Posted by: Frank G ||
04/04/2026 12:45 Comments ||
Top||
#4
This Week in Books, if you will:
'This artifice will drive them to seek authenticity. authenticity will be the buzzword of the twenty-first century. And what is authentic? Anything that is not devised and structured to make a profit. Anything that is not controlled by corporations. Anything that exists for its own sake, that assumes its own shape. But of course, nothing in the modern world is allowed to assume its own shape. The modern world is the corporate equivalent of a formal garden, where everything is planted and arranged for effect. Where nothing is untouched, where nothing is authentic.
"Where, then, will people turn for the rare and desirable experience of authenticity? They will turn to the past.
"The past is unarguably authentic. The past is a world that already existed before Disney and Murdoch and Nissan and Sony and IBM and all the shapers of the present day. the past was here before they were. the past rose and fell without their intrusion and molding and selling. the past is real. It's authentic. and this will make the past unbelievably attractive. That's why I say that the future is the past. the past is the only real alternative to - Yes? Diane, what is it?" He turned as she walked into the room.
Timeline, Michael Crichton, published 1999 Ballantine Books, page 444.
[ZH] Now, about those treasonous mutineers committing sabotage during time of war ...
More details continue to belatedly come out in piecemeal fashion related to the Navy's largest and most expensive supercarrier, the USS Gerald R Ford. It has withdrawn from the Iran theatre of operations and Mideast regional waters, now anchored in Croatia (Split) for largescale emergency repairs, after a March 12 fire which the Pentagon has said was non-combat related left some sailors with minor injuries.
New information has been disclosed by no less than the US Navy's top officer. He has described in fresh remarks that the USS Ford was unable to fly sorties for two days due to (the alleged) laundry fire, which took over a full day to extinguish.
CNN has underscored that this marks the "first indication that the blaze hindered combat operations against Iran." So the incident has been confirmed to have resulted in a complete halt to two days of combat operations against Iran - which is hugely significant given that only two carriers were launching operations at that time (the other was the USS Lincoln). And now the USS George HW Bush is en route across the Atlantic in a scheduled deployment.
Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle, addressed the Washington-based think tank the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) on Tuesday. While praising the crew's response to the fire, he stated the following:
"They fought that, put it out, and started flying sorties two days after that, so I’m very proud of that crew," he said.
Caudle described that they ended up battling the blaze - and cleaned up the water damage and fire-fighting substances, for a total of 30 hours.
He also confirmed prior reports of some 600 sailors being displaced from their sleeping quarters due to the damage.
As for the precise cause of the blaze, the last official word was a March 28 statement from 6th Fleet saying, "military and federal civilian law enforcement continued investigations into a fire aboard the ship originating in the ship’s laundry facilities."
This comes amid an avalanche of speculation that the Ford might have been hit by an Iranian missile or drone - but this remains just theorizing and speculation.
Adm. Caudle did make another important admission in his Tuesday remarks. He said: "The challenge … is how do you buy down risk in other parts of the world while you're focusing a lot of resources in one area." Already major US military assets have been diverted from southeast Asia, where China's pressure campaign on Taiwan continues, toward the Middle East in relation to Operation Epic Fury.
Good. Starving and suffering should be their general condition while they wait to be defeated.
ISWAP fighters face food, fuel shortages in Borno — intelligence
By: Zagazola Makama
Fresh intelligence has indicate acute shortages of food, fuel and essential supplies among fighters of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) in parts of Borno state, amidst… pic.twitter.com/MsRRl3ueCE
ISWAP fighters face food, fuel shortages in Borno — intelligence
By Zagazola Makama
Fresh intelligence has indicate acute shortages of food, fuel and essential supplies among fighters of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) in parts of Borno state, amidst intensified counter terrorism offensive.
The development comes amid sustained military pressure by troops of Operation Hadin Kai and other security agencies, targeting terrorist enclaves, supply routes and logistics networks across Borno and the wider Lake Chad Basin.
Findings from security sources reveal that ISWAP operating in camps within Mafa Local Government Area, particularly around the Dikwa and Sambisa Forest axis, are grappling with severe logistical constraints that are beginning to erode both their operational effectiveness and morale.
At the centre of the development is a reported distress communication by a senior fighter, identified as Abu Fatima, who is said to be operating around the Hamza Gajirom area of Dikwa.
According to the intelligence, Abu Fatima lamented that members of his group had not eaten for two days due to lack of food, while also pointing out shortages of fuel, tyre repair materials and even recharge cards needed for communication.
[IsraelTimes] Relatives of man who died in detention during Iran war says his body showed signs of torture, as Sunni-led Gulf state seeks to maintain control over Shiite-majority population
A man detained in Bahrain last month, as the island kingdom came under missile attack from Iran, vanished for days, until his family was called to retrieve his body from a military hospital.
Relatives said Mohammed al-Mousawi, a Shiite Moslem who had previously been imprisoned, was saving money to start a business. His body was returned covered in slash marks and bruising, including on the soles of his feet.
His death has become a flashpoint in the Sunni-ruled, Shiite-majority country on the war’s front lines, where critics say authorities have revived tactics used to suppress Arab Spring protests in 2011.
Bahrain, a monarchy that hosts the US Navy’s 5th Fleet, has arrested dozens of people throughout the war for filming strikes and demonstrations, expressing support for Iran, and on suspicion of spying for it.
"They want to make sure nobody challenges the state’s narrative and silence any voices not telling the story (of the war) how they want it to be told," said Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei of the London-based Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy.
