US admits it has no Idea who it is Assassinating by Drone
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) –
The tragic deaths last January, just now being revealed, of two Western hostages in drone strikes on a relatively empty housing complex in northern Pakistan near the Afghanistan border underlines that the Obama administration is killing people from the air without knowing who they are and is killing significant numbers of innocent civilians. Just as hostages don’t move around outside so that spy cameras can observe them, so too in gender-segregated Pushtun society, women are often immured at home and so the CIA or US military who are running the drones do not know if they are in the sights.
Contrary to assurances given by President Obama a couple of years ago, the US government admits that it had no idea who it was targeting when it hit that building. Indiscriminate fire is a recognized war crime, and it seems to characterize the US drone program.
These are the figures for the US drone assassination program in Pakistan, according to The Bureau of Investigative Journalism:
Total strikes: 415
Obama strikes: 364
Total killed: 2,449-3,949
Civilians killed: 423-962
Children killed: 172-207
Injured: 1,144-1,722
Obama strikes: 364
Total killed: 2,449-3,949
Civilians killed: 423-962
Children killed: 172-207
Injured: 1,144-1,722
That is, as many as a fourth of those killed by US drone assassinations are non-combatants.
Death by drone is inherently lawless. There is no constitutional or legal framework within which the US government can blow people away at will. For a while in the 1970s through 1990s, assassination was outlawed.
Now it is back, but has taken this freakish form where bureaucrats thousands of miles away fire missiles from large toy airplanes. The US is not at war with Pakistan, so this action is not part of a war effort. You can’t be at war with an organization– a state of war has a technical legal definition.
Now it is back, but has taken this freakish form where bureaucrats thousands of miles away fire missiles from large toy airplanes. The US is not at war with Pakistan, so this action is not part of a war effort. You can’t be at war with an organization– a state of war has a technical legal definition.
The US government maintains that it is only shooting when it sees a high value target. This is a lie. They had no idea who was in the building. The US government maintains that it kills hardly any local civilians with its drone assassinations, whereas journalists on the ground find evidence of substantial non-combatant deaths. The killing of Warren Weinstein and Giovanni Lo Porto is not just a tragedy; it reveals the US assassination technique for the world to see.
—
related video:
It IS a war. It IS a war against an organization. Juan Cole is wrong.
ReplyDeleteWe DO know who we are killing. We, also, know that we are killing a few of their relatives, and friends. Sorry; but it can't be helped. Tough luck about the hostages, but tough luck happens. It's part of life. Personally, I recommend that the do-gooders concentrate on S. America, Appalachia, or some other non-MENA locale.
So are you WRONG about your disgusting condemnation of Israel taking out Hamas?
ReplyDeleteHere is your chance rufus to right the wrong and stand tall as a non-hypocrite...
Israel RESPONDED directly to Hamas targets 4-7 miles from it's borders, hitting Hamas military command and control and launching storage and sites that were shelling Israel with hundreds of rockets a day.
DeleteAmerica is 9000 miles away from Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Sudan and Pakistan.
Why are the Israelis despicable for fighting Hamas and America is justified in fighting Jihadists?
They are the same.
ISIS=Hezbollah=Hamas
They MAY hate one another but they all share hatred of Jews, Christians, America and Israel.
Welcome to the the party
IS = ISrael
DeleteIf hatred is an equalizer.
Jack "dead beat dad" Hawkins attempts to slander Israel once again and fails...
DeleteIsrael celebrates it's 67 year of being the Modern Jewish State, with a new population record of over 8 million, voted the 11th happiest NATION on the planet.....
LOL
Israel IS.....
Israel's nation is a great mosaic of folks of all colors, races and faiths...
Arabs, Christians, Jews, Druze, Bhais, Moslems, Pagans and Gay all live in a vibrant nation....
Heck they even allow Americans to move there!!!
The only hatred that Israel has? Is the hatred for for evil doers to bomb their children.....
Go to Israel, take a nice break, sit on the shores of beach, climb, horseback ride, eat in wonderful restaurants and play...
They say the BEST bacon and pork in the world can be found in Israel....
As the Best KOSHER Chinese food and of course the BEST Hummus and Shwarma....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uNLucop0OQ
DeleteWatch this and CRY......
You can't get this (as good) anywhere in the world but Israel...
