Free Republic

(Reuters) - Two Iranian naval ships have sailed through Egypt's Suez Canal into the Mediterranean, in a move likely to be keenly watched by Israel. "Two Iranian ships crossed through the Suez Canal (on Thursday) following permission from the Egyptian armed forces," a source in the canal authority said Friday. The destroyer and a supply ship could be on their way to the Syrian coast, the source added. Iran and Syria agreed to cooperate on naval training a year ago, and Tehran has no naval agreement with any other country in the region. Two Iranian warships sailed along the strategic...

It is one of the enduring mysteries of the second world war. More than 800 Jews based in this hospital in the middle of Nazi Berlin survived the war, seemingly — and bizarrely — protected by Adolf Eichmann, the architect of the Final Solution. So who were they and why were they saved? Russian soldiers fighting their way through the rubble of Berlin in the last days of the war turned the corner of Iranische Strasse, in the district of Wedding, and came across an elegant building almost intact. Fanning out to search the structure, the Russians ransacked the place,...

Within days of the defeat of Germany in World War II, Winston Churchill ordered his war cabinet to draw up contingency plans for an offensive against Stalin that would lead to ``the elimination of Russia'', according to top secret British documents. The resulting battle plan included the use of up to 100,000 German troops to back up half a million British and American soldiers attacking through northern Germany. It assumed that Stalin would invade Turkey, Greece, Norway and the oilfields of Iraq and Iran in retaliation and launch extensive sabotage operations in France and the Low Countries. A 29-page report, ...

These photographs are part of a chilling collection of WWII photographs taken by a German soldier in the aftermath of Dunkirk. Today on Remembrance Day, they are a fitting reminder of the fields which played host to some of the bloodiest battles of World War One in which 10 million soldiers died. The pictures show the lifeless beaches of northern France littered with thousands of allied vehicles left behind following the infamous evacuation.One disturbing snap shows the rotting corpse of a British soldier lapping at the shore. Others show the devastation inflicted on the town of Dunkirk following days of...

Europe rewrites the Holocaust in order to revive patriotic traditions free from guilt. Nearly 70 years after the massacre of more than 27,000 Jews in Rostov, on the banks of the River Don, the Russian Ministry of Culture has announced it will replace the plaque adorning the monument to the dead. But once the text of the new inscription was revealed, it became clear that this was not merely an exhibition of the low level officialÂ’s love of new unveilings and plaque dedications. Rather it was another attempt by a European state to revise the history of the Holocaust and...

Egypt, a country called typically Russian resort, is grasped by the so-called "date revolution." Interfax-Religion correspondent Yelena Verevkina asked renowned expert in Islam Alexander Ignatenko what is the role of Islamists in undermining foundations of this "beach paradise." Alexander Alexandrovich, what is the role of Islamist underground in organizing disorders in Egypt? - I think their role is not too significant as the things happening in Egypt, can be called revolution "two in one." On the one hand, it is a revolt of people who have been oppressed by gerontocratic corruption regimen, but on the other hand, it is so...

Speaking on matters beyond the realm of the spiritual, a top Orthodox Church cleric said Russia must play a greater role in responding to ongoing global events that could deteriorate into a world war. "There are many processes occurring in the world in which Russia should play a much more active role,” Vsevolod Chaplin, a high-placed cleric in the Russian Orthodox Church, said in an interview with the Svobodnaya Pressa ('Free Press') publishing house. “The economic and social contradictions that have cropped up in the world are so powerful that they are sure to blow up into serious military operations."...

When the Air Force Special Operations Command decided to buy 2,861 made-in-China Apple iPad tablet computers in January to provide flight crews with electronic navigation charts and technical manuals, it specified mission security software developed, maintained and updated in Russia. The command followed in the path of Alaska Airlines, which in May 2011 became the first domestic carrier to drop paper charts and manuals in exchange for electronic flight bags. Alaska chose the same software, GoodReader, developed by Moscow-based Good.iware, to display charts in a PDF format on iPads. Delta Air Lines kicked off a test in August for electronic...