Bahrain’s Interior Ministry said al-Mousawi was arrested on suspicion of spying for Iran, allegations denied by his family, and that images of his wounds were "inaccurate and misleading." Bahrain’s government said in a statement that the country is defending its national security. It denied any sectarianism, saying authorities have acted lawfully and that independent bodies investigate allegations of abuse.
SIGNS OF TORTURE
Al-Mousawi served about 11 years of a 21-year prison sentence on charges including arson and belonging to a terrorist cell before being released in 2024 as part of a royal amnesty.
A relative and a close family friend, who spoke to AP on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, said al-Mousawi disappeared on March 19 after attending prayers with two friends who also have not been seen since. Rights groups have long accused Bahrain of enforced disappearances.
On March 27, his family received a call to collect his body. The relative, who saw it at the morgue, said al-Mousawi appeared to have been whipped with cables. He said there were apparent electrocution burns, including behind his knees, and cigarette burns elsewhere on the body.
The AP separately reviewed images of al-Mousawi’s body, which bore marks described by a total of five witnesses who saw it in person. All spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution.
Bahrain’s Interior Ministry said al-Mousawi had been held by the National Security Agency. As part of reforms following the 2011 protests, the domestic spy service was stripped of its powers to arrest over abuse allegations. But they were restored in 2017 as Bahrain deepened a long-running campaign to suppress dissent.
The Interior Ministry said images of "injuries sustained by the dear departed are inaccurate and misleading and have been deliberately disseminated to mislead public opinion," without elaborating.
The death certificate from the military hospital said he died of a heart attack. His family said the 32-year-old had no preexisting conditions.
Ahmed Banasr, a forensic expert with the New York-based Physicians for Human Rights, said the wounds in the images were consistent with blunt force trauma. Wounds on the soles of his feet help rule out other explanations, such as a fight or fall.
"The findings are highly consistent with alleged torture," he said.
WAR AGGRAVATES LONG-STANDING GRIEVANCES
Al-Mousawi was among dozens of Bahraini Shiites ensnared in a crackdown that critics say has escalated since Israel and the US launched the war against Iran on February 28.
Rights groups see the arrests and al-Mousawi’s death as a new phase in Bahrain’s long-running campaign of repression that reached a peak in 2011 as pro-democracy uprisings swept the region. That year, the ruling Al Khalifa family crushed mass demonstrations with help from troops from Saudi Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start... and the United Arab Emirates.
Periodic unrest has continued since, with the government casting the mostly Shiite protesters as Iranian proxies. Unlike other Sunni monarchies in the Gulf, Bahrain — like Iran — has a Shiite majority.
"It really remains to be seen how far the government is going to go in its crackdown on people," said Maryam al-Khawaja, a Bahraini activist living abroad whose father is jugged Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! in Bahrain. "What we’re seeing right now is definitely a lot more heavy-handed than we have in the past few years."
BAHRAIN SAYS IT TARGETS THOSE WHO AID THE ENEMY
Bahrain’s government said its security measures are "a direct and proportionate response" to Iran’s attacks.
"The individuals arrested include those who filmed military and strategic sites during an active attack on Bahraini territory, those who passed sensitive information, and those who publicly expressed support for a state that had just launched strikes against Bahraini soil," it said.
"To present arrests made on the basis of conduct as evidence of sectarian persecution and conflate the two — is a framing that we firmly and unequivocally reject," it added.
Since the war’s start, at least 41 people — including migrant workers — have been arrested for sharing images of what authorities described as "Iranian aggression," or for expressing sympathy for it. Some are accused of treason — a charge that can carry a life sentence or the death penalty Bahrain has tallied more than 600 Iranian drone and missile strikes, which have killed at least two people and struck infrastructure, including a desalination plant, an oil refinery and an aluminum smelter. Iran has also repeatedly targeted the US Navy’s 5th Fleet headquarters.
Some demonstrators have mourned the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ...the very aged actual dictator of Iran, successor to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini...> and celebrated strikes on Bahrain, according to videos seen by AP. They also show Molotov cocktails being thrown and cars set ablaze.
[IsraelTimes] Salah Sarsour was convicted by Israel of rock-throwing as a teenager, moved to the US in 1993; his lawyers and community claim arrest is an attempt to stifle pro-Palestinian voices
The president of Wisconsin’s largest mosque was detained by US federal immigration agents, with authorities saying he was suspected of funding terror groups.
Salah Sarsour,
…in the Rantburg archives he is listed as a Hamasnik with connections to Muslim activists and Palestinian-American politicians, President Erdogan of Turkey, and of course back home, so this should be an easy home run for the Justice Department…
a Paleostinian-born legal permanent resident of the United States, was taken into custody by nearly a dozen US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents who surrounded his car on Monday in Milwaukee after he left his home, according to the Islamic Society of Milwaukee.
Supporters called for his immediate release on Thursday. His attorneys said he was detained because he is a foreign policy threat, a claim they argue has no merit.
Instead, they assert Sarsour, 53, was targeted for criticizing Israel and for a conviction as a minor by Israeli military courts in the West Bank, including for throwing rocks at Israeli officers.
"Our government should not be doing the bidding of a foreign government," attorney Munjed Ahmad charged. "There’s no question in my mind that this is to stifle the discourse on the Paleostinian narrative."
Attorneys said Sarsour, born in the West Bank, has no criminal record in the US, where he has lived for more than 30 years. They said the US government has known about Sarsour’s conviction in Israel since he came to the US in 1993.
