Severly edited to highlight information and remove anecdotes.
Blacks in the [Washington, DC] region are joining Minuteman militia groups opposed to illegal Hispanic aliens working in the United States, saying they take jobs from blacks and piggyback off the strides made during the civil rights movement.
Several blacks Friday attended a Minuteman rally in the District. And yesterday, Ted Hayes, a black Los Angeles-based homeless activist and founder of the Crispus Attucks Brigade, held a rally in Upper Senate Park denouncing attempts by immigrant rights groups to link their movement to that of black civil rights. The Crispus Attucks Brigade -- named after Crispus Attucks, a black man and the first casualty of the American Revolution -- plans to hold rallies nationwide to raise black awareness of illegal immigration, said co-founder James Spencer.
A recent survey by the Pew Research Center shows that about 80 percent of blacks have a favorable view of Hispanic immigrants' work ethic and family values. The survey also shows that 33 percent of blacks are less likely to suggest deportation of illegals aliens, compared with 59 percent of whites. However, the survey indicates that about half of blacks in the region see immigrants as a burden because they take jobs and housing. More than 50 percent of blacks in the region and more than 75 percent nationwide say increased immigration has led to difficulties in finding a job, compared with 50 percent of whites nationwide and 20 percent in the region who say the same. The survey stated 22 percent of blacks and 14 percent of whites said they or a relative had lost a job to an immigrant.
Remember the story of the Nawlins men who thought they had rebuilding jobs at $10/hr until the Mexicans came in by the busload and took all the jobs for less money?
Think the majority of those dispossessed (again) men were white?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
05/15/2006 18:37 Comments ||
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May 15, 2006: Last year, Canada bought six M777 155mm towed artillery pieces in a hurry, when it discovered that the older 105mm guns would not be adequate to support Canadian troops being sent to join the NATO force in Afghanistan. The older 105mm howitzers lacked the accuracy and firepower needed. The 105mm shells weighed 33 pounds, versus the 90 pound 155mm ones. The M777s were needed in a hurry, so Canada got them from the U.S. Marine Corps, which is a major user of the weapon (since 2000). Canadian troops arrived in Afghanistan earlier this year, and the four M777s they took with them performed as expected. Canada is also getting the new GPS guided 155mm Excalibur shell later this year. Excalibur makes 155mm shells as accurate as smart bombs, and is considered necessary when artillery is used in proximity to civilians. Excalibur also reduces the number of shells used. The Excalibur also doubles the M777 range, to 40 kilometers, without losing any accuracy.
The M777 is a British design and, at four tons, is the lightest 155mm towed howitzer ever fielded. A lightweight 105mm howitzer weighs about two tons. M777 Fire control is handled by computerized system that allows faster response time and more accurate shooting. The Canadians have not had to use their new guns (four were sent to Afghanistan) much, but have found them accurate and reliable.
In addition to hitting enemy troops, the Canadians have also found the M777 an effective negotiating tool. When discussing relationships with local tribal leaders, Canadian commanders have sometimes had an M777 put a shell in a nearby field or hill side, on command, to demonstrate what the Canadians have at their disposal. Afghans understand that sort of thing.
Most people with common sense understand that sort of thing.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/15/2006 09:21 ||
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It must come as a real shock to the bad boyz when they are firing from the crest of a mountain down at those on a plain before them, when they start getting indirect 155 rounds incoming from behind them.
High in the arid mountains of southern Afghanistan, a small group of Australian SAS soldiers are battling a hostile population, the harsh climate and the rabid fundamentalist warriors of the Taliban. Uruzgan is considered one of Afghanistan's most dangerous provinces, a desolate, mountainous region of opium growers, Islamic fanatics and extreme poverty.John Howard announced last week that 240 more Australian troops would join the 110 SAS soldiers stationed in the lawless region, where the emboldened Taliban forces are gaining strength.
Australian and Dutch troops stationed in Uruzgan would be attacked "until they vanish", Taliban spokesman Qari Mohammad Yusuf told The Weekend Australian.
"The infidel countries have started the war against Islam internationally, including in Afghanistan and Iraq, and we will fight them until we die, until Islam wins and the infidels are defeated, God willing." The Diggers will join an expected total of 1400 Dutch troops in the battle for Uruzgan. As the death toll approaches 400 for the coalition forces since the Afghanistan operation began, the Australian contingent in Uruzgan is being strengthened at a crucial time.
Dutch forces in the province were attacked recently with rockets, machineguns and grenades. Four Canadians were killed by a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan last month, and two Italians died in a roadside blast near the capital, Kabul, in the past fortnight. And an Australian SAS soldier going to the rescue of an ambushed supply convoy was shot about a week ago, according to an Uruzgani politician.
Many believe the melting snows of spring and summer will bring fiercer fighting. The Afghan army says there have been six violent clashes in Uruzgan in the past six weeks, with one Afghan soldier killed, four other soldiers wounded (perhaps including the Australian), eight enemy fighters killed and 15 arrested.
"It's going to be an incredibly messy summer," says International Crisis Group senior analyst Joanna Nathan, who believes the insurgents' focus has swung to the NATO-led forces, who will replace US coalition troops in many places in the south this year.
The Dutch and Australian reconstruction taskforce will be under the control of NATO, generally perceived as a softer touch than the US-led coalition forces.
The attackers appear to understand the fragility of the European resolution on Afghanistan. "They are targeting the domestic constituencies back in Europe, very clearly," Ms Nathan said.
#3
"generally perceived as a softer touch than the US-led coalition forces."
The day the Australian SAS is soft touch is the day i can trust my hound to look after the sizzlers on the barbie, mate.
Soldiers urge Afghans to stand up for themselves, one villager at a time
SHEIKH MEHDI, Afghanistan -- When the talking stops and the diplomats go home, Canada's attempts to build democracy out of Afghanistan's social rubble come down to this: an earnest young soldier in the dusty heat, urging curious villagers to overcome the fear ingrained by 30 wartorn years and stand up for themselves.
"A lot of these people are scared to say anything because they've been so mentally beaten by the Taliban that they're scared to say anything other than 'Everything's fine,' " says Sgt. Jeremy Silver of Bravo Company, 1st Battalion Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry.
"A lot of these people are scared to tell us about problems in their areas. They're scared something that happened to their friend four years ago is going to happen to them."
Silver, a 30-year-old from Bridgewater, N.S., with a steady gaze and even voice, had just returned from leading a so-called "presence patrol" to Sheikh Mehdi, a village just south of Kandahar.
No Canadians had been there previously, and reports indicated the Taliban were using the area as a route into the city.
So eight members of Silver's section loaded into three G-wagons, small armoured vehicles, and hurtled through the streets of Kandahar to Sheikh Mehdi.
Vehicle-mounted bombs are a constant threat, so the soldiers neither stop nor allow anything to get between the elements of the convoy.
If that means throwing water bottles at car windshields, nudging taxis out of the way with a G-wagon's beefy bumper or even waving a handgun in the air, they do it. And if that erodes the goodwill the Canadians are trying so hard to cultivate, so be it.
Kandahar's urban tangle of sidewalk vendors, donkey carts and battered Toyota Corollas opens briefly into sun-blasted desert, which is then replaced by the narrow lanes and mud-walled compounds of Sheikh Mehdi.
Silver spots an old man squatting beside the road and decides this is as good a place to start as any. The G-wagons stop and the helmeted and flak-jacketed soldiers fan out as Silver approaches the man.
Within minutes, more than a dozen men and children - no women - emerge from tumbledown homes still scarred from the Russian invasion in the late 1970s. The elder turns out to be uncommunicative, but a turbaned young Pashtun with striking blue eyes steps forward.
"The powerful people, they capture everything and they do not ask the poor people," he says through an interpreter. "If the money comes in, it goes into their pockets."
He points to the dirt drainage ditch at his feet that was supposed to be concrete-lined. Two of the village's five wells go unrepaired.
The village's leadership is corrupt, he insists, and there's nothing anyone can do about it.
"He will not listen to my speech," says the man, Mohammed Rahim. "There is no council, there is no meeting to discuss the problem of one person."
"Maybe you need to go again, and again, and again, until finally he's able to listen," Silver tells him.
"But this is the problem," says Rahim, a 28-year-old former member of the Afghan National Police. "The people of the village do not have unity. The people do not have the courage to stand and talk and solve their problems."
"That's the problem I see," Silver says. "People do not have the courage to do this because they do not have the one person that's willing to stand up."
For two hours they talk by the road in the mid-40 C heat. A few times, soldiers fetch crates of bottled water from the G-wagons and hand them out to the eager children.
Silver collects information about the village. It has a school, but no paper or pens. There are no security problems, says Rahim, and nobody has seen any Taliban - information Silver collects with a grain of salt.
But Silver keeps encouraging Rahim to speak to his friends and stand together to demand the chief elder address their concerns.
"If he's going to take a stand and describe to his friends in the village about the right things that need to happen, then maybe they'll tell their friends and everybody will understand from there," he says to the interpreter.
Eventually, it's time to leave. Silver's men are getting edgy from being in one place so long.
Silver and Rahim shake hands and pledge friendship. Before the G-wagons roar off into the dust, Silver promises to return.
KABUL, Afghanistan - A female Afghan lawmaker who called powerful armed leaders criminals two years ago and called some lawmakers warlords last week in Parliament now changes houses every night because of death threats, she said. Malalai Joya made her first comments against former warlords during Afghanistans constitutional council in December 2003. Last week, she was given her first extended chance to speak at Parliament since being elected last October.
I thought its good to expose warlords, even in the national house, the 28-year-old lawmaker said in an interview Saturday. When I came into Parliament they understood I was this person that I was two years before.
After her speech last Sunday, plastic water bottles were thrown at her and a scuffle broke out between her supporters and those denouncing her. No one was seriously injured, but Joya said lawmakers hurled insults at her. They said, We will rape her. They said that in Parliament, she said.
Some are stuck firmly in the 7th century.
Death threats were called to her office last week, and she now changes houses every night for security reasons, she said.
Speaking with power and passion, Joya said she cant keep track of the number of death threats shes received since her first speech to the constitutional council in 2003. She travels with three bodyguards, she said.
Mohammed Ismail Qasemyar, a former Supreme Court justice and professor of constitutional law at Kabul University, said he thinks Joya is good for the political process in Afghanistan and helps fuel the idea of freedom of expression. She has the right to express herself, and then the person who does not agree with her, let him also stand up and say No, said Qasemyar, a former presidential candidate. Im for tolerance, especially in the Parliament.
Joya, who also speaks passionately for womens rights, said she will keep speaking out against the people she says committed crimes against other Afghans during its past wars. They know very well I will never be silent. I will never be afraid, she said. We will all die someday.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/15/2006 00:00 ||
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RABAT: Morocco fears Africas Sahel region may become a stepping stone for Al Qaeda-linked fighters sneaking into the Maghreb and Europe to carry out suicide bombings, its interior minister said.
Morocco remains on high alert after suicide attacks killed 45 people in Casablanca three years ago.
"All the participants (in the war against terrorism) in Europe and the Maghreb are aware that this is a region which merits more attention ... We must be extremely vigilant," Interior Minister Chakib Benmoussa said in an interview late on Saturday.
The Sahel region, which stretches from Mauritania on Africas western coast through northern Mali, Niger and Chad, is now synonymous with banditry, smuggling and illegal migration.
Now the same desert routes could be used by militants to smuggle bombers and weapons into Europe and the Maghreb, Benmoussa said. Security sources say they suspect the region is also being used to house militants makeshift training bases.
Benmoussa said top security officials from the five Maghreb states and their European Mediterranean counterparts would meet this year to update their assessment of the security threat from the Sahel and mull ways to expand their co-operation against it.
"We are all on the same side in the war against terrorism. For Morocco, Mauritania, Tunisia ... France, Italy Spain and others it is a common war against terrorist networks which feed one another," he said.
Security sources have said Moroccan police in April arrested five suspected Al Qaeda members who were part of French and Italian cells planning to carry out attacks in France and Italy.
They said one of the arrested men had travelled to Algeria to meet a contact from the Al Qaeda-linked Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) to discuss the planned attacks.
The GSPC, which is Algerias most radical rebel group, was behind the kidnapping of 32 European tourists in the Sahara desert in 2003 as well as an attack on a military base in Mauritania in 2005.
Turning to the domestic fight against terrorism, Benmoussa said security forces had been successful in busting more than 50 cells with more than 2,000 members since the May 16, 2003 bombings in Casablanca, mainly thanks to popular support. "The population is backing the government and the security authorities in the fight against terrorism. The population rejects terrorism and extremism and that is the governments main asset and advantage in the war against terrorism," he said.
