News of the Force: Tuesday, May 30, 2017 - Page 1

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Tuesday, May 30, 2017 - Today is Indian Arrival Day in Trinidad and Tobago

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Former Panamanian dictator dies at 83

    

    Removing Manuel Noriega, the dictator of Panama, from power in 1989 not only entailed what was then the largest American military action since Vietnam, but also set the stage for future actions by the United States. He was the military dictator of Panama from 183 to 1989, and was removed from power by U.S. forces during the invasion of Panama. Noriega died at the Hospital Santo Tomas in Panama City yesterday, two months after under-going brain surgery.

 

North Korea warns of 'bigger gift package' for the U.S.

    

    Kim Jong Un rejoiced with Ri Pyong Chol and Jang Chang Ha during a test launch of ground-to-ground medium long-range ballistic rocket.

    The Pentagon today will for the first time test its ability to shoot down an intercontinental ballistic missile using its own upgraded long-range interceptor missile in what is being widely seen as a test of the U.S.' ability to counter North Korean missiles.

    Meanwhile, North Korea today blasted the South for conducting a "nuclear bomb-dropping" drill with a U.S. Air Force B-1 Lancer bomber.

 

Baghdad ice cream parlor struck by suicide attack

     

    Two car bomb explosions in the heart of the Iraqi capital city Baghdad early today have killed at least 26 people and wounded 95 others, sources say.

    On the front lines near Mosul, the jagged teeth of a young soldier's bull-dozer mark the beginning of Iraq's territory - and the end of the Islamic State's.

    U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria yesterday, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today. In Iraq, Coalition military forces conducted eight strikes consisting of 41 engagements against ISIS targets: Near Beiji, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed two vehicles and a vehicle-borne bomb staging area; Near Mosul, four strikes engaged four ISIS tactical units and destroyed 34 vehicles, seven fighting positions, three vehicle-borne bombs, two mortar systems, two heavy machine guns, a medium machine gun and a supply cache and damaged an ISIS-held building, an ISIS supply route and a fighting position; Near Rawah, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed an ISIS-held building; and near Tal Afar, two strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed two cave entrances and an ISIS staging area.

    U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis says the U.S. has switched to "annihilation tactics" against the Islamic State and is focused on completely surrounding the militants instead of moving them from place to place.

 

Sixteenth person arrested in Manchester bombing case

    

    British police have arrested a 16th person in connection with last week's suicide bombing in Manchester.

 

South Sudan gets new U.N. force commander

    The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) has a new force commander, nearly a year after the previous one was dismissed.

 

Hellenic Air Force fighter jet crashes

    

    Greek authorities say an air force Mirage 2000 fighter jet has crashed into the Aegean Sea during a training flight, but the pilot was rescued.

 

Strong winds and thunderstorms blamed for 11 Moscow deaths

    

    Thunderstorms and strong winds buffeted Moscow and its surrounding areas yesterday, killing 11 people and injuring at least 70, Russian officials have said.

 

New president of France unhappy with Putin

By Lisa Levine, News of the Force Tel Aviv

    

    French President Emmanuel Macron delivered a blunt greeting to Vladimir Putin as he arrived in Versailles yesterday, criticizing the use of chemical weapons by Syria's Russian-backed government and blasting two Russian state-owned media organizations.

    In Syria yesterday, Coalition military forces conducted 18 strikes consisting of 25 engagements against ISIS targets: Near Dayr Az Zawr, four strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed four ISIS wellheads, an ISIS oil storage tank, an ISIS oil tanker truck and a vehicle. Near Raqqa, 11 strikes engaged nine ISIS tactical units and destroyed five vehicles, a tunnel, a mortar system, a weapons cache, a vehicle-borne-bomb factory and a fighting position. Additionally, four strikes in Syria were conducted on May 28th that closed within the last 24 hours: Near Raqqa, four strikes destroyed a weapons cache, an ISIS staging area and three fighting positions. And near Tabqah, three strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and destroyed two fighting positions, an ISIS oil separator tank and an ISIS headquarters.

    President Putin is a bigger threat to world security than the so-called Islamic State group, according to veteran U.S. Senator John McCain, who also admits Donald Trump makes him "nervous." McCain believes Vladimir Putin and Russia are more dangerous to the U.S. because of their meddling into elections going on in other countries.

