A novel about the men and machines fighting the War on Terror, and how two men on opposite sides find themselves pitted against the latest in military technology.
I've never seen a novel published on Blogger before. I don't know if Phil is offering signed copies of his new blognovel, but he'd sure like some comments!
#2
Agreed - two thumbs up from me. I imagine, and being a programmer that's as close to fiction as I'll ever get, lol, that drawing a sympathetic MullahBot of the Rev Guards might just be the toughest bit, heh. But you put the frog in the water and brought the heat up slowly, lol. I'm only on Chap 4, but it has the touch and feel, alright... Excellent stuff - I'm hooked and I'm there for the duration, lol. Your Day Job is in jeopardy, bro. Got a tip jar? 8-)
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld signed orders on Monday that will reduce American troop levels in Afghanistan next year, meaning that 3,000 soldiers in Louisiana will learn before the holidays that they will most likely not have to deploy as previously scheduled.
Under the plan, the number of United States forces in Afghanistan is to decrease to 16,000 by next spring, from 19,000 now. The Fourth Brigade of the 10th Mountain Division, based at Fort Polk, La., will send a battalion task force of 1,300 soldiers instead of the entire unit of more than 4,000 troops, said a senior military officer who spoke on condition of anonymity because the orders have not been made public. The troops staying home will be on standby, if needed, he said.
The American troop reduction has been anticipated since NATO, whose soldiers now oversee security and reconstruction missions in northern and western Afghanistan, agreed to assume control over an American command in the south next year. Additional Afghan security forces, which now number 27,000 soldiers and 55,000 police officers, will also take on additional security duties.
The Pentagon spokesman, Larry Di Rita, said the decision to reduce a portion of the Army unit scheduled to replace the 173rd Airborne Brigade, now in southern Afghanistan, was based on recommendations from Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry, the senior American commander in Afghanistan, and Gen. John P. Abizaid, the overall American commander in the Middle East and Central Asia.
"The overall level of security forces in the country, NATO's role, and the political developments are all moving in the right direction," Mr. Di Rita said in an interview.
Congressional officials and the Army unit commanders were notified Monday of Mr. Rumsfeld's decision. A formal Pentagon announcement is expected Tuesday.
Pentagon officials were quick to note Monday that the United States would still have the largest number of foreign soldiers in Afghanistan, and that it would remain committed to ensuring political, economic and security gains there.
American forces will also continue to have the lead responsibility for counterterrorism missions against remnants of Taliban and fighters for Al Qaeda, who have attacked allied forces from redoubts in the mountainous region along the border or Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The battalion task force from the 10th Mountain Division will join NATO soldiers from Canada, Britain and the Netherlands, who are scheduled to take control of the country's southern sector, including Kandahar, around next July, Pentagon officials said.
Pentagon officials said they expected similar decisions soon, perhaps as early as this week, on troop levels in Iraq.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/20/2005 00:26 ||
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The fight there now is more oriented toward SF and Rangers. Standard brigades are less useful.
Warlords, former communists, Taliban defectors and women activists were sworn in on Monday as members of the first Afghan parliament in more than 30 years amid hopes of national reconciliation after decades of bloodshed.
I'm so proud of them, it's like I invented them myself. I've been watching events unfold in Afghanistan on and off since 1979, and as recently as a couple years ago I never would have believed they could do it without the extensive use of explosives.
The inauguration, which passed peacefully despite Taliban threats, was greeted with tears of emotion despite widespread disappointment at a parliament filled with factional leaders blamed for serious human rights abuses. President Hamid Karzai thanked God for giving Afghanistan the chance to take control of its destiny again after swearing in the 249 members of the Wolesi Jirga, or lower house, and 102 members of the upper house, or Meshrano Jirga.
They had to get those digs in at the "factional leaders" and their human rights abuses. The country's not perfect, and neither are the men who beat the Sovs and then, with a lot of our help, beat the Talibs â disregard the myth that the Talibs are the ones who beat the Sovs, by the way. I keep seeing it rear its ugly head. But even while they were abusing all those human rights they were still holding out. I actually regard some of them â Dostum, Ismail Khan, Rabanni, and a few others â with a certain amount of (long distance) affection. For all their faults, they held out, and their personal bravery is beyond question. They're flawed, but unlike most of their critics, they're men.
âThis meeting is a sign of us regaining our honour,â he said âWe have the right to tell those who are after the destruction of this water and soil that this homeland will exist for ever!â he declared. Afghanistan has risen from the ashes of invasion and conflict with the opening Monday of its first parliament after three decades of war, Karzai said. âLet me tell the world that Afghanistan is rising from the ashes of invasion and will live forever,â he said, prompting applause from the new MPs, many in tears.
And I'm sure that when the crack of doom sounds they'll still be arguing. As long as they're not shooting at each other that's okay.
âParliament is crucial for the establishment of a safe and secure country,â he said, paying his respects to people who âlost their souls for the freedom of Afghanistan.â
There are a lot of corpses on the way to their own parliament. I hope they don't forget them.
âThe Afghan nation will never forget the blood that these people have given,â he said.
Hamid was almost one of the corpses. The Talibs reported early in the war that they had caught him and hanged him. I'm sure he looks toward Peshawar each and every day and says something witty, like "Thhhhhhp!"
âThis is not the end of the game. We still have a long duty,â he said. âThere should be competition, struggle and coordination between the parliament and the government.â Karzai thanked the international community, in particular neighbouring Pakistan, for help with reconstruction and counter-terrorism. The destitute country is reliant on international aid and military power.
And Pakland, for the moment, is strong enough to throw its weight around...
The Afghan president urged national reconciliation and reiterated a call to the Taliban to abandon their insurgency, which has intensified in the past year despite his efforts to encourage defections. The opening of parliament was the culmination of a UN-backed plan to bring democracy drawn up after US-led forces overthrew the Taliban in 2001. âIt means a lot,â Karzai told reporters afterwards. âIt means progress, it means achievement and it means togetherness.â
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2005 00:00 ||
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I never would have believed they could do it without the extensive use of explosives.
GPS is a wonderful things. Keeps carpet bombing to a minimum.
Ever since its independence from Pakistan in December 1971, Bangladesh and India have been locked in a love-hate relationship.
The initial gratitude over India's assistance to the Mukti Bahini -- the guerrilla force which fought the Pakistan army -- quickly turned into distrust in Dhaka, particularly after Generals Zia-ur Rehman (1975 to 1981) and Hossain Mohammad Ershad (1982 to 1990) wooed the fundamentalist, anti-independence and pro-Pakistan lobby to retain their grip on power.
Chief among these pro-Pakistan organisations was the Jaamat-e-Islami, which is part of the four-party alliance currently in power. The ruling coalition is led by Bangladesh Nationalist Party Leader Khaleda Zia, Zia-ur Rehman's widow. The general was assassinated in 1981.
Till the late 1990s, India's main concerns with Bangladesh involved the massive illegal migration, which among other things radically changed the demography of neighbouring Indian states like Assam, and the fact that anti-government rebels in the northeast states found refuge on Bangladeshi soil.
Before Bangladesh's independence, Mizo and Naga rebels were trained and sheltered in the Chittagong Hill Tracts by the Pakistan army.
There were also violent spats over patches of the the 4,096-kilometre border, 180 km of which is marked by rivers that keep changing their course. Conflicting claims to ownership of the Muhurichar Island in South Tripura's Belonia subdivision led to clashes between the Indian Border Security Force and the Bangladesh Rifles in 1975, 1979 and 1985.
Dhaka consistently denies all charges of illegal migration and the presence of Indian rebels on its soil, and accuses India of playing hardball over water sharing and sheltering criminals wanted in Bangladesh.
Post 9/11 and the United States-led War on Terror, many fundamentalist outfits under the American scanner found Bangladesh an easy country to disappear in. The huge amount of foreign aid flowing into the country also made money laundering relatively easy.
Charities in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan known to have Al Qaeda connections are among the major donors to Bangladeshi non-governmental organisations, and a large chunk of that money is used to fund madrassas which spawn willing recruits to the jihadi cause.
In 2001, Khaleda Zia returned to power for the second time on an essentially anti-India platform -- her predecessor Hasina Wajed -- whose late father Sheikh Mujibur Rehman was independent Bangaldesh's first President -- and her Awami League were tagged as pro-India.
The presence of the pro-Pakistan Jaamat and Islami Oikya Jote in Khaldea Zia's government ensured that the Pakistan high commission in Dhaka became, in the words of one Indian diplomat, "an ISI den".
The nexus between Pakistani and Bangladeshi intelligence is hardly new. Several activists of the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom arrested in India admitted that batches of ULFA cadres were flown to Pakistan from Dhaka for training by the ISI.
"The ISI started re-growing its roots in Dhaka during Khaleda's earlier stint, from 1991 to 1996," the Indian diplomat says. "But despite her being marked as pro-India, or perhaps because of it, Hasina Wajed is no worse. You must remember that the worst border clash between the two countries occurred in April 2001, barely two months before the election which brought down her government."
The rapid rise in fundamentalism in Bangladesh and its growing nexus with Pakistan's ISI has added to India's concerns over its eastern neighbour.
The crackdown on minorities by the ruling coalition's goons soon after it assumed power in 2001 led to a spike in migration to India, and officials note that these migrants comprised not just Hindus and Christians fleeing persecution, but also Muslim activists of the Opposition Awami League, who were being targeted by the ruling clique.
"God alone knows how many of these migrants are actually ISI agents," mutters one Indian official.
The leeway given to fundamentalists has already started to hurt the government in Dhaka, with judges and government officials being bombed by radicals who are demanding Muslim rule in the country.
Indian officials, while wary of being accused of interference in Bangladesh's internal politics, note that both the Jaamat and the Islami Oikya Jote have been virulently anti-Indian. The Jaamat, for instance, accuses India's external intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing, of being behind the recent spate of blasts in Bangladesh, despite the Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh, a radical outfit outlawed in early February, claiming responsibility for most of the terrorism.
The main jihadi groups active in Bangladesh are the Harkat-ul-Jehad-al-Islami, the Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh and the Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh. All three are known to have close ties with the Jamaat and Islami Oikya Jote.
"Why do you think activists of these supposedly outlawed outfits are released within days, if not hours of their arrest?" asks a taxi driver in Dhaka.
But if Indian officials are diffident about accusing Bangladesh of fomenting trouble, BSF Director General R S Mooshahary candidly told journalists in Delhi on November 30, that 'Bangladesh will soon pose a bigger problem than Pakistan.' According to him, the India-Bangladesh border is more difficult to man than the India-Pakistan border. 'At the Pakistan border, both the army and the BSF are deployed, whereas the India-Bangladesh border is manned solely by the BSF,' he pointed out.
Expressing concern over the continuing illegal migration into the northeast, Mooshahary said: 'I've sought the home ministry's permission to raise a women's battalion to deal with infiltrators, many of whom are women.'
Asked about the repeated provocative moves by the Bangladesh Rifles, including the killing of BSF officers like Assistant Commandant Jeevan Kumar earlier this year, Mooshahary angrily rebutted the charge that the BSF was a 'soft' force, saying it had to behave 'responsibly.'
'We cannot always work by eye-for-an-eye principle. They (the Bangladesh Rifles) will not repeat it (such murders). If they repeat, they know the consequences,' he warned.
India has presented concrete evidence about at least 172 terrorist camps being run in Bangladesh, and the presence of at least 307 'wanted people', including top ULFA leaders Paresh Baruah and Arvind Rajkhowa, in the country, he said. But 'Dhaka has denied their presence without verifying the details given to them.'
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/20/2005 00:39 ||
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Mooshahary angrily rebutted the charge that the BSF was a 'soft' force, saying it had to behave 'responsibly.'
Some older 105 mm artillery pieces were transferred from the Army to the BSF recently, making it one of the few Border Patrol forces anywhere with such firepower. It has its own aviation units.
Yet Bangladesh Rifles forces kill BSF officers at will. The political will to act is missing.
Posted by: john ||
12/20/2005 9:47 Comments ||
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RAB and the BR are both Bangldeshi outfits.
The Indian BSF is being restrained by the Indian Government which is very reluctant to use force.
India's smaller neighbors are quite touching about the overwhelming firepower that could be brought to bear.
Posted by: john ||
12/20/2005 11:49 Comments ||
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PLANS to force foreign-born imams to take a âBritishness testâ were scrapped yesterday in the second climbdown in less than a week on proposals to tighten scrutiny of mosques.
