"Hannibal's war", as diplomats call it, has been taking its toll on the land of Heidi: in the past year Libya has cut back oil supplies to the Swiss and withdrawn more than pound stg. 4.3 billion ($8.5bn) from their banks. Gaddafi has also severed air links with Switzerland, and several Swiss companies in Libya have been forced to close shop.
No match for an Arab nationalist leader used to life in the trenches, the Swiss have run up the white flag, offering talks.
Gaddafi, though, is not yet ready to forgive: his prime minister recently refused to meet the new Swiss charge d'affaires in Tripoli. Two Swiss businessmen are being held as virtual hostages by Gaddafi. "They are forbidden from leaving the country and are being held against their will," said Jean-Philippe Jutzi, a Swiss Foreign Ministry spokesman.
The trouble began when 33-year-old Hannibal and his wife, Aline, a former model, were arrested at a Geneva hotel and charged with assaulting their servants. One of them, a 35-year-old Tunisian identified only as Mona, said Aline had often hit her and threatened to throw her out of the window.
Hannibal and his wife, who was heavily pregnant at the time, were soon released and Geneva's prosecutor dropped the case when the plaintiffs withdrew their complaint after an undisclosed settlement.
Even so, Gaddafi, who has ruled Libya as a dictator for the past 40 years, was furious, particularly when he heard an account of what had happened from Aisha, his favourite daughter. According to a witness close to the Gaddafi clan, she told him Hannibal and Aline had been treated "like terrorists" and were held in a prison "worse than Abu Ghraib". "Honour must be saved," Gaddafi told his daughter.
It is just as well that Libya has renounced its bid to acquire nuclear weapons. "If I had an atomic bomb I would wipe Switzerland off the map," Hannibal is reported to have remarked afterwards. Gaddafi still has the nuclear know-how.
The equipment he surrendered he can re-buy.
The POTUS is a "friend of a friend" (Wright/Farrakan), not to be feared.
He fell for Bush's bluff, and he's furious.
The "international community" doesn't issue a peep of protest as he is openly taking hostages.
I don't think this is going to end well.
#1
Taking on the Swiss is like beating up the little fat kid. Muzzies around the world should be proud of their lion Gaddafi! But then I guess beating sevants and threatening them with death is ok in Libya!
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
08/18/2009 11:07 Comments ||
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#2
Gaddafi's son doesn't fall too far from the tree--both spoiled and rotten fruit.
#4
This is maddening. No, really, this drives me crazy... let's all keep that in mind whenever PC enforcers bring neocolonialism... who's the "neocolonialist", here?
Not to mention the very successful hostage trading with the bulgarian nurses... hey, if lybia can get away with no blame at all for having them raped by dogs, why should they stop playing the Guantanamo or abu ghraib card??? After all, their Honor™ is at stake.
All this from a tinpot dictator, an inbred crackpot, from a sh*thole of a country that DOES NOT produce anything of any value, past the devil's excrement whitey has found, made useful and then exploited, before the natives applied their Legitimate Right™ to steal it... and couldn't fight back even today's italian army if Italy wished to recolonize the country...
Please, compare this... place to Switzerland, in terms of the human quality (work, organization, civil mindedness,...) of the respective population... or even, from a "manly" perspective (hey, we're dealing with arabo-muslims, here, "manliness" is very dear to those insecure, aggressive types), think of the respective military prowess, now and then, of the two, lybia and Switzerland...
Add that kadaffy is in a permanent blackmail mode against Europe, through immigration, and that he gloats publicly at the upcoming islamization of Europe and the conquest of Rome.
Such a lovely lad. Wasn't he dying of some kind of cancer? Dang.
SWITZERLAND maintained the option to develop its own nuclear weapons until 1988, according to a detailed account released by the Swiss government. The country's atomic bomb programme, which ran for 43 years, included a secret stockpile of uranium, an attempt to buy weapons-grade plutonium and plans for 400 nuclear warheads.
Posted by: john frum ||
08/18/2009 12:13 Comments ||
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#7
It would take more than one atomic bomb to wipe Switzerland off the map. I estimate only one such bomb would render Libya irrelevant to the rest of the world for a few centuries.
