BUCHAREST - US President George W. Bush urged NATO allies on Wednesday to send more troops to Afghanistan, but France played down expectations it would tell an alliance summit it will deploy 1,000 extra soldiers.
Bush said NATO could not afford to lose its battle against Taliban insurgents and al Qaeda militants and recalled that France had indicated it could boost its 1,500-strong force. Whatever the cost, however difficult, we cannot afford it, we must win. I agree completely, he said ahead of NATOs three-day summit in Bucharest. We ask other NATO nations to step forward with additional forces as well.
Bush told reporters at a later event with his Romanian hosts: We expect our NATO allies to shoulder the burden necessary to succeed...The question nations have to ask, is, is it worth it? My answer is absolutely its worth it,
NATO allies want the summit to send the message that the defence alliances 47,000-strong force will stay in Afghanistan for as long as necessary to fight the insurgency.
Diplomats had hoped President Nicolas Sarkozy would tell the summit that France would make a major new contribution in Afghanistan as part of a revamp of the NATO peacekeeping force in the east and south. But French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said on Tuesday Paris was looking to send just several hundred more troops to Afghanistan. That was short of the 1,000 extra soldiers some NATO allies had expected and it was not clear whether it would be enough to cover a Canadian demand for reinforcements in the south.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/03/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
NET > NATO has reportedly turned down the bids of UKRAINE, GEORGIA to join, probably becuz of the tremendous pressure RUSSIA is under right now, + potential in the near future vv OSAMA + RADICAL ISLAM. They can, however, still participate in NATO activities widout being official members at this time, until next submission of bids.
France could send "several hundred" extra soldiers to join the NATO force in Afghanistan, Prime Minister Francois Fillon said Tuesday, adding that details of the mission had not yet been decided.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/03/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Is this some kind of quid pro quo? Since when does the US just ask for something and it comes like manna from heaven?
#2
its not just the US asking, Canada and UK have also been asking.
I dont know of any specific tangible quid pro quo, but Sarkozy I assume is justifying it at home in terms of general French influence, both in South Asia, and within NATO, and improving the relationship with the US.
#3
Quo - You want missile defense?*
Quid - You pony up some troops.
*Why should the Executive have to go to the mat with the Legislative branch on funding for hundreds of millions, if you dudes aren't willing to put a dime to a dollar? If we're going to look at our own bottom line, we can save a lot by not implementing a shield that only serves you.
#4
This isn't free - but it's primarily Germany and Britain who are paying rather than us.
Sarkozy sees the chill in US-UK relations with Gordo and the failure of Germany to support combat/stability ops in Afghanistan. France is stepping up -- and expects to be seen as leading the EU military as a result.
Sarkozy has Hungarian roots. Unlike genuine French who were bombarded with heavy communist propganda,were resentful against the US for depriving France of her god-given right to be number 1 in world and in addition were safely hundreds of miles away of the Fulda Gap he grew looking at America as a defnder of freedom.
Don't be overly cynical, part of the move,not all but some of it, is genuine friendship and anither part is that he understands thet we are in the same boat.
#6
If France actually funds her military, then sends troops and material out to fight in the battles of the War on Terror, she is in contention for leading the EU military. Britain has been doing yeoman's work, but they've also been enthusiastically cutting troops and supplies for at least a decade; it is starting to look like giving up the lead, militarily, might well be the choice of governing elite, if not of the citizenry.
The Czech Republic is planning to redeploy more than 100 elite troops to Afghanistan to serve in a U.S.-led operation against Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters, the Defense Ministry said Wednesday. The 120-troop unit served in the same mission, Enduring Freedom, in 2006. "We are ready to send them to Afghanistan," ministry spokesman Andrej Cirtek said, adding that an agreement would likely be reached soon after this week's NATO summit in Bucharest, Romania.
The deployment will have to be approved by the Czech parliament. The Czech Republic currently has more than 300 soldiers in Afghanistan in the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force. The Czech parliament has approved raising the number to 415 later this year. Two Czech troops have died in Afghanistan.
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04/03/2008 00:00 ||
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The country's most powerful opposition group announced last week that they have been engaging in peace talks with the Taliban. The move signals both the growing divisions within the Afghan government and the increasing possibility that elements of the insurgent group could be drawn into the political process, say analysts.
If successful, officials argue that the talks will change the way the United States deals with Afghanistan, by forcing Washington to contend with the opposition.
Representatives of the United National Front an assemblage of ministers, members of parliament, and warlords led by former Northern Alliance commanders say they have held secret talks with the Taliban for at least five months.
"Leaders of some Taliban sections contacted us," says Front spokesman Sayyid Agha Hussein Fazel Sancharaki, "saying, 'We are both Muslims, we are both Afghans, and we are both not satisfied with the government's performance.' "
The government, which has had a series of secret talks with the "moderate Taliban" since 2003, has in contrast taken a different approach to negotiations. It insists that the Taliban must first surrender completely disavow armed insurrection and accept the foreign presence.
But some observers say this strategy is too stringent and will not produce fruitful talks. "Why are they negotiating with Taliban who aren't fighting?" former Taliban official turned political analyst Wahid Muzjda asks. "The problem is with those who are fighting the government, and yet the government refuses to speak to this group."
Loosening the rules for talks
Mr. Sancharaki notes that his party will be more flexible in negotiations. "The Karzai government is using peace negotiations for political gain," he says, referring to President Hamid Karzai. "They will only talk to the Taliban if they lay down their weapons. This is impossible. But the National Front will have an agenda and a clear program for talks."
Perhaps to avoid being outmaneuvered by the opposition, Mr. Karzai's office responded by stating that both houses of parliament can negotiate directly with the insurgent group. The response marked a shift from previous policy in which Karzai tightly controlled the negotiation process.
The announcements come at a time when the government and the Taliban are feeling increased pressure to come to the table.
Last year marked the bloodiest year of the insurgency yet the United Nations reports that Taliban attacks and NATO reprisals killed more than 6,000 people, including at least 1,200 civilians. The nation also saw more than 130 suicide attacks in 2007, and 10 percent of the country is under Taliban control, according to a recent US intelligence estimate.
Using Taliban to angle for power
As frustration with the poor security conditions has chipped away at the government's support, analysts say that the Front is announcing the talks now in order to increase pressure on Karzai. "[They] are trying to use the Taliban to enhance their leverage vis-à-vis Karzai, to force him to make concessions in terms of ministerial posts and other appointments," says Antonio Giustozzi, a research fellow at the London School of Economics.
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04/03/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Didn't they try a government that included the Taliban once before? Are the Taliban all reformed now or something?
"Cooties!"
Soody Arabia's grand mufti Abdelaziz al-Sheikh has rejected an attempt by the government to open interreligious dialogue with Jewish rabbis.
According to a report by the official Kuwaiti news agency Kuna on Wednesday, the mufti refused to accept any visit by rabbis to a conference on interreligious dialogue, expected to be held in the kingdom's capital Riyadh. Because soody arabia is officially judenfrei, and wants to stay that way, not that it bothers anyone, seemingly.
Can't let the evvvvvil Zionists into the Sanctum Sanctorum ...
A week ago, Soody Arabia's King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Ibn Saud announced the conference in what appears to be the first attempt at dialogue between the three monotheistic faiths, islam, Judaism and Christianity.
