NATO, Afghan Forces Seize 250 Tons of Bomb Material (Update1) - Bloomberg.com: "Nov. 10 (Bloomberg) -- The Afghan National Police and NATO- led forces seized 250 tons (225,000 kilograms) of bomb-making material in an operation in the southern province of Kandahar, the alliance said.
A patrol investigating a warehouse found 1,000 bags of ammonium nitrate fertilizer, a material that is illegal in the country and is often used by insurgents to make bombs, and detained 15 people, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s force said today in an e-mailed statement. Another 4,000 bags were later found at a nearby compound, NATO said. Some 5,000 components used for making bombs were also discovered."
“This find will undoubtedly save many lives and points to the increasing capability of the Afghan national security forces,” Lieutenant Colonel Todd Vician, a spokesman for NATO’s International Security Assistance Force, said in the statement.
The alliance also said a member of the U.S. forces in southern Afghanistan was killed today by an insurgent bomb. The location of the attack wasn’t given.
To contact the reporter on this story: Heather Langan in London at hlangan@bloomberg.net.
[bth: keep in mind that bomb making material is probably fertilizer that has civilian uses. On the other hand bomb making components is much more specific and substantial.]
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
The Associated Press: TV footage shows Afghan insurgents with US ammo
The Associated Press: TV footage shows Afghan insurgents with US ammo: "KABUL — Television footage broadcast Tuesday showed insurgents handling what appears to be U.S. ammunition in a remote area of eastern Afghanistan that American forces left last month following a deadly firefight that killed eight troops.
The U.S. military said the forces that left the area said they removed and accounted for their equipment.
Al-Jazeera broadcast video showing insurgents handling weapons, including anti-personnel mines with U.S. markings on them. The television station reported that insurgents said they seized the weapons from two U.S. remote outposts in Nuristan province. It was unclear when the video was filmed.
The ammunition could be used against U.S. and Afghan forces, although the amount shown was not extensive. However, the footage will no doubt be used by insurgent propagandists to promote their 'victory' over the Americans and encourage their supporters.
Nuristan was the site of an Oct. 3 battle in which some 200 fighters bombarded a joint U.S.-Afghan army outpost with small arms, rocket-propelled grenades and mortar shells. Eight U.S. troops died — as well as three Afghan soldiers — in one of the heaviest losses of U.S. life in a single battle since the war began."...
The U.S. military said the forces that left the area said they removed and accounted for their equipment.
Al-Jazeera broadcast video showing insurgents handling weapons, including anti-personnel mines with U.S. markings on them. The television station reported that insurgents said they seized the weapons from two U.S. remote outposts in Nuristan province. It was unclear when the video was filmed.
The ammunition could be used against U.S. and Afghan forces, although the amount shown was not extensive. However, the footage will no doubt be used by insurgent propagandists to promote their 'victory' over the Americans and encourage their supporters.
Nuristan was the site of an Oct. 3 battle in which some 200 fighters bombarded a joint U.S.-Afghan army outpost with small arms, rocket-propelled grenades and mortar shells. Eight U.S. troops died — as well as three Afghan soldiers — in one of the heaviest losses of U.S. life in a single battle since the war began."...
Afghan, Coalition forces strike the Taliban in Kunduz - The Long War Journal
Afghan, Coalition forces strike the Taliban in Kunduz - The Long War Journal: "Afghan forces, backed by Coalition troops, have killed more than 130 Taliban fighters during an operation in the northern province of Kunduz. Eight Taliban commanders were among those killed while the operation 'disrupted the insurgent shadow governor in Kunduz province.'
The operation took place in the district of Chahara Dara, one of several districts contested by or under the control of the Taliban.
More than 700 Afghan security forces backed by 50 NATO soldiers carried out the five-day-long operation that cleared the Taliban from a number of villages, the US military reported in a press release. The provincial governor said 133 Taliban fighters were killed during the operation."...
[bth: it would be helpful to know what made this operation a success so we can repeat it.]
The operation took place in the district of Chahara Dara, one of several districts contested by or under the control of the Taliban.
More than 700 Afghan security forces backed by 50 NATO soldiers carried out the five-day-long operation that cleared the Taliban from a number of villages, the US military reported in a press release. The provincial governor said 133 Taliban fighters were killed during the operation."...
[bth: it would be helpful to know what made this operation a success so we can repeat it.]
Monday, November 09, 2009
Allied forces ‘may abandon most of northern Helmand’ - Times Online
Allied forces ‘may abandon most of northern Helmand’ - Times Online: "A new strategy for Afghanistan that could lead to a British troop withdrawal from a former Taleban stronghold in northern Helmand province sparked immediate controversy yesterday."
According to a senior Nato source, Western military commanders in Afghanistan are considering a radical shift in policy that would see British and US forces conduct a tactical pull-out from most of northern Helmand, including the town of Musa Qala. The source said that the plan to withdraw from northern Helmand would be considered if proposed reinforcements, currently being examined by President Obama, were not approved. General Stanley McChrystal, the US commander in Kabul, has asked for 40,000 more troops but President Obama has yet to make a decision.
British military sources said, however, that a withdrawal from Musa Qala would be viewed as a defeat and could not be countenanced. They said it would also be a betrayal of the governor of the district, who risked his life to take a stand against the insurgents.
Mullah Abdul Salaam, a former Taleban commander, only hours before British troops from 52 Brigade and Afghan soldiers retook the town from insurgent control in December 2007. British troops had withdrawn from Musa Qala in 2006 after a “deal” with the local tribal elders, but the Taleban seized control until the arrival of 52 Brigade...
Sunday, November 08, 2009
A E Housman, Poem Here Dead We Lie
A E Housman, Poem Here Dead We Lie: "Here dead we lie
Because we did not choose
To live and shame the land
From which we sprung.
Life, to be sure,
Is nothing much to lose,
But young men think it is,
And we were young.
A E Housman"
Because we did not choose
To live and shame the land
From which we sprung.
Life, to be sure,
Is nothing much to lose,
But young men think it is,
And we were young.
A E Housman"
Wilfred Owen - Dulce et Decorum Est - best known poem of the First World War
Wilfred Owen - Dulce et Decorum Est - best known poem of the First World War: "Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares2 we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest3 began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots4
Of tired, outstripped5 Five-Nines6 that dropped behind."
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares2 we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest3 began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots4
Of tired, outstripped5 Five-Nines6 that dropped behind."
Gas!7 Gas! Quick, boys! – An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets8 just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling,
And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime9 . . .
Dim, through the misty panes10 and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering,11 choking, drowning.
If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud12
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest13
To children ardent14 for some desperate glory,
The old Lie; Dulce et Decorum est
Pro patria mori.15
8 October 1917 - March, 1918
- 1 DULCE ET DECORUM EST - the first words of a Latin saying (taken from an ode by Horace). The words were widely understood and often quoted at the start of the First World War. They mean "It is sweet and right." The full saying ends the poem: Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori - it is sweet and right to die for your country. In other words, it is a wonderful and great honour to fight and die for your country
Aftermath by Siegfried Sassoon
Aftermath by Siegfried Sassoon:
"Have you forgotten yet?...