Rufus IIFri Apr 24, 11:00:00 AM EDT
ReplyDeleteIt IS a war. It IS a war against an organization. Juan Cole is wrong.
We DO know who we are killing. We, also, know that we are killing a few of their relatives, and friends. Sorry; but it can't be helped. Tough luck about the hostages, but tough luck happens. It's part of life.
Very true words.
Idaho BobFri Apr 24, 11:25:00 AM EDT
ReplyDeleteDown in LowerLand the 'folks' are having a chuclkle.
Ruf reaches for a Bud, Deuce gets stroked by a Persian, Ash inhales some weed.....
Not an intelligent reply among them.
Rufus IIFri Apr 24, 11:00:00 AM EDT
ReplyDeleteIt IS a war. It IS a war against an organization. Juan Cole is wrong.
We DO know who we are killing. We, also, know that we are killing a few of their relatives, and friends. Sorry; but it can't be helped.
***********************************************************************************************************************************************************bwabwabwaHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHA
heheheheheee
RUFUS has come out for CARPET BOMBING by any other name.
Whahoooohohohhohohooooooooooooooooo
Fuck the collateral dead.
DeleteJust send them roses and an apology.
I'm OK with that.
hootHoootHOOOTHOOTHoothoot
Good ol' Roooooofus !
DeleteWrong, again, Robert "Chattel" Peterson.
DeleteScope and scale have a real meaning.
6,000 casualties, in the entire campaign, is less than would be had in one "carpet bombing'.
But then they must not have taught you about scale at U of Washington.
Jack HawkinsFri Apr 24, 11:42:00 AM EDT
DeleteWrong, again, Robert "Chattel" Peterson.
Scope and scale have a real meaning.
6,000 casualties, in the entire campaign, is less than would be had in one "carpet bombing'.
But then they must not have taught you about scale at U of Washington.
And yet in the concept of "scope and scale"? The dead Hamas members number about 2000 (which includes about 500 collateral damage women and kids/civilians who were human shields)
2000!
Hamas shot of TENS of thousand of rockets and only lost 2000 people out of a population of 1.2 MILLION, thousand and thousands of Israel Air strikes and yet ONLY 2000 dead..
Now in scope and scale?
300,000 in Syria lie dead, civilians that is...
500,000 lie dead in Iraq, civilians that is...
Now that is scope and scale...
.
ReplyDeleteThe Trans-Pacific Partnership clause everyone should oppose
Elizabeth Warren
...One strong hint is buried in the fine print of the closely guarded draft. The provision, an increasingly common feature of trade agreements, is called “Investor-State Dispute Settlement,” or ISDS. The name may sound mild, but don’t be fooled. Agreeing to ISDS in this enormous new treaty would tilt the playing field in the United States further in favor of big multinational corporations. Worse, it would undermine U.S. sovereignty.
ISDS would allow foreign companies to challenge U.S. laws — and potentially to pick up huge payouts from taxpayers — without ever stepping foot in a U.S. court. Here’s how it would work. Imagine that the United States bans a toxic chemical that is often added to gasoline because of its health and environmental consequences. If a foreign company that makes the toxic chemical opposes the law, it would normally have to challenge it in a U.S. court. But with ISDS, the company could skip the U.S. courts and go before an international panel of arbitrators. If the company won, the ruling couldn’t be challenged in U.S. courts, and the arbitration panel could require American taxpayers to cough up millions — and even billions — of dollars in damages.
If that seems shocking, buckle your seat belt. ISDS could lead to gigantic fines, but it wouldn’t employ independent judges. Instead, highly paid corporate lawyers would go back and forth between representing corporations one day and sitting in judgment the next. Maybe that makes sense in an arbitration between two corporations, but not in cases between corporations and governments. If you’re a lawyer looking to maintain or attract high-paying corporate clients, how likely are you to rule against those corporations when it’s your turn in the judge’s seat?
If the tilt toward giant corporations wasn’t clear enough, consider who would get to use this special court: only international investors, which are, by and large, big corporations. So if a Vietnamese company with U.S. operations wanted to challenge an increase in the U.S. minimum wage, it could use ISDS. But if an American labor union believed Vietnam was allowing Vietnamese companies to pay slave wages in violation of trade commitments, the union would have to make its case in the Vietnamese courts...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/kill-the-dispute-settlement-language-in-the-trans-pacific-partnership/2015/02/25/ec7705a2-bd1e-11e4-b274-e5209a3bc9a9_story.html
.
