Three Bahrainis who were held for four years at the Guantanamo Bay prison will file a lawsuit against the US Government over their mistreatment there. Adel Kamel, 41, Abdullah Majid Al Nuaimi, 24, and Shaikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, 26, who returned to Bahrain on November 5, said that they were victims of torture. "We want compensation for the physical, mental and psychological abuse we had to endure because of the US administration. We have yet to decide on the amount of money, and we will monitor what the Britons released from the infamous jail will do and we will decide then," Al Nuaimi told Gulf News. "We suffered four of years of unjust incarceration without charges, and we want the Bahraini government to help us in our case against the US authorities," Kamel said at a press conference organised by MP Shaikh Mohammad Khalid.
The three said that they were arrested in Pakistan and they had been kept in legal limbo as suspected terrorists at the US detention centre where they were subjected to acts of torture. Al Nuaimi and Kamel said that they entered Pakistan through the Iranian borders.
Elk season?
"There were no administrative obstacles and the Afghani authorities at the border did not question our motives for the visit," they said. "In fact, we were kidnapped, not arrested. I met a Pakistani who worked in Bahrain and as I trusted him, he invited me to lunch. He later called the police who handed me to the US authorities. He obviously did it to get the reward promised by the US army," Kamel said.
Good. I hope we paid him well.
Al Nuaimi said that he was in Pakistan to help his relative Shaikh Salman who was on a humanitarian mission, but was stranded there because of the war.
Just distributing guns and ammo to the widows and orphans.
"We walked up to the Pakistani army and asked for their protection. We trusted them because we had all our papers with us and we were not doing anything illegal. "We thought they would hand us to our country, but instead, they transferred us to their intelligence authorities and eventually to the US army," said Al Nuaimi.
"The torturing started in Afghanistan where we were beaten up and made to lie down on a runway while US soldiers walked on our backs. They also kept us in cold weather without blankets and tortured us with electricity," Kamel said. "A US soldier once threw a copy of the Holy Quran into a barrel of excrement. Another soldier put his boot on the prayer leader as he was praying forcing him to keep his head on the floor. Other soldiers beat prisoners as they were praying. They smashed our heads against tent poles. It was an orchestrated act to humiliate us," he said.
Just about word-for-word from Chapter 18.
Most of the prisoners from 42 countries at the camp were in good spirits despite the moral and physical abuse, he said. "In fact, it was the US soldiers at the camp who were in bad shape. Two of them have tried to commit suicide because of the pressure. They were brainwashed into believing we were monsters, criminals, terrorists⊠Soldiers used to tell me that they were confused and that they did not know if they could believe we were monsters as their superiors wanted them to think," Al Nuaimi said. "We have nothing against the American people. It is their administration that is sowing seeds of hatred and spreading paranoia," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/20/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
remind the UAE that we find the continued living existence of these three besmirches our previous defense of them, as well as continued good relations...
oh, and perhaps a map showing the UAE as part of Iran?
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/20/2005 1:41 Comments ||
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#2
D'oh...Bahrain, not UAE...almost time for bed, apparently :-)
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/20/2005 1:41 Comments ||
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The UAE has called for the launch of a UN-led international initiative to get rid of weapons of mass destruction from the Middle East. "The international community, spearheaded by the UN, are demanded to launch a balanced and just initiative to rid the region of wmds," said General Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai Crown Prince and UAE Defence Minister. "The initiative should be applied by all countries without bias or double standards," Shaikh Mohammad said in an interview with Dir Al Watan magazine of the Armed Forces on the eve of the Dubai Air Show 2005, which opens tomorrow.
Shaikh Mohammad also warned that such lethal weapons, if ever used, could destroy everything achieved by mankind. "WMDs pose a real danger not only to their possessors but also to the surrounding region and the world at large ... They are a source of worry to peace and stability and it is better for states acquiring them to take the lead in getting rid of them to protect humanity," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/20/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Real target? Israel, of course. "balanced" cinched it.
#4
Yup aimed at Israel. Iraq, Iran and the Arab countries never had WMD--at least that is what the MSM and fellow travelers (Dimiwits) would have everyone believe. JFK would say that Iraq had WMD but at the same time they didn't have them.
Yep. I'm gonna grow my hair back, too. And my keg's gonna turn into a six-pack. And me and Patti Ann Browne are gonna run off to Albuquerque.
Saudi Arabia, which has been fighting a wave of violence blamed on Al-Qaeda militants, could put an end to terrorism within two years, said Crown Prince Sultan, deputy premier and minister of defense and aviation. âI can assure you that with the vigilance of security forces, intelligence agents and especially the Saudi people we might be able to end terrorism, God willing, within the next two years,â he told the Dubai-based Al-Arabiya satellite channel. The crown prince however admitted that it would be difficult to get rid of terrorism completely. âNo one in the world can prevent deviants,â he said referring to Al-Qaeda terror network.
Saudi security forces have been carrying out a successful campaign against Al-Qaeda terror suspects since May 2003. Terrorists have killed more than 90 people including foreigners in the last two years and caused more than SR1 billion ($270 million) of damage in attacks on housing compounds and security force buildings. More than 40 security personnel and over 100 militants have also been killed in clashes, Saudi officials say. The Interior Ministry has issued two lists of Al-Qaeda suspects with a total of 62 militants. Many of them have been arrested or killed by police.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/20/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Hey, Fred, mebbe he's planning to commit suicide in the next 24 months. Stranger things have happened.
#4
Hum, what's a keg? And who the hell is that Patti Ann Browne the esteemed site owner keeps fantaising about?
So many unanswered questions... perhaps I should do the only sensible thing : Google(tm)!
#6
Patti Ann Brown - Fox Newsbunny - I'm not sure if she knows Fred and I are stalking her..
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/20/2005 13:22 Comments ||
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#7
Frank G : it's depends. Have you received the restraining order yet?
A Fox News talking head? I'm sure she's blonde! There was a very funny take on blonde Foxbunnies at Wuzzadem, didn't notice if there was mention of a Patti Ann Brown.
And a keg is beer-related... some kind of barrel?
#9
brunette - mmmmm - I'm not a blonde-guy and apparently Master Fred isn't either. No TRO yet
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/20/2005 16:37 Comments ||
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#10
@ Frank G : Nice! Try this one too, I recon she has some kind of following here in La Belle France, but this gets us far from the soddies.
@ Dawg : I'm very pure-minded and innocent, child-like, I don't do anatomical reference. Anyway, isn't a keg much bigger than a 6-pack, if that's a barrel? Most men would would prefer a keg!
