World Tribune, Pat Dollard, “Iraq has increased police force by 200,000 since 2006”
BAGHDAD — Iraq has nearly doubled its police force to nearly 300,000 officers.
The Iraqi Interior Ministry under Jawad Bolani said that more than 200,000 police officers were hired since 2006. The ministry said police have taken security responsibility in 10 provinces.
“These steps have not come without great sacrifice,” Maj. Gen. Abdul Karim Khalaf, the ministry’s operations director, said. “We have had 10,000 police officers killed or injured trying to bring peace to our communities.”
Continue reading ‘Iraqi police now number 300,000′
FOXNews, “Ahmadinejad Blames U.S. for AIDS, Says ‘Big Powers’ Going Down”
Didn’t your mommy teach you not to point?
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s president on Tuesday blamed the U.S. and other “big powers” for global ills such as nuclear proliferation and AIDS, and accused them of exploiting the U.N. for their own gain and the developing world’s loss.
But, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said, time was on the poor countries’ side.
“The big powers are going down,” Ahmadinejad told foreign ministers of the Nonaligned Movement meeting in Tehran. “They have come to the end of their power, and the world is on the verge of entering a new, promising era.”
Continue reading ‘Ahmadinejad blames US for AIDs, whale impotence, and Teletubbies cancellation’
If you haven’t browsed the DefenseLink Home Page Photo section of the U.S. DoD website, you should check it out. There are litterally hundreds of pictures dating all the way back to September 2005. Most of them are high-resolution and make for great wallpapers as well. I was clicking through them again today and came across this great shot (one of many):
Pat Dollard, “Blackwater Covered Hussein’s Ass In A-Stan”
Blackwater Got the Gig Securing Obama in Afghanistan
by Paul Bedard - (Washington Wispers - USNews)
Sen. Barack Obama has not been a fan of private police like Blackwater in war zones, and some news outlets even reported that they were spurned for his trip last week to Afghanistan and Iraq. But Whispers confirms that Blackwater did handle the Democratic presidential candidate’s security in Afghanistan and helped out in Iraq. What’s more, Obama was overheard saying: “Blackwater is getting a bad rap.” Since everything appeared to go swimmingly, maybe he will take firms like Blackwater out of his sights, the company’s supporters hope.
Continue reading ‘Blackwater was covering Hussein’s ass in A-Stan’
Flopping Aces, “The AP Admits We Are Winning In Iraq”
AP, “Analysis: US now winning Iraq war that seemed lost”
The United States is now winning the war that two years ago seemed lost.
Limited, sometimes sharp fighting and periodic terrorist bombings in Iraq are likely to continue, possibly for years. But the Iraqi government and the U.S. now are able to shift focus from mainly combat to mainly building the fragile beginnings of peace — a transition that many found almost unthinkable as recently as one year ago.
Despite the occasional bursts of violence, Iraq has reached the point where the insurgents, who once controlled whole cities, no longer have the clout to threaten the viability of the central government.
That does not mean the war has ended or that U.S. troops have no role in Iraq. It means the combat phase finally is ending, years past the time when President Bush optimistically declared it had (ed. they still can’t help themselves….spin spin and more spin). The new phase focuses on training the Iraqi army and police, restraining the flow of illicit weaponry from Iran, supporting closer links between Baghdad and local governments, pushing the integration of former insurgents into legitimate government jobs and assisting in rebuilding the economy.
Continue reading ‘AP actually publishes claim that US is winning in Iraq’
My Way News, “Report: Iran now has 6,000 centrifuges for uranium”
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran’s president said Saturday his country now possesses 6,000 centrifuges, a significant increase in its nuclear program that is certain to further rankle the United States and others who fear Tehran is intent on developing weapons.
The new figure is double the 3,000 uranium-enriching machines Iran had previously said it was operating.
Continue reading ‘Report: Iran now has 6,000 centrifuges for uranium’
Pat Dollard, “Man Who Hasn’t Accomplished Anything And Isn’t President, Continues Meetings With World Leaders”
KABUL, Afghanistan - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama pledged steadfast aid to Afghanistan in talks Sunday with its Western-backed leader and vowed to pursue the war on terror “with vigor” if elected, an Afghan official said.
On the second day of an international tour designed to burnish his foreign policy credentials, Illinois Sen. Obama and a pair of colleagues held two hours of talks with President Hamid Karzai at his palace in the capital.
Continue reading ‘Man Who Hasn’t Accomplished Anything And Isn’t President, Continues Meetings With World Leaders’
Spiegel Online, “Iraq Leader Maliki Supports Obama’s Withdrawal Plans”
UPDATE: Maliki disputes report
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki did not back the plan of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq and his comments to a German magazine on the issue were misunderstood, the government’s spokesman said on Sunday.
Ali al-Dabbagh said in a statement that Maliki’s remarks to Der Spiegel were translated incorrectly.
The German magazine said on Saturday that Maliki supported Obama’s proposal that U.S. troops should leave Iraq within 16 months. The interview was released on Saturday.
Continue reading ‘Iraq Leader Maliki Supports Obama’s Withdrawal Plans’
LiveLeak, “Iran to hold large air force exercise”
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran’s air force plans to hold a large-scale exercise to strengthen deterrence against any threats, a media report said, a week after the country test-fired missiles in war games criticised by the West.
Air force commander Ahmad Mighani said on Tuesday the combat and defensive drills will be held in the near future, Iran’s state Press TV satellite station said on its website.
Iran is estimated to have 280 combat aircraft, including Russian-made MiG 29 aircraft, but serviceability may be 80 percent or lower.
Continue reading ‘Iran to hold large air force exercise’
FOXNews, “Hezbollah Returns Bodies to Israel in Exchange for 5 Lebanese Militants”
NAQOURA, Lebanon —
Five Lebanese militants freed from prisons in Israel in exchange for the bodies of two captured Israeli soldiers strode down a red carpet behind a Hezbollah honor guard Wednesday to a boisterous welcome from hundreds of cheering spectators.
Israel released Samir Kantar and four others after Hezbollah handed over two black coffins with the bodies of the Israeli soldiers, closing a painful chapter from the 2006 war in Lebanon.
Continue reading ‘Hezbolla gives Hero’s welcome to terrorists’
The News Junkie, Pat Dollard, “Iranian Media Releases New Missile Image”
I can’t vouch for the authenticity of this image especially since Iran faked one of the earlier missile launch photos but it looks quite frightening. Is that Godzilla over there in the bottom right corner?
Herald Tribune, “OPEC chief warns of ‘unlimited’ oil prices if Iran is attacked”
VIENNA: The head of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries warned Thursday that oil prices would see an “unlimited” increase in the case of a military conflict involving Iran, because the group’s members would be unable to make up the lost production.
“We really cannot replace Iran’s production - it’s not feasible to replace it,” Abdalla Salem El-Badri, the OPEC secretary general, said in an interview.
Iran, the second-largest producing country in OPEC, after Saudi Arabia, produces about four million barrels of oil a day out of the daily worldwide production of close to 87 million barrels.
Continue reading ‘OPEC: Your oil price ceiling? If you attack Iran.. INFINITY + 1!’