The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), of which ICE is a part, confirmed his arrest and accused Sarsour of lying on his immigration forms and alleged that he was "suspected of funding terror organizations."
Noting his past conviction, DHS said he was previously "convicted for throwing Molotov cocktails at the homes of Israeli armed forces."
Sarsour’s attorneys have likened the case to that of Mahmoud Khalil, a former Columbia University graduate student activist who faces deportation because the federal government said he was a foreign policy threat and supports the Hamas ..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",... terror group.
Sarsour has been the board president of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee, the largest Islamic organization in the US state, for five years. His attorneys say he holds a green card and lives just outside Milwaukee. His wife and four adult children are US citizens.
At a crowded news conference, boisterous supporters chanted for Sarsour’s release, recounting his advocacy for those in need. Several recalled Sarsour’s stories about his childhood, including allegations of inhumane treatment while being detained by Israel.
"He was targeted because of one thing, because he dared stand up to the Israeli army," Othman Atta, one of Sarsour’s attorneys, told the crowd. "And he was not a US citizen."
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel cited Atta, also the executive director of the mosque, as saying that deportation documents focused on Sarsour’s arrest as a teenager living in the West Bank to argue he provided material support for Death Eaters. Atta denied that Sarsour supported Hamas.
A diverse group of religious leaders in attendance called Sarsour a valuable community member.
"This appears to be just the latest example of how this administration seeks to silence opposition and intimidate those who speak and act differently," said the Rev. Paul D. Erickson, bishop of the Greater Milwaukee Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
Sarsour’s arrest also prompted outcry from elected officials, including Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson, who called it "an outrage."
"He is a legal permanent resident. There is no substantive evidence he has done anything wrong," Johnson said Thursday in a post on X. "This is another example of overreach and harm from the US immigration authorities."
Sarsour is being held at a county jail in Indiana. His attorneys have filed a petition seeking his release.
"He is ready to fight tooth and nail to make sure that he’s not dragged through the mud," Ahmad said. "He wants to stay in this country."
"He was pulled over while driving by over 10 ICE agents with no cause," a page on the mosque's website said, adding he was taken out of the state to a detention facility in Chicago before being transferred to a detention center in Indiana.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel cited Othman Atta, the executive director of the mosque, as saying that deportation documents focused on Sarsour's arrest by Israeli authorities as a teenager living in the West Bank to argue he provided material support for extremists.
Atta said Sarsour was convicted as a teenager in an Israeli military court, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Though Israel has ratified the U.N. convention against torture, Israeli rights group B'Tselem says military courts in the West Bank, where Palestinians are tried for alleged crimes, have a 96 percent conviction rate and a history of extracting confessions through torture.
Atta denied that Sarsour supported the militant group Hamas.
Sarsour is "being targeted on the basis of his Palestinian and Muslim background, and his advocacy for Palestinian rights," the mosque said.
The Department of Homeland Security, of which ICE is a part, confirmed his arrest and accused Sarsour of lying on his immigration forms and alleged that he was "suspected of funding terror organizations."
DHS said he came to the U.S. in 1993. Noting his past conviction, it said he was previously "convicted for throwing Molotov cocktails at the homes of Israeli armed forces."
That goes well beyond merely throwing rocks…
President Donald Trump's administration has pursued an immigration crackdown condemned by rights groups as being in violation of due process and free speech. Advocacy groups say it has created an unsafe environment for minorities.
Trump has particularly cracked down on pro-Palestinian voices by attempting to deport foreign protesters, threatening funding freeze for universities where protests were held and ordering screening of immigrants' online comments.
Atta said that on Monday Sarsour stopped at an old warehouse on Milwaukee’s south side which he owned because mail kept arriving there. As he left, a car came on the wrong side of the street “flying toward him,” said Othman Atta, executive director of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee, forcing Sarsour to jump out of the way. The unmarked car stopped and a person allegedly in civilian clothes pointed a gun at Sarsour and asked who he was by name.
Atta said 12 vehicles were involved in the arrest, and Sarsour was loaded into a van before being told he was being taken by federal immigration officers.
Atta said that the story was relayed to Sarsour’s attorney Munjed Ahmad during a phone call in which Sarsour declared that he was a lion and willing to fight. Sarsour was transported to the Broadview Detention Center in Illinois before being quickly transferred to another facility in Indiana, Atta said.
He described Sarsour as a husband, father, grandfather, and a successful business owner who has no criminal record or convictions.
When he was a teenager, Sarsour was arrested and detained by the Israeli police. “He served two years,” said Atta. “Many of you who know him know that his passion for Palestine, his passion for justice, was based on the experience he had and that his family and friends had. He would talk to us many times how for 80 straight days, he was interrogated, and brutalized, and tortured while he was in Israeli military custody.”
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a statement Thursday that Sarsour was convicted of throwing Molotov cocktails at the homes of Israeli armed forces.” In the statement, which repeatedly called Sarsour a “terrorist” and an “illegal alien from Jordan,” DHS charged that he “lied” on his green card application to enter the country in 1993 during the Clinton administration, and that his first attempts to apply for an immigrant visa at the American consulate in Jerusalem were rebuffed because of those allegations and others of “illegally attempting to possess” weapons and ammunition.
Atta and Sarsour’s supportive community urged onlookers Thursday not to forget the reports about Israel’s treatment of Palestinians.
Atta said that Sarsour was again detained by the Israeli government after returning in 1995, which is where the weapons allegations came from, and that the written charges were in Hebrew, “which he doesn’t read or understand.”
