Texas : the Fort Hood deadly chaos[ 480 ]

Fort Hood first responders remained calm amid chaos

CNN November 7, 2009 8:03 a.m. EST

Soldiers jumped in to help their fallen comrades after Thursday's shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• First responders credited with stopping Maj. Nidal Hasan, saving his life
  
• Officer praised for disabling Hasan shot in legs, wrist
  
• Witness: "Every soldier was helping everybody out, every civilian that worked there"
  
• Thirteen people died, 38 others wounded in shooting
  

A CNN Special Investigation drills down on the causes and the impact of the Fort Hood shootings, at 8 p.m. ET Saturday on CNN TV.

FORT HOOD, Texas (CNN) -- The first people who came across Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the psychiatrist suspected of Thursday's murderous rampage, told tales Friday of quick, calm efforts in the face of danger.

By the time it was over -- in less than five minutes, base commander Lt. Gen. Bob Cone said -- 13 people were dead and 38, including Hasan, were wounded.

Mark Todd was one of two civilian police sergeants credited with helping take down Hasan. He and partner Kimberly Munley pulled up outside the building where the shooting was occurring at the same time, and Todd saw the shooter standing outside -- about 15 yards away. He appeared calm.

"As soon as we got there, it was game on, and then that's when it escalated, and we did what we had to do," he told CNN's "Anderson Cooper."

"I yelled at him, 'Stop! Drop the weapon!' And that's when he raised his weapon and fired a couple of shots at me."

Todd said he and Munley both took cover and as Hasan walked around one side of the building, he went around the other. "That's when I saw him again. I told him to drop his weapon and he fired a couple more rounds. He fell, I went up and secured his weapon."

As soon as his weapon had been taken away, medics appeared, Todd said.

"It was like instantaneous," he said. "We started life-saving measures to keep him alive as well."

Specialist Francisco de la Serna, a medic, was among those who treated the wounded, including Munley, shot in both thighs and a wrist, and the suspect.

"When the first gunshots started, you know, it was complete chaos," he told CNN's "Larry King Live." "Just everyone outside the building started scattering. They just all ran behind anything that would stop a bullet -- cars, trash cans, trees, anything."

De la Serna said he came upon Munley, who was already being helped by others. "I made a tourniquet, put it around her thigh and put it down until the bleeding stopped, but she'd already lost a lot of blood," he said. "She was fading in and out of consciousness."

He then turned his attention to Hasan, asking him where he had been shot.

"I couldn't get him to answer," de la Serna said. "He looked really calm, really pale."

Video: Medic treated cop and suspect

Video: Eyewitness speaks out

Video: Profile of Ft. Hood hero

RELATED TOPICS

• Fort Hood
• Shootings
• Armed Forces

Army reservist Sgt. Jeannette Juroff also stepped in to help the wounded, but first she and some co-workers took refuge in a bathroom.

Juroff told CNN's "Campbell Brown" that she was taking her lunch break when she overheard fellow soldiers saying they heard shooting. At first, that didn't alarm her.

"This is Fort Hood, shooting goes on," she said.

But when a major told her to call 911, she tried to do so, but couldn't get through, she said. Soon, it became apparent that the threat was real.

"I was walking down the hall and wondering what I would tell 911 and then a lot of my coworkers come in and they said, 'Just get in the bathroom.'"

They took refuge there for about a minute, "but it felt like it took forever," she said. "It was so quiet, but then we heard just loud screams and stomps, a lot of chaos going on."

Unwilling to stay cooped up in the tiny room as an unknown danger lurked outside, they opened the door and ran out, she said. Ahead of them she saw the building exit and the conference center where the shooting was taking place.

Then, her cell phone rang -- it was one of her captains calling to talk about administrative matters.

"I just said, 'Shut up, I need to talk to you. Call 911.' He called 911," she said.

By now, she had figured out what to say. "I said, 'We're coming under attack. There's somebody shooting at the SRP," she said, using soldier shorthand for "soldier readiness program."

"As I'm talking to him, I'm seeing a soldier who's wounded and there's two soldiers holding his leg up, a medic and others helping," she said.

The soldier they were working on appeared in shock, his lips a pasty white, so Barbour said she tried to calm him down. "I just went in there and said, 'Hey kid, whatcha doing?'" she recalled. The two talked about pool, about their weekend plans "and, little by little, he started to look good."

Authorities said Friday that the 18-year-old wounded soldier was going to recover.

All around them, medics were working at high speed, she said. "They were just completely doing everything they were told to do, every soldier was helping everybody out, every civilian that worked there."

