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NTC Fighters Enter Gadhafi Hometown Sirte
Today's Headlines
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Afghanistan
Young Afghan fighters eager to rejoin Taliban
A captured teenage insurgent jugged in Kabul's juvenile rehabilitation center says, "They bring us here to change us," "But this is our way. We cannot be changed." When he was captured, Asha told interrogators that he was 16, even though he thinks he is several years older, because sentences are halved for juveniles. Rather than serve time in conventional prisons, teenage insurgents are sent to minimally secured rehabilitation facilities, which look more like high schools than jails. Afghan authorities have taken to performing bone scans of young inmates to ascertain their ages, knowing that many lie.

At the Kabul center, detainees call Taliban members on borrowed cellphones to reassure them that their commitment to jihad has not weakened. Taliban commanders promise to reward the boys for serving prison sentences, the detainees said. While a group of boys told an American reporter that their ultimate goal was "to kill you people," a social worker within earshot appeared unfazed, saying nothing.

"How much progress are these centers really making?" said Latifullah Mashal, a spokesman for Afghanistan's intelligence service.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 09/16/2011 00:38 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  This would seem to be an excellent opportunity. Once the little vermin are released, their first thought will be to hook up with the Taliban, so vaporize them by Predator when they have their joyous reunion.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 09/16/2011 9:51 Comments || Top||

#2  Alternatively.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 09/16/2011 11:35 Comments || Top||

#3  While a group of boys told an American reporter that their ultimate goal was "to kill you people," a social worker within earshot appeared unfazed, saying nothing.

The "reporter" is a moron. What Taliban apostate is gonna say what he really believes to a reporter in a group setting while in prison and risk getting shived, not to mention put his family members at risk, in a society where collective punishment is the norm? Even a one-on-one interview is a significant life-threatening risk - reporters obviously specialize in revealing secrets rather than keeping them.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 09/16/2011 12:04 Comments || Top||

#4  #3 - excellent point. Same consideration would apply to the results of polls taken of Afghans.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 09/16/2011 12:10 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
Three Terrorist Groups in Africa Pose Threat to U.S.
The commander of U.S. Africa Command is worried about moves by terror groups on the continent to work together, possibly posing a threat to the United States.

Army Gen. Carter F Ham, who spoke to reporters at the Defense Writers' Group here yesterday, said that while al-Qaida may be "somewhat diminished," its affiliates in Africa pose a growing concern.

The three primary terrorist groups in Africa are Al-Shabab in Somalia, al-Qaida in the Islamic Mahgreb in the Sahel region, and Boko Haram in Nigeria.
They all have a few things in common...
"Each of those three pose a significant threat not only in the nations where they primarily operate, but regionally," Ham said, "and I think they pose a threat to the United States."

The three terror groups have explicitly and publicly voiced intent to target Westerners, in general, and the United States, specifically. "I have questions about their capabilities to do so; I have no question about their intent to do so," Ham said. "And that, to me, is very worrying."

The three groups also have voiced their intent to increase collaboration, and synchronize their efforts.

"We're seeing this most clearly between AQIM and Boko Haram," the general said.

And the terrorist groups have expressed an interest in sharing training sites and in planning operations.

"That is very, very worrying," Ham said. "The connections with al-Shabab are probably more idealistic than realistic at this point, but just the fact that they want to connect is worrying."

If left unaddressed, the terror groups could coalesce and produce a network that would run from East Africa, through the center of the continent and into the Sahel and Mahgreb, he said.

The United States has to work with regional partners to address the terrorist threat in Africa, Ham said. U.S. officials also must understand, he added, that the Africans are better suited to address this threat than a solution imposed from outside.

In Mali, for example, al-Qaida in the Mahgreb is a huge problem, Ham said. The Malian government needs assistance to counter the terrorist group, and Africom has worked with the government to beef up its anti-terrorist capabilities.

"We think we're doing that in a meaningful way," he said.

The general also addressed conditions in Libya, and the possibility that extremist groups might try to hijack the revolution against Moammar Gadhafi. The United Nations will have a large role in post-conflict Libya, and the international organization is aware of the extremist problem, he said.

Ham said he's also concerned about the possible proliferation of weapons from Libya, starting with man-portable air defense weapons. Gadhafi bought thousands of the weapons, and it would be dangerous if terror groups got their hands on them. Ham said there has been greater intelligence sharing and better border enforcement in the region to control the spread of such systems.

The amount of conventional weaponry and weapon-making materials in Libya also concerns the general. These could supply terror groups like al-Qaida in the Mahgreb or Boko Haram with the components for improvised explosive devices.

Ham is concerned about residual materials and components of chemical weapons in Gadhafi's arsenal.

Before March, "there was an on-going effort to demilitarize the materials, but they didn't complete it," Ham said. "There's a great concern about that material, even though it is not weaponized and not easily weaponized."
Posted by: Sherry || 09/16/2011 12:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Boko Haram


Africa North
Dupe URL: Israel Summons Egypt Envoy over PM Peace Treaty Remarks
Israel's foreign ministry on Friday summoned the Egyptian ambassador after statements by Prime Minister Essam Sharaf, who said the peace treaty between the two states is "not sacred", Israeli website Ynet reported.
Foreign Ministry Director General Rafi Barak summoned Ambassador Yasser Reda to express Israel's "irritation over the recurrent calls from senior Egyptian officials over the need for modification to the peace treaty," Ynet reported.
During the 30-minute interview at the foreign ministry headquarters in Jerusalem, Barak told Reda that "from Israel's perspective, there are no intentions whatsoever to reopen the peace treaty and the step cannot be taken unilaterally."
On Thursday, Sharaf said the 1979 peace deal with Israel "is not sacred" in an interview with Turkish television.
"The Camp David treaty is always open to discussion or for modification if that is beneficial for the region and for a just peace. The peace treaty is not something sacred and there can be changes made to it," the official MENA agency quoted Sharaf as saying.
The premier's statement comes a week after protesters ransacked the Israeli embassy in Cairo, forcing the evacuation of staff and the departure of the ambassador.
The attack late on Friday, in which crowds smashed through an external security wall, tossed embassy papers from balconies and tore down the Israeli flag, was the worst since Israel set up its mission in Egypt, the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with the Jewish state.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sought to minimize the repercussions of the embassy attack on bilateral ties.
"We are committed to preserving peace with Egypt, which is in the interest of Egypt and Israel," he said
Relations between Egypt and Israel, which have been bound by a peace treaty since 1979, have entered a period of turbulence since the ouster of former president Hosni Mubarak by a popular uprising in February.
Posted by: Fred || 09/16/2011 21:23 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Dupe URL: Israel Summons Egypt Envoy over PM Peace Treaty Remarks
Israel's foreign ministry on Friday summoned the Egyptian ambassador after statements by Prime Minister Essam Sharaf, who said the peace treaty between the two states is "not sacred", Israeli website Ynet reported.
Foreign Ministry Director General Rafi Barak summoned Ambassador Yasser Reda to express Israel's "irritation over the recurrent calls from senior Egyptian officials over the need for modification to the peace treaty," Ynet reported.
During the 30-minute interview at the foreign ministry headquarters in Jerusalem, Barak told Reda that "from Israel's perspective, there are no intentions whatsoever to reopen the peace treaty and the step cannot be taken unilaterally."
On Thursday, Sharaf said the 1979 peace deal with Israel "is not sacred" in an interview with Turkish television.
"The Camp David treaty is always open to discussion or for modification if that is beneficial for the region and for a just peace. The peace treaty is not something sacred and there can be changes made to it," the official MENA agency quoted Sharaf as saying.
The premier's statement comes a week after protesters ransacked the Israeli embassy in Cairo, forcing the evacuation of staff and the departure of the ambassador.
The attack late on Friday, in which crowds smashed through an external security wall, tossed embassy papers from balconies and tore down the Israeli flag, was the worst since Israel set up its mission in Egypt, the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with the Jewish state.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sought to minimize the repercussions of the embassy attack on bilateral ties.
"We are committed to preserving peace with Egypt, which is in the interest of Egypt and Israel," he said
Relations between Egypt and Israel, which have been bound by a peace treaty since 1979, have entered a period of turbulence since the ouster of former president Hosni Mubarak by a popular uprising in February.
Posted by: Fred || 09/16/2011 21:23 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


