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Combined Force Kills Dozens of Insurgents

Fri, 14 May 2010 02:51:37 +0000

Compiled from International Security Assistance Force Joint Command News Releases May 13, 2010 – An Afghan-international security force killed more than two dozen insurgents and captured several others while pursuing a senior Taliban commander in Afghanistan’s Kunduz province last night, military officials reported. The combined force went to a compound in the province’s Kunduz district, after intelligence information confirmed the Taliban were staging for a large attack. As the Afghan-led element moved into the target area, it immediately began receiving fire from a mosque and surrounding woods, and then returned fire. Shortly after, several armed men ran toward and fired on the combined force. They were engaged and killed. Other insurgents were killed as they continued to fire on the combined force with machine guns, automatic rifles and hand grenades.

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Combined Force Kills Dozens of Insurgents

How Justified Is GOP Claim That Obama Administration Is Manipulating Intelligence on Accused Times…

admin — Thu, 13 May 2010 11:00:55 +0000

Over the last few days, some congressional Republicans—led by Sen. Kit Bond, ranking member of the Senate intelligence committee—have been voicing increasingly harsh criticisms of how the Obama administration is handling intelligence related to Faisal Shahzad, the Pakistani-American arrested for unsuccessfully trying to attack New York’s Times Square on May 1 with a poorly built car bomb. Following a briefing that the Senate intelligence committee received on Tuesday from administration officials—the panel’s first formal briefing since the incident occurred—Senator Bond complained that the administration had kept him in the dark about the Shahzad investigation for too long. He also

Afghanistan Operations Target Bombers, Weapons

Steven Aftergood — Thu, 13 May 2010 03:17:22 +0000

Compiled from International Security Assistance Force Joint Command News Releases May 11, 2010 – Afghan and international patrols targeted bombing facilitators and weapons used to attack security forces during recent operations in southern and eastern Afghanistan, military officials reported. Two insurgents were killed when they fired on an Afghan-international security force as it pursued a Taliban commander in Ghazni province last night. The combined force went to an open field in the Qara Bagh district after intelligence information indicated insurgent activity. The security force was confronted in a small camp by several armed insurgents. Two of the militants were killed in the ensuing firefight. The search team interviewed one of the tent owners, who said the insurgents were outsiders who had forced their way into the camp.

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Afghanistan Operations Target Bombers, Weapons

Afghan Leader Karzai Needs a Bit of the Kid Gloves Treatment: Barno

admin — Wed, 12 May 2010 15:43:32 +0000

The Center for a New American Security held a press briefing on the occasion of Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s visit to D.C. with its counterinsurgency mafia yesterday, including president and reigning COIN evangelist John Nagl, Andrew Exum, and former Afghan commander ret. Gen. David Barno, who just recently joined CNAS. I’ve been a fan of Barno since 2004, when I was in Afghanistan, he and Zalmay Khalilzad were running the show, and the counterinsurgency effort there to all appearances seemed to be working. How much of that was due to the fact that the Taliban were still very much on their heels after being scattered by the U.S. backed Northern Alliance and how much was due to the command pursuing COIN best practices, I’m not sure. Barno said the tension between Afghan commander Gen. Stanley McChrystal and Amb. Karl Eikenberry is overplayed.

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Afghan Leader Karzai Needs a Bit of the Kid Gloves Treatment: Barno

Beware Unpredictable Consequences of Striking Iran: Former Bush Admin Official

Tue, 11 May 2010 16:23:35 +0000

That’s what former Bush administration top arms control official Robert Joseph told reporters at the Heritage Foundation yesterday. Iran has many retaliatory options, from using oil as an economic weapon, unleashing Hezbollah, to attacking U.S. installations in the Gulf, if it’s hit from the air. Even if Israel carried out strikes, the U.S. would be blamed, he said. Because so many potential unforeseen consequences could result, Joseph said he was no fan of striking Iran. – Greg Grant

Rebels ambush election team in Philipines, 6 dead

Steven Aftergood — Tue, 11 May 2010 05:32:13 +0000

Source: Reuters MANILA, May 11 (Reuters) – Maoist-led guerrillas on Tuesday ambushed an army convoy escorting election officials in a remote town on the southern island in the Philippines, killing six people and …

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Rebels ambush election team in Philipines, 6 dead

