Monthly Archives: September 2012

Image

Taliban attack on Camp Bastion

17 Monday Sep 2012

Tags

, , , , , , , , , ,

ceacae61-ad16-4bb7-8aae-79764c6b6135

TEMPLATE ANALYSIS

The full extent of the Taliban’s audacious raid on Camp Bastion/Camp Leatherneck, a massive complex in southern Helmand province that serves as the main base for U.S. Marines and British forces only became clear on Sunday. It was a coordinated assault that destroyed six Marine Corps AV-8B Harrier jump-jets and “significantly” damaged two others, as well as some hangars.

The Taliban also destroyed three refueling stations.

Harrier jets cost an inflation-adjusted $30 million to $40 million apiece when they were acquired in the 1980s and early 1990s.

Armed with automatic rifles, rocket-propelled grenades and suicide vests, they  organized into three teams and appeared “well-equipped, trained and rehearsed.”

According to the Coalition, the militants had penetrated one point of the perimeter fence. and the damage caused represents a major loss of combat
power –  around half a Harrier squadron

To have pulled this off, reports suggest that the attack would have required advance scouting and perhaps inside assistance.

When the Taliban attempted a similar assault on Kandahar Air Field in 2010, they failed.

This attack is a powerful demonstration that they have learned from previous mistakes and are now able to penetrate a base’s defences.

Posted by | Filed under Arab World 🌎, Asia 🌐, International News, Politics 💼 🗳 🪖, Terrorism, UK

≈ Leave a comment

Image

🪖 Taliban Assault on British Base was ‘aimed at Prince Harry’ 🇦🇫

15 Saturday Sep 2012

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

HELMAND – Two American soldiers were killed during a Taliban attack on the British base of Camp Bastion in Southern Afghanistan  last night.

The assault involved between 18 and 20 fighters who used small arms, rockets and mortars to attack the perimeter of the British base.

Prince Harry was at Camp Bastion in Afghanistan during the attack and a Taliban spokesman said he was the target.

The Taliban spokesman had at first said that the attack was a response to a US-made film mocking Islam.

They released a video of the attack, a snatch of which is pictured above.

e9c018a6-4d53-444b-980b-371342a19aa7.gif

The Prince, who is third in line to the British throne, is celebrating his 28th birthday and is in Afghanistan for four months on his second tour of duty.

He was not in any danger during this unprecedented assault on one of the world’s busiest airports.

Several other Nato troops were wounded, whilst one Taliban fighter was caught alive and the rest killed.

Camp Bastion which is situated in the middle of the desert is extremely heavily fortified.

An MoD spokesman said this was a significant attack adding: “there has been some damage to equipment which is still being assessed.”

“After swift action by ISAF forces, including UK personnel, the incident was contained.”

Three hundred and thirty coalition soldiers have lost their lives in Afghanistan this year, of which 252 are from the US.

ceacae61-ad16-4bb7-8aae-79764c6b6135.jpg

PROTESTS AGAINST FILM

11 September

1. US embassy in Cairo attacked, flag torn down and replaced with black Islamist banner

2. Mob attacks US consulate in Benghazi, US ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans killed

13 September

3. Protesters break into the US embassy compound in Sanaa, Yemen, amid clashes with security forces

14 September

4. Sudanese protesters attack US, German and UK embassies in Khartoum and clash with police. Three killed

5. One person killed in Lebanon in protest at a KFC by Text-Enhance” href=”#”>restaurant

6. Protesters in Tunis attack the US embassy, with a large fire reported and shots heard. Two killed

7. Riot police in Cairo clash with protesters near US embassy. One person killed

Posted by | Filed under Arab World 🌎, Asia 🌐, International News, Politics 💼 🗳 🪖, Terrorism, UK, USA 🇺🇸

≈ Leave a comment

Image

🪖 US Ambassador to Libya killed in Benghazi embassy Attack 🇱🇾

12 Wednesday Sep 2012

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

TEMPLATE ANALYSIS

Anyone who met Christopher Stevens said he was a very nice man who had a lot of time for you. He was also proud of the role he had taken in ousting Colonel Gaddafi and in helping the Transitional National Council into Tripoli.

So, it is a cruel irony that he has been killed in a country he helped to free, in the place where the rebellion began and of course on the eleventh anniversary of those infamous attacks on America.

The cause for the rocket attacks on the US consulate in Benghazi is a film that clearly insults the Prophet Muhammad and the Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt have today called for worldwide condemnation of the movie made by Israeli film maker Sam Bacile.

Post-Gaddafi Libya has of course been a disaster with the ruling government in Tripoli largely ignored as armed gangs control large parts of the capital, and outside.

Libya is in danger of breaking into three – all of which calls into question Nato’s decision to intervene as Gaddafi’s Libyan forces were amassed outside Benghazi.

Yesterday’s brutal actions that resulted in the deaths of Stevens and three other consular members have been condemned by Hilary Clinton. This was, of course, the same Hilary Clinton who jumped for joy on hearing of Colonel Gaddafi’s death.