Russian security forces have killed a leader of an Islamist rebel group in the North Caucasus who was accused of plotting a botched suicide attack in Moscow and calling for more bombings. Ibragimkhalil Daudov was found dead in a forest on Tuesday after being wounded at the weekend in a shootout when police stormed a nearby house where he was hiding in the mainly Muslim region of Dagestan, Kommersant newspaper reported. Daudov escaped after the shootout, in which four gunmen were killed, but lost a lot of blood and froze to death, Kommersant quoted security officers as saying, Reuters reports....

Russia Must Build Two Variants of 5G Fighter - Rogozin Russian aircraft manufacturers must develop at least two competitive prototypes of a fifth-generation fighter jet, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said on Thursday. “Two variants of the future fighter jet must be developed to encourage competition,” Rogozin said at a meeting with Russian lawmakers. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the future fighter must possess all technical characteristics of a fifth-generation fighter, including elements of stealth technology, supersonic cruising speed, highly-integrated avionics, electronics and fire-control systems. The existing T-50 prototype, developed under the program PAK FA (Future Aviation System for...

The UN General Assembly has voted in favour of a resolution condemning human rights violations in Syria and calling for an end to the violence. The Arab-backed initiative, which also calls on President Bashar al-Assad to resign, is the latest of several attempts to bring an end to the crisis. Syria said the move would only worsen the crisis and encourage "terrorists". Earlier, China said it was sending a senior envoy to Damascus to negotiate a "peaceful and proper" solution. The non-binding resolution adopted by the General Assembly backs an Arab League plan aimed at stopping the killings. It was...

Three days before the New Year at the shipyard N82, which is the Kola Peninsula, there was a state of emergency - on fire standing in the dock, the submarine. In reality, Russia almost a day on the verge of the largest man-made disaster since Chernobyl, 6 km from Murmansk with a bright flame burning nuclear strategic missile submarine K-84 "Yekaterinburg", which was carrying nuclear missiles, torpedoes and two nuclear reactors. And all the efforts of fire fighters during the long hours did not give the result. In early December K-84 was set for the inspection of the floating dock...

(AP) WASHINGTON - The Obama administration is weighing options for sharp new cuts to the U.S. nuclear force, including a reduction of up to 80 percent in the number of deployed weapons, The Associated Press has learned. Even the most modest option now under consideration would be an historic and politically bold disarmament step in a presidential election year, although the plan is in line with President Barack Obama's 2009 pledge to pursue the elimination of nuclear weapons. No final decision has been made, but the administration is considering at least three options for lower total numbers of deployed strategic...

Russia, Vietnam to Jointly Manufacture Anti-Ship Missiles 16:45 15/02/2012MOSCOW, February 15 (RIA Novosti) – Russia and Vietnam are planning to start in 2012 joint production of a modified anti-ship missile, head of the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation Mikhail Dmitriyev said on Wednesday. “We are planning to build facilities in Vietnam for the production of a version of the Russian Uran [SS-N-25 Switchblade] missile in a project that is similar to joint Russian-Indian production of the BrahMos missile,” Dmitriyev said. The Uran subsonic anti-ship missile can be launched from helicopters, surface ships and coastal defense batteries. It has a range...

The U.S. and Turkish foreign ministers vowed on Monday to work toward a peaceful resolution to the Syrian crisis. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called the escalating violence across Syria 'deplorable', saying that the government was using "artillery and tank fire against innocent civilians." ... She said the United States is looking forward to joining the Arab League initiative for the Friends of Syria group, which will have its first meeting in Tunisia on Feb 24. "Certainly, Minister Davutoglu and myself will play a very active role in trying to search for solutions," the top U.S. envoy said. ......

Even as visiting Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping got the red-carpet treatment from President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, the White House on Tuesday accused China and Russia of effectively giving Syrian President Bashar al-Assad a "license to kill" the critics of his regime by vetoing a United Nations Security Council resolution aimed at ending bloodshed in Syria. Obama press secretary Jay Carney did not use the incendiary phrase, which Norah O'Donnell of CBS News put in the mouth of an anonymous administration official, in a TV report Monday and in a question to Carney at his daily...