#11
Wait, on second thought, perhaps it was not even naughty : keg = beergut; 6-pack = slim body. I'm getting less stoopid just by reading Rb. It works!
#13
Ok, thanks for the tip! I had more or less gotten it. In french it would be "plaquette de chocolat", an anatomical feature I'm very, very, very far of possessing.
Btw, the Foxnewsbunnies in action, in all their blonde glory.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/20/2005 18:36 Comments ||
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#15
me first
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/20/2005 18:50 Comments ||
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#16
Ima thinkin there are a bunch of dirty old men on this website. Patty Ann will fall in love with me just as soon as she learns my name. Quick stalking her Fred--there are laws against such stuff.
Thousands of supporters of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez marched in Caracas on Saturday to support the leftist leader in his dispute with Mexico's president over U.S. free trade proposals. State workers, unionists and students, many wearing red T-shirts, waved flags and anti-U.S. placards as they marched through the capital accompanied by trucks blaring revolutionary songs, Venezuelan folk ballads and Mexican mariachi music.
"I'm an anti-imperialist and Mexico's government shouldn't take the position they have, they are a poor people just like us," said real estate broker Zaida Gutierrez, carrying a "Bush: Assassin, terrorist" placard. Kos must've opened a branch office in Caracas
Banners reading "Against Yankee imperialism and its lackey Fox" and "Respect Venezuela" fluttered alongside posters of Mexican revolutionary hero Emiliano Zapata and Che Guevara.
The diplomatic spat between Venezuela and Mexico underscored divisions in Latin America over U.S. proposals for a region-wide free trade zone and the growing gulf between the United States and Venezuela, the world's No. 5 oil exporter. Since Chavez was elected in 1998, ties between the United States and Venezuela have steadily deteriorated though Venezuela still supplies about 15 percent of U.S. oil imports.
The spat between Mexico and Venezuela broke out after the leaders met at the Summit of the Americas in Argentina to discuss the U.S.-backed Free Trade Area for the Americas. Fox accused Argentina's left-leaning President Nestor Kirchner of bowing to opinion polls rather than pressing for a trade deal and criticized Chavez's ideology.
Chavez blasted Fox as a "lap dog of the empire" and the two governments hardened their stances and withdrew their ambassadors. Caracas says Mexico must now take the initiative in resolving the dispute, but Mexico insists on an apology.
#1
So what's the thinking behind an announcement I saw on Fox News that Citgo is going to sell cheap oil in poor communities in the Northeast? Does Chavez believe the poor in America will rise up in favour of Venezuela, and cause the overthrow of the Bush government? Is such differential pricing even leagal in the U.S.?
#2
As a Venezuelan I can say that, up to before the Iraqi war, most of the people marching did not know that Iraq was a country. It is all coaching to divert attention from the real issues plaguing Venezuela today : poverty and out of control crime.
BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) - Thousands of people gathered in a Baku square Saturday as Azerbaijan's opposition parties protested against disputed parliamentary elections - the latest rally in a campaign that has made little headway.
A crowd of around 15,000 rallied as speakers denounced alleged fraud in the Nov. 6 elections, which kept control of the 125-seat legislature firmly in the hands of the ruling party. Opposition parties obtained only 10 seats, according to official results. ``It is only now that the struggle for free elections has begun,'' said Ali Kerimli, leader of the Popular Front, one of the parties in the Azadliq opposition bloc.
Saturday's crowd was smaller than the one at a previous rally about a week earlier, which attracted some 20,000. Holding orange flags and wearing orange scarves, inspired by last year's successful Orange Revolution in Ukraine, demonstrators chanted: ``Resign!'' and ``Freedom to the nation, freedom to the people!''
International observers have said the polls below democratic standards, but Western countries concerned about stability in the oil-rich Caspian Sea state bordering Iran have not endorsed opposition demands for repeat elections. Faced with an authoritarian government led by President Ilham Aliev, who succeeded his long-ruling father in 2003, the opposition has failed to capitalize on resentment over corruption that has helped keep more than 40 percent of people in poverty despite the former Soviet republic's oil wealth.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/20/2005 00:00 ||
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BEIJING - The United States demands that North Korea honor its commitment to end its nuclear weapons program, US President George W. Bush said Sunday during a visit to China, the Northâs closest ally.
âThe fourth round of six-party talks in September ended with a joint statement in which North Korea committed to abandon all nuclear weapons and all existing nuclear programs,â Bush said following a meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao. âThe United States expects it to honor its commitment.â
Bush said the United States and China both want âa Korean peninsula that is stable, peaceful and free of nuclear weapons.â He expressed appreciation to China for playing a leading role in the talks, which Beijing hosts. China also played a key role in convincing the North to participate in the multilateral talks.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/20/2005 13:23 ||
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#1
How can they keep something that they are entirely uncontaminated by?
#2
The United States demands that North Korea honor its commitment to end its nuclear weapons program, US President George W. Bush said Sunday during a visit to China, the Northâs closest ally.
...It is May 7, 1982, shortly after 3.30pm. Ali Magoudi, a Parisian psychoanalyst, paces back and forth awaiting the secret arrival of his next patient â whose identity, if revealed, would set off an earthquake in French politics.
The figure who enters, 45 minutes late, is François Mitterrand, no less â the president of France. Magoudi discovers that his patient does not want to talk about his childhood or his dreams, but about Margaret Thatcher and the crisis over the Argentine invasion of the Falkland Islands.
"Excuse me," Mitterrand begins, apologising for his late arrival. "I had a difference of opinion to settle with the Iron Lady. What an impossible woman, that Thatcher! "With her four nuclear submarines on mission in the southern Atlantic, she threatens to launch the atomic weapon against Argentina â unless I supply her with the secret codes that render deaf and blind the missiles we have sold to the Argentinians. Margaret has given me very precise instructions on the telephone..."
#1
The 4 nuclear submarines were SSNs not SSBNs as such only torpedo armament at time (tomhawks still not oprerational and sold to the British) . Now England could have sended a Polaris down there just in case
#4
LOL, did a good trick on the Exocets 'eh? Right. Most British losses were from iron bombs dropped by well trained Argentine pilots. If the bombs had been properly fused it would have been much worse. You gotta figure that any country that cranks out 3 Formula 1 champs is going to have some pretty good pilots.