Any move to create dialogue between Soody Arabia's imams and Israel's rabbis would be groundbreaking on a religious and political level in the Middle East. Soody Arabia currently has no diplomatic relations with Israel.
But Soody Arabia's mufti tried to quickly distance himself from the announcement by the Soody monarch. "I ask the media to check their facts and report the truth before spreading the news," said al-Sheikh.
Religion trumps politics -- there's a shocker ...
King Abdullah announced plans to host the conference when he met participants who attended the Japan-Muslim world meeting on dialogue among civilisations last month. The proposal for an interreligious meeting came after the monarch's visit to the Vatican in Rome last November, where he was received by Pope Benedict XVI.
#1
Makes perfect sense.
"Interreligious Dialogue" is Muzzi code for "Non-Muslims accepting dhimmitude". And (muzziwise) Jews are not intended for dhimmitude, but for extermination.
Saudi Arabia remains the world's leading source of money for Al Qaeda and other extremist networks and has failed to take key steps requested by U.S. officials to stem the flow, the Bush administration's top financial counter-terrorism official said Tuesday.
Stuart A. Levey, a Treasury undersecretary, told a Senate committee that the Saudi government had not taken important steps to go after those who finance terrorist organizations or to prevent wealthy donors from bankrolling extremism through charitable contributions, sometimes unwittingly.
"Saudi Arabia today remains the location where more money is going to terrorism, to Sunni terror groups and to the Taliban than any other place in the world," Levey said under questioning.
U.S. officials have previously identified Saudi Arabia as a major source of funding for extremism. But Levey's comments were notable because, although reluctant to directly criticize a close U.S. ally, he acknowledged frustration with administration efforts to persuade the Saudis and others to act.
"We continue to face significant challenges as we move forward with these efforts, including fostering and maintaining the political will among other governments to take effective and consistent action," Levey said, later adding: "Our work is not nearly complete."
Levey was the sole witness before the Senate Finance Committee, which Tuesday ordered an independent review of the efforts to choke off financing used by Al Qaeda and other extremist groups.
Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), the committee chairman, announced the review at the end of the hearing held to assess the money-tracking campaign by Treasury's Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, headed by Levey.
The Bush administration created the office in 2004 to spearhead efforts to disrupt the flow of money to extremist causes, primarily from wealthy donors in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere in the Persian Gulf.
However, U.S. officials and counter-terrorism experts have said that international support for the effort has waned while terrorist groups have found ways around the financial restrictions. At the same time, there have been turf battles among the 19 federal agencies that work on the problem.
Senators praised work done by Levey but expressed concerns about the overall U.S. effort. The committee's Democratic and Republican leaders cited a Los Angeles Times report last week detailing problems undermining the effort.
Sen. Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, the ranking Republican, said extremist groups had adapted to changing U.S. investigative methods: "We are simply not prepared right now to keep up with them and put them out of business once and for all."
Levey said the campaign has succeeded in disrupting terrorist financing by freezing suspicious assets and in gathering intelligence that could be used to identify extremists and disrupt their activities.
But under questioning by senators, Levey also spoke of difficulty in getting Saudi Arabia to take the steps U.S. officials consider necessary.
Levey said the Saudis had been aggressive in going after terrorist cells. But he said they had not lived up to promises to establish the kind of financial intelligence unit needed to trace the money trails of terrorists. Another problem is that the Saudi government has not set up a charity oversight commission to track whether donations end up in the hands of extremists.
Levey said the Saudi government has not moved to publicly hold accountable those within the kingdom who have been the subject of enforcement actions by the U.S. and other authorities.
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said the Saudi failures mean that Americans who pay more than $100 a barrel for oil are in effect bankrolling extremism because wealthy Saudis "back-door" their profits into charities that fund extremist causes.
Nail Jubeir, press attache for the Saudi embassy in Washington, dismissed those concerns, saying the Bush administration has repeatedly praised Saudi Arabia for its efforts to combat terrorism.
"We have been very vigilant in our campaign against terrorism financing," Jubeir said. "We have come a long way since 9/11 on this issue."
Jubeir confirmed that Saudi Arabia has not set up the financial intelligence unit or charity commission, but said it was cracking down on the financiers of terrorism in other ways, such as making it illegal for anyone to send money outside the kingdom "without going through official government channels."
Alleged financiers of terrorism identified by the United States are being investigated, and their assets have been frozen, Jubeir said. "But unless we have evidence to try them . . . we don't parade them in public," he said. "What if it turns out they are innocent?"
At the hearing, senators also expressed concern about disputes among U.S. agencies and other administrative and investigative functions of Levey's office. Baucus and Grassley asked that the Government Accountability Office review its internal efficiency and effectiveness as well as its cooperation with foreign governments.
Levey said he had not seen the request from Baucus and Grassley, but added: "We welcome any source of advice as to how we can improve."
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04/03/2008 00:00 ||
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Tanks took to the streets of southern Yemen cities Tuesday to discourage rioting by disaffected youths and retired military officers over unfulfilled government promises to enlist them in the army, officials and eyewitnesses said.
Over the past three days, security forces arrested at least 120 former army officers and lawmakers believed to be leading demonstrations in the south, said a Yemeni official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to journalists.
Tanks moved in after six demonstrators were "seriously injured" during early morning clashes with police, witnesses reported.
The rioting underlined increasing tensions between northern and southern Yemen 14 years after a civil war. Northerners dominate the government and economy in this impoverished country of 22 million people, and protesters are largely former members of the defeated southern army.
Many southern soldiers fled into the mountainous hinterlands and into Saudi Arabia after the war and stayed for years, returning only when Yemen's government issued an amnesty and promised to readmit them to the army a promise southerners say has not been kept.
Last week, 20,000 demonstrators gathered in the southern city of Dhalae, 135 miles south of the capital, San'a, to demand reforms and the reinstatement of southerners into the army.
On Sunday, rioters set fire to at least two police stations, burned military vehicles and tried to storm the state-owned bank in Dhalae, the Yemeni official said. He said at least nine demonstrators were injured.
On Tuesday morning, riot police fired in the air to disperse demonstrators and roads were sealed by tanks and barricades, turning southern cities into ghost towns, witnesses said. Protesters responded by blocking the highway to the port city of Aden, the witnesses said.
Similar demonstrations in September resulted in at least two dead.
The Yemeni Cabinet condemned the demonstrations Tuesday, saying in a statement that violence is "aimed at undermining security, spreading chaos and creating dissension."
Yemen, the poorest country in the Arab world, is home to heavily armed tribes that barely acknowledge the authority of the central government. There is also a persistent al-Qaida movement that has attacked and killed foreigners on several occasions.
On March 20, mortar shells meant for the U.S. Embassy in San'a exploded at a nearby girls' school, killing a security guard and wounding more than a dozen students.
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04/03/2008 00:00 ||
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Al QAEDA has reportedly claimed responsibility for recent attacks in both YEMEN + SAUDI ARABIA.
A man from High Wycombe is among eight set to go on trial accused of plotting to explode home-made liquid bombs on transatlantic passenger aircraft. Mr Justice Calvert-Smith will preside over the trial of eight defendants, including Assad Sarwar, 27, at high security Woolwich Crown Court in south-east London.
