Global Terror threat no threat to a golf outing and weekend party with the boys ??????
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-08-04/us-extends-most-embassy-closures-until-august-10
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 08/04/2013 16:52 -0400
http://www.debka.com/article/23170/Unexplained-conflicting-US-global-terror-warnings-now-extend-to-American-homeland-
Nothing in this statement specified the nature of the “potential threat.”
2. If the threat is specific why does the warning extend to so many countries? Al Qaeda is not even active in all them. If the danger is so immediate, why haven’t any governments in North Africa and as far east as Bangladesh declared their own terror alerts?
4. In the past week, US drones conducted three attacks against al Qaeda targets in Yemen, where the organization is defined by US officials as al Qaeda’s most dangerous affiliate and capable of attacking the US embassy in Sanaa.
All 12 US drone attacks in Yemen of the last eight months targeted Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). Although its deputy chief Said al Shiri, a former inmate of the Guantanamo Bay facility, was eliminated, AQAP’s entire high command has remained intact and fully functional. In other words, US intelligence counter-terror agencies have not discovered their whereabouts.
5. Neither have they run down the location of al Qaeda’s top leader Ayman al-Zawahiri. Tuesday, he released a communiqué accusing US agents of engineering the coup which deposed the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood president by penetrating the Egyptian army. He called for more attacks on America.
6. Saturday, the international police agency, Interpol, published a global security alert following "the escape of hundreds of terrorists and other criminals" in the past month, including jailbreaks in Iraq, Libya and Pakistan. Interpol feared that the escapees would team up with al Qaeda to hit Western targets. Yet none of its 190 member states have declared terror alerts on this score either.
7. Finally, the sweeping warnings from the Obama administration dramatically refute its own oft-heard claims that al Qaeda is no longer a force to be reckoned with, because it has lost its compact central command and control of its component branches, which have split up into regional franchises operating autonomously. Al Qaeda, they have been saying, is no longer capable of large-scale terrorist attacks on a global scale.
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/world/2013/08/04/White-House-holds-high-level-meeting-over-security-threat.html
( President Obama didn't attend the Saturday high level Principals Committee meeting over terror threats shutting down 22 embassies but was briefed later ??? His Saturday golf outing was really more pressing ? )
White house has a razor sharp focus on stopping terrorized golf balls or something....... why have a POTUS when apparently POTUS is not even part of the Principals Committee ?
Libya.........
http://www.libyaherald.com/2013/08/03/terror-threat-closes-us-embassies-tomorrow-including-here-in-libya/
( So , if the unspecified threat of a terror attack is " real , advanced and imminent " and warrants a global travel advisory for the entire month of August , doesn't that mean all of the Embassies closed for August 4, 2013 , should stay closed through the month of August ? BTW , what happens September 1, 2013 when all islamist terrorists haven't left Planet Earth ? )
http://www.moonofalabama.org/2013/08/did-kerry-call-for-a-coup-in-pakistan.html
Indeed the context of an interview in Pakistan is very important here. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was recently elected for the third time. Sharif is a conservative Islamist and is not pro-American. Both of his former premierships were terminated by the Pakistani military. In 1993 he pressed to step down by the military and during his second term in 1999 then Chief of Staff General Musharraf removed Nawaz Sharif in a military coup.
Despite Kerry's visit and somewhat friendly words to Pakistan there is a lot of trouble brewing between the U.S. and Pakistan over U.S. drone strikes and the U.S. infringement on Pakistan's sovereignty. The U.S. is also very much against Sharif's support for the Afghan Taliban and his plans for reconciliationwith the Pakistani Taliban.
The military "restoring democracy" remark can thus be understood as an invitation to the Pakistani military to repeat in Pakistan what happened in Egypt. Prepare some "popular protests", launch a coup against Sharif, put in a compliant "civil" government and you will be lauded by the United States government for "restoring democracy".
That is certainly what the Pakistani military in Rawalpindi will take away from Kerry's interview. A few month from now, when Sharif starts to implement his agenda, strings can be pulled and confidential phone calls made to again coup against a somewhat popular elected government. All in the name of "restoring democracy."
One also wonders what the rather paranoid Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan may think about Kerry's "restoring democracy" remark. Were those protests over Gezi Park, which Erdogan blames on foreign intervention and the "interest lobby" aka the Jews, really about one of the few green spots in Istanbul or were the about "restoring democracy"?
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-08-03/egypt-verge-engineered-civil-war
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 08/03/2013 19:35 -0400
Supporters of deposed Egyptian president Mohammed Mursi pose for photos in front of a large poster of him, near their sit-in area around Raba’ Al Adawya mosque, east of Cairo, yesterday.
*****
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http://www.france24.com/en/20130804-syrias-assad-bans-foreign-currency-transactions
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-08-04/us-extends-most-embassy-closures-until-august-10
US Extends Most Embassy Closures Until August 10
- Abu Dhabi
- Afghanistan
- Don't Panic
- Dubai
- Kuwait
- Middle East
- national security
- Obama Administration
- White House
The latest subjunctive paraphrase, just released by the US State Department: "Please don't panic... well, actually panic just a little bit, but thanks to the NSA's pervasive snooping activity, in retrospect there will have been no need to panic, as any terror threats will have been promptly eliminated (except for those that sneak through the NSA's dragnet like the Boston bombing of course). So all is well... but not really, which is why we are extending embassy closures for a little more, due to highly specific unspecified threats which we can't reveal. Just know the threats are there. But thanks to the NSA, there is nothing to worry about. Unless there is."
The previous can be found here.
The literal release:
Given that a number of our embassies and consulates were going to be closed in accordance with local custom and practice for the bulk of the week for the Eid celebration at the end of Ramadan, and out of an abundance of caution, we've decided to extend the closure of several embassies and consulates including a small number of additional posts.This is not an indication of a new threat stream, merely an indication of our commitment to exercise caution and take appropriate steps to protect our employees including local employees and visitors to our facilities.Posts in Abu Dhabi, Amman, Cairo, Riyadh, Dhahran, Jeddah, Doha, Dubai, Kuwait, Manama, Muscat, Sanaa, Tripoli, Antanarivo, Bujumbura, Djibouti, Khartoum, Kigali, and Port Louis are instructed to close for normal operations Monday, August 5 through Saturday, August 10.The following posts that are normally open on Sunday, but were closed on Sunday, August 4, are authorized to reopen for normal operations on August 5: Dhaka, Algiers, Nouakchott, Kabul, Herat, Mazar el Sharif, Baghdad, Basrah, and Erbil.
