Hi there, !
Today Mon 09/01/2014 Sun 08/31/2014 Sat 08/30/2014 Fri 08/29/2014 Thu 08/28/2014 Wed 08/27/2014 Tue 08/26/2014 Archives
Rantburg
531688 articles and 1855967 comments are archived on Rantburg.

Today: 62 articles and 152 comments as of 10:31.
Post a news link    Post your own article   
Area: WoT Operations    Non-WoT    Opinion        Politix   
Sinai Group Says It Beheaded 4 Egyptian 'Mossad Agents'
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 2: WoT Background
0 [] 
13 22:50 JosephMendiola [] 
2 14:34 rjschwarz [] 
4 13:00 Bright Pebbles [] 
2 14:30 rjschwarz [] 
0 [] 
5 18:01 swksvolFF [3] 
15 18:52 Airandee [] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
2 16:06 Besoeker [] 
4 14:13 AlanC [] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
4 12:51 Old Patriot [] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
1 16:06 Frank G [] 
0 [] 
1 07:24 ed in texas [] 
0 [] 
2 13:32 Remoteman [] 
1 07:32 ed in texas [] 
3 07:40 Besoeker [] 
Page 1: WoT Operations
9 20:52 OldSpook [3]
0 []
0 []
0 []
1 14:15 49 Pan []
0 []
0 []
0 []
2 13:37 49 Pan []
0 []
0 []
0 []
3 22:30 JosephMendiola []
0 []
0 []
0 []
0 []
0 []
0 []
Page 3: Non-WoT
1 23:30 USN, Ret. []
1 12:06 Ebbang Uluque6305 []
0 []
5 12:41 SteveS [1]
0 []
4 19:26 OldSpook []
14 20:08 Zhang Fei []
8 22:02 swksvolFF []
Page 4: Opinion
17 23:26 Zhang Fei [2]
1 07:41 ed in texas []
1 03:28 Besoeker []
3 17:39 swksvolFF []
0 []
0 []
4 22:54 JosephMendiola []
3 13:08 JohnQC []
Page 6: Politix
5 18:04 Dale [1]
11 18:00 swksvolFF []
-Lurid Crime Tales-
Muslim Americans Urge Kerry For Protection During Hajj
Some are less equal than others.
[WashingtonTimes] A coalition of more than two dozen American Moslem groups sent a letter Tuesday to Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry
Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State...
, asking for the protection of religious freedoms for Moslems that travel to Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
to perform the Islamic pilgrimage called "Hajj." The letter comes almost a year after American Moslems were singled out and attacked with knives and blades after being insulted with slurs during the 2013 Hajj. Victims of the assault claim that not only did Saudi police refuse to assist; the U.S. Embassy ignored them as well.
Our embassy personnel aren't allowed in Mecca. You're on your own...
The letter comes at a critical time, as American Moslems will leave for this year's Hajj in late September.

The effort is sponsored by Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party, based Moslem Advocates, and in a blurb the group said "[This] comes a year after a group of American Moslems from Dearborn, Michigan, was attacked during the Hajj because the group belonged to the Shia denomination of Moslems. The Americans were viciously attacked, including men being strangled and women threatened with rape. When these individuals reached out to the U.S. Embassy for help, their calls were not returned."

The letter from the Moslem groups references not only this act of violence, but other attacks against American and Western participants in the Hajj in previous years, including an incident in 2007 that shocked the American Moslem community.

“It is critical that our government protects all citizens and supports them when their rights are violated" both here and abroad,” said Mohammed Sabur, a director at Moslem Advocates. “We are asking Secretary Kerry to use his diplomatic relationship with the Kingdom of Soddy Arabia to protect American citizens, and to ensure that if Americans are in jeopardy, they can rely on the U.S. Embassy for immediate assistance.”
I thought Muslims didn't harm other Muslims in the Hajj...
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/29/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Do I have this right? Shia Muslims (who are hated by Sunnis) want to go to a country run by Sunnis (who are hated by Shias) where they expect to get their asses kicked and they want the US (a country run by infidels who are hated by Shias AND Sunnis) to protect them. I find this hilarious.

Just don't go there, dudes. I hear Monrovia is nice this time of year.
Posted by: SteveS || 08/29/2014 0:54 Comments || Top||

#2  I'd like to really tell them where they can go...
Posted by: borgboy || 08/29/2014 5:59 Comments || Top||

#3  "And as part of your Dept of State travel package, you will find a 'US flag' jersey to wear, with coupons in the pocket for free pork rinds!"
Posted by: ed in texas || 08/29/2014 7:22 Comments || Top||

#4  So, you want to go worship your rock and need protection?

Ask the rock to protect you or suck it up for big Al.
Posted by: AlanC || 08/29/2014 8:05 Comments || Top||

#5  On he one hand, I appreciate that life is not fair. On the other hand, wouldn't death while trying to worship allen be an express ticket to paradise?
Posted by: Bobby || 08/29/2014 8:12 Comments || Top||

#6  Hajj riot season is my favorite time of year

Posted by: regular joe || 08/29/2014 8:55 Comments || Top||

#7  Maybe football helmets & a full set of pads will do? Concussion concerns have been in the news recently.
Posted by: Raj || 08/29/2014 9:31 Comments || Top||

#8  Ebola enhanced pepper spray ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 08/29/2014 9:42 Comments || Top||

#9  The US State department actively despises Americans abroad and will do nothing to help them. It's nice to know they treat everyone equally poorly.
Posted by: Theting Glasing4448 || 08/29/2014 11:40 Comments || Top||

#10  They'll get the same protection American Jews in Israel get.
Posted by: Rob Crawford || 08/29/2014 12:24 Comments || Top||

#11  Besoeker, all joking aside I suspect before long some terrorist with too much contact to vile substances will hajj to save his soul and infect an aweful lot of folks in the process.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 08/29/2014 14:31 Comments || Top||

#12  "Come for the Hajj. Stay for the stonings, Ebola, and MERS. Allan Snackbar!"
Posted by: Frank G || 08/29/2014 15:59 Comments || Top||

#13  My fear as well Richard. My fear as well.
Posted by: Besoeker || 08/29/2014 16:01 Comments || Top||

#14  Go for it. Kerry has your back all the way youbetchya.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 08/29/2014 17:49 Comments || Top||

#15  Kerry and Obama and others in our current administration will be suggesting that the pilgrimage be moved to the USA.
Posted by: Airandee || 08/29/2014 18:52 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Egypt Probes Morsi for 'Giving Security Papers to Qatar'
[AnNahar] Egypt has opened an investigation into deposed president Mohammed Morsi for allegedly handing over to Qatar
...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates...
"documents relevant to national security," state news agency MENA reported on Wednesday.

Morsi is already facing the death penalty in several trials and his supporters have been the target of a bloody crackdown by the authorities that has left more than 1,400 dead since he was turfed out in July 2013.

