Navy reporting 6 dead

AP is reporting that several witnesses encountered the gunman, described as wearing “All blue”.

The Security Forces wear blue or dark blue on most of the bases. The military wears camo.

AP reporting that the Navy is reporting that at this time, “at least six are dead”.

Bolling AFB has NOT had a shooting (denied by Public Affairs personnel).

Washington Post reports two gunmen.

US Navy reporting TWO GUNMEN DOWN:

http://www.11alive.com/news/article/…-Yard-shooting

The US Navy tells 11Alive’s sister station WUSA that two shooters have been neutralized in the incident at the Navy Sea Systems Command headquarters in southeast Washington.

Syria: Nothing to see here, move along

Obama says is shifting to domestic priorities from Syria focus

 

(Reuters) – President Barack Obama said on Thursday he is shifting his focus to domestic priorities from a tense period during which he sought congressional approval to use military force against Syria for its suspected use of chemical weapons.

“Even as we have been spending a lot of time on the Syria issue and making sure that international attention is focused on the horrible tragedy that occurred there, it is still important to recognize that we’ve got a lot more stuff to do here in this government,” the president said before a meeting with his Cabinet at the White House.

The president said he hopes meetings between Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will result in action to eliminate Syria’s ability to use chemical weapons again.

Obama has asked Congress to authorize military strikes against Syria in response to what the United States says was a chemical weapons attack by the government that killed more than 1,400 people on August 21. The issue is on hold pending diplomatic efforts to disarm Syria of chemical weapons.

“I am hopeful that the discussions that Secretary Kerry had with Foreign Minister Lavrov as well as some of the other players in this can yield a concrete result,” Obama said.

Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov were to hold talks on Syria in Geneva.

The president cited the budget, immigration, and implementation of his signature healthcare legislation as concerns he is turning to.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/12/us-usa-obama-syria-idUSBRE98B0RF20130912

 

US-Russia military escalation in eastern Med

Another ten ships join in the escalating naval military build up in the Med.

Syria: US-Russia military escalation in eastern Med

Another 10 warships joining those already deployed near Syria

(ANSAmed) – NICOSIA, SEPTEMBER 6 – As diplomatic tensions over the Syrian crisis rise between the US and Russia, the escalation between the two superpowers is also playing out in terms of their respective warships in the waters off the embattled Arab nation ahead of a possible strike against the Damascus regime.

While there were 19 warships in the eastern Mediterranean just a few days ago – eight American, five Russian, five British and one French – that sector is about to get much more crowded in the next few hours with the arrival of four US ships, including an aircraft carrier, and six Russian ones.

THE US’ nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Nimitz is in the Red Sea along with four ships from its strike group: the Princeton cruiser plus the William P. Lawrence, Stockdale and Shoup destroyers. They are awaiting orders to enter the Mediterranean in case of a strike. The USS Nimitz has 3,200 seamen, 2,480 pilots and 90 aircraft, both warplanes and helicopters.

The USS Princeton carries 390 troops and is armed with Tomahawk and Harpoon missiles, while the other three ships have 380 crew and marines on board and are packing Tomahawk missiles.

This group has joined five missile-equipped destroyers already in the area: the USS Stout, Mahan, Ramage, Barry and Graveley, each with 280 troops on board. They can intercept ballistic missiles and launch Tomahawk missiles, and will team up with two nuclear-propelled guided-missile submarines, the USS Florida and Georgia, each with a crew of 140. These are ported at the Souda Bay naval base on the Greek island of Crete, along with the USS San Antonio, an amphibious landing ship carrying 700 seamen and 360 Marines.

RUSSIA has deployed four large but aging landing ships: the Kaliningrad, the Shabalin, the Saratov and the Avoz. Each with a crew of 90-100, they can transport up to 200 tanks and 350 soldiers, and are equipped with surface-to-air missiles. Also in the area is the Smetlivy submarine destroyer, which hails from 1967 and has a crew of 300. It is armed with Uran anti-ship missiles and is transporting an anti-submarine Kamov Ka-25 helicopter. They will be backed up within days by an anti-submarine destroyer (probably the Admiral Chabanenko) and the Moskva guided missile cruiser. The Admiral Chabanenko (manned by 300) is armed with SS-N-14 Silex anti-submarine missiles and SA-N-9 Gauntlet surface-to-air missiles.

Read MoreĀ  @ http://www.ansamed.info/ansamed/en/news/sections/generalnews/2013/09/06/Syria-US-Russia-military-escalation-eastern-Med_9258725.html