₦airaland Forum

AS the military assault against the Boko Haram sect continues in some Northern states, members of the sect might have concluded plans to infiltrate the South-West to seek traditional medicine protection from gunshots.

Sunday Tribune gathered that the last few weeks have seen large-scale efforts being made by people believed to be members of the sect to contact native doctors in Oke-Ogun area of Oyo State, especially Saki, for bulletproof charms.

Incidentally, Saki and some other Oke-Ogun towns have a very strong Islamic orientation with a large population of northerners, especially cattlemen, already making the area a home.

According to a source who claimed to be in the know about the recent attempt to seek Yoruba traditional protection by the Boko Haram members, a huge amount of money ranging from N5 million to N10 million was said to be on offer “if the amulet is made and tested okay.”

“Recently, some strange people have been coming to Oke-Ogun for traditional bulletproof and most of these people are Northerners, though their contact persons are Yoruba. What we learnt was that anyone that facilitates the Boko Haram’s contacts’ meeting with a herbalist, who could make a potent charm would also get a commission of 40 per cent, with the remaining 60 per cent going to the herbalist,” the source said on condition of anonymity.

http://www.tribune.com.ng/news2013/index.php/en/component/k2/item/22734-boko-haram-invades-s-west-for-bulletproof-charms-•offers-n10m-for-each-potent,-tested-charm-•security-agencies-caution-native-doctors.html

As part of its efforts to curb money laundering, the Central Bank of Nigeria has asked Deposit Money Banks to start paying proceeds from international money transfer firms such as Western Union and MoneyGram only in naira.

Already, the CBN has revoked the operating licences of 20 Bureau De Change operators, which it said purchased “unusually large amounts of foreign exchange from the DMBs and failed to render returns of the utilisation.”

The CBN, in a circular on its website, said, “The affected BDCs did not render returns on the utilisation of the foreign exchange purchased and also failed to provide documentary evidence that their purchases were utilised for eligible transactions in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Money Laundering Act.

“Consequently, the operating licences of the 20 BDCs have been revoked by the CBN. Also, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has been requested to investigate the matter for the persecution of indicted persons.”

The CBN, in circulars posted on its website on Friday, announced new measures to tackle money laundering, which it said was weakening the naira and risked pushing up inflation.

http://www.punchng.com/business/beneficiaries-to-receive-money-transfer-proceeds-in-naira/

To reduce downward pressure and devaluation of the Naira the CBN governor has ordered all Western Union payments to be in Naira and not US Dollars as was the tradition.

Is the government running out of external reserves? Are they broke?

A picture of the pilotless F16

"It was a little different to see it without anyone in it, but it was a great flight all the way around," he said.

Boeing said that it had a total of six modified F-16s, which have been renamed QF-16s, and that the US military now planned to use some of them in live fire tests.

However, a spokesman for the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots warned of the temptation to use them in warfare.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-24231077

Boeing has revealed that it has retrofitted retired fighter jets to turn them into drones.

It said that one of the Lockheed Martin F-16 made a first flight with an empty cockpit last week.

Two US Air Force pilots controlled the plane from the ground as it flew from a Florida base to the Gulf of Mexico.

Boeing suggested that the innovation could ultimately be used to help train pilots, providing an adversary they could practise firing on.

The jet - which had previously sat mothballed at an Arizona site for 15 years - flew at an altitude of 40,000ft (12.2km) and a speed of Mach 1.47 (1,119mph/1,800km/h).

It carried out a series of manoeuvres including a barrel roll and a "split S" - a move in which the aircraft turns upside down before making a half loop so that it flies the right-way-up in the opposite direction. This can be used in combat to evade attack.

Boeing said the unmanned F16 was followed by two chase planes to ensure it stayed in sight, and also contained equipment that would have allowed it to self-destruct if necessary.

The firm added that the flight attained 7Gs of acceleration but was capable of carrying out manoeuvres at 9Gs - something that might cause physical problems for a pilot.

"It flew great, everything worked great, [it] made a beautiful landing - probably one of the best landings I've ever seen," said Paul Cejas, the project's chief engineer.

Lt Col Ryan Inman, Commander of the US Air Force's 82nd Aerial Targets Squadron, also had praise for how the test had gone.

This is a picture of the new ISLAND!!

