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Egypt's Minister Mohammed Ibrahim survives bomb attack
Today's Headlines
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Afghanistan
Karzai Backs Parliament Seat for Afghan Hindus, Sikhs
[An Nahar] Afghanistan's Caped President Hamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai
... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabbani in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a Pashtun face on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use...
on Wednesday ordered parliament to create a new seat for the tiny Hindu and Sikh minority after MPs snubbed their demand for separate representation.

There are an estimated 4,000 Sikhs and Hindus in Afghanistan. The community complain of discrimination, abuse and prejudice in the ultra-conservative Mohammedan country.

Their request for a seat in the 249-member lower house was included in an election bill, passed in July after the clause was scrapped on the grounds that the community was so small.

Members of the minority then threatened to migrate en masse and Karzai stepped in Wednesday with his decree.

Under the Afghan constitution, the president has the power to issue legislative decrees when parliament is in recess but it must be approved by MPs to pass into law.

If parliament approves the new seat, it would be contested at Afghanistan's next parliamentary elections in 2015 and raise to 250 the number of representatives in the lower house.
Posted by: Fred || 09/05/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The community complain of discrimination, abuse and prejudice in the ultra-conservative Mohammedan country. Those infidels should be grateful they still have their heads.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 09/05/2013 0:17 Comments || Top||

#2  I'm not sure its a great idea because these folks are likely unhinged to still be living in Afghanistan in this day and age. Of course in the Islamic world I guess that is a prerequisite.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 09/05/2013 10:23 Comments || Top||

#3  If parliament approves the new seat, it would be contested at Afghanistan's next parliamentary elections in 2015 and raise to 250 the number of representatives in the lower house.

That might depend on what the Taliban have to say about it.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 09/05/2013 13:09 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
UN Chief: Somalia Could Still Fail
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, warning that Somalia could slide back into being a failed state, called Tuesday on countries around the world to provide the African Union-led peacekeeping force there with attack helicopters and armored troop carriers to take the fight to Al-Shabab militants in the field.
Sure Ban, whatever we don't send to Syria, Libya, Pakistain, Afghanistan, Iraq or Egypt we'll send to Mogadishu. We'll get right on that...
The U.N. chief called on U.N. members, including African countries not yet involved, to provide the African Union-led peacekeeping force with attack helicopters, armored troop carries and other support to root out the al-Qaida-allied Al-Shabab.

"The political, security and development gains made so far in Somalia are still reversible," Ban said in a report to the Security Council. The al-Qaida-allied terrorist group Al-Shabab "continues to undermine security throughout the country, including in Mogadishu."

"Allowing Al-Shabab to continue its training and conduct terrorist activities from bases in Somalia will not only undermine peace in Somalia, but also that of the wider region," he said.

The AU peacekeeping mission in Somalia — known as AMISOM — is endorsed by the U.N. Security Council and is meant to pave the way for an eventual U.N. peacekeeping force. It is led by Ugandan officers, and also has large Kenya and Burundi contingents. It has more than 17,000 troops.

The United Nations has especially been stung since Al-Shabab attacked the U.N. compound in Mogadishu on June 19, killing a U.N. Development Program staffer, thee U.N. contractors, four Somali guards and at least six Somali bystanders. It was the first direct attack on a U.N. building in Somalia since 2008.

Since then, the international aid group Doctors Without Borders has pulled out of Somalia, citing increasing dangers there. Al-Shabab militants still control much of the country's south.
Posted by: Steve White || 09/05/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Johnson! Stop the presses!!
Posted by: tu3031 || 09/05/2013 1:43 Comments || Top||

#2  When did it slide out of failed statehood?
Posted by: 3dc || 09/05/2013 3:23 Comments || Top||

#3  What's below failed state status? Moving to failed state status is a step up for these boobs right?
Posted by: AlanC || 09/05/2013 8:45 Comments || Top||

#4  What's below failed state status?

Double secret probation...
Posted by: Steve White || 09/05/2013 11:13 Comments || Top||

#5  As we say here in Pittsburgh:

Git Aht!
Posted by: M. Murcek || 09/05/2013 13:29 Comments || Top||

#6  On the great big Golden Map of American Dialects Pitchberg joins a unique set of small locales.
Posted by: Shipman || 09/05/2013 17:55 Comments || Top||

#7  "Fail" is their national motto
Posted by: Frank G || 09/05/2013 21:14 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Senussi's beautiful daughter "protected", not kidnapped: congressman
[Libya Herald] Anoud Senussi was not kidnapped on Monday, a Sebah Congressman claimed this evening, but was taken by an SSC unit, anxious that she was not being properly protected.

Congressman Abdul Hadi Ahmed Ashrief told the Libya Herald that the 20-year old was taken from a three-vehicle Judicial Police convoy by men from the First Special Unit of the SSC, for her own protection.