The crowd that assembled to support Sarsour and his family included many Muslim residents, local activists, and elected officials, with Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley and Mayor Cavalier Johnson in the front row, and further back, Alds. JoCasta Zamarripa watched Alex Brower. Christine Neumann-Oriz, executive director of Voces de la Frontera, was in the audience, and speakers from Jewish Voices For Peace joined Muslim and Christian faith leaders in denouncing Sarsour’s detention and calling for his release.
Politician supporters:
Sen. Chris Larson (D-Milwaukee)
Rep. Gwen Moore
Rep. Ryan Clancy (D-Milwaukee)
Statements supporting Sarsour were also put out by the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the Mandela Barnes for governor campaign, and the Milwaukee Area Labor Council Immigrant Rights Committee.
Ahmad said that he’s “shocked” at how many communications he’s received from attorneys around the country on Sarsour’s case. “We have assembled a very capable legal team, that legal team continues to grow,” said Ahmad, declaring that they will work to free Sarsour. A hearing is scheduled on April 18.
[RedState] There has been a new development in the case of the two Chinese siblings who attempted to detonate an improvised explosive device (IED) at MacDill Air Force Base's visitor center in Tampa, Florida.
That’d be Alen Zheng, 20, and Ann Mary Zheng, 27, who apparently sent an anonymous video message to the Tampa Bay Times claiming to have planted a bomb 'in opposition to the war in Iran by the Epstein pedophiles of the US government.'
Not only is this brother and sister terrorist combo now accused of trying to blow up an American military installation, but we learned on Friday that they were anchor babies for Chinese illegal alien parents. The parents were arrested in March.
The post continues:
DHS nabbed the duo’s parents, Qiu Qin Zou and Jia Zhang Zheng, on March 18 for illegal entry.
The parents applied for asylum in 1993, but were denied by an immigration judge, who issued them a deportation order in 1998. The Board of Immigration Appeals repeatedly denied their attempts to have their case reopened.
Despite the repeated denials for status, they remained in the US.
They remained in the U.S. - illegally. They were ordered deported in 1998, and somehow, that never happened.
I reported on the twins' terror attack attempt in March.
At that time, I wrote:
The FBI, on Thursday, announced indictments against a brother and sister who are charged with an attempted bombing they allegedly attempted to carry out at Florida's MacDill Air Force Base.
A third sibling has reportedly fled to China.
This latest update still gives no indication as to the whereabouts of this third sibling. If he's in China, he's probably safe and sound; China won't extradite him.
#Pakistan 🇵🇰: Baloch Liberation Army (#BLA) ambushed Pakistani Army convoy; destroyed vehicles and killed soldiers in #Balochistan.
Fighters used #USA-made 🇺🇸 M16A4 assault rifles with M203 grenade launcher and RPG-7 Launcher with #Bulgaria-made 🇧🇬 OGi-7MA rockets. pic.twitter.com/PnfkVKj0tk
[IsraelTimes] Hezbollah continued to fire barrages of rockets on Friday, causing damage in the northern community of Gesher Haziv in the Western Galilee, while a drone also launched from Leb ...Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects.... by the terror group caused damage in Metula.
Footage showed a bedroom with a hole in the wall as a result of a rocket impact in Gesher Haziv, while another video showed damage to a private home in Metula.
In one of the barrages, several rockets launched by Hezbollah at Haifa on Friday evening were intercepted or struck open areas, the IDF said.
No injuries were reported in the attacks.
Hezbollah has been firing hundreds of rockets per day, according to the IDF. However,
today is that tomorrow you were thinking about yesterday... the vast majority of the daily rocket fire has been directed at Israeli forces operating in southern Lebanon, with only a few dozen projectiles crossing the border into Israel.
The IDF believes Hezbollah still possesses thousands of short-range rockets, along with hundreds of longer-range projectiles. The IDF has said that Hezbollah is launching most of its attacks from deeper within southern Lebanon, and not from close to the border.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited
[RIA] The US has sent special forces to Iran to search for one of the missing pilots of the downed American fighter jet, the Telegraph reports.
According to the publication, two crew members ejected, triggering a race between Tehran and Washington to find the pilots.
"One was rescued during an operation involving two US military helicopters and a low-flying tanker aircraft," the publication said.
The day before, the IRGC announced it had shot down the second F-35 fighter jet since the onset of the American and Israeli aggression.
Tasnim initially reported that the military may have captured the pilot of the jet, who ejected. Later, reports emerged that Tehran had offered a reward for the pilot's capture, which contradicts the Iranian news agency's claims.
Furthermore, the media did not specify which aircraft the pilot was flying, as there were reports that the Iranian Air Force had shot down an F-15. There were also conflicting reports regarding the number of pilots involved, as the F-35 is a single-seat fighter, while the latest F-15 variants are two-seater.
#3
@Luring in the rescuers isn't going to end well for the ambushers. There is going to be some highly motivated CAS pilots overhead all of the time, CAP to protect them and likely an AC-130U with it's sensors and guns for precision work.
[IsraelTimes] Missile salvos rain munitions on central Israel, Haifa area causing damage; 2 American air crew members said missing, with rescue operation underway; UN to debate Strait of Hormuz plan
One person was lightly maimed Friday when a cluster munition from an Iranian ballistic missile struck a home near Haifa, as Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... kept up fire at Israel and US allied countries in the Middle East, and claimed to have downed an American jet.