#5
Public fuzziness over the distinction between nuclear-powered and nuclear-armed submarines is a long-time staple of lefty anti-military propaganda. This basic story, that the UK sent a "nuclear sub" to threaten the Argies with atomic weapons, has been around a long time.
Back in the 80s, the Greenpeace goebbelists went a step further and conflated all submarines with nuclear-powered ones, listing all submarine losses since World War 2 as "nuclear accidents" even though the great majority of these involved diesel-electric subs. One exception, a unique one, involved a conventionally powered but nuclear armed sub. This was the Soviet "Golf" class boat that sank in the Pacific in 1968 and was partially (?) raised by the US in the famous "Project Jennifer" of the early 1970s.
#7
To the tune of Tomorrow Belongs to Me, from Cabaret:
Our soldiers are many,
Our missles French-sent.
They're Exocet artillery!
What does it matter our rifles are bent?
The Falklands belong to me!
They'll all pledge allegiance
To our puffed-up swells,
Or else they will hang from a tree!
With nameless prisoners
In numberless cells,
The Falklands belong to me!
Our soldiers will fight hard,
They will not sleep.
They'll fight undistractedly!
For it is so boring
To torture a sheep,
The Falklands belong,
—The Malvinas belong,
The Falklands belong to me!
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
11/20/2005 20:42 Comments ||
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HERMOSILLO, Mexico - It's a cat-and-mouse game played over and over again here in Sonora, as Mexican authorities chase airborne drug runners high over the deserts and mountains south of Arizona. The planes don't cross the border, but they bring drugs to staging areas where smugglers load them into cars, trucks, backpacks or saddlebags for the final trek into the United States. It's the FedEx of the underworld, an air-to-ground smuggling system that has survived despite increased security and rising drug seizures along the border.
And while drug planes may not make the final trip north, the way they operate says a lot about the drug trade today. The pilots fly in plain sight of U.S. radar. They commandeer village airports and country roads. They pay bribes to keep the outmanned, outgunned local cops from bothering them. They serve as executive transport for hit men and kingpins. For authorities on both sides of the border, the planes are symbols of the impunity drug traffickers enjoy. No plane has been detected crossing the U.S. border in recent years, according to ICE's Air and Marine Operations Center. But they come awfully close.
In Sonora and northern Sinaloa, airborne drug smuggling lives on because of rugged mountains, sparse population and proximity to the United States, officials say. The states are dotted with tiny airstrips, many of them built years ago by mining companies in the mountains. Sonora alone has 90 legally registered airfields, and hundreds of abandoned or clandestine ones.
The smuggling has fueled a market in stolen Cessna 206s and 210s. In the past two years, three such planes from the United States have been stolen during stops in Sonora and northern Sinaloa, said Jack McCormick of Chandler-based Baja Bush Pilots, which assists U.S. pilots in Mexico.
The United States has begun patrolling the Arizona-Mexico border with remote-control surveillance planes, and is quietly arming Mexico with dozens of new aircraft. Last year, the U.S. Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs gave Mexico two new Schweizer 333 helicopters and four refurbished "Huey" helicopters under a "no-cost" lease. It plans to provide eight more Hueys and 26 more Schweizers in the next few years. Mexico already flies 67 aircraft donated by the United States, according to a bureau report. This month, Mexican agents began patrolling northern Sonora with a jet equipped with anti-drug radar. The measures have forced the drug planes to take riskier routes through the canyons of the Sierra Madre.
EFL
For Border Patrol officials, it could scarcely have been more embarrassing.
One of their own was an illegal immigrant.
And, investigators say, he was using his government-issued truck to smuggle other illegal immigrants into the United States.
How could this happen? How could the government agency charged with guarding the nation's borders hire someone in the country illegally? And could it happen again?
Border Patrol officials said this month that they hired Oscar Antonio Ortiz in 2002 even though a background check flagged a problem in his application, he admitted using drugs and had been arrested on suspicion of smuggling.
They said they've revised their hiring process as a result of his Aug. 4 arrest to ensure no foreigners are mistakenly hired. (Only U.S. citizens may work as Border Patrol agents.)
Officials also ran checks on every worker within Customs and Border Protection, part of the Department of Homeland Security, looking for other illegal immigrants.
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/20/2005 13:38 ||
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U.S. Border Patrol agents were backed down this week by armed men, dressed in what appeared to be Mexican military uniforms and carrying military weapons, who seized a captured dump truck filled with marijuana from the U.S. agents and dragged it across the border into Mexico with a bulldozer.
The border incident occurred Thursday evening when Border Patrol agents attempted to pull over a dump truck on Interstate 10 in Hudspeth County, Texas. The driver fled from the agents, exiting the freeway and driving toward the Rio Grande which runs within 2 miles of the interstate in this portion of West Texas. The driver abandoned the truck after it became stuck in the river bed, escaping into Mexico.
Agents called for reinforcement from the Texas state troopers and Hudspeth County sheriff and began unloading the haul â estimated to have been nearly 3 tons â when everything changed. Officers "started to retrieve the bundles when the armed subjects appeared," said Agent Ramiro Cordero, Border Patrol spokesman. According to Hudspeth County Chief Deputy Mike Doyal, the dump truck driver returned with armed men, some of whom drove "official looking vehicles with overhead lights." Some of those armed, Doyal told the El Paso Times, appeared to be Mexican soldiers in uniform with military weapons. "It's a very serious incident," Doyal said. "We are very fortunate ... no one got hurt. Everyone had the presence of mind not to cause an international incident, or start shooting."
As both sides faced off, a bulldozer appeared from the Mexico side of the river and was used by the armed men to pull the dump truck â and the two-thirds of the marijuana that had not yet been unloaded â into Mexico. The bulldozer, Doyal said, is believed to be used regularly to make makeshift crossings over the Rio Grande.
The "armed encounter with drug smugglers," as Cordero described it, is under investigation. No confirmation was made as to whether or not the "soldiers" belonged to the Mexican military.
#3
Ah, I'd like to see the MSM bury an incident. They can't take the Mexican Military's side, so if there was such a shoot out, you can be sure it will not have existed. To publize it would result in outrage by Red Country[tm] and the MSM certainly doesn't want to give them any reason to actually make the border illegal unfriendly. International incident my eye. It will be an Orwellian non-event.
As he careered along the rock-strewn gulley towards his silver mine deep in the Sonoran desert of southern Arizona, Roger McCaslin first checked his bowie knife, then his pistol, and finally his Kalashnikov. From the road, he had already noticed that something was wrong. "The gate's broken and the door on the trailer's open. They've been here, I know it," he said ominously. "I just hope they've moved on - for their sake." Under the harsh sun, Mr McCaslin's black cowboy hat cast a shadow over his droopy moustache and a face so deeply creased that it resembled cracked saddle leather.