It was thought, said Ashrief, that that a group, which he did not name, would seek to grab her on the way to the airport, her original destination. From there she had been due the fly to Sebha. However Ashrief explained, she was taken instead by the SSC unit to "a very safe place" in Tripoli
...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn...
, where she has been kept ever since.

Ashrief said that he had visited Anoud at her Tripoli location and she had told him that she was very happy and had been well-treated, both while she was in prison and in the hands of the SSC unit.

The congressman said that she would not be travelling to Sebha, but "within two days"would be going to either Mauritania or Egypt, where she would be joining her mother. He added that in Tripoli she was currently with two aunts and a sister.

Ashrief did not reveal when his visit had taken place and said that there were no pictures of the encounter, because Anoud had said that she did not wish to be photographed.

The threats made by members of the Magraha tribe to which Anoud belongs, to cut completely the flow of water from the western branch of the Man-Made River to western Libya, were made, said Ashrief, because the rustics did not understand that she had not been kidnapped.

"They didn't know she had been taken by good people, " he explained, " that's why they were protesting and about to cut the water".
Posted by: Fred || 09/05/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring

#1  "We had to kidnap her to keep her safe from kidnappers."
Posted by: Pappy || 09/05/2013 22:09 Comments || Top||


Britain
G20 snub for Cameron as Obama meets Hollande
[TELEGRAPH.CO.UK] David Cameron and Barack Obama will not hold a formal meeting at a summit in Russia this week, in what some people suggested was a snub because of the Prime Minister's handling of the Syrian crisis.
Posted by: Fred || 09/05/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Lucky break for David, I'd say.
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/05/2013 1:29 Comments || Top||

#2  That sound you're hearing is the USDOD + mainstream America really nervously piddling their fingers now.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 09/05/2013 2:58 Comments || Top||

#3  By the way Emperor Obama - your new suit is quite nice on you... ( suit )
Posted by: 3dc || 09/05/2013 3:28 Comments || Top||

#4  The Brits should be glad to be rid of him. I know I would be.
Posted by: Spot || 09/05/2013 7:53 Comments || Top||


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Russian man convicted for online 'justification of terrorism'
A Russian man was convicted of "public justification of terrorism" through postings on a social networking website, prosecutors in Moscow said Wednesday.

Murat Sarbashev from St. Petersburg posted on his web page a video of an Islamist militant, advocating violence against ethic Russians and calling for an independent Islamist state in Russia's North Caucasus region.

After getting negative feedback, Sarbashev responded with an online "public justification of terrorism (and) a statement deeming the ideology and practice of terrorism right and worthy of support and imitation," according to prosecutors.

Sarbashev was sentenced to two years in prison.
Posted by: ryuge || 09/05/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


China-Japan-Koreas
Pudgy's Prestige Projects Bleeding N.Korea Dry
Three big prestige projects launched by new leader Fat Boy Kim Jong-un are bleeding North Korea dry, exacerbating hardships and squeezing their pockets, according to a South Korean government official.
That's before the cognac, gifts for party officials and wifey's wardrobe...
They are the construction of a ski resort, an equestrian club in Pyongyang and the attempt to turn empty plots of barren land into lawns.
Now that last one makes sense: you can eat grass in North Korea. Of course you could eat horses. Keep them off the lawn and it's a two-course meal.
The official said the regime is forcing North Korean diplomats and workers overseas to remit US$300 each to Pyongyang for the construction of the ski resort. It has also told Chongryon, a large pro-Pyongyang Korean organization in Japan, to raise funds. People are being "encouraged" to send gifts to soldiers working on the ski resort, and they have little choice but to comply.

The regime is also pressing many people into labor at the equestrian club and diverting resources that could be better spent elsewhere. It sent senior party officials overseas to sign a deal to buy racehorses worth hundreds of millions of won.
And they'd better win or else...
Last year, Pudgy Kim began a nationwide greening campaign, causing a vast acreage of sod to be laid over barren lots.

The North has established a national "lawn research center" and overseas missions have been told to send grass seeds home. It has urged residents to lay sod over any empty plots in schools and villages.

The source said, "With no sufficient financial resources, the regime is trying to complete Suet Face's Kim Jong-un's signature projects by certain deadlines and people are getting more and more restive."
Posted by: Steve White || 09/05/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  an equestrian club in Pyongyang

What was that song, 'Horse-faced Horsey Reams'?
Posted by: Raj || 09/05/2013 0:15 Comments || Top||

#2  He should maybe open a barber's school...
Posted by: tu3031 || 09/05/2013 1:45 Comments || Top||

#3  Obama's Pudgy's Prestige Projects Bleeding America N.Korea Dry

FIFY. You wonder why the economy is going nowhere? /rhet question
Posted by: Procopius2k || 09/05/2013 17:55 Comments || Top||

#4  Sweet Jeebus.... Bugs Bunny and NORK, a match made in heaben!

