6 May 2011
5 May 2011
Makala yangu katika toleo la wiki hii la jarida maridhawa la Raia Mwema inafanya uchambuzi linganifu kuhusu,kwa upande mmoja,tuhuma zilizomwandama Rais Obama kuwa sio raia wa Marekani,na hatimaye uamuzi wake kutoa cheti chake cha kuzaliwa,na kwa upande mwingine ni tuhuma za ufisadi zinazomwandama Rais Kikwete,na jinsi kutochukua hatua kadhaa kunazifanya tuhuma hizo kuwa na uzito.
Kadhalika,makala hiyo inawagusa jamaa zangu wa Usalama wa Taifa,kwa kuangalia wnavyofanikisha upatikanaji wa taarifa zinazowahusu wanasiasa wa CCM wanaotajwa kama magamba.Lakini ninaibua maswali kadhaa huku nikiwatahadharisha kuhusu uwezekano wa kuzua skandali kama ile ya Watergate ya nchini Marekani ambapo Rais Nixon,pamoja na mambo mengine alitumia nafasi yake kuamrisha ukusanyaji wa taarifa za kiintelijensia dhidi ya wapinzani wake wa kisiasa.
Pamoja na makala hiyo unayowaza kuisoma kwa KUBONYEZA HAPA,jarida hili la Raia Mwema limesheheni habari na chambuzi za kiwango cha juu kabisa.
4 May 2011
When Osama bin Laden was killed earlier this week,US officials said DNA testing and facial recognition software proved they had got their man.
However, the lack of actual documentation released to the public (so far), and the fact he was buried at sea so quickly, has predictably seen an explosion of conspiracy theories dreamt up by doubters, or ‘deathers’ – as they’ve have now been dubbed. Here are just a few of them.
SOURCE: Yahoo! News
Osama bin Laden conspiracy theories
1. He must be still alive because there’s no proof
The lack of photos, videos and other evidence, plus inconsistencies in accounts of the raid that killed him, apparently shows the US government made the whole thing up.
Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid is one doubter. He released a statement to journalists saying: “This news is only coming from one side, from Obama’s office, and America has not shown any evidence or proof to support this claim.” Iranian State television also declared: "the mystery [of his death] has increased”.
Anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan, whose son was killed in the Iraq war, also disputed the news on Facebook. She said: "I am sorry, but if you believe the newest death of OBL, you're stupid. Just think to yourself - they paraded Saddam's dead sons around to prove they were dead - why do you suppose they hastily buried this version of OBL at sea? This lying, murderous Empire can only exist with your brainwashed consent - just put your flags away and THINK!"
Naturally, several other Facebook pages made by skeptics have been set up, while searches for "osama bin laden not dead," "osama bin laden still alive" and "bin laden not dead" on Yahoo! spiked off the charts on Monday.
Our figures show most of the searchers of "bin laden conspiracy" were from the US states of Oregon, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Indiana and New Jersey.
2. He’s already dead
Ever since the September 11 attacks there have been numerous reports of bin Laden’s death. Back in 2001 Fox News reported he’d died of lung complications in Tora Bora. In 2005 Senator Harry Reid suggested bin Laden was killed in the Pakistan earthquake, while in 2007 Benazir Bhutto said the al-Qaeda boss was murdered by Pakistani militant Omar Sheikh.
Conspiracy theorists reckon official news of his death was kept from the public to continue justifying the war on terror, with the US government periodically releasing fake videos of the terror leader to keep the world convinced. The theory is that because the powers that be didn’t need bin Laden as a terrorist ‘boogieman’ anymore, they finally announced his death.
3. He was taken alive
Controversial Fox News talk show host Glenn Beck is famous for his conspiracy theories and gave a couple of suggestions about bin Laden’s death on his radio show. Firstly, he speculated that Obama ‘ghosted out’ the al-Qaeda leader - which means the Navy SEALs made it look like he was killed when actually he was taken alive, presumably to be interrogated.
4. He knew about a nuclear bomb
Beck’s other theory was that bin Laden was captured to stop him revealing the location of al-Qaeda’s nuclear bomb. This is reference to WikiLeaks documents that show US security officials briefed other countries on the possibility the terror group had a dirty bomb. Beck didn’t explain why the US government would do this.
5. He’s been ‘on ice’ for years
Another controversial US radio host Alex Jones said the US concocted the story to justify a security crackdown. He reckons bin Laden was killed back in 2002 and his body has been “literally frozen” to be rolled out at a later date.
6. He was given up by Pakistan
Website Maggie’s Farm quotes ‘speculation’ (though they don’t name sources) that, contrary to the reports the US acted alone, Pakistan actually knew all all about Osama’s location and offered up the al-Qaeda leader as a “sweetener” to speed US withdrawal from Afghanistan.
7. He was killed as a pretext for war in Pakistan
David Icke doesn’t agree though. No round-up of conspiracy theories would be complete without a contribution from Icke, who has written extensively about the event on his website. One of his theories is that the killing was fabricated to give the US a reason to actually invade Pakistan because they were harbouring the terror chief. War with China, he suggests, then Russia, will follow. Let’s hope he’s wrong.
