#Tueller Drill

[dailybangarang]

21 Foot Rule (2010)

[prep4tomoro]

Psychology of a Self-Defense Shooting

As a staunch advocate for the Second Amendment, I support anyone who wants to own and carry a firearm. I believe they must, first, have the mental and emotional capacity to accept that responsibility and, second, have proper and regular training.

When family or friends tell me they're going to buy a gun, the cop in me responds "can you kill another human being and live with the psychological and financial consequences?"; because you will get arrested and sued. The police will arrest you and the family of the dead, or seriously injured, person will sue you.

I follow up that they must get mentally prepared, NOW, to know what they will do when they are confronted with a self-defense encounter. The number two rule in firearm safety is "don't point a firearm at anyone/anything you don't want to kill/destroy" and the number one rule in conceal carry is "don't pull/display your firearm unless you intend to use it". In your mind, right now, you must make the determination that you will kill anyone who puts your life, or loved ones lives, in jeopardy. You must determine that you will live with the consequences BEFORE that situation presents itself.

In a self-defense situation, you have seconds to decide how you will respond and you must respond as if your life depends on it; because it does. You can't "think" about it; it must be instinctual, not intellectual. Instinctual in that you have thought about this and KNOW what you will do in response. The attacker has already had time to think about, and KNOW, they are willing to hurt or kill their victim.

Your other options are to run (if you can) or give the perp(s) whatever they want if that's all they want.

Always be aware of what is going on around you and KNOW, BEFOREHAND, how you will respond to a self-defense encounter.

Related Resources: Keep Shooting (Fighting) Until the Threat Stops! 20 Rules for Winning a Gun Fight 21-Feet Rule - The Tueller Drill/Principal How to Survive an Active Shooting Encounter About the Photo

[11-Cs Basic Emergency Kit] [14-Point Emergency Preps Checklist] [Immediate Steps to Take When Disaster Strikes] [Learn to be More Self-Sufficient] [The Ultimate Preparation] [P4T Main Menu]

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[henriford]

(Technically not the drill, as he is trying to stop the assailant by wrapping a “stab-proof” fabric around his hand, but the same basic principle)

[jwfen-life]

Keep in mind the Tueller drill was done by experienced police officers. Your actual Danger Zone may be longer depending on how quickly you can draw. That said, situational awareness is all. Avoid anyone who sets off your spidey senses long before they get into your Danger Zone.

[thepiercingeye]

Keep in mind the Tueller drill was done by experienced police officers. Your actual Danger Zone my be bigger depending on how quickly you can draw. That said, situational awareness is all. Avoid anyone who sets off your spidey senses long before they get into your Danger Zone.

[stopkingobama]

Knife vs Gun - The 21 Foot Rule Debate

If you’ve been to a gun training course you have probably heard of the 21 foot rule that relates to the distance between an adversary with a knife and you, an armed citizen. It’s called the Tueller Rule.

The Tueller Drill is a self-defense training exercise to prepare against a short-range knife attack when armed only with a holstered handgun.

Sergeant Dennis Tueller, of the Salt Lake City, Utah Police Department wondered how quickly an attacker with a knife could cover 21 feet (6.4 m), so he timed volunteers as they raced to stab the target. He determined that it could be done in 1.5 seconds. These results were first published as an article in SWAT magazine in 1983 and in a police training video by the same title, “How Close is Too Close?”

A defender with a gun has a dilemma. If he shoots too early, he risks being accused of murder. If he waits until the attacker is definitely within striking range so there is no question about motives, he risks injury and even death. The Tueller experiments quantified a “danger zone” where an attacker presented a clear threat.

The Tueller Drill combines both parts of the original time trials by Tueller. There are several ways it can be conducted:

The attacker and shooter are positioned back-to-back. At the signal, the attacker sprints away from the shooter, and the shooter unholsters his gun and shoots at the target 21 feet (6.4 m) in front of him. The attacker stops as soon as the shot is fired. The shooter is successful only if his shot is good and if the runner did not cover 21 feet (6.4 m).

A more stressful arrangement is to have the attacker begin 21 feet (6.4 m) behind the shooter and run towards the shooter. The shooter is successful only if he was able take a good shot before he is tapped on the back by the attacker.

If the shooter is armed with only a training replica gun, a full-contact drill may be done with the attacker running towards the shooter. In this variation, the shooter should practice side-stepping the attacker while he is drawing the gun.

NOTE: MythBusters covered the drill in the 2012 episode “Duel Dilemmas”. At 20 ft (6.1 m), the gun-wielder was able to shoot the charging knife attacker just as he reached the shooter. At shorter distances the knife wielder was always able to stab prior to being shot.