For the world's events have rumbled on since those gagged days,
Like traffic checked while at the crossing of city-ways:
And the haunted gap in your mind has filled with thoughts that flow
Like clouds in the lit heaven of life; and you're a man reprieved to go,
Taking your peaceful share of Time, with joy to spare.
But the past is just the same--and War's a bloody game...
Have you forgotten yet?...
Look down, and swear by the slain of the War that you'll never forget."
Do you remember the dark months you held the sector at Mametz--
The nights you watched and wired and dug and piled sandbags on parapets?
Do you remember the rats; and the stench
Of corpses rotting in front of the front-line trench--
And dawn coming, dirty-white, and chill with a hopeless rain?
Do you ever stop and ask, 'Is it all going to happen again?'
Do you remember that hour of din before the attack--
And the anger, the blind compassion that seized and shook you then
As you peered at the doomed and haggard faces of your men?
Do you remember the stretcher-cases lurching back
With dying eyes and lolling heads--those ashen-grey
Masks of the lads who once were keen and kind and gay?
Have you forgotten yet?...
Look up, and swear by the green of the spring that you'll never forget.
Siegfried Sassoon
"Have you forgotten yet?...
For the world's events have rumbled on since those gagged days,
Like traffic checked while at the crossing of city-ways:
And the haunted gap in your mind has filled with thoughts that flow
Like clouds in the lit heaven of life; and you're a man reprieved to go,
Taking your peaceful share of Time, with joy to spare.
But the past is just the same--and War's a bloody game...
Have you forgotten yet?...
Look down, and swear by the slain of the War that you'll never forget."
Do you remember the dark months you held the sector at Mametz--
The nights you watched and wired and dug and piled sandbags on parapets?
Do you remember the rats; and the stench
Of corpses rotting in front of the front-line trench--
And dawn coming, dirty-white, and chill with a hopeless rain?
Do you ever stop and ask, 'Is it all going to happen again?'
Do you remember that hour of din before the attack--
And the anger, the blind compassion that seized and shook you then
As you peered at the doomed and haggard faces of your men?
Do you remember the stretcher-cases lurching back
With dying eyes and lolling heads--those ashen-grey
Masks of the lads who once were keen and kind and gay?
Have you forgotten yet?...
Look up, and swear by the green of the spring that you'll never forget.
Siegfried Sassoon
Memorial Tablet by Siegfried Sassoon
Memorial Tablet by Siegfried Sassoon:
"Squire nagged and bullied till I went to fight,
(Under Lord Derby’s Scheme). I died in hell—
(They called it Passchendaele). My wound was slight,
And I was hobbling back; and then a shell
Burst slick upon the duck-boards: so I fell
Into the bottomless mud, and lost the light.
At sermon-time, while Squire is in his pew,
He gives my gilded name a thoughtful stare:
For, though low down upon the list, I’m there;
‘In proud and glorious memory’ ... that’s my due.
Two bleeding years I fought in France, for Squire:
I suffered anguish that he’s never guessed.
Once I came home on leave: and then went west...
What greater glory could a man desire?
Siegfried Sassoon"
"Squire nagged and bullied till I went to fight,
(Under Lord Derby’s Scheme). I died in hell—
(They called it Passchendaele). My wound was slight,
And I was hobbling back; and then a shell
Burst slick upon the duck-boards: so I fell
Into the bottomless mud, and lost the light.
At sermon-time, while Squire is in his pew,
He gives my gilded name a thoughtful stare:
For, though low down upon the list, I’m there;
‘In proud and glorious memory’ ... that’s my due.
Two bleeding years I fought in France, for Squire:
I suffered anguish that he’s never guessed.
Once I came home on leave: and then went west...
What greater glory could a man desire?
Siegfried Sassoon"
For The Fallen by Robert Laurence Binyon at Old Poetry
For The Fallen by Robert Laurence Binyon at Old Poetry: "With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children,
England mourns for her dead across the sea.
Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit,
Fallen in the cause of the free.
Solemn the drums thrill; Death august and royal
Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres,
There is music in the midst of desolation
And a glory that shines upon our tears."
They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted;
They fell with their faces to the foe.
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
They mingle not with their laughing comrades again;
They sit no more at familiar tables of home;
They have no lot in our labour of the day-time;
They sleep beyond England's foam.
But where our desires are and our hopes profound,
Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight,
To the innermost heart of their own land they are known
As the stars are known to the Night;
As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust,
Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain;
As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness,
To the end, to the end, they remain.
England mourns for her dead across the sea.
Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit,
Fallen in the cause of the free.
Solemn the drums thrill; Death august and royal
Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres,
There is music in the midst of desolation
And a glory that shines upon our tears."
They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted;
They fell with their faces to the foe.
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
They mingle not with their laughing comrades again;
They sit no more at familiar tables of home;
They have no lot in our labour of the day-time;
They sleep beyond England's foam.
But where our desires are and our hopes profound,
Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight,
To the innermost heart of their own land they are known
As the stars are known to the Night;
As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust,
Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain;
As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness,
To the end, to the end, they remain.
Perhaps (To R.A.L.) by Vera Brittain at Old Poetry
Perhaps (To R.A.L.) by Vera Brittain at Old Poetry: "Perhaps some day the sun will shine again,
And I shall see that still the skies are blue,
And feel once more I do not live in vain,
Although bereft of You.
Perhaps the golden meadows at my feet
Will make the sunny hours of spring seem gay,
And I shall find the white May-blossoms sweet,
Though You have passed away."
Perhaps the summer woods will shimmer bright,
And crimson roses once again be fair,
And autumn harvest fields a rich delight,
Although You are not there.
Perhaps some day I shall not shrink in pain
To see the passing of the dying year,
And listen to Christmas songs again,
Although You cannot hear.'
But though kind Time may many joys renew,
There is one greatest joy I shall not know
Again, because my heart for loss of You
Was broken, long ago.
And I shall see that still the skies are blue,
And feel once more I do not live in vain,
Although bereft of You.
Perhaps the golden meadows at my feet
Will make the sunny hours of spring seem gay,
And I shall find the white May-blossoms sweet,
Though You have passed away."
Perhaps the summer woods will shimmer bright,
And crimson roses once again be fair,
And autumn harvest fields a rich delight,
Although You are not there.
Perhaps some day I shall not shrink in pain
To see the passing of the dying year,
And listen to Christmas songs again,
Although You cannot hear.'
But though kind Time may many joys renew,
There is one greatest joy I shall not know
Again, because my heart for loss of You
Was broken, long ago.
Army Withholds Anti-Burn Humvee Panels as IED Deaths Continue - FOXNews.com
Army Withholds Anti-Burn Humvee Panels as IED Deaths Continue - FOXNews.com: ..."IED attacks and the fires that often result from them are a nightmare scenario that many soldiers and marines have experienced. And it continues to happen as insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan attack American patrols, their IEDs frequently targeting and breaching the fuel tank, causing devastating fires. Insurgents are now reportedly adding accelerants to the top of IEDs to increase the chances of fire."