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia came close to nuclear disaster in late December when a blaze engulfed a nuclear-powered submarine carrying atomic weapons, a leading Russian magazine reported, contradicting official assurances that it was not armed. Russian officials said at the time that all nuclear weapons aboard the Yekaterinburg nuclear submarine had been unloaded well before a fire engulfed the 167-metre (550 feet) vessel and there had been no risk of a radiation leak. But the respected Vlast weekly magazine quoted several sources in the Russian navy as saying that throughout the fire on December 29 the submarine was carrying 16...

Russia Grounds Su-24 Bomber Fleet after Urals Crash Russia has postponed indefinitely all flights of Su-24 Fencer tactical bombers after one of them crashed in Russia’s Urals, a source in the Defense Ministry said on Tuesday. The Su-24 combat aircraft crashed in the woods of the Kurgan region during a routine flight on Monday. Both pilots ejected safely. “The Air Force commander has cancelled all flights of this type of aircraft until the cause of the crash is established,” the source said but did not specify how long it could take. Monday’s crash was the third of a Su-24 in...

The Troika went to bail out Europe's banks (for the nth time) and all we got was this postcard of night time Athens...

ATHENS (Reuters) - Historic cinemas, cafes and shops went up in flames in central Athens on Sunday as black-masked protesters fought Greek police outside parliament, while inside lawmakers looked set to defy the public rage by endorsing a new EU/IMF austerity deal. As parliament prepared to vote on a new 130 billion euro bailout to save Greece from a messy bankruptcy, a Reuters photographer saw the buildings engulfed in flames and huge plumes of smoke rose in the night sky. The air over Syntagma Square outside parliament was thick with tear gas as riot police fought running battles with youths...

Legislation will allow country to cut debt; protesters set fire to 34 buildings; deputies expelled for opposing vote The Greek parliament approved on Monday a deeply unpopular austerity bill to secure a second bailout from the European Union and International Monetary Fund and avoid a messy default. The vote occurred after 100,000 demonstrators marched to the parliament and buildings were burned down in central Athens. Following the vote, black-masked protesters created a wall of fire with petrol bombs and set fire to cinemas, cafes, shops and banks. Fifty police officers and at least 55 protesters were hospitalized. Forty-five suspected rioters...

Athens, Greece (CNN) -- Police turned tear gas and stun grenades on protesters outside Greece's parliament Sunday as lawmakers inside debated another round of austerity measures. Riot police dispersed many of the demonstrators, who were protesting plans for new cuts in government spending, wages and pensions in return for a new eurozone bailout of the debt-stricken country. Prime Minister Lucas Papademos has urged approval of the deal, warning in a speech to the Cabinet Saturday evening of "social explosion, chaos" if it fails. "The state will not be able to pay salaries and pensions or import basic goods" such as...

Any good armchair general with a good search engine and time on their hands can figure out in a hurry that the song and dance about Iran being unable to close the Strait if Hormuz for long is just a plain crock. Worse than a crock. Yet, this big Orwellian lie persists, so once again I have to set the record straight. Iran has the capability of not only closing the Strait for some time, but creating a world of hurt for the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet. Iran possesses a build up of anti-ship weapons called Sunburn missiles, which it...

Let’s say you’re Israel. An enemy dedicated to your destruction is developing the means to wipe you off the face of the earth, with the covert and overt help of world powers like Russia and China. It’s only a matter of months before that enemy achieves its goals – and when it does you will not be able to stop the mushroom cloud rising over your cities. So you come up with a sophisticated military plan to strike your foe in an extraordinarily targeted fashion. And you ask for the help of your longtime ally – virtually your only ally...

On the campaign trail, presidential candidate Barack Obama once called for a "reset" policy with Iran. Supposedly, the unpopularity of the Texan provocateur George W. Bush and his administration's inability to finesse "soft power" had needlessly alienated the Iranian theocracy. After all, the widely quoted but highly politicized 2007 National Intelligence Estimate claimed that Iran had ceased work on a bomb in 2003 and would not have a weapon for the foreseeable future. That flawed analysis fueled another popular talking point: that the Bush-Cheney warmongers were looking for more phantom weapons of mass destruction in Iran of the sort that...

To be or not to be the science of theology at Russian institutes and universities? At a meeting with a group of spiritual leaders, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin proposed to introduce this subject to their curriculums. However, the possibility of the doctrine of God appearing in the curriculums of higher educational establishments has already stirred controversy in Russian society. The introduction of theology in curriculums in secular institutes and universities is necessary, says the rector of Orthodox University, Hegumenos Pyotr Eremeev in an interview with the Voice of Russia. “This will help students to get acquainted with the treasures of...

