(Sh.M.Network)-- Sharif Hassan Sheik Aden, the speaker of somalia's Transitional Federal Parliament announced Sunday that the ongoing combat against Al Qaeda-allied Al shabab beturbanned goons is at the Ending point.
While giving an Exclusive interview with Shabelle Media, the speaker said operations against Al shabab by Somali government forces allied with the regional troops would be finished in the coming few days the rest of the country.
"The presence of Al shabab in the country is against the peace and stability and it is also a regional issue. The group poses security threats to Somalia and as well as whole east African countries so that it should wiped out from the country soon," the speaker added.
Al-shabab still controls some regions in south and central Somalia, but facing defeat in the battle since withdrawing its fixed military bases in Mogadishu last year 2011.
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04/09/2012 00:00 ||
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TRIPOLI: Libya will not send Seif Al-Islam Qaddafi, the most prominent son of the country's former leader, to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, but will put him on trial in his own country, Justice Minister Ali Ashour said on Sunday.
Seif Al-Islam remains in a secret prison in the custody of the Zintan rebels who caught him last year and will be tried in Libya by Libyan judges on charges of financial corruption, murder and rape, Ashour told Reuters.
Despite the ICC's demands that he be sent to The Hague for trial, "there is no intention to hand him (Seif Al-Islam) over to the ICC, and Libyan law is the right system to be used to try Saif Qaddafi," Ashour said.
Seif, buddy, you'd better open a bigger bag of Kruegerrands...
He denied allegations of mistreatment made by an ICC defense lawyer, who said this week that Seif Al-Islam had been beaten and had been misled about the charges against him. "He eats with the people who guard him, and he is in good condition," he said.
Pressure is mounting on Libya to hand Qaddafi's son to the ICC as human rights organizations say the country is unable to give him a fair trial.
Then again, the ICC can't give anyone a fair trial if by fair you include a timeline that proceeds faster than geologic...
An ICC delegation arrived in Tripoli on Sunday to discuss Seif Al-Islam's case with the justice ministry, Libya's representative in the ICC, Ahmad Al-Jahani, told Reuters.
Ashour said his ministry had prepared a prison for Seif Al-Islam and negotiations were under way with the Zintan rebels to transfer him to Tripoli.
The ICC says it has jurisdiction over the case because it issued warrants last year for the arrest of Muammar Qaddafi, Seif Al-Islam and intelligence chief Abdullah Al-Senussi, who was arrested last month in Mauritania. A UN Security Council Resolution obliges Libya to cooperate with the court, the ICC says, and Tripoli's failure to hand over Seif Al-Islam could result in it being reported to the Council.
Which would then do what? I think this is what the ICC really fears, that it would be show to be toothless.
Seif Al-Islam faces the death penalty if found guilty by a Libyan court and a prison term if convicted by the ICC.
On Wednesday, the ICC ordered Tripoli to "comply with its obligations to enforce the warrant of arrest" and surrender Seif Al-Islam to the court's custody without delay. The ICC had earlier given Libya until Jan. 10 to say whether and when it would surrender Seif Al-Islam and to provide information about his health, then extended the deadline to February.
Ashour declined on Sunday to give details of how Seif Al-Islam would be tried or of preparations for his trial, saying only that the judicial committee responsible for the trial had not yet been created.
"Carla del Ponte to the yellow courtesy phone, Ms. del Ponte..."
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04/09/2012 00:00 ||
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CAIRO: Hosni Mubaraks former vice president and spy chief Omar Suleiman will have the behind-the-scenes backing of Egypts ruling generals and the state medias powerful propaganda machine in his bid to succeed his longtime mentor for the nations highest office, according to officials with firsthand knowledge.
Suleiman, 75, will set out as a formidable presidential challenger to stop the Islamists from taking over the country and may also try to sell himself as a safe pair of hands for those increasingly frustrated over tenuous security and a worsening economy.
His surprise candidacy speaks to the seismic changes Egypt has gone through since millions of people took to the streets last year united by a desire to topple Mubaraks regime and the dream of a free, democratic and more just Egypt.
The notion of a Suleiman presidency would have been ludicrous then. But not any more. Many Egyptians have since lost faith with the young revolutionaries who engineered Mubaraks stunning overthrow. The euphoria over his ouster soon gave way to frustration as Egyptians struggled to cope with a surge in violent crime, the fallout from a faltering economy and seemingly endless strikes, street protests and sit-ins that disrupted their daily life.
There is a real constituency that now yearns for law and order and stability after the tumultuous period following the fall of the Mubarak regime, said Michael Hanna, an Egypt expert from the Century Foundation in New York. Many among this sector will view him as a force for such stability in the face of rising chaos and economic uncertainty. But his inextricably tight connection to the former regime and some its most repressive practices will also limit his support.
On Friday, Suleiman reversed a decision not to run and on Sunday he presented his candidacy papers to the election commission just minutes before the deadline expired. His supporters boasted that he collected more than 100,000 signatures, nearly four times the number of endorsements required for independent politicians to be able to run in the May 23-24 presidential election.
I can say with certainty that the (ruling) military council pushed Omar Suleiman to run, declared moderate Islamist candidate Abdel-Moneim Abolfotoh. I cant imagine the Egyptian people will elect a figure from the old regime.
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04/09/2012 00:00 ||
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"Nice country ya got there. Be a shame if something happened to it."
Egypt: Moslem Brüderbund presidential candidate says Omar Suleiman ... Now former Vice president of Egypt. From 1993 until his appointment to that office in 2011 he was Minister without Portfolio and Director of the Egyptian General Intelligence Directorate (EGID)... 's entry into race 'an insult to the revolution'.
A bid for power by Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... 's former intelligence chief is an insult to Egypt's revolution that, if successful, would trigger a second nationwide revolt, the Moslem Brüderbund's candidate for Egypt's presidency said.