Soldiers who have served in those wars said again and again that the Humvee, despite all the extra armoring added by the Pentagon, remains the most vulnerable vehicle they use. One soldier said the fuel tank is the weakest link of that vehicle and that the enemy is very well aware of that.
"Our greatest fear is getting burned alive," another soldier said.
The Pentagon has added fire suppression technology to the Humvee's crew compartment and to the engine compartment, but it has not added fire suppression technology for the fuel tanks, the most combustible part of any vehicle.
And yet, the technology is available to protect the fuel tanks on the roughly 13,000 Humvees currently being used for patrols in Iraq and Afghanistan. Two companies in the U.S. make plastic panels, weighing less than 30 pounds in total, that can be attached to the Humvee fuel tank in less than an hour. Those panels are filled with a fire suppressing powder that is released when the panels are shattered by a blast and instantly extinguishes any fire.
Fox News has seen video from an Army test of the fire panels in which an unprotected fuel tank bursts into flames when struck by a rocket propelled grenade. The same test on a fuel tank with the fire panels attached results in no fire.
The Army has also tested the technology on a Humvee itself, although that video is classified. The test happened on Feb. 1, 2006, and Fox News has learned that two days later an Army test engineer wrote in an e-mail to a Marine colleague who had inquired about the test, "Fuel tank and powder panel were penetrated several times and there was no resulting fire."
But nearly three years later, those panels, which cost roughly $2,000 per vehicle, have not been fitted to a single Humvee in either Iraq or Afghanistan. That's despite a formal request in the form of what the Pentagon calls an operational needs statement from then Lt Gen. Ray Odierno in Iraq in August 2007 calling for all vehicles to be fully equipped with fire suppression technology for all areas, including fuel tanks.
Pentagon officials say the plastic fire panels have cracking problems underneath the low-slung Humvee, a problem one of the manufacturers acknowledges but claims was fixed in 2007. The Army admits that there is always a trade-off in choosing how best to protect a vehicle given the weight and power constraints, but officials say the improvements they have made to Humvees offer the best solutions.
"The fuel tanks on the Humvee are not exposed," Gen. Ross Thompson said. "They're underneath the vehicle. They're behind armor protection, and so the most comprehensive thing we can do is protect the crew compartment and to provide the armor protection on the sides to keep the fuel tank from being hit."...
[bth: there is no justifiable excuse for not correcting this weakness as soon as possible. I had heard independently that insurgents especially in Iraq had switched to napalm like accelerants to burn the vehicles up and their occupants since it was becoming increasingly difficult to penetrate the armor with IEDs. Unfortunately casualties are down, the public has lost interest and it appears that the army is up to its old tricks of delay and denial. All the while young men and women are burned alive because the army won't put on a 2k fire suppressant. Holy Christ, are we going to go back to bake sales to buy flame retardant and armor again? Haven't we moved past this bull shit? Evidently not.]
The Associated Press: Homeland chief warns against anti-Muslim backlash
The Associated Press: Homeland chief warns against anti-Muslim backlash: "ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — The U.S. Homeland Security secretary says she is working to prevent a possible wave of anti-Muslim sentiment after the shootings at Fort Hood in Texas.
Janet Napolitano says her agency is working with groups across the United States to try to deflect any backlash against American Muslims following Thursday's rampage by Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, a Muslim who reportedly expressed growing dismay over the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The shootings left 13 people dead and 29 wounded.
Napolitano was in the United Arab Emirates on Sunday for talks with security officials and a meeting with women university students in Abu Dhabi."
[bth: the lack of backlash over the last 8 years speaks volumes about tolerant Americans.]
Janet Napolitano says her agency is working with groups across the United States to try to deflect any backlash against American Muslims following Thursday's rampage by Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, a Muslim who reportedly expressed growing dismay over the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The shootings left 13 people dead and 29 wounded.
Napolitano was in the United Arab Emirates on Sunday for talks with security officials and a meeting with women university students in Abu Dhabi."
[bth: the lack of backlash over the last 8 years speaks volumes about tolerant Americans.]
Saturday, November 07, 2009
Afghanistan government accuses foreign officials of interfering -- latimes.com
Afghanistan government accuses foreign officials of interfering -- latimes.com:... "In an incident that could exacerbate tensions between Karzai's government and the West, international and Afghan forces were investigating Saturday whether a NATO airstrike in the northwest killed eight Afghans and injured 22 people, including five U.S. troops. The casualties, most of them Afghan soldiers and policemen, occurred during a joint manhunt for two U.S. paratroopers missing since Wednesday."...
[bth: so it was a NATO airstrike after all. Note a few posting down on this blog a NATO spokesman Lt. Russell said it was caused by insurgents. I don't understand why PAO feel the need to so blatantly misstate facts which will only come back to haunt them. Foolish.]
[bth: so it was a NATO airstrike after all. Note a few posting down on this blog a NATO spokesman Lt. Russell said it was caused by insurgents. I don't understand why PAO feel the need to so blatantly misstate facts which will only come back to haunt them. Foolish.]
I'm doing 'God's work'. Meet Mr Goldman Sachs - Times Online
I'm doing 'God's work'. Meet Mr Goldman Sachs - Times Online: ..."Goldman is coining it again for two reasons. First, global markets are booming — up 50% from the credit-crunch lows, as new money, much of it from governments, has gushed into the financial system. Second, with Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns off the street, Merrill Lynch a crippled shadow of its former self, and neither Citigroup nor UBS the forces of old, Goldman has a bigger slice of a growing pie. 'We didn’t f*** up like the other guys. We’ve still got a balance sheet. So, now we’ve got a bigger and richer pot to piss in,' is how one Goldman banker puts it. Small wonder the bank is on course to set aside over $20 billion for salaries and bonuses."...
[bth: these fuckers could care less about regular Americans like us. They view us as the chumps, the suckers, the ones that go to war, the ones that pay the taxes and backstop their debts when they skip the tab. We're the peasants, serfs who work the fields in fly over states.]
[bth: these fuckers could care less about regular Americans like us. They view us as the chumps, the suckers, the ones that go to war, the ones that pay the taxes and backstop their debts when they skip the tab. We're the peasants, serfs who work the fields in fly over states.]
The Impending Collapse of Manned Airpower « New Wars
The Impending Collapse of Manned Airpower « New Wars: "If you thought the recent knife fights over the F-22 Raptor fighter cancellation was tough, you haven’t seen anything comparable as the massive Joint Strike Fighter program implodes under the weight of immense costs in the next decade. At least, that is yours truly’s prediction, as all the signs of disaster on a colossal scale, dare I say Biblical proportions, of this likely the most costly and important international weapons venture in all history. Listen to Winslow Wheeler’s take:
A financial disaster? How can that be? Visiting the F-35 plant in Fort Worth, Texas last August, Secretary of D Robert Gates assured us that the F-35 will be “less than half the price … of the F-22.” In a narrow sense, Gates is right. At a breathtaking $65 billion for 187 aircraft, the F-22 consumes $350 million for each plane. At $299 billion for 2,456, the F-35 would seem a bargain at just $122 million each.