However, the Force Science Research Center at Minnesota State University-Mankato has responded by reexamining the 21-Foot Rule, and after testing the Rule against FSRC’s landmark findings on action-reaction times and conferring with selected members of its National and Technical Advisory Boards, the Center has reached these conclusions, according to Executive Director Dr. Bill Lewinsky (more here):

1. Because of a prevalent misinterpretation, the 21-Foot Rule has been dangerously corrupted.

2. When properly understood, the 21-Foot Rule is still valid in certain limited circumstances.

3. For many officers and situations, a 21-foot reactionary gap is not sufficient.

4. The weapon that officers often think they can depend on to defeat knife attacks can’t be relied upon to protect them in many cases.

5. Training in edged-weapon defense should by no means be abandoned.

These factors and others can impact the validity of the 21-Foot Rule because they affect an attacking suspect’s speed in reaching the officer, and the officer’s speed in reacting to the threatening charge.

The 21-Foot Rule was formulated by timing subjects beginning their headlong run from a dead stop on a flat surface offering good traction and officers standing stationary on the same plane, sidearm holstered and snapped in. The FSRC has extensively measured action and reaction times under these same conditions. Among other things, the Center has documented the time it takes officers to make 20 different actions that are common in deadly force encounters. Here are some of the relevant findings that the FSRC applied in reevaluating the 21-Foot Rule:

Once he perceives a signal to do so, the AVERAGE officer requires 1.5 seconds to draw from a snapped Level II holster and fire one unsighted round at center mass. Add 1/4 of a second for firing a second round, and another 1/10 of a second for obtaining a flash sight picture for the average officer.

The fastest officer tested required 1.31 seconds to draw from a Level II holster and get off his first unsighted round.The slowest officer tested required 2.25 seconds.

For the average officer to draw and fire an unsighted round from a snapped Level III holster, which is becoming increasingly popular in LE because of its extra security features, takes 1.7 seconds.

Meanwhile, the AVERAGE suspect with an edged weapon raised in the traditional “ice-pick” position can go from a dead stop to level, unobstructed surface offering good traction in 1.5-1.7 seconds.

The “fastest, most skillful, most powerful” subject FSRC tested “easily” covered that distance in 1.27 seconds. Intense rage, high agitation and/or the influence of stimulants may even shorten that time, Lewinski observes.

Even the slowest subject “lumbered” through this distance in just 2.5 seconds.

Bottom line: Within a 21-foot perimeter, most officers dealing with most edged-weapon suspects are at a decided – perhaps fatal – disadvantage if the suspect launches a sudden charge intent on harming them. “Certainly it is not safe to have your gun in your holster at this distance,” Lewinski says, and firing in hopes of stopping an activated attack within this range may well be justified.

This video supports the 21-ft Rule but is interesting because it examines the reaction times at a few distances.

[teagrl]

Today’s google searches:

1. cargo holds

2. conveyor systems

3. action scenes in warehouses

4. Tueller drill

And since there is 0 movement on Ricochet have some fucked up culture of fascism courtesy of the draft of my very fucked up time travel fic. Did I mention fucked up? Because fucked up.

I am the Hand of the Emperor, Mara reminds herself as her captor grasps her arm.

There is no shame in dying for the Emperor.

Like the ‘fighter pilots in the Imperial Navy who place the mission above all. Heroes. All of them.

As she throws an elbow,  which her avoids, she thinks, and they don’t even have the Emperor’s power inside of them to hold them as they immolate themselves. She does.

Because she is singular.

Mara follows the elbow with quick jab. He blocks it, but she’s buzzing with happiness suddenly, as she goes for a palm strike at his throat. Her captor deflects, she’s overmatched, she knows, and he’s yelling something, but she can’t hear, too intoxicated by the honor. 

A hero’s death.

This Jedi remnant can kill her as vengeance to her master. Let him. Her master will mourn her.

Mara clings to that seed of power within her.

He will avenge her.

[jamesbowie1]

Good shoot here.  They are after the officer because she shoots competitively.  Let that suing attorney try a Tueller drill if he doesn’t think the guy could cross that distance faster than most people can get off a shot.  Good job Officer McBride.

https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/lapd-officer-who-shot-and-killed-a-suspect-under-scrutiny-because-shes-also-a-competitive-shooter/?fbclid=IwAR3Omhf-A1ETApHghXAE4L5LCzi-Ijs_r2Z1UWKbixtknqSGwBrpIUoHGFg

[bountyofbeads]

Live updates: Iran holds massive funeral for slain commander in Tehran amid calls for vengeance

By Sarah Dadouch and Siobhán O'Grady

Published January 06 at 1:01 PM EST |

Washington Post | Posted Jan. 6, 2020 |

The U.S. Defense Department has ordered an amphibious force of about 4,500 sailors and Marines to prepare to support Middle East operations, a defense official said Monday, adding potential firepower to deal with the prospect of Iranian retaliation amid an outpouring of grief in Tehran for a slain top commander.

The order was disclosed as huge throngs of Iranians mourned Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani at his funeral Monday in Tehran. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, wept as he prayed over the general’s coffin, while he and other Iranian leaders vowed revenge for a U.S. drone strike that killed the charismatic leader of Iran’s special operations forces last week.