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-09-24/strong-pakistani-earthquake-creates-new-island-countrys-coast


As reported earlier, Pakistan and India were both shaken by a strong 7.8 magnitude earthquake with numerous aftershocks. While the damage and the casualties from the quake are not fully known yet although according to Raza news agency the latest death toll is at 45, one quite stunning development has emerged, quite literally, out of the sea.

As Pakistani's The News reports, an entire island emerged off the country's Gwadar coast in the aftermath of the quake. "According to DIG Gwadar Moazzam Jah, the island's altitude is 20 to 40 feet and width around 100 feet. Talking to Geo news, the DIG said that the island emerged at a distance of 350 feet in the sea from the Gwadar coast." We hope this is not some very elaborate mass media hoax.

I did not want to say I was the passenger for obvious reasons, after the Ed Snowden saga and the FG Internet bill I do not wish to be snooped upon considering all my details are on the manifest.

I was seated at the back of the plane to the right by the window and I can recognize a static jet turbine mid air especially when it was initially stuttering from takeoff and then went silent and I informed the two guys who sat beside me to take a look. However, if you find yourself in such a situation alerting other passengers will create panic and we decided to pray for God to save us from near certain death. If you expect DANA Air to confirm this incident it maybe futile as it is a sure Colossal PR DISASTER following the IJU incident.

My aim is not to convince you to believe me but as a Caveat emptor to future passengers to fly at their own discretion. Thank God we arrived safely but the risks that the management of this airline takes with people's lives is Horrifying.

I did not want to say I was the passenger for obvious reasons, after the Ed Snowden saga and the FG Internet bill I do not wish to be snooped upon considering all my details are on the manifest.

I was seated at the back of the plane to the right by the window and I can recognize a static jet turbine mid air especially when it was initially stuttering from takeoff and then went silent and I informed the two guys who sat beside me to take a look. However, if you find yourself in such a situation alerting other passengers will create panic and we decided to pray for God to save us from near certain death. If you expect DANA Air to confirm this incident it maybe futile as it is a sure Colossal PR DISASTER following the IJU incident.

My aim is not to convince you to believe me but as a Caveat emptor to future passengers to fly at their own discretion. Thank God we arrived safely but the risks that the management of this airline takes with people's lives is Horrifying.

I was a passenger and almost a victim to the carelessness of Dana Air. The painful thing is that they will be sure that once they settle they won't even have to pay my family members compensation if they had killed me.

We live in a jungle in Nigeria. May God rescue us from all of these injustice that are perpetuated daily on hapless Nigerians.

A passenger on the flight. The fasten seat belt sign was on for almost the whole duration of the flight with refusal to passengers to ease themselves. The ascent was laborious and the altitude was way below normal. The right engine was making a grunting noise and then about 25 minutes into the flight it stopped completely.

The engine turbine was static and only the left engine turbine was used to fly and land the plane in Lagos. Thank God it did not fail like the ill fated Dana crash were the pilot lost the second engine after deliberately flying with only one engine from Abuja.

NCAA please someone should call DANA Airline to order. For the sake of innocent Nigerians!!!

To avoid the wrath of vigilant passengers who obviously saw the loss of the right turbine at the back of the plane, passengers were told to disembark from the rear of the cabin preventing contact with the cockpit to avoid further embarrassment for their callous concern over human lives.

It is only God keeping us in this country, this airline is so inhumanly and incompetent.

Dana Air flight 356 from Abuja to Lagos which landed miraculously at 7:30pm at MM2 airport Lagos after its right engine was lost mid air 30 minutes to Lagos. Luckily for the passengers the solo engine was able to manage a safe landing unlike the IJU Dana Plane which lost both engines and crashed.

It's a pity these Indians continue to play with the lives of innocent Nigerians but nemesis will catch up with them one day!!!

Stolen crude is almost equal the budget of some countries

It partly reaches world markets through “co-loading”, where stolen oil is put on a ship carrying legal oil. Documents are forged and the vessel departs seemingly laden with legitimate cargo.

The report suggests the United States, one of the largest markets for Nigerian oil, may not be a leading destination for illicit cargo, perhaps because US refineries more rigorously inspect incoming crude.