Outlining the case to potential jurors on Wednesday, the judge said the trial would be long, high profile and with dozens of witnesses. He said: "This case concerns an allegation that in 2006 a number of men planned to create bombs which some of their number would take on board passenger aircraft flying from London Heathrow to various destinations in Canada and the USA. It is further alleged that the bombs were planned to be set off when the aircraft were airborne and the bombers and all on board the aircraft would be killed."
All eight men deny two charges linked to the alleged plot that counter terrorist police claimed to foil in August 2006. The first charge alleged the men conspired to murder, contrary to the 1977 Criminal Law Act, between January 1 and August 11 2006. The second charge alleged the men conspired to commit an act of violence likely to endanger the safety of an aircraft between the same dates.
The eight men are: Sarwar; Abdulla Ahmed Ali, aka Ahmed Ali Khan, 27, of Walthamstow; Tanvir Hussain, 27, of Leyton, east London; Mohammed Gulzar, 26, of Barking, Essex; Ibrahim Savant, 27, of Stoke Newington, north London; Arafat Waheed Khan, 26, of Walthamstow; Waheed Zaman, 23, of Walthamstow and Umar Islam, aka Brian Young, 29, of Hackney, east London.
South Korea on Wednesday rejected North Korean demands for an apology over remarks by its top general on a nuclear attack scenario, and told Pyongyang to stop raising tensions on the peninsula. The defence ministry message was Seoul's first official reaction to a series of recent hostile moves and angry rhetoric by Pyongyang.
The ministry said in a statement that it sent a radio message to the North's chief representative to inter-Korean military talks, Lieutenant-General Kim Yong-Chol. Kim on Saturday had demanded an apology for remarks by South Korea's new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Kim Tae-Young made in parliament last week.
In answering a question, the general had said the South would strike the North's nuclear sites should the communist country attack it with nuclear weapons.
The North interpreted his comments as hinting at a preemptive military strike.
On Sunday the hardline communist state's official media repeated claims that Seoul was planning a preemptive attack and threatened to turn South Korea into "ashes" in response.
On Tuesday official media launched a barrage of insults against new President Lee Myung-Bak, terming him a US sycophant, a traitor and a charlatan.
In the past week the North has also expelled South Korean officials from a joint industrial complex, test-fired missiles and accused Seoul of breaching a disputed sea border.
The defence ministry message said the North misinterpreted the remarks. "Our side has sincerely upheld the non-aggression agreement between the South and the North and this position will not change in the future," Seoul's chief delegate to the military dialogue, Major-General Kwon Oh-Sung, said in the message to his counterpart. "Your intentional slander and fostering of tension do not help ensure peace and stability on the Korean peninsula, and we urge you to immediately stop such activities." The South is always ready to talk about peace and easing tensions, it added.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/03/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Pretty ballsy for a country that depends on SKor fertilizer and fuel oil.
#4
REDDIT > NORTH KOREA CUTS OFF ALL DIALOGUE WITH SOUTH - WARNS THAT PENINSULA/KOREAS ARE ON VERGE OF A NUCLEAR WAR. Due to US-SOKOR war games which NK claims is a covert threat to its sovereignty???
IMPOR POINT > "WAR IN IRAQ" will compel NOKOR to use any and all means to defend itself.
A Pakistani terrorist suspect who spent more than two weeks in jail will not be brought to trial. Police could not find enough evidence to prove he was planning to carry out an attack in the Netherlands or another European country. He has been declared an undesirable alien and will most probably be deported. The Pakistani, who was arrested in Breda, is allegedly a member of an Islamic terrorist cell which was planning to carry out attacks in the Spanish city of Barcelona.
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04/03/2008 00:00 ||
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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) warned Army Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker on Thursday not to put a shine on recent events in Iraq when they testify before Congress next week. I guess she must have sat out his last hearing because he didn't do anything like she is suggesting. Seems she is accusing him of painting too bright a picture of what is going on in Iraq because he is on W's "side" - the side of evil and corruption, of course. There are folks who will take the bait. My challenge to her is that she not play down Petraeus' testimony. And if she does challenge it, to provide facts as Petraeus does and can.
I hope we dont hear any glorification of what happened in Basra, said Pelosi, referring to a recent military offensive against Shiite militants in the city led by the Iraqi government and supported by U.S. forces.
Although powerful Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr agreed to a ceasefire after six days of fighting, Pelosi wondered why the U.S. was caught off guard by the offensive and questioned how the ceasefire was achieved, saying the terms were probably dictated from Iran.
We have to know the real ground truths of what is happening there, not put a shine on events because of a resolution that looks less violent when in fact it has been dictated by al-Sadr, who can grant or withhold that call for violence, Pelosi said.
She's doing her personal best to turn that into a Tet offensive.
Petraeus, the top military commander in Iraq, and Crocker, the U.S. ambassador, will make their return to Capitol Hill on April 8 and 9 to deliver their assessment of the situation on the ground in Iraq.
So far, Petraeus and Crocker have made very few public comments about the situation in Basra, but many Republicans have hailed it as an example of the Iraqi government standing up and further proof that President Bushs troop surge is working.
Republicans took issue Thursday with the notion that Petraeus would use events in Iraq to advance a political agenda. "Gen. Petraeus ... is not a political figure," said Michael Steel, spokesman for House Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio). "The testimony he gives reflects the facts on the ground. If he reports that the security situation in Iraq is improving, as we hope he does, he will be echoing the assessment of many Democratic House members who have visited Iraq recently. Our priorities should be learning the facts and acting on them, not using any development as a pretext for irresponsible withdrawal."
Everything is political to the Dhimmicrats, so Petraeus must be political.
Pelosi held a press conference Thursday morning with House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) and House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman (D-Calif.) to preview their spin message ahead of the visit from Petraeus and Crocker.
The Democrats hammered two themes: The war in Iraq has stretched the military dangerously thin, and the enormous cost of the war is threatening the health of the U.S. economy. "The stretch and strain on our military is like never before," said Skelton. "I am terribly worried about this."
Underscoring the Democrats economic points, Pelosi asked why the U.S. military in Iraq and Americans back home are paying more for gasoline than the Iraqis are. Our troops in Iraq are paying about $3.25 a gallon for gas in Iraq, comparable to what we pay here, while the Iraqis are paying $1.36 a gallon, Pelosi said. This is a raw deal for the American taxpayer.
This is truly ignorant. If we were taking Iraqi oil and using it to lower the cost of gasoline at home, Pelosi would be complaining about how we were exploiting the Iraqis. Maybe the cost is lower in Iraq because 1) they sit on an ocean of oil and 2) the Iraqi government subsidizes the cost.
The Democrats appeared skeptical they were going to hear anything new from Petraeus and Crocker. Every event in Iraq seems to be a justification [by the administration] for more troops, more time and more money in Iraq, said Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.), the Democratic Caucus chairman. This should be interpreted as signs that things are going well and that the war is necessary.
We are in a policy cul du sac. We just keep going around and around in circles.
If the Dhimmicrats were smart (heh) they'd shut up about Iraq, because the more they wank on about it the better John McCain looks.
Neither Pelosi nor Skelton addressed questions about what will be included in a supplemental war funding bill Congress is expected to take up later this month, explaining that they wanted to focus on the upcoming Petraeus-Crocker testimony instead.
