Peshawar school attack: Taliban's 'revenge' for Malala Yousafzai's Nobel Peace Prize; Pakistan's 9/11

Will its leaders at last end their dalliance with terrorists?    ... " Pakistan has been toughening its stance against the TTP over the past year, but this attack is a symptom of Pakistan’s fatal hesitancy to directly confront TTP. Pakistan’s future now rests on the pivot between those who recognize that these terrorists cannot be leashed and those who see them as tools to use for their own ends." ...

International Business Times

Young Pakistani Supporters of Malala Yousafzai

 

"The Taliban has killed dozens of children at a Peshawar school in a revenge mission for Pakistani schoolgirl activist Malala Yousafzai being awarded the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize.

 "Ahmed Rashid, an expert on the Islamic militants, told the BBC the insurgents had various reasons to attack the school, one of which was to send a message to the supporters of Malala, who advocates education for women and children. 

 

"In response to the events at the school in Pakistan, education campaigner Malala has condemned the "atrocious and cowardly" attack." ...

Ferguson Shooting: Why did the officer not shoot Brown in the legs?

Michael Yon

 

"My original Facebook post has gone viral: facebook.com/MichaelYonFanPage/photos"

"Quoted below, Slightly edited version:
"Many people innocently ask why Officer Wilson did not shoot Michael Brown in the legs. The answer could stretch for pages.  More succinctly, a couple handfuls of reasons:
1) This ain't the movies
2) Most police do not fire their weapons much. Most are not great shots.
3) The officer would have to be an incredible shot to be crazy enough to fire wounding shots.
4) Nearly all firefights are "stress shoots." The other guy is moving. Heart pounding. Often breathless. Officer Wilson in Ferguson had just been punched in the face during a wrestling match for his pistol, according to Wilson.
5) Bullets that miss can hit someone else."

Full article

 

Sony Hack: Carmike Cinemas Drops 'The Interview'

Sony Studios co-chairman Amy Pascal apologized for her leaked e-mails to producer Scott Rudin where she guessed President Obama's favorite movies were Django Unchained and Twelve Years a Slave. She's a huge Obama financial supporter. It's part of her duty to decide which comedies get made.  Argus Hamilton.

 The Hollywood Reporter

 

... "The decision followed new threats from hackers issued Tuesday. During discussions with theater owners during the course of the day, Sony Pictures told exhibitors who had booked The Interview that it planned to move forward with the movie's release, but that they were free to decide not to show the film, and that the studio would support them in whatever decision they made.

"Carmike's headquarters are in Columbus, Ga. It operates 278 theaters and 2,917 screens in 41 states.
The situation throughout the day was very fluid: Neither the National Association of Theatre Owners nor the individual national theaters chains have yet publicly spoken about the situation. But according to some insiders, exhibitors are wary of becoming liable if they show the movie and any violence occurs.

"The discussions have also involved requests from theater owners that Sony provide heavy security if they do go ahead and play the film." ...  Via  The Daily Digg

Weasel Of The Week Nominees!!

Virginia Right!  "It’s time again for the Watcher’s Council’s ‘Weasel Of The Week’ nominations, where we pick our choices to compete for Award the famed Golden Weasel to a public figure who particularly deserves to be slimed and mocked for his or her dastardly deeds during the week. Every Tuesday morning, tune in for the Weasel of the Week nominations and check back Thursday to see which Weasel gets the votes and walks off with the statuette of shame!  Here are this weeks’ nominees:" ...
Here is one sample:
"The Razor : My pick of the litter this week is Sen. Elizabeth “Stands With Fistfuls of Corporate Cash” Warren."

The Battle of the Bulge: St. Vith

Youtube
 

 

"This remarkable documentary combines eyewitness testimony from an all star cast of key participants on both sides of a critical engagement in the Battle of the Bulge with outstanding archival footage, detailed maps, and a return to revisit the actual terrain where each phase of battle was fought." Zeno, Zeno's Warbird Videos http://zenoswarbirdvideos.com See this video & more full screen on our "The Bulge: The Battle at St Vith plus Mastering the Bazooka Rocket Launcher" DVD http://bit.ly/14yoNiR

Operation Wacht am Rhein, the surprise attack launched on Dec 16th, 1944, was Hitler's desperate gamble to shatter the Allied advance by striking with a Panzer fist through a "quiet"sector in the Ardennes Forest, northwest to the vital supply port of Antwerp. A linchpin of the offensive was the early seizure of the road and railroad crossroads of St. Vith on the first day of the offensive. The Battle at St. Vith shows how a hastily formed, ad hoc group of American units manged to delay an overwhelming Panzer force for five critical days before being forced to withdraw, dealing the German plan an insurmountable delay.