Refineries in regional markets, including Cameroon, Ghana and Ivory Coast, were listed as likely buyers.
Various sources told Chatham House that refineries in China, India, Singapore and Eastern Europe all purchased stolen Nigerian oil, but the think-tank found little direct evidence to support any specific charge.

The report offered various possible strategies to tackle the problem, but said the priority should be to learn more, including sweeping intelligence gathering involving all those affected.

“Oil theft is a species of organised crime that is almost totally off the international community’s radar,” Chatham House said.
“Without better knowledge of how the stolen oil trade works, not every government can ignore it with confidence.”

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/09/nigerian-crude-oil-stolen-on-an-industrial-scale/

LAGOS (AFP) – Oil theft in Nigeria is a huge criminal operation affecting companies and states around the world, but interest in tackling the problem is low, Chatham House said in a report Thursday.

The new study from the London-based think-tank, based on interviews with some 200 government, private sector and independent sources, said “Nigerian crude oil is being stolen on an industrial scale.”

Estimates on the scale of the problem vary, with some Nigerian officials saying 150,000 barrels per day is stolen, costing some $6 billion a year in lost revenue.

Chatham House, which also reviewed thousands of documents, said the figure was almost certainly more than 100,000 barrels per day.
Nigeria is Africa’s largest oil producer, with output at around 2.0 million barrels per day.
“Proceeds are laundered through world financial centres and used to buy assets in and outside Nigeria,” according to the think-tank.
Few fully grasp the problem and those affected have shown little desire to act, it added.

“In Nigeria, politicians, military officers, militants, oil industry personnel, oil traders and communities profit,” Chatham House said.

For Nigeria, cracking down could inflame tensions among powerful figures, particularly in the southern oil-producing Niger Delta region, where unrest declined after a 2009 amnesty deal with rebels, but where stability remains elusive.
Despite rhetoric about the scourge of oil theft from Western governments and foreign oil majors, neither camp has fully attacked the problem, the report said.
There is “very little incentive for foreign partners to act, including risk of a diplomatic rift and almost no leverage,” in part because of Nigeria’s low aid dependence.

Global oil giants like Shell, ExxonMobil, Total, Chevron and ENI all operate in the Niger Delta, but it is “unclear how much export oil” these companies lose, Chatham House said.

“We have never reached the breaking point,” one oil executive was quoted as saying. “Something always happens that rights the ship.”
Among the majors, Shell has been the most vocal and is likely the hardest hit given its larger presence onshore.
But companies have in recent months sold onshore assets, seemingly to focus on deepwater projects, where the risks of theft and unrest are limited.

The initial stages of Nigerian crude theft are largely known, with gangs tapping into pipelines, pumping crude to smaller vessels which take it to larger ships for international sale.
A certain amount is refined and sold locally.
Chatham House said it was less clear where the illicit crude is taken abroad and how it gets there.
- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/09/nigerian-crude-oil-stolen-on-an-industrial-scale/#sthash.1FnU4ND7.dpuf

Why will multinationals discriminate, are the Niger delta people less human?

BP's felony plea agreement to settle manslaughter, obstruction and securities charges for a historic $4.5 billion, and an indictment that could send three employees to prison for decades, was a one-two punch by the government that puts an exclamation point on the deadly 2010 Gulf of Mexico rig blast and oil spill.

BP PAID 4.5 BILLION DOLLARS FOR THE GULF OF MEXICO SPILL IN 2010

http://www.bayoubuzz.com/louisiana-news/bp-oil-spill/item/527059-45-billion-fine-in-gulf-oil-spill

A court in London is now likely to decide how much the Anglo-Dutch firm should pay 11,000 fishermen and others from the Bodo community who lost their livelihoods when the 50-year-old Shell-operated trans-Niger pipeline burst twice within a few months in 2008.

Sources close to the negotiations in Port Harcourt this week suggest Shell offered the communities £30m, or around £1,100 for each person affected. Martyn Day, a partner with the UK law firm Leigh Day who represented the those communities, said Shell's offer was rejected unanimously at a large public meeting in Bodo.