Russia said on Friday that the West was stoking the conflict in Syria by sending weapons to the opponents of President Bashar al-Assad. In an attempt to deflect criticism of Russia for blocking a U.N. Security Council resolution urging Assad to give up power, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said Western states were stirring up trouble in Syria, where Assad has pursued a violent crackdown since March on protests against his 11-year rule. "Western states inciting Syrian opposition to uncompromising actions, as well as those sending arms to them, giving them advice and direction, are participating in the process of...

By FOUAD AJAMI The bloodshed and the brutality of the dictatorship in Syria are at long last beginning to challenge the passivity of the Obama administration. The word is out that the Pentagon has launched a "scoping exercise" to determine what could be done should the president want to respond to the Syrian catastrophe. For months, the administration pursued the mirage of a United Nations Security Council condemnation of Damascus, when there was no chance that Russia and China would go for it. The administration persisted even though a similar effort last October ended in failure. There was no need...

Russia's young people are growing up with more freedom than ever. Twenty years after the end of communism, the first post-Soviet generation is transforming the country -- whether the once and future president likes it or not.It's just before dawn at the Kremlin, and Marat Dupri is about to climb a monument to Czar Peter the Great. The 20-year-old with brown, curly hair is wearing a green, plaid jacket and blue gloves to fight the icy wind. He is standing on the bank of the Moskva River, facing the 98-meter (321-foot) colossus of dark, gray steel. Marat and his three...

There is a great World War Two documentary, that was made in 2005, that shows the diplomatic disputes between Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin, as they planned their military campaigns against Hitler. The 4 part documentary is titled: Warlords. The DVD version was released in 2007, and it shows Winston Churchill as the true defender of freedom, democracy, Christianity, and Western Civilization - against three socialist dictators - Stalin, Hitler, and Roosevelt. Here is a an Amazon link to the documentary: http://www.amazon.com/Warlords-Churchill/dp/B000NVKZUG Churchill noticed the obvious - that Stalinist Russia was more oppressive than Nazism. While Nazism was brutal in its...

Russian Navy to Drop Lada Class Subs – CinC Vysotsky The Russian Navy has decided against construction of Lada class submarines (Project 677) and will instead modernize its existing boats, Navy Commander-in-Chief Adm. Vladimir Vysotsky said in an interview with RIA Novosti. The design of the diesel-electric Lada class was completed at the end of the 1990s, but none of the planned boats have entered service, although the lead ship in the class, the Saint Petersburg, is undergoing trials with the Baltic Fleet, Vysotsky said. “The Russian Navy does not need the Lada in its current form,” he said. Vysotsky...

A BEAST lurches through icy waters in a sighting a paranormal investigator thinks could prove woolly mammoths are not extinct after all. The animal – thought to have mostly died out roughly 4,000 years ago – was apparently filmed wading through a river in the freezing wilds of Siberia. The jaw-dropping footage was caught by a government-employed engineer last summer in the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug region of Siberia, it is claimed. He filmed the elephant-sized creature as it struggled against the racing water. Its hair matches samples recovered from mammoth remains regularly dug up from the permafrost in frozen Russia....

THE stealth qualities of the futuristic F-35 Joint Strike Fighter on order for the Royal Australian Air Force are overrated and the plane's combat performance greatly exaggerated, a defence lobby group has claimed. The complaints by Air Power Australia, longtime critics of the $16 billion JSF acquisition, were made last night before a public hearing of parliament's defence sub-committee. Latest-generation Russian fighters such as the Sukhoi T-50 would easily defeat the F-35 in air-to-air combat, Air Power's Peter Goon said, referring to recent modelling tests by his organisation. "The aircraft we are planning to buy is carrying over 2000 pounds...

DAMASCUS, Syria -- As the announcement was made Saturday evening that Russia and China had vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution condemning the actions of the Syrian regime, some Christians inside the country celebrated. One man from the western Syrian town of Qatana called his relatives to say "mabrook," or congratulations, on the result of the vote. A lounge bar in Damascus offered two alcoholic drinks for one in a happy hour offer. But in Christian homes around the country the prevailing sentiment is one of relief rather than delight -- they link the survival of the Assad regime...