Prince Talal bin Abdel-Aziz has said that in Saudi Arabia, the royal family is "the master and the ruler," but "this style can't continue the same way. There has to be change in the nature of authority, if things are going to change in the kingdom itself."
I thought the idea was for things to never change in the Tragic Kingdom? It was always supposed to be preserved in pristine 7th century glory?
In an interview with Anthony Shadid of Washington Post, published on Sunday, the Prince, who is known as the bete noir of the royal family because of his outspokenness and his liberal views, called for democratic reform. He said, "The world has changed, not me. History has proved the rightness of what I was talking about. Some of the members of the family were against those ideas. Now they're talking about them."
Mostly about how to counter them, of course, but I guess that's talking...
He advocates a constitution that would bind an absolute monarchy by law, "a social contract between the ruler and those who are ruled." The parliament, now an appointed, relatively toothless body known as the Consultative Council, would be at least partially elected, with the right to oversee the budget, monitor the government and question ministers, he said.
A constitutional absolute monarchy? I'm not quite clear on how that's "democracy." One of us isn't real clear on the concept.
It's enough to earn him a ride into the desert, though ...
Posted by: Fred ||
05/15/2006 00:00 ||
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Clone this man
Posted by: Captain America ||
05/15/2006 9:03 Comments ||
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#2
So what's it gonna be Princey boy? Heart attack? Chopper crash? Car crash in the desert?
#6
...as long as the royals only spend their time cutting ribbons, bleating on about global warming, and being photographed in compromising postions by the tabloids, of course. The actual governing is done by elected representatives and a shadowy cadre of European Union 'advisers'.
#2
In either the US or UK, the Joe Arpaio solution seems to work pretty well. That is, military surplus tents with field kitchens surrounded by double fences with barbed wire and a few guard dogs.
Put it out in the middle of nowhere, so even if they escape there is nowhere to go.
The best part is that it is "military conditions", so that when they complain that their human rights are being violated, the courts have to throw it out or insist that the military also lives in substandard conditions--which they won't do.
This really ends overcrowding, because tent cities can hold vast numbers of perps without crowding them at all. Plenty of room for everybody.
#3
Other advantages are that it segregates prisoners--with those needing court appearances, ill, the ultraviolent, or with other business "in the rear", get to stay in the "brick" prisons; and the long-timers, with no pressing appointments, get sent to the tents.
Weather is no problem, as the tents both have insulated liners and there are large heating units that keep them very warm.
Many Muslims in England face bleak employment prospects and endure poor standards of housing, a government-backed study has found. The report revealed Muslims are more likely than any other faith group to be jobless and living in poor conditions. It said half of Muslims aged over 25 are unemployed and one in three live in the most deprived areas of England. Cue the violins of the BBC Symphony Orchestra.
University researchers in Birmingham, Derby, Oxford, and Warwick also found they had poorer levels of education. The result of only being allowed to read the one book?
The study, commissioned to review the prospects of faith communities in England, also said Muslims were more vulnerable to long-term illness. Presumably mental?
I'm glad muslims don't drink so when I go to the pub I don't have to hear them go on about how hard done by they are... wonder how many of the 50% are making fraudulent benefit claims whilst working - would seem blatantly obvious. Would you hire one? - I certainly wouldn't.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
05/15/2006 03:37 ||
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Many Muslims in England face bleak employment prospects and endure poor standards of housing, a government-backed study has found. The report revealed Muslims are more likely than any other faith group to be jobless and living in poor conditions.
#10
They are perfectly free to pack their dead asses up and return to the shitholes from whence they came. No rational civilization wants anything to do with these scumbags. Get used to it Muzzies.
#11
Muslims are more likely than any other faith group to be jobless and living in poor conditions.
To paraphrase Strother Martin:
What we have here is a failure to assimilate."
I wonder if Muslims can even remotely perceive how their abject refusal to coexist assimilate may well be directly responsible for their concomitant and nearly universal lack of economic success, be it abroad or at home.
#12
The muslims in England have much the same problems the Mexicans in America have - they don't speak the language, or don't speak it very well; they don't have much of an education, and certainly not a decent enough education to get anything but a manual labor job; they don't have any marketable skills; and most of them have excessive burdens that make employment difficult - religion, family, papers, etc. The easiest way they can earn a living is by crime, especially dealing drugs. They are a drag on any society. It would be nice if we could just drag them to the nearest airport and put them on a plane back where they came from, but our (and the British) legal system won't allow that. Both governments are becoming overwhelmed by the problems these immigrants cause. Maybe things will change, but I'm not holding my breath.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
05/15/2006 16:17 Comments ||
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Prime Minister Tony Blair says he is contemplating changes in Britain's human rights laws, limiting the power of courts to challenge the government, after a paroled rapist killed a woman and a judge refused to send several hijackers back to their country.
The government depicts the debate as one weighing individual rights against potential threats to public safety a familiar discussion in the United States in its campaign against terrorism.
The changes were proposed on Saturday by Lord Falconer, who as lord chancellor is Britain's highest judicial official, and confirmed Sunday in a letter from the prime minister to the new home secretary, John Reid. They reflect a consistent complaint by Mr. Blair that Britain's vaunted human rights practices are sometimes skewed to the detriment of victims.
Human rights advocates expressed outrage at Mr. Blair's plans, arguing, in the words of a lawyer, Louise Christian, that "the government is deliberately trying to distract attention from its own incompetence."
In a radio interview on Saturday, Lord Falconer, one of Mr. Blair's close allies, referred to several cases in which criminals had committed offenses, including murder, after being released early from prison.
His remarks followed a bruising controversy over the discovery that more than 1,000 foreign prisoners, including 150 convicted of serious crimes, including murder and rape, had been freed after serving their prison terms without being considered for deportation. Those disclosures cost the previous home secretary, Charles Clarke, his job in a recent government reshuffling by Mr. Blair.
In the past week, the debate resurfaced in different forms. In one case, a convicted rapist, Anthony Rice, killed a 40-year-old woman after being freed on parole. Andrew Bridges, the chief inspector of prisons, said too much attention had been paid to his rights.
In another case, a High Court judge castigated the government for failing to grant permanent residency to nine Afghans, who hijacked a plane to Britain in 2000 saying they were fleeing from the Taliban.
After their conviction in the hijacking was overturned, an immigration court ruled that they should be given refugee status because they would be in danger if they were deported back to Afghanistan. In an unusual harsh criticism of a judicial ruling, which accused the government of abusing its powers, Mr. Blair condemned the decision as "an abuse of common sense." Mr. Reid, the home secretary, called the decision "inexplicable or bizarre."
In the radio interview, Lord Falconer said, "There needs to be public clarity that the Human Rights Act should have no effect on the public safety issues. Public safety comes first."
In his letter to Mr. Reid, Mr. Blair said, "We will need to look again at whether primary legislation is needed to address the issue of court rulings which overrule the government in a way that is inconsistent with other European Union countries' interpretation of the European Convention on Human Rights."
Mr. Blair asked Mr. Reid to "ensure that the law-abiding majority can live without fear," the letter said. Details of the letter were published in The Observer on Sunday and later confirmed by Mr. Blair's office.
In a television interview on Sunday, Lord Falconer said Britain did not plan to withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights, which was written into British law by the Human Rights Act in 1998. But, he said, the government was concerned about the way the values reflected in the legislation had been applied.
BRITISH domestic spy agency MI5 is being accused of a cover-up for failing to disclose to a parliamentary watchdog that it bugged the leader of the July 7 London suicide bombers discussing the building of a bomb months before the attacks. MI5 had secret tape recordings of Mohammad Sidique Khan, the gang leader, talking about how to build the device and then leave the country because there would be a lot of police activity. But, despite the recordings, MI5 allowed him to slip the net.
Transcripts of the tapes were never shown to the parliamentary intelligence and security committee, which investigated the attacks. The disclosures prompted allegations of a whitewash from politicians and victims of the attacks at the weekend.
Mark Steyn was just talking about this sort of reporting yesterday: before the attack, there's a paranoid gummint that's trampling the rights of its citizens; after the attack the gummint was sitting on its hands and didn't bother connecting the dots that were there for all to see.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/15/2006 00:00 ||
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This is all about not wanting to inter young British Muslims.. apparently, according to the Sundays, post 7/7 the number of wannabe Jihadis in the UK has increased alarmingly... so go round 'em up then! Oh, but Tony says you can't...so you won't and consequently more innocent civilians in the UK will die. Lock em up/ship em out NOW.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
05/15/2006 5:41 Comments ||
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indeed Howard.
I agree with intregration , non of these second gen , wannabe Jihadists do ..
So ship em back to where their parents escaped from , for a dose of reality .. sniveling ungrateful little turds
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/15/2006 17:10 Comments ||
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#6
There seems to be a serious problem with second generation pakistani immigrants into the UK, the parents are fine welcoming the freedoms and opportunities that stability, wealth, education and a national health service can all provide. Unfortunatly there is the all too human trap of eulogising your country of birth. So that unless your female & kidnapped to become a sex slave to an uncle or cousin, you might consider pakistan a country of high morals and an ideal islamic state (*Cough* *cough* oh that one was hard to type).
The result is you have a large number of disaffected youth who will consider an extreme form of their religion as above UK law(as taught in the UK's unregulated mosque's), sexy(shh mahoumd they could be listening, red wire? blue wire? isn't it fun to be bad?) and romantic(snifff its what great grandpappy(R.I.P. died age 34, natural causes) would of wanted).
Anyway just my rant of the day, the solutions are obvious, but it will take more preventable innocent deaths in the streets of Britains major cities and a change in political will before anyone will implement them.
May 15, 2006: The Venezuelan government is negotiating a weapons procurement contract with Iran that will run for five years and involve about $100 million in purchases a year. Given Venezuela's already extensive weapons procurement agreements with Russia, Spain, and other countries, it seems unlikely that either the country's armed forces nor the "Bolivarian Militia" will be able to absorb the enormous amount of equipment effectively, particularly given the lack of standardization. President Hugo Chavez seems more intent on making allies with as many nations, that don't get along with the United States, as possible. This kind of diplomatic theater is expensive, as Chavez likes to use his oil money to get attention and buy friends. But for many impoverished Venezuelans, who form the base of Chavez's support, these spendthrift theatrics are increasingly unpopular.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/15/2006 08:50 ||
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Seem like his plane would make a great test target for the airborne laser.
#5
Simple. Blow the f*cking ships out of the water.
Nah, a couple of below-the-waterline leaks, so the ships (with cargo) must be abandoned.
Separately, I see that Mr. Chavez wants to give cut-rate oil to Europe's poor, as he offered to America's last winter. And, of course, Venezuela's production is down by 25%, I do believe, since he fired all the competent production managers and replaced them with a fine selection of his bestest cronies. How does the man plan to pay for all this?
click title for a link to an excerpt from the current Esquire. It's a lengthy story reconstructing the Beslan massacre in detail. You'll probably want to buy the magazine, and it's worth it. The story is riveting.
ASSINOVSKAYA, Russia (UPI) -- Police in the troubled republic of Chechnya discovered a bunker full of ammunition that belonged to a militant killed in January 2006, Novosti reported.
The bunker was located in the house of the militant`s sister, in the village of Assinovskaya in southwestern Chechnya, the local interior ministry said.
Police seized two hand-held anti-tank grenade launchers, a Kalashnikov machine gun, three Kalashnikov assault rifles and a large amount of ammunition and explosives.
Police have launched measures to find other persons who could be involved in keeping the arms and explosives in the bunker, the ministry said.
MOSCOW, May 15 (RIA Novosti) - Police in the north Caucasus region of Ingushetia have prevented a large-scale terrorist attack, a local law enforcement source said Monday.
An explosive device had been set up near a gas station in the town of Karabulak in central Ingushetia, the source said.
"A device consisting of two plastic bottles filled with TNT and shrapnel has been destroyed," the source said, adding that employees at the gas station had warned the police about a suspicious package.
Ingushetia borders on the troubled republic of Chechnya.
MOSCOW. May 15 (Interfax-AVN) - A militant base has been destroyed in Chechnya's Vedeno district, the Regional Operations Headquarters' press center told Interfax on Monday.
"The base was discovered in a search operation outside the village of Verkhatoi," a headquarters spokesman said.
A large amount of clothing and food, as well as batteries for radio transmitters and 2,000 cartridges for firearms, were discovered in the base's caches, the spokesman said.
Several members of criminal armed groups and their collaborators had been arrested in Chechnya over the weekend. A hand anti-tank grenade launcher, a landmine and hand grenades were seized during the detention. sd
MAKHACHKALA, May 15 (Itar-Tass) - - Leader of a terrorist group Gairbek Alkhazurov, 29, a resident of the Shelkovskoi region of Chechnya, was detained during a special operation in the Dagestanian city of Khasavyurt on Sunday, Itar-Tass learnt at the press service of the Interior Ministry of the republic on Monday.
