Just as India seeks to avoid a full-scale war, so does Pakistan. Fighting an extended conflict with an increasingly powerful Indian military provides no real benefit for Islamabad. In fact, the likelihood that Pakistan would be able to wrest territory from India through conventional conflict is now remote. Pakistan and India therefore have a mutual incentive to prevent military escalation. However, even if both sides want to avoid a larger fight, there is no guarantee that the violence will stay confined. Such are the risks of armed conflict.

 

[Lilbitsnana]

Sadegh Ghorbani ‏@GhorbaniSadegh 55m55 minutes ago

#Breaking: Saudi attack against a public ceremony in Sanaa kills & injures hundreds of people, including ranking officials.
@YemenPostNews


Miriam Goldman Eps ‏@Miriam411 2h2 hours ago

Seems like there was serious confusion about the location given some descriptions of a "Houthi-gathering" instead of a funeral. #Sanaa


Daniel Nisman ‏@DannyNis 15m15 minutes ago

#Sanaa residents say death toll in Saudi funeral airstrike has risen to 150.

 

[Lilbitsnana]

Steve Herman ‏@W7VOA 36m36 minutes ago

Increased activity detected at #DPRK Sohae Launch Facility, reports @38NorthNK http://38north.org/2016/10/sohae100...100816&utm_campaign=38+North&utm_medium=email …


posted for fair use and discussion
http://38north.org/2016/10/sohae100...100816&utm_campaign=38+North&utm_medium=email

North Korea’s Sohae Launch Facility: Activity at Launch Pad and Rocket Engine Test Area

By 38 North
08 October 2016

A 38 North exclusive with analysis by Jack Liu.

Summary

Commercial satellite imagery from October 1 supports recent reports of increased activity at the Sohae Satellite Launching Station, including crates on the launch pad next to the gantry tower and vehicles near the fuel and oxidizer buildings. However, since both the gantry tower and the assembly structures on the launch pad are covered, it is unclear whether this activity is related to launch preparations or other operations. Additionally, work continues at the vertical engine test stand.

Launch Pad

Recent commercial satellite imagery from October 1 shows crates next to the gantry tower on the launch pad and several large vehicles in front of the newly built fuel/oxidizer bunker. However, environmental covers make it impossible to observe if a space launch vehicle or related components are located at the gantry tower or have been moved into the assembly structures.

Figure 1. Activity at the Launch Pad.
Image includes material Pleiades © CNES 2016. Distribution Airbus DS / Spot Image, all rights reserved. For media licensing options, please contact thirtyeightnorth@gmail.com.

Image includes material Pleiades © CNES 2016. Distribution Airbus DS / Spot Image, all rights reserved. For media licensing options, please contact thirtyeightnorth@gmail.com.

Vertical Engine Test Stand

Recent imagery shows the rail-mounted environmental shelter located next to the test stand indicating ongoing work whose purpose is unclear. (It may indicate preparations for a new engine test or continued work at the test stand in the aftermath of the September 20 engine test. (The vegetation burn area from that test is almost double the area of previous tests.)

Figure 2. Extended vegetation burn area evident at Vertical Engine Test Stand.
Image includes material Pleiades © CNES 2016. Distribution Airbus DS / Spot Image, all rights reserved. For media licensing options, please contact thirtyeightnorth@gmail.com.

Image includes material Pleiades © CNES 2016. Distribution Airbus DS / Spot Image, all rights reserved. For media licensing options, please contact thirtyeightnorth@gmail.com.

 

[Housecarl]

Recall the past discussion of different wavelengths being negated by "stealth" to different degrees....

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Se...-defend-against-enemy-missiles/8181475853543/

Russian cellular towers to help defend against enemy missiles

By Nikolai Litovkin, Russia Beyond the Headlines | Oct. 7, 2016 at 12:17 PM

Russian designers have created an airspace control system that significantly extends Moscow's air and missile defense capabilities.

Developed by a subsidiary of state technology corporation Rostec, the system, named "Rubezh," can detect flying objects in the electromagnetic fields of cellular towers deployed across the Russian Federation.

The creators assure that GSM networks will help the military detect on radar a number of hard-to-see objects – enemy cruise missiles, drones and small aircraft.

How does Rubezh work?

The cellular network forms an electromagnetic field through continuous exchange of signals between cellular towers, transmitters and repeaters.

When metal objects get into this area, the stations' receivers instantly register a change in the field and – thanks to Rubezh – will be able to transmit the coordinates of the object to the "base."

Rubezh will be able to determine the class of the object (be it a missile, aircraft, helicopter, etc.), allowing commanders at command and control centers for the Aerospace Forces' air defense systems to make a decision on how to act.

There are more than 250,000 cellular towers in Russia, and this number grows every year. According to the developers, this will permit the creation of an interference-free field, which will operate 24 hours a day at different frequencies, and transmit data automatically to anti-aircraft units.

Rubezh is installed not at a GSM station, but directly at air defense systems' control posts, and it will run at no financial cost to mobile operators.

A real opportunity to strengthen the country's defense – or a risk?

According to Leonid Konik, chief editor of the Comnews website, the project is very risky for several reasons.

First, a GSM station's radius of action varies only from 3 to 30 km (1.9-19 miles) depending on its range and the density of buildings around.

Secondly, mobile operators, regardless of anyone, orient their stations according to broadcast sectors, and the flight of a missile or enemy aircraft will not necessarily take place within the scope of a tower.

But the chief problem is that mobile network equipment is entirely made abroad. Therefore, according to Konik (in Russian), even theoretical discussion of its use for the defense of the country is pretty futile.

This article originally appeared at Russia Beyond the Headlines.

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[Housecarl]

http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/show...hunts-bomb-suspect-in-Chemnitz-Syrian-Refugee

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-37596829

Germany hunts bomb suspect in Chemnitz

1 hour ago
From the section Europe

Police in the eastern German city of Chemnitz have detained three people as they continue a search for a suspect believed to be planning a bomb attack.

Acting on a tip-off from the domestic intelligence service, police raided an apartment but failed to find the suspect, Jaber al-Bakr, 22, who was born in Syria. He remains on the run.

Several hundred grams of "highly volatile" explosives were found at the property, investigators said.

They were destroyed by a bomb squad.

About 100 people were evacuated from the apartment building as the explosives were moved for a controlled detonation.

Two people in contact with Mr al-Bakr were detained at Chemnitz railway station and another person was detained near the apartment in the Fritz-Heckert neighbourhood, Kathlen Zink of Saxony's criminal investigation office said.

She said they were suspected of being "linked with the suspect somehow" and had been taken in for questioning.

The "where, when, how and why" of the planned attack remained unknown according to Tom Bernhardt, a spokesman for the same office.
He said the explosives in the apartment were "relatively well hidden".

Saxony police have released pictures of Damascus-born Mr al-Bakr wearing a black, hooded sweatshirt with a colourful print.

They have not provided any information about how long he had been in Germany.

They have urged anyone with information about him to come forward.

Tweet from Saxony police reads, in English: Currently running a large scale operation in ~Chemnitz because of the suspicion of a planned bomb attackImage copyright@POLIZEISACHSEN
German Chancellor Angela Merkel's popularity has waned since her decision to open the borders to refugees and migrants last year, admitting more than a million people, many of them Syrian.

In July, an axe attack on a train near Wuerzburg and a suicide bombing in Ansbach wounded 20 people and were claimed by so-called Islamic State (IS).

http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/624/cpsprodpb/67F5/production/_91631662_chemnitz.jpg
Map of Germany showing Chemnitz

 

[Housecarl]

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://www.atimes.com/the-window-to-stop-north-koreas-nuclear-program-is-closing/

The window to stop North Korea’s nuclear program is closing

By RODGER BAKER, Contributor
OCTOBER 8, 2016 5:30 PM (UTC+8)

As the world watches for another potential round of North Korean nuclear and missile tests, debate rages over the most effective policy options to deal with the rising nuclear threat from Pyongyang. The four basic policy options under discussion could perhaps be oversimplified as isolation, engagement, action and acceptance. Elements of each are not necessarily mutually exclusive, but none appears to have the full support of the key regional players – or even consensus within individual countries.

View image on Twitter

Isolation is the current general track employed to dissuade the North from completing its nuclear program. It is based on the premise that in a globalized world, the primary goal and need of every nation is to engage in regional and international trade and maintain access to a global economic network. It is in many ways, however, a reactive and punitive measure. The North carries out a nuclear or missile test and countries independently or under United Nations auspices carry out sanctions. The assertion is that the desire for economic engagement will outweigh whatever calculus led to the behavior in the first place. The problem with isolation (which has been taken to the extreme in the North Korean case by also in many cases refusing any formal diplomatic ties) is that it clearly has failed to work. North Korea considers the risk of not having a viable deterrent greater than the cost of losing formal access to the global economic system.

View image on Twitter

Engagement has been tried in-between and at times parallel to isolation, with highly mixed results. The Agreed Framework, the Six Party Talks, inter-Korean summits and the Kaesong joint economic zone all served to delay North Korean nuclear developments, but did not stop the program. This has soured many toward any form of engagement, yet the question to ask, as with isolation, is whether the core North Korean calculus was being addressed in the engagement process.

Although there were talks, agreements and even economic and political exchanges, these clearly did not provide benefits that exceeded the North’s perception of the need for a nuclear program. The North used the nuclear program to strengthen its position at the negotiating table, but there were limits to the trust engendered by either side in negotiations and dialogue. Agreements have consistently faltered. One major challenge is the frequency of change among the dialogue partners – North Korean leaders change rarely whereas U.S and South Korean leaders change relatively frequently, as do policy directions. The lack of regular formal communication channels only exacerbates this.

Action is now being discussed in ways not seen in years. There are open discussions of decapitation strategies to remove the Kim leadership, and of precision strikes to disable the main nuclear facilities. Even in China there are open discussions about potential military options, and the role Beijing could take (to ensure that China’s interests were protected should non-diplomatic means fail). The basic questions for such military action remain. Are all of the North’s nuclear and missile sites known, are they targetable, and how will the North respond? Would a strike against the North’s nuclear infrastructure trigger a wider Peninsular war, or a flood of refugees across both borders? Finally, is the North already so far along in its program that it may have a nuclear response, even if only locally or regionally?

A closer look at the discourse surrounding military action highlights the focus less on stopping the program than pre-empting any North Korean nuclear attack. In other words, it appears that the opportunity to use military means to stop or set back the nuclear program is nearing an end, and the focus instead is on being able to strike before the North launches an attack on a neighbor or the United States.