8. He was killed to revive Obama’s poll ratings
Barack Obama’s presidency has been a difficult one. Universal healthcare, the budget deficit, high unemployment and fuel costs have resulted in low poll ratings and defeat for the Democrats at last year’s mid-terms, when the Republicans took the House of Representatives.
What better way then, some bloggers have argued, to get those poll ratings up than by suddenly killing America’s most wanted man? Writing on a Tea Party website, one conspiracy theorist said: "Don't you think Obama needs something to assure his re-election?"
9. He was killed to trump Trump
There’s no love lost between Donald Trump and Obama, with the property tycoon reviving the issue of the president’s birth certificate last week. Obama responded by first mocking Trump at the White House correspondents’ annual dinner. Then, when the time came for the bin Laden announcement, ‘Celebrity Apprentice’ had to be interrupted on NBC. The host? Donald Trump.
10. His killing was delayed for the Royal Wedding
The close proximity of the Royal Wedding and the death of bin Laden inevitably means some conspiracy theorists have linked the two events.
Firstly, a security expert told The Daily Express that the reason Wills and Kate postponed their honeymoon - possibly to Jordan – was because they had a tip-off on Friday about the upcoming events in Pakistan.
There’s also been speculation that the White House, who could have killed bin Laden on Friday, delayed pulling the trigger for two days in order for the two events not to clash.
11. His date of death is spooky
Osama bin Laden’s death was announced exactly eight years after George W Bush made his now infamous ‘Mission Accomplished’ announcement. Even spookier, it happened 66 years and 6 hours after the world learned about the death of Hitler. That’s 666.
4.5.11
Evarist Chahali
IDD AZAN, MAGAMBA, UHURU
No comments
CCM yamvua gamba Azzan
Wednesday, 04 May 2011 19:34 newsroom
NA SELINA WILSON
KAMATI ya Siasa ya CCM Mkoa wa Dar es Salaam, imemfungia kwa miezi 18 Mbunge wa Kinondoni Idd Azzan, kutogombea nafasi yoyote ndani ya Chama. Pia, imempa onyo kali kwa kosa la kutumia vibaya madaraka yake na kuzichafua mamlaka za CCM Mkoa. Adhabu hiyo imekuja kufuatia Azzan kuwatuhumu wajumbe wa Kamati ya Siasa na Sekretarieti ya Mkoa kuwa ni mafisadi na wala rushwa, hivyo kutaka wajivue gamba. Kwa mujibu wa taarifa, adhabu hiyo imetolewa kwa kujibu Kanuni za Uongozi na Maadili toleo la Februari, Ibara ya 8 (iii).
Katibu wa Itikadi na Uenezi ya CCM Mkoa Dar es Salaam, Juma Simba, alisema jana kuwa uamuzi huo ulitolewa jana baada ya kupokea taarifa ya kamati ya maadili na kuijadili. “Kamati ya Siasa imeona shutuma nzito kama vile ufisadi, rushwa na kushindwa kutekeleza wajibu kwenye vyombo vya habari kwa mamlaka za vikao, Sekretarieti na Kamati ya Siasa ni kukipaka matope Chama, hivyo imetoa adhabu ya karipio,” alisema. Hata hivyo, alisema kuwa baada ya Kamati ya Siasa kujadili tuhuma hizo, ilimpa nafasi Azzan kujitetea kwa mujibu wa Katiba ya CCM, Ibara ya 14 (4), ambapo ilionekana kuwa amefanya makosa kwa makusudi kuzichafua mamlaka za Chama. Azzan alidaiwa kutoa maneno hayo, ambayo yaliripotiwa kwenye vyombo mbalimbali vya habari matoleo ya Aprili 13, mwaka huu.
Simba alisema kuwa baada ya kuchapishwa kwa taarifa hizo, Chama kilimuandikia barua Azzan kikimtaka kufuata taratibu kwa kuwasilisha malalamiko yake badala ya kutumia vyombo vya habari. Hata hivyo, Simba aliongeza adhabu hiyo haina lengo la kumfunga mdomo Azzan wala kumsafisha kiongozi yeyote wa CCM Mkoa, na kwamba anapaswa kuwasilisha tuhuma zake kwa kufuata utaratibu. Hivi karibuni Azzan alikaririwa na vyombo vya habari akiipa siku 30 Kamati ya Siasa na Sekretarieti ya CCM Mkoa, kujivua gamba kutokana na kukithiri kwa rushwa na ufisadi.
CHANZO: Uhuru
 |
| Osama (kushoto) na Zawahiri |
Ayman al-Zawahiri,daktari mwenye umri wa miaka 59 aliyezaliwa Misri,anatarajia kuwa kiongozi wa kundi la kigaidi la Al-Qaeda baada ya kuuawa kwa Osama Bin Laden.
Gazeti la Wall Street Journal la Marekani linamwelezea Zawahiri kuwa ni mwenye msimamo mkali kuliko Osama,japo ana mapungufu wa mvuto (charisma) na utajiri wa Osama.