Hidden Benefit for Obama: Kagan’s Selection Boosts Administration’s Chances in Major Terror Cases

Mon, 10 May 2010 22:03:27 +0000

Whatever her merits as the next Supreme Court justice, Elena Kagan’s selection provides a hidden benefit for President Obama’s national-security team: it significantly boosts its chances of prevailing in controversial claims to the court involving the war on terrorism. The reason: Kagan will inevitably have to recuse herself from an array of cases where she has already signed off on positions staked out by the Obama administration relating to the detention of terror suspects and the reach of executive power. As a result, the seat occupied by Justice John Paul Stevens—the most forceful advocate on the court for curbing presidential power—will be replaced by a justice who, on some major cases over the next few years, won’t be voting at all. “If you are litigating on behalf of Bagram detainees, the skies just got a lot darker today,” said Ben Wittes, a legal-affairs analyst at the Brookings Institution. As solicitor general last year, Kagan’s name is on a brief to a U.S. appellate court arguing that the administration should not have to grant any habeas rights to prisoners at the U.S. military facility at Bagram, even if they were captured thousands of miles from the battlefield and then flown to Afghanistan. Kagan has also presided over the solicitor general’s office while it has crafted Obama administration briefs asserting that the U.S. government has the authority to invoke the “state-secrets privilege” to summarily shut down lawsuits alleging abuses in national-security programs, such as allegations that prisoners in CIA custody were tortured or that President Bush’s warrantless wiretapping violated the law, without having any evidence heard by a court. For this reason, some liberal groups Monday were disheartened and even critical of the Kagan selection, contending she has been as zealous a proponent of executive power as some of her predecessors during the Bush administration.

Friday Squid Blogging: The Colossal Squid isn’t a Vicious Predator

admin — Fri, 07 May 2010 21:26:09 +0000

New research shows that, even though it’s 15 meters long, it’s not the kraken of myth: Its large size and predatory nature fuelled the ancient myth of the underwater “kraken” seamonster and modern speculation that the colossal squid must be aggressive and fast, attributes that allow it to prey on fish and even give sperm whales a hard time. Yet as the creature is seldom encountered let alone studied, there are no direct measurements of the colossal squid’s behaviour. So instead, the team used a set of routine metabolic rates for other deep-sea squid species and extrapolated the data to match the colossal squid’s size. “Our findings demonstrate that the colossal squid has a daily energy consumption 300-fold to 600-fold lower than those of other similar-sized top predators of the Southern Ocean, such as baleen and toothed whales,” says Dr Rosa. This study reveals a single 5kg Antarctic toothfish would provide enough nourishment for a 500kg colossal squid to survive for 200 days. “The colossal squid is not a voracious predator capable of high-speed predator-prey interactions,” says Dr Rosa. “It is rather, an ambush or sit-and-float predator that uses the hooks on its arms and tentacles to ensnare prey that unwittingly approach.”

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Friday Squid Blogging: The Colossal Squid isn’t a Vicious Predator

The Times Square Bomb Scares and the Perils of False Alarms

admin — Fri, 07 May 2010 18:41:24 +0000

In the days since the failed Times Square bombing last Saturday night, New York has faced several additional brief, but fraught, alarms. Late Wednesday night, the city’s RFK (formerly Triboro) Bridge was swarmed by police and shut down after a man ran away from a rental van which smelled of gasoline fumes. False alarm. On Thursday morning, an Emirates airways flight for Dubai was temporarily grounded at JFK airport shortly before takeoff because of a possible match between the name of a passenger and that of an individual on the U.S. government’s “no fly” list. Another false alarm; the plane was sent on its way. On Friday afternoon, part of Times Square was evacuated when police were notified of a “suspicious package.” Yet another false alarm; it turned out to be a cooler filled with water bottles

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The Times Square Bomb Scares and the Perils of False Alarms

ANALYSIS-Can Obama and Karzai still work together?

Steven Aftergood — Fri, 07 May 2010 05:28:01 +0000

Source: Reuters * Obama looking for right balance with Karzai * Afghan leader may be nostalgic for Bush chummy approach By Matt Spetalnick WASHINGTON, May 7 (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama and Afghan …

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ANALYSIS-Can Obama and Karzai still work together?

F L A S H C L U B » bush

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