#8
Granted Libya is a bizarre tinpot dictatorship, a basketcase, a joke ruled by a family of jokers.
Still, the Gaddafi family is showing blatant disrespect for the strategic space that is Western Europe, a disconcerting fearlessness that implies that for them, western deterrence is non-existent.
Mercy and restraint in the post 9/11 wars on Afghanistan and Iraq may or may not have been a good response to the conditions over there, but the absence of a decisive victory over Afghanistan and Iraq, seems to have emboldened thugs any tyrants in the Arab-Islamic world (and elsewhere).
The fundamental question is still unanswered:
Is a mass-fatality attack on the West, a WMD attack on the West, a deadly mistake or a winning move?
Switzerland btw is neutral but very small, a nuclear attack on Swiss population centers centers would have direct catastrophic consequences for France, Germany and Italy.
A nuclear strike on Basel for example would kill thousands (maybe tens of thousands) of Germans in Germany and French in France. So Gaddafi is threatening NATO here, with impunity.
#10
were held in a prison "worse than Abu Ghraib".
O' the humanity! How dare they hold Libyans in anything less than a 5 star prison.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
08/18/2009 15:15 Comments ||
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#11
Gaddafi Son: Swiss King: "If I had an atomic bomb a Q ship I would wipe Switzerland Lybia off the map"
Posted by: Mike N. ||
08/18/2009 15:25 Comments ||
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#12
Okay, from the above, Libya is holding on to two swiss citizens. And is making faces.
We arent going to do anything unless the Swiss ask. They haven't. Cause, I suppose, to ask the US, or even UK or France or Germany to help, would be to violate their precious neutrality.
Swiss dont themselves have the power projection to do anything.
So they will bargain. Its not like they have some kind of global clout to lose.
So, bottom line, Libya is still creepy, and the Swiss are constrained by neutrality.
Nothing to see, move along.
Posted by: liberal hawk ||
08/18/2009 15:32 Comments ||
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#13
"If I had an atomic bomb I would wipe Switzerland off the map," Hannibal is reported to have remarked afterwards.
Uh, dude, that won't be good for your Swiss bank account.
Posted by: Mike ||
08/18/2009 16:00 Comments ||
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#14
also, how islamic can a dude be with a pagan name like Hannibal? (Grace (chen, hebrew/canaanite/punic) of Baal)
Posted by: liberal hawk ||
08/18/2009 16:32 Comments ||
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#15
Neutrality is a joke and a word filled with lies. The Swiss claim this when it fits their rotted minds and we turn a blind eye in some lost honor. This is all crap. The Swiss are really cowards of epic status. They stood by and took the German loot and watched the horrors of WWII. They derived profit from the death of 6 million Jews! The only thing neutral was they refused to help their fellow man. This is akin to standing in an alley and watching a woman getting raped and holding the rapist's wallet for him. Now they are happy to take cash from the latest murderers and rapists, this time from the Arab world. They still claim they are neutral yet they allow these people in their country, they allow them to harm domestic help, they then do nothing when their own people are abused abroad, as far as I'm concerned there is nothing neutral about them, they are the world's cowards and pasifists at best.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
08/18/2009 17:11 Comments ||
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#16
The Swiss should bankroll and Egyptian conquest of Libya. It would give Egypt oil and most nations probably wouldn't be all that sad over the loss of Libya as long as it came at the hands of another Muslim nation.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak opened talks here Monday as pressure builds on the U.S. administration to launch a new peace push to break a deadlock between Israel and Arab countries.
Mubarak started talks with Jewish leaders and was later to meet with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. On Tuesday, Mubarak -- who had tense ties with President George W. Bush -- holds his first White House summit in five years.
President Barack Obama has shown new deference to the octogenarian Egyptian leader, with his administration saying it wanted to consult with him before launching any major new initiative in the Middle East.
But U.S. hopes to push forward the peace plan before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan starts later this week look increasingly slim as Israel and Arab states both insist that the other make the first move.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
First surrender. Then we'll kill you. That's normal for us.
[Bangla Daily Star] About six months after the Pilkhana massacre on February 25-26, the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) chief yesterday for the first time hinted that the country's foreign enemies benefited from the carnage.