The former leader is suspected of providing "documents relevant to national security to Qatar via the Qatari Al-Jazeera
... an Arab news network headquartered in Qatar, notorious for carrying al-Qaeda press releases. The name means the Peninsula, as in the Arabian Peninsula. In recent years it has settled in to become slightly less biased than MSNBC, in about the same category as BBC or CBS...
chain when he was president of the republic (...), damaging the country's national security", said MENA.

In March Egypt's interior minister accused Morsi's secretary Amin El-Serafi of having delivered documents regarding the army, its armaments and the deployment of its troops to a chief editor of Al-Jazeera and member of the Islamist president's Moslem Brotherhood.

The movement was listed as a terrorist group after Morsi's overthrow on July 3, 2013.

Relations between Egypt and Qatar soured after Morsi's ouster, as Cairo criticised the rich emirate's backing for the Moslem Brotherhood and Doha slammed Egypt's crackdown on Morsi supporters.

Egypt condemned three English-language Al-Jazeera journalists to prison sentences of between seven and 10 years in June for aiding the blacklisted Moslem Brotherhood and spreading false news that portrayed Egypt as being in a state of "civil war".

Less than a year after former armed forces chief Abdel Fattah al-Sissi deposed Egypt's first freely elected president, Sisi won presidential elections in May, partly thanks to his image as a strongman who can restore stability to a country in tumult since an uprising toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak
...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011...
in 2011.

But his government is regularly accused of using the courts to crack down on Morsi supporters, with the former president and practically all Moslem Brotherhood leaders finding themselves behind bars, risking the death penalty.

More than 15,000 pro-Morsi demonstrators have also been tossed in the clink
... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not...
, while hundreds have been sentenced to death in mass trials that caused international outrage.

Morsi has been charged in three cases including a trial for spying that involves Gazoo's Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, movement and Iran.
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/29/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Arabia
Grand Mufti urges youth to shun radical groups
[ARABNEWS] Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Asheikh has urged young people to steer clear of "calls for jihad" issued on "perverted" grounds.

"Young people should not let themselves be influenced by calls for jihad ... on perverted principles," he was quoted by the SPA as saying.

"It is a great misfortune that our youths are being exploited to fuel sedition" and lured into war zones "under the pretext of jihad," he said.

Those "endangering the lives" of young Saudi nationals have "disobeyed God and have sinned."

He urged youths to ignore calls to jihad from people representing "deviant principles."

The grand muft, in comments on Aug. 18, condemned Al-Qaeda and Islamic State bully boyz as the "enemy number one" of Islam.

The Interior Ministry this week announced eight arrests in northwest Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
on suspicion of recruiting young people to join IS operations in Iraq and Syria.

IS bully boyz have seized vast swathes of Sunni territory straddling Syria and Iraq.

On June 29, King of the Arabians, Sheikh of the Burning Sands, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah said: "We will not allow a handful of terrorists, using Islam for personal aims, to terrify Moslems or undermine our country and its inhabitants."

In February, King Abdullah decreed long prison terms for anybody who traveled overseas to fight or associate with terrorist groups.

Also on Thursday, IS faceless myrmidons posted grisly video footage of scores of bodies heaped in the desert they boasted were those of Syrian soldiers they captured and executed in their latest advance.

Britannia-based monitoring group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that at least 160 soldiers had been executed at three separate locations around Raqa province.

The footage posted by IS showed a close-up of some 20 bodies, but then panned out to show scores more.
Posted by: Fred || 08/29/2014 16:39 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Britain
UK raises threat level to second highest level, SEVERE.
[Business Insider] Britain's government has raised the country's terror threat level to "severe," Home Secretary Theresa May said Friday.

It's the fourth-highest of five potential threat levels. According to the U.K. government, it means an attack is "highly likely."

According to Sky News, May said the threat level was raised in general because of the deteriorating situation in Iraq and Syria, where extremist militants from the group calling itself the Islamic State (also ISIS or ISIL). May said, however, that there was no specific threat to Britain that caused the raise in the terror level.
Posted by: Besoeker || 08/29/2014 09:17 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "highly likely."

no specific threat
a good strong 'maybe'
Posted by: Skidmark || 08/29/2014 10:12 Comments || Top||

#2  Nothing specific, we just decided to hike it a bit for the upcoming month of September.

In the PM's lengthy supporting speech today he insisted that "a "differentiation is essential, between the religion of Islam and Islamic radicals" [paraphrasing a bit]. He remains uninformed regarding Islam, therefore fok'n clueless. His only redeeming quality appears to be his lack of conversion to the faith.
Posted by: Besoeker || 08/29/2014 10:27 Comments || Top||

#3  9/11 will arrive soon, and as usual, chatter is up.
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/29/2014 10:43 Comments || Top||

#4  IMHO. It's a distraction after Cameron's worst week for a while.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 08/29/2014 13:00 Comments || Top||


The Grand Turk
Turkish police fire teargas at protesters after Erdogan sworn in
[REUTERS] Turkish police fired teargas and water cannon to disperse protesters in central Istanbul who sought to march in protest at Tayyip Erdogan's swearing in as Turkey's president on Thursday.

Around 200 protesters gathered in the tourist district of Taksim, chanting slogans against Erdogan and carrying banners saying "Presidency cannot wash away corruption or theft", local media reported.
Posted by: Fred || 08/29/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Muslim Brotherhood


Home Front: Politix
White House: We're Not At 'War' With ISIS
Posted by: DarthVader || 08/29/2014 11:44 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  This idiot is really gonna get a lot of Americans killed.
Posted by: DarthVader || 08/29/2014 11:46 Comments || Top||

#2  We're not at war with ISIS, but we are at war with Republicans, taxpayers, the Tea Party, white males, anybody in 'flyover country'...
Posted by: Raj || 08/29/2014 11:48 Comments || Top||

#3  Why not? They are clearly at war with us.
Posted by: Lone Ranger || 08/29/2014 12:11 Comments || Top||

#4  I think our only protection from a major terrorist attack is a mass pray in and trust in the God Almighty.

The empty suit is not going to lift a finger. He seems to look at a terrorist attack as an opportunity to declare martial law and suspend the Constitution.
Posted by: Bill Clinton || 08/29/2014 12:12 Comments || Top||

#5  mitigate - to cause to become less harsh or hostile : mollify

So this pos potus wants to appease the vile, evil terrorists. How much "less harsh" does he expect them to become? Will moving from head chopping to hanging be sufficient?

Every day that I think they can't get worse they prove me wrong.
Posted by: AlanC || 08/29/2014 12:23 Comments || Top||

#6  Isn't time we have a look at this Manchurian Candidates bona fides?
Posted by: JohnQC || 08/29/2014 12:32 Comments || Top||

#7  might be even Calvin and Hobbes has had it:

http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/#.VACsGBZ6d2F
Posted by: Mercutio || 08/29/2014 12:39 Comments || Top||

#8  No, that was Booosh! Booosh bad!
Posted by: Bobby || 08/29/2014 13:03 Comments || Top||

#9  Just posted an ALERT that ISIS and is planning to attack the Southern Border of the US out of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.
Posted by: Ebbomosh Hupemp2664 || 08/29/2014 14:26 Comments || Top||

#10  We weren't 'at war' wtih Vietnam for 9 something years either. Semantic games.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 08/29/2014 14:32 Comments || Top||

#11  Somebody find his names in the MB rolls.
Posted by: 3dc || 08/29/2014 15:11 Comments || Top||

#12  You are either with them or against them. Since Obumble is not at war with them, one can only assume that he is with them...and he is also the enemy of the U.S.
Posted by: JohnQC || 08/29/2014 18:23 Comments || Top||

#13  The Pentagon is repor befuddled + in a state of shock that the Bammer doesn't know what to do.