CNN's take:
The U.S. State Department said Sunday that it has extended embassy and consulate closures in Abu Dhabi, Amman, Cairo, Riyadh, Dhahran, Jeddah, Doha, Dubai, Kuwait, Manama, Muscat, Sanaa, Tripoli, Antanarivo, Bujumbura, Djibouti, Khartoum, Kigali, and Port Louis. The posts are instructed to close for normal operations Monday through Saturday, the State Department said."This is not an indication of a new threat stream," the State Department said, "merely an indication of our commitment to exercise caution and take appropriate steps to protect our employees including local employees and visitors to our facilities."...An intercepted message among senior al Qaeda operatives in the last several days raised alarm bells that led to the closing of embassies and consulates Sunday across the Middle East and North Africa, CNN has learned.CNN has agreed to a request from an Obama administration official not to publish or broadcast additional details because of the sensitivity of the information.Several U.S. officials also emphasized they have been watching growing threats emerging from Yemen for weeks.Those threats, combined with the coming end of the month of Ramadan, plus the concern over several major prison breaks in the region, all contributed to the U.S. decision to shut down diplomatic installations.The shuttering of 22 U.S. embassies and consulates for the day Sunday amid fears of an al Qaeda attack is an unprecedented move."We're doing what is necessary to protect our people," Rep. Adam Schiff, a Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, told CNN's State of the Union on Sunday.The closures stretch across a swath of North Africa and the Middle East, from Mauritania to Oman. Bangladesh and Afghanistan, both majority Muslim nations, also are affected.The shutdowns could extend beyond Sunday, a senior State Department official said. A U.S. global travel alert is also in place.As White House and national security officials met to discuss the threat and U.S. military forces in the Middle East were put on a higher state of alert, Interpol warned that al Qaeda has been tied to prison breaks in the region that led to the escape of hundreds of terrorists and other criminals.It's unclear what locations are targeted by the apparent terror plot, U.S. lawmakers said Sunday."I think we know a lot more about the when than the where. And you can tell that from the breadth of the closures across North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula," Schiff said. "But the when was very specific in terms of a Sunday. Obviously, that may continue and the closures may continue. The travel warning is more extensive.But this is not the usual kind of chatter, not the more generalized 'death to the Americans' or 'death to great Satan.' "
"Death to great Satan." Really?
http://www.debka.com/article/23170/Unexplained-conflicting-US-global-terror-warnings-now-extend-to-American-homeland-
Saturday night Aug. 3, the global warnings issued last week by the US State Department and Interpol against terrorist attacks covering almost the entire Muslim world, suddenly reached the American homeland. Sunday morning, Aug. 4, as US missions closed in 22 countries, including Egypt and Israel, the New York Police Department went on high alert. Security was beefed up in high-profile areas outside houses of worship and transportation hubs, although Police Commissioner Ray Kelly complained that “a lack of specific information was cause for concern.”
Friday, Aug. 2 the State Department issued a worldwide travel alert warning to Americans overseas of potential al Qaeda attacks in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia.
Saturday night, National Security Adviser Susan Rice convened security officials on the situation. The White House stated: “Given the nature of the potential threat through the week, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and counter-terrorism Lisa Monaco has held regular meetings with relevant members of the inter-agency to ensure the US government is taking those appropriate steps.”
Nothing in this statement specified the nature of the “potential threat.”
Sunday, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey told the ABC that the threat was "more specific than previous ones" and “the intent is to attack Western, not just US interests.” He reported that the diplomatic facilities closed “range from Mauritania in northwest Africa to Afghanistan.”
Western and Middle East terrorism and intelligence experts say that in additional to the lack of information, at least six elements don’t add up in the various global warnings released since Thursday Aug. 1:
1. Thursday, US President Barack Obama ordered that "all appropriate steps" be taken to protect Americans in response to a threat of an al-Qaeda attack. What does this mean? The experts comment that even if all US agencies were pressed into service worldwide, there is no way they could protect all Americans in the vast area marked out in the warnings.
2. If the threat is specific why does the warning extend to so many countries? Al Qaeda is not even active in all them. If the danger is so immediate, why haven’t any governments in North Africa and as far east as Bangladesh declared their own terror alerts?
3. US officials reported that some of the intelligence came from terrorist communications intercepted by the National Security Agency over the past days. This too raises questions, considering that al Qaeda leaders are wont to avoid electronic media and satellite phones for their communications on operations, preferring couriers who are not susceptible to electronic interception or eavesdropping. The Internet serves them for propaganda and planting red herrings.
4. In the past week, US drones conducted three attacks against al Qaeda targets in Yemen, where the organization is defined by US officials as al Qaeda’s most dangerous affiliate and capable of attacking the US embassy in Sanaa.
The last drone attack Aug. 1 killed five low-profile al Qaeda operatives, who were driving in a vehicle in the Qatan Valley of Hadramouth province (Osama bin Laden’s place of birth).
All 12 US drone attacks in Yemen of the last eight months targeted Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). Although its deputy chief Said al Shiri, a former inmate of the Guantanamo Bay facility, was eliminated, AQAP’s entire high command has remained intact and fully functional. In other words, US intelligence counter-terror agencies have not discovered their whereabouts.
5. Neither have they run down the location of al Qaeda’s top leader Ayman al-Zawahiri. Tuesday, he released a communiqué accusing US agents of engineering the coup which deposed the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood president by penetrating the Egyptian army. He called for more attacks on America.
6. Saturday, the international police agency, Interpol, published a global security alert following "the escape of hundreds of terrorists and other criminals" in the past month, including jailbreaks in Iraq, Libya and Pakistan. Interpol feared that the escapees would team up with al Qaeda to hit Western targets. Yet none of its 190 member states have declared terror alerts on this score either.
7. Finally, the sweeping warnings from the Obama administration dramatically refute its own oft-heard claims that al Qaeda is no longer a force to be reckoned with, because it has lost its compact central command and control of its component branches, which have split up into regional franchises operating autonomously. Al Qaeda, they have been saying, is no longer capable of large-scale terrorist attacks on a global scale.
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/world/2013/08/04/White-House-holds-high-level-meeting-over-security-threat.html
( President Obama didn't attend the Saturday high level Principals Committee meeting over terror threats shutting down 22 embassies but was briefed later ??? His Saturday golf outing was really more pressing ? )
Al Arabiya
In light of a global terror alert over potential al-Qaeda-linked attacks “occurring in or emanating from the Arabian Peninsula,” President Barack Obama's top national security advisers held a meeting on Saturday.
Among those who attended the meeting were Secretary of State John Kerry and Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, the White House said.
"This afternoon, National Security Advisor (Susan) Ricechaired a meeting with the Principals Committee to further review the situation and follow-up actions," the White House said in a statement, referring to the advisers group, according to Reuters news agency.
"The president has received frequent briefings over the last week on all aspects of the potential threat and our preparedness measures," it said.
Also present were the heads of the CIA, FBI and National Security Agency, as well as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, the White House said, according to AFP news agency.
"This afternoon, National Security Advisor (Susan) Ricechaired a meeting with the Principals Committee to further review the situation and follow-up actions," the White House said in a statement, referring to the advisers group, according to Reuters news agency.
"The president has received frequent briefings over the last week on all aspects of the potential threat and our preparedness measures," it said.
Also present were the heads of the CIA, FBI and National Security Agency, as well as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, the White House said, according to AFP news agency.
Obama did not attend but was briefed afterwards.
In recent days, Washington ordered its embassies across the Islamic world shuttered Sunday. Germany, Britain and France following suit and were to close their missions in Yemen for at least two days.
http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2013/08/us-closes-21-embassies-due-to-al-qaeda-threat-obama-goes-golfing/
The United States is closing 21 embassies across the Muslim World this weekend due to a terror threat by Al-Qaeda.
Obama went golfing.
Fore!
President Obama on Saturday celebrated his upcoming birthday on the golf course with friends from nearly every stage of his life.
and......
http://www.whitehousedossier.com/2013/08/03/roving-obama-birthday-party-heads-camp-david/
President Obama and his band of birthday brothers moved directly from the golf course at Andrews Air Force Base to Camp David, where they will continue their revelry.