    Iran has agreed to renew its financial aid to Hamas - after years of tension between them.

    An annual report published by the Regional Council of the Jordan Valley has found that Israel's national lake, the Kinneret, is becoming "saltier" every year. 

    And everybody knows that through his Western-funded Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas glorifies and pays Arabs who murder Israeli civilians.

 

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    Couzin Gym's Thought for the Day: When you get a bad grade in school, show it to your mom when she's on the phone.

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President Trump leads nation's remembrance on Memorial Day

     

    President Donald J. Trump paid the nation’s respects to those lost in war during Memorial Day ceremonies in Washington, D.C., yesterday.

    In a speech after placing a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns, he said "Words cannot measure the depth of their devotion, the purity of their love or the totality of their courage. We can only hope every day that we prove worthy, not only of their sacrifice and service but of the sacrifices made by their families and loved ones they left behind."

    The president spoke of the sacrifice of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly’s family whose son, Robert, was killed in Afghanistan in 2010. "We grieve with you, we honor you, and we pledge to you that we will always remember Robert and what he did for all of us," the president said.

    Trump also paid tribute to World War II veteran and former Sen. Bob Dole during the speech and turned to the wars of today by remembering Army Spc. Christopher D. Horton, an Oklahoma Army National Guard sniper who was killed in Afghanistan in 2011, and Army Major Andrew D. Byers, a Green Beret officer killed in action in Afghanistan last year. Horton’s widow, Jane, and Byers parents, Rose and David, were at the ceremony and the president promised that America’s gratitude to them "is boundless and undying. We will always be there."

    Since the founding of the United States, more than 42 million Americans have stepped forward to serve their country in uniform, said Marine Corps Gen. Joe Dunford during his remarks at the memorial ceremony. "Their story is one of selflessness, it is one of courage, and it is one of sheer commitment," he said. "But their story is also one of extraordinary sacrifice. More than 1 million Americans who answered the call to duty, gave their last full measure of devotion so their fellow citizens could live in freedom and raise their children in peace." Their sacrifices and the sacrifices of the families and friends must have meaning, the general said. "They were people who stood for something larger than themselves," he said. "They were people who embodied the most important values and traditions of our nation. They were people who understood that what we have in our country is worth fighting for. They were people who made a difference." He urged all Americans to work together with those sacrifices in mind. "If we truly want to give meaning to the sacrifice of those who gave all on our behalf, each of us will leave here today determined to find, in some small way, a method of serving our nation and our communities in their honor," he said.

    Defense Secretary Jim Mattis quoted Robert L. Binyon’s poem written during World War 1. "They shall grow not old as we that are left grow old," the secretary read. "Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them.” Mattis, too, said he wants Americans to unite around the sacrifice and the sacrifices of the families. "The empty chair on a holiday is empty every day," he said. "The photograph that goes wherever you do - the picture fades, but the person in it does not. Their fighting spirit persists. Passed on through the ranks, their spirit echoes in those that serve today in the air, on land and at sea. In a world awash with change, some things stand firm. Some things are as Plato said: 'good and true and beautiful.'" Mattis urged Americans to ensure the loss has meaning. "Unite your sorrow to their awesome purpose," he said.

    After the ceremony, the president visited with families in Section 60 of Arlington National Cemetery, where most of those killed in Iraq and Afghanistan are buried.

 

U.S. Air Force

    

    In Texas, CAP aircraft N239TX is based in Amarillo. It is not one of the older 172 aircraft scheduled to be auctioned off. It does have problems with the DME and with the ADF. The instruments are "steam gauge" not "pinball machine." But it's actively available for scheduling in CAPERS (Civil Air Patrol Equipment Reservation System), sources told us yesterday.

    Vandenberg Air Force Base, in Central California, launched a missile today designed to shoot down an incoming warhead.

    The future of air combat is small, cheap and disposable. That is, if a bunch of U.S. Air Force scientists get their way. Early this month, the Air Force starting looking into suing "disposable drones."

    The U.S. Air Force has tripled the number of airstrikes conducted in Afghanistan against Taliban and Daesh terrorists since last year.

    The Boeing Co.'s time line for delivering 18 full-up KC-46A tankers to the U.S. Air Force is getting tighter and tighter. The manufacturer is several months behind schedule on the project.

