Target Centermass

Author: Gunner

  • U.S. Freezes Assets of Syrian Intelligence Chief

    The United States is upping the ante on Syria, with its latest maneuver focused on a single key figure in the Syrian regime.

    The United States on Wednesday froze the U.S. assets of Syrian military intelligence director Asef Shawkat, accusing him of fomenting terrorism against Israel and backing Syria’s intrusion in Lebanon.

    The U.S. Treasury Department, in the Bush administration’s latest effort to pressure Syria, named Shawkat a “Specially Designated National” — freezing his assets in the United States and banning U.S. citizens from doing business with him.

    “Shawkat has been a key architect of Syria’s domination of Lebanon, as well as a fundamental contributor to Syria’s long-standing policy to foment terrorism against Israel,” said Stuart Levey, under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence at the U.S. Treasury.

    The U.S. Treasury did not specify whether Shawkat, who is Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s brother-in-law, had any assets in the United States.

    The United States accused Shawkat of cooperating with groups like Hizbollah, Hamas, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in his position as military intelligence chief.

    The U.S. Treasury also cited Shawkat for contributing to Syria’s military and security presence in Lebanon, an enduring source of tension following last year’s killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri for which a U.N. probe has implicated Syrian officials.

    Though international pressure following the assassination caused Syria to withdraw its military presence from Lebanon, the United States has accused Syria of continuing to interfere in Lebanese affairs, which it says undermines efforts to stabilize Iraq and supporting terrorism in the region.

    The White House in 2004 imposed sanctions that prohibited certain U.S. exports to Syria, severed banking ties with the Commercial Bank of Syria, froze the assets of Syrians believed linked to terrorism or weapons of mass destruction, and banned Syrian airlines from flying to and from the United States.

    Yes, international pressure on Syria has certainly increased since the country’s apparent involvement in the Hariri assassination. Still, as the story points out, the U.S. began ramping up the heat before the hit, and that would certainly be a result of the Syrian role as accomplice to ongoing bloodshed in Iraq. I do like that Hizbollah, Hamas, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad were specifically named, as it is well past time to start joining together the many jigsaw pieces of Islamic terror throughout the region and the globe.

  • UN Retreats as Ivory Coast Faces New Civil War Threat

    Tumultuous Ivory Coast looks to be spinning its way back to internal strife and bloodshed.

    Ivory Coast, once one of the wealthiest countries in Africa, was close to its second civil war in five years yesterday as gangs of armed thugs loyal to President Gbagbo ran amok across the southern half of the country.

    A 300-strong contingent of Bangladeshi UN troops was forced to withdraw after an attack on their base at Guiglo, 300 miles west of Abidjan, the commercial capital. At least four people died when the peacekeepers opened fire to defend themselves.

    Another contingent of 70 international peacekeepers was evacuated from the town of Douéké. Peacekeepers at the UN headquarters in Abidjan fired in the air and used teargas to keep the thugs at bay. Businesses across the city closed as Mr Gbagbo’s supporters blocked roads with burning tyres and stopped vehicles.

    President Obasanjo of Nigeria will fly to Ivory Coast today to try to defuse the troubles. The UN and France, the former colonial power, called for calm.

    Late last night Mr Gbagbo responded by calling on his supporters to end the protests and return to work.

    The rebels, who control the northern half of the country, had given warning of renewed war if Mr Gbagbo reneges on a UN-brokered peace agreement negotiated last year. They have been fighting for real powersharing with the southern elite and equal distribution of the country’s wealth.

    The violence erupted on Monday when international mediators demanded that the mandate of the country’s parliament, a rubber-stamp body packed with Mr Gbagbo’s supporters, be wound up pending elections.

    The ruling party, the Ivorian Popular Front (FPI), said that it was quitting immediately the transitional Government and the UN-backed peace process.

    “If the FPI succeeds in making a putsch against the peace process, that means war,” Sidiki Konate, a spokesman for the northern New Forces rebel movement, said. Mr Gbagbo unleashed the ruling party’s Young Patriots, a favourite tactic of a man who has clung to power since the end of the 2002-03 civil war divided his country, and who has resisted all attempts to persuade him to share power.

    Gangs of Young Patriots have spread out across Abidjan and other main population centres controlled by government forces. The few foreigners left in Abidjan, once the jewel in France’s colonial crown, are hiding in the basements of their houses or in the homes and offices of Ivorian friends.

    The last time that machete-wielding gangs hit the streets, they beat and raped any white foreigners they found.

