None of these are from U.S. newspapers   >         NONE OF THESE ARE FROM USA PAPERS. HOW IS IT THAT MUCH OF THE WORLD SEES OBAMA FOR THE ""MUSLIM & MUSLIM SYMPATHIZER"" HE IS......YET SO MANY HERE THINK HE'S DOING JUST FINE AND ADMIRE HIM ?...GO FIGURE. |
Borderland Beat |  |
The Southlake Murder Conspiracy Trial Begins; Day One Posted: 26 Apr 2016 08:21 PM PDT Posted by DD Republished from Dallas Morning News and material from NBC News  FORT WORTH — The two men on trial in the contract killing of a Mexican drug cartel lawyer in Southlake didn’t pull the trigger, but prosecutors say they were the big game “hunting guides” who told the assassins when to take their shots. That was how Assistant U.S. Attorney Joshua T. Burgess described the role of two cousins who are on trial in the May 2013 slaying of Juan Jesús Guerrero Chapa.  Jesús Gerardo Ledezma-Cepeda, a private investigator and ex-police officer from Mexico, planned the sophisticated tracking of Guerrero, Burgess said during opening statements Tuesday in a federal courtroom. His son, Jesús Gerardo Ledezma-Campano Jr., has pleaded guilty to helping his father and will testify for the government. The father's cousin, José Luis Cepeda-Cortes, is accused of helping them by performing public records searches to find the victim at his house in Southlake. He also helped with the spy cameras, authorities said. ‘Big game hunting’ Ledezma-Cepeda and Cepeda-Cortes are both on trial. “In the world of big game hunting, hunters need a guide,” Burgess said. “It’s the role of the guide to lead the hunter … these two defendants played the role of hunting guides.” But their prey was human, he said. The hit on Guerrero was ordered by Rodolfo Villarreal Hernandez, a leader of the Beltran Leyva drug cartel who went by “El Gato,” Burgess said. The motive was revenge for the murder of his father about a decade earlier, for which he held Guerrero responsible, Burgess said. The two cousins watched Guerrero Chapa from across a small pond at Southlake Town Square as a white SUV pulled up behind his Range Rover. The gunman, a hood and scarf covering his face, got out and shot the victim as he sat in the passenger seat. The shooter and getaway driver are fugitives. Burgess told the jury that the defense will argue that Guerrero Chapa, a Gulf cartel lawyer, was involved in illegal activity. “No one deserves to be murdered,” he said. The plot began in June 2011, he said, around the time Guerrero Chapa purchased a $1.2 million home in Southlake under an assumed name. “The victim was aware that people were looking for him,” Burgess said. Ledezma-Cepeda was in constant contact with Gato in the days leading up to the murder, Burgess said. Ledezma-Cepeda even kept a GPS tracker on his own vehicle so that Gato would know his whereabouts. He said his cousin was in charge of “command and control” for the operation, buying air fare, registering the trackers and identifying the victim’s home. “Without their involvement, Mr. Chapa would still be alive,” Burgess said. No intention to kill Wes Ball, an attorney for Ledezma-Cepeda, said his client was forced by Gato to take the job. His family lived in Monterrey, unprotected, he said. “This is not a job offer,” Ball said. “This is a different world. Mr. Ledezma does what he is told. He has no choice.” The cartel knows where he is at all times because of the GPS tracker on his vehicle, Ball said. But Ball said his client never intended for anyone to be killed. Robert Rogers, an attorney for Cepeda-Cortes, said his client knew his cousin as a former police officer and decided to help him as any family member would do. Rogers said his client was used and manipulated by his cousin and knew nothing about a murder plot. “He is outside the loop,” he said. DD; With both sides having presented their opening statements, testimony should get underway tomorrow. The prosecution is expected to start testimony with expert testimony by a Blackberry employee to testify about Blackberry's messaging system, which is known for its encryption, and "records related to the use of Blackberry phones." An employee of Blackline GPS, a company which rents satellite tracking devices, will testify about the electronic gadgets allegedly used by the defendants and placed on Guerrero's car. A person only identified as a "cooperating witness" will talk about the "language used among drug dealers." And of