[An Nahar] Residents have fled the capital of Sudan's South Kordofan state after renewed shelling, a witness said on Saturday, as rebels grabbed credit for their third attack this month.
"Yesterday five shells hit the ground inside the town while an official delegation from Khartoum was visiting," during the Eid al-Adha Moslem holiday, said the witness in Kadugli who asked for anonymity.
"I didn't see any casualties or maimed. But most of the residents of Kadugli took their families out of town."
Rebel mortar fire targeted an army divisional headquarters and an artillery base in Kadugli after government air strikes on rebel-held villages, said Arnu Ngutulu Lodi, front man for the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N).
"People told me, 6:00 am (03:00 GMT) Friday morning the bombing started" in areas around rebel-held Kauda town and around Kadugli, where a defence ministry delegation arrived for Eid al-Adha prayers, Lodi told Agence La Belle France Presse.
One child was injured and several houses destroyed by the government air raids, he said.
"We responded, shelling Kadugli."
Sudan's army front man could not be immediately reached on Saturday, and a senior ruling party official said he was too busy to talk.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/28/2012 00:00 ||
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[Shabelle] A CID officer was rubbed out as he read a Koran inside a mosque in the Hagadera refugee camp in the larger Dadaab area near the Kenya-Somalia border.
Constable Yusuf Yerro was among about five people who were praying in the mosque Friday at about noon when a gunman walked in and shot him once in the head killing him on the spot.
Witnesses and police said the officer was holding a Koran when he was shot. He died instantly as the gunman escaped outside.
The body lay in the mosque and next to the Holy Book before police arrived to remove it. He has been taken to his Habaswen home for burial, said an elder in the area who asked not to be named.
The motive of the shooting was not immediately known but police suspect the officer who was working with CIDs Criminal Intelligence Unit was targeted because of his work.
Witnesses told police the gunman was joined by about four other people as he escaped on foot.
The shooting was the latest to happen in a series that have occurred in the larger refugee camp even as police try to contain the crime.
Colleagues of Yerro, a Bachelor of Education graduate said he had been jovial being a holy day that he intended to celebrate with other fellow Mohammedans in the area.
North Eastern police boss Philip Tuimur said they are yet to make an arrest but investigations were ongoing. He added they are investigating the motive behind the shooting.
The incident two days after three were killed the camp.
The bodies of Abdrashid Maalim Ahmed, 50, Hassan Aden Auul, 43 and Siat Mohamed Ismail, 48 were found in a thicket near the camp with bullet wounds.
Their killers are yet to be jugged ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... but police in the Mbalambala area, the scene of the attack say they have a clue on who they could be.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/28/2012 00:00 ||
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Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer said tonight that his sources tell him that Obama was one of the people in the room watching the Benghazi attack go down and both he and Col. David Hunt agree it would have taken an order by the president to intervene. Further, Col. Hunt said that we were only 20 min away by jet and a couple of hours away by AC-130 gunships and special forces, and the decision not to intervene had to be political. Fox news video embeded at site
Posted by: Au Auric ||
10/28/2012 01:35 ||
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#1
Brave statement by Lt Col Shaffer ... that press release will likely cost him his job in the military.
#3
I believe Shaffer is a reserve officer. He's made a personal, life-long campaign of taking on military related cover-ups and issues like Benghazi. If he were an active component officer, his career would have been toast long ago.
There is no doubt in my mind that those pred feeds of Benghazi, and anything else available was piped into the White House situation room.
#4
...IF this is true - I do not see how this CAN'T be an impeachable offense. On the other hand - and I have to speak my mind here - a great deal of what I'm reading about this doesn't quite make sense for me. If there was a Spectre ready to go, fragged jets twenty minutes out, Predators on site, and people on the ground lighting up targets, then why were they all there in the first place? That's a level of preparedness and force that we were completely unwilling to display during the revolution there, but now that everything is hunky-dory on the ground we're ready to punch holes in Libya?