#1
not to put a shine on recent events
In an ideal world, Petraeus would warn Pelosi not to put a shine on House Democratic accomplishments.
Our troops in Iraq are paying about $3.25 a gallon for gas in Iraq, comparable to what we pay here, while the Iraqis are paying $1.36 a gallon, Pelosi said. This is a raw deal for the American taxpayer.
Try taking off the state and federal taxes and also pumping and refining somewhere closer -- like San Francisco Bay. On second thought, let's just take the Iraqi's gasoline -- that should make everything better.
#3
So she wouldn't have a problem with Petaeus and Crocker giving Congress unduly pessimistic testimony? It's only excessive optimism that she frowns on?
Posted by: Matt ||
04/03/2008 16:25 Comments ||
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#4
Remember, the only body count allowed is our own.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/03/2008 16:46 Comments ||
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#5
Pelosi wondered why the U.S. was caught off guard by the offensive and questioned how the ceasefire was achieved, saying the terms were probably dictated from Iran.
Did she just say that Iran is supporting operations in Iraq?
The Democrats hammered two themes: The war in Iraq has stretched the military dangerously thin, and the enormous cost of the war is threatening the health of the U.S. economy.
Constituants were skeptical that they were going to hear anything new from pelousi and skeleton. So your theme is already planned out before you hear anything from General Petraeus?
Our troops in Iraq are paying about $3.25 a gallon for gas in Iraq, comparable to what we pay here, while the Iraqis are paying $1.36 a gallon, Pelosi said. This is a raw deal for the American taxpayer.
Huh? What does that have to do with anything except maybe gas taxes are high in some places.
#6
A general only gets one chance to be a general in war, and it is always his last assignment. If Petraeus wants to, he can bitch slap Pelosi and company like Oliver North did.
But that is the difference between Colonels and Generals. Colonels feel free to give a thumb in the eye to officious pettifoggers. Generals are strategists, and know that as gratifying as it is to do so, it rarely changes anything, yet can backfire against the very military they led.
So Petraeus will give the testimony that is expected of him, and the Democrats will curse him and call him a liar, and the media will try to tar him as a political general and an incompetent.
But in the final analysis, what does it matter what scurrilous dogs think? Theirs is a life lived without honor or dignity, and once gone they will be forgotten.
#7
Do soldiers in Iraq have to buy their own gas for the hummers or something? What the hell are they talking about soldiers in Iraq paying what we pay here?
ISLAMABAD - Pakistani premier Yousaf Raza Gilani was briefed by the countrys army chief Wednesday as part of his new governments efforts to find political solutions to Islamic militancy, a statement said. Army chief General Ashfaq Kayani met Gilani along with key coalition partners and ministers in Islamabad, two days after the ministers were sworn in and just over a week after the premier was elected by parliament.
"Good morning Mr. Prime Minister! I'm here to tell you what to do!"
The new government is led by opponents of the embattled US ally President Pervez Musharraf, including the party of slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, which trounced Musharrafs allies in elections in February.
An official statement said Kayani presented all the efforts it (the army) had undertaken to stabilise the situation in Pakistans troubled tribal areas bordering Afghanistan and in the restive northwestern Swat Valley.
Bet that was a short presentation ...
Gilani and his coalition partners ordered the briefing in order to come up with political policy guidelines to address the menace of terrorism and extremism, through a comprehensive strategy based on political engagement, economic development and backed by a creditable military element, it added.
Those present at the meeting included Bhuttos widower Asif Ali Zardari, the de facto head of her Pakistan Peoples Party, and former premier Nawaz Sharif, whose party is the second biggest in the coalition. Gilani is a leading member of Bhuttos party.
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04/03/2008 00:00 ||
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ISLAMABAD - A key ally of President Pervez Musharraf has been dropped from his position as head of one of the countrys top intelligence services, the military said Wednesday.
So long, Perv, nice knowing you. Say 'hello' to the fishes for us ...
Army chief General Ashfaq Kayani appointed Major General Mohammad Asif to take over as head of the powerful Military Intelligence (MI) outfit from the current holder of the post, Major General Nadeem Ejaz.
MI is one of Pakistans three main spy agencies. The others are Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), which is also run by the army, and the Intelligence Bureau, which is a civilian organisation.
Gee, the army dominates the intelligence services. Guess that's why the army chief is the most powerful man in the country, not the president ...
Major General Mohammad Asif has been appointed director general Military Intelligence today, replacing Major General Nadeem Ejaz, chief military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas told AFP. Asif previously served as Pakistans defence attache to Russia.
Analysts said Ejaz was a close confidante and a relative by marriage of key US ally President Musharraf, who seized power in a coup in 1999 and was army chief until November last year.
Musharraf appointed Ijaz in 2006. Under Ijaz, MI assumed a greater role in the countrys political affairs and Ijaz was one of the key witnesses when Musharraf controversially suspended the countrys chief justice in March 2007.
Asif, by contrast, is close to Kayani, who took over from Musharraf last year and has since set about reducing the armys role in politics to focus on tackling Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants.
The MI chief is supposed to be the eyes and ears of the army chief, analysts said.
Letting the chief know about all sorts of interesting things ...
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04/03/2008 00:00 ||
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Pakistan is greatly concerned about the possibility of a terrorist organisation such as Al Qaeda regrouping within its borders.
Like any other country, we remain deeply concerned over the possibility of Al Qaeda or any other terrorist entity establishing a sanctuary or regrouping within our territory, Foreign Office (FO) spokesman Muhammad Sadiq told the media during a weekly briefing on Wednesday. He said terrorists had threatened Pakistan, prompting the country to combat the menace in its own interests.
Sadiq said CIA Director Michael Haydens statement on the presence of Al Qaeda in the border areas was nothing new, adding that the border extends over 2,000 kilometres and such statements do not help in tracing such alleged hideouts. The spokesman said Pakistan would take action against terrorists if sufficient evidence was provided.
On a change in the countrys policies towards Kashmir and Afghanistan, Sadiq said, I cannot say the policy would be changed but if it is, it would be according to the wishes of the nation and based on consensus.
He said Pakistan was in touch with the Indian government on the water issue, adding that a neutral experts decision would be implemented once India started work on the Baglihar Dam.
On the Indian National Security Advisers accusation that Pakistan was supporting violent groups in India, he said Islamabad strictly follows a policy of non-interference.
Sadiq also said that Pakistan had provided India with a full list of Indian prisoners currently in its jails and that India had done likewise. He said Pakistan had already condemned the anti-Islamic movie, Fitna, made by a Dutch lawmaker. He also said Pakistan would participate in the Beijing Olympics and the Olympic torch would arrive in Pakistan on April 16.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/03/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Pakistan 'deeply concerned' about Al Qaeda regrouping
Invite the Americans in. They'd be more than happy to help.
BAGHDAD Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker first learned of the Iraqi plan on Friday, March 21: Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki would be heading to Basra with Iraqi troops to bring order to the city.
But the Iraqi operation was not what the United States expected. Instead of methodically building up their combat power and gradually stepping up operations against renegade militias, Mr. Malikis forces lunged into the city, attacking before all of the Iraqi reinforcements had even arrived. By the following Tuesday, a major fight was on.
