NATO commander says ISIS spreading like cancer among Syrian refugees
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| WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE OF "REFUGEES”? |
Supreme Allied Commander Europe of NATO Allied Command Operations, General Philip Breedlove, says ISIS is using the Syrian refugee crisis to ‘mask the movement’ of terrorists infiltrating Europe and the United States. While testifying to the Senate armed services community, the four star general said the Islamic State was ‘spreading like cancer’ amongst the flow of migrants from the Middle East. The group’s members are “taking advantage of paths of least resistance, threatening European nations and our own”, he added, reported The Guardian.
Breedlove also had harsh words for Russia, saying their indiscriminate bombing of civilians is intended to ‘get them on the road’ to Europe, where they can weaken the European Union and NATO with violence and division. The general said Russia is ‘weaponizing’ the Syrian refugees.
Breedlove says at least 1500 ISIS fighters have returned to Europe. “I’m not going to talk to you about intelligence,” he said at a news conference, adding that “many [countries] are saying they see planning happening” for a terrorist attack.
The Obama administration has said that Syrian refugees entering the United States are no threat as they are vetted over a long process. Republican president candidates have repeated over and over that this stance is incompetent and dangerous for Americans. Donald Trump has created a firestorm saying that Muslims should be temporarily banned until the vetting process can be verified and law enforcement can be sure that no terrorists are entering the country.
General Breedlove’s statements appear to support Donald Trump’s position. Intelligence professionals have stated that the ability to vet Syrian refugees, where there is no controlling legal authority to identify these refugees, is an impossible task.
National security has become a significant issue in the 2016 presidential campaign. As the general election draws closer, the issue will be front and center in the debates and media.
No common sense.
ReplyDeleteWhat could possibly go wrong?
ReplyDeleteWHAT ARE WE DOING IN AFGHANISTAN? WHAT ARE AFGHAN MEN DOING?
ReplyDeleteIn Afghanistan women are forbidden to dance in public. Local men suffer – they want entertainment and sex at any cost. RT talked to “bachas”, boys dressed as women who dance for older men at male-only parties, and “playboys”, the bosses who recruit them.
A private party usually ends up with guests bidding for a night with the ‘bacha’ (a ‘boy’ in Farsi).
"I was a field commander for 20 years," Japar, a local “playboy”, told RT. “In the past, I worked for the government, but now, I'm retired. Everyone has their own interest, some people like boys more than girls. That's their culture, from long ago in Afghanistan. They’re interested in boys.”
A bacha should be about 12, 13 or 15 years old to be recruited. "People like these ages," Japar noted, adding that business owners "support" their boys until their “sell-by-date” expires, at about 25.
”When a boy is older, we make their life better. We buy the bacha clothes, pay for their wedding when they're no longer wanted. We feed them well, we prepare all their food for them. We do everything!” he says in all honesty.
The offer to pay for a wedding can be the key factor for the boy’s parents. As a rule, a groom’s family will spend several thousands of dollars on the marriage ceremony.
Muhammad is 17, he’s been a bacha dancer for about five years. "I want to become self-reliant, to afford to pay my way, not have to look at someone else's pockets, to earn money of my own, so no one can say, 'he hasn't got any money'. I went through so many hard days, in a really bad financial situation. After that I want a bright future, and I want to continue with my education, as well."
Those involved in the business don't try to hide their hypocrisy.
“I'm poor, I feel pity for other poor people, so I help them earn," the man, who was introduced to the RT crew as the big boss, said.
{...}
{...}
DeleteHe looks for new boys for his business in public places and often finds some at local playgrounds. The big boss is not interested in the most beautiful, but wants boys from the poorest families – “they’re easier to control,” he says.
“The Mullah sometimes asks me why I have bachas," another business owner told RT. “He says it's not Islamic, that money should be used in other ways, in good ways, not on boys. He's the Mullah, he could destroy me."
Even though the Afghan government has officially banned bacha parties, "some people, who are commanders, and high ranking people, are involved with the business," according to Japar.
One of the boys was 12 when he was first offered to become a bacha. “At first, I didn't know much about it, I thought it was just a game," he told RT, adding that “sex can hurt badly too, but money is important."
- And what if the Taliban catch you?
- They'd kill us by hanging us. Or kill us with a kebab skewer!
https://www.rt.com/news/334667-afghanistan-boys-bachas-sex/
DeleteWhen Carter and Reagan decided it was our business to interfere in Afghanistan, the Russians were attempting to maintain a secular and modern Afghanistan.
ReplyDeleteBible thumping Carter and Reagan decided to support the Men of God, the religious god fearing little boy ass fuckers.
Agree with that
DeleteAnd to top it off, Jimmah decided to punish the American wheat farmers.
Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton Hold Big Leads in Michigan: Poll
ReplyDeleteby MARK MURRAY
Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are leading their competitors by double digits in Michigan's March 8 primary, according to a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist poll.
In the Republican race, Trump gets support from 41 percent of likely primary voters — followed by Ted Cruz at 22 percent, Marco Rubio at 17 percent and John Kasich at 13 percent.
Some poll named ARG I think it was had Kasich ahead of Trump by 2%.
DeleteMarch 6, 2016
DeleteShock poll: Kasich leads in Michigan
By Sierra Rayne
A new poll from American Research Group, Inc. conducted on March 4 and 5 is presenting some surprising results: GOP presidential contender John Kasich is apparently now leading in Michigan with 33% of support among likely Republican voters.
According to the survey, Kasich sits 2% ahead of Donald Trump at 31%, with Ted Cruz at 15% and Marco Rubio at 11%.
This most recent poll conflicts with all previous polls in the state between February and March 3 which have consistently shown large leads for Trump, ranging from 10% up to 23%.