course their star witness, Jesús Gerardo Ledezma-Campano Jr., son of defendent Jesús Gerardo Ledezma-Cepeda, has pleaded guilty to helping his father and will testify for the government. The Govt. had asked for 60 hours to present their case, but the judge granted only 35 hours. As I said in a previous story, the defenses only strategy is to "convict" the victim., to make him into such a bad guy that the jury will vote on their emotions rather than the facts presented in this case. The government may try to soften any impact of any evidence the defense may present to vilify the victim, Guerrero Chapa In a recent filing by the prosecution, gave notice of intent that it "may" use email and tracking device evidence to show the defendants have been involved in up to 12 other murders.. The Govt. wants to be prepared to show these defendants were not exactly choir boys who got involved in the Chapa murder by happenstance or circumstance thinking their only job as private detectives was to locate Chapa without having any knowledge of the planned murder. According to U.S. prosecutors, the defendants were involved in the following murders both before and after the Southlake attack:
At the time of their arrests in September 2014, Ledezma-Cepeda and Ledezma-Campano were still searching for two other men, including Guerrero's brother, Armando Guerrero-Chapa, according to the court document. According to prosecutors, the father and son Ledezmas continued participating in other cartel activities in the U.S. in the months after Guerrero's murder, helping an accused drug dealer named Casimiro Bautista flee. An indictment in October 2013 accused Bautista of running a large-scale marijuana smuggling operation. The Ledezmas picked him up near the U.S.-Mexico border "at the time of his flight," prosecutors say. Bautista was rearrested and in January agreed to a plea agreement, admitting he had transported more than 1,000 kilograms of marijuana from Mexico, through the Rio Grande Valley, and to regional distributors in Tennessee and Florida in hidden compartments in semi-trucks and campers. Bautista, also known as "Vecino" or "Sasquatch," agreed to forfeit $1.5 million. He has not yet been sentenced. DEFENSE TO ASK ABOUT VICTIM'S "ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES" WHILE U.S. INFORMANT Attorneys for one defendant, Cepeda-Cortes, filed a list of potential witnesses 57 names long. They include 19 FBI agents, 11 DEA agents and assorted other investigators and experts. The defendant's attorney said the witnesses would testify about the information Guerrero provided to federal agents about Mexican drug cartels that led to the U.S. seizure of cartels' "assets." The attorney said the information "ultimately resulted in the kidnapping and release of [Guerrero's] family based on the agreement that those organizations would no longer be targeted by [Guerrero]." It did not specify when the kidnapping happened or whether it occurred in Southlake or somewhere else. The attorneys also said their witnesses "will testify regarding the investigation into the illegal activities of [Guerrero] while [Guerrero]was a [U.S.] informant" and "the means used specifically by his drug operation to avoid interference from law enforcement." Government Motion to Use Evidence      | ||
Posted: 26 Apr 2016 06:08 PM PDT  The gruesome findings emerged as investigators reportedly examined a potential Mexican drug cartel connection for the executions on properties used for marijuana growing operations. Local station 10TV, citing anonymous law enforcement sources, said authorities are examining whether a cartel turf war or family feud sparked the slaughter of eight members of the Rhoden family. The victims — seven adults and a 16-year-old — had gunshot wounds to their heads, torsos and other parts of their bodies, according to autopsy results. With one exception, each victim suffered at least two gunshot wounds, and one was shot nine times. Some bodies also were bruised from apparent beatings.  The autopsy results did not identify any of the victims. Police have not made any arrests or identified any suspects for the massacre, which authorities called “pre-planned executions.” Three of the four crimes scenes held several hundred marijuana plants, prosecutors said. "It wasn't just somebody sitting pots in the window," Pike County Prosecutor Rob Junk told the Columbus Dispatch.