According to the ministry, Alkhazurov was on the federal wanted list for several grave crimes committed on the territory of Chechnya and Dagestan. The group of Alkhazurov was part of the gang led by Lecha Eskiyev destroyed in Khasavyurt in January 2006, the Itar-Tass interlocutor said.
During a search at his place of temporary residence in Khasavyurt, a Kalashnikov submachine-gun and a magazine for it, five explosive devices and a so-called shakhid belt.
One side is at war, terrorist, military, cultural, religious, subversive, demographic,... while the other pretends it's not.
FEDERAL authorities have ruled that books promoting suicide bombings and anti-Australian conspiracies can be sold in the Muslim community because they don't breach sedition laws.
In the first known test of anti-terrorism laws, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions ruled that a number of controversial books found in bookstores in Lakemba and Auburn, in Sydney's west, late last year did not incite violence.
One of the books, Defence of the Muslim Lands, carried an endorsement from al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden on its back cover and promoted "wiring up one's body" with explosives, News Limited reported.
AFP spokeswoman Rebecca Goddard said the books were not in breach of either the Commonwealth Criminal Code or the NSW Crime Act 1900.
"No action will be taken by the AFP against individuals who possess copies of the 'books of hate' or sell them," Ms Goddard was quoted as saying.
A spokeswoman for Federal Attorney-General Philip Ruddock said the minister accepted the judgment of the AFP.
The ruling comes despite British police establishing strong links between three of the suicide bombers involved in July 7 London blasts and a bookstore in Leeds.
#1
"One side is at war, terrorist, military, cultural, religious, subversive, demographic,... while the other pretends it's not."
It's only marginally better here in the US. Our liberal establishment (Democratic Party, the media, and the academics) have been keeping up a constant drumbeat of anti-war, anti-Administration hysteria for nearly four years, and that has begun to take its toll.
Add to that the Administration's general ineptness at building and maintaining public support for the war and its failure to help Americans achieve anything more than a rudimentary understanding of the "big picture."
Top it all off with Bush's witless twaddle about Islam being a "Religion of Peace," and you have the inevitable result: more and more with each passing month, the American public just wants the whole war to go away. They are tired of the constant onslaught of daily bad news; they see no point to what we're doing in Iraq; and they see little progress-- only casualties (never mind that during three years in Iraq we've lost about as many people as we lose every three weeks on our nation's highways).
And in the wake of disinformation, ignorance and fatique, follow denial and chowderheaded wishful thinking: Islam is not the enemy; Muslims are just like those nice Presbyterians next door; if we're nice to them and show them how tolerant and inclusive we are they'll reciprocate in kind; and Iran just wants us to stop being so mean to them; and so what if they get The Bomb, anyway? Other countries have it, so why shouldn't they?
The atrocity on 9/11 was the direct result of a quarter-century of flaccid, limp-wristed American response to Islamic aggression-- most notably, our ignominious bug-outs from Beirut after the Marine barracks suicide-bombing, and then Mogadishu in the "Blackhawk Down" episode. Inevitably, Osama bin Laden-- along with much of the rest of the world-- became convinced America is soft, corrupt, effete, and frivolous; and that while we command the most powerful military force the world has ever known, we lack the political will to have it actually do anything of any significant difficulty or duration.
Certainly, OBL committed a titanic blunder by staging his spectacular 9/11 attack early in the administration of a Republican president from the "cowboy" state of Texas; that was a truly stupid move.
But I fear that in the long run, over the next couple of years we are likely to prove the Bin Laden Maxim right: bleed the Americans enough, and they WILL eventually give up and go slinking home with their tails between their legs.
Because if the Democrats ever regain control, they will, they will do just that; they've said so. Only they call it "responsible redeployment."
Feh.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
05/15/2006 6:50 Comments ||
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the Australian Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance (journo's union) just put out a booklet on press freedom in Australia, decrying the attacks on press freedom by....
governement and big business!!
in five pages of dribble not one mention of the Mohammed cartoons.
A disgusting example of where journalists and editors censored themselves for fear of offending a minority.
and lets not forget the cartoons were not offensive to secular, reasonable muslims or to any non-muslim. they were not hideous porn or bloodied murder victim photos but simple line drawings.
and let's also not forget they were NEWSWORTHY in fact the riots 'caused' by them were headlining every night for a week.
people had a right to know what was provoking such anger and judge for themselves whether it was warranted.
#1
I take it this means she gets the right to blow herself up into zilyuuhns of little smithereeneys just after the homeymoon, while he gets to live and search on for 72 virgins!? *"Must be love...", as the song sings.
#2
As opposed to any given muslim nation's inhabitants, who are all well educated, well learned, workalcoholic, not xenophobic or kufrophobic, and not prone to being led by the media at all... yup, he's trying to get the most out of the controversy he's helped manufacture.
#5
Way to go, Abu baby. Just keep on insulting your host country. They're bound to warm up to you real soon. This scumbag belongs on someone's hit list. I fail to see how turds like this manage to keep consuming oxygen instead of lead.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
05/15/2006 18:39 Comments ||
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#9
"lazy, non-educated, racists and ignorants who let themselves be manipulated by the media.
"
Yet the people whom i run too, because my own country and folk are so lovely, understanding, civilised and welcoming(as shown by their response to those hillarious images of PTUI).
Parasitic, aggressive and annoying.
Any chance of the Danes deporting his ignorant ass?
#10
I guess the islamic litmus test for intelligence is celebration of the killing of innocent men, women, and children...honor maimings and killings ....homicide bombings...torture...rape...mutiliation ...beheadings.
Maybe there are more "stupid" Danes than we think. Possibly everyone that is non-islamic.
AMSTERDAM Liberal party MP Ayaan Hirsi Ali is leaving the Dutch parliament in September and moving to the United States. Insiders confirmed a report on the website of Dutch newspaper 'De Volkskrant' on Monday about the move. Hirsi Ali has been on a speaking tour in the US and is due to make an official announcement on Tuesday.
She is going to work for the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), a conservative Washington think tank. The institute was founded in 1943 and is seen as one of the most important advisors to the government of George Bush.
Somali-born Hirsi Ali has been an outspoken critic of aspects of Islam and she became a campaigner for freedom of speech after the murder of film director Theo van Gogh in November 2004. Hirsi Ali and Van Gogh collaborated on the short film Submission which featured women in see-through veils discussing ill-treatment of women in Muslim societies. Hirsi Alis life has been threatened several times and she is under armed guard.
She is currently embroiled in a controversy about lies she told the immigration service in 1992 to get asylum in the Netherlands. She became a naturalised Dutch citizen five years later.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/15/2006 09:24 ||
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#1
She is welcome here. Anytime. For as long as she would like.
#15
So Europe expels those who call for their defense, while embracing those who call for their destruction. Hirsi Ali and Fallaci -- hounded out of their homes by jihadists and multi-culti tyranny. Pim Fortyn (sp?) -- murdered because a leftist thought he was a "threat to immigrants".
The only question is how long until the American left tries the same tactics.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
05/15/2006 11:30 Comments ||
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#16
Great. Welcome. Apply for citizenship. Run for office. Speak out against Islamic tyranny.
#17
Technically speaking, Orianna Fallaci had left Europe long ago, in disgust, to live in New York City. Now that she is dying of cancer, she just can't go back to Italy to visit.
If Ms. Ali is going to the AEI, I can't imagine President Bush will be shocked by her descriptions of the nature of Islam. I wonder why she is waiting until September though... perhaps to finish up the term for which she was elected? I only hope she can stay safe until she gets here, where the neighbors won't complain about her guards.
#18
Technically speaking, Orianna Fallaci had left Europe long ago, in disgust, to live in New York City. Now that she is dying of cancer, she just can't go back to Italy to visit.
How many court cases -- in how many European countries -- is she facing? She's been back to Italy since being diagnosed with cancer; she can't go back because the legal and jihadi threats are too high.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
05/15/2006 12:04 Comments ||
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#19
Excellent, this is the best possible outcome.
Posted by: Captain America ||
05/15/2006 12:13 Comments ||
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Right, Fallaci's main problem is the European Arrest Warrant, which means they can put the habeas grabbus on her anywhere in the EU. Prolly at the airport.
AHA's "defection" reminds me of the flight of European scientists and intellectuals in the 1930s. How many more will be murdered (e.g., Fortuyn) and how many more will go into exile (e.g., OF & AHA) before Europe wakes the f*** up?
And I wonder if Uncle Sam will help this time?
Posted by: ST ||
05/15/2006 14:36 Comments ||
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#21
ST -- I honestly doubt we'll last that much longer.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
05/15/2006 15:58 Comments ||
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#22
More on her aslyum row:
"AYAAN Hirsi Ali, a Somali-born Dutch politician known for her outspoken criticism of Islam, will leave parliament and move to the US after admitting she lied to win asylum in the Netherlands."
#24
Excellent. I'm sure a lot of people here will welcome here.
Any chance we can ship some of our Tranzi's over there? Call it an exchange program. I'm thinking Ted Keeendy, John Kerry (and Te-RAY-sa), the Clintons, others....
#25
Jihadwatch is now reporting that there may be some difficulty with her coming to the US because of the "false passport".
"Ayaan Not Dutch; According To Dutch Minister."
We should move heaven and earth to protect and rescue this woman from the treachery of her "countrymen". The Dutch are being utterly despicable-they apparently actually wish her to end up like Theo Van Gogh-quiet and dead.
#26
If the Dutch pull this shit with Hirsi Ali, and take it to the logical conclusion of sending her back to Somalia, can we please beat them up over their atrocious human rights record?
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
05/15/2006 19:02 Comments ||
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#27
Let me get this straight..
a sitting member of the dutch parliament cannot travel to the US on a dutch passport?
I think a resolution in the congress is needed.
It has been done before...
Posted by: john ||
05/15/2006 19:23 Comments ||
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#28
AEI -- Is this Dan Darling's outfit?
Dan interned there one summer. He's now with the Manhattan Institute.
#29
a sitting member of the dutch parliament cannot travel to the US on a dutch passport?
There's noise about revoking her Dutch citizenship, which would put any visa she has to get into the US in question. Claiming refugee status would be appropriate, IMHO, though I'm already hearing leftist turds trying to make points against it.
What amazes me -- but shouldn't -- is the way they're going after her for lying on her papers, while ignoring people who not only lied on theirs, but threaten violence and vow to turn Europe into a Taliban-esque hell. Hirsi Ali is as European in mindset as you could hope for; apparently that's trumped by people who slit throats.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
05/15/2006 20:36 Comments ||
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#30
Sounds like some fellow party member wants to get her. Her life isn't worth 2 cents to the Dutch including he fellow party members. The Eu is crap. We need to cut our losses and cut them lose every way we can asap.
Posted by: SPoD ||
05/15/2006 20:39 Comments ||
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#31
Jihadwatch is now reporting that there may be some difficulty with her coming to the US because of the "false passport".
Come in from Mexico. Got a shot at amnesty.
It's not just Sweden.
OSLO (AP)--Norwegian Foreign Ministry officials met with Hamas Cabinet minister Atef Adwan in Oslo on Saturday and called on the militant group now leading the Palestinian government to renounce violence and recognize Israel. Kaare Eltervaag, who heads the Foreign Ministry's division for Middle Eastern affairs, told Adwan that Hamas "has not lived up to our expectations," according to a statement on the government Web site. "We realize that it takes time to change attitudes," the statement said. "But the Palestinian government must take clear steps in the right direction."
"But if they don't, we understand, since it takes time," he added in a respectful tone of voice.
Adwan was in Norway this weekend after a weeklong visit to Sweden, where he met with eight lawmakers, but no Cabinet members or Foreign Ministry officials.
Adwan said earlier this week that Hamas will continue to resist the demands until Palestinians get an independent state. "Give us a country, a state, and then ask us to recognize Israel," he said at a news conference in Stockholm Tuesday.
On Friday, Norway announced a 50% increase in its funding for U.N. Palestinian relief efforts, to $24.5 million, to help ease an economic crisis in the West Bank and Gaza after the Hamas-led government took office. "Mo' money, kufr!"
Posted by: Norge ||
05/15/2006 7:57 Comments ||
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#8
First... Kaare Eltervaag, who heads the Foreign Ministry's division for Middle Eastern affairs, told Adwan that Hamas "has not lived up to our expectations," according to a statement on the government Web site.
"We realize that it takes time to change attitudes," the statement said. "But the Palestinian government must take clear steps in the right direction."