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2016/03/shock_poll_kasich_leads_in_michigan.html#ixzz428Wr5zsu
Little Mario looks like a bacha, dancing for favors.
ReplyDeleteThe United States has spent $154.7 million, three times the original estimate, to build the Afghan Ministry of Defense headquarters in Kabul, according to a top federal watchdog.
ReplyDeleteThe price tag for the five-story building was initially set at $48.7 million but because of “problems with the contract from the outset,” the cost mushroomed and the project took five years longer to complete than the 18 months originally planned, says a new report from the office of John Sopko, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR).
WE ARE ALL BACHAS FOR THE NEOCONS
ReplyDeleteThe report is just the latest example of what has been a steady stream, bordering on a flood, of instances in which the U.S. has mismanaged funds in the nearly 15-year conflict in Afghanistan, which has cost the country about $1 trillion and counting.
http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/2016/02/18/106-Million-Cost-Overruns-Another-Pentagon-Project-Afghanistan
NEW YORK (NBC News) -- The United States has now spent more money reconstructing Afghanistan than it did rebuilding Europe at the end of World War II, according to a government watchdog.
ReplyDeleteThe Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) said in a statement to Congress last week that when adjusted for inflation the $113.1 billion plowed into the chaos-riven country outstripped the post-WWII spend by at least $10 billion.
Billions have been squandered on projects that were either useless or sub-standard, or lost to waste, corruption, and systemic abuse, according to SIGAR's reports.
NBC News spoke to SIGAR's Special Inspector General John F. Sopko about 12 of the most bizarre and baffling cases highlighted by his team's investigations.
Paraphrasing Albert Einstein, Sopko said the U.S.'s profligate spending in Afghanistan is "the definition of insanity — doing the same things over and over again, expecting a different result."
1. $486 million for ‘deathtrap’ aircraft that were later sold for $32,000
ReplyDeleteTwo of the G222 aircraft in a corner of Kabul International Airport in November 2013. SIGAR
The Pentagon spent close to half a billion dollars on 20 Italian-made cargo planes that it eventually scrapped and sold for just $32,000, according to SIGAR.
"These planes were the wrong planes for Afghanistan," Sopko told NBC News. "The U.S. had difficulty getting the Afghans to fly them, and our pilots called them deathtraps. One pilot said parts started falling off while he was coming into land."
After being taken out of use in March 2013, the G222 aircraft, which are also referred to as the C-27A Spartan, were towed to a corner of Kabul International Airport where they were visible from the civilian terminal. They had "trees and bushes growing around them," the inspector general said.
Sixteen of the planes were scrapped and sold to a local construction company for 6 cents a pound, SIGAR said. The other four remained unused at a U.S. base in Germany.
Sopko called the planes "one of the biggest single programs in Afghanistan that was a total failure."
2. $335 million on a power plant that used just 1 percent of its capacity
ReplyDeleteTarakhil Power Plant pictured in October 2009. SIGAR
The Tarakhil Power Plant was fired up in 2009 to "provide more reliable power " to blackout-plagued Kabul, according to the United States Agency for International Development, which built the facility.
However, the "modern" diesel plant exported just 8,846 megawatt hours of power between February 2014 and April 2015, SIGAR said in a letter to USAID last August. This output was less than 1 percent of the plant's capacity and provided just 0.35 percent of power to Kabul, a city of 4.6 million people.
Furthermore, the plant's "frequent starts and stops … place greater wear and tear on the engines and electrical components," which could result in its "catastrophic failure," the watchdog said.
USAID responded to SIGAR's report in June 2015, saying: "We have no indication that [Afghan state-run utility company] Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS), failed to operate Tarakhil as was alleged in your letter."
.
ReplyDeleteBreedlove says at least 1500 ISIS fighters have returned to Europe. “I’m not going to talk to you about intelligence,” he said at a news conference,...
The first intelligent thing I have heard from the military in a long time though he likely is thinking of something other than the oxymoron reference I am.
... adding that “many [countries] are saying they see planning happening” for a terrorist attack.
Gee, ya think? What insight.
Why do news agencies waste their time interviewing these bozos?
.
Secretary of State Kerry's spokeswoman told us that what these folks need is job opportunities.
Delete.
DeleteWho can deny it?
There are few kabob shops left in Ramadi. None in Kobane.
.
The terrorist hordes are infiltrating and if they don't blow us up they'll fuck us in the ass, literally, dontcha know!? Vote Trump.
DeleteThee KEY word in the quote, Quirk ...
Delete... returned ...
Those 1,500 folks are Europeans.
Born and bred.
Exported to Syria to topple the Assad regime.
Unintended consequences, you know, blow back ....
7. $36 million on a military facility that several generals didn’t want
ReplyDeleteAn unused room at the so-called "64K" facility. SIGAR
The so-called "64K" command-and-control facility at Afghanistan's Camp Leatherneck cost $36 million and was "a total waste of U.S. taxpayer funds," SIGAR's report said in May 2015.
The facility in Helmand province — named because it measured 64,000 square feet — was intended to support the U.S. troop surge of 2010.
However, a year before its construction, the very general in charge of the surge asked that it not be built because the existing facilities were "more than sufficient," the watchdog said. But another general denied this cancellation request, according to SIGAR, because he said it would not be "prudent" to quit a project for which funds had already been appropriated by Congress.
Ultimately, construction did not begin until May 2011, two months before the drawdown of the troops involved in surge. Sopko found the "well-built and newly furnished" building totally untouched in June 2013, with plastic sheets still covering the furniture.
"Again, nobody was held to account," Sopko told NBC News, adding it was a "gross ... really wasteful, extremely wasteful amount of money."
He added: "We have thrown too much money at the country. We pour in money not really thinking about it."
