Grim Reaper To Call On Taliban

In a very short time it will genuinely suck to be a Taliban fighter in Afghanistan. Oh sure, the caves already are pretty dreadful, the food is terrible and there is the ever-present threat of NATO forces coming to call. But now, the US is sending in the new team: the Reapers.

CREECH AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. — The Air Force this fall will deploy a new generation of pilotless airplane with the bombing power of an F-16 to help stop the stubborn Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan.

The Reaper is an upgraded version of the Predator, which has become one of the military's most sought-after planes since it first appeared in Afghanistan in 2001. The Reaper can fly three times as fast as a Predator and carry eight times more weaponry, such as Hellfire missiles, the Air Force said.

The Reaper's greater range and speed make it better suited than the Predator to Afghanistan with its vast, rugged terrain. The Reaper will also be deployed to Iraq. Its speed and arms will let it track and kill moving targets able to elude a Predator, said Brig. Gen. James Poss, director of intelligence for Air Combat Command at Langley Air Force Base, Va.

Air Force officials cite the June 2006 killing of al-Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who was tracked by a Predator but ultimately killed by bombs dropped by an F-16. The Reaper "is ideal for that type of target," said Lt. Col. Gregory Christ, director of staff at Creech.

Despite the Predator's success, field commanders wanted a faster, more lethal alternative, said Col. Charles Bartlett, leader of the Air Force's unmanned aircraft task force.

I've posted about the Reaper before. Things are about to get much worse for the Taliban. 

Did Anyone Else Notice?

Senator Craig began his statement to the press today by saying:

"Thank you for all coming out."

No one thought, "Nice to see ya" would have been a less ironic opening?

Russia Captures Master Criminal

I'm sure plenty of folks in Russia are breathing a little easier tonight.

A Russian court hearing against a University of Missouri-St. Louis graduate student, who is charged with trying to smuggle old coins and military medals out of the country, lasted for more than two hours today and will resume on Thursday, said the student, Roxana Contreras.

Contreras, 29, has been stuck in Voronezh in southwestern Russia since mid-June after authorities stopped her at the airport. The Chilean citizen said she bought the souvenirs for $66 U.S. dollars from a vendor and did not know it was illegal totake them with her.

Dozens of U.S. researchers, UMSL Chancellor Thomas George, and U.S. Rep. Todd Akin have written letters on her behalf. Her supporters say she has been harshly treated for a minor infraction.

Contreras, a physics researcher, said by phone Tuesday that the judge requested documents from UMSL about her English proficiency. She could face a fine or a maximum of seven years in prison.

…

Three early 20th century bank notes she bought and a 1924 coin she was given drew the smuggling charge, for which Contreras could be sentenced to three to seven years in prison in convicted, said the lawyer, Alexei Andreyeshev.

Contreras, a graduate student in physics at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, is also charged with the illegal acquisition of official documents and state awards, which carries a fine of up to $3,100.

She bought six medals at the main flea market in Voronezh the same day, said Andreyeshev.

He said experts valued the items at less than $40.

…

The lawyer criticized prosecutors for charging Contreras over the kind of items that are widely available as souvenirs at street markets throughout Russia. "Walk into any antique store in the country and you will see things far more serious than this" for sale, he said.

He said when customs agents had removed the items from Contreras' luggage at the airport on June 14, it would have been appropriate to simply confiscate them and fine her, but instead chose to pursue charges.

I wish I could do more, but being a humble blogger all I can do is call the Russian authorities morons.

Hey!  Russian authorities!  You're a bunch of morons!

Meanwhile, In Germany

This is obviously related to the previous post about an escaped emu. Animals from down under are running around up over. Another escaped Australian animal has been captured, this time in Germany. A kangaroo has been bounding about near Bad Wurzach, Germany and leading authorities on a hop-speed chase for weeks. Skippi, however, is on the run no more.

The injured marsupial was captured in a cornfield near Leutkirch im Allgaeu, almost 10 miles from where his journey began, police in the nearby town of Ravensburg said.

Though residents in the area had reported multiple sightings of the kangaroo over the past few weeks, Skippi managed to elude authorities every time.

But earlier Monday, police received a call from someone claiming to have seen the animal in a cornfield not far from the last place he was spotted following a run-in with a car Friday.

We are trying to confirm whether Irish actor Gabriel Byrne was involved in that car incident. (No Irish actor is safe if there is a kangaroo in the vicinity.) We are also trying to ascertain if this "Skippi" is, in fact, "Skippy" a giant mouse last reported dead in Indiana. Which would mean one of two things: either reports of Skippy's demise were faked or that Skippi is, in fact, a zombie kangaroo.

Hi, Welcome To Emu-Mart

A Warning to residents of West Bend, Wisconsin: Emus are looking for low, low prices!

Employees of a Wal-Mart Supercenter used shopping carts to corral a wayward emu outside the store Monday about 6 a.m., West Bend police said.