Looked at with all that in mind, this whole thing gets far far worse. You think things are bad now? If President Obama is hiding some kind of op there, it will come out...and he will be as crippled for a second term as Nixon was, except President Obama will not find the decency to resign. And while he spends four years in the bunker, the world will find a way to take advantage of it.
And frankly, a President Romney will do nothing to investigate it.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
10/28/2012 11:21 Comments ||
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#5
Mike:
Do you remember the Maersk Alabama incident in April 2009 when the skipper of the USS Halyburton ordered snipers on his ship take out terrorists and did so with headshots? While the Commanding Officer of that ship was given authorization to initiate necessary measures as he deemed appropriate, the angst in the administration and the liberal media was Palpable.
Following this incident, I suspect a review of the Rules of Engagement (ROE) was soon undertaken. There is a vast difference between "authorizing assistance" and deligating authorization for local commanders to initiate or return hostile fire.
When slain heroes Doherty and Woods requested authorization to assist trapped mission personnel, it was denied. They were allegedly ordered to "Stand Down". My guess is, whomever they contacted knew that had already engaged the terrorist with smallarms fire and did NOT want any further hostile contact. It would only follow that this order would have reflected National Command and White House directives.
#6
Valerie Jarrett no doubt told Zero not to authorize action
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/28/2012 11:53 Comments ||
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#7
And don't forget -- the news ran that day about the Cairo embassy being overrun and an Al Queda flag replaced our American flag. (Alto it didn't get much coverage because Romney had that day held a press conference and condemned the Caior embassy for "apologizing" for the video, the first we knew or heard of the infameous video whose maker is still in jail for a probation violence and not scheduled for court until 3 days after the elctions --)
As a civilian, I do hope that incident had already placed our military on ready alert.........
But what was the news for three days? On Sept 12, Obama: Romney shoots first, aims later.
#8
I would be shocked to discover that our military would not have been ready to meet this 9/11 challenge. I can only speculate, but I suspect (again suspect), that Tier 1/2 SOF personnel were orbiting at high-altitude awaiting the order to infiltrate the consulate compound.
#10
I wonder if anybody in Washington had the balls to tell our guys on the ground that help was not coming. And how do I get a copy of that recording?
Posted by: Matt ||
10/28/2012 12:13 Comments ||
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#11
Comments and body language of POTUS and Clinton to the families of Woods and Doherty at Dover says it all. It will all come out after the election.
#12
Had never watch Judge J until last Saturday night. Was channel hopping and landed on her interview with 3 former intelligence operators, one was Lt. Col Shaffer.... on procedural happenings when that first "flash" message went out about an attack on Ambassador Stevens.
She must have been an outstanding lawyer -- she gets answers.
Fox didn't post it, I emailed her asking for it. She responded with she was working on it.. it's still not up.
It gave me some of the feelings you military/intelligence people must be feeling.
I know what it tastes like to be let down like this through politics, and yes, by the US of A, it doesn't taste good. Leaves a REAL bad feeling of betrayal for a LONG time afterwards...for the politicos. They just go on to greater things and never answer for it.
(Hey, if Joe can use caps, so can I).
Posted by: Solomon Protector of the Texans5923 ||
10/28/2012 12:37 Comments ||
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#14
What happened? My bet at this point is that no one ever denied them assistance. Every body was tee'd up and ready to go on order. The order never came. In fact the non-order was hold on until we get authorization to proceed. I suspect Ham and Leading provided the kind of verbal feedback we would all deem appropriate and that is why they are being relieved. Panetta will self-subbus when the investigations begins after the election. But everyone will know Barry choked on the big one. If he wins, his term may begin with impeachment talk.
#15
Reportedly Woods and Doherty helped 20-30 DOS people get out of harms way. Interviews of those people together with reporting on Ham and Leading relief could make the twice delayed Fox special on this topic enough to get this into the MSM. It was ignored on every talking head show this morning, though I expect Wallace to do a segment as a tease for the special.