Welcome to the Wild West 2005, where modern-day cowboys still guard their land from interlopers - but using AK47s and four-wheel drives instead of Winchester rifles and horses. Mr McCaslin's small mine sits on a knoll of red earth and scrub near the Mexican border. Like his 19th-century predecessors, he is sure there is money in "them thar hills" after a geological survey indicated there may be rich veins of silver. Today, however, he has other priorities. For the mine also sits in the middle of a network of trails used by heavily-armed Mexican trafficking gangs to smuggle people and drugs into America. Notoriously porous, the border has reached new levels of lawlessness this year as smugglers, known as "coyotes", have become increasingly brazen, willing to fire on anyone - from border patrols to the likes of Mr McCaslin - who gets in their way.
The political row about America's "soft southern underbelly" - bolstered by fears that terrorists may slip in through it - has led to growing support among Republicans for a radical plan to build a 2,000-mile steel and wire fence along the entire border. The Homeland Security Department says that such a fence would be a waste of money, however.
Meanwhile, in a high-profile campaign launched earlier this year, hundreds of volunteers flocked to Arizona from across America to join the Minuteman Project of civilian "monitors" patrolling the border to record illegal crossings. Denounced as "vigilantes" by President Bush and as dangerous amateurs by the United States border patrol (many of the volunteers carried legal side-arms), they have drawn further attention to the problems of border security.
Mr McCaslin, 50, says US patrols have increased in recent weeks as public pressure has mounted - and as he edged up the track towards his land, a helicopter swept repeatedly over a nearby patch of bush. Kalashnikov in hand, he strode up to the 1950s-style Airstream trailer home where he stays when working at the mine. He kicked open the door which swung on broken hinges. Clearly there had been overnight visitors: the interior had been ransacked, shelves pulled out, coffee and biscuits scattered across the carpet and the bed torn apart. They had already left, to the apparent disappointment of Mr McCaslin, whose regular job is as a wrangler (horseman) at a "dude ranch" where visitors saddle up for rides through the desert.
Not every day passes without confrontation, however. He recounted several gunfights with the "coyotes", including one occasion when he and his business partner came under fire at dusk as they barbecued steaks. "They started the war when they started shooting at us. One time, my partner definitely hit one of them. The guy got away, but I doubt he got far. His friends won't have taken him to hospital. They probably just left him out there somewhere," said Mr McCaslin, gesturing to the inhospitable terrain where rattlesnakes and tarantulas add to the dangers.
From his vantage point at the mine, he has watched long lines of illegal immigrants traipsing north through the desert, leaving their detritus as they passed. Discarded everywhere, in disused mines and beneath bushes, are the cheap clothes and bags that they abandon to travel faster and less conspicuously. Empty water bottles litter the landscape. Once Mr McCaslin found a 300lb stash of marijuana hidden in a hollow. "I called up the border patrol who came and took it away. Then that night I sat up here and watched the car lights of the coyotes as they searched and searched for the stuff. Boy, they must have been mad," he said with a satisfied grin.
Asia-Pacific leaders vowed yesterday to dismantle the âterroristâ groups that have carried out a series of deadly attacks in the region. âWe condemned terrorist acts in the region that took thousands of lives and aimed to destabilise economic prosperity and security in the Asia-Pacific region,â the 21 Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders said. Terror attacks âconstitute a clear challenge,â the leaders said in a statement released at the end of their two-day annual summit in the South Korean city of Busan. âTo confront these ongoing threats, we reaffirmed our commitment... to review progress on our efforts to dismantle trans-boundary terrorist groups, eliminate the threat of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery,â the leaders said.
US President George W. Bush, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Hu Jintao agreed to the statement that also stressed that any new counter-terrorism measures must comply with laws on human rights. Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, the prime minister of largely Muslim Malaysia, said the leaders spent time discussing terrorism and how it should not be linked to the Islamic faith. The root causes of terrorism must be addressed, but anti-terrorism measures that target the Muslim community as a whole would be counter-productive, he told a news conference.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/20/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
In other words-We condemn the terrorists but not the muzzi ones, because we all know the root causes are at fault. Badawi needs a little attitude adjustment.
Posted by: 49 pan ||
11/20/2005 8:34 Comments ||
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If it weren't for Internet access to troops, expatriates and Iraqis in Iraq, you would think that coalition military operations in Iraq were a major disaster, and that prompt withdrawal was the only reasonable course of action. But the mass media view of the situation is largely fiction, conjured up in editorial offices outside Iraq, with foreign reporters in Iraq (most of them rarely leaving their heavily guarded hotels) providing color commentary, and not much else. So what do the troops and Iraqis say?
First, there is definitely a terrorism problem. Not an insurgency, not a guerilla war, not a resistance. A portion of the Sunni Arab population refuses to recognize the Sunni Arab loss of power in early 2003. They are supporting a campaign of terror to either get back power or, more pragmatically, to get immunity for most Sunni Arabs for crimes committed during Saddams decades in power. . . . Remember, this is where the legal concept of "eye-for-an-eye" was invented thousands of years ago. . . . All the prevents a wholesale descent into mutual slaughter is the presence of coalition troops. In other parts of the world (and there are many to examine at the moment) this sort of thing is called peacekeeping. Withdraw the peacekeepers, and what peace there is goes with them.
Second, there is a cultural crises, in the Arab world in particular, and the Moslem world in general. The crises is expressed by a lack of economic, educational and political performance. . . .
Third, the bad guys are really, really bad, but they have many prominent allies around the world. Most Iraqis cannot understand how so many media outlets in the West can keep giving favorable coverage to the Sunni Arab terrorists. These guys are butchers, and many used to work for Saddam, committing the same kind of mayhem. Yet these European reporters come looking for Sunni Arab "victims" of "American imperialism." How strange is that? Nothing strange, just another cultural quirk. The Europeans are much more risk averse than Americans. We all remember the 1930s, where most of Europe left Hitler alone, hoping that they could talk sense into him, or that he would go away. Eventually, the good people of Europe (at least those that had not been conquered by the Germans) had to fight the nazis. Americans, most of them descendents of refugees from European foolishness, wanted no part of this latest chapter. But the Japanese and Pearl Harbor intervened, and there we were. After that, Europeans had to deal with another of their inventions, communism. This one had also started off in a promising fashion, but had eventually descended into mass murder and tyranny. Still, many Europeans remained fans, at least from a distance, and defended it until communism collapsed in a pile of contradictions and dead ideas. Europeans have a thing about tyranny. While not wanting it for themselves, they are more willing than most to tolerate it for others. Thus the disagreement over going after Saddam. Many Europeans believe that taking down Saddam was just wrong, and continued American peacekeeping in Iraq just compounds the error. Europeans had made their peace, and many business deals, with Saddam. And the Americans went in and screwed it all up. Europeans have been screwing things up far longer than Americans, and consider themselves experts. They are unhappy that the Americans do not follow the lead of Europe in these matters. Moreover, Europeans cannot accept that they could be wrong, despite any evidence to the contrary. This is a major component of European cultural superiority.