Taarifa za kwenye kompyuta Zililopatikana katika eneo alilokuwa akiishi Osama,kama zinavyoelezwa HAPA na mtandao wa Politico,zinaweza kuwasaidia mashushushu wa Marekani kufahamu mengi zaidi kuhusu Al-Qaeda na kupelekea uwezekano wa kufahamu alipo Zawahiri.Hadi itapokuwa hivyo,gaidi huyo aliyekuwa namba 2 (Osama akiwa namba 1) katika kundi la Al-Qaeda anaendela kubaki kwenye orodha ya Shirika la Upelelezi la Marekani (FBI) ya watu wanaosakwa kwa udi na uvumba,na tishio kubwa.
Shirika la Ujasusi la Marekani (CIA) limeshawahi kukaribia kumkamata Zawahiri.Huku akiwa mafichoni,gaidi huyo alitoa mkanda wa video kuhusu vuguvugu la mageuzi nchini Misri mwanzoni mwaka huu,akisema demokrasia inawezekana tu katika ukafiri.Pia alimtukana Rais Obama akitumia neno la ki-baguzi wa rangi (racial epithet).
CHANZO: Huffington Post
3 May 2011
Sakata linalomhusu Ridhiwani Kikwete,mtoto wa Rais Jakaya Kikwete-kwa upande mmoja,na Katibu Mkuu wa Chadema Dkt Willibroad Slaa na Mwenyekiti wa chama cha DP,Mchungaji Christopher Mtikila-kwa upande mwingine,linaanza kupamba moto baada ya wanasiasa hao kumjibu Ridhiwani.Kimbembe hicho kilianza kwa kauli zilizotolewa na Dkt Slaa na Mtikila ambao katika nyakati tofauti walimtuhumu Ridhiwani kuwa bilionea aliyepata fedha isivyo kihalali akitumia mgongo wa baba yake,Rais Kikwete.
Tuhuma hizo zilipelekea Ridhiwani kuitisha mkutano na waandishi wa habari ambapo licha ya kukanusha kuwa sio bilionea-na kudai kuwa magari ya kifahari anayoonekana akiendesha mara kwa mara ni ya kuazima kutoka kwa marafiki zake-alitoa siku saba kwa Dkt Slaa na Mtikila kuthibitisha madai yake vinginevyo atawafikisha mahakamani.
Sasa,kama habari ifuatayo inavyoonyesha,wanasiasa hao wamemtaka Ridhiwani awahi kwenda huko mahakamani,na wao watatumia fursa hiyo kuthibtisha madai yao.Nisikumalizie uhondo,soma mwenyewe hapa chini
Slaa, Mtikila wamtega mtoto JK
Tuesday, 03 May 2011 21:50Leon Bahati na Raymond Kaminyoge
KATIBU Mkuu wa Chadema, Dk Willibrod Slaa, amemtega mtoto wa Rais Jakaya Kikwete, Ridhiwani, akisema akifanikiwa kukifikisha chama hicho mahakamani atakuwa amefanikiwa kula mfupa ambao uliwashinda vigogo waliowatangazwa hadharani kuwa ni mafisadi nchini.
Dk Slaa alitoa kauli hiyo jana alipotakiwa kutoa msimamo wake kuhusu kauli ya Ridhiwani aliyoitaoa Dar es Salaam juzi, kuwa atamfikisha mahakamani ili kuthibitisha kauli yake kwamba mtoto huyo wa rais ni bilionea aliyepata utajiri wa kutisha kipindi kifupi.
Ridhiwani alimpa siku saba Dk Slaa, kuanzia jana awe amekanusha kauli hiyo ya kumtuhumu kuwa fisadi, vinginevyo atamfikisha mahakamani."Sisi tunasema atangulie huko mahakamani sisi tutakuja nyuma," alisema Dk Slaa.
Dk Slaa ambaye katika uchaguzi uliopita aligombea urais na kutoa upinzani mkubwa kwa Rais Kikwete aliyetangazwa kuwa mshindi, alisema kauli za kushtakiwa wanapotangaza taarifa za ufisadi hadharani zimekuwa za kawaida.
Alisema wengi waliwahi kutoa kauli kama hiyo kupitia vyombo vya habari baada ya kuwatuhumu hadharani kuwa ni mafisadi, lakini wakashindwa kwenda mahakamani.
"Chadema tuna uzoefu tulipotaja orodha ya mafisadi walitutishia kuwa watatushtaki mahakamani tukawaambia watangulie sisi tutakuja nyuma, lakini walishindwa kutekeleza ahadi yao," alisema Dk Slaa na kuongeza kuwa, iwapo Ridhiwani atafanya hivyo atakuwa amevunja rekodi ambayo imewashinda watu wazito.
Katibu huyo ambaye umaarufu wake ulikuja kwa kasi kipindi cha miaka 15 aliyokuwa Mbunge wa Karatu, Arusha, alijigamba kuwa hawazungumzi jambo bila vielelezo ndio maana wanajiamini kwa kila wanachokisema hadharani.
Dk Slaa alitupia lawama Taasisi ya Kuzuia na Kupambana na Rushwa (Takukuru), kwamba amekuwa akisisitiza ifutwe kwa sababu inashindwa kufanya kazi yake, ikiwamo kufanya uchunguzi kwa watu wanaotuhumiwa kupata utajiri katika mazingira yenye utata.