10. $7.8 billion fighting drugs — while Afghans grow more opium than ever
ReplyDeleteDespite the U.S. plowing some $7.8 billion into stopping Afghanistan's drug trade," Afghan farmers are growing more opium than ever before," SIGAR reported in December 2014.
"Poppy-growing provinces that were once declared 'poppy free' have seen a resurgence in cultivation," it said, noting that internationally funded irrigation projects may have actually increased poppy growth in recent years.
The "fragile gains" the U.S. has made on Afghan health, education and rule of law were being put in "jeopardy or wiped out by the narcotics trade, which not only supports the insurgency, but also feeds organized crime and corruption," Sopko told U.S. lawmakers in January 2014.
Afghanistan is the world's leader in the production of opium. In 2013, the value of Afghan opium was $3 billion — equivalent to 15 percent of the country's GDP — according to the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime.
Sopko told NBC News the picture is no more optimistic today. "No matter which metric you use, this effort has been a real failure," he said.
http://www.lex18.com/story/31397470/12-ways-your-tax-dollars-were-squandered-in-afghanistan
Delete.
DeleteHey, that's how the US government works. We have seen the story repeated endlessly.
The number one rule: "Spend it or lose it." And the corollary is, "If you don't spend all of this year's allocation, they are likely to cut your allocation next year."
That's why we see the massive spending at the end of each fiscal year. That was one of the reasons Ambassador Stevens was in Benghazi. Money had been allocated for upgrading the Benghazi facility and time was running out on the fiscal year.
The military can't be trusted with money. The money is so huge, there should be a separate monitoring organization like the IRS to track these guys and keep them in line.
.
OOrah ASSholes!
ReplyDeleteIT GETS WORSE
ReplyDeleteAmerica dropped 23,000 bombs last year. Here’s where they exploded.
An American bombing raid in Libya last month signaled a potentially deepening involvement in the latest front of the U.S. military campaign against the Islamic State — and underscored the expansion of U.S. airstrikes as a tool to combat Islamist terror groups around the globe.
U.S. aircraft are now targeting jihadists in seven countries from North Africa to Afghanistan. And ISIS militants aren't the only extremists in the crosshairs of American warplanes and drones. The U.S. is also still hunting al Qaeda operatives and Taliban fighters where these jihadists pose security threats to U.S. allies and interests.
American aircraft fired at least 23,144 bombs and missiles in 2015 alone, according to data compiled by Micah Zenko, an expert on U.S. military planning and operations who is a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. The Pentagon shows no signs of slowing down the strikes this year: U.S.-led warplanes and drones dropped more than 2,800 bombs in January, recent military statistics show.
{...}
More than 95 percent of these American airstrikes have focused on ISIS targets in Syria and Iraq, at a cost of billions of dollars. Targets in other nations have been under steady fire as well, however. U.S. drones continue to pick off members of al Qaeda affiliates in Somalia, Pakistan, and Yemen. In Afghanistan, fighter jets fired weapons at Taliban, ISIS, and al Qaeda militants nearly 1,000 times in the last year, according to CFR data.
DeleteU.S. officials regularly highlight the success of these strikes. They kill militant leaders, such as ISIS's infamous Jihadi John, and level massive terrorist training camps, like one belonging to al Qaeda in Afghanistan that was blown to bits in October. Pentagon officials also credit the relentless bombing campaign in Syria and Iraq with stopping ISIS's expansion there.
But the civilian toll in these attacks can be high, analysts and monitoring groups say. A United Nations report last year alleged that U.S. drone strikes in Yemen had killed more civilians than al Qaeda operatives. In September, an American warplane fired on a charity hospital in northern Afghanistan, killing 30 patients and staff and wounding dozens more.
The airstrikes in Libya last month appear to have had mixed results. At least 40 ISIS militants were said to have been killed, but two Serbian embassy staffers who had been taken hostage by the terror group in November were also reportedly killed.
This article originally appeared at Vocativ.com: To wipe out terror, the US is now bombing seven different countries
http://theweek.com/articles/609228/america-dropped-23000-bombs-last-year-heres-where-exploded
FUCKING OUTSTANDING
DeleteWe really know how to eradicate terror wit the most outstanding, finest military minds and equipment the world has ever seen.
REALLY FUCKING OUTSTANDING
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DeleteDeath from above based on an algorithm.
Caught a documentary the other day on the fighting and civilian deaths in Afghanistan.
It had interviews with Afghan civilians talking about their experiences and the death to family members they have suffered from drone strikes. The story of a father watching his young son die and being pinned down so that he couldn't go to help him. Everyone has seen the photos of those two small boys playing soccer who were taken out. Death by drone. Or the wedding parties. Or the double taps.
All in all, it gave an impression of having to watch these drones circling overhead for hours and never knowing when you might be taken out because you fit some formula cooked up in Washington.
.
DeleteCalculations of the death-toll from the Anglo-American bombing of Dresden in February 1945 have varied widely, but never ceased to be dramatic. Figures suggested have ranged from 35,000 through 100,000, and even up to half a million at the wilder fringes of speculation.
"Generakfeldmarschall Keitel said 600,000 were killed in Dresden. ...
Its historic heart was destroyed in one apocalyptic night by aircraft armed with more than 4,500 tons of high explosive and incendiary bombs. This devastated area amounted to around 13 square miles (34 square kilometers).
If Dresden is the "Standard" the US is showing remarkable restraint ...
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ReplyDeletePolitical correctness devours yet another college, fighting over mini-sombreros
Bowdoin College: Another Prissy Palace of Learning Goes With the Flow and Chooses PC Conformity Over Free and Open Dialogue.
On Saturday, two members of Bowdoin College’s student government will face impeachment proceedings. What heinous transgression did they commit? Theft, plagiarism, sexual assault?
Nope. They attended a party where some guests wore tiny sombreros.