    “There are virtually no whites left. The only foreigners left in Abidjan who are not in the well-protected UN compounds are Lebanese who are busy picking up what business the expatriates left behind,” a regional analyst said.

    […]

    In France, which has 4,000 troops operating alongside the 7,000-strong UN peacekeeping force, General Henri Bentegeat, the chief of the Armed Forces, said that the time had come for the UN Security Council to make good its threat of imposing sanctions on Ivory Coast.

    […]

    The FPI has called for the departure of the UN peacekeepers and the French troops whom they accuse of supporting the rebels in order to take control of Ivory Coast’s cocoa industry — the world’s biggest.

    Despite the presence of the United Nations and the French, it seems that a true quagmire and civil war can be managed.

    If interested, check out the original story for a timeline of Ivory Coast’s spiral into madness.

  • Carnival of Liberty XXVIII

    This week’s installment of the Life, Liberty, Property community’s Carnival of Liberty is up over at Below the Beltway. Go read another fine collection of posts from a libertarian slant.

  • ITB and OBL

    Chad Evans at In the Bullpen yesterday linked to a story about an Aussie terror expert who theorized that Osama bin Laden was “certainly either severely incapacitated or dead.” Today, Chad has a link to a story where the US counter-terror ambassador states bin Laden is alive. Me, personally, I’m hoping for dead, and a painful death at that, but assuming alive until confirmation of long dirtnap status.

    After his first post, in which Chad pointed out that it had been over a year since any word from Osama had been released, I left a comment expressing my curiousity about previous gaps between Osama communications. Well, Chad did the leg work — well, more likely keyboard work — and put together this rather informative timeline of Osama messages.

    In the Bullpen: not only one of the best blogs out there for Islamist terror news, rumors and analysis, but also outstanding customer service. Check it out … frequently.

  • Monday Post-MNF Link Dump

    Man, I could go for some football right now. Instead, I’ve been checking out these stories.

    Media Zinger o’ the Day

    Landing like a solid right cross hidden behind a good left jab [emphasis added].

    Witnessing former Vice President Gore’s speech today in which he basically accused President Bush of criminality for warrant-less eavesdropping on Americans was fascinating in part because it demonstrated just how spicy a Washington speech can be when the person giving it has nothing left to lose.

    Where Have I Heard This Tune Before?

    Filed under Iran-Playing-the-World-Like-a-Fiddle.

    A POTENTIAL breakthrough in the nuclear stand-off with Iran came last night when the Iranian ambassador in Moscow praised a proposal to move Tehran’s uranium enrichment programme to Russia.

    As Britain, the United States, Russia, France and China met in London yesterday to discuss how to handle Iran’s illegal nuclear development, the country was facing the growing certainty that it would be referred to the UN Security Council.

    While China remained resolutely silent on the possibility of sanctions – a move which it has the power to veto – Russia made significant moves towards the western stance on Iran’s nuclear programme.

    Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, said last night that his position is “very close” to that of the United States and Britain. And it appeared that he could hold the key to a resolution when Iran’s ambassador to Russia, Gholamreza Ansari, welcomed an offer to move the Iranian uranium enrichment programme to Russia.

    Such a move would mean Iran, which is developing a missile which could reach Israel, could not acquire enough material for a bomb.

    “As far as Russia’s proposal is concerned, we consider it constructive and are carefully studying it. This is a good initiative to resolve the situation. We believe that Iran and Russia should find a way out of this jointly,” said Mr Ansari.

    Banned in Iran: CNN

    Allowed in Saddam’s Iraq for a willingness to filter news for the tyrant, banned from Iran for a mistranslation. From a journalistic standpoint, which is more degrading?

    Iran banned CNN from working in the country due to its mistranslation of comments made by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a recent news conference.

    The indefinite ban, announced Monday on state-run television, highlighted the continuing tension between Iran and the West over Tehran’s nuclear program.

    In remarks Saturday, Ahmadinejad had defended Iran’s right to continue nuclear research. State media have complained since the news conference that CNN translated his words as “nuclear weapons” instead of “nuclear technology” or “nuclear energy.”

    “Due to mistranslation of the words of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during his press conference, activities of the American CNN in Tehran are banned until further notice,” said a Culture and Islamic Guidance Ministry statement read on state-run television.

    CNN acknowledged the mistake in its U.S. broadcast.

    Yet Another Reason to Despise the Media

    A long-time military deserter has been identified and taken into custody.