The Home Office dropped the idea after opposition from Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs. Five days ago Tony Blairâs plan to give police the power to close mosques suspected of having extremist links was ditched after opposition from Muslim leaders and the police.
The latest retreat came after protests from Muslim leaders and other faiths who objected to a Britishness test being made part of immigration laws. An estimated 85 per cent of the 2,000 imams working in the UK are foreign-born.
The climbdown comes despite longstanding concern from senior ministers and the security services that radical imams entering the country from Pakistan and the Middle East are driving young British Muslims to extremists.
Under the proposal all foreign-born ministers of religion would have had to sit a test on Britishness after being in the country for two years.
The aim was to ensure that they understood the multicultural society in which they preached and provided pastoral care to their communities. It was also intended to answer concern within the Muslim community that some foreign-born imams had little concept of the world in which young British-born Muslims had grown up or the problems they faced.
But yesterday Tony McNulty, the Immigration Minister, announced that the idea first put forward by David Blunkett when he was Home Secretary had been ditched.
Mr McNulty told a press conference at the Home Office that he had bowed to fears from all faith communities over the proposed test on life in Britain.
He said they had all expressed concern that foreign-born preachers would face tougher immigration requirements than other migrants if they were tested on life in Britain after living in the UK for two years.
âThere was concern that somehow ministers of religion were being treated differently,â he said. âWe have listened to that.â
He said there was no compelling reason to treat foreign- born ministers of religion differently from others seeking to stay in the UK.
Instead foreign-born ministers of religion will only take a test on life in Britain, including its constitution, legal system, customs and religious life, if they apply to settle after four years or seek citizenship after being in the country for five years.
The original proposals were put forward before the July 7 terror attacks but amid concern in the Government that some imams could speak little English and had hardly any knowledge of Western societies.
A Home Office consultation document put forward the testing regime because of the âpotential influence which ministers of religion can â because of the respected position which they occupy and through the preaching and pastoral functions they may fulfil â exert among their congregationâ.
Government ministers wanted imams to show an understanding of the religious needs of those from their own faith who have been brought up in the UK. It was also proposed that foreign-born preachers would have to produce evidence that they had taken part in the civic life of the commun-ity including mixing with other faiths as part of a drive to improve community cohesion and end ghettoisation.
The Home Office said it hoped that a tougher English language test for foreign-born religious leaders would automatically mean they had a knowledge of British life.
An official said: âIf someone has to take a test showing showing they are a confident user of English, both written and spoken, they will have inevitably learnt about life in Britain. They will have read newspapers and listened to the BBC.â
Inayat Bunglawala, a spokesman for the Muslim Council of Britain, said last night: âI do not understand why the Government has dropped this plan.
âWe welcomed the idea. We thought it made sense that people coming here to preach should have a good grasp of our countryâs history.â
#3
At this rate, by the time this is over people will be drawn and quartered with their heads posted over the city gate for three months. The only question is whose?
He is 29 years old, bearded, exhorts his troops to fight in the name of Allah and speaks Russian with a heavy Chechen accent. Not long ago, that would have perfectly described one of Moscow's most bitter foes.
But now, while his former comrades-in-arms dodge troops in the Chechen mountains, Ramzan Kadyrov is a hero of Russia, a frequent guest of President Vladimir Putin and regional leader of the pro-Kremlin political party.
Kadyrov is officially deputy prime minister of Chechnya but observers say the Kremlin has made him de facto leader -- something, they add, it may come to regret.
Kadyrov's every move dominates local television reports. When his first son was born last month, the region enjoyed a public holiday -- marked by all-night salutes of machinegun fire that left civilians cowering in their basements.
His portraits stare down from the pocked walls of apartment blocks in Grozny, the shattered capital of Chechnya, interspersed with posters of Putin pinning Russia's highest decoration to his chest.
"I am not a prima donna, but when people respect you, that's always nice," Kadyrov told Reuters. "If I were to say I did not like to feel myself a popular man, then I'd be lying."
Kadyrov's power is based on his control of thousands of irregular troops -- like him, former rebels, and nicknamed the 'kadyrovtsy'. Rights activists accuse him of using kidnapping, murder and torture to cement his rule.
many Chechens do not care. They say only extreme measures can end a war that has raged for 11 years and claimed tens of thousands of lives -- including Kadyrov's father, who led the region until his assassination last year.
"In such a situation, you have to be tough. Look at all these soldiers. We need a little Stalin, he needs to be even tougher," said Said, 33, a Chechen in Grozny.
Russia sent troops to crush an independence drive in the Muslim southern region in 1994, but had to pull out two years later after a series of bloody defeats. Putin sent the army back in 1999 and has pledged repeatedly to wipe out "terrorist" groups who seek to break from Russia.
Few observers doubt that when Kadyrov turns 30 -- the minimum age to become Chechen president -- he will follow his father into the region's top job.
"The Kremlin has artificially strengthened his position because it is concentrating on one clan so as to maintain Russian control (over Chechnya)," said Alexei Mukhin, director of the Centre of Political Information think tank.
"Practically he already has his own state, it is a separate state that is loyal to the Kremlin. The danger is if he moves to set up a state not loyal to the Kremlin."
Last week, Chechen members of the pro-Kremlin United Russia party that dominates the region's recently elected parliament voted to make Kadyrov its regional head despite observers questioning his democratic credentials.
"Having these kind of people around -- Ramzan, I mean -- with these kinds of attitudes, it is disturbing and works against the good intentions that the majority of the country has," said Morten Messerschmidt, a Danish member of parliament who visited Chechnya to observe last month's elections.
According to Russian human rights groups, Kadyrov's rule is based on fear. They accuse his troops of mass human rights abuses in his quest to crush opposition.
"Chechenisation - i.e. handing over of responsibility, including for the conduct of "anti-terrorist" operations, from the federal to the local authorities - of the conflict has not brought peace to the Chechen Republic," rights groups, including Memorial, said in a joint report published last month.
"It has resulted in the brutalisation of the warring sides and pervasive fear and insecurity for civilians ... The emergence of pro-Kremlin armed groups, only partly controlled by the government, creates conditions for new spirals of violence."
Chechnya's rebels call Kadyrov a stooge of Moscow, and say the power of his forces would collapse if Russia pulled out its 100,000 troops.
"They are not a threat for the future of Chechnya. If you imagine Russian forces leaving Chechnya, then these bands will have no chance," said rebel envoy Akhmed Zakayev recently.
Some Russian soldiers in Chechnya think Kadyrov's efforts to secure control are simply serving his own interests.
"If you have one of the kadyrovtsy, a rebel and a Russian together, then they'll kill the Russian. They all have relatives in the hills," said one soldier, before breaking into a joke about Kadyrov meeting a lion on the streets of Grozny and disputing its title to be "king of the beasts".
"I'm the king of the beasts, you're just some animal," the punchline has Kadyrov telling the lion.
Kadyrov himself says his critics are lying, and accuses some of siding with separatists. He swears to defeat the rebels, particularly leader Shamil Basayev.
"I know that one duty stands before me, that is to find and destroy Basayev. There are times, when I find myself on his tracks, but he escapes from under my very feet," he said.
Basayev masterminded the conflict's bloodiest attacks -- including the hostage siege in Beslan last year when 330 people, half of them children, died -- but Kadyrov said the rebels had now been neutralised.
"There is no threat to the republic, the rebels have no strength. As for bandits and terrorists, we basically don't even have them. And Chechens are in an absolute minority in the current ranks of the rebels," he said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/20/2005 00:30 ||
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The head of Russia's foreign intelligence service has said that foreign military forces deployed at bases along his country's borders are a threat to the nation.
Hmmm. They noticed. Too bad the Democrats haven't.
In comments that appeared directed at United States forces deployed on bases in former Soviet states, Sergei Lebedev was quoted as saying that Russia no longer had a "main adversary", as it had during the Cold War. But he went on: "Russians cannot help but be concerned about new military bases and military contingents being deployed around our country."
"Quagmire!"
Russia has watched warily as the US sent forces to the Central Asian countries of Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, and strengthened its military and political ties with Ukraine and Georgia. In addition, the Baltic nations of Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania joined NATO in 2004 over Moscow's strong objections.
"Halliburton!"
The Kremlin's leaders have also been nervous about the mass protests that saw the opposition take power in Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan over the past two years - protests that Russia says were backed by the West.
#2
wanna bet Left Angle agrees with the Roooskies?
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/20/2005 1:07 Comments ||
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#3
So I guess thats why all non-russian NGO's and such are banned and oh yeah all of the ones financed outside of russia but russia based.
Puty is torn between dictator and Czar Puty. All of those ideas like "free press" "democracy" ect... are just imperialist american ideals anyway.
I once had alot of hope in Russia becoming part of the west and helping bring security to the world with the west but then came Puty who ran as a nationalist and seems more interested in getting the old rivalry back up than working with US even if it is to the detriment of Russia herself. Puty and his agreements with China who is at some point in time going to either make a play on central asia or even Siberia the resources that china needs desperatly if they ever plan on taking on the US over Tiawan. Puty making nice with Iran who would will have no problem if given the ability to expand the Calphate right up into Russia.
#5
Yeah, but the Byzantine's stayed on the 'gansta tip for almost a thousand years. The Russians are having problems figuring out what to do six months from now.
December 20, 2005: Some strange news from Germany last week. A mainstream paper reported that, âintelligence sourcesâ revealed that Iran had received, from North Korea, 18 BM-25 missiles. But wait, isnât the BM (Battle Machine)-25 an obsolete Soviet Cold War MLRS (multiple launch rocket system)? The Germans reported that the BM-25 was also known as the SS-N-6, another obsolete Soviet system, this time a submarine launched ballistic missile. Now thatâs really interesting. Why are the North Koreans spending so much time and effort developing their own ballistic missiles, when they already have a proven design from the Russians.
Over the last three decades, t The North Koreans have basically scaled up Russian SCUD missiles to produce the 1,300 kilometer range Nodong missile. They are thought to have about a hundred of them, and have tested them. Less ready are ten or so Taepo Dong 1 missiles, with a range of about 3,000 kilometers. They are also working on an ICBM, the Taepo Dong 2, with a range of 6,000 kilometers, but this one is believed stuck in development, and has not been tested. North Korea sold Nodong technology to Pakistan and Iran, which then built their own versions (the Hatf V and Shihab 3, respectively).
The real BM-25 is a 250mm rocket, with a range of 20-30 kilometers, and mounted six to a truck. It was developed in the 1950s, and is still in service with a few countries that cannot afford anything of more recent vintage. The SS-N-6 is a 1960s vintage ballistic missile, and is known in Russia as the R-27, while the BM-25 is what the Russians call the BM-25. âSS-N-6â is a NATO code name for the R-27. This was Russiaâs first true submarine launched ballistic missile, and sixteen of them were carried in Yankee class SSBNs (missile carrying nuclear submarines.) The R-27 had a range of 2,800 kilometers, while the Germans reported the range as 2,500 kilometers. Close enough. But what are these missiles doing in North Korea?
After the R-27 was replaced by more modern missiles in the 1970s, the missile continued to be used for scientific research until 1990. By that time, 492 R-27s had been launched, 87 percent of them successfully. It would be very embarrassing for the Russians if someone had illegally exported SS-N-6/R-27 missiles to North Korea. It is more likely, and has been reported a few years ago, that the Russian organization that designed the R-27, had illegally sold the plans for the R-27 to North Korea. This was supposed to have happened sometime in the 1990s, and the main reason for the deal was to obtain the missile guidance technology. The Russians kept improving the guidance system of the R-27 through the 1980s, while the North Koreans were desperate for missile guidance technology.
The German story had the 18 âBM-25sâ arriving in kits, with much assembly required. If the North Koreans had built R-27s, from the plans they obtained, they never tested them. It was believed that the North Koreans were not interested in building R-27s, just getting their hands on some of the technology. The real story here appears to be several stories, and technologies being jumbled together, then served hot, if a bit incomprehensible.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/20/2005 09:09 ||
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The SS-N-6 with its storable propellant, superior guidance, and greater range would be preferable to older SS-1 (Scud) technology.
German intelligence has proven track record in tracking WMDs. The story could be disinformation but I would not dismiss it so readily.
Posted by: john ||
12/20/2005 9:43 Comments ||
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Why is iran buying crap like this when they have all the money in the world oozing out of the ground at 57.00 a barrel?