In one area, a "nearly naked" soldier -- his pants torn -- was using his hands to put pressure over a wound to keep the blood from pouring out, she said.

"He was staying calm and everybody else was doing the same," she said. "It was really awesome."

The 1,200 klm long N.Stream gas pipeline [ 479 ]

Northern Europe greenlights Nord Stream

(RIA NOVOSTI)20:45- 06/11/2009

MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti economic commentator Oleg Mityayev) - November 5 was a major milestone in Nord Stream AG history. Both Sweden and Finland authorized the construction of this seabed gas pipeline in their waters.

There are now no serious obstacles in meeting the deadline to bring the pipeline on line by 2011. The plans to diversify Russia's gas supplies to Europe are beginning to take shape.

The 1,200 kilometer long Nord Stream gas pipeline on the Baltic seabed will link the Russian town of Vyborg with the German town of Greifswald. The first trunkline, with a projected capacity of 27.5 billion cubic meters of gas annually, is due to be completed by late 2011, with the second trunkline of similar capacity planned for 2012. The project operator is Nord Stream AG, in which Gazprom owns 51%, the German Wintershall and E.On Ruhrgas 20% each, and the Dutch Gasunie 9%. In the near future, the French GdF SUEZ may also enter the project.

The Nord Stream pipeline will pass through the waters of Finland, Sweden, Russia and Germany.

It took Nord Stream AG four years to receive construction permits from the countries concerned. The project operator spent 100 million euros on environmental analysis over the entire route.

Nord Stream AG took into account the interests of all parties concerned, changing the pipeline route twice and abandoning its initial plans to construct a compressor station and to lay fiberglass cable.

Denmark was the first country to endorse the pipeline construction in its waters, announcing this decision on October 20. On November 5, Sweden authorised the pipeline installation as well. Stockholm was one of the most obstinate negotiators in the Nord Stream talks, thoroughly reviewing any potential environmental damage for 23 months. The Swedish government placed strict requirements on the project to preserve the fragile environment of the Baltic Sea, but in the end Stockholm stated that Nord Stream AG presented the necessary environmental guarantees.

Upon Sweden's demand, the project operator gave up its plans to construct a compressor station in close proximity to the Swedish coast. The underwater gas pipeline will thus operate without a pumping station which maintains pressure in the pipe, a technically challenging but practicable task.

On the same day, November 5, Nord Stream AG reported receiving a construction permit from the Finnish government. However, permission is only half the battle. According to Finnish law, Nord Stream must receive one more permit, but there is no doubt it will be granted by the end of this year.

The project now needs to be endorsed by Russia and Germany, which is obviously a mere formality.

The northern countries' approval is a great success, which gives grounds for optimism that pipeline construction will start in April 2010 and its first leg will be launched in 2011 in accordance with the schedule.

Russia applied much diplomatic effort to receive the green light from the governments of northern Europe. Zero export duties on round timber for Finland were extended for two years. Russia promised Denmark to sign an agreement at the climate conference, which Copenhagen will host in December. Every Swedish requirement regarding environmental safety was met. For example, Stockholm compelled Nord Stream to terminate the pipeline construction in the cod spawning areas from May until October.

That said, Russia's plans to diversify its gas supplies to Europe, which would increase the energy security of the Old World, and to abolish Ukraine's gas transit monopoly are about to come true.

Russia and its partners dismissed Nord Stream alternatives, which were considered less beneficial. These include the Yantar/Amber line, which was supposed to be laid across the Baltic states and through Poland, and the Yamal-Europe-2 project, a route through Belarus and Poland.

The opinions expressed in this article are the author's and do not necessarily represent those of RIA Novosti.

The fall of the Berlin Wall [ 478 ]

Berlin Wall: A dissident's story

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BBC 4-11-09, Germany is marking the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall with major events planned for the 9th November.

Tom Sello, a dissident in communist East Berlin, recalls his role producing anti-GDR literature in an underground information centre.

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Russian helicopters n Afghanistan [ 477 ]

Russian helicopters for NATO's war in Afghanistan

Related News

• Russia offers helicopters for NATO operations in Afghanistan
• Russia to send trucks, helicopters to Afghanistan

RIA NOVOSTI, 01:37-04/11/2009

MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti military commentator Ilya Kramnik) - Russia is ready to provide NATO with helicopters for its war in Afghanistan - on commercial terms.

Dmitry Shugayev, general director of the state-owned corporation Russian Technology, made this announcement last week at a meeting in Brussels with officials in charge of logistics for NATO forces.