Without naming any such enemies, BDR Director General Maj Gen Md Mainul Islam yesterday at his Darbar said, "Definitely the people who started the mutiny have done it for their benefit. BDR has not gained anything; whatever has happened has been a loss. This must have benefited someone. Our enemies have benefited."
"It has to be remembered that Bangladesh is not free from enemies in the international arena. Bangladesh's enemies definitely exist. When Bangladesh's people thought of autonomy by casting vote, Pakistan's occupying forces attacked us. Therefore, there are still many people against us," said Mainul.
Yesterday's BDR Darbar held at the Darbar Hall of the force's headquarters in Pilkhana was the first such conference after the bloody mutiny in February, which started from a Darbar at the same place.
The mutiny left 74 people, including 57 top- and mid-ranking army officers including the then DG, killed.
BDR officials said in the history of BDR this is the first time journalists were allowed inside the Darbar Hall during a BDR Darbar.
Explaining the unprecedented presence of journalists in the Darbar Hall, the BDR DG told The Daily Star, "After the mutiny people have become curious about BDR and how it functions and the media have been called in to satisfy their curiosity and to get people more involved in the functioning of BDR."
After the Darbar, the DG met journalists briefly to speak about the programme.
When journalists asked whether foreign enemies were involved in the mutiny, he said, "Under the current global geo-political situation, there exists a power of some sort against each country. I am not saying anything about foreign nationals or people of our own country [were involved in the mutiny].
"There must be someone working against the sovereignty of the country. Someone must be working against us somehow. That is why soldiers said in Darbar that BDR has not gained anything, so I said surely the enemy of the country has been benefited from the carnage. But I cannot say now the names of the enemies, as I do not know the names. But we certainly have enemies," Gen Mainul said.
Keeping in mind the horror of the mutiny at the Darbar Hall in February, BDR authorities yesterday took huge precautionary measures to ensure security.
Sources said around 2,500 BDR soldiers attended the Darbar and the same number of people from the army, Rab and police were deployed to ensure security in every places there including the main entrances, the arsenal and the kote (ammunition depot).
Emphasising the need for ensuring fair trials for the crimes committed during the mutiny, Gen Mainul told the Darbar, "It is everyone's duty to provide facts about the mutiny if we expect justice."
He asked BDR soldiers at Darbar, "You will give the right information about the mutiny with one hand and receive justice with the other."
Gen Mainul repeatedly said there would be very little possibility of getting justice if BDR personnel do not provide the correct information about the massacre.
Many among the soldiers who attended yesterday's Darbar were also present at the last Darbar in February.
Gen Mainul expressed his disappointment over the lies some soldiers told about the carnage.
Citing an example he said 50 soldiers claimed separately that they took shelter in a bathroom in Pilkhana during the period from February 25 afternoon to February 26 but the bathroom only has room for seven people at best.
When The Daily Star asked the DG whether they are facing any large obstacles in getting information and evidence, he said, "We have information and evidence and the CID has got plenty of information and evidence but what we want is spontaneous flow of information."
The BDR DG also said he had observed many of the soldiers prefer to keep quiet when they go on leave or speak to people over phone following the advice of their "well-wishers".
"I would like to tell you clearly that it would be entirely impossible to ensure justice if you hide information whether it is for yourself or for others," said the DG.
He told soldiers, "Leave the friends of outside [people who do not belong to the force] and accept the friends from the inside [people in the force]."
When the soldiers told the DG that they have confidence in him, the DG said, "Take me with you if you have confidence in me, I am with you too, we must ensure justice together."
Forty minutes into his speech the DG asked journalists to leave the Darbar Hall as he wanted to speak to the soldiers in private about the flow of the information regarding the carnage.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2009 00:00 ||
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[Kyodo: Korea] North Korea and South Korea's Hyundai Group have agreed on a set of measures aimed at improving bilateral ties including resumption of inter-Korean tourism projects and a reunion of separated families from the North and the South, the North's state media said Monday.
The agreement was announced in a joint press release between the Hyundai Group and North Korea's Korea Asia-Pacific Peace Committee, which handles inter-Korean business ties, that was made public Monday, a day after North Korean leader Kim Jong Il met with Hyundai chairwoman Hyun Jung Eun in Pyongyang, according to the Korean Central News Agency.