On the sidelines of the UN talks on the Syria resolution, Russia’s UN ambassador Vitaly Churkin has threatened the Qatari foreign minister with the demolition of the Arab country, reports the Algeria ISP news agency. So he has, hasn’t he? Talking to Churkin on Saturday, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani said: “I warn Russia, if Moscow uses the veto and does not support the UN’s resolution, it will lose all the Arab countries.” “If you talk to me like that, there will be no Qatar today,” Churkin replied in a low voice. That’s Algeria ISP story. Egypt’s Al-Ahram adds...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KAzrlLaLv8 http://www.reuters.com/video/2012/02/04/putin-surprised-by-large-show-of-support?videoId=229640517&videoChannel=1

The half-century habits of Franco-German condominium die hard. It is a painful process for French elites to admit that monetary union is asphyxiating their economy and must inevitably trap France in mercantilist subordination to Germany. The Carolingian union is all that anybody in French public life can really remember. It worked marvellously for two generations, levering French power on the global stage, and the euro was of course their own creation, intended to tie down a reunited Germany with “silken cords”. How can they now face the awful truth that this elegant strategy has blown up in their faces, enthroning...

Following are excerpts from an interview with Colonel-General [ret.] Leonid Ivashov, former member of the Russian Joint Chiefs of Staff, which aired on Russia Today TV on February 1, 2012: Interviewer: Dr. Leonid, do you think that these preparations and very large maneuvers, which will soon be conducted by Russia, are meant as preparation for war, or rather, a military strike against Iran? […] Leonid Ivashov: These maneuvers and training will demonstrate Russia's readiness to use military power to defend its national interests and to bolster its political position. The maneuvers will show that Russia does not want any military...

Following are excerpts from an interview with Colonel-General [ret.] Leonid Ivashov, former member of the Russian Joint Chiefs of Staff, which aired on Russia Today TV on February 1, 2012: Interviewer: Dr. Leonid, do you think that these preparations and very large maneuvers, which will soon be conducted by Russia, are meant as preparation for war, or rather, a military strike against Iran? […] Leonid Ivashov: These maneuvers and training will demonstrate Russia's readiness to use military power to defend its national interests and to bolster its political position. The maneuvers will show that Russia does not want any military...

The protests come in advance of Russia’s March 4 presidential elections. Putin served two terms as president before term limits forced him from office in 2008. Putin announced in September he would run for a third non-consecutive presidential term as allowed by the Russian constitution. Dmitry Medvedev, whom Putin picked to succeed him as president in 2008, is stepping aside to allow Putin to return to power. Reports have estimated the Moscow turnout at 50,000 to 120,000 people. Similar Anti-Putin protests erupted in December with demonstrators alleging election fraud by Putin’s United Russia party, which managed to hold onto a...

In a move that was decried by the U.S., France, and Arab countries, Russia and China on Saturday vetoed a U.S.-backed proposal at the UN Security Council to condemn Syrian leader Bashar al-Assed for violence against Syrian citizens. The resolution that had demanded that Assad resign was backed by the Arab League, and the League on Saturday night called on Arab countries to shut down their embassies and consulates in Syria, and remove Syrian ambassadors from their countries. U.S. Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice said that Washington was "disgusted" by the vetoes. The vetoes followed a particularly bloody night...

Imperial regimes can crack when they are driven out of their major foreign outposts. The fall of the Berlin Wall did not only signal the liberation of Eastern Europe from Moscow. It prefigured the collapse of the Soviet Union itself just two years later. The fall of Bashar al-Assad’s Syria could be similarly ominous for Iran. The alliance with Syria is the centerpiece of Iran’s expanding sphere of influence, a mini-Comintern that includes such clients as Iranian-armed and -directed Hezbollah, now the dominant power in Lebanon; and Hamas, which controls Gaza and threatens to take the rest of Palestine (the...