View image on Twitter

And this blends into the final option – acceptance. Certainly no country in the region has any plan to formally acknowledge North Korea as a nuclear weapons state, but there is a growing sense that, rhetoric aside, it may very well be a reality. The increased focus on missile defense, for example, could be part of preparations for a military option, but it is more directly related to the expectation that the North will have missiles that will need to be intercepted. In both South Korea and Japan there are open, if not yet official, discussions on the potential need for the development of indigenous nuclear weapon capabilities. In short, there is a growing sense that the window to stop the North’s program is closing, and that a nuclear-armed North Korea may soon be a reality, however politically unpalatable.

Rodger Baker is vice president of strategic analysis at Stratfor.com, a U.S. based geopolitical intelligence and advisory firm headquartered in Austin, Texas.

 

[Possible Impact]

DWS Intel ‏@DWSIntel 2h
RC-135V RIVET JOINT SAME40
flying racetrack orbits off Houston

^^^ Guess Cappy better get his razor sharpened up,
looks like there are actually running non-exercise routes.

 

[Housecarl]

Hummm....I was dealing with the "meat world" most of the last two days so my hunting and posting was limited in terms of time and my "smart phone"....This one is a bit of an eye opener, whether legit or disinfo.....Proving a deliverable nuke (either to Tokyo or Beijing) would re-set things. The Chinese are if anything pragmatic....

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://www.ibtimes.sg/chinese-think-tanks-considering-removal-north-koreas-kim-jong-un-power-3778

'Chinese think tanks considering removal of North Korea's Kim Jong-Un from power'

China could approve surgical strikes by US and South Korea as a policy option

October 8, 2016 13:01 SGT

Has North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un finally fallen out of favour with Big Brother China? Media reports say there has been avid chatter in Chinese scholastic circles about a possible move to remove the communist despot.

Chinese policymakers have started talking about the possibilities of a plan involving the US and South Korea that would ease the decades-old communist dynasty out of power in the largely impoverished but heavily militarized Asian country.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency cited a prominent Chinese academic saying that mainland scholars and policy makers have begun talk about supporting 'surgical strikes' and 'decapitation' by the US and South Korea as a policy option."

Dr Sun Zhe, co-director of the China Initiative at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs, said the change in sentiment in China was triggered by the repeated nuclear tests Pyongyang conducted in recent times.

Sun Zhe says an article that appeared in Chinese Communist party mouthpiece Global Times discussed the possibility of Beijing making contributions to "destroying the nuclear capability" of North Korea.

"More radical proposals indicate that China should change the leader, send troops across borders and station in DPRK, force DPRK into giving up nuclear and beginning opening up and reforming," the expert said.

"The consensus of the debate is to maintain the stability of the North Korean regime, expressed in the '3 Nos' policy (no war, no nuclear, no chaos). The most controversial issue is how big a price China should pay for supporting the Kim Jong Un regime," Sun Zhe added.

Increasing frustration

North Korea conducted its fifth nuclear test on September 9, setting off a blast that was more powerful than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima, and said it had mastered the ability to mount a warhead on a ballistic missile.

Days later, South Korea's Defence Ministry said that North Korea was ready to conduct an additional nuclear test at any time.

"Assessment by South Korean and U.S. intelligence is that the North is always ready for an additional nuclear test in the Punggye-ri area," South Korean Defence Ministry spokesman Moon Sang-gyun said.

China, which is Pyongyang's biggest ally and trading partner, has been getting increasingly frustrated over the reclusive regime's unbridled nuclear aspirations. Repeated nuclear tests and missile experiments have compelled Beijing to support the increasingly tough UN sanctions over North Korea.

 

[Housecarl]

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2016/10/08/world/africa/ap-af-mali-violence.html?_r=0

AFRICA

Leader for Former Tuareg Separatist Group Killed in Mali

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
OCT. 8, 2016, 5:21 P.M. E.D.T.

BAMAKO, Mali — The spokesman for a former Tuareg rebel group says its leader has been killed after attending a meeting at a United Nations camp in the northern Mali town of Kidal.

Almouzamile Ag Mohamed, spokesman for the High Council for the Unity of Azawad, said Cheick Aoussa was killed Saturday in a car explosion after leaving the U.N. peacekeeping mission's Kidal camp where he met with officials to discuss security.

Aoussa's group, along with other Tuareg separatist groups, is a signatory to a 2015 peace accord with Mali's government. A French-led military intervention drove Islamic extremists out of north Mali in 2013, though instability remains.

Aoussa's group in 2013 broke ties with al-Qaida-linked Ansar Dine extremists who continue to carry out attacks on peacekeepers and Malian security forces, killing several last week.

 

[Housecarl]

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://blog.amnestyusa.org/africa/ongoing-crimes-chemical-weapons-crimes-against-humanity-in-darfur/

Ongoing Crimes: Chemical Weapons & Crimes Against Humanity in Darfur

BY GUEST WRITER
September 29, 2016 at 11:45 AM

By Scott Edwards, Senior Adviser for Amnesty International’s Crisis Response

Today, Amnesty International is releasing an expansive report on violations of Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law in Jebel Mara, Darfur, committed this year by Sudanese government forces and allied militia. One of the most troubling findings in this report is the use of chemical weapons, and it is almost certainly the finding that will capture the most media headlines. In many ways, this is desirable: the use of these weapons is an affront to humanity itself and its aspiration to limit the cruelty and devastation of warfare. Their use should capture headlines, as they have most recently in Syria.

But the use of chemical weapons documented in this report—while per se a criminal act—is part of an ongoing criminal enterprise: counter-insurgency waged in violation of the most basic laws of war. Relying on hundreds of interviews, photographic materials, and extensive satellite imagery analysis, the report documents attacks that either damaged or wholly destroyed over 170 villages. In at least 170 villages in Jebel Mara, civilians, their homes, and their livelihoods were attacked or destroyed in systematized fashion. The report also documents widespread rape of women and girls; the widespread killing of fleeing civilians.

The use of chemical weapons must not be evaluated by the international community, competent courts, or by history, in isolation from the other crimes documented in this report.

For over a decade I have worked on Darfur and over that time, the nature of the government’s strategy has continued largely unchanged. Military tacticians usually favor a “drain the pond” description of the strategy, wherein populations are eliminated—whether through direct attacks or forced displacement/relocation—so they cannot serve as bases of support or shields for armed opposition. Amnesty International more aptly describes the strategy as a series of Crimes Against Humanity.

A Criminal Pattern

Notably, Amnesty International’s report is nearly a whopping 100 pages long. We could have readily presented the use of chemical weapons—a war crime—as a less lengthy stand-alone report. But to do so would be to risk missing the forest for the trees. Taken alone, the use of these weapons constitutes a crime; but taken together with the evidence of widespread and systematic attacks on civilian populations in the report, the findings and implications are much more troubling.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Omar al-Bashir and others suspected of war crimes, Crimes Against Humanity, and—ultimately—Genocide in Darfur in 2007, 2009, and 2010. These warrants were issued based on crimes and patterns of warfare similar to—if not identical—those documented in this report. For those who have followed Darfur over the years, we should find one passage in the report as troubling as any other, and it begins with: “The vast majority of the attacks followed a pattern.” This passage describes attack patterns and grave abuses that could have been taken from reporting on Darfur any time before or since the ICC indictments.

The use of chemical weapons—while a new and egregious crime—is the natural consequence of the impunity enjoyed by Omar al-Bashir and other fugitives from international justice. Since the indictments, multiple countries have hosted al-Bashir and failed in their obligations to arrest him. While the ultimate responsibility for the Crimes Against Humanity documented in this report is borne by those who devised and implemented it, the international community must bear some responsibility for the lack of accountability that has made these most recent crimes possible.

Now, it must act. (see “Recommendations” of the report).

P.S.—In the meantime, there remains much work to do in assessing the scale and nature of human suffering in Darfur, and much you can do to help. The latest Amnesty Decoders project, launching next week, will call on digital volunteers to help analyze satellite imagery from Darfur and identify whether villages appear to have been attacked, damaged, or destroyed.

--

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2016/1...tions-it-used-chemical-weapons-in-darfur.html

MIDDLE EAST

Sudan denies allegations it used chemical weapons in Darfur

Published October 06, 2016 Associated Press

KHARTOUM, Sudan – Sudan is denying allegations made by a rights group that it used chemical weapons in the country's western Darfur region, describing them as an "unfounded fabrication."

The deputy chair of President Omar Bashir's ruling National Congress party says the allegations by Amnesty International were made to undermine the country.

Mahmoud Hamid tells reporters in Khartoum Thursday that allegations of rights violations have been used as a pretext to attack Sudan in the past.

Last week, Amnesty accused the Sudanese military of using chemical weapons against civilians, including young children, in a remote corner of Darfur over the past eight months.

The Britain-based group said it had gathered "horrific evidence" including satellite imagery, more than 200 in-depth interviews with survivors and expert analysis of dozens of images in its investigation.

 

[Housecarl]

Sadegh Ghorbani ‏@GhorbaniSadegh 55m55 minutes ago

#Breaking: Saudi attack against a public ceremony in Sanaa kills & injures hundreds of people, including ranking officials.
@YemenPostNews


Miriam Goldman Eps ‏@Miriam411 2h2 hours ago

Seems like there was serious confusion about the location given some descriptions of a "Houthi-gathering" instead of a funeral. #Sanaa


Daniel Nisman ‏@DannyNis 15m15 minutes ago

#Sanaa residents say death toll in Saudi funeral airstrike has risen to 150.

ABC: Saudi-Led Coalition Airstrike Hits Yemen Funeral, Kills 143 and 571 injured
Started by Possible Impact‎, Today 10:32 AM
http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/show...-Hits-Yemen-Funeral-Kills-143-and-571-injured

 

[Thinwater]

US Dropped fake Nukes/Training

A pair of U.S. Air Force B-2 bombers dropped two 700-pound faux nuclear bombs in the middle of the Nevada desert within the past few days. Now the Pentagon wants to tell you about it.

Conducted “earlier this month,” according to an Oct. 6 press release, the test involved two dummy variants of the B61, a nuclear bomb that has been in the U.S. arsenal since the 1960s. One was an “earth penetrator” made to strike underground targets, the other a tactical version of the B61. Neither carried an actual warhead.

http://www.defenseone.com/business/2016/10/us-air-force-just-dropped-two-fake-nukes/132180/

(My note, the press release is not for us serfs, it threatens Russia who has been conducting fallout shelter drills for their people. The USA does not have any, for
the people that is).

 

[Housecarl]

A pair of U.S. Air Force B-2 bombers dropped two 700-pound faux nuclear bombs in the middle of the Nevada desert within the past few days. Now the Pentagon wants to tell you about it.

Conducted “earlier this month,” according to an Oct. 6 press release, the test involved two dummy variants of the B61, a nuclear bomb that has been in the U.S. arsenal since the 1960s. One was an “earth penetrator” made to strike underground targets, the other a tactical version of the B61. Neither carried an actual warhead.

http://www.defenseone.com/business/2016/10/us-air-force-just-dropped-two-fake-nukes/132180/

(My note, the press release is not for us serfs, it threatens Russia who has been conducting fallout shelter drills for their people. The USA does not have any, for
the people that is).