In Seoul, Unification Ministry spokesman Chun Hae Sung said the agreement is ''positive'' but needs official approval for the agreement to be implemented.
''The government positively views Hyundai Group's joint statement with North Korea, but it is at the non-governmental level,'' Chun told a press briefing.
''The governments of South and North Korea need to work out a concrete agreement through dialogue for this agreement to be realized,'' Chun said.
The measures, if implemented, would mark the transition of inter-Korean relations, which have soured since South Korean President Lee Myung Bak took office in February last year, to a recovery phase. The measures still need to be approved by the South Korean government.
Through resumption of bilateral economic cooperation projects, it is believed that North Korea will urge Lee to alter his hard-line policy toward North Korea and show the United States that Pyongyang has moved to improve relations with the South, which former U.S. President Bill Clinton requested during talks with Kim earlier this month in a surprise visit to Pyongyang.
''Both sides expressed will to improve the North-South relations and further develop cooperation for the common prosperity of the nation under the historic June 15 joint declaration (of 2000) and the October 4 declaration (of 2007),'' the press release said, in yet another sign of rapprochement with the outside world.
According to the release, the two sides agreed to resume the suspended tourism of the North's Mt. Kumgang resort and also of the North's border town of Kaesong soon.
It was also decided to hold a reunion of separated families and relatives from the North and the South in Mt. Kumgang on Oct. 3 this year. The reunion project has been suspended since October 2007.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Quick make sure more hostages ar availible anytime we need some.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
08/18/2009 12:17 Comments ||
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[Kyodo: Korea] China"s top nuclear envoy is expected to head to North Korea later Monday as part of Beijing"s efforts to restart stalled six-way talks on the North"s denuclearization, Yonhap News Agency reported Monday, quoting a diplomatic source. ""Chances are high that Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei will fly into Pyongyang on an Air China flight that departs (Beijing) at 5:20 p.m.,"" the source was quoted as saying.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Just don't take the train. They never come back.
[Kyodo: Korea] The top command of North Korea"s Korean People"s Army ordered all nationals and military forces Monday to be on ""special alert"" over a joint U.S.-South Korean military drill that began the same day, the official Korean Central News Agency said. The order from the Supreme Command, whose supreme commander is North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, suggests an unusually tough stance on the Ulji Freedom Guardian joint military exercises, which run through Aug. 27.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Hey, they must have phoney baloney jobs to protect, too!
A VIDEO featuring Osama Bin Laden has been shown to the court during a pre-sentence hearing for Melbourne terrorist Shane Kent.
Mr Kent, 32, has pleaded guilty to one count of intentionally being a member of a terrorist organisation between July 2004 and November 2005. The former forklift driver from Campbellfield has also pleaded guilty to one count of making a document connected with the preparation of a terrorist act.
Prosecutor Lesley Taylor told the court Kent helped make the propaganda video designed to encourage others to carry out a terrorist act. Ms Taylor played the video to the court which featured video footage of Bin Laden and a voiceover of Arabic words with a calming water background noise.
Tributes to more than a dozen Islamic 'martyrs' also featured, including one image of a young man's head after he had been killed.
"The Crown says this is an unapologetic video in the cause of violent jihad," Ms Taylor said.
Kent's lawyer John O'Sullivan said his client was a "could've been" terrorist who made excuses when asked to meet with other members of the group. "Essentially he is a barracker," he said.
The pre-sentence hearing before Supreme Court Justice Bernard Bongiorno is continuing.
Three former CIA directors have privately told their successor he had his facts wrong when he revealed an illegal assassination program, reports Joseph Finder, and his spies will suffer for it.
CIA Director Leon Panetta stunned Washington earlier this summer by disclosing, in an emergency closed-door briefing to Congress, that for the last eight years, the agency he now runs illegally concealed a secret terrorist-assassination program. The reaction was predictably explosive. The House intelligence-oversight committee launched a major investigation. Here was official confirmation, from the very top, that the CIA in the Bush years had been flagrantly and systematically violating the National Security Act of 1947.