In his first public comments since being nominated by the Brotherhood on March 31, Khairat al-Shater played down fears of a clash between the powerful Islamist movement and the army generals who have ruled Egypt since Mubarak was ousted last year.
But he warned the Brotherhood would not back a $3.2 billion emergency IMF loan requested by the army-backed government unless the terms are changed or the government steps down and lets a new administration oversee how the funds are spent.
In an interview with Rooters on Sunday, the 61-year-old millionaire businessman denounced former intelligence chief Omar Suleiman's eleventh-hour decision to seek his former boss's job. Mubarak made Suleiman vice president just before losing power.
"I consider his entry an insult to the revolution and the Egyptian people," Shater said. "Omar Suleiman has made a big mistake. He will only win through forgery and, if this happens, the revolution will kick off again."
Shater, who stepped down as Brotherhood deputy leader to run for the presidency, said the decision was motivated by fear that the army-backed government was failing to cooperate with the Brotherhood-dominated parliament and the movement needed an executive post in case the assembly lacked teeth. But he said a clash with the military - backbone of national security - must be avoided.
"Even if there are issues with the military council's handling of the transitional period, such issues must be resolved in a way that does not lead to a real clash with the armed forces," he said. "We must, in fact, work to strengthen and develop the army."
The government began negotiating the loan with the International Monetary Fund in January to help it avert a balance of payments crisis. The IMF has said broad political support in Egypt is a pre-requisite for the loan deal and the Brotherhood has yet to provide its backing. The government now says the talks might not conclude before June.
"We told them (the government), you have two choices. Either postpone this issue of borrowing and come up with any other way of dealing with it without our approval, or speed up the formation of a government," Shater said.
The Brotherhood could also accept a loan if the size of the initial disbursement is reduced so that most of the funds are paid out after a new government takes power following the completion of a presidential vote in June, he added.
#2
A revolt might transpire. A perennial problem for revolt-minded individuals is not knowing the breadth of support for their cause. Anyone who risks his life in such an endeavor wants to know that he's not merely throwing it away for a hopeless cause. The 75% of votes cast for Islamist parties in Egypt assures Islamists that they have tens of millions of fellow travelers - enough to give the military a run for its money. And that is what will sustain any Islamist rebellion - the knowledge that there are more of them than any other combination of factions, by a factor of 3.
#3
At the same time, it has to be said that numbers alone do not ensure the success of a revolt. Algeria, which elected an Islamist majority to office, and then had its military government rescind the elections, was successful in squashing the Islamist revolt that ensued. The masses might have their convictions, but the military does have most of the guns and the training to use them.
#4
The thing about the Egyotian army, as I understand it, is that the ranks are filled with draftees, in for two years. The officers and NCOs are professionals, but can one fight an Algerian-style civil war when a good portion of the force is both unskilled and untrustworthy?
#5
The thing about the Egyotian army, as I understand it, is that the ranks are filled with draftees, in for two years. The officers and NCOs are professionals, but can one fight an Algerian-style civil war when a good portion of the force is both unskilled and untrustworthy?
The regime in power has access to the full resources of the state, however meager they may be. Rebel movements generally don't have that. The Gulf states are extremely unhappy that Mubarak was deposed, and will spend what they need to keep Mubarak's confederates standing. Short of a NATO intervention on behalf of the Islamists, I can't see how they would be able to stand against the repressive machinery of the military. As Barry Rubin noted, Mubarak's fall consisted of a coup by military officials who concluded that he was simultaneously too sick to rule and too much of a lightning rod.
#7
Ah. I forgot to think about the police and the secret police as being as much tools as the army proper. Thank you for explaining, Zhang Fei.
I'm not referring to the secret police. What keeps Assad standing is that he has full access - although somewhat attenuated by the disruptive effects of an insurgency - to the financial resources of the Republic of Syria. The power of the purse is a serious weapon, and it is the primary reason why most rebellions fail - the ruling power can feed and arm its troops whereas the rebels are living hand-to-mouth.
[An Nahar] Mali's President Amadou Toumani Toure, who was toppled in a military coup 17 days ago, formally resigned Sunday in a move paving the way for the departure of the junta that ousted him.
Under the terms of a transition deal with the West African bloc ECOWAS, the junta's leaders said they would allow a return to democracy once Toure formally quit.
Burkina Faso ...The country in west Africa that they put where Upper Volta used to be. Its capital is Oogadooga, or something like that. Its president is currently Blaise Compaoré, who took office in 1987 and may be in the process of being chased out now... President Blaise Compaore hailed the accord as a first step in restoring order in chaos-split Mali, whose northern half is now under the control of Islamists, Tuareg rebels and outlaws.
Comparore noted that "two issues warrant the attention of the international community."
"It's the return to constitutional order on one hand, and on the other, it is the preservation of Mali's territorial integrity."
"We have been able to make progress on the first, and we have in days to come to engage on the second," he added.
The deal also led to an immediate lifting of ECOWAS-imposed sanctions and an amnesty for coup participants.
Speaker of parliament Dioncounda Traore is also to become interim president with the task of organizing elections, if possible within 40 days, according to the agreement.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/09/2012 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Libyan leaders in Misrata could be held legally accountable by the International Criminal Court ... where Milosevich died of old age before being convicted ... for crimes committed by militias under their command, Human Rights Watch ... dedicated to bitching about human rights violations around the world... warned on Sunday.
"The leaders of the Libyan city of Misrata could be held criminally responsible for ongoing serious crimes by forces under their command," the watchdog said in an open letter to the city's military and civilian leaders.
The International Criminal Court could bring local leaders into account for ongoing torture and abuse in jails and around Misrata as well as the forced displacement of people from the nearby town of Tawargha it said.