From the German side, you'll hear frustration in the voices of Von Runstedt's Chief of Staff, General Siegfried Westphal and General Hasso von Manteuffel, whose 5th Panzer Army was tasked with seizing St Vith, when they give lengthy reports on the battle. On the American side, you'll hear vivid accounts of an aggressive defense from Gen. Robert Hasbrouk, Commander of 7th Armored, Col Gusten Nelson (28th Infantry), Gen William Hoge (9th Armored), Colonels Oliver Patton & Thomas J Riggs (106th Infantry), and General Bruce C Clark, Commander Combat Command B, 7th Armored, who led the spirited deference of the St Vith perimeter. In a series of memorable face-to-face conversations, Generals Clark and Von Manteuffel compare notes on the battle . Among several first hand combat accounts, Lt Will Rogers Jr tells the dramatic story of his bazooka attack on a a German Panzer as part of "Task Force Jones" successful rearguard action. And don't miss rare late war footage of advanced German weaponry, including "King Tiger" tanks in action.

There is no better account of the critical role played small, determined units in the outcome of a major battle than "The Battle at St, Vith." This video was digitally restored and additional explanatory text was added.

16 Dec 1944 in WW2

World War II Database

American prisoners marching along a road somewhere on the western front, Dec 1944

 

Mauthausen Concentration Camp's satellite camp Gusen III began operations in the town of Lungitz with 262 prisoners; it would eventually grow to house 67,667 prisoners before the end of the war, about half of which would not survive. [Main Article | CPC]

Royal Indian Artillery Sergeant Umrao Singh won the Victoria Cross for defending his advanced gun battery against a determined Japanese attack in Burma. The fighting was frequently hand-to-hand and when Sergeant Singh was found wounded and exhausted, ten enemy bodies surrounded his gun. [AC]

A German V2 rocket fell on the Rex Cinema in Antwerp, Belgium which was packed for the matinee performance. The blast killed 567 people, 296 of them Allied servicemen, and injured 291, half of them soldiers. It took six days to dig out all the bodies, many of which were still sitting upright in their seats. It was the highest death toll from a V-weapon attack during the entire war and resulted in the cinemas and theatres of Antwerp being closed "for the duration" and gatherings of more than 50 people in any one place being banned. [AC]

The US Navy Fast Carrier Task Force retired from Philippine waters after three consecutive days of air operations. [Main Article | CPC]

USS Finback attacked a Japanese convoy in the Western Pacific, firing a total of 20 torpedoes but making only 2 hits, sinking a transport. [Main Article | CPC]

Dwight Eisenhower learned that he was about to be promoted to the rank of 5-star general. [Main Article | CPC]

Caroline Islands

• USS Astoria set sail for Ulithi, Caroline Islands. [Main Article | CPC]

Germany

• German troops launched Operation Wacht am Rhein, crossing the German border toward Belgium, opening the Battle of the Bulge. [Main Article | TH, CPC]
• German Army engineers were awarded at the Peenemünde Army Research Center in Germany. [Main Article | CPC]

Dead American soldiers laying face down at a crossroad in

 Belgium, Dec 1944

Lone wolf attacks; just a nut, folks. Nothing to see here; move on

http://terrellaftermath.com/

 

The Sydney hostage situation ended in bloodshed, of course "Could it have ended any other way? No."

"When the guns stopped firing, a man and woman lay dead, four more were rushed away with injuries, and Australian authorities were left with the task of scraping up what was left of Monis. "

 

..."As the scene calmed down, a bomb disposal robot was seen entering the café."

"The dramatic end to the siege came as the gunman holding the remaining captives was revealed as a self-proclaimed Islamic cleric Man Haron Monis. "

 

Lindt Cafe Terrorist called Obama out as an Apostate back in 2008

MSNBC: Sydney Terrorist A “Phony” Muslim, “May Just Be A Violent Criminal”…
"It’s rather amusing to watch the left trip and fall over themselves in a mad dash to defend Islam after a terror attack."