The Iranian regime fired three salvos of missiles at Israel on Friday, targeting the central and Haifa regions of the country, with cluster munitions that scattered over wide areas.
Magen David Adom said that a 79-year-old man was hit by flying debris due to the shockwave of a cluster munition impact in Kiryat Ata, near Haifa.
Several impact sites were reported in the Haifa area following the midday ballistic missile attack, causing damage.
That attack followed one at around 3:15 a.m. that targeted the central area of the country.
Emergency services said there were some ten impact sites from submunitions, with damage but no injuries.
Emergency services respond to a cluster munition impact in Kiryat Ata following an Iranian missile attack on northern Israel, on April 3, 2026. (United Hatzalah)
The missile was reportedly not intercepted, and bomblets hit in Ramat Gan, Givat Shmuel and Petah Tikva, causing damage to homes, roads and vehicles.
Central Israel was again targeted on Friday afternoon. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
KUWAIT OIL AND EMIRATI GAS SITES HIT, RIYADH DOWNS DRONES Meanwhile,
...back at the shootout, Butch shot Ike through the elbow. Take that, Ike! he yelled...... Iran continued to strike Gulf nations as British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the UK would deploy aerial defenses to Kuwait.
Kuwait Petroleum Corporation said Friday its Mina al-Ahmadi refinery was hit by drones, setting off fires at operating units, but no injuries were reported, according to the state news agency.
"Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) told KUNA that the Mina al-Ahmadi refinery was targeted in a drone attack early this morning, resulting in fires in several operational units," official news agency KUNA reported, adding that emergency teams were working to contain the blazes.
An Iranian attack hit a power and water desalination plant, causing damage to parts of the facility, Kuwait said, adding that emergency and technical teams were responding under contingency plans to maintain operations and secure the site.
After the drone attack on the oil facility, Starmer’s office said Friday that Britannia was deploying its Rapid Sentry air defense system to Kuwait to help protect British and Kuwaiti interests in the Gulf.
Starmer discussed the deployment in a call with Kuwait’s Crown Prince Sabah al-Khalid al-Sabah on Friday morning, a Downing Street spokesperson said.
"The Prime Minister began by condemning the reckless overnight drone attack on a Kuwaiti oil refinery," the spokesperson said. "He reiterated that the UK stands with Kuwait and all our allies in the Gulf."
The spokesperson said the leaders discussed the deployment of the UK’s air defense system — designed primarily to shoot down drones and other low-flying aerial threats — to Kuwait, which would protect Kuwaiti and British personnel and interests in the region, while avoiding escalation into a wider conflict.
Iran also targeted Saudi Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start... — the kingdom’s defense ministry said its air defenses intercepted seven drones, according to its state news agency.
Additionally, debris from an intercepted aerial threat fell on Abu Dhabi’s Habshan gas facilities, prompting a temporary suspension of operations and a fire that emergency teams were working to contain, with no injuries reported, the Abu Dhabi Media Office said.
IRAN WARNS UN ON STRAIT OF HORMUZ
Amid growing speculation over potential steps to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, Iran warned the UN Security Council on Friday against any "provocative action" ahead of an expected vote on a draft resolution mandating a force to protect shipping through the key waterway.
The vote was initially scheduled for Friday, but was postponed, with no new date set. Sources told the News Agency that Dare Not be Named that the vote was expected to be held Saturday.
"Any provocative action by the aggressors and their supporters, including in the UN Security Council regarding the situation in the Strait of Hormuz, will only complicate the situation," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said.
The draft resolution brought by Bahrain proposes authorizing the use of "defensive" force to protect shipping in Hormuz from Iranian attacks, according to the official Security Council program.
The draft resolution was backed by the US and the Gulf countries hardest hit by the virtual blockade, but member states, including Russia, China, and La Belle France, objected to earlier drafts.
Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency claimed Iranian diplomat Kazem Gharibabadi was instead drafting a proposal to "monitor" the Strait of Hormuz with Oman, describing the proposal as "intended to facilitate and ensure safe passage and provide better services to ships passing through this route."
Iran’s attacks on shipping in the region, as well as reportedly demanding as much as $2 million for passage through the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf, have created a stranglehold on the route through which 20 percent of the world’s oil supply moves.
It was unclear what the proposal would mean. Oman did not immediately acknowledge it.
The strait runs through Iranian and Omani territorial waters, but is considered an international waterway that should freely allow ships to pass.
"Naturally, when we face an act of aggression, navigation encounters serious problems, and this is the result of the aggressive act," Gharibabadi said. "We are currently at war and cannot expect pre-war rules to govern wartime conditions."
[IsraelTimes] After IRGC said it would retaliate for US-Israeli strikes on universities in Iran, several schools in region move classes online; US reiterates warning for citizens to leave Lebanon
The US embassy in Leb ...The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else?... warned on Friday that Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... and allied terrorist groups could seek to target universities in the country.
"Iran and its aligned terrorist militias may intend to target universities in Lebanon," said a security alert, without identifying any specific institutions. The Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group is the most prominent militia in the country.
The embassy repeated a warning for US citizens to leave the country.
The statement came days after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps threatened to target US universities in the Middle East after saying US-Israeli strikes had destroyed two Iranian universities.
"If the US government wants its universities in the region to be free from retaliation... it must condemn the bombing of the universities in an official statement by 12 noon on Monday, March 30, Tehran time," said the statement published by Iranian media.
"We advise all employees, professors, and students of American universities in the region and residents of their surrounding areas" to stay a kilometer away from campuses, the statement added.