Rock star welcome for Sarkozy, Cameron in Libya
TRIPOLI/BENGHAZI: Nicolas Sarkozy and David Cameron landed in Libya to a heroes' welcome on Thursday, promising help for the new rulers that French and British air power helped to install and being told the favor may be repaid in business contracts.

Just three weeks after rebel forces backed by NATO bombers overran the capital, French President Sarkozy and the British prime minister promised in Tripoli to help hunt down the fugitive Muammar Qaddafi and to hand his frozen assets to his successors.
Could we perhaps vet the successors first?
In Benghazi, seat of the uprising which early intervention by French and British jets helped to save from Qaddafi's army in March, Sarkozy and Cameron were treated to a rapturous, rowdy welcome on "Freedom Square", shouting to be heard over a cheering crowd of hundreds waving French and British flags.

"It's great to be here in free Benghazi and in free Libya," said Cameron as he strained, rock-star hoarse, above the chants in televised scenes both men will hope play well back home.

The French president, struggling for re-election next year, beamed at grateful chants of "One, two, three; Merci Sarkozy!" while the two leaders, flanking NTC Chairman Mustafa Abdel Jalil, held his arms aloft like a victorious boxer.

"France, Great Britain, Europe, will always stand by the side of the Libyan people," said Sarkozy, whom many Libyans credit with making a decisive gamble, pulling in a hesitant United States and securing UN backing for NATO airstrikes to halt Qaddafi's tanks as they closed in to crush Benghazi.
Thanks, Sarko, for remembering to mention all the sorties our air crew flew...
"Your city was an inspiration to the world as you threw off a dictator and chose freedom," Cameron said, clearly enjoying the relative security to speak outdoors in Benghazi after tight security in still tense Tripoli. "Col. Qaddafi said he would hunt you down like rats but you showed the courage of lions."

In Tripoli, Libyan interim Premier Mahmoud Jibril spoke at a heavily guarded news conference of "our thanks for this historic stance" taken by France and Britain to launch the West into a war that did not always look set to end well for the rebels.

Both countries offered continued military support against Qaddafi loyalists holding substantial parts of Libya as well as in hunting the former strongman and others wanted for crimes against humanity. Sarkozy said he would raise the issue with neighboring Niger, a former French colony where some of Qaddafi's senior aides and one of his sons have sought refuge.

"This is not done. This is not over," Cameron said in promising further military and other aid. "There are still parts of Libya that are under Qaddafi's control. Qaddafi is still at large and we must make sure that this work is completed."

Although Sarkozy hotly denied talk among Arabs of "under the table deals for Libya's riches", interim Libyan leader Abdel Jalil said key allies could expect preferential treatment in return for their help in ending 42 years of Qaddafi's rule.

"As a faithful Muslim people," he told reporters in Tripoli, "we will appreciate these efforts and they will have priority within a framework of transparency."
Posted by: Steve White || 09/16/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Next time I hope they deserve full credit. I'm certainly willing to give it to them for this one.By the time all results are in, it may be an orphan.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 09/16/2011 5:13 Comments || Top||


Egypt PM Says Peace Treaty with Israel 'Not Sacred'
[An Nahar] Egypt's Prime Minister Essam Sharaf said on Thursday that the 1979 peace treaty with Israel "is not sacred," state-run MENA news agency reported, quoting remarks he made in an interview with Turkish television.

"The Camp David treaty is always open to discussion or for modification if that is beneficial for the region and for a just peace. The peace treaty is not something sacred and there can be changes made to it," MENA quoted Sharaf as saying.

Ties between Egypt and Israel took a blow last week after protesters ransacked the Israeli embassy in Cairo, forcing the evacuation of staff and the departure of the ambassador.

The attack late on Friday, in which crowds smashed through an external security wall, tossed embassy papers from balconies and tore down the Israeli flag, was the worst since Israel set up its mission in Egypt, the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with the Jewish state.

It was the latest episode in worsening relations between Egypt and Israel since the killing of six Egyptian coppers on their common border as Israel hunted snuffies after a deadly attack last month.

Ties between Egypt and Israel, which have been bound by a peace treaty since 1979, have entered a period of turbulence since the ouster of former president Hosni Mubarak
...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011...
by a popular uprising in February.

Activists behind Mubarak's fall have urged a revision of the treaty and the call echoed by the powerful Moslem Brüderbund after the embassy attack, although the Islamists did not ask that the treaty be broken.

Egypt's military rulers have repeatedly said they are committed to all international pacts signed by former regimes, namely the peace treaty between the two countries.

Sharaf's remarks came in response to a question by Turkish television on the "timing" of a visit this week to Egypt by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan as Ankara's relations with long-time ally Israel also soured.

"Erdogan's visit to Egypt came at a very delicate time as there are real changes happening in the Middle East," MENA quoted him as saying in the interview.

"We should care about the root of the problem and the problem in the Middle East is the Israeli occupation of Paleostinian land," Sharaf added.

Erdogan late on Monday began in Egypt a three-nation Arab Spring tour of countries where popular uprisings toppled veteran, autocratic regimes, and was in Tunisia on Thursday ahead of visiting Libya.

He has been blasting Israel and on Thursday vowed in Tunis that his navy would patrol the Mediterranean and keep the Jewish state in check.

"Israel will no longer be able to do what it wants in the Mediterranean and you'll be seeing Turkish warships in this sea," Erdogan said.

He also reiterated his insistence on an Israeli apology for last year's raid on a Gazoo-bound aid flotilla that left nine pro-Paleostinian activists dead, all of them Turks or of Turkish origin.

Earlier this month Ankara expelled the Israeli ambassador and suspended all military ties and defense trade over Israel's refusal to apologize for the flotilla raid.