But according to a half-dozen sources, including several very senior, recently retired CIA officials, clandestine-service officers, and Cabinet-level officials from the Bush administration, the real story is at once more innocent--Panetta was mistaken; no law was broken--and far more troubling: an inexperienced CIA director, unfamiliar with how his vast, complicated agency works, unable to trust senior officials within his own agency, and desperate to keep his hands clean, screwed up. Absolutely in-f*cking-credible. Panetta must go. Now. What good would that do?
#3
Let's see if he does the honorable thing and falls on his sword.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
08/18/2009 10:34 Comments ||
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#4
#3 Let's see if he does the honorable thing and falls on his sword.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon
he's a Democrat. Don't hold your breath
Posted by: Frank G on the road ||
08/18/2009 10:36 Comments ||
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#5
Panetta is not the problem.
Oh, he's a political operative who doesn't know much at all about intel or how one gathers and uses intel, and he doesn't know much about covert operations, and he certainly isn't a man of principle who would stand up for his agency and his people.
But he's not the problem, and firing him doesn't solve anything.
CIA is broken and broken badly. It had a purpose at one time. It did that job, and part of its success is that we'll never know how it did its job. It has also missed lots of opportunities to advance our interests and has badly missed on important events in the world.
Like other government institutions that don't work, it was formed in a different time for a different purpose, and now exists mainly to ensure that it continues to exist. That in turn leads to current stupidities and political chicanery.
A courageous president and a Congress with insight and fortitude would ask a simple question: "what kind of intelligence agency do we need today?"
They would then scrap CIA, keep the parts that are still useful, and build a new intel agency. That's not going to happen, and that's why firing Panetta doesn't solve anything.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/18/2009 10:48 Comments ||
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#6
Waiting for a MSM outlet to pick this up.
Waiting.....waiting...... waiting......
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
08/18/2009 10:48 Comments ||
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#7
A courageous president and a Congress with insight and fortitude would ask a simple question: "what kind of intelligence agency do we need today?"
Just what we really need and don't have. Also, the same question needs to be adapted for our financial disaster: "What kind of regulatory practices do we need today?"
Instead, our whatever-he-is President and our Congress with whatever-qualities persist in doing more and more of what we don't need.
#9
Importantly, the CIA's problems have the same origins as the problems that MI6 experienced, from "Honorable Schoolboys". MI6 recruited classmates from Cambridge, the CIA upper management from Yale, and because of their school associations, they ignored trespasses that turned out to be critical.
The Cambridge boys brought in several who were spies for the Russians, and the Elis (Yale) brought in individuals who were so personally ambitious, that they saw their jobs as mere stepping stones.
This problem is so widespread among Ivy League graduates, that they are sometimes referred to as "corporate cancer", each one acting like a metastasized cancer cell, loyal not to their employer, but to their classmates, and filled with ruthless ambition of self promotion at the expense of whoever hires them.
Taking over all the upper level management jobs at CIA, they then won't let anyone else in, and stop dead all efforts at reform or efficiency.
#11
They would then scrap CIA, keep the parts that are still useful, and build a new intel agency
Fixed it for you. During the Cold War the CIA's primary mission was monitoring the Soviet Union and it's satellites. Despite spending billions the fall of the Berlin Wall and collapse of the Soviet Union took them by surprise.
The CIA failed to warn us of the fall of the Shah in Iran, nuclear development in Pakistan, lack of WMD's in Iraq, and the 9/11 attacks. All told, a long expensive record of failure. About the only thing that the agency has excelled at is leaking information to the NY Times.
I don't expect Obama to do anything to 'fix' the CIA. I doubt that his administration is capable of that. But when a competent administration takes office, the CIA needs to be scrapped and restarted from square one.
A man who helped a prison-based Islamic militant group to plot against the U.S. government was sentenced Monday to 70 months in federal prison, prosecutors said. Hammad Samana was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana, said U.S. attorney's office spokesman Thom Mrozek.
Samana was the last of the four members of the group, Jam'iyyat Ul-Islam Is-Saheeh, or JIS, to be sentenced, and was a "lesser character" in the plot to target Israel supporters, Mrozek said. Federal prosecutors alleged that Samana researched targets and prepared a document called "Modes of Attack" that listed targets such as Los Angeles International Airport, Army recruiting stations, a military base and other targets. Synagogues and the Israeli Consulate also were to be targeted by remotely activated bombs.
