Wednesday, September 21, 2011
September 21 2011 Travus T. Hipp Morning News & Commentary: Just A Tip - The Day Before 9/11 And The Assassination Of Berhanuddin Rabbani
"All The News You Never Knew You Needed To Know ...Until Now." September 21 2011 Travus T. Hipp Morning News & Commentary: Just A Tip - The Day Before 9/11 And The Assassination Of Berhanuddin Rabbani[Pop Out Player? Click Here] Prefer An MP3 Playlist? It's Here: [128Kbps MP3 16:27 Minutes] Other Audio Formats Available [ Here ] Razer Raygun Says: ♥ Sharing IS Caring! ♥  Twitter This Commentary |
In The News:
Thanks this morning to ChrisM, my MP3Angel, for supplying the news and commentary audio files.
[After the commentary... The days AFTER 9/11, in Afghanistan... Rivers of Dub, American Psychosis (Symptom One), Asian Dub Foundation remixed by DJ Spooky (AKA That Subliminal Kid), Adbusters- Live Without Dead Time. Courtesy of the respective artists.]
» It's just about time for the UN General Assembly to hear from president Obama while the US is in the spotlight because it is most likely to be the veto-ing nation in the Security Council for the upcoming Palestinian statehood vote which will totally fubar any influence the US has in the region. Details.
» The IMF has said the US economic growth rate will be down a significant amount over the next few years even as Standards & Poors reduces Italy's credit rating which will make it even harder for the EU nations to assist Italy's ailing economy with loans. Meanwhile, the EU banks are intending to dump their holdings in US dollars on Italy and other nations in need of a bailout, and replace that currency with some other currency.
» In Slovenia the opposition parties in Parliament have issued a press release claiming they are in the process of a coup against the sitting government.
» Aghanistan's president Hamid Karzai flew into New York for a one hour meeting with president Obama and immediately flew back to Kabul after yesterday's assassination of Former Afghanistan "president" and Northern Alliance (Drug smuggling thugs) liaison Berhanuddin Rabbani, which is reverberating across the region and the US foreign policy apparatus in the AfPak theatre. More, and much more in the commentary. Read the Foreign Policy piece below and listen to the commentary for details on the unraveling of any chance for peace with the West, with the West's vested interests in place.
Former anti-Soviet commander, Afghan president, and head of the country's High Peace Council (HPC) Berhanuddin Rabbani was killed yesterday in his Kabul home by a suicide bomber who detonated explosives hidden in his turban when the two went to embrace (NYT, Post, LAT, BBC, AJE, Tel, WSJ, FT, ET, DT, CNN, Reuters). Rabbani's killer, a man identified as Esmatullah who first contacted former Taliban official and HPC member Rahmatullah Wahidyar, reportedly waited for days to meet with Rabbani, after telling officials that he bore a message from Taliban leader Mullah Omar's Quetta Shura (NYT, AP). The attack, which also wounded Wahidyar and senior HPC member Mohammad Masoom Stanekzai, has not yet been claimed, though many in Afghanistan and the United States have been quick to suggest the involvement of the Taliban or Haqqani Network (NYT). Bonus read: Anand Gopal, "Rabbani's death and Afghanistan's future" (FP).» Attorney General Holder again pledges to close our Guantanamo concentration camp but there's still no plan on what to do with the 170+ remaining prisoners, mostly Yemenis who have been charged with nothing.
Hundreds of mourners turned out Wednesday in Kabul to remember Rabbani, a controversial figure and former head of the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance who had nonetheless gained some credibility for his efforts in the past year to make peace (Tel, AFP, Reuters, NYT, AP, Independent, Tel). Afghan President Hamid Karzai, U.S. President Barack Obama, and other world leaders condemned the attack, and promised to press forward with efforts to obtain a peace deal even as Rabbani's former Northern Alliance partners warned against any arrangement with the Taliban, the prospects for which have been dealt a serious blow with Rabbani's death (NYT, BBC, Reuters, LAT, CNN, Tel, Guardian).
Also today, a new Government Accountability Office report has found that between 2006 and 2010, the United States and other donors paid for 90 percent of Afghanistan's public expenditures (Post). And the AP reports that serious combat wounds, including multiple amputations and genital injuries, are on the rise in Afghanistan, even as rates of combat deaths decline (AP). [In Full, with (links)]
» Hopefully, by the time you read this, the two UC Berkeley hikers imprisoned in Iran should be free. Their bail has been paid, and everyone is just waiting for someone to go unlock their cell so a Swiss diplomat can escort them to the airport for their return home.
In OTHER News
Pakistan's first-ever break dancing competition opened this weekend in Karachi, as eight teams of five dancers each battled for the title spot (ET). The competition's organizers whittled the teams down from nearly 200 people who auditioned for a spot in the contest in July. (source)
Remember... Capitalism is holding a loaded gun...
...And the target is ANYONE who gets in the way of their profits.
