U.S. Responds to Death of Green Beret By Dropping Massive Bomb in Afghanistan
Jim Malone (Sean Connery): [talking privately in a church] You said you wanted to get Capone. Do you really wanna get him? You see what I'm saying is, what are you prepared to do?
Elliot Ness (Kevin Costner): Anything within the law.
Malone: And *then* what are you prepared to do? If you open the can on these worms you must be prepared to go all the way. Because they're not gonna give up the fight, until one of you is dead.
Ness: I want to get Capone! I don't know how to do it.
Malone: You wanna know how to get Capone? They pull a knife, you pull a gun. He sends one of yours to the hospital, you send one of his to the morgue. *That's* the *Chicago* way! And that's how you get Capone. Now do you want to do that? Are you ready to do that? I'm offering you a deal. Do you want this deal?
Ness: I have sworn to capture this man with all legal powers at my disposal and I will do so.
Malone: Well, the Lord hates a coward.
[jabs Ness with his hand, and Ness shakes it]
Malone: Do you know what a blood oath is, Mr. Ness?
Ness: Yes.
Malone: Good, 'cause you just took one.
-“The Untouchables” (1987)
"Around 7 p.m. local time in Afghanistan, the United States military used a GBU-43B weapon in Afghanistan. The GBU-43B is a powerful and accurately delivered weapon. We targeted a system of tunnels and caves that ISIS fighters used to move around freely, making it easier for them to target U.S. military advisors and Afghan forces in the area," Press Secretary Sean Spicer said Thursday about the drop. "The United States takes the fight against ISIS seriously and in order to defeat the group, we must deny them operational space, which we did."
BREAKING: U.S. Responds to Death of Green Beret By Dropping Massive Bomb in Afghanistan
“More Winning… You’re Going to Get Tired of Winning…”
“During the 2016 campaign Donald Trump complained that NATO countries were not contributing their fair share to the alliance. He was right. The United States pays more than any other country to prop up the alliance. On Wednesday NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said during a joint press conference at the White House that allied spending was up $10 billion because of President Trump. This was after Trump repeated his request for NATO countries to keep their side of the agreement.”
More Winning: NATO Chief – Allied Spending Up $10 Billion Because of Trump
“I’m gonna bomb the shit out of them.”
– Donald Trump, 11/16/2015
Many men are aggressive and willing enough to fight, but when they see death strike suddenly and horribly, their courage oozes away.”- Louis L’Amour, “The Rider of the Ruby Hills”
At 16 million dollars a bomb, that comes to 160,000 dollars per dead Taliban. But it’s money well spent for a change. The government spent 314 million dollars developing the MOAB, may as well see if the damn thing actually works in the field. The opportunity costs inflicted on the Taliban by the loss of so many fighters at once, as well as an important operational base, will no doubt be even more severe in relative terms.
“ISIS's biggest complex in Afghanistan is destroyed. They say more than 100 ISIS members are killed. The casualties may get higher."
“According to this initial casualty estimate, this would be one of the most effective military strikes against ISIS yet.”
“War is a matter not so much of arms as of money.”
- Thucydides, “The History of the Peloponnesian War”
First Reports Coming Out of Afghanistan: MOAB Killed 100 ISIS Fighters
Here's How Much the 'Mother of All Bombs' Costs
“They dropped the largest non-nuclear bomb against ISIS in the Nangarhar Province in Afghanistan. The GBU-43B known as the Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB) or the Mother of All Bombs, is a 20,000-pound monster. It took $314 million to develop and has a unit cost of $16 million.”
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“The U.S. is prepared to launch a preemptive strike with conventional weapons against North Korea should officials become convinced that North Korea is about to follow through with a nuclear weapons test, multiple senior U.S. intelligence officials told NBC News. North Korea has warned that a "big event" is near, and U.S. officials say signs point to a nuclear test that could come as early as this weekend.”
“The intelligence officials told NBC News that the U.S. has positioned two destroyers capable of shooting Tomahawk cruise missiles in the region, one just 300 miles from the North Korean nuclear test site. American heavy bombers are also positioned in Guam to attack North Korea should it be necessary, and earlier this week, the Pentagon announced that the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier strike group was being diverted to the area. The U.S. strike could include missiles and bombs, cyber and special operations on the ground.”
“The danger of such an attack by the U.S. is that it could provoke the volatile and unpredictable North Korean regime to launch its own blistering attack on its southern neighbor. "The leadership in North Korea has shown absolutely no sign or interest in diplomacy or dialogue with any of the countries involved in this issue," Victor Cha, the Korea Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies told NBC News Thursday.”
North Korean soldiers look towards Kim Jong Un at a parade in Pyongyang in 2013 marking the 60th anniversary of the Korean War armistice. Wong Maye-E / AP file
North Korean soldiers look towards Kim Jong Un at a parade in Pyongyang in 2013 marking the 60th anniversary of the Korean War armistice. Wong Maye-E / AP file
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Oops, My Bad
“The U.S. military says a misdirected airstrike this week killed 18 friendly fighters battling Islamic State alongside the international coalition in northern Syria. U.S. Central Command said Thursday that coalition aircraft were given the wrong coordinates by the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces for a strike intended to target militants south of their stronghold in Tabqa.”
“The coalition's deepest condolences go out to the members of the SDF and their families. The coalition is in close contact with our SDF partners who have expressed a strong desire to remain focused on the fight against ISIS despite this tragic incident,” Central Command said in a statement. “The coalition is assessing the cause of the incident and will implement appropriate safeguards to prevent similar incidents in the future.”
“The Kurdish fighters, with air and ground support from the U.S.-led coalition, had surrounded Tabqa, which is on a dammed section of the Euphrates River just west of Raqqa, Islamic State’s de facto capital in Syria. But the strike on Tuesday hit their position, killing 18 of them. Several nations have contributed air power to the coalition, and it was not immediately clear which was behind the strike.
It also was not clear how many such friendly fire strikes have happened since the campaign began against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria in 2014.”
U.S. military says misdirected airstrike in northern Syria killed 18 allied fighters
Who the Alt Right Needs To Bring To Berkely
“Hundreds of students beat to death a classmate known for his liberal views on a university campus in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province on Thursday, police and witnesses said.”
“Mashal Khan, a journalism student, was stripped, beaten, shot, and thrown from the second floor of his hostel at the Abdul Wali Khan university in Mardan, sources at the university said. Graphic video footage from the scene shows dozens of men outside the hostel kicking and hurling projectiles at a body sprawled on the ground.”
“The killing comes as authorities, including Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, have been increasingly vocal over blasphemy in recent weeks. Blasphemy is a hugely sensitive charge in the Muslim-majority country, and can carry the death penalty. Even unproven allegations can cause mob lynchings and violence.”
“The student has been brutally murdered by his fellow students,” said Niaz Saeed, a senior police official. “He was badly tortured after being shot at a close range… He was beaten with sticks, bricks and hands,” Saeed said, adding that hundreds of people had been involved in the attack.”
“…Rights groups have long criticized Pakistan’s colonial-era blasphemy legislation as a vehicle for personal vendettas. At least 65 people have been murdered by vigilantes over blasphemy allegations since 1990, according to recent think tank report issued before Thursday’s killing. Activists have also accused religious conservatives of using blasphemy as a means of muzzling dissent.”
Student Mob in Mardan Beats Liberal Classmate to Death
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