Posted by: Fred || 09/16/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Know what else ain't sacred? US aid.
Posted by: Perfesser || 09/16/2011 2:50 Comments || Top||

#2  tourism isn't sacred either (which means tourism $$$)

Posted by: Lord Garth || 09/16/2011 9:50 Comments || Top||

#3  Give Sinai back?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 09/16/2011 11:37 Comments || Top||

#4  They won't give the sinai back, but Israel will end up in possession of it before long the way things are going.

Might I suggest that if attacked by Egypt that Israelis displace the population of Gaza and move them into the Sanai (or west of the Suez).
Posted by: rjschwarz || 09/16/2011 14:57 Comments || Top||

#5  So the days of paying both sides for the pieces agreement "Peace Treaty" are nearing a fiscal end?
Posted by: Water Modem || 09/16/2011 15:49 Comments || Top||


Africa Subsaharan
Obasanjo visits late Boko Haram’s leader’s family
Posted by: ryuge || 09/16/2011 10:35 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


Caribbean-Latin America
Sicilia vows "civil resistance" if security law passes
exclusive from RantburgTo see a map, click here.

By Chris Covert

The leader of the Mexican peace movement told the press Thursday that he would begin "civil resistance" if the national security law is passed, according to Mexican news sources.

Javier Sicilia, now in the sixth day of his fourth peace march since the spring, told reporters near the Mexico-Guatemala border that deputies who vote for the national security law would be considered no better than criminals and would be exposed as such.

The national security law has been wending its way through various stages of the Mexican federal legislative process since 2009. The law just this past spring was tabled by the Mexican senate until additional processes were complete such as an endorsement by the Mexican Supreme Court and a late summer vote for a special senate session.

Since March, Sicilia, a poet, writer and part of the Mexican independent left, has been pressuring both Mexican president Felipe Calderon Hinojosa and members of the Mexican senate and Chamber of Deputies to stop the law.

The publicity Sicilia generated including press conferences, peace marches and open letters, won him two face to face meetings with Calderon, who soundly rejected all of Sicilia's proposals to end drug violence.

It was revealed Thursday that a third face to face meeting was in the works between Sicilian and Calderon to occur either on September 23rd or September 30th.

Virtually every part of the Calderon government and Mexican federal legislators have rejected his proposals. which included legalization of drugs and returning the Mexican military to the barracks, save for one: a law that would enable recall of errant politicians, which was endorsed by Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) leader Humberto Moreira.

Sicilia fielded questions about the armed bodyguards with him, who may have entered Guatemala illegally. Sicilia was scheduled to publicly apologize for violence visited on migrants as they come up through Central American countries such as El Salvador and Guatemala. Sicilia said the bodyguards were not his idea. They were provided by the government, presumably the federal government.

Sicilia seemed to be countering Secretaria Defensa Nacional (SEDENA) General Guillermo Galvan Galvan who implored deputies Thursday to pass the national security law to eliminate uncertainty in the role of the military in fighting organized crime. No other Mexican news outlets have mentioned anything about the progress of the new law, inasmuch as a leader in the Chamber of Deputies,
Jorge Carlos Ramirez Marin, president of the Board of the Chamber of Deputies, vowed the week the regular session was to begin, the law would be a top priority.

"We will have a national security law", he was quoted as saying.
To read the Rantburg report on the reaction to the Casino Royale massacre, click here
Galvan's reference to uncertainly springs from a July 12th decision by the Mexican Supreme Court that crimes committed by Mexican military personnel during military operations would be subject to civil penalties; indeed civilian authorities would get first consideration as to prosecutions.

Although SEDENA and other Mexican military agencies have not said as much, recent patterns in deployments and in the number of encounters seem to suggest Mexican military units in the field have been placed in a defensive and reactive role. The changes in deployment include more gunfights with larger Policia Federal units fighting organized crime.

Despite the promise the law would be expedited, the only law the Chamber of Deputies have managed to pass so far is national childcare reform. The vow was made on the heels of the massacre at the Casino Royale casino in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon late last August which killed 53 individuals. Normally, Mexican Army units would be the first to respond to such carnage being in close proximity with several patrols about, but it was several hours before units began showing up in Monterrey to enhance security.
To read the Rantburg report on the Casino Royale massacre click here and here
The law's current status is not in discussion in the Mexican national press.
Posted by: badanov || 09/16/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Mexican...freaking...government.

I have long been appalled that at no time since WWII, has the US ever tried to export the idea of "municipal management" to Mexico, with the idea that if they could at least get a few well managed cities, then maybe someday it would "trickle up".
Posted by: Anonymoose || 09/16/2011 10:03 Comments || Top||

#2  With our democratic luck, we would have given them Detroit as a model.
Posted by: Skunky Glin**** || 09/16/2011 21:21 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
Nork Regime 'Shaking Down People' to fund Jobs Act
More than usual, they mean...
The North Korean regime is extorting money from ordinary people as hopes fade of achieving the propaganda goal of becoming a "powerful and prosperous nation" by 2012, a source claimed Thursday.

The source, who is familiar with North Korean affairs, said, "Officials from the Workers Party's propaganda department are extorting money from people in the markets after lecturing them on the need to build a prosperous nation."

"The regime used to urge people to donate money in every crucial situation, including construction of power stations, but it's now resorting to plain extortion by simply hectoring people to cough up," the source added.

At these lectures, officials act like phony auctioneers by citing examples of donations in other regions or by making it look as if some people in the audience were donating money voluntarily, when in fact party officials had told them in advance to do so.

According to the source, officials in North Hwanghae Province said people who were impressed by the North Korean artillery shelling of a South Korean island -- apparently referring to Yeonpyeong Island -- donated money to the project. Officials in Chongjin extorted donations by saying those who donate money will not have to explain how they made it.

The state-run media, meanwhile, are full of stories that emphasize a spirit of sacrifice. In a story dated Aug. 3, the Rodong Sinmun daily praised "Song-hee," a female character in a play titled "We'll Remember Today," which leader Kim Jong-il reportedly called a masterpiece. The daily said, "She gave rice she was going to cook for herself to an engineer at a power station building site. She starved to death, clasping a basket full of wild plants. She trusted the fatherland and sacrificed her life for it."
Nork equivalent of a chick-flick...
But apparently the effect of the measures is merely to increase resentment. "People are saying, Stop sponging off us. We don't want a powerful and prosperous nation,'" the source said.
Posted by: Steve White || 09/16/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  A democratic plan to tax the upper class.
Posted by: Skidmark || 09/16/2011 0:52 Comments || Top||

#2  Sounds like Obama has found his role model.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 09/16/2011 7:56 Comments || Top||

#3  There's money left to extort? I can't relieve Kimmie has been so lax.
Posted by: Spot || 09/16/2011 10:00 Comments || Top||

#4  Give him a break. It's probably because he's suffering from the effects of large doses of morphine. ;-)
Posted by: gorb || 09/16/2011 14:46 Comments || Top||


U.S., S. Korea Negotiate Drone Support Near DMZ
A U.S. military newspaper says the United States expects to soon deploy sophisticated Global Hawk drone surveillance aircraft near South Korea's tense border with North Korea.