From the pool report:
After seven plus hours on the green, at 3:20 the president and a smaller number of the original 11 golf birthday buddies rolled up on the Andrews Air strip to travel via heli to Camp David for an overnight celebration. WH says some in the party traveled up to the high(er) country by van and some traveled on Marine One.Names of Marine One riders vs the drivers in another van coming in next report, though your pooler saw Reggie Love, Sam Kass and Marvin Nicholson boarding the heli.The First Lady is joining but traveled separately.Potus was wearing a white and green golf shirt, shades and khakis.
Isn’t that nice? Michelle’s invited too!
The time has come to remind Americans that "you can't have 100-percent security and also have 100-percent privacy and zero inconvenience" or, in other words, why only the government can provide a veil of impenetrable protection, and why such things as personal privacy in an age of murderous Al Qaeda (the non-US funded variety, supposedly) terrorists lurking behind corners, are not only unnecessary but unpatriotic. According to CBS, the "terrorist threat prompting the U.S. government to close nearly two dozen embassies and consulates Sunday is the most specific, credible threat information in years" (even more credible than the Boston marathon bombers?) Specific but lacking the actual date, or timing, of an alleged "terrorist attack." Information which, however, can not be shared with the general public for obvious reasons - just trust the government and ignore that spy drone peeking into your window to see if you are dutifully spending your daily quota of "confident consumer" fiat on Amazon.com.
Obama Meets Security Advisors Over "Most Specific, Credible Terrorist Threat In Years"; US Forces On Alert
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 08/03/2013 - 22:34
The time has come to remind Americans that "you can't have 100-percent security and also have 100-percent privacy and zero inconvenience" or, in other words, why only the government can provide a veil of impenetrable protection, and why such things as personal privacy in an age of murderous Al Qaeda (the non-US funded variety, supposedly) terrorists lurking behind corners, are not only unnecessary but unpatriotic. According to CBS, the "terrorist threat prompting the U.S. government to close nearly two dozen embassies and consulates Sunday is the most specific, credible threat information in years" (even more credible than the Boston marathon bombers?) Specific but lacking the actual date, or timing, of an alleged "terrorist attack." Information which, however, can not be shared with the general public for obvious reasons - just trust the government and ignore that spy drone peeking into your window to see if you are dutifully spending your daily quota of "confident consumer" fiat on Amazon.com. 
White house has a razor sharp focus on stopping terrorized golf balls or something....... why have a POTUS when apparently POTUS is not even part of the Principals Committee ?
Libya.........
http://www.libyaherald.com/2013/08/03/terror-threat-closes-us-embassies-tomorrow-including-here-in-libya/
( So , if the unspecified threat of a terror attack is " real , advanced and imminent " and warrants a global travel advisory for the entire month of August , doesn't that mean all of the Embassies closed for August 4, 2013 , should stay closed through the month of August ? BTW , what happens September 1, 2013 when all islamist terrorists haven't left Planet Earth ? )
Terror threat closes US embassies tomorrow, including here in Libya
By Hadi Fornaji
Tripoli, 3 August 2013:
The US embassy in Tripoli is one of 21 American diplomatic missions in Muslim countries that will be closed tomorrow because of an unspecified threat of terrorist attack.
A statement on the embassy’s web site said that the State Department: “has been apprised of information that, out of an abundance of caution and care for our employees and others who may be visiting our installations, indicates we should institute these precautionary steps. Embassy Tripoli will be closed on Sunday, August 4.”
The embassy closure comes on top of a repeat yesterday of an alert to all US citizens, particularly those travelling in the Middle East and North Africa, to be on their guard against terrorist attack for the next month. The embassy has recommended joining the State Departments “Smart traveler Enrollment Program” which both feeds security and travel updates to members and makes it easier for US embassy or consular officials to contact their nationals.
Though officials in Washington refuse, as a matter of policy, to go into details of security threats, there has been widespread speculation that US diplomats in the Yemen could be the target. The British embassy in the capital Sana’a is closing tomorrow and Monday as are the French and German missions. The British foreign office said that its embassy closure was “in response to a specific threat.” US security analysts have been quoted on local networks, saying that there had been a marked increase in communications “chatter” between terrorist suspects, which has in the past been a precursor of an attack.
A senior State Department official was today reported to have said that the closure of US missions could perhaps be extended “for days” rather than simply for tomorrow. This has not been confirmed officially.
Meanwhile Interpol has issued a global security alert following recent jail breaks in Libya, Pakistan and Iraq which it said it believed all had a high level of al-Qaeda involvement. It asked its 190 member countries to help it “determine whether any of these recent events are coordinated and linked,” and to immediately report any signs of terrorist activity. Libya is a member of Interpol.
The US embassy here has said that any citizens requiring emergency assistance should call the duty officer at 218-91-379-456.
Meanwhile on Saturday, Interpol issued a global security alert in connection with large jailbreaks the international police body said freed hundreds of “terrorists and other criminals” in nine different nations.
Interpol said it suspects Al Qaeda involvement in several of the breakouts.
It asked its 190 member nations to help Interpol “determine whether any of these recent events are coordinated and linked,” and to immediately report any signs of terrorist activity.
Interpol noted that August marks the anniversary of deadly militant attacks in Mumbai, Gluboky, Russia and Jakarta.
It also said this week marks “the 15th anniversary of the US Embassy bombings in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania in which more than 200 mostly African citizens were killed and 4,000 others injured.”
Washington’s global alert — near the end of Islam’s Ramadan fasting month — appears to be linked to Al Qaeda electronic communications that have been intercepted by US intelligence this week, The New York Times reported, describing attacks that would be centered on American interests in the Middle East and North Africa.
“A decision to close this many embassies and issue a global travel warning for a month suggests the threat is real, advanced and imminent but the intelligence is incomplete on where,” Brookings Institution scholar Bruce Riedel told the Times.
The US will close a number of embassies and consulates, mostly in the Middle East, on Sunday in response to an unspecified threat, officials say.
A state department spokeswoman said the order applied to any embassy or consulate normally open on Sunday.
In the Muslim world, Sunday is a work day. In other parts of the world US diplomatic offices are shut on Sunday.
Last year on 11 September, the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya, was attacked, leaving four Americans dead.
Other embassies are routinely targets of protesters.
“We have instructed all US embassies and consulates that would have normally been open on Sunday to suspend operations, specifically on August 4th,” a senior state department official told the BBC.
“It is possible we may have additional days of closing as well.”
The official said the state department had “been apprised of information” leading it to these “precautionary steps… out of an abundance of caution”.
US Representative Ed Rogers, chairman of the House foreign affairs committee, told CNN the threat was related to al-Qaeda.
“It’s my understanding that it is al Qaeda-linked, all right, and the threat emanates in the Middle East and in Central Asia,” Mr Royce said.
An unnamed US official earlier told the broadcaster the threat was “credible and serious”.
CBS News reported that among those affected by closure would be the embassies or consulates in Bahrain, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.
Last year, the attack on the facility in Benghazi led to the deaths of US Ambassador Christopher Stevens, as well as three other US consulate staff.
and Libya's Deputy PM resigns citing dysfunctional government........
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/08/04/Libya-s-deputy-prime-minister-resigns.html
Libya’s deputy PM resigns over ‘dysfunctional’ govt
Reuters, Benghazi
Libya’s deputy prime minister, Awad al-Barasi, resigned on Saturday, saying he was not given enough powers to carry out his duties.
