US drone fired at Qaddafi convoy after negotiated truce

Did Hillary Clinton know of Qaddafi ‘White Flag’ truce?:
US drone fired at Qaddafi convoy after negotiated truce
By Daya Gamage – Asian Tribune Foreign News Desk

October 26, 2011 _- Washington, DC. 27 October (Asiantribune) -- Libyan Leader Muammar Qaddafi was traveling under a negotiated “White Flag” truce last Thursday in an agreement to leave Libya. More claims from sources inside Misrata, Libya that the Libyan National Transitional Council did in fact agree to allow Qaddafi and his convoy safe passage out of Libya.

In addition rebel sources in Misrata claim US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was informed of the “White Flag” truce negotiated and agreed to by Libya’s NTC while visiting Libya Wednesday October 19.

A widely read Internet blog site Larry Sinclair.org reveals the above information noting that the site received them from reliable sources inside Libya.

The question now emerge is whether Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama engage in the firing on a White Flag convoy with the intent to assist in the capture and murder of Libyan Leader Muammar Qaddafi?

The web site Larry Sinclair.org further reports: “It is our opinion that the information received from our sources inside Libya is factual. It has also been reported that journalists were not immediately allowed to report from the site of the US Drone attack on Qaddafi’s convoy until the rebels had the opportunity to dispose of any remaining evidence of the “White Flags” which were clearly connected to the convoy vehicles.”

The question today is: Was Secretary Clinton told of the “White Flag” truce giving Qaddafi safe passage out of Libya? Did Secretary Clinton use this information to prepare a US Drone attack on Qaddafi’s “White Flag” convoy? Who authorized the US Predator Drone strike on the “White Flag” convoy? Will Barack Obama be called to answer for the US firing on a “White Flag” convoy?

Wednesday October 19 Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was in Libya meeting with the Libyan armed rebels. It has come to the attention of Larry Sinclair.org Web Site via sources inside Libya that the Qaddafi convoy was traveling under a White Flag of truce which sources say had been negotiated with Qaddafi. If the information concerning a negotiated truce to allow Qaddafi to leave Libya is true and verifiable, and the United States was involved in or even made aware of this agreement, the US Drone strike on the convoy would be in direct violation of the Geneva Convention and a war crime.

The Asian Tribune previously reported that it was the US drone fire on Colonel Qaddafi’s convoy that led the rebels to capture and brutally assassinate the former Libyan leader.

The web site a day later confirmed that there was an agreement to allow Qaddafi convoy with white flags to proceed and that the agreement was reached between the NTC and Qaddafi representatives.

Sources inside Misrata, Libya have claimed Qaddafi’s convoy was traveling under a “White Flag” truce and also claims Qaddafi was sodomized by rebels before shot in the head.

While Obama stated back in the spring that the UN Resolution did not call for nor allow the targeting of Qaddafi, and stating the US would not target Qaddafi, last Thursday he referred to the capture & murder of Qaddafi as “we have done what we went in to do.” The claims that a truce was negotiated to allow Qaddafi to leave the country raise some serious questions as to what role Secretary of State Hillary Clinton played in the agreement. It also raises the question did Hillary Clinton and the Obama Administration knowingly authorize a US Drone strike on a convoy traveling under a White Flag truce? If so, the Web Site raises, both Clinton and Obama should immediately be charged with war crimes and accessory to murder.

The web site Larry Sinclair.org having obtained reliable information from inside Libya asks: Did Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama engage in the firing on a White Flag convoy with the intent to assist in the capture and murder of Libyan Leader Muammar Qaddafi?

Asian Tribune media survey has shown that many political pundits and non-mainstream media have question the circumstances the Libyan leader was brutally killed.

The “White Flag” issue is sure to dominate the political talk here in the United States and among global rights organizations, Asian Tribune understands.

-Asian Tribune-

Tiangong-1 launch betrays China's earthly ambitions

By Professor Michael SheehanContinue reading the main story

The successful launch of the Tiangong-1 space station by China is an event of huge geopolitical significance, just as the orbiting of China's first astronaut was in 2003.Swansea University

It can be argued that China's achievements, though impressive, only demonstrate how far China lags behind Russia and the US.

Russia after all launched its first cosmonaut in 1961 and its first space station in 1971. The US achieved these landmarks in 1962 and 1973, and, at just over eight tonnes, Tiangong-1 is smaller than the American Skylab station launched in 1973.

But to focus on the 40-year gap is to ignore what lies behind China's space programme, and the Chinese governments' determination to achieve a series of dramatic space objectives that will confirm the country's status as a new superpower.

The space programme also offers clues to the thinking behind China's long-term foreign policy goals and its strategic logic.

Reaching for the stars

Tiangong forms just one part of a much broader Chinese space exploration programme.

In 2007 China put the Chang-e 1 satellite into orbit around the Moon. It surveyed the Moon for two years before being deliberately crashed into the lunar surface in March 2009 as part of China's research into developing a robotic craft to return lunar samples, a mission likely to take place around 2014.

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In 2017 China is due to land a lunar rover and there are longer term plans for a manned lunar base. In 2013 Yinghuo-1, a joint Chinese-Russian robot probe to Mars, will be launched.