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Tuesday, September 20, 2011
September 20 2011 Travus T. Hipp Morning News & Commentary: American Jurisprudence - Turning José Padilla Into A 'Mental Vegetable' Wasn't Enough
| "All The News You Never Knew You Needed To Know ...Until Now."September 20 2011 Travus T. Hipp Morning News & Commentary: American Jurisprudence - Turning José Padilla Into A 'Mental Vegetable' Wasn't Punitive Enough? [Pop Out Player? Click Here] Prefer An MP3 Playlist? It's Here: [128Kbps MP3 16:46 Minutes] Other Audio Formats Available [ Here ] Razer Raygun Says: ♥ Sharing IS Caring! ♥ Twitter This Commentary |
In The News:
Thanks this morning to ChrisM, my MP3Angel, for supplying the news and commentary audio files.
[After the commentary Tony Joe White (wikipedia) tells us about the time "They Caught The Devil And Put Him In Jail In Eudora, Arkansas". Courtesy of the respective artists (artist site) and KPIG Radio Freedom California... Earth.]
» The president's job plan and budget is on it's way to the "committee of twelve" that needs to get it pulled together and into the federal budget before automatic budget cuts go into effect at Thanksgiving. There are no changes to Social Security of Medicare in the budget as written at the moment but there may be changes in the capital gains taxes which will undoubtedly annoy the Republicans. More.
» Tonight the president will be at the meet-and-greet for the UN General Assembly where he plans to have a long talk with America's number one crony in Afghanistan Hamid Karzai. He is also expected to come under intense criticism for the upcoming veto of the Palestinian plan for their own state on Thursday or Friday. Oh. and don't expect to get within 6 blocks of the UN building today. You ARE NOT welcome.
» Speaking of Afghanistan, the employees of the US embassy are in "Duck & Cover" mode as a wave of Taliban attacks continue throughout the city. One attack killed a former "president" of Afghanistan who had been trying to negotiate some sort of agreement between the Taliban, NATO, and the Afghan government.
Meanwhile, since we're on the subject... The "al-Haqquani Network" say "Nya nya! We don't care what your intel says. We're in Afghanistan, not Pakistan" (which trashes recent U.S. statement to the effect that Pakistan is 'protecting' Haqqani ops), and they're also stating they back the Taliban's peace plan, which as seen above is essentially "Drive out the invaders and there will be peace".
Considering that the al-Haqquanis are quite influential and are related-by-marriage among other reasons to a large part of the Afghan population, it means despite president Obama's bleatings about 'patience', 'withdrawal', and his upcoming palavering with America's Afghan puppet president Hamid Karzai, "We Lose!"
Foreign Policy also notes that the "Strategic Hamlet" program for Afghanistan is not working any better than it did in Vietnam:
"A new report concludes that while "night raids" against Taliban targets have become more accurate, international forces have loosened the standards for people targeted in such operations. The report also argues that the increased pace of raids has helped fuel a backlash against international forces, and that Afghan communities, "often see raids as deliberately targeting or harassing civilians, in order to discourage communities from providing food and shelter to insurgents, or pressure them to supply intelligence"." [More]But who said any of the people who plan these wars are intelligent enough to notice when their strategies and tactics don't work?
» Eighteen years of gays in the US military being required not to 'Tell' are over as of midnight last night. There are loose ends, such as what will happen to all the less-than-honorable discharges that gays have been subject to over the years, and what if they were discharged but, for some inane reason, the discharged soldier cares to re-up to fight in America's imperial wars?
» A federal appeals court has tossed out the seventeen year sentence handed down against Jose Padilla, an American citizen who, on the basis of a single informant in Pakistan, was accused of planning a dirty bombing in Chicago, kept in total isolation for two and a half year at a Navy brig with no visitors or lawyer, or any kind of assistance. They finally managed to convict him on "conspiracy to attack government property" despite the fact that there was no proof that he actively was involved in ANY conspiracy and his isolation since incarceration had apparently affected his mental health. The appeals court sent his conviction back for re-sentencing... 17 years apparently wasn't long enough. MUCH more in the commentary.
INCOMING!
» The 'Glory' climate change satellite that didn't make it into orbit due to a Taurus rocket stage failure a couple of weeks ago is coming home sometime around Friday. More at the Guardian UK.
But that's not all! It's a Two-fer this weekend!
(Jeez! They pointed this one at us and pulled the trigger!)
"The bus-size Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite, or UARS, will likely plummet down to Earth sometime around Friday (Sept. 23), according to NASA's latest projections. There is a 1-in-3,200 chance that UARS debris could hit a person, though NASA considers that scenario extremely remote.Here is an animation showing the orbit of the satellite and ground track of the possible debris field... Which is practically all inhabited areas on the planet"
o
o
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"NASA commanded the spacecraft to fire its thrusters one last time to use all its remaining fuel to place it on a years-long path toward disposal in Earth's atmosphere." [In Full]
In OTHER News
From Moodys Analytic Consumer Flow Weekly newsletter:
"The weakness in the job market is posing a serious threat to already-weak consumer spending. Meanwhile, real median household income has fallen for three consecutive years."Despite that economic train wreck in progress, America IS STILL driving... and you're doing it a lot despite the fact that spinning your wheels gets you nowhere... faster.