Welcome to muh shop... let me work yur mop...
Posted by: Shipman || 09/05/2013 17:57 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Debka: Putin calls John Kerry a Liar!
Further escalating Russia's anti-US rhetoric, President Vladimir Putin called US Secretary of State John Kerry a liar, claiming he had denied al Qaeda was fighting with the Syrian opposition, even though he was aware of the al Qaeda-linked Jabhat al-Nusra group.

"He is lying and he knows that he is lying. This is sad," Putin said Wednesday, as world leaders gathered in St. Petersburg for the G20 summit.

Putin also repeated that any use of military force against Syria without UN Security Council approval would be an act of aggression.

In his testimony to a Senate panel Tuesday, Kerry denied al Qaeda and "the bad guys" were a majority of the opposition, only 15-25 percent, including al-Nusra and many other groups that are "fighting each other, even now."
Posted by: 3dc || 09/05/2013 03:43 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Wasn't it Kerry who used the Iraqi foto of shrouded dead people and a boy jumping over them, as evidence of atrocities in Syria?

Link
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/05/2013 6:18 Comments || Top||

#2  I think Putin should have said "creepy_ass_cracker".
That fits Kerry much better.
Posted by: Dale || 09/05/2013 7:31 Comments || Top||

#3  I have been saddled with JF'nK as senator for years and years.

Puting is being kind. Kerry is a sniveling, LYING, coward. Drawing & quartering is too good for his kind.
Posted by: AlanC || 09/05/2013 8:43 Comments || Top||

#4  Note to Putin's script writers - use the word 'Wormtongue'. Many in the West will get the meaning along with its implied associations.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 09/05/2013 9:09 Comments || Top||

#5  Good for Putin, Kerry is a liar, just like his maker and idol Obama, the quicker we the people get the liars out, (Preferably not just fired, but also banned from any kind of Politics.) the better.

They're hurting America, we see it but do nothing.

There ARE ways to remove bad Politicians, (No, not shoot them, Belittle them, force them, they'll go, we can't allow them to further destroy us) DO SO NOW.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 09/05/2013 9:26 Comments || Top||

#6  Putin also repeated that any use of military force against Syria without UN Security Council approval would be an act of aggression.

Lets be honest, a use of military force is an act of aggression with or without the UN blessing. It may or may not be justified but its certainly an aggressive act.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 09/05/2013 10:25 Comments || Top||

#7  I believe Putin over Kerry.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 09/05/2013 10:27 Comments || Top||

#8  It's pretty sad when a Russian dictator has more credibility than the US president and his secretary of state.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 09/05/2013 13:11 Comments || Top||

#9  Water wet. Fire burns. Got any stock tips to pass along, Vlad?
Posted by: M. Murcek || 09/05/2013 13:40 Comments || Top||

#10  "Putin calls John Kerry a Liar"

No, no, Vlad.

I know you speak pretty good English, but you could probably benefit from learning some American idioms (since you have to deal with these American IDIOTS).

Lying crapweasel is the phrase you're looking for.

You're welcome.
Posted by: Barbara || 09/05/2013 13:43 Comments || Top||

#11  Battle of the Pompous Assholes. Brought to you by Debka...
Posted by: tu3031 || 09/05/2013 13:44 Comments || Top||

#12  Did not Turkey arrest 12 al Qeada affiliated rebels with a container sarin gas in May this year...??
Posted by: Crumble Fleting7069 || 09/05/2013 13:46 Comments || Top||

#13  Note to Putin's script writers - use the word 'Wormtongue'

And leaves room to escalate to Mouth of Sauron.

Saying the Quest is over - Booosh! has the Ring was a favorite image during the buildup to OIF.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 09/05/2013 16:05 Comments || Top||

#14  This is sad. I find myself rooting for Putin.
Posted by: irishrageboy || 09/05/2013 16:32 Comments || Top||

#15  Did not Turkey arrest 12 al Qeada affiliated rebels with a container sarin gas in May this year...??

Good memory, Crumble Fleting7069! Yes, at the end of May. Link
Posted by: trailing wife || 09/05/2013 21:12 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Nisar says Karachi 'operation' to start in two days
[Dawn] Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan announced Wednesday that the paramilitary Rangers force would start a targeted operation against criminal gangs and forces of Evil in 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...
in the next "one to two days".

A committee led by the provincial chief minister would "manage, administer and control" the operation, he said, however he emphasised on calling it a targeted action or "exercise" rather than an operation.

