Hi there, !
Today Thu 02/23/2012 Wed 02/22/2012 Tue 02/21/2012 Mon 02/20/2012 Sun 02/19/2012 Sat 02/18/2012 Fri 02/17/2012 Archives
Rantburg
531695 articles and 1855967 comments are archived on Rantburg.

Today: 56 articles and 131 comments as of 12:49.
Post a news link    Post your own article   
Area: WoT Operations    Non-WoT    Opinion        Politix   
Syrian army reinforcements head to Homs
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 2: WoT Background
0 [] 
3 14:16 Julet Omump6487 [] 
7 16:47 newc [] 
5 21:24 JosephMendiola [1] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
0 [1] 
1 00:41 JosephMendiola [] 
2 13:55 trailing wife [] 
0 [] 
1 11:03 American Delight [] 
1 13:14 Super Hose [] 
5 21:40 JosephMendiola [] 
2 08:13 Steve White [] 
6 23:46 Frank G [] 
1 02:15 Besoeker [] 
3 12:26 AlanC [] 
3 21:16 JosephMendiola [] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
1 18:57 JosephMendiola [] 
1 08:56 Anonymoose [] 
2 08:37 Glenmore [] 
Page 1: WoT Operations
2 22:01 Elmising Poodle6592 []
0 []
4 18:50 JosephMendiola [1]
3 16:37 newc []
4 11:12 Gruth McGurque5303 []
0 [1]
3 21:04 JosephMendiola []
3 12:50 Super Hose [1]
3 02:26 GolfBravoUSMC []
0 [1]
3 21:27 JosephMendiola []
0 []
1 12:57 Super Hose []
0 []
0 []
0 []
0 []
0 []
0 []
Page 3: Non-WoT
0 []
1 15:19 Glenmore []
2 19:16 Anonymoose [1]
2 19:00 JosephMendiola []
9 18:11 Barbara []
4 12:13 Slereque Snore5829 []
1 22:27 texhooey []
7 20:23 Dale [1]
11 22:39 texhooey []
Page 4: Opinion
1 17:20 Glenmore [1]
1 11:36 Gruth McGurque5303 []
3 17:22 Bill Clinton []
Page 6: Politix
16 21:20 RandomJD []
3 19:25 Dale []
Africa North
Nominations for Egypt president to start March 10
CAIRO - The head of Egypt’s Supreme Constitutional Court says that nominations for presidential candidates will open March 10 and last four weeks.

Farouq Sultan also says the date for the presidential election has not yet been set but that a decision is expected soon. He said Sunday the vote will likely take place over one or two days, and vowed it will be held before the end of June. That is in line with the current timetable set forward by Egypt’s military rulers.

Activists who are angry with the military’s handling of the country’s transition since the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak last year are calling for early presidential elections, but the ruling generals still have the support of a broad spectrum of the Egyptian public.
Posted by: Steve White || 02/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Egypt says to sign deal for $3.2 billion IMF loan
Egypt's finance minister says Cairo expects to sign a loan agreement with the International Monetary Fund for $3.2 billion next month. The state-run al-Ahram daily of Sunday quoted Mumtaz al-Said as saying that sum would be disbursed in three stages: the first upon the deal's signing, and the second and third three and six months later, respectively.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Britain
Jihad From Jail
Islamic snuffies using network website MohammedanPrisoner.com to preach hatred from behind bars

Abu Hamza, Abu Qatada and Osman Hussain are some of the snuffies using the site
Website is used as networking tool for jihadist turbans
Posts celebrate murder of innocent people and urge fresh atrocities against the West
Inmates urged to lie about their reform to get early release to continue holy war
Letters reveal prisoners are radicalising other inmates
Ministry of Justice said it recognises risk posed by bad turban offenders


Islamic snuffies are using the internet to spread their hatred from behind bars.

Dozens of letters written by some of the world's most dangerous snuffies - including those locked up for murderous plots in Britannia - have been published on MohammedanPrisoners.com
The hate-filled messages celebrate murder of innocent people and urge fresh atrocities against the West.

The website is being used as a networking tool for the jihadist hard boyz - many with links to al-Qaeda - and encourages the public to send emails, with the promise that their letters will be passed onto the inmates.

Its users include notorious hate preachers Abu Hamza and Abu Qatada. who was released under strict bail conditions, which include a ban on him using the internet, this month.

Leaders of terrorist plots targeting passenger planes and London landmarks are also said to have used the website, including Hussain Osman, nabbed for his botched attempt to blow up Shepherd's Bush Tube station in 2005.

It is claimed the website was set up by Abdul Muhid, a member of the banned Al-Muhajiroun group, who has served time in jail for inciting murder and hatred during protests over Prophet Mohammed cartoons.

The Sunday Times reported that among messages posted on the website, are some from Abdulla Ahmed Ali, caged for at least 40 years as leader of a suicide plot to blow up trans-Atlantic passenger jets.

Ahmed hails the 'humiliating defeat' inflicted on NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all....
forces in Afghanistan by the Taliban.

His message - posted last month - read: 'If the mushriks [non believers] can leave their families and sacrifice their lives and limbs to occupy, enslave and oppress the ummah [global Mohammedan community] then we too can sacrifice 100 times that to defend it.'

There are also jihadist messages from Bilal Zaheer Ahmad, nabbed last year after calling on Mohammedans to copy Roshonara Choudhry and murder MPs who voted for the Iraq war.

Ahmad's letters also includes calls for inmates to lie about their reform so they can be freed early to the continue their holy war and reveal bad turban material is freely available to inmates and that he is in direct contact with Choudhry.