And, lastly, we have the major differences between the media version of what's going on, and the military one. The media are looking for newsworthy events (bad news preferred, good news does not sell, and news is a business). The military sees it as a process, a campaign, a series of battles that will lead to a desired conclusion. The event driven media have a hard time comprehending this process stuff, but it doesn't really matter to them, since the media lives from headline to headline. . . .
Posted by: Mike ||
11/20/2005 10:40 ||
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#1
I am developing an extreme dislike for the MSM. They have turned into a Walter Cronkite, Vietnam-redux.
#3
The MSM has dished up "camel dung" for a long time. They are lefties and would like to shape world events or be the story rather than unbiasedly report events.
Shiite and Kurdish delegates stormed out of an Iraqi reconciliation conference Saturday, infuriated by a speaker who branded them as U.S. sellouts, but they were persuaded to return after an apology. The walkout highlighted the sectarian and political divisions at the all-party gathering, which the Arab League called to prepare for a bigger meeting to be held later in Iraq. Hours after the conference began, an Iraqi Christian delegate, Ibrahim Menas al-Youssefi, took the podium and accused fellow delegates of being American stooges. He said the entire Iraqi political process was illegitimate and orchestrated by Washington.
Shiite and Kurdish delegates left the closed session in disgust. "They are insulting the Iraqi people and they are insulting the constitution on which several million Iraqis have voted," Shiite legislator Jawad al-Maliki told reporters outside the chamber. "They want the situation in Iraq to go back to the way it used to be so that the mass graves can return."
Iraqi government spokesman Laith Kuba accused al-Youssefi of "supporting in one way or another" the insurgency in Iraq. "This is totally unacceptable," he told the pan-Arab satellite channel, Al-Arabiya.
Arab foreign ministers, particularly Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal, promptly engaged the Shiite and Kurdish delegates and urged them to return to the chamber. Within the hour, Sunni delegate Mohammed Shehab al-Dulaimi told reporters the conference had resumed after the delegate apologized and Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa ruled that al-Youssefi's comments would be struck from the record.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/20/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Feet first into the plastic shredder with Al-Youssefi!
Posted by: mac ||
11/20/2005 6:20 Comments ||
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The US asked Japan in late October to transfer its ground troops from the southern Iraqi city of Samawah to elsewhere in the country to improve local security and administrative capability, Japanese media reported Saturday, citing diplomatic sources in Washington. The proposal for Japan to join the project was made by US Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns, who visited Japan in late October, the sources involved in Iraq's reconstruction told Kyodo News Agency. Tokyo responded it is impossible for the Japanese troops to participate in such work at the moment. Where Washington would like to see Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force (GSDF) troops transferred to is unknown, it said. The GSDF is deployed in Iraq to help with reconstruction work.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/20/2005 00:00 ||
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Jordan is tightening security and speeding up anti-terror laws to ensure the country is better protected against bombings, Interior Minister Awni Yarfas said yesterday. Jordanian Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi, leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, has claimed responsibility for triple suicide bombings that killed 57 people last week and threatened more attacks. âWe have stepped up security measures at hotels and shopping malls across Jordan and will be equipping them with the latest metal detectors,â Yarfas told Reuters. He said tougher security measures were also being enforced on the joint border post with Iraq.
Yafas said the government was speeding up drafting a new anti-terror law that would allow the government to prosecute people who express sympathy for suicide bombings and uphold views that may incite or encourage such attacks. âThis is a preventative law to prevent support or sympathy for terror groups that target our stability,â Yarfas said. Officials involved in drafting the law say it gives police and prosecutors wider powers against âthose deemed by word or deed to help, incite, finance or encourage terror activities.â âThe law will take into consideration public freedoms and rights of citizens and at the same time protect the country and citizens in addition to individual freedoms,â Yafas said.
Rights groups say the countryâs existing laws already have enough safeguards against radical groups and fear that tougher anti-terror laws will only erode further civil liberties.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/20/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Nothing better than having your kingy-like-person threatened to get some anti-terror legislation sped through parliament like a waxed arrow.
George Galloway has defended his praise of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, following a recent trip to the country.
Recall how Mr. Galloway's last good friend in the Middle East fared.
The MP for Bethnal Green said the president was a "breath of fresh air" after decades of dictatorship. During his recent trip Mr Galloway hailed the Syrian president - whose regime has faced accusations over the assassination of Lebanese Premier Rafik Hariri - as the "last Arab leader". Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Mr Galloway said: "The Arab world is ruled by dictatorships, almost without exception. Most of them are dictators who are slaves of ours.
"The Syrian regime is independent of us and that is why our government, and more particularly the US government, wants to destroy it."
He suggested that until recently the British government respected the Syrian regime, pointing out that President Assad stayed with the Queen at Buckingham Palace. "People believed that his reforming zeal and his vision of Syria as a genuinely independent Arab country....was one that was widely appreciated across Europe.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/20/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
To: George
Re: Your Comments
Thanks a f*&king lot. Time to IXNAY our ELATIONSHIPREY in the RESSPRAY
#2
If Galloway is so keen on what a paradise Arab ruled countries are, why isn't he living in one? Doesn't he know that there's an endless stream of @sses just waiting to be kissed by his expert lips? He really needs to be bound hand and foot and dropped off in rural Yemen.
Jordan denied reports on planned transportation of US military equipment to the border with neighboring Syria with the aim of putting pressure on Damascus. The deputy prime minister and spokesman of the government, Dr. Marwan Al-Muashar, in remarks published by the daily newspapers on Friday, denied a report, published by the Washington Post, that Washington was planning to transport four billion dollars worth of military equipment from Qatar and Bahrain to the Jordanian-Syrian border region "in a bid to exert pressure on Damascus. "We have frequently read such unfounded reports that are aimed at harming Jordan," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/20/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
denied reports on planned transportation of US military equipment
doesn't mean it ain't happenin
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/20/2005 1:07 Comments ||
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#2
Break out the salsa and tortillas, it's time to serve up a little carnage Assada.