The sense we had was that this would be a long-term effort: increased pressure gradually squeezing the Special Groups, Mr. Crocker said in an interview, using the American term for Iranian-backed militias. That is not what kind of emerged.
Nothing was in place from our side, he added. It all had to be put together.
The Bush administration has portrayed the Iraqi offensive in Basra as a defining moment a compelling demonstration that an Iraqi government that has long been criticized for inaction has both the will and means to take on renegade militias.
The operation indicates that the Iraqi military can quickly organize and deploy forces over considerable distances. Two Iraqi C-130s and several Iraqi helicopters were also involved in the operation, an important step for a military that is still struggling to develop an air combat ability.
But interviews with a wide range of American and military officials also suggest that Mr. Maliki overestimated his militarys abilities and underestimated the scale of the resistance. The Iraqi prime minister also displayed an impulsive leadership style that did not give his forces or that of his most powerful allies, the American and British military, time to prepare.
He went in with a stick and he poked a hornets nest, and the resistance he got was a little bit more than he bargained for, said one official in the multinational force in Baghdad who requested anonymity. They went in with 70 percent of a plan. Sometimes thats enough. This time it wasnt.
As the Iraqi military and civilian casualties grew and the Iraqi planning appeared to be little more than an improvisation, the United States mounted an intensive military and political effort to try to turn around the situation, according to accounts by Mr. Crocker and several American military officials in Baghdad and Washington who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Two senior American military officers a member of the Navy Seals and a Marine major general were sent to Basra to help coordinate the Iraqi planning, the military officials said. Soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division were pressed into service as combat advisers while air controllers were positioned to call in airstrikes on behalf of beleaguered Iraqi units. American transport planes joined the Iraqis in ferrying supplies to Iraqi troops.
In Baghdad, Mr. Crocker lobbied senior officials in the Iraqi government, who complained that they had been excluded from Mr. Malikis decision-making on Basra, to back the prime ministers effort there.
I stressed the point that this was a moment of national crisis, and they had to think nationally, Mr. Crocker said. Because nobody should think that failure in Basra is going to benefit any element of the Iraqi community. The response was good. I have not found any element of the Iraqi government that will admit to being consulted.
Basra, Iraqs second-largest city, lies atop vast oil reserves and is a strategically situated port on the Shatt al-Arab waterway controlling Iraqs access to the Persian Gulf. Predominantly Shiite, it has suffered from fighting among numerous Shiite militias, tribal forces and criminal gangs struggling for control of its lucrative smuggling and oil revenues. Even some of the Iraqi police are believed to be under the influence of militia groups.
British troops, who provided the main allied military presence in the province after the 2003 invasion, withdrew from the city center last September and formally handed Basra over to Iraqi control on Dec. 16, moving to an overwatch position at the airport outside the city center.
There has been growing concern with the Iraqi government about the disorder in the city. In recent weeks, Lt. Gen. Mohan al-Fireji, a senior Iraqi commander in Basra, proposed that additional forces be sent.
Prompted by this suggestion, a detailed plan was being developed by American and Iraqi officials, which involved the establishment of combat outposts in the city and the deployment of Iraqi SWAT teams, Iraqi Special Forces and Interior Ministry units, as well as Iraqi brigades.
That plan was the subject of a March 21 evening meeting that Gen. David H. Petraeus, the senior American commander in Iraq, convened with Mowaffak al-Rubaie, Mr. Malikis national security adviser. At the end of that session, General Petraeus was asked to meet with Mr. Maliki the next morning. The prime minister, it seemed, had his own ideas on how to deal with Basra and planned to travel to the city to oversee the implementation of his plan.
Effectively, much of the city was under militia control and had been for some time, Mr. Crocker said. Maliki kept hearing this along with some pretty graphic descriptions of militia excesses and just decided, I am going to go down there and take care of this. I think for him it was a Karbala moment. Last August, Mr. Maliki rushed to Karbala after an outbreak of Shiite-on-Shiite violence, fired the police commander and oversaw the successful effort to restore order to the city.
One American intelligence officer in Washington, however, had a somewhat different interpretation of the prime ministers motivations. While restoring order was his stated goal, he asserted, the Iraqi leader was also eager to weaken the Mahdi Army and the affiliated political party of the renegade cleric Moktada al-Sadr before provincial elections in the south that are expected to be to be held this year. The Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, a Shiite political party and militia that are rivals to Mr. Sadr, his party and his militia, form a crucial part of Mr. Malikis political coalition.
When Mr. Maliki met with General Petraeus on the morning of March 22, he indicated that his goal was to take on the criminals and gang leaders in Basra, according to an account of the meeting by an American official. Mr. Maliki explained that the operation would be an Iraqi affair but that he might need air support from the Americans.
He said that he was going to meet with sheiks, religious figures and other local leaders, taking advantage of the additional leverage he hoped to gain by sending in troops, fostering economic development programs and sending teams of judges to try to punish corrupt and violent behavior.
It was a unilateral decision by Maliki, said an American official familiar with the session. It was a fait accompli.
For the Americans, the timing was not good. The American military had little interest in seeing a hastily conceived operation that might open a new front and tempt Mr. Sadr to annul his cease-fire, which had contributed to the striking reduction in attacks over the past several months. Mr. Crocker and General Petraeus were also scheduled to testify to Congress the next month on the fragile political and security gains achieved in Iraq.
According to one American official, General Petraeus conveyed the message that while the decision was in the hands of the Iraqi government, we made a lot of gains in the past six to nine months that youll be putting at risk.
But if Mr. Maliki was determined to act, General Petraeus advised him not to rush into a fight without carefully sizing up the situation and making adequate preparations, the official said. Sending a couple of brigades of the Iraqi Army, Special Forces and Interior Ministry forces was a complicated undertaking that under the best of circumstances would test the Iraqi logistical and command and control system.
The Iraqi forces started to arrive March 24. The attack into Basra began just a day later. Reports from Basra indicated that the militias were deeply entrenched. Adding to the problems, the Iraqis did not trust the British and were not including them in their planning, according to a senior American officer.
Faced with a fight that had escalated far beyond what the United States had anticipated, American commanders took several steps to support the Iraqis. Rear Adm. Edward G. Winters, a member of the Seals with experience in special operations, was sent March 25 to lead a lower-ranking American liaison team that had gone to Basra with Mr. Maliki.
Lt. Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III, the day-to-day commander of American and allied forces in Iraq, went to Basra on March 27 to survey the situation. The next day, his senior deputy, Maj. Gen. George J. Flynn, was sent to the Basra Operations Center, a command center that was supposed to oversee the military operations. General Flynn, a Marine officer, commanded a team of American planners and other personnel.
The United States also sent air controllers to call in airstrikes on behalf of Iraqi units and moved additional helicopters and drones down to Basra and nearby Tallil.
There were not enough military advisers for all the Iraqi reinforcements who were rushed south. So the United States took a company from the First Brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division. It was divided into platoons, which were augmented with Air Force controllers and assigned to help the Iraqi forces.
The United States helped the Iraqis ferry in supplies by C-130. The Iraqis, however, also began to fly in supplies and troops using their two C-130s. More than 500 Iraqi replacement soldiers were moved by air while an additional brigade was sent by ground. The Iraqis also flew Huey and Hip multimission helicopters.