My view, however, remains the same - as a OWG Globalist, POTUS Obama is following or adhering to the larger Globie agenda = "big picture" hence his seeming lack of action or decision is INTENTIONAL.

* see also DRUDGEREPORT > WALL STREET JOURNAL: HENRY KISSINGER ON ASSEMBLY OF [OWG?] NEW WORLD ORDER. THE CONCEPT THAT UNDERPINNED MODERN GEOPOLITICAL ERA IS IN CRISIS.

Once again, GLOBALISM = can be ascribed as HOW MUCH CAN THE GREAT POWERS, IN PARTICULAR THE "SOLE" SUPERPOWER USA, CAN UNILATERALLY + SAFELY GIVE UP OR OR FALL BACK, ETC, AROUND THE WORLD WIDOUT BEING EXISTENTIALLY THREATENED, ATTACKED OR DESTROYED, BY GEOPOL WANNABES.

Including but not limited to its fellow PAR OWG Globalist Co-Superpowers CHINA, RUSSIA, + IRAN , ETAL.

The Globies have thus far failed miserbaly to answer the question(s), "How much is TOO MUCH"?, "How far is TOO FAR"?, etc. for the Superpower US to safely give up or fall back.

AS PER WORLD NEWS, THE PENTAGON IS WARNING THAT THE ISIS HAS "GLOBAL ASPIRATIONS".

The scenario or danger is there that instead of a Global or Universalist, Western-style, Democratic Secular Socialist World, the OWG Globies instead accidentally empowered + entrenched a THEO-SOCIALIST, ANTI-SECULAR, ANTI-DEMOCRATIC Global Islamic Conquest + World???

To paraph KRAUTHAMMER - "SAY IT WID ME, GLOBIES, OOOOOOOOPPPPPSSSSSS"!

D *** NG IT, OOOPPSSS, OOOPPSS - SPELLED UUUPS - OOOPPPS!
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 08/29/2014 22:50 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Fort Hood 'workplace violence' shooter continues to aid and abet jihad
'It would be an honor to join ISIS and become a citizen of the caliphate,' wrote former US Army psychiatrist who killed 13 in shooting spree at Fort Hood.
Posted by: Besoeker || 08/29/2014 09:04 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Chicago: Motorist With Isis Flag Makes Bomb Threat Against Police
[ChicagoCBS] A man who had an ISIS flag waving from his vehicle is facing several charges after he threatened police with a bomb Wednesday morning when he was pulled over on the Southwest Side.
The idiot thought he'd have a bit of fun with the local kaffirs.
Emad Karakrah, 49,
...in other words, old enough to know better...
was charged with felony counts of disorderly conduct and aggravated fleeing; and a misdemeanor count of driving on a never-issued license,
What on earth does that mean?
according to reliably Democrat Chicago, aka The Windy City or Mobtown
... home of Al Capone, a succession of Daleys, Barak Obama, and Rahm Emmanuel,...
police. He was also issued three traffic citations.
"You shall terrorize them..." It's in the Koran. But Mohammed never met the Chicago police.
Someone called police after seeing a "suspicious person" driving a silver Pontiac southbound in the 7700 block of South Kedzie at 9:18 a.m. with an ISIS flag waving out the window, according to a police report.

Officers attempted to pull over the vehicle, but the driver took off, according to the report. The officers called for assistance, and another officer pulled the vehicle over after it went through several red lights.

The man told police during his arrest that there was a bomb in the car and he would detonate it if they searched the vehicle, according to the report.

A bomb squad, the FBI and Homeland Security responded to the scene and searched the vehicle, but no bomb was found, authorities said.
Betcha they were all amused by that...
Judge Laura Sullivan ordered Karakrah held on a $55,000 bond Thursday.
He threatens to explode a car-bomb and he can be released on bond?
He is next scheduled to appear in court on Sept. 3.
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/29/2014 07:14 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  Appears judge Sullivan got the call from the FBI Chicago Field Office.

"He's one of ours, we'll take it from here."
Posted by: Besoeker || 08/29/2014 8:25 Comments || Top||

#2  Paleostinian, reportedly.
Posted by: Pappy || 08/29/2014 11:48 Comments || Top||

#3  Second time this week...
Posted by: Glomort Gloth5851 || 08/29/2014 16:30 Comments || Top||

#4  That's him! It's the cream over silver Pontiac. Looks Robin egg blue to me, oh well. Pull out slow and don't crowd him. He shouldn't be too hard to follow unless he turns off Kedzie.
Posted by: Besoeker || 08/29/2014 16:37 Comments || Top||

#5  Cheerleader or Rabbit?
Posted by: swksvolFF || 08/29/2014 18:01 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Murder charges filed against PM Nawaz Sharif
Pakistani police have registered allegations of abetting murder against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his brother over the June killing of 14 supporters of a cleric who is currently leading thousands of anti-government demonstrators in Islamabad.

Police officer Sharif Sindhu said the case filed by cleric Tahirul Qadri's organisation on Thursday includes 19 other defendants, including other ministers and police officers. The case is linked to a June incident in the eastern city of Lahore in which Qadri's supporters were killed in clashes with police.

Lahore is the capital of Punjab province, for which Sharif's younger brother Shahbaz serves as chief minister. He is also named in the case.

Qadri is demanding the Sharifs step down and be tried. Thousands of protesters led by Tahirul Qadri and politician Imran Khan have camped outside the parliament building in Islamabad to demand the resignation of Sharif.

The two-week showdown at the heart of the capital has rattled the country and shaken Sharif's government just 15 months in to a five-year mandate. A statement from the prime minister's office on Thursday said orders had been given to register a case. “Federal government has decided to authorise registration of model town FIR as per complaint of the aggrieved,” the statement said.

Khan refused to end his own parallel sit-in protest, saying he was seeking “independence or death” and would not rest until both Sharif brothers quit.
Posted by: Steve White || 08/29/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


COAS Raheel Sharif made 'mediator' to end political crisis
[DAWN] Pakistain Awami Tehrik (PAT) chief Dr Tahirul Qadri
...Pak politician, and would-be dictator, founder and head of Tehreek-e-Minhajul Quran and Pakistain Awami Tehrik. He usually resides in Canada, but returns to Pakistain periodically to foam at the mouth and lead demonstrations. Depending on which way the wind's blowing, Qadri claims to be the author of Pak's blasphemy law. Other times he says it wasn't him...
and 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....
Chairman Imran Khan
... aka Taliban Khan, who ain't the brightest knife in the national drawer...
announced that Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif has been appointed by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf...
as a 'mediator' and 'guarantor' for bringing the current crisis between the government and protesters to an end.