Huge throngs of Iranians attended the funeral of slain Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani in the capital, Tehran, on Monday in a display rivaling the ceremony three decades ago that marked the passing of the Islamic Republic’s founder, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, wept as he prayed over the coffin of Soleimani, while he and other Iranian leaders vowed revenge for the U.S. drone strike that killed one of the country’s top military commanders.

HERE ARE KEY POINTS OF WHAT WE KNOW:

●The Pentagon has told the Bataan Amphibious Ready Group to be ready to support Middle East operations, a defense official said.

● The funeral in Tehran was a stark display of Soleimani’s importance to the regime.

●In the aftermath of the strike that killed Soleimani, Iran has discarded more internationally mandated curbs on its nuclear program.

● Iraq’s parliament is moving to expel U.S. troops after the strike.

● President Trump has threatened to hit Iraq with heavy sanctions if U.S. troops are forced to leave.

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12:55 PM: Chevron pulls foreign workers out of Iraqi Kurdistan as ‘precautionary measure’

WASHINGTON — Chevron announced Monday that it has pulled out expatriates working in its oil fields in the Iraqi region of Kurdistan. A company spokesperson described it as “a precautionary measure.”

The California-based oil giant shut down drilling in the region in 2015 because of the threat posed by Islamic State fighters at the time. Drilling resumed in 2017.

For now, in contrast, work is continuing in the Kurdish fields with all-local workers. The company characterized the decision to withdraw foreign workers as “not a huge evacuation,” but it would not provide details on the numbers of people involved.

By: Will Englund

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12:30 PM: Pentagon tells force of 4,500 sailors and Marines to be ready to support Middle East operations if necessary

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon has told the Bataan Amphibious Ready Group, a force of about 4,500 sailors and Marines aboard Navy ships, to be ready to support operations in the Middle East if required, a defense official said Monday, speaking on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue.

The official declined to specify the location of the group, led by the amphibious assault ship USS Bataan. A second official said Friday that the ships were approaching the Mediterranean Sea and could be called upon if needed.

The decision could bolster the number of U.S. troops in the region by about 10,000, as the Trump administration and Iranian officials threaten each other following numerous attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq and the U.S. killing of Qasem Soleimani, a top Iranian general, in a drone strike in Baghdad last week.

Those troop increases come on top of the Pentagon’s deployment of an additional 14,000 troops to the Middle East in 2019, citing the need to counter Iranian aggression.

By: Dan Lamothe

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12:00 PM: E.U. foreign ministers to hold emergency meeting Friday to respond to Iran crisis

BRUSSELS — European Union foreign ministers will hold an emergency meeting on Friday in Brussels to discuss how to respond to the escalating crisis with Iran, diplomats said Monday, including whether Europe starts the process that could lead to the eventual reimposition of sanctions on Iran.

The unusual gathering will give Europeans a chance to coordinate plans among all 28 member states. Leaders have been reluctant to publicly condemn the United States for Soleimani’s killing, focusing most of their ire on Iran, which they view as the core threat to their security interests. But they have invested more than a year of efforts to try to preserve the 2015 Iran nuclear deal following President Trump’s pullout. Many European diplomats view Soleimani’s death as the final blow to hopes that the accord could hold together until the possible election in November of a U.S. president more supportive of the nuclear agreement than Trump.

Iran on Sunday announced that it would take major additional steps to depart from the terms of the nuclear accord, although it stopped short of saying it would significantly increase its uranium enrichment. Europeans took that as a sign that Tehran is still interested in extracting concessions in exchange for returning to at least partial adherence to the deal, rather than walking away from it altogether.

Triggering the process that could lead to the reimposition of sanctions would entail additional months of negotiations. If sanctions were reimposed, that would likely mark the end of any effort by Iran to uphold the deal.

By: Michael Birnbaum

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11:55 AM: Iraqi prime minister meets U.S. ambassador after lawmakers call for U.S. troops to leave the country

BAGHDAD — Matthew H. Tueller, the U.S. ambassador to Baghdad, met Monday with Iraq’s caretaker prime minister, Adel Abdul Mahdi, one day after Iraqi lawmakers passed a nonbinding resolution calling for foreign troops to leave Iraq. Abdul Mahdi resigned in November and is not authorized to sign the bill into law, but he urged lawmakers ahead of the vote to take “urgent measures” to force foreign troops to withdraw.

In a statement Monday, Abdul Mahdi’s office said he stressed to Tueller “the need for joint cooperation to implement the withdrawal of foreign forces in accordance with the decision of the Iraqi parliament.”

The statement said Abdul Mahdi noted “that Iraq is making all possible efforts to prevent the slide into open war.”

By: Mustafa Salim and Siobhán O’Grady

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11:35 AM: NATO suspends training mission in Iraq, calls for ‘restraint and de-escalation’

BRUSSELS — NATO ambassadors met Monday for an emergency session to discuss Iran and called for “restraint and de-escalation,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said, as he condemned Iranian actions and declined to offer his own thoughts about Soleimani’s killing.