Last July he wrote: 'I received a letter from that sister during the week. She said it feels like she was only locked away yesterday and the last year of her life has been the best.'
Choudhry, who attempted to murder former Labour minister Stephen Timms, is also reported to have posted on the website, describing the euphoria she felt from having the support of Mohammedans when she was nabbed at the Old Bailey.

Another inmate, Hamza Davidson, 34, who is serving a life sentence, is said to have claimed to be studying books by Bilal Philips, a Jamaican preacher who calls for homosexuals to be executed and was banned from Britannia.

Other letters reveal snuffies are radicalising other inmates. A Commons select committee report on radicalisation this month claimed one prisoner was persuaded to become a jacket wallah within 72 hours of arriving at London's Belmarsh prison.

The website also features jihadist video footage and legal experts have warned the website could have breached laws on inciting terrorism.

Labour MP Steve McCabe, who sits on the Commons home affairs committee, said: "Some of this stuff sounds dangerously close to incitement.

'If the prison authorities claim they are monitoring and censoring material, then they are clearly not doing it effectively.'

The website was taken down after the newspaper contacted Muhid - but a single homepage remains and features and email address fro people to send their letters, and quotes from the Qur'an.

Muhid denies glorifying terrorism, has offered to take down anything amounting to incitement and stressed inmates' letters had to be screened by prison authorities.

He said he did not intend to break the law, and added: 'Our role is to connect prisoners with the outside world...increasing the morale of these people.'

But Muhid admitted a disproportionate number of letters were sent to inmates with terrorism links and said the only just law is Islamic law.

A Ministry of Justice (MoJ) source said prisoners were not able to contribute directly to websites and that the department was aware of it.

An MoJ front man said: "The National Offender Management Service (Noms) recognises the risks posed by bad turban offenders and those who seek to radicalise others and takes their responsibility to effectively manage these risks seriously.

"Since 2007 a dedicated, expert unit has led a programme of work across prisons and probation to strengthen our response to the threat from these offenders, drawing on our long history of managing terrorist prisoners and other dangerous individuals.

"All high-security establishments have a dedicated counter-terrorism unit, and a national unit also exists to analyse intelligence from the High Security Estate.

'Noms' response to the current threat has included staff training in extremism awareness, the ongoing development of interventions designed to assist offenders in disengagement from extremism and the strengthening of the role of the Mohammedan chaplain in prisons.'
This article starring:
Abdul Muhid
Abu Hamza
Abu Qatada
Osman Hussain
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Al-Muhajiroun

#1  Another inmate, Hamza Davidson, 34, who is serving a life sentence, is said to have claimed to be studying books by Bilal Philips, a Jamaican preacher who calls for homosexuals to be executed and was banned from Britannia.

No relation to the Davidsons near Manchester and Sale.

Posted by: Besoeker || 02/20/2012 2:05 Comments || Top||

#2  I don't suppose it's possible to track the accesses of this website? At least not politically? Can we maybe track the Brits and have them track for us?
Posted by: Glenmore || 02/20/2012 8:37 Comments || Top||


Caribbean-Latin America
Obama smiles as Calderon sez guns from US are the problem, not dope.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/20/2012 06:58 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  More to the point, Eric Holder is the problem.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 02/20/2012 8:05 Comments || Top||

#2  He, along with his boss... and the 52% of suckers who voted for him...
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 02/20/2012 14:27 Comments || Top||

#3  Yes, yes. It's all our fault.

So is Calderon being a team player for Obama or is Obama being a team player for Calderon? It's so hard to tell.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 02/20/2012 15:16 Comments || Top||

#4  ...you mean the guns supplied willingly and with foreknowledge by DoJ et al?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/20/2012 15:28 Comments || Top||

#5  by Dope, I assume he was talking about drugs, not Obama?
Posted by: Frank G || 02/20/2012 16:14 Comments || Top||

#6  It's funny the blog didn't mention Calderon's spikng the ball into the end zone claiming a significant drop in homicides in Juarez over the past year.

I guess that doesn't track with the narrative.
Posted by: badanov || 02/20/2012 16:43 Comments || Top||

#7  I do not know how much longer I can tolerate this idiocy.
Posted by: newc || 02/20/2012 16:47 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
US pressing Pakistan to allow anti-Iran intelligence operations
Everyone wants to have a hand to play in Pakistain's Balochistan
...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it...
province. The latest player to unmask itself is the United States. Even as tensions brew between Pakistain and the U.S. over a resolution introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives seeking illusory sovereignty for the volatile province, officials reveal that the U.S. has been pushing Islamabad for permission to establish bases in Balochistan for intelligence operations against bordering Iran.
 
"Like always, things are not what they look like, and how they unfold ... lies at the heart of all (this). The outburst in America for Balochistan is part of an ambition to set up intelligence bases close to the Iranian border," an official told The Express Tribune on Sunday, indicating that the Congressional hearing and proposed resolution were playing their part as pressure tactics.
 
"They (Americans) want to use our soil against Iran, which we can never allow," said the official, who did not want to be named.
 
Three officials, two from the security agencies and one from diplomatic circles, confirmed that American diplomats and military leaders have been requesting permission for their agents to operate near the Iranian border in Balochistan.
 
The revelation came days after a bill was moved in the House of Representatives, blaming Pak security agencies for forceful disappearances and extrajudicial killings in Balochistan and calling for the liberation of the country's largest province. It also follows the visit of Iran's diminutive President Mahmoud Short Round Ahmadinejad to Pakistain for a trilateral summit.
 
Officials said that ostensibly, U.S. authorities were seeking Pakistain's permission to establish bases in Balochistan, claiming to counter the activities of the Afghan Taliban, whom they blame for operating out of the picturesque provincial capital under the umbrella of the so-called Quetta Shura. Islamabad, however, denies the presence of any such Taliban shura or council.
 