Also a message for the boys in Pyongyang, Tehran and Beijing....This stuff is meant for C4IR facilities that TPTB would expect to be hold up within.

 

[Housecarl]

http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/show...Egyptian-after-failed-attack-on-U.S.-soldiers

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://www.militarytimes.com/articles/kuwait-arrests-egyptian-after-failed-attack-on-us-soldiers

Kuwait arrests Egyptian after failed attack on U.S. soldiers

By: Hussain al-Qatari and Jon Gambrell, The Associated Press, October 8, 2016 (Photo Credit: Kuwait Ministry of Interiors via AP)

KUWAIT CITY — An Egyptian driving a garbage truck loaded with explosives and Islamic State papers rammed into a truck carrying five U.S. soldiers in Kuwait on Saturday, injuring only himself in the attack, authorities said.

The attempted attack is the first by the Islamic State group to target American troops in the tiny, oil-rich emirate that's a stalwart U.S. ally. It comes as authorities already increased security ahead of a major Shiite commemoration in the coming days.

Kuwait's Interior Ministry identified the attacker as Ibrahim Sulaiman, born in 1988, and published a picture of the alleged assailant in a hospital bed, a bruise beneath his right eye. The ministry said the five soldiers were not injured. It said Sulaiman had multiple fractures and injuries.

It was not immediately clear if the Egyptian had a lawyer. The ministry did not offer a location for the failed attack, though it published pictures of the aftermath of the crash showing a wrecked garbage truck, as well as items it described as a suicide belt loaded with shrapnel. The white pickup truck apparently carrying the soldiers had the left side of its bed smashed in.

American forces and others have troops stationed at Kuwait's Camp Arifjan. The U.S. military's Central Command referred a request for comment to U.S. Army Central, based in both South Carolina and Kuwait. The Army did not immediately respond, while the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait City had no immediate comment.

Kuwait is a solid U.S. ally following the 1991 American-led Gulf War that ended the Iraqi occupation there. Terror attacks are rare in the emirate, where Shiites and Sunni Muslims largely live in peace.

An Islamic State-claimed suicide bombing in 2015 targeting a Shiite mosque in Kuwait City killed 27 people and wounded scores. The extremist group, which holds territory in both Iraq and Syria, did not immediately claim the failed assault Saturday, though the Interior Ministry described Sulaiman as having "paper in his handwriting indicating he had adopted terrorist thought and had pledged allegiance to the group."

Such attacks on U.S. forces are incredibly rare in Kuwait. In 2003, a former U.S. Army sergeant named Hasan Akbar in the 101st Airborne Division threw four hand grenades into tents in Kuwait as members of his division slept, then fired his rifle at soldiers in the ensuing chaos in the early days of the American-led invasion of Iraq. He was sentenced to death for killing two soldiers and wounding 14.

Earlier in 2002 ahead of the invasion, a U.S. Marine was shot dead and another wounded in an attack by Islamic extremists in Kuwait, while a police officer later shot and wounded two other American soldiers.

The reported failed attack comes ahead of the Shiite commemoration of Ashoura, which marks the death of Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, at the Battle of Karbala in present-day Iraq in the 7th century.

Kuwaiti police have promised increased security ahead of Ashoura. Two Iranians were arrested in recent days for taking "suspicious" photographs ahead of the commemoration.

Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

 

[Lilbitsnana]

Nathan J Hunt ‏@ISNJH 21m21 minutes ago

#DPRK yet again resumes number broadcasts after a pause in broadcasts


In reply to Ankit Panda
Nathan J Hunt ‏@ISNJH 19m19 minutes ago

@nktpnd @mhanham if they do plan something I think its more likely we will see something tomorrow then today.


posted for fair use
http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/northkorea/2016/10/09/52/0401000000AEN20161009000400315F.html

N.K. resumes encrypted numbers broadcast after 2-week hiatus

2016/10/09 09:30

SEOUL, Oct. 9 (Yonhap) -- North Korea's state radio station on Sunday resumed the broadcast of mysterious numbers after a two-week hiatus, with the content of the transmission different from what was sent in the past.

North Korean watchers in Seoul have speculated that the broadcasts could be some kind of coded message to its agents, although it could just be a kind of deceptive strategy aimed at sparking confusion within South Korea.

An announcer at Radio Pyongyang started reading a series of messages shortly after midnight, calling out both pages and numbers.

The announcer said she is "giving review work in metal engineering to No. 21 expedition agents."

Since June 24, North Korea sent out a total of eight encrypted numbers broadcasts, with the last one broadcast on Sept. 25.

Broadcasts of mysterious numbers are a kind of book cipher that was often used by North Korea to give missions to spies operating in South Korea during the Cold War era. Spies could decode numbers to get orders by using a reference book, although many intelligence agents believe this form of sending orders to be outdated.

Pyongyang had initially suspended such broadcasts in 2000 when the two Koreas held their first historic summit.

Tensions are already running high on the divided peninsula after North Korea carried out its fifth nuclear test on Sept. 9 and warned it could launch preemptive strikes against Seoul and Washington. Seoul is on high alert for additional provocations by the North as the country gets ready to celebrate the anniversary of the founding of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea on Monday.

yonngong@yna.co.kr

(END)

 

[Lilbitsnana]

Guess we will find out soon enough

Alison Evans ‏@EvansAlisonS 4m4 minutes ago

Most likely upcoming #NorthKorea test/launch will be of satellite (like after January #nuclear test). Most likely date: on/around 10 October

 

[Housecarl]

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://www.latimes.com/world/la-fg-israel-shooting-20161009-snap-story.html

Palestinian gunman kills 2 and wounds 5 in Jerusalem, then is fatally shot

Associated Press
October 9, 2016, 5:45 AM

A Palestinian motorist launched a shooting spree near the Israeli police headquarters in Jerusalem on Sunday, killing two people and wounding five*before being shot dead, Israeli police and emergency services said.*

Police spokeswoman Luba Samri said the attacker sped toward a busy stop of the city's light rail and opened fire, seriously wounding a 60-year-old woman waiting there. He then continued driving and shot another woman who was seated in her car before speeding off toward an Arab neighborhood in east Jerusalem. Samri said police officers on motorcycles chased the assailant, who eventually stepped out of his vehicle and opened fire at them. A 30-year-old police officer was critically wounded in the shootout.*

A separate police force ultimately shot and killed the attacker, Samri said. She identified him as a 39-year-old man from the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan. Israeli media reported the man had previously served multiple sentences for violent acts and was due to report to prison Sunday for another sentence over assaulting a police officer.*

Israel's Magen David Adom emergency medical service said it treated seven people for various gunshot injuries, two of whom later died. Police cordoned off the area of the shooting and briefly shut down traffic on the light rail.*

The attack was unusual in the yearlong spate of Palestinian assaults since most have been stabbings. Sunday's was the deadliest attack on Israelis since June 8, when two Palestinians opened fire and killed four people at a popular Tel Aviv food market.*

The Palestinian attacks began around last year's Jewish high holidays and have since killed 36 Israelis and two visiting Americans. About 219 Palestinians have been killed during that period, with Israel saying the vast majority of them were attackers.*

Israel has warned that the potential for violence could rise as the Jewish high holidays approach once again and has beefed up its security presence. There has been a recent surge in Palestinian attacks that shattered weeks of relative calm and raised fears of a return to the near-daily attacks seen previously.*

Israel has blamed the violence on incitement by Palestinian political and religious leaders, compounded on social media sites. The Palestinians say it is rooted in some 50 years of military occupation and dwindling hopes for independence.*

Fawzi Barhoum, a spokesman for Gaza's Islamic Hamas leaders, welcomed the attack in a statement saying it was “a natural response.” Hamas stopped short of taking responsibility for the attack but identified the assailant as one of its members.*

Internal Security Minister Gilad Erdan said there were no specific warnings of an attack ahead of time and the quick response of security forces on the scene prevented a deadlier result. He repeated his previous criticism of social media sites that allow militants to spread their messages of incitement.*

“It has an impact. It pushes people out to the streets to commit*acts of murder and terror,” he said.*

 

[Housecarl]

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://www.npr.org/2016/10/09/49729...s-state-of-emergency-amid-continuing-protests

Ethiopia Declares State Of Emergency Amid Continuing Protests

Listen· 4:23
4:23

October 9, 20165:04 PM ET
Heard on All Things Considered

Ofeibea Quist-Arcton

Michel Martin
Ethiopia's government has declared a state of emergency following months of anti-government protests by the Oromo people, who say they are marginalized.
Ethiopia Declares Emergency, After New Outburst Of Protests And Violence


Bill Chappell
Twitter

A week after a deadly stampede brought anti-government protests and violence to a fever pitch, Ethiopia declared a six-month state of emergency Sunday. Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn says the declaration is necessary for the government to protect both property and citizens' lives.

The stampede struck at a religious festival that also had qualities of a demonstration that was held last Sunday, Oct. 2, in the town of Bishoftu, southeast of Addis Ababa. That's where many in a massive crowd that had gathered to celebrate the annual Irreecha thanksgiving festival chanted slogans and crossed their fists over their heads, an increasingly familiar gesture that protests oppression and calls for more rights for the people of Oromia.

Video recordings from that day show that the crowd had been pressing toward an open-air stage when security forces opened fire and deployed tear gas, triggering a panic. Many people initially ran to a nearby treeline for cover, only to become trapped in a deep and steep-sided trench. Others were hemmed in by a nearby lake.
"The government says 55 people were killed — some fell into nearby gullies and drowned," NPR's Ofeibea Quist-Arcton reports. "The opposition says many, many more people lost their lives."

In months of protests in the region, human rights groups say, hundreds of people have been killed and tens of thousands arrested.

Reporting on today's emergency declaration, Ofeibea tells our Newscast unit:
"Ethiopia's first state of emergency in a quarter century is effective immediately, in the midst of what the government calls a worsening security situation in Oromia.
"The Oromo and Amhara people – who make up the majority of Ethiopia's population – argue they're marginalized. They're demanding more political representation, economic power and land rights.

"The emergency declaration follows demonstrations against the authorities that have led to deaths and property damage across the Horn of Africa nation – especially in restive Oromia. The U.S. has expressed concern about excessive use of force against demonstrators in months of deadly protests in Ethiopia."

The Ethiopian government is "clearly rattled by months of protests by members of the majority Oromo and Amhara communities," Ofeibea says.

Today's declaration, she adds, comes amid a clear threat to foreign-owned investments in Ethiopia, as cement, cut flower, textile and fruit juice facilities are among businesses that have come under attack.