Taking a page out of the American counterinsurgency doctrine, the United States encouraged the Iraqis to distribute aid and mount job programs to try to win over the Basra population.
To ease the distribution of supplies, American officials from the Agency for International Development flew with Iraqi officials to Basra to work with United Nations officials. The Americans also encouraged Mr. Maliki to proceed with his plan to seek an alliance with the Shiite tribes, as the Americans had done with Sunni tribes in the so-called Anbar Awakening.
We strongly encouraged him to use his most substantial weapon, which is money, to announce major jobs programs, Basra cleanup, whatnot, Mr. Crocker said. And to do what he decided to do on his own: pay tribal figures to effectively finance an awakening for Basra.
#1
Well, at least they knew that they couldn't do it with 70% and adjusted the plan. It does show that the Iraqi planners and military can be flexible even though they shoot off too early.
#3
Somehow I want to call bullshit. I was hearing about planning underway to refurbish the Basra ports oh, about a month ago. And those reports cited the need to go into Basra with the Iraqi Army in order to get a grip on governing the place and to kick out the crime cartels.
So the notion that this was some kind of unexpected bolt out of the blue doesn't hold water with me.
BASRA, Iraq: Several senior Iraqi officials said that the government might soon deploy Iraqi Army troops to seize control of this city's decrepit but vital port from politically connected militias known more for corruption and inciting terror than their skill in moving freight.
The officials refused to disclose many details Wednesday but appeared to suggest that this entire southern city, whose streets have been increasingly torn by violence as the militias vie for power, would be affected. No specific timetable was given for the move.
So if this was a surprise to Ambassador Crocker, then it is only because he doesn't read the freaking newspaper because everyone else on the planet knew it was coming. My guess is that the NYT is full of crap since their own newspaper, the IHT was reporting that this was going to happen weeks ago.
#5
Well, like I said. This operation had been announced weeks in advance. If they wanted in the planning, they could have been in the planning. Everyone on all sides knew this was coming. I have to believe that a good bit of the article is propaganda crap sprinkled with a bit of reality from Mr. Gordon.
#6
No doubt the operation was planned (and leaked). The op began shortly after sustained rocket/mortar attacks on the Green Zone. In hindsight that seems to have been a spoiler attack on the HQ of the Iraqi gov. Malicki seems to have taken the bait and launched before all the pieces were in place. Still, it won't change the outcome. The Iraqi gov takes control of Basra and the oil facilities and denies Sadr and other militias of their major source of revenue, therefore their influence.
Posted by: ed ||
04/03/2008 15:25 Comments ||
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The Bush administration was caught off-guard by the first Iraqi-led military offensive since the fall of Saddam Hussein , a weeklong thrust in southern Iraq whose paltry results have silenced talk at the Pentagon of further U.S. troop withdrawals any time soon. President Bush last week declared the offensive, which ended Sunday, "a defining moment" in Iraq's history.
That may prove to be true, but in recent days senior U.S. officials have backed away from the operation, which ended with Shiite militias still in place in Basra, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki possibly weakened and a de facto cease-fire brokered by an Iranian general.
"There is no empirical evidence that the Iraqi forces can stand up" on their own, a senior U.S. military official in Washington said, reflecting the frustration of some at the Pentagon.
Having Iraqi forces take a leadership role in combating militias and Islamic extremists was crucial to U.S. hopes of withdrawing more American forces in Iraq and reducing the severe strains the Iraq war has put on the Army and Marine Corps .
The supposed failure of Iraqi forces to defeat rogue fighters in Basra has some in the military fearing they can no longer predict when it might be possible to reduce the number of troops to pre-surge levels. "It's more complicated now," said one officer in Iraq whose role has been critical to American planning there.
Questions remain about how much Bush and his top aides knew in advance about the offensive and whether they encouraged Maliki to confront radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al Sadr. A senior U.S. lawmaker and four military officials said Tuesday that the Americans were aware in general terms of the coming offensive, but were surprised by the timing and by the Iraqis' almost immediate need for U.S. air support and other help.
One senior U.S. military commander in Iraq said the Iraqi government originally told the United States about a longer-term plan to rid Basra of rogue elements. But Maliki changed the timing, and the nature of the Iraqi operation changed, he said. "The planning was not done under our auspices at all," the American commander said. The plan changed because "the prime minister got impatient."
There's no evidence, however, that the U.S. tried to dissuade Maliki from executing either plan.
"My instinct is that we knew but did not anticipate" that American forces would be called on to help, said Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Biden stressed that he's still seeking information from the Bush administration on the matter. Biden, who'll hold hearings on Iraq over the next 10 days, spoke shortly before lawmakers were to be briefed on an updated, classified National Intelligence Estimate on security, political and economic trends in Iraq.
Another senior American military official in Baghdad said Maliki notified Army Gen. David Petraeus, the U.S. commander in Iraq , and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker less than two days before launching the operation. "By then it was a done deal," this official said.
The apparent misjudgment of the Iraqi security forces' capabilities and the strength of Sadr's Mahdi Army militia, as well as the revived political controversy over the war, come at an inopportune moment for the White House.
Petraeus and Crocker are due to testify to Congress next week about the strategy in Iraq now that the 30,000 troops Bush ordered there in a "surge" are being withdrawn.
In the larger sense, "this is a reminder that nothing has changed," said a senior State Department official.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/03/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Reminds me a bit of First Fallujah - bad guys were getting bloodied so a truce was reached & losing side declared winners. Substitute Mehdi's for AQ and Iraqi Force for US force. In both it was quickly obvious that crushing the bad guys would cause more collateral damage than was politically acceptable at the time. Time will tell if Second Fallujah is repeated.
#2
There are a huge number of "devils in the details" with this story. To start with, the Iraqis have no air power at all, much less the ability to deliver less destructive explosives in a populated area--so how are they expected to magically sweep away bad guys without destroying a large part of town?
Yet without these, they would have to use and risk many more infantry as well, suffering much higher casualties--against people trained by the Iranians to set up ambushes and other traps.
On top of that, who the hell in the Pentagon is speaking out of turn, calling for troop reductions against the wishes of the field commanders? It is good to shut them up under any circumstances--along with the anti-war politicians hoping to make hay by demanding faster withdrawls.
#3
i agree with much in the above comments, though Id say that the Tatertots were that well trained in urban defense, and that the IA has so few quality units that they have to hoard them as precious even in a showdown with perhaps their principle (nominal) enemy, is precisely the point, though it can be spun in either direction.
As for who in the Pentagon is speaking for withdrawl against Petraeus, I dont think its a secret that lots of folks in the Dept of the Army, both civie and brass, dont think the incremental benefits of keeping 140,000 troops in Iraq through Jan '09 (as opposed to taking out one or two brigades in or right after mid '08) are worth the continued strain on the Army (mainly on non-coms and mid ranking officers)
#4
This is the best the MSM can do to make a Tet. In the end they'll be as effective as reporting the Patriots won the Super Bowl by the close of the third quarter. Nice try. However, there are enough independent viewers who can see the whole game to report otherwise.
#5
I'm beginning to this our (also my) denotation of the Mahdi army as tatertots is becoming outdated.
Maybe the ones who did most of the fighting were, in effect, mercenaries paid by Iraqi agents of the Iranian Republican Guard (who are thus doing a type of outsourcing).