#9
Submarine launched ballistic missiles would concern me. Awhile back RB posted the Rev. Moon as buying an old Soviet sub and Chavez has also placed an order. That would extend their range considerably outside the ME and Europe and could theoretically put any American city at risk.
#10
It is one thing to have a missile, or an old sub.
Actually manufacturing or modifying one capable of launching ballistic missiles is quite difficult.
The UK buys its submarines from the US. Only the US, Russia and France manufacture operational SSBNs. The Chinese SSBN never leaves port because of operational problems.
Posted by: john ||
12/20/2005 19:13 Comments ||
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North Korea said Monday it plans to boost its nuclear weapons programme because of hostile US policies towards the regime, and called Washingtonâs criticism of its human rights record hypocritical. The North âwill increase (its) self-reliant national defence capacity including nuclear deterrent, pursuant to the Songun (military-first) policy, to cope with the US escalated policy to isolate and stifle it with the nuclear issue and the âhuman rights issueâ as pretextsâ, the Northâs Foreign Ministry said in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.
The Northâs latest tirade cast fresh doubt on efforts to resume six-nation talks to resolve an international dispute over its nuclear ambitions. Since the crisis began in late 2002, the United States, South Korea, Russia, Japan and China have sought to persuade Pyongyang to disarm in exchange for diplomatic recognition and aid. In September, the North agreed in principle to do so, but implementation of the accord has stalled over new financial sanctions imposed by the US to stem alleged illegal activities in North Korea, including counterfeiting and money laundering.
They agreed "in principle." In practice, they're lunatics, so it doesn't matter what they say from one day to the next, since none of it makes sense.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2005 00:00 ||
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"Self Reliant" - no Commie has been that yet wid out resort to massive deficit/econ writeoffs, massive propaganda and revisionisms, and global theft of tech.
#2
Trying to raise the stakes and get more extortion money for scrapping the program. Fox news quoted analysts that claim they have neither the money or knowhow to build light water reactors anytime soon.
His most pressing problem is what to feed his people. Lets just do like Reagan would and run the little fucker broke.
#3
The success or failure of running the NORKS broke will depend upon SKor and the Chicoms, and how much they will ante up to Kimmie. It would be good to expose the quantities of aid to the public as part of the strategy.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/20/2005 11:36 Comments ||
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An Australian charged with membership of a terrorist group trained with al Qaeda in Afghanistan and met Osama bin Laden in the months before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States, a court was told.
Police told a bail hearing that Shane Kent, 28, attended the "Al Farooq terrorist training camp" in Afghanistan from June to August 2001, the Australian Associated Press reported.
Detective Ben Condon said a witness, whose identity was suppressed by the court, had made a statement saying Kent attended the camp and met al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
When asked by defence lawyer Peta Murphy if Kent had ever pledged allegiance to Osama bin Laden, Condon replied: "I believe he did".
Murphy denied any such pledge was made by Kent, one of 18 Muslims arrested in November in Melbourne and Sydney in Australia's biggest terror swoop and charged with being members of a terrorist organisation and/or plotting a terrorist attack.
The prosecution opposed bail for Kent at a hearing due to continue on Wednesday.
Last Friday, the same Melbourne court was told that two of the other men arrested, one an Islamic cleric, had discussed assassinating Australian Prime Minister John Howard, killing policemen and even attacking crowds at sports events.
In Sydney last month, police told a court eight men arrested there might have been planning a bomb attack against the city's nuclear reactor.
A police document submitted to the Sydney court outlined how the men bought the same chemicals used in the London July 7 bombs, had bomb-making instructions in Arabic and videos entitled "Sheikh Osama's Training Course" and "Are you ready to die?"
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/20/2005 08:08 ||
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Did Mohammad al-Kent ask Binny for an autograph?
ISN SECURITY WATCH (20/12/05) - Despite repeated calls from human rights organizations and the UN, an Uzbek official allegedly involved in a massacre has entered and left Germany without being prosecuted.
Uzbek Interior Minister Zokirjon Almatov was treated in a clinic in Hannover, Germany, for cancer. Almatov tops a list of 12 senior Uzbek officials who are banned from entering the EU because of their role in the brutal police crackdown on demonstrators in the Uzbek city of Andijan in May. Berlin said it made an exception to the EU travel ban to allow Almatov to seek life-saving treatment.
As Uzbekistanâs interior minister for the past 14 years, Almatov commanded the troops who fired indiscriminately into the crowds of protestors in May in Andijan, killing possibly 500 people or more, according to eyewitnesses and human rights groups. Uzbek officials claim that only 187 were shot dead by state forces, and that all of those killed were âterroristsâ. The EU has since imposed an arms embargo on Uzbekistan, and the UN has said previously that torture at the hand of the feared Interior Ministry-commanded police was commonplace in the authoritarian Central Asian republic.
Last Friday, the UN special rapporteur on torture, Manfred Nowak, called on Germany to prosecute Almatov, a man also known as the âButcher of Tashkentâ. Nowak said torture was used in Uzbekistan âagainst persons charged with serious crimes, such as acts against state interests, as well as petty criminals and othersâ. Human Rights Watch filed a case against Almatov for crimes against humanity for murder and torture with Germanyâs Federal Prosecution Office on 12 December.
But Almatov has since left Germany, according to information obtained by Human Rights Watch from the German embassy in Tashkent. The organizationâs EU Director, Lotte Leicht, told ISN Security Watch via telephone on Tuesday that Berlin should not have let him leave. âThis man has committed some of the worst crimes against humanity,â she said. âIt is stunning that Germany is the only place on the globe where this man could receive treatment.â
A spokeswoman of the Federal Prosecution Office in Karlsruhe told ISN Security Watch that no formal investigation had been opened against Almatov, so no one could stop him from traveling freely.âWe first have to clarify whether the allegations are sufficient to open an investigation,â the spokeswoman said. âThat takes some time.â
Leicht said she was very disappointed by Germanyâs record in the Almatov case. âI know it can take time, but the facts against him are quite overwhelming, and they were established not only by NGOs, but by respected UN bodies,â she said. âMr. Almatov should have at least been prevented from leaving the country until a decision was made over his case.â
Observers say Almatovâs case could be one of political horse-trading: Berlin had initially revoked his entry, but then reconsidered its position after the leadership in Tashkent threatened to expel German armed forces from Uzbekistan. Germany remains the only NATO country to be able to use Uzbek airspace for military flights. While Tashkent recently closed down a US military base on its territory, Germany has been allowed to keep its troops in the southern part of the country near the Afghan border.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/20/2005 08:57 ||
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Yes, libbies, I know, all kinds of pix with W., Rummy, etc, too, but it all started "somewhere"...
In June, we wrote about the 20th anniversary of hijacking of TWA flight 847 and murder of Navy diver Robert Dean Stethem by Hezbollah terrorists.
Stethem was a true American hero. Only 23 years old, he was tortured, beaten, and trampled to death by the Hezbollah terrorists for the crimes of being an American, a U.S. serviceman, and refusing--to his last breath--to denounce America.
We're sad to report that yet another prediction of ours has now come true. We predicted in June that Mohammad Ali Hamadi, one of the Hezbollah terrorists who murdered Stethem, would be released by the German government.
On Friday, the Stethem Family informed us that our worst fears have been realized and that Hamadi will not face justice for his brutal act of terrorism. Germany secretly released Hamadi to freedom in Lebanon.
The German government captured Hamadi in 1987. (Stethem's other three murderers--Imad Fayez Mugniyeh, Hasan Izz-Al-Din, Ali Atwa--remain free, and are believed to be in Lebanon, Iran, or Syria.) Hamadi was carrying explosives that were the same kind use in previous terrorist attacks. Unfortunately, Hamadi--who remains under indictment in the U.S.--was tried by the German government, not our. He was given life in prison without the possibility of parole. But there was always an understanding that Hamadi would be extradited to the U.S. to face justice, if the Germans ever released him. Rest at link.
Posted by: ed ||
12/20/2005 08:19 ||
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If the guy can be located, it shouldn't be to difficult to find a local that can rig up a car bomb...
#4
ADDITIONAL: Mohammed Ali Hamadi was released and returned to Beirut a few days ago, said a Hezbollah official in Beirut. A Lebanese security official also confirmed Hamadi had arrived four days ago aboard a commercial flight from Germany, but would not elaborate. It was not immediately known where Hamadi went after his entry to Lebanon. A German law enforcement official said Hamadi was released from prison and left Germany. Hamadi was arrested at the Frankfurt airport on January 13, 1987 for involvement in the hijacking, after customs officials discovered liquid explosives in his luggage.
At the time, the US authorities requested Hamadiâs extradition so he could stand trial in the United States, but the Germans, who have no death penalty, insisted on prosecuting Hamadi.
Today, German Justice Ministry spokeswoman Eva Schmierer said Germany had not received any request from the United States for Hamadiâs extradition.
A spokeswoman for the Frankfurt prosecutorâs office, Doris Moeller-Scheu, said Hamadiâs case came up for regular review by a parole court and he was released after an expert assessment and a hearing. A spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, Martin Jaeger, said there was no connection between his release and that of Susanne Osthoff, a German woman who was released on the weekend after spending more than three weeks as a hostage in Iraq.
Yeah, right.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/20/2005 10:09 Comments ||
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#9
..get one of our folks to find him and make sure his "last" meal is laden with some sort of "interesting" chemical...
While that would certainly work, something large in scope, sudden and violent would probably have a more immediate impact. Remember, those ME types typically understand only naked, brute force, and what better example of that than a gargantuan explosion that ends up blowing a known terrorist into a million pieces?
#10
Geee B-a-r, I like your style, but I understand paint scrapers necessary for anisceptic cleanup might be hard to find in the area where the scum would be converted to powder... {Snicker}
That's the sound of a subsonic .22 caliber round entering Hamadi's skullbox about three months from now courtesy a former SEAL now employed by a vaguely named company based at a P.O. box in northern Virginia.
Excerpt:
Of course, the idea of this âcultural dialogueâ is not just of some fireside chat about different values and traditions aimed at drawing people closer together; it always has also a political dimension. Dialogue with Hamas or Egyptian anti-Semites can only take place on the assumption that the other is a legitimate interlocutor and that existing differences of opinion remain within the bounds of the acceptable. Thus, all at once, statements expressing overt and unwavering hostility to democracy, parliamentarism and individual liberty and calling in a language of uncommon violence for the destruction of Israel, if not of Jews in general, become part of the discussion. If the problems of the Arab or Islamic world are attributed not to the repressive regimes that prevail in the region, to state control, the oppression of women, the lack of a free media and the glorification of violence â in short, to the form of government â but instead simply to a different cultural understanding, then all the basic human rights standards commonly defined as universal â and therefore as subjects not fit for dialogue â are reduced to political manifestations of âWestern Christian cultureâ and thus rendered negotiable. At the same time, the political circumstances of despotic rule in the Middle East are rendered immutable, since any potential political change would appear as foreign to the indigenous cultural predispositions. If the Middle East is ruled by dictatorships on account of deep cultural causes and not rather because elites who have enjoyed decades of impunity maintain such regimes in their own interest, then hardly anything can be changed in this state of affairs. Moreover, the European seekers of dialogue constantly act as if the parties, groups and governments with which they are talking want something other than what they say they want, even though neither Hizbullah nor Hamas, neither the Syrian nor the Iranian government, do anything to conceal their political ideas. On the contrary, their statements and political programs leave nothing to the imagination.
As is entirely to be expected, then, no one has been able to claim even the least success in separating Islamists or Arab nationalists from their fundamental convictions by way of âconstructive dialogueâ. On the other hand, the Western dialogue partners often tend to assimilate the mental world of their Middle Eastern opposite numbers so closely as to cross over into it. This is a result of the very nature of the dialogue, in which the preferred partners are Islamists and dictatorial regimes rather than members of the opposition or liberals from the region. Since every dialogue requires making concessions to the other side, the Western partners always find themselves obliged to adopt positions that approximate the lunacy of the Islamists and Pan-Arabists and thus to take their distance from the hitherto shared values of the democratic nations. Even a little compromise with beheaders and terrorists is more than a humanistic outlook can tolerate. The Iranian government is no more likely to be talked into giving up the nuclear bomb than self-professed Islamists are to be dissuaded by argument from pursuing their goal of a sharia-based social order. âDialogueâ is an end in itself, serving, in the best of cases, to cover up oneâs own helplessness. In the worst, it amounts to openly cozying up to the enemy of oneâs enemy.