The proposed resolution adds to the rising chorus of voices across the country pointing fingers over the troubles of the violence-ridden province, including the Pakistain Mohammedan League- Nawaz (PML-N) which has vowed to introduce a resolution in the National Assembly, Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf
...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations....
, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement
...English: United National Movement, generally known as MQM, is the 3rd largest political party and the largest secular political party in Pakistain with particular strength in Sindh. From 1992 to 1999, the MQM was the target of the Pak Army's Operation Cleanup leaving thousands of urdu speaking civilians dead...
and even the Pakistain Bar Council among others.
 
Trilateral Summit Statement
 
Earlier last week, a joint declaration was issued at the conclusion of the Pakistain-Iran-Afghanistan summit in Islamabad, where all three sides vowed to put up collective resistance to any new misadventure by any force in the region.
 
Experts say the statement was a veiled reference to American ambitions to put an end to Iran's nuclear drive.
 
In December last year, President Asif Ali President Ten Percent Zardari
... sticky-fingered husband of the late Benazir Bhutto ...
delivered a speech at a gathering of Pakistain Peoples Party workers, saying he would never allow his country to become part of any other war theatre in the region.
 
"We are the well wishers of all and don't want to make any more enemies," the president said in remarks that officials interpreted as a snub to American pressure seeking permission for anti-Iran intelligence operations.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Zardari delivered a speech saying, "We are the well wishers of all (except, of course, Israel, the USA, India and Afghanistan), and don't want to make any more enemies, (like, of course, Israel, India and Afghanistan)," the president said in remarks that officials interpreted as a snub to American pressure seeking permission for anti-Iran intelligence operations.
Posted by: Ralphs son Johnnie || 02/20/2012 0:51 Comments || Top||

#2  "They (Americans) want to use our soil against Iran, which we can never allow," said the official, who did not want to be named.

No surprises here. Meanwhile, ISAF continues to host PAK Army spies LNO's at critical US FOBs and provide certain levels of intelligenc collection to the Paks.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/20/2012 1:59 Comments || Top||

#3  Since the Paks leak like a sieve, it would be best to ruin their cred by feeding them disinformation to forward to Iran. Then, if they actually discovered something true, the Iranians wouldn't believe it.

This is the very purpose of disinformation.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 02/20/2012 8:13 Comments || Top||

#4  We are the well wishers of all and don't want to make any more enemies
They have an A-Z of enemies mainly down to their intolerance to anyone non muslim.

At least Iran is honest re Western hostility are Pakistan or Saudi who do it in a proxy/two faced way.
Posted by: Gruth McGurque5303 || 02/20/2012 11:22 Comments || Top||

#5  Post-2014 Afghanistan needs direct or strategic access to the Sea of Oman + Indian Ocean iff it + US-West ever hope one day to see it transform from a seeming uncontrollable "Wild Wild West" in West Asia into a successful, self-reliant or mostly self-reliant country. DITTO FOR THE EX-SOVIET STANS IN CENTRAL ASIA REGION [C.A.R].

STOPPING NOW WOULD BE AKIN TO POTUS TEDDY ROOSEVELT = USA GIVING UP AFTER STARTING THE CONTRUCTION OF THE PANAMA CANAL.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/20/2012 21:24 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
13 Afghan nationals held in Chaman
CHAMAN: Levies Force placed in long-term storage 13 Afghan nationals under Foreign Act near the Pak-Afghan border on Sunday. According to Levies officials, the afghan nationals entered Pakistain illegally. They wanted to go to Iran through Pak. One person involved in human trafficking was also placed in long-term storage, Levies Force said. They were handed over to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) after initial investigations were completed.
A queer little item. I've no idea what it means: why Iran, how so human trafficking if they all wanted to go there?
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  how so human trafficking if they all wanted to go there?

Twelve 'migrants' and a guide.
Posted by: Pappy || 02/20/2012 11:48 Comments || Top||

#2  There is also this, from TOLOnews:

Afghan police have captured a group of terrorists taking 41 Afghan children to Pakistan to receive insurgent training, the Afghan Ministry of Interior said on Monday.

Speaking at a press conference in Kabul, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry, Sediq Sediqi, said that the terrorist group was captured in the Watapor district of eastern Kunar province by Afghan police.

"They wanted to take Afghan children to other side of the border and bring them back to conduct terrorist activities against the Afghan people," Mr Sediqi said.

He said that despite problems that remain within the Afghan National Police - such as illiteracy and the lack of professionalism - the force had performed well recently.

In the past 11 months, 481 terrorists have been killed and 147 others have been wounded by the Afghan police. Another 295 were captured, Mr Sediqi said.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/20/2012 13:55 Comments || Top||


Quetta shuts down against kidnappings
QUETTA: A complete shutter-down strike was observed in the scenic provincial capital on Sunday against the rise in kidnappings. The strike call was given by Jamaat Ulema-e-Islam
...Assembly of Islamic Clergy, or JUI, is a Pak Deobandi (Hanafi) political party. There are two main branches, one led by Maulana Fazlur Rahman, and one led by Maulana Samiul Haq. Fazl is active in Pak politix and Sami spends more time running his madrassah. Both branches sponsor branches of the Taliban, though with plausible deniability...
Fazal. All main business centres, including Liaqat Bazaar, Abdul Sattar Road, Prince Road, Macanigi Road, Kansi Road, Alamdar Road, Mission Road, Kandhari Bazaar, Fatima Jinnah Road, Masjid Road, Jinnah Road, Mizan Chowk, Seraib area and Hazar Ganji Market remained closed. There was very little traffic on the roads. Law enforcement agencies and police personnel were deployed in the city to control any untoward situation. Meanwhile,
...back at the sandwich shop, Caroline was experimenting with ingredients of increasing volatility...
the JUI-F took out a rally and demanded the government to arrest the kidnappers of JUI-F Quetta chapter secretary general Abdul Sadiq Norzai, who had been released by his captors.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Kidnapping-for-ransom cases on the rise in Karachi
KARACHI: Kidnapping for ransom has become an easiest way to get money.