"The amount offered for most claimants equated to two to three years' net lost earnings whereas the Bodo creek has already been out of action for five years and it may well be another 20-25 before it is up and running properly again. I was not at all surprised to see the community walk out of the talks once they heard what Shell were offering."

http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2013/sep/13/niger-delta-oil-shell-compensation
This injustice cannot continue forever

http://app.debka.com/p/newsupdate/5725/

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-09-12/assad-lays-down-his-conditions-deal-depends-us-stopping-aid-terrorists

It was only a matter of time before Syria's Assad, emboldened by Obama's recent backtracking and confident he has all the leverage and momentum, started laying down his own conditions. And here they are, as per RIA and Interfax citing an interview with Assad to air in its entirety later today on Rossia 24 TV:

ASSAD CALLS FOR ISRAEL TO DISPOSE OF WMD (!)

ASSAD: 'REBELS MAY USE CHEMICAL WEAPONS AGAINST ISRAEL AS PROVOCATION'

ASSAD SAYS CHEMCIAL ARMS DEAL DEPENDS ON US STOPPING AID TO TERRORISTS

ASSAD SAYS WILL COMPLETE DEAL ONLY IF US STOPS "POLICY OF THREATS"

ASSAD ACCUSES TURKEY, SAUDI ARABIA, QATAR OF SUPPORTING TERRORISTS IN SYRIA

ASSAD EXPECTS TO START HANDING OVER INFO ON CHEMICAL WEAPONS ONE MONTH AFTER JOINING OPCW

ASSAD: 'ANY WAR AGAINST SYRIA WILL BECOME A WAR THAT WILL DESTROY THE WHOLE REGION'


ASSAD: 'NO COUNTRY IN THE MIDDLE EAST, PRIMARILY ISRAEL, SHOULD HAVE WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION'

SYRIA TO SEND DOCUMENTS TO UN, CHEMICAL WEAPONS GROUP SOON

ASSAD SAYS IMPLEMENTATION OF DEAL MAY TAKE A MONTH OR MORE

Amjad Ali supplies royal families, governments, and minted customers across Russia, China and the Middle East with gold-plated devices that cost up to £50,000.

The 42-year-old entrepreneur, who grew up in Glasgow, has pre-ordered hundreds of new iPhones. His team at Gold and Co. will set to work the day after launch before delivering the devices to luxury retailers.

“We strip the units down and then plate them in copper, nickel and then pure gold,” he told the Independent. “We have limited units per region and each is numbered and placed in a handmade wooden box with a certificate of authenticity and wax seal.”

The company has also supplied an engraved gold iPad to each of the rooms at the luxury “six-star” Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai.

For the new iPhone, Ali has added a platinum option to the gold and rose gold currently offered. “Muslim men are not supposed to wear gold,” he explains. “We had government departments for example cancelling orders so now we’re launching platinum to tap into a huge market. Most importantly, it’s a third colour. Everyone wants to be different.”

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/yours-for-up-to-50000-the-real-gold-iphone-5s-outshining-apples-new-release-8807520.html


Ali typically delivers 50 devices a month, including Blackberries and iPads, but orders rose to more than 300 a month when the iPhone 5 was launched last year. The firm expects greater demand still for the sixth-generation device, announced today.

Gold and Co.’s customers have included the Saudi royal family, which, Ali says, ordered a gold iPhone studded with hundreds of diamonds, including a giant piece that served as the device’s “home” button. The bill: £50,000.

Basic models in gold or rose gold cost from £3,000. Ali says he is fulfilling an order from the Nigerian government for 53 gold iPhones to mark the country’s 53rd year of independence from Britain next month.

“We will engrave them with the coat of arms, a shield and two horses,” he said.

http://www.theonion.com/articles/poll-majority-of-americans-approve-of-sending-cong%2c33752/

As President Obama continues to push for a plan of limited military intervention in Syria, a new poll of Americans has found that though the nation remains wary over the prospect of becoming involved in another Middle Eastern war, the vast majority of U.S. citizens strongly approve of sending Congress to Syria.

The New York Times/CBS News poll showed that though just 1 in 4 Americans believe that the United States has a responsibility to intervene in the Syrian conflict, more than 90 percent of the public is convinced that putting all 535 representatives of the United States Congress on the ground in Syria—including Senate pro tempore Patrick Leahy, House Speaker John Boehner, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, and, in fact, all current members of the House and Senate—is the best course of action at this time.

