Sunday, June 14, 2015
Saturday, June 13, 2015
UK: Red Arrows flyover to honour Queen's Birthday
The Red Arrows fly over Buckingham Palace as crowds celebrate the Queen's official birthday. One thousand one hundred soldiers from the Household Division were joined by almost 250 immaculately groomed military horses, six blindingly polished First World War 13-Pounder Guns and 350 military musicians at the ancient annual ceremony known as Trooping the Colour at Horse Guards Parade. The Royal family watched from the balcony of Wellington’s office, and more than 8,500 guests including the Prime Minister, foreign dignitaries, and Defence Chiefs of Staff, filled the stands on Horse Guards, while tens of thousands of the public lined the route, as The Royal Colonels: The Duke of Edinburgh, The Duke of Kent, The Prince of Wales, The Duke of Cambridge, and The Princess Royal, accompanied Her Majesty in stately procession down the Mall to inspect the Parade.( (c) MOD)
Prince George joins Queen on palace balcony for flypast
(with video)
Nigeria: FGM now officially banned
Did you know?
Nigeria has the highest number of cases of female genital mutilation in the world.
This last week, Nigeria made history. The UK Guardian reports:
Nigeria's female genital mutilation ban is important precedent, say campaigners
As the outgoing president, Goodluck Jonathan, bans FGM in one of his final acts, groups look to the last African nations who have not yet made it illegal
Photograph: Ben Curtis/AP
The Nigerian government has taken the historic step of outlawing the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM), in a move campaigners describe as “hugely important”.
Nigeria – a cultural and political powerhouse in Africa – introduced a new federal law banning the practice, which involves removing part or all of a girl’s outer sexual organs.
The outgoing president, Goodluck Jonathan, signed the ban into law as one of his final acts as leader. He was beaten in Nigeria's presidential election in March by Muhammadu Buhari, who was sworn into office on Friday.
The law, which was passed by the Senate on 5 May, also prohibits men from abandoning their wives or children without economic support.
Around a quarter of Nigerian women have undergone FGM – which can cause infertility, maternal death, infections and the loss of sexual pleasure – according to 2014 UN data. The practice was already banned in some states, but now it will be outlawed throughout the country.
It is estimated that 125 million girls and women globally are living with the effects of FGM, which is most widespread in Africa and the Middle East....
There is more here.
Before we in the west get too smug and stick to the "what happens over there..." here is a reminder:
FGM is a Reality in the US. The number of girls under 18 at risk for FGM in the US has quadrupled since 1997. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates 513,000 women and girls are at risk of FGM in the US.
That from the AHA Foundation.
All well and good, of course, to pass laws. Now, let's hope that those practitioners of that religion of pieces actually adhere to the legislation.
Thursday, June 11, 2015
Iraq: "No boots on the ground" gets 450 more US Troops
Refresh your memory. From September 2014:
I have to wonder if there is ANYbody left who believes ANYthing that comes out of this administration.
Obama says it again: No ground troops in Iraq
"As your commander in chief, I will not commit you and the rest of our armed forces to fighting another ground war in Iraq. After a decade of massive ground deployments it is more effective to use our unique capabilities in support of partners on the ground so they can secure their own countries' futures. And that is the only solution that will succeed over the long term," the president added....
[...]
Go watch the video proof of Obama stressing no combat Troops on the ground, and read the rest of the article. Is it just me, or do those Troops used as backdrop for that speech look as unbelieving as some of us civvies are?
Fast forward to this week. After repeating again that the US has no strategy to fight ISIS in Iraq, and getting justifiable criticism for that stance, Obama's admin now has this:
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Release No: NR-225-15
June 10, 2015
Statement from the Department of Defense on Additional U.S. Personnel to Deploy to Iraq
The commander in chief has authorized Secretary of Defense Ash Carter to deploy to Iraq up to 450 additional U.S. personnel in a non-combat role, to expand our advise and assist mission at Taqaddum Air Base in support of the Government of Iraq.
The intent of this increase will be to provide personnel to assist with planning, integration and support of Iraqi Security Forces and tribal forces as they fight to retake the Ramadi and Fallujah corridor. U.S. forces will provide operational advice and planning support the Iraqi Security Forces, to include the 8th Iraqi Army Division and other security forces associated with the Government of Iraq. This mission will also enable tribal outreach as part of the plan Prime Minister Al-Abadi led the Council of Ministers in passing on May 19 to accelerate the training and equipping of local tribes in coordination with Anbar authorities.
This decision does not represent a change in mission, but rather adds another location for DoD to conduct similar activities in more areas in Iraq. U.S. forces continue to perform an advisory, training, and support role and are not conducting offensive ground combat operations. [emphasis mine] The additional site will result in an increase in DoD force levels to up to 3,550 personnel.
Ultimately, these Iraqi forces will enable Iraq to better defend its citizens and retake its territory from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). This effort is in keeping with our overarching strategy to work with partners on the ground to degrade and ultimately defeat ISIL....
As I always ask: Do the Terrorists know that our Troops are not there as combat Troops? Did they get the memo?