The 29-nation alliance suspended its training mission in Iraq for the country’s security forces following the attack early Friday. Stoltenberg said NATO ambassadors received a briefing from several U.S. officials about the American reasoning for the mission against the senior Iranian military leader. He did not say when the training mission might resume.

“A new conflict would be in no one’s interest,” Stoltenberg said. “We are ready to restart the training when the situation on the ground makes that possible.”

NATO allies are wary of being sucked into a conflict between Iran and the United States. The alliance’s response would be tested if Tehran attacked the United States and U.S. leaders were to trigger NATO’s all-for-one, one-for-all mutual-defense clauses as they did in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

But Stoltenberg insisted that there was “very strong unity from all allies” in response to a reporter’s question about whether there was any concern about Soleimani’s death.

By: Michael Birnbaum

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11:15 AM: Schiff calls for open hearings on escalating tensions with Iran

WASHINGTON — Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.), who chairs the House Intelligence Committee, said the House should hold open hearings on the escalating tensions between the United States and Iran.

“I think there should be open hearings on this subject,” Schiff told Greg Sargent, an opinions writer for The Washington Post. “The president has put us on a path where we may be at war with Iran. That requires the Congress to fully engage.”

Schiff also said he believes that Trump’s threats against Iranian cultural heritage sites do not reflect any consultation between the White House and the Pentagon. “None of that could come out of the Pentagon,” Schiff said. “Absolutely no way.”

By: Siobhán O’Grady

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10:20 AM: U.S. strike gave Netanyahu reprieve from his own political woes, but it was short-lived

JERUSALEM — When U.S. drones killed Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu got three things he dearly wanted: a strong blow against Iran, relief from growing fears that President Trump was backing out of the Middle East and a change of subject from the corruption indictments dogging his campaign two months before a national election.

Of the three, it seems Netanyahu’s reprieve from the media’s corruption focus may be the shortest-lived. Three days after the strike, Netanyahu’s efforts to shield himself from prosecution and a string of controversial appointments has returned to front pages here (along with heartbreaking coverage of a Tel Aviv flood that caused a young couple to drown in an elevator).

For Netanyahu, any shift to security is considered a topical safe haven for the hawkish hard-liner.

“People feel secure with Bibi,” said Gil Hoffman, chief political correspondent for the Jerusalem Post, using Netanyahu’s nickname. “If we’re talking about security, they will feel, ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.’”

Netanyahu’s chief rival, former military chief of staff Benny Gantz, joined Netanyahu in hailing the killing of Soleimani. But it is Netanyahu who has promoted himself as uniquely influential over Trump. Whether he lobbied directly for the strike or not, he is likely to benefit from it.

“We have no idea if he had any influence at all, but voters will give him credit because he’s Trump’s rabbi,” Hoffman said.

But after a weekend dominated by coverage of the attack on Soleimani’s convoy outside Baghdad’s airport, Israeli media was again filled with news of Netanyahu’s legal woes.

By: Steve Hendrix

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10:15 AM: After Trump threatens Iranian cultural sites, UNESCO says U.S. has previously pledged not to target heritage sites

WASHINGTON — The United Nations’ top cultural body said Monday that the United States is a signatory to a 1972 treaty pledging not to attack cultural sites, two days after Trump tweeted that if Iran strikes “Americans, or American assets,” the United States would target 52 Iranian sites, including some that are important to “Iranian culture.”

“Those targets, and Iran itself, WILL BE HIT VERY FAST AND VERY HARD,” he wrote.

In a statement, UNESCO said that Audrey Azoulay, UNESCO’s director general, met with Ahmad Jalali, Iran’s permanent representative to UNESCO, to discuss “tensions in the Middle East with particular regard to heritage and culture.”

In Washington, White House counselor Kellyanne Conway offered contradicting responses to questions about Trump’s tweets threatening Iranian cultural sites, telling reporters that he “didn’t say he’s targeting cultural sites,” according to a White House pool report.

Conway also said that Trump is open to renegotiating the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran “if Iran wants to start behaving like a normal country . . . sure, absolutely.”

By: Siobhán O’Grady

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9:52 AM: Trump says Iran will not obtain nuclear weapons

WASHINGTON — President Trump tweeted Monday that “IRAN WILL NEVER HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON!”

The declaration came after Iran said in a statement carried by state news agencies Sunday that it is suspending its commitments to the nuclear deal it struck with world powers in 2015. “Iran’s nuclear program will now be based solely on its technical needs,” the statement said.

By: Siobhán O’Grady

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9:40 AM: Moscow says it sees no threat of nuclear weapons proliferation after Iran’s withdrawal from 2015 deal

MOSCOW — In the wake of Iran’s announcement that it is suspending its commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal, abandoning the accord’s restrictions on uranium enrichment, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement Monday that it sees no threat of nuclear weapons proliferation.