The eight victims were Christopher Rhoden Sr., 40; Christopher Rhoden Jr., 16; Gary Rhoden, 38; Kenneth Rhoden, 44; Dana Rhoden, 37; Clarence Rhoden, 20; Hannah Gilley, 20; and Hanna Rhoden, 19. Two children, and an infant sleeping with one victim, were unharmed and are now under the care of extended family member. In 2012, authorities seized more than 1,200 marijuana plants, with suspected ties to a Mexican drug cartel, in Waverly, a town about five miles away from the Rhoden farms. Source Daily News | ||
Panic in Acapulco: Two Hours of Shootouts Posted: 25 Apr 2016 08:47 PM PDT
By: Ezequiel Flores Contreras | Translated by Valor for Borderland Beat At least two armed attacks were reported on Sunday night in a similar manner against a hotel where federal agents stay and towards the offices of the federal police (PF). They unleashed a wave of shootouts in different parts of the port of Acapulco that caused panic and terror amongst citizens. The shootouts lasted for more than two hours along the main tourist route, along Avenida Costera Miguel Alemán (Coastal Avenue Miguel Alemán), where dozens of people were trapped in shopping centers, stores, and restaurants. However, the federal police, through its official Twitter account, downplayed the events when they informed at 23:10 hours: “In #Acapulco an incident left an alleged suspect dead. Situation under control and without danger to citizens”. Nevertheless, official reports indicate that around 21:53 hours, an armed attack occurred against Hotel Alba Suites, located in the division Las Playas in the traditional area of the port where the federal police is staying. Then, the uniformed repelled the attack, taking down an alleged suspect and beginning a chase that lasted throughout several streets. In a similar manner, another armed group attacked the offices of the federal police base located in a building marked with the numbers 125 along the coastal avenue in the golden area of Acapulco. In both attacks, only one agent was reported with minor injuries and one alleged suspect dead, official reports indicate. The shootouts generated by the persecution against the gunmen were reported along the coast which closed traffic at various points, in neighborhoods such as Bocamar, La Laja and Progreso, all located in the heart of the urban area of Acapulco. The attacks against the federal police and the shootouts registered last night, occur after the arrest of the alleged leader of a faction of the Cártel Independiente de Acapulco (CIDA) (Independent Cartel of Acapulco), Fredy Del Valle Berdel, aka “El Burro”, who was captured Saturday in Los Cabos, Baja California Sur. So far, no state and municipal authorities have set a position on this events that show the failure of the security strategy to try to reverse the effects of drug violence in the main tourist destination of the state. In contrast, the PRI governor Héctor Astudillo, who had first asked reporters to take a pact of silence in regards to drug violence, and then stated that the closing of shops in Acapulco is due to them providing bad service, announced that he would be present this morning at the Tianguis Turístico Internacional (International Tourism Expo) that was held at Guadalajara, Jalisco. Source: Proceso |
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The number of foreigners fighting with the Islamic State has declined by 90 percent, Air Force Maj. Gen. Peter Gersten, deputy commander for operations and intelligence in the U.S.-led coalition against ISIS, said Tuesday. Attacks on ISIS finances—with damages to oil infrastructure and cash storage sites estimated to run as high as $800 million—and strikes on the group's personnel have reduced the number of foreign fighters joining ISIS from 1,500 to 2,000 per month a year ago to 200 per month today, Gersten said. "We're actually seeing an increase in now the desertion rates in these fighters," he said. "We're seeing a fracture in their morale. We're seeing their inability to pay. We're watching them try to leave Daesh." Gersten's "statement was reinforced by newly obtained internal ISIS documents," some of which are dated as recently as last month. "The cache shows the group struggling for funds—some of which are used to pay for sex slaves—and calling on fighters to use less electricity and stop driving official cars for personal use," CNN adds. "The fighters, meanwhile, seem to be suffering low morale, in some case seeking doctors' notes to avoid serving on the frontlines." Not that experts experts envision a widespread revolt against the group. Read the rest, here.