Acting in response to a direct appeal by parliamentarians from the governing Iraqi Shiite parties and the intercession of the Iranian government, firebrand Shiite cleric Muqtada al Sadr Sunday ordered his Mahdi Army militia to halt its resistance to a government offensive, leading Iraqi members of parliament said.
Sadr's Mahdi Army militia took heed of the order in Baghdad , and the Iraqi government announced it would lift the 24-hour curfew starting early Monday in most parts of the capital. But fighting continued in the oil hub of Basra, where the government offensive against Shiite militias went into its sixth day with only limited gains.
So far, 488 people were killed and more than 900 wounded in the offensive, Iraqi Interior Ministry officials said.
The backdrop to Sadr's dramatic statement was a secret trip Friday to Qom, Iran's holy city and headquarters of the dominant Iranian clergy, by parliamentarians of Iraq's governing Shiite parties.
There they held talks with Brig. Gen. Qassem Suleimani , commander of the Qods ( Jerusalem ) brigades of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps and signed an agreement with Sadr, which formed the basis of his statement Sunday, members of parliament said.
Ali al Adeeb , a member of Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki's Dawa party, and Hadi al Ameri , the head of the Badr Organization and once the military wing of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq had two aims, lawmakers said: to ask Sadr to stand down his militia and to ask Iranian officials to stop supplying weapons to Shiite militants in Iraq .
"The statement issued today by ( Muqtada al Sadr ) is a result of the meetings," said Jalal al-Din al Saghir , a leading member of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq . "The government didn't have any disagreement with the Sadrists when it went to the city of Basra. The Sadrist movement is the one that chose to face the government."
"We asked Iranian officials to help us convince him that we were not cracking down on the Sadr group," said an Iraqi official, who asked for anonymity due to the sensitivity of the subject.
He described the talks as successful but said hard-line Sadrists could goad the government into over-reacting and convince Sadr that the true aim of the Iraqi Security Forces is to destroy the Sadrists.
"I will not be surprised if the whole thing collapses," he said.
In addition to Sadr, who is in Qom pursuing religious studies, Iraqi lawmakers met Suleimani, said Osama al Nejafi , a legislator on the parliamentary committee formed to solve the Basra crisis.
"An agreement was signed," Nejafi said, referring to Sadr. " Iran was part of the problem and an effective part of the negotiations."
Sadr issued a nine-point statement Sunday saying he would renounce anyone who carried arms against the government and government forces. The statement also asked the government to halt all raids against the Mahdi army, end detentions of militia members who had not been charged and implement the general amnesty law.
To preserve the "unity" of Iraq Sadr called for an end to "all armed manifestations in Basra and in all provinces."
The Qom discussions may or may not bring an end to the fighting but they almost certainly have undermined Maliki - who made repeated declarations that there would be no negotiations and that he would treat as outlaws those who did not turn in their weapons for cash. The blow to his own credibility was worsened by the fact that members of his own party had helped organize the Iran initiative.
"The delegation was from the United Iraqi Alliance (dominated by the Dawa party and the Supreme Council of Iraq ), and the Prime Minister was only informed. It was a political maneuver by us," said Haider al Abadi , a legislator from Maliki's Dawa party. "We had evidence (that Muqtada and Iranian-backed militants were fighting security forces) and we sent people urgently...If we had been waiting for one year in Baghdad we wouldn't have had this result." The delegation is expected to return to Iraq Monday.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/03/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
"Yo, Mucky! You're gettin' your ass handed to ya!"
A top Palestinian official and negotiator called for a halt to peace negotiations after Israel decided to vigorously increase settlement activity in the West Bank.
They could do that rant by rote ...
The statement was given by Yasser Abed Rabbo, a politician and member of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) executive committee in an interview with official radio station Voice of Palestine on Thursday.
Yassholes are all the same, aren't they ...
On Wednesday, Israel's housing ministry announced they are planning to build 1,400 housing units, hours after US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice finished her trip to the region to advance peace talks.
Settlements, considered by some to be illegal under international law, are a major source of friction between Israelis and Palestinians. "We cannot continue negotiations and have a political process under deception and a US administration unwilling to do anything about it," he said.
The announcement by Rabbo comes four days after Israeli organisation Peace Now said that settlement construction had increased in the Palestinian territories.
#2
What will they do if they don't get their way -- Start getting violent or something?? Ha ha! [sarc]I'm sure Israel is really impressed with the threat.[/sarc]
Hamas supports the united Palestinian position calling for the establishment of a fully sovereign Palestinian state within the 1967 borders, including Jerusalem, and the right of return for refugees, Hamas politburo chief Khaled Meshal told the Palestinian daily Al-Ayam.
Same-old, same-old ...
In a special interview with Wednesday's edition of the paper, Meshal said the Palestinian position had received a vote of consensus during the national accords of 2006 and that this position is considered acceptable to the Arab world at large.
Meshal was asked about the claims by Israel and the United States that Hamas is seeking to destroy Israel. He said Hamas has committed itself to a political plan, which it follows, and called on the Americans, the Europeans and other international entities to conduct themselves in accordance with this political truth, and to judge Hamas based on its political plan, not based on what people may imagine.
"I laugh haw haw! since they do not know Hamas or its decision-making processes," he said.
Meshal was also asked about Israel's claims that he is no longer in charge of Hamas and that he lost control to Ahmed al-Ja'abari, the head of the group's military wing in the Gaza Strip. Meshal responded by saying Israel's views are like the stock market: sometimes Khaled Meshal is responsible for Hamas and sometimes he has lost control. "I laugh, since they do not know Hamas or its decision-making processes," he said.
The Hamas leader also said there had been several Israeli attempts to contact him, but he turned them down.
He explained in the interview that Hamas is interested in a tahadiyeh, a complete cease-fire in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, but that Israel is willing to agree to such a deal only in the Strip. He said secret contacts are underway with the Europeans, but that the Americans are applying pressure in an effort to keep these contacts from broadening.
Regarding the prisoner exchange deal for captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, Meshal said that it is not linked to the tahadiyeh but that negotiations are not progressing at this point. He said the Egyptians are still mediating, but that some Europeans are contributing as well, and the Egyptians know about it.
Meshal said Israel continues to refuse to release prisoners who have been sentenced to life terms, even though it changed its criteria for releasing prisoners.
Two months ago, Meshal said, an agreement was reached with Egypt for the initial release of some 350 prisoners in exchange for the transfer of Gilad Shalit to the Egyptians; then, 100 more prisoners would be released, when Shalit reached Israel. During the second stage of the deal, another 550 prisoners would be released.
Meshal said he was surprised that Israel rejected most of the names on the Hamas list of prisoners, and confirmed that Hamas had included Marwan Barghouti on its list.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/03/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Nobody seems to acknowledge that failure should have a price: lose a war, get your land back; make mortgage loans to poor risks, get bailed out; borrow to buy a house you can't afford, get to keep the house anyway; fail your school exams, get 'curved up' to pass; etc.
Subsidize what you want more of and tax what you want less of - I guess we want more wars and more welfare (corporate and individual) and less productivity and investment.