The ministry explained that by saying Iran “carries out all its activities in close cooperation and under the constant supervision of the IAEA,” referring to the International Atomic Energy Agency, a U.N. watchdog.

The statement reaffirmed Russia’s commitment to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the nuclear deal that Tehran struck with world powers in 2015. Iran’s decision to discard the plan unless U.S. sanctions are lifted is “the result of contradictions that have accumulated within the agreements and all current participating countries need to continue to work hard to overcome them,” the statement said.

Russia has criticized the U.S. airstrike that killed Iranian military leader Qasem Soleimani. Konstantin Kosachev, head of the foreign affairs committee in the upper house of the Russian parliament, wrote on his Facebook page Friday, “The last hopes for resolving the problem of the Iranian nuclear program have been ‘bombarded.’ ”

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu spoke by phone Monday with Mohammad Bagheri, chief of staff for the Iranian armed forces, about Soleimani’s killing, the Russian Defense Ministry told reporters.

The conversation addressed “practical steps to prevent an escalation” in the region, the ministry said in a statement, according to Interfax.

By: Isabelle Khurshudyan

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7:40 AM: Iranian media shows huge numbers filling the streets of Tehran at slain commander’s funeral

BEIRUT — The streets of Iran’s capital Tehran flooded with millions of people clad in black on Monday, Iranian state television said, during a funeral ceremony for military leader Qasem Soleimani, who was killed by a U.S. drone strike.

“Have you EVER seen such a sea of humanity in your life, @realdonaldtrump?” Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif wrote on Twitter, addressing President Trump. “And do you still imagine you can break the will of this great nation & its people?” he added.

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who earlier wept as he presided over the funeral, tweeted in the afternoon: “Bidding farewell to the pure body of the Iranian nation’s hero and the international figure of Resistance. You were assassinated by the most barbaric of mankind.”

Since Friday’s killing of Soleimani, Iran’s leadership has repeatedly vowed to take revenge on U.S. military and political targets.

Amir Ali Hajizadeh, head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ aerospace division, also said Trump “should order more coffins.”

Soleimani was seen as a hero not only in Iran, but also by Iranian-allied groups in the region — including in Yemen and Lebanon.

In Yemen’s city of Saada, held by the Iran-allied Houthi rebels, thousands of mourners filled the streets to protest the strike that killed him. Lebanon’s Hezbollah, a militia and political party that also holds seats in parliament, held a funeral for Soleimani on Sunday.

Soleimani’s body will be carried to the holy city of Qom, where a ceremony will be held five hours late, delayed by the massive crowds in Tehran, Iranian state television said. His body will be buried in his hometown of Kerman.

By: Sarah Dadouch

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7:09 AM: Putin, Merkel to discuss Iran in Moscow

MOSCOW — At the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel will visit Moscow on Saturday with plans to discuss escalating tensions in the Middle East in the wake of Iranian Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani’s killing, the Kremlin announced.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas is accompanying Merkel on the trip. Maas said Monday that President Trump threatening Iraq with heavy sanctions if U.S. troops are forced to leave is “not very helpful.”

Russia has been even more critical of the U.S. airstrike that killed Soleimani. Its Foreign Ministry denounced the move as “reckless” on Friday, although Putin himself has been publicly mum on the issue with the country still enjoying its New Year’s holidays.

He spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron by phone Friday evening, and the Kremlin announcement of the call said “both sides expressed concern” and agreed “that this attack could escalate tensions in the region.”

Moscow has quietly benefited from Soleimani’s death, with oil prices spiking. Now Putin will weigh in on the state of the Middle East twice this week, when he meets with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul on Wednesday and then with Merkel over the weekend.

By: Isabelle Khurshudyan

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5:15 AM: France, Germany and Britain call on Iran to refrain from violence and honor nuclear deal

BEIRUT — In a joint statement on Monday, France, Germany and Britain appealed to Iran to stick with its commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal and refrain from responding violently to a U.S. attack.

On Sunday, Iran announced that, unless U.S. sanctions are lifted, the country would abandon the accord’s “final restrictions” on uranium enrichment. The decision followed a U.S. drone attack that killed Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, commander of Iran’s elite Quds Force.

“We specifically call on Iran to refrain from further violent action or proliferation, and urge Iran to reverse all measures inconsistent with JCPOA,” the statement said, referring to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action nuclear deal that Tehran struck with world powers.

The joint statement also stressed the need for de-escalation in the region, where tensions have escalated to a new level over the weekend, and it condemned attacks on forces in Iraq under the U.S.-led coalition to fight the Islamic State.

“The current cycle of violence in Iraq must be stopped,” it said.

By: Sarah Dadouch

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5:00 AM: Removing U.S. troops from Iraq may not be that hard

President Trump may have balked at the idea of U.S. troops being asked to leave Iraq, but ending America’s 17-year military presence there may be easier for the country’s government than he thinks.