The manned space programme is crucial to achieving China's long-term political goals.

The successful orbiting of a "taikonaut" (Chinese astronaut) in 2003 was a dramatic assertion of China's rise. China became only the third country in history to orbit one of its own astronauts using a domestic launch technology.

China plans to orbit its own 60-tonne space station by 2020 and the purpose of the series of smaller Tiangong stations is to develop expertise in docking manoeuvres and longer term human spaceflight.

The Tiangong-1 is an essential step toward the goal of building a space station.

Going it alone

China is the only country currently building a space station by itself, and with a clear plan to land humans on the moon.

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The US, Russia, Japan, Canada and Europe are collaborating on the International Space Station, partly in order to share costs. China's determination to put its own space station into orbit has only been strengthened by the US's vetoing of its repeated attempts to join the ISS.China was only the third country in history to astronauts into space using its own technology

China is in the same situation as the US in the 1960s, where the space programme plays a central role in achieving national political and technological goals.

It wants its space successes to reflect China's ambitions, rather than being shared with other states.

And President Obama's decision last year to reverse the Bush administration's decision to resume manned lunar expeditions has left China as the only country committed to achieving this goal in the medium term - it is likely to achieve the goal soon after 2020.

It will do this thanks to fruitful collaboration with the Russian and European space industries - the Chinese capsule is almost identical to the Russian Soyuz - and despite US restrictions on transferring space technology to China.

Statement of intent

The Tiangong station will see a number of rendezvous missions in the next two years. The unmanned Shenzhou-8 spacecraft will aim to achieve China's first space docking with the Tiangong-1 station, with docking manoeuvres controlled from the ground.

In 2012 Shenzhou-9 and Shenzhou-10 - the two other spaceships scheduled to dock with Tiangong-1 - are set to carry crews of two or three to the Tiangong space laboratory. These may include China's first female astronauts.

The true significance of Tiangong-1 is that it is a statement of China's intent to achieve superpower status.

Chinese acquisition of new technologies such as aircraft carriers, high-speed trains, anti-satellite systems and so on is not just for any intrinsic value they possess, but because the Communist Party leadership see them as symbols that distinguish great powers from their competitors.

In this regard, what is significant about the manned space programme is that only superpowers have achieved this capability, and Tiangong-1 and its successors are for China, symbolic proof that China is emerging as a 21st Century superpower.

Blair Mayne SAS diary released

BBC News
By Simon Hunter




He is one of Northern Ireland's most famous soldiers - a war hero, rugby international and the subject of dozens of thrilling campfire tales.

But there is still much more to learn about Blair 'Paddy' Mayne and a secret Second World War diary which was has been hidden since 1946 has more stories to add.

The BBC has exclusive access to the diary, which has been published to mark the 70th anniversary of the forming of the Special Air Service.

Mayne's brushes with authority, his exceptional bravery and the controversial decision not to recommend him for a Victoria Cross - the highest honour in the British Army - are all covered in the diary.

It includes operational reports and photographs from the very first SAS operations, deep behind enemy lines in north Africa from 1941 onwards.

David Stirling, a lieutenant in the Scots Guards at the time, set up the SAS and there was one man who he wanted to lead the small, mobile commando teams taking the fight to Field Marshall Rommel.

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Military historian Gordon Stephens has examined the diary and found some new information about the recruitment of Mayne to what is now the most famous military regiment in the world."The diary covers the SAS from 1941-44, all the operational reports during that period," he said.

"Mayne was involved in a lot of them and he comes forward as an amazing soldier.

"David Stirling, who founded the SAS, wanted certain people and one of them was Paddy Mayne but Paddy was in the clink for beating up his commanding officer.

"Stirling had to go into prison to confront Mayne and say 'I want you out but do not hit this commanding officer' and Mayne agreed.

"At that stage it was top secret and they moved on together. I think it supports what people thought about Mayne, that he was an amazing soldier, an amazing SAS operator."

Victoria Cross

Mayne received the Distinguished Service Order an incredible four times during the Second World War but the top military honour still eluded him.

"The diary actually carried the report of the operation where Mayne was commended for the Victoria Cross. The witness statements, all the recommendations up to Montgomery recommend him for the Victoria Cross."

So why did Mayne not get the highest honour in the British Army? Mr Stephens believes at that time certain soldiers were not treated as equals.

"If you want to be cynical, he was Irish, he was SAS," said the historian.

As well as the stories of desert heroism in the fight against the Germans, the diary also helps paint a picture of the real Mayne and his relationship with his mentor Stirling.

"Mayne had to come back from an operation and he didn't like that," explained Mr Stephens.

"When Stirling got back from the operation Mayne had gone into a tent and started drinking. Everyone expected a big punch up between these two great warriors of the SAS.

"Stirling tells the story that he went into the tent and Mayne was there reading James Joyce and he looks up and said 'all I wanted to do was write' and Stirling sat down with him, poured another whiskey and said 'all I ever wanted to do was paint'.

"These two great SAS figures sit down and discuss painting and writing. That's the other side of Mayne people don't know about."