International rights groups are calling for independent investigations into the events that culminated in last Sunday's stampede.

"We call on the protesters to exercise restraint and to renounce the use of violence," said Rupert Colville, spokesperson for the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights. "Security forces must conduct themselves in line with international human rights laws and standards."

Calling on the government to "urgently change course to prevent more bloodshed," Felix Horne, senior Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch, said, "The world should be carefully watching what is happening in Ethiopia."

 

[Housecarl]

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://www.voanews.com/a/sectarian-...for-long-awaited-battle-of-mosul/3543140.html

Middle East

Sectarian Disputes Plague Planning for Long-Awaited Battle of Mosul

October 09, 2016 3:07 PM
Jamie Dettmer

With the long-awaited military assault on Mosul possibly just days away, U.S. officials are scrambling to resolve flaring disputes between allies in the coalition to liberate Iraq’s second largest city, the Islamic State’s last major urban stronghold in Iraq.

For weeks, the assault has been expected and had appeared imminent with coalition radio broadcasts and leaflets warning civilians in Mosul and identifying exit routes they can use to flee. But simmering disagreements between coalition allies appear to be worsening, especially over how the greater Mosul region of Nineveh will be governed after liberation and who should be involved in the fight to eject IS.

Kurdistan Regional Government Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani warned Sunday of future problems unless there is an agreement with Baghdad on how to share power in Nineveh. “We should not forget that the case of Mosul is more political than military,” Barzani told at an economic conference in Irbil.

“All the political and religious components should have deserved roles in the political process and determination of the future of the region and how they want to be governed,” he added. Nineveh contains territory that has long been disputed between the Kurds and Arabs.

Barzani acknowledged military preparations are in place for the offensive to begin on Mosul, echoing remarks Friday in Washington by Brett McGurk, the State Department’s envoy to the anti-IS coalition, who said “all the pieces” had been prepared for the assault. McGurk said he expected military operations are “rapidly approaching.”

Arab-Kurdish disputes have flared and then receded for months now. In August, McGurk engaged in shuttle diplomacy between Irbil and Baghdad to defuse tensions and mediate an oil revenue-sharing deal between the Kurds and Arabs, who had been quarreling for months over Kurdistan’s export revenues.

That deal advanced negotiations between the Kurds and Baghdad on the composition of forces for the offensive on Mosul. U.S. officials say the Kurds agreed not to enter the Sunni-Arab city during the assault and to allow the Iraqi Security Forces to use territory now controlled by the peshmerga to the east and north of the city.

But since that deal was struck, sectarian disputes have continued to plague pre-battle planning, concede U.S. officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

They say they have been frustrated by a series of public comments in the past week by Kurdish leaders that appeared designed to offend the Shi’ite-dominated government in Baghdad. Thursday, Iraqis were infuriated when the Kurdistan Regional Government’s top security official told Britain’s Sky News the peshmerga will keep any land they seize from the terror group and will consider captured territory part of Kurdistan.

And the KRG has been lobbying Sunni tribal chiefs in Nineveh to express their support for an independent Kurdish state and to say they want their towns included in the Kurdistan region.

Sheikh Ali Rekan, a leader of an al-Shammar tribal clan in the town of Rabia, west of Mosul, told Kurdish television Friday, “We have decided to be part of the Kurdistan Region, and we support Kurdish independence. We will never compromise on our decision.” He added, “Thousands of peshmerga soldiers have sacrificed their lives in freeing our areas. Therefore, we must be sincere to them.”

KRG officials say they will go ahead with a planned referendum on independence by the end of the year.

None of the maneuvering is helping U.S. officials to keep the political parts in place for the assault on Mosul. McGurk remarked Friday that “if we try to resolve everything before Mosul, Daesh (IS) will never get out of Mosul.” Other U.S. officials, though, argue more work needs to be done to resolve disputes between allies.

There also are questions how local Sunni Arabs will react to the Iraqi Security Forces, which are dominated by Shi’ites. Iraqi officials have agreed that irregular Shi’ite militias known as the Popular Mobilization will not enter the city or if they do, they won’t stay long. Turkey sees any involvement by the Iran-influenced militias as boosting Tehran’s clout in northern Iraq, a red line as far as Ankara and Saudi Arabia are concerned.

Ankara has repeatedly rejected Baghdad's demands it withdraw its forces from the Bashiqa military camp in northern Iraq and has warned against the irregular Shi’ite militias playing any role. It insists that nearly 3,000 Sunni fighters it has trained at the camp 25 kilometers northeast of Mosul must play a major part in the coming campaign.

Abdelaziz Hasan, a prominent Iraqi lawmaker and member of the parliament defense committee, said Saturday the offensive to retake Mosul won’t begin while Turkish troops remain on Iraqi soil.

“I think that as long as these Turkish troops remain around Mosul, the operation to control the city will not start, or there must be a new agreement for the Turkish force not to take part in the offensive,” he said.

He warned a sectarian war between Shi’ite and Sunni militias in Nineveh was in the offing if Turkey involved itself in the Mosul offensive. Turkey has waxed and waned about whether it will participate. Turkey has deployed about 2,000 “military advisers” at the camp to help train local Sunni fighters in a militia called Hashd al-Watani.

An Ankara official told Turkey’s Hurriyet newspaper Sunday talks about Turkey’s role in the Mosul campaign are ongoing. In an interview earlier this month with Rotana TV, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoðan said, “I want to make it clear that Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the Western coalition will not allow sectarian domination (of Mosul). But there is a major question, who will then control the city? Of course, Sunni Arabs, Sunni Turkmen and Sunni Kurds.”

 

[Housecarl]

Reuters: U.S. Navy ship targeted in failed missile attack from Yemen says U.S.
Started by*Possible Impactý,*Today*08:52 PM
http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/show...-in-failed-missile-attack-from-Yemen-says-U.S.

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-saudi-yemen-idUSKCN12A0BQ

World News | Mon Oct 10, 2016 | 1:14am EDT

Exclusive: As Saudis bombed Yemen, U.S. worried about legal blowback

By Warren Strobel and Jonathan Landay | WASHINGTON

The Obama administration went ahead with a $1.3 billion arms sale to Saudi Arabia last year despite warnings from some officials that the United States could be implicated in war crimes for supporting a Saudi-led air campaign in Yemen that has killed thousands of civilians, according to government documents and the accounts of current and former officials.

State Department officials also were privately skeptical of the Saudi military's ability to target Houthi militants without killing civilians and destroying "critical infrastructure" needed for Yemen to recover, according to the emails and other records obtained by Reuters and interviews with nearly a dozen officials with knowledge of those discussions.

U.S. government lawyers ultimately did not reach a conclusion on whether U.S. support for the campaign would make the United States a "co-belligerent" in the war under international law, four current and former officials said. That finding would have obligated Washington to investigate allegations of war crimes in Yemen and would have raised a legal risk that U.S. military personnel could be subject to prosecution, at least in theory.

For instance, one of the emails made a specific reference to a 2013 ruling from the war crimes trial of former Liberian president Charles Taylor that significantly widened the international legal definition of aiding and abetting such crimes.

The ruling found that "practical assistance, encouragement or moral support" is sufficient to determine liability for war crimes. Prosecutors do not have to prove a defendant participated in a specific crime, the U.N.-backed court found.

Ironically, the U.S. government already had submitted the Taylor ruling to a military commission at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba,*to bolster its case that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and other al Qaeda detainees were complicit in the Sept 11, 2001 attacks.

The previously undisclosed material sheds light on the closed-door debate that shaped U.S. President Barack Obama’s response to what officials described as an agonizing foreign policy dilemma: how to allay Saudi concerns over a nuclear deal with Iran - Riyadh's arch-rival - without exacerbating a conflict in Yemen that has killed thousands.

The documents, obtained by Reuters under the Freedom of Information Act, date from mid-May 2015 to February 2016, a period during which State Department officials reviewed and approved the sale of precision munitions to Saudi Arabia to replenish bombs dropped in Yemen. The documents were heavily redacted to withhold classified information and some details of meetings and discussion.

(A selection of the documents can be viewed here: tmsnrt.rs/2dL4h6L; tmsnrt.rs/2dLbl2S; tmsnrt.rs/2dLb7Ji; tmsnrt.rs/2dLbbIX)

An air strike on a wake in Yemen on Saturday that killed more than 140 people renewed focus on the heavy civilian toll of the conflict. The Saudi-led coalition denied responsibility, but the attack drew the strongest rebuke yet from Washington, which said it would review its support for the campaign to "better align with U.S. principles, values and interests."

The State Department documents reveal new details of how the United States pressed the Saudis to limit civilian damage and provided detailed lists of sites to avoid bombing, even as officials worried about whether the Saudi military had the capacity to do so.

State Department lawyers "had their hair on fire" as reports of civilian casualties in Yemen multiplied in 2015, and prominent human rights groups charged that Washington could be complicit in war crimes, one U.S. official said. That official and the others requested anonymity.

During an October 2015 meeting with private human rights groups, a State Department specialist on protecting civilians in conflict acknowledged Saudi strikes were going awry.

"The strikes are not intentionally indiscriminate but rather result from a lack of Saudi experience with dropping munitions and firing missiles," the specialist said, according to a Department account of the meeting.

"The lack of Saudi experience is compounded by the asymmetric situation on the ground where enemy militants are not wearing uniforms and are mixed with civilian populations," he said. "Weak intelligence likely further compounds the problem."

The Saudis intervened in Yemen in March 2015 to restore President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi after he was ousted by the Houthi rebels, whom Riyadh charges are backed by Iran. The Saudis gave Washington little advance notice, U.S. military leaders have said.

The Saudi government has called allegations of civilian casualties fabricated or exaggerated and has resisted calls for an independent investigation. The Saudi-led coalition has said it takes its responsibilities under international humanitarian law seriously, and is committed to the protection of civilians in Yemen. The Saudi embassy in Washington declined further comment.

In a statement issued to Reuters before Saturday's attack, National Security Council spokesman Ned Price said, "U.S. security cooperation with Saudi Arabia is not a blank check. ...*We have repeatedly expressed our deep concern about airstrikes that allegedly killed and injured civilians and also the heavy humanitarian toll paid by the Yemeni people."

The United States continues to urge the Kingdom to take additional steps to avoid "future civilian harm," he added.

NO-STRIKE LISTS

Since March 2015, Washington has authorized more than $22.2 billion in weapons sales to Riyadh, much of it yet to be delivered. That includes a $1.29 billion sale of precision munitions announced in November 2015 and specifically meant to replenish stocks used in Yemen.

In internal policy discussions, officials said, the Pentagon and the State Department's Near East Affairs bureau leaned toward preserving good relations with Riyadh at a time when friction was increasing because of the nuclear deal with Iran.