The Stars and Stripes newspaper quotes senior intelligence officers saying an agreement with South Korea is "very close." Reuters news agency reported earlier this month that members of the U.S. Congress have been told the U.S. government is also negotiating to sell the spy planes to Seoul.

Northrop Grumman, the maker of the RQ-4 Global Hawk, says the plane has the ability to view targets at a distance of some 550 kilometers, meaning the drones could peer deep into North Korea without crossing the border.

South Korea is anxious to boost its intelligence gathering capability following two military attacks that killed 50 people last year.
Posted by: Steve White || 09/16/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


Europe
Anti-Roma Riots In The Czech Republic On German Border
For weeks there have been riots between Czech locals and newly settled Roma in northern Bohemia. What started as a series of brutal but isolated fights has grown into a popular movement in small towns along the eastern German border. Right-wing extremists have fanned the hatred.

Jindich Nestler wouldn't call himself a racist. "The good gypsies can stay," he says. "But most of them are lazy or criminals or even terrorists. They have to disappear."

Nestler is a 36-year-old official of the far-right "Workers' Party for Social Justice," or DSSS, by its Czech initials. DSSS is a successor party to the neo-Nazi group Dlnická Strana (DS), which was banned a year and a half ago by the highest Czech administrative court. One reason the court gave for the ban was that Dlnická Strana organized rallies that led to pogrom-like riots against the Roma.

For the last several weeks, far-right extremists have been back on the offensive. They're worried -- again -- about the Roma minority in the Czech Republic. In a part of Bohemia called Šluknovský výbžek, near the border with the eastern German state of Saxony, a bitter feud is raging between ethnic Czech locals and several hundred Roma. Interior Minister Jan Kubice has sent a detachment of 250 police to the region to quell any more problems, but he's had to admit that the situation had lurched out of control.

So far, the massive police presence has not calmed things down. One center of violence is Nový Bor. Some 300 neo-Nazis, most of them young men with bald heads and black jackets, marched alone last Saturday through the small town roughly 50 kilometers (31 miles) from the German border. The right-wing extremists chanted "Gypsies must go" and "Free, social and national" -- a phrase also used by members of the right-wing extremist National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD).

"We are the voice of the people," claimed Nestler, the DSSS official. And several hundred locals, in fact, stand by the road to applaud the neo-Nazis.

Around 600 police officers, many in riot gear, tried to keep the situation under control. Some German police also stood at roadblocks on the road to Nový Bor. "We're here to give administrative assistance," one female officer from Saxony said.

By the end of the day, more serious outbursts of violence had been sparked a few kilometers away. Such strong anti-Roma sentiment has generally been associated with other parts of Europe, like Hungary , where for years bloody riots against them have taken place. But the current outbreak started several months ago, when more and more Roma families started moving to Šluknovský výbžek.

Police noticed a sharp uptick in crime -- theft above all -- and at the start of August, several Roma boys armed with machetes attacked a bar in Nový Bor, where a fight had previously broken out between Roma and some other guests. "You white pigs," the young men reportedly hollered; three patrons were injured.

The far-right DSSS likes doesn't mind fanning the fears of ordinary Czechs. TomᚠVandas, who leads the party, likes to sharpen the tone. He's declared Nový Bor the site of a "battle for the future."

Roma representatives, on the other hand, complain of exposure to a constant discrimination which has never been taken seriously by Czech society. Neo-Nazis threw Molotov cocktails at the house of a Roma family in the eastern Czech town of Ostrava, for example. A two-year old girl suffered serious burns.

The Roma in Nový Bor sit in front of a dilapidated barracks on the edge of town. No one wants to talk with journalists. "Please don't take our picture," a young woman says.

A social worker, who doesn't want to be named, points at the house. The living conditions are catastrophic: Some families with two children live in single rooms. "Of course a lot of Roma are criminals," the social worker says. But she can't stand the DSSS. "You lock people in a place like this and you wonder why they have social problems."

Around 250,000 Roma live among 10 million Czechs, and it's no coincidence that more and more of the ethnic minority have come to this part of northern Bohemia. There are 300 similar slums around the country. Several can be found in big-city centers. Real-estate companies pay the Roma -- or offer to forgive their debts -- if they abandon potentially lucrative buildings in city centers and move to remote regions near the German border. The companies even bring them to specific abandoned houses, then charge high rents -- or even claim welfare subsidies directly from the state.

Some homeowners "exploit" the Roma, says Martin Šimáek, director of a state agency for social integration. Real-estate speculators charge them unprecedented, sky-high rents and excessive rates for water and power, he says. "This leads to unrest and creates problems for coexistence throughout the entire town," Šimáek told a Czech radio station.

Jirí Moravec won't deny these root causes for the violence. He's the head of the DSSS in Varnsdorf, 20 kilometers north of Nový Bor, right on the German border. "A lazy government and clever real-estate firms have brought us the Roma problem," he admits. "Now we have to take the law into our own hands."

Moravec won't elaborate on just what he means by this, but what he could be alluding to is on display the following Sunday. Dozens of neo-Nazis tried to storm the former Hotel Sport, where Varndorf's Roma live. The ground floor of the collapsed building had been walled shut; heavily armed police secured the surrounding streets. Officers in civilian clothing guarded the door. The extremists didn't seem to mind. They threw stones and firecrackers at the guards. Officials only managed to drive away the DSSS members with firehoses; police said 41 arrests were made.

To enter the Hotel Sport you have to climb into the rear courtyard. A man named Roman sits there. He's 27 and unemployed, like most of the hotel guests. When Roman receives money, he sends a friend to a nearby supermarket for food. "I'm a gypsy, no one would ever give me a job," he says. Even black-market construction work goes to Ukrainian workers before it would go to him, he says. He and his wife and their two kids need to get by on 2,000 koruna per month (about €80 or $112).

He doesn't want to blame all his Czech neighbors wholesale. But he says about half the people in Varnsdorf are racist. "I'm a gypsy," Roman says again. "When it gets to be too much, I just move to another country."
Posted by: Anonymoose || 09/16/2011 15:09 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Tap, tap...damned sympathy meter is broken again. Or maybe the Red on Red setting is on the fritz.

"I'm a gypsy, no one in their right mind would ever give me a job,"

"I'm a gypsy," Roman says again. "When it gets to be too much, I just move to another country, because behaving myself is just too stressful."
Posted by: Pollyandrew || 09/16/2011 16:10 Comments || Top||

#2  Locusts move about like that, and for similar reasons.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 09/16/2011 19:14 Comments || Top||

#3  See also CHINESE MILITARY FORUM > POLAND SAYS "WAR IN 10 YEARS".

Debt, Econ-led Crises could lead to possible EU breakup + WAR AMONG EU MEMBER-STATES BY 2020.

versus

* CHINA DAILY FORUM > DANGEROUS CROSSROADS: RUSSIAN MILITARY CHIEF: [Russia + Russian Armed Forces must] PREPARE FOR "WORST-CASE" SCENARIOS IN UNRAVELING WORLD.

* PEOPLE'S DAILY FORUM > CHINA MAY FACE GREATER TERRORIST THREAT THAN US, as due to China's rise + steady US decline.