According to details, the trend of kidnapping for ransom has risen frequently in the commercial hub of the country, Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It may be the largest city in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
, where majority of people are paying ransom for release of their dear ones.

Sources privy to the matter said that the areas, including Gulistan-e-Jauhar, Shah Latif Town, Gadap Town and Bin Qasim Town are hit by this menace. It is pertinent to mention here that most cases of kidnapping have been taking place in Gulistan-e-Jauhar, Gadap Town and Bin Qasim Town.

Sources in Citizens Police Liaison Committee (CPLC) revealed that the majority of the families declined to register the case and also restrained police interference for recovery of victims. They pointed out that there are two kinds of kidnapping gangs operating in the city. The major groups are operating from interior Sindh, where such sort of group has been operating since long. The currently emerging groups are affiliated with different terrorist organizations.

The sources revealed that a few of the groups were locally operating while many of them were circumstantial group formed because of poverty. They said that intercity groups were usually taking the victims to their hometowns, where accessibility of law enforcers is limited because of the tribal system.

It is pertinent to mention here that the agencies, particularly dealing with the cases of the kidnapping for ransom remain incapable to resolve the issue due to lack of equipment essential to track down the terrorist groups.

The sources pointed out that the disciplinary institutions had an authority and the mechanism to track down cellular calls and locations, but those institutions did not allow relevant authorities to install the tracking mechanism and to contact directly Pakistain Telecommunication Authority.

CPLC sources said a total of five persons' kidnapping cases were registered out of three reached home after paying ransom, one was got freed by CPLC and AVCC and other was still missing.

Some 106 cases of kidnapping were registered last year. In 2002-2011 period, a total of 879 cases of kidnapping were registered. In 2002, as many as 25 people were kidnapped while in 2003, some 33 people were kidnapped. In 2004, the number of abductees was around 39 while in 2005, the number hit 39. In 2006, the number of kidnapped people declined to 28 and in 2007, this ratio doubled with 64. The 2008 also showed increase as 92 people were kidnapped and in 2009, this number was 85 while in 2010, this number crossed 112 and in 2011, some 125 people were kidnapped.

It may be noted that different sorts of modus operandi were used by bandidos for kidnapping for ransom. One of the doctors was kidnapped recently while he was on his way to home in Gulistan-e-Jauhar, when a car hit another car accidentally on the National Highway.

The doctor said on anonymity, "I applied brake as they hit my car when they kidnapped me at gunpoint and took to an unknown location where they dumped me for 20 days and started calling for Rs5 million ransom. My family avoided the risk and paid Rs0.5 million for my release after longstanding negotiations."

registered kidnappings:

2002 25
2003 33
2004 39
2005 39
2006 28
2007 64
2008 92
2009 85
2010 112
2011 125

Total 879
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Pakistan is such a s#!%hole.
Posted by: American Delight || 02/20/2012 11:03 Comments || Top||


Afghan talks will fail without all groups: Hizb-e-Islami
ISLAMABAD: Peace efforts in Afghanistan are likely to fail if they do not include all krazed killer groups, a senior member of the country's most notorious Death Eater's faction said on Sunday.

"If any group is isolated or ignored, that group would create resistance or become opposition, and can cause problems," Ghairat Baheer, of Hizb-e-Islami, told Rooters in Islamabad.

"To bring instability or disturb the situation of Afghanistan is not difficult. It is very easy," he said.

Hizb-e-Islami, is a radical krazed killer group with widespread national support in Afghanistan, shares some of the Afghan Taliban's anti-foreigner, anti-government aims, and wants to oust international forces. The group, led by Afghan warlord and former prime minister, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar
... who used to be known in intelligence circles as The Most Evil Man in the World but who now seems merely run-of-the-mill evil...
, claims to have thousands of fighters in its ranks, based mainly in Afghanistan's restive east, bordering Pakistain, and in the north.

The US State Department lists Hekmatyar as a "terrorist" for supporting Taliban and al Qaeda attacks, but US and Afghan officials have met with Hizb-e-Islami representatives in the last two months to help end the war, now in its eleventh year.

"There is communication, and there is negotiation going on between Hizb-e-Islami and the American and Afghan governments," said Baheer, Hekmatyar's son-in-law.

While the Taliban are the focus of media attention, there are a number of other krazed killer organizations that want a say in Afghanistan's future. They include the al Qaeda-linked Haqqani network, one of the most feared Afghan Death Eater groups blamed for many high-profile bombings.

"There should be a comprehensive solution involving all parties and groups," said Baheer, a doctor by training.

Baheer, who was held in US detention at Bagram Air Field, north of Kabul, for six years until his 2008 release, said he had not seen enough progress in US-Taliban talks to suggest they were any closer to formal negotiations.

"So far, they have not been able to agree on even minor issues that could be taken as goodwill gestures. There's no official inauguration of the Taliban office, there is no release of prisoners and no one has been removed from the blacklist," he said, adding, "Things are stuck. We are also in a wait and see situation."
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hizb-i-Islami-Hekmatyar

#1  Afghan talks will fail without all groups: Hizb-e-Islami

Fixed it.
Posted by: Super Hose || 02/20/2012 13:14 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Jordan prepares camp for Syrian refugees
RIBAA SARHAN, Jordan - Jordan says it has set up a refugee camp near its northern border with Syria, in preparation for what many fear may be a mass exodus of Syrians fleeing violence in their homeland.