Then... On Friday, Norway announced a 50% increase in its funding for U.N. Palestinian relief efforts, to $24.5 million, to help ease an economic crisis in the West Bank and Gaza after the Hamas-led government took office.
Yeah, that should speed up that "living up to our expectations" thing. You bring the Vaseline next time, Kaare.
#12
"Give us a country, a state, and then ask us to recognize Israel,"
What, no pony?
Connect the dots. If all of their demands are met, what incentive will they have to actually recognize Israel? The Palestinians have had all-carrot and no-stick (from the international community) for far too long. Not one thin dime until they recognize Israel.
A senior federal law enforcement official tells ABC News the government is tracking the phone numbers we call in an effort to root out confidential sources.
"It's time for you to get some new cell phones, quick," the source told us in an in-person conversation.
ABC News does not know how the government determined who we are calling, or whether our phone records were provided to the government as part of the recently-disclosed NSA collection of domestic phone calls.
Other sources have told us that phone calls and contacts by reporters for ABC News, along with the New York Times and the Washington Post, are being examined as part of a widespread CIA leak investigation.
One former official was asked to sign a document stating he was not a confidential source for New York Times reporter James Risen.
Our reports on the CIA's secret prisons in Romania and Poland were known to have upset CIA officials.
People questioned by the FBI about leaks of intelligence information say the CIA was also disturbed by ABC News reports that revealed the use of CIA predator missiles inside Pakistan.
Under Bush Administration guidelines, it is not considered illegal for the government to keep track of numbers dialed by phone customers.
The official who warned ABC News said there was no indication our phones were being tapped so the content of the conversation could be recorded.
A pattern of phone calls from a reporter, however, could provide valuable clues for leak investigators.
Posted by: Captain America ||
05/15/2006 11:56 ||
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That's what happens when the journalism schools scold their students for taking real science courses instead of "Science for Journalism". No understanding of how anything really works!
That included MIZZOU and as a dad you know who you lectured - pond scum. An A+ in genetic engr beats your Science for Journalism any day of the fricking week -- morons!
#2
ABC News does not know how the government determined who we are calling, or whether our phone records were provided to the government as part of the recently-disclosed NSA collection of domestic phone calls.
*sigh*
Other sources have told us that phone calls and contacts by reporters for ABC News, along with the New York Times and the Washington Post, are being examined as part of a widespread CIA leak investigation.
In other words, they were obtained as part of a criminal investigation, with a warrant. But the press has to try to connect the two stories and paint themselves as the free-speech martyrs to the Bushreich.
Under Bush Administration guidelines, it is not considered illegal for the government to keep track of numbers dialed by phone customers.
Actually, it was the Supreme Court that came to that conclusion.
Goddamn, I hate the press.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
05/15/2006 12:06 Comments ||
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#3
Booo! who?
Posted by: Captain America ||
05/15/2006 12:08 Comments ||
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#6
Presumably the quoted sources plan to find new, non-governmental jobs in the near future. Perhaps as former goverment experts who can be interviewed on-air about how they can't say anything because they signed confidentiality agreements before they left.
However, changing cell phone carriers isn't going to hide who the reporters talked to in the past. It'll just reveal who thinks he is about to be revealed for inappropriate behaviour. How clever -- make the FBI's job easier. The absolute definition of, "So sharp, if he were a knife he'd cut himself!"
Posted by: Mike N. ||
05/15/2006 13:45 Comments ||
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#11
In my country we have this thing called "Caller ID". We can tell who is calling before answering the phone. That information can also be logged by the telephone switch, which is what we do at our 911 center.
I obviously live in a different country than ABC news.
#12
Dude, sounds like you live in Hitler country. I wouldn't want to live there, no way, man. I wanna live where I'm free, and where all the cell minutes are free too.
#16
Mmmm.... tastey. Did you put some whiskey in the water?
Posted by: Mike N. ||
05/15/2006 17:17 Comments ||
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#17
If the MSM spent half as much time attacking or reporting leaks of the enemy, the WOT would be long finished. But then they would be accused of taking sides and we dont want that.
#18
"Federal Source to ABC News: We Know Who You're Calling"
Good! Hang 'em high.
Starting with that "federal source."
This has nothing to do with "freedom of the press." They're all breaking the law - put them under the jail.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
05/15/2006 18:42 Comments ||
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#19
Mark Levin had a great line on his blog at NRO -- "what if the press spent as much time digging up our enemy's secrets as they do digging up our own?"
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
05/15/2006 19:03 Comments ||
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#20
"Plug" the leakers and the leaks will stop. Jail or a bullet. OED.
Posted by: SPoD ||
05/15/2006 19:40 Comments ||
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Leader of Opposition in the Pakistan National Assembly and Secretary General of the Muttahida Majlis Ammal, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, arrived in New Delhi on Monday evening on a week-long visit.
During his visit he is expected to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to discuss the ongoing peace process between India and Pakistan.
He is also likely to meet prominent religious leaders and politicians and discuss the positive trends in Indo-Pak relations. The Maulana, who strongly advocates building bonds of friendship between the two countries, is accompanied by a five-member delegation of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (F).
Senator Dr Khalid Soomro, MNAs Maulana Miraj ud Din and Maulana Abdul Malik and Members of the NWFP Assembly - Maulana Mujahid Khan and Mufti Imran - are part of the delegation.
He was received at the airport by Maulana Mahmood Madani, General Secretary of the Jamiat-ul-Ulem-i-Hind, Pakistan Deputy High Commissioner Afrasiyad and Pandit N K Sharma, political advisor to former Prime Minister P V Narasima Rao.
The Maulana will visit Darul-Uloom Deoband and is expected to meet new President of the Jamiat-ul-Ulema-i-Hind Maulana Arshad Madani.
He is also expected to meet leaders of various religious, political and social organisations in the Capital.
Posted by: john ||
05/15/2006 18:29 ||
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Ruling out any political pressure against test firing of India's longest-range surface-to-surface Agni-III missile, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Monday that it was "self-imposed restraint" not to go ahead with it.
"We have no pressure on us. Nor are we putting any political pressure. It is just we have decided to have self-imposed restraint," he told reporters.
"As responsible members of the international community, we want to keep our international commitments on non-proliferation," the Defence Minister said when asked why India was not going ahead with testing of the Agni-III missile.
Self-restraint does not mean that Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) can't go ahead with cold bed tests for the sub-systems of the missile, Mukherjee said on the sidelines of a function to mark the three day conference of Chief controllers and controllers of Defence accountants here.
The Defence Minister's comments come after assertion by the country's top Defence Scientist M Natarajan on Sunday that DRDO had cleared all technical parameters for the test of the Missile, which will give New Delhi capability of hitting targets more than 4,000 kms away.
In his inaugural address to the conference, Mukherjee said his ministry planned to delegate powers on capital acquisitions to lower levels to speed up the process of weapons induction.
"Naturally, there would be a limit prescribed," he said, while calling on defence accountants to float think tanks for better defence financial management.
He said under his stewardship, he hoped to achieve almost fifty-fifty parity in distribution of defence budget on capital outlay and revenue as the new UPA Government had a commitment to step up armed forces modernisation.
Mukherjee disclosed that internal consultations within his ministry had started for finalising the 11th defence plan and he hoped to complete the exercise in time and not repeat past mistakes, when 10th Defence Plan had not even been drafted even after three and a half years.
Mukherjee told the Defence accountants that they should speedily get acquainted with the new life cycle support system being offered by the US and other Western Nations as part of weapons system sales.
He also told them that there should be no laxity and efforts be made to ensure that there was 100 per cent utilisation of Defence budgetary grants.
"Whatever resources are allocated, they should be spent full. There should be no surrender of funds as it would not be acceptable," Mukherjee said.
Posted by: john ||
05/15/2006 17:20 ||
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The Indian Defence Minister is visiting China next month.
Since this missile is China specific, looks like they don't want to rock the boat.
Posted by: john ||
05/15/2006 17:27 Comments ||
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The Defense Research and Development organization (DRDO), which built the missile system, has put off tests of the solid-fuel Agni-III several times since November 2004.
Mukherjee, however, said self restraint would not prevent India from carrying out other tests on the Agni-III, which many experts say has an inter-continental reach of almost 6,000 kilometers.
Self-restraint does not mean that DRDO cant go ahead with cold-bed tests for the sub-systems of the missile, Mukherjee said.
The comments came as DRDO scientists said they could launch Agni-III in less than three weeks.
We are all ready to go and in two-three weeks we can assemble it and launch. In fact, we have a schedule for three tests including one with the end user, a missile scientist from the DRDO told AFP.
Once ready, the two-stage missile, which can carry a one-ton warhead, will be handed over to the army for deployment.
Posted by: john ||
05/15/2006 17:38 Comments ||
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This article alleges US pressure
New Delhi, May 15: United States pressure on India to adhere to "international norms" to get US Congress approval for the civilian nuclear energy agreement has worked. Defence minister Pranab Mukherjee, on the sidelines of a defence accountants conference on Monday, admitted for the first time that the government had stayed the test-firing of the Agni-III missile because "as responsible members of the international community, we want to keep our international commitments on non-proliferation." His remarks clearly indicate, sources said, that the government has abandoned the programme altogether.
Mr Mukherjee told reporters: "We have no pressure on us. Nor are we putting any political pressure. It is just that we have decided to have self-imposed restraint." Agni-III has been ready for test-firing since January, with the chief of the Defence Research and Development Organisation, Mr M. Natarajan, announcing this with a cautionary: "When it will be fired, how it will be fired and where it will be fired is a decision to be taken at a higher level." He repeatedly made it clear that the missile was now ready insofar as the DRDO was concerned, and that he was optimistic that the political leadership would give the expected nod.
This has not happened, with the defence minister now finally admitting that the green signal to test-fire was not given by the government because of its commitment to non-proliferation. Sources wanted to know why this commitment was not expressed before, when the UPA government came to power, and why the DRDO was allowed to move ahead on this long-pending project at considerable cost if this indeed was the new governments policy. The governments refusal to move ahead in this crucial area of missile testing, sources said, is making a "mockery" of Indias independent nuclear programme.
Significantly, no such limitations have been imposed by the "international community" on Pakistan, which test-fired its surface-to-surface Hatf-VI (Shaheen-II) missile from an undisclosed destination just last month. Prime Minister Shauqat Aziz witnessed this with Hatf-VI being described as Pakistans longest-range ballistic missile system with a 2,500-km range. This is a two-stage solid fuel missile which can carry nuclear and conventional warheads with high accuracy. It elicited no adverse response from Washington or, for that matter, the world community.
Mr Natarajan, a day before, had again sought to remind the nation that Agni-III was ready and that the DRDO had cleared all technical parameters for the test. Defence scientists have been pointing out that a decision to abandon the Agni-III programme, which now appears to be the case, might prevent India from ever acquiring a credible nuclear deterrent. The Americans have always been uneasy about Indias Agni programme, and in 1994 persuaded it to suspend the testing of the missile afer three test flights. Agni-III is the third member of the family and has been developed with a 3,000-km range as against Agni-I, with a 800-900 km range, and Agni-II, with a 2,000 km range. The test-firing of this missile has been postponed twice, and might have been aborted altogether. Agni-III was developed as a surface-based, solid and liquid propellant ballistic missile.
Posted by: john ||
05/15/2006 17:41 Comments ||
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INDIA> We are responsible members of the international community, a bulwark against international terrorism and possible chinese expansion, though we like and respect our chinese neighbours.
REST OF WORLD> Ok, good luck to ya, hows that 8.4% growth doin?
In a startling revelation, former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto claimed that she vetoed attempts by Pakistani generals to start a war against the United States during her tenure.
Following the disintegration of the USSR and its defeat in Afghanistan, some Arab militant leaders and Pakistani generals planned to start war against the United States in association with Osama bin Laden. "However, I vetoed this plan. Thereafter, Osama started his endeavours to pull down my government. Ramzi Yusuf tried to assassinate me," Bhutto said.
Yusuf was the mastermind behind the first World Trade Centre attacks in the United States. More at the link.
Nepal's new government is set to wrest control of the 100,000-strong army away from the king, analysts say, in a move which would dramatically alter the balance of power in the Himalayan kingdom. Under Nepal's 1990 constitution the army is controlled by the security council, which comprises the king, the prime minister and the defense minister. In practice though, and in name, the Royal Nepalese Army (RNA) has close ties to the 250-year-old Shah dynasty, especially the senior officer corps, many of whom have been trained at elite academies such as Sandhurst in Britain.
However, observers say that Nepal's 84-year-old Premier Girija Prasad Koirala, who is also the defense minister, will order civilian control over the military. The move would end royal control of the military and the government may also remove the 'royal' from the army's name. "There are some within the army who want a role in politics, but the army will follow a civilian government," said a military analyst who asked to remain anonymous.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/15/2006 00:00 ||
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The federal government should sever diplomatic ties with Germany to protest the alleged death of a Pakistani, Amir Cheema, in German police custody.