Two weeks ago, some students threw a birthday party for a friend. The email invitation read: “the theme is tequila, so do with that what you may. We’re not saying it’s a fiesta, but we’re also not not saying that :).” The invitation — sent by a student of Colombian descent, which may or may not be relevant here — advertised games, music, cups and “other things that are conducive to a fun night.”
Those “other things” included the miniature sombreros, several inches in diameter. And when photos of attendees wearing those mini-sombreros showed up on social media, students and administrators went ballistic.
College administrators sent multiple schoolwide emails notifying the students about an “investigation” into a possible “act of ethnic stereotyping...”
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Delete{...}
Partygoers ultimately were reprimanded or placed on “social probation,” and the hosts have been kicked out of their dorm, according to friends. (None of the disciplined students whom I contacted wanted to speak on the record; Bowdoin President Clayton Rose declined an interview and would not answer a general question about what kinds of disciplinary options are considered when students commit an “act of bias.”)
Other students closed ranks, too.
The school newspaper editorialized about attendees’ lack of “basic empathy” and placed the event in the context of two other controversially themed parties from the past two years: a “gangster party” (at which some students showed up with cornrows and gold chains) and a racially insensitive Thanksgiving party (where some dressed as Pilgrims and Native Americans).
Within days, the Bowdoin Student Government unanimously adopted a “statement of solidarity” to “[stand] by all students who were injured and affected by the incident,” and recommend that administrators “create a space for those students who have been or feel specifically targeted.”
Cultural bias.
Cultural appropriation.
Safe places.
Ethnic stereotyping.
These pansies (students) and enablers (administration) have developed their own dysphemistic terminology.
The school’s reaction seems especially arbitrary when you learn that — on the very same night of the “tequila party,” just across campus — Bowdoin held its annual, administration-sanctioned “Cold War” party. Students arrived dressed in fur hats and coats to represent Soviet culture; one referred to herself as “Stalin,” making light of a particularly painful era in Slavic history.
What principle makes one theme deserving of school sponsorship and another of dorm expulsion...?
The days of Animal House are dead and to my mind the US is a worse place for it.
.
You've got me convinced.
DeleteToday's college students are all spoiled finger clickin' idiots.
I think it's time to buy armaments stocks.
ReplyDelete1) Trump: "Bomb the shit out of them"
Delete2) Cruz: "Carpet bomb the entire area"
3) Kasich: "Bomb and send in the troops"
4) Rubio: All of the above
Wrong, again, Robert "Draft Dodger" Peterson
DeleteThe time to buy armament stock was when Barack Obama took office.
General Dynamics, the primary example
On March 6, 2009 it was trading at $36.49, this past Friday it closed at $135.21.
You really do not understand who Barack Obama benefited, do you?
The same folks that paid an unknown 'Community Organizer' a $3 million advance for three auto-biographies ... Had General Dynamic's market capitalization increase by 375%.
DeleteShould we check on Chase Bank's improvement, too?
Betcha all the Crown family holdings did well, across the board.
Trish:
Delete"There's something really wrong with you, rat."
bobal Fri Mar 20, 06:03:00 PM EDT
DeleteTrish always was a syphilitic slut
You disrespect Trish with the 'syphilitic slut' comment, now you want to make up and attribute a quote, one that you cannot reference in time or space ...
You really are quite the misogynist, aren't you, Robert "Draft Dodger" Peterson?
Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump joked Saturday night that Ted Cruz won the Maine caucuses because of the state's proximity to Canada.
ReplyDelete"He should do well in Maine because it's very close to Canada. Let's face it," Trump told his supporters after the four contests that night split between himself and Cruz
I do notice that Robert "Draft dodger" Peterson has not posted a single article about Mr Cruz not being a 'natural born' citizen.
DeleteHis racial prejudices shining through, yet again.
Trump was still defensive about Rubio’s criticism of the size of his hands. “These hands hit a golf ball 285 yards!” Trump told the crowd, repeatedly holding them up and splaying his fingers."
Deletehttp://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/ted-cruz-wins-kansas-in-gop-battle-for-delegates/article29041572/?service=mobile
Trump is full of shit. I don't believe for a minute he can hit a golf ball 285 unless he is hitting downhill in thin air.
DeleteWho really cares, Ash?
Trump is rolling towards the GOP nomination, and subsequent implosion of the Republican Party.
Who could ask for more than the demise of the Republican faction of the Federal Socialist ruling cabal?
DeleteIf Trump were to gain the White House, the Congress would surely continue its policies of obstruction.
I don't think Cruz is eligible to be President because he doesn't have two citizen parents.
DeleteI've said so a dozen times.
I also think it's time for a Constitutional Amendment to clarify and settle the issue.
Trish:
Delete"There's something really wrong with you, rat."
Deletebobal Fri Mar 20, 06:03:00 PM EDT
Trish always was a syphilitic slut
While I do enjoy watching the GOP establishment get its ass kicked I really don't like Cruz nor Clinton other any of the other horrible POTUS potentiate Trump is particularly bad. His advocating the killing of terrorists families and his notion that the military should obey his orders to commit war crimes because he is a leader is indicative of his authoritarian nature. Folks who wonder how normal Germans could slaughter Jews as they did should pay attention to what Trump has been saying. His thin skin about the size of his manhood and his lying Bullshit speaks to the man's character.
Delete
ReplyDeleteAfghan president: ISIS being wiped out in Afghanistan
KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani said on Sunday that the Islamic State group has been defeated in the eastern parts of the country, where it took over some remote districts.
Speaking at the opening of parliament, Ghani said Afghan forces had dislodged ISIS loyalists from regions of Nangarhar province bordering Pakistan.
"Afghanistan will be their graveyard," he said in an address broadcast live on national television.
ISIS has had a presence in Afghanistan for more than a year. Officials have said most militants calling themselves IS are disaffected Taliban fighters.