"The city's leaders can be held legally responsible for those acts by the ICC," the rights group said, adding that the ongoing abuse is so widespread and systematic that it could amount to crimes against humanity.
Misrata in February became the first city to elect a local council after the 2011 conflict that toppled the regime of slain leader Muammar Qadaffy ... one of those little rainstorms from the Arab Spring... . Its military council, forged last year, wields influence beyond the coastal city.
"Our letter to Misrata authorities is a wake-up call," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch.
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04/09/2012 00:00 ||
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ZIMBABWEAN dictator Robert Mugabe was yesterday said to be fighting for his life in a Singapore hospital with an undisclosed illness, amid reports he had agreed to hand over power to his feared Defence Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa.
The Zimbabwe Mail, quoting a senior official of Mugabe's ZANU-PF party, said the President was undergoing intensive treatment in Singapore and that some members of his family had joined him after boarding a chartered private jet on Saturday.
The alarm was raised when the government postponed a cabinet meeting set for today.
Mugabe spokesman George Charamba said in a statement: "The Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet, Dr Misheck Sibanda, wishes to inform all members of cabinet that sitting has been moved from Tuesday, April 10, to Thursday, April 12, 2012."
Mugabe, 88, was ostensibly in Singapore to oversee enrolment in a postgraduate course at Singapore University for his daughter Bona. University registration starts in September.
#6
forgive me, I couldn't help myself.....sound like anyone we might know?
Once Mugabe had taken office, many white Rhodesians were impressed by his friendly and business-like attitude. He was not at all what they had expected, going by his reputation. He wanted the whites to stay, and work together with him, he said. Smith met with him several times to discuss problems that needed to be solved in order to retain white confidence in the future of the country. During the first few months Mugabe appeared sensible and anxious to address and solve these problems, which included increasing communist propaganda in the media and attacks on white farmers by ZANU terrorists. Mugabes promises to take action, however, were not fulfilled, and slowly Smith began to wonder if
he was not resorting to the tactic of feigning ignorance and passing the buck to his various ministers when in fact they were following his instructions. Recently I had experienced a growing uneasy feeling that he was gradually reverting to his true colours as a dedicated communist. (p. 365 Die Groot Betrayal)
The U.S. Navy said Monday it has deployed a second aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf region amid rising tensions with Iran over its nuclear program.
The deployment of the nuclear-powered USS Enterprise along the Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group marks only the fourth time in the past decade that the Navy has had two aircraft carriers operating at the same time in the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea, said Cmdr. Amy Derrick-Frost of the Bahrain-based 5th Fleet.
The two carriers will support the American military operations in Afghanistan and anti-piracy efforts off Somalia's coast and in the Gulf of Aden, said Derrick-Frost.
The warships also patrol the Gulf's strategic oil routes that Iran has threatened to shut down in retaliation for economic sanctions.
The deployment of the second aircraft carrier is "routine and not specific to any threat," Derrick-Frost added. She did say how long the Navy will keep the increased military presence in region.
[Yemen Post] The former Yemeni Prime Minister Haidar Abu Bakar Al-Atass has called for removing the former president President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh ... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it... and his aides from Yemen in order to help the state overcome its challenges.
In an interview with the London-based Al-Sharq Al-Awsat Newspaper, he cautioned against turning Yemen to a battlefield of regional and international conflicts under the reasons of combating Al-Qaeda and terrorism.
Al-Atass who presided over the first government after the Yemeni unification in 1990 affirmed that Saleh has not respected immunity given to him by Yemen's parliament, hinting that Saleh and his family seek to spark turbulence and turmoil inside the state, calling in the meantime for a unification state based on equal citizenship and justice.
He asserted that the Yemeni stalemate is a political in the first place and that other problems will be solved easily, reiterating that Saleh created Al-Qaeda in the South and that he attempted to assassinate southern leaders.
Al-Atass who is in exile since the 1994 conflict called for reconstruction of the military and security forces in order to enable the interim government to perform its tasks, citing that he took part in a meeting with Yemeni leaders in Berlin mediated by German institutions, referring that mechanisms of the national dialogue were discussed.
He also stressed that the references of the dialogue should be based on three cases; the Southern Movement, the case of Saada and the Yemeni public revolution.
He said that the global community occurred in mistakes as it granted Saleh immunity and the partnership in the interim government that his stay poses threats to Yemen's stability and security.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/09/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
Ahh, you are sooo much better off with your "global community" ehh?
Britain should turn its back on the European Court of Human Rights because its rulings on the extradition of terrorist suspects risk undermining the special relationship, a former US ambassador said.
The court will rule on whether six men, including Abu Hamza, should be extradited on terrorism charges to the US.
John Bolton, the American ambassador to the UN under George Bush, said: Britain should renounce the jurisdiction of this court. Its a question of what do British people want to do? Do you want to be an independent nation, or do you want to be a county in Europe?
This is just another example of Britains mistake in allowing European institutions to develop to the extent they have. It is yet another infringement on British sovereignty that undercuts its ability to cooperate with the United States.
It also calls into question the ability of Europe as a whole to be an effective partner in the war against terrorism.
Estimates obtained by The Daily Telegraph suggest that it has cost the taxpayer £2.6 million to keep the six men in high-security jails. A further £1.5 million is estimated to have been spent on legal costs, including legal aid for the men, and thousands more on benefit claims for their families.
North Korea is digging an underground tunnel in apparent preparation for a new nuclear test, intelligence reports have claimed.
Satellite images depict mounds of earth piled at the entrance of a tunnel at a site in northeast Punggye-ri, where two controversial nuclear tests were conducted in 2006 and 2009.
Observers fear that the creation of a new tunnel could indicate North Korea's intentions to conduct a third underground nuclear test, a move which would ignite widespread international criticism.