That'd be a move of sheer brilliance, about the kind of suggestion we've come to expect from NWFP ministers...
This is a cold blooded murder of a lover of the Holy Prophet (PTUI PBUH), and it should not be allowed to go unnoticed, NWFP Minister Hafiz Hashmat told hundreds of people at Cheemas funeral prayers at Jinnah Park on Sunday.
Except that the autopsy showed he offed himself, rather than being tortured to death as he likely would have been in a Pak prison.
The minister criticised federal government officials for not participating in the several funeral prayers offered in various parts of the country.
How callous of them. They're probably bored to death with the whole incident by now.
Cheema was allegedly killed in a German jail, whereas the German authorities claimed that he had committed suicide.
And proved it to the Pak government representatives who were duly dispatched to Berlin...
Participants also passed a resolution demanding the NWFP and federal governments check intelligence and law enforcing agencies uncontrolled raids to arrest foreigners illegally.
Wouldn't want to disturb the locals' guests, would we?
The resolution was put forward by JI leader Sabir Hussain Awan. The resolution also demanded NWFP Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani suspend heads of intelligence agencies involved in implicating foreigners in fake cases and linking them with militants groups.
And they're all fake, y'know...
Hashmat said he had talked to Durrani about the matter, but the chief minister had failed to do anything in this regard, and the issue would now be raised in the next cabinet meeting. Sabir said the frequent raids and arrests of innocent people were promoting hatred among people against the army. The leader said he personally knew several people who had been arrested by agencies, but they had never been associated with any militant organisation.
They were all simple holy men with extensive gun collections, many of them passed down from father to son...
Posted by: Fred ||
05/15/2006 00:00 ||
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"...alleged death..."
Note to reporter: He's dead. Doorknob, 'can't get no deader,' dead. There isn't any doubt.
NWFP Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani has welcomed President Musharrafs decision to form a representative tribal jirga with the federal and provincial governments consent, for a solution to the unrest in tribal areas. He was talking to reporters at the Governors House after a meeting with Governor Khalilur Rehman to review law and order in the province and the adjoining Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).
Durrani said the decision was the right step at the right time in right direction and that the Muttahidda Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) government in the NWFP would cooperate with the jirga after its mandate and jurisdiction were finalised. The provincial government will take tribal elders and other stakeholders on board, he said. Their problem is our problem and dialogue is the only way to resolve the issue. We had been urging the government for dialogue because the use of force never works, Durrani said. Had it worked, Afghanistan and Iraq would not have been destroyed. He said Pakistan should learn from its mistakes and should not repeat them.
The provincial government would cooperate with the federal government for a resolution that is in accordance with the tribesmens wishes, he said. The jirga will negotiate with all stakeholders to identify the real problems and find out solutions. He said the meeting agreed that the measure was in line with the tribesmens customs, culture and aspirations and would be effective for peace in tribal areas. He said tribesmen were patriotic citizens.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/15/2006 00:00 ||
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The trial of Saddam Hussein and seven co-defendants for crimes against humanity resumes on Monday with the presentation of the first Defence witnesses. Chief prosecutor Jaafar al-Mussawi told AFP it would be for the court to decide how many of the expected 60 Defence witnesses would be heard in the new session. "It is up to authorities to decide if all the witnesses will be heard in this session," Mussawi said.
Saddam and his co-defendants, including his half brother and former head of intelligence Barzan al-Tikriti and former vice president Taha Yassin Ramadan, are on trial for their lives for the murder of 148 Shias from the village of Dujail in the mid-1980s. Under the Iraqi legal system, the court has yet to read specific charges against the defendants, expected soon in light of the past few months of testimony. At the end of a previous session, Saddam's lead attorney, Khalil al-Dulaimi submitted a list of witnesses for the Defence that had been kept secret for their protection.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/15/2006 00:00 ||
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Iraqi prime minister designate Nuri al-Maliki is poised to unveil a cabinet with the key defence and interior ministries left vacant, a prominent member of his Shia alliance said Sunday. Maliki will keep the sensitive portfolios in his own hands for the time being after more than four months of coalition talks failed to produce agreement on nominees, said Bahaa al-Aaraji, an MP close to Shia radical leader Moqtada al-Sadr. "I think prime minister Nuri al-Maliki will announce the government without interior and Defence," Aaraji told reporters on the sidelines of a parliamentary session. "He will be the acting minister of interior and Defence and then, maybe after two or three weeks, he will appoint the appropriate people for these jobs."
An MP from Maliki's own Dawa party, Hassan al-Seniad, had already raised the possibility of the premier designate retaining some portfolios in his own hands as he bids to finalise a cabinet line-up in the next 48 hours.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/15/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
"I think prime minister Nuri al-Maliki will announce the government without interior and Defence,"
OK, so nothing for the inside, and nothing for the outside. Hmmm. Interesting approach.
Reuters reports an unlikely phenomenon of Palestinian teenagers actively trying to get themselves jailed in Israel. Here's why:
The youths, mostly teenage boys, are taking the dangerous measure in part because they say it is easier to study for exams in an Israeli prison than it is at home in the West Bank. Some also want to escape family hardship and deepening poverty.
Since January, when the phenomenon was first identified, Israeli army officials say at least 80 young men have either turned up at checkpoints and asked to be arrested or else carried knives and other weapons to ensure they are detained .
Palestinian civil affairs workers say the number may be far higher than 80 and is on the increase as rumours spread among young men about the potential benefits of being imprisoned .
Because prisoners usually receive a stipend of around 1,200 shekels ($250) a month, paid by the Palestinian Authority even if detainees are in Israeli prisons, Abdul-Rahman hoped to emerge with a substantial sum of cash to start his own business.
Since the Hamas movement came to power, stipend payments have been frozen, but that wasn't about to stop Abdul-Rahman.
If the Palestinians dont believe prisoners are languishing, why should the media?
The four men who turned themselves into Egyptian police Sunday, May 14, in the northern Sinai town of El Arish were not the key al Qaeda figures hunted in connection with al Qaedas attacks last month. The men, named as Naif Ibrahim Saleh Ameira, Abdel Gadr Suweilim Suleiman, Ismail Salama Ouda Hussein and Hatem Musellem Rashid al-Atrash, surrendered after Egyptian security forces killed Nasser Malakhi in the same town last Tuesday, May 9. Malakhi was described as ringleader of the al Qaeda network, which April 24 and 26 struck Dahab, the UFO base near el Arish and Bilbith near Ismailiyeh on the Suez.
According to DEBKAfiles counter-terror sources, the Egyptians have not yet bagged the top Qaeda leaders: Tirawi Younes Abu Garib, a 25-year old driver from el Arish, Osama Zahlawi, 24, from Nahal, Sinai, Ibrahim Mohsein, from Tel El Kabir on the western Suez bank near Ismailiya, and a group of Egyptian and Palestinian farmers from the Suez region employed in al Qaeda operations.
A large number of the wanted cells fled across the Egyptian border into the Gaza Strip, shepherded by the gun- and drug-running gangs working with al Qaeda and Palestinian terrorists in the border region. The internal balance among the diverse Palestinian terrorist groups in the Gaza Strip is expected to bear the mark of the heavy al Qaeda influx of the last two weeks, and still further raise security tensions on the Gaza-Israeli border and around its crossings.
The scores of al Qaeda fugitives, estimated by intelligence watchers to have infiltrated the territory, quickly made it clear they were after action. Tuesday, May 9, they used a Hamas Internet site to announce the formation of the Islamic Army of al Quds for attacks against Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
DEBKAfiles counter-terror sources note that Egypt - like Israel prefers to play down the al Qaeda presence within by avoiding mentioning the jihadists by name. They use euphemisms liked armed extremists, militants or the World Islamic Organization. Official Egyptian denial of a foreign element in the terrorist campaign plaguing the country for three years stretches to attributing the attacks to Tawhid wal Jihad, a local band of Bedouin and radical Muslims. However, in the meantime, our counter-terror sources report, Tawhid wal Jihad has been taken over by Abu Musab al Zarqawi, al Qaedas Iraq commander.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/15/2006 08:33 ||
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Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian President, will today make an historic call for a return to negotiations with Israel as he begins a whirlwind tour of Russia and Europe to rescue his disintegrating administration.
On the 58th anniversary of the creation of the Jewish state, Mr Abbas, the leader of the moderate Fatah party whose Islamist rivals Hamas were controversially voted into power in January, will urge militants in the Gaza Strip to halt 'futile' rocket attacks on Israel.
"I tell our neighbours, the Israelis, that we want to make a just and lasting peace with you, and we want a better future for our children and yours. So come to make this year a year of peace," he will say according to the text of a speech to be broadcast later today to mark the anniversary of Naqba - Palestinian for 'the catastrophe'.
"Our first priority is to lift the economic and political siege imposed on our people, then to end the occupation of our land once and for all, and to establish our independent Palestinian state."
Previous calls for Israel to resume peace talks have been rebuffed. Mark Regev, the Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman, said that it was impossible to reach a peace agreement with President Abbas by bypassing Hamas. He said: "No one can ignore the reality following the Palestinian election, substantive political power has moved to Hamas."
President Abbas will call on Hamas to denounce the continuing violence of militants, such as Islamic Jihad, within the West Bank and Gaza Strip. He will say that their actions: "...only justify Israels aggression against our people."
"Fiery statements, speeches and slogans can only result in more isolation, and what is more dangerous, will lead us into the pothole Israel wants to keep us in, in order to say we have no Palestinian partner to negotiate with," he said.
Mr Abbas is seen as the acceptable face of the Palestinian Administration by America and Europe, who both regard Hamas as a terrorist organisation and have cut off aid payments to the administration leading to crippling shortages of cash and 165,000 civil servants going unpaid.
The Palestinian President's calls for peace will come less than 24 hours after the worst violence in the West Bank for more than a month, when Israeli troops killed seven Palestinians, including a leading Islamic Jihad militant, in the northern town of Qabatiya. The bloodshed drew vows of revenge from the organisation.
Russia has broken ranks with the West by refusing to rule out dealing with Hamas in a move which observers have seen as an attempt by the former superpower to reassert its influence in the Middle East. The US and EU have suspended all aid until Hamas reounces violence, recognises Israels right to exist and agrees to abide by existing agreements
Mr Abbas is due to meet Vladminir Putin, the Russian President, in the Black Sea resort of Sochi at 1pm local time (1000 BST) today.
"We will talk about strengthening relations between our peoples and resolving the Palestinians financial problems," Mr Abbas told the Russian newspaper Izvestia in an interview published today. He added: "As I see it now, the world cannot and should not punish the Palestinian people for their democratic choice."
Alexei Malashenko, of the Carnegie Moscow Centre policy think-tank, said that the Palestinian President needed to divine how much the Kremlin genuinely supports the Hamas-led administration which has pushed the region to the brink of civil war and economic collapse.
"Russia faces a choice," he said, "It has to decide who it supports: Abbas or Hamas."
After his meeting with Mr Putin, President Abbas is due to head to Strasbourg where he will address the European parliament tomorrow.
The President hopes to persuade the EU to broker a deal which would allow it to funnel aid into the Gaza Strip and West Bank by bypassing Hamas. Resistance in Congress is making a mechanism drawn up last week to allow payments to flow into the impoverished region difficult to implement despite official support from the White House.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
05/15/2006 18:44 Comments ||
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#9
"The US and EU have suspended all aid until Hamas reounces violence, recognises Israels right to exist and agrees to abide by existing agreements"
I thought Europe & US caved in and resumed the mercedes to dictator, dripfeed aid to terrorists, cos we feel bad last week, mind you what do we know here at rantberg?
Palestinian security services recently obtained intelligence information regarding plans by Islamic Jihad to assassinate Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. Security around Abbas was beefed up substantially in the wake of these alerts.
Sources close to Abbas reported the matter in talks with Israeli security officials. According to these sources, Islamic Jihad operatives plan to kill Abbas by means of a car booby-trapped with a large amount of explosives. Since Abbas took over as PA chairman, upon winning an election last January in the wake of Yasser Arafat's death, there have been several reports of intentions by Palestinian terror groups to eliminate him.
A few weeks ago, there were reports of a similar plan by Hamas, which the organization denied.
Abbas's security detail has been greatly expanded. The presidential guard, an elite force among the various PA security agencies whose members undergo relatively thorough training in VIP security, is exclusively in charge of protecting the chairman's offices in Ramallah and Gaza.