Afghan forces have claimed victory following a 21-day operation in the Achin and Shinwar districts of Nangarhar, claiming at least 200 militants killed, a provincial official told The Associated Press.
Achin and Shinwar are among a number of districts in the remote mountainous regions along the Pakistan border that were overtaken by ISIS loyalists in recent months. Operations against the militants included airstrikes to destroy bases and a radio station that was broadcasting IS recruitment messages across Nangarhar province. The radio station was destroyed, along with at least seven militants, on Feb. 1.
"The aim of the operation in Nangarhar was to root out IS from the area," said Afghan Army Lt. Col Sharin Aqa, a spokesman for the 201 Corps.
The operation was aided by local residents who set up checkpoints to help maintain security in their villages. These so-called "local uprisings" had supplemented the Afghan forces, which have been stretched since the drawdown in 2014 of the international combat mission, he said.
http://www.militarytimes.com/story/military/war-on-is/2016/03/06/afghan-president-isis-being-wiped-out-afghanistan/81402504/
Anbar Operations start liberating Khalidiya Island
ReplyDelete(IraqiNews.com) Anbar – Anbar Operations Command announced on Saturday, that the security forces started the liberation of Khalidiya Island east of Ramadi.
The commander of Anbar Operations Major General Ismail Mahalawi said in a press statement followed by IraqiNews.com, “Today the security forces carried out a military operation to liberate Khalidiya Island from the control of ISIS,” pointing out that, “The army’s 8th and 10th brigades and tribal fighters participated in the operation.”
Mahalawi added, “The operation started from the international highway toward Albu Obeid and Albu Bali,” indicating that, “The Iraqi Army Aviation and army, in addition to the international coalition aviation also participated in the operation.”
Iraqinews
Strikes in Syria
DeleteRocket artillery and attack aircraft conducted two strikes in Syria:
-- Near Al Hawl, a strike struck a large ISIL tactical unit and destroyed six ISIL buildings and two ISIL vehicles.
-- Near Palmyra, a strike destroyed two ISIL fighting positions and damaged an ISIL fighting position.
Strikes in Iraq
Ground attack, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 12 strikes in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of Iraq’s government:
-- Near Al Baghdadi, a strike destroyed an ISIL rocket rail and an ISIL mortar position.
-- Near Albu Hayat, a strike destroyed an ISIL vehicle bomb.
-- Near Fallujah, a strike struck a large ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL bed down location.
-- Near Kisik, two strikes struck two separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed two ISIL vehicles, two ISIL mortar positions, four ISIL vehicle bombs, and seven ISIL fighting positions.
-- Near Mosul, a strike destroyed an ISIL heavy machine gun position.
-- Near Qayyarah, a strike destroyed an ISIL rocket position.
-- Near Ramadi, two strikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL fighting position, an ISIL staging area, an ISIL tunnel, and an ISIL front end loader.
-- Near Sinjar, a strike destroyed an ISIL heavy machine gun position.
-- Near Tal Afar, two strikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL assembly area.
I'm glad to see they're keeping the heat on the bed down locations, which are critical.
Delete
DeleteEnemy camps are always a good target, "Draft Dodger".
Nancy Reagan dead.
ReplyDeleteI thought she had already died once already.
DeleteShe's gone and done it again ?
Maybe she was just faking it before, or I'm thinking of some other famous woman...
DeleteRobert "Draft Dodger" Peterson once again disrespecting a woman ...
With "Counterfeit Bob" the song remains the same.
Hate, illustrated by overt disrespect, for his betters.
Trish:
Delete"There's something really wrong with you, rat."
Deletebobal Fri Mar 20, 06:03:00 PM EDT
Trish always was a syphilitic slut
DeleteYou disrespect Trish with the 'syphilitic slut' comment, now you want to make up quotes that you cannot reference in time or space ...
You really are quite the misogynist, aren't you, Robert "Draft Dodger" Peterson?
Go back to your hideyhole.
DeleteNo one wants to read your crap.
Get some help for God's sake.
DeleteYour ultimate episode illustrating your misogynist tendencies, was when, after stealing your Aunt's identity, you imposed a "Death Sentence" upon her, rather than pay back the money you took by fraud.
I realize you do not want to read about it, but you never did apologize to "Rat", and you have had ample opportunities.
So the 'beat' goes on and on and on, Robert "Draft Dodger" Peterson, you remain the functional illiterate of the Elephant Bar.
DeleteThe damage to you, Robert "Draft Dodger" Peterson, involves the bobal getting to read his words, and they are enlightening words, aren't they, Idaho Bob ...
Turkish meddling in Syria will drag NATO to war for Ankara's imperial ambitions - German MP
ReplyDeleteSophie Shevarnadze:The EU has promised to renew EU membership talks with Turkey – in exchange for helping to solve the refugee crisis. You’ve highlighted Turkey’s support of the Islamic State many times – is the EU going to ignore that in exchange for help with the refugees?
Sevim Dagdelen: Yes, unfortunately, the fact is that the European Union and the German government are ready to place the future of refugees into the hands of criminals, that is, the Turkish government and president Erdogan. Erdogan’s government has been supporting terrorist gangs for the last few years, supplying them with arms. The entire 100-kilometer Turkish-Syrian border is left without control, and that’s how ISIS keeps getting supplies of arms and manpower.
According to the New York Times, the entire bulk of the Islamic State’s illegal oil trade operation is also run through the Turkish border. This border hasn’t been controlled for several years now, despite the fact that the Turkish Armed Forces rank as the second largest military force in NATO, counting 900 thousand troops. This proves that the Turkish government simply does not wish to close off the border, although they have enough resources to do that.