#22
Glenmore, we do not have to be at war with someone in order to award the Medal of Honor. Randy Shughart and Gary Gordon were awarded the MOH at the Battle of Mogadishu (Blackhawk Down). We were not at war with Somalia.
The issue is that Woods and Doherty were former SEALs. HOWEVER, Congress could easily pass a resolution to waive the rules in their case. I plan to write my Congressional representatives to urge them to pass just such a resolution. I urge you to do so as well.
See this story to read about the true heroism these men showed.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
10/28/2012 15:38 Comments ||
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#23
Thanks, Nimble -- that's where I read it also -- just couldn't remember where (I've read much)
#24
The Baier special didn't really have any new information, though there was a good timeline of the attack. No confirmation of 20-30 people rescued or 60 attackers killed. Without new information, this story will be swamped by Sandy.
I guess that means they were just murderers of those Libyans, and if they had survived, they'd have been turned over to the government for prosecution.
#26
Speaking of reading, I just read this at PowerLine:
Tom Lipscomb writes:
lighting up that laser gave away the Seals position the same way using tracer ammo does at night.
Then:
I have an alternate explanation. Our guys were getting pounded by deadly accurate mortar fire, and while they knew there werent any aircraft coming, the terrorists didnt, but the terrorists did know if any were around that laser target indication was a death sentence.
So our team risked using the laser target indicator to try to force the mortar team to MOVE . causing them a delay of up to an hour needed to break down the mortar, reseat the base plate somewhere they didnt get hit with the laser and re-lay the mortar and fire a few test rounds . which might have bought our guys some time to get some help. Remember, the attack stopped a little over an hour later at dawn. They might have made it.
#27
Rather than trying to play whack-a-mole with all these conflicting stories, in the absence of new information I'm just going to assume that everyone involved in the process -- Champ, Panetta, Hilly, on down to the generals-- is a lying, incompetent sack of shit who ought to be investigated by Congress. If they want me to change my mind, they can tell me what really happened.
By the way, what does this episode tell us about how the "National Command Authority" functions? If in seven hours they can't figure out what to do about a firefight in Libya, what are they going to do if a Chinese missile lands in Tokyo? How do they decide whether to have red wine or white at dinner?
Posted by: Matt ||
10/28/2012 16:19 Comments ||
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#28
Re: #25 Glenmore, you forgot the /sarcasm tag
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
10/28/2012 16:55 Comments ||
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#29
One comment on a news chan about 3am by a man who was presented as very recent ex-CIA: 15,000 Russian Man Pads disappeared from our storehouse in Benghazi after the fire fights.
Posted by: Water Modem ||
10/28/2012 17:46 Comments ||
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#30
What, you don't think this "government" would have turned them over to the Libyans for prosecution, Rambler? :-(
Posted by: Barbara ||
10/28/2012 17:52 Comments ||
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#31
And when those manpads kill an American airliner, they're going to Hint and Allegate that the Republican "let it happen."
#35
The story about the sa7's is what this whole fight was about. It will slowly get out. The big question is where are they? Who has them now and where?
Posted by: 49 pan ||
10/28/2012 22:27 Comments ||
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Breaking news on Benghazi: the Klingon spokesman, presumably at the direction of Klingon director David Petraeus, has put out this statement: "No one at any level in the Klingon Empire told anybody not to help those in need; claims to the contrary are simply inaccurate." Here, take this out behind the barn and bury it.
Posted by: American Delight ||
10/28/2012 7:23 Comments ||
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#4
Nobody ordered that assistance NOT be given; probably the orders were 'wait on orders', which were not issued in time. (Nat Sec Adv is not chain of command though the 'wait' could have been pending advice.) I suspect all the delay and 'factfinding' is to figure out who they were waiting on and/or who goes under the bus.
#5
and/or who goes under the bus
To be announced 11/8, or not at all.