Hey Quirk O you seen the latest from Roooofus ?
DeleteHe's now down for lettin' it all hang out, lettin' it rip.
We ARE at war he says.
Fuck collateral damage.
Quirk, not a fan of Warren in anyway but the post you made is VERY interesting.
Deletethanks
.
ReplyDeleteThere is no doubt in my mind that the in the WOT the US has created multiple times more terrorists than we have killed.
The drone program has played its part in that effort.
.
You are wrong in that.
DeleteThese breakouts of muzzie fanaticism have occurred in the past.
Now it gets a lot of fuel via the Internet.
Where it goes now I don't know.
That could be, so few have been killed by the drone program.
DeleteThe BEST way to fight the war on terror?
DeleteMake oil from the middle east irrelevant.
Do not encourage hundreds of thousands of middle eastern moslems to move the the USA
Stop providing anything but medicine and food to any nation that hates the USA and it's people.
Somewhere other than Idaho I hope.
DeleteSomewhere other than Detroit, rural Mississippi, or the Deuce compound in Philly.
It is DEFINITELY not our fault.
Good comment by WiO right above.
DeleteJack HawkinsFri Apr 24, 11:43:00 AM EDT
DeleteThat could be, so few have been killed by the drone program.
Jack "dead beat dad" Hawkins has spoken truth.
Jack HawkinsFri Apr 24, 11:43:00 AM EDT
That could be, so few have been killed by the drone program.
There are few killed as compared to the lethalness of Jack's own personal involvement in helping train the death squads in Central America, excusing for a moment any direct killings Jack is responsible for, his training of this "dark opps" folks killed many times more women and babies than the USA Drone programs...
Excellent comment.
DeleteOur "Dead Beat Dad" should really really be fearing death, as there is a Judgement upon that event.
Someone like my Niece however has zero to fear.
She works with the mentally disabled there in Dresden, Germany each day.
She rides a bike to work.
Goodness is its own reward.
She says "I'm on top of the world now, Uncle Bob"
The tone of her voice and her flair testifies to her own personal truth.
I am one lucky old Idaho farmer, I can tell you that !
More kids killed...
DeleteAs the United Nations humanitarian wing appealed for “any initiative that can reduce the violence” in Yemen, the World Health Organization (WHO) office in the country reported that the death toll from the fighting topped 1,000 over the past month and warned that main hospitals face shutting down because of critical shortages of power, lack of fuel and oxygen.
Meanwhile, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Yemen said there were 7.9 million children among the 15.9 million people – or some 60 per cent of the total population – in need of humanitarian assistance in the war-torn country.
Reporting from its country office in Yemen, WHO said health facilities across the country had reported 1,080 deaths and 4,352 injured between 19 March and 20 April.
AFP adds
:At least 115 children have been killed and 172 maimed in the violence raging in Yemen since Saudi-led air raids began on March 26, the UN children's agency said Friday.
"We believe that these are conservative figures," UNICEF spokesman Christophe Boulierac told reporters in Geneva, saying at least 64 of the children killed between March 26 and April 20 were victims of air strikes.
The UN agency said another 26 children had been killed by unexploded ordnance and mines, 19 by gunshots, three by shelling and three by "unverified causes related to the conflict"
Yemen, Iranian proxy war gets more dead....
.
DeleteYou are wrong in that.
I think you are wrong. If you read my two line post, you will see that I was talking about our WOT efforts. The drone strikes are a small part of that effort but the results are the same. We kill a couple terrorists along with some civilians. The terrorists we kill are quickly and easily replaced but the hatred generated amongst the families of the innocents killed goes on. With the drones, Pakistan and Yemen are key examples, it is not just the attacks themselves but it is watching these things flying overhead daily never knowing if you will suddenly become 'collateral damage'.
Would anyone here argue we have fewer enemies in the ME today than we had in 2001?
.
.
DeleteAt least 115 children have been killed and 172 maimed in the violence raging in Yemen since Saudi-led air raids began on March 26, the UN children's agency said Friday.
WiO lists the dead by killed by Saudi air attacks in Yemen and then states,
Yemen, Iranian proxy war gets more dead....
Ridiculous.