F-35 unit cost will ultimately be much higher…the F-35 program will cost up to $15 billion more, and it will be delivered about two years late."...
o we see with these newer robot aircraft, a small military can quickly build its airpower resources, while a larger nation can enhance it’s own quickly, economically, and effectively. When you consider the less than 200 traditional jets have joined the USAF inventory the past decade, while literally thousands of UAVs have been deployed and seen combat during the same time period, can there be any doubt where the future lies?
[bth: If we don't shift our approach we will bankrupt our defense department producing too few, too overpriced and vulnerable aircraft. We need more UAVs and cheaper, less stealthy fighters in quantity. UAVs need machine guns as well as missiles, they need to provide ground support against individual targets, they need to go low and slow. We need a lot of them and we need them over main ground road routes. It is inexcusable in this day in age that our ground forces should be surprised by hundreds of Taliban.]
A financial disaster? How can that be? Visiting the F-35 plant in Fort Worth, Texas last August, Secretary of D Robert Gates assured us that the F-35 will be “less than half the price … of the F-22.” In a narrow sense, Gates is right. At a breathtaking $65 billion for 187 aircraft, the F-22 consumes $350 million for each plane. At $299 billion for 2,456, the F-35 would seem a bargain at just $122 million each.
F-35 unit cost will ultimately be much higher…the F-35 program will cost up to $15 billion more, and it will be delivered about two years late."...
o we see with these newer robot aircraft, a small military can quickly build its airpower resources, while a larger nation can enhance it’s own quickly, economically, and effectively. When you consider the less than 200 traditional jets have joined the USAF inventory the past decade, while literally thousands of UAVs have been deployed and seen combat during the same time period, can there be any doubt where the future lies?
[bth: If we don't shift our approach we will bankrupt our defense department producing too few, too overpriced and vulnerable aircraft. We need more UAVs and cheaper, less stealthy fighters in quantity. UAVs need machine guns as well as missiles, they need to provide ground support against individual targets, they need to go low and slow. We need a lot of them and we need them over main ground road routes. It is inexcusable in this day in age that our ground forces should be surprised by hundreds of Taliban.]
U.S. Needs Hit Squads, ‘Manhunting Agency’: Spec Ops Report | Danger Room | Wired.com
U.S. Needs Hit Squads, ‘Manhunting Agency’: Spec Ops Report | Danger Room | Wired.com: "CIA director Leon Panetta got into hot water with Congress, after he revealed an agency program to hunt down and kill terrorists. A recent report from the U.S. military’s Joint Special Operations University argues that the CIA didn’t go far enough (.pdf). Instead, it suggests the American government should set up something like a “National Manhunting Agency” to go after jihadists, drug dealers, pirates and other enemies of the state.
America’s military, intelligence and law-enforcement agencies already devote thousands of people and billions of dollars to tracking down top terrorists and insurgents. But even the most successful of these efforts — like going after Iraqi militant leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi — have been “ad hoc” efforts, with units cobbled together from different corners of the government. Report author and retired Lt. Col. George Crawford instead would like to see a permanent group with clear authority, training, doctrine and technology to go after these dangerous individuals. These “manhunting teams would be standing formations, trained to pursue their designated quarry relentlessly for as long as required to accomplish the mission,” he writes."...
[bth: I looked over his report. This should be the domain of intelligence communities like the CIA and not the Pentagon. Do we really want the Pentagon running assassination teams? Intelligence collection is more important than muscle. The intelligence community should be able to obtain ad hoc support from military special operations when needed. I think the CIA is better able to lead a program like this and yes we need one for people like OBL. Getting the Pentagon in the middle of things goes a long way to eliminating the deniability we may need.]
America’s military, intelligence and law-enforcement agencies already devote thousands of people and billions of dollars to tracking down top terrorists and insurgents. But even the most successful of these efforts — like going after Iraqi militant leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi — have been “ad hoc” efforts, with units cobbled together from different corners of the government. Report author and retired Lt. Col. George Crawford instead would like to see a permanent group with clear authority, training, doctrine and technology to go after these dangerous individuals. These “manhunting teams would be standing formations, trained to pursue their designated quarry relentlessly for as long as required to accomplish the mission,” he writes."...
[bth: I looked over his report. This should be the domain of intelligence communities like the CIA and not the Pentagon. Do we really want the Pentagon running assassination teams? Intelligence collection is more important than muscle. The intelligence community should be able to obtain ad hoc support from military special operations when needed. I think the CIA is better able to lead a program like this and yes we need one for people like OBL. Getting the Pentagon in the middle of things goes a long way to eliminating the deniability we may need.]
At least 25 hurt in U.S. troop search in Afghanistan - Yahoo! News
At least 25 hurt in U.S. troop search in Afghanistan - Yahoo! News: "HERAT, Afghanistan (Reuters) – More than 25 NATO and Afghan troops were wounded during a search Friday for two missing U.S. paratroopers in western Afghanistan, the NATO-led force said.
The Taliban said the two missing soldiers were dead and it had recovered their bodies.
A statement by the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan said more than 25 troops were wounded during a search and rescue mission.
Lieutenant Darin Russell, a spokesman for NATO forces, said the troops were wounded 'by insurgent activity.' He declined to give further details of the incident, which he said was under investigation.
He was unable to say how many of the wounded were NATO troops and how many were Afghans, or whether any of them had been killed.
The chief of police in Badghis province in western Afghanistan, Abdul Jabar, said NATO aircraft had struck their own troops during the search and that several Americans had died in the 'friendly fire' air strike.
NATO announced earlier Friday that two U.S. paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division had gone missing Wednesday while delivering supplies."...
[bth: it seems odd that two paratroopers would be delivering supplies on their own. ... Also so NATO says troops were wounded 'by insurgent activity' but the local police chief says that NATO aircraft struck our own troops and several died. I hope like hell the American officer giving this report is telling the truth and the local police chief is mistaken. ]
The Taliban said the two missing soldiers were dead and it had recovered their bodies.
A statement by the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan said more than 25 troops were wounded during a search and rescue mission.
Lieutenant Darin Russell, a spokesman for NATO forces, said the troops were wounded 'by insurgent activity.' He declined to give further details of the incident, which he said was under investigation.
He was unable to say how many of the wounded were NATO troops and how many were Afghans, or whether any of them had been killed.
The chief of police in Badghis province in western Afghanistan, Abdul Jabar, said NATO aircraft had struck their own troops during the search and that several Americans had died in the 'friendly fire' air strike.
NATO announced earlier Friday that two U.S. paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division had gone missing Wednesday while delivering supplies."...