Speaking to their supporters late Thursday night, Tahirul Qadri and Imran Khan said they have given the prime minister 24 hours upon General Sharif's assurances.

Both Imran Khan and Tahirul Qadri have been in contact with the Army Chief and he is likely to mediate and steer all parties out of this deadlock, military sources said.

A meeting between General Raheel Sharif, Imran and Tahirul Qadri was confirmed by Director General ISPR Asim Bajwa.


Both the PTI chairman and the PAT chief urged their supporters to stay in the federal capital for one more day and wait until the deadline ends in order to plan a future course of action after these latest developments.

Speaking on a private TV channel, 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...
(MQM) chief Altaf Hussain welcomed the mediation by Army Chief General Sharif, saying imminent damage to Pakistain had been averted.

Army involvement
The announcement of General Raheel Sharif's direct involvement in bringing the current political crisis to an end lends weight to widespread speculation that the military establishment had a hand to play in the events that unfolded in the capital over the last two weeks.

Multiple meetings between the COAS, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar, and Nawaz himself had been held over the last few days, in which the prime minister and army chief agreed to immediately resolve the political cul-de-sac.
Posted by: Fred || 08/29/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Nawaz close to reaching deal with Army: WSJ
[DAWN] Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf...
is close to making a deal with the Pakistain Army, in the backdrop of the political events that are unfolding in the federal capital, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The report suggests that as per the proposed agreement, the armed forces would control strategic policy areas, such as relations with the United States, Afghanistan and India.

The military has extracted a promise of freedom for former president (retd) General Pervez Perv Musharraf
... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ...
and that Sharif's government had secretly agreed to let Musharraf go abroad after a symbolic indictment over treason, which took place in March.

The Wall Street Journal says the government went back on the deal as a result of which trust had eroded between the military and Sharif.

Government aides said the military has seized on Sharif's weakened status during the political crisis and are now seeking guarantees from the prime minister that he will follow through on the agreement, the report suggests.

It also says that for the rest of his term, Sharif will be a ceremonial prime minister.

"If Nawaz Sharif survives, for the rest of his term, he will be a ceremonial prime minister--the world will not take him seriously," said Ayesha Siddiqa, an analyst based in Islamabad. "A soft coup has already taken place. The question is whether it will harden," the report says.

Government aides said in the report that the administration was also willing to let the prime minister's brother, Shahbaz Sharif
...Pak dynastic politician, brother of PM Nawaz Sharif, chief minister of Punjab...
, step down as chief minister of Punjab.

Thousands of protesters led by holy man Tahirul-Qadri and 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....
Chairman Imran Khan
... aka Taliban Khan, who is the lightweight's lightweight...
have camped outside the parliament building in Islamabad to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

The two-week showdown at the heart of the capital has rattled the country and shaken Sharif's government just 15 months into a five-year mandate.

Imran Khan has remained defiant and refused to end his sit-in protest, saying he was seeking "independence or death" and would not rest until both Sharif brothers quit.

Khan has alleged massive cheating in the May 2013 poll, though international observers said the vote was largely free and fair.
Posted by: Fred || 08/29/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  "Please don't coup kill me"
Posted by: Frank G || 08/29/2014 16:06 Comments || Top||


Model Town case: FIR registered against Nawaz, Shahbaz and 19 others
[DAWN] LAHORE: A First Information Report (FIR) was registered against 21 persons, including the prime minister and Punjab chief minister, on Thursday on the the orders of the government.

The Punjab police received orders on Thursday to register an FIR against those responsible for the deaths of 11 Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) supporters in a violent clash with police.

Sections 419, 148, 234, 302 and 109 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, pertaining to murder, attempt of murder and terrorism, have been included in the FIR.

Earlier today, a four-member committee formed by the Punjab government has started work on the recommendations in the Model Town judicial commission report. The committee has been mandated to fix responsibility in relation to the bloodshed that transpired in clashes between police personnel and supporters of Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) chief Dr Tahirul Qadri.

The committee is expected to complete its proceedings in a week's time and submit a report to the provincial government. It comprises of Justice (retd) Khalilur Rehman Ramday, the provincial interior and law secretaries and Punjab advocate general.

And after the findings that have emerged in the reports of the judicial commission and the joint investigation team, the government committee's fundamental task is to identify those ultimately for the Model Town tragedy.

Earlier, the Punjab government had requested the judicial commission for audio/visual evidence in relation to the tragedy.

The government commission begun its work days after the judicial commission investigating the Model Town incident held it responsible for the tragedy, saying the police had acted on the administration's orders which led to the bloodshed.

The report had said that the affidavits of Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and former law minister Rana Sanaullah contained contradictions regarding the orders they reportedly issued to the police to disengage, and said what happened on the ground did not match such claims.

At least 11 PAT workers were killed and over 100 people were injured during the clash in Lahore.
Posted by: Fred || 08/29/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Imran to announce yet another course of action
[DAWN] ISLAMABAD: Addressing a small crowd of supporters in the federal capital on Thursday, 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....
(PTI) Chairman Imran Khan
... aka Taliban Khan, who who convinced himself that playing cricket qualified him to lead a nuclear-armed nation with severe personality problems...
said that he would announce his future course of action today (Thursday).

In his address, Imran reiterated his anti-government statements along with his unwavering demand for the resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf...
. On stage by his side was veteran politician and senior PTI leader Javed Hashmi, who said he joined Khan because he "could not bear to see him alone".

"I was in the hospital," said the frail 66-year-old Hashmi, his voice quivering. "Could not watch Imran standing alone so came here."

Hashmi also reiterated PTI's call for the resignation of Nawaz and Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif
...Pak dynastic politician, brother of PM Nawaz Sharif, chief minister of Punjab...
.

Encamped at D-chowk for 10 days, Khan is usually flanked by prominent PTI figures during his public appearances, including Shah Mehmood Wormtongue Qureshi, Dr Arif Alvi, Jahangir Tareen and Asad Umer. However,
there is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened...
with Qureshi and Alvi scheduled to speak at a Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
sit-in at 5pm today, Khan -- although apparently defiant and charged -- was speaking on a stage that is growing less crowded.

Participants at the PTI's protracted sit-in in the heart of Islamabad are also growing weary. While the rally witnesses a significant swell in numbers as the sun sets and music begins, journalists on the ground put the number of attendees in the day time at a few hundred.

Party insiders requesting anonymity say that Khan's unflinching resistance to negotiate with the government on anything other than the prime minister's resignation betrays his helplessness over bringing a favourable conclusion to what he had billed as a "million man march". Some believe that despite the stalemate arising from the government's refusal to accept his demand, Khan is pressing on for the crowd.

"Any commitments that happen in the background can change according to the mood of the crowd," a party official requesting anonymity had told Dawn as Khan approached the capital. "A leader feeds off the energy of his supporters, and the workers are gaining strength in numbers."