The interior minister, flanked by Governor Sindh Dr Ishratul Ibad and Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah, was speaking to media representatives following a special session of the federal cabinet in Karachi chaired 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...
to formulate a strategy to restore peace in the lovely provincial capital.

Earlier during the cabinet session, the prime minister had also stressed on calling it a "concerted campaign" against lawlessness and terrorism in the city rather than an operation.
Posted by: Fred || 09/05/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Yasser Abed Rabbo Says Mideast Peace Talks so far 'Futile'
If Palestinians are involved, how can it be otherwise?
[An Nahar] Middle East peace talks have so far proved "futile," a senior Paleostinian official said on Wednesday, calling for greater U.S. participation in talks.

"Until now there has been no progress," the Paleostine Liberation Organization's Yasser Abed Rabbo
... Paleostinian politician and a member of the Paleostine Liberation Organization's (PLO) Executive Committee. He holds an M.A. in economics and political science from the American University in Cairo.....
told Voice of Paleostine radio, after several weeks of meetings between Israeli and Paleostinian negotiators.

"Despite our decision to take part in talks, we're now seeing what we expected -- that there is little hope for their progress, in fact that hope is non-existent and negotiations are futile," he said.
Posted by: Fred || 09/05/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Palestinian Authority


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Russia Warns Of Nuclear Disaster If Syria Is Attacked
Not kabooms, just contamination.
WASHINGTON --- A Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman warned any military intervention in Syria would create a nuclear disaster.

"If a warhead, by design or by chance, were to hit the Miniature Neutron Source Reactor (MSNR) near Damascus, the consequences could be catastrophic," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Aleksandr Lukashevich stated, according to Russia Today.

Lukashevich said if a military strike were launched without seeking approval from the United Nations Security Council that new suffering for other countries of the Middle East and North Africa would occur. He added that the region could be at risk of "contamination by highly enriched uranium and it would no longer be possible to account for nuclear material, its safety and control."

He urged the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to complete a risk evaluation carrying out "an analysis of the risks linked to possible American strikes on the MNSR and other facilities in Syria."

Rueters quoted an IAEA spokesperson stating the agency was aware of the statement, but is waiting for a formal request asking the agency to complete risk evaluation and that the group would consider the questions raised if a request is received.
Posted by: Steve White || 09/05/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [14 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Well, after the kabooms comes the contaminations...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 09/05/2013 13:32 Comments || Top||

#2  Yk ok tvcsink verxsIIkoli ti wscikoklonov n thomohakw mizlonskil.

Rough Translation:

Ok, PROVE it wasn't one of your Tomahawk missiles that hit the bugs and gas.
Posted by: Uninerong Mussolini3248 || 09/05/2013 13:38 Comments || Top||

#3  "If a warhead, by design or by chance, were to hit the Miniature Neutron Source Reactor (MSNR) near Damascus, the consequences could be catastrophic,"

I seem to recall one of Syria's neighbors knows a thing or two about hitting reactors.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 09/05/2013 15:25 Comments || Top||

#4  Nuke Pakistan, Saudi and Iran and no more WOT
Posted by: Paul D || 09/05/2013 16:45 Comments || Top||

#5  The 1959 novel and 1960 teleplay "Alas, Babylon" spins a tale of a nuclear exchange between the old USSR & the USA, provoked by an errant air to air missile fired by a US Navy pilot - into Syria.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 09/05/2013 18:34 Comments || Top||

#6  Alas Babylon, that Mighty City, dwells no longer. But yeah. Alas Babylon was required reading in 8th grade Florida. A damn fine novel.

Hail Salt
Posted by: Shipman || 09/05/2013 18:57 Comments || Top||

#7  ..with that line of thought, you might want to download this little pdf. Chapter 23 applicable.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 09/05/2013 19:29 Comments || Top||


Syria Says Will Not Give In 'Even if There Is WWIII'
[An Nahar] Syria said Wednesday it had taken "every measure" to retaliate if hit by a feared U.S.-led military strike and would never give in, even if a third world war erupts.

In an exclusive interview with Agence La Belle France Presse, Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Muqdad also insisted that Russia had not wavered in its support, despite comments by President Vladimir Putin
...Second and fourth President of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead...
suggesting a more conciliatory tone towards the West.

"Syria has taken every measure to retaliate against... an aggression," he said, although he refused to provide any clue as to what that might mean.

"The Syrian government will not change position even if there is World War III. No Syrian can sacrifice the independence of his country," he added.

Meanwhile,
...back at the comedy club, Boogie ducked another tomato...
in an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Muqdad warned that Syria will strike back not only at Israel, but at Jordan and Turkey if they participated alongside the U.S. in a military attack.

U.S. President Barack Obama
If you have a small business, you didn't build that...
is busy trying to convince Congress to approve a strike against the Assad regime in retaliation for a suspected deadly poison gas attack on August 21 that Washington blames on Damascus.

