Iraq Uses Divining Rod To Detect Bombs November 4, 2009
Posted by Joey in Wacky Religious Beliefs, War, War on Terror.Tags: ADE 651, Iraq
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Alrighty, then.
Iraq Swears by Bomb Detector U.S. Sees as Useless – NYTimes.com.
Despite major bombings that have rattled the nation, and fears of rising violence as American troops withdraw, Iraq’s security forces have been relying on a device to detect bombs and weapons that the United States military and technical experts say is useless.
The sensor device, known as the ADE 651, from $16,500 to $60,000 each. Iraq has bought more than 1,500 of the devices.
The small hand-held wand, with a telescopic antenna on a swivel, is being used at hundreds of checkpoints in Iraq. But the device works “on the same principle as a Ouija board” — the power of suggestion — said a retired United States Air Force officer, Lt. Col. Hal Bidlack, who described the wand as nothing more than an explosives divining rod.
Still, the Iraqi government has purchased more than 1,500 of the devices, known as the ADE 651, at costs from $16,500 to $60,000 each. Nearly every police checkpoint, and many Iraqi military checkpoints, have one of the devices, which are now normally used in place of physical inspections of vehicles.
The Afghan Election Is Fixed, So Why Hold A Runoff? November 1, 2009
Posted by Joey in Politics, War, War on Terror.Tags: Abdullah Abdullah, Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai
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So says Abdullah Abdullah.
Transparent Election Is Not Possible, Says Rival to Karzai – NYTimes.com.
Abdullah Abdullah, the chief rival to President Hamid Karzai, announced on Sunday that he would withdraw from the Nov. 7 Afghan runoff election, effectively handing a new term to Mr. Karzai but potentially damaging the government’s credibility.
Speaking at a news conference, Mr. Abdullah said that the Afghan people should not accept the results of an election run by the country’s Independent Electoral Commission, which has been accused of favoring Mr. Karzai.
“I will not participate in the Nov. 7 election,” Mr. Abdullah said, because a “transparent election is not possible.”
Mr. Abdullah said that Mr. Karzai’s government had not been legitimate since May, when the initial round of balloting was originally to have taken place.
Before Mr. Abdullah’s announcement, American and other Western diplomats said they were worried that a defiant statement by Mr. Abdullah could lead to violence and undermine Mr. Karzai’s legitimacy, and they were urging him to bow out gracefully. Obama administration officials have scrambled for weeks to end the deadlock, trying to ensure a smooth government transition as President Obama weighs whether to increase the American military presence in Afghanistan.
Israel Won’t Cooperate With Gaza War Crimes Tribunal October 12, 2009
Posted by Joey in Politics, Wacky Religious Beliefs, War.Tags: Benjamin Netanyahu, Gaza, Hamas, Israel, War Crimes
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Not to worry, Israel, the US has your back. We don’t want our war criminals in jail, either.
VOA News – Netanyahu: Israel Would Not Cooperate With Gaza War Crimes Tribunal.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel will never allow its soldiers and war-time leaders to go before an international war-crimes tribunal following the assault on militants in the Gaza Strip 10 months ago.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave a fiery speech at the start of the Israeli parliament’s winter session, condemning the recent report from a U.N. panel headed by former war crimes prosecutor Richard Goldstone.
The Goldstone report accuses Israeli forces of committing war crimes by using disproportionate force and targeting civilians during the 22-day assault on militants last December and January in the Gaza Strip.
Living Large in an Atlas Missile Silo October 6, 2009
Posted by Joey in Culture, War.Tags: Altas, Missile Silo, Mutually Assured Destruction
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If I were Bruce, I’d worry that the Russians forgot to take his missile silo off the primary target list.
Missile Silo Fixer-Upper Now Swanky Bachelor Pad | Raw File | Wired.com.
How does a former social worker from Chicago wind up living in an abandoned nuclear missile silo in Texas?
The Johnny Carson show.
Bruce Townsley was up late one night in the mid-’80s when he saw an unusual guest take a seat on Johnny’s set: a nuclear missile base real estate mogul named Ed Peden. Peden lives in an abandoned missile base in Kansas and was invited on the show to tell Johnny all about his underground lifestyle. Townsley was hooked.
McChrystal: US Losing War In Afghanistan September 21, 2009
Posted by Joey in War, War on Terror.Tags: Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, Stanley A. McChrystal, Taliban
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Afghanis have been crushing foreign invaders for centuries (most recently Great Britain and Soviet Russia), so why does the US think it will be successful? Hubris, of course, the same thing that the Brits and Soviets suffered from.
You can read the document McChrystal’s Assessment yourself.
McChrystal: More Forces or ‘Mission Failure’ – washingtonpost.com.
McChrystal concludes the document’s five-page Commander’s Summary on a note of muted optimism: “While the situation is serious, success is still achievable.”
But he repeatedly warns that without more forces and the rapid implementation of a genuine counterinsurgency strategy, defeat is likely. McChrystal describes an Afghan government riddled with corruption and an international force undermined by tactics that alienate civilians.
He provides extensive new details about the Taliban insurgency, which he calls a muscular and sophisticated enemy that uses modern propaganda and systematically reaches into Afghanistan’s prisons to recruit members and even plan operations.
McChrystal’s assessment is one of several options the White House is considering. His plan could intensify a national debate in which leading Democratic lawmakers have expressed reluctance about committing more troops to an increasingly unpopular war. Obama said last week that he will not decide whether to send more troops until he has “absolute clarity about what the strategy is going to be.”
Iraqi Who Threw Shoes At Bush Released September 15, 2009
Posted by Joey in Culture, Politics, War, War on Terror.Tags: War on Terror, Iraq, George W Bush, Muntadhar al-Zaidi
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Free at last, the protestor who threw his shoes at Dubya.
Bush ’shoe thrower’ unrepentant after jail release – CNN.com.
The Iraqi man who threw his shoes at then-U.S. President George W. Bush last year was unapologetic for his act of protest after his release Tuesday.
“I got my chance and I didn’t miss it,” said Muntadhar al-Zaidi, speaking to reporters shortly after he was freed from jail.
“I am not a hero and I admit that,” he said. “I am a person with a stance. I saw my country burning.”
Al-Zaidi, who was serving a one-year sentence after the jail-throwing incident on December 14, was given a “conditional discharge.”
Karzai Wins Fraudulent Election in Afghanistan September 8, 2009
Posted by Joey in Politics, War, War on Terror.Tags: Afghanistan, Election Fraud, Hamid Karzai, Puppet Government, War on Terror
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The puppet government of Afghanistan held an election, and fraud was rampant. But Karzai was declared the winner anyway, as that result was pre-ordained by the US government.
Panel Orders Recount as Tally Gives Karzai 54% – NYTimes.com.
The United Nations-backed commission serving as the ultimate arbiter of the Afghan elections announced Tuesday that it had found “clear and convincing evidence of fraud” in a number of polling stations, ordering a partial recount even as election officials declared President Hamid Karzai the winner of the preliminary count.
With 91.6 percent of the votes counted, they said, Mr. Karzai had won 54.1 percent of the vote, and his main challenger, the former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah, won 28.3 percent of the vote. The tally, if certified, would mean that Mr. Karzai would be declared the victor without need for a runoff.
But the officials, from the Independent Election Commission, said they had set aside results from hundreds of polling stations where irregularities were suspected, and it appeared possible that the investigations into fraud could change the results.
Reports of egregious fraud have marred the election and raised serious questions about the legitimacy of the Afghan political process as Mr. Karzai seeks a second five-year term.