Katika mkutano na waandishi wa habari, Ridhiwani alikanusha kuwa kijana bilionea kama Dk Slaa anavyomtuhumu.Alisema anamiliki shamba mkoani Pwani, lenye ukubwa wa ekari 1.5, gari ndogo na akaunti kwenye benki ya CRDB, NBC na Stanbic, ambazo hakutaja kiasi cha fedha.
Dk Slaa alipinga vikali kauli hiyo na kwamba, alimaliza shule miaka michache iliyopita, lakini sasa ni bilionea na utajiri huo aliupata kwenye mazingira ya utata.
Wakati huohuo, Mwenyekiti wa DP, Mchungaji Christopher Mtikila, alisema atatoa uthibitisho mahakamani kuhusu mali alizozitaja kuwa zinamilikiwa na Ridhiwani.“Siwezi kumuomba radhi mtu, nina uhakika wa kuwa kijana yule anamiliki mali ambazo hajazipata kwa njia halali, itakuwa vizuri ikiwa atanipeleka mahakamani, kwani huko ndiko nitakakoonyesha uthibitisho wangu,” alisema Mchungaji Mtikila.
Jumamosi iliyopita, Mtikila alikaririwa na vyombo vya habari akisema, Ridhiwani ni bilionea anayemiliki nyumba za ghorofa, malori, kampuni za ujenzi wa barabara na ardhi.
CHANZO: Mwananchi
Uzuri wa sakata hili upo katika pembe nyingi.Kwanza,Ridhiwani ni mwanasheria kitaaluma,kwahiyo yayumkinika kuamini kuwa tishio lake (la kuwapeleka Dkt Slaa na Mtikila mahakamani iwapo watashindwa kuthibitisha tuhuma dhidi yake) lilikuwa sio danganya toto.Pili,Ridhiwani ni mtoto wa Rais Kikwete,na kwa vile tuhuma hizo zinamhusisha pia baba yake (kwa maana ya kutumia fursa ya urais kumnufaisha mwanaye) inatarajiwa kuwa suala hapa sio kujisafisha yeye tu bali pia baba yake.
Lakini kwa upande wa pili ni wasifu wa Dkt Slaa,na pengine Mtikila.Wengi tunafahamu kuwa Mtikila na mahakama ni kama mtu na nyumbani kwake.Japokuwa siku za karibuni amekuwa na msimamo unaoyumba lakini bado anatambulika kuwa anapoamua kupigania haki basi atakwenda umbali wowote ule pasipo kuchelea madhara ya kufanya hivyo.
Kwa Dokta Slaa,wengi tunamfahamu kama mmoja wa wanasiasa adimu kabisa ambao ni nadra kutoma matamshi pasipo kuyafanyia utafiti wa kutosha na kuwa na uthibitisho.Yayumkinika kuamini kuwa Dkt Slaa alikuwa akifahamu vema kuwa kwa vile Ridhiwani ni mwanasheria,na pia asingependa kuona jina lake na la baba yake yanahusishwa na ufisadi hadharani,ni lazima angetishia kwenda mahakamani kama sio kwenda kabisa huko mahakamani kufungua kesi ya madai.Kwa mantiki hiyo,na kwa kurejea historia ya Dkt Slaa,inawezekana kuamini kuwa alikuwa na uhakika na alichosema,sambamba na kuwa na ushahidi mzito kuhusu madai hayo.
Enewei,siku saba si nyingi.Leo ni siku ya pili,tumebakiwa na siku tano.Tusubiri kusikia kauli kutoka kwa Ridhiwani Jumatatu ijayo ambapo siku saba alizotoa zitakuwa zimekwisha muda wake.
Ngoma inogire!
The United States Naval Special Warfare Development Group (NSWDG), commonly known as DEVGRU and informally by its former name SEAL Team Six (ST6), is one of the United States' two secretive Tier One counter-terrorism and Special Mission Units (SMUs); the other such group is 1st SFOD-D (Delta Force).
The vast majority of information surrounding DEVGRU is highly classified and details of its activities are not commented on by either the White House or the Department of Defense. While DEVGRU is administratively supported by the Naval Special Warfare Command like the other SEAL Teams, it is operationally commanded by the Joint Special Operations Command.
History
The origins of ST6 can be traced to the aftermath of Operation Eagle Claw, the failed 1980 attempt to rescue American hostages at the U.S. Embassy in Iran.During the Iran Hostage Crisis in 1979, Richard Marcinko was one of two Navy representatives for a Joint Chiefs of Staff task force known as the TAT (Terrorist Action Team). The purpose of the TAT was to develop a plan to free the American hostages held in Iran, which culminated in Operation Eagle Claw. In the wake of the operation's disaster at Desert One, the U.S. Navy saw the need for a full-time dedicated Counter-Terrorist Team and tasked Marcinko with its design and development.