Prosecutors said that in 1997, Kevin James founded JIS while serving time in California's Folsom prison. In 2004, he recruited a fellow prisoner, Levar Washington, 30, of Torrance, who upon his parole recruited two other men, Gregory Patterson and Samana of Inglewood. Washington and Patterson later robbed 11 gas stations in Los Angeles and Orange counties in May and July of 2005 to raise money for planned attacks, prosecutors said. Documents were later found in their South Los Angeles apartment that discussed terrorist attacks, authorities said. They included a statement authored by James that was to be given to the media after an attack that warned "since Muslims" to avoid "Jewish and non-Jewish supporters of an Israeli state," the U.S. attorney's office said. None of the planned attacks ever took place.
Washington was sentenced in 2007 to 22 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to conspiring to levy war against the United States and using a firearm to further a crime of violence. Last year, he was sentenced to an additional 22 years in state prison on state charges for robbing a gas station. Patterson, a former California State University, Northridge, student, was sentenced last year to 12 years and seven months in prison after pleading guilty to the same charges.
[Geo News] Reacting to the reported remarks by the Indian Prime Minister, Pakistan on Monday reiterated its readiness to fully cooperate with India in preempting any act of terror, and asked India to share information that they have.
"So we can let the perpetrators know you're waiting for them."
"We have noted the reported comments made by the Prime Minister of India today in which he expressed apprehensions about terrorist attacks being planned in Pakistan against India."
"We have noted the reported comments made by the Prime Minister of India today in which he expressed apprehensions about terrorist attacks being planned in Pakistan against India," Pakistan's Foreign Office said. "The Deputy High Commissioner of India was called to the Foreign Office by Director General (South Asia) today", Foreign Office Spokesman Abdul Basit said in a statement issued here.
According to the statement, the Deputy High Commissioner of India was conveyed the following.
The Indian Prime Minister's remarks warrant serious and prompt attention. The Government of Pakistan would like to extend its fullest cooperation to pre-empt any act of terror. Terrorism is a common enemy. Pakistan has itself been a victim of terrorism.
At Sharm El Sheikh, both sides had agreed that the "two countries will share real time, credible and actionable information on any future terrorist threats." In all sincerity, we would request India to share information that they have and for our part we stand ready to cooperate fully in pre-empting any act of terror.
Terrorism can only be combated by serious, sustained and pragmatic cooperation. We wish to renew our offer of cooperation to India in this regard, the statement said.
*rolls eyes*
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2009 00:00 ||
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[Geo News] Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani Monday once again called upon the US to provide drone technology to Pakistan and demanded an end to the predator strikes within its territory.
US special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke met with the Prime Minister here at PM house where Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Interior Minister Rehman Malik, State Minister for Finance Hina Rabbani Khar, US ambassador Ann W Patterson and other officials were also present.
The Prime Minister was of the view that drone attacks are a cause of concern for Pakistan as it is difficult to identify the terrorists present among the civilians.
He argued that the US should provide the drone technology to Pakistan so that its own army can take action against the militants.
The ongoing army operation in Swat has the backing of the parliament, political, and religious leadership and civil society besides the media.
The Prime Minister appreciated the formation of task force by US president Barack Obama for helping Pakistan overcome its energy crisis.
Richard Holbrooke on the occasion said he is impressed with the success of military operation in Malakand and paid tributes to the armed forces.
He assured that US will provide full assistance to Pakistan for rehabilitation of the IDPs.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
These are not the drones you are looking for.
Posted by: ed ||
08/18/2009 0:52 Comments ||
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#4
Is there a user guide from Radio Shack we can give them?
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
08/18/2009 11:13 Comments ||
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#5
Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani Monday once again called upon the US to provide drone technology to Pakistan and demanded an end to the predator strikes within its territory.
And a millyum dollars, and, and, and a PONY
and hurry it up.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
08/18/2009 12:32 Comments ||
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#6
Here's some drones we could send them: Leon Panetta, Larry Summers & Tim Geithner. But they would probably consider that an act of war.