Posted by: Don Vito Smiter of the Texans2104 ||
10/28/2012 10:01 Comments ||
Top||
#6
A general dismissed and an admiral pulled in for interrogation or whatever. Sounds like they were ordered not to go in and the two almost did anyway, or that they were ordered to go in and the two were gunshy. I imagine the first because I can't see things being so hush-hush if Obama could easily lay blame on the military leaders.
#7
If true, this is not without precedent Richard.
Many years ago, upon learning of a terrorist attack in process, an Army Colonel commanding a Special Mission Unit, leaned forward in the foxhole and "self-deployed" an element to Germany to set up a Command, Control and Communications package. When his initiative was discovered by the Pentagon, he was ordered to stand-down and severly repremanded by then Secretary John O. Marsh. He was never promoted to General Officer, and the Special Mission Unit suffered debilitating oversight and restrictions for many years thereafter.
#8
The admiral didn't make it to the scene until mid October, and had entered the Navy 5th Fleet's area of operations in the Middle East on Oct. 17 after sailing across the Pacific. The Stennis made port visits in Thailand and Malaysia on its way to the Middle East.
#9
The admiral was nowhere near the Mediterranean at the time and could not have been involved.
Gen. Ham was on schedule for reassignment and does not seem to have been replaced with prejudice (though I guess it is possible.) That is not to say that some other officer or officers did not try to 'self-deploy', but if so, they clearly did not follow through.
Either fear of failure/paralysis by analysis, or policy and decisions based on legal interpretations rather than military ones.
[Tripoli Post] Hours after taking control of Bani Walid, a former stronghold of former Libyan dictator Muammar Qadaffy ... one of those little rainstorms from the Arab Spring... , Libyan militias from the rival city of Misrata reportedly fired ferociously at its empty public buildings amid shouts of "holy shit! Allahu akbar (God is greatest) and "Today Bani Walid is finished."
It seems that the fighters sought to make their mark with gunfire and rocket-propelled grenades on a town they say still provides a refuge to many of the tossed Libyan leader's followers, Rooters has reported, adding that the central streets were empty except for the fighters who filled them with their violent celebration.
It also quoted a Misrata fighter by the name of Ali Mahmoud saying: "The Qadaffy fighters are out of Bani Walid, they have gone. Some people here still wanted Qadaffy, we have to show them that he is finished."
The town was taken over by militias known as Libya Shield aligned with the defence ministry after days of shelling on Wednesday. It sent thousands of families fleeing from the hilltop town in scenes reminiscent of last year's civil war.
The latest fighting, in which over 20 people were killed and hundreds maimed, erupted over a government demand that Bani Walid hand over those who had kidnapped and tortured Omar Shaaban, the former rebel fighter from Misrata who had been credited of catching Qadaffy in his hometown of Sirte last year. Shaaban died in a Gay Paree hospital last month from injuries inflicted during two months of captivity in Bani Walid. He had been kidnapped in July.
Many of the 70,000 residents of Bani Walid - 170 km south of Tripoli - belong to the powerful Warfala tribe, which was mostly loyal to Qadaffy. The town and its now-displaced inhabitants, long isolated from the rest of Libya, fear retribution and wonder what fate awaits them in the post-Qadaffy era.
While the government has set up committees to tackle security, services and the return of refugees to Bani Walid, militia commanders say they will stay to keep the town "secure".
Claudia Gazzini of the International Crisis Group said that such groups have a background and a certain vision of what Libya should be and it doesn't always necessarily match that of the elected officials at the (ruling) General National Congress, GNC. "This risks pushing back the reconciliation attempts that could have been fostered better in a peaceful manner between Bani Walid and the rest of Libya," she said.