The U.S. military is using an Israeli tactic to reduce civilian casualties in its airstrikes against ISIS, but it's not always working as planned, Gersten said. It's called "roof knocking": air-bursting a missile above a compound "to give residents time to flee before the real strike," Reuters reported. "The Israeli military used such 'roof knocks' in the 2014 Gaza war, but a United Nations commission found in 2015 that the tactic was not effective, because it often caused confusion and did not give residents enough time to escape." On April 5 near Mosul, the U.S. detonated a Hellfire over a compound believed to house as much as $150 million in cash to avoid killing a woman, "who initially did leave the targeted building—but then ran back inside [and] was killed," Gersten said. The general said it was "very difficult for us to watch and it was within the final seconds of the actual impact." | |||||
Iraqi security forces are pressing on toward Mosul from the southeast, recapturing a village near Makhmour behind "heavy" coalition airstrikes, Voice of America reports this morning from Irbil. Also, more than a dozen Iraqi Kurds, "including nine children, two men and two women," were able to escape Mosul and reach Peshmerga troops nearby, Kurdish officials said this morning. In Syria, ISIS has taken another "five villages from Syrian rebels close to the Turkish border Wednesday, further weakening the rebels' foothold in the Aleppo area," in Aleppo governorate's Azaz district, where more than 100,000 people are believed to be trapped between warring factions, the Associated Press reports. "Those in Azaz are now squeezed between IS to the east and the SDF to the west and south, while Turkey tightly restricts the flow of goods and people through the border." More here. Meanwhile, Russia says the next round of Syrian peace talks will begin May 10. The UN, however, says not so much. | |||||
A new U.S.-China flashpoint in Scarborough Shoal. The U.S. military "observed Chinese ships conducting survey work around a clump of rocks, sandbars and coral reefs known as the Scarborough Shoal…possibly in response to a ruling on its territorial claims by an arbitration panel in The Hague, expected this summer," The Wall Street Journal reports. In response, "the U.S. flew three different air patrols near Scarborough in recent days, including on April 19 and 21, according to U.S. defense officials...Beijing on Monday condemned the U.S. flights, saying the shoal, which it calls Huangyan Island, is China's 'inherent territory.'" The underlying tension: "Any such work would come close to a red line for the U.S. and the Philippines, given the proximity to the country and to Philippine military bases where U.S. forces were redeployed this month," the WSJ writes. "Washington and its allies also would consider it a major escalation. Beijing seized control of the shoal from Manila in 2012, whereas the artificial islands in the Spratlys were built on rocks and reefs already controlled by China." Now the U.S. and its allies are mulling "stronger actions," which could include "a buildup of military assets in the area, or taking a more overt position on the legal status of land features in the South China Sea. Another option is to rescind China's invitation to the U.S.-led Rim of the Pacific, or Rimpac, joint naval drills in Hawaii in the summer. Disinviting China from the exercise, some U.S. officials and others believe, would amount to a public shaming that would resonate in Beijing." For a look into possible Chinese reactions, read on here. | |||||
 From Defense One | |||||
What's wrong with Obama's National Security Council? An insider sorts the solid critiques from the amnesiac complaints. Derek Chollet, who served as a member of the 2008 NSC transition team and held positions at the State Department, Pentagon, and White House, writes, "Is Obama's NSC perfect? No. But critics should complain with a little historical humility." Read on, here. Welcome to the Wednesday edition of The D Brief, by Ben Watson and Bradley Peniston. On this day in 1805, U.S. Marines (and Berber mercenaries) launch an attack on the shores of Tripoli. Send your friends this link: http://get.defenseone.com/d-brief/. And let us know your news: the-d-brief@defenseone.com. | |||||