('Happy Motoring America...' Enjoy it while you can...)
...And the target is ANYONE who gets in the way of their profits.
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Recorded & transcribed by Razer Raygun @ Razed By Wolves
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In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107 and The Berne Convention on Literary and Artistic Works, Article 10, the news clippings, audio, and images used in this posting are made available without profit for research and educational purposes.
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Monday, September 19, 2011
September 19 2011 Travus T. Hipp Morning News & Commentary: 'Below Poverty Level' - Because It Describes 1 In 6 AmericansThey Will Raise The Standard
| "All The News You Never Knew You Needed To Know ...Until Now."September 19 2011 Travus T. Hipp Morning News & Commentary: 'Living Below The Poverty Level' - Because It Describes 1 In 6 Americans The Government Will Raise The Standard [Pop Out Player? Click Here] Prefer An MP3 Playlist? It's Here: [128Kbps MP3 10:45 Minutes] Other Audio Formats Available [ Here ] Razer Raygun Says: ♥ Sharing IS Caring! ♥ Twitter This Commentary |
In The News:
Thanks this morning to ChrisM, my MP3Angel, for supplying the news and commentary audio files.
Due To Time Constraints No Synopsis This Morning
Listen In...
Remember... Capitalism is holding a loaded gun...
...And the target is ANYONE who gets in the way of their profits.
Audio hosting courtesy of: [www.archive.org]
Travus T. Hipp's Commentary Archive Is [ Here]
Search the archive by topic [Here]
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Recorded & transcribed by Razer Raygun @ Razed By Wolves
Postings Auntie Imperial And Razer Raygun Have Done Lately Are [Here]
The Consolidated Postings in RSS format [Here]
Travus T. Hipp Fan Page @ Facebook (unaffiliated)
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107 and The Berne Convention on Literary and Artistic Works, Article 10, the news clippings, audio, and images used in this posting are made available without profit for research and educational purposes.
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Friday, September 16, 2011
September 16 2011 Travus T. Hipp Morning News & Commentary: Imagine Popular Democracy - Tell Your Congressman You Dont Care What THEIR Opinion Is
| "All The News You Never Knew You Needed To Know ...Until Now."September 16 2011 Travus T. Hipp Morning News & Commentary: Imagine Popular Democracy - It's Time To Tell Your Congressman You Don't Care What THEIR Opinion Is [Pop Out Player? Click Here] Prefer An MP3 Playlist? It's Here: [128Kbps MP3 12:17 Minutes] Other Audio Formats Available [ Here ] Razer Raygun Says: ♥ Sharing IS Caring! ♥ Twitter This Commentary |
In The News:
Thanks this morning to ChrisM, my MP3Angel, for supplying the news and commentary audio files.
[After the commentary a musical memorial for Jimi Hendrix, who passed on September 18th 1970, with a tune from Randy California of the band Spirit, who was tapped to be Jimi's second on the guitar when Chas Chandler cut a deal for Jimi's name on the Warner Brothers label. Randy's father, Ed Cassidy from Art Pepper's jazz ensemble, nixed the deal because of Randy's age (He must have been 14 or 15). Randy remembers though... "Jimi's Back", from Spirit's "Blues From The Soul" album. Courtesy of the respective artists. Let it also be sadly noted Randy California passed in January 1997 due to a tragic accident near his home in Hawaii.]
» BREAKING NEWS from BBC's Twitter feed: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announces plan for a Palestinian state recognised by UN.
» Congress as an ant hill - Congress is in a panic to pass a number of legislative acts necessary to keep the federal government running by the end of the month, and before the special session of congress bound to happen as the United States enters the FOURTH YEAR without a budget. That means every bill congress and the senate have enacted in the last three years from ObamaCare to road repair is funded at 2008/9 prices, if at all.
The must pass bills at the moment include funding for the Post Office, which is threatening to lay off 35,000 people and 'consolidate facilities' leaving two hundred less sorting stations. That means, in geographic terms, Cabale News Service, located in the mountains outside of Reno Nevada, would have it's mail sorted in Sacramento California. Also hanging fire are the FAA, and disaster relief funds which WERE partially funded by a continuing resolution yesterday... and those are just the funding issues making headlines.
» Prime Minister Cameron and French President Sarkozy are still in Tripoli Libya working on diplomatic relations with the criminal government NATO installed by force and without UN authorization. One of the issues at hand is the spontaneous arming of the Libyan population with millions of weapons and ordinance purchased and stored by the al-Gadaffi government after the US attack on the country in the 1980s. RPGs, AK47s, Land Mines, and much of it has been looted. Will 7 million Libyans have control over 21 million weapons? France and Britain are concerned, but the US government is apparently not interested in recovering them.
Which MAY help the Libyans later because if they thought unseating Muammar al-Gadaffi was tough... Wait until they try to get rid of NATO.