    A US Marine who absconded from his base more than 36 years ago as a protest against the Vietnam war has been arrested and may face a court martial.

    Ernest Johnson Jr, 55, fled his camp in North Carolina in 1969 after becoming disenchanted with the war in Vietnam.

    […]

    Mr Johnson said he began to doubt the wisdom of joining the Marines after news emerged in 1969 of a now-infamous massacre of Vietnamese civilians at the village of My Lai.

    […]

    “I just decided I didn’t want to be a part of killing anybody. That’s about as plain as I can say it,” Mr Johnson said.

    A spokesman for the US Marines said Mr Johnson could face a maximum jail term of three years and a dishonourable discharge if found guilty.

    A decision has not yet been taken on whether to transport him back to Camp Lejeune, in North Carolina.

    However, the US military has previously dropped charges against similar deserters, instead giving them a less-than-honourable discharge.

    Why do I see this as a reason to despise the media? Well, there is this little tidbit at the end of the story.

    Captain Jay Delarosa denied the arrest was part of a campaign to send messages to modern-day Marines.

    “The purpose in apprehending such individuals is… simply an end result of a decision he made long ago.”

    That means that, during a wartime period with retention rates well above military expectations, some idiot in the press asked the question about an ulterior motive for capturing a deserter. If they cannot find a morale problem, they are quite willing to insinuate one. The approach of today’s practitioners of journalism, a craft I grew up loving, absolutely disgusts me

  • ARNG Transformation Taking Shape

    As a former Guardsman, I find this analysis of the almost-wholesale restructuring of the National Guard intriguing (hat tip to the Officer’s Club).

    The Army National Guard’s transformation, highlighted by the organization of 34 new modular brigades, continues to march toward a programmed completion date of 2008.

    The transformation to these cost-effective, rapidly deployable formations is occurring in the midst of ongoing deployments overseas in support of the Global War on Terror, as well as extensive deployments here in the United States for Operation Noble Eagle and for domestic disaster response.

    […]

    For much of 2005, the Army Guard contributed half of the Army’s combat forces on the ground in Iraq. These combat-proven units in many cases returned to immediately begin transformation to the new, modular configuration, with the goal being to make them identical in structure and manning to their active Army counterparts – though at a considerably cheaper price, since the Guard units are manned by part-time citizen-soldiers.

    Seventy-three percent of all Army National Guard units are affected by transformation – the largest shift in Guard force structure since the end of World War II. The transition began in fiscal year 2005.

    As in the active component, the Guard’s brigade combat teams come in three types – Infantry, Armored (formerly called “Heavy”), and Stryker. In addition to the BCTs, the Army Guard will also be fielding a number of new modular supporting units – six “Fires Brigades,” 10 “Combat Support Brigades (Maneuver Enhancement),” 11 Sustainment Brigades, 12 Aviation Brigades, an Aviation Command and three Sustainment Commands.

    As in the Regular Army, the eight Army National Guard Divisions are shedding all their organic structure and transforming to a modular, deployable command and control headquarters.

    In peacetime, the Guard division headquarters will have training and oversight authority for four or five BCTs located in the same geographic area. In wartime, each division will have a variable number of BCTs and support units attached to it depending on its mission.

    In addition, Guard division headquarters will have the capability to exercise command and control in a domestic emergency, as did both the 35th and 38th Infantry Divisions following Hurricane Katrina.

    […]

    The transition to 34 Brigade Combat Teams represents a considerable reduction in the Army National Guard’s combat force structure from only five years ago. In 2000, the Army Guard consisted of eight complete infantry divisions, each consisting of three maneuver brigades, plus 16 separate brigades, an Armored Cavalry Regiment and an Infantry Group, for a total of 42 ground maneuver brigades or their equivalent. The Army Guard’s authorized strength of 350,000 in 2000 was the same as it is today.

    The transition is even more dramatic when compared to the Cold War height of the Army Guard in 1989, when strength stood at 457,000 and the Guard fielded 53 ground maneuver brigades or their equivalent.

    The reduction in forces is equally dramatic in other branches, most notably Field Artillery. There, the Cold War reserve of 17 Field Artillery Brigades and a Corps Artillery Headquarters that are currently in the Guard will shrink to six “Fires Brigades” by 2008.

    […]

    Overall, the conversion to modular units led to a large decrease in the number of field artillery and armor battalions in the Guard, and an increase in the number of cavalry squadrons.

    Despite the broad and sweeping changes, several nods to history have been acknowledged so that the proud heritage of individual states could be recognized or maintained.