[bth: it seems odd that two paratroopers would be delivering supplies on their own. ... Also so NATO says troops were wounded 'by insurgent activity' but the local police chief says that NATO aircraft struck our own troops and several died. I hope like hell the American officer giving this report is telling the truth and the local police chief is mistaken. ]
Afghan Taliban say they have bodies of two foreign troops - Asia, World - The Independent
Afghan Taliban say they have bodies of two foreign troops - Asia, World - The Independent: "Two members of the Nato-led force in Afghanistan were reported missing today and the Taliban said they were holding the bodies of two drowned foreign soldiers.
The Islamist militants' spokesman Qare Yousuf told Reuters by telephone from an undisclosed location that they had recovered the bodies of the drowned soldiers on Wednesday in the western Badghis province."...
[bth: damn]
The Islamist militants' spokesman Qare Yousuf told Reuters by telephone from an undisclosed location that they had recovered the bodies of the drowned soldiers on Wednesday in the western Badghis province."...
[bth: damn]
Two Self-fulfilling Prophecies Are Stronger, And More Harmful, Than One
Two Self-fulfilling Prophecies Are Stronger, And More Harmful, Than One: "Time and again, research has demonstrated the power of an individual's self-fulfilling prophecies - if you envision yourself tripping as you walk across a stage, you will be more likely to stumble and fall. New evidence suggests that previous studies have underestimated not only the effect of our own negative prophecies, but also the power of others' false beliefs in promoting negative outcomes."
When two or more people have similar false beliefs about another person, it's possible this could influence the person's behavior....
These results could be significant when applied to the context of stereotyped groups that frequently bear the brunt of negative, false beliefs. In their everyday lives, individuals from stereotyped groups more often confront unfavorable than favorable beliefs from multiple perceivers due to consensually held stereotypes. A favorable belief may not be able to counteract the harmful effect of an unfavorable belief when there is a preponderance of unfavorable beliefs competing with it. Over time, the negative self-fulfilling prophecy effects could become more powerful as the number of people with negative perceptions increases.
When two or more people have similar false beliefs about another person, it's possible this could influence the person's behavior....
These results could be significant when applied to the context of stereotyped groups that frequently bear the brunt of negative, false beliefs. In their everyday lives, individuals from stereotyped groups more often confront unfavorable than favorable beliefs from multiple perceivers due to consensually held stereotypes. A favorable belief may not be able to counteract the harmful effect of an unfavorable belief when there is a preponderance of unfavorable beliefs competing with it. Over time, the negative self-fulfilling prophecy effects could become more powerful as the number of people with negative perceptions increases.
Mortality Salience : The Frontal Cortex
Mortality Salience : The Frontal Cortex: ..."A large body of evidence shows that momentarily making death salient, typically by asking people to think about themselves dying, intensifies people's strivings to protect and bolster aspects of their worldviews, and to bolster their self-esteem. The most common finding is that MS increases positive reactions to those who share cherished aspects of one's cultural worldview, and negative reactions toward those who violate cherished cultural values or are merely different."...
Many Still Believe That Saddam Hussein Was Behind 9/11, and Now We Have Some Idea Why | Media and Technology | AlterNet
Many Still Believe That Saddam Hussein Was Behind 9/11, and Now We Have Some Idea Why | Media and Technology | AlterNet: "President Obama has had a hard time dislodging misperceptions about his health care proposal — those stubborn beliefs that there are death panels and free care for illegal aliens that don't actually exist in the legislation. Recent research about the way people defend their faith in false information, though, suggests calling out the inaccuracies may not be all that effective in converting the suspicious.
Sociologists at the University of North Carolina and Northwestern University examined an earlier case of deep commitment to the inaccurate: the belief, among many conservatives who voted for George W. Bush in 2004, that Saddam Hussein was at least partly responsible for the attacks on 9/11."
Of 49 people included in the study who believed in such a connection, only one shed the certainty when presented with prevailing evidence that it wasn't true.
Sociologists at the University of North Carolina and Northwestern University examined an earlier case of deep commitment to the inaccurate: the belief, among many conservatives who voted for George W. Bush in 2004, that Saddam Hussein was at least partly responsible for the attacks on 9/11."
Of 49 people included in the study who believed in such a connection, only one shed the certainty when presented with prevailing evidence that it wasn't true.
The rest came up with an array of justifications for ignoring, discounting or simply disagreeing with contrary evidence — even when it came from President Bush himself.
...The voters weren't dupes of an elaborate misinformation campaign, the researchers concluded; rather, they were actively engaged in reasoning that the belief they already held was true.This type of "motivated reasoning" — pursuing information that confirms what we already think and discarding the rest — helps explain why viewers gravitate toward partisan cable news and why we tend to see what we want in The Colbert Report. But when it comes to justifying demonstrably false beliefs, the logic stretches even thinner....
The desire to believe this was more powerful, according to the researchers, than any active campaign to plant the idea.
Such a campaign did exist in the run-up to the war, just as it exists today in the health care debate....
"The implications for how democracy works are quite profound, there's no question in my mind about that," Perrin said. "What it means is that we have to think about the emotional states in which citizens find themselves that then lead them to reason and deliberate in particular ways."
Evidence suggests people are more likely to pay attention to facts within certain emotional states and social situations. Some may never change their minds. For others, policy-makers could better identify those states, for example minimizing the fear that often clouds a person's ability to assess facts and that has characterized the current health care debate....
Classmate: Hasan said terror fight a war on Islam | Antiwar Newswire
Classmate: Hasan said terror fight a war on Islam | Antiwar Newswire: "A classmate of the Fort Hood shooting suspect says Maj. Nidal Hasan was an outspoken opponent of the U.S. war on terror and called it a 'war against Islam.'"
Dr. Val Finnell was a classmate of Hasan's at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md. Both attended a master's in public health program in 2007 and 2008.
Dr. Val Finnell was a classmate of Hasan's at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md. Both attended a master's in public health program in 2007 and 2008.
Finnell says he got to know Hasan in an environmental health class. At the end of the class, students gave presentations. Finnell says other classmates wrote on subjects such as dry cleaning chemicals and mold in homes, but Hasan's topic was whether the war against terror was "a war against Islam." Finnell described Hasan as a "vociferous opponent" of the terror war.
Finnell says Hasan told classmates he was "a Muslim first and an American second."
[bth: the 700 lb gorilla in the room.]
Friday, November 06, 2009
Saudi air force hits Yemen rebels after border raid
Reuters AlertNet - Saudi air force hits Yemen rebels after border raid: "RIYADH, Nov 5 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia has launched heavy air strikes on rebels in northern Yemen and is moving troops nearer the border after a raid into its territory by the Shi'ite insurgents, a Saudi government adviser said on Thursday.
Saudi government officials said only that the air force had bombed Yemeni rebels who had seized a border area inside the kingdom, which they said had now been recaptured. The officials said at least 40 rebels had been killed in the fighting."
The Yemeni government -- which has long dismissed accusations by rebels that it has colluded with Saudi Arabia to combat them -- denied that Saudi planes had struck across the border.