The regime categorically denies any responsibility for the alleged attack in Damascus suburbs and has said it is cooperating with U.N. inspectors who are currently analyzing samples taken from the sites of the suspected incident.

Analysts fear that the conflict currently tearing Syria apart will spill over permanently into fragile, neighboring countries such as Leb, where supporters of the Damascus regime are already pitted against its opponents.

And allies Russia and Iran have warned that any military intervention would have devastating regional consequences.

But in an interview broadcast earlier Wednesday, Putin appeared to strike a more conciliatory note by saying he did not exclude agreeing to strikes if it was proven the regime had carried out the alleged gas attack.

Yet Muqdad stressed that Moscow had not wavered in its support of Damascus.

"The Russian position is unchanged; it's a responsible position of a friend that is in favor of peace," he said.
Posted by: Fred || 09/05/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  Assad really doesn't want to end up hanging from a meathook.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 09/05/2013 18:35 Comments || Top||

#2  If there's a start to WWIII, it's unlikely that anyone in Syria or 10-20 future generations, will be arund to "give in", so, OK
Posted by: Frank G || 09/05/2013 21:38 Comments || Top||


United States Says It Is 'Ready' for Any Retaliatory Attack by Hizbullah
[An Nahar] The United States announced on Wednesday that it is ready to respond to any possible attack launched by Hizbullah as a retaliation to the anticipated U.S.-led operation against the Syrian regime.

"Our Navy is ready to respond to any retaliatory attack by Hizbullah," U.S. army chief General Martin Dempsey said during a hearing before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs.

Dempsey added: "Our embassies are also fully protected against any possible attack by the party."

"There are conventional risks of retaliation, plus asymmetric attacks via Hizbullah. Even cyber attacks."
Posted by: Fred || 09/05/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah

#1  Dempsey added: "Our embassies are also fully protected against any possible attack by the party."

I hope those words don't come back in a week to bite you in the ass.
Posted by: SteveS || 09/05/2013 1:38 Comments || Top||

#2  Especially as such attack will be directed against you know who.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 09/05/2013 1:38 Comments || Top||

#3  So I guess Dempsey musta got his "mind right"?
6/18/13

Flash-forward to this past Wednesday. At a principals meeting in the White House situation room, Secretary of State John Kerry began arguing, vociferously, for immediate U.S. airstrikes against airfields under the control of Bashar al-Assad’s Syrian regime -- specifically, those fields it has used to launch chemical weapons raids against rebel forces.

It was at this point that the current chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the usually mild-mannered Army General Martin Dempsey, spoke up, loudly. According to several sources, Dempsey threw a series of brushback pitches at Kerry, demanding to know just exactly what the post-strike plan would be and pointing out that the State Department didn’t fully grasp the complexity of such an operation.

Dempsey informed Kerry that the Air Force could not simply drop a few bombs, or fire a few missiles, at targets inside Syria: To be safe, the U.S. would have to neutralize Syria’s integrated air-defense system, an operation that would require 700 or more sorties. At a time when the U.S. military is exhausted, and when sequestration is ripping into the Pentagon budget, Dempsey is said to have argued that a demand by the State Department for precipitous military action in a murky civil war wasn’t welcome.


Officials with knowledge of the meeting say that Kerry gave as good as he got, and that the discussion didn’t reach aneurysm-producing levels. But it was, in diplomatic parlance, a full and frank vetting of the profound differences between State and Defense on Syria. Dempsey was adamant: Without much of an entrance strategy, without anything resembling an exit strategy, and without even a clear-eyed understanding of the consequences of an American airstrike, the Pentagon would be extremely reluctant to get behind Kerry’s plan.
Posted by: tu3031 || 09/05/2013 2:14 Comments || Top||

#4  Bet Kerry through his medals at Dempsey in that meeting. That would show him.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 09/05/2013 14:35 Comments || Top||


'No Military Solution' in Syria, Says Jimmy Carter-Kofi Anan Group
[An Nahar] An international political grouping headed by former U.N. secretary general Kofi Annan
...Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh and so far the worst Secretary-General of the UN. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize for something or other that probably sounded good at the time. In December 2004, reports surfaced that Kofi's son Kojo received payments from the Swiss company Cotecna, which had won a lucrative contract under the UN Oil-for-Food Program. Kofi Annan called for an investigation to look into the allegations, which stirred up the expected cesspool but couldn't seem to come up with enough evidence to indict Kofi himself, or even Kojo...
came out against military action in Syria Wednesday, as the U.S. sought allies for strikes following alleged chemical attacks.

"There is no military solution to this conflict," said The Elders, a group founded by former South African president Nelson Mandela.