    Extensive evaluation and input from the states since then has led to a few significant changes to the Army National Guard picture.

    Perhaps most noticeable is the new designation and insignia that will be worn by Virginia’s Brigade Combat Team. Initially, the unit was to be designated the 116th BCT, 29th Infantry Division, and Soldiers would have continued to wear the 29th Infantry Division patch they currently wear.

    Virginia’s leaders decided instead to designate the unit the 116th Infantry BCT and adopt the shoulder sleeve insignia of the former 116th Infantry Brigade, the famed “Stonewall Brigade.” That patch sports a profile of Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, the legendary Confederate commander from Virginia, astride his horse.

    In another change from the October announcement, Louisiana’s 256th BCT will continue to be called “Infantry” for tradition’s sake, even though its structure will remain that of an “Armored” BCT.

    The Army Guard will also have two armored BCTs – the 116th in Idaho and the 278th in Tennessee – that will adopt the designation “Cavalry BCT” because these units have long histories of service as cavalry organizations.

    Another example would be the resurrection of Texas’ 36th Infantry Division and its distinctive T-patch to replace the 49th Lone Star Armored Division, discussed previously.

    The Officer’s Club had graphical representation of the new structure of a heavy brigade combat team, which I’ve managed to track down to Global Security.org (click on image for larger version).

    Heavy Brigade Combat Team TOE

  • Abbas Not to Seek Re-election as Palestinian President

    No more years, no more years.

    Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Sunday that he would not seek re-election after his four-year term ends in 2009.

    Abbas made the remarks after attending a ceremony to mark the first anniversary of his election to succeed the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in the West Bank city of Ramallah.” I have worked and will work to reinforce democracy and implement my program that I presented before I was elected,” Abbas asserted

    It must be exhausting to rule over anarchy, over a barbarity and bloodthirst that was, for decades, engendered into their own children by the Palestinians, resulting in a society of madness and the lawlessness of mob rule.

  • Zawahiri Apparently Lives

    When I blogged about Friday’s missile strike targeting chief al Queda lieutenant Ayman al-Zawahiri, I hedged that reports of his demise may be premature again. Indeed, that appears to be the case.

    Does that mean the strike was failure of intelligence or a bloody, tragic mistake? Not according to Bob Owens at Confederate Yankee, who points readers to a couple of stories saying the strike was based upon, of all things, a dinner invitation [emphasis in original].

    Terrorists were targeted at these locations by what appears to certainly be human intelligence working in conjunction with aerial surveillance and targeting. Only a human source (or communications monitoring—perhaps by NSA?) would be able to find out that al-Zawahiri was invited to dinner at this home, and it is reasonable for a circling drone or any operators on the ground to surmise that a small ground of armed men arriving at the specified location at the specified time might very well contain their target. This was not a case of an intelligence failure, but a case of one fewer terrorists showing up for dinner.

    There is, in every war, the tragic loss of innocents. At other times, those labeled as innocent sometimes are not as they appear.

  • Quote of the Week, 15 JAN 06

    In war, morale is to material as three is to one.

    —Napolean Bonaparte

  • U.S. Targeted al Qaeda No. 2 in Airstrike

    The hottest news tonight is apparent CIA missile attack aimed at a key al Queda figure.

    A U.S. airstrike in Pakistan targeted al Qaeda’s second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahri, but it was unclear if he had been killed, U.S. sources knowledgeable about the strike said in Washington.

    CNN quoted sources as saying the CIA had ordered the airstrike on buildings after receiving intelligence that Zawahri was in a village near the border with Afghanistan.

    ABC News quoted Pakistani military sources as saying five of those killed were “high-level” al Qaeda figures.

    Pakistan was investigating the reports, Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said.

    “Our investigation is still going on … I cannot confirm anything,” Ahmed told Reuters.

    Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden and the Egyptian-born Zawahri have eluded capture since U.S.-led forces toppled Afghanistan’s Taliban government in 2001 in the wake of the September 11 attacks.

    Since 9/11, tales of the demise of several key enemy figures have come and gone, usually proving premature or unsuccessful. Significant in this story is that the CIA felt their intelligence was solid enough to carry out an attack within Pakistan, an attack whose political fallout will be interesting to follow. Still, should Zawahiri be found to have been hurried along to the long dirtnap, it would not be without a trace of irony.

    In a video aired last Friday, Zawahri congratulated Muslims “on Islam’s victory in Iraq” and said the United States was being defeated there.