Prime Minister Erdogan of Turkey seems to feel the same, as he says while in his tour of Tripoli: "Libya must continue to belong to the people of Libya and never turn into an Iraq"
» If I had "Nukes", I'd just take what I needed... North and South Korea (which has the technology to build a nuclear arsenal quickly if it decides to do so [src]) begin talks on their nuclear weapons programs next week in Beijing. North Korea is evidently having food shortage problems and the West's stance is if they don't compromise on their weapons program they get no aid.
In OTHER News
America's economics in the news...
Zoellick: World economy in new danger zoneThat means your lifestyles, as you understand them, are about to take a turn for the less-affluent.
September 14, 2011
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The head of the World Bank said Wednesday the world had entered a new economic danger zone and that Europe, Japan and the United States all need to make hard decisions to avoid dragging down the global economy.
"Unless Europe, Japan, and the United states can also face up to responsibilities they will drag down not only themselves, but the global economy," Zoellick said in speech at George Washington University.
"They have procrastinated for too long on taking the difficult decisions, narrowing what choices are now left to a painful few," he said ahead of meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund next week.
His bluntly-worded speech highlighted mounting fears among global policymakers... [In Full, Reuters]
Meanwhile, everyone was waiting with bated breath yesterday for the roll out of the Republican's Job Plan but all we got was a "no-fly zone".
Until we see something tangible, yours truly DOES have an idea of what's contained in the Republican Job bill:
Rick Perry, Texas governor and GOP Presidential contender, announced the linchpin of his jobs program today. “Get Back To Work Camps,” he said, “will assure food and shelter for all our citizens, regardless of economic standing.” Under Perry’s plan, debt would become a criminal offense, much as it was in Victorian England.
Those convicted of the crime of being in default on debt could, if employed, work out a repayment plan suitable to the courts and their creditors.
The defendant’s paychecks would be rendered directly to the court, with payments being made to creditors first. Defendants would be allowed to keep 25 percent of their pay, after taxes. However, those convicted of default without sufficient income would be sentenced to “Get Back To Work Camps.” Here, various private companies will set up shop to utilize the labor. Debtors might be assigned to an on-site factory or might be assigned to offsite work crews.
The private contractors will keep the camps open, providing each debtor with adequate food and shelter. Debtor’s will be paid at minimum wage, with the costs of food and housing deducted from their pay. The remaining money will go to pay off their debt.
Once the debt is satisfied, debtors will be free to join society with a clean financial slate.
Perry also announced that, under a Perry Presidency, personal bankruptcy would be outlawed. Only corporations would be able to restructure debt. [Source]
Remember... Capitalism is holding a loaded gun...
...And the target is ANYONE who gets in the way of their profits.
Audio hosting courtesy of: [www.archive.org]
Travus T. Hipp's Commentary Archive Is [ Here]
Search the archive by topic [Here]
Cabale News RSS Feed Via Internet Archive
Creative Commons Copyright
Cabale New Service, KPIG Radio, and KVMR radio.
Listen to KVMR
Recorded & transcribed by Razer Raygun @ Razed By Wolves
Postings Auntie Imperial And Razer Raygun Have Done Lately Are [Here]
The Consolidated Postings in RSS format [Here]
Travus T. Hipp Fan Page @ Facebook (unaffiliated)
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107 and The Berne Convention on Literary and Artistic Works, Article 10, the news clippings, audio, and images used in this posting are made available without profit for research and educational purposes.
Visitors To Cabale News & Razed By Wolves
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Thursday, September 15, 2011
September 15 2011 Travus T. Hipp Morning News & Commentary: *3* Years And Counting - Time Flies (and nothing gets done) When There's No Federal Budget
| "All The News You Never Knew You Needed To Know ...Until Now."September 15 2011 Travus T. Hipp Morning News & Commentary: Three Years And Counting - Time Flies (and nothing gets done) When There's No Federal Budget [Pop Out Player? Click Here] Prefer An MP3 Playlist? It's Here: [128Kbps MP3 15:45 Minutes] Other Audio Formats Available [ Here ] Razer Raygun Says: ♥ Sharing IS Caring! ♥ Twitter This Commentary |
In The News:
Thanks this morning to ChrisM, my MP3Angel, for supplying the news and commentary audio files.
[After the commentary, times are hard, and pass slowly, when you're doing "Time In Babylon". Emmylou Harris... Courtesy of the respective artists and KPIG Radio Freedom California, Earth]
» You don't tweak the giant's nose (unless you're leading him to a quick trip to his death down the beanstalk) - In the wake of a Tet Offensive-like action against the US embassy in Kabul and ISAF/NATO headquarters among other diversionary attacks Secretary of Defense Panetta has announced that the US will go after the al-Haqqani 'network' which comprises a large number of Pashtun people in Afghanistan and Pakistan... As a matter of fact they control much of the territory North of Punjab province. The Pakistani army and the CIA have been assaulting this allegedly al-Qaeda affiliated group of fighters for a few years now in a not-so-covert war because of their alleged affiliation with Osama bin-Laden.
As far as can be told the tribal group's only connection with Osama and al-Qaeda (except for the fact that any reason is a good enough reason to side with anyone attacking invaders) seems to be one of their tribal leaders married one of Osama bin-Laden's daughters a number of years ago.