Allen West appears to share my cynicism:
June 11, 2015Allen West has more here, and for me he has always FAR more credibility since he has been 'boots on the ground' in Iraq. He IS a Veteran.
[...]
There are two words everyone who has served or is serving in the military does not want to hear: mission creep. It has been the deadly episode in the history of military operations throughout time. It is the piecemeal commitment of forces into a nebulous endeavor with no clear guidance or intent – basically no strategy. And those who commit warriors into the cauldron of uncertainty are doing solely to maintain a weak facade of taking action.
And so it is, just days after Commander-in-Chief Obama announced to the world ten months after first stating he did not have a strategy to combat ISIS, that he STILL doesn’t have a strategy, the White House announces it will send another 450 troops into Iraq as trainers.
No clear guidance was issued other than an intent to train more Iraqi troops. Sadly, we now have a little over 3,400 “trainers” in Iraq and only 2,598 Iraqi Soldiers in training. Of that number there are 800 Kurds and 1798 Shia, and no Sunnis are being trained. Do y’all see the laughable irony? We have more “trainers” in Iraq than those being trained....
I have to wonder if there is ANYbody left who believes ANYthing that comes out of this administration.
Pay attention!
Does the 'JV team' have WMD?
Remember when POTUS called ISIS a "JV team"? No? Then remember just the last few days when POTUS said at the G7 'we don't yet have a complete strategy to fight' that same team in Iraq?
News reports are now suggesting that very same team may have the materiels needed to make WMD (Weapons of Mass Destruction).
From the Independent (UK):
Isis's dirty bomb: Jihadists have seized 'enough radioactive material to build their first WMD'
Nato and the Australia Group 'really worried' by latest defence reports
Adam Withnall June 10 2015
The Isis militant group has seized enough radioactive material from government facilities to suggest it has the capacity to build a large and devastating “dirty” bomb, according to Australian intelligence reports.
Isis declared its ambition to develop weapons of mass destruction in the most recent edition of its propaganda magazine Dabiq, and Indian defence officials have previously warned of the possibility the militants could acquire a nuclear weapon from Pakistan.
According to the Australian foreign minister, Julie Bishop, Nato has expressed deep concerns about the materials seized by Isis from research centres and hospitals that would normally only be available to governments....
Wednesday, June 10, 2015
Egypt: Karnak Temple attacked by suicide bomber
(source - with great history!)
Although no specific group has immediately claimed responsibility, this attack is but the latest in the litany of non-muslim sites being destroyed in the ongoing campaign of cultural genocide.
From VICE News:
Suicide Bomber Strikes at Egypt's Ancient Karnak TempleBy VICE NewsJune 10, 2015
A suicide bomber attacked an ancient temple in the Egyptian city of Luxor on Wednesday, a top tourist destination.
Officials said police also foiled two other attempted suicide attacks at the sprawling Karnak temple, which lies on the east bank of the Nile and is visited by millions of foreign and Egyptian tourists each year.
There was no immediate news on casualties. Egyptian media reported that two attackers had been killed, said the BBC. Officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media....
[...]
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Wednesday's attack, but it bore the hallmarks of Islamic militants who have been battling security forces in the strategic Sinai Peninsula for years.
Extremists in Sinai have targeted tourism sites to try to deny the government a key source of revenue. Last year, the Sinai-based insurgent group Ansar Beit al Maqdis pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group, which has destroyed famed archaeological sites in Syria and Iraq, claiming they promote idolatry....
Much more here.
US to Iran: No nuclear site inspections - no deal
Just kidding, of course!
From Homeland Security NewsWire:
Iran’s refusal to allow inspection of military sites could derail nuclear agreement
10 June 2015
As the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council— the United States, Britain, France, Russia, and China — plus Germany near a deal to ease international sanctions if Iran agrees to restrictions and monitoring of its nuclear activities, diplomats say Iran’s refusal to provide inspectors access to its military bases could set back the negotiations, which have been in the works for over twenty-months. Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken has publicly said that U.S.officials want IAEA inspectors to be given “anywhere, anytime” access to sites where nuclear work is suspected, adding that the Obama administration will not accept a deal unless access is granted “to whatever Iranian sites are required to verify that Iran’s program is exclusively peaceful — period.”
Gary Samore, former nonproliferation advisor to President Barack Obama,told the Los Angeles Times that with Iran’s known enrichment facilities at Natanz and Fordow, as well as a heavy-water reactor at Ark, under international oversight, the country’s leaders would likely look elsewhere to conduct any secret nuclear work. “It’s the undeclared sites that are the real threat,” he said.
Iran continues to deny its interest in building a nuclear weapon, saying its nuclear ambitions are for peaceful purposes, but U.S. negotiators have reasons to be skeptical; considering that the uranium enrichment facilities at Natanz and Fordow were built and operated in secret until disclosed by outsiders...
Tough talk from an administration that nobody takes seriously. As the MICUS continues his rhetoric, Iran continues to declare "Death to America," and assert their 'divine permission to wipe Israel off the map.'
Related:
Iran’s Nuclear Stockpile Grows, Complicating Negotiations
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