“I cannot work in a dysfunctional government where my powers are lost,” al-Barasi told a news conference in Benghazi.
Barasi criticized Prime Minister Ali Zeidan’s Cabinet, saying it did not deal with problems in a real manner.
Zeidan said last week he would reshuffle the Cabinet and reorganize the government to cope with the urgent situation in the country following killings in the eastern city of Benghazi that sparked violent demonstrations.
The unrest was sparked by the assassination of a prominent political activist and critic of the Muslim Brotherhood, Abdelsalam al-Mosmary, who was shot dead after leaving a mosque in Benghazi.
Barasi is a member of the Muslim Brotherhood-linked Justice and Construction party.
http://www.libyaherald.com/2013/08/03/900-special-forces-to-impose-order-in-benghazi/
900 Special Forces to impose order in Benghazi
By Sami Zaptia.
Tripoli, 3 August 2013:
Nine hundred members of the Libyan army’s Special Forces took up their posts all over the city of Benghazi at the outbreak of dawn today, LANA reports.
The soldiers took up positions across all exit points, ports, roads and junctions as part of a security plan to impose some kind of order on the troubled city.
The city had experienced a series of bombings and assassinations in recent days, including a police station bombing and an assassination on Friday.
The official spokesperson for the Benghazi Joint Security Room, Mohamed Hejazi, was quoted by LANA as saying that the plan includes securing the streets, main entry points, intersections and public institutions all across the city.
Further, he added that elements of the Special Forces and other reservists will join this force over the next two days to support their work.
Hejazi called upon the citizens of Benghazi to stand together and support the effort of the Special Forces of the city in order to stabilize and restore security.
On Thursday, the US State Department issued a security warning for its embassies in the MENA region, including its embassy in Tripoli, which will be closed tomorrow.
The Libyan government and the GNC had come in for increased criticism recently for their failure to be able to doing something about the violence, amid evidence of splits between the army, the Ministry of Interior and troops on the ground in Tripoli and Benghazi.
and.....
http://www.libyaherald.com/2013/08/03/prisoners-escape-in-tripoli/
Prisoners escape in Tripoli
By Ashraf Abdul Wahab.
Tripoli, 3 August 2013:
At many as 18 prisoners managed to escape in Tripoli on Thursday afternoon when a judicial police vehicle was ambushed by masked gunmen, firing from 15 cars.
The incident took place as the prisoners were being transported back to Ain Zara and Bawabat-Aljibs prisons after they had appeared at a court and the prosecution office in Swani. Two former revolutionaries who had recently joined the judicial police were injured in the attack.
There have been a number of attacks on the Judicial police while moving prisoners. In April in one ambush, a prisoner was killed and two policemen seriously wounded.
According to Judicial Department spokesman Lieutenant Ahmed Abu-Karaa, the judicial police they were risking their lives moving prisoners and genuinely afraid of further attacks. He called upon Congress and the government to provide urgent support to the judicial police, including armoured vehicles, in order to avoid more of his colleagues being injured or even killed.
Speaking to Al-Watan newspaper, he accused the Prime Minister of not keeping his promises. He said when the Ali Zeidan had visited the Judicial Authority headquarters with the Minister of Justice in April 2013, he had promised surveillance cameras, armoured vehicles, light weapons and other equipment. There was also to be training in Libya and abroad so as to benefit from the experience of other countries. However, nothing had happened, he said. The promises were for the benefit of the TV camera, he claimed, accusing the government of acting only after disasters happened.
There was growing discontent among members of the Judicial Department because of the repeated attacks, Abu-Karaa said. They were now reluctant to accompany inmates to the public prosecution offices or courts for fear of being attacked. What weapons they carried, he said, were their own, brought with them when, as former revolutionaries, they joined the judicial police.
He predicted that jail breaks, notably the recent mass break out from Benghazi’s Kuwafiyah prison, and ambushes of prisoner transport would until the judicial authorities were given the resources they need. He also called on the Ministry of Justice to quickly resume work at Ain Zara’s Court and Public Prosecution Office because they are located within the vicinity of the prison. The location would reduce the need to transport prisoners and therefore the possibility of attacks, he said.
Pakistan......
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2013\08\03\story_3-8-2013_pg1_2
No timetable for end to drone strikes against ‘terrorists’: US
WASHINGTON: The US State Department on Friday said that no timeline could be provided to end drone attacks.
Briefing the newsmen in Washington, State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said that US has made significant progress against core al Qaeda by using drones as counterterrorism tools, “but that as we make that progress the need to use these tools will, of course, be reduced”. She said that Secretary of State John Kerry has reinforced the changes that US expects to take place in the programme over time, but there is no exact timeline to provide. “Obviously, a lot of this is driven by the situation on the ground,” she said.
“The goal here is, of course, that as we have success against al Qaeda - which we’ve talked about a lot the success we’ve had in this region of the world against core al Qaeda - that the tool will obviously - we need to use this tactic less going forward, and that’s what the secretary was referencing,” she said.
“I have no exact timeline to provide. Again, the secretary was making the point that we have made, as we’ve talked about, significant progress against core al Qaeda in this region, and that we will continue to do so - that they are a shadow of what they once were, and I think he was reinforcing that point,” she maintained.
The United States has said it looks forward to working with Islamabad on bilateral cooperation and regional issues and in this respect meeting with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was one of main reasons for Secretary of State John Kerry’s visit. As Kerry concluded his visit to Islamabad, the State Department said the chief American diplomat “made clear that one of the main reasons he was going to Pakistan right now was to meet with Mr (Nawaz) Sharif, that we’re looking forward to working with the newly elected civilian government on a host of issues, regional security, energy”.
In reference to bilateral cooperation on enhancing Pakistan’s energy production, Harf noted that Secretary Kerry also visited a power plant in Pakistan.
The State Department comments came after Kerry, on his first visit as secretary of state, met the top Pakistani political and military leaders and the two countries announced revival of the strategic dialogue on wide-ranging issues of common interest.
The United States and Pakistan agreed on Thursday to re-establish a “full partnership”, hoping to end years of acrimony over US drone strikes on Pakistani soil, the raid that killed Osama bin Laden and other grievances. agencies
August 02, 2013
Did Kerry Call For A Coup In Pakistan?
Yesterday Secretary of State John Kerry visted Pakistan. In an interview with Geo TV he remarked on Egypt:SECRETARY KERRY: [...] The military was asked to intervene by millions and millions of people, all of whom were afraid of a descendance into chaos, into violence. And the military did not take over, to the best of our judgment so – so far. To run the country, there’s a civilian government. In effect, they were restoring democracy. And the fact is --QUESTION: By killing people on the roads?The story of Egypt is certainly not finished yet. The military has ordered the interior ministry to clearthe Muslim Brotherhood sit-ins. That will likely be a bloody affair and the U.S. will merely comment on it. "Absolutely unacceptable" will be the public stand. The private call to General Sisi will probably be "congratulations, well done."But saying the military in Egypt "were restoring democracy" is not only about Egypt.
SECRETARY KERRY: Oh, no. That’s not restoring democracy, and we’re very, very concerned about, very concerned about that. And I’ve had direct conversations with President Mansour, with Vice President ElBaradei, with General al-Sisi, as have other members of our government. And I’ve talked to the Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy, so I’ve been in touch with all of the players there. And we have made it clear that that is absolutely unacceptable, it cannot happen.