As yours truly said in 2001 after the initial invasion of Afghanistan... "We seem to be walking into a regional ambush". Expect dead and wounded US soldiers being evacuated from Pakistan that you most likely will not hear about in the newspapers or see in the AfPak theatre casualty counts.
Special reports and details on the al-Haqqani network below the fold in the "OTHER News".
Meanwhile some soldiers in Afghanistan are having a hard time explaining to their spouses and relatives what they are doing there:
Explaining Afghanistan: US Marines find it hard» The Yemeni Army claims to have killed another dozen or so alleged miltia fighters even as explosions rock the capital Sanaa. Meanwhile Zinjibar, the capital of Abyan province which was "liberated" by the government recently, has come under renewed seige by the rebels. More details at the Telegraph UK.
CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA - Associated Press
Wed, Sep 14, 2011
PATROL BASE FULOD, Afghanistan (AP) — "Baby, I walked on a path today. Everything was clear. Nothing happened."
That's what U.S. Marine Cpl. Ernest Tubbs, a combat engineer who looks for hidden bombs on patrol, often tells his wife when he has the chance to telephone her in the United States. Many a time, he has lied. Tubbs won't tell her about the close calls, the near misses, anything about his dangerous job that might rattle the woman he married last year after meeting her on a Florida beach.
"She would kill me" if she knew, he said. His father, Tubbs said, is proud of his military career but shuns the stress of full awareness, once telling his son: "'What happens, I don't want to know.'"
Unlike wars of decades past, most American troops in Afghanistan are able to stay in touch with their families with the help of Internet and telephone centers on larger bases, and even those in smaller outposts get a call out sometimes.
But technology, and old-fashioned letter-writing, do not always close the distance. For units in combat zones, where men die and lose legs in fights with the Taliban, it is easier to talk about just about anything else.
Young men share an intensity of experience on a deployment, and the bond that blossoms is theirs alone. There is the rush of a firefight, the zero-to-60 crisis of a bomb strike on a patrol, the grind of humping gear in dust and heat, the numbing wait for a flight or a ride or orders. None of this can be easily explained to relatives back home, and maybe they don't even want to know.
The result, documented over generations of war and evident in the reunion of veterans anywhere, is a clan whose members, in some ways, know each other better than any relative could. So it goes for the 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, entrusted with driving insurgents out of the southern Afghan area of Sangin, scene of some of the toughest fighting since the U.S.-led invasion that ousted the Taliban in 2001.
Sixteen men in the battalion have died, and about 160 have been injured. The unit ends its seven-month deployment in October. Tubbs, of Parsonsburg, Maryland, says he's interested in the future, not telling war stories. He wants to get out of the military and become a game warden. And last month, his wife, Hannah, gave birth. He will see the baby, Gabriel, for the first time.
Marines are instructed to avoid giving sensitive military information to families back home, which discourages some discussion of experiences in Afghanistan. 1st Lt. Mark Batey, the platoon leader at Patrol Base Fulod in Sangin, said Marines are better off dodging more personal talk about deployment.
"It does something for yourself. Things that may cause some fear to the Marines, like the fear of losing your legs, or the fear of getting shot, or basically just not going home, or not going home the way that you left home: That's something that if you were to bring it up with people back there, they really wouldn't be able to comfort you," said Batey, of Denton, Texas.
"If you're not here to see it go down, I really can't explain it well enough," he said.
The potential for misunderstandings is high. With a smile, Batey recalled how he once told his girlfriend on the telephone that it was getting "really hot" in his location. She thought he was referring to fighting. He was talking about the temperature... [Continue Reading]
» The emergency aid for this year's large number of U.S. flood/earthquake/hurricane disaster victims is being withheld by the Republican house majority in lieu of matching budget cuts, so the Democrats intend to add it as a rider on the upcoming federal budget Continuing Resolution. The funds needed are looking like $3.7 billion dollars in the house and $7.5 billion in the senate version. Meanwhile, the President's job bill is hung up in Senate committees and nothing is expected to happen for at least a year and the Republican will have their version of the Job Bill on the floor of the House today.
» British Prime Minister Cameron and French president Sarkozy will be in Tripoli today on a diplomatic mission to their crony's newly minted terrorist and criminal infested government.
In OTHER News
The AfPak 'channel at Foreign Policy magazine with details on the the US government's reaction to the ten fighter pin-down of the US embassy the other day by the "Haqqani Network", followed by a very complete evolutionary analysis of Pakistan's militant groups. Full text courtesy of STRATFOR.
U.S. issues warning on Haqqani Network
Thursday, September 15, 2011
AfPak Channel Daily Brief
U.S. secretary of defense Leon Panetta told reporters Wednesday that safe havens allegedly enjoyed by the Haqqani Network in Pakistan are "unacceptable" and said that Pakistan should know that the United States will, "do everything we can" to protect against attacks by the group in Afghanistan (Reuters, AFP, AP, Reuters). American officials blame the Haqqani Network for the day-long siege of Kabul this week that killed at least 25 people, as McClatchy reports that the attackers were Pakistani, according to Afghan officials (McClatchy, NYT, CNN, LAT, Globe and Mail, Times). The officials said that the attackers were found with grenades -- as well as mango juice -- from Pakistan, after they were killed by Afghan and international forces.