Posted by | Filed under Analysis 🙌, Arab World 🌎, Breaking News 📺 🎙🗞, Comment, International News, Politics 💼 🗳 🪖, Terrorism, UK, USA 🇺🇸

≈ 1 Comment

Image

‘You are lying about Syria’, Citizen tells BBC Reporter

10 Monday Sep 2012

Tags

, ,

Subscribe to continue reading

Subscribe to get access to the rest of this post and other subscriber-only content.

Posted by | Filed under Analysis 🙌, Arab World 🌎, Breaking News 📺 🎙🗞, Comment, International News, Politics 💼 🗳 🪖, Television 📺, Terrorism, UK, USA 🇺🇸

≈ 1 Comment

Image

🪖 Two children injured after Israeli airstrikes on Gaza 🇵🇸

10 Monday Sep 2012

Tags

, , , , , , ,

GAZA – Two Palestinian brothers – aged seven and 10 –  have been injured after Israeli air strikes in Gaza.

 The strikes were targeting tunnels used for smuggling between Gaza and Egypt.
Two other air strikes hit facilities used by Islamist militants.
They were a response to rocket attacks on Sunday which injured at least seven Israelis.
Last week, six Palestinians – who the Israelis said were preparing rocket and bomb attacks –  were killed in air strikes on Gaza.

Posted by | Filed under International News

≈ Leave a comment

Image

Obama calls for ‘patience’ at Democratic Convention

07 Friday Sep 2012

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

TEMPLATE ANALYSIS

Four years ago, he promised change.

Today, the same man who had thrilled his nation with his presence and magnetism was now calling on those very people who had voted him into the White House to be patient.

A shot into his eyes showed the hunger and desire was still there.

Sadly, though there was little in terms of ideas as how he will tackle a national debt that because of his presidency was now 5 trillion dollars bigger.

Instead, the once great hope resorted to attacking his opponent, who he said offered little except tax breaks to the rich and was woefully short of foreign policy experience.

Obama’s only ‘triumph’ in the latter is of course the assassination of Osama bin Laden in Abbotabad in Pakistan.

Whist his predecessor was known for Guantanamo Bay, water boarding nd renditions, as well as the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, this President will surely be remembered for the use of drone in targeted assassinations that often missed causing huge damage to civilians in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia,

So, if Mitt Romney is indeed inexperienced, recent history teaches us that, like Obama and Bush before him, he will catch up fast.

Posted by | Filed under Analysis 🙌, International News, Politics 💼 🗳 🪖, USA 🇺🇸

≈ Leave a comment

Image

Cameron’s Cabinet Reshuffle = More Cuts and a New Runway

05 Wednesday Sep 2012

Tags

, , , ,

TEMPLATE ANALYSIS

Well, it wasn’t exactly revolutionary – the same faces remain in all the key positions except perhaps controversially in Transport, where Justine Greening known for her opposition to another Heathrow runway is replaced by someone called Patrick McLoughlin.

That move, which could well be ruthless, drew immediate condemnation from the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, (pictured above) who said that the “mad” plan for another runway was now underway.

Apart from the moving of the Culture Secretary to Health and getting rid of the hapless Baroness Warsi little has changed.

Those who booed at George Osborne as he appeared at the Paralympic games will see that the man who has been blamed by many and praised by some is still sitting at the heart of government- as the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

And they will also see that Jeremy Hunt (pictured below) has replaced Andrew Lansley at Health because the latter was not percieved to be a good communicator when it came to the government plans for the NHS.

So, all this can only mean the cuts will continue, as the government searches for new sources of business which now almost certainly means a third runway at Heathrow.

Posted by | Filed under Politics 💼 🗳 🪖

≈ Leave a comment

Image

China and India hold first joint military exercises for four years

04 Tuesday Sep 2012

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , ,

China and India are to resume joint military exercises that were halted in 2008.

The first military exercise was held in Kunming, China in 2007, and the second in Belgaum in India in 2008. However, a third session in China was postponed following a deterioration in relations, including over China’s refusal to offer a visa to a senior army officer stationed in Kashmir, the scene of one of the border disputes between the two developing nations.

Whether the resumption of these exercises will solve the long-running disputes between the two is unlikely.

India is unhappy with China’s infrastructure development in Kashmir, which she calls Pakistan-controlled Kashmir. The projects, which include road building,  worries India because she fears they could be put to military use, facilitating the movement of troops to the border with India.

India has also challenged China’s control of tens of thousands of square kilometers of land bordering its state of Jammu and Kashmir since 1962, when the two countries fought a border war, which Beijing won.

India also claims that China is illegally administering around 5,200 kilometers of land that Islamabad ceded to Beijing as part of a 1963 border agreement.

New Delhi, which claims sovereignty over the whole of Kashmir, has refused to recognize that agreement. However, this border agreement is not final, as it allows room for renegotiating the border “after the settlement of the Kashmir dispute between Pakistan and India.”

Other disputes include the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, which China claims as its own, referring to it as south Tibet.

Posted by | Filed under Asia 🌐, China 🇨🇳, International News, Politics 💼 🗳 🪖, USA 🇺🇸

≈ Leave a comment