Now, as you know, these situations can be very confusing and very difficult. We’re working very hard right now with Lady Catherine Ashton, with various officials, with other foreign ministers of other countries, in order to try to see if we can resolve this peacefully. But the story of Egypt is not finished yet, so we have to see how it unfolds in the next days.
Indeed the context of an interview in Pakistan is very important here. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was recently elected for the third time. Sharif is a conservative Islamist and is not pro-American. Both of his former premierships were terminated by the Pakistani military. In 1993 he pressed to step down by the military and during his second term in 1999 then Chief of Staff General Musharraf removed Nawaz Sharif in a military coup.
Despite Kerry's visit and somewhat friendly words to Pakistan there is a lot of trouble brewing between the U.S. and Pakistan over U.S. drone strikes and the U.S. infringement on Pakistan's sovereignty. The U.S. is also very much against Sharif's support for the Afghan Taliban and his plans for reconciliationwith the Pakistani Taliban.
The military "restoring democracy" remark can thus be understood as an invitation to the Pakistani military to repeat in Pakistan what happened in Egypt. Prepare some "popular protests", launch a coup against Sharif, put in a compliant "civil" government and you will be lauded by the United States government for "restoring democracy".
That is certainly what the Pakistani military in Rawalpindi will take away from Kerry's interview. A few month from now, when Sharif starts to implement his agenda, strings can be pulled and confidential phone calls made to again coup against a somewhat popular elected government. All in the name of "restoring democracy."
One also wonders what the rather paranoid Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan may think about Kerry's "restoring democracy" remark. Were those protests over Gezi Park, which Erdogan blames on foreign intervention and the "interest lobby" aka the Jews, really about one of the few green spots in Istanbul or were the about "restoring democracy"?
Egypt........
Is Egypt On The Verge Of Engineered Civil War?
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Submitted by Brandon Smith of Alt-Market
Is Egypt On The Verge Of Engineered Civil War?
For thousands of years, Egypt has been one of the primary pillars of the Eastern world. When Egypt falls into turmoil, a shockwave is felt by all other nations that heralds great change and perhaps even great catastrophe. The West's longtime interest in maintaining a solid foothold in Egypt is based on this reality; even in our modern age, when Egypt is in your corner riches can be accumulated, and power can be gathered.
Our government along with European governments have gone to incredible lengths in the region in order to ensure Egyptian compliance. In the 1940's and 1950's, Britain sought to dominate the country through force of arms. The U.S. set out to buy Egypt with massive foreign aid as well as military subsidies for leaders that held pro-western views. However, it appears that in the quest for “globalization”, western interests now see a destabilized and violent Egypt as more useful to the grand plan. The Egyptian revolution in 2011 which highlighted what many call the “Arab Spring” was heavily manipulated by U.S. and European governments, but such sociopolitical engineering is still limited to the whims of the target population.
No one can create a revolution or civil war out of thin air. Years or even decades of popular angst and anger has to be fostered. The citizenry must already be near the tipping point of mass dissent. Globalists do not make revolutions occur, they simply find a revolution already brewing, and then attempt to direct the preexisting energy of the populace towards an end result that benefits the establishment the most.
Egypt is now ripe for internal conflict far beyond civil disobedience into the realm of Syrian-style civil war, and I believe our government is well aware that such a calamity is brewing...
The ousting of President Hosni Mubarak was driven in part by a distaste amongst the general Egyptian public for the U.S. government's influence over the political dichotomy of their society. U.S. funding had, in their view, given foundational support to Mubarak's reign, which had resorted to police brutality, martial law, lack of free elections, crackdowns on free speech, and corruption in order to retain control. This coupled with high unemployment and price inflation inevitably led to citizen dissent, which saw the U.S. as a staunch ally of their abusive oligarchy.
Even after the revolution and the election of Mohamed Mursi (a primary supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood whose political platform calls for the removal of western influences within predominantly Islamic cultures), the U.S. government continued to send $1.6 billion in foreign aid to the region.
After the military overthrow of the elected Mursi in recent months generated in part by the Egyptian people's anger over western influence, our government is STILL pushing for the continuance of American tax dollars to Egypt, and, still refuses to acknowledge that the latest transition of power is by every definition a “coup”.
Every regime in Egypt the U.S. touches becomes subject to revolution or military overthrow.
A U.S. envoy sent to discuss diplomatic ties with the new military leadership under General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi as well as other organizations was snubbed by various political groups who were furious over American support of Mubarak, Mursi, and the General.
Barack Obama has responded by making matters worse (perhaps knowingly so).
Obama has tapped none other that Mr. John “Bomb-Bomb-Iran” McCain and civil liberties-hating Senator Lindsey Graham to be his front-men in Egypt, meeting with both the military power and the opposition in order to “address the turmoil convulsing the country”:
I would like to point that it was also John McCain (and Joseph Lieberman) that Obama sent after the Tunisian revolution in order to bribe the new government there with promises of U.S. monetary and military aid:
And, it was John McCain that was sent to meet with the Al-Qaeda controlled Syrian opposition now using U.S. funds to destabilize that country:
These men are widely outspoken proponents of violent U.S. military intervention in the Middle East. They are also widely outspoken proponents of military intervention WITHIN the United States against American citizens. Politicians like McCain and Graham are middle-management power addicts with ideological ties to globalization. Sending them to Egypt to offer American assistance is like sending a pair of cloven hoofed demons to watch over a daycare center. The Egyptian public will not be amused, and maybe that's the plan...
The latest news indicates that the Obama Administration will be moving forward with joint U.S./Egyptian military exercises despite the coup which occurred only weeks ago. That is to say, it does not seem to matter to Obama who is actually in power in Egypt, we are going to give them money, weapons, and even military training regardless. If this is not a message to the Egyptian people that the West is never going away, I don't know what is. In the meantime, protests continue to escalate, and the current military regime has responded with violence. Officially, the White House has condemned such oppression, but U.S. money and military assistance still flows into the Sisi government, just as it always has:
The Muslim Brotherhood, which is the largest and most effectively organized political movement in the country, has just had their democratically elected representative deposed. The West is rushing to support the military junta. Egypt's interim government is in deadlock, and the Brotherhood refuses to recognize their authority:
"It's an illegitimate government, an illegitimate prime minister, an illegitimate cabinet," said Brotherhood spokesman Gehad El-Haddad. "We don't recognize anyone in it. We don't even recognize their authority as representatives of the government."
Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, once the Egyptian military envoy to Saudi Arabia, has now conveniently accrued Saudi monetary support in the form of $12 billion dollars in cash, loans, and fuel. Yet another signal that could be construed by the Egyptian citizenry that Sisi is in the pocket of the West.
In August 2012, the newspaper al-Tahrir also reported that Gen Sisi had "strong ties with US officials on both diplomatic and military levels".
He had studied in Washington, attended several military conferences there, and engaged in "co-operation with regard to war games and intelligence operations in recent years":
Mursi supporters and Muslim Brotherhood activists have responded with large scale protests. The military has reacted with force, killing several protestors and galvanizing opposition even further towards a violent methodology:
The U.S. government does not necessarily need to actively engineer a crisis as they did in Libya, or Syria; all they need to do is throw money at whoever ends up in charge, and let insurgency take its natural course. But where is all of this headed? What does Egyptian chaos and civil war mean for the rest of the world? And why would the U.S. knowingly irritate an already explosive situation?