A Pakistani foreign ministry spokeswoman warned that Panetta's comments could hurt counterterrorism cooperation between the countries, while the U.S. ambassador to Kabul Ryan Crocker has been criticized for terming the deadly attacks "not a very big deal" in comments to reporters (Reuters, Guardian, BBC, Post). And the Telegraph reports on the Twitter battle between the International Security Assistance Force's (ISAF) and Taliban's Twitter accounts as the fighting was still going on in Kabul (Tel). [In Full, with links]
Published with the express permission of STRATFOR
(http://www.stratfor.com)
The Evolution of a Pakistani Militant Network
Sep 15 2011
By Sean Noonan and Scott Stewart
For many years now, STRATFOR has been carefully following the evolution of “Lashkar-e-Taiba” (LeT), the name of a Pakistan-based jihadist group that was formed in 1990 and existed until about 2001, when it was officially abolished. In subsequent years, however, several major attacks were attributed to LeT, including the November 2008 coordinated assault in Mumbai, India. Two years before that attack we wrote that the group, or at least its remnant networks, were nebulous but still dangerous. This nebulous nature was highlighted in November 2008 when the “Deccan Mujahideen,” a previously unknown group, claimed responsibility for the Mumbai attacks.
While the most famous leaders of the LeT networks, Hafiz Mohammad Saeed and Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi, are under house arrest and in jail awaiting trial, respectively, LeT still poses a significant threat. It’s a threat that comes not so much from LeT as a single jihadist force but LeT as a concept, a banner under which various groups and individuals can gather, coordinate and successfully conduct attacks.
Such is the ongoing evolution of the jihadist movement. And as this movement becomes more diffuse, it is important to look at brand-name jihadist groups like LeT, al Qaeda, the Haqqani network and Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan as loosely affiliated networks more than monolithic entities. With a debate under way between and within these groups over who to target and with major disruptions of their operations by various military and security forces, the need for these groups to work together in order to carry out sensational attacks has become clear. The result is a new, ad hoc template for jihadist operations that is (Watch Video: "Dispatch: Jihadist Groups After bin Laden's Death") -not easily defined and even harder for government leaders to explain to their constituents and reporters to explain to their readers.
Thus, brand names like Lashkar-e-Taiba (which means Army of the Pure) will continue to be used in public discourse while the planning and execution of high-profile attacks grows ever more complex. While the threat posed by these networks to the West and to India may not be strategic, the possibility of disparate though well-trained militants working together and even with organized-crime elements does suggest a continuing tactical threat that is worth examining in more detail.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
September 14 2011 Travus T. Hipp Morning News & Commentary: Carefully Calculated Slavery - It's NOT An Accident 46 Million Americans Live In Poverty
| "All The News You Never Knew You Needed To Know ...Until Now."September 14 2011 Travus T. Hipp Morning News & Commentary: Carefully Calculated Slavery - It's NOT An Accident That 46 Million Americans Live In Poverty [Pop Out Player? Click Here] Prefer An MP3 Playlist? It's Here: [128Kbps MP3 12:38 Minutes] Other Audio Formats Available [ Here ] Razer Raygun Says: ♥ Sharing IS Caring! ♥ Twitter This Commentary |
In The News:
Thanks this morning to ChrisM, my MP3Angel, for supplying the news and commentary audio files.
[After the commentary we can all take that trip to MoneyLand! (Money Money Money! More More More!) (we may already be there...) thanks to the Del McCoury Band. Courtesy of the respective arists and KPIG Radio Freedom California Earth.]
» The beginning of the end... The Al-Haqqani network in Afghanistan and Pakistan, who affiliate with anyone who'd care to shoot at Americans in the region, pinned down the US embassy in Kabul with a rocket propelled grenade and sniper fire attack from surrounding buildings never completed by the contractors for 24 hours yesterday using TEN FIGHTERS against helicopter gunships and artillery!
Most of what you'll read from the military pundits plays down the significance of the battle. To wit:
Afghan and NATO forces killed the final two attackers laying siege to one of Kabul's most upscale and secure districts Wednesday morning, ending a nearly 20-hour ordeal that killed at least 11 civilians and saw several rockets land within the perimeter of the U.S. embassy compound (Reuters, Pajhwok, BBC, Tel, CNN, WSJ, LAT, Guardian, NYT, AJE, AP). The attackers are believed to have gained access to a half-constructed building near the embassy by wearing burqas, and had reportedly stockpiled weapons and ammunition so as to be able to hold out longer (Post, Tel). U.S. ambassador to Kabul Ryan Crocker told reporters that he believed the Haqqani Network was responsible for the attack, but said,...But it illustrates exactly why the West has played directly into the hands of it's own INTERNAL enemies who would destroy their economic systems by draining their treasuries 'swatting mosquitoes with sledgehammers', as the saying goes, while the people who manufacture the 'sledgehammers' loot those treasuries and pick their citizen's tax dollar pocket."If this is the best [the Taliban] can do, I find both their lack of ability and capacity and the ability of Afghan forces to respond to it actually encouraging in this whole transition process" (BBC, AP).[With links @ Foreign Policy AfPak Channel]
Leading to an economy that's coming apart at the seams, with poverty in the United States at it's highest in decades.