Posted by: hose a ||
11/20/2005 3:56 Comments ||
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#4
"that Washington was planning to transport four billion dollars worth of military equipment from Qatar and Bahrain to the Jordanian-Syrian border region " 4 Billion!!! wtf are several divisions heading that way?? hope so....
Posted by: Shep UK ||
11/20/2005 5:04 Comments ||
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#5
ohhh..lookie..a new battle front.
Just my HO, but the dead Sparky Zarky is making a tactical error. But, hey. It's not like me to complain if this becomes a Muslim on Muslim conflict. Because, if you get right down to it, that's what this really is.
#6
The chess analogy is more than amusing. The war is among a series of moves in a game of three-dimensional chess with multiple players on each side and one is not sure which side is which, in which the pieces can move by themselves, in which a rook can masquerade as a pawn. To listen to Tinseltown clowns or the MSM, one would think this is a game of Go-Fish. To throw the words back at one particularly irksome perpetrator, "Honey, this ain't no rock and roll show."
Posted by: Curt Simon ||
11/20/2005 7:51 Comments ||
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#7
iirc Jordan does have American made equipment, so technically it could be the movement of US manufactured equipment. However, as to ownership, it might just be Jordanian equipment. Between Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, and Iraq, the Syrians certainly know how to make friends and neighbors. The adage 'when you're in a hole, quit digging' doesn't translate obviously.
#9
All this conflict in the ME reminds me not of chess, but of a card game we used to play as kids, called "Shit on your Neighbor." In that game, cheating was legal, you formed temporary alliances to dump on someone that was getting too far ahead, but the bottom line was that you were looking out for yourself. I sure don't remember how the rules went....heh.
Posted by: Al Aska Paul ||
11/20/2005 16:59 Comments ||
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#10
Mr. Fourth Dimension, Lot Of Laughs. thank you.
Posted by: Red Dog ||
11/20/2005 17:00 Comments ||
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Russian diplomatic sources have affirmed that the Russian National Security Council Secretary General Igor Ivanov has, during his short visit to Syria, conveyed a message from President Vladimir Putin to his Syrian counterparts President Bashar Al-Assad. "The said message is not enlisted within the frame work of pressures "as regards the 1636 resolution but to voice solidarity with Syria and to assure it that Moscow will reject any attempt by the Security Council to pass on any military action against Syria. Sources added that President Putin advised the Syrian leadership to fully cooperate with the International Investigation Committee in order to pull out any pretext from the USA.
Sources pointed out that Russia advised Damascus not to reveal the honesty of the investigation committee because this will mean that Syria will not cooperate with Mehlis. In reply to a question on the Russian stance over a fresh decision to impose sanctions against Syria, reliable Russian diplomats sources said that Moscow will absolutely refuse any sanctions against Syria or even surrounding it. "Imposing sanctions against Syria will lead to complicate matters in the Middle East, and will lead to an all chaos that will threaten peace and security world wide in a time that the region is on explosive barrel as a result of the continuous clashes in Iraq.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/20/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Didn't that entire anti-American Soviet kleptocracy collapse over a decade ago? Why is it like nothing has changed? What is with this world's general inability to connect the dots regarding terrorism? RasPutin needs to be dropped off in Beslan for some parking lot therapy.
#2
Didn't that entire anti-American Soviet kleptocracy collapse over a decade ago?
Not really. The party bosses just took off their hammer-and-sickle lapel pins, and the kleptocratic tendencies that grew out of the Soviet system got amplified to the point of absurdity. The collapse of the Soviet Union wasn't a revolution.
#3
Bingo, Rory. Whenever people piss and moan about how corrupt modern Russia is, I explain to them how all that really happened was that they took off their uniforms.
#4
Enter the new boss, same as the old boss. Yawn.
Posted by: Curt Simon ||
11/20/2005 13:00 Comments ||
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#5
Remember, the Clinton-led Dems > FASCISTS = DE-REGULATED, PRO-COMPETITION/CORPORATISM COMMUNISTS-STALINISTS-MARXISTS, i.e. "Commpitalists" as was mentioned a few times in PRAVDA, RINO's and CINO's. When Mama Cindy calls for anarchy and violence to take back "occupied" NOLA, she in reality is PC calling for an INTRA-COMMUNIST/SOCIALIST Stalin-era "PURGE" and extermination of Clintonian National Communism's alleged "Fascist"
fraction/minority, ala MENSHEVIKS vs BOLSHEVIKS vs YENSHEVIKS/YESHEVIKS, etc. For the DemoLefties, the WOT is about NATION(S) AND KIND OF SOCIALISM WILL CONTROL THE FUTURE OWG AND SWO/CWO. THE WOT is a WAR FOR THE WORLD and WAR ABOUT, FOR, and IN THE NAME OF [GLOBAL]SOCIALISM.
Amid accusations that Damascus is trying to delay the UN probe into the murder of former Premier Rafik Hariri, Syrian Ambassador to the UN Faisal Mekdad said the work of the international committee "could take years" to be concluded.
"How many years?"
"Coupla hundred, prob'ly."
In an interview with The Daily Star in New York, Mekdad said "the report, which was highly politicized, said the committee needed more time to continue its investigations, and this could take months, or even years." However, the ambassador stressed Syria's intention to fully cooperate with the investigation led by German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis.
"Oh, yassss! Full cooperation! That's our middle name!"
Damscus has been under mounting pressure for failing to allow Mehlis to interview six of its top officials in Beirut, offering alternative locations being considered by the UN team. This has led to harsh criticism by U.S. officials, including U.S. Ambassador to the UN Darth VaderJohn Bolton, who said on Thursday the investigation's mandate was almost up while warning Syria against "failure to cooperate."
"I find your lack of cooperation... disturbing. My patience is not infinite, young Mekdad!"
Mekdad said Syria's refusal to allow its officials to be interrogated in Beirut was in both countries' best interests. "We believe this would create unfriendly feelings between the two countries. It is a formal issue that could negatively affect the relations between both countries. That is why we suggested the UN Disengagement Observer Force headquarters [in Syria's side of the Golan Heights], which is completely controlled by the UN," he said. Commenting on a possible mediator role for UN Secretary General Kofi Annan between Mehlis' commission and Syrian authorities, Mekdad said: "We hope that the UN will be able to solve this technical problem. We also have to keep in mind that what is important here is not the location, but the people being investigated, and Syria has agreed to that.".
