Thursday, November 26, 2009
Washington DC: White House Security Breach
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Legal News: Navy SEALs Face Assault Charges for Capturing Blackwater Bridge Mastermind
This makes me sick. I hope these guys are able to prove how idiotic this really is by taking it all the way to a court-martial. These three men are heroes, and should be treated as such. Hell, I should hope that this booger eater got a big fat lip for what he did to those Blackwater men that day. Despicable.
Also, check out this podcast here about this story. It is an interview between Uncle Jimbo of Blackfive and G. Gordon Liddy. –Matt
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Navy SEALs Face Assault Charges for Capturing Most-Wanted Terrorist
Tuesday , November 24, 2009
By Rowan Scarborough
Navy SEALs have secretly captured one of the most wanted terrorists in Iraq — the alleged mastermind of the murder and mutilation of four Blackwater USA security guards in Fallujah in 2004. And three of the SEALs who captured him are now facing criminal charges, sources told FoxNews.com.
The three, all members of the Navy’s elite commando unit, have refused non-judicial punishment — called an admiral’s mast — and have requested a trial by court-martial.
Ahmed Hashim Abed, whom the military code-named “Objective Amber,” told investigators he was punched by his captors — and he had the bloody lip to prove it.
Now, instead of being lauded for bringing to justice a high-value target, three of the SEAL commandos, all enlisted, face assault charges and have retained lawyers.
Congo: U.N. Peace Mission Fueling Violence in Congo, Report Says
Shameful. The worlds largest peace keeping mission, and it is a total failure. I actually think those in the U.N. who were responsible for managing such a cluster, should face a war crimes tribunal for allowing such a thing.
Now if the U.N. were to pull their collective head out of their ass, and realize that if there is no peace to keep, then you do not send in peace keepers. What needs to happen, is the conflict(s) must end, and the only way that happens is the two sides fight it out and to the victor go the spoils. Or, the U.N. picks a side, and completely supports that side of the war by sending in war fighters with the mission of defeating the other side. All out warfare, and no half measures.
You either contract it out to an Executive Outcomes type company, or assemble a coalition of actual war fighters from donor countries, or don’t do anything at all. But all of that would take a mandate from the U.N. Security Council, and it would also take resolve and the will to fight a war like that. Companies like EO are proof positive that a professional PMC could definitely do what has to be done, and I would say, for a reasonable price. Much more reasonable that what the U.N. is paying for now, which is only doing more harm to the Congo. Shameful. –Matt
Edit: Here are some excerpts from the report, to include the summary, here at a blog called Congo Siasa.
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UN peace mission fueling violence in Congo, report says
Security force costing $1bn a year has not defeated Rwandan Hutu rebels or halted plunder of lucrative minerals, experts find
Wednesday 25 November 2009
The world’s biggest UN peacekeeping mission has been branded a failure by experts who say it is fueling a surge of murders and rapes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The UN security force of 25,000, estimated to cost more than $1bn a year, has proved unable to defeat Rwandan Hutu rebels or to halt the plunder of lucrative minerals in the east of the country, according to a scathing report.
Among the most damning findings of the UN-mandated Group of Experts is the free rein given to a military commander and war crimes suspect known as “The Terminator”, which the UN mission has previously denied.
The mission in North and South Kivu agreed to back Congo’s army in an offensive this year against the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), some of whose leaders helped to orchestrate Rwanda’s 1994 genocide.
The experts found: “Military operations have … not succeeded in neutralising the FDLR, have exacerbated the humanitarian crisis in the Kivus and have resulted in an expansion of CNDP [the Congolese Tutsi militia National Congress for the Defence of the People] military influence in the region.”
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Industry Talk: Simon Mann Paid £400k In Wonga To Buy His Way Out Of jail, Claims Nick Du Toit
This just keeps getting better and more juicy with every detail that comes out. If a movie is not made about this whole deal, I would be very surprised. You watch, Nick will have a book deal to counter Simon’s book. Simon’s book which will more than likely thrash Thatcher and company, will probably motivate Thatcher to write a book to tell his side of the story. It will be the battle of the books–a ‘written word bloodbath’! Frederick Forsyth, eat your heart out. lol –Matt
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Dog of war Simon Mann paid £400k in wonga to buy his way out of jail, claims coup plotter
By Barbara Jones In Pretoria22nd November 2009
It was an extraordinary scene. British mercenary Simon Mann was deep in conversation with his chief prosecutor, the Attorney General of Equatorial Guinea, the man who had brought him to justice for plotting to overthrow the West African country’s government.