And despite all this, the EU wants to step up the EU membership talks with Turkey. I believe this signifies the EU’s moral bankruptcy. The EU has lost its values. That’s why we cannot take the EU membership talks with Turkey seriously. By placing the responsibility for the future of refugees in the hands of a criminal - president Erdogan, the EU has forfeited its standing in these talks. Erdogan is the reason why we have a refugee crisis in the first place.
SS: Does this mean Europe is more worried about the refugee crisis than ISIS?
SD: It seems to be so. The EU has chosen to turn a blind to the issues of fighting ISIS and other terrorist organizations, such as Al-Qaeda branches and others. Erdogan is supporting these Islamists but keeps it under cover. Instead, he is telling stories about the supposedly moderate militant groups that are allegedly under attack of the Syrian Army and the Russian Air Force… while these same militants are in fact acting under the names of ISIS, Al-Qaeda, Al-Nusra. Yet, the EU prefers not to see all that for the sake of the so-called protection from the refugees. One can say that with this, Europe has met its moral demise.
SS: Is the EU ready to start the process of Turkey’s accession to the Union – or will the promise just remain a promise and nothing more?
SD: According to the agreement signed by the EU and Turkey, the European Union has already pledged 3.5 billion euros to Turkey, and the lion’s share of that money will be paid by the German taxpayers, because some of the European countries are not willing to share such huge expenses while others, such as Greece, simply cannot pay that much. This way, they are going to just give Erdogan that money and keep stepping up the negotiation process, the way it had already happened before, despite the bloody Gezi Park crackdown in Istanbul two years ago.
Back then, the EU ignored the situation in Turkey because we didn’t want to weaken our economic cooperation with it. Germany traditionally invests and exports a lot into Turkey. Today, the refugee crisis is forcing Europe to ask Erdogan for help because the EU believes that Turkey is the key to the solution of this problem. But we can already see Turkey deporting Syrian refugees back to Syria, which violates international conventions!
By taking up Erdogan’s side the EU is betraying everything that was believed to represent European values.
https://www.rt.com/shows/sophieco/334489-europe-refugees-financial-crisis/
DeleteSS: Chancellor Merkel has proposed a no-fly zone over the north of Syria – something Turkey talked about long ago. To me, a ‘no-fly zone’ evokes memories of Libya, where it led to an actual armed intervention and the toppling of the regime. Does the chancellor’s proposal mean that Berlin wants the same for Syria?
SD: The Turkish president has been demanding a no-fly zone over Syria for many years now, but so far the allies have refused to back him. And yes, recently Angela Merkel indeed made a statement that a no-fly zone should be established over the north of Syria, just like Erdogan wanted.
Take a look at Libya to see how a no-fly zone worked out for it. Is this what they want now for Syria? Those who want the war to end in Syria cannot be advocating a no-fly zone.
ISIS has no air force, that’s why the West and the Gulf states, such as Qatar and Saudi Arabia, want to support the terrorists with a no-fly zone regime. Talks about a no-fly zone mean that someone wants to protect both ISIS and other terrorist groups.
ReplyDeleteKurds claim downing of Turkish helicopter bombing them over Iraqi Kurdistan - reports
Reports have emerged that Kurds have shot down a helicopter over Iraqi Kurdistan, which they say was used in airstrikes against them. Turkish officials have made no comment, but a source confirmed to RT that the incident took place.
Previously Ankara acknowledged conducting airstrikes on alleged PKK targets in Iraq. Turkish military is also targeting Kurds inside the country and shelling Kurdish militias in northern Syria.
One sortie apparently went wrong for a Turkish assault helicopter as Iraqi Kurdish militia claim they shot the aircraft down.
Kani Xulam, from the American Kurdish Information Network, told RT that official Ankara would refrain from reporting any losses in operations against the Kurds, striving to portray the Turkish military as “an invincible power that cannot be beaten.”
The Turkish authorities are aiming to make the Kurds submit to them and “come down on their knees,” he said.
Xulam said “scores of Turkish soldiers” were taken prisoner by the Kurds with the Turkish government never acknowledging such facts.
In the case of the allegedly downed helicopter, there is no reference about the incident in Turkish media, yet the story is now emerging in Kurdish media, Xulam said.
https://www.rt.com/news/334377-turkish-helicopter-downed-kurdistan/
ReplyDeleteSyrian Kurdish leader says have evidences of Turkey’s involvement in Gire Spi attack
STRASBOURG,— The co-chair of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party PYD Salih Muslim spoke to ANF about the ceasefire in Syria, Turkey’s ongoing attacks on Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava), discussions of federalism and their relations with Russia and the U.S.
Muslim said they had documents proving Turkey’s involvement in Islamic State IS’ attack on Gire Spi (Tel Abyad), and stressed that Turkey is making a mistake that it must correct in the face of its repeated failure.
Read the interview @
http://ekurd.net/syrian-kurd-turkey-involvement-2016-03-06
Bill Maher: If Americans Have To Choose Between A Party That Won't Even Say "Islamic Terrorism" And Trump, They'll Choose Trump
ReplyDeleteMaher also commented on how Democrats are afraid to even speak the phrase "Islamic terrorism." Maher called Trump dangerous but said, "if Americans have to choose between a party that won't even say the phrase 'Islamic terrorism' and Donald Trump, they'll choose Trump."
"Donald Trump, I think is a very dangerous man with some very dangerous ideas, including his ides about Muslims," Maher said. "I don't think we should bar all Muslims from entering this country. We need Muslims in the fight against terrorism."
"But I will say this, and I've said it before on this show, if Americans have to choose between a party that won't even say the phrase 'Islamic terrorism' and Donald Trump, especially if there is another attack, they'll choose Donald Trump. And then things are going to get even worse for Muslims. And so it is in their own best interest to come out on the side of principals that are liberal democratic Western principals," Maher declared.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2016/03/05/maher_if_americans_have_to_choose_between_a_party_that_wont_even_say_islamic_terrorism_and_trump_theyll_choose_trump.html
The only sane Liberal in the country.