On the other side, the State Department's Office of the Legal Advisor, backed by government human rights specialists, expressed concern over U.S. complicity in possible Saudi violations of the laws of war, a former official said. Reuters could not determine the timing and form of that warning.

U.S. refueling and logistical support of Riyadh's air force - even more than the arms sales - risked making the United States a party to the Yemen conflict under international law, three officials said.

About 3,800 civilians have died in Yemen, with Saudi-led airstrikes on markets, hospitals and schools accounting for 60 percent of the death toll, the United Nations human rights office said in August.

It stopped short of accusing either side of war crimes, saying that was for a national or international court to decide.

The White House convened a meeting in August 2015 on how best to engage the Saudis over rising civilian casualties, the emails show, in a sign of mounting concern over the issue. That same month, State Department officials gathered to discuss how to track those casualties.

In late January 2016, Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken chaired a meeting with officials across the department in part to discuss "Options to limit U.S. exposure to LOAC (Law of Armed Conflict) concerns," according to a Blinken aide's email.

The Law of Armed Conflict, a group of international laws and treaties, prohibits attacks on civilians and requires combatants to minimize civilian death and damage.

While preserving military ties with Riyadh, the Obama administration has tried to reduce civilian casualties by providing the Saudis with "no-strike lists" of targets to avoid, dispatching to Saudi Arabia a U.S. expert on mitigating civilian casualties and pressing for peace talks, the officials said.

Also In World News
Western-backed coalition under pressure over Yemen raid
Exclusive: Afghan Taliban leader taught, preached in Pakistan, despite government vow to crack down

"If we’re going to be supporting the coalition, then we have to accept a degree of responsibility for what’s happening in Yemen and exercise it appropriately," a senior administration official said.

One no-strike list, called "The Overlay," was delivered to the Saudis in mid to late 2015. It included water and electrical facilities and infrastructure vital to delivering humanitarian aid, a second senior official said.

"YOU CAN BE GUILTY"

In mid-October 2015, the White House ordered the U.S. Agency for International Development to compile a separate list of "critical infrastructure" that should be spared, a State Department email said.

Striking sites on the list could "do significant harm to Yemen's ability to recover expeditiously" from the war, according to confidential U.S. talking points drafted the same month for use with Saudi officials.

"We urge you to exercise the utmost diligence in the targeting process and to take all precautions to minimize civilian casualties and damage to civilian infrastructure," one talking point said.

After ceasefire talks collapsed in August and airstrikes resumed, coalition bombs destroyed the main bridge from the port of Hodeidah to the capital of Sanaa, a main supply route for humanitarian food aid, Oxfam International said.

Another U.S. official said the bridge was on a U.S. no-strike list. Reuters has not seen those lists.

In May, Washington suspended sales to Riyadh of cluster munitions, which release dozens of bomblets and are considered particularly dangerous to civilians, officials said.

More than 60 U.S. House of Representatives members are urging Obama to halt a new Saudi arms sale. An effort to block that sale failed in the U.S. Senate on Sept. 21.

Some critics say the administration’s approach has failed.

"In the law of war, you can be guilty for aiding and abetting war crimes and at some point the ... evidence is going to continue to mount and I think the administration is now in an untenable situation," said Congressman Ted Lieu, a California Democrat and former military prosecutor.

(Additional reporting by Phil Stewart and Yara Bayoumy. Editing by John Walcott and Stuart Grudgings.)

 

[Housecarl]

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/oct/9/islamic-violence-steering-europes-future/

Home
Opinion
Commentary

Steering Europe’s future
Islamic violence will decide the continent’s destiny

By Daniel Pipes - - Sunday, October 9, 2016
Comments 20

ANALYSIS/OPINION:

STOCKHOLM, Sweden — On visits to predominantly Muslim suburbs emerging outside nearly all northern European cities, one question keeps recurring: Why have some of the richest, most educated, most secular, most placid, and most homogeneous countries in the world willingly opened their doors to virtually any migrant from the poorest, least modern, most religious, and least stable countries?

Other questions follow: Why have mostly Christian countries decided to take in mostly Muslim immigrants? Why do so many Establishment politicians, most notably Germany’s Angela Merkel, ignore and revile those who increasing worry that this immigration is permanently changing the face of Europe? Why does it fall to the weaker Visegrd states of eastern Europe to articulate a patriotic rejection of this phenomenon? Where will the immigration lead to?

There’s no single answer that applies to multiple countries; but of the many factors (such as secularization) behind this historically unprecedented acceptance of alien peoples, one stands out as most critical: a west European sense of guilt.

To many educated western Europeans, their civilization is less about scientific advances, unprecedented levels of prosperity, and the achievement of unique human freedoms, and more about colonialism, racism, and fascism. The brutal French conquest of Algeria, the uniquely evil German genocide against the Jews, and the legacy of extreme nationalism cause many Europeans, in the analysis of Pascal Bruckner, a French intellectual, to see themselves as “the sick man of the planet,” responsible for every global problem from poverty to environmental rapacity; “the white man has sown grief and ruin wherever he has gone.” Affluence implies robbery, light skin manifests sinfulness.

Mr. Bruckner labels this the “tyranny of guilt” and I encountered some colorful expressions during my recent travels of such self-hatred. A French Catholic priest expressed remorse over the record of the church. A conservative German intellectual preferred Syrians and Iraqis to his fellow Germans. A Swedish tour guide put down fellow Swedes and hoped he would not be perceived as one.

Indeed, many Europeans feel their guilt makes them superior; the more they dislike themselves, the more they preen — inspiring a strange mix of self-loathing and moral superiority that, among other consequence, leaves them reluctant to commit the time and money required to bear children. “Europe is losing faith in itself, and birth rates have collapsed,” notes Irish scientist William Reville.

Indeed, the catastrophic birth dearth underway has created an existential demographic crisis. With women of the European Union bearing just 1.58 children as of 2014, the continent lacks the offspring to replace itself; over time, this far-less-than-replacement rate means a precipitous decline in the numbers of ethnic Portuguese, Greeks and others. To maintain the welfare state and the pension machine requires importing foreigners.

These two drives — expiating guilt and replacing nonexistent children — then combine to encourage a massive influx of non-Western peoples, what the French writer Renaud Camus calls “the great replacement.” South Asians in the United Kingdom, North Africans in France, and Turks in Germany, plus Somalis, Palestinians, Kurds, and Afghans all over, can claim innocence of Europe’s historic sins even as they offer the prospect of staffing the economy. As the American writer Mark Steyn puts it, “Islam is now the principal supplier of new Europeans.”

The Establishment, or what I call the 6 P’s (politicians, police, prosecutors, the press, professors, and priests), generally insists that everything will turn out fine: Kurds will become productive workers, Somalis fine citizens, and Islamist problems will melt away.

That’s the theory and sometimes it works. Far too often, however, Muslim immigrants remain aloof from the culture of their new European home or reject it, as most clearly manifested by gender relations; some violently attack non-Muslims. Far too often too, they lack the skills or incentive to work hard and end up an economic liability.

The influx of non-integrating Muslim peoples raises the profound question whether Europe’s civilization of the past millennium can survive. Will England become Londonistan and France an Islamic republic? The Establishment castigates, dismisses, sidelines, ostracizes, suppresses, and even arrests those who raise such issues, demeaning them as right-wing extremists, racists, and neo-fascists.

Nonetheless, the prospect of Islamization prompts a growing number of Europeans to fight on behalf of their traditional way of life. Leaders include intellectuals such as the late Oriana Fallaci and novelist Michel Houellebecq; politicians such as Viktor Orbn, the prime minister of Hungary, and Geert Wilders, head of the most popular Dutch party.

Anti-immigration political parties typically win about 20 percent of the vote. And while a consensus has emerged that their appeal will stay about there, perhaps reaching 30 percent, they could well continue to grow. Opinion polls show that very substantial majorities fear Islam and want to stop and even reverse the effects of immigration, especially that of Muslims. In this light, Norbert Hofer recently winning 50 percent of the vote in Austria represents a potentially major breakthrough.

The greatest question facing Europe is who, Establishment or populace, will steer the continent’s future. The extent of Islamist political violence will likely decide this: a drumbeat of high-profile mass-murders (such as in France since January 2015) tilts the field toward the people; its absence allows the Establishment to remain in charge. Ironically, then, the actions of migrants will largely shape Europe’s destiny.

• Daniel Pipes is president of the Middle East Forum.

 

[Housecarl]

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://www.realcleardefense.com/art..._fourth-quarter_forecast_overview_110185.html

Stratfor’s 2016 Fourth-Quarter Forecast Overview

By Stratfor
October 10, 2016

If the study of geopolitics focuses on the structural forces shaping the international system, then domestic elections only rarely matter. Leaders tend to bend to their environment, not the other way around. And yet in the final months of 2016 the United States, still the world's only superpower, will choose a president in an election that will shape U.S. foreign policy more than usual.

This is because of the stark differences between the approaches of the two candidates. Both agree that the United States should preserve its hegemony, but they disagree on how to go about it. One argues that the United States should play the role it inherited after World War II, one in which U.S. power is more effectively wielded through alliances, global trade linkages and selective interventions. The other argues for self-reliance over globalism, the idea that the United States and its allies should defend their own interests instead of unnecessarily handcuffing themselves to security umbrellas and global trade pacts.

Our purpose is not to predict the result of the election*but to forecast how it could alter the behaviors of other states. For those accustomed to living under U.S. scrutiny, political distraction in Washington can create opportunities. North Korea, for example, has already accelerated its efforts to develop a nuclear weapon and delivery system, and in the next three months it will have a chance to try to complete the final phases of its test cycle without*risking pre-emptive military action. Regional security concerns over North Korea, meanwhile, will bring Japan, China and South Korea into much more active dialogue, even as tensions escalate with Japan's increased involvement in the South China Sea dispute.

For others, like Russia, the remaining three months of the year will be spent setting up negotiations with the next U.S. president. With Barack Obama on his way out, leaders in Russia understand there is little chance of striking an 11th-hour bargain in Ukraine or in Syria.

But there is still plenty of work for Russia to do in both theaters. In Ukraine, Russia will incrementally work to de-escalate the conflict in the east while lobbying the Europeans to ease up on sanctions. Moscow will expect political concessions from Ukraine in return, but since Kiev is not under enough pressure to capitulate, talks will stall again.

In Syria, on the other hand, Russia will rely more on*military tactics*than*diplomatic wrangling*to strengthen its negotiating position. Since the beginning of the year, Russia has tried to show that it can be both a disruptive and cooperative force on the battlefield. But the limitations in enforcing a cease-fire have been exposed, and the United States will not be in the mood for creative bargaining in the final months of Obama's presidency. The United States will forge ahead with offensives against the Islamic State in Mosul and Raqqa, focusing its efforts on managing competing forces on the ground and maintaining at least a minimal level of cooperation with Russia to de-conflict the Syrian battlefield. Russia, meanwhile, will concentrate its efforts on reinforcing the loyalist offensive against Aleppo to improve its leverage on the battlefield and thus its negotiating position with the next U.S. president. As the United States reinforces Sunni rebels in Syria and deprioritizes its dialogue with Moscow,*the potential for clashes will rise*going into the fourth quarter.