Posted by: Fred ||
11/20/2005 00:00 ||
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apparently CSI Damascus is even less competent than CSI Ft. Marcy Park.
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/20/2005 1:23 Comments ||
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This is like the old joke about a death row prisoner's last request for a bottle of wine ... vintage 2035.
France on Friday criticised Iran for processing a new batch of uranium, saying it sent the wrong signal to an international community worried about Tehran's nuclear ambitions. "It does not contribute to creating a climate of confidence between Iran and the international community," said Jean-Baptiste Mattei of the French foreign ministry.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/20/2005 00:00 ||
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#2
"This is very serious. You'll have to buy another 75 Airbus 380s or else discussions could begin on whether to send the case to the Security Council."
Posted by: Curt Simon ||
11/20/2005 7:54 Comments ||
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#3
Speaking of 380s, bet there is good security around the Airbus factory, annnnnnnnnd related employees cars in the parking lot.
Posted by: Al Aska Paul ||
11/20/2005 17:02 Comments ||
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As he careered along the rock-strewn gulley towards his silver mine deep in the Sonoran desert of southern Arizona, Roger McCaslin first checked his bowie knife, then his pistol, and finally his Kalashnikov. From the road, he had already noticed that something was wrong.
"The gate's broken and the door on the trailer's open. They've been here, I know it," he said ominously. "I just hope they've moved on - for their sake..."
..."They started the war when they started shooting at us. One time, my partner definitely hit one of them. The guy got away, but I doubt he got far. His friends won't have taken him to hospital. They probably just left him out there somewhere," said Mr McCaslin, gesturing to the inhospitable terrain where rattlesnakes and tarantulas add to the dangers... AKs would be good MGs for that area. Low maintenance, resistant to dust, and fires a pretty standard round. Tactically, I'd recommend that one of them carry a sniper rifle with a scope and post him on the high ground before they do any patrolling.
November 19, 2005: Last month, Pakistan took early delivery of the first of eight ex-US Navy P-3C Orion aircraft as part of a Pakistan-US military assistance package. This is a big upgrade in Pakistanâs maritime patrol and command-and-control capabilities as the Pakistan Navy has until recently been flying three far less capable Atlantique maritime patrol aircraft and five Fokker F-27-200/400 aircraft. In the fall of 2004, Pakistanâs two remaining P-3C Update II.5 Orions, purchased between 1991 and 1996 (a third was lost in an accident), began getting upgrades. At that time, Pakistan had been preparing to buy eight older P-3B aircraft but subsequently placed an order instead for eight US Navy surplus P-3C aircraft, as well as a number of other weapons systems. The contract also includes upgrades to aircraft communications and avionics systems, plus training device assets, support and test equipment, engineering technical services, supply support, operations and maintenance training, and logistics.
As part of the deal, the P-3Cs would be upgraded to the Update III Anti-Surface Warfare Improvement Program (AIP) and Block Modification Upgrade Program (BMUP) standards. The P-3C Update III AIP provides the following: the capability of carrying the Maverick infrared-guided missile; the AN/AAS-36A infrared detection set; the AN/AVX-1 electro-optical sensor system; the AN/APS-137B(V)5 synthetic-aperture radar (SAR), which also has an inverse-SAR mode; the EP-2060 pulse analyzer; color high-resolution displays; the Over-the-Horizon Airborne Sensor Information System (OASIS) III, and the OZ-72(V) Multimission Advanced Tactical Terminal (MATT) system. For self-protection, the AIP standard includes the AN/AAR-47 missile-warning system; the AN/ALE-47 countermeasures dispenser; and the AN/ALR-66C(V)3 electronic-support-measures system. The BMUP modification, meanwhile, consists of a new data-processing subsystem based on the CP-2451/ASQ-227 digital computer and a new acoustic subsystem based on the USQ-78B display and control unit, plus the capability to carry the Standoff Land Attack Missile - Expanded Response (SLAM-ER). In addition, Pakistan has also expressed the intention of adding modifications to the aircraft to allow carrying the French Exocet and Chinese C-802 anti-ship missiles and the French-Italian A244 torpedo.
The P-3C aircraft for Pakistan will be paid for, in part, through US military assistance as part of the global war on terror, and the total cost for the eight airplanes plus upgrades is estimated to be $970 million. The upgrades will be done through depot-level maintenance overhaul and mission-systems upgrades in the US and Pakistan, although the exact locations have yet to be determined. The eight P-3Cs are part of a total buy worth $1.3 billion. Other weapons included in the entire package are 2,000 TOW-2A missiles, fourteen TOW-2A Fly-to-Buy missiles, 60 Harpoon Missiles, six PHALANX rapid-fire 20-millimeter guns, and the upgrade of six additional gun systems. This 2005 delivery beats the initial first estimated delivery date of 2006. All eight aircraft are to have been delivered by 2009.
Posted by: john ||
11/20/2005 08:48 ||
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#1
Any chance the repair depots will be located near Dr. Khan's nuclear facilities?
#3
In light of the Parliament attack and recent bombings in India, what in holy hell are we doing giving the Pakistani military the least sort of parity with India's superior submarine forces? This (like with America) is India's avenging angel should Pakistan ever loose a nuclear attack upon the sub-continent.
The Pakistanis have shown themselves to be one of the most corrupt and terrorist-sympathizer riddled military forces in the entire world. We should be increasing their vulnerability, not reducing it. India is a DEMOCRATIC, PLURALISTIC nation who is working with America to thwart the Iranian nuclear crisis. What a slap in the face for this important ally.
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/20/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
a book tour now? OMG. Folks are still listening to her?
Doesn't she owe money like in back taxes, where is she getting all of the money to do this travel, and still not work?
I would love to travel a bit, not too crazy about camping out on the ground anymore but travel you bet your bippy.
Posted by: Jan ||
11/20/2005 0:27 Comments ||
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#2
'Peace Mom' Sheehan to Release Extrude Book (sic)
Posted by: Red Dog ||
11/20/2005 3:45 Comments ||
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#3
...Actually, that book won't so much be released as it'll have to escape.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
11/20/2005 8:59 Comments ||
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#4
I wonder if her bovine excrement of a book will be laced with Cindy's profanity?
I recommend that she start her book tour in any number of Shiite Mosques in Iraq.