Iran’s warning came after several universities in the country were targeted by US-Israeli strikes, most recently Tehran’s Imam Hossein University, which Israel said housed "one of the IRGC’s central military infrastructure sites," including underground wind tunnels used for ballistic missile testing, a chemistry center said to be involved in chemical weapons
...have not been used since WWI except for in Iraq, by the late, unlamented Saddam Hussein and in Syria, but really, honest, not by the Syrian government. And in Germany in WWII, but that was against civilians. Lots of them, just one of many reasons Hitler's also late and unlamented... research, and a central engineering complex tied to weapons development.
Israel also struck Malek Ashtar University in Tehran, which it said was used by Iran’s military industries to develop components for nuclear weapons.
Among other universities, Lebanon is home to the American University of Beirut, one of the most prominent US institutions in the region, whose campus and hospital are in the heart of the capital.
Taking security precautions, the university moved classes online on Monday and Tuesday, though they have since returned to in-person learning.
Several US universities also have campuses scattered throughout the Middle East, such as Texas A&M University in Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi... and New York University in the United Arab Emirates.
In Jordan, the American University of Madaba, about 35 kilometers (22 miles) southwest of the capital Amman, also said it was holding online classes until Thursday for its 3,000 students.
The American University of Armenia also said it was moving all classes online over Iran’s threats. The school said it had received no direct threats and stressed there was no cause for alarm, calling the move "a precautionary measure."
[IsraelTimes] UN peacekeeping force says two troops seriously injured; IDF says examination of rocket’s trajectory ‘clearly indicates’ it was launched by Iran-backed terror group
Three United Nations ...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks... Interim Force in Leb ...Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects.... (UNIFIL) peacekeepers were maimed Friday in a blast at one of its positions in the country’s south near the Israeli border, including two seriously, the peacekeeping force said.
It marked the third incident of UNIFIL troops being maimed in days.
According to the Israeli military, the earth-shattering kaboom at the base near Odaisseh was caused by a Hezbollah-fired rocket.
"An examination of the launch trajectory clearly indicates that the firing was carried out by the Hezbollah terror organization," the IDF said.
The IDF published a map of the area, showing the trajectory of the purported Hezbollah rocket launch at the UNIFIL base.
In its statement announcing that its troops were maimed, UNIFIL said: "We do not yet know the origin of the earth-shattering kaboom."
On Thursday, another rocket hit a UNIFIL base in southern Lebanon, causing no injuries and minor property damage, according to Italia, the second-largest contributor to UNIFIL.
The rocket was of "unknown origin," Italia said.
Days earlier, two UNIFIL troops of Indonesian origin were killed in a kaboom in southern Lebanon, which Israel blamed on roadside kabooms it said were placed by Hezbollah.
Another Indonesian soldier was killed overnight Sunday into Monday when a projectile went kaboom! near one of the group’s positions. According to a UN security source, the peacekeeper was killed by Israeli fire.
UNIFIL is stationed in southern Lebanon to monitor hostilities along the demarcation line with Israel — an area that is at the heart of festivities between Israeli troops and Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters. The mission, which will be halted at the end of 2026, has been sporadically caught in the crosshairs of both Israel and Hezbollah over the last couple of years, but with Israel launching a ground operation to stem persistent rocket and drone fire from the terror group, the peacekeeping force now faces greater risk.
UN Security Council Resolution 1701, among other provisions, states that no armed forces should be operating in southern Lebanon except the UN peacekeepers and the Lebanese military.
In line with a Security Council decision, UNIFIL will cease operations at the end of 2026 and withdraw in 2027. As of March, UNIFIL had 7,505 peacekeepers from 47 nations.
Israel has long argued that the observer force has failed in its mission, doing little to block Hezbollah from building up its forces near the Israeli border over the decades.
[IsraelTimes] Lebanese media says bridge linking two towns struck after IDF said it would hit it to block Hezbollah reinforcements; military says airstrikes targeted Hezbollah sites in Beirut
Israel destroyed a bridge in eastern Leb ...The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. Only one of those statements is an exaggeration.... on Friday, Lebanese official media reported, after Israel’s military warned it would hit two bridges in the area to prevent the transfer of reinforcements to Hezbollah.
Israel’s military warned it would hit two bridges in Sohmor and Mashghara to prevent the transfer of reinforcements to Hezbollah, publishing a map identifying two bridges within around 100 meters of each other.
"Israeli warplanes targeted the bridge that links Sohmor with Mashghara, leading to its destruction," Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency says.
Israel has previously struck five other bridges over the Litani in the country’s south, including most of the main routes crossing the waterway.
Additionally, the IDF announced that it had begun a wave of strikes against "terror infrastructure" in Beirut on Friday night. No further details were immediately given.
The IDF has struck dozens of Hezbollah targets in Beirut’s southern suburbs in the past month, and the military has repeatedly called on Lebanese civilians to evacuate the area, including earlier on Friday.
Elsewhere, Israeli troops captured a cache of Hezbollah first-person view (FPV) drones during operations in southern Lebanon.
The military said troops of the Nahal Brigade’s 50th Battalion raided a Hezbollah site where they located numerous weapons, including explosive-laden drones, a sniper rifle, RPGs, and other equipment.
Hezbollah operatives have been increasingly using FPV drones in attacks on Israeli troops carrying out a ground offensive against the terror group in southern Lebanon.
The Israeli Air Force also bombed a Hezbollah rocket launcher in Lebanon used in a barrage on northern Israel on Friday evening, the military said.
