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| The body of Turkish riot police officer Mevlut Mert Altıntas, 22, who shot to death the Russian ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov, after Turkish especial forces took him down. |
Dead terrorist/assassin.
Simply a thing of beauty.
The Wounded Knee Massacre occurred on December 29, 1890,[4] near Wounded Knee Creek (Lakota: Čhaŋkpé Ópi Wakpála) on the LakotaPine Ridge Indian Reservation in the U.S. state of South Dakota.
The previous day, a detachment of the U.S. 7th Cavalry Regiment commanded by Major Samuel M. Whitside intercepted Spotted Elk's band of Miniconjou Lakota and 38 Hunkpapa Lakota near Porcupine Butte and escorted them 5 miles (8.0 km) westward to Wounded Knee Creek, where they made camp. The remainder of the 7th Cavalry Regiment, led by Colonel James W. Forsyth, arrived and surrounded the encampment. The regiment was supported by a battery of four Hotchkiss mountain guns.[5]
On the morning of December 29, the troops went into the camp to disarm the Lakota. One version of events claims that during the process of disarming the Lakota, a deaf tribesman named Black Coyote was reluctant to give up his rifle, claiming he had paid a lot for it.[6] A scuffle over the rifle ensued and by the time it was over, more than 150 men, women, and children of the Lakota had been killed and 51 were wounded (4 men and 47 women and children, some of whom died later); some estimates placed the number of dead at 300.[1] Twenty-five soldiers also died, and 39 were wounded (6 of the wounded later died).[7] At least twenty soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor.[8] In 2001, the National Congress of American Indians passed two resolutions condemning the awards and called on the U.S. government to rescind them.[9] The site of the battlefield has been designated a National Historic Landmark.[4] In 1990, both houses of the U.S. Congress passed a resolution formally expressing "deep regret" for the massacre.[10]
General Dynamics landed a huge arms contract Opens a New Window. in August when Saudi Arabia requested permission to purchase $1.15 billion worth of M1 Abrams main battle tanks for its army. At least, the contract looked huge at the time. Now, it looks positively tiny...
Because General Dynamics just scored a second tank contract last week that's 50% bigger.
Once again, General Dynamics is benefiting from turbulence in the Middle East.
As we learned earlier this week from an official U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency notification Opens a New Window. to Congress, the government of Kuwait has asked Congress to approve the sale of a "recapitalization" package for 218 of its M1A2 main battle tanks. According to DSCA, this recapitalization will include the sale of 240 .50-caliber M2A1 machine guns and 480 7.62 mm M240 machine guns to install on the tanks, plus upgraded armor and engines, new 120 mm cannon tubes and remotely operated weapons stations, and assorted radios, night vision goggles, infrared sights, and other hardware.
In total, the recapitalization, which is essentially a rebuilding and upgrading of the entire tank fleet, will be worth $1.7 billion in revenue to principle contractor General Dynamics, which builds the M1. Other companies named as principal contractors include American contractors Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, and Honeywell, and also Norwegian defense giant Kongsberg.Bad times and rumors of war in the middle east is good news for defense contractors.
BREAKING: 14 US-Led Coalition Military Advisers Captured by Syrian Special Forces in Aleppo.Note that they list the name of a Civil Support Officer but I will not do that till this is confirmed or denied. If this is true then the nightmare scenario is in effect.