Two weeks later today, Khan reiterated allegations that Nawaz Sharif had orchestrated the biggest election rigging ever to be witnessed in history. He also said that he would announce his 'future course of action'.

Imran demanded that those who had stolen the people's mandate should be dealt with as per Article 6 of the Constitution.

He said if Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif thought that protesters would remain quiet, then he was under a false impression. The PTI chief said that they were not hindering anyone's way and were only protesting in a small corner.
Posted by: Fred || 08/29/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  He's discovered a previously unknown direction to try out. It's becoming difficult to keep notes.
Posted by: ed in texas || 08/29/2014 7:24 Comments || Top||


JI chief harps on political solution
[DAWN] Jamaat-e-Islami
...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores...
emir Sirajul Haq
...current head of the Pak Jamaat-e-Islami. Siraj was born in 1962 and entered politics shortly after that...
has said the demand for the prime minister's resignation will be lawful only if some constitutional institution gives the verdict that the May 2013 elections were massively rigged and the assemblies were bogus.

He was speaking to the media at Mansoora after a meeting of the JI provincial chiefs and central office-bearers on Wednesday.

He said the JI wanted the participants in the sit-ins to return home successfully. However,
the hip bone's connected to the leg bone...
the consensus of the political parties was that no unconstitutional solution would be accepted and added that even if the sit-in continued for 100 days, only the constitutional way out would be adopted.The JI chief stressed that the court order for the registration of the FIR of the Model Town killings must be complied with. He said if the rulers appeared before the court, their image would improve.

He said the nation desired the two sides to sit together and work out a political solution and not to wait for the third option or the interference by the third party.

He said the JI was continuing its role of mediator with the support of other parties and he was hopeful that a political solution would be found out soon.

Siraj said the JI leaders attending the meeting had expressed grave concern over the worsening situation in the federal capital and they had appealed to the government as well as the protesting parties to show flexibility and find out an early solution to the issues. They also lauded the establishment's role so far.
Posted by: Fred || 08/29/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Islami


Iraq
Albania Sending Weapons to Kurdish Forces in Iraq
[AnNahar] Albania has started sending weapons and ammunition to Kurdish forces fighting Islamic State faceless myrmidons in Iraq, a defense ministry source said on Thursday.

The first shipment was sent on Sunday, said a ministry source who requested anonymity.

Despite being one of the poorest nations in Europe, Moslem-majority Albania earlier this month said it would send large quantities of weapons to help Kurdish fighters beat back advancing jihadists, including up to 22 million AK47 rifle rounds and 32,000 artillery shells.

Militants led by the Islamic State (IS) launched a major offensive in June that overran large areas of Iraq, and began a renewed push earlier this month that saw Kurdish forces pushed back towards their regional capital of Arbil.

U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said on Tuesday that in addition to the United States and Albania, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, Italia, La Belle France and the United Kingdom have pledged to send military support to Kurdish forces.
And Iran, of course.
"Operations have already begun and will accelerate in the coming days with more nations also expected to contribute," Hagel said.
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/29/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Long ago the US should have encouraged a pseudo alliance of non-Arab (and non-Persian) moslems. Most have extensive experience with Arabic imperialism. In the west we tend to see it all as Islam but apparantly many of the nastier bits are Arabic culture laid on top.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 08/29/2014 14:38 Comments || Top||

#2  I'd like to see some Albanian SF deploy to Iraq. They did a pretty damn good job along the PAK border in AFG. No hoopla, no movie or book deals, just quiet professionalism.
Posted by: Besoeker || 08/29/2014 16:06 Comments || Top||


Report: Israeli Drone Crashes Near Baghdad Airport Area
[Ynet] The Hezbollah-affiliated "Al Miadin" news channel reported Thursday that an Israeli-made Hermes drone crashed near the Baghdad airport area.

The semi-official Fars news agency said that representatives of the US embassy in Iraq arrived on the scene and collected the pieces of the broken aircraft.
The Jerusalem Posts adds this is the third captured/crashed Israeli drone in a week, after Hamas claimed to have captured one and Iran shot down another near its Natanz nuclear facility.
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/29/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  this is the third captured/crashed Israeli drone in a week

Correction. Third time adherents of Islam---a faith where lying is a religious obligation, announce such.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 08/29/2014 2:55 Comments || Top||

#2  It was actually the regularly scheduled El Al drone flight on stopover, on a flight for 'tourist' views of beautiful Isfahan and Tabriz.
Posted by: ed in texas || 08/29/2014 7:28 Comments || Top||

#3  Israel made it but who owned and maintained it?
Posted by: tipover || 08/29/2014 9:52 Comments || Top||

#4  The question boils down to "Who controlled it?". Israel may have given a couple of drones to the Kurds, for all we know.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 08/29/2014 12:51 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Gaza peace prospects shaky after Hamas refusal to disarm
If Hamass signed up to disarm, and I were in charge, I would insist that they follow through.
Prospects of a final deal on a long-term Gaza truce between Israel and Hamas were seen as shaky Friday after its leader ruled out Israeli demands to disarm the Palestinian militant group.

"The weapons of the resistance are sacred and we will not accept that they be on the agenda" of future negotiations with Israel, the exiled Meshaal told a news conference on Thursday in Doha.

Israel has consistently linked the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, devastated during its 50-day war with Hamas that ended last Tuesday, to the territory's demilitarisation.

"It has become abundantly clear that unless Hamas is disarmed and its tools of control removed, there can be no peace and security for either Israelis or Palestinians," Israel's Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman warned, quoted on his ministry's website.

France's President Francois Hollande also backs the disarmament of the coastal strip where Hamas is de facto ruler.

"Gaza can no longer be an army base for Hamas, or an open-air prison for its inhabitants. One should move towards a progressive lifting of the blockade and the demilitarisation of the territory," he told French diplomats on Thursday.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is claiming victory over the Palestinian militants.

"Hamas was hit very hard and there is here a military achievement of the highest order, as well as a diplomatic achievement because they dropped all of their demands," he told a visiting delegation from the US House of Representatives Armed Services Committee.

"They got to this point the hard way. They kept testing us and every time we struck them but the last time, given this accumulation of blows, they were persuaded," he said.

But talks on crunch issues such as Hamas's demands for a port and an airport and the release of prisoners, as well as Israel's calls to disarm militant groups, have been put on hold until negotiators return to Cairo within a month.

Meshaal said his group's weaponry "guarantees that our demands will not be overlooked", although he acknowledged that not all its conditions for a ceasefire had been met.

"Not all our demands have been satisfied... but an important part," he said, referring to the easing of Israel's blockade of the impoverished territory.

Both Israel and Hamas have hailed the truce as a "victory".

The seven-week conflict claimed the lives of at least 2,140 Palestinians, more than 70 percent of them civilians according to the United Nations, and 65 soldiers and six civilians on the Israeli side.

An Israeli soldier seriously wounded by rocket fire in southern Israel a week ago died of his injuries on Friday, the army said in a statement.

Political analyst Shimon Shiffer, writing in top-selling newspaper Yediot Aharonot, said Israeli hopes that Western-backed Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas could carve out a strong role in post-war Gaza were unlikely to be realised.