World is entering a period = decade or more? of "DISORDER".
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 09/16/2011 22:03 Comments || Top||


The Grand Turk
In Egypt cheers turn to criticism for Erdogan
from Today's Zaman, an english language Turkish pub
Turkey's prime minister presented his country as a model for an Arab world in turmoil, giving advice on everything from balancing secularism and Islam to challenging Israel.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan received a hero's welcome among Egyptians, impressed by his tough stance against Israel .... His celebrity stood out in even greater contrast as the head of the Arab League admitted Tuesday that the pan-Arab body was "impotent" in the face of the Middle East's uprisings.

But the visit fueled a debate among Egyptians...

A Brotherhood spokesman, Mahmoud Ghozlan, praised Erdoğan as "a respectable leader who preserves the dignity of his country and who shares similar position with Israel." But he insisted Egyptians want an Islamic state.

"In Turkey, when a man finds a woman in bed with another man, he can't punish her by law because it is permitted there. It means that Turkey ... violates Islamic Shariah law," he told The Associated Press
In other words, if Turkey would just oppress women and infidels more it would be perfect.
Posted by: Lord Garth || 09/16/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Aw, their first fight!
Posted by: Perfesser || 09/16/2011 2:43 Comments || Top||

#2  I don't think the Egyptians have yet forgotten how the Turks used them as, er, "towel boys" for 350 years until freed by the British.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 09/16/2011 10:08 Comments || Top||

#3   I don't think the Egyptians have yet forgotten how the Turks used them as, er, "towel boys" for 350 years until freed by the British.

Neither have the Turks, Anonymoose.
Posted by: trailing wife || 09/16/2011 10:50 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
FBI Teaches Agents: 'Mainstream' Muslims Are 'Violent, Radical'
Still, at Quantico, the alleged connection between Islam and violence isn't just stipulated. It's literally graphed.
Expect CAIR lawsuit in 3..2..1.....
Posted by: Uncle Phester || 09/16/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Dar Al Islam does recognize the entire world at war with the ideology. Until the entire earth is taken over under the caliphate, the entire world is to have war from Islam. That's what people do not read.

Ergo, if your nation is not a nation under Shariah law, it is to be attacked until they submit. This is a very important point that must be re-iterated.
Posted by: newc || 09/16/2011 1:04 Comments || Top||

#2  Somebody has a clue.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 09/16/2011 4:02 Comments || Top||

#3  It's an outside lecturer and the powerpoint slides are at the link. I have to agree with the leaker that this does not seem like the proper criminal justice mind set to detect imminently dangerous individuals.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 09/16/2011 5:27 Comments || Top||

#4  If you're talking about folks that pray 6 times a day every day that's one thing. If you're talking about the guys that call themselves muslim while drinking beers after work its another.

I think the FBI is talking about the first group and I'm hesitant to second guess their expertise on such matters.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 09/16/2011 9:04 Comments || Top||

#5  There is, it appears, a tension between the literal teachings of the Sunni tradition - under which violent jihad and the imposition of Shari'a are deemed to be mandatory for the faithful - and the attitudes of many Muslims. This tension is illustrated by the fact that before 9/11 the largest and most consistent target of both verbal and physical attacks by Islamicists were authorities in their own countries who were deemed insufficiently Muslim in practice.

An added complication is that there is strong evidence in the traditional teachings for a doctrine and practice of gradually revealing those demands to the new believer. That is, the early verses about peace are then nuanced with increasing demands about the implications of belief and obedience, ending in a call to jihad and Shari'a in 'the wilderness', i.e. against those who do not submit. In addition, the tradition demands violent suppression of anyone who 'defames' Islam - and truth is no defense against the claim of defamation, which is deemed to be anything that might deflect people from accepting and submitting to Islam. This is the basis for demands that no cartoons be published ridiculing the Prophet. It is also the basis for the UN's increasingly dangerous stance against 'Islamaphobia' and 'racism' - i.e. against any criticism of Islam or of actions taken in the name of Islam.

Or so I've been told by people who've studied this in some detail. If accurate, it illustrates both the difficulty our authorities have in discerning the situation and in responding effectively.

Islam would benefit IMO from a Reformation to resolve the tension and re-interpret the tradition. This would allow moderate Muslims to be theologically coherent with a modern life while preserving a picture for living in an obedient and faith-directed manner. Whether it can in fact generate and sustain such a reformation is a very open question.

Posted by: lotp || 09/16/2011 9:27 Comments || Top||

#6  I believe the contradiction is not between the teachings so much as the strategies.

One group wanted to remove the dictators in the Islamic world and install them theocrats to create a Caliphate that could take over everything. To do this they drew in the west hoping such a move would deligitimize the dictators or cause the West to stop backing them.

The other group wanted to change the west through migration and impossing shiara where possible. Using the West's own PC attitudes against them.

Unfortunately for Islam the attacks by the first group on Sept 11 hoping to get the west to back off their support for dictators and drive up enlistment in their Jihad drew attention to the plans of the second group.

Both groups agree on most things except strategy and now are doing backflips trying to get things back on track. They awoke a sleeing giant but he's still groggy and not filled with a lot of terrible resolve, not yet.


There is a third group that has sided with the west or hasn't chosen a side yet but I'm not really talking about them.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 09/16/2011 10:16 Comments || Top||

#7  UPDATE: FBI Bows To CAIR, Pulls Training Session That Taught Reasons Islam Is More Prone To Violence…

http://weaselzippers.us/2011/09/16/fbi-bows-to-cair-pulls-training-session-that-taught-reasons-islam-is-more-prone-to-violence/
Posted by: Uncle Phester || 09/16/2011 11:02 Comments || Top||

#8  And some more....:
Senators Blast FBI Terror-Training ‘Lies’

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/09/senators-fbi-lies/



Posted by: Uncle Phester || 09/16/2011 19:31 Comments || Top||

#9  "Islam would benefit IMO from a Reformation to resolve the tension and re-interpret the tradition. This would allow moderate Muslims to be theologically coherent with a modern life while preserving a picture for living in an obedient and faith-directed manner. Whether it can in fact generate and sustain such a reformation is a very open question."

Possible, improbable.

Well, as has been told me, Once a formidable Ummah has been formed, any of the Shariah law may be changed. Yet this depends on what a formidable Ummah is. A stromg regional Ummah, or be it the entire Caliphate. Either way, any diction of the sort will never work with that Ideology as it, just like Communism, dehumanizes and divides people. Curious if it was intended, after all, it was the Arch-Angel Gabriel that appears to a false prophet to herald the end of the world.

Wonder what that may be?

Posted by: newc || 09/16/2011 23:11 Comments || Top||

#10  "It's an outside lecturer and the powerpoint slides are at the link. I have to agree with the leaker that this does not seem like the proper criminal justice mind set to detect imminently dangerous individuals."

Background in their beliefs show or magnify the various ways they peruse their ultimate goal. That in itself may be a powerful tool. Helps learn you about behavioral characteristics and increased radicalization as they switch groups either from moderate to radical or vice verse. Most often found on the internet nowadays.

