Pentagon

http://news.bbc.co.u...

Obama defends abuse photos U-turn

The release of more photos of prisoner abuse by US soldiers is "of no benefit" and may inflame opinion against the US, President Barack Obama has said.

The pictures were not "sensational" and every case of abuse had been dealt with by the military, with action taken where appropriate, he said.

The White House previously said it would not fight a court ruling ordering the release of the pictures.

US civil liberties activists accused Mr Obama of adopting Bush-era policies.

The pictures were due to be released by 28 May, according to the court order.

The Pentagon is always making plans, but based on a little-noticed funding request recently sent to Congress, the answer to that question appears to be yes.

First, some background: Back in October 2007, ABC News reported that the Pentagon had asked Congress for $88 million in the emergency Iraq/Afghanistan war funding request to develop a gargantuan bunker-busting bomb called the Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP). It's a 30,000-pound bomb designed to hit targets buried 200 feet below ground. Back then, the Pentagon cited an "urgent operational need" for the new weapon.

Britain regrets its hands are somewhat dirty

The Vietnamese wife of a friend visited the British Consulate in Hong Kong to get a visa to visit the UK. She handed over her application form with a big wedge of cash. On being informed that Her Majesty’s officials do not take bribes, she smiled and handed over an even bigger wedge of cash.

You will be delighted to know that the even bigger wedge was declined. Hang, who grew up in a one-party state riddled with corruption, still can not fathom why the civil servant would turn down the money. I felt a shiver of patriotism, and wanted to meet the official and give him a brief, very British handshake.

Qatar is taking definitive steps to fill its landscape with the 2022 Bid logo. Way to go, Qatar. I hope you win it hands down.

Am including a little of the news item which appeared in insidethegames website. Enjoy, and discuss about the new development.

From the website,

Qatar begin unveiling World Cup 2022 brand

The Qatar 2022 World Cup Bid today started gearing up for its upcoming launch of the bid’s brand identity and website by wrapping two buildings in central Doha with the look and feel of the bid.

In 1989, a disillusioned and bored young South African music video director by the name of Richard Stanley met a young convert called Carlos Mavroleon during a video shoot. Seeking adventure, Stanley convinced Mavroleon to take him to Afghanistan to fight with the Mujahideen against the Soviet invasion. In 2007, Stanley decided to finally set the record straight and wrote a long open letter to the Pentagon, whom he caught tracking him for some time despite having been briefed in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 by the CIA. You may read this open letter which was published by him on his MySpace blog on the following link at a fansite.

Kingdom Come

WASHINGTON — The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has written a searing critique of government efforts at “strategic communication” with the Muslim world, saying that no amount of public relations will establish credibility if American behavior overseas is perceived as arrogant, uncaring or insulting.

Adm. Mike Mullen, comes as the United States is widely believed to be losing ground in the war of ideas against extremist Islamist ideology. The issue is particularly relevant as the Obama administration orders fresh efforts to counter militant propaganda, part of its broader strategy to defeat the Taliban and Al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

If you have, or intend to buy, an iPhone, then stay away from Vodafone. They do NOT support SMS (txt messages) from iPhone.

I received my sim-card last week. I immediately made a test call. That worked fine. Then I sent an SMS as a test. That didn't go through. Hmm... Weird. I tried a couple more times, making sure I had coverage from Vodafone. Then I decided to give their service centre a call, using my Vodafone subscription (after all, I'd just bought 110 free minutes).

I was told that Vodafone was aware of the SMS problem with iPhone. They were looking into it and expected it to be solved soon. While speaking with the customer service rep., we made sure that the problem was not with the settings on my iPhone, ie. the message center number was correct. This was on Thursday.

I've been following this story since it broke and caused waves..

After weeks of controversy, the New York Times has been forced to publicly backpedal on its May 21 story, headlined “1 in 7 Detainees Rejoined Jihad, Pentagon Finds.”

Elisabeth Bumiller (The journalist in question) , relying on an unpublished Pentagon report, stated that “74 prisoners released from Guantánamo have returned to terrorism - a failure rate of 14%

Bumiller also stated " The conclusion could strengthen the arguments of critics who have warned against releasing any more prisoners as part of President Obama’s plan to shut down the prison by January 2010.”

A new strategic partnership in the making ???????????????

On the southern coast of Sri Lanka, ten miles from one of the world’s busiest shipping routes, a vast construction site is engulfing the once sleepy fishing town of Hambantota.

This poor community of 21,000 people is about as far as one can get on the island from the fighting between the army and the Tamil Tiger rebels on the northeastern coast. The sudden spurt of construction helps, however, to explain why the army is poised to defeat the Tigers and why Western governments are so powerless to negotiate a ceasefire to help civilians trapped on the front line.

About f****** time !.I would have shot these twats days ago.FBI and their silly negotiators..........

"Captain jumps overboard, SEALs shoot pirates, official says

(CNN) -- The American captain of a cargo ship held hostage by pirates jumped overboard from the lifeboat where he was being held, and U.S. Navy SEALs shot and killed three of his four captors, according to a senior U.S. official with knowledge of the situation.

Capt. Richard Phillips was helped out of the water off the Somali coast and is uninjured and in good condition, the official said. He was taken aboard the USS Bainbridge, a nearby naval warship.

At the time of the shootings, the fourth pirate was aboard the Bainbridge negotiating with officials, the source said. That pirate was taken into custody.