Sami Halaseh of the public works ministry says the 323 square-foot (300 square-meter) area, located about 12 miles (20 kilometers) south of the border, is expected to be ready in two weeks.
Sounds small. How many of these are they going to need?
I think someone mislabelled the measurements. I believe 300 square meters is a bit more than 3,000 square feet. About the size of a medium sized American house.
For example, 300 square meters is 40 x 7.5 meters, or about 130 x 23 feet. That's a small storefront.
Perhaps it is then intended to be a processing center, where refugees check in and are given a chit for the bit of dusty wasteland where they may sit until it is time to go back home.
The size is also ideal for a set of holding cells...
The camp will be monitored by a round-the-clock police guard. It's the first camp to be set up for Syrians in Jordan since the uprising against the President Bashar Assad's regime began eleven months ago.

Aid officials estimate upwards of 10,000 Syrian refugees already live in Jordan, mostly in private apartments. But they said the numbers are growing as the Syrian military escalates attacks on restive cities.
Posted by: Steve White || 02/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Hague warns Israel against military action on Iran
LONDON: Foreign Secretary William Hague has warned Israel against military action on Iran. Hague says economic sanctions and negotiations had to be given “a real chance” to convince Tehran to abandon its nuclear ambitions. He says, “I don’t think a wise thing at this moment is for Israel to launch a military attack on Iran.”
He has no alternative except to wait for the sanctions to fail.
Hague said in the interview with the BBC on Sunday that a nuclear-armed Iran would result in another cold war in the Middle East.
No, it would be rather hot...
Posted by: Steve White || 02/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Remember when vinyl records would skip, so they would do the same brief bit of music and lyrics over and over again?

"...economic sanctions and negotiations had to be given "a real chance" to convince Tehran..."

Except that nobody has jostled this record player for *years* now.

I like to point out that Europeans criticize "cowboy" America for frequently nipping serious problems in the bud. However their attitude is to hold committee meetings until the situation is so horribly out of control that the only option left is nuclear weapons.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 02/20/2012 8:18 Comments || Top||

#2  Maybe Israel should consider a more subtle attack on Iran. One method that comes to mind is induced earthquakes to soften up and demoralize the nation... They could do what the USSR did to China that led up to the great 1976 Tangshang earthquake.
Posted by: Water Modem || 02/20/2012 12:38 Comments || Top||

#3  Of course that took nearly 13 underground n-tests on several fault lines.
Posted by: Water Modem || 02/20/2012 12:40 Comments || Top||

#4  I like to point out that Europeans criticize "cowboy" America f

Anonymoose, you might find Anti-Americanism, by the French philosopher-journalist Jean Francois Revel helpful. He traces the origins of the various contradictory anti-American memes in a brief, crisply written volume. You may remember his Without Marx or Jesus, written after his first visit to America in the early '70s.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/20/2012 15:10 Comments || Top||

#5  "Hold committee meetings until the situation is [horribly] out of control" ...

D *** NG IT, "THE SIMPSONS" > HIS NAME IS SCORPIO, HE HAS THE DOOMSDAY DEVICE + A BIKINI-CLAD GIRLFRIEND KILLER BODYGUARD-OFFICE/AFFAIRS MANAGER, HE'S OBSCENELY UPSET BECAUSE GOVT. BIGWIGS IN CONFERENCE THINK A US-MADE LANDMARK BRIDGE BUILT TO LAST A THOUSAND YARNS SUDDENLY COLLAPSED + EXPLODED BY ITSELF EVEN AFTER THEY SAW SCORPIO PUSH THE RED BUTTON.

Well there ya go.

* ION YNETNEWS > US OFFICIALS: ISRAELI ATTACK ON IRAN WOULD REQUIRE 100 PLANES, from the IDAF in highly difficult or problematic, simultaneous strike on multiple Iran Nuke targets.

* WAFF > IRAN IS MORE DISTANT THAN OSIRAK | ISRAELI [air]ATTACK ON IRAN NOT AS SIMPLE AS IT SOUNDS.

* BREAKINGNEWS.com > IRAN THREATENS TO EXTEND OIL EMBARGO IMPOSED ON BRITAIN + FRANCE TO OTHER COUNTRIES.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/20/2012 21:40 Comments || Top||


Clearing The Decks For Action: IDF Factions Push For Offensive In Gaza
Senior officer in the Southern Command says "ongoing attacks -- by rockets and along the border -- are cumulatively more than enough to justify immediate action"; IDF to deploy Iron Dome near Tel Aviv.

Calls are mounting within the IDF's Southern Command to launch a large-scale offensive against Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, and Islamic Jihad
...created after many members of the Egyptian Mohammedan Brotherhood decided the organization was becoming too moderate. Operations were conducted out of Egypt until 1981 when the group was exiled after the liquidation of President Anwar Sadat. They worked out of Gaza until they were exiled to Lebanon in 1987, where they clove tightly to Hezbollah. In 1989 they moved to Damascus, where they remain a subsidiary of Hezbollah...
in the Gazoo Strip in the face of continued rocket attacks over the weekend.

On Saturday night, the Israel Air Force bombed a number of targets in the Strip in response to the firing of a number of Grad-model Katyusha rockets into Israel. One landed in Beersheba on Saturday. In another attack, an RPG was fired at an IDF patrol along the border with Gazoo.