Posted by: ed ||
12/20/2005 06:29 ||
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God! I think we can rename this "Inherit The Windbag"...
#2
If the problems of the Arab or Islamic world are attributed not to the repressive regimes that prevail in the region, to state control, the oppression of women, the lack of a free media and the glorification of violence â in short, to the form of government â but instead simply to a different cultural understanding, then all the basic human rights standards commonly defined as universal â and therefore as subjects not fit for dialogue â are reduced to political manifestations of âWestern Christian cultureâ and thus rendered negotiable.
#6
Uh, not to insult anyone . . . but this is probably the VERY BEST ANALYSIS I'VE EVER COME ACROSS regarding the futility of using diplomacy alone in dealing with the global terrorism threat.
Copy the entire piece to your files and read it when you have the time. Well worth it in every respect.
#7
EXAMPLE: "European Islamists, partly from conviction and partly from opportunism, have now nearly perfectly mastered the use of a vocabulary that dovetails seamlessly with âleft-wingâ ideas and programs . . ."
And, of course, they use it to their advantage. Again, copy and read the article. It's great.
#8
Glad you found it informative ex-lib. I had a similar, if not quite as strong, reaction as you. I still have some hope for the Germans and hope this article gets a wide audience in Deutchland.
Posted by: ed ||
12/20/2005 23:46 Comments ||
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Via JihadWatch
Toronto, Canada Monday, December 19, 2005 - On December 2, the Liberal candidate for Mississauga-Erindale, Omar Alghabra, made his victory speech after winning the nomination. In that speech, he reportedly exhorted his audience, "This is a victory for Islam! Islam won! Islam Won! ... Islamic power is extending into Canadian politics".
Alghabra's victory speech was delivered to an audience of several hundred in the Coptic Christian Centre of the Church of the Virgin Mary and St. Athanasius in Mississauga.
David Ragheb, a member of the congregation, reported that following Alghabra's victory speech, Markham Councillor Khalid Osman took to the stage and declared, "We have the east, we have the west, and now we have Mississauga!" to cheers and applause from the audience. Ragheb also reported that Rogers Cable was present throughout and may have filmed the event. "A member of parliament is supposed to represent my concerns about taxes and roads in Mississauga, not promote an Islamic agenda," said Ragheb.
Victor Fouad, a Coptic Christian, was disturbed to hear of such Islamist rhetoric from a Liberal who could easily become a Canadian parliamentarian. Mr. Fouad assumed that Paul Martin would likewise disapprove of such incitement by a Liberal candidate, and so wrote to the Prime Minister detailing what had happened. That message was ignored. The event took place over 2 weeks ago, and Paul Martin's silence since that time can only be interpreted as approval of Mr. Alghabra's rhetoric.
"I was surprised that Prime Minister Martin showed no interest in such a dangerous mixing of religion and politics," said Mr. Fouad. "Since he has said nothing about it and this candidate is still representing the Liberal Party of Canada, I have to assume that Alghabra has the endorsement of the Prime Minister."
Victor Fouad has written a letter to the editors of several Canadian newspapers, and that letter is reproduced below: Rest at link.
Posted by: ed ||
12/20/2005 08:07 ||
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It's only wrong to mix religion and politics if it's Christianity or Judaism or perhaps Hinduism.
Islam and eco-Gaia worshippers are just fine, however.
#2
he goes into a Coptic center to proclaim Islam won? What else does he do, go to Quebec city to proclaim the victory of the English language? Something more to this than meets the eye.
#6
PS - in 1966 in the campaign for governor, Edmund Brown, Sr. was running for a third term against Ronald Reagan. He goes to a grade school in South-Central Los Angeles and tells the kids (all black), "Remember, it was an actor who shot Lincoln."
The polls were about even when he said that the Friday before the election. Reagan won by over 1,000,000 votes.
A Canadian terror suspect confessed to buying guns and rocket launchers for Al Qaeda to use against U.S. forces in Afghanistan, according to a court filing Monday.
In an court affidavit in Toronto, where Abdullah Khadr appeared at a preliminary hearing, Royal Canadian Mounted Police Corp. Richard Jenkins wrote that Khadr admitted ties to senior Al Qaeda members and confessed to buying guns and rocket launchers for them in Afghanistan. Khadr also admitted to a role in an unspecified plot to assassinate Pakistan's prime minister.
According to the affidavit, it is alleged that his father and some of his brothers had fought for al-Qaida and even stayed with the terror network's leader, Usama bin Laden.
Khadr, 24, who entered no plea at the hearing, faces extradition to the United States on charges of possessing, and conspiracy to possess, a destructive device in furtherance of a crime of violence, according to the U.S. attorney's office in Boston, where the charges were filed. He faces a maximum of life in prison if convicted.
He is alleged to have bought AK-47 and mortar rounds, rocket-propelled grenades and containers of mine components for Al Qaeda. The weapons purchases were made at the request of his father, Ahmed Said Khadr, an Egyptian-born Canadian who was killed in 2003 when a Pakistani helicopter fired on a house where he was staying with senior Al Qaeda operatives, authorities said.
The affidavit said he received military training at a camp in Afghanistan for four months in the mid-1990s and that he continued buying arms beyond 2003 after his father died. Pakistani intelligence officers picked him up in a car in Islamabad on Oct. 12, 2004, and he was returned to Canada earlier this month.
On Sunday, defense lawyer Dennis Edney accused the U.S. of participating in the unspecified "abuse" of Abdullah Khadr in a Pakistani prison.
The affidavit said Abdullah Khadr claimed that he was tortured by Pakistani authorities shortly after his detention. American authorities have said they did not play a role in any alleged mistreatment of Abdullah Khadr while he was imprisoned.
All four of Khadr's brothers have been detained at various times and linked to terrorism.
One brother, 19-year-old Omar Khadr, is the only Canadian detainee at the U.S. camp for terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay. He faces trial on charges of murder and attempted murder for allegedly throwing a grenade that killed a U.S. army medic.
Outside court, a younger brother, Abduraham, expressed frustration that U.S. law enforcement officials would not allow his family to live in peace.
"We've been in a war zone, what do you expect?" Abdurahman Khadr said. "We're back now and it seems we're still in a war zone because we're not being able to live peacefully â someone is always in, out, jailed, this, that."
Abdurahman has said he grew up in an "Al Qaeda family" but he swore off the family's radical beliefs and worked as an American agent in Guantanamo Bay.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/20/2005 00:18 ||
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Terrorism,
a family that plays together stays together...in prison.
Posted by: Red Dog ||
12/20/2005 1:50 Comments ||
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...in a family plot, more like it.
Posted by: Rafael ||
12/20/2005 13:45 Comments ||
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"Outside court, a younger brother, Abduraham, expressed frustration that U.S. law enforcement officials would not allow his family to live in peace."
President Bush and two of his most senior aides argued Monday that the highly classified program to spy on suspected members of terrorist groups in the United States grew out of the president's constitutional authority and a 2001 Congressional resolution that authorized him to use all necessary force against those responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks.
Offering their most forceful and detailed defense of the program in a series of briefings, television interviews and a hastily called presidential news conference, administration officials argued that the existing Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act was not written for an age of modern terrorism. In these times, Mr. Bush said, a "two-minute phone conversation between somebody linked to Al Qaeda here and an operative overseas could lead directly to the loss of thousands of lives."
Mr. Bush strongly hinted that the government was beginning a leak investigation into how the existence of the program was disclosed. It was first revealed in an article published on The New York Times Web site on Thursday night, though some information that administration officials argued could be useful to terrorists had been omitted.
"We're at war, and we must protect America's secrets," Mr. Bush said. "And so the Justice Department, I presume, will proceed forward with a full investigation."
He also lashed out again, as he did Saturday, at Democrats and Republicans in the Senate who have blocked the reauthorization of the broad antiterrorism law known as the USA Patriot Act, saying they voted for it after the Sept. 11 attacks "but now think it's no longer necessary."
Several of the senators responded that Mr. Bush would not accept amendments to the act that they say are necessary to protect civil liberties and that he would not accept a short-term renewal of the existing law while negotiations continue.
In the first of a series of appearances Monday to defend the intelligence operations, Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales told reporters that "this electronic surveillance is within the law, has been authorized" by Congress. "That is our position," he added.
Officials with knowledge of the program have said the Justice Department did two sets of classified legal reviews of the program and its legal rationale. Mr. Gonzales declined to release those opinions Monday.
Two of the key Democrats who had been briefed on the program said Monday that they had been told so little that there was no effective Congressional oversight for it.
In a highly unusual move, Senator John D. Rockefeller IV of West Virginia released a letter he sent to Vice President Dick Cheney on July 17, 2003, complaining that "given the security restrictions associated with this information, and my inability to consult staff or counsel on my own, I feel unable to fully evaluate, much less endorse these activities." The letter was handwritten because secrecy rules prevented him from giving it to anyone to type.
On Monday Mr. Rockefeller said that after he sent his letter to Mr. Cheney, "these concerns were never addressed, and I was prohibited from sharing my views with my colleagues."
Senator Arlen Specter, the Pennsylvania Republican who is chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said, "I am skeptical of the attorney general's citation of authority, but I am prepared to listen."
Mr. Specter, who has said he will hold hearings on the program soon after the confirmation hearings for the Supreme Court nominee, Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr., said he did not believe the president's decision to inform a handful of members of Congress was sufficient.
"I think it does not constitute a check and balance," he said. "You can't have the administration and a select number of members alter the law. It can't be done."
Mr. Specter also predicted that the domestic spying debate would spill over into Judge Alito's confirmation. On Monday, he sent the judge a letter saying he intended to ask "what jurisprudential approach" the judge would use in determining if the president had authority to establish the program.
"The fat's in the fire," Mr. Specter said. "This is going to be a big, big issue. There's a lot of indignation across the country, from what I see."
Mr. Bush, Mr. Gonzales and Lt. Gen. Gen. Michael V. Hayden, the nation's second-ranking intelligence official and a former director of the National Security Agency, which conducted the surveillance, stepped around questions about why officials decided not to use emergency powers they have under the existing foreign surveillance law. The law allows them to tap international communications of people in the United States and then go to a secret court up to 72 hours later for retroactive permission.
"The whole key here is agility," General Hayden said, adding that the aim "is to detect and prevent."
Administration officials, speaking anonymously because of the sensitivity of the information, suggested that the speed with which the operation identified "hot numbers" - the telephone numbers of suspects - and then hooked into their conversations lay behind the need to operate outside the old law.
Soon after Mr. Bush spoke, three senior Democrats influential on national security matters - Senators Carl Levin of Michigan, Jack Reed of Rhode Island and Russell Feingold of Wisconsin - assailed the president for bypassing the court that Congress set up a quarter-century ago to make sure intelligence agencies do not infringe on the privacy of Americans.
"He can go to the court retroactively," Mr. Levin, the ranking Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, told reporters, referring to the 72-hour rule.
Mr. Bush - who initially resisted a public investigation into the Sept. 11 attacks and the intelligence failures in Iraq - used his news conference Monday to discourage Congress from publicly delving into the program, saying that "public hearings on programs will say to the enemy, 'Here's what they do, adjust.' " He repeatedly cited the case of Osama bin Laden, who was widely reported to have stopped using a satellite telephone after news reports that intelligence agencies were listening in.
The White House briefing itself was unusual, with two of the administration's most senior officials discussing legal and operational details of what Mr. Gonzales described as "probably the most classified program that exists in the United States government."
Mr. Gonzales said the president had "the inherent authority under the Constitution" as commander in chief to authorize the program. He also argued that the legal rationale followed the logic in a Supreme Court decision last year in the case of an enemy combatant named Yaser Esam Hamdi, an American citizen who was detained in Afghanistan on the battlefield.
In addition, Mr. Gonzales said the administration believed that Congress gave the president clear and broad authorization to attack Al Qaeda in a resolution passed on Sept. 14, 2001, that set the stage for the invasion of Afghanistan. That resolution authorized the president "to use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on Sept. 11, 2001, or harbored such organizations or persons, in order to prevent any future acts of international terrorism against the United States by such nations, organizations or persons."
Many members of Congress say that in authorizing the military invasion of Afghanistan days after the Sept. 11 attacks, they never intended or envisioned that the authority could be applied to searches without warrants within the United States.
Mr. Gonzales and General Hayden were careful to emphasize that the surveillance program was "limited" in scope.