Record number of Americans living in poverty...With the rise almost completely due to the impoverishment of workers in the so-called "Right to work" states. In other words, most of the Southern US, which shows the highest of the high US poverty rates.
"The figure for children was even higher... 22%"
Last year, 46.2 million Americans lived in poverty--the highest total since record keeping began more than half a century ago, the Census Bureau reported Tuesday. Thanks to an unemployment rate that averaged 9.6 percent, and anemic economic growth, the share of Americans who lived below the official... [In Full]
Meanwhile, in Detroit, a city left to founder in rust and abandoned houses we see this humanitarian act: 101-year-old Detroit woman evicted in foreclosure
Much Much More On The Topic Of Poverty, And The People Who Would Do Such A Thing To An Aged Woman In Today's Commentary.
» An internal probe by the CIA of the CIA's (!??!)association with the New York Police Department is in the works after reports that the intelligence agency was involved in the investigation of, sharing intelligence about, and stalking of US citizens in collusion with the NYPD, which is a dramatic violation of their federal charter.
Here are some "Weasel Words" from a Squirrelly Police State:
"One mission of the CIA adviser attached to New York's police department is to ensure sharing of information, new CIA Director David Petraeus told the same joint hearing of the House and Senate intelligence committees." [In Full]That's an underhanded way to say the CIA is making sure the NYPD is sharing information with THEM... NOT the other way around.
» Someone is 'unbalanced' - The House Republicans are blocking all emergency aid funding for victims of the hurricanes, earthquakes, and floods over the last six months. They are demanding other cuts in the federal budget to "balance the expenditures".
» It's rumored there's a 'spat' between the president of Iran and the more conservative judiciary of the country regarding the release of the two UC Berkeley hikers who ended up in an Iranian prison for spying...
However, the Italian Alt Press is reporting it like this:
Iran: American hikers to be freed from prison in 'two days'AKI also follows up on the murder of one of their reporters/contributors, allegedly by the Pakistani ISI, after having published an Asia Times article fleshing out the connection between the Pakistani intelligence service (by extension the CIA) and al-Qaeda:
Tehran, 13 Sept. (AKI) - Two Americans who were sentenced by an Iranian court to eight years in prison for spying will be released ''in two days,'' Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told US television network NBC.
Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal were arrested in July 2009 while there were on a hike near Iran's border with Iraq. Another American, Sarah Shourd returned home after she was freed on $500,000 bail in September 2010.
Bail for Bauer and Fattal was also set at $500,000 each, the Associated Press news agency reported on Tuesday.
The three maintain that if they strayed into Iran it was inadvertent. [Source, AKI]
Islamabad, 13 Sept. (AKI) - Pakistani journalist Saleem Shahzad was probably killed by his country’s powerful Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) spy agency, but the initial order was to rough him up and give him a scare, according to an article in the current issue of The New Yorker magazine.The article at AsiaTimes that may have gotten the correspondent killed is here. A follow up @ATimes, "Who killed Syed Saleem Shahzad?" is here.
But sometime before he disappeared on 29 May the order changed from kidnap and hurt to kill, Pulitzer-prize winning journalist Dexter Filkins wrote, citing an unnamed senior American official.
Shahzad disappeared in Islamabad on 29 May. His body was recovered two days later in the remote rural area of Mandi Bahauddin, 150 kilometres southwest of the capital Islamabad, bearing signs of torture.
Pakistan's powerful military spy agency ISI has denied any involvement in Shahzad's abduction and murder, which occurred just days after he published an article in Asia Times Online alleging links between Al-Qaeda and officials in the Pakistani navy. He was also a contributor to Adnkronos International (AKI). [In Full]
» It appears the US is actively working to prevent a vote at the UN on Palestinian Statehood in the next General Assembly. That could be problematic for their Arab League relations... OTOH, the US may consider the Arab League's blessings for anything just as unnecessary as the African Union and it's wishes had over the UN's decision to let NATO attack Libya.
In OTHER News
The flip side of nationalism is always racism, the dehumanization of the enemy and all who appear to question the cause. The plague of nationalism began almost immediately. My son, who was eleven, asked me what the difference was between cars flying small American flags and cars flying large American flags.
"The people with the really big flags are the really big assholes", I told him . . .
[Chris Hedges, 9/11: The assholes on both sides won]
Remember... Capitalism is holding a loaded gun...
...And the target is ANYONE who gets in the way of their profits.