"There is no need to wait for a provocation to launch an offensive against terrorist infrastructure in the Gazoo Strip," a senior officer in the Southern Command explained. "The ongoing attacks -- by rockets and along the border -- are cumulatively more than enough to justify immediate action."

Last month, The Jerusalem Post revealed that the IDF General Staff had ordered the Southern Command to speed up preparations for a possible large-scale operation in the Strip within the coming months.

Preparations included finalizing operational plans and distributing them between the various units that would be deployed inside Gazoo.

During Operation Cast Lead, Israel's anti-Hamas operation launched in late 2008, the IDF established brigade-level units that combined armor, infantry and combat engineer forces. A similar model would likely be applied to a future operation in Gazoo as well.

The debate within the IDF is whether it needs to wait for a successful attack by Gazoo beturbanned goons -- be it a rocket attack that causes casualties or a successful cross border attack -- or if the sporadic rocket fire is enough of a justification to launch an operation today.

In 2011, 680 rockets and mortar shells were fired into Israel, including 80 long-range Grad-model Katyusha rockets, in comparison with just two Grads in 2010. Since the beginning of 2012, nearly 30 rockets have been fired into Israel.

Ahead of a future conflict, the IDF will this week deploy the Iron Dome counter-rocket defense system near Tel Aviv.

IDF sources stressed that the deployment of the missile defense system was done as part of a program -- revealed in the Post last April -- to place system deployment locations outside all major population centers throughout the country.

While the IDF's intention to deploy the Iron Dome outside of Tel Aviv was revealed last year, the deployment was delayed until this week.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Don't forget to dig that ditch along the Egyptian Gaza border from Israel to the Med .. Dig deep enough that all tunnels will be forever flooded.
Posted by: Water Modem || 02/20/2012 0:33 Comments || Top||

#2  Dig it deep and far enough and you could bypass the Suez Canal...
Posted by: Steve White || 02/20/2012 8:13 Comments || Top||


'Likud would win 39 seats, Lapid only 6,' poll finds
If elections were held last week, right-wing bloc would grow to 76 mandates, Kadima and Labor would each get 12 seats, according to a poll by the Geocartography Institute.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak's Independence Party is not expected to get any seats in the next Knesset.
More details on the poll results at the link for those interested in such things
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  For clarity: party current and projected. (As best as I can figure out.)

Kadima (centrist) 28 -> 12

Likud (right) 27 -> 39

Yisrael Beiteinu (nationalist) 15 -> 13

Shas (religious) 11 -> 9

Labor (left) 8 -> 12

Yair Lapid (an actor and journalist who has said he is going to found a political party) 0 -> 6

Independence (left centrist) 5 -> 0

National Union (nationalist) + Habayit Hayehudi (right wing) (new coalition)
4 + 3 -> 10

Arab parties 11 -> 10

Other parties get the remainder.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 02/20/2012 8:42 Comments || Top||

#2  Why do we keep hearing that Netanyahu and the Likud are unpopular?

Another forced narrative.

March 5th is going to be another awkward meeting for Netanyahu and Obama.
Posted by: DK70 the scantily clad || 02/20/2012 18:34 Comments || Top||

#3  Why do we keep hearing that Netanyahu and the Likud are unpopular?

Because they are---outside Israel.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 02/20/2012 20:06 Comments || Top||

#4  Bibi should prep the msm press and Pharaoh about the gravity of this current conflag., set the date for a Chi-town "Kiss-of-Death" meeting, and then not show up... I Stand with Israel.
Posted by: Elmising Poodle6592 || 02/20/2012 23:00 Comments || Top||

#5  "I Stand with Israel."

Me, too.
Posted by: Barbara || 02/20/2012 23:05 Comments || Top||

#6  me too
Posted by: Frank G || 02/20/2012 23:46 Comments || Top||


IDF to deploy Iron Dome in Central Israel
The IDF is planning to deploy an Iron Dome battery in the Tel Aviv Metropolitan Area for the first time as part of a drill simulating a missile attack, Ynet learned Sunday.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  To even suggest that such a deployment is temporary is pretty silly. Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Dimona should have permanent anti-missile defenses like Moscow. Then layer them outward from there.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 02/20/2012 8:56 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Defence Lawyers Claim Charges Against Bali Bomber Obscure
Lawyers for the Indonesian bad boy who helped assemble bombs used in the 2002 nightclub blasts on Bali island said Monday that the charges against their client are obscure and should be dropped.
 
They also told the West Jakarta District Court that the country's tough anti-terrorism law can't be applied retroactively, and because Umar Patek didn't take part in preplanning meetings he also was not guilty of premeditated murder.
An interesting argument...

This article starring:
Umar Patek
Posted by: || 02/20/2012 07:12 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iranian ships disrupt Syrian opposition communications
Egyptian security sources and members of the Syrian opposition are claiming that the two Iranian ships docked off the Syrian coast have "military communications jamming devices that are disrupting communications made by the Syrian opposition via satellite," the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported.
Interesting use of the ships. Wonder if this is something they just thought of on the spot or if it is part of the reason they came.
According to the report, an Egyptian security source noted that recently the Syrian regime has been finding it hard to monitor opposition calls.
Posted by: || 02/20/2012 07:11 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  If someone, anyone, could just sink one of those Iranian ships and make it look like the opposition did it...
Posted by: Anonymoose || 02/20/2012 8:10 Comments || Top||

#2  EMP convention bomb in the area....
Posted by: Water Modem || 02/20/2012 11:43 Comments || Top||

#3  I've noticed that Iranian stuff just blows up...
Seems to happen all of the time.
Just sayin.
Posted by: Julet Omump6487 || 02/20/2012 14:16 Comments || Top||


IRGC launches Val Fajr military drills in central Iran
Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Ground Force has launched massive military maneuvers in the Yazd Province to improve the combat preparedness of Iranian armed forces in the event of an attack.