In Syria, there is a civil war and WiO blames every person killed on the government. In Yemen, there is a civil war and WiO blames all the killing on the militants. Depends on whose ox is being gored.
Anyone who has watched the Saudi bombing of cities in Yemen shouldn't be surprised by the reported slaughter.
.
Quirk. You misunderstood my point
DeleteThe reason kids are being killed (no matter who pulled the trigger) is Iranian revolutionary expansion
"Iranian proxy war gets more dead.."
DeleteI didn't say who pulled the trigger, just who caused the deaths…
The Iranian Revolutionary Guards and Iran whose mission is Islamic liberation
17,350,392 are the number of black babies aborted since 1973.
ReplyDeleteDo black lives matter?
Does the USA government help pay for these?
IN America TODAY 1,487 abortions....
DeleteAre aborted potential lives = to born citizens?
Jack "Dead Beat Dad" Hawkins seems to think so....
He regailed us with abortion stats that have occurred in Israel for MONTHS without stop...
So in Jack "Dead Beat Dad" Hawkins own words scope and scale are important....
2000 gazans killed in a war? Almost meaningless, according to Jack....
After all the USA kills almost 2000 a day....
How many is that a MONTH in the 21st century?
Jack loves to tell us that Israel kills a palestinian child every other day....
but what of the scope and scale?
Jack HawkinsFri Apr 24, 11:42:00 AM EDT
DeleteWrong, again, Robert "Chattel" Peterson.
Scope and scale have a real meaning.
6,000 casualties, in the entire campaign, is less than would be had in one "carpet bombing'.
But then they must not have taught you about scale at U of Washington.
US since 1973: Roe vs Wade 57,834,651 abortions..
How is that for scope and scale?
Jack HawkinsFri Apr 24, 11:43:00 AM EDT
DeleteThat could be, so few have been killed by the drone program.
Jack HawkinsFri Apr 24, 11:42:00 AM EDT
Wrong, again, Robert "Chattel" Peterson.
Scope and scale have a real meaning.
6,000 casualties, in the entire campaign, is less than would be had in one "carpet bombing'.
According to Jack "Dead Beat Dad" Hawkins, scope and scale have real meaning....
LOL
Jack "War Criminal" Hawkins used to brag about how he led a death squad in Central American.
ReplyDeleteI don't know whether he did or didn't, being the pathological liar that all here have testified he is, but he did brag about it.
Jack's got one hell of a resume.
He is working off the Coasts of Panama as we speak, on some National Security Project or other.
I think Santa Claus will float in here on Memorial Day 2015, just about one month from now, and declare all of Iraq ISIS free, just as Jack Ass predicted.
Due to the magic of the 'rat Doctrine'.
hootHoot HOOTHOOTHoothooot
The rantings of Robert "Draft Dodger" Peterson are becoming ever more delusional.
DeleteJack "Dead Beat Dad" Hawkins slams Bob for delusion....
DeleteAnd yet Jack "dead beat dad" Hawkins claims that the folks who built the Temple Mount are the modern day ARABs called Palestinians...
Now that is delusional..
May I remind you all that Jack Ass is both a self confessed "military expert" and "professional asshole" ?
ReplyDeleteBwabwabwahahahahahaha
DeleteIf there is a 'confession' my little piece of chattel, let us see it.
DeleteProvide the link, but we all know that you cannot do that, because it does not exist, never did.
When all you have are fantasies, Robert "Draft Dodger" Peterson, you don't have a thing.
Jack "Dead Beat Dad" Hawkins demands links?
DeleteLOL
Now that is FUNNY
We've taken out 350, or so, Terrorists in just the last 5 days.
ReplyDelete(Reuters) - The United States and its allies conducted 15 air strikes since early on Thursday targeting Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq, the Combined Joint Task Force leading the operation said on Friday.
Eleven air strikes in Iraq were conducted near the cities of Ramadi, Falluja, Mosul and Tal Afar, while four air strikes in Syria targeted Islamic State forces near the key border town of Kobani, the task force said in a statement.
(Reporting by Washington Newsroom)
Makes Me feel safer
2,000 / mo.
ReplyDelete24,000 / yr.
I'm in.
With strong trade winds, volcanic heat and abundant solar and hydropower, the Hawaiian islands have a plethora of natural resources.