"Therefore every effort must be made to stop further bloodshed and to re-energize the political process to put an end to the conflict that has devastated and brutalized Syria," the group said in a statement.

U.S. President Barack Obama
Why can't I just eat my waffle?...
is seeking global backing for punitive strikes against Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor. If he'd stuck with it he'd have had a good practice by now...
's regime for its alleged use of chemical weapons.

Obama has deferred military action pending Congressional approval at a vote scheduled for September 9. Meanwhile 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...
has vowed to "punish" Assad, while Syrian ally Russia has attacked the idea of military strikes.

The Elders, which includes former U.S. president Jimmy Carter
... the worst president ever. Maybe the second worst. The votes aren't all in yet...
, archbishop emeritus Desmond Tutu and ex-president of Ireland Mary Robinson, condemned the August 21 gas attack in a Damascus suburb as "inhumane and criminal".
Posted by: Fred || 09/05/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  I agree with Jimmy Carter-Kofi Anan. Change.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 09/05/2013 1:39 Comments || Top||

#2  "There is no military solution to this conflict," said The Elders, a group founded by former South African president Nelson Mandela.

Afri 'Elders' indeed. High-minded assertions generally reserved for those already in power. Why can't we just get along ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/05/2013 1:39 Comments || Top||

#3  Nellie still got a locker at The Lair of The Elders or have they already cleaned it out?
Posted by: tu3031 || 09/05/2013 1:48 Comments || Top||

#4  Where's the broken clock graphic?
Posted by: no mo uro || 09/05/2013 4:52 Comments || Top||

#5  What's the Blue Man group say?
Posted by: Hupineper Borgia4774 || 09/05/2013 6:32 Comments || Top||

#6  These idiots are still around? You're old - go away already.
Posted by: Spot || 09/05/2013 7:58 Comments || Top||

#7  Of course there's a military solution. It's what it achieves is the problem.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 09/05/2013 12:59 Comments || Top||

#8  Create a desert & call it a military solution.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 09/05/2013 18:36 Comments || Top||

#9  Zappa wrote a song: The Ocean is the Ultimate Solution. So, militarily, what would it take to make Syria part of the Mediterranean Sea?
Posted by: M. Murcek || 09/05/2013 19:39 Comments || Top||


Russia Chemical Attack Probe Shows "Weapons Similar To Ones Made By Rebels"
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 09/05/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Cui bono?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 09/05/2013 1:40 Comments || Top||

#2  Vlad + Mama Russia beating the Bammer to the Public Media = PR punch???

To wit,

* MIDDLE EAST ONLINE > PUTIN TO OBAMA: IFF YOU HAVE [serious = conclusive] PROOF OF SYRIA CHEMICAL USE, SHOW IT!

Show it + show it N-O-W!

Have I said "D *** NG IT"!?

Apparently Vlad wasn't verily impressed wid the Bammer's Youtube-based evidence either???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 09/05/2013 2:55 Comments || Top||

#3  Relocate WMD? Like that help our former ally.
Posted by: Dale || 09/05/2013 8:31 Comments || Top||


Syria crisis: Obama says world's credibility on the line
Pic from Ace of Spades.
[BBC.CO.UK] President Barack Obama
We're gonna punish our enemies and we're gonna reward our friends who stand with us on issues that are important to us...
has said the credibility of the US, its Congress and the international community is on the line over their response to Syria's alleged use of chemical weapons.

Speaking in Sweden, he said the world should stick to its own "red line" against the use of chemical weapons.

Mr Obama is trying to build support in the US for punitive military action against the Syrian government.

Congress will vote next week on whether to support his plans.

La Belle France - whose government has strongly advocated intervention - held an extraordinary debate on Wednesday in the National Assembly, though MPs will not vote on the matter as the president can mobilise the military without their backing.
Posted by: Fred || 09/05/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [9 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  It ain't the world's credibility, mate...
Posted by: Raj || 09/05/2013 0:24 Comments || Top||

#2  Well he almost has to say that - he doesn't have any of his own anymore and he's squandering ours by insulting our allies and comforting our enemies.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 09/05/2013 0:37 Comments || Top||

#3  Bringing judgment upon the entire world now is he ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/05/2013 1:23 Comments || Top||

#4  Musta got bored with blaming Bush...
Posted by: tu3031 || 09/05/2013 1:41 Comments || Top||

#5  IMO he means "credulity".
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 09/05/2013 1:42 Comments || Top||

#6  Makes me laugh that an anagram of President Obama is 'most pea-brained'
Posted by: Speater Barnsmell6788 || 09/05/2013 7:30 Comments || Top||

#7  This is just pathetic. Take responsibility for something, fergawdsake.
Posted by: Spot || 09/05/2013 8:02 Comments || Top||

#8  Malkin referred to him this morning as suffering from a...."congential redistribution of blame".
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/05/2013 8:05 Comments || Top||