"People are running around saying that the United States is somehow spying on American citizens calling their neighbors," Mr. Gonzales said. In fact, he said, it was "very, very important to understand" that the program is limited to calls and communications between the United States and foreign countries.
"What we're trying to do is learn of communications, back and forth, from within the United States to overseas members of Al Qaeda," he said. "And that's what this program is about."
He added: "This is not about wiretapping everybody. This is about a very concentrated, very limited program focused on gaining information about our enemy."
As the administration has argued since the disclosure of the program Thursday night, Mr. Gonzales and General Hayden said the normal system for issuing warrants for a domestic surveillance operation - required in 1978 in a program that grew out of the improper surveillance of political dissidents - was inadequate in some cases.
Regarding a possible leak investigation, which would be handled by the Justice Department, Mr. Gonzales said: "This is really hurting national security, this has really hurt our country, and we are concerned that a very valuable tool has been compromised. As to whether or not there will be a leak investigation, we'll just have to wait and see."
When questions at the news conference turned to Iraq, Mr. Bush urged reporters to look at rationales he offered for invading the country that went beyond its suspected caches of weapons of mass destruction, including his vision of creating democratic havens in the Middle East. But he acknowledged that the failure to find weapons in Iraq made it difficult to make the case "in the public arena" that countries like Iran are pursuing nuclear weapons, as Mr. Bush has charged.
He said, "People will say, if we're trying to make the case on Iran, well, the intelligence failed in Iraq, therefore how can we trust the intelligence in Iran?" Later, he added, "It's no question that the credibility of intelligence is necessary for good diplomacy."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/20/2005 00:24 ||
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Very good, but a better argument for Dubya to make before his Amer audience is whether they and the Dems prefer such recce/surv before "Amer Hiroshima(s)" or after, and to do so in an era of ever intensifying nuke prolifer as per Russia's econ supp of Radical Iran? Besides of which, iff memory correctly serves Jimbo "Sighted Rabbit Sank America" Carter and Clinty had the same power and authority.
Posted by: Red Dog ||
12/20/2005 1:53 Comments ||
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#3
In my opinion the Administration did not violate the Constitution, but it is a close call whether they violated the law (a reasonable case may be made in either direction). In any case, it does not appear they abused the law for any personal or partisan gain (it does appear the opposition & NYTimes ARE abusing the situation for personal and partisan gain.) In fact, I suspect the Administration was caught between laws/Constitutional duties - if they obey the NYT interpretation of the law they neglect their oath to protect the US. I think they chose wisely, though I also think the law was not well framed and should be clarified and tightened up to prevent abuse AND permit appropriate use.
That said, I fear this may become Bush's Watergate - too many enemies in too many directions lining up against him on this, and I am not sure the American people in general are bright enough or informed enough to see through the demagoguery.
#4
Oh, and I think the NYT is legally within bounds in publishing, since the Administration actions can reasonably be interpreted as illegal. BUT -- whoever in Congress or the NSA leaked the information TO the NYT clearly committed treason in a time of war, which should make them subject to the death penalty. Before you go blabbing secrets of this level you should be d**n sure it's worth your life.
#5
It should be simple to explain - FISA has never been perfect in execution or timeliness, from what I can gather - and concrete examples usually work on even the dullest, presuming they're not willfully ignorant morons such as recent trolls, but that doesn't bar the demagogues from twisting and skewing it into unrecognizable BS and illogical repetitive irrelevant faux-argumentation.
I fear you're right regards Bush, unless he stands up and calls a spade a spade - eschewing his customary gentlemanly reticence in the face of screeching BDS moonbattery. Sometimes I wonder how he does it, but this time I hope he doesn't.
Gloves off - name names - nail leakers to barn door - beaucoup hard time.
#6
There is one argument going around (heard on Fox this morning) that creation of FISA is an un-constitutional limitation of the Presidents powers during time of war. It will be interesting to see what the courts finally do say about this. My personal opinion is the Supreme Court will uphold the president 5 to 4.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
12/20/2005 10:38 Comments ||
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As an example of the damage caused by unauthorized disclosures to reporters, President Bush said at his news conference on Monday that Osama bin Laden had been tipped by a leak that the United States was tracking his location through his telephone. After this information was published, Mr. Bush said, Mr. bin Laden stopped using the phone.
The president was apparently referring to an article in The Washington Times in August 1998.
Toward the end of a profile of Mr. bin Laden on the day after American cruise missiles struck targets in Afghanistan and Sudan, that newspaper, without identifying a source, reported that "he keeps in touch with the world via computers and satellite phones."
The article drew little attention at the time in the United States. But last year, the Sept. 11 commission declared in its final report: "Al Qaeda's senior leadership had stopped using a particular means of communication almost immediately after a leak to The Washington Times. This made it much more difficult for the National Security Agency to intercept his conversations." There was a footnote to the newspaper article.
Lee H. Hamilton, the vice chairman of the commission, mentioned the consequences of the article in a speech last month. He said: "Leaks, for instance, can be terribly damaging. In the late 90's, it leaked out in The Washington Times that the U.S. was using Osama bin Laden's satellite phone to track his whereabouts. Bin Laden stopped using that phone; we lost his trail."
In their 2002 book, "The Age of Sacred Terror" (Random House), Steven Simon and Daniel Benjamin, who worked at the National Security Council under President Bill Clinton, also mentioned the incident. They wrote, "When bin Laden stopped using the phone and let his aides do the calling, the United States lost its best chance to find him."
More details about the use of satellite phones by Mr. bin Laden and his lieutenants were revealed by federal prosecutors in the 2001 trial in Federal District Court in Manhattan of four men charged with conspiring to bomb two American embassies in East Africa in 1998.
Asked at the outset of his news conference about unauthorized disclosures like the one last week that the National Security Agency had conducted surveillance of American citizens, Mr. Bush declared: "Let me give you an example about my concerns about letting the enemy know what may or may not be happening. In the late 1990's, our government was following Osama bin Laden because he was using a certain type of telephone. And the fact that we were following Osama bin Laden because he was using a certain type of telephone made it into the press as the result of a leak. And guess what happened? Osama bin Laden changed his behavior. He began to change how he communicated."
Toward the end of the news conference, Mr. Bush referred again to this incident to illustrate the damage caused by leaks.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/20/2005 00:23 ||
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If these beltway leakers and spinmeisters had a son or daughter in Iraq, I wonder if they might be a little more discreet in their ramblings and OPSEC conscious. I guess they don't give a damn about the sons and daughters of others.
The US president has said he approved domestic spying on suspected terrorists without court orders because it was a necessary part of his job to protect Americans from attack. George Bush said on Monday that he would continue the programme "for so long as the nation faces the continuing threat of an enemy that wants to kill American citizens" and added it included safeguards to protect civil liberties.
The president stood at a podium in the East Room of the White House, hours after a prime-time nationwide speech from the Oval Office in which he said he would prosecute the war in Iraq to a successful conclusion. In opening news conference remarks, Bush said the spying, conducted by the National Security Agency without court oversight, was an essential element in the "war on terror".
"It was a shameful act for someone to disclose this important programme in a time of war. The fact that we're discussing this programme is discussing the enemy," he said. The existence of the programme was disclosed last week, triggering an outpouring of criticism in Congress and an unflinching defence from Bush and senior officials of his administration. Bush bristled when asked whether there are limits on presidential power in wartime. "I just described limits on this particular programme, and that's what's important for the American people to understand," Bush said. Normally, no wiretapping is permitted in the US without a court warrant. But Bush said he approved the action without such orders "because it enables us to move faster and quicker. We've got to be fast on our feet".
"It is legal to do so. I swore to uphold the laws. Legal authority is derived from the constitution," he added. Raising his voice, Bush challenged Harry Reid, the Senate Democratic leader, and Hillary Rodham Clinton, Democratic senator - without naming them - to allow a final vote on legislation renewing the anti-terrorism Patriot Act. "I want senators from New York or Los Angeles or Las Vegas to explain why these cities are safer" without the extension, Bush said.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2005 00:00 ||
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"It was a shameful act for someone to disclose this important programme ..."
"...I swore to uphold the laws..."
OK, let's see you uphold the laws on treason and prosecute this disclosure.
#2
Old Spook, or other:
How can violation of secrecy laws BE prosecuted without exposing more secrets? It would seem you would need a secret trial in a secret court with a secret jury - which would seem to be unconstitutional. But there must be some sort of enforcement mechanism. What is it?
I'm usually not one for polls, but this one is interesting. Seems that attitudes toward the U.S. in Pakistan (as a result of our troops bringing supplies after their earthquake) and Indonesia (after our troops brought supplies post-tsunami) have turned on a dime. I guess Allen's pissed with that area of the world and we clean it up. Makes for good P.R. More details at the link.
EFL
Our Friends the Pakistanis
Support for the U.S. is surging in some parts of the Muslim world.
BY HUSAIN HAQQANI AND KENNETH BALLEN
Monday, December 19, 2005 12:01 a.m. EST
So much for the popularly peddled view that anti-Americanism in the Muslim world is so pervasive and deep-rooted it might take generations to alter. A new poll from Pakistan, a critical front-line in the war on terror, paints a very different picture--by revealing a sea-change in public opinion in recent months.
Long a stronghold for Islamic extremists and the world's second-most populous Muslim nation, Pakistanis now hold a more favorable opinion of the U.S. than at any time since 9/11, while support for al Qaeda in its home base has dropped to its lowest level since then. The direct cause for this dramatic shift in Muslim opinion is clear: American humanitarian assistance for Pakistani victims of the Oct. 8 earthquake that killed 87,000. The U.S. pledged $510 million for earthquake relief in Pakistan and American soldiers are playing a prominent role in rescuing victims from remote mountainous villages.
Posted by: BA ||
12/20/2005 08:41 ||
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Pakistanis now hold a more favorable opinion of the U.S. than at any time since 9/11
9/11 really annoyed 'em. Mere talk from the land of the pure.
Maulana Fazlur Rehman, leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, has said that Maulana Samiul Haq has been expelled from the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Sami (JUI-S) and that now the party will take part in MMA activities under the name of JUI-Senior. Fazl quoted Pir Abdur Rahim Naqshbandi, who represented the JUI-Senior at Mondayâs MMA Supreme Council meeting, as saying this.
Poor Sami. His ego outgrew his party.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2005 00:00 ||
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Former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Lt Gen (r) Hamid Gul has held the US responsible for president Gen Ziaul Haqâs death.
I confess. I dunnit.
He told GEO channel on Sunday that clues pointed to the US for being behind the Bahawalpur incident. He also said the discovery of Stinger missiles in Iran had nothing to do with the intended investigation by the US. He also rejected the idea that Stinger missiles were given to Iran. He said there were 248 Stingers that were all destroyed in the Ojri Camp incident.
That's a comfort. An unverified comfort, but still a comfort...
He said the ISI had told Gen Zia to restrict his movements three weeks before the Bahawalpur incident. âThe situation was grim. Parliament had been dissolved by the president at the time, which annoyed the Americans,â he added. The general view was, and the ISI had also been getting indications, that Gen Zia had isolated himself, he said. About who stopped an FBI team from coming to Pakistan to investigate the incident, he quoted Robert Oakley as saying that it was George Schultz who stopped the team.
I knew it was Schultz all the time. It's that shifty look of his...
Hamid Gul also admitted that he took the blame for forming the Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI). He said he was ready to be brought before a court for his deed. He said he formed the IJI because he wanted to create a balance with the opposition parties, as they were in disarray. He also denied that the ISI had created problems for Benazir Bhuttoâs government.
"No, no! Certainly not!"
Hamid Gul said the ISI was not âplaying the US gameâ.
I think we guessed that shortly into Day One...
âIn fact, it is playing the Pakistan game,â he said, adding, âHowever, we are playing the US game at the moment.â
Yeah, well, we never expected them to stay bought...
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2005 00:00 ||
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He also rejected the idea that Stinger missiles were given to Iran.
#2
Former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Lt Gen (r) Hamid Gul has held the US responsible for president Gen Ziaul Haqâs death.
comming from a motherbot of homicidal maniacs I recon that's supposed to be a compliment.
Posted by: Red Dog ||
12/20/2005 0:30 Comments ||
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#3
I'm convinced Zia was killed by a poison gas canister hidden in fruit (mangoes as I recall), and planted by Islamacists. Google Zia poison gas, and you get hundreds of links blaming Mossad, a reliable indicator Muzzies were behind it.