"North Korea is covertly preparing for a third nuclear test, which would be another grave provocation," said a report compiled by South Korean intelligence officers and obtained by The Associated Press.
"North Korea is digging up a new underground tunnel at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site, in addition to its existing two underground tunnels, and it has been confirmed that the excavation works are in the final stages."
Suspicions surrounding the possibility of a new nuclear test coincided with peaking regional tensions as North Korea counts down to this week's launch of an observation satellite using a three-stage rocket.
#2
The DPRK's Nukes are deemed a threat, in pqrt, beacuse few iff any in NE + East Asia or the US-West actually believe the North's NucProgs, etc, TACTICAL OR STRATEGIC, are outside of China's direct knowledge + ultimately its control, + HAS BEEN SINCE THE SINO-SOVIET SPLIT.
IOW, A NOKOR-SPECIFIC NUKE TEST(S) = SAME OR SYNONYMOUS WID AN "UN-ADMITTED/SECRET" CHINESE CONTROLLED OR ALLOWED NUKE TEST.
As per CHIN MIL FOARUMS/BLOGS, both Perts + Posters are calling on Beijing to be unilater willing to wage MAJOR WAR to secure its interests + disputed territories in the East + South China Seas, etc., espec iff its policy of "Soft Power/Diplomacy" = Geopol Compromise fails to resolve the issues of sovereignty.
North Korea has apparently finished assembling a three-stage rocket at its launch pad in Tongchang-ri, North Pyongyang Province and there are signs that it is preparing for another nuclear test.
A government source here said, "North Korea appears to have completed assembling the second and third stages of the rocket at the launch pad on Saturday after setting up the first stage on Friday." The source added, "A payload believed to be a small satellite has also been mounted. The launch is expected around Saturday after liquid fuel is injected this week."
The government source added analysis of satellite images show an increasingly large pile of soil forming along the southern entrance of the North's nuclear test site in Punggye-ri, North Hamgyong Province, which appears to have come from another site, "so it looks like they buried a nuclear weapon for testing and are covering it up."
Prior to an underground nuclear test, a shaft is dug, the nuclear weapon is placed inside and the shaft filled up. The fact that soil has piled up in front of the shaft that was dug in the second half of last year could mean a nuclear device has been placed there and is now being covered.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/09/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
"Buried a Nuclear Weapon for testing and are covering it up" > HHHMMM, HMMMMM, well ya know, the DPRK isn't exactly that big of country to successfully hide a NucTest???
* TOPIX, FREEREPUBLIC > [Mainichi News.JP = old] NEWSPAPER: 3-4 NORTH KOREAN SUBS DISAPPEAR AFTER LEAVING EAST COAST BASE.
Not sure how these DPRKN Subs are gonna sink the USS ENTERPRISE in the PG for Iran + IRGC iff they are "over there" in East China Sea + WESTPAC.
just sayin'.
* SAME > PHILIPPINES TO SET UP NFZ WHERE NORTH KOREAN ROCKET MAY FALL.
#3
Maybe they're getting gray-market Estes rocket kits...
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
04/09/2012 1:05 Comments ||
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#4
Logistics Management Specialist (GS-0346-13),
Wile E. Coyote, sez: Pharaoh Obama has ordered that, given the gravity of this particular DPRK "defense" requirement, an elevated procurement priority code be assigned...meaning, go anywhere in the world to procure what you need to bring us down...and then, send us the bill.
When it comes to World-Wide Peace, "We're here to Help", BHO.
Two are killed and 15 wounded by gunfire coming from Syrian side of border, Turkish news agency says; Turkish Deputy FM says "a new period" will begin; Kofi Annan announced plan to visit Syrian refugees in Turkey.
Ankara declared void an April 10 deadline for Syria to pull back its troops after two people were killed and 15 wounded by gunfire coming from Syria across the border into Turkey on Monday, Turkey's Anadolu news agency reported.
Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Naci Koru said that in place of the pullback under the terms of a UN peace plan, a "new period" would begin Tuesday.
"Attacks which have been going on since yesterday have shown that the Annan plan cannot be implemented," he told reporters. "April 10 deadline is no more."
The refugees and at least one Turkish citizen were hit when the Kilis border refugee camp in Turkey's southern Gaziantep province came under fire from the Syrian side of the border, a Turkish foreign ministry official said.
"After this incident the Syrian Charge d'Affaires in Ankara was called and we demanded an end to this," the official said.
The Palestinian Authority has declared its intention to resurrect its statehood bid at the United Nations within a month if Israel refuses to heed its conditions for renewing peace talks. After months of drift following his initial approach to the UN Security Council last September, Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, said he was willing to risk American ire by once again placing the statehood issue in the international arena.
Mr Abbas is to send a long-promised letter to Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, next week setting out Palestinian demands for resuming peace talks, which have been frozen since September, 2010.
He is to call for a total freeze of Jewish settlement construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem and the release of Palestinian prisoners. He will also request an Israeli acknowledgement that a future Palestinian state should be founded on territory Israel occupied in the Six Day War of 1967, with mutually agreed land swaps to allow Israel to annex some of the larger settlements it has built on occupied land.
The letter will be delivered in person to Mr Netanyahu by senior Palestinian officials, making it the most high-profile encounter between the two sides in more than two years.
But the likelihood of it eliciting a positive Israeli response is slight.
Israel would not be able to destroy Iran's nuclear program in a pre-emptive air strike with its air force, forcing its leadership to look for alternative means of attack, a defence report has said.
Experts believe Israel's military options are restricted to high-risk choices, such as a long-range missile bombardment from Israel or a special forces raid on the ground. The military journal Jane's Defence Weekly cast doubt on Israel's ability to mount a successful operation, saying it would face ''substantial difficulties''.