ARI MELBER, MSNBC: Let me ask Jim about the point Mikey is raising. I think people at home can relate to which is, well, maybe the profile here is an overlap between someone who’s deranged but also sympathizes with enemies of Australia and the United States. Now that the actual live conflict is over, how do you disentangle that? Doesn’t it matter a great deal whether this was a person who was just basically a low-level criminal, Abby called him a thug. He may just be a violent criminal. Isn’t that very different as a criminal who latched onto something than a person who’s actually an operational ally of our enemies?

"Motives become mixed"?

The Sydney Siege and the Lone-Wolf Copout  "The phenomenon of “lone-wolf” terrorism is vexing to policymakers because it is so hard to predict and prevent. But it also has too often provided an excuse–a way for the political class or security forces to avoid any blame for a successful domestic attack. Even worse, anti-anti-terrorism commentators use lone-wolf attacks to cast doubt on the whole war on terror enterprise as doing more harm than good, or at least not doing much good. Something similar seems to be taking shape in the wake of the Sydney, Australia siege this week."

Pakistan School Attack: Taliban Militants Kill More than 130 in Peshawar

NBC News
 

 

"PESHAWAR, Pakistan —Taliban militants laid siege to a Pakistan school in a brazen hours-long attack on Tuesday, killing more than 130 children in an atrocity condemned by the White House as "heinous" and "horrific."

 

"More than eight hours after uniformed militants struck the school, the Pakistani military said the assault was finally over. Shortly thereafter, another loud explosion was heard in the city. It was not immediately clear where the explosion originated or what it was caused by.

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"Maj. Gen. Asim Bajwa, a military spokesman, told NBC News that at least 132 children were killed in the attack, along with 10 staff from the school — including the principal. Seven militants were killed, he added. " ...

UPDATE: Taliban? What Taliban?   ... "This can only be speculation, but one wonders whether the Obama administration prefers not to mention the Taliban due to our impending withdrawal from Afghanistan. Once we are gone, similar atrocities by the Taliban’s Afghan branch are likely inevitable. Perhaps the administration would rather not say anything that might lead others to suggest, when the time comes, that similar attacks on Afghan schools were the foreseeable consequence of our withdrawal. That is the only reason I can think of why President Obama would denounce the attack on the Army school in Peshawar, without denouncing those who carried it out." ...

Words Not Used By Obama In Statement Condemning School Attack In Pakistan: Taliban, Islam, Muslims, Jihad…

 

"Just a bunch of nuts with no religious affiliation or motivation killing people for no reason."

Thomas Sowell: It’s hard to see how the country benefits from Senate Democrats’ report on CIA interrogations.

The Taliban appreciated the Democrat CIA report

The True Victims of Torture; The Democrats, suddenly shocked by the CIA’s tactics, dishonor the people who died on 9/11.    "Democrats’ highly convenient collective amnesia has erased their memories of being briefed on these probes.

 

"As a giant hole replaced the World Trade Center and Americans feared follow-on attacks, top congressional Democrats did not wail that interrogations of al-Qaeda suspects “are a stain on our values and our history,” as Senate Intelligence Committee chairman Dianne Feinstein (D., Calif.) now moans. Instead, top Democrats told the CIA to squeeze these scum even harder.

 

"As the December 9, 2007, Washington Post explained, congressional leaders from both chambers and parties — including then-House Democratic boss Nancy Pelosi of California — received “graphic and detailed” updates on the CIA’s questioning efforts, including waterboarding, as early as September 2002. While then-representative Jane Harman (D., Calif.) counseled caution, the overwhelming response was applause.

 

“ 'Among those being briefed, there was a pretty full understanding of what the CIA was doing,” Porter Goss, former House intelligence chairman and then director of Central Intelligence from 2004 to 2006, told the Post. “And the reaction in the room was not just approval, but encouragement.”...

Deroy Murdock

 

http://www.investors.com/editorial-cartoons/michael-ramirez/730651

 

 Thomas Sowell: Tortured Reasoning    "Critics and defenders of the harsh interrogation methods applied to captured terrorists can argue forever over whether those methods were “torture.” But any serious discussion of a serious issue — and surely terrorism qualifies as serious — has to move beyond semantics and confront the ultimate question: “Compared with what alternative?' ”...