    U.S. Air Force F-15 Eagles have deployed to Alaska from Eglin AFB, Fla., to participate in exercise "Northern Edge."

    Nearly 200 Massachusetts Air National Guard members are actively stationed at posts around the world, according to a Massachusetts National Guard historian.

    Civil Air Patrol cadet color guard members from Dover AFB marched in with the national colors yesterday at the beginning of the Memorial Day ceremony in Kent County, Del.

    A team of young Civil Air Patrol cadets re-enacted Arlington's Changing of Guard, and the more than 4,000 U.S. flags planted at the cemetery, as part of the "flag patrol" yesterday at the Floral Haven Cemetery in Tulsa, Okla.

    If you haven't seen it, information regarding complaints and complaint procedures in the Civil Air Patrol (CAPR 123-2) can be found here: https://www.capmembers.com/media/cms/R123_002_3B7E17A8333CE.pdf .

    And Members of the Dunkirk Civil Air Patrol squadron, part of the Civil Air Patrol's New York Wing, are continuing their tradition of helping others.

 

New 'blue lives matter' laws

    

    Following a spike in deadly attacks on police, more than a dozen states have responded this year with “Blue Lives Matter” laws that come down even harder on crimes against law enforcement officers, raising concern among some civil rights activists of a potential setback in police-community relations.

    The new measures build upon existing statutes allowing harsher sentences for people who kill or assault police. They impose even tougher penalties, extend them to more offenses, including certain nonviolent ones such as trespassing in Missouri, and broaden the list of victims covered to include off-duty officers, police relatives and some civilians at law enforcement agencies.

    Proponents say an escalation of violence against police justifies the heightened protections. "What we're getting into as a society is that people are targeting police officers not by something that they may have done to them, but just because they're wearing that uniform," said Republican state Rep. Shawn Rhoads of Missouri, a former detective.

    People who have been protesting aggressive police tactics are expressing alarm. "This is another form of heightened repression of activists," said Zaki Baruti, an activist and community organizer from St. Louis County, Mo. "It sends a message to protesters that we better not look at police cross-eyed."

    Police deaths on the job have generally declined over the past four decades, from a recent high of 280 in 1974 to a low of 116 in 2013, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. But they rose last year to 143, including 21 killed in ambushes - the highest number of such attacks in more than two decades. Nearly all states already have laws enhancing the punishments for certain violent crimes against law officers.

    One year ago, Louisiana became the first state to enact a law adding offenses against police, firefighters and emergency medical responders to its list of hate crimes. More states began expanding their penalties after last summer, when five officers were killed in a July 7th sniper attack at a protest against police brutality in Dallas, Texas, and three more officers were slain in Baton Rouge, La., 10 days later.

    Penalty enhancements have passed this year in Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah and West Virginia, most of which are led by Republicans. Similar bills are under consideration in other states.

    Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt cited the case of Bradley Verstraete as one example of the need for such measures. Verstraete was accused of raising an ax handle against police officers responding to a disturbance call in 2015. Police shot and wounded him. Verstraete was sentenced in February to 8½ years in prison for attempted murder. His sentence could have been doubled under a law signed this month.

    Troy Huser, president of the Kansas Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, called the measure a "knee-jerk response" to the attacks in Dallas and Baton Rouge. "If you double that sentence, in my opinion, it becomes draconian," Huser said.

    Some civil rights activists contend such laws will make it more difficult to prosecute officers and easier to charge protesters who confront police. They say such measures could undermine the Black Lives Matter movement that grew out of the 2014 killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., and other shootings by police around the country. These laws "deepen divisions between law enforcement and communities with no tangible benefit to law enforcement," said Sonia Gill Hernandez at the NAACP's Legal Defense and Education Fund.

    When Missouri passed its bill this month, the legal organization lambasted it as "an overt display of political posturing" over the Brown case. It dismissed talk of a "war on police" as unsubstantiated. The Missouri legislation would add involuntary manslaughter, stalking, property damage and trespassing to the list of crimes bearing enhanced penalties for targeting police. It also would apply the tougher punishments to crimes involving officers’ spouses, children, parents, siblings, grandparents and in-laws. It is awaiting the signature of Republican Gov. Eric Greitens, who vowed to put in place "the toughest penalties possible for anyone who attacks a law enforcement officer. Missouri will show no mercy to cowards who assault cops," he said.

