#4
Further questions will illicit the “no comment on ongoing instigations” response for the next 40 years.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
12/21/2022 9:10 Comments ||
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#5
I crack on the Chermans a lot about "dual use," but I will admit, our greedy businessmen here take a back seat to no one in selling the ropes we will be hanged with.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
12/21/2022 9:16 Comments ||
Top||
#9
Also, if the iranian stuff is using American sourced components, we should be in a position to neutralize that tech too.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
12/21/2022 10:14 Comments ||
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#10
Is it because those components are commercial, off-the-shelf parts made by American companies and available around the world in industrial quantities?
Although it is surprising that US manufacturers can still produce such useful commodities. Are we entirely certain they weren't Made in China?
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
12/21/2022 11:23 Comments ||
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#13
Seems to me if the components are marked/numbered in some fashion we can get a clear tech trail to the end user assembly site in Iran. Then there are options and possibilities to be considered?
#18
Board and the components on them are surely made in China and exported in violation of sanctions. Looked like a generic development board layout (Xilinx, Altera?) with empty pads (space) for other components. Other components (e.g. motor, actuators) likely smuggled via China and Gulf countries. Wouldn't rule Turkey out, either.
The #Taliban have freed two Americans in detention in #Afghanistan, the #US State Department says, on the same day that the militant regime faced condemnation for banning women at universities.https://t.co/Im2sbN7mph
The Taliban have freed two Americans in detention in Afghanistan, the State Department said Tuesday, on the same day that the militant regime faced condemnation for banning women at universities.
“This, we understand, to have been a goodwill gesture on the part of the Taliban. This was not part of any swap of prisoners or detainees. There was no money that exchanged hands,” State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters.
The two Americans were released to Qatar, which has played a key role supporting US interests in Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover.
Price said that confidentiality rules forbade him from offering more details on the two Americans.
CNN reported that one of them was Ivor Shearer, a filmmaker arrested in August with his Afghan producer -- whose fate is unclear -- while filming the site of a US drone attack that killed Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri.
#2
This release has made no impact on my WNBA Fantasy roster.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
12/21/2022 5:43 Comments ||
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#3
Dec 12, 2022 — A large package containing around $40 million in cash for "humanitarian aid" was seen on an airport tarmac in Afghanistan,
Dec 16, 2022 — U.S. President Joe Biden has signed an executive order that will free up some $7 billion in Afghan reserves that were frozen after the Taliban took control.
Suddenly, the Taliban have freed two Americans held in an Afghanistan prison.
🤑
I am sure the White House and Dept of State will soon reassure us that this was not a $$$ for Hostage deal.
🤑
#4
Out of curiosity, how many more Americans are being held in Afghanistan? You’d think the State Department website would show the count but it doesn’t
#5
Are you including green card holders and Americans-by-marriage or -birth who happened to be living in or visiting the Olde Countrie when everything went pear-shaped, Slenter Panda4300? If all of the above, my sense is thousands or tens of thousands. There were some rough estimates in August-October, 2021; the official numbers started in multiple tens, then just kept growing by orders of magnitude.
#6
How many of those "being held' went there to grift because they could not cut it in the grift big leagues so many expats work in various places around the world?
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
12/21/2022 15:33 Comments ||
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Per Bakhtar News, the spokesperson of the Taliban's Ministry of Higher Education told reporters tht based on the Taliban government's decision, female students r suspended frm going to university. As of today, the girls are banned from going to school & universities n Afghanistan
Afghan Taliban has now officially suspended university-level education for women until further notice. Taliban sources confirm the authenticity of this notification. #Afghanistanpic.twitter.com/vcLH9xHokS
#3
They gave our guys a promo code to use for discounts in the slave market. I think the code is CORNPOP.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
12/21/2022 5:41 Comments ||
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#4
The Guardian newspaper published reports revealing those directly involved in the extradition of Abu Ajila to the United States. The first of those implicated is the PM’s nephew, Ibrahim Dbaiba, a member of Abdel-Hamid’s entourage, and among those in control of the political scene in western Libya. The newspaper said that it was Ibrahim who offered to cooperate with the American authorities in order to extradite Masoud. It was an attempt to gain the support of the United States for the GNU, and to give it international legitimacy to remain in power.
[AAWSAT] The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) was unable to assess the food situation of Yemenis living under Houthi control because of restrictions imposed by the Iran-backed group. Oh no. Anyways...
OCHA, however, noted that its new analysis on food security showed that the number of aid beneficiaries during the last three months of this year increased to four times the estimated figure in previous outlooks.
The UN body added that two Houthi-run areas are facing the threat of famine.
Weeks after the UN affirmed that the majority of the obstacles encountered by the humanitarian work teams come from Houthis authorities, OCHA stated that the phased classification of food security was updated in 125 districts in the governorates controlled by the internationally recognized government.
OCHA officials have recommended the adoption of hypothetical analyzes for areas controlled by the Houthis.