ReplyDeleteYet the state is America’s largest consumer of fossil fuels per capita, according to Hawaii’s Environmental Council for the Office of Environmental Quality Control.
A bill currently going through the state's legislature aims to change that by setting the ambitious goal of using renewable energy exclusively by 2050.
If it passes, Hawaii could be the first state in the country to meet all of its electricity demand with renewable resources.
Mark Glick, the Hawaii State Energy Office energy administrator, said that economically speaking, the bill makes sense. Energy available from Hawaii’s numerous renewable sources “competes favorably today with the cost of oil,” he said, making a 100 percent goal “both lofty and achievable.”
“We increased our renewable portfolio standards in 2009 to current levels,” Glick said. The state set a goal of getting 15 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2015.
Today, Hawaii is close to 23 percent, he noted, “and 2015 isn’t finished yet.”
Given that pace, the bill's proposal seems realistic. It establishes goals of 25 percent of electricity sales to be renewable by 2020, 40 percent by 2030, 70 percent by 2035 and 100 percent by 2050, “unless the acquisition of renewable energy is not beneficial to Hawaii’s economy.”
Dawn Lippert, the founder of the Honolulu-based Energy Excelerator and chair of the board of the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative, said that establishing stretch goals are “very powerful tools to get stakeholders to align to action. When we set that [2030] goal, many people thought that it couldn’t be done by 2030. And now what we see is really significant momentum in steps toward that goal. We’re farther along that path than we thought we would be.”
Hawaii has at least 50 renewable energy projects spread over five islands, including the state’s only geothermal plant on the eastern rift zone of the Kilauea volcano.
DeleteThanks in large part to that geothermal plant, Hawaii Island (also known as the Big Island) is running on nearly 50 percent renewable energy. The plant produces electricity that is cheaper than petroleum fuels in Hawaii and generally cheaper than other forms of renewable electricity.
. .. . . .
While Hawaii's plan is incredibly ambitious because it would encompass an entire state, it isn't the only place in the U.S. with a goal of going 100 percent renewable.
The city of San Francisco aims to have its electricity grid go fully renewable by 2020, and San Diego’s goal is 2035.
Globally, Iceland is already using 100 percent renewable energy, and Scotland and Denmark also have similar goals in place.
But Lippert emphasizes that for her, this isn’t . . . .
Gettin' there
The strategy of air strikes, without having troops on the ground ...
ReplyDeleteNot going to work in the War on Terror.
Carpet Bombing will not be effective, pinpoint drone strikes, no more so.
Not in Iraq, not in Syria, not in Pakistan.
Without boots on the ground, there is little point to it.
It is preferable if the boots are local, than to them being from the US.
AAAAHHHH
DeleteSo the "rat Doctrine" was just a bunch of bullshit !
Now we get it.
And the rat hole's Iraq ISIS free by Memorial Day 2015 world famous prediction was just a bunch of rat shit too.
Now we get it.
Rat Shit is just a bullshitter.
For more info just call
Delete1-800-RAT- SHIT
When you call make sure to ask about the Famous Rat Shit Prediction of Iraq being ISIS free by Memorial Day 2015.
DeleteThey will provide updates on the Famous RAT SHIT Prediction.
Memorial Day is one month away.
DeleteBest kick it into high gear, Rat Shitter.
Bwabwabwahahahaha
DeleteIraq is not mine to kick, chattel boy.
DeleteYou are
OOOooooooooooooooo..............another death threat ?
DeleteGo Fuck Yourself
Not likely to happen, Chattel Boy
DeletePoor rat, sad rat, saddled with a Memorial Day Prediction that makes him the FOOL
Deletebwabwahahahha
So he turns to the old threat stuff....
What a LOSER
But I own you, chattel boy.
DeleteAt least you tell us that.
DeleteRobert "Draft Dodger" Peterson now tells us that a 'kick in the ass' is a mortal threat ...
Delete'Chattel Boy' really is really stretching, he ought to take a few weeks off from blogging.
Before he humiliates himself any further.
Jack "Dead Beat Dad" Hawkins, a loser in real life, a man who never was responsible for his own children seeks to play "man in charge" on a BLOG for god's sake...
DeleteJack the ONLY think you own? Is your over inflated ego...
and trust me...
No one is impressed...