Deputy Commander of IRGC Ground Forces Brigadier General Abdollah Araghi said that all aspects of passive defense, dispersion of military forces, deception of enemy, camouflage as well as the elements that would save functioning forces will be practiced during the drills codenamed "Val Fajr."

The senior IRGC commander said that while all phases of "Val Fajr" drills have been planned in a centralized manner, they will be carried out in a decentralized approach.

"This means that every member of the military [forces] wherever he is stationed must show self-reliance and use the equipment he has to fight the mock enemy and complete his mission," he added.

Brigadier General Araghi added that the integration of curvilinear and linear artillery fire together with various forms of kaboom will be put into effect during Val Fajr ground drills.

Last month, the IRGC staged Shohaday-e Vahdat (Martyrs of Unity) maneuvers in the vicinity of Khaf city in east Iran to enhance the combat capabilities of IRGC armored forces and to practice asymmetric war tactics against mock enemy.

The IRGC Ground Forces also carried out Hamiyan-e Velayat (Supporters of the Just Jurisprudent) from February 4 to 5 near Jahrom city in southern Iran in which all the elements of aerial combat were put into practice.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Iran's Guard Begins New Land Military Exercises
TEHRAN: Iran's Revolutionary Guard says it has begun a two-day land military exercise to upgrade its capabilities to defend the country against possible external threats. Commander of the Guard's ground forces Mohammad Pakpour said on comments posted on the force's website sepahnews.com that the manoeuvres dubbed Valfajr, or Dawn, began on Sunday outside the city of Yazd in central Iran.

The Guard is Iran's most powerful military unit. The exercises are the latest in a series of manoeuvres held amid escalating tensions between Iran and the West over Iran's nuclear programme. The US and Israel have not ruled out military strikes against Iran's programme, which they say aims at developing weapons technology. Iran says the programme is for peaceful purposes.

Meanwhile,
...back at the ranch, Butch and the Kid finally brought their horses under control...
Iran is to host a high-level team from the UN nuclear watchdog on Monday as part of efforts to defuse dire international tensions over its atomic activities through dialogue. But other words being spoken in Israel, the United States and Britannia -- and Iran's defiant moves to boost its nuclear activities -- underlined the prospect of possible Israeli military action against the Islamic republic. Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi on Sunday said his country was keen to quickly resume mooted talks with world powers, once a place and date were agreed.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  By most accounts Iran's IRGC + regular Armed Forces remain "defensive" forces, albeit one can make good arguments that Iran is trying to change their orientation wid its nuclear shennanigans + other, e.g. its stated desire for "blue-water", trans-Continental Naval Reach + Strategic Airpower.

IN THE TIME BEING, AS PER ANY "US-IRAN" WAR SCENARIO IT STILL COMES DOWN TO THE US = US-LED UN COALITION POTENS HAVING TO PUT HEAVY COMBAT UNITS ON THE GROUND IN IRAN PROPER.

* IIRC TOPIX > VARIOUS > WHOM IS STRONGER: IRAN OR THE WEST [read, USA]?

Clash of Will, + Economies, of which Iran's econ is deemed is better financial/accounting shape than the debt-burdened USA despite its smaller size, IRAN IN BETTER SHAPE TO RESIST LT ECON HARDSHIP(S) = UN SANCTIONS THAN US BELIEVES???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/20/2012 0:41 Comments || Top||


BBC: Iran 'Building up Nuclear Site near Qom'
Iran may be preparing to expand its nuclear program at an underground plant near the city of Qom, a diplomat has told the BBC, just days ahead of a visit by United Nations
...where theory meets practice and practice loses...
nuclear inspectors.

Iran appears to be poised to install thousands of new centrifuges at the underground site in the northern city, a Vienna-based diplomat told the British broadcaster late Friday.

The BBC said the centrifuges could speed up the production of enriched uranium, which can be used both for generating nuclear power and to manufacture atomic weapons.

Iran said on Wednesday it had installed another 3,000 centrifuges to increase its uranium enrichment abilities, but it was unclear Sunday whether these were the same as those mentioned by the diplomat.

Inspectors from the ineffective International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog, are due to visit Tehran this week.

Iran insists that its nuclear drive is peaceful, but Western countries suspect the Islamic Theocratic Republic of trying to develop an atomic bomb.

Iran has been slapped with four sets of U.N. sanctions and a raft of unilateral U.S. and European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
measures over its nuclear drive.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Carpet bomb'em!
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/20/2012 2:07 Comments || Top||

#2  Qom delenda est.

"The city is the largest center for Shi'a scholarship in the world, and is a significant destination of pilgrimage."

"Located in Qom, Iran, some consider the Fatima Masumeh Shrine to be the third holiest shrine in Shia Islam."
Posted by: Anonymoose || 02/20/2012 8:49 Comments || Top||

#3  And the Saudi nuke program will be located in Mecca. Seems like a win, win if you take them both out.
Posted by: AlanC || 02/20/2012 12:26 Comments || Top||


Iran to Export Power to Lebanon, Syria
Iran is to supply Leb, Syria and Iraq with electricity after an economic memorandum of understanding was initialed to this effect between the four countries in Tehran on Saturday, Iran's official news agency IRNA reported on Sunday.

Senior Iranian energy ministry official Muhammad Bahzad, Iraqi Electricity official Adel Mahdi, Syria's deputy energy minister Hisham Mushaffaj and Lebanese electricity official Najib Saleh put their initials on the MOU.