Members of Force 17 are in charge of security at the Muqata compound in Ramallah, which contains Abbas's offices, while a larger force, the National Security Service, is charged with securing the periphery. Among the National Security Service's tasks are isolating the route along which Abbas's convoy travels, scanning the roads it travels and removing any suspicious vehicles.
PA officials thus also see a personal motive in Abbas's wish to place the National Security Service under his control: fear for his safety if he does not have large enough forces at his disposal. Abbas recently made clear to Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas that he views Interior Minister Saeed Seyam's initiative to form a new security agency made up of Hamas operatives as illegal. However, associates of Abbas presume that in this case as well, he will opt not to clash directly with Haniyeh and Hamas.
Should the need arise, they say, Abbas will obstruct the activity of the new agency by suspending transfers of funds to it.
Former Military Intelligence chief Aharon Ze'evi warned Monday morning of an impending world jihad "tsunami" that he said will soon descend on the entire Middle East.
Ze'evi, speaking at a Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies conference in Tel Aviv University, also said that Israel should not rule out the possibility of a conventional war against Islamic militants.
Ze'evi said he foresees this war breaking out on Israel's northern frontier, against Syria and Hezbollah.
Emphasizing the radicalization of Islamic militancy, Ze'evi cited recent changes in the objectives of major militant organizations, which have recently begun targeting sites in Arab countries.
"We are seeing attacks carried out in Amman, Dahab and Sharm el-Sheikh," said Ze'evi.
He cited the increased accessibility of Internet in the Arab world as facilitating the process, saying, "Today, anyone who is interested can learn how to blow up a bomb."
Major General Ze'evi stepped down as chief of Military Intelligence about four months ago, and was replaced by Major General Amos Yadlin.
#2
It would make our position in Iraq interesting to have Israel on the northern border. Jordan, with its 80% Paleo population could also become part of Greater Israel.
Two comments: By "hybrid," they mean a system with a reusable first stage and expendable second stage, not a system with "hybrid" liquid-solid motors. Although they may decide to use such technology too.
Posted by: Phil ||
05/15/2006 14:22 Comments ||
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#2
While you're at it, you might want to read his reports from the recent Space Access conference. And the last two months or so in general.
Posted by: Phil ||
05/15/2006 14:27 Comments ||
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#3
FWIW, search for "Blackstar" via Goggle or engine of choice; depending on your own particular read, the basics (may) have already been proven and sitting on the shelf. Not a big leap to go from Blackstar to this Hybrid, at least for stellite insertion into orbit.
In a dusty, brown village outside the Shiite holy city Qom, a once-humble yellow-brick mosque is undergoing a furious expansion. Cranes hover over two soaring concrete minarets and the pointed arches of a vast new enclosure. Buses pour into a freshly asphalted parking lot to deliver waves of pilgrims. The expansion is driven by an apocalyptic vision: that Shiite Islam's long-hidden 12th Imam, or Mahdi, will soon emerge - possibly at the mosque of Jamkaran - to inaugurate the end of the world.
The man who provided $20 million to prepare the shrine for that moment, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has reportedly told his cabinet that he expects the Mahdi to arrive within the next two years. Mehdi Karrubi, a rival cleric, has reported that Ahmadinejad ordered that his government's platform be deposited in a well at Jamkaran where the faithful leave messages for the hidden imam.
Such gestures are one reason some Iranian clerics quietly say they are worried about a leader who has become the foremost public advocate of Iran's nuclear program. "Some of us can understand why you in the West would be concerned," a young mullah here told me last week. "We, too, wonder about the intentions of those who are controlling this nuclear work."
Qom is a place where the possible ends of Iran's slowly crumbling Islamic regime can be glimpsed -both the catastrophic and the potentially benign. There is the rising, officially nurtured last-days cult at Jamkaran and the extremist rants of Ahmadinejad's own spiritual adviser, Ayatollah Taqi Mesbah-Yazdi, who recently suggested that future elections were superfluous because a true Islamic government had arisen.
But also in the winding alleys here, with their mosques and madrassas, are some of the world's most progressive and influential interpreters of Islam - ayatollahs who insist that democracy, human rights, equality for women and even cloning are all compatible with the Koran. To hear them is to understand that the much-hoped-for Islamic reformation is, at least in the Shiite world, already under way.
The best known of the liberals is Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, once the designated successor to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Iran's first supreme leader, and in recent years one of Iran's foremost advocates of democracy. Frail at 84, Montazeri was nonetheless firm enough when I asked him about Ahmadinejad's buildup at Jamkaran. While "the 12th Imam does exist and will someday emerge," he said, "using this belief as a political means for deceiving people or leading them to certain decisions is wrong." As a grand ayatollah, Montazeri is one of the few in the country who can make such a public statement without risking imprisonment or worse.
Even more intriguing is Montazeri's near neighbor, Grand Ayatollah Yusuf Saanei, 68, who unlike his elder, is still instructing students at his madrassa and delivering regular sermons and fatwas. Like Montazeri, Saanei favors full democracy in Iran; he has also issued rulings banning workplace discrimination against women, sanctioning abortion in the first trimester and authorizing therapeutic cloning for the purpose of producing replacement organs.
Another early collaborator of Khomeini who long ago returned to Qom, Saanei acknowledges that anti-democratic forces among the Iranian clergy have the upper hand, for now. But he offers two reasons for optimism.
One is the growing demand for change among Iranian youth; those under 30 make up more than two-thirds of the population. "We have been doing a lot of work in colleges and universities," says the ayatollah, whose diminutive stature, wispy white beard and leathery brown skin make him appear older than he is. "If you talk to students in these institutions, you will see that we have achieved a great deal and that our ideas have spread very far."
The other factor is Iraq - where, Saanei says, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani has successfully updated the role of Islam in government. "The Iraqis were well-aware and informed of events in Iran," Saanei said. "Therefore, they have adopted the model of Ayatollah Sistani. Ayatollah Sistani has made the correct decision by staying out of the political system."
The violence in Iraq has galvanized Shiite clergy such as Saanei on the subject of terrorism. "All of these terrorist acts have got to be condemned," he said, abruptly diverging from an answer to another question to deliver a strident sermon. "Terrorism must be hated in any form. And if a powerful and influential figure supports only a small number of these terrorists, he must be condemned as well."The reference to Iran's current rulers seemed unmistakable.
Saanei spreads such views methodically. He meets with journalists nearly every day; aides record each interview on videotape and post transcripts on the ayatollah's heavily trafficked website. DVDs of his sermons circulate widely. "Up until now, we have had no difficulties" with the Iranian regime, says an aide. "Because he is a grand ayatollah and can express his opinion."
As Ahmadinejad's followers flock to Jamkaran, Saanei's might seem a futile enterprise. But then, few believed that the words of his mentor, Khomeini, would foment a revolution.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/15/2006 15:29 ||
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Key to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's hardline policies may not be hidden in his revolutionary past, or in any of the nuclear facilities dispersed across Iran, but in a small farming village near the holy city of Qom. Here, in what was until only a few years ago a shabby local mosque, Iran's new radical Muslim leader has become the chief sponsor of a messianic cult whose massed followers pray each week for the end of the world as we know it.
Tell me with the rapture and the
reverent in the right - right. You vitriolic, patriotic, slam, fight, bright
light, feeling pretty psyched.
It's the end of the world as we know it.
It's the end of the world as we know it.
It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine.
Ahmadinejad has given a reported $US20 million ($26 million) and personal supervision to turning the tiny Jamkaran mosque into a massive complex of prayer halls, minarets, car parks and ablutions. Once completed, it will cater in comfort to the tens of thousands of worshippers who flock here every Tuesday night, hoping for the reappearance of the Mahdi or "Hidden Imam".
"Welcome to Mahdiland!"
......
It was dusk, and suitably apocalyptic. Storm clouds hung over the huge blue bulb of the half-finished shrine and lightning flickered as the wind began tossing the fir trees. Beneath the trees the first knots of people were already waiting for nightfall when the vigil would begin. Out on the road fleets of smoking buses beeped and shunted in the gloom, and a rising tide of people flooded through the gates, many having made the 15-kilometre pilgrimage on foot from Qom.
Suddenly there were screams, and a large whirlwind whipped through the trees and the startled worshippers and right into the mouth of the newly built shelter which covers the well where pilgrims deposit their wishes to the Mahdi, scribbled on printed prayers.
Farzaneh Hosseini said she had come to the shrine because she had heard that numerous miracles were performed there. "This is the place that the hidden Imam likes to be and because of him we are here," said the 27-year-old Afghan refugee from Kabul. "The plans for this mosque were drawn by the Imam and given to a man in a dream, so people have built it here and that is why we come. I believe the dream came to a man a long time ago. I don't know when."
Posted by: Captain America ||
05/15/2006 12:11 Comments ||
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#5
Nice place. We don't need much, just the coordinates. Hit it as well as the nuke sites. Amadinjihad's head will explode. Good riddance for bad trash.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
05/15/2006 14:38 Comments ||
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#6
Heh heh. Angie waits for the slow hanging curve again!
BRUSSELS, May 15 (Reuters) - The European Union will make Iran a generous offer of technology, economic and other incentives for Iran to abandon sensitive nuclear activities, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said on Monday.
"It will be a generous package, a bold package that will contain issues related to nuclear, economic matters and maybe if necessary security matters," Solana told reporters before a meeting of EU foreign ministers due to work on the offer.
He gave no details but said the EU wanted to present it to Iran in the coming weeks simultaneously with the approval of a U.N. resolution calling on Tehran to halt enrichment of uranium or face consequences such as sanctions.
Efforts to agree such a resolution last week stalled in the U.N. Security Council amid opposition from Russia and China.
Iran, the world's fourth-largest oil exporter, insists its nuclear plans are purely to make electricity. It affirmed at the weekend it would reject any demand to stop what it calls peaceful nuclear work.
Solana said such statements misunderstood EU policy.
"We have said over and over again that we have nothing against Iran having nuclear capabilities if they are strictly devoted to the production of energy," he said.
But Iranian demands to be allowed to conduct enrichment for research purposes were still "something that at the moment we
(the EU) cannot accept", he said.
The United States made clear on Sunday it had no intention of holding direct talks with Iran on the nuclear issue despite a letter to President George W. Bush last week from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad -- the first direct communication between the two countries' leaders for more than two decades.
Germany has called publicly for Washington to engage Iran directly while the two other major EU powers, Britain and France, have not commented publicly on the idea.
#5
Do those security matters include agreeing to help prop up their regime? If so I think it may be easier to just bomb them and get it over with. This is a hornswaggle.
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) Syria has detained a prominent writer and democracy campaigner who has long been one of the government's most outspoken critics, his family and a local rights organization said Monday.
Michel Kilo, 66, was detained Sunday, days after he signed a petition calling on the government to improve its relations with neighboring Lebanon, said Ammar Qurabi, the head of the National Organization for Human Rights.
Kilo's daughter, Shaza, told The Associated Press that her father was summoned by the security police at noon on Sunday and did not return home.
The Syrian government tightly controls national politics and often arrests critics.
Kilo has long called for reform in Syria and has criticized the government's involvement in the political affairs of Lebanon.
He is a political analyst and well-known writer whose works are frequently published by Lebanese newspapers, including the leading anti-Syrian An-Nahar daily.
#1
"When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they seem invincible but in the end, they always fall - think of it. Always."
THE key to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's hardline policies may not be hidden in his revolutionary past, or in any of the nuclear facilities dispersed across Iran, but in a small farming village near the holy city of Qom.
Here, in what was until only a few years ago a shabby local mosque, Iran's new radical Muslim leader has become the chief sponsor of a messianic cult whose massed followers pray each week for the end of the world as we know it.
Since coming to power last year Mr Ahmadinejad has given a reported $US20 million ($26 million) and personal supervision to turning the tiny Jamkaran mosque into a massive complex of prayer halls, minarets, car parks and ablutions. Once completed, it will cater in comfort to the tens of thousands of worshippers who flock here every Tuesday night, hoping for the reappearance of the Mahdi or "Hidden Imam", Shiite Islam's equivalent of the Messiah.
When Mr Ahmadinejad sent an 18-page letter to the White House last week lecturing the President, George Bush, on religion and morality, many questioned whether the Iranian President was a religious fanatic, a megalomaniac, or merely playing to an Islamic gallery. Jamkaran is a place to start looking for answers. Click link for more
#2
Or NEWSMAX.com's LEV NAVROSOV article on Lt. Col. Thomas E. Bearden, US Army (retired), from whose book Lev summarizes Bearden's claim that "unless the USA engages in a national crash course" on super-nanoweapons, the USA has three (3) years before its total or complete destruction"!? Bearden > the USA is toast by Year 2009.