Delete
ReplyDeleteAmerican Demagogue
By David Remnick
The question remains why the Trump phenomenon has proved so buoyant and impregnable. Some have earnestly ascribed it to broad social and economic forces, particularly the “new normal” of stagnating wages, underemployment, and corporate “offshoring” and “inversion.” Yet those factors were at least as pronounced in the last election cycle––and Republicans chose as their nominee the father of comprehensive health care in Massachusetts.
The socioeconomic forces are real, but Trump is also the beneficiary of a long process of Republican intellectual decadence. Paul Ryan denounces Trump but not the Tea Party rhetoric that propelled his own political ascent. John McCain holds Trump in contempt, but selected as his running mate Sarah Palin, the Know-Nothing of Wasilla, one of Trump’s most vivid forerunners and supporters. Mitt Romney last week righteously slammed Trump as a “phony” and a misogynist, and yet in 2012 he embraced Trump’s endorsement and praised his “extraordinary” understanding of economics.
The G.O.P. establishment may be in a state of meltdown, but this process of exploiting the darkest American undercurrents began with Richard Nixon’s Southern Strategy and, more lately, has included the birther movement and the Obama Derangement Syndrome. Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, who compete hard for the most extreme positions in conservatism, decry the viciousness and the vacuousness of Trump, but they started out by deferring to him––and now they ape his vulgarity in a last-ditch effort to keep pace. Insults. Bigotry. Nationally televised assurances of adequate genital dimensions. This is the political moment in which we live. The Republican Party, having spent years courting the basest impulses in American political culture, now sees the writing on the wall. It reads “Donald Trump,” in very big letters. ♦
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/03/14/behind-the-trump-phenomenon
Might be good to have "dangerous" for a while. Trump wants to have a much more strict policy regarding immigration. That includes not only Muslims but also, Hispanic, Asian, etc. I see nothing wrong with it. I have never heard him say he was anti immigration or anti Muslim, as some here have said.
ReplyDeleteI would agree with that, his attitude towards a moratorium on Muslim immigration, just an echo of Jimmy Carter's ban on Iranians, following the Embassy seizure and hostage taking.
DeleteNo one described Mr Carter as being racist when he did that.
https://www.google.com/search?q=carter+moritorium+iranian+immigration&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8
Agree.
DeleteTrump just showed up at Trump National for the last round of the WGC tournament to a raucous welcoming by all the fans. No BLM protesters or anyone else there on the Soros payroll. Don't be mad because he can out drive you, Ashley.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't be mad if he could buy do you actually believe he could drive the ball as long as the average pro can?
DeleteLength doesn't win golf tournaments. I hit drives 285 and on occasion 300, but I'm only an 8 index. Most who I play with are longer than me.
DeleteYou can certainly be long and wrong. Tour average is about 285. 8 index is pretty darn good golf mome. Have you seen trumps swing? He's friggin 69 years old and you belive he can hit 285? I can see why you ae a Trump supporter - gullible.
DeleteYou watch him an awful lot to hate him so much. Shouldn't hate, Ash. Not good. Hate bad.
DeleteTrump may have hit 285 back in his prime ...
DeleteWhen the legend becomes fact, print the legend.
- Maxwell Scott
Forget the boardroom. The Donald will dominate you tee to green with a game that's better than you think
DeleteThe lowest amateur round at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Fla., isn't held by some hotshot with a seven-figure trust fund, but by the course's 64-year-old owner — a smooth 66 from the gold tees at a length of 6,900 yards. Yep, Donald Trump is that good, and it's your first clue that golf isn't something the man behind The Apprentice and his own real-estate empire has simply stamped his name on while building a 10-course portfolio with an 11th course in waiting on a remote stretch of seaside in northern Scotland.
Golf is Trump's game — an endeavor he takes as seriously as he does the multitude of business ventures that has made him the world's most recognized billionaire. When Donald hired me as senior director of instruction for all Trump properties, I figured we'd spend a lot of time together on the lesson tee. Not a chance. Other than a brief warm-up before teeing off, Trump rarely practices, and any advice I lend him is usually during a quick nine holes or over a meal in the grillroom. He's too busy, which probably describes your life when it comes to finding time to build the swing you want. Here's where you can learn a lot from Trump — how to score low with simple, effective mechanics.
Forget for a moment about the hair, the dollar signs and the ubiquitous "you're fired!" sound bite. Donald Trump is just like you — a golfer in search of a consistent swing and lower scores. He's also like you in that the golf cards are stacked against him; he has little time for practice and even less time for lessons. So how is it that Trump's golf has actually improved over the past few years and he's now playing the best of his life?
Part of the reason why Trump is able to post good numbers (he's a legit 3.7-handicap) has a lot to do with his innate abilities. At 6'3" and a solid 225 pounds, Trump is an athlete...
http://www.golf.com/instruction/forget-boardroom-donald-will-dominate-you-tee-green-game-thats-better-you-think
Jerry Rice?
DeleteBig Deal!
4. A Confident Putter
"If I don't beat you with the short ones, I'll beat you with a bomb."
Trump is a brilliant putter, a trait built on experience and an uncanny ability to "will" the ball into the hole. One of Donald's recent opponents, NFL Hall of Fame receiver Jerry Rice, commented after their match, "Yeah, he beat me. He made absolutely everything. He kept rolling in 20-footers." If you're looking for Trump's putting secret, you'll find it in the fact that he truly believes he can make every putt. That's a powerful state of mind before any shot, especially on the greens.
COLLEGE-EDUCATED WHITE
ReplyDeleteIn 2012, Barack Obama performed 6 percentage points better among white voters with college degrees than those without them, up from a 5-point gap in 2008.