I am just looking at it by operational analysis.
Posted by: newc || 09/16/2011 23:18 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
U.S. Vows Action against Pakistan-Based Insurgents
[An Nahar] Defense Secretary Leon Panetta
...current SecDef, previously Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Panetta served as President Bill Clinton's White House Chief of Staff from 1994 to 1997 and was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1977 to 1993....
on Wednesday warned the United States would retaliate against Death Eaters based in Pakistain blamed for staging a dramatic attack in the Afghan capital.

A day after a 19-hour assault staged near the U.S. embassy and NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis....
headquarters, Panetta expressed frustration that the Pak government has so far failed to crack down on Haqqani network faceless myrmidons that Washington suspects carried out Tuesday's attack.

"Time and again we've urged the Paks to exercise their influence over these kinds of attacks from the Haqqanis and we've made very little progress in that area," Panetta told news hounds aboard his plane before landing in San Francisco.

"I'm not going to talk about how we're going to respond. I'll just let you know that we're not going to allow these kinds of attacks to go on," he said.

Panetta's tough words come amid strained relations with Islamabad following the U.S. raid that killed the late Osama bin Laden
... who knows that it's like to live in the belly of a whale only he's not living...
at his Pak hideout on May 2, a raid that Panetta oversaw while he was CIA director. Islamabad's leaders had no advance word of the secret operation, which has caused anger and soul-searching in Pakistain.

As head of the Central Intelligence Agency, Panetta also presided over a dramatic expansion in drone bombing raids in Pakistain, with robotic aircraft targeting al-Qaeda and Talibs in the country's northwest tribal areas.

U.S. officials have for years demanded Islambad move against the Haqqani network, which operates in part out of sanctuaries inside Pakistain's borders.

Before the Kabul attack, the U.S. military blamed the Haqqani faceless myrmidons for a truck bombing on Saturday against a NATO base in Wardak province that maimed 77 American troops.

The 19-hour Taliban assault on Kabul turned the city's most heavily secured district into a battle zone. Fifteen people were killed and six foreign troops maimed in the attack.

Posted by: Fred || 09/16/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan


US warning on militants hurts ties, says Pakistan
[Dawn] The US warning on Death Eaters based in Pakistain goes against counter-terrorism cooperation between the two allies, the foreign ministry said on Thursday.

"We believe these remarks are not in line with the cooperation that exists between the two countries," said Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tehmina Janjua.

She was referring to comments by Defence Secretary Leon Panetta
...current SecDef, previously Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Panetta served as President Bill Clinton's White House Chief of Staff from 1994 to 1997 and was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1977 to 1993....
that the United States would do whatever it takes to defend American forces in Afghanistan from Pakistain-based thugs.

US officials, including Panetta, suspect Death Eaters from the Haqqani network were behind Tuesday's rocket attack on the US Embassy compound in Kabul, as well as a truck bomb last Saturday that maimed 77 American forces.

"Time and again we've urged the Paks to exercise their influence over these kinds of attacks from the Haqqanis. And we have made very little progress in that area," Panetta told news hounds flying with him to San Francisco on Wednesday.

"I think the message they need to know is: we're going to do everything we can to defend our forces."

Pak officials said it was the responsibility of US-led forces to crack down on Death Eaters when they enter Afghanistan.

"We are using all our resources to fight terrorism. As far as these issues like Haqqani network launching attacks from Pak territory is concerned, has any proof ever been given?" said a senior Pak military official who asked not to be named.

A senior Pak government official involved in defence policy said the South Asian country, reliant on billions of dollars in US aid, was doing all it could to stop Death Eaters from crossing the border to Afghanistan.

"But if the Death Eaters are doing something inside Afghanistan, then it is the responsibility of the Afghan and Western forces to hold them on the borders," he said.

"They let everyone go scot-free on their side (of the border) and then they say Pakistain is not doing enough."

Panetta said he was concerned about the Haqqanis' ability to attack American troops and then "escape back into what is a safe haven in Pakistain".

"And that's unacceptable," Panetta said.

Some US officials in Washington said relations were still heavily strained.

"The bilateral relationship is still in deep trouble but the atmospherics are a bit better. Name calling has largely ended for now," said former senior CIA analyst Bruce Riedel, who has advised Obama on policy in South Asia.

"Distrust has not gone away, nor has the fundamental difference in the approach to terror.
Posted by: Fred || 09/16/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  What ties?
Posted by: Water Modem || 09/16/2011 15:50 Comments || Top||


Suicide strike on Lower Dir funeral leaves 26 dead
[Dawn] At least 26 people were killed and 65 others injured when a jacket wallah went kaboom!" during the funeral of an anti-Taliban primitive in a Lower Dir village, not far from the Afghan border on Thursday.

The attack came two days after four children returning from school were killed near Beautiful Downtown Peshawar because elders of their tribe had formed a 'lashkar' against bad turbans.

Sources told Dawn that most of the people attending the funeral in the village of Beero were from the Mishwani tribe which had been fighting the Taliban from Afghanistan. The funeral was for Malik Bakht Sultan who was killed in a road accident in Peshawar on Wednesday.The sources said the suicide bomber aged between 18 and 20 years was in rear rows of the funeral prayer.

Medical Superintendent of Timergara Hospital Dr Wakeel Mohammad said the injured who were at death's door were being shifted to Peshawar.

He told news hounds that 52 of the injured had been brought to his hospital. "We referred four of them to Peshawar because they had critical head injuries."

District Police Officer Saleem Marwat confirmed that it was a suicide kaboom and 26 people had been killed and 55 injured.

But a hospital source said the number of injured was 65. According to him, 52 people were admitted to the district hospital and 13 were being treated at the Samar Bagh Civil Hospital.

Eyewitness Ameer Khan told this correspondent at Timergara hospital that he had seen a boy aged between 18 and 22 standing behind the rows. He said the boy appeared strange and suspicious to him and, therefore, he decided to skip the funeral prayer.Immediately after the first 'takbeer', he said, the boy rushed towards the centre of the gathering. "I took out my pistol to fire at him and also shouted at an armed guard standing there to shoot him, but by that time the boy had entered the gathering and then I heard a loud bang," Ameer Khan said. Azad who was injured in the blast said he was standing in the front row and with the second 'takbeer' he heard a loud sound.

Mir Akbar said at the Samar Bagh hospital he was standing in the middle rows when the bomber hit the gathering.

Some of the injured claimed there had been two blasts. They said that before blowing himself up the boy had hurled a hand-grenade at the gathering. Police and other security personnel cordoned off the area after the blast and took precautionary measures to avert another attack.

Local people took the injured to hospitals in Samar Bagh, but because of lack of facilities there most of them were shifted to Timergara and four were referred to Peshawar.
Posted by: Fred || 09/16/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: TTP

#1  For a second there I thought it was Suicide Bombers on strike. I'll cut back on the Del Patron.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 09/16/2011 17:51 Comments || Top||


Kabul attacks cast gloom over Pak-US engagements
[Dawn] Pakistain-US bilateral engagements scheduled in New York could be an immediate casualty of a recent attack on the American embassy compound in Kabul, which has turned the gradually warming ties frosty once again.