A similar event occurred in 1952, when a hot revolution in Egypt overtook the pro-western monarchy of King Farouk. At that time, Great Britain dominated the Middle East as well as the global oil market. The pound sterling was considered the “world reserve currency” of the day (at least, the currency with the largest share of global trade), and was required in most global transactions when petroleum purchases were made. Sound familiar? That's because the United States is in the exact same economic condition today.
American hegemony over Middle Eastern oil markets is undeniable. The dollar is not only the petrodollar, but also the world reserve currency. Like Britain in the 1940's and 1950's, we too are embroiled in quagmire after quagmire in the cradle of civilization. And like Britain, we too are seeking to prop up power structures in Egypt which are destined to end in collapse and conflagration. Britain's defeat in the Suez was not just a military one, but also a financial one.
American and French bond holders (central banks) threatened to dump British treasuries and the pound sterling in the wake of the Egyptian revolution of 1952, which was, coincidentally, led by the Muslim Brotherhood. The sterling lost its petrodollar status over the course of several years, quickly replaced by the U.S. Greenback. Inflation of the sterling struck in the late 1960's, and from that point on, Britain remained a second tier economy. When one understands how the central banking cabal operates, the cycle of history becomes clear.
The pound sterling's day was done. International bankers sought to introduce the age of the U.S. dollar. Britain (either knowingly or foolishly) set the stage for its own currency debasement. Central banks took advantage, and changed the very structure of the world with the rise of the Federal Reserve Note. Oil prices have been rising steadily ever since, and general inflation in goods and services has been slowly boiling the population alive. I believe the dollar, like the pound sterling, is being set up for a grand fall similar in nature but far more devastating, and that Egypt may yet again play a major role in this disaster.
Before being overthrown, President Mursi was openly building closer ties with Iran, as well as staging possible deals with Russia to build nuclear power plants. Mursi wanted energy independence and likely mutual defense treaties. Iran (as well as Turkey) was enraged by the latest military coup. Political signals indicate that a civil war in Egypt would probably result not only in a shut down of oil shipping through the Suez Canal, but also the Straight of Hormuz if the U.S. was seen as an instigator in the event. At least 30% of the worlds oil supply would be delayed or halted as war erupted. Gasoline prices would in turn skyrocket.
The U.S. dollar, already on thin ice with foreign investors (China has been dumping the dollar in bilateral trade with multiple countries since at least 2010), would come under intense scrutiny as the petro-currency, not to mention the world reserve. Enter the IMF's Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), already waiting in the wings today to overtake the dollar as the reserve mechanism, thus clearing the way for a global economic system under the control of an unelected corporate banking bureaucracy.
The signs are all present. With the Egyptian military shutting out the entirety of the Muslim Brotherhood and related political groups from all government participation, and the atmosphere of the streets growing more vicious everyday, it is only a matter of time before the real shooting begins. If this does not occur before or during the U.S. joint exercises set for September of this year, I will be pleasantly surprised.
When one examines the impending disaster in Egypt, it is important to avoid using a narrow lens and take into account the bigger picture. An Egyptian civil war will not ultimately be about Egypt. Rather, it will be about catalyzing the whole of the Middle East towards breakdown and drawing in larger nations in the process, including the United States. It will also be about triggering energy price increases designed to give cover to the collapse of the dollar's world reserve status. If globalists within our government and within central banks allow the dollar to die today, THEY will be blamed for the collapse that follows. THEY will be painted as the villains. But, if they can create a crisis large enough, that crisis becomes the scapegoat for all other tragedies, including dollar debasement. Egypt is just one of many regions in the world where such a crisis can be fabricated. Right now, it seems to be the most opportune choice for the elites.
http://thepeninsulaqatar.com/middle-east/247656-mursi-supporters-signal-compromise.html
Mursi supporters signal compromise
Sunday, 04 August 2013
Supporters of deposed Egyptian president Mohammed Mursi pose for photos in front of a large poster of him, near their sit-in area around Raba’ Al Adawya mosque, east of Cairo, yesterday.
CAIRO: Allies of deposed Egyptian President Mohammed Mursi told mediators yesterday they respected the popular will expressed in mass protests that led to his downfall, suggesting they might be backing away from a demand he be reinstated.
Tarek El-Malt, spokesman for the pro-Mursi delegation that met envoys from the United States and the European Union, said his camp sought a resolution to Egypt’s crisis based on the constitution that was suspended after he was deposed.
Speaking to Reuters by telephone, Malt said Mursi’s allies told the envoys they wanted the constitution restored and said it held “more than one solution” to the crisis. He added that General Abdel Fattah Al Sisi, the army chief who overthrew Mursi, must not be part of a political deal without Mursi.
Asked whether the delegation had told the envoys that Mursi must be reinstated, Malt said that would be worked out in the details, notably not reiterating the demand for his return.
“This is part of the political initiatives,” he said. “We did not get into the details of the political initiatives”.
He said if those who opposed Mursi continued to insist that he should not be part of the “political equation”, then “the steadfastness and sit-ins of the millions in the streets for five weeks requires that Sisi must also not be in the political equation.”
A member of the Muslim Brotherhood-allied Wasat Party, Malt is the appointed spokesman of the delegation that met with US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns, US Ambassador Anne Patterson and European Union special envoy Bernardino Leon. The delegation also includes top members of the Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party (FJP).
Later, senior Brotherhood politician Essam El Erian said restoring the 2012 constitution meant Mursi would see out his term. However, diplomats say the Brotherhood understands Mursi, detained at a secret location, will not return as president but they want a face-saving legal formula for him to step down.
“Those empowered to speak for the FJP understand that Mursi is not coming back. But they are maintaining that as a negotiating position,” a Western diplomat said.
Another diplomat involved in the talks said pro-Mursi alliance had shown flexibility in yesterday’s meeting.
Relaying the messages delivered to the envoys, Malt said: “I respect and hold in regard the demands of the masses that went out on June 30, but I will not build on the military coup.”
He added that the demands of the Mursi supporters must also be respected. Mursi supporters still protesting in Cairo want the constitution and Mursi reinstated.
“We have the readiness and flexibility to accept political solutions to get out of this crisis as long as they are based on
constitutional legitimacy, by which we mean the return and reactivation of the 2012 constitution,” Malt said.
He added that political solutions must be hammered out with the National Salvation Front — the loose coalition of non-Islamist parties that backed Mursi’s overthrow and which includes interim Vice President Mohamed ElBaradei.
“We (will) sit together and we will assess proposed political initiatives and reach solutions that respect all popular desires. But the army will not have a role in political solutions,” he said.
“The army must remain neutral and not interfere in political life,” he added.
Malt said a period of calm was needed to build confidence among all parties. He said this would include a renunciation of violence, the release of what he called political detainees and allowing Islamist television stations to reopen.
The army-backed government says the Brotherhood has incited violence, accusing it of engaging in terrorism. Malt said the delegation had underscored the pro-Mursi camp’s commitment to peaceful protests.
They also condemned violence in the Sinai Peninsula, where attacks by militant Islamists have escalated since Mursi’s downfall.
“It has nothing to do with the protests and sit-ins and we reject it strongly and we condemn any attack on the Egyptian
armed forces or the police,” Malt said.
Iraq.........