Most prominent in suburbs and in swing states like Colorado, Minnesota and Virginia, this growing segment turns out to vote much more reliably than any other group, and Democrats have been on the upswing with these voters.
In 2012, Obama carried 257 of the 673 majority-white counties where over a third of residents ages 25 and older hold at least a bachelor's degree. In 2000, Al Gore carried just 169 of these same counties.
538 Blog
Nate Silver, of 538 Blog, called all 50 of 50 States in 2012, and 49 of 50 in 2008.
DeleteHe's worth paying attention to.
And, this is probably the key:
DeleteNON-COLLEGE-EDUCATED WHITE
Whites without college degrees are now the bedrock of the Republican coalition: They voted for Mitt Romney 62 percent to 36 percent in 2012. However, their share of the electorate is rapidly shrinking:
They skew older and more rural, and we project that their share of the national vote will fall to 33 percent in 2016, down from 36 percent in 2012.
Nonetheless, they still factor heavily in battleground states such as Iowa, New Hampshire, Ohio and Wisconsin.
Proving colleges are becoming better indoctrination centers than ever before.
Delete.
DeleteWe are becoming a world of prissy little PC pricks who demand safe places where they can be assured they will suffer no micro-aggressions as they sail along in their Club Med environment waiting the next round of entertainment from emasculated rock bands and neutered comedians.
It makes me want to puke.
:o)
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This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDelete.
If Dresden is the "Standard" the US is showing remarkable restraint ...
Once again, you throw out a red herring, rat. Who the hell is buying that Dresden is the US "Standard".
Forget about the 'moral' implications, only the benighted would think that carpet bombing is an 'effective' tool of war.
Studies were run after WWII on how effective the carpet bombing was in achieving its primary goals, destroying the enemies industrial base and demoralizing populations. They weren't effective in achieving either. The Spanish Civil War provided the same results and the results in Vietnam were obvious.
We might be stupid enough to continue these practices despite the fact that they don't work but technology has overtaken dinosaurs like Cruz. Now, 'strategic bombers' like B-52 can drop bombs programmed to hit a window or doorway from miles away.
On the other hand, technology is also the bane of civilians. Just on a smaller scale. Now, while walking down the road, the civilian must fear that the drone that had been flying overhead for the past couple hours could take him out with a missile because the bat he's carrying over his shoulder appears to the drone to be a missile launcher or because the guy walking down the road fits a few of the 55 factors that go into an algorithm developed by a bunch of eggheads in some college in the US.
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Moments before the Battle of Kursk:
DeleteAlmost 3 million men, a full eight thousand tanks, and nearly five thousand warplanes broke all records for both the costliest single day of aerial warfare and the largest tank battle in the history of mankind.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/08/31/wwii-s-greatest-battle-how-kursk-changed-the-war.html
https://www.google.com/search?as_st=y&tbm=isch&as_q=moments+before+the+battle+of+kursk%2C+1943&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&imgsz=&imgar=&imgc=&imgcolor=&imgtype=&cr=&as_sitesearch=&safe=images&as_filetype=&as_rights=#imgrc=J_MWYFcrNzxQhM%3A
http://img-9gag-fun.9cache.com/photo/ax24W91_700b.jpg
“Russian soldiers were drawn from a society and culture where suffering pain and inflicting it were the stuff of everyday,” he notes, and by 1943 they were much better at inflicting pain on the Germans than they had been when Hitler invaded two years earlier. And there were many, many more of them.
Who is Doug?
ReplyDeleteMe and that other guy.
DeleteRefugees Need Not Apply:
ReplyDeleteCivil War ironclad Monitor's famous pump is resurrected
Before he devised a pump driven directly by an engine's steam rather than a mechanical connection, every steamship boiler in the world lost water and power whenever the engine idled, forcing crews to feed the thirsty boilers by hand.
That was an especially demanding task for vessels negotiating canals, where they might be forced to idle their engines for long periods while waiting for the locks to drain or fill.
But every craft propelled by steam was affected.
"Before Worthington, they used hand pumps and buckets to keep the boilers replenished," Monitor Center and Foundation Director John V. Quarstein said.
Automatic in action and controlled by the boiler's water level, Worthington's new feed pump was simple, lightweight and compact, Hoffman says, and it did its job without the aid of a crank, shaft or flywheel.
By the time the inventor opened a small shop outside the Brooklyn Navy Yard in 1845, he had added so many refinements that he began winning contracts from the nation's growing steam-powered Navy.
The name "Worthington" became the gold standard of pumps, attracting the admiration of such figures as John Ericsson — the visionary naval architect and engineer who began building the Monitor in late 1861. He used two to feed the boiler of his revolutionary ship.
http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-uss-monitor-20160306-story.html
Asylum seeker applications in Europe double to record 1.2 million
ReplyDeleteThe number of people applying for asylum in the European Union more than doubled in 2015, reaching a record-high of 1.26 million.
Europe’s refugee crisis has been a large factor in the increase, and EU statistics agency Eurostat estimates that a total of 1,255,600 first time asylum application were made in 2015, up from 562,680 made in 2014.
Syrians accounted for almost a third of the total figure, with 362,775 seeking shelter in Europe, double the number that came to Europe in 2014. The second most common nationality of applicants was Afghans, whose numbers quadrupled to 178 230, followed by 121 535 Iraqis.
The highest number of first-time applicants were registered in Germany, with the country taking in 441,800 people, or 35 per cent of the applicants. Next came Hungary (174,400), Sweden (156 100), Austria (85,500), Italy (83,200) and France (70,600).
The country which saw the largest increase from the previous year in asylum applicants was Finland, with 822 per cent more applications in 2015.The UK took in 38,370 asylum seekers, 3.1 per cent of the total.