#10  Not that dogma drenched Marxist give a damn about real history, but the 'world' signed up for the Kellogg-Briand Pact which outlawed war during the 1920, a 1928 international agreement in which signatory states promised not to use war to resolve "disputes or conflicts of whatever nature or of whatever origin they may be, which may arise among them". How'd that all work out, say between 1931 to 1945?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 09/05/2013 9:04 Comments || Top||

#11  Do we have nothing but lying weasels in government today?
Posted by: JohnQC || 09/05/2013 10:16 Comments || Top||

#12  John many are just to dumb to be lying weasels.
Posted by: 3dc || 09/05/2013 11:32 Comments || Top||

#13  Obamaniac is the perfect V:
Vain,
Venal,
Vile,
Vacilating,
and Viscious.
Posted by: AlanC || 09/05/2013 11:42 Comments || Top||

#14  SQUIRREL!!!!
Posted by: Uncle Phester || 09/05/2013 12:46 Comments || Top||

#15  Obviously the entire world has let the One down. We are unworthy and he should move on until we have evolved.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 09/05/2013 14:36 Comments || Top||

#16  Hey, RJ - how about HE moves on until we evolve?
Posted by: Bobby || 09/05/2013 16:34 Comments || Top||

#17  Rush Limbaugh Lets Loose on Obama Over This ‘Psychopathic’ Statement
Posted by: Uncle Phester || 09/05/2013 17:49 Comments || Top||

#18  His two dollar mouth overloaded his ten cent ass and the world is calling him out on it!
Posted by: notascreename || 09/05/2013 23:05 Comments || Top||


Kerry: Arab countries offered to pay for invasion
Gee....kind of makes you wonder whose voices our leaders politicians a$$hats are listening to....
Don't knock it. As I recall we turned a profit on the Gulf War, too...
HT: Drudge
Posted by: Uncle Phester || 09/05/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Wikipedia on Janisarry's like our elite leadership cadre
Posted by: 3dc || 09/05/2013 0:36 Comments || Top||

#2  I'll believe it when the checks clear, you know, like John Kerry's check on the sales tax he skipped out on when he moored his yacht in Rhode Island...
Posted by: Raj || 09/05/2013 1:30 Comments || Top||

#3  Whoredom, something Washington decision makers can relate to.
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/05/2013 1:49 Comments || Top||

#4  Maybe they'll toss in a new boat?
Posted by: tu3031 || 09/05/2013 1:52 Comments || Top||

#5  The US, France, + Turkey - and every one still a question mark ostensib until after 09/09th - 09/11-12th at the earliest.

Bush 41's coalition has shrunk mightily since the first GUlf War.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 09/05/2013 2:47 Comments || Top||

#6  As I recall we turned a profit on the Gulf War, too...

Yes, but there were 'warrants' signed by Congress and the UN in that case.

General Officer exam on 'lawful' orders in 4,3,2...
I'm sure they'll find some who'd rather take 'orals'. As the poll on American confidence in their governmental institutions show all the other branches sky diving, I'm sure they'll find some GOs who'll be happy to take the military down with them.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 09/05/2013 8:59 Comments || Top||

#7  Is anyone besides myself troubled that our military may very well be viewed as Mercs...?
Posted by: Uncle Phester || 09/05/2013 9:03 Comments || Top||

#8  ..without legal/Constitutional authority to act, yeah, probably. Thus the comment about sky diving public support.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 09/05/2013 9:21 Comments || Top||

#9  Never crossed my mind, why do you ask ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/05/2013 9:26 Comments || Top||

#10  Twerk it !
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/05/2013 9:33 Comments || Top||

#11  Don't knock it. As I recall we turned a profit on the Gulf War, too..

Yes, as P2K said, after the Bush administration obtained permission from both the UN and Congress. The latter meaning that the US intended to foot the bill, not hire out its military and foreign policy.

The technical questions are: Will the charges be by the hour or by the night day? Will there be additional gratuities involved and who will get them? Will there be advertising space involved? Will the administration charge extra for 'special services', such as obfuscation, deflection, and the occasional personal appearance by various political personalities?

So many questions.
Posted by: Pappy || 09/05/2013 9:56 Comments || Top||

#12  Just wait for the bidding war on the naming rights for the stadium operation.
Posted by: ExtremeModerate || 09/05/2013 10:54 Comments || Top||

#13  The important thing to remember is that irregardless of what happens we all have a piece of the action.
Posted by: Shipman || 09/05/2013 10:56 Comments || Top||

#14  If this administration is owned by the Sunni royal families and doing their shit is supposed to be so damn profitable, how come we're going broke?
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 09/05/2013 11:14 Comments || Top||

#15  From Wretcherd: "One reason why Congress is vested with the power to declare war is because whoever pays the piper calls the tune. If the KSA et al. are paying the piper, they will certainly be calling the tune. For the executive branch to order a Syrian operation bankrolled by the Arabs is to effectively shift the allegiance of the executive branch from its legitimate paymaster — the American people — to a foreign one. From an intellectual and moral perspective, though probably not a legalistic one, this borders on disloyalty."