"The other problem here is that we have a military action to free men who were arbitrarily tossed in the slammer You have the right to remain silent... by Bani Walid, but at the same time we have the same situation in other cities, Misrata first of all," Gazzini said, adding that she believed that the BNC has sort of followed this intense lobbying attack by the Misratans and by groups of Bani Walid revolutionaries who were kicked out of Bani Walid/
Army officials said they had freed several detainees in Bani Walid and captured some fighters who used to belong to a brigade commanded by Qadaffy's son Khamis.
Human rights groups have urged the authorities to make clear that looting, beatings and destruction will be prosecuted, with Fred Abrahams, special adviser at Human Rights Watch ... dedicated to bitching about human rights violations around the world... saying that the government and forces under its command should protect residents in Bani Walid and reject acts of Dire Revenge.
Meanwhile, ...back at the pond, the radioactive tadpoles grown into frogs. Really big frogs, in fact... Saleh Gaouda, a Benghazi congress member is reported saying that the priority of the authorities was to give Bani Walid residents the security to be able to return to their homes.
"It is important to make people inside Bani Walid believe in February 17th," he said, referring to the name given to the 2011 rebellion against Qadaffy. "This can be done through the media, talking, giving them a chance to be part of society."
Posted by: Fred ||
10/28/2012 00:00 ||
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At least four people have been killed and several others were wounded in an early morning explosion at St. Rita Catholic Church in the Malaila area of northern Nigerias Kaduna State during Sunday mass.
A Red cross senior official who spoke on condition of anonymity confirmed that four people have, so far, been confirmed dead. He said, "Three people, including the suicide bomber, died at the explosion site while one other person was confirmed dead in one of the hospitals where the victims were rushed to. Several people including the Reverend Fathers of the church were seriously injured and parts of the church were seriously damaged."
The official casualty figures might increase as rescue officials have been shuttling between the explosion site and the healthcare facilities were the victims are being treated.
A number of casualties have been evacuated to hospitals in the state by our officials, said the national spokesperson of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) Yushau Shuaib. He said the Sunday morning blast occurred when a suicide bomber rammed his vehicle into the church gate.
A wave of deadly attacks has shattered the peace in Iraq, where Muslims are marking the second day of the Eid al-Adha holiday.
Officials say at least 15 people were killed in a series of explosions and shootings on Saturday, many of them Shi'ite pilgrims marking the holiday.
The violence includes a bombing north of Baghdad that killed at least five Shi'ite pilgrims who were in a minibus that was carrying them to a mosque.
Investigators say another explosion at a popular open-air market near the capital killed at least five people, including several children, while a series of attacks elsewhere in Iraq left at least five others dead.
Posted by: Au Auric ||
10/28/2012 03:00 ||
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#1
Whoa, a Cow tries to escape in Palestine, then suddenly all hell breaks loose???
A former defense volunteer was discovered dead in a rubber plantation in Yala province on Sunday morning. Muhamad Muso was shot three times in a rubber plantation near Ban Kube. A motorcycle was lying by his body. It was believed he was gunned down last night as villagers in the area said they heard the sound of gun shots at about 8 p.m.
Sixteen people were injured in a grenade attack on a night food shop in Pattani province on Saturday night. The incident occurred at about 9:45 p.m. when a hand grenade was thrown into a food shop by the pillion rider of a motorcycle. 16 people, including a seven-year-old girl, eating in the shop were wounded.
A man was seriously injured in a gun attack in Narathiwat province on Sunday morning. When Niratcharin Tuanbusa was about to leave his house for prayers, two men showed up on a motorcycle and opened fire at him with a pistol. He was hit twice and seriously injured. Police believe the incident was the work of terrorists militants to create unrest.
Amid mounting concern over Iran's nuclear program and violence elsewhere in the region, U.S. Central Command quietly dispatched a Marine fighter jet squadron from San Diego to an undisclosed country in the Middle East, U-T San Diego has learned.
The deployment follows threats by the U.S. and Israel of military strikes if needed to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.