Unlike most deployments stretching back to the aftermath the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, American troops in Iraq are not operating under a conventional status of forces agreement approved by the Iraqi parliament, according to experts.

The presence of 5,000 U.S. troops as part of a global coalition fighting the Islamic State is based on an arrangement that is less formal and, ultimately, on the consent of an executive branch that urged parliament on Sunday to tell foreign forces to leave.

“The current U.S. military presence is based of an exchange of letters at the executive level,” said Ramzy Mardini, an Iraq scholar at the U.S. Institute of Peace who previously served in the State Department’s Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs.

“If the prime minister rescinds the invitation, the U.S. military must leave, unless it wants to maintain what would be an illegal occupation in a hostile environment,” Mardini said.

Addressing Iraq’s wood-paneled parliament on Sunday, Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi urged lawmakers to take “urgent measures” to force the withdrawal of foreign troops. Shortly after, the chamber passed a nonbinding resolution to that effect, and Abdul Mahdi’s office said that legal experts were drawing up a timetable for the pullout.

“At this moment in time [the] government has not yet decided to remove foreign troops but it is probable soon as things stand,” Sajad Jiyad, managing director of the Baghdad-based Bayan Center think tank, wrote on Twitter.

By: Louisa Loveluck

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3:00 AM: Iran’s supreme leader weeps at funeral of commander killed by U.S. drone strike

ISTANBUL — Facing a sea of mourners in central Tehran on Monday, Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, openly wept as he prayed over the body of Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, the slain commander of Iran’s elite Quds Force.

The commander’s death has galvanized Iranians who have rallied in major cities, including Ahvaz, Mashhad and now Tehran.

Hundreds of thousands of people filled the streets of the capital Monday to pay homage to Soleimani, a larger-than-life figure who oversaw the rapid expansion of Iranian influence across the Middle East. A U.S. drone targeted Soleimani as he left the Baghdad airport in a two-car convoy last week. U.S. officials cited what they said was his role directing rocket attacks on U.S. military bases in Iraq.

Khamenei, who observers said rarely presides over the funerals of senior officials, was flanked Monday by President Hassan Rouhani; Soleimani’s successor, Brig. Gen. Ismail Qaani; and other key security and political figures.

The supreme leader has vowed revenge for his killing.

As the crowds wailed in Tehran on Monday, Khamenei recited the Namaz-e Meyet, or prayers of the dead, and choked back tears before beginning to sob.

“We have not witnessed any sins from him,” the supreme leader said.

Soleimani’s body will be carried next to the holy city of Qom, after which he will be buried in his hometown in Kerman.

By: Erin Cunningham

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3 AM: China slams U.S. attack on Iranian commander

BEIJING — China on Monday heavily criticized the U.S. killing of Iranian military leader Qasem Soleimani as a violation of international norms and said it would work with Russia to “maintain international justice.”

In a flurry of calls with his Russian, Iranian and French counterparts over the weekend, Beijing’s top diplomat Wang Yi criticized what he called a “risk-taking” U.S. military strike and urged a halt in the American “abuse of force,” according to statements released by China’s Foreign Ministry.

Wang and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov agreed during their phone call to “strengthen joint strategic coordination to maintain international justice,” the ministry said without giving details.

China, which has increasingly close military ties with Moscow, has long sought a neutral position in the Middle East, with friendly relations with Iran, Israel and the Arab states of the Persian Gulf.

At a regular press briefing, ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said China would uphold an “objective and just position” in Middle East politics but lambasted the Trump administration’s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal and America’s “ignorance of international obligations and international law” as the “root cause of the tension.”

When asked by reporters, Geng declined to say whether China would increase its security presence in the region.

“We urge the U.S. not to abuse force and the relevant parties to exercise restraint to prevent a spiraling of tensions,” he said.

By: Gerry Shih

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1:30 AM: Germany says Trump’s threats against Iraq ‘not helpful’

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said Monday that President Trump’s threats against Iraq were “not very helpful at this point.”

Maas added in an interview with German public broadcaster Deutschlandfunk that the international community “has invested a lot, not only militarily but also in terms of support for stabilization.” Those efforts, said Maas, were now at risk of “being lost if the situation continues to develop this way.”

Maas remained vague when asked whether Germany would side with the United States on Iran.

“As Europe, we have to make an effort to ensure that we try everything to give diplomacy another chance,” he said.

By: Rick Noack

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12:30 AM: Successor to slain Iranian commander vows to drive U.S. from region

The general succeeding the Iranian commander slain in a U.S. drone strike vowed to continue his predecessor’s work and expel the United States from the Middle East.

Brig. Gen. Ismail Qaani was appointed the head of the powerful Quds Force, the expeditionary wing of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard tasked with spreading the country’s influence abroad.

As Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani’s deputy, he worked closely with the slain commander on developing Iran’s proxy forces in Iraq, Yemen and Lebanon.

“We promise to continue down martyr Soleimani’s path as firmly as before with the help of God, and in return for his martyrdom we aim at getting rid of America from the region,” he said in an interview with state television.