[Geo News] Eighty-seven percent Pakistani citizens are not in favour of suicide attacks, reports a US survey. That means fully one out of six are...
According to Washington's Pure [Pew?] Research Centre, only 5 percent of Muslims support attacks carried out on religious ground. So among Moose limbs in general it's one out of twenty, but when you get to Pakistain there are three times as many who're happy with guts on a windshield...
Ick. Guts are much worse to clean off than squashed bugs.
The number of such people was 41 percent in 2004. Which would seem to indicate that even many Muslims are coming to some sort of senses, if not their own...
Survey reports 69 percent Pakistanis consider India a major threat, while 57 percent have the same opinion for Taliban. Fifty-seven percent Pakistanis see flaw in the US attitude in this regard and according to 4 percent the US supports India in Kashmir dispute.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Well, not in Pakistain, anyway.
Posted by: ed ||
08/18/2009 0:55 Comments ||
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#2
I wonder if I can find an exact translation of the question they were asked to reply this way.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Iraqi militias are conducting a campaign of torture and murder against men suspected of homosexual activity, a leading rights group said on Monday, adding that government security forces may be involved.
New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said the killings began earlier this year in the poor Sadr City district of Baghdad, once ruled by Shiite Muslim militias, and had since spread to many cities across Iraq.
"'They want us exterminated': Murder, Torture, Sexual Orientation and Gender in Iraq'," said it is almost impossible to calculate how many men were killed, but estimated the figure in the hundreds.
"This report... documents a campaign of violence against men in Iraq who are suspected of being gay or who simply don't act masculine enough in the eyes of their killers," said Scott Long, director of HRW's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights Program.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
If ever Michael O'Hanlon's Progressive Peacekeepers were needed, this is it. The San Francisco Pink Panther Division to the front!
Posted by: ed ||
08/18/2009 0:59 Comments ||
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#2
Looks like they're stocking up on shreds of truth so next time they go off on Israel they'll have something to lend them credibility.
#3
Human Rights Watch is ragging on Islamists and their backward, violent ways? This must somehow be Bush's fault because otherwise a whole stream of monkeys would be flying out my butt.
#5
This has been a problem in Iraq for quite some time -- we've had occasional articles about it here at Rantburg. I recall a rash of superglued buttocks accompanied by force feeding substances that cause diarrhea... a slow and painful death. And yes, Iraqi police and such were involved.
Human Rights Watch is way behind the curve -- perhaps someone was browsing the New York Times archives.
Ma'an -- Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum on Monday dismissed President Mahmoud Abbas' call for unity talks on Sunday during Fatah Central Committee and Revolutionary Council meeting. "Abbas' comments about dialogue are meaningless when the Palestinian Authority's security forces continue to detain Hamas supporters in the West Bank," Barhoum said.
President Mahmoud Abbas said on Sunday that unity talks between Fatah and Hamas would continue despite an apparent scheduling conflict. A session of the Palestinian National Council is scheduled for the next day.
Barhoum said that Abbas should lay the ground for a successful dialogue, reiterating Hamas' stance that an agreement be signed on 25 August rather than indefinitely into the future.
What agreement? Last I looked, Hamas believe they should be in charge because they won the next election, and that the ultimate goal is a violent push to drive out or kill all the Jews. Abbas, speaking for Fatah/the PLO/the PA believes he should be in charge, and they should talk to the Jews while getting the World to pressure Israel to give up and go away, taking all the Jews with them, and thus sparing the Palestinians the effort of killing them. Or has something changed?
Barhoum also called on Egyptian mediators to try and push past obstacles impeding a successful dialogue, and secure the release of all political detainees held in the West Bank.
With regard to the newly elected Fatah leadership, Barhoum said, "They are facing three tests; the Palestinian dialogue, adopting resistance instead of negotiations with Israel, and protecting inalienable Palestinian rights." He said Hamas wants to see more action, and less talk.
In a speech in Ramallah on Sunday, Abbas said that the PLO's decision to hold a meeting of the PNC on 26 and 27 August would not stop the unity talks, which were scheduled for the 25th.