“I believe it is in the best interest of the United States, and the global community as a whole, to move forward with the deployment of all U.S. congressional leaders to Syria immediately,” respondent Carol Abare, 50, said in the nationwide telephone survey, echoing the thoughts of an estimated 9 in 10 Americans who said they “strongly support” any plan of action that involves putting the U.S. House and Senate on the ground in the war-torn Middle Eastern state. “With violence intensifying every day, now is absolutely the right moment—the perfect moment, really—for the United States to send our legislators to the region.”

“In fact, my preference would have been for Congress to be deployed months ago,” she added.

Found in the CBS report entitled ‘Graham: Nukes In Hands Of Terrorists Could Result In Bomb Coming To Charleston Harbor’, the report details Graham’s warning that a lack of military action in Syria could result in a nuclear ‘bombing’ in Charleston, South Carolina — the very destination of the black ops nuclear transfer.

The CBS report reads:“He [Graham] says if there is no U.S. response [to Syria], Iran will not believe America’s resolve to block Iran from developing nuclear weapons. Graham also says those nuclear weapons in the hands of terrorists could result in a bomb coming to Charleston Harbor.”
Graham is quite literally saying that if we do not launch a war with Syria, South Carolina may be nuked. And this ultimately reeks of yet another false flag being orchestrated by the United States government in order to send us into war, or at the very least a threat.

Except this time, we’re talking about nuclear weapons. Amazingly, we were the first to get intel on this from our credible and extremely high level military source, who told us the following:
“Dyess is beginning to move out nuclear war heads today. I got a tap from DERMO earlier. He said it was the first time they have been even acknowledged since being put there in the 80′s. No signature was required for transfer… There was no directive. He said that Dyess Commander was on site to give authority to release. No one knew where they were going really, but the truck driver said to take them to South Carolina and another pick up will take them from there.”

This was sent to us before the Graham report came out warning about the nuclear attack on South Carolina, and coincides exactly with what Graham is saying. I am deeply concerned by these findings, and ask everyone to spread the word on this information immediately. Whether or not Graham is receiving intel from higher ups and believes in a legitimate terror attack on the horizon is unknown, but the reality here is that we have intelligence that has linked the unsigned transfer of nuclear warheads to this exact location.

This is from Alex Jones so please consider with a pinch of salt. Citing it for all the drama but what if it actually happens. A nuke exploding in South Carolina at Charleston bay. I strongly doubt it.

http://www.infowars.com/sen-graham-warns-of-nuke-strike-after-missing-nuke-report/


Senator Lindsay Graham has warned South Carolinians about the threat of a ‘terrorist nuclear attack’ on the same day that our exclusive high level military intel revealed to us that nuclear warheads were being shipped to South Carolina from a major Texas airforce base under an ‘off the record’ black ops transfer.

But a similar naira weakness, partly caused by excessive spending prior to 2011 national elections, forced the central bank to lower the target band from 145-155 naira to the dollar in November that year, after months of struggling to prop it up.

Pressure on the currency will worsen next year as elections loom again in 2015 – traditionally at a time when government expenditure becomes very loose, pumping excess liquidity into the banking system.
“It’s the case all over the world – governments tend to spend a lot leading up to elections,” Moghalu said.

The unit has hovered around the 162-163 level in recent months, on strong demand for dollars. It touched a 20-month low of 163.70 naira to the dollar last week.
It closed at 163.10 naira to the dollar on Monday, after it became clear the central bank would not intervene again to prop it up. By 0910 GMT on Tuesday it had rebounded to 162.90.

“We believe that the probability of (moving the trading band) is slim in the coming months,” said Gaimin Nonyane, an economist at Ecobank, adding that the bank had ample funds.

“Such a move would … increase inflationary pressures. Given the central bank’s commitment to promoting price … stability, we think the current rate … will be maintained.”

Nigeria’s consumer inflation ticked up to 8.7 percent in July, though Moghalu said he expected it to stay in single digits this year.

Central bank governor Lamido Sanusi has repeatedly warned that excessive election spending poses an inflation risk that he is ready to counter with tight monetary policy.

Analysts expect Sanusi will stick to that path until his planned departure next July when his five-year term expires.

RISKS OF DEVALUING
“The central bank will continue to defend exchange rate stability … as long as governor Sanusi remains in charge,” said Standard Bank’s Samir Gadio.
Sanusi has spent billions of dollars of foreign reserves over the past months in keeping the naira, which has lost 4.6 percent since the year, within its target corridor.