''The significant distances involved and hardened features of Iran's nuclear facilities make any 'massive surprise' aerial attack a very high-risk operation for Israel to undertake on its own,'' it said. Israel has the most powerful air force in the Middle East but would struggle to mount the complex strikes necessary to deal a real blow to Iran's nuclear plants.
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Senior Israeli officials have said the country is prepared to take unilateral action to stop Iran acquiring a nuclear bomb. Israel destroyed Saddam Hussein's Osirak nuclear reactor in 1982 and hit a Syrian reactor in 2007. However, for Iran, the air force would have to carry out numerous strikes with air-to-air refuelling, possibly over several days.
''This is not going to be one strike and they are out, not like Syria or Iraq where facilities were not underground, it is much harder than that,'' said Malcolm Chalmers of the Royal United Services Institute. ''And the Iranians are experts in building reinforced concrete because of their long problems with earthquakes. But air strikes could destroy power plants, supply facilities, communications and the centrifuges themselves would be very sensitive to blast. They could do quite a lot of damage which would set back the program for a period.''
#3
I must be missing something. If you bust up the entryways--which must have moving parts--so that they don't work for, say, a week, haven't you solved the problem?
Can't put a thousand-pounder with a penetrating fuze near an elevator shaft? Sure they can.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey ||
04/09/2012 13:25 Comments ||
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#4
The Israelis may not be able to 'destroy' the nuclear plants but they sure can damage them. Turn some to rubble, some to semi-rubble, some to slightly damaged, and miss a few, and you have still managed to slow them down significantly.
Wait until the Iranians have repaired all the damage and hit them again.
This isn't a one-time affair.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/09/2012 16:39 Comments ||
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#6
Its not the original strikeop that is a prob for the US-Israel, etal. as Iran's post-attack response - the Mullahs are prepared to fight what can be best described as a "SUPER/NUCLEAR-VIETNAM" WID ALL THE INTERNAT BRINKMANSHIP; + NONE OF THE MULTI-COUNTRY SOVEREIGN BORDERS OR DMZS. THEY ARE WILLING TO LOSE MUCH OR ALL OF IRAN PROPER + WAGE REGIONAL OR TRANS-REGIONAL "PEOPLE'S WAR", WID WHATEVER NUKES-WMDS ARE READILY AVAILABLE.
The Mullahs first said or inferred this back during the late Clinton-era - AFAIK nothing has changed.
#7
Its not the original strikeop that is a prob for the US-Israel, etal. as Iran's post-attack response Joe does have a point. How many supertankers will Iran have to hit in the Strait of Hormuz before the rest of the world suffers hugely? However, what kinds of problems will Israel &/or the US have if Iran doesn't go post-attack, i.e., is just allowed to keep on keeping on with whatever the Mullahs are hatching?
#8
If you bust up the entryways--which must have moving parts--so that they don't work for, say, a week, haven't you solved the problem?
Many years ago Iran bought subway boring machines & has been using them. Have all the entryways been accounted for? Including the ones which have not yet penetrated the surface?
JERUSALEM (JTA) -- Israel's Interior Minister Eli Yishai has declared German Nobel prize-winning poet Gunter Grass a persona non grata in Israel. Yishai said in a statement that Grass' poem titled "What Must Be Said," published in Germany's Suddeutsche Zeitung newspaper and other international papers, was his "attempt to inflame hatred against the State of Israel and people of Israel, and thus to advance the idea to which he was publicly affiliated in his past donning of the SS uniform."
Abbas gave the PM a month to respond to the Paleostinian positions, which will be laid out in a letter to be delivered to Netanyahu next Wednesday during a Jerusalem meeting with Paleostinian PM Salam Fayyad ...Fayyad's political agenda holds that neither violence nor peaceful negotiations have brought the Paleostinians any closer to an independent state. The alternative to both, violent negotiations, doesn't seem to be working too well, either...
Making friends and influencing people, in the inimitable Palestinian way. But President Obama read Abbas the riot act about getting back to the negotiating table, so here we all are, courtesy of the smartest man in the room.
"It won't be just a letter," Abbas said, according to a source who was present at the meeting. "I also intend to turn to the public in Israel and around the world, and present the Paleostinian positions regarding a peace agreement with Israel."
Abbas said he would not wait until after the U.S. presidential elections in November, which he said U.S. administration officials had requested, before asking the UN General Assembly to upgrade the Paleostinian Authority from "observer" status to that of a state without full membership in the United Nations ...the Oyster Bay money pit... "In another month the picture will become clearer," a source quoted Abbas as saying. "If I don't receive a positive response from Netanyahu, I will resume the UN process and ask the UN General Assembly to receive the status of a nonmember state."
Abbas made the comments in a meeting with former Meretz chairman Yossi Beilin and others involved in promoting the Geneva Initiative, an unofficial 2003 proposal for an Israeli-Paleostinian peace accord.
The PA president "told us he was determined to rock the boat, because the present situation cannot continue," one of the meeting's participants said.
Abbas discussed Beilin's recent article in Foreign Policy magazine, in which Beilin - one of the architects of the Oslo Accords - wrote in an open letter to Abbas that he should dismantle the Paleostinian Authority's institutions and declare an end to the Oslo process. Abbas said PA officials have discussed dismantling the Paleostinian Authority and that the issue will rise again if the Paleostinians resume seeking UN membership.
Abbas pledged during the meeting that the Paleostinians will continue to cooperate with Israel on security matters as long as he is in office, and that PA leaders will continue to try to prevent violence.
Israel delivered a threatening message to Egypt, according to which it would take action against gun-hung tough guys in the Sinai if Cairo did not take responsibility and secure the countries' shared border, Egyptian officials indicated on Saturday.