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Tuesday, September 13, 2011
September 13 2011 Travus T. Hipp Morning News & Commentary: How Do You Say 'Tet' In Pashtun? A Historical-Tactical Look At How To Lose An Imperial War
| "All The News You Never Knew You Needed To Know ...Until Now."September 13 2011 Travus T. Hipp Morning News & Commentary: How Do You Say 'Tet' In Pashtun? A Historical And Tactical Perspective On How To Lose An Imperial War [Pop Out Player? Click Here] Prefer An MP3 Playlist? It's Here: [128Kbps MP3 14:43 Minutes] Other Audio Formats Available [ Here ] Razer Raygun Says: ♥ Sharing IS Caring! ♥ Twitter This Commentary |
In The News:
Thanks this morning to ChrisM, my MP3Angel, for supplying the news and commentary audio files.
[After the commentary, Jim Stringer, with a tale of "The Last War". Courtesy of the respective artists and KPIG Radio Freedom California... Earth.]
» Tet Offensive V.2.0 - To follow up on the attack the other day that left seventy seven US soldiers and personnel wounded and two Afghanis dead in a truck bomb attack outside Kabul Afghanistan, the Taliban has managed to infiltrate the city and have committed a coordinated attacks on the US Embassy, NATO/ISAF HQ, the presidential palace compound along with police stations and other government facilities... with buildings taken by the insurgents near the U.S. embassy as sniper posts. US helicopter gunships are attempting to suppress the insurgents, with the fighting still in progress as of two hours ago. Much more in the commentary.
From STRATFOR Global Intelligence, an early and under-stated report on the fighting:
The War in AfghanistanThe wikipedia entry on the Tet Offensive would be a good historical starting point.
Taliban Strike Deep In Kabul
September 13, 2011
A team of as many as 10 Afghan Taliban militants armed with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades mounted an assault Sept. 13 in a high-security zone in the capital Kabul against the U.S. Embassy among other targets. At least four of the attackers were likely suicide bombers and detonated themselves during the attack. The attack began at 1:30 p.m. local time and has been underway for close to two hours. The militants took over a building in an area near Abdul Haq Chowk Square, a location in close proximity to Afghan government and Western security installations, including NATO headquarters.
While there have been many attacks in Kabul, this incident is one of the rare occasions that militants have demonstrated the capability to get extremely close to the heart of the Western military and intelligence presence in the Afghan capital. The ability to get numerous operatives armed with explosives and heavy guns into this area could not have been possible without the Taliban obtaining aid from Afghan security personnel posted in high-security areas.
The attackers are unlikely to succeed in doing much damage, and they will likely be overpowered by coalition forces — a fact the planners of the attack knew in advance. The light weapons the attackers were armed with simply could not cause significant damage to a hardened facility such as the U.S. Embassy. Therefore, the attack was meant to be more of a psychological operation than a physical one. This attack, likely the work of the Haqqani network, is designed to undermine U.S. efforts to negotiate with the senior leadership of the Afghan Taliban movement. [Free newsletter subscription on site]
Also see thie entry: Battle of Saigon (1968)
Further reference points, massive amounts of information on the Tet offensive and most of America's wars at Defense Technical Information Center.
» The good new today comes from Iran where the president has instructed the courts to settle the situation with the two UC Berkeley hikers who strayed over the Iranian border a couple of years ago and were jailed for spying among other charges. It seems they will be released on $500,000 bail each. The release may be due to Iran's attempt to smooth their relations with the UN General Assembly, where they plan to raise a few issues and don't want this unresolved matter hanging their 'feet in the diplomatic fire'.
» President Obama will be in Ohio today, Republican speaker Boehner's home turf, to pitch the American Jobs Act. When he gets there he'll have a complete list of local jobs that need doing such as the renovation of ninety five condemned bridges, some just taken out of operation, that need repair in Boehner's own congressional district.
» China is apparently going to buy a large piece of Italy's debt, which caused some relief on the global market today.
» There are officially U.S. "Boots On The Ground" in Libya now. They are there ostensibly to assess damage to the embassy and other US facilities. If any of them are killed or injured by the still-resisting al-Gadaffi government forces, expect a lot more US boots on the ground and more US casualties.
In OTHER News
Tet Offensive 1968 US Embassy/Saigon fighting
[This Clip Is 9:15 minutes. Pop Out Player?]
Remember... Capitalism is holding a loaded gun...
...And the target is ANYONE who gets in the way of their profits.
Audio hosting courtesy of: [www.archive.org]
Travus T. Hipp's Commentary Archive Is [ Here]
Search the archive by topic [Here]
Cabale News RSS Feed Via Internet Archive
Creative Commons Copyright
Cabale New Service, KPIG Radio, and KVMR radio.
Listen to KVMR
Recorded & transcribed by Razer Raygun @ Razed By Wolves
Postings Auntie Imperial And Razer Raygun Have Done Lately Are [Here]
The Consolidated Postings in RSS format [Here]
Travus T. Hipp Fan Page @ Facebook (unaffiliated)
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107 and The Berne Convention on Literary and Artistic Works, Article 10, the news clippings, audio, and images used in this posting are made available without profit for research and educational purposes.
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