But Nigerian foreign exchange reserves stood at $46.85 billion by Aug. 29, down only 0.23 percent month-on-month from July, so they are not being rapidly depleted.
“Nothing about the central bank’s recent guidance or behaviour suggests that is about to allow a devaluation of the naira,” said Alan Cameron, economist at CSL Stockbrokers.

The bank tightened liquidity significantly in July, slapping a 50 percent reserve requirement on public sector deposits, up from 12 percent previously. That sucked 1 trillion naira out of the banking system and although the effect on the naira was shortlived, it showed the lengths to which the bank will go.

Moghalu said, however, that the purpose of the reserve requirement hike was to encourage banks to lend more, rather than to boost the currency.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/09/cbn-to-resist-pressure-to-devalue-naira/

The Central Bank of Nigeria, yesterday, said it will resist pressure to devalue the naira since it retains ample funds to defend the currency.

Mr. Ugochukwu Okoroafor, CBN spokesperson said the apex bank Governor is expected to stay the course until his term is up in 10 months.

The naira has fallen in recent months, trading outside the CBN’s target band of 150-160 naira to the U.S. dollar since June, initially due to foreign investors booking profits on their naira assets, and on importers buying dollars.

Okoroafor said by telephone that the institution remained committed to the band. “We have the resources to meet demand. We are still determined to keep within that band,” he CBN Deputy Governor, Kingsley Moghalu also said there were no plans to change the band in an interview with Reuters in London on Tuesday.

“We are comfortable with the band as it is currently – we do not have any intention of doing anything spectacular,” he said.

The FBI is upping its surveillance of Syrians within US borders, for a fear of reprisal attacks that may follow an imminent American strike against Bashar Assad, reports in US media say. Homeland Security is also worried about retaliatory cyber-attacks.

The Federal Bureau of Investigations has sent out a classified bulletin warning about potential fallout from the Syrian conflict to all law enforcement agencies, and hundreds of Syrians may face interviews with agents in the coming days, according to unnamed senior officials who spoke to the New York Times.

All sources connected with any Syrians, have been told to look out for plans or even “talk” of a retaliatory strike on US targets, whether inside its borders, or abroad. Those under investigation will presumably include US citizens of Syrian origin.

“The field offices know what they have in terms of sources and investigations, but this is a directive for them to redouble their efforts and check their traps,” one highly-placed official told NYT.

http://rt.com/usa/syria-fbi-strikes-surveillance-260/

http://app.debka.com/p/article/23245/Obama’s-climb-down-on-Syria-attack-spells-“military-nightmare”-for-allies-Israel-Turkey-Jordan

September is a sensitive month in Israel because most of it is taken up with festivals, starting in Rosh Hashanah, followed by Yom Kippur and then the Feast of Tabernacles.

debkafile’s military sources say that the government and military command decided in hectic overnight discussions to take no chances. Against possible negative repercussions from the US president’s bombshell, they decided to maintain the high state of security and military preparedness along Israel’s borders with Syria and Lebanon.

The three-tiered anti-missile system therefore remains in place and the gas mask distributions stations were reopened to the public Sunday morning.

The Nimitz carrier strike group, which includes four destroyers and a cruiser, has no specific orders to move to the eastern Mediterranean at this point, but is moving west in the Arabian Sea so it can do so if asked. It was not immediately clear when the ships would enter the Red Sea, but they had not arrived by Sunday evening, said one official.

"It's about leveraging the assets to have them in place should the capabilities of the carrier strike group and the presence be needed," said the official.

President Barack Obama on Saturday delayed imminent cruise missile strikes by five destroyers off the coast of Syria, and sought approval from Congress, a move that effectively put any strike on hold for at least nine days.

The delay gives military planners more time to reassess which ships and other weapons will be kept in the region - and which may be swapped out - before the U.S. military launches what defense officials say is still intended to be a limited and narrowly targeted attack on Syria.

The U.S. Navy doubled its presence in the eastern Mediterranean over the past week, effectively adding two destroyers to the three that generally patrol the region. The five destroyers are carrying a combined load of about 200 Tomahawk missiles, officials say.