The two sides were to negotiate a framework for future engagement in their meetings on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session.

The agreement, though both sides differ on its precise description, was expected to address major points of discord, including the nature of CIA operations in Pakistain and its working relationship with the ISI, drone attacks and the regional sensitivities of the two countries.

But indications from Washington after Tuesday's 20-hour assault near the US embassy and NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all....
headquarters in Kabul aren't positive.

The North Wazoo-based Haqqani Network has been blamed for the Kabul attack and last weekend's truck kaboom in which dozens of American troops were maimed.

Now the meeting between Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir and US Special Envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistain Ambassador Marc Grossman, which was to discuss the 'terms of engagement' for 'clearing out the cloud in relationship' is uncertain.

The sense some of the Pak diplomats in Washington and Islamabad got from their conversations with American officials is that even if this meeting does take place it would not be productive unless Islamabad addresses US concerns about the Haqqani Network.

A lot would, however, depend on the outcome of a meeting between Army Chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani
... four star general, current Chief of Army Staff of the Mighty Pak Army. Kayani is the former Director General of ISI...
and US Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen in Seville (Spain) on the sidelines of a NATO conference over the next couple of days.

Although the meeting was earlier thought to be meant to add momentum to normalisation of relations, it now appears the two commanders would once again be looking at repairing the dent in ties.

Diplomatic circles are not expecting much from the Sunday (Sept 18) meeting between Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
... sometimes described as the Smartest Woman in the World and at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as Another Edmund Randolph ...
even as Foreign Office Spokesperson Tehmina Janjua in her weekly media briefing on Thursday said: "Pakistain attaches importance to this engagement which will provide an opportunity to discuss all issues."

The not so optimistic picture about the prospects of the Pak-US engagement by senior Pak diplomats in their private conversations is consistent with US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta
...current SecDef, previously Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Panetta served as President Bill Clinton's White House Chief of Staff from 1994 to 1997 and was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1977 to 1993....
's statement warning Pakistain that the US could do everything to eliminate the threat emanating from terrorist sanctuaries in the tribal belt bordering Afghanistan.

The FO spokesperson sharply reacted to Mr Panetta's comments saying they were "not in line with the cooperation the two countries have in counter-terrorism".

She stressed that Pakistain's cooperation was premised on respect for its illusory sovereignty and entailed joint actions.

Ms Janjua recalled that Islamabad too had raised the issue of safe havens in Afghanistan from where gun-hung tough guys had been attacking Pak paramilitary posts and bordering districts.

"There is need to clearly address the issue in a cooperative mode and work for de-escalation in violence as violence is no solution to any problem," she noted, adding Pakistain was prepared to continue cooperation in countering terrorism.

The military avoided a direct response to Mr Panetta's diatribe. But an army official, asking not to be named because of sensitivity of the matter, said the Americans were to equally share the blame for the security failure that enabled the faceless myrmidons to launch attack inside Kabul.

"Even if we were to accept that the Haqqani Network operates from bases in North Waziristan, it also needs to be acknowledged that the faceless myrmidons travelled a long distance inside the Afghan territory before carrying out the assault and they should have been intercepted by the Americans, who are far better equipped than us," he said, adding checking border-crossing was not solely Pakistain's responsibility.

The official said US criticism of Pakistain was in contrast to the recognition of its role in the fight against terrorism.
Posted by: Fred || 09/16/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Iraq
US Embassy denies “secret agreement” existence for troop extension
BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: The US Embassy in Iraq has denied Iraqi media reports quoting its Ambassador to Baghdad, James Jeffery, as having reported the existence of a “secret agreement” between the US and Iraq for the extension of the presence of the American forces in Iraq after the end of the current year.
This is either the biggest game of chicken in the last century or Obama is completely snookered...
“The discussions with the Iraqi government are still continuing and it would be a mistake to say that any agreement has been reached till now,” the Embassy Spokesman, Michael McClellan, said in a statement, copy of which was received by Aswat al-Iraq news agency on Thursday.

“We have a strong wish for the existence of a permanent partnership with the Iraqi government and people, and the relations with the Iraqi security forces shall represent an important part of this partnership,” he said.

The American forces are scheduled to withdraw from Iraq completely by the end of the current year, according to the Security Agreement, signed between the two countries, but the US prefers the extension of the presence of some of its troops in the country after 2011.

Different Iraqi political forces have not expressed clear positions towards the said cause, but some politicians have expressed support for the presence of some American troops, till the completion of the potential of the Iraqi security forces for few more years.

The political forces have authorized Iraq’s Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, to hold talks with the American side for the presence of some training forces, despite fact that both sides have not announced a result for
Posted by: Steve White || 09/16/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Snookered? The only way this Vacationer-in-Chief will get a clue is if he stops by the Milton-Bradley shelf in Toys-R-Us and picks up the game....
Of course since the package says 10 years and up, if he figures out that Col. Mustard did it with the knife in the study inside of 6 years, he will consider himself a genius.
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 09/16/2011 1:17 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Palestinians to seek full UN membership on September 23
[Dawn] The top Paleostinian diplomat says the Paleostinians will submit a bid for full membership at the UN Security Council on September 23.

Riad al-Malki told news hounds on Thursday in the West Bank capital of Ramallah that the bid would be submitted next Friday.

His remarks appear to end the speculation over whether the Paleostinians would risk a threatened US veto of their statehood bid.

The other option was to seek a lesser status as a non-member observer from the UN General Assembly, where the United States does not wield veto power.
Posted by: Fred || 09/16/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: PLO


Southeast Asia
Obama Agrees To Sell Arms To Taiwan
President Obama has decided to sell a new arms package to Taiwan that will likely include weapons and equipment to upgrade the island’s F-16 jets, according to administration and congressional officials.

Congress will be briefed Friday on the arms package, worth an estimated $4.2 billion, said officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity. A formal announcement is expected soon.

“All we’ve been told is the president has made a decision, and I assume it will be for the F-16 A/B upgrade package,” said a senior congressional aide close to the issue.

The president decided against selling Taiwan 66 advanced F-16 C/D model aircraft, despite several requests from Taipei and Congress, the officials said.

The decision ends nearly two years of debate within the administration and Congress over whether to sell advanced strike aircraft.

Supporters of the sale say new F-16s, produced by Lockheed Martin, are needed to bolster Taiwan’s defenses against China’s growing air power and to produce jobs for the U.S. aerospace industry.

China, which opposes U.S. arms sales, is expected to react harshly to the upgrade package. China's military cut off exchanges with the Pentagon in 2008 and last year after two arms packages were announced.

The Obama administration has made its policy of seeking closer military ties with China a high priority, one reason that the president rejected new F-16s in the latest arms sales package, the officials said.

China’s U.S. debt holdings also likely influenced the decision. In February 2010, Chinese military leaders called for punishing the United States for arms sales to Taiwan by calling in some of the $1.1 trillion in China’s Treasury debt holdings.

A senior administration official said the decision not to sell new F-16s is a setback for officials in the administration who are concerned about Taiwan’s declining defenses. The opposition to selling the new jets came mainly from within the State Department, the official said.