#9
John, my inside sources tell me it's a collection of posts she has done on various websites, including Mikey Moore's and Arianna Huff'n'puff"s. Nothing more. The insane ramblings of a demented woman.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
11/20/2005 16:02 Comments ||
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#10
I wonder if they are editing it to hide her true character. If so it must be the smallest book in print. If not some people are going to be awfully suprised what a moonbat she is.
#11
I don't know. I kind of like Cindy stepping up to be the poster child for the anti-war crowd. I think she's a fine symbol for us all to see.
She's painfully ugly. She has disrespected her son's choices, her country and herself. She has flattered and elevated the people who murdered her son and stood on their side. Her family has disowned her. She's a shameless attention Whore running around screaming "LOOK AT ME". But she's butt ugly and hard to look at.
There are more than 2000 soldiers who have died. The media only pays attention to Cindy. That says volumes about the media.
Cindy's the best they can do. Why? Because she is who they are. Aging adolescents trying to relive some sort of 60's glory days.
I hope they keep her up front and center. I'm just surprised they do. But's she's what they all see when they look in the mirror each day - so they don't realize just how ugly the rest of the country thinks she is.
1) She gets free PR from interviews on MSM, whereas conservative authors (Coulter, Malkin, etc.) rarely do.
2) Her book gets reviewed favorably by the NYT, which ignores / whitewashes the more insane ramblings.
3) Most of the book sales are bulk buys by various (Soros sponsored) wacko left-wing groups.
4) Almost no one actually reads the book.
A surprise showing in the first round of Egypt's parliamentary elections has given the Muslim Brotherhood its strongest political foothold ever heading into Sunday's vote, hinting at what democracy might look like in the Arab world's largest country. Secularists and Christians were unsettled by the Brotherhood's initial showing, with the country's oldest Islamic fundamentalist group taking 34 seats, doubling its presence in parliament. The victories have established the Brotherhood as the leader of the opposition and have proven what the government feared: that the banned group is popular among Egyptians despite, or because of, frequent crackdowns and the government's media campaign against it.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/20/2005 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Three Bahrainis who were held for four years at the Guantanamo Bay prison will file a lawsuit against the US Government over their mistreatment there. 
The UAE has called for the launch of a UN-led international initiative to get rid of weapons of mass destruction from the Middle East. "The international community, spearheaded by the UN, are demanded to launch a balanced and just initiative to rid the region of wmds," said General Shaikh 
Saudi Arabia, which has been fighting a wave of violence blamed on Al-Qaeda militants, could put an end to terrorism within two years, said 
Thousands of supporters of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez marched in Caracas on Saturday to support the leftist leader in his dispute with Mexico's president over U.S. free trade proposals. State workers, unionists and students, many wearing red T-shirts, waved flags and anti-U.S. placards as they marched through the capital accompanied by trucks blaring revolutionary songs, Venezuelan folk ballads and Mexican mariachi music.
As he careered along the rock-strewn gulley towards his silver mine deep in the Sonoran desert of southern Arizona, Roger McCaslin first checked his bowie knife, then his pistol, and finally his Kalashnikov. From the road, he had already noticed that something was wrong. "The gate's broken and the door on the trailer's open. They've been here, I know it," he said ominously. "I just hope they've moved on - for their sake." Under the harsh sun, Mr McCaslin's black cowboy hat cast a shadow over his droopy moustache and a face so deeply creased that it resembled cracked saddle leather.
Asia-Pacific leaders vowed yesterday to dismantle the âterroristâ groups that have carried out a series of deadly attacks in the region. âWe condemned terrorist acts in the region that took thousands of lives and aimed to destabilise economic prosperity and security in the Asia-Pacific region,â the 21 
US President George W. Bush, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President 
Shiite and Kurdish delegates stormed out of an Iraqi reconciliation conference Saturday, infuriated by a speaker who branded them as U.S. sellouts, but they were persuaded to return after an apology. The walkout highlighted the sectarian and political divisions at the all-party gathering, which the 
The US asked Japan in late October to transfer its ground troops from the southern Iraqi city of Samawah to elsewhere in the country to improve local security and administrative capability, Japanese media reported Saturday, citing diplomatic sources in Washington. The proposal for Japan to join the project was made by US Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns, who visited Japan in late October, the sources involved in Iraq's reconstruction told Kyodo News Agency. Tokyo responded it is impossible for the Japanese troops to participate in such work at the moment. Where Washington would like to see Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force (GSDF) troops transferred to is unknown, it said. The GSDF is deployed in Iraq to help with reconstruction work.
Jordan is tightening security and speeding up anti-terror laws to ensure the country is better protected against bombings, Interior Minister 
George Galloway has defended his praise of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, following a recent trip to the country.
Jordan denied reports on planned transportation of US military equipment to the border with neighboring Syria with the aim of putting pressure on Damascus. The deputy prime minister and spokesman of the government, Dr. Marwan Al-Muashar, in remarks published by the daily newspapers on Friday, denied a report, published by the Washington Post, that Washington was planning to transport four billion dollars worth of military equipment from Qatar and Bahrain to the Jordanian-Syrian border region "in a bid to exert pressure on Damascus. "We have frequently read such unfounded reports that are aimed at harming Jordan," he said.
Russian diplomatic sources have affirmed that the Russian National Security Council Secretary General Igor Ivanov has, during his short visit to Syria, conveyed a message from President Vladimir Putin to his Syrian counterparts President Bashar Al-Assad. "The said message is not enlisted within the frame work of pressures "as regards the 1636 resolution but to voice solidarity with Syria and to assure it that Moscow will reject any attempt by the Security Council to pass on any military action against Syria. Sources added that President Putin advised the Syrian leadership to fully cooperate with the International Investigation Committee in order to pull out any pretext from the USA.
In an interview with The Daily Star in New York, Mekdad said "the report, which was highly politicized, said the committee needed more time to continue its investigations, and this could take months, or even years." However, the ambassador stressed Syria's intention to fully cooperate with the investigation led by German prosecutor 
A surprise showing in the first round of Egypt's parliamentary elections has given the Muslim Brotherhood its strongest political foothold ever heading into Sunday's vote, hinting at what democracy might look like in the Arab world's largest country. Secularists and Christians were unsettled by the Brotherhood's initial showing, with the country's oldest Islamic fundamentalist group taking 34 seats, doubling its presence in parliament. The victories have established the Brotherhood as the leader of the opposition and have proven what the government feared: that the banned group is popular among Egyptians despite, or because of, frequent crackdowns and the government's media campaign against it.