#3
Bearden is quite a bit overboard in his assessment. He presumes weapons systems developed by Russia (or rather by SU, as it were), that simply are not there or their results are, for the lack of a better word, capricious. Not mentioning that as the funding ended in early 90's, so did the research. I seriously doubt that any 'transfer' took place.
That does not mean we should be complacent. We'll take some hits, almost certainly, but the question is how much the damage would influence our spirits and what responses we would be willing to employ.
New weapon systems (based on parts of physics that are currently rather unexplored) may be a decisive factor in winning beyond a pyrrhic victory.
DAMASCUS - Syria has asked the French bureau of Interpol to hand over a former vice president who defected to France from Syria last year so that he can face questioning on corruption charges, a prosecutor said on Sunday. The summons demands that Abdul-Halim Khaddam be transferred to Syria to appear before a court on a number of charges, including instigating a foreign country to launch an attack against Syria.
A grave crime in any totalitarian state.
Attorney Hossam Al Deen Habash told Deutsche Presse-Agentur that if the French do not heed the Syrian call, Khaddam would be tried in absentia.
And then they'll find a way to carry the sentence out in absentia.
He, however, expressed hopes that France, which is a school in the national law worldwide and is an example for its respect of international justice and for its refusal to harbour wanted persons on its lands, would respond positively.
Translation: they're pretty confident, knowing the lack of morals in France, that they can get their man.
A top member of Syrias ruling elite for nearly 30 years, Khaddam, 73, provoked an outcry in December when he told a pan-Arab satellite channel that Syrian President Bashar Assad had threatened former Lebanese premier Rafik Hariri months before Hariri was assassinated last year. Assad has denied the allegation.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/15/2006 01:25 ||
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#1
Unfortunately, the french response will not be:
BERLIN - Afghanistan has offered to mediate between Washington and Teheran in the dispute over Irans nuclear programme, Afghan Foreign Minister Rangeen Dadfar Spanta was quoted on Sunday as saying. Spanta added that he and Afghan President Hamid Karzai planned to travel to Teheran at the end of May to assess the room for manoeuvre for a peaceful resolution to the conflict.
I will gladly mediate between the United States and Iran if desired, Spanta told German newspaper Bild am Sonntag. Afghanistan is a friend of both these countries and neither Iran nor the United States has attempted to use our country as a tool in this conflict, he added.
Thanks, but don't you have problems of your own?
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/15/2006 01:11 ||
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Israeli political sources said they believed that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert would ask U.S. President George W. Bush to call on the Lebanese authorities to deploy the army in South Lebanon. Olmert will visit the U.S. Sunday and is scheduled to meet with Bush Tuesday to discuss issues related to the Middle East. The two leaders are also expected to discuss Hizbullah's presence along the Lebanese-Israeli border and Iran's nuclear program.
Olmert is expected to present an Israeli plan to include areas in the West Bank to the Israeli territories outlined by the separation barrier, the sources said. An Israeli delegation headed to Washington Saturday to prepare for Olmert's visit. The Israeli prime minister is also scheduled to meet with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/15/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Bush to Olmert
Bush: did you bring yer watch?
Olmert: yep, it's the mickey mouse one my fav.
Bush: well I gottem my mickey on too, so put the big hand on :30 and the little hand on 1:00 Olmert.
Abdel-Halim Khaddam dismissed the retrieve-memorandum against him, which Syria sent to Interpol, saying it "indicates either their [Syria's] ignorance of the law or their stupidity." In an exclusive interview with The Daily Star, Khaddam, the former Syrian vice president who defected earlier this year and now lives in Paris, said Interpol had no authority to carry out the memorandum.
Syrian Interpol had faxed the memorandum to the French-bureau of the Interpol Saturday, according to Houssam-Eddine Habach, the Syrian lawyer who filed a lawsuit against Khaddam accusing him of treason and "jeopardizing Syria." Khaddam was also charged with embezzlement by the Syrian judiciary last month. "Interpol is banned from interfering in cases related to politics, military, ethnic fights and religious matters," Khaddam said. "The case filed against me is set before the military court thus it is a military case and out of Interpol's jurisdiction - it is also a political case," he said.
Khaddam also responded to the embezzlement charges. "I dare them to publish the documents they say they have; they have no documents and they are just bluffing. They have brought the same charges against 25 people from my family and my grandchildren. The Syrian intelligence has forbidden any lawyer to defend me. It is a vindictive and malicious lawsuit which has no value." He said, adding: "They [Syrian regime] say that I made contact with a foreign country to prepare an act of aggression against Syria."
Posted by: Fred ||
05/15/2006 00:00 ||
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With no solution to the conflict over the Lebanese presidency expected during the country's national dialogue's upcoming session Tuesday, Parliament majority leader MP Saad Hariri said he would support any candidate for the presidency as long as this candidate is backed by Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir.
Speaking to reporters in Paris Saturday following a meeting with the prelate, Hariri said: "We have always said that we support anyone the patriarch suggests for the post of Lebanon's presidency, and we still believe there should be a change on the presidential level ... maybe we have not succeeded so far, but we insist that the main thing that will save the country right now is change."
The prelate, who is on a visit to the French capital to meet French President Jacques Chirac, is yet to publicly announce his position on the matter. Lebanon's anti-Syrian March 14 Forces are pushing for the ouster of President Emile Lahoud, while pro-Syrian factions - including Hizbullah and the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) - oppose such a move.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/15/2006 00:00 ||
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Iran said on Sunday it would reject any demand to stop what it calls peaceful nuclear work, a day before Europe's foreign ministers discuss incentives and penalties designed to rein in Tehran's atomic ambitions. "Any proposal that obliges us to stop peaceful (nuclear) activities would not have value and would not be valid," Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in a speech broadcast on state television. His remarks came on the eve of an EU foreign ministers meeting to work out prospective technical, trade and political incentives that would be offered to Iran in exchange for halting uranium enrichment.
Ahmadinejad accused the Europeans of living in a "colonialist world" and said Tehran would not accept decisions reached in Brussels. "If they want to decide things that concern us in a place where we are not present, then that body does not have any legal validity or credibility in decision-making," Ahmadinejad said.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/15/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Ahmadinejad accused the Europeans of living in a "colonialist world"
If only, if only... how in the world did we pass from colonizers to colonized, I wonder?
#5
Well, that sounds promising. This guy has been saying all along he won't compromise, and won't negotiate. All we do is keep begging and tugging at his coat. When are we going to come to the conclusion that this guy doesn't want to make a deal? He himself has been saying it for a couple of years now. The Iranians must think we are real tools by now.
#7
The EUniks want to negotiate because that is the only thing that they have in their bag of tricks, except for the 60 cm long stick with the white hankerchief rolled up, with a tag saying "backup plan"
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
05/15/2006 15:01 Comments ||
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#8
Isn't it about time to take this wingnut at his word and forego any further negotiations, sanctions or other non-military options? All this moron understands is a good old-fashioned big-stick @ss-whupping. It's time we delivered on his request.
Iran's president said Sunday that any European proposal that demanded an end to his country's uranium enrichment activities would be unacceptable. "They (must) know that any proposal that requires a halt to our peaceful (nuclear) activities will be without any value and invalid," President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on state-run television. "They want to offer us things they call incentives in return for renouncing our rights."
European governments are seeking to build on a package of economic and political incentives offered to Iran in August last year in return for a permanent end to its uranium enrichment activities. The Bush administration had been pressing for U.N. Security Council action against Tehran but recently agreed to put such efforts on hold and give time for new European-led attempts to find a negotiated solution. Iran rejected last year's offer, but the Europeans have continued to try to sweeten the proposal, as well as pushing at the United Nations for measures that could lead to sanctions if Iran refuses.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/15/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
I think a poster/blogger on FREEREPUBLIC.com said it best - the West must either destroy MadMoud, or MadMoud will destroy the West. MUTUALLY ASSURED DESTRUCTION = MULTILATERAL REGIONAL-GLOBAL DESTRUCTION is Moud's goal/methodism for success, not unlike China's strategm to resort to IMMEDIATE NUCLEAR ESCALATION = NUCLEAR AYSMMETRIC WARFARE iff a US-China shooting war breaks out over Taiwan andor North Korea - you know, SANITY!?
#2
Bush gets kicked in the nuts for going it alone on Iraq. Now the world wants us to negotiate directly with Iran? WTF? You can't win with these assholes. We arent in the "killzone" of Iran's ballisic missiles, shouldn't the people who are be a little more worried than us?
INSPECTORS from the International Atomic Energy Agency are asking Iranian officials for samples of machinery taken from a nuclear site bulldozed in 2004, to confirm whether the equipment bears traces of bomb-grade uranium. Diplomats close to the IAEA in Vienna said at the weekend that they want to establish whether the Physics Research Centre at Lavizan, northeast of Tehran, could have been involved in an illicit weapons program. The UN nuclear watchdog's request follows a preliminary finding that one piece of equipment from the site does have traces of highly enriched uranium.
The latest development is bound to intensify suspicions in the US and other Western countries that Iran may be closer to a nuclear bomb than the IAEA realises. But the traces of uranium could be the result of inadvertent contamination of hardware obtained by Iran from abroad. The Government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has called for Israel to be wiped from the map, continues to insist that all its nuclear equipment is destined only for peaceful power-generation purposes.
An IAEA team negotiating with Iranian officials wants to inspect specific machines and equipment from Lavizan. "It's painstaking work and we've got to get these things right," said a Vienna-based official. "You're looking at parts per trillion in some of these tests -- it's very hard to know the significance and we're requesting further sampling."
Posted by: Fred ||
05/15/2006 00:00 ||
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By Bill Gertz
U.S. intelligence agencies suspect Syria was offered and received nuclear weapons technology from the covert Pakistani supplier group headed by A.Q. Khan, according to an intelligence report.
An annual report to Congress on arms proliferation states that Pakistani investigators have confirmed reports from the International Atomic Energy Agency that the Khan network "offered nuclear technology and hardware to Syria."
"We are concerned that expertise or technology could have been transferred," said the intelligence report, which is the first time the Bush administration has publicly linked Syria to Khan.
"We continue to monitor Syrian nuclear intentions with concern."
President Bush has said that the Khan network supplied nuclear goods to Libya, Iran and North Korea.
The report, known as the 721 report because of the provision of intelligence legislation that required it, covered the period of 2004. Its release was delayed by the new Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which took control of the report from the CIA as part of an intelligence reorganization.
The report noted that Syria is a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and is required to submit to IAEA safeguards and inspections.
Syria conducts nuclear research at three facilities located at Dayr, Al Hajar and Dubaya, the report said.
"In 2004 Syria continued to develop civilian nuclear capabilities, including uranium extraction technology and hot cell facilities, which may also be potentially applicable to a weapons program," the report said.
The report also said China is a "key supplier" of nuclear, missile and weapons of mass destruction goods to states of concern.
Chinese companies "continued to work with Pakistan and Iran on ballistic missile-related projects and firms in China provided dual-use missile-related items, raw materials, or assistance to Libya and North Korea," the report said.
Chinese language documents found in Libya revealed that the Khan network had supplied it with nuclear warhead design information. China's government has not said how its warhead information made its way from Pakistan to Libya.
China supplied most of the uranium-enrichment technology and bomb designs that allowed Pakistan in 1998 to become a declared nuclear power. The proliferation was a violation of China's obligation to the NPT but Beijing was never punished for the activities.
On missiles, the report said Syria continued to seek help in building solid-propellant rocket motors, and that North Korea supplied equipment and assistance to the missile program.
Syria is building its own liquid-fueled Scud missiles and is developing a 500-mile-range Scud D and other variants with help from North Korea and Iran, the report said.
Another key supplier is Russia, which has supplied missile technology and goods to China, Iran, India and North Korea, as well as nuclear technology and goods to Iran and India.
#2
If this report is accurate, Syria has had the things for a while (since 2004) and hasn't had the nerve to do anything with them. We can destroy Syria anytime we want, with relatively little effort. Iran is the current concern.
think it's crowded and overtaxed now? EFL - RTWT
If enacted, the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act (CIRA, S.2611) would be the most dramatic change in immigration law in 80 years, allowing an estimated 103 million persons to legally immigrate to the U.S. over the next 20 yearsfully one-third of the current population of the United States.
Much attention has been given to the fact that the bill grants amnesty to some 10 million illegal immigrants. Little or no attention has been given to the fact that the bill would quintuple the rate of legal immigration into the United States, raising, over time, the inflow of legal immigrants from around one million per year to over five million per year. The impact of this increase in legal immigration dwarfs the magnitude of the amnesty provisions.
In contrast to the 103 million immigrants permitted under CIRA, current law allows 19 million legal immigrants over the next twenty years. Relative to current law, then, CIRA would add an extra 84 million legal immigrants to the nations population.