 

Photos from the Battle of the Bulge

NRO Slideshow

"On December 16, 1944, eight German infantry divisions and five armored divisions comprising more than 200,000 troops struck Allied forces across an 85-mile front in the Ardennes forest of Belgium, France, and Luxembourg. (German Federal Archives)"

Dec 16, 1944: the Germans launch attacks on the US 106th Division

From the Jewish Virtual Library:  Germany & the Nazis Maps: German Counterattack in the Ardennes - The Battle of the Bulge  

German 1944 Propaganda Film From Battle of the Bulge  "The German troops refer to this area as the battle for Ardennes. It's interesting to see the news on the battle from the German perspective. The Battle of the Bulge was very hard on both the Germans and Americans is commonly referred to as the turning point of the war."\

The Nazi film shows US troops of the 106th Division surrendering after the initial attack on the Schnee Eifel.  More videos here
 

 

Pictured below:  "A silent reminder of the war in the Ardennes. A shallow foxhole dug by members of the 422nd Infantry Regiment. " 

 

The German attack opens on the 106th Division  "The frontline to be covered by the 106th extended for 21 miles and bulked some 8 miles into Germany.  This was a lot of ground to cover, about three times the normal distance.  Fact was that the division was spread to thinly.
"Prior to the 16th, movement could be heard by men on the frontlines.  Sounds of tanks, trucks and heavy equipment assembling on the German side.  GI's of the 422nd regiment reported the movement promptly to their commanding officers, who did the same thing to divisional HQ.  Little response followed, the men were told that the Germans were playing phonograph records to scare the young, green Lions.  The warning was dismissed.  The testimony of a Russian deserting Volksgrenadier also ended up discarded in the bin of the higher echelons.  But there was action on the "Ghost front."....
The Schnee Eifel photo gallery


The 106th: The Story of the 106th Infantry Division  " 'The 106th: The Story of the 106th Infantry Division" is a small booklet covering the history of the 106th Infantry Division. This booklet is one of the series of G.I. Stories published by the Stars & Stripes in Paris in 1944-1945. "

Ken Beaton: 70th anniversary of first day of Battle of Bulge  ... "The Battle of the Bulge was the largest [Western front] battle during the war from Dec. 16, 1944, to Jan. 31, 1945, and 610,000 American GIs fought. We had 89,000 causalities which included 19,000 telegrams sent to parents/spouses, “The Secretary of the War regrets the loss of your son/husband.” Thousands of families and tens of thousands of friends grieved. Nineteen thousand new gold stars replaced the blue stars that were proudly displayed in a front window in the US. A gold star was the symbol for the loss of a son, daughter or spouse in the war.

Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2014, is the 70th anniversary of the first day of the Battle of the Bulge. Visit with a World War II veteran, firmly shake their hand and tell them in a firm voice while maintaining eye contact, “I want to thank you for your service. I speak English today because of you and 16 million GIs who served. Thank you, sir /madame.”...

US veterans of Battle of Bulge join 70th anniversary commemoration  ... "Restored vintage American war machines rolled up and down the streets under strings of Christmas lights. The mellow sounds of the Glenn Miller Orchestra belted out of a sound system in the town’s McAuliffe Square.

"The square was named for Brig. Gen. Anthony McAuliffe, who refused the Germans’ request to surrender here after they’d surrounded the town, famously responding “Nuts,” which an officer explained to the Germans meant they could go to hell."

 

"In the besieged town, along with the villagers, were the bulk of the forces of the 101st Airborne Division and the 705th Tank Destroyer Battalion.

"The siege of Bastogne is among the most remembered battles of the war and for many in Belgium a symbol of the American sacrifice for the country’s freedom.

"A disabled U.S. Sherman tank, a shell hole bitten cleanly into its left flank, sits on a corner of McAullife Square to remind people what the Americans sacrificed to ensure Belgium’s freedom." ...

Great song in a mediocre movie: the Wermacht Panzer song.  Said to be Erwin Rommel's favorite song 

70 years ago today: The Battle of the Bulge

The United States Army Center of Military History

"Early on the misty winter morning of 16 December 1944, over 200,000 German troops and nearly 1,000 tanks launched Adolf Hitler's last bid to reverse the ebb in his fortunes that had begun when Allied troops landed in France on D-day. Seeking to drive to the English Channel coast and split the Allied armies as they had done in May 1940, the Germans struck in the Ardennes Forest, a seventy-five-mile stretch of the front characterized by dense woods and few roads, held by four inexperienced and battle-worn American divisions stationed there for rest and seasoning.

"After a day of hard fighting, the Germans broke through the American front, surrounding most of an infantry division, seizing key crossroads, and advancing their spearheads toward the Meuse River, creating the projection that gave the battle its name." ....

More to come on this.