At the same time, the conflict in Syria is threatening to drag Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan into war, Iraq is beset by renewed violence, and terrorist groups hoping to capitalize on political upheaval in the region covet Syria's chemical weapons and Libyan arms.
Against this tense geopolitical backdrop, aviation spotters tracked a dozen jets from Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 314, an F/A-18 Hornet squadron based at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, en route in late September through Europe.
The heavily armed jets -- capable of firing 2,000-pound laser-guided bombs, cluster munitions, air-to-air missiles and a six-barrel 20 mm gun -- are used for a variety of missions, including ground attack, escort, enemy air defense suppression, reconnaissance and close air support of ground forces.
U.S. Central Command and the Marine command in the region declined to say which country the squadron deployed to or to comment in detail on its mission, citing political and security sensitivities of the host nation and its neighbors.
Posted by: Au Auric ||
10/28/2012 02:45 ||
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#1
en route in late September through Europe. Moved after September 11?
#3
I could say something about 'well they started in mid-August, but with the Lawn Darts long legs..." but something about this particular 'cover story' doesn't make sense. Call it skepticism where the WH is concerned, but Barry may be planning to show his so-far secret red line was crossed and he is now going to bomb somebody; guesstimated timeline: Oct 31- Nov 4. His High Explosive Hail Mary to win the election.
#4
Barry may be planning to show his so-far secret red line was crossed and he is now going to bomb somebody
Possible. Given the take-no-risk attitude on display, I'm thinking it's more a matter of providing protection insurance in case of a 'spillover' from Syria on a neighboring country where it (and its neighbors) suffer from "political and security sensitivities" about having a Marine air squadron on its soil.
However, given the information that the Brits have declined use of their bases in the Med, it's quite possible that some "kinetic action", i.e., a repeat of Libya, is being considered.
#5
May be a precaution to destroy CBW weapons in Syria, or perhaps against a major terrorist attack in the Sinai. There are so many possibilities in the ME now - it's a wonder the place hasn't exploded already.
[An Nahar] Almost 150 people died on the first day of a barely-observed truce between the warring parties in Syria, a watchdog said, adding that a fresh festivities on Saturday claimed more lives.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said of the 146 people killed in bombings, artillery fire and fighting on Friday, 53 were civilians, 50 were rebels and 43 were members of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad's Light of the Alawites... forces.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/28/2012 00:00 ||
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The media, NGO establishment, "Human" rights pontificators have so corrupted the language that none will say that their is no truce, ceasefire or stoppage.
At best all of this is just a lull to reload and reengage. Bleh.
[An Nahar] U.N.-Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... envoy Lakhdar Brahimi's ceasefire plan to stop fighting in Syria has been a failure, a rebel commander said on Saturday, after almost 150 people reportedly died on the first day of the truce.
"This is a failure for Brahimi. This initiative was dead before it started," Abdel Jabbar al-Okaidi, the head of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) military council in the northern city of Aleppo ...For centuries, Aleppo was Greater Syria's largest city and the Ottoman Empire's third, after Constantinople and Cairo. Although relatively close to Damascus in distance, Aleppans regard Damascenes as country cousins... , told Agence La Belle France Presse by telephone.
He insisted the FSA had not broken the ceasefire and was only carrying out defensive actions.
"I was on several fronts yesterday and the army did not stop shelling," Okaidi said. "Our mission is to defend the people, it is not us who are attacking."
He said the ceasefire had been doomed from the start and that the international community needed to stop putting faith in Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad's Trampler of Homs... regime.
"The Syrian people have become guinea pigs, every time there is an envoy who tries an initiative, while we know the regime will not respect it.
"We accepted the ceasefire for the international community, to not give an alibi to Russia and to China" to claim the rebels were cooperating, he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/28/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
a failure? It appears to be working exactly as desired....for some
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/28/2012 8:10 Comments ||
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#2
Sometimes it takes nearly four years for some to declare a failure.