During its operations in Afghanistan, the alliance has faced an acute shortage of helicopters. In Afghanistan's extremely harsh conditions, helicopters often break down and need replacements even in non-combat situations. And the need for military hardware grows with continued increases in troops.

Soviet or Russian manufactured aircraft play a significant role in supplying NATO forces. Today Russian hardware is used both by commercial airlines working for the military and directly by the militaries of some NATO member states, generally Eastern European countries. At present, Eastern European countries have at their disposal around 400 Russian-made transport helicopters, most of which are slated for use in Afghanistan or are already deployed there.

Such widespread use could hardly go unnoticed by the Russian manufacturers of the aircraft, who at the very least intend to get their share of the orders for equipment repairs. And finally, taking into account the Russian helicopters' ease of use, lower cost, and higher reliability in the harsh conditions of Afghanistan as compared to their Western equivalents, Russia can count on orders from countries involved in Afghanistan and airlines serving the forces deployed there. Apart from direct orders for helicopters, it is possible that Russia could also train pilots and technical experts at Russian training centers.

Which models do Western militaries use? Primarily transport helicopters from the Mi-8/17 series, which are used extensively by many countries, along with their "heavier" counterparts - Mi-26s. The Soviet Union used all of these aircraft in its own Afghan war, but even today they meet all of the requirements for military transport helicopters, and are on a par with the best helicopters in the West. The fact that they are extensively used to transport NATO command personnel, not only in the Afghanistan conflict zone but in other wars, speaks to the reputation of Russian helicopters. For example, in 1991 a Syrian Mi-8 served as the "personal transport" for General Norman Schwarzkopf, commander of the Coalition Forces in the Gulf War.

How beneficial is this situation for Russia, and is it really worth it to be involved in the Afghan war, even in such an indirect way?

Here we must return to the history for a moment, and remember that Russia has never really been in a position to benefit from any wars. In most cases, either Russia itself was involved in the war, and thus paid for it in blood and weapons, or it bore considerable material expenses to support one side or another against an enemy it could not fight directly, for political, economic, geographic or other reasons.

A unique situation has now emerged in Afghanistan. NATO is waging a difficult and increasingly senseless war there. However, if there were no coalition forces there, it is quite possible that Russia would have had to wage this war itself - at the very least in order to prevent a sharp destabilization of the neighboring Central Asian republics if the Taliban were to achieve total victory in Afghanistan. In addition, the war would probably be fought within Tajikistan, or perhaps even closer to the Russian border than the Soviet-Afghan war, for example, in the Fergana Valley of Uzbekistan.

For the time being, Russia can remain outside of this war, limiting itself to providing transit services, and perhaps even make a profit - for example, by selling helicopters.

At the same time, it is obvious that Russia should refrain from direct involvement in the conflict by, for example, sending helicopter units of the Russian air force to Afghanistan. The Afghan people do not support the NATO operation and most of them are against the alliance's forces, which can explain the Taliban's advances in recent months.

If NATO is unable find a solution to the current situation that is acceptable to most of the country's population in the foreseeable future, then the alliance will be forced to leave Afghanistan in the coming three to four years. Although the consequences of such a withdraw are unknown, it is most likely that the Taliban or another decidedly anti-western power will come to power. And in this case, it would be much easier for Russia, as a country that did not participate in the war, to negotiate with the new leaders of Afghanistan than it would be for the recently expelled occupiers.

The opinions expressed in this article are the author's and do not necessarily represent those of RIA Novosti.

Ομιλία ηγέτη της Γερμανίας ατο Κογκρέσο..[476 ]

Ιστορική ομιλία Μέρκελ στο Κογκρέσο

Kathimerini.gr - Τετάρτη 4 Νοοεμβρίου 2009

Υπό τα βλέμματα του αντιπροέδρου Τζο Μπάιντεν και της προέδρου της Βουλής Νάνσι Πελόζι, η Αγκελα Μέρκελ εκφωνεί την πρώτη ομιλία ηγέτη της Γερμανίας από το βήμα του αμερικανικού Κογκρέσου ύστερα από εκείνη του Κόνραντ Αντενάουερ, το 1957. Είκοσι χρόνια μετά την κατάρρευση του Τείχους του Βερολίνου, η Γερμανίδα καγκελάριος κάλεσε σε συστράτευση «για να πέσουν τα τείχη του 21ου αιώνα». Νωρίτερα, συναντήθηκε με τον Μπαράκ Ομπάμα, ο οποίος συμπλήρωσε ένα χρόνο στην προεδρία.

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ΣXETIKA ΘEMATA

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Κλικ...........Ομιλία της Μέρκελ στο Κογκρέσο_(...KOΣMOΣ...)