#2
A fully sovereign Palestinian state can be had but NOT within Israel's borders. As for Jerusalem and the right of return, maybe they should clarify immigation policy so they don't have the same mess anchor babies cause. You can return to Israel, and Jerusalem, only if you were born there after '67, but must agree to live side-by-side as an Arab-Israeli, as Israel will not relinquish its sovereignty, either. If you were born in the camps in Lebanon, Jordan, Syria or elsewhere, than a sovereign Palestinian homeland carved out of Arab lands can be had, if the Muslims want to work and build it themselves. These endless unreasonable demands are getting mighty annoying. A complete ceasefire in the West Bank and Gaza by removing all Hamas and like-minded Palestinians should maybe be permanently arranged, with deniability, of course.
#3
In 1967 there was no Palestine. The territory was occupied and controlled by other Arab/Egyptian sovereign states who were not interested in giving it up less so than the contemporary Israelis. They only acknowledged the existence of any entity of Palestine after they knew they weren't getting it back. Selling something they didn't own. It's like Mexico trading New Mexico, Arizona and California to Russia today.
Indonesia has asked Internet providers to block access to the YouTube website for carrying an anti-Islamic film produced by a right-wing Dutch lawmaker, an official said on Wednesday.
Indonesia has banned broadcasts of the film Fitna produced by Geert Wilders, leader of the Dutch anti-immigration Freedom Party, and radical Muslims called for the lawmaker's death during protests outside the Dutch embassy in Jakarta this week.
Indonesia's Information Minister Muhammad Nuh has written to the video-sharing website YouTube asking it to remove the film, said Cahyana Ahmadjayadi, the ministry's director general for information technology.
However, users subscribing to an Internet service provided by the country's largest telecom company, PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia, said they could still access YouTube. Metro TV showed dozens of students burning tyres and pushing against the gate of the Dutch consulate in Medan, prompting police to hold protesters back.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/03/2008 00:00 ||
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Hezbollah may try to carry out an attack in the North with the help of another paramilitary organization, which can provide it with deniability, intelligence officers told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense committee yesterday (Tuesday).
That'd be PFLP-GC or maybe Fatah al-Islam.
"We clearly identify a great deal of activity among Hezbollah," the intelligence officers said. "It is growing stronger on all levels, improving its systems, its units and is receiving a great deal of weapons and missiles for medium and long distances. Hezbollah is readying itself for an escalation that may break out in the North as a result of an operation against Israel. We are not discounting any possibility - there are assessments that they may carry out an operation in the North through another organization," the officers told the MKs.
Responding to a question on the presence of long-range missiles in the Hezbollah arsenal south of the Litani river, the intelligence officers said that "Hezbollah is operating in southern Lebanon, mostly in the villages, in secret and in civilian garb."
Yesterday, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and deputy Chief of Staff Dan Harel visited the northern border, accompanied by GOC Northern Command, Major General Gadi Eisenkut. "We are looking at this calm and quiet view, but we know that underground there is a great deal of activity," Barak said ysterday.
Echoing the intelligence analysis he said that "Hezbollah is growing more powerful, but so are we and we are following developments. Meanwhile, Hezbollah is deterred but we are on guard, there is daily activity of combat troops and we are learning the lessons of the last war. Israel is the strongest country in the region, and I would not recommend that any one from the other side of the border test us."
Posted by: Fred ||
04/03/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
All this time I thought it was Hizb'allah that was the third party.
Iran has set up sophisticated listening stations in Syria in recent months to intercept Israeli military communications, Israeli security officials said Tuesday. The officials offered no details on how many stations had been set up.
Military officials said the listening stations received information through powerful antennas able to pick up communications from a distance of hundreds of kilometers. The antennas are receivers and do not transmit signals, so they cannot be blocked.
The distance between Jerusalem and Syria's capital, Damascus, is 220 kilometers (135 miles). Israel is taking new precautions because of the listening stations, the officials said.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/03/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
NET > Interesting - IRAN is also allegedly lsitening in on International diplom communications as per NORTH KOREA-TAIWAN ISSUES???
#2
"We know you're listening. So, you can stop listening to all that disinformation we're sending your way..."
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
04/03/2008 7:39 Comments ||
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#3
Pay no attention to M. Murcek. He is just kidding. Really! And if push comes to shove, we promise not to jam your receivers. No, really! Besides, like the article says, the antennas don't transmit signals so they can't be blocked. Ask any journalist or 3rd grade science student if you don't believe us.
AL-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden is "healthy and well", the network's number two leader Ayman al-Zawahiri said today in an audio message, according to a US group monitoring Islamist websites.
"Sheikh Osama bin Laden is healthy and well by the grace of Allah," Zawahiri said in the audio released by al-Qaeda's media arm, As-Sahab, according to a transcript provided by IntelCentre. The health of al-Qaeda's elusive leader, who is believed to be hiding somewhere in the porous border region of Afghanistan and Pakistan, is the subject of widespread speculation. Bin Laden has claimed responsibility for the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, which killed nearly 3000 people and prompted the US-led invasion of Afghanistan.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/03/2008 00:00 ||
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#2
See also TOPIX/OTHER > AL QAEDA NO.2 THREATENS UN, US, ISRAEL AND PALESTINE.
At this point, it strongly appears that Osama's, etc. new strategy is to hold and lock ISRAEL + ME/ASIA MINOR REGION, while doing an end run behind EGYPT into NORTH-CENTRAL AFRICA [oil] + TOWARDS RUSSIA, FORMER SSRS, + possib even CHINA.
WHITNEY "Good Girl Trying to Be Bad" HUSTON's on a roll, definitely bein' bad - MEANWHILE, MADONNA WANTS TO EXPLORE HER FEMININE SIDE???
#8
No video because he has had plastic surgery and now works as a 'double' for Grace Jones.
heh, you're on to somethin somethin Menhadden Snogum6713..
She's a Tranny now who calls 'her'self..
Grace Jones bin Ladin.
And she's workin the Ho-Stro in Karachi!
#11
Jeebus, mhw, I wouldn't wish that on bin Laden himself.
*snicker*
Posted by: BA ||
04/03/2008 13:45 Comments ||
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#12
I'd be surprised if OBL is alive. His last message was an audio message only. There is no way to date stamp it. Next they will be going into syndication and showing us re-runs. However, in the remote circumstance that he might be alive, we need to grease his $limy arse--as long as it takes. We owe him a fitting death.
#13
Al Queda usually admits when someone is dead and I find it hard to believe the other Al Queda guys wouldn't jump at being the next leader if given the chance.
My guess is he's mutilated and the site of him would scare the jihadis. Some things are worse than death and virgins.
#16
Wasn't there a "recent" audio tape of him ranting about the big-Mo cartoon boondogle? I mean, that was a fairly recent event right?
Personally, I think he's brain matter on a Tora-Bora cave, but maybe that's blind hope.
Posted by: BA ||
04/03/2008 20:43 Comments ||
Top||
#17
There was a video released a few months ago and the video talked about old stuff at the beginning and end and sort of had a freeze frame in the middle with new info. It was very suspicious. As if they added new audio to an old video to placate the somewhat dim jihadis.
Funny thing is a lot of westerners didn't notice at first because we were reading the subtitles. Some blogger picked it up and the video disappeared in the media black hole.
This leads me to belive that Al Queda realizes they have a bit of a problem with him not appearing on video but they don't really have a good solution.
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