Complicating the situation is Turkey, which now has boots on the ground in Syria. As it pushes farther south, it will have to rely on U.S. protective cover to avoid colliding with Russia. But trouble between the United States and Russia means less insulation for the Turks.

Then there are Washington's restless allies, watching and waiting to see if they can continue to count on U.S. commitments to protect them from their stronger neighbors. With*the Trans-Pacific Partnership on ice*and with U.S. reliability in question overall,*Southeast Asian partners*like the Philippines and Vietnam will hedge their bets by cooperating with Beijing on economic issues, if only to ease tensions on security issues. European divisions will deepen as political factions throughout the Continent call for changes to the EU treaty to assert their national rights. Smaller groupings will band together more tightly, particularly the Visegrad Group and the Baltics, as they try to hold their ground against Russia and await clarity from the United States on its security commitments. At the same time, Gulf allies in the Middle East will take advantage of friction between the United States and Russia to reinforce their Sunni proxies in their regional competition with Iran.

But proxy wars need funding. Though they have taken incremental steps to cut government expenditures like public sector salaries, Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies have spent the year waiting to see if the oil market would rebalance itself. Moving into the fourth quarter, however, the Saudis are monitoring the potential for additional oil to come online in*Libya, Iraq, Nigeria and Kazakhstan. If Riyadh believes prices will decline further, it will consider cutting production to match pre-summer surge levels, using the opportunity to try to persuade others to agree to a production freeze. But even if its members do reach an agreement, OPEC still faces severe limitations*in influencing the price of crude*so long as U.S. producers are able to respond quickly to even modest price increases.

As for the rest of the world, poor economic conditions will make for messy politics this quarter. The global economy will remain in the quagmire it's been in for the past nine months as markets wait for a interest rate hike form the U.S. Federal Reserve, however modest it may be. Uncertainty around the U.S. election will forestall trade negotiations and possibly lead to currency fluctuations for countries that trade heavily with the United States, with Mexico in the spotlight.

An aversion to risk could also result in sell-offs of more precarious stocks, leaving already stressed banks even more exposed in a world of low, and in some cases negative, interest rates. As Japan's monetary authorities try to incrementally repair bank balance sheets through new and untested methods, Europe will be particularly skittish this quarter as political instability in Italy threatens to draw scrutiny*on troubled banks throughout the eurozone. That's not to say the next U.S. president will have to deal with a global banking panic, but it is to say that whoever wins the election will have a hard time finding the political consensus needed to manage a more enduring and uncomfortable structural shift in the global economy.

Read the complete Stratfor.com forecast, with extended forecasts by region at the following links:

Europe: European divisions will deepen as calls for treaty changes grow.
Eurasia: Russia and the United States are on a path toward escalation.
Middle East and North Africa: Foreign interests will diverge more markedly in Syria.
East Asia: As the TPP stalls, tensions will rise in the South China Sea.
Latin America: Will Venezuela's political opposition be able to hold a recall vote by the year's end?
South Asia: Leaders in India and Pakistan will use unrest in Kashmir to their advantage.
Sub-Saharan Africa: Economic issues will prevent Nigeria from addressing other areas of need.

Stratfor’s 2016 Fourth Quarter Forecast Overview is republished with permission from Stratfor.com.

 

[Housecarl]

Well this got lost in the rest of the weekend confusion!.....

http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/show...shing-boat-sinks-S.-Korean-Coast-Guard-vessel

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/news/2016/10/09/25/0200000000AEN20161009002500315F.html

Illegal Chinese fishing boat sinks S. Korean Coast Guard vessel

2016/10/09 16:34

INCHEON, Oct. 9 (Yonhap) -- A Chinese boat illegally fishing in South Korean waters sank a Coast Guard vessel in a collision before fleeing the scene, prompting the government to summon a senior Beijing envoy in protest.

The Coast Guard in Incheon, west of Seoul, said the incident took place around 3 p.m. on Friday, in waters 76 kilometers southwest of Socheong Island in Incheon. A 4.5-ton speed boat for the Coast Guard had carried several officers in an operation to capture a Chinese vessel fishing illegally in the area, when another Chinese boat rear-ended it.

There were no injuries or casualties from the incident. An officer was on board when the ship capsized and was later rescued by another Coast Guard boat in the area.

At the time of the collision, the Coast Guard said eight of its officers were aboard the Chinese boat that it was trying to stop.

Dozens of other Chinese boats joined the fray, and the Coast Guard officers started firing their weapons in response.

To ensure safety, the Coast Guard ordered its eight officers off the Chinese ship.

According to the Coast Guard, about 40 Chinese boats had been fishing illegally in South Korea's exclusive economic zone (EEZ) at the time of the incident.

The boat that crashed into the Coast Guard vessel has been placed on the wanted list by the Coast Guards of both nations.

The Incheon Coast Guard summoned deputy Chinese consul general earlier Sunday, while the foreign ministry in Seoul summoned Beijing's consul general later in the day to lodge formal complaints and to demand China's strong efforts to prevent recurrences.

Clashes between local law enforcement and Chinese fishermen have been violent and fatal. In October 2014, a Chinese captain was shot to death while resisting apprehension. The Coast Guard was trying to stop one boat, and then crewmembers from four other Chinese boats came on board and started throwing beer bottles at the South Korean officers.

In December 2011, Coast Guard officer Lee Cheong-ho was fatally stabbed by a Chinese crew member during a raid on a fishing vessel operating illegally in waters off Incheon.

Dozens of Coast Guard officers working these tense waters reportedly are diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder or depression.
(END)

 

[Housecarl]

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
https://www.lawfareblog.com/todays-headlines-and-commentary-1163

Today's Headlines and Commentary

By Quinta Jurecic Monday, October 10, 2016, 3:26 PM

On Friday afternoon, the United States formally accused the Kremlin of hacking and releasing Democratic Party information to interfere with the U.S. election. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and the Department of Homeland Security released a statement declaring that “only Russia’s senior-most officials could have authorized these activities.” The New York Times reports that the administration had debated over whether to formally accuse Russia of the hacking for weeks, eventually deciding to act out of concern that an announcement any closer to Election Day would appear politically motivated. Anonymous officials indicated in July that they had “high confidence” of the Kremlin’s involvement in the hacking, and the ranking Democratic members of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees recently released an open letter requesting that the White House acknowledge Russia’s role.

What happens now? The Times takes a look at the government’s options for responding to the Kremlin’s hacking. While a range of responses are available, from sanctions to a counter-cyberattack, it appears that the White House has not yet settled on a method to hold the Kremlin accountable.

In a further blow to the already worsening relationship between the U.S. and Russia, Secretary of State John Kerry called for an investigation into possible war crimes committed by Russia and the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad in attacking hospitals across Syria. The mechanics of such an investigation remain unclear, as Russia and China vetoed a 2014 U.N. Security Council resolution that would have allowed the International Criminal Court to examine investigate war crimes in Syria.

Kerry’s comments came only a day before the Security Council voted on a French resolution calling for a ceasefire in Aleppo and the grounding of warplanes above the city. On Saturday, Russia used its vote to veto the resolution—the fifth time that Russia has vetoed a Security Council resolution on Syria since the civil war began, the Washington Post writes. The United States, France, and the United Kingdom also vetoed a Russian resolution that called for humanitarian aid but did not mention a ceasefire. The Wall Street Journal has more.

Doctors Without Borders released a statement on Monday pleading with the Syrian government to allow humanitarian access to Aleppo, the AP tells us. In the wake of the regime’s intentional targeting of hospitals and other medical facilities, only 35 doctors remain to serve an estimated 275,000 people trapped in the besieged rebel-held area of Aleppo.

The Post takes a look at the Obama administration’s Syria policy and concludes that the White House has yet to reach a consensus as to how to save Aleppo. U.S. intelligence officials believe that the city could fall to regime control in “a matter of weeks” due to the systematic targeting of civilian infrastructure.

In yesterday’s second presidential debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, the Republican nominee declared a split between himself and his running mate Mike Pence on Syria policy, saying that he rejected Pence’s proposal to use military force to strike regime targets in Syria if Russia and the regime do not cease their bombardment of Aleppo. Trump also suggested that Russia may not be responsible for the hacking recently attributed to the Kremlin, suggesting that “maybe there is no hacking”—though an intelligence official told NBC that the candidate had been informed of the Kremlin’s responsibility in his August security briefing.

An airstrike conducted by the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen killed over 140 people attending a funeral on Sunday, the Post reports. The attack was one of the deadliest airstrikes yet in the war in Yemen and was “unequivocally condemned” by the United Nations, which called for an investigation into the strike. While the coalition has received U.S. military support in the form of training and refueling for the Saudi Air Force, the National Security Council announced that the United States will begin an “immediate review” of U.S. assistance to the coalition, saying that “U.S. security cooperation with Saudi Arabia is not a blank check.”

In a letter to the U.N. Security Council, Riyadh expressed “deep regret” for the airstrike and announced that it would release the results of an internal investigation, though the Wall Street Journal notes that the Kingdom did not explicitly claim responsibility. The Times writes that the devastating strike may be a turning point for Yemen, again focusing international attention and opprobrium on a conflict that had long since faded from the global view.

Missiles from an area of Yemen held by Houthi rebels were fired at at a U.S. Navy destroyer on Sunday night, according to the Post. The ship was not hit. A Houthi commander denied having targeted any ships in the area and claimed that the reports were intended as a distraction from Sunday’s airstrike.

Two suicide bombers detonated themselves on the outskirts of Ankara, Turkey on Saturday, though no one else was killed. The bombers killed themselves after refusing to surrender to the police, who believed that they were planning a suicide car bombing within the city. The AP reports that at least one of the bombers was likely linked to the PKK. On Sunday, a car bomb in southeast Turkey killed 18 people in an attack that the Turkish government has also linked to the PKK.

The Post examines how the Turkish government’s continuing crackdown has targeted Kurds. Authorities have recently arrested Kurdish local leaders and closed down pro-Kurdish media outlets—perhaps a sign that the crackdown, which was originally aimed at targeting enemies of the current government following the July coup attempt, has expanded to attack other areas of Turkish society as well.

Turkey appears to be continuing its rapprochement with Russia, the Wall Street Journal reports, as the two countries queue up a series of trade and energy deals at a summit in Istanbul. Relations between the two countries have been frosty for over a year after Turkey shot down a Russian plane that it claimed had violated its airspace in November 2015, but have recently begun to warm again. Turkey is now seeking Russian support for the creation of a no-fly zone along the Turkish-Syrian border.