Someone did a really good investigation on this, I'll see if I can find the link.
#4
Supposedly a suppressed inquiry into Zia's death blamed a Shia airman insensed at the massacres committed in the Shia majority Gilgit region of Pakistani earlier in the year.
The Ojri incident involved the American's deciding to audit the Stingers, SA-7s and other weapons given to Pakistan to be passed on to the Afghan Mujahideen, after suspecting that the Iranians had been sold Stingers, but before the audit could take place, an enormous explosion destroyed the munitions depot and killed hundreds of civilians living in the vicinity.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
12/20/2005 1:55 Comments ||
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#5
There's only one group behind everything in Pakiwakiland and that's the ISI.
Qazi's been against MMA participation in the NSC ever since the NSC was first constituted, at least in its present form. Fazl's edged around to wanting to attend, since that's where the decisions are actually made, and Qazi's been blocking him. Sami's been of the same non-cooperative view as Qazi, but he's been so green with jealousy of both Qazi and Fazl that he hasn't done much but make a laughingstock of himself, which I'd guess is why his party just threw him out. I'd also guess his party's about to split, which should make two minuscule factions of no weight at all.
Five MMA factions supported JUI-Fâs proposal. Sources privy to the meeting told Daily Times that the five factions were of the view that Fazl and Durrani should not be stopped from attending NSC meetings. âA heated debate took place between Qazi and Fazl on the issue,â sources added.
Comes as a surprise, huh? Their respective egos are nearly as large as their bellies.
Qazi told the meeting that Fazl and Durraniâs participation would be a disaster for the MMAâs political future, sources said, adding that Fazl replied by saying Qazi should accept the decision of the majority and that in this regard five parties had supported JUI-Fâs argument. Sources said that after the debate MMA leaders decided to leave the issue to the four smaller MMA factions including the Jamiat Ahle Hadith, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Senior, Pakistan Islami Tehrik and Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan. They said Qazi also could not get the meeting to support a protest movement against President Pervez Musharraf.
There've been so many of them, I don't think anybody pays any attention anymore...
Sources said Fazl was of the view that the Pakistan Peopleâs Party Parliamentarians and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz were in contact with the government and wanted to strike a deal. Fazl also said if other opposition parties would start a protest movement against Musharraf, the MMA would join them, sources said. They quoted Fazl as saying, âBut the MMA wonât prepare the ground for other opposition parties to strike a deal with the government by starting a protest movement.â
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2005 00:00 ||
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"Politics plays as much of a role as money. Russiaâs interest in controlling the regionâs oil flow, and the US opposing objective in diversifying the power away from Moscow..."
Hmmmm...wonder how eager the Ruskies want to play Security Council now?
The Saudi-based Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) welcomed the position taken by the European Union (EU), during the union's recent meeting in Brussels, over the peace process in the Middle East, said a statement issued by OIC on Monday.
"Yasss, yasss...finally some truly civilized, right-thinking people...unlike those barbarians, the Americans."
The organization also expressed comfort for the EU's commitment to a full implementation of the Mideast road map to peace, and for the union's calls on Israel to halt all practices violating international laws in the Palestinian territories.
"Especially that nasty bit with the missiles and the helicopters. Very unsporting of the Zionists."
In the meantime, the OIC urged all Palestinian factions to take part in the political process via participating in the upcoming Palestinian elections, and to cooperate with the Palestinian Authority.
"Vote early, often, and with extreme prejudice. And now for tea."
Much to the discomfiture of India and other countries the United Nations General Assembly will debate the Paul Volcker Committee report. Sources here said Indiaâs Permanent Representative to the UN, Nirupam Sen had tried his best to block the UN discussion, as it would become a major embarrassment for the ruling Congress party and would provide more fuel to the Opposition here. The report has already jinxed the political career of former External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh.
Of all the 191 country members of the UN, it is Costa Rica that forced the UN General Assembly to take on its agenda âFollow-up to the recommendations of the independent inquiry committee into the UN oil-for-food programme.â At the Assemblyâs general committee, which is like the business advisory committee of Parliament, Sen fought hard to amend language of the Costa Ricaâs resolution by pressing that the discussion should be to reinforce measures for administrative management to rectify internal oversights. A report says India, however, could not oppose the Costa Rican demand in the general committee because no other country, among the 21 on the committee, was against the idea that the Assembly should discuss the Volcker findings.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2005 00:00 ||
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I find the 58% for UIA in Baghdad awfully suspicious (assuming it doesnt turn out to a mistaken leak) That would mean virtually the entire Shia population of Bagdad voted UIA, which I find incredible, from what ive read (baghdad has secular shia who dont much like UIA)
#3
I think the ethnic breakdown of Baghdad is largely guesswork and the shiia population may be larger than assumed. What is significant is the UIA appears close to an absolute majority and would just need a handful of votes from minor parties to get a majority. That is they may not need a coalition with the Kurds, Sunnis or Allawi.
Not to say there won't be coalition, but the coalition parties will be in a much weaker position.
And BTW, IraqtheModel is warning against believing the 'results' put out by the parties.
#5
Sunni Arabs Democrats alleged Tuesday that last week's parliamentary 2001's2004's elections were fraudulent, especially in Baghdad province FloridaOhio , and they said if the irregularities are not corrected, new balloting must be held in Iraq's Florida'sOhio's largest electoral district.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/20/2005 15:25 Comments ||
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#6
The Dems sure are acting a lot like the Sunni, 'cept for the car bombs.
#7
Patience, Sea. Stuffing ballot boxes, fighting voter verification and ID, slashing tires, and shooting up campaign offices was a significant step up for them.
This "action" stuff is new to them. Back in the 60's, all they had to do was march around, get some TV coverage, get laid, and get stoned - in no particular order - and MaGiK hApPeNeD. They've scratched their little pointy peaks and are working it out - between bong sessions.
#11
As much as we need all of these pieces of shit for our energy and other strategic needs, I defer to previous rantings by other posters and my own personal experiences in the Islamic culture of the middle east:
Honesty is a policy for losers and dead people in their world, and their participation in the electoral process, whether Shiia or Sunni will be, I assume, reflected in their general amnesty from truthfulness.
However, all this whining and crying is to be expected as it's the only alternative to blowing one's self up, and they've run out of volunteers for this task this week it seems.
However, I've got a large open field if any Sunni want to blow themselves up as a form of protest! oh but that's not their style is it, they need innocent women and children to blow up to feel comfortable on their way to Allan.
BAGHDAD - The trial of deposed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein resumes on Wednesday with further testimony from witnesses detailing abuses they suffered at the hands of the former Iraqi regime.
The trial of Saddam and seven associates for perpetrating the massacre of Shiite villagers of Dujail in 1982 was adjourned on December 7 for two weeks following three days of dramatic courtroom events. Witnesses, many hidden behind screens with disguised voices, relayed chilling tales of torture while Saddam and his associates loudly disputed their testimony and condemned the court.
The hearings for the remaining five âcomplainantâ witnesses are not expected to extend past Thursday. Then, the much-delayed trial is likely to be adjourned again until mid-January to make way for Christmas, the announcement of Iraqâs election results, New Yearâs and finally the Hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, which comes in the second week of January. At this point, the final phase of the judge-led âtruthseekingâ phase of the trial will take place with further eyewitness and documentary evidence.
The court is expected to break for another extended period to evaluate the evidence and then issue formal charges. Following the issuing of formal charges, the defense and prosecution themselves can call up their own witnesses.
Prosecutor Jaafar Al Mussawi told AFP on Monday that the defense would âpresent 40 witnesses, including three ministers from the former regime and other people currently being detainedâ by US forces in Iraq. However, the Jordan-based defense team swiftly denied Mussawiâs remarks as âtotally untrueâ and added that it still considered the tribunal illegal.
Defense lawyers, who include former US attorney general Ramsey Clark and Qatari minister of justice Najib Al Nuami, have challenged witness testimony as confused, fabricated and not directly implicating their clients. According to prosecutor Mussawi, an unidentified French lawyer has also joined the defense team.
On Monday, just before leaving Jordan for Baghdad and the trial, Nuami told AFP that the defense team may yet boycott the trial because it had still not received the necessary assurances of security from the tribunal. The defense team has complained about threats to their lives. Two defense lawyers have been killed since the opening of the trial in October.
The trial has been followed closely by Iraqis and has exposed the divisions in society with each court session triggering demonstrations both for and against Saddam in different parts of the country. Around his home town of Tikrit, demonstrators shouted their support for Saddam and denounce the trial as rigged and illegal, while in the village of Dujail and in the Shiite-dominated south, people called for his swift conviction and execution.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/20/2005 00:16 ||
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A lawyer for Saddam Hussein said the deposed Iraqi leader believes someone tipped off US forces to his whereabouts, resulting in his capture from a spider hole near his hometown of Tikrit, a newspaper reported Monday. The Sun quoted former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark as giving Saddamâs view of his capture two years ago. âSaddam thinks he was gassed in the tunnel,â the newspaper quoted Clark as saying. âHe tried to get to the exit of the tunnel. But he did not have time to get away. He told us he spent maybe minutes in this tunnel -not hours or days. When he started to get out there were soldiers around that area. There was supposed to be a motorcycle there. It was gone,â Clark told the newspaper.
Don'tcha hate it when that happens?
He is a member of Saddamâs defence team in the trial on mass murder charges. âSaddam knew the person who owned the house wasnât there. He knew he had been betrayed,â Clark said.
My heart bleeds... No. Wait. That's the chili...
He said Saddam told his lawyers that he had been moving around Iraq daily with the help of insurgents. âBut every few days he came back to this escape area. Now he knows it was a mistake. Probably American soldiers did not discover the hole. They were told about it,â Clark said.
Of course not. They're not smart enough to have discovered the hole. They thought it was just another outhouse...
According to US forces who pulled Saddam from his hiding place, his first words to them were: âI am Saddam Hussein, I am the president of Iraq and I want to negotiate.â
One of the great stoopid statements of all time...
The Sun quoted a man identified as Issam Gazyzwi, said to be another of Saddamâs lawyers, as saying Saddam had not seen the picture of himself dressed only in underpants which appeared on The Sunâs front page in May. âSaddam has not actually seen the pictures. He tried to take it philosophically,â Gazyzwi was quoted as saying. The Sun, a famously eurosceptic paper with a particular fondness for needling France, also quoted Saddam on his relations with French President Jacques Chirac. âChirac has been a longtime friend of mine,â the paper cited him as saying. In May, The Sun printed photographs it had obtained of Saddam in his prison cell clad only in his underwear. âTyrantâs in his pantsâ, was the gleeful headline, using the British term for underwear briefs.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2005 00:00 ||
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The November 9 terrorist attacks on three hotels in Amman perpetrated by Al-Qaeda in Iraq put the focus on Iraqi-Jordanian relations. Historically, Iraq in the era of the Baath and military coups was a source of concern for Jordan. This was the case even during the period when Iraqi-Jordanian relations were at their best. Yet since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime, Iraq has become a strategic security concern for decision-makers in Jordan. Jordanian diplomacy has handled this concern with great caution, albeit nervously.
Jordan sees both challenges and threats in post-Saddam Iraq. First, Iraq is increasingly being transformed into an arena of Iranian influence and power. Jordanian officials are watching with concern the Iranian double game in Iraq. On the one hand, Tehran supports the current political process there because it will bring a partisan Shiite majority to power in Baghdad. But on the other, it supports fundamentalist elements and armed groups in the Sunni areas with the aim of confusing and threatening the American military presence in Iraq.
In this context, Jordan has warned of the danger of the rise of a "Shiite crescent" controlled by Tehran, which can extend from South Beirut and Lebanon through Damascus and Baghdad into Shiite areas in some of the Gulf countries. The last thing Jordan probably wishes for is to find itself surrounded one day from the east and the north by boundaries with "Iran": small, divided countries and regimes under the control of "the governance of the jurisprudent."
Secondly, to confront this threat some Jordanian politicians and decision-makers have suggested building a "Sunni Arab wall" in Baghdad and some areas in western Iraq to block the extension of Iranian influence and power. Other Arab countries like Egypt and Saudi Arabia are also quietly discussing such an approach. This was behind the recent initiative of the Arab League to sponsor reconciliation and unity among Iraqis. This is also the approach that has pushed several Arab capitals to court the representatives of the Sunni Arabs in Iraq and even to open communications channels with the "resistance movement" in Iraq.