Iranian official Bahzad said Iraq would get 1,000 megawatts while Leb and Syria would both share between 200-300 megawatts.

The MOU will likely be put into effect within the next two months pending ratification by the four countries, Bahzad added.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "Every 100 kilowatts of electricity will include a free Al Quds security person, too!"

/chirpy voice>
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 02/20/2012 10:26 Comments || Top||

#2  And cake!
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 02/20/2012 12:34 Comments || Top||

#3  ION BHARAT RAKSHAK > IRAN MULLING CREATION OF 100-MILYUHN STRONG BASIJ ARMY.

In the Name of Allah, the Prophet, the Ayatollah Khomeini, + the freedom of the Quds.

BR POSTER = opined that this is an interesting schema by Tehran since Iran's national population at this time is only 73.0 Milyuhn, SO WHERE WILL THE MISSING MILYUHNS-N-DILYUHNS-N-... OF BASIJ COME FROM???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/20/2012 21:16 Comments || Top||


Report: Syria recalls ambassador to Egypt
A Lebanese TV channel is reporting that Syria is recalling its Ambassador to Egypt Yossef Ahmad, after earlier on Sunday Egypt instructed its Ambassador to Damascus, who is currently in Cairo, not to return to Syria "pending further notice."
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Fire Erupts At Iranian Petrochemical Complex
Iran's semiofficial Mehr news agency says a fire broke out at the country's biggest petrochemical facility but was quickly extinguished.
 
Mehr says there were no casualties or serious damages from the fire at the Imam Khomeini Petrochemical Complex in southwestern Iran.
Operation Lemony Snickett, insh'allah maintenance, or just the kind of thing that happens around petrochemicals from time to time? Likely we will never know, but we needn't care about the cause when we can enjoy the result.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  First the NucPerts, then the fuel + manufac sources for Iran's LRBMS???

just sayin'.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/20/2012 18:57 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
Envoys To Fight Israel Apartheid Week On Campuses
The Public Diplomacy Ministry plans to send 100 Israelis from different sectors in society abroad to represent and defend the state during Israel Apartheid Week. The "Faces of Israel" mission, which leaves next weekend, includes settlers, Arabs, artists, experts in national security, gay people, and immigrants from Ethiopia. Actor Aki Avni will also join the group.

The participants in the project have undergone several weeks of training in the Public Diplomacy Ministry, and will visit dozens of college campuses to battle the "apartheid" label in New York, Boston, Washington, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami, Toronto, Montreal, Dublin, London, Madrid, Johannesburg and Cape Town.

The mission will be split into 20 groups that will participate in conferences and panels, as well as speak directly to college students.

"Most of those who hate Israel have the same disease: ignorance," Public Diplomacy Minister Yuli Edelstein said. "We are sure that the answer to the attempts to de-legitimize Israel is not just to give facts and data, but to bring Israel to them."

According to Edelstein, the groups plan to explain to students that they are all Israelis who come from different walks of life, yet choose to remain in Israel. The mission's participants were chosen to show that Israel has a diverse society that values equality and human rights
...which are usually open to widely divergent definitions...
, he explained.

The minister said he hopes that students abroad who are meeting real Israelis for the first time will stop the "messages of incitement and hatred that, at the end of the day, could reach students that are the leaders of tomorrow."
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Men have made some words evil. The real irony is the only thing that has saved the nation of Israel has been it's insistence from the beginning on it's being distinctively .... set apart and "seperate."
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/20/2012 2:15 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
49[untagged]
2al-Qaeda in North Africa
2Lashkar-e-Islami
1Al-Muhajiroun
1al-Shabaab
1Hizb-i-Islami-Hekmatyar

Bookmark
E-Mail Me

The Classics
The O Club
Rantburg Store
The Bloids
The Never-ending Story
Thugburg
Gulf War I
The Way We Were
Bio

Merry-Go-Blog











On Sale now!


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.
Click here for more information

Meet the Mods
In no particular order...
Steve White
Seafarious
tu3031
badanov
sherry
ryuge
GolfBravoUSMC
Bright Pebbles
trailing wife
Gloria
Fred
Besoeker
Glenmore
Frank G
3dc
Skidmark

Two weeks of WOT
Mon 2012-02-20
  Syrian army reinforcements head to Homs
Sun 2012-02-19
  Iran stops oil sales to British, French
Sat 2012-02-18
  SWIFT To Cut Off Iran - No Financial Telecommunications
Fri 2012-02-17
  Feds arrest another thinks-he-is suicide bomber heading to Capitol building
Thu 2012-02-16
  U.S. drone kills five insurgents in Miranshah
Wed 2012-02-15
  Thailand charges Iranian bomb suspects in Bangkok
Tue 2012-02-14
  Suspected Iranian Agent Bungles Bombing in Bangkok
Mon 2012-02-13
  Israel says bombs target embassies in India, Georgia
Sun 2012-02-12
  Uzbek man in US pleads guilty in Obama murder plot
Sat 2012-02-11
  Arrests in Quetta Related to Rabbani Assassination
Fri 2012-02-10
  Zawahiri says Somalia's Shebab Joined al-Qaida
Thu 2012-02-09
  Badar Mansoor Dronezapped in North Wazoo
Wed 2012-02-08
  German Police Arrest Lebanese, Syrian for Spying for Damascus
Tue 2012-02-07
  Blasts Rock N. Nigeria, Police Station Attacked
Mon 2012-02-06
  36 Civilians, 28 Troops Killed in Fresh Syria Violence

Better than the average link...



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.
52.23.203.254
Help keep the Burg running! Paypal:
WoT Operations (19)    Non-WoT (9)    Opinion (3)    (0)    Politix (2)