Posted by: Deacon Blues || 09/05/2013 12:14 Comments || Top||

#16  Bush sr paid for the first gulf war largely with Arab money. Not a big deal if you ask me. Still, I'd rather the Arab nations put their planes and tanks and butts on the line instead of just writing checks and singing Onward Christian Soldiers!

Sunni, you want war you be the boots on the ground.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 09/05/2013 14:38 Comments || Top||

#17  "this borders on disloyalty"

Borders? Borders?
Posted by: Barbara || 09/05/2013 14:40 Comments || Top||

#18  Barbara,

I remember an early introduction to politics. I was about 14 and there was a book published about LBJ the title of which I think fits this current PoS PotUS to a tee...."None Dare Call it Treason".

Well, I do.
Posted by: AlanC || 09/05/2013 14:45 Comments || Top||

#19  I would think that a formal Declaration of War would allow money from foreign sources to be used; in a sense a ratified treaty.

Without that, it looks like the president's personal mercenary force; something outside the checks and balances.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 09/05/2013 15:17 Comments || Top||

#20  I suspect that announcing that "Arab countries have their checkbooks open and pens ready" was an attempt to mute concerns that any 'kinetic action' would be unaffordable.

Sounds all quite upper-crust and inside-the-loop. Sort of an Ivy-League mafia thing.

"I'll get your son out of Boston. You're welcome. No, no - I'm we can think of a suitable way to show your appreciation later".

I suspect the elites are used to this sort of thing and didn't realize how it would play outside their circle.
Posted by: Pappy || 09/05/2013 22:24 Comments || Top||


Terror Networks
Report: Qaida Set Up Anti-drone Cells
[An Nahar] Al-Qaeda's leaders have set up cells of engineers to try to shoot down, disable or hijack U.S. drones, The Washington Post reported late Tuesday citing top-secret U.S. intelligence documents.

The al-Qaeda leadership is "hoping to exploit the technological vulnerabilities of a weapons system that has inflicted huge losses against the terrorist network," the Post said online.

"Although there is no evidence that al-Qaeda has forced a drone crash or successfully interfered with flight operations, U.S. intelligence officials have closely tracked the group's persistent efforts to develop a counterdrone strategy since 2010," the report said, citing the secret documents.

The al-Qaeda commanders are keen to achieve "a technological breakthrough (that) could curb the U.S. drone campaign, which has killed an estimated 3,000 people over the past decade," the Post reported.

Drone strikes have forced al-Qaeda operatives to limit their movements in Pakistain, Afghanistan, Yemen, Somalia and other places.
Posted by: Fred || 09/05/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda



Who's in the News
24[untagged]
6Govt of Syria
4Arab Spring
2Commies
2Govt of Pakistan
2Salafists
1al-Qaeda in Sinai Peninsula
1al-Qaeda in Arabia
1al-Qaeda
1Tablighi Jamaat
1al-Nusra
1Hezbollah
1Jamaat-e-Islami
1Palestinian Authority
1al-Qaeda in North Africa
1al-Qaeda in Pakistan

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Two weeks of WOT
Thu 2013-09-05
  Egypt's Minister Mohammed Ibrahim survives bomb attack
Wed 2013-09-04
  Spain Arrests Suspected Jihadist Leader
Tue 2013-09-03
  Syria asks UN to 'prevent any aggression'
Mon 2013-09-02
  Taliban target U.S. army base in Nangarhar, attack ongoing
Sun 2013-09-01
  Leader of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood Badie suffers heart attack in jail
Sat 2013-08-31
  Breaking: Obama hands the ball off to Congress
Fri 2013-08-30
  Egypt Police Arrest Senior Islamist Beltagi
Thu 2013-08-29
  Report: 20 Injured In Another Chemical Attack In Syria
Wed 2013-08-28
  DEATH SENTENCE FOR Maj. NIDAL HASAN
Tue 2013-08-27
  Belmokhtar, MUJAO launch new jihadist group
Mon 2013-08-26
  Security forces claim seizure of 500 kgs explosives in Khyber
Sun 2013-08-25
  Hungry Boko Haram hard boyz turn cannibal
Sat 2013-08-24
  Twin blasts at Lebanese mosques kill at least 43
Fri 2013-08-23
  Musharraf charged with Benazir's murder
Thu 2013-08-22
  Two Somalis Killed, Swedish Pol Wounded in Mog Attack


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