    Georgia’s "Back the Badge Act" increases mandatory minimum prison terms for assault or battery against public safety officers. Some of Arkansas’ enhanced penalties for targeting current and retired law officers, first responders and their families were passed via an emergency declaration, making them effective immediately upon Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s signature. Arizona’s Blue Lives Matter Law expands the crime of aggravated assault against on-duty officers to apply to off-duty officers not engaged in police activities.

    Some lawmakers also are seeking enhanced federal laws. U.S. Sen. John Cornyn and Rep. Ted Poe - both Texas Republicans - recently reintroduced the "Back the Blue Act" that would increase the punishments for crimes against law enforcement officers. It would make killing a judge or police officer punishable by death or a minimum of 30 years in prison.

    Some question whether such steps are a deterrent. Jens Ohlin, a criminal law expert at Cornell University Law School in New York, said the new laws "reek of political pressure to do something symbolic as a way of expressing solidarity with police officers. The problems that need to be solved are really problems on the ground. They’re not gaps in the statute," Ohlin said. "You need to give police officers the tools necessary to protect themselves on the street, and you have to defuse dangerous situations on the ground before they escalate into violence against police officers."

    More than a dozen states have passed legislation within the past year enhancing penalties for crimes against law enforcement officers. Here's a look at those measures:

    Arizona: Expands the crime of aggravated assault against on-duty officers to also apply to off-duty peace officers not engaged in police activities, and adds offenses committed maliciously against peace officers as grounds for enhanced sentences. SB 1366 , entitled the "Blue Lives Matter Law," signed on April 17th by Gov. Doug Ducey.

    Arkansas: Creates enhanced penalties for offenses targeting current or former law enforcement officers, firefighters, emergency medical providers, prosecutors, corrections officers and code enforcement officers, or their family members. HB 1172 was signed on March 3rd by Gov. Asa Hutchison. Expands the scope of the crime of aggravated assault on a law enforcement or correctional officer and enhances the penalties. SB 20 was signed on March 3rd by Hutchison.

    Georgia: Increases mandatory minimum prison penalties for assault or battery against public safety officers and for repeat offenses of resisting or obstructing officers. Also imposes new fines, which fund payments to families of officers who die in the line of duty. SB 160, entitled the "Back the Badge Act of 2017," was signed on May 8th by Gov. Nathan Deal.

    Kansas: Creates enhanced penalties for non-drug felonies committed against on-duty law enforcement officers or when the offender knows the victim is a law officer. SB 112 was signed on May 5th by Gov. Sam Brownback.

    Kentucky: Adds employment as a peace officer, firefighter and emergency medical services provider to an existing list of qualities such as race, religion and sexual orientation for which enhanced penalties can be pursued for offenses committed as hate crimes. HB 14 was signed on March 20th by Gov. Matt Bevin.

    Louisiana: Adds employment as a law enforcement officer, firefighter and emergency medical services provider to an existing list of qualities such as race, age, gender, religion, disability or sexual orientation for which enhanced penalties can be pursued for offenses committed as hate crimes. HB 953 was signed on May 26, 2016, by Gov. John Bel Edwards.

    Mississippi: Creates enhanced penalties for misdemeanor or felony crimes that target people because of their employment as law enforcement officers, firefighters and emergency medical technicians - similar to enhancements already in place for crimes committed for such reasons as race, religion and gender. HB 645, entitled "The Blue, Red and Med Lives Matter Act," was signed on March 24th by Gov. Phil Bryant.

    Missouri: Adds the crimes of involuntary manslaughter, stalking, property damage and trespassing to those carrying enhanced penalties when committed against law enforcement officers or their family members.

    Florida: Florida has always had the death penalty for criminals who kill any police or corrections officer. Additionally, Florida provides an exemption from the release of information under its "Sunshine Law" which prohibits the release of photos, home addresses, employment or school locations of the children of current and former police officers, judges, district attorneys and their staff members, child abuse and child support enforcement investigators, etc.

    Michigan: Michigan has no death penalty. Those who kill police officers most often get a life sentence with no chance of parole. Bonus: Assaulting a police officer there is a misdemeanor, but damaging police property (such a kicking out the window of a police car) is a felony.

 

 

 

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