Hints of possible Israeli intervention in Sinai could intensify tension between the Bedouin and the Egyptian government, as well as put the fate of the Camp David agreements at risk.
The reported message was transferred days after Sinai gun-hung tough guys fired a volley of Grad-type Katyusha rockets into a residential area of the southern Israeli city of Eilat, and a little over a month since gun-hung tough guys attacked a gas pipeline in the desert Peninsula that transports fuel to neighboring Israel and Jordan for the 12th time.
According to Egyptian officials, the fall of a grad rocket in Eilat and Egypt's denial that it was fired from the Sinai Peninsula has created new tensions between Israel and Egypt, with Israel sending a resolute "and even threatening" message to the Egyptian Military Council regarding the council's responsibility for events occurring in the Sinai.
The warning message, sources said, included hints that Israel might be forced into taking action in the Sinai, if attacks against Israeli targets continue to originate from within the peninsula.
Coupled with Egyptian media reports of Israeli forces massing close to the Egyptian border, the reported warning led to negative reactions from within the Egyptian public.
In an editorial, Halad Salah, editor of the newspaper Youm al Sabbah, warned Israel against using the "false" excuse of attacks from Sinai in order to try and create a rift among the Egyptian Public.
According to Salah, Israel is claiming that it now faces security threats originating from within Egypt, and that the situation in Egypt, specifically the rise of the Islamists "is the main threat, as reported by Israeli newspapers, under the influence of the Shin Bet and the Mossad." If Israel continues to blame the Egyptians, it will soon discover that all Egyptians are united against it.
However, death is not the end. There remains the litigation over the estate... despite public backlash, the Egyptian Supreme Military Council is aware of its ineptitude in the Sinai, especially after Bedouin militias "conquered" two cop shoppes in El-Arish and Sheikh Zuweid, and are not allowing Egyptian forces to monitor the trade taking place through tunnels between Sinai and the Gazoo Strip.
In response, Egypt began sending reinforcements to natural gas facilities and El-Arish last week. General Salach Al Masri, responsible for the safety of northern Sinai, reported Egyptian intent to clear the Sinai of terrorist activity.
Al Masri reported last week that an initial cadre of 50 coppers and dozens of armored vehicles entered the Sinai, with a mission to retake the cop shoppes, and patrol the natural gas pipeline.
On Saturday, Al Masri told the website "el- masrawy," that a decision was made to increase the security presence in northern Sinai, and that an additional force of 150 coppers and additional armored vehicles will be dispatched to the area surrounding El-Arish and Rafiah.
These additional forces will patrol the length of the natural gas pipeline, and attempt to thwart smuggling of weapons through the tunnels.
This is not the first time that Egypt has sent reinforcements to Sinai. Last November, Al Masri declared that his forces succeeded in arresting those responsible for bombing the natural gas pipeline. A short time later, however, the pipeline was bombed again, and Bedouin militias took control of roads, and Egyptian police guard towers.
The desert peninsula has become a gigantic weapons storage facility, the contents of which are available to anyone willing to pay the Bedouin a reasonable price.
Egyptian Prime Minister Kamal Ganzouri reported this month that at least 10 million illegal weapons, including heavy machine guns, submachine guns, rocket launchers and mortars have been smuggled into Egypt from Libya and Sudan since the beginning of the revolution. Some weapons are said to have been smuggled in from Israel as well.
Security officials have reported to the Egyptian media that weapons caches are confiscated on a daily basis, and that it seems today that "every Egyptian family is in possession of a weapon." Large quantities of weapons have made it into the Sinai as well, and are being sold into Gazoo or to organizations active within the Sinai.
In the past, Haaretz has reported that the Yemeni branch of al-Qaeda built a munitions base in the Sinai, meant to serve its forces in Gazoo while radical organizations also found cover at sites in central Sinai that the Egyptian military was unable to breach.
The Egyptian government is aware of the fact that any military endeavor in Sinai will fail without cooperation from the Bedouin tribes. However, death is not the end. There remains the litigation over the estate... that cooperation would require a very substantial financial investment, including the creation of water and electric systems, the building of schools, and the creation of jobs in an area where unemployment rates reach 90%.
Since Mubarak was removed from office and the creation of the civil government, the Bedouin, numbering around 360,000, have heard numerous promises of government intent to improve their situation.
Despite the fact that meetings have been held with the heads of the tribes, no significant changes have come. Without these changes, the Bedouin will continue to be forced to rely on smuggling and trade with terrorist organizations in order to survive.
The tensions between the Egyptian government and the Bedouin have deteriorated far beyond the relations between the regime and its citizens. It is threatening the delicate relations between Israel and Egypt, just as the Supreme Military Council and the Moslem Brüderbund, set to control the country's future, are declaring their devotion to the Camp David Accords.
A scenario in which Israel would act on its own in the Sinai could turn the cooperation between the Bedouin and the terrorist organizations and the tension between the Bedouin and the Egyptian government into a strategic threat, capable of destroying the peace agreement for which all are worried.
Continued on Page 49
Lest we fergit, ME > OLD DREAM/VISION = DARK, "BLOODY/REDDISH"-COLORED "MAP" OF ISRAEL + ME WHERE ITS NOT CLEAR IFF THE US WILL BE ABLE TO HELP OR DEFEND ISRAEL ANYMORE, or iff it even could.
and
* NOSTRADAMUS = "... None shall see the Powers of Asia destroyed until the Seven/Seventh holds the Line".
#3
The Gyppies are supposed to build schools for these clowns? Why not just draw some lines on the ground and set off your explosives there? Be cheaper, and you can get started right away.
Hmm. Unless they're for training....
Posted by: Richard Aubrey ||
04/09/2012 19:32 Comments ||
Top||
The view from Ha'aretz, proud to be the New York Times of Israel.