Iraqi General Survivor in Attacks That Leave 58 Dead
Saturday: 58 Killed, 29 Wounded
by Margaret Griffis, August 03, 2013
In Baghdad, two people were killed and seven more were wounded when a bomb exploded at a car part mall in a western neighborhood. A bomb targeting police killed two civilians in southeast Baghdad instead. Nine suspects were killed and 98 more were arrested during a security operation.
An attack against a military commander’s motorcade in Adhaim left nine bodyguards dead. Eleven more were wounded during the security mission.
In Baquba, A roadside bomb killed an imam and wounded three more. Another bomb killed a civilian and wounded two policemen. Another person was shot dead. A bomb at a home killed three people and wounded five more.
Five soldiers were killed in a blast in Qayara.
A roadside bomb in Qadisiya killed a man and his 11-year-old son.
A muezzin and another person were killed in a blast in Muqdadiya. Three Sahwa were killed in a small arms attack.
Gunmen stormed a Sahwa member’s home in Abu Khamis where they his wife and two adult daughters.
Two Sahwa members were shot and killed while working on their Abu Saida farm.
In Hammam al-Alil, gunmen killed two bodyguards working for a judge. Apoliceman was shot dead at a checkpoint.
In Mosul, two off-duty policemen were killed during a drive-by shooting. Apoliceman was killed in a clash.
Three policemen were killed when gunmen attacked a Shirqat checkpoint. A bombwounded a captain.
Three rockets struck an army base near Falluja. A policeman was shot to deathoutside his home.
Near Basra, a woman and her child were stabbed to death.
No casualties were reported after gunmen attacked a Jurf al-Sakhar checkpoint.
Gunmen killed a civilian in Arab Jabour.
Yemen........
http://thehill.com/blogs/global-affairs/middle-east-north-africa/315393-white-house-officials-terror-threat-emanating-from-arabian-peninsula
White House holds high-level meeting on terror threat
- 08/04/13 06:37 AM ET
The White House said top administration officials gathered late Saturday over a terror threat that provoked the State Department to close more than 20 diplomatic posts and issue a worldwide travel alert.
National Security Adviser Susan Rice chaired a meeting with 12 administration officials including the secretaries of State, Defense and Homeland Security and the directors of the FBI, CIA and NSA, according to a White House statement.
*****
On Friday, a White House official said that Obama had instructed his national security team to take every appropriate step to protect Americans after warnings from foreign officials, movement in the al Qaeda ranks, and new intelligence reports suggested a specific terrorist threat to U.S. and Western targets.
*****
On Friday, CNN reported that Yemeni officials visiting Washington this week alerted U.S. officials to intelligence they’d obtained about the potential for a planned al Qaeda attack in the country in the coming days.
Al Qaeda's Yemeni cell, known as al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, is considered one of the group’s most dangerous and well-funded factions in the world. The Yemeni group was responsible for three attempted airline bombings targeting the United States over the past several years.
*****
Friday's precautions were issued on the 25th day of Ramadan, as the Muslim holy month comes to a close. The holy holiday is traditionally accompanied by a lull in attacks by Islamic extremist groups against U.S. and Western allies, but the time off also gives groups like al Qaeda the opportunity to build up their ranks and stockpile weapons.
CNN also pointed out that Sunday is the 27th day of Ramadan and known as the “Night of Power,” when the Prophet Mohammed came into contact with the first verses of the Koran. According to the network's national security analyst, Peter Bergen the day is seen by potential Islamic martyrs “as a particularly auspicious day to die.”
*****
http://www.moonofalabama.org/2013/08/crying-wolf-wolf-wolf.html
( As you read the article below , keep in mind visiting Yemeni officials were the source of intel on the alleged terror plot , as per the Jonathan Easley's ( The Hill ) Article previously referenced above.... Moon's piece shows the attempt to justify NSA spying - desperation ? )
August 03, 2013
Crying Wolf, Wolf, Wolf
After weeks under heavy pressure for limitless spying on people everywhere the U.S. intelligence services conviniently detect a "threat" of some undefined future attacks. The "detection", we are of course told, was only possible because of limitless spying on people everywhere:
The United States intercepted electronic communications this week among senior operatives of Al Qaeda, in which the terrorists discussed attacks against American interests in the Middle East and North Africa, American officials said Friday.
The intercepts and a subsequent analysis of them by American intelligence agencies prompted the United States to issue an unusual global travel alert to American citizens on Friday, warning of the potential for terrorist attacks by operatives of Al Qaeda and their associates beginning Sunday through the end of August.
Just a month ago we were told that the "terrorists" are changing their communication because of the NSA snooping leaks:
The Al-Qaeda and other terrorist are reportedly changing their communication methods in light of the revelations by whistleblower Edward Snowden about US led NSA 'surveillance programme'.
...
US officials said that virtually every terrorist organization including Al-Qaeda is changing the way they communicate to hide from the US surveillance after the revelations about the leaks were reported in the media.
...
Private analysis firm IntelCenter's Ben Venzke said that the leaks by Snowden serve as a wake-up call to extremists and other hostile actors to analyse how they are working and improve their security.
Is it not a bit weird that just a month after that "wake-up call" and the "changed communications" talks between "senior operatives of Al Qaeda" are now easily detectable by the same intelligence services that warned of those changes?
And what is it about these "terrorists" that the "threat" from them ends after August 31?
Even some "analysts and Congressional officials" the NYT mentions in one short paragraph find this somewhat suspicious:
Some analysts and Congressional officials suggested Friday that emphasizing a terrorist threat now was a good way to divert attention from the uproar over the N.S.A.’s data-collection programs, ...
Ahh - you don't say ...
But the sentence continues:
... and that if it showed the intercepts had uncovered a possible plot, even better.
So it would be even better if now, as a warning has been given, something would happen to some U.S. embassy in the Middle East. That then would justify the warning and of course also justify the intelligence services NSA's limitless spying on people everywhere that made the warning possible.
Hmm - how much does it cost, let's say in Yemen, to have some guys on a motorcycle fire a few shots at an embassy guard?
Syria..........
http://www.france24.com/en/20130804-syrias-assad-bans-foreign-currency-transactions
Syria's Assad bans foreign currency transactions
A handout picture released by the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) on June 17, 2013, shows Syrian President Bashar al-Assad speaking during an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper in Damascus.
AFP - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad issued a decree Sunday banning the use of foreign currency in commercial transactions, state news agency SANA said.
"It is prohibited to make payments, reimbursements, commercial transactions and any other commercial operation in foreign currency or in precious stones," SANA quoted the decree as saying.
"The Syrian lira is the only currency" allowed in business and commerce, it added.
Those breaking the law risk jail sentences from between six months to 10 years of hard labour, depending on the sum involved, and will be fined.
The US dollar is the preferred foreign currency in Syria where the lira has lost three quarters of its value against the greenback since the outbreak of the anti-regime uprising more than two years ago.
At the start of the conflict in March 2011 one dollar fetched 50 liras. while a dollar today is worth more than 200 liras.
Dollars have been used in the sale of land, namely in the upscale Damascus suburbs, and by importers who trade in goods such as rice, sugar, textile and electronic equipment.
"It is prohibited to make payments, reimbursements, commercial transactions and any other commercial operation in foreign currency or in precious stones," SANA quoted the decree as saying.
"The Syrian lira is the only currency" allowed in business and commerce, it added.