They sat close together, discussing large sums of money and poring over paperwork.
Then, like the celebrity prisoner he had become, Mann reached over and borrowed the Attorney-General’s mobile phone to call his home in England.
For the next 50 minutes, Mann berated his wife Amanda for failing to produce the funds he needed to buy his way out of prison.
What was holding up the bank transfer, he demanded to know. When would the money reach West Africa? Did she realise how urgent this was?
Looking on in astonishment were four of his fellow prisoners. Unlike him, they were shackled by chains on their wrists and feet and wore uniforms of grey and white stripes.
Also unlike him, they had no vast reserves of money to call up in order to buy freedom.
They had been summoned to one of their occasional meetings with the Attorney-General in a ground-floor room at Black Beach prison and had come face-to-face with Mann for the first time since they were all arrested in March 2004.
For Nick du Toit, Mann’s chief co-conspirator, it was a traumatic moment.
‘He seemed so relaxed, almost unaware of us,’ he said. ‘Then he wanted to shake my hand and was only slightly embarrassed that I was shuffling over to him in chains. He asked how I was and I said I was fine. It was unreal.’
Now back home in Pretoria, du Toit has given The Mail on Sunday the first authentic account of the moment of their release on November 3.
He also revealed details of the special treatment afforded to Mann during his time in Black Beach – which included hotel food and an exercise treadmill.
Mann, 57, was released after 14 months of his 34-year sentence, boasting to du Toit that it cost him nearly half-a-million pounds.
Two weeks ago, Mann flew home to his country estate in Hampshire in a private jet. He briefed a PR agent on his plans to write a book about his adventures and announced his intention to incriminate those he claimed were fellow plotters who failed to come to his rescue in jail.
Weapons Stuff: Major Revamp Possible for M4 Carbine
Cool, I guess. My choice would be to just switch to a higher caliber rifle, as opposed to dressing up this varmint shooter we call the M4.
If I was to add one more little addition to this list, that would be to make the Mk 262 round the standard round. Sure it would be expensive, and tough to make enough of them, but it could it be done. That 77 grn. bullet is awesome for this weapon, and truly juices every last drop of effectiveness out of the weapon called the M4. (just as long as you have the barrel to support that kind of ammunition)
In my opinion, for the cross canyon fire fights in Afghanistan, you need something with reach and with knock-down power. That little 5.56 round just doesn’t do it for me. Hell, I wouldn’t even use that round for hunting deer. Any way…. –Matt
Edit: I want to point the readership to a voice of reason about these recent so-called ‘weapon failures’ in the war. Paul Howe has a running newsletter, and he discussed this issue and his thoughts. His focus was how to properly maintain your weapon and shooting accurately. If a soldier goes through thirty magazines in a fight, then there should be a ton of dead enemy soldiers surrounding him. The M4 should not be used as a noise maker to scare the enemy to death. Anyway, check out what Paul had to say here.
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Major revamp possible for M4 carbine
Army wants new barrel, faster fire and 4 other improvements
By Matthew Cox – Staff writer
Sunday Nov 22, 2009
The Army is considering a major redesign of the M4 aimed at making the weapon shoot cleaner and longer — at high rates of fire.
As the Army awaits Defense Department approval of a competition to find a new carbine, weapons officials have identified six fixes intended to address shortcomings in reliability, durability and handling of the Army’s inventory of more than 400,000 M4s.
Army weapons officials presented the proposed changes to Congress on Oct. 30. They are:
• Adding a heavier barrel for better performance during high rates of fire.
• Replacing the direct-impingement gas system with a piston gas system.
• Improving the trigger pull.
• Adding an improved rail system for increased strength.
• Adding ambidextrous controls.
• Adding a round counter to track the total number of bullets fired over the weapon’s lifetime.