Marcinko was the first commanding officer of this new unit that he named SEAL Team Six. At the time, the US Navy had only two SEAL teams. Marcinko purportedly named the unit Team Six in order to confuse the Soviet intelligence as to the number of SEAL Teams in operation. It became officially operational in 1981.The men in the unit were handpicked by Marcinko himself from across the U.S. Navy's Special Operations personnel. SEAL Team Six would be known as the U.S. Navy's premier counter-terrorist unit. It has also been compared to the US Army's Delta Force.Marcinko held the command of SEAL Team Six for three years from 1980–1983 instead of what was typically a two-year command in the Navy at the time.SEAL Team Six was formally created in October 1980, and an intense, progressive work-up training program made the unit mission-ready six months later. Prior to this, the existing SEAL teams had already begun counter-terrorism training, including 12 platoons in SEAL Team One on the West Coast. On the West Coast, elements of the SEAL Team One had taken the issue one step further. They formed a dedicated two-platoon group known as "MOB Six" (Mobility Six) in anticipation of a maritime scenario requiring a counter-terrorism response and had begun training to that end.
Richard Marcinko, founder of SEAL Team Six, and its first C.O.
In 1987, a new unit was formed, given the official title of "Naval Special Warfare Development Group" (abbreviated to NAVSPECWARDEVGRU, or DEVGRU) after SEAL Team Six was dissolved. Reasons for the disbanding are varied.But the name SEAL Team Six is often used in reference to DEVGRU because of their similarities as a maritime counter-terrorism unit.
[edit] Recent renaming
In a recent article, Marc Ambinder wrote that DEVGRU's designation had been changed by the Defense Department to a new name. However, the new name is currently classified. This has also been the case for Delta Force, which was originally designated 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta, and is now known as Army Compartmented Elements," or "ACE."
Recruitment, selection, and training
In the early stages of creating SEAL Team Six, Marcinko had been given only six months to get ST6 up and running. This meant that there was a timing issue and Marcinko had little time to create a proper selection course, similar to that of Delta Force, and as a result hand-picked the first plankowners of the unit himself after assessing their Navy records and personally interviewing each man. It has been said that Marcinko regretted not having enough time to set up a proper selection process/course. All applicants came from the UDTs and East and West Coast SEAL teams. Marcinko's criteria for recruiting applicants was combat experience due to the fact that he would know they could perform under fire; language skills were vital, as the unit would have a worldwide mandate to be able to communicate with the local population if needed; union skills, in order to be able to blend in as civilians during an operation; and finally SEAL skills. Each member of SEAL Team Six was selected in part because of the different specialty skills each man brought with him to the unit.
The training schedule was intense. The claim had been made by one former Team member that in one year SEAL Team Six fired more rounds of ammunition than the entire U.S. Marine Corps.The emphasis was on shooting skills, range firing, close-quarters battle (CQB), and stress shooting in a variety of conditions.
As with most aspects of the unit being highly classified, information regarding the process of recruitment and selection for the NSWDG ("DEVGRU") is also scarce, but what is speculated and is known is that the selection and training for the unit hasn't changed dramatically since its creation. All applicants come from the "regular" SEAL teams and the Navy's Explosive Ordnance Disposal units, unless applying for support positions (in which there have been open advertisements on the web for support personnel).
It can be inferred from the quality of their pool of applicants that those considered are in peak physical condition, maintain an excellent reputation as an operator within the Naval Special Warfare community, and have done operational deployments with a SEAL Team where an operator will have picked up invaluable experience. As a result, the candidate will usually be in his 30s. As ST6 was recruiting the best and brightest SEALs/UDTs from the regular teams, this created animosity between the unit and the "regular" teams that their best SEALs were being poached for the unit.
Those who pass the stringent recruitment and selection process will be selected to attend a six- to seven-month Operators Training Course. Candidates will join the unit's training wing known as "Green Team." The training course attrition rate is extremely high; at least half the class will fail the course. During one selection course, out of the original 20 candidates, only 12 completed the course. All candidates are watched closely by DEVGRU instructors and evaluated on whether they were suitable to join the individual squadrons.
Like all Special Operations Forces units that have an extremely intensive and high-risk training schedule, serious injuries or death among operators can result. SEAL Team Six/DEVGRU has lost several operators during training, including parachute accidents and close-quarters battle training accidents. It is presumed that the unit's assessment process for potential new recruits is different from what a SEAL operator experienced in his previous career, and much of the training tests the candidate's mental capacity rather than his physical condition, as he will have already completed Basic Underwater Demolitions/SEAL training.
Candidates will be put through a variety of advanced training courses that can include courses led by civilian and/or military instructors. These can include free-climbing, advanced unarmed combat techniques, defensive and offensive driving, advanced diving, and "survival, evasion, resistance, and escape" (SERE) training. All candidates must perform at the top level during selection, and the unit instructors evaluate the candidate during the training process. Any candidate not performing to the highest level will be returned to his previous unit.
Once a candidate has been selected, he will be assigned to one of the Tactical Development and Evaluation Squadrons.
Roles and responsibilities
When SEAL Team Six was first created it was devoted exclusively to counter-terrorism with a worldwide maritime responsibility; its objectives typically included targets such as ships, oil rigs, naval bases, or other civilian or military bases that were accessible from the sea or inland waterways.
SEAL Team Six was originally also tasked with covertly infiltrating international hot spots in order to carry out reconnaissance or security assessments of U.S. military bases and U.S. Embassies.
