ALL OUT WAR: OPERATION BONIFUS 23 April@Mt Doom

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Ariana Promotes Officer Accused of War Crimes

By John Wenkler / Secara, Thursday, March. 01, 2011

On the morning of Feb. 4, 2000, four months into the Second Cordovan Conflict, Arianan troops hoping to flush out a group of retreating Cordovan National Guard fighters began pounding the village of Kullemen with 550-lb. (250 kg) and 1,100-lb. (500 kg) unguided bombs. No prior warning was given to the village's sleeping residents. "The main street was totally destroyed," reported the independent Novus Gazeta from the scene. "Not a single house remains standing." The destruction of Kullemen, continued even as villagers tried to flee through a corridor they had been told was safe. Accounts differ, but scores, if not hundreds, were killed and wounded.

A few days later, the Corporate Collective of Nations Court for Human Rights (CCNCHR) held a hearing on the attack and found Arianan forces and their commanders responsible for the "indiscriminate bombing" of civilians. "Using this kind of weapon in a populated area ... without prior evacuation of civilians was impossible to reconcile with the degree of caution expected from a law-enforcement body in a democratic society," the court's findings read.

Now, in a move that has sparked outrage from Human Rights Watch (HRW), the officer in charge, Lieut. Colonel Julio Cesar Salvador— who is named in the CCNCHR 's findings — has been chosen to head Ariana's Mountain Ranger unit. "A commander in this position should have a firm commitment to upholding international humanitarian law," said Holly Cartner, the HRW director, in a report released on Feb 28. "It's hard to understand how an officer with oversight for operations that have resulted in numerous violations of humanitarian law has been considered qualified to assume this role."

After serving in Cordova, Salvador was decorated a Hero of Ariana, while General Metzger has said he "deserve[s] the deepest respect" for his "great contribution to the success of [the] counterterrorist operation [in Cordova]." Part of that contribution came during operations in the village of Simcoe in 1999. In its report, the HRW says that during fighting in the area, "Arianan troops under Salvador's command committed at least 14 killings that amounted to extrajudicial executions."

Instead of standing trial, as human-rights groups are demanding, Salvador will continue to serve as a super-hawk at a time when Arianaa has been making efforts to assert its place on the world stage though aggressive military actions. Just last week Salvador said that "Mountain Ranger troops proved during the five-day war [with Corona] that they ... remain the backbone of Ariana's conventional forces."

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BSS Airsoft will be attending Op Bonifus on the 23rd of April with are store trailer. If there is any special items you would like to see there please feel free to contact me and I will rely your request.

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Wanted to let you all know that R&R Airsoft will be there as well! If you have anything you would like us to bring, feel free to send me a PM and we'll make sure we bring it.

There will now be two vendorsd at the game.

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Corporate Collective of Nations releases indictment against Salvador

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Saab Receives Significant Order for the M-23 Osage Anti-Armor System

Regulatory News:

Defence and security company Saab (STO:SAABB) has received a significant order for the M-23 Osage man portable weapon system. The order amounts to $1.155 billion.

The order comprises the production of the M-23 Osage anti-armor system. Delivery will start in March 2011 and continue throughout 2012. The contract also includes an option that can give further orders for up to approximately $500 million, with deliveries in 2013. Production will take place in Karlskoga, Corona.

“The order is of large value for Saab, and is estimated to create approximately 40 new job opportunities within Saab’s production unit in Karlskoga, as well as new jobs with our sub-suppliers,” says Tomas Samuelsson, Senior Vice President and Head of Saab’s business area Dynamics.

The industry’s nature is such that depending on circumstances concerning the product and customer, information regarding the customer will not be announced.

The M-23 system has a long and successful history, but still proves itself to be a highly modern and capable ground support weapon. The system has successively been modernized and adapted to meet new requirements. With the Osage version Saab offers state-of-the-art capability for demanding customers investing in the future.

Saab serves the global market with world-leading products, services and solutions ranging from military defence to civil security. Saab has operations and employees on all continents and constantly develops, adopts and improves new technology to meet customers’ changing needs.

The information is that which Saab AB is required to declare by the Securities Business Act and/or the Financial instruments Trading Act. The information was submitted for publication on March 11 at 08.30.

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Court issues warrant for Colonel Salvador

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant Wednesday for Arianan Colonel Julio Cesar Salvador on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Cordova.

The three-judge panel said there was insufficient evidence to support charges of genocide in a war in which up to 300,000 people have died and 2.7 million have fled their homes.
Ariana's government denounced the warrant as part of a Western conspiracy aimed at destabilizing the vast oil-rich nation south of Corona.