"Saudi Arabia did not hit targets in Yemen," a Yemeni defence official told Reuters, declining further comment. Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, has become increasingly anxious about instability and militancy in Yemen, which is also facing separatist sentiment in the south and a growing threat from resurgent al Qaeda fighters.
"As of yesterday late afternoon, Saudi air strikes began on their positions in northern Yemen," the adviser said, asking not to be named because operations were still going on.
"There have been successive air strikes, very heavy bombardment of their positions, not just on the border, but on their main positions around Saada," he said, alluding to the capital of the northern province where the rebels have been battling Yemen government forces since August.
Al Jazeera television quoted a rebel spokesman as saying the Saudi air force had raided six locations inside Yemen. One position had been hit by about 100 missiles in one hour. Saudi Arabia said on Wednesday a security officer was killed and 11 were wounded in an attack by gunmen who had crossed the border from Yemen -- the first such reported incursion since the long-running Houthi revolt flared up again in August.
The Saudi-owned Elaph website reported that a second soldier had died later from the same clash....
Saudi government officials said only that the air force had bombed Yemeni rebels who had seized a border area inside the kingdom, which they said had now been recaptured. The officials said at least 40 rebels had been killed in the fighting."
The Yemeni government -- which has long dismissed accusations by rebels that it has colluded with Saudi Arabia to combat them -- denied that Saudi planes had struck across the border.
"Saudi Arabia did not hit targets in Yemen," a Yemeni defence official told Reuters, declining further comment. Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, has become increasingly anxious about instability and militancy in Yemen, which is also facing separatist sentiment in the south and a growing threat from resurgent al Qaeda fighters.
"As of yesterday late afternoon, Saudi air strikes began on their positions in northern Yemen," the adviser said, asking not to be named because operations were still going on.
"There have been successive air strikes, very heavy bombardment of their positions, not just on the border, but on their main positions around Saada," he said, alluding to the capital of the northern province where the rebels have been battling Yemen government forces since August.
Al Jazeera television quoted a rebel spokesman as saying the Saudi air force had raided six locations inside Yemen. One position had been hit by about 100 missiles in one hour. Saudi Arabia said on Wednesday a security officer was killed and 11 were wounded in an attack by gunmen who had crossed the border from Yemen -- the first such reported incursion since the long-running Houthi revolt flared up again in August.
The Saudi-owned Elaph website reported that a second soldier had died later from the same clash....
Thursday, November 05, 2009
Afghan village caught in U.S.-Taliban crossfire - Afghanistan- msnbc.com
Afghan village caught in U.S.-Taliban crossfire - Afghanistan- msnbc.com:... "Two at a time, soldiers bounded across open fields and behind the farm terraces for cover, heading for the river along which they had come. Several leaped down the steep river bank and slid behind the huge boulders to catch their breath. Gunfire popped from the opposite side of the river."
The Americans were being squeezed from both directions. The Taliban moved closer. Ammunition was running low.
The Americans were being squeezed from both directions. The Taliban moved closer. Ammunition was running low.
A helicopter hovered by the river bank and a medical stretcher slid out, laden with grenades and machine gun bullets.
Helicopters continued to hammer the Taliban but repeatedly had to return to a nearby base to rearm and refuel.
Gradually the soldiers made it to safety. The firefight had lasted about four hours. The entire operation, from dawn until the return to base, went on for about seven hours.
[bth: note that the Americans entry into the village was known to all including the Taliban, as was their route. Note that the Americans were channeled into the low ground and that despite helicopter coverage the enemy was able to engage the troops for 4 hours. Also shamefully the Assoc. Press says Honaker and Miracle were killed in Afghanistan in 1997. Has the AP fired its editors? It was 2007 you AP boneheads. Do your job.]
Pentagon Expected to Request More War Funding - NYTimes.com
Pentagon Expected to Request More War Funding - NYTimes.com: "WASHINGTON — The nation’s top military officer said Wednesday that he expected the Pentagon to ask Congress in the next few months for emergency financing to support the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, even though President Obama has pledged to end the Bush administration practice of paying for the conflicts with so-called supplemental funds that are outside the normal Defense Department budget."
[bth: folks, to state the obvious - its about the money. Rule of thumb estimates for troops in Afghanistan last year were $600K/year. Now its $1 million/year. Is the difference padding? Obama swore off non-budget supplemental funding. Now the Pentagon is forcing him back into it. Its about keeping spending high. Shouldn't somebody ask why we aren't seeing a reduction in spending in Iraq? No mention of the lower casualties, lower IED attrition on equipment, fewer troops in theater and consequent lower costs. No not a word. Nothing from Dems and especially Republicans. Mark my words, this is the core of the matter and if Obama doesn't give the Pentagon what it wants, the generals are going to take operations and maintenance money and leave us with a deficit or an unpaid army next September to force his hand.]
The financing would be on top of the $130 billion that Congress authorized for the wars just last month.
The military officer, Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, did not say how much additional money would be needed, but one figure in circulation within the Pentagon and among outside defense budget analysts is $50 billion.
Representative John Murtha, the Pennsylvania Democrat who is chairman of the House appropriations defense subcommittee, cited $40 billion last week as a hypothetical amount for the supplemental financing request. The number represented a standard calculation of $1 billion for every 1,000 troops deployed.
Defense officials said the final request would depend on the number of additional troops Mr. Obama decided to send to Afghanistan. Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the top NATO commander in Afghanistan, has asked for 40,000 more troops on top of the 68,000 American troops already there.
The request is likely to ignite objections from Democrats on Capitol Hill who are increasingly alarmed about the eight-year-old war in Afghanistan, and it could become a vehicle for a battle between Mr. Obama and his liberal Democratic base.
At the National Press Club on Wednesday, Admiral Mullen said he anticipated the need for more money for the wars in the coming year beyond the $130 billion authorized for the 2010 fiscal year, which runs from Oct. 1, 2009, until Sept. 30, 2010. He was responding to a questioner who asked, “Assuming that U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan increase, do you expect that the Defense Department will submit an emergency supplemental funding request during the coming months?”...[bth: folks, to state the obvious - its about the money. Rule of thumb estimates for troops in Afghanistan last year were $600K/year. Now its $1 million/year. Is the difference padding? Obama swore off non-budget supplemental funding. Now the Pentagon is forcing him back into it. Its about keeping spending high. Shouldn't somebody ask why we aren't seeing a reduction in spending in Iraq? No mention of the lower casualties, lower IED attrition on equipment, fewer troops in theater and consequent lower costs. No not a word. Nothing from Dems and especially Republicans. Mark my words, this is the core of the matter and if Obama doesn't give the Pentagon what it wants, the generals are going to take operations and maintenance money and leave us with a deficit or an unpaid army next September to force his hand.]
UN relocating about 600 staff after Afghan attack - washingtonpost.com
UN relocating about 600 staff after Afghan attack - washingtonpost.com: "The head of the U.N. mission also issued a stern warning to newly re-elected President Hamid Karzai that Afghanistan can no longer count on international support unless he cracks down on corruption and initiates reforms."