Netanyahu, he wrote, will "have to get used to negotiating on arrangements with Meshaal, whether he likes it or not."

- Carrots and sticks -

A poll published Friday in Israel's Maariv newspaper indicated that 58 percent of Jewish Israelis regard the current open-ended ceasefire as a mistake.

Only 33 percent believed it would help bring about a negotiated Gaza settlement, in the poll, for which the number of respondents and margin of error were not given.

Israel HaYom freesheet, seen as close to Netanyahu, said that continued Egyptian-mediated talks with Hamas would have to balance toughness with incentives.

"Hamas did not surrender," it wrote. "To deny it any motivation to fire again...Israel should combine carrots and sticks."

"It should be generous in opening the crossings and the passage for goods so that it will be clear to Hamas what it stands to lose, and it should be clear about the immediate meaning of the violation of the ceasefire - a return to warfare."
Posted by: gorb || 08/29/2014 10:29 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  hudna - A hudna (from the Arabic هدنة meaning "calm" or "quiet") is a truce or armistice. It is sometimes mistranslated as "cease-fire".
-- the often entertaining and sometimes informative Wikipedia
Posted by: SteveS || 08/29/2014 11:32 Comments || Top||

#2  Hudna is similar to saying 'nice tiger, I'm your friend' while looking for a big rock.

Unfortunately for Hamas they have no big rocks and those that used to sell them are wiping their hands at the moment.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 08/29/2014 14:34 Comments || Top||


Former US diplomat: No Drama Obama "enraged" by Israeli moves, treatment of Kerry
Posted by: Elmerert Hupens2660 || 08/29/2014 09:08 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I respectfully submit the following graphic to Rantburg, so we may understand the subject at hand.

Posted by: Thusoling Lumplump8632 || 08/29/2014 9:32 Comments || Top||

#2  And when not pissed he golfs.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 08/29/2014 14:30 Comments || Top||


Aid Flows Into Gaza After Israel-Hamas Truce
[IsraelTimes] Vital humanitarian aid was arriving in Gazoo Thursday as residents began rebuilding their lives following a devastating 50-day war between Israel and Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, that experts say left no winners.

Millions in and around the war-torn coastal enclave were enjoying a second day of peace after the guns fell silent following a permanent ceasefire agreement, allowing people to begin putting their lives back together.

The truce, which went into force on Tuesday evening, saw the warring sides agree to a "permanent" halt to seven weeks of bloodshed in a move hailed by Washington, the United Nations
...a formerly good idea gone bad...
and top world diplomats.

Under the deal, Israel agreed to immediately lift restrictions on fishing, allowing boats to work up to six nautical miles from the shore in a move which went into effect early on Wednesday.

It also pledged to ease restrictions at the two crossings into Gazoo, Erez and Kerem Shalom, to allow the entry of goods, humanitarian aid and construction materials, in a move which began Thursday.

Debate on crunch issues such as Hamas's demand for a port and an airport, and the release of prisoners, as well as Israel's calls to demilitarize Gazoo have been postponed for another month until the sides resume talks in Cairo.

For now, the focus is catering for the immediate needs of the 1.8 million residents of the Gazoo Strip, nearly half a million of whom were forced to flee their homes because of the fighting.

At the Kerem Shalom commercial crossing, a steady trickle of buses were arriving early in the day, most carrying commercial goods, although some were transporting aid, bearing the logo of the UN agency for Paleostinian refugees (UNRWA).

Goods begin crossing
"During the war we used to come and go, but we were all bringing aid," said a driver called Abu Amer.

"Now I'm bringing goods for the shops in Gazoo," he told AFP as he watched his cargo of diapers being inspected.

Other buses were carrying furniture, fruits, and non-perishable foodstuffs, as well as what looked like water tanks. But there was no sign of any construction materials being brought in.

On Wednesday, more than 200 tons of aid from Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
, Oman and Turkey trundled into Gazoo from Egypt, entering via the Rafah border crossing, an official at the frontier told AFP.

A World Food Program (WFP) aid convoy arrived in Gazoo for the first time since 2007, also crossing from Egypt, and carrying enough food to last 150,000 people for five days, the Geneva-based agency said.

Another line of trucks took in 150 tons of medicine and medical equipment from Saudi Arabia, and 45 tons of health supplies arrived from an Oman welfare organization. Turkey also sent humanitarian aid, officials said.

Paleostinian officials were expected to meet their Israeli counterparts on Thursday to discuss procedures at the crossings, Raed Fattuh, head of the Paleostinian liaison committee told AFP on Wednesday.

He said both Erez and Kerem Shalom would resume normal operations on Thursday in line with the norms that existed before the crisis began, with the sides to discuss the new procedures which are to be introduced as a result of the truce.

Readying for Cairo
Both Israel and the Islamist Hamas movement, the de facto authority in Gazoo, hailed the ceasefire as a victory.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Hamas had laid down very clear conditions for halting its fire -- but had not managed to get any of its demands.

"Hamas wanted a port and airport in Gazoo, the liberation of Paleostinian prisoners, the mediation of Qatar
...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates...
and Turkey and the payment of salaries for its employees," he said late on Wednesday.

"It got nothing."

Ahead of a new round of talks in Cairo, at which such issues are to be debated, Israel was taking a firm stance.

"There will be no port, no airport and no entry of materials that could be used to produce rockets or build tunnels," said deputy foreign minister Tzahi Hanegbi, a close Netanyahu associate.

"That will be our position which we will present at the negotiations in Cairo."

Israel has consistently linked Gazoo's crucial reconstruction with its demilitarization, with Netanyahu saying the rebuilding would go ahead -- "but only under our control."

Hamas too claimed victory, saying it had "stood firm in the face of the arsenal of Zionist terrorism" and had caused Israel heavy losses -- a reference to the 64 soldiers killed in the fighting in Israel's biggest military toll since 2006.

Israel launched Operation Protective Edge with Arclight airstrikes aimed at stemming frequent rocket fire from Gazoo at Israeli towns, and later widened the campaign in order to locate and destroy a network of cross-border tunnels from which Hamas fighters carried out attacks on Israeli soil.
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/29/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hamas

#1  Vital humanitarian aid was arriving in Gazoo

Replacement rockets etc...
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 08/29/2014 2:53 Comments || Top||

#2  ...cement.
Posted by: AlanC || 08/29/2014 8:06 Comments || Top||

#3  I'm all for sending cement to Hamass. Stand its members in a bucket, pour in the cement, let it dry, and have them take a walk -- off the end of a boat. To make it even more humane, dump them in chin-deep water -- at low tide.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 08/29/2014 12:50 Comments || Top||

#4  Mr. Patriot, I like the cut of your jib.
Posted by: AlanC || 08/29/2014 14:13 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Filipino Muslim Rebels Lash Out At Islamic State 'Virus'
[IsraelTimes] The Philippines' largest Moslem opposition group has condemned holy warrior jihadists in Iraq and Syria, and vowed to stop the spread of their "virus" into the Southeast Asian nation.