Google denies 'cooking' search results

Google's executive chairman has denied that the company fixes its search results to promote its own websites and services.

Eric Schmidt told a congressional hearing in Washington: "May I simply say that I can assure you we're not cooking anything."

The Senate Judiciary subcommittee on anti-trust is looking at whether Google abuses its market position.

The US Federal Trade Commission is also investigating the same issue.

The website search giant faces a further continuing investigation by the European Commission.

'Extraordinary advantage'

Mr Schmidt told the senators: "Google does nothing to block access to any of the competitors and other sources of information."

When asked whether Google was a monopoly company, Mr Schmidt said the search engine giant was "in that area", adding that it recognised it had a special responsibility because of its market power.

In reference to software giant Microsoft - which faced years of anti-competition investigations and subsequent fines - Mr Schmidt said: "We get it. By that I mean, we get the lessons of our corporate predecessors."

Concern over Google's domination of the internet search - it has a global market share of about two-thirds - has grown as the company continues to expand into other internet areas, such as its own price comparison website and buying US mobile phone firm Motorola Mobility.

Sen Michael Lee of Utah said that Google's market dominance gave it an "unnatural and extraordinary advantage", and it had a "clear and inherent conflict of interest".

Mr Schmidt was chief executive of Google for 10 years until April, when he was replaced by Larry Page, one of the company's two founders.

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'Don't ask, don't tell'

ban on gays in US military ends

A policy banning open homosexuality in the US military has been repealed after nearly two decades.

The dropping of "don't ask, don't tell" means service members can now reveal they are gay without fear of investigation or discharge. "Repeal Day" parties have been organised across the country to mark the victory for gay rights.

 The US Congress voted last year to repeal the law, which was introduced in 1993 under the Clinton administration. It replaced an outright ban on gay people serving in the military.


 'Huge step'

 Under the policy, gay people were permitted to serve as long as they did not openly acknowledge their sexual orientation, while commanders were not allowed to ask. Navy Lt Gary Ross, right, and Dan Swezy exchange wedding vows, as the repeal takes effect In Vermont, Navy Lt Gary Ross and his partner of 11 years, Dan Swezy, exchanged wedding vows after midnight, as the repeal took effect.

 "Today is about every man and women in uniform, regardless of how they identify themselves," said Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Admiral Mike Mullen in a news conference on Tuesday. "The heart of the issue for me is the integrity of the institution," Adm Mullen said. "Seeing this change is a huge step in the right direction to be consistent with that value." Defence secretary Leon Panetta told reporters that he was committed to removing "all of barriers that would prevent American from serving their country, and from rising to the highest level of responsibility that their talents warrant".

 US President Barack Obama in a statement: "As of today, patriotic Americans in uniform will no longer have to lie about who they are in order to serve the country they love." He added that the US military had taken "another great step toward keeping our military the finest in the world and toward fulfilling our nation's founding ideals". The armed forces have been accepting applications from openly gay recruits for a number of weeks and will begin processing them now that the new law has taken effect.

 Revised regulations

The military has also published a revised set of regulations, without references to any ban against homosexual service members. Those who have been discharged under the don't ask, don't tell rule are entitled to re-enlist. But existing standards of personal conduct, such as those pertaining to public displays of affection, will not change. Nor will there be any change to the eligibility standards for military benefits.

 Under current rules, service members are allowed to choose a partner as care-giver under the Wounded Warrior programme, or as a life insurance beneficiary. Some in Congress remain opposed to repeal, arguing it could undermine efficiency and discipline in the military. After the Don't Ask Don't Tell Repeal Act was passed by Congress last December, Mr Obama, Mr Panetta and Adm Mullen certified that allowing openly gay service members would not undermine the military.

Drinks firm trademarks F-word

• 16 September 2011, 12:54

A German drinks company has won a court battle to register the F-word as a trademark.

Liquor manufacturer EFAG will now enjoy legal protection of the brand name of its 'Ficken' schnapps.

Drinkers in Germany might feel a little embarrassed about asking for the drink - it is named after the German word for "f***."

But the manufacturer can take solace in the fact that the brand name is now legally protected.

EFAG took the case to Germany's Federal Patent Court after officials refused to register the name as a trademark, arguing that it was socially offensive.

Following its legal victory, EFAG now owns the 'Ficken' trademark for clothing, mineral water and fruit drinks, as well as alcoholic drinks.

In its ruling, the court explained that, although the name was unquestionably in poor taste, it was not "sexually discriminatory" and did not violate public morals.

German State Makes History with eGaming Treaty

Gaming history was made this week as the Parliament of Schleswig-Holstein passed Germany’s first gaming treaty.

The decision couldn’t have passed by a narrower margin.

The vote was 46 to 45.

Schleswig-Holstein is the first of sixteen German states to pass such a motion. This is putting a lot of pressure on the other states to follow course.

Germany has been discussing online gaming regulations for some time.

Back in August, many parties opposed the movement. The asked the ruling party to consider the long-term implications. They were concerned that the decision would turn Schleswig-Holstein into what they dubbed the "Las Vegas of Germany."