[An Nahar] Fighting raged across Syria and an air raid struck near Damascus ...The capital of Iran's Syrian satrapy... on Saturday after a declared ceasefire for a Mohammedan holiday fell apart, with at least 175 killed since it was due to take effect.
The truce for the holiday that started Friday conditionally agreed by the regime and the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) had raised the prospect of the first real halt to the fighting after 19 months of conflict.
But after fresh fighting on both Friday and Saturday, rebels and a monitoring group declared the ceasefire well and truly dead.
As festivities between Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Despoiler of Deraa... 's forces and rebels continued, a Syrian warplane struck a building in a rebel-held area east of Damascus that has been the scene of heavy fighting ... as opposed to the more usual light or desultory fighting... for weeks, killing eight.
"This was the first fighter jet air strike since the declaration" of a truce for the four-day Eid al-Adha holiday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
"The truce is dead," the group's director Rami Abdel Rahman commented. "We can no longer talk of a truce."
A rebel commander in the northern city of Aleppo ...For centuries, Aleppo was Greater Syria's largest city and the Ottoman Empire's third, after Constantinople and Cairo. Although relatively close to Damascus in distance, Aleppans regard Damascenes as country cousins... said there was no doubt the ceasefire initiative, proposed by UN-Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, had collapsed.
"This is a failure for Brahimi. This initiative was dead before it started," Abdel Jabbar al-Okaidi, head of the FSA military council in Aleppo, told Agence La Belle France Presse by telephone.
He insisted the FSA had not broken the ceasefire and was only carrying out defensive actions.
"I was on several fronts yesterday and the army did not stop shelling," Okaidi said. "Our mission is to defend the people, it is not us who are attacking."
The Eid holiday had started Friday with a slowdown in the fighting -- and state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
footage of Assad smiling and chatting with worshippers at a Damascus mosque -- but quickly degenerated.
The Observatory, a key monitor of the conflict, said 146 people were killed in bombings and fighting on Friday, including 53 civilians, 50 rebels and 43 members of Assad's forces.
On Saturday, fresh violence killed at least another 29 people, the Observatory said, amid festivities and attacks in Damascus province, Aleppo, Daraa in the south and the eastern city of Deir Ezzor.
Among the dead were five killed in a car kaboom in Deir Ezzor, it said. State television blamed the attack on "terrorists" and said the bomb had gone off in front of a church, causing significant damage.
According to the Observatory, a total of more than 35,000 people have been killed in the conflict, which began as an anti-regime uprising but is now a civil war pitting mainly Sunni rebels against Assad's regime dominated by his minority Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam.
The Britannia-based Observatory relies on a countrywide network of activists, lawyers and medics in civilian and military hospitals. It says its tolls take into account civilian, military, and rebel casualties.
Assad's forces and the FSA had both agreed to a call by Brahimi to lay down their arms for the Eid, but both also reserved the right to respond to attacks.
Brahimi had hoped the truce might lead to a more permanent ceasefire during which he could push for a political solution and bring aid to stricken areas of the country.
Okaidi, the FSA commander in Aleppo, said the ceasefire had been doomed from the start and that the international community needed to stop putting faith in the regime.
"The Syrian people have become guinea pigs. Every time there is an envoy who tries an initiative, while we know the regime will not respect it."
Posted by: Fred ||
10/28/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
Don't mind me... carry on.. anyone need any lethal weapons? Easy terms, will deliver. Bad credit? No credit? NO PROBLEM! We speak Jihadi and Fascist.
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.
[An Nahar] Residents have fled the capital of Sudan's South Kordofan state after renewed shelling, a witness said on Saturday, as rebels 
[Shabelle] A CID officer was 
[Tripoli Post] Hours after taking control of Bani Walid, a former stronghold of former Libyan dictator 
[An Nahar] Almost 150 people died on the first day of a barely-observed truce between the warring parties in Syria, a watchdog said, adding that a fresh 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
[An Nahar] Fighting raged across Syria and an air raid struck near 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