They pointed out that the analysis that was conducted last February in 208 districts in Houthi-run areas was not updated. Moreover, the officials revised initial assumptions from the previous analysis.
Conclusions by the officials included sudden shocks and other contributing factors such as food prices and floods. These factors were not factored in during the previous analysis.
UN analysis indicated that the number of cases estimated in the previous report suggests that approximately 2.2 million children under the age of five suffer from malnutrition, including 538,000 suffering from acute malnutrition.
Meanwhile, the report predicted that about 1.3 million pregnant and breastfeeding women would suffer from malnutrition.
The analysis update indicated an increased risk.
It pointed to the situation changing in 17 districts and reaching a worse stage compared to last February’s expectations.
In Al-Mahra Governorate, nine regions are under the threat of a crisis. Eight neighborhoods in the city of Aden will move from the crisis stage to the emergency stage.
[HODHODYEMENNEWS] Member of the Supreme Political Council Mohammad Ali Al-Houthi confirmed that the battle with the forces of the US-Saudi aggression is not over yet, and the coming will be tougher, bigger, and more painful than what they experienced during the past eight years.
“The Yemeni People must realize that when we stand in the battle to confront the forces of aggression, we are confronting them, because they are the ones who oppress our people and are the cause of the suffering of this country, and we must act in confronting them,” Al-Houthi said during his meeting on Monday with the security and military leaders and the general mobilization committees in Ibb Governorate.
Addressing the mercenaries, he said, “Don’t you feel ashamed when a Saudi or Emirati officer commands you? Are you not ashamed while you are destroying your homeland, its capabilities, its security services, and its planes? Are you not ashamed when you stand as a stumbling block in the way of paying your people’s salaries? Damn you, you are not worthy of responsibility.”
Al-Houthi pointed out that many of the Yemenis realize that aggression is the cause of the suffering that generates more steadfastness for them in confronting enemies.
He pointed out that the strikes will be more severe on the forces of aggression than in the past.
“If Aramco had stopped for 24 hours to extinguish its fires when we hit it in the past, it may not be enough for consecutive days to extinguish its fires if there is a new reaction from the Yemeni People,” he warned.
The Supreme Political member praised the achievements of the army in general and the members of the Fourth Military Region in particular. He congratulated the efforts of the security establishment and all its affiliates who, along with the heroes of the army, formed the fortified shield, and destroyed the plots and plans of aggression against them.
He went on to say: “Yesterday, Biden signed the law on homosexuality, and his regime is leading the aggression against our free Yemeni People, which confirms that whoever stands with aggression stands with perversion and immorality, and whoever stands against aggression stands with pride and dignity.”
[Daily Caller] Victims of terrorist attacks by Palestinians are suing the Biden administration for allegedly providing taxpayer funds to the Palestinian government.
America First Legal Foundation (AFL), which is leading the suit on behalf of the victims, accused President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken of violating the Taylor Force Act, which prohibits the U.S. government from sending taxpayer funds to the Palestinian Authority (PA) until it stops providing support for terrorism, the Washington Free Beacon reported. AFL and Republican Texas Rep. Ronny Jackson allege in the suit that the Biden administration violated the law by resuming aid to the PA that was suspended under former President Donald Trump.
Islamic State Organization (ISIS) publicized on Monday through close media outlets a video, showing its militants swearing allegiance to the “ISIS new caliph” in Syrian Badia.
ISIS-run Amaq news agency publicized the video that was entitled, “Indeed Allah will help those who help Him,” presenting dozens of ISIS militants masked and carrying machineguns.
On Nov. 30, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced death of the ISIS leader, Abu al-Hassan al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, by the Free Syrian Army (FSA) in Daraa Governorate, southwest Syria.
Earlier on the same day, the organization’s media affiliate al-Furqan aired an audio by the group’s spokesman Abu Omar al-Muhajer, announcing the death of al-Hassan al-Hashimi.
The group named Abu al-Hussein al-Husseini al-Qurayshi as new leader.
Abu Omar al-Muhajer, in the footage, called for joining ISIS and “Jihad” against “infidels,” as he put it.
He also called for swearing allegiance to the new caliph and “revenging” the killing of the group’s former caliph.
Other video footages were publicized, showing a number of ISIS militants in different areas swearing allegiance to the new caliph, as they were wearing different uniforms, including that of ISIS and Syrian government forces.
The footage showed four-wheel drive vehicles, AK-47, PK machineguns, RPGs, and flags tagged with “Wilayat al-Sham.”
Nature of the area that was presented in the footage indicated that it is more likely that it was filmed in the Syrian Badia, between Deir ez-Zor, east of Syria, and Homs, central Syria.
The organization keeps camouflaging its militants’ faces and their weapons in the publicized videos.
The video showed one militant wearing jeans although ISIS had previously prohibited wearing jeans during the period in which ISIS used to take power of areas in Syria and Iraq.
On Dec. 6, ISIS publicized photos, presenting militants swearing allegiance to the “new Caliph”.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