After decades of armed rebellion that claimed tens of thousands of lives, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front signed a peace agreement in March that commits it and the national government to share power in the area.

The MILF portrayed its moderate leadership as vital to stopping the savage ideology of Islamic State, also known by the acronym ISIS, infecting the southern Moslem regions of the mainly Catholic Philippines.

"The MILF condemns barbarism and savagery whether done by other groups including the ISIS or even by its (MILF's) own members," the MILF said in an editorial posted on its www.luwaran.com website this week.

"Frankly, it is the power, moderating line, and influence of the MILF that hinders the birth of a truly strong radical group."

The MILF also said a planned Moslem autonomous region that is the centrepiece of the peace deal would be a bulwark against the ideology of the Islamic State, which is also known as ISIS.

The MILF urged President Benigno Aquino to approve a draft bill to create the autonomous region, which was submitted to him last week by a joint committee of rebel and government negotiators.

The peace agreement had called for Aquino to submit the bill to Congress earlier this year, so the autonomous region would be in place by the time he leaves office in mid-2016.

But he rejected an earlier draft and had the joint committee prepare a revised version.

"It is this... fear (of) not being able to realise it (passage of the Moslem autonomous law) for whatever reason that the ISIS' virus is much to be feared," the MILF warned.

Two other Filipino Moslem gangs, the Abu Sayyaf
...also known as al-Harakat al-Islamiyya, an Islamist terror group based in Jolo, Basilan and Zamboanga. Since its inception in the early 1990s, the group has carried out bombings, kidnappings, murders, head choppings, and extortion in their uniquely Islamic attempt to set up an independent Moslem province in the Philippines. Abu Sayyaf forces probably number less than 300 cadres. The group is closely allied with remnants of Indonesia's Jemaah Islamiya and has loose ties with MILF and MNLF who sometimes provide cannon fodder...
and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, have recently vowed allegiance to the IS in video clips uploaded on the Internet.

Some politicians have expressed concern
...meaning the brow was mildly wrinkled, the eyebrows drawn slightly together, and a thoughtful expression assumed, not that anything was actually done or indeed that any thought was actually expended...
both groups may be sending recruits abroad to fight alongside the IS, though the Philippine military said there was no evidence of this.

The Abu Sayyaf is a loosely organised Al-Qaeda-linked group of several hundred bully boyz blamed for the Philippines' deadliest snuffies attacks.

The BIFF, which has about 200 fighters, split from the MILF after rejecting peace talks and has vowed to continue pursuing an independent Islamic state.

"For us, the threat is not in the two groups' joining the ISIS. Their number(s) (are) too tiny to be felt and make a difference," the MILF said.

"The threat really comes from the extremism espouse(d) by the ISIS. Ideas are contagious and infectious."
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/29/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Moro Islamic Liberation Front

#1  Polio lashing out at cancer.
Posted by: AlanC || 08/29/2014 8:09 Comments || Top||

#2  I vote snark of the day!
Posted by: Remoteman || 08/29/2014 13:32 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
US Coast Guard fires at Iranian boat in Gulf
A US Coast Guard vessel fired in self-defence on an Iranian boat in the Arabian Gulf, the Navy said on Wednesday, an encounter that could exacerbate tensions between the two countries as they work to hammer out a lasting deal over Iran's nuclear programme.

Cmdr. Kevin Stephens, a spokesman for the US Navy's Bahrain-based 5th Fleet, said personnel on a small boat dispatched from the US Coast Guard patrol boat Monomoy fired a single shot when it saw crew on a nearby Iranian dhow training one of its two .50-caliber machine guns on them and preparing to fire.

“This action by the dhow's crew demonstrated hostile intent which resulted in the defensive fire by the Coast Guardsmen,” he said.

No Americans were wounded in the encounter, which happened in international waters around 11.30am local time on Tuesday, Stephens said.

The Monomoy was operating on “a routine maritime security operation” when it contacted the dhow's bridge. After initial contact, the Iranian vessel stopped communicating and the Coast Guard ship deployed a small boat to investigate, Stephens said.

It was not clear if the shot hit the Iranian vessel or if anyone onboard was injured. Iranian officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

American, Iranian and other countries' military vessels routinely patrol the Gulf, a key route for international oil shipments, usually without incident.

Speed boats from Iran's Revolutionary Guard, however, have passed close to US ships in incidents that have raised alarm in Washington.
Posted by: Steve White || 08/29/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Iran Introduces New Generation Of Centrifuges
[IsraelTimes] Iran said Wednesday it had introduced a new generation of uranium-enrichment centrifuges which would refine the radioactive material more efficiently, with the country's nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi saying the new IR-8 model had already been tested, though it was not yet being fed with uranium gas.
Why shouldn't Iran keep pushing, when everyone knows President B.O. isn't going to say boo?
"These centrifuges have undergone mechanical tests, but we haven't yet injected gas into them as it requires a relevant permission by the president," Salehi said in comments relayed by Iran's Fars new agency.

Anticipating consternation in the world over Tehran's continued enrichment efforts, Salehi insisted that development and use of new centrifuge models was well within the country's rights as part of the interim nuclear deal with world powers signed last November.

Iran says the uranium is needed to fuel its nuclear facilities, which it insists are for peaceful purposes only. The newer centrifuges, it contends, will allow it to meet national needs more efficiently. But such efficiency may not be looked upon favorably by Western nations, who fear that uranium enriched to a high level could be used to build nuclear weapons.

Iran currently has nearly 19,000 centrifuges, including 10,000 of the so-called first generation being used to enrich uranium. Some 1,000 second generation machines, three to five times more powerful, have been installed but are not in service. Under the November deal, Iran cannot increase the number of its centrifuges.

Former Israeli Ambassador to the US Michael Oren has warned that Iran was continuing to develop its centrifuges, and that more sophisticated models would enable it to speed more quickly to nuclear weapons if it chose to try to break out to the bomb. "If the talks break down," he told The Times of Israel earlier this year, "and you [the Iranians] quickly install your additional 9,000 centrifuges, among them the IR2s, which really give you [the equivalent of] about 24,000 centrifuges. And you have a stockpile [of enriched uranium]. And maybe you've done some research and development, that actually gives you some [centrifuges] closer to an IR3, which has an even higher rate of accumulation than the IR2s, how long is it going to take you [to break out]?"

Salehi also said Wednesday that workers have begun redesigning Iran's nearly completed Arak heavy water reactor to limit the amount of plutonium it can make as part of the interim deal.

As originally designed, the reactor at Arak could have produced substantial amounts of plutonium, material that can be used as the fissile core of a nuclear weapon. Iran has offered to redesign it to produce only a fifth of the plutonium it could have made. However,
Switzerland makes more than cheese...
the West has asked Iran to totally replace the Arak reactor with one that would be able to make only minuscule amounts of plutonium.

Iran has opposed that, saying a heavy water reactor is needed to produce medical radioisotopes while a light water reactor, like the one Iran has at Bushehr, is used to generate electricity.