Ground forces are expected to contribute much more than in 2006, when Israel relied mainly on the IAF, which would entail much more intense urban warfare.
Officers say the Israel Air Force would destroy targets like training bases and rocket-launching pads within a few days, based on the intelligence gathered by the Israel Defense Forces. But this would not be enough, so a ground offensive would be necessary.
"When you stick an [Israeli] flag [on enemy territory], there's no question who won," says a high-ranking officer who requested anonymity. "You need to seize a geographic space. This is the only way the concept of victory can be established."
#1
No point in holding Arab ground. Better to either displace the arabs from said ground to create a buffer or hand the territory over to someone that can be dealt with. In either cases the Israel's should have plans and implement them immediately so they can pull out before the manufactured atrocities start being created.
I would suggest beginning with a series of assassinations of high priority individuals the way Al Queda hampered the Northern Alliance in the days prior to Sept 11.
#2
Iran + Proxies may wanna make sure US Economic Inidcators go up this summer so that the pro-Diplomacy, anti-Iran War Bammer can win re-election in November.
[An Nahar] Iran on Sunday rejected demands the West is reportedly to submit at talks due to take place in days, saying it will neither close its Fordo nuclear bunker nor give up higher-level uranium enrichment.
Those two demands, outlined by European and U.S. diplomats to The New York Times ...which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... newspaper, were "irrational," the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, Fereydoon Abbasi Davani, told ISNA news agency in a lengthy interview.
Fordo, an underground bunker near the holy city of Qom, "is built underground because of sanctions and the threats of attacks," he pointed out.
"If they do not threaten us and guarantee that no aggression will occur, then there would be no need for countries to build facilities underground. They should change their behavior and language," he said.
Iran's enrichment of uranium to 20 percent purity would likewise continue, despite unease from members of the P5+1 group -- the five permanent U.N. Security Council members plus Germany -- that it produced uranium stock just a few steps short of military-grade 90-percent purity, Abbasi Davani said.
"We do not see any rationale for such a request from the P5+1," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/09/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
Gee Whizzers, "DA BIRD" is just everywhere today.
Now its the Bammer's turn, vee DA-BIRD-VS-IRAN'S-LAST-CHANCE???
[An Nahar] Turkey's prime minister has warned of as yet unspecified "steps" if the government of neighboring Syria fails to abide by an April 10 deadline to cease violence, local media reported on Sunday.
"We will patiently follow the process until April 10," Recep Tayyip Erdogan was quoted as saying by daily Hurriyet.
But "we will implement steps" if violence does not stop after that, he added.
The Turkish premier did not specify what measures his government would take, but the mass influx of refugees fleeing the Syrian unrest has raised alarm in Ankara which has voiced support for the Syrian opposition.
Different scenarios are being floated by the press, including the setting up of a buffer zone along the border with Syria to protect refugees.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/09/2012 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] The international mediator for Syria, Kofi Annan ...Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh and so far the worst Secretary-General of the UN. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize for something or other that probably sounded good at the time. In December 2004, reports surfaced that Kofi's son Kojo received payments from the Swiss company Cotecna, which had won a lucrative contract under the UN Oil-for-Food Program. Kofi Annan called for an investigation to look into the allegations, which stirred up the expected cesspool but couldn't seem to come up with enough evidence to indict Kofi himself, or even Kojo... , said on Sunday he was shocked by the "unacceptable" surge in bloodshed there despite a U.N. deadline for a halt to all violence next week.
"I am shocked by recent reports of a surge in violence and atrocities in several towns and villages in Syria, resulting in alarming levels of casualties, refugees and displaced persons, in violation of assurances given to me," Annan said in a statement.
The U.N. Security Council on Thursday formally endorsed April 10 as the deadline for the Syrian army to withdraw from cities, with a complete halt to violence by all sides 48 hours later.
"I remind the Syrian government of the need for full implementation of its commitments and stress that the present escalation of violence is unacceptable," he said, calling on both the government and the opposition to cease all forms of violence by Thursday's deadline.
His comments came after one of the deadliest days in Syria since the regime launched a brutal crackdown on protests in March last year, with nearly 130 people killed on Saturday alone.
"This is a time when we must all urgently work towards a full cessation of hostilities, providing the space for humanitarian access and creating the conditions for a political process to address the legitimate aspirations and concerns of the Syrian people," Annan said.
Annan, who is the U.N.-Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... envoy for Syria, said he was in "constant contact" with the Syrian government and he asked "all states with influence on the parties to use it now to ensure an end to the bloodshed and the beginning of dialogue".
Syria earlier Sunday said its forces would not withdraw from protest hubs without written guarantees from the rebels.
"To say that Syria will pull back its forces from towns on April 10 is inaccurate, Kofi Annan having not yet presented written guarantees on the acceptance by armed terrorist groups of a halt to all violence," the Foreign Ministry said.
The international mediator for Syria, Kofi Annan, said on Sunday he was shocked by the "unacceptable" surge in bloodshed there despite a U.N. deadline for a halt to all violence next week.
"I am shocked by recent reports of a surge in violence and atrocities in several towns and villages in Syria, resulting in alarming levels of casualties, refugees and displaced persons, in violation of assurances given to me," Annan said in a statement.
The U.N. Security Council on Thursday formally endorsed April 10 as the deadline for the Syrian army to withdraw from cities, with a complete halt to violence by all sides 48 hours later.
"I remind the Syrian government of the need for full implementation of its commitments and stress that the present escalation of violence is unacceptable," he said, calling on both the government and the opposition to cease all forms of violence by Thursday's deadline.
His comments came after one of the deadliest days in Syria since the regime launched a brutal crackdown on protests in March last year, with nearly 130 people killed on Saturday alone.