A new survey released on Thursday suggests that Affordable Care Act consumers are relatively happy with the insurance that they have purchased. And it's partly for reasons that conservatives would be celebrating -- if only that didn't also mean celebrating “Obamacare.”
ReplyDeleteThe survey comes from the research firm J.D. Power and Associates. More than 3,000 people who purchased private insurance through one of the Affordable Care Act marketplaces last year participated, representing 11 states. The questions covered a variety of issues -- from quality of customer service to the adequacy of doctor and hospital networks. The survey also solicited opinions about the benefits of the plans and the costs.
The answers were surprisingly positive, at least by the standards of health insurance in America. J.D. Power uses a numerical index, from zero (low) to 1,000 (high), to measure consumer satisfaction. The figure for Affordable Care Act consumers was 696. To put that in perspective, the figure for people with employer-sponsored insurance -- the source of coverage for most working-age Americans -- was 670.
The survey found that people who were buying plans for the second consecutive year were more satisfied than those buying for the first time. Those buying plans through marketplaces that the federal government operates, rather than marketplaces that the states run, also tended to be happier.
The J.D. Power study is not the first to suggest that the majority of Obamacare consumers are content with what they are getting for their money. One year ago, the Commonwealth Fund published another survey of people who had received coverage through the Affordable Care Act.
Like the J.D. Power study, the Commonwealth survey included respondents who bought insurance through the marketplaces and frequently benefitted from generous federal tax credits. But it also polled people who got their insurance through . . . .
Happy, Happy
California is currently getting 28% of its electricity from Renewables.
ReplyDeleteCa ISO
Why does this figure bounce up and down as it does ?
DeleteSolar ?
Delete
DeleteNo, dimwit, electrical usage is not constant, so the varied sources are not, either.
I mean, really, Robert "Chattel Boy" Peterson, if you had a brain you'd be dangerous.
Jack, you are a dumb ass of the 1st order...
DeleteBob look at the color of the line, yellow represents SOLAR, hence it is generated during the DAY and goes to zero at night...
It is one thing to say it, but to write it, that is an even greater indicator of the writer's truth ...
ReplyDeleteMedical Definition of FREUDIAN SLIP
: a slip of the tongue that is motivated by and reveals some unconscious aspect of the mind
What Is A Freudian Slip?
ReplyDeleteIt is commonly linked to your subconscious mind stepping up and offering its repressed thoughts and feelings.
http://writtenbynikki.com/2013/06/03/the-freudian-slip-when-your-own-brain-hates-you/
I own you, Robert "Draft dodger" Peterson, you told us so ...
You subconscious told us the truth ...
That truly is the funniest thing you have ever written, because it was, is, the truth of our relationship.
{;-)
Jack "dead Beat Dad" Hawkins holds tight to anything that gives him the feeling of "WINNING"
DeleteReminds me of Charlie Sheen a few years back....
Iraqi military 'kills 250 Isis fighters' and re-takes swathes of territory in fierce battle for Anbar
ReplyDeleteA senior commander in the Iraqi army claims his forces have killed hundreds of Isis militants and re-taken swathes of territory in Anbar province, where the extremist group launched a counter-offensive in recent weeks.
Lieutenant General Abdul Amir al Shammari told Sky News his forces had killed “more than 250 terrorists in the past few days”.
He said this had been achieved with assistance from the Iraqi air force, military helicopters and coalition airstrikes. "The coalition strikes provided cover for our troops to push forward.”
Thousands of police officers who fled capital of Ramadi are now returning home
Can any one figure out what the hell Jack "Dead Beat Dad And War Criminal" Hawkins is talking about ? It rambles so there is no coherence to any of it.
ReplyDeleteFinally a person just gives up, moves on...
US cities increase security over Islamic State “kill list”
ReplyDeleteApril 24, 2015 3:47 pm By Robert Spencer
Islamic State Libya ChristiansLast month we had the story of the U.S. military personnel being targeted, but not the particulars of the cities targeted. They’re listed below. “ISIS releases ‘Kill List'; Seven Texas cities included,” NewsChannel10, March 24, 2015 (thanks to Pamela Geller):
The Pentagon has responded to a globally-released ‘Kill List’, asking law enforcement to give extra protection for military personnel whose personal information was released.
CBS News national security correspondent David Martin reports the Pentagon spent the weekend notifying the soldiers who appeared on the list, and urged city police departments and military police to increase patrol in the neighborhoods where the targeted live.