Although the unit was created as a maritime counter-terrorism unit, it has become a multi-functional Special Operations unit with multiple roles that include high-risk personnel/hostage extractions. Such operations include the failed rescue of Linda Norgrove, the successful rescue of an American businessman, and in 1991 the successful recovery of Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and his family during a coup that deposed him.
After SEAL Team Six was disbanded and renamed, the official mission of the currently operating NSWDG is to test, evaluate, and develop technology and maritime, ground, and airborne tactics applicable to Naval Special Warfare forces such as Navy SEALs; however, this is presumed this is only a small part of the group's work assignment.
DEVGRU's full mission is classified but is thought to include preemptive, pro-active counterterrorist operations, counter-proliferation (efforts to prevent the spread of both conventional weapons and weapons of mass destruction), as well as assassination or recovery of high-value targets (HVTs) from unfriendly nations.DEVGRU is one of only a handful of U.S. special mission units authorized to use preemptive actions against terrorists and their facilities.
DEVGRU and the Army's Delta Force train together and deploy together on counter-terrorist missions usually as part of a joint special operations task force (JSOTF).
The CIA's highly secretive Special Activities Division (SAD) and more specifically its elite Special Operations Group (SOG) recruits operators from SEAL Team Six. Joint Navy SEALs and CIA operations go back to the famed MACV-SOG group during the Vietnam War. This cooperation still exists today and is seen in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
A little-known spy agency in Washington helped track the hour-by-hour movements of the al Qaeda courier who inadvertently led a Navy SEALs assault team directly to Osama bin Laden on Sunday, where they killed the terrorist mastermind with two precision shots to the head.
For eight months, after analysts tentatively identified a spacious walled compound near Islamabad, Pakistan, as a possible bin Laden hideout, an array of satellites and unmanned drones kept an unblinking, day-night “staring eye’’ watch, tracking individuals’ movements in and out, and following “individuals of interest’’ as they traveled across the region.
The data was continuously downloaded to an Air Force ground station housed in a nondescript hangar at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia, where teams of analysts pored over the “take’’ and streamed it live to intelligence analysis cells at the CIA, the National Security Agency and the National Counterterrorism Center.
The NCTC, housed in an innocuous office building in Rosslyn, Va., just across the Potomac River from Washington proper, operates far from the spotlight that illuminates even the secretive CIA, but it played a pivotal role in the bin Laden manhunt.
Working with the military’s Joint Special Operations Command Targeting and Analysis Center, located at Langley, and with the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency up the river in Bethesda, Md., the NCTC analysts helped develop what the military calls a “common operating picture.’’ In layman’s terms, that amounted to a detailed four-dimensional “map’’ of the bin Laden compound and its occupants and their patterns of living and working.
The data enabled JSOC’s commandos to build, in a remote section of the U.S. air base at Bagram, Afghanistan, a full-scale replica of the al Qaeda compound at Abbottabad, an hour’s drive north of Islamabad. In constant rehearsals at the mock-up, they perfected the timing and the tactics used in Sunday’s raid.
NCTC officials declined to comment publicly on the agency’s operations or the work that led to bin Laden’s death on Sunday.
But a senior intelligence official, who briefed reporters anonymously because much of the information is classified, said the breadth and depth of the information was critical. After the compound was initially discovered last summer, he said, officials “developed good information on how life at the compound was carried out.’’
The information was so complete, he added, that “the operators who assaulted the compound felt they had all the intelligence they needed.’’ Such assessments are unusual because the military, and commandos in particular, rarely acknowledge they have “enough’’ intelligence.
In a statement, James R. Clapper, the director of national intelligence who presides over all 16 of the country’s intelligence agencies, said that in his nearly 50-year career “never have I seen a more remarkable example of focused integration, seamless collaboration and sheer professional magnificence’’ as was evident in the final hunt for bin Laden.
As impressive as it is, the elimination of the al Qaeda founder, after nearly a decade of effort, won’t have nearly the impact on global terrorism that it might have several years ago, counterterrorism officials say. Thanks to the “franchising’’ of extremist Islamist terror cells to Yemen, Somalia and elsewhere, the danger -- and the action -- has shifted away from bin Laden’s core al Qaeda group, according to NCTC director Michael Leiter.
None of the recent terrorist operations against the United States, including the 2009 Fort Hood shootings that killed 13 Americans and the drive-by shooting later that year that killed a soldier at a Little Rock, Ark., recruiting station, were directed or inspired by bin Laden. Rather, these two attacks, together with the three failed but potentially deadly attacks -- the attempted Times Square bombing, the bungled Christmas 2009 airliner bombing, and the parcel bombs hidden in printer cartridges last fall -- all were inspired or directed by a the Yemeni-based cleric, Anwar al-Awlaki, and the al Qaeda offshoot, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, also based in Yemen.
Leiter and other counterterrorism officials say that AQAP and other “franchises’’ have surpassed the original Pakistan-based al Qaeda in terms of speedy planning and imaginative attacks. They cite a further threat: the emergence of homegrown Islamist terrorists in the United States, such as the alleged Little Rock shooter, Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, a 24-year-old Muslim convert formerly known as Carlos Bledsoe.