Those breaking the law risk jail sentences from between six months to 10 years of hard labour, depending on the sum involved, and will be fined.
The US dollar is the preferred foreign currency in Syria where the lira has lost three quarters of its value against the greenback since the outbreak of the anti-regime uprising more than two years ago.
At the start of the conflict in March 2011 one dollar fetched 50 liras. while a dollar today is worth more than 200 liras.
Dollars have been used in the sale of land, namely in the upscale Damascus suburbs, and by importers who trade in goods such as rice, sugar, textile and electronic equipment.
Syrian rebels seize army weapons cache | |||
Opposition fighters raid ammunition depot north of Damascus, seizing French-made anti-tank weapons and Russian missiles.
Last Modified: 03 Aug 2013 20:15
     | |||
Syrian rebels have captured an ammunition depot north of Damascus from government forces, activists said, seizing a hoard of anti-tank missiles and rockets which could strengthen their firepower after a string of defeats.
Video footage of the raid published on Saturday showed delighted rebel fighters carrying out boxes of weapons from the arms cache in Denha, near the town of Yabroud, following an overnight attack.
Still largely outgunned by Assad's forces, who have gained ground around the capital Damascus and Syria's third largest city Homs, the rebels have sought arms to tip the balance of power in the two-year conflict that has killed at least 100,000.
Saturday's raid yielded French-made Milan anti-tank missiles, Russian Konkurs missiles and Grad rockets, according to video footage which showed the rebels carrying off their haul through the dark corridors of the captured complex.
"Our return to Qusayr just got closer," shouted one fighter, referring to the former rebel stronghold and border town which was captured two months ago by Assad forces backed by the Lebanon's Hezbollah.
UN warning
Following their victory in Qusayr, south west of Homs, Assad's forces took control of several nearby towns and villages and on Monday they seized the Homs district of Khaldiya after weeks of urban warfare, tightening their siege on the few remaining rebel bastions in the strategic city.
"God willing, we will liberate Homs completely," the fighter in Saturday's video said.
Homs lies on the main north-south highway which links most of Syria's main cities, and also forms a link between Assad's capital in Damascus and the heartland of his minority Alawite community in the mountains overlooking the Mediterranean.
In the same border region near Yabroud where the missile stocks were seized, Syrian jets killed at least nine people in an air strike, Lebanese security sources said. Some of the wounded had been brought into Lebanon for treatment.
Also on Saturday, UK-based the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said government forces bombarded al-Qusour, one of the remaining rebel-held neighbourhoods.
In the northwestern Homs district of al-Waer, the United Nations children's agency UNICEF warned that 400,000 civilians, who had moved there to seek shelter from the violence in central Homs, were in danger.
UNICEF director Anthony Lake said clashes and rocket strikes in al-Waer meant the situation there had worsened in recent days and appealed to both the army and rebels to allow aid to get in.
"We call on all parties to facilitate immediate safe access to these families so we can provide life-saving assistance, and to allow those families currently trapped in al-Waer who wish to leave to do so in safety and in dignity," he said.
The more than two-year conflict in Syria has left at least 100,000 people dead and displaced millions of people.
July 30, 2013
Syria: Erdogan's Kurdish ProblemBuilding on the recent progress the Syrian army will have cleared Homs city of insurgents in a week or two. The next step then should be consolidation in Homs governate and a build up for a fight to kick the insurgents out of Aleppo.The various insurgency groups are continuing their competition for the booty they have yet to make. The Muslim Brotherhood faction of the insurgency, the so called free Syrian Army, continues its declinewhile the Salafi/Wahabi groups and the Al-Qaeda types (only a gradual distinction) of Jabhat al-Nusra and Islamic State of Iraq and Syria are on the rise:Today, opposition military forces can be divided into three categories: groups loyal to the SMC, most of whom maintain the FSA brand name; Salafists, whose ranks are dominated by Syrians; and jihadists, who increasingly recruit from across the Islamic world and many of whom have at least sympathy for Al Qaeda.The Syrian Military Council under General Idriss is begging for weapons from "western" states. But as it is losing cloud on the ground it is seeking alliances that will make any weapon delivery less likely: General Salim Idriss, commander of the FSA, the name under which moderate rebel units fight, appealed to leaders of independent Islamist brigades - which are currently not part of the alliance he leads - to join its ranks, according to a leading figure from one of the armed Islamist factions involved in the talks.It is doubtful that the Obama administration will give serious weapons to the FSA if the FSA is aligning with the Salafists who regularly cooperate with the Al-Qaeda groups: Buried in this Washington Post article on the recent fighting between a PKK faction on one side, and al Qaeda's affiliates in Syria -- the Al Nusrah Front and the Islamic State of Iraq -- on the other, is confirmation that other groups are allied with al Qaeda in the fighting in northern Syria.The Kurdish PKK aligned group which has taken to fight the Syrian insurgents has intensified its call to arms: "The Committees for the Protection of the Kurdish People called on all those fit to carry weapons to join their ranks, to protect areas under their control from attacks by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant fighters, Al Nusra Front and other battalions," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.Prominent Syrian Kurdish politician Issa Hisso was assassinated early yesterday outside his home near the Turkish border when a bomb planted in his car exploded.The fighting of the Syrian Kurds against the Islamists is a big problem for Turkish prime minister Erdogan. Turkey does not want an autonomous Kurd enclave in Syria but it has little ability to prevent it. It could of course send its own army but then the internal peace process with Kurds in Turkey would immediately break apart and the PKK attacks on the Turkish state would start anew. Likewise - Turkish support for the Islamists fighting the Kurds in Syria will be seen by their blood brothers in Turkey as an attack on themselves.To find a way out Turkey has opened talks with the Syrian Kurds: Turkish intelligence officers met in Istanbul last week with Saleh Muslim, head of Syria's Democratic Union Party (PYD), a Kurdish group whose militias have been fighting for control of parts of Syria's north near the Turkish border.The meeting followed Muslim's declaration that Kurdish groups would set up an independent council to run Kurdish areas of Syria until the war ends. Ankara fears that kind of autonomy could rekindle separatist sentiment among its own, much larger Kurdish population as it seeks to end a 30-year-old insurgency.These talks were held before Syrian Kurdish politician Issa Hisso was killed by Islamists which will only intensify the fighting. Now Turkey will have to decide. Will it continue the peace process with the Kurds or will it continue support for the Islamist in Syria by allowing their supplies and fighters to cross the Turkish-Syrian border. It can not achieve both. Any attempt for an alliance with the Kurds while at the same time supporting "non-radical" Syrian insurgents is likely to fail. Those "non-radicals" are clearly in decline and more and more aligned with the radicals and the secular Kurds will never condone the Islamist presence on their grounds. Preferring peace with Kurds also has its danger. Stopping the logistics for the al-Nusra type Jihadist could bring their wrath onto Turkish grounds. But a Kurdish buffer zone at the border could probably prevent that. Turkey's problem are also complicated by the increasing burden of Syrian refugees. After for two years practically calling for Syrians to flee to Turkey new refugees now get rejected and the Turkish army now fights them as "smugglers" to prevent them from crossing the border. So what is it Mister Erdogan? Peace with the Kurds or continued support for the Islamists? Ending the Turkish support for the insurgency in Syria would of course solve most of Syria's problem. One hopes that those who support Syria have a clear picture of how to achieve that. | |||
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