The Arak reactor remains one of the sticking points between the Islamic Theocratic Republic and world powers as they try to negotiate a permanent deal over Iran's contested nuclear program. Last year, they struck an interim deal that saw Iran agree to limit its uranium enrichment in return for the easing of some economic sanctions. Negotiators now face a November deadline to come to a final deal.
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/29/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran


Jomaa Interrogated at Military Court, Denies Belonging to Islamic State
[AnNahar] Imad Ahmed Jomaa, a member of the al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Nusra Front, was interrogated on Thursday at the Military Tribunal.

His lawyer, Tareq Shandab, stated after the hearing that his client denied belonging to the Islamic State.

"Everything that was leaked about him is untrue," he stressed.

Jomaa's arrest prompted festivities on August 2 between the army and Islamist Lions of Islam in the northeastern border town of Arsal, which left 19 soldiers, 16 civilians, and dozens of jihadists dead.

The festivities ended on August 7 with a truce negotiated by Lebanese Sunni holy mans, but the gunnies withdrew from the area taking around 34 captive security personnel with them.

A few of the captives have since been released.

LBCI television reported on Monday that Jomaa and the Islamists were seeking to establish an Islamic "emirate" straddling northern and eastern regions and linked to Syria's Qalamun with Sirajeddine Zureiqat, a front man of the Abdullah Azzam Brigades
... Leb's current al-Qaeda affiliate, named after a guy whose car the current head of al-Qaeda had boomed...
, as its "emir,"

"Jomaa confessed during preliminary investigations that Abou Malek al-Souri, emir of the al-Nusra Front in Qalamun, and the 29 gangs under his command had agreed before Jomaa's capture to wage a joint attack on Arsal," it said.

Jomaa was known to be a member of al-Nusra Front, al-Qaeda's Syria franchise, but a video that surfaced in recent weeks shows him pledging allegiance to the Islamic State, which reportedly appointed him as the leader of the holy warrior Fajr al-Islam Brigade.
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/29/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Nusra


Fighting in Syria spawns separate civil war in global jihadist movement
[FOXNEWS] Syria's bloody civil war has spawned a separate rift with ramifications well beyond the region known as the Levant -- a battle for the very soul of the global jihad movement.

Islamic Death Eaters who poured into the embattled nation to help the Free Syrian Army
... the more palatable version of the Syrian insurgency, heavily influenced by the Moslem Brüderbund...
in its bid to topple dictator Bashir al-Assad are now fighting Assad, the rebels and each other in a barbaric free-for-all. At the center is the split between Al Qaeda's regional affiliate, Jabhat al-Nusra, and the newly emerged Islamic State, which are fighting each other on the battlefield and in the war for recruits to the cause of Islamic terrorism.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 08/29/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  This is the universal experience with provoking a blood-letting among thugs: those that survive will be better at it.
Posted by: ed in texas || 08/29/2014 7:32 Comments || Top||


France Rules out Assad as Partner in Terror Fight
[ABCNEWS.GO] French President Francois Hollande
...the Socialist president of La Belle France, an economic bad joke for la Belle France but seemingly a foreign policy realist...
on Thursday ruled out an international partnership with Syria's leader to fight against the Islamic State group, saying any alliance with Bashir al-Assad would play into the Lion of Islams' hands.

In a wide-ranging speech to international ambassadors, Hollande said La Belle France would call an international conference to address the threat of IS gunnies and said a broad alliance was needed.

He said: "But I want to make sure things are clear: Bashir al-Assad cannot be a partner in the fight against terrorism. He is a known ally of the jihadists. You cannot choose between two barbarities, because they feed on each other."

Hollande also said he views Libya as the next crucial front for terrorism, and called on the United Nations
...where theory meets practice and practice loses...
to assemble "exceptional support for Libyan authorities to restore their state," without elaborating. La Belle France is a permanent, veto-wielding member of the U.N. Security Council.

Despite many subjects of concern in the world today, Hollande said, Libya was his "major preoccupation."

The country is facing "total confusion," he said, adding there is "a formation of terrorist groups that is waiting to intervene" in the south.

"If we do nothing ... terrorism will spread in the whole region," Hollande said.

La Belle France, along with NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions...
partners Britannia and the United States, led an allied air assault that helped Libyan rebels topple longtime dictator Muammar Qadaffy
...Proof that a madman with money will be politely received for at least 42 years until his people get tired of him and kill him...
as the so-called Arab Spring revolutions erupted in 2011.
Posted by: Fred || 08/29/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  I'm sure he doesn't sleep nights.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 08/29/2014 2:56 Comments || Top||

#2  Thereby demonstrating that there are, indeed, some people the French won't work with. Right now, at least.
Posted by: ed in texas || 08/29/2014 7:34 Comments || Top||

#3  You must forgive the feckless Russian Navy ship builders. They are simply adolescents who also know how to cook.

[Imitating a Frenchman] Fuc* you Americans! Uncultured, crass Americans! We hate all of you! Fu- the Germans are here! Hello Americans! We love you!

~ Robin Williams
Posted by: Besoeker || 08/29/2014 7:40 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
30[untagged]
8Islamic State
7Govt of Pakistan
3al-Nusra
2Hamas
1Govt of Iran
1Govt of Syria
1Hezbollah
1Jamaat-e-Islami
1Moro Islamic Liberation Front
1Muslim Brotherhood
1Narcos
1Thai Insurgency
1al-Qaeda in Arabia
1Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis
1Arab Spring
1Commies

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
Fri 2014-08-29
  Sinai Group Says It Beheaded 4 Egyptian 'Mossad Agents'
Thu 2014-08-28
  Online photos show ISIL executing Syrian soldiers
Wed 2014-08-27
  TTP commanders form new splinter group 'Jamatul Ahrar'
Tue 2014-08-26
  Thousands flee to Cameroon after Boko Haram attack in Nigeria
Mon 2014-08-25
  Boko Haram leader declares Islamic caliphate in Nigeria
Sun 2014-08-24
  Boko Haram Executes Two People For Smoking Cigarettes
Sat 2014-08-23
  Syrian army ambushes 140 IS fighters in al-Raqqa
Fri 2014-08-22
  Boko Haram Takfiris seize town in NE Nigeria
Thu 2014-08-21
  Israeli Fire Kills 31 in Gaza as Hamas Warns Foreign Airlines, Declares Truce Talks Over
Wed 2014-08-20
  Geelani, Yasin Malik meet Pak envoy after India calls off talks
Tue 2014-08-19
  Kurdish PKK trains Yazidis to fight back against Islamic State.
Mon 2014-08-18
  Apple employee took assassin's bullets for British colonel
Sun 2014-08-17
  Jihadists kill dozens in north Iraq 'massacre': officials
Sat 2014-08-16
  Iraq Sunni Tribes Take Up Arms against Jihadists
Fri 2014-08-15
  ISIS jihadist poses with severed head as Caliphate seize more key towns

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.
54.224.100.102
Help keep the Burg running! Paypal:
WoT Operations (19)    Non-WoT (8)    Opinion (8)    (0)    Politix (2)