Updated at 12 p.m. ET: Amid fresh bloodshed in the Syrian city of Homs, the U.N. Security Council on Saturday failed to pass a resolution calling on the Syrian president to step down. Russia and China vetoed the draft resolution endorsing an Arab League call for Bashar Assad to leave power. The unusual weekend U.N. session came as Syrian forces pummeled the city of Homs with mortars and artillery. Activists said more than 200 people were killed in what they called one of the bloodiest episodes of the uprising. The U.N. says more than 5,400 people have been killed over...

The Russian Navy Grows from Bottom up While the nation’s leaders work at overhauling the Navy organization, the Navy itself continues to order new ships. Last year’s persistent scandals over nuclear submarine contracts proved a hard nut to crack when assigning government contracts in 2011. For a time, the submarine scandals confused the process for ordering surface ships. Meanwhile the focus there is being shifted to the production of time tested projects built around today’s armaments. “Due to the lack of funding, the Navy has come close to a numerical minimum required to fulfill its mission,” Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry...

Russia will start producing six submarines and one aircraft carrier annually starting in 2013, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said on Thursday. “By 2013, production capacity [at Russian shipyards] will allow us to build six submarines and an aircraft carrier every year,” Rogozin told reporters, adding that the number includes both nuclear and diesel-powered submarines. As a result, the production output will surpass that of the Soviet era when Russia built an average of five submarines annually, he said. Rogozin earlier said the production had been bogged down in the past by a lack of financing, outdated equipment and a...

Russia to Modernize 30 Tu-22M3 Bombers by 2020 Sergey Piatakov About 30 Tu-22M3 strategic bombers from Russia's Long Range Aviation fleet will be modernized by 2020, Russian Air Force spokesman Col. Vladimir Drik said on Tuesday. "We plan to upgrade about 30 strategic bombers to the M3M standard,” Drik said. Tu-22M3 (NATO reporting name Backfire-C) is a supersonic, swing-wing, long-range strategic bomber that Russia uses mainly to patrol the skies over its southern borders, Central Asia and the Black Sea region. The Tu-22M3 has a flight range of 6,800 km (4,300 miles) and can carry a 24,000 kg (52,910 lb)...

MOSCOW, January 31 (RIA Novosti) Tags: Saiga-12, AK-47, Izhmash, USA, Russia, Moscow Izhmash, the manufacturer of the legendary Kalashnikov AK-47, will supply Saiga-12 semi-automatic smoothbore shotguns to a number of police forces in the U.S., Izhmash reported on its web site on Tuesday. The contracts were signed at the Shot Show exhibition in Las Vegas on January 17-20. “The first Saiga-12 deliveries to U.S. law enforcement were already made in January 2012,” Izhmash General Director Maxim Kuzyuk said. At the exhibition, Izhmash also signed an agreement on exclusive imports to the U.S. market with Russian Weapon Company and an agreement...

Ruslan M. Medzhitov loves scientific puzzles. And this penchant has led him to tackle some of the big questions of modern biology. At Yale University, where he is a professor of immunology and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, Dr. Medzhitov, 45, helped make key discoveries in the workings of vertebrates’ immune systems. We spoke about them at his home in Guilford, Conn.; again in New York City; and finally by telephone. An edited and condensed version of the sessions follows. Let’s talk about the paper by the immunologist Charles A. Janeway Jr. that changed your life. When did you...

MOSCOW – The history of successive authoritarian regimes in Russia reveals a recurring pattern: they do not die from external blows or domestic insurgencies. Instead, they tend to collapse from a strange internal malady – a combination of the elites’ encroaching disgust with themselves and a realization that the regime is exhausted. The illness resembles a political version of Jean-Paul Sartre’s existential nausea, and led to both the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 and the Soviet Union’s demise with Mikhail Gorbachev’s Perestroika. Today, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s regime is afflicted with the same terminal disease, despite – or because of –...

While U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her Pakistani counterpart, Hina Rabbani Khar, attempt to normalize relations between the countries after the recent American drone strikes in Pakistan, the question has arisen as to how India can become an integral member of the multi-party Afghan equation, where U.S. and NATO stakes are still very high. What does the question entail? he Pakistani transit routes for NATO convoys that supply military cargo to Afghanistan have been closed for two months (after an “erroneous” attack by a NATO aircraft on a Pakistani army checkpoint in the Pakistani-Afghan border region in November...