The U.N. is still reeling from the pre-dawn assault on a guesthouse in the capital that left five U.N. staffers dead.
The U.N. insists it remains committed to Afghanistan, but its actions show how much security has degraded in the country and raise questions about the future of its work if attacks continue.
The relocations follow a U.N. decision on Monday to suspend much of its work in the volatile northwest of neighboring Pakistan because of increasingly targeted attacks.
In Afghanistan, some 600 nonessential staffers will be moved for three to four weeks to more secure locations both within and outside of Afghanistan while the world body works to find safer permanent housing, spokesman Aleem Siddique said. He said they did not know how many would actually be leaving the country.
"We are not talking about pulling out," the head of the mission, Norwegian diplomat Kai Eide, told reporters. "We are not talking about evacuation."
He said a number of options were being considered for those who have to leave the country, including Dubai - a typical destination for international workers in Afghanistan on rest breaks....
[bth: One should note that al Qaeda have been targeting the UN and taking credit for the attacks in Pakistan and Afghanistan. This outcome- UN withdrawal - has got to be the logical objective of our enemies. The same thing occurred in Iraq we should remember. Al Qaeda realizes that the UN has no spine and now it will increasingly be America's war.]
Wednesday, November 04, 2009
'Rogue' Afghan policeman kills five British troops
The Raw Story | 'Rogue' Afghan policeman kills five British troops: "A 'rogue' Afghan policeman shot dead five British soldiers in Afghanistan, precipitating an immediate inquiry and fuelling further questions about the war back in London, officials said on Wednesday.
The attacker fled after opening fire at a checkpoint in the Nad Ali district of southern Helmand province, where the vast majority of Britain's nearly 9,000 troops are based, on Tuesday and is being hunted down, the British defence ministry said.
The soldiers who were killed had been mentoring Afghan police and living at the checkpoint."...
The attacker fled after opening fire at a checkpoint in the Nad Ali district of southern Helmand province, where the vast majority of Britain's nearly 9,000 troops are based, on Tuesday and is being hunted down, the British defence ministry said.
The soldiers who were killed had been mentoring Afghan police and living at the checkpoint."...
Iraq Swears by Bomb Detector U.S. Sees as Useless - NYTimes.com
Iraq Swears by Bomb Detector U.S. Sees as Useless - NYTimes.com: "BAGHDAD — Despite major bombings that have rattled the nation, and fears of rising violence as American troops withdraw, Iraq’s security forces have been relying on a device to detect bombs and weapons that the United States military and technical experts say is useless."
[bth: at last someone in the media does their fucking job. These devices have and always were a scam that has gone on for years. So $53 million was spent? BS. It was stolen by corrupt Iraqi officials and con men in the UK. Try to go to the company's website - its down for repairs. How convenient. This con was about money, not luck, magic or technology. Hundreds of people died as a result. ... Besides several thousand pounds of explosives in a vehicle are visible to human inspection - you see the stuff. A checkpoint has to open the trunk of the vehicle- not use some antenna on a swivel to guess which car to check. Nuts. Murder. I've been aware of this piece of shit device for at least 2 years and I'm not even in Iraq. Now the politicians in Iraq are going to try to tell us that they didn't know! Next thing you'll see is that this general and a couple of politicians and subordinates are going to flee Iraq - seek political asylum. Why does it take a mass killing to get media attention or to put a stop to government corruption at the highest levels?]
The small hand-held wand, with a telescopic antenna on a swivel, is being used at hundreds of checkpoints in Iraq. But the device works “on the same principle as a Ouija board” — the power of suggestion — said a retired United States Air Force officer, Lt. Col. Hal Bidlack, who described the wand as nothing more than an explosives divining rod.
Still, the Iraqi government has purchased more than 1,500 of the devices, known as the ADE 651, at costs from $16,500 to $60,000 each. Nearly every police checkpoint, and many Iraqi military checkpoints, have one of the devices, which are now normally used in place of physical inspections of vehicles.
With violence dropping in the past two years, Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki has taken down blast walls along dozens of streets, and he contends that Iraqis will safeguard the nation as American troops leave.
But the recent bombings of government buildings here have underscored how precarious Iraq remains, especially with the coming parliamentary elections and the violence expected to accompany them.
The suicide bombers who managed to get two tons of explosives into downtown Baghdad on Oct. 25, killing 155 people and destroying three ministries, had to pass at least one checkpoint where the ADE 651 is typically deployed, judging from surveillance videos released by Baghdad’s provincial governor. The American military does not use the devices. “I don’t believe there’s a magic wand that can detect explosives,” said Maj. Gen. Richard J. Rowe Jr., who oversees Iraqi police training for the American military. “If there was, we would all be using it. I have no confidence that these work.”
The Iraqis, however, believe passionately in them. “Whether it’s magic or scientific, what I care about is it detects bombs,” said Maj. Gen. Jehad al-Jabiri, head of the Ministry of the Interior’s General Directorate for Combating Explosives.
Dale Murray, head of the National Explosive Engineering Sciences Security Center at Sandia Labs, which does testing for the Department of Defense, said the center had “tested several devices in this category, and none have ever performed better than random chance.”
The Justice Department has warned against buying a variety of products that claim to detect explosives at a distance with a portable device. Normal remote explosives detection machinery, often employed in airports, weighs tons and costs hundreds of thousands of dollars. The ADE 651’s clients are mostly in developing countries; no major country’s military or police force is a customer, according to the manufacturer.
“I don’t care about Sandia or the Department of Justice or any of them,” General Jabiri said. “I know more about this issue than the Americans do. In fact, I know more about bombs than anyone in the world.”
He attributed the decrease in bombings in Baghdad since 2007 to the use of the wands at checkpoints. American military officials credit the surge in American forces, as well as the Awakening movement, in which Iraqi insurgents turned against Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, for the decrease.
Aqeel al-Turaihi, the inspector general for the Ministry of the Interior, reported that the ministry bought 800 of the devices from a company called ATSC (UK) Ltd. for $32 million in 2008, and an unspecified larger quantity for $53 million. Mr. Turaihi said Iraqi officials paid up to $60,000 apiece, when the wands could be purchased for as little as $18,500. He said he had begun an investigation into the no-bid contracts with ATSC.
Jim Mitchell, the head of ATSC, based in London, did not return calls for comment.
The Baghdad Operations Command announced Tuesday that it had purchased an additional 100 detection devices, but General Rowe said five to eight bomb-sniffing dogs could be purchased for $60,000, with provable results.
Checking cars with dogs, however, is a slow process, whereas the wands take only a few seconds per vehicle. “Can you imagine dogs at all 400 checkpoints in Baghdad?” General Jabiri said. “The city would be a zoo.”
Speed is not the only issue. Colonel Bidlack said, “When they say they are selling you something that will save your son or daughter on a patrol, they’ve crossed an insupportable line into moral depravity.”
Last year, the James Randi Educational Foundation, an organization seeking to debunk claims of the paranormal, publicly offered ATSC $1 million if it could pass a scientific test proving that the device could detect explosives. Mr. Randi said no one from the company had taken up the offer.