A manager fed the emu grapes and apples in an attempt to calm the bird inside the makeshift enclosure.

Richard Takacs, the owner of 3-year-old Myron, speculated the bird had been chased from his nearby farm by a coyote.

Emus can't fly, but Takacs said he wasn't surprised when police contacted him from the store, about two miles north of his Meadowbrook Market and Pumpkin Farm.

"They can run 40 miles an hour, so that was just a quick sprint for Myron," Takacs said.

What the story doesn't tell you is that all of the birdseed at the West Bend Wal-Mart is missing.

Repeating A Phony Story

The Washington Post repeats the same, tired story that the AP tried: The war in Iraq is causing an ammunition shortage for police. I slammed that AP story when it came out, Bob Owens did a huge and thorough debunking and repeats the debunking today. I'll just point out one huge whopper in the story. The reporter states:

Even as the military's need for ammunition has soared, domestic police agencies have increased their firepower in light of catastrophes that once seemed unimaginable, including the terror attacks of 2001. Many departments have provided patrol officers with variations on the AR-15 and similar rifles that fire .223-caliber rounds — the same round fired by the military's M-16 and M-4 assault rifles.

That is completely false. Period. The US standard round is the 5.56×45mm NATO cartridge. It is not the same as civilian .223 ammunition. The US military round is not even safe to fire in most non-military weapons. Here's a rather detailed discussion on the issue. Suffice it to say, you'd be really foolish to try to fire a Milspec round out of anything but a true military weapon.

Iran Offers Bupkis To West’s Demands

This is the most ludicrously misleading headline the Associated Press has offered in at least the last 30 minutes: Iran agrees to reveal nuclear info. Wow, that sounds like a real breakthrough, doesn't it? Yeah, sure.

VIENNA, Austria - Iran on Monday offered some cooperation with an International Atomic Energy Agency probe of an alleged secret uranium processing project linked by U.S. intelligence to a nuclear arms program.

The Iranian pledge was contained in a memorandum reached between Iran and the IAEA and published on the agency's Web site at the request of Tehran's mission to the agency. In it, Tehran also outlined its timetable for providing other sensitive information sought by the IAEA in its probe of more than two decades of nuclear activity by the Islamic republic, most of it clandestine until revealed more than four years ago.

The document reiterated Iran's allegations that the search for information on the so-called "Green Salt Project" was "politically motivated" and founded on "baseless allegations."

But as a "sign of good will and cooperation with the agency .. . Iran will review" documentation on the project provided by the agency "and inform the agency of its assessment," according to the memorandum.

Excuse me. The Iranians will investigate the allegations against Iran and get back to the IAEA with its findings? This is a freaking breakthrough?

This is an outright fraud and the IAEA is a complete tool to even publish this Iranian snow job as anything but a total pack of lies. Best of all, the IAEA will provide all the evidence it has directly to Iran - so Iran can "assess" it.

Greek Fire

Rich posted earlier about the fires raging all across Greece. Mention was made that the Greek Prime Minister, Costas Karamanlis, had stated that all of these simultaneous fires really could not be accidental. Well, Greek authorities have made a series of arrests and have charged seven people with starting fires - and the investigation is widening.

ATHENS (AFP) - Greece charged seven people with starting the raging forest fires that have claimed more than 60 lives, as firefighters backed by an international force battled the flames for a fifth day on Tuesday.

As darkness fell on Monday, flames lit up the night sky as they tore through bone-dry forests and bushes in the Peloponnese, the mountainous peninsula to the south of Athens.

Planes and helicopters made repeated swoops over the blazing trees to drop thousands of litres (gallons) of water but winds gusting up to 70 kilometres per hour (43 miles per hour) kept the flames alight.

Rescuers evacuated 27 villages in the Peloponnese as the fires threatened to engulf them, and parts of Evia island to the northeast of the capital were also ablaze.

At least 63 people have died, including 59 in the Peloponnese alone, although no new deaths were discovered on Monday.

With new fires still breaking out, Greek authorities increasingly believed they were started deliberately.

Seven people were charged with arson and a further 26 people have been charged with lesser offences linked to a series of fires that have blighted Greece since early July.

Anti-terrorist authorities said they were joining the investigation.

A reward of up to one million euros (1.36 million dollars) has been offered for help in catching arsonists.

In the tiny Peloponnese village of Chrisafa, residents who fought back fires that had threatened to gut their homes on Friday were in no doubt that criminal gangs were responsible.

"They set fire to homes so efficiently and they did it while the wind was blowing up a storm," Costas Kolovas, a farmer, told AFP.

The government released figures showing that 6,404 fires had occurred so far this year compared with 4,631 in the whole of 2006.

That is a lot of fires for a really rather small country. I do not blame them for believing that there might be an intentional hand behind this. I also hope they get the right people and don't rush to "get" someone for the crimes.