Soleimani’s daughter also addressed the funeral ceremony for her father in Tehran, saying that Israel and the United States would soon face a dark day.

By: David Crawshaw

Sarah Dadouch is a Beirut-based

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Trump’s order to kill Soleimani is already starting to backfire

By Ishaan Tharoor | Published January 06 at 12:00 AM EST | Washington Post | Posted January 6, 2020 |

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Over the weekend, thousands of mourners in cities in Iraq and Iran participated in funeral processions for Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, a prominent Iranian commander. He was a Washington boogeyman, implicated in years of chaos and bloodshed. But the theocratic regime and its allies cast his death — the result of a U.S. drone strike on a convoy carrying him and a number of other prominent pro-Iranian militia leaders out of Baghdad’s international airport early Friday — as a martyrdom, the heroic sacrifice of an icon of “resistance” whose influence and supposed charisma helped stitch together a network of pro-Tehran proxy groups throughout the Middle East.

Iran’s leadership vowed “severe revenge,” though many analysts suspect the regime will bide its time before mustering a violent reprisal. Instead, it basked in a surge of nationalist sentiment and anger at home. Less than two months ago, security forces are said to have killed hundreds of Iranian protesters to quell an uprising spurred by the regime’s dysfunctional management of the country’s crippled economy. On Sunday, hundreds of thousands of Iranians poured into the streets of Iranian cities to mourn a fallen hero and decry the “imperialist” power that killed him.

President Trump helped stoke the flames even further with a tweet threatening the destruction of Iranian cultural sites — what most international legal scholars would tell you is a war crime — should the regime seek vengeance for the death of Soleimani.

“At a time when his unprecedented sanctions had stirred unrest inside Iran, the political elite has just been handed a rallying cry,” wrote Mohammad Ali Shabani, a researcher at Soas University in London. “The strike on Suleimani, whose status approached that of national icon, will harden popular sentiment against the U.S. while simultaneously shoring up the regime.”

On Sunday, Iran made its fifth announcement about winding down its obligations to the 2015 nuclear deal. Iranian authorities said that they would no longer abide by restrictions on uranium enrichment, but would return to their previous commitments should the United States withdraw the sanctions whose imposition were also a violation of the pact. The announcement had been expected before Soleimani’s assassination but took on a darker cast as tensions mounted.

In Iraq, too, the backlash was swift. The country’s parliament voted on Sunday to ask for the removal of U.S. troops on Iraqi soil. The resolution was nonbinding and “did not immediately imperil the U.S. presence in Iraq,” wrote The Post’s Erin Cunningham, “but it highlights the head winds the Trump administration faces after the strike, which was seen in Iraq as a violation of sovereignty and as a dangerous escalation by governments across the Middle East.”

For President Trump and some of the Washington foreign policy establishment, though, it still may be worth it. In Trump’s words, Soleimani was “the number one terrorist in the world,” the mastermind behind a generation of asymmetric warfare in the region, as well as various plots against America. In briefings with reporters, U.S. officials justified the targeted killing of Soleimani as an act of “deterrence” based on intelligence that the senior leader was planning a number of “imminent” possible attacks on U.S. interests. But other officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity to my colleagues and other outlets, suggested that the evidence of Soleimani’s direct involvement was “razor thin” and that Trump had chosen the most extreme path of retaliation after pro-Iran militiamen ransacked sections of the U.S. Embassy in Iraq last week.

Soleimani was the head of the Quds Force, a wing of Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps that steers the regime’s proxies in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and elsewhere. These factions have been locked in months of shadow conflict with the United States and its allies in the wake of Trump’s reimposition of sweeping sanctions on Iran after quitting the Obama-era nuclear deal.

On one hand, the Trump administration believes its “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran is working and that killing Soleimani adds to the regime’s internal strains. But Iran’s destabilizing activities in the region — a key reason cited by Trump for reneging on the nonproliferation pact — have only spiked in recent months, including alleged attacks on U.S. positions in Iraq, shipping in the Persian Gulf and a major Saudi oil facility.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declared the world a “safer place” after Soleimani’s death. But the path ahead remains deeply treacherous. “My sense is that we will see an escalation in Iraq,” said Maha Yahya, director of the Carnegie Middle East Center, to my colleague Liz Sly. “But I don’t think the Iranians really want a war with the U.S. I don’t think they are interested in an all-out regional conflict. The problem is that all it takes is one small error and the whole region would be engulfed."

Amid the crisis, the United States ordered American citizens to leave Iraq and suspended its military cooperation and training programs with Iraqi security forces. The latter action risks undermining the ongoing effort to defeat the extremist Islamic State. And the Trump administration has hardly rallied a united front to its cause, with Pompeo bemoaning how European allies — who are trying to keep afloat the gutted husk of the nuclear deal — were “not helpful” enough.