But the theory of "building the Sunni Arab bloc" under the diplomatic slogan "the Arabism of Iraq" clashes with the absence of an effective Iraqi Sunni partner. Sunni political representation in Iraq is distributed among dozens of parties and tribes, alongside individuals and power centers. Most of the influential actors belong to fundamentalist or Baathist movements unacceptable to Jordan, who often accuse Amman of offering aid and facilities to the United States and Britain in their war against Iraq.
If the Jordanian warnings regarding the danger of the rise of a Shiite crescent have produced tough responses among the Shiites of Iraq despite Jordan's serious efforts to contain them, the strategic nature of American-Jordanian relations has not helped Amman win the confidence and support of broad sectors of Sunni Arabs dispersed among extremist fundamentalist and nationalist movements.
The third threat/challenge from Iraq faced by Jordan is terrorism. As a result of a "constructive chaos" policy, Iraq has become a stronghold and a vanguard of international terrorism that spreads "destructive chaos" and seeks to export terror to neighboring countries, particularly Israel and Palestine. This is a new strategy that Al-Qaeda adopted shortly after the war in Afghanistan. From its point of view, Jordan is an appropriate testing ground for the strategy.
Moreover, as the leadership of Al-Qaeda in Iraq was transferred to the Jordanian Ahmad Fadeel Nazal al-Khalila, known as Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Al-Qaeda developed its own reasons to focus its attacks on Jordan. According to the Jordanian security services, Zarqawi is seeking "personal revenge" against Jordan, in addition of course to the "general mandate" given him by Al-Qaeda.
Since the fall of the Iraqi Baathist regime 33 months ago, tens of terrorist cells have been discovered in Jordan - more than a cell a month. Jordanian courts are busy trying to handle tens of suspects and dozens of stacked interrogation files. True, most of these cells were discovered during the preparation stage before attacks were perpetrated, but they also succeeded in less than a year in carrying out major attacks in Aqaba and in the Amman hotels. Before that, they assassinated the American diplomat, Lawrence Foley.
It is evident that most, if not all, of these terrorist attempts and attacks were planned in Iraq. Notably, the "successful" Al-Qaeda operations against Jordanian or Western targets in Jordan were performed by non-Jordanian actors. Foley was assassinated by a Libyan terrorist; the Aqaba operation was performed by Syrian and Iraqi terrorists; and the three hotels were targeted by a terrorist cell comprising Iraqi elements. This indicates that Al-Qaeda is now resorting to using non-Jordanians who are abundant in Iraq, and about whom the Jordanian security services do not have enough information.
This leads us to the fourth threat or challenge facing Jordan from post-war Iraq. The military operations there and the spread of security chaos, alongside a bad economic situation, have forced many Iraqis to immigrate to Jordan, joining the hundreds of thousands who had arrived since the 1990s. There are no accurate official figures on the size of the Iraqi community in Jordan, but estimates range between 500,000 and 800,000, with some putting the figure as high as one million. Sources in the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq say that the Jordanian Interior Ministry estimated that Iraqi citizens in Jordan who are entitled to vote range between 300,000 and 500,000. The commission itself reckons that the real number of Iraqis in Jordan entitled to vote is much higher.
In the absence of accurate information on these individuals' backgrounds and areas of residence, given that the vast majority are in Jordan illegally, and recognizing the terrorist organizations' growing dependence on these Iraqi elements in targeting Jordan, the increasing numbers of Iraqis in Jordan have become a real security problem. They also cause socio-economic problems by placing increasingly high demands on resources and generating unemployment among Jordanians.
Hence Jordanian authorities have initiated a campaign to "reorganize the Iraqi presence" in Jordan. They are allowing those who wish to, to leave the country without paying any fines, and expelling those who break the laws. There is also an effort to limit the number of Iraqis allowed to enter the country to 100 persons per day.
Post-Saddam Hussein Iraq has become a threat to Jordan's security and stability. This is why Jordanian diplomacy strongly supports the current political process in Iraq. It hopes that this process will maintain Iraqi unity, so that Jordan does not find itself confronting an "extremist Sunni province" in western Iraq, on its eastern borders. Jordan also hopes Iraq will protect its Arabism vis-a-vis non-Arabic elements and not surrender to Iranian power. It seeks to restore stability and security so that Iraq does not turn into a destructive source of violence and terrorism in the region, and to build Iraq's institutions on the basis of the participation of all Iraqis, without exclusion or elimination.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/20/2005 00:42 ||
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Former Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has won the leadership of the right-wing Likud party. Mr Netanyahu was declared the winner shortly after his main rival, Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, conceded defeat in the poll of party members. Mr Netanyahu took about 47% of the vote, with Mr Shalom polling about 32%.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who is due to leave hospital on Tuesday after a stroke, left Likud last month. A general election will be held in March.
Mr Netanyahu, 56, opposed Mr Sharon's pull-out of Israeli settlers from the Gaza Strip earlier this year. He quit his cabinet post as finance minister in protest at the move.
Addressing supporters at Likud headquarters in Tel Aviv, Mr Netanyahu first offered his best wishes to the prime minister, before vowing to lead Likud to victory in March. "I came here tonight to tell you that as of now, the Likud is beginning the march back to reclaim the leadership of the country," he said.
Party officials put the turnout at about 40% of the 130,000 members who were entitled to cast ballots. The rump of the Likud party left after Mr Sharon left to form a new party consists mainly of hardline right-wingers, says the BBC's Richard Galpin in Jerusalem.
Mr Netanyahu has staked out a very clear position, rejecting the handing back of any more occupied territory to the Palestinians unless it is first put to the Israeli people in a referendum. Likud is currently in third place in opinion polls for the country's forthcoming general election, with Mr Sharon's newly created Kadima party leading the way.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/20/2005 00:30 ||
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The political leader of Hamas has rejected the European Union's warning to halt aid to the Palestinian Authority if the movement wins next month's parliamentary elections but fails to renounce violence.
"Piss off. Youse got nuttin'!"
Khalid Mishaal dismissed the EU's move as "a flagrant interference" in the Palestinians' internal affairs and urged the Palestinian Authority not to bow to EU pressure.
Not giving them any more money would be a "flagrant interference," too...
Javier Solana, the EU foreign policy chief, said on Sunday that European taxpayers would have a hard time supporting the Palestinian Authority if it included a party that supports violence and advocates Israel's destruction. "It would be very difficult for the help and the money that goes to the Palestinian Authority to continue to flow," Solana told reporters in Tel Aviv. Mishaal told The Associated Press the EU's stand "harms its advocates and the European stand more than it can harm Hamas".
"We don't need your money!"
"So long as people have opted for democracy, they should respect its results and should not confiscate the right of the Palestinian people to choose [their leaders]," Mishaal said.
... no matter how many people they want to kill...
He added that the Palestinian people would not accept "such a flagrant intervention" in their internal affairs and would not bow to "such pressures". The Palestinians receive about $1 billion a year in international aid - about half the Palestinian Authority's budget - and EU assistance is slated to reach $312 million in 2006.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2005 00:00 ||
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" 'So long as people have opted for democracy, they should respect its results and should not confiscate the right of the Palestinian people to choose [their leaders],' Mishaal said.
Right. And our democratic right is to not fund anti-Jewish murders. That's how democracy works-you make a choice and you live with the consequences. Crapule.
#4
Muslims, you cant reason with them, you can't bargain with them, you can't compromise with them.
They are so egocentric that they think there is nothing the whole rest of the world can do to them.
Iran, PA, Sudan, you name it. If we wanted to take the heat from the assosiated press we could eliminate them all from a computer panel in rural Nebraska. These assholes are riding for a fall, and I'm going to chuckle as they get what they deserve one at a time.
#5
The political leader of Hamas has rejected the European Union's warning to halt aid to the Palestinian Authority if the movement wins next month's parliamentary elections but fails to renounce violence.
They rejected the warning? Okay then, so does this mean they don't care about losing EU welfare money, or does Hamas think that it can somehow force the EU to keep on doling out the welfare checks?
Israel will ease access to Bethlehem during Christmas in a "calculated risk" meant to let Christian pilgrims celebrate the holiday freely in the West Bank town, security officials said Monday. Israeli Lt. Col. Aviv Feigel said pilgrims will not need permission from the army to enter the town, the traditional birthplace of Jesus. The military also will try to speed entry by conducting spot checks of random tourist buses rather than checking every bus, he said. Arab Israelis and Christian Palestinians will be allowed to drive into Bethlehem, Feigel said.
"We are taking a calculated risk by easing steps and that is because we are well aware of the importance of Bethlehem," Feigel told reporters. He also said Palestinian Christians will be allowed into Israel to visit family. Restrictions are to be eased starting Dec. 24 until Jan. 18, when the Armenian church celebrates Christmas, he said. Feigel said a new checkpoint between Bethlehem and Jerusalem that has been operating since Nov. 15 has not reduced the number of tourists. Recent Christmas celebrations in Bethlehem have been subdued because of five years of fighting between Palestinians and Israelis, and because of Israeli security restrictions. Israeli soldiers shut down the town during a siege at the height of the fighting in the spring of 2002 after armed militants took sanctuary in the Church of the Nativity.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2005 00:00 ||
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UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric on Monday played down press reports quoting Chief investigator Detlev Mehlis as saying that the Syrian authorities were "definitely" behind the assassination of Lebanese former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, stressing that Mehlis did not go further than what he said in his first report.
The Arabic newspaper Al-Sharq al-Awsat quoted Mehlis over the weekend as saying "yes" when asked "Do you feel Syria is definitely behind Hariri's killing?" Asked by the newspaper if he meant the Syrian Government, Mehlis said "well, let's say Syrian authorities." "The Syrian authorities are not the Syrian Government," Dujarric told the daily press briefing in answer to a question.
"I would encourage you to read the full and exact transcript of the interview because the quotes which were identified as being Mr. Mehlis' are in fact erroneous," Dujarric said about the newspaper interview.
"If you look into the full transcript of the interview, you will see that Mr. Mehlis "did not go any further than in what he said in his first report," he added. Mehlis said in his first report issued last October that "there is converging evidence pointing at both Lebanese and Syrian military intelligence in this terrorist act." Mehlis further said in the same report that "while the Syrian authorities, after initial hesitation, have cooperated to a limited degree with the commission, several interviewees tried to mislead the investigation by giving false or inaccurate statements." "My reading (of the interview) is that he (Mehlis) is not prejudging the outcome of the investigation, but Mr. Mehlis is much aware that the investigation will continue under his chairmanship until we find a successor, which should be shortly," Dujarric said.
Hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has told Iran's radio and television network not to play Western and "decadent" music and instead use "relaxing" and revolutionary-era tunes. "The promotion of decadent and Western music should be avoided and the stress should be put on authorized, artistic, classic and fine Iranian music," a decree was quoted as saying in Monday's press. Also prescribed by the High Council of Cultural Revolution, a cultural watchdog headed by the president, were "relaxing themes and memorable music from the revolution."
The man's a genius. An absolute genius...
The muzak version of "The Horst Wessel Song" is a real toe-tapper. Coming soon to a taxicab near you...
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
The man's a genius. An absolute genius...
The muzak version of "The Horst Wessel Song" is a real toe-tapper. Coming soon to a taxicab near you...
ROFLAMO
Posted by: Red Dog ||
12/20/2005 2:13 Comments ||
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#2
Since the majority of his country's population was born after the "revolution", I don't think they are going to enjoy the new format much. It's a good thing that the 12th Imam is coming in 2 years, because at this rate he is going to get his own head chopped off by a mob in three.
With political assassinations continuing in Lebanon, a group of university students criticized the Lebanese government and the army for not taking concrete actions to ensure security and asked the United States government to provide assistance to Lebanon and support its "fight against terror."
That's sure to tighten the Hezbollian turbans...
These were the main issues raised by students during a discussion panel with MP Ghassan Mokheiber, U.S. Ambassador Jeffrey Feltman and LBC TV reporter Bassam Abu Zeid at the Antonine University on Thursday. The event which was organized to commemorate the 57th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights turned into a tribute to the memory of slain editorialist and MP Gebran Tueni.
Tueni, who was celebrated as "one of the greatest champions of liberty," was scheduled to be one of the panelists and discuss the technical and legal aspects related to freedom of press. His seat was covered with a Lebanese flag and on the panelists' table lay his photograph and a red rose. Feltman, who praised the "vibrancy and the diversity" of the Lebanese media, said that the international community stands ready to support Lebanon. But he added: "It would be inappropriate for the international community to act now without the demand of the Lebanese government." The situation is different than in April when Syrian troops were in Lebanon, he said.