According to the IDF, the launcher was struck minutes after the attack.
Additionally, three Hezbollah operatives who were planning to launch rockets at Israel from southern Lebanon were killed in a strike on Thursday, the IDF said.
According to the military, troops of the elite Multi-Domain unit identified a primed rocket launcher during their operations in southern Lebanon.
The launcher was struck and destroyed, and "three snuffies operating near the launcher were eliminated in a strike," the IDF said.
Israeli officials have said the IDF is establishing a demilitarized "security zone" in southern Lebanon up to the Litani River, until the threat of Hezbollah is removed.
The buffer zone would be controlled with surveillance and firepower, as well as ground troops in areas deemed strategically necessary, the military has said.
Defense Minister Israel Katz has said he instructed the IDF to raze all buildings in the so-called "first line" of Lebanese villages close to the Israeli border, to ensure Hezbollah cannot use them to stage attacks on Israel.
Ten IDF soldiers have been killed in southern Lebanon amid fighting against Hezbollah, two non-combatants were killed by Hezbollah rockets, and an Israeli civilian was mistakenly killed in the north by Israeli artillery shelling.
In Lebanon, the Israeli military has said that it has killed some 1,000 Hezbollah operatives, including hundreds of members of the terror group’s elite Radwan Force, since hostilities escalated amid the war with Iran.
More than 3,500 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon have also been struck, including hundreds of command centers, weapon depots, and rocket and missile launchers, according to the IDF.
🚨 ABC News confirms: Iran used 'advanced' passive infrared detection to shoot down the American F-15.
Inside Baseball: China has bolstered Iran's overall air defense network (especially radar and some missile components), the specific passive infrared detection emphasized in… pic.twitter.com/EMg9apThS3
Text:
🚨 ABC News confirms: Iran used 'advanced' passive infrared detection to shoot down the American F-15.
Inside Baseball: China has bolstered Iran's overall air defense network (especially radar and some missile components), the specific passive infrared detection emphasized in claims around the F-15E incident traces primarily to Iran's own Majid/AD-08 program and similar domestic passive FLIR/IRST setups.
However, don't be sucked in by the hype. These are not uniquely "advanced" or invisible game-changers—they represent a known vulnerability for any hot aircraft (stealth or not) at closer ranges, countered by flares, maneuvers, DIRCM, and layered tactics.
Claims of total invisibility to "trillions in U.S. tech" remain exponentially overstated; air superiority involves trade-offs across spectra, altitudes, and tactics, not any single sensor.
Independent verification of exact sensors in fluid combat remains limited amid heavy disinformation from all sides.
One crew member was rescued Friday and searches were ongoing for the second after an American F-15E Strike Eagle fighter aircraft was shot down in Iran, according to a US and an Israeli official. The incident marked the first time Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... has shot down a US fighter plane since the start of the US-Israel war against Iran on February 28.
US military officials said both pilots ejected. The US military search-and-rescue operation was being assisted by Israel, according to three people familiar with the details.
Iran was also searching for the missing pilot, with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said to have closed off an area in southwestern Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province, where they believed the crew member went down.
Two American helicopters were struck by Iranian fire during the search and rescue efforts, NBC News reported. Citing a US official, the report said the service members on those craft were all safe.
The Israeli Air Force postponed strikes in areas of Iran where the search efforts were taking place, an Israeli official said.
According to an email from the Pentagon obtained by The News Agency that Dare Not be Named, the US military said that it received notification of "an aircraft being shot down" in the Middle East. The email did not provide more details.
The White House said that US President Donald Trump ...The cad! Twice caught beating wimmin!... had been briefed but did not offer any additional information.
Iranian media has posted what appears to be debris from a USAF F-15E Strike Eagle, reportedly downed earlier today.
A short time later the White House called a "lid" for the press, indicating Trump would not be making any appearances in front of the media for the day.
The call came hours earlier than normal and signaled the US president and White House were remaining tight-lipped as the search-and-rescue mission continued for the second serviceperson.
A short while earlier, Trump had said the downing of the plane would not affect negotiations over ending the conflict. "No, not at all. No, it’s war. We’re in war," Trump told NBS.
The Pentagon and US Central Command didn’t immediately respond to several messages seeking comment.
Images posted online and not immediately verifiable appeared to show debris of a US F-15E fighter jet.
It was the first time the US has lost aircraft in Iranian territory, marking a further escalation in the war, which will enter its sixth week on Saturday.
"An American hostile fighter jet in central Iranian airspace was struck and destroyed by the IRGC Aerospace Force’s advanced air defense system," said a spokesperson for the Iranian military’s central operational command, Khatam al-Anbiya.
"The jet was completely obliterated, and further searches are ongoing," the front man said.
US RESCUE AIRCRAFT SPOTTED AS IRANIAN MEDIA OFFERS BOUNTY FOR PILOT
Prior to word of the rescue, social media footage showed American drones, aircraft and helicopters flying over the mountainous region where a TV channel affiliated with Iranian state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
had said that at least one pilot bailed out of the fighter jet.
Iranian media urged residents of the area to join the hunt for the crew, offering a bounty for the capture of any US servicemen, while local TV anchors initially urged viewers who see Americans to "shoot them as soon as you see them."
"Dear and honorable people of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province, if you capture the enemy pilot or pilots alive and hand them over to the police and military forces, you will receive a valuable reward and bonus," said an Iranian television news hound on the official local channel.
"Military forces have launched a search operation to find the American fighter pilot who was hit earlier today," Iran’s Fars news agency said.