The figure of 103 million legal immigrants is a reasonable estimate of the actual immigration inflow under the bill and not the maximum number that would be legally permitted to enter. The maximum number that could legally enter would be almost 200 million over twenty yearsover 180 million more legal immigrants than current law permits.
Immigration Status
To understand the provisions of CIRA, largely based on a compromise by Senators Chuck Hagel (RNebraska) and Mel Martinez (RFlorida), it is useful to distinguish between the three legal statuses that a legal immigrant might hold:
Temporary Status: Persons in this category enter the U.S. temporarily and are required to leave after a period of time.
Near-Permanent, Convertible Status: Persons in this category enter the U.S. and are given the opportunity to adjust or convert to legal permanent residence after a few years.
Legal Permanent Residence (LPR): Persons in this category have the right to remain in the United States for their entire lives. After five years, they have the right to naturalize and become citizens. As naturalized citizens, they have the constitutional rights to vote and to receive any government benefits given to native-born citizens.
A key feature of CIRA is that most immigrants identified as temporary are, in fact, given convertible status with a virtually unrestricted opportunity to become legal permanent residents and then citizens.
Another important feature of both CIRA and existing immigration law is that immigrants in convertible or LPR status have the right to bring spouses and minor children into the country. Spouses and dependent children will be granted permanent residence along with the primary immigrant and may also become citizens. In addition, after naturalizing, an immigrant has the right to bring his parents into the U.S. as permanent residents with the opportunity for citizenship. There are no numeric limits on the number of spouses, dependent children, and parents of naturalized citizens that may be brought into the country. Additionally, the siblings and adult children (along with their families) of naturalized citizens and the adult children (and their families) of legal permanent residents are given preference in future admission but are subject to numeric caps. An out-of touch Senate needs to hear from you. Sen Frist?
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/15/2006 16:28 ||
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#1
Little or no attention has been given to the fact that the bill would quintuple the rate of legal immigration.
There is simple explanation as to why there has been no attention paid to this fact. This is the first independent analysis to numerically determine the demographic impact of S.2611. In fact, there hasnt even been a single Senate hearing to discuss this issue. Up to this point, there has been only one hearing since introduction of the bill. And that short hearing on overall economic impact was only intermittently attended by a fraction of the judiciary committee. But none of panelists had even read the 600+ page bill and all agreed the topic of was so broad that their testimony couldnt really address specifics of the underlying bill. That means the economic impact of social services, both federal and state, has not even been discussed. Yet just 2 weeks ago there were plenty of Senators, of both parties, willing to go along with Democrat leader Reids push to vote without offering a single amendment. If this bill ends up with Senators saying the old Its not perfect but you know they have once again screwed middle class Americans for the sake of expediency.
HUNTINGTON -- Did you know many Arabs are not olive-skinned? Or that only 20 percent of Arab-Americans are Muslims? Do negative images come to mind when you hear the word "Arab?"
Nawar Shora, a son of Dr. Waseem and Zayada Shora of Huntington, spent several hours Friday at Marshall University countering many misconceptions that Americans hold toward Arabs in the post-9/11 world.
Regarding religion, Shora said Muslims consider themselves "the third chapter of a three-chapter book," the first two chapters being Judaism and Christianity. And, he adds, Muslims believe in Moses, Jesus and the Immaculate Conception.
"The Virgin Mary is mentioned more in the Koran than in the Bible," he said. "People are usually shocked to find that out."
Steve Hensley, Marshall's dean of student affairs, said the seminar was primarily for Marshall faculty and staff.
"This was for people who interact with foreign students regularly," he said. "Often, it's in situations that are difficult, such as payment of bills and registration."
Shora explained that the Arabic word "jihad" means "struggle," not "holy war," but the word has been hijacked by terrorists groups to justify attacking innocent civilians. "Lesser jihad" or "defensive jihad" refers to a military stand against the enemies of religion, but is meant to be a call to arms if the religion is under attack and threatened with annihilation.
"The last true lesser or defensive jihad I can think of would be in the 12th century, with Saladin battling the Crusaders," he said.
Appearances and the Americanization of names mean that many more people in the United States are Arab than you might think.
Sally Tweel, wife of the late owner of Jim's Steak & Spaghetti House and a friend of the Shora family who attended the seminar, knows about that -- and revealed that it was her biology teacher in junior or senior high school in Beckley, W.Va., who Americanized "Salwa," her first name.
"He couldn't remember it," said Tweel, a Welch, W.Va., native of Lebanese descent. "He asked me if I minded if he called me 'Sally.' "
Shora, 29, who graduated from Marshall University in 1997 and the West Virginia University College of Law in 2001, is founder and CEO of Shora Arab, Muslim, Sikh Training & Development LLC, an Alexandria, Va., consulting firm. His father is chief of the gastroenterology section of Marshall's Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine.
#2
And the biggest misconception of all: 6 million muslims. Try 6 million Arab-Americans. Wonder why that little misconception wasn't mentioned by Shora?
Posted by: ed ||
05/15/2006 7:55 Comments ||
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#3
Takiyah at full swing
1) It is false to say that Islam recognizes Jesus. I will pass upon how thorougly message is distorted and how he is denied divinity (ie the fundament of Chritianism) and will only mention that he is denied his proper Arabic name Yashu because that means Saviour so instead he is called Issa
2) About the lesser Jihad and greater Jihad I think most Rantburgians know that is BS. The greater Jihad is only mentioned in a few Haddith (sayings of Muhammad). Haddith are notorious for being at 99.9% invented well before the death of Muhammad by people who used Muhammad's name for supporting their thesis. The only Jihad mentionning in Koran is the one about killing a maximum of infidels and reading of any "Life of Muhammad" like published by Islamic printers let little doubt about what Muhammad would have thought about "internal struggles".
#4
And, he adds, Muslims believe in Moses, Jesus and the Immaculate Conception....Shora explained that the Arabic word "jihad" means "struggle," not "holy war,"...
"Then his lips fell off".
GD, I'm getting sick of the lying.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
05/15/2006 9:30 Comments ||
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#5
Well it sounds like Bob Withers of the Huntington Post-Dispatch has the stars in his eyes.
The toothy grin, the batting eyes. Sure wish Lucky was still around...
#6
We did have some misconceptions about arabs before 9/11. We thought we were'nt in a fight for our lives. We thought if we left them alone (like clinton did for 8yrs) they would leave us alone. We thought they were human, not subhuman f*cks that kill babies and women and gangrape scandanavian teens. Yeah, we had some misconceptions all right. Still waiting for the Muslim community to condemn and betray these animals, too.
#7
One man's struggle is another man's Holy War. Its not how the intellectuals define a word that matters but how the acts of the followers define the word.
#10
A few years ago, by accident, a new babysitter and I got into a discussion about 9/11 and no surprise, she thought it was partially our fault.
I then led her thru the meaning of jihad, how they would explain it's a personal struggle.
You should have seen the look on her face when I was done. I have wondered while she went to college in commie WI if she ever was involved in a conversation and listened and minded what I told her.
It's very simple - anyone who tells me jihad is a personal struggle.
What are you struggling for or against?
To be a better person?
Which means to avoid temptation.
Which country's the biggest tempter on the planet?
Then I told her, we're everywhere, wouldn't it be easier to make us go away, do you think they can defeat us?
#12
Well first PD, I don't believe that stat. But let's just say for the sake of argument that it's accurate. Many muslims CONVERT to Christianity or some other faith once they are free to practice the religion of their choice. The view is very different outside the fishbowl.
As far as the work ethic among Muslim Arab-Americans vs. non-Muslim, I don't think you can really make a case for that. A friend of mine, who is Arab and Muslim, (we're working on that)owns a five store chain and works harder than anyone I've ever known. He has 2 sons, one in Medical School and one on the way there.
#13
Almost all the Arab-Americans who've been here at least a generation are, indeed, Christian. Former Lebanese Christian, Palestinian Christian, Iranian Christian... Christians used to make up some 20% of of the population in the Palestinian territories; now it's about 5%, and not because of substantially different birthrates. In Lebanon about half the population (or a little more, that's why Lebanon was separated from Syria, its historic hinterland) used to be Christian.
#14
A thought: what percent of Muslims in the U.S. are Arabs?
I went to school with an Iranian lad who had white-blond, kinky hair, fair skin, and bright blue eyes. But of course, he wasn't an Arab. And there was the Irish-looking red-head Al Qaeda terrorist who was killed not long ago... something Al Suri (the Syrian)? So what? I've been mistaken for being English, German, and Swiss by the natives... there's been a certain amount of genetic mixing over the millenia, as armies have flowed back and forth, raping and taking wives from the conquered.
My own feeling is that this is an ethnic term, not religious and also not racial. If a person is raised in a home where they speak arabic and eat a lot of smashed chick peas and flat bread, they are arab. A lot of Jews are arab by this definition.
A very good point. In Morocco, for example, the majority of citizens are Berber by blood, but Arabic is the dominant language. Morocco is usually referred to as an "Arab" country.
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.
KABUL, Afghanistan - A female Afghan lawmaker who called powerful armed leaders criminals two years ago and called some lawmakers warlords last week in Parliament now changes houses every night because of death threats, she said. 
BRITISH domestic spy agency MI5 is being accused of a cover-up for failing to disclose to a parliamentary watchdog that it bugged the leader of the July 7 London suicide bombers discussing the building of a bomb months before the attacks. MI5 had secret tape recordings of Mohammad Sidique Khan, the gang leader, talking about how to build the device and then leave the country because there would be a lot of police activity. But, despite the recordings, MI5 allowed him to slip the net. 
In a startling revelation, former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto claimed that she vetoed attempts by Pakistani generals to start a war against the United States during her tenure. 
The federal government should sever diplomatic ties with Germany to protest the alleged death of a Pakistani, 
NWFP Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani has welcomed President Musharrafs decision to form a representative tribal jirga with the federal and provincial governments consent, for a solution to the unrest in tribal areas. He was talking to reporters at the Governors House after a meeting with Governor Khalilur Rehman to review law and order in the province and the adjoining Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).
The trial of Saddam Hussein and seven co-defendants for crimes against humanity resumes on Monday with the presentation of the first Defence witnesses. Chief prosecutor 
The four men who turned themselves into Egyptian police Sunday, May 14, in the northern Sinai town of El Arish were not the key al Qaeda figures hunted in connection with al Qaedas attacks last month. The men, named as Naif Ibrahim Saleh Ameira, Abdel Gadr Suweilim Suleiman, Ismail Salama Ouda Hussein and Hatem Musellem Rashid al-Atrash, surrendered after Egyptian security forces killed Nasser Malakhi in the same town last Tuesday, May 9. Malakhi was described as ringleader of the al Qaeda network, which April 24 and 26 struck Dahab, the UFO base near el Arish and Bilbith near Ismailiyeh on the Suez. 
Israeli political sources said they believed that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert would ask U.S. President George W. Bush to call on the Lebanese authorities to deploy the army in South Lebanon. Olmert will visit the U.S. Sunday and is scheduled to meet with Bush Tuesday to discuss issues related to the Middle East. The two leaders are also expected to discuss Hizbullah's presence along the Lebanese-Israeli border and Iran's nuclear program.
With no solution to the conflict over the Lebanese presidency expected during the country's national dialogue's upcoming session Tuesday, Parliament majority leader MP Saad Hariri said he would support any candidate for the presidency as long as this candidate is backed by Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir.
Iran said on Sunday it would reject any demand to stop what it calls peaceful nuclear work, a day before Europe's foreign ministers discuss incentives and penalties designed to rein in Tehran's atomic ambitions. "Any proposal that obliges us to stop peaceful (nuclear) activities would not have value and would not be valid," Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in a speech broadcast on state television. His remarks came on the eve of an EU foreign ministers meeting to work out prospective technical, trade and political incentives that would be offered to Iran in exchange for halting uranium enrichment.
Iran's president said Sunday that any European proposal that demanded an end to his country's uranium enrichment activities would be unacceptable. "They (must) know that any proposal that requires a halt to our peaceful (nuclear) activities will be without any value and invalid," President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on state-run television. "They want to offer us things they call incentives in return for renouncing our rights."
INSPECTORS from the International Atomic Energy Agency are asking Iranian officials for samples of machinery taken from a nuclear site bulldozed in 2004, to confirm whether the equipment bears traces of bomb-grade uranium. Diplomats close to the IAEA in Vienna said at the weekend that they want to establish whether the Physics Research Centre at Lavizan, northeast of Tehran, could have been involved in an illicit weapons program. The UN nuclear watchdog's request follows a preliminary finding that one piece of equipment from the site does have traces of highly enriched uranium. 