Feltman was answering a question by a student who requested that the U.S. government give the Lebanese "some plans" on how to improve their security system. Asked why Tueni, who had been criticizing the Syrian regime for the past 15 years, was killed now rather than earlier, Feltman said "When you are totally controlling a country, a few voices talking against you do not matter. Now it matters," he said, alluding that the Syrians killed Tueni.
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12/20/2005 00:00 ||
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With political assassinations continuing in Lebanon, a group of university students criticized the Lebanese government and the army for not taking concrete actions to ensure security and asked the United States government to provide assistance to Lebanon and support its "fight against terror."
Military action against Syria and the killing of a few Hezbollah operatives might do the trick.
Iran will make new proposals during talks on its nuclear program with Britain, France and Germany this week but will not compromise its demand to conduct sensitive fuel work, officials said yesterday. âWe will make other proposals,â Gholam Reza Aghazadeh, a vice president and head of Iranâs Atomic Energy Organization, told Iranian news agencies. âThe Iranian delegation will welcome all proposals, on the condition that they recognize the rights of Iran,â Aghazadeh said ahead of a meeting with the so-called EU-3 in Vienna tomorrow.
The first formal talks between the two sides in months will examine the possibility of resuming long-term negotiations aimed at winning guarantees that Iran will not acquire the bomb. Failure could spark a push by the Europeans and United States for the issue to be sent to the UN Security Council. Iran insists it only wants to make reactor fuel and generate electricity, and that the uranium enrichment process is a ârightâ to any signatory of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty â even though the process can be extended to make weapons material.
âThe world has understood that the national will of Iran to enrich is serious,â top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani was quoted as saying. The European Union and the United States argue that Iran cannot be trusted with such technology, and the issue of enrichment is the cause of the current deadlock. Aghazadeh did not elaborate on the proposals Iran could present, but pointed to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejadâs offer for foreign firms to be involved in enrichment on Iranian soil as a form of guarantee that the fuel cycle will not be diverted to weapons making. The Europeans have already rejected this idea, and are in turn pressing a proposal from Moscow whereby Iran could only enrich its uranium on Russian soil. Tehran has rejected that idea.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2005 00:00 ||
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LAHORE: Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri has said that Pakistan is strictly opposed to any US attack on Iran and will stand by Tehran if this extreme step is taken by Washington. âIranian foreign ministerâs statement during his recent visit to Pakistan provides testimony to our policy towards Tehran. Pakistan aspires to resolve the Iranian nuclear issue according to the principles of the International Atomic Energy Agency,â Kasuri said while talking to reporters in his hometown, Kasur.
Kasuri said that neglecting defence would be a suicide in the present scenario and Pakistan would acquire the latest technology and defence equipment at all costs to maintain a balance of power in the region. The deferred purchase of F-16s has started, as this was put on hold only for coping with the situation arising out of the October 8 earthquake, he said. The foreign minister said Pakistan has categorically told the United States that only the latest version of F-16s would be accepted and has also imposed the condition of transfer of technology. Pointing out that India had signed agreements with Russia, the US and other countries to pile up weapons, Kasuri said this situation forced Pakistan to consider every option for its survival.
Kasuri said Pakistan is examining the situation carefully and has taken many steps to counter any situation. The entry into the Asean and improvement in relations with the European Union are some of these steps, he said. On the Kashmir issue, Kasuri said Pakistan has shown flexibility and her efforts made possible the Muzaffarabad-Srinagar bus service, visits of Kashmiri leaders from both sides and opening of five points at the Line of Control for the relief of quake victims. âBut all this is unilateral and Pakistan has made it clear to India that this was maximum we can do and Pakistan cannot go beyond this. India will have to soften its stand on Kashmir because this issue could be solved only through reciprocal process,â he said.
On the recent summit of the Organisation of Islamic Conference, Kasuri said inclusion of the Kashmir issue in the Makkah Declaration is the distinctive success of Pakistan and every Islamic country has backed Pakistan on this issue. Kasuri said Pakistan also submitted proposals in the conference to make the organisation viable for resolving all the issues confronting the Islamic countries. All the proposals related to Kashmir, Palestine, steps to improve the economic condition of poor Islamic countries and promotion of science and technology have been included in the proposed draft of ten-year action plan approved by the Makkah Summit, Kasuri said. About Israel, Kasuri declared that Pakistan would not establish diplomatic contacts with Israel till it recognises Palestine as an independent state.
Posted by: john ||
12/20/2005 00:00 ||
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It's crap:
Kasuri denies making Iran attack remark
Web posted at: 12/20/2005 2:3:32
Source ::: Internews
Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan yesterday welcomed the forthcoming visits of UN Secretary-Generalâs Special Envoy and former US president George Bush and US Vice-President Dick Cheney to Pakistan.
Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri told daily The News in an interview that a news item attributed to him about a possible US attack on Iran was shocking.
âNo responsible person will ever make such a remark. I did not make this statement. In fact when I was asked about the prevailing tensions between the US and Iran over the latterâs nuclear policy, my response was very clear.
#2
I suspect that the false story was a plant to give the FM an excuse to say they won't back Iran, without saying it. This is a trick used in "Have your cake and eat it, too" diplomacy.
#3
The story was certainly written by a pakistani.
Read this snippet
The foreign minister said Pakistan has categorically told the United States that only the latest version of F-16s would be accepted and has also imposed the condition of transfer of technology.
This is a reaction to Lockeed Martin offering the Block 60+ F-16s to India for local manufacture while Pakistan gets upgraded second hand airframes.
The tech transfer is a condition of the Indian MRCA contract. It is irrelevant when one is buying ready made jets (as Pakistan does) rather than building them yourself (as India wants to do).
Somebody in Pakistan is getting worked up about the possible F-16 purchase by India.
The jets have assumed an importance in Pakistan that is bizarre. It is now an honor and dignity issue.
Posted by: john ||
12/20/2005 11:56 Comments ||
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#4
I read this as "Iran's gonna get smacked soon and we don't want them lashing out in our direction when it happens."
He has not issued any public statement all year. Speculation has grown over his influence, health and even possible death. Where is the Western world's most wanted man, Osama Bin Laden?
The Al-Qaeda leader's period of silence is the longest since the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, offering no clues to the whereabouts or fate of a man who this year appears to have quietly slipped off the radar.
Bin Laden has not been heard of since a December 27, 2004 audiotape in which he anointed Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Iraq's most wanted man, as Al-Qaeda's leader in the war-torn country.
Just before, on December 16, 2004, a video surfaced where he also called on his fighters to strike Gulf oil supplies and warned Saudi leaders they risked a popular uprising.
Since then -- silence. Regular interventions by Al-Qaeda's number two Ayman al-Zawahiri, seen as the ideological brains of the network, has only served to feed feverish speculation on what has happened to bin Laden.
Zawahiri claimed in an videotape released in September that bin Laden was still alive and leading "jihad" or holy war against the West.
"Al-Qaeda for holy war is still, thanks to God, a base for jihad. Its prince Osama bin Laden, may God protect him, still leads the jihad," said Zawahiri.
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf said recently he did not know whether bin Laden was dead or alive, adding that he would not like to speculate over his fate.
The commander of US troops in Afghanistan, General Karl Eikenberry, has insisted that bin Laden was still considered alive, and that US forces continue their hunt for him.
Seemingly more candid was CIA director Porter Goss, who recently told ABC news channel that bin Laden's hideout was known and implied that the CIA knew more than it could reveal.
The total eclipse of bin Laden also gave rise to various speculation on Islamist websites, with some admirers of the terror chief already contemplating that he might be dead.
"Bin Laden, tracked by the intelligence services who are on his heels, is hiding somewhere along the mountain frontiers between Pakistan and Afghanistan," opined one blogger.
Another claimed that "Abu Abdullah (bin Laden) has deliberately decided to stop all communications to avoid being located by gigantic US surveillance devices."
"O my beloved. I know that you are mortal. No body can oppose the will of God. But the thought of seeing you taken captive fills me with fear," said another in a "letter of affection" addressed online to bin Laden, following a rumour claiming that Al-Qaeda chief had perished in the October 8 earthquake which ravaged Pakistan.
But the editor of the Islamabad-based "Mediawatch", Yaqoub McLintock, who is also an expert on Al-Qaeda, appeared confident as to bin Laden's safety.
"I think he is alive and well. Admittedly, bin Laden is not in great health, but he is not at the point of death. All that we hear about his fate is nothing but media speculation. His death would certainly be announced by Al-Qaeda, in conformity with Sharia (Islamic law)," he told AFP.
He also claimed that bin Laden avoids making any appearance "as a safety measure, knowing that he is being traced by intelligence services."
Abdul Bari Atwan, the editor-in-chief of the London-based daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi, agreed.
"Bin Laden has said it all and has nothing to add," he said.
"The man could well be preparing a large-scale operation in the United States," added Atwan, the first Arab journalist to interview bin Laden, who has a 25-million-dollar bounty on his head.
"Dead or not? This is not the question," said Yasser Sirri, the director of the London-based Islamic Observatory.
"Admittedly, bin Laden is a strategic symbol, but Al-Qaeda is now a decentralized multi-national jihadist (movement) capable of generating thousands of bin Laden," he said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/20/2005 00:44 ||
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"Admittedly, bin Laden is a strategic symbol, but Al-Qaeda is now a decentralized multi-national jihadist (movement) capable of generating thousands of bin Laden," he said.
Thousands of Bin Ladens? I doubt it. Most are uglier, broke, and unknown.
#4
"Al-Qaeda for holy war is still, thanks to God, a base for jihad. Its prince Osama bin Laden, may God protect him, still leads the jihad," said Zawahiri.
Usually when someone is alive and well and in command you don't have to make a press release about it. It's like the guy who has to tell you how honest he is. You know you're gonna get the shaft.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2005 00:00 ||
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Temporary blip. Something totally detached from oil will happen sooner or later to give idiot oil traders a fretting spasm, conveniently lifting the price back up. If not that, then the advent of next year's "summer driving season" will do the trick.
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.
Warlords, former communists, Taliban defectors and women activists were sworn in on Monday as members of the first Afghan parliament in more than 30 years amid hopes of national reconciliation after decades of bloodshed. 
North Korea said Monday it plans to boost its nuclear weapons programme because of hostile US policies towards the regime, and called Washingtonâs criticism of its human rights record hypocritical. The North âwill increase (its) self-reliant national defence capacity including nuclear deterrent, pursuant to the Songun (military-first) policy, to cope with the US escalated policy to isolate and stifle it with the nuclear issue and the âhuman rights issueâ as pretextsâ, the Northâs Foreign Ministry said in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency. 
The US president has said he approved domestic spying on suspected terrorists without court orders because it was a necessary part of his job to protect Americans from attack. George Bush said on Monday that he would continue the programme "for so long as the nation faces the continuing threat of an enemy that wants to kill American citizens" and added it included safeguards to protect civil liberties.
Maulana 
Former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Lt Gen (r) 
The 
The Saudi-based Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) welcomed the position taken by the European Union (EU), during the union's recent meeting in Brussels, over the peace process in the Middle East, said a statement issued by OIC on Monday.
Much to the discomfiture of India and other countries the United Nations General Assembly will debate the 
BAGHDAD - The trial of deposed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein resumes on Wednesday with further testimony from witnesses detailing abuses they suffered at the hands of the former Iraqi regime.
Former Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has won the leadership of the right-wing Likud party. Mr Netanyahu was declared the winner shortly after his main rival, Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, conceded defeat in the poll of party members. Mr Netanyahu took about 47% of the vote, with Mr Shalom polling about 32%.
The political leader of 
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric on Monday played down press reports quoting Chief investigator Detlev Mehlis as saying that the Syrian authorities were "definitely" behind the assassination of Lebanese former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, stressing that Mehlis did not go further than what he said in his first report.
Hardline President 
With political assassinations continuing in Lebanon, a group of university students criticized the Lebanese government and the army for not taking concrete actions to ensure security and asked the United States government to provide assistance to Lebanon and support its "fight against terror."
Iran will make new proposals during talks on its nuclear program with Britain, France and Germany this week but will not compromise its demand to conduct sensitive fuel work, officials said yesterday. âWe will make other proposals,â 
LAHORE: Foreign Minister 