A Palestinian shooter killed two Israelis and wounded others in an attack in Jerusalem on Sunday, only to be killed himself by police, the Post writes. Hamas released a statement claiming that the shooter was a member of its organization and calling the attack “heroic.” Since October 2015, the region has struggled with a series of stabbings and similar attacks by Palestinians against Israelis.

14 people were killed by a suicide bombing in Lakshar Gah, the capital of Afghanistan’s Helmand province, which has been under siege by the Taliban in recent weeks. Afghan security forces indicated that the Taliban have yet to breach Lakshar Gah, though a Taliban spokesman stated that his organization was advancing on the city. The Post has more.

German police have arrested a Syrian national suspected to have been planning a bombing attack, the Times reports. Police had been searching for Jaber el-Bakr in a two-day manhunt before several Syrians in the area recognized el-Bakr from photos distributed by the police, tied him up, and called the authorities. El-Bakr had been under police surveillance for a month when security officials stormed his apartment to find materials for a suicide vest and several pounds of the same explosives used by ISIS-affiliated terrorists in attacks in Brussels and Paris, precipitating the manhunt.

The French television network TV5 was nearly destroyed by a Russian cyberattack in April 2015, the BBC writes. The attack, which took the network entirely off the air for several hours, was initially claimed by an organization calling itself the Cyber Caliphate and claiming affiliation with ISIS. New evidence, however, suggests that the attack was carried out by a Russian group known as APT28, though investigators remain unsure why the network was targeted.

South Korea has lodged a formal complaint with China over an altercation off the Korean coast on Friday, in which a group of Chinese fishing boats rammed and sank a South Korean coast guard vessel.In recent years, numerous clashes have taken place as Chinese fishing boats enter into waters exclusively for South Korea’s economic use. The AP has more.

The Times looks back on the legacy of torture and enhanced interrogation in CIA prisons and at Guantanamo Bay, telling the stories of several men whose lives were shaped by their time in detention. The story examines the lasting mental health effects of torture long after the experience itself has passed.
*
ICYMI: This Weekend, on Lawfare
Quinta Jurecic posted the Lawfare Podcast, featuring an interview with Stephanie Leutert on violence in Mexico and Central America.

In the Foreign Policy Essay, Kristen A. Harkness argued that the West should focus on reforming African militaries in order to promote democracy on the continent.
Jack Goldsmith examined the United States’ options for cyber deterrence in the wake of accusing Russia of hacking the DNC.

Email the Roundup Team noteworthy law and security-related articles to include, and follow us on Twitter and Facebook for additional commentary on these issues.Sign up to receive Lawfare in your inbox. Visit our Events Calendar to learn about upcoming national security events, and check out relevant job openings on our Job Board.

 

[Housecarl]

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-N...boats-to-deter-Chinese-vessels/9331476124548/

Report: Japan to deploy enhanced patrol boats to deter Chinese vessels

By Elizabeth Shim **|** Oct. 10, 2016 at 2:43 PM
21 Comments

TOKYO, Oct. 10 (UPI) -- Japan is implementing stricter measures against Chinese fishing boats that may enter Japanese territorial waters near the disputed Senkaku Islands.

Tokyo plans to deploy nine patrol vessels from November to 2018, and to quadruple existing manpower and equipment for monitoring, Japanese television network NHK reported Monday.

According to the Japanese coast guard, the number of Chinese boats in violation of maritime law has increased.

The coast guard said in 2015 it counted 99 boats in Japan-claimed waters. In 2016, that number increased to 135 boats that were occupying 70 percent of total fishing areas.

Japan began building three patrol boats in 2014 in response to the rising number of Chinese boats near the Senkakus, also known as the Diaoyutai Islands in China. All three boats are to be eventually deployed from the Miyako Islands of Okinawa Prefecture, starting in November.

The new boats have been built to withstand impact from collisions with fishing boats, and come with improved monitoring technology, according to NHK.

The patrol vessels include rear windows in the steering room for better navigation and are capable of an omnidirectional 360-degree probe of its surroundings.

Plans are also underway for the construction of a 6,500-ton patrol boat that can be equipped with a helicopter.

Chinese boats fishing illegally in Japanese waters reached a peak in 2014, when the coast guard estimates about 208 vessels were in areas claimed by Tokyo.

Guards on Senkaku patrol are also to be increased from 55 to 200 by March 2019, according to the report.

 

[Housecarl]

The threat from CHINA: Xi warns Obama against threatening China’s sovereignty
http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/show...against-threatening-China’s-sovereignty/page9

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-security-idUSKCN12B0C8

World News | Tue Oct 11, 2016 | 1:14am EDT

China berates visiting New Zealand defense minister over South China Sea stance

By Ben Blanchard | BEIJING

China rebuked New Zealand's defense minister at a forum in Beijing on Tuesday, criticizing his stance on tensions in the South China Sea, saying countries "not involved" should not interfere.

China claims almost the entire South China Sea, through which about $5 trillion worth of trade passes each year. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims to parts of the sea.

An international tribunal in the Hague ruled in July that China had no historic title over the waters and had breached the Philippines' sovereign rights there. That decision infuriated Beijing, which dismissed the court's authority.

We "hope that countries who are not involved in the disputes respect the countries who are having the disputes to ... work among themselves," Fu Ying, chairwoman of China's foreign affairs committee for parliament, said at the Xiangshan Forum, which China styles as its answer to the annual Shangri-La Dialogue security forum in Singapore.

"Outside involvement, I think the developments have shown, interferences, can only complicate the differences and sometimes even add to the tension," Fu, a former deputy foreign minister, said.

Fu, who was chairing the session, made her comments immediately after New Zealand Defence Minister Gerry Brownlee spoke at the start of the forum.

"We oppose actions that undermine peace and erode trust and would like to see all parties actively take steps to reduce those tensions," Brownlee said earlier.

"As a small maritime trading nation, international law and, in particular, the United Nations convention on the law of the sea, is important for New Zealand. We support the arbitral process and believe that countries have the right to seek that international resolution," he said.

This isn't the first time China has clashed with New Zealand over the territorial dispute.

In February, New Zealand urged Chinese restraint after Beijing's apparent deployment of an advanced missile system on a South China Sea island, while Beijing said New Zealand's proposal was "unconstructive".

Brownlee on Tuesday honed in on the issue of China's building of artificial islands in the territory, including new airstrips, which has rattled nerves around the region.

"A particular cause of... heightened tension has been the reclamation and construction activity and deployment of military assets in disputed areas," he said.

China says much of the building and reclamation work it has been doing in the South China Sea is to benefit the international community, including for civilian maritime navigation.

After Fu's response, Brownlee told Reuters on the sidelines of the forum that it was reasonable for New Zealand to express its concerns, which represent smaller countries as well, as all parties are able to have a say.

A Malaysian general told Reuters on the sidelines of the forum that China has exercised restraint over the dispute, and there has been no increase in Chinese military activity in the parts of the South China Sea which Malaysia claims.

"In fact we are establishing military cooperation with China to build up confidence so that we understand one another better," said Malaysia Armed Forces chief Zulkefli Mohd Zin.

(Writing by Paul Carsten; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)

 

[Housecarl]

For links see article source.....
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http://www.reuters.com/article/us-thailand-security-idUSKCN12B0AA

World News | Mon Oct 10, 2016 | 11:52pm EDT

Thai police warn of Bangkok bomb plot, step up security

Police in Thailand on Tuesday said they have increased security at major landmarks in the capital Bangkok, at airports and in surrounding provinces following reports of bomb plots just weeks after deadly attacks rocked the country's south.

An armed group was plotting car bomb attacks in a province near Bangkok, Thailand's national security head said.

"The deputy prime minister instructed security agencies closely track and monitor anything unusual including things used to prepare bombs and cars," Thawip Netniyom, chief of Thailand's National Security Council, told reporters.

"Why target Bangkok? They probably want to make an impact," he said, without giving details on which groups could be behind the plot.

Popular tourist destination Thailand has seen a series of bomb attacks in the country's south over the past few weeks, including a wave of bombs in tourist towns between Aug. 11-12 that killed four Thai people and injured dozens, including foreigners.

Police have linked the attacks to Muslim separatists operating in Thailand's far south.
Security chief Thawip said he was not sure whether the planned car bombs and the August attacks were related.

Thailand's tourism industry, which accounts for 10 percent of gross domestic product, has weathered more than a decade of unrest including two military coups and the recent bombings.

Britain's Foreign Office advised travelers to exercise caution following the August bombings.

"You should exercise caution, particularly in public places ... Further incidents are possible in these and other areas of Thailand," the Foreign Office said.

In August 2015, a bomb ripped through a religious shrine in Bangkok killing 20 people, most of them tourists. But the attack failed to dent tourist arrivals to any discernable degree.

Two ethnic Uighur Muslims from China are on trial in Thailand accused of carrying out the attack.

Analysts and diplomats suspected the attack was linked to Uighur sympathizers angered by Thailand's deportation of more than 100 Uighurs to China the previous month.

Bangkok is currently playing host to a regional meeting attended by some world and business leaders.

Police said they were on high alert.

"I have ordered all police under my supervision in the area around Bangkok to monitor news, investigate and gather intelligence on groups who could come in and cause trouble," said Police Lieutenant General Charnthep Sesawet, acting chief of Provincial Police Region 1, which oversees areas around the capital.

(Reporting by Aukkarapon Niyomyat, Panarat Thepgumpanat and Pracha Hariraksapitak; Writing by Amy Sawitta Lefevre; Editing Michael Perry)

 

[Housecarl]

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http://www.foxnews.com/world/2016/1...-can-build-military-logistics-base-there.html

Europe

Niger says Germany can build military logistics base there

Published October 10, 2016 Associated Press

NIAMEY, Niger – *Niger's president says Germany can build a military logistics base in this West African country to strengthen its support of the fight against extremism here and in Mali.

President Mahamadou Issoufou spoke Monday alongside German Chancellor Angela Merkel on the second leg of her three-nation African visit.

Merkel says there is a strong link between illegal migration and the trafficking of arms into conflict zones. She says Germany wants to help combat this by supporting Niger's army with equipment and expertise.

Niger is a major transit point for African migrants making their way north toward Europe.

Niger's president welcomed Germany's cooperation in economic and social development, especially in parts of the country that are transit points for migrants.

 

[Housecarl]

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http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world...fighting/ar-BBxf3EG?li=AA4Zpp&ocid=spartanntp

Taliban enters capital of Helmand province after weeks of fighting

The Washington Post
Pamela Constable
4 hrs ago

KABUL — When Taliban fighters penetrated the capital of Helmand province for the first time Monday, killing at least 14 people in a suicide bombing and related attacks, it was their most successful assault to date on the strategic southern city and opium trade center, which the insurgents have been trying to capture for months.