“For European capitals,” wrote Ellie Geranmayeh of the European Council on Foreign Relations, “this means their worst predictions — they warned the Trump administration that withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal would trigger a chain of escalation with Iran — are becoming reality.”

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5 Things About Self-Defense Every Woman Should Know

Continue Reading Below Advertisement For a lot of women who've been hit on or harassed by strangers, all too often, they're taught to blame themselves for "encouraging" things by making eye contact or even speaking. But when you shrink yourself and walk around with an invisible "Don't hurt me" sign on your forehead, you look like an easy target to exactly the kind of person looking to victimize someone. More importantly, you're surrendering your ability to be aware of your own surroundings! Situational awareness is one of the biggest weapons you have against criminals. And we women are told to give it up in fear of making some dickhead think we're flirting. But a kidnapper is not playing by the same rules as some guy on the subway who wants your number. Self-defense experts from multiple disciplines agree that criminals are looking for easy targets, and the easiest targets of all are those who look timid and unaware aware of their surroundings. Nobody's saying you should stare someone down and start quoting lines from Predator. But a quick look that goes "Hey, I see you there" could be the difference between him choosing you or moving on. Remember, attackers are usually relying on the element of surprise. Worst-case scenario, if he does come after you, at least you'll know he's coming and can be prepared. Continue Reading Below Advertisement

1A Gun In Your Purse Isn't The Ultimate In Self-Defense

The entire appeal of guns is that if you have one, you don't need to know how to fight. Isn't that why they were invented? And wouldn't that make them perfect for women? They're the great equalizer. Kaitlin Bennett, who was in the news recently for wearing an AR-10 rifle to her Kent State University graduation, stated, "I'm not nervous, because everyone knows that I'm armed ... I don't know why they would threaten an armed person." That's kind of easy to say when people can see your giant gun from space, Kaitlin. But I know someone whose gun is buried underneath about three feet of junk in her purse. I'm guessing that's what it looks like for most gun-toting women. They're not carrying the thing in a shoulder holster. Again, your attacker is probably planning on surprising the hell out of you. Can you dig it out in time to use it? Continue Reading Below Advertisement That's the problem, the impression you get from pop culture that the gun does the work for you. Yet when ABC did a test to recreate a school shooting with the Bethlehem Police Department at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, not a single person was able to defend themselves against an attacker. Many weren't even able to get off a single shot. And they were expecting to get shot at. Or if you don't trust Diane Sawyer, then check out what happened when MythBusters tried to replicate the Tueller Drill, which states that someone with a holstered gun can only hit a charging knife-wielding attacker at 21 feet. Any closer than that, and the gunslinger gets stabbed before they can get off a shot. And assholes are very rarely polite enough to let you know when they're 22 feet away. People like the sense of security that comes with a gun, but a false sense of security is your enemy when we're talking about self-defense. Carrying a gun doesn't save you the trouble of learning this other stuff; it brings with it the responsibility to learn a whole other round of lessons, lest you wind up shooting yourself, a stranger, or just gifting a mugger a free gun. The more dangerous the weapon, the more responsibility you have to learn how to use it right. Continue Reading Below Advertisement One final note: If you're assaulted and you freeze, it's not your fault. If you fight back and fail, it's not your fault. No matter what you wear, where you go, what you drink, or who you mistakenly trust, it's never, ever your fault that someone else decided to hurt you. Do I recommend learning self-defense? Yeah, because maybe it helps your chances. But if you panic or get overpowered anyway, it's not your fault, and anyone who implies it is your fault is a goddamn idiot. While I was writing this article, a friend's partner was sexually assaulted by a stranger at an amusement park while walking her two kids in a stroller. Thankfully, he was arrested. But that doesn't stop me from wanting to punch the guy's dick so hard that his dick meat somehow comes out of his dick hole. And the last time someone tried to cop a feel on me without permission was Monday. The world is kind of a shitty place sometimes; just try to be ready for it. Mags Storey writes books with ghosts, murder, and kissing in them, and trains with far more talented and badass people in Commando Krav Maga. You can bother her on Twitter. Support Cracked's journalism with a visit to our Contribution Page. Please and thank you. For more, check out 6 Things You Need To Know About Self-Defense, From An Expert and 5 Self-Defense Books For Women (Who Want To Lose A Fight). Follow us on Facebook. And stay safe out there, kids. Read the full article

[staybendy]

via Fitness News Digest – Female Fitness Models

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I looked up the Tueller Drill to demonstrate it to someone, and why does this look like a really fucking obscure meme?

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IN CENTRAL ILLINOIS: Force-on-Force training for civilians… Photos and Story

IN CENTRAL ILLINOIS: Force-on-Force training for civilians… Photos and Story

(GunNews) – How do the professionals prepare themselves to better handle the body’s reactions when faced with stress, fear and potential violence – the tremors, rapid heartbeat, anxiety?  “There’s only one way,” experts say.  “And that’s force-on-force training.” Here in Central Illinois, GSL Defense Training kicked off their second year offering this new training program for civilians in early…