The Pentagon is expected to release a long-delayed study on the air power balance across the 100-mile Taiwan Strait. The study is said by officials to show that Taiwan's air force urgently needs modernization.

China has been building up its air forces along the coast opposite Taiwan with more advanced warplanes, including Russian-made Su-27s, Su-30s and Chinese J-10 fighters.
Posted by: Sherry || 09/16/2011 13:10 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
European Parliament Calls on Assad to Step Down 'Immediately'
What, again?
[An Nahar] Members of the European Parliament called Thursday for the immediate departure of Syrian President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
One of the last of the old-fashioned hereditary iron-fisted fascist dictators. Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor...
who, by choosing repression instead of reforms, they said had lost all legitimacy.

In a resolution adopted in Strasbourg, the parliament called on Assad and his regime to "relinquish power immediately."

"The Syrian regime is calling its legitimacy into question by choosing a path of repression instead of fulfilling its own promises on broad reforms," the resolution said.

Members condemned the use of force against protesters and the persecution of activists and journalists while calling for "an independent, transparent and effective investigation into the killings, arrests, arbitrary detention and alleged forced disappearances and instances of torture by the Syrian security forces."

The European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
has along with the United States been calling for Assad to go since mid-August.

The resolution comes as member countries move to adopt a raft of economic sanctions against the Syrian regime which could include, in addition to a ban on oil investments, a ban on funding the Syrian central bank with notes printed in Europe.

Mikolaj Dowgielewicz, Secretary of State for European affairs and economic policy, said Wednesday that Assad has lost all credibility due to his broken promises and the use of force against his people.

"There is no way forward for Syria with this regime, and we think President al-Assad should now step aside," he said.

The United Nations
...an idea whose time has gone...
estimates the Syrian government crackdown on protests has killed 2,600, mostly civilians, since March, while rights groups say thousands of people have been incarcerated in the crackdown.

Posted by: Fred || 09/16/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Syrian TV to Broadcast Confessions of Alleged Israeli Spy Linked to Mughniyeh Murder
[An Nahar] The Syrian State television will broadcast on Saturday the confessions of an alleged Israeli spy who conspired to assassinate top Hizbullah commander Imad Mughniyeh, State news agency SANA reported.

"The Israeli spy will reveal some of the details of the conspiracy against Syria," SANA said on Wednesday.
*blink*. The assassination of a top commander of Hizb'allah, sock puppet of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, is a threat to Syria how, exactly, given there are plenty of replacements eager to wear the target?
According to the report that will be broadcasted after the 8:30 PM newscast, the Israeli spy had "facilitated the liquidation of Mughniyeh."

Mughniyeh, linked to the kidnappings of western hostages in the 1980s, was killed on March 2008 by a car boom in Damascus
...The City of Jasmin is the oldest continuously-inhabited city in the world. It has not always been inhabited by the same set of fascisti...

"Spies are working to sow sedition, assassinate resistance figures and cause chaos," the news agency said.

The report added that the state television
... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
will also broadcast on Thursday the confessions of an officer who was the first to defect the Syrian army.

In a June video widely distributed on the Internet and broadcast on Arab satellite channels, Hussein Harmouche, a lieutenant colonel, said he was deserting the army because he refused to fire on unarmed civilians.

Media reports had said that Harmouche was able to escape from the country and reportedly heads the so-called "Brigade of Free Officers" comprising several reported defectors from army ranks.

U.N. human rights
One man's rights are another man's existential threat.
Chief Navi Pillay had said that at least 2,600 people had been killed in the unrest in Syria since popular protests first broke out in mid-March, raising the toll from 2,200 in August.

However,
by candlelight every wench is handsome...
President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad's
One of the last of the old-fashioned hereditary iron-fisted fascist dictators. Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor...
media adviser Bouthaina Shaaban said that 1,400 people, including 700 army and security officials, have been killed in the violence in Syria.
Posted by: Fred || 09/16/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Damascus Decides to Freeze Relations with Jumblat
[An Nahar] Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Wally Jumblat
... Druze politician, head of the Progressive Socialist Party, who's been on every side in Leb at least four times. He'll sell you his friends for a dollar, but family comes higher because of shipping and handling...
received a verbal message from Syrian President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
One of the last of the old-fashioned hereditary iron-fisted fascist dictators. Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor...
informing him that Damascus
...The City of Jasmin is the oldest continuously-inhabited city in the world. It has not always been inhabited by the same set of fascisti...
has decided to freeze relations with the MP for the time being, al-Liwaa newspaper reported.
Careful starting your car, Wally. And don't drive down any streets that look like they've been recently "repaired."
Last week, Assad criticized Jumblat's statements in which he advised former Prime Minister Saad Hariri
Second son of Rafik Hariri, the Leb PM who was assassinated in 2005. He has was prime minister in his own right from 2009 through early 2011. He was born in Riyadh to an Iraqi mother and graduated from Georgetown University. He managed his father's business interests in Riyadh until his father's liquidation. When his father died he inherited a fortune of some $4.1 billion, which won't do him much good if Hizbullah has him bumped off, too.
to follow his example and refrain from getting involved in developments in Syria, informed sources told the daily.

They noted that Damascus informed the Druze leader that it doesn't need "advice not from friends and allies, we know what we should do" regarding the crisis.

More than 2,600 people have been killed in Syria since massive pro-democracy protests erupted across the country in mid-March, according to the United Nations
...where theory meets practice and practice loses...

However,
the hip bone's connected to the leg bone...
Assad's media adviser Bouthaina Shaaban said that 1,400 people, including 700 army and security officials, have been killed in the violence.
Posted by: Fred || 09/16/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria



Who's in the News
50[untagged]
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3Govt of Pakistan
2TTP
1Boko Haram
1al-Qaeda in Pakistan
1PLO

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Two weeks of WOT
Fri 2011-09-16
  NTC Fighters Enter Gadhafi Hometown Sirte
Thu 2011-09-15
  US Drone Attack Kills Two Militants in Pakistan
Wed 2011-09-14
  Iran to Free US Hikers or whatever they were for $500,000 Each
Tue 2011-09-13
  Nato headquarters and US embassy under attack in Kabul
Mon 2011-09-12
  Head of New Leadership, Jalil, Arrives Tripoli to Great Welcome
Sun 2011-09-11
  EU Command: French hostage rescued from pirates
Sat 2011-09-10
  Cairo mob ransacks, torches Israeli embassy, staff flown out
Fri 2011-09-09
  Turkistan Islamic Party claims western China attacks
Thu 2011-09-08
  'Gaddafi surrounded'
Wed 2011-09-07
  Bomb at Delhi High Court kills 11, 76 injured
Tue 2011-09-06
  'Qatari Emir survives assassination'
Mon 2011-09-05
  Pakistan detains top al-Qaida suspect
Sun 2011-09-04
  Sudan declares emergency in Blue Nile state
Sat 2011-09-03
  European Union Lifts Sanctions on Libya
Fri 2011-09-02
  Russia recognises Libya's rebel government


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