"This is a time when we must all urgently work towards a full cessation of hostilities, providing the space for humanitarian access and creating the conditions for a political process to address the legitimate aspirations and concerns of the Syrian people," Annan said.
Annan, who is the U.N.-Arab League envoy for Syria, said he was in "constant contact" with the Syrian government and he asked "all states with influence on the parties to use it now to ensure an end to the bloodshed and the beginning of dialogue".
Syria earlier Sunday said its forces would not withdraw from protest hubs without written guarantees from the rebels.
"To say that Syria will pull back its forces from towns on April 10 is inaccurate, Kofi Annan having not yet presented written guarantees on the acceptance by armed terrorist groups of a halt to all violence," the Foreign Ministry said.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/09/2012 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] MP Strida Geagea slammed on Wednesday Hizbullah MP Mohammed Raad, saying that he could've had the minimum amount of "credibility and morality" before criticizing the liquidation attempt of Lebanese Forces A Christian political party founded by Bashir Gemayel, who was then bumped off when he was elected president of Leb... leader Samir Geagea ... Geagea was imprisoned by the Syrians and their puppets for 11 years in a dungeon in the third basement level of the Lebanese Ministry of Defense. He was released after the Cedar Revolution in 2005 ... .
MP Geagea said in a statement issued by LF press office that all the official stances confirm the "seriousness of the attack."
"The stances of President (Michel Suleiman ...before assuming office as President, he held the position of commander of the Leb Armed Forces. That was after the previous commander, the loathesome Emile Lahoud, took office as president in November of 1998. Likely the next president of Leb will be whoever's commander of the armed forces, too... ), Prime Minister (Najib Miqati), and Interior Minister (Marwan Charbel) confirm the seriousness of the attack, and constitute an overwhelming response to the statements of MP Raad," she stated.
Earlier, Head of the Loyalty to the Resistance That'd be the Hezbullies, natch... bloc MP Raad criticized attempts by some politicians to exaggerate events and instigate incidents hinting to Samir Geagea without naming him.
MP Geagea expressed regrets over the "low political rhetoric, regardless of the different points of view."
"Personally if I was informed that (Hizbullah secretary general) His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah The satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb... was attacked, I would've been the first one to condemn it," the MP added.
She lashed out at Raad calling on him to realize that the liquidations might target the March 8 forces ... the opposition to the Mar. 14th movement, consisting of Hizbullah and its allies, so-called in commemoration of their Mar. 8th, 2006 demonstration of strength in Beirut ... someday, rather than only targeting the March 14 forces figures.
"But we refuse violence and killings, and if that happens we will be the first to condemn any attack," Geagea stated.
She hoped that MP Raad and others "commit to a certain level of morality and values as Leb shouldn't lose those principles that constitute a main part of its culture."
The LF leader said Wednesday that he beat feet an liquidation attempt when a sniper fired at his residence in Maarab.
Security forces extracted two sniper bullets, ranging between 12.7 and 14.5mm, from a wall at his house.
The LF leader added that the security of the Maarab compound was not breached and that the attacker had carried out the attack from a distance of up to four kilometers using very advanced equipment.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/09/2012 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Wally Jumblat ... Druze politician, head of the Progressive Socialist Party, who's been on every side in Leb at least four times. He'll sell you his friends for a dollar, but family comes higher because of shipping and handling... on Sunday stressed that his support for the Syrian uprising does not imply a change in his domestic alliances, noting that his ministers will not resign from Premier Najib Miqati's government.
"We stress the firm stances: we will stay in this government and we are with (Hizbullah's) weapons in order to defend Leb in the face of Israel, but we reject the use of arms domestically," Jumblat said during a meeting with his party's cadres in the Mount Leb town of al-Khalwat.
"Nowadays, we have chosen to side with the Syrian people, but that does not mean a change in alliances. We have agreed with Hizbullah to manage our differences. They have their point of view concerning the Syrian regime but I won't discuss it now, and we have our point of view which is supportive of the Syrian people, and in my opinion they will eventually realize that they were mistaken," Jumblat added.
He also noted that Moscow will sooner or later regret its support for the regime in Damascus ...Home to a staggering array of terrorist organizations... , calling on Russia and China to "rescue Syria" and stressing that the regime's crackdown on dissent will only lead to "further killings, displacement and destruction."
Posted by: Fred ||
04/09/2012 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
TRIPOLI: Libya will not send Seif Al-Islam Qaddafi, the most prominent son of the country's former leader, to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, but will put him on trial in his own country, Justice Minister Ali Ashour said on Sunday.
International Criminal Court
ZIMBABWEAN dictator Robert Mugabe was yesterday said to be fighting for his life in a Singapore hospital with an undisclosed illness, amid reports he had agreed to hand over power to his feared Defence Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa.
[Yemen Post] The former Yemeni Prime Minister Haidar Abu Bakar Al-Atass has called for removing the former president 
North Korea has apparently finished assembling a three-stage rocket at its launch pad in Tongchang-ri, North Pyongyang Province and there are signs that it is preparing for another nuclear test.
[An Nahar] Iran on Sunday rejected demands the West is reportedly to submit at talks due to take place in days, saying it will neither close its Fordo nuclear bunker nor give up higher-level uranium enrichment.
...Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh and so far the worst Secretary-General of the UN. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize for something or other that probably sounded good at the time. In December 2004, reports surfaced that Kofi's son Kojo received payments from the Swiss company Cotecna, which had won a lucrative contract under the UN Oil-for-Food Program. Kofi Annan called for an investigation to look into the allegations, which stirred up the expected cesspool but couldn't seem to come up with enough evidence to indict Kofi himself, or even Kojo...
Samir Geagea
Najib Miqati
Druze politician, head of the Progressive Socialist Party, who's been on every side in Leb at least four times. He'll sell you his friends for a dollar, but family comes higher because of shipping and handling...