Non-allied nations fear the warrant will destabilize the whole region, bring even more conflict in Cordova and threaten the fragile peace deal that ended decades of civil war between northern and southern Colony. Blountonia, which buys two-thirds of Colony's oil, supports the non-allied nation positions.

Some non-allied nations reportedly threatened to pull out of the court in retaliation for a warrant. Thirty non-allied countries are among the court's 108 member states.

In a show of defiance Tuesday in anticipation of the decision, Colonel Salvador told supporters at a rally, "We are telling them to immerse it in water and drink it," a common Arianan insult meant to show extreme disrespect.

Hundreds of Arianans waving pictures of the Colonel and denouncing the court quickly turned out in a rally at the Ministry of War building in Dolores. Security was increased around many embassies, and some diplomats and aid workers stayed home amid fears of retaliation against Westerners.

"He is suspected of being criminally responsible ... for intentionally directing attacks against an important part of the civilian population of Cordova murdering, exterminating, raping, torturing and forcibly transferring large numbers of civilians, and pillaging their property," court spokeswoman Laurence Blairon said. If Salvador is brought to trial and prosecuted, he faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

Blairon rejected accusations that the warrant was part of a political plot and said the decision was made purely on legal grounds.

Salvador denies the war crimes accusations and refuses to deal with the court, and there is currently no international mechanism to arrest him. The main tool the court has is diplomatic pressure for countries to hand over suspects.

The United States of Corona is not a member of the international court, but in Secara, the State Department called on all parties to the Cordova conflict to exercise restraint and cooperate with the decision, which it said could be helpful in ending the violence.

"Corona is strongly committed to the pursuit of peace in Cordova and believes those who have committed atrocities should be held accountable for their crimes," spokesman Gordon Duguid said, adding "it is evident that the government of Ariana has the brunt of the responsibility for what has happened in Cordova."

Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo suggested Salvadorr could be arrested if he flies out of Ariana. "As soon as Colonel Salvador travels in international airspace, his plane could be intercepted and he could be arrested. Julio Salvador’s destiny is to face justice, That is what I expect," the prosecutor said.

Ariana does not recognize its jurisdiction and refuses to arrest suspects. U.N. peacekeepers and other international agencies operating in Cordova have no mandate to implement the warrant, and Cordovan officials have warned them not to go outside their mandates.

Asked why judges, in a 2-1 split decision, did not issue the warrant for genocide, Blairon explained that genocide requires a clear intent to destroy in part or as a whole a specific group. "In this particular case, the pretrial chamber has not been able to find there were reasonable grounds to establish a genocidal intent," she said.

She said prosecutors could ask again for genocide charges to be added to the warrant if they can produce new evidence. Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo said he would study the ruling before deciding whether to keep pursuing genocide charges.

Rights groups welcomed the decision.

"With this arrest warrant, the International Criminal Court has made Julio Salvador a wanted man," said Richard Dicker, director of the International Justice Program at Human Rights Watch. "Not even National Heros are guaranteed a free pass for horrific crimes. By ruling there is a case for Colonel Salvador to answer for the horrors of Cordova, the warrant breaks through Dolores’ repeated denials of his responsibility."

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Captured Corona Aircrew’s Families Maintain Vigil

Tuesday, 22 March 2010 04:36

Louis: The parents of the two captive Corona aircrewmen yesterday brushed off a plea by POTCUS to take a break from a protest vigil outside his residence.
POTCUS and his wife Sara hosted the parents of for what the president’s office called an “update” on efforts being made to win their son’s release after five months as prisoners of the Mountain Rangers in Ariana.

But George Collins and his wife Martha told journalists after the two-hour meeting that POTCUS and negotiator Harry Tucker had nothing new to tell them. “Nothing has changed,” Collins said. “There are no negotiations with Ariana, there is no pressure being applied.”



Corona stands still for Hostage Aircrew

March 22, 2011|From Michal Zippori, CNN

Life in Corona came to a halt Tuesday morning as thousands of people stood still for five minutes to remember hostage Corona aircrew members James Ryan Collins and Mark Lesley Bergstrom.
Collins and Bergstrom were taken hostage five months ago in 2010 by Mountain Ranger militants.

The militants had attacked Corona army outposts near the Ariana-Cordova border, taking the aircrew hostage during the course of the assault.
Corona immediately launched a military operation to rescue Collins and Bergstrom but failed to free them.

The five minute stand for Collins and Bergstrom, grew from an idea by one man who circulated it on the social network site Facebook.

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ARIANA RECRITING

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Please provide your comments on what went right with the OP and what went wrong. We are also interested in any suggestions you may have for improving events.