“Bin Laden personally, al Qaeda’s terrorist tradecraft, all of that is becoming less popular in most places in the world,’’ Leiter said in a December speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
The affiliates, he added, “no longer simply rely upon their linkages to al Qaeda senior leadership in Pakistan but they have in fact emerged more as self-sustaining, independent movements and organizations.”
Leiter also noted that the affiliates maintain “important tentacles back to al Qaeda senior leadership” but operate with a high degree of independence.
“And, frankly, they operate at a different pace and with a different level of complexity than does al Qaeda senior leadership, and that has complicated our task significantly,’’ Leiter added.
The NCTC’s role in the killing of bin Laden is payback of sorts for the U.S. intelligence community, which was criticized for its failure to prevent the 9/11 attacks -- when a lack of coordination kept intelligence officers from fitting together known pieces of the al Qaeda plot. In the aftermath of the attacks, a presidential commission urgently recommended the establishment of a new agency to unify “strategic intelligence and operational planning against Islamic terrorists.’’
The NCTC was operational by 2004.
This time, by all accounts, the intelligence agencies and the military operational headquarters worked together smoothly and swiftly, justifying the effort put into breaking down institutional walls and separate data bases, said counterterrorism officials who requested anonymity because their operations are classified.
A former Navy pilot who flew EA6B Prowler jamming and attack planes over the Balkans and Iraq, Leiter, 42, is a cum laude graduate of Harvard Law School and clerked for Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer before starting work in counterterrorism. He was appointed as NCTC director by President George W. Bush -- and asked to stay on by President Barack Obama. He was married Saturday evening in Washington; the honeymoon was postponed.
- 3.5.11
- Evarist Chahali
- CCM, MAGAMBA, MUKAMA
- No comments
Hapana,leo sio April 1-Siku ya Wajinga- bali habari ifuatayo ni ya kweli na wala si kanyaboya flani.Baada ya usanii uliodumu kwa takriban mwezi mzima,hatimaye CCM imerejea kwenye asili yake.Wengine tulishashtukia mapema usanii uliobeba jina la "kujivua magamba".Tangu lini nyoka akageuka mjusi baada ya kujivua magamba?Na tangu lini mchawi akageuka mtu mwema kwa vile tu kavua tunguri?
Enewei,habari kamili ni hii:
CCM yatoa msimamo
*Mukama asema maazimio ya NEC yamepotoshwa*Ataka chama kiheshimu taratibu, aisulubu ChademaNa Mwandishi Wetu
KATIBU Mkuu wa Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM), Wilson Mukama, amesema Halmashauri Kuu (NEC) ya CCM, haijawahi kutoa maazimio ya kuwataka watuhumiwa wa ufisadi kujiuzulu nyadhifa zao ndani ya siku 90, ila wenye kutoa kauli hizo wanapotosha.
Mukama alikuwa akizungumza na wahariri wa vyombo vya habari vyote nchini, walipokutana jijini Dar es Salaam jana. Alitoa kauli hiyo baada ya kuhojiwa ataje majina ya mafisadi ni akina nani, na kwamba barua wanazosema watapewa zitakabidhiwa lini kwa wanachama hao wa CCM.
Akizungumza kwa tahadhari kubwa, Mukama alisema NEC ilitoa maazimio 26, na kati ya hayo, azimio namba 15 lilikuwa likiwataka watuhumiwa wa ufisadi, “kupima, kutafakari na kuchukua hatua wenyewe,” ila akaongeza kuwa wakati Mwenyekiti, Rais Jakaya Kikwete anafunga kikao cha NEC, alisema watuhumiwa wasipochukua hatua wenyewe chama kitawachukulia hatua.
“Kwa maana hiyo, kuna watu wame-hype information (wamepotosha taarifa kwa propaganda)… sijui hizi siku 90 zimetoka wapi? Kwanza NEC haikutani kila baada ya siku 90. NEC inakutana kila baada ya siku 120, yaani miezi minne au mara tatu kwa mwaka… Mimi nasema maamuzi ya NEC hayakutaja majina ya watu. Kitu hiki hakipo. Mtuache kama Chama tuna taratibu zetu, wala hatuhitaji mashinikizo kutoka popote,” alisema Mukama.
Mukama alisema yeye anaamini katika utaratibu wa kuendesha chama kama taasisi, hivyo kauli za watu zinazotoa siku 90 si za chama, bali chama kinasimamia maamuzi yanayotokana na kumbukumbu rasmi ambazo ni maazimio 26 ya NEC na hotuba rasmi ya Mwenyekiti wao wakati anafunga kikao cha NEC.
Msimamo huu wa Katibu Mkuu Mukama, umekuwa tofauti na kauli zilizotolewa na Makamu Mwenyekiti wa CCM (Bara), Pius Msekwa, Naibu Katibu Mkuu (Bara), John Chiligati na Katibu wa Itikadi na Uenezi, Nape Nnauye, ambao wamekuwa wakitamba kuwa baada ya siku 90 chama kitawafukuza kwenye chama watuhumiwa wa ufisadi ikiwa wao watashindwa kujiondoa sasa.