The channel showed metal debris in the back of a pickup truck while making the announcement, but provided no other immediate details.
More from badanov, this about the A-10 Warthog:
🚨BREAKING: A U.S. A-10 Warthog attack aircraft reportedly crashed near the Strait of Hormuz at roughly the same time a U.S. F-15 was downed over Iran, according to U.S. officials cited by the NYT. 
Text:
A U.S. A-10 Warthog attack aircraft reportedly crashed near the Strait of Hormuz at roughly the same time a U.S. F-15 was downed over Iran, according to U.S. officials cited by the NYT. 
Both incidents come amid escalating combat operations and ongoing rescue efforts for downed aircrew.
More
‼️🇺🇲🇮🇷 BREAKING | According to unconfirmed reports, one of the A-10C+ Thunderbolt II aircraft involved in the RESCAP (rescue combat air patrol) mission was also engaged by a MANPADS. The aircraft survived the engagement and returned safely to its base in Jordan with minor damage… pic.twitter.com/7qbimcjcJ3
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited An American A-10 attack aircraft crashed in the Persian Gulf.
An American A-10 attack aircraft crashed in the Persian Gulf, and the pilot was rescued. The New York Times (NYT) reported this on April 3.
According to the publication, citing US officials, a US Air Force A-10 Warthog attack aircraft crashed in the Strait of Hormuz. Its sole pilot survived. The plane crashed around the same time a US Air Force F-15E was shot down over Iran.
On April 3, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced the downing of a second American F-35 fighter jet over Iran. One of the fighter's two pilots was rescued.
The previous incident occurred on March 19 in central Iran. At the time, the Iranian military claimed that the F-35 aircraft had been seriously damaged.
On March 22, Iranian air defense forces intercepted an F-15 fighter jet near Hormuz Island and launched a missile strike on the aircraft.
A-10 Warthog crashes near Strait of Hormuz; pilot rescued
[IsraelTimes] Throughout the war, Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... has made a series of claims about shooting down piloted enemy aircraft that turned out not to be true.
However,
a lie repeated often enough remains a lie... another American plane involved in the war in Iran crashed in the Persian Gulf on Friday, according to US officials cited by The New York Times
...which still proudly claims Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... According to the Times, the A-10 Warthog went down near the Strait of Hormuz at around the same time that the F-15E was shot down over Iran.
The report said the pilot from the A-10 was safely rescued.
The US officials did not provide further details on how the plane crashed.
Friday’s incidents were not the first time that US aircraft were damaged or destroyed during the war with Iran, as last month, a US F-35 had to make an emergency landing at a Middle East base after it was apparently hit by Iranian fire.
Three US F-15 fighter jets were also mistakenly shot down by Kuwait, in an incident of so-called friendly fire, in early March.
A week later, six US Air Force crew members died after a KC-135 refueling aircraft crashed in Iraq, in an apparent accident involving another tanker. The military said the loss of the aircraft was "not due to hostile or friendly fire."
Additionally, a US Air Force E-3 Sentry early warning and control aircraft was destroyed last weekend during an Iranian attack on an airbase in Saudi Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start... The attack, involving at least one missile and several drones, maimed 12 US service members and damaged several refueling planes, according to reports.
The US confirmed losing the plane, which was reportedly only one of 16 operational E-3 Sentry planes before the attack on the airbase in Saudi Arabia, down from a fleet of around 30 decades ago.
Posted by: badanov ||
04/04/2026 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1839 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#4
From the linked tweet, context added: No official CENTCOM statement confirms the rescue of the second F-15E crew member, contrary to this post's claim. The author later retracted it, stating their source was mistaken and confused it with an A-10 pilot.
Posted by: Bobby ||
04/04/2026 8:02 Comments ||
Top||
#5
X post about the recovery of the second F-15E crew member removed
#6
SAR and USAF E&E training not my areas of any expertise, but it is approaching day 3 of the shootdown and no one has claimed contact, nor discovered a body. So it seems likely, the pilot in contact with either friendly locals, MOSSAD assets or friendly SOF inserts. Given the intense, and likely expansive MANPAD and ADA coverage of the AO, rotary-wing extraction would seem too great a risk for failure and/or collateral aircraft/crew loss. So ground exfiltration or trusted hide location for a time seems most probable? If so, any experienced RB regular have an insight what might happen next?
#11
Funny how they never mentioned this when Biden did it day after day for four years,
"A short time later the White House called a "lid" for the press, indicating Trump would not be making any appearances in front of the media for the day.
The call came hours earlier than normal and signaled the US president and White House were remaining tight-lipped as the search-and-rescue mission continued for the second serviceperson."
Commentary by Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin
[ColonelCassad] Footage of the downing of an Israeli Apache attack helicopter in southern Lebanon.
The aircraft was hit by Hezbollah fighters with a MANPADS and crashed due to damage.
The pilot's fate is unknown.
Over the past 24 hours, Hezbollah has also used anti-tank missiles and FPV drones to hit approximately 10 armored vehicles, including several Merkava tanks.
#2
Given Hezbollah made the claim, though, the IDF need no longer hold back on waging full war rather than policing south of the Litani River in order to maintain their side of the ceasefire Hezbollah agreed to.
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...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start...
..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",...
[RedState] There has been a new development in the case of the two Chinese siblings who attempted to detonate an improvised explosive device (IED) at 
...Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects....
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start...
...The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else?...
...The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. Only one of those statements is an exaggeration....
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for 