Government forces pushed them out after several hours, and officials declared the situation under control, but by then some panicked residents had fled the beleaguered city, and the psychological damage had been done. The Taliban had not raised their flag over Lashkar Gah, but they had come awfully close.*

Monday’s ground assault and bombing came two days after Gen. John W. Nicholson, the top U.S. and NATO military commander in Afghanistan, flew from Kabul to Lashkar Gah and promised worried local leaders that international forces would do everything possible to make sure the city does not collapse.

“We are with you and we will stay with you,” Nicholson told the group gathered inside a police compound, adding that Western nations had recently pledged new military and economic support to Afghanistan “because we believe in you.” Even if the Taliban keeps trying to attack, he vowed, “Lashkar Gah will not fall.”*

Lt. Gen. Abdullah Khan Habibi, the Afghan defense minister, accompanied Nicholson and promised the group his forces would “defend Lashkar Gah with our own blood.” Helmand Gov. Hayatullah Hayat declared that Taliban fighters were making “a last push” to capture the city but that “they will take that hope to their graves.”

By Monday, the public bravado had been replaced by closed-door emergency meetings and appeals for help. Hayat, while declaring the situation under control by afternoon, acknowledged that local security forces were “really tired” after weeks of defending the city against Taliban aggression.

In a telephone interview, he said provincial security officials had asked the central government to send “fresh troops so our guys can cycle out and get some rest.”

To the elders who gathered anxiously Saturday to hear what the visitors had to say, Monday’s attack came as no surprise. The Taliban already controlled three-quarters of the province, and since mid-September it had launched a new offensive, harrying the edges of the capital while overrunning several district centers and attacking security checkpoints.

The elders knew the militant Islamists were itching to capture Lashkar Gah, where they could establish a launching pad for more offensives and move their leaders from neighboring Pakistan. They knew it would also give the insurgents much greater control over the region’s hugely profitable opium poppy trade.
*
They were alarmed by the erratic performance of Afghan troops, more numerous and better equipped but less motivated than the insurgents. They were*frustrated by political infighting in Kabul. They wondered why the Americans, with so many warplanes and attack helicopters at the ready, weren’t doing more to help.
*
So they listened politely to the speeches, fingering their prayer beads and fidgeting with frustration. And then they spoke.

One elder, Hajji Ahmad Jan, rose and graciously welcomed the visitors, but then his tone shifted abruptly. “We are sacrificing so much here, and what have we gained?” he said, pointing to a legislator whose brother had just been killed in fighting. Then he turned and addressed Nicholson. “You got rid of the Taliban in three days once. Why can’t you do the same thing now?”

Another complained to a reporter about pervasive corruption in the security forces. He said the practice of “selling ranks” had weakened military morale and “made the Taliban stronger than us.”

One man seemed to speak for everyone when he made a brief, impassioned plea to the visiting officials.*

“Our homes are being destroyed, our youths are being killed, people are suffering every day and being forgotten,” he said. “If, God forbid, we lose Lashkar Gah, then Helmand will collapse and the whole region and Afghanistan will collapse.

“Please save us from this chaos.”

The Afghan forces’ battlefield performance has been mixed.*Army commandos have been widely praised, but police frequently run away from Taliban attacks, and coordination among different security branches is poor.

*Monday brought Lashkar Gah — already on edge, running out of supplies and crammed with refugees from nearby fighting — one step closer to chaos. The suicide bombing and ground attack left 15 people hospitalized with gunshot wounds and other injuries, and officials said the death toll might rise.*

Hayat tried to reassure the public that everything was under control. “We have locked the area down and it is now completely clear,” he said Monday afternoon. “There is no doubt that people were scared, and some fled their houses, thinking the Taliban had broken through the security belt and entered the city, but that was not the case.”

But some local leaders said Taliban forces had breached the city’s defensive lines early Monday and attacked numerous checkposts. Abdul Bari Barakzai, a tribal chief, said that government troops had pushed the insurgents back by midday but that sporadic gunfire was continuing.

Qari Mohammad Yousuf, a Taliban spokesman, said in an audio message that its forces “began an operation on Lashkar Gah this morning and have since entered several areas and captured some strategic points.”

Refugees from the conflict, now living in a maze of mud-walled huts here in Kabul, said Monday they had little expectation the province could be pacified. They also said tribal rivalries and NATO bombings had added to the violence and caused some residents to support the Taliban.

“I don’t have even a tiny hope,” said Mahmad Nabi, 55, a farmer who fled last month with 60 other families from Nad Ali, a district now mostly under Taliban control. “Our land of grapes and pomegranates became a desert. The foreign planes have destroyed our houses and the Taliban don’t let farmers go to their fields. The people are caught in the middle.”

Sardar Gul Rahim, 32, a refugee from Greshk, a city that fell to the Taliban several years ago, expressed a more cynical view. “The Taliban take plunder and say you are supporting the government. The government forces accuse you of providing cover for the Taliban,” he said, sitting under a tent and feeding his pet partridges in wicker cages. “Everyone is just fighting for their own interests.”

Sayed Salahuddin contributed to this report.

 

[Housecarl]

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http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world...lice-say/ar-BBxiRkQ?li=AA4Zpp&ocid=spartandhp

Gunman kills 14 at shrine in Afghan capital, police say

Reuters
8 mins ago

At least 14 people were killed on Tuesday when a gunman opened fire on worshippers gathered at a shrine in the Afghan capital Kabul for a Shi'ite holy day, officials said.

Thirteen civilians and one police officer died, with 36 people wounded, said Ministry of Interior spokesman Sediq Sediqqi.

Ministry of Public Health officials said at least 43 people had been injured in the incident and had been taken to hospitals in the city for treatment.

The attack began just before 8 p.m. (3:30 p.m. GMT), police said, with witnesses reporting an explosion followed by gunfire.

Initial reports put the number of attackers at three, but Sediqqi said police special forces who responded to the scene found and killed only one gunman.

Security forces at the scene had evacuated the shrine as the attack unfolded, said Kabul police chief Abdul Rahman Rahimi.

The attack occurred at one of Kabul's largest shrines as Shi'ite Muslims had gathered to observe the Ashura holy day, which commemorates the 7th Century death of a grandson of the prophet Mohammed.

The attacker was dressed in a police or military uniform, according to a police official.

(Reporting by Mirwais Harooni; writing by Josh Smith; editing by Andrew Roche)

 

[Housecarl]

Remember a few years ago when thousands of RIF'd PLA officers held organized protests in the PRC?....

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-military-protests-idUSKCN12B12V

World News | Tue Oct 11, 2016 | 6:15am EDT

China blockades streets around military building as hundreds protest in capital

Police in the Chinese capital on Tuesday blocked off streets near a major military building, as hundreds of people wearing green camouflage uniforms chanted and waved national flags to protest against the loss of their posts.

China last year announced it would cut troop levels by 300,000, targeting the bulk of the reductions by the end of 2017, as it seeks to spend more money on high-tech weapons for its navy and air force.

Tens of thousands of protests take place in China every year, triggered by grievances over corruption, pollution, illegal land grabs and other factors, unnerving the stability-obsessed ruling Communist Party.

On Tuesday, buses stretched down a block of Chang'an Avenue, Beijing's main thoroughfare, with police blocking the gaps between vehicles to obstruct views of the tightly-packed demonstrators.

The voices of the protesters in front of the military's Bayi Building rose above the traffic as they chanted songs, while some waved Chinese flags and banners protesting against their treatment after losing their positions in the military.

"Our rights and benefits to be transferred from military posts to suitable civilian work have been violated," read the inscription on one banner.

Police denied Reuters access to the demonstration site, while China's defense ministry did not immediately respond to emailed questions.

Armed police vehicles also patrolled the area, and individuals who appeared to be plainclothes police carried walkie-talkies and headsets.

China's defense minister, Chang Wanquan, is to host a banquet at the Bayi Building on Tuesday evening for participants of the Xiangshan Forum, which Beijing styles as its answer to the annual Shangri-La Dialogue security forum in Singapore.

China has the world's largest military and the government of President Xi Jinping is pumping billions of dollars into a modernization program, including aircraft carriers, anti-satellite missiles and stealth jets.

Protests by demobilized soldiers are not uncommon, and previously some who had fought against Vietnam in 1979 have demonstrated in complaint against problems over their pensions.

Many people try to use "petitions" to bypass the legal system and bring complaints directly to the attention of government officials, a process that dates back to imperial times, though some cases do end up in court.

Few cases ever get resolved, however, and petitioners can stage noisy protests out of frustration.

(Reporting by Natalie Thomas, Thomas Peter and Paul Carsten; Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard and Beijing Newsroom; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

 

[Housecarl]

http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/show...ng-of-eastern-Aleppo-rebels-monitor-(10-11-16)

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http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-aleppo-idUSKCN12B14M

World News | Tue Oct 11, 2016 | 3:23pm EDT

Russian jets resume heavy bombing of eastern Aleppo: rebels, monitor

Russian jets resumed heavy bombing of rebel-held eastern Aleppo on Tuesday after several days of relative calm, a rebel official and the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said.

Air strikes mostly hit the Bustan al-Qasr neighborhood, Zakaria Malhifji of the Aleppo-based Fastaqim rebel group told Reuters.

"There is renewed bombardment and it is heavy," he said.

The Observatory said at least eight people were killed in Bustan al-Qasr and Fardous neighborhoods.

Moscow and Damascus reduced air raids in the northern city last week. The Syrian army said it was partly to allow civilians to leave opposition-held eastern neighborhoods.

The Syrian government said rebels holed up in Aleppo can leave with their families if they lay down their arms.

Insurgents denounced that offer as a deception.

President Bashar al-Assad seeks the complete recapture of Aleppo, Syria's biggest city before the 5-1/2-year war, and which has been divided between government and opposition control for years.

Assad's ally Russia has meanwhile built up its forces in Syria since a brief ceasefire collapsed last month.

Russia's intervention a year ago has helped the government side gain the upper hand against rebels on many frontlines in the Syrian conflict, including Aleppo where the opposition-held sector has been completely encircled for weeks.

Insurgents had advanced elsewhere against government forces and their allies, including in Hama province further south where they captured a series of towns and villages last month. Government forces have regained some of those areas in recent days, however.

In the southern city of Deraa, which is split between government and rebel control, insurgent shelling of a school killed at least five people including children on Tuesday, the Observatory and state media reported.

Residents reported the same death toll.

A separate mortar attack hit a government complex in the heart of the city with reports of casualties, a Deraa resident said, adding that mosques were appealing for blood donations.

(Reporting by John Davison and Suleiman al-Khalidi in Amman; Editing by Alison Williams and Dominic Evans)

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