ATSC’s promotional material claims that its device can find guns, ammunition, drugs, truffles, human bodies and even contraband ivory at distances up to a kilometer, underground, through walls, underwater or even from airplanes three miles high. The device works on “electrostatic magnetic ion attraction,” ATSC says.
To detect materials, the operator puts an array of plastic-coated cardboard cards with bar codes into a holder connected to the wand by a cable. “It would be laughable,” Colonel Bidlack said, “except someone down the street from you is counting on this to keep bombs off the streets.”
Proponents of the wand often argue that errors stem from the human operator, who they say must be rested, with a steady pulse and body temperature, before using the device.
Then the operator must walk in place a few moments to “charge” the device, since it has no battery or other power source, and walk with the wand at right angles to the body. If there are explosives or drugs to the operator’s left, the wand is supposed to swivel to the operator’s left and point at them.
If, as often happens, no explosives or weapons are found, the police may blame a false positive on other things found in the car, like perfume, air fresheners or gold fillings in the driver’s teeth....
[bth: at last someone in the media does their fucking job. These devices have and always were a scam that has gone on for years. So $53 million was spent? BS. It was stolen by corrupt Iraqi officials and con men in the UK. Try to go to the company's website - its down for repairs. How convenient. This con was about money, not luck, magic or technology. Hundreds of people died as a result. ... Besides several thousand pounds of explosives in a vehicle are visible to human inspection - you see the stuff. A checkpoint has to open the trunk of the vehicle- not use some antenna on a swivel to guess which car to check. Nuts. Murder. I've been aware of this piece of shit device for at least 2 years and I'm not even in Iraq. Now the politicians in Iraq are going to try to tell us that they didn't know! Next thing you'll see is that this general and a couple of politicians and subordinates are going to flee Iraq - seek political asylum. Why does it take a mass killing to get media attention or to put a stop to government corruption at the highest levels?]
Pakistan captures two Taliban strongholds in South Waziristan - The Long War Journal
Pakistan captures two Taliban strongholds in South Waziristan - The Long War Journal: "The Pakistani Army has captured two more Taliban strongholds in South Waziristan and is close to taking another, while a Taliban spokesman claimed the group has conducted tactical withdrawals and is prepared to fight 'a long war' in the tribal agency.
The military has killed 33 Taliban fighters and lost only one soldier during two days of fighting, according to the Inter Service Public Relations, or ISPR, the public affairs office of the Pakistani military.
Pakistani troops are now in full control of Kanigoram, a town that served as a stronghold for Uzbek and other central Asian fighters. 'Hundred percent of the town has been cleared and secured,' the ISPR reported.
The Army has also secured the village of China, which is just outside the town of Makeen, one of the Taliban's largest bases in South Waziristan. The military disabled 20 roadside bombs in China."...
Read more: http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2009/11/pakistan_captures_tw.php#ixzz0VtloFAMD
[bth: if you recall there was a series of US bases overrun in early October and an Afghan province abandoned by the Americans to the Taliban, then in Oct. there was an interview in the Asia Times by a Paki al-Qaeda/Taliban leader that said the attacks on the Americans were strategic to give ground for the Paki Taliban and al-Qaeda to retreat when the Pakistan army began its much anticipated offensive. So it makes perfect sense that the Paki army is fighting the rear guard of the Taliban in Pakistan and will have a distressing decision to make in about a month when winter sets in - do they stay or do they go?]
The military has killed 33 Taliban fighters and lost only one soldier during two days of fighting, according to the Inter Service Public Relations, or ISPR, the public affairs office of the Pakistani military.
Pakistani troops are now in full control of Kanigoram, a town that served as a stronghold for Uzbek and other central Asian fighters. 'Hundred percent of the town has been cleared and secured,' the ISPR reported.
The Army has also secured the village of China, which is just outside the town of Makeen, one of the Taliban's largest bases in South Waziristan. The military disabled 20 roadside bombs in China."...
"We are prepared for a long war," Taliban spokesman Azam Tariq told the Associated Press. "The areas we are withdrawing from, and the ones the army is claiming to have won, are being vacated by us as part of a strategy. The strategy is to let the army get in a trap, and then fight a long war."
The real story in South Waziristan is difficult to discern, as the Pakistani Army has closed off communications from the region and has denied journalists the ability to report from the battle zone. Journalists are taken on closely orchestrated battlefield tours and are given a glimpse of what the Army wants them to see.
The military is evidently taking and holding ground in South Waziristan, but the Taliban clearly are not putting up a serious fight against the Army. During past operations, the Taliban have put up stiff resistance to military incursions.
At the outset of the South Waziristan operation, US intelligence officials told The Long War Journal that all indications were that the main body of the Taliban force and its commanders have left the region while a rearguard force was left behind to harass the Army [see LWJ report, "Pakistan launches South Waziristan operation"].
"The Taliban appear to want to deny the military a decisive victory so they have pulled up some units and key leaders," a US intelligence official said on Oct. 17. "A substantial rearguard unit will be left to bleed the Army."
Read more: http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2009/11/pakistan_captures_tw.php#ixzz0VtloFAMD
[bth: if you recall there was a series of US bases overrun in early October and an Afghan province abandoned by the Americans to the Taliban, then in Oct. there was an interview in the Asia Times by a Paki al-Qaeda/Taliban leader that said the attacks on the Americans were strategic to give ground for the Paki Taliban and al-Qaeda to retreat when the Pakistan army began its much anticipated offensive. So it makes perfect sense that the Paki army is fighting the rear guard of the Taliban in Pakistan and will have a distressing decision to make in about a month when winter sets in - do they stay or do they go?]
Ex-Shin Bet, KGB double agent shot dead in Moscow - Haaretz - Israel News
Ex-Shin Bet, KGB double agent shot dead in Moscow - Haaretz - Israel News: "Shabtai Kalmanovich, 62, a long-term Soviet spy and later a Shin Bet informant, was murdered in Moscow yesterday, in what experts called an act of revenge by business rivals.
Kalmanovich was one of Israel's most colorful Russian immigrants. He was well connected to Israel's political, military and business elite during the 1970s and 1980s, and as a KGB agent, he made concerted efforts to work his way into the centers of power in Israel.
Advertisement
During the latter part of his life, he became a successful international businessman, but became mixed up in fraud.
Moscow police said Kalmanovich was murdered while driving near his home, close to the local police station. Also in the car were his driver, a bodyguard and a friend. The driver was severely wounded."...
Kalmanovich was one of Israel's most colorful Russian immigrants. He was well connected to Israel's political, military and business elite during the 1970s and 1980s, and as a KGB agent, he made concerted efforts to work his way into the centers of power in Israel.
Advertisement
During the latter part of his life, he became a successful international businessman, but became mixed up in fraud.
Moscow police said Kalmanovich was murdered while driving near his home, close to the local police station. Also in the car were his driver, a bodyguard and a friend. The driver was severely wounded."...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