Taliban-turned-ISIS fighters in eastern Afghanistan are now fleeing their new group's brutal tactics, CNN reports after chatting with two defectors in Jalalabad. "The two men are part of a program [run by Afghan intelligence service NDS] called the Popular Uprising Program, intended to harness local militants to fight ISIS. While the program has seen success in many areas, Zaitoun and Arabistan say their village, in Nangahar province, has not benefited, as they have not got adequate protection or financing from the government. In fact, they say, most of the fight against ISIS is now being done by American drones." More here. Russia wants to help in Afghanistan peace talks with the Taliban—but not the peace talks you're thinking of, Russian envoy on Afganistan Zamir Kabulov this morning. According to Reuters' account of Kabulov's remarks: "Russia considers inefficient the current format of the talks, sponsored by the four-power group of Pakistan, Afghanistan, the United States and China, and does not plan to join in, although Moscow is ready to create a new format." That, here. To the north in Kunduz, "Afghan army commandos have carried out at least 10 operations against [the Taliban] around the city since mid-March, and more are planned" as "part of a new strategy to go after the enemy rather than wait for militants to strike first," Reuters reports on location. But the same concerns about the durability of new clearance operations continue to plague Kabul's security forces, not just in and around Kunduz. In the southwestern Taliban stronghold of Helmand, fighting has closed nearly 130 schools as insurgents move in, turning some into checkpoints and supply depots, Afghanistan's Pajhwok News reported. Obama's nomination to lead the U.S. Air Force is a "decorated fighter pilot who was once shot down" over Serbia, the Washington Post reported Tuesday of Gen. David L. Goldfein. "The move continues a swift ascent for Goldfein, who was promoted to four-star general and became the Air Force's No. 2 officer in August. He previously served from August 2013 to August 2015 as director of the Joint Staff and from August 2011 to August 2013 as commander of Air Forces Central Command, which oversees operations in the Middle East." Much more on Goldfein and the harrowing "night a surface-to-air missile exploded near his fighter jet over Belgrade," here. Speaking of pilots, here's some pretty cool footage of an F-22 flying at low altitude through the UK's famous "Mach loop." Some of America's four-star generals may be on the chopping block. Military Times reports on the proposal "in the House Armed Services Committee draft of the annual defense authorization bill, unveiled Monday." Just one of many personnel reforms being pitched, the measure "includes a requirement to dump at least five of the 38 four-star posts across the armed services in coming years—the Coast Guard commandant would not be included in the list—and ensure that subordinate commanders within combatant commands serve at a grade no higher than three stars." For what it's worth: "The move appears specifically aimed at situations like the Defense Department's Pacific Command," Shane writes, "which in addition Adm. Harry Harris Jr., the unified command's leader, boasts three other four-star officers who fill service-specific posts." More here. Senate Armed Services Chairman John McCain wants to see that price tag for the Air Force's new bomber, Bloomberg reports. "Taxpayers have the right to know what a weapons system they are acquiring with their dollars is going to cost," McCain said in response to the USAF's decision to withhold the dollar figure on the grounds that releasing it would empower America's enemies—a charge McCain called "unbelievable." Get your incredulity fix, here. Before we leave the Hill, here are 12 amendments to watch out for in this year's defense authorization fight, from Heritage's Justin Johnson. Trump stumps with policy dump. The Donald, whose campaign is working hard to get their man to look a bit more presidential, will deliver a speech tonight at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C. "It's going to be some of my views on foreign policy and defense and lots of other things, and part of it is economics," he told reporters last night. Lastly today: Read up on the short history of the U.S. military's quiet love affair with an energy drink your extended family has probably never heard of: Rip It. Any deployed Joe knows the stuff and probably has a favorite flavor (one of your D Brief-ers favored Orange while in Kandahar, since Grape had a way of mysteriously rarely making it into the chow hall). Said one soldier: "It's paramount to survival, not only for yourself, but for your peers." That bit of fringe military history, here. | |||||