Hata hivyo, Mukama alisema watu wanaotuhumiwa wanapaswa kufikiri na kuchukua hatua wenyewe wanazoona zinafaa kwa nia ya kujenga chama chao upya. Alisema falsafa ya kujivua gamba imefanyiwa kazi kwa Kamati Kuu na sekretarieti ya chama kujiuzulu, hivyo hakuna sababu ya watu kupotosha falsafa hiyo na kukilazimisha chama kufanya maamuzi ya kujiua.
Wakati huo huo, Mukama alikishambulia Chama cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (CHADEMA) kuwa kitakufa kabla ya CCM, kwani chama hicho kimeanzishwa kwa shinikizo la Shirika la Fedha Ulimwenguni (IMF). “You can quote me on this (nikariri katika hili) Chadema kilianzishwa kwa shinikizo la IMF. Yule aliyetofautiana na Nyerere ndiye aliyekwenda kukianzisha,” alisema Mukama bila kufafanua.
Katika mkutano huo, Mukama aliambatana na Katibu wa Idara ya Siasa na Mambo ya Nje, January Makamba, Katibu wa Fedha na Uchumi, Mwigulu Mchemba na Katibu wa Itikadi na Uenezi, Nape Nnauye.
Mukama alisema CCM haijapoteza mwelekeo, na itaendelea kujijenga upya kwa nia ya kutumikia vyema wananchi, huku akisisitiza kuwa mabadiliko yaliyofanywa yalikuwa ya lazima kukipa uhai mpya chama hicho.
CHANZO: New Habari
Mtoto wa Rais Kikwete aukana ubilionea
na Betty Kangonga
MJUMBE wa Baraza Kuu la Umoja wa Vijana (UVCCM), Ridhiwan Kikwete, amekanusha tuhuma zilizoelekezwa kwake juu ya kumiliki mali na mabilioni ya fedha.
Ridhiwan alikanusha madai hayo baada ya nyakati tofauti Katibu Mkuu wa Chama cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (CHADEMA), Dk. Willibrod Slaa na Mchungaji Christopher Mtikila kutoa madai kuwa Ridhiwan pamoja na kumaliza shule miaka michache iliyopita, hivi sasa ni tajiri bilionea.
Akizungumza jana jijini Dar es Salaam na waandishi wa habari, Ridhiwan, alisema habari hizo si za kweli bali za kizushi na kwamba zimejaa uongo unaolenga kumchafua yeye pamoja na baba yake Rais Jakaya Kikwete huku wakipandikiza chuki kwa umma.
Ridhiwan alisema kwa sasa anamiliki shamba la hekari moja na nusu, gari aina ya Toyota Cami na akaunti tatu tofauti zilizo katika benki ya NBC, Stanbic na CRDB.
Alipoulizwa mbona anaonekana akitembelea magari ya kifahari, mtoto huyo wa Rais alisema: “Hapa mjini unaweza kumuona mtu amevaa suti ukadhani ya kwake kumbe ameazima. Mimi nina marafiki wengi, huwa wananiazima magari yao nitembelee, juzijuzi hapa nilikuwa na benzi ya rafiki yangu….jamani miundombinu ya mjini si mnaijua?”
Alisema kutokana na kuwaheshimu wazee hao na umri walionao ni bora watumie busara na kujitokeza ili watoe ushahidi juu ya hayo waliyoyasema na hatua zaidi zichukuliwe.
Aliongeza kuwa iwapo itadhihirika kuwa habari walizozieleza ni za uongo basi atakuwa tayari kuwasamehe; lakini alidai leo atawafikishia barua wazee hao ambapo ndani ya wiki mbili amewataka wathibitishe taarifa hizo walizozitoa juu yake.
“Kama haitoshi narudia tena niliwaahidi ushirikiano na endapo watataka ili kuthibitisha yote hayo waliyosema na hata yale wanayoyasikia, wakithibitisha habari walizopewa ni za uongo basi wasisite kuueleza umma,” alisema Ridhiwan.
Ridhiwan alienda mbali zaidi na kudai kuwa si mara ya kwanza kwa Dk. Slaa kuongopewa, akidai kuwa wakati wa uchaguzi mkuu wa mwaka jana, watu wasiopungua 50 walikutana katika mji wa Mwanza kwenye Hoteli ya La Cairo ili kuhujumu uchaguzi.
“Mchungaji Mtikila ambaye yeye amewahi kukiri wazi kuwa alishawahi kuongopewa hivyo, imani yangu kwamba atakapojiridhisha juu ya maroli, maghorofa na hiyo kampuni ya kutengeneza barabara atatumia busara ili hatua za kisheria zifuatwe,” alisema.
Aliwataka wazee hao kutokuwa makanjanja wa kutengeneza habari katika njia ya kutafuta sifa za kisiasa na kuonekana wanajua kuongea.
Ridhiwan alieleza kutokana na kutokuwa na kinga ya aina yoyote na kutambua nchi inaendeshwa katika misingi ya utawala bora ambao unaheshimu haki za binadamu, yuko tayari kutoa ushirikiano kwa vyombo mbalimbali ili ukweli uwekwe wazi.
Mwishoni mwa wiki iliyopita mchungaji Mtikila alimtuhumu Rais Jakaya Kikwete kuitumia Ikulu kumtajirisha mwanawe, ambaye anaaminika kuwa tajiri bilionea.
CHANZO: Tanzania Daima
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