The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) published the list days ago, a report that contained names, photos, and home addresses of U.S. Armed Forces personnel, causing alarm in cities potentially at high-risk.
According to the publication, ISIS urges followers and sympathizers in the U.S. to kill the servicemen. Specific personnel on the list are largely from the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy – branches of the country’s military that have conducted massive air strikes against ISIS.
The air strikes have left ISIS mostly defenseless, killing over 8,000 fighters with attacks carried out on more than 5,000 targets. But ISIS appears to be fighting back through forms of social media.
The Pentagon says the the targeted appeared to be compiled from public sources — anything from news articles to Facebook posts that could have linked them to attacks on the terrorist group. Officials with the Pentagon say some members were incorrectly identified, but right or wrong, it’s still a threat.
Seven Texas cities were included on the list: Abilene, New Braunfels, San Antonio, Wyle, Fort Hood, Bedford, and Kileen.
Cities expected to increase in security due to the threat are below:
———–
Texas: Abilene, New Braunfels, San Antonio, Wyle, Fort Hood, Bedford, Kileen
Indiana: Michigan City, Bolivar
Michigan: Dearborn Heights, Lake Orion
Connecticut: Barkhamsted, Manchester
Nevada: Reno
Georgia: Griffin
Maryland: Upper Marlboro, Warrensburg, Lexington Park
Arizona: Phoenix
Louisiana: Shreveport, Bossier City
South Carolina: Daniel Island, Charleston
North Carolina: Fayetteville, New Bern
Virginia: Burke, Virginia Beach, Suffolk, Springfield, Norfolk, Chesapeake
Colorado: Colorado Springs
California: Manford, Solvang, San Ardo, Monterrey, Newberry Park, Carlsbad
New Mexico: Farmington
North Dakota: Minot
South Dakota: Rapid City
Florida: Merritt Island, Palm Coast, Saint John, Middleburg, Saint Augustine
Washington: Colton, Cheney, Seattle, Spokane, Ancortes
Nebraska: Bellvue
Illinois: Orland Park
Rhode Island: Newport
Idaho: Bonners Ferry
http://www.jihadwatch.org/2015/04/us-cities-increase-security-over-islamic-state-kill-list
April 24, 2015
ReplyDeleteIranian ships turn away from, Yemen
By Rick Moran
A convoy of Iranian ships that were thought to be carrying weapons for Houthi rebels has changed course and is no longer bound for Yemen, according to the US Navy.
The climb down by Iran avoided a possible confrontation with Saudi and US warships enforcing a blockade of Yemen.
AFP:
Yemeni Foreign Minister Riyadh Yassin on Thursday accused Tehran of trying to break a naval blockade on his country, describing the war as an "Iranian plot implemented by the Huthi militia".
A US official said Thursday the nine-ship Iranian convoy that had been heading for Yemen is "no longer on the same course".
The USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier and other American warships have deployed off Yemen's coast to track the Iranian flotilla and possibly prevent any arms deliveries to the Iran-backed Huthi Shiite rebels.
The flotilla included two "armed vessels," said the US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
It was possible the Iranians "could make a turn to Yemen at any time," the official added.
Iran is a key ally of the Huthis but vehemently denies arming them. It has presented a peace plan to the UN calling for a ceasefire and the formation of a unity government.
With international pressure mounting for a political solution, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon announced plans to appoint Mauritanian diplomat Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed as his new envoy to Yemen.
He replaces Morocco's Jamal Benomar, who resigned last week after losing support for his mediation efforts from oil-rich Gulf countries.
With the arrival of the Roosevelt in the Gulf of Aden, Iran probably thought discretion was the better part of valor and will look to supply the Houthis some other way - possibly overland from Oman. As it stands now, the Houthis aren't hurting for weapons, although it is thought the Iranians may have been bringing shoulder fired anti-aircraft missiles to shoot down Saudi warplanes that have been bombing rebel positions at will.
There appears to be more pressure being placed on the Saudis to make a deal, but the Houthis have shown no interest so far in sharing power and would balk at bringing President Hadi back in office. That said, they are getting beaten up badly by Arab airstrikes and they may look to pause the war long enough to consolidate their gains and prepare for round two.
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2015/04/iranian_ships_turn_away_from_yemen.html