Abbas said the PNC meeting "will not change our view of the Palestinian national dialogue, because we are determined to continue this dialogue."
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2009 00:00 ||
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Ma'an -- President Mahmoud Abbas told his cabinet on Monday that negotiations are the only way to establish an independent Palestinian state.
"We are peace seekers," he was quoted as telling the Ramallah meeting. "The main and the only path is the path of peace and negotiations. We don't have any other path and we do not wish to use any other path."
Why then the declaration at the Fatah convention that the Al-Aqsa Martyr Brigade are the armed wing of Fatah? What need do peace seekers have of armed wings?
The president insisted that if negotiations with Israel are to be resumed, they must pick up from the point they reached the previous Israeli Prime minister, Ehud Olmert. He also said that that negotiations must address all of the so-called final status issues, including Jerusalem, settlements, refugees, borders, security, prisoners and water.
He added that Palestinian prisoners must be released before a final agreement with Israel can be signed.
Earlier Prime Minister Salam Fayyad handed over to President Mahmoud Abbas the 13th Palestinian government's agenda. Titled, "Palestine: Ending Occupation - Establishing the State," the agenda included the basis for establishing Palestinian rule on the 1967 borders, and within the next two years. The charter spells out government priorities in several fields, including assessments on the performance of each of the Palestinian Authority's ministries and institutions, with a focus on good governance and efficient management.
The political program also spells out future steps following the establishment of a Palestinian state and the end of the Israeli occupation.
How very businesslike.
For his part, President Abbas applauded his prime minister for recent improvements in security and development. "We are satisfied with your performance, which we respect, and we will continue to support this government.
The president also said Fatah's successful convention in Bethlehem ought to be repeated within the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), and pointed out that the Palestinian National Council would soon convene to rebuild the PLO's Executive Committee.
"We have seen some hard times, but the Fatah congress achieved more than I ever dreamed of. However, we are not here for Fatah only, but for the Palestinian people at large," Abbas said, adding that other PLO factions were equally concerned about Fatah.
Meanwhile, Abbas denied that the scheduled PNC meeting, scheduled for 26-27 August, would interfere with the ongoing national unity dialogue with Hamas, which was to end on 25 August, according to the latest deadline set by Cairo.
Additionally, Abbas said peace negotiations would continue the moment Israel announced a freeze in settlement activities. "Our stance has not changed," he said. "We have six points on our agenda related to the final status, and we are ready to discuss these points with the current Israeli government at once, just as we did with its predecessor - if it chooses to freeze settlement activities."
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2009 00:00 ||
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A hard-line Iranian cleric called on opposition leader Mehdi Karoubi to be lashed over his controversial claims that some election protesters were raped or tortured in custody.
Karoubi has stoked the ire of the authorities with allegations that women and young boys detained in custody after the massive protests over Ahmadinejad's re-election had been raped. His allegation was rejected by the authorities as "baseless." "In religious teachings if someone accuses another of sexual crime and he is unable to prove it, then he should receive 80 lashes," cleric Ahmad Khatami was quoted as saying by the Kayhan newspaper. "Now Mr. Karoubi has accused the regime and his allegations were rejected by two branches of the regime," said Khatami, who is a regular leader of Friday prayers in Tehran.
Karoubi vowed on Sunday to seek the truth over the prison abuse allegations. "But I say again that this behaviour and intimidation will not silence me and I will raise the issues I deem necessary. I will only shut up when all the dimensions of these incidents have been examined and the people are told the truth."
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2009 00:00 ||
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As Iran's mass trials of detainees of the post-election turmoil draw mixed reactions, influential cleric Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani warns against consequences of "unjust" judicial decisions.
Speaking at the inauguration ceremony for the newly-appointed Judiciary Chief Sadeq Larijani, Ayatollah Rafsanjani cited delivering fair verdicts as the primary responsibility of the judicial system.
"In case of delivering fair verdicts, the society will have a sense of security and no one will feel helpless in asserting his violated rights," said the head of the Assembly of Experts.
Hashemi-Rafsanjani warned that if the nation feels troubled by the judicial treatment of detainees "the society will descent into chaos."
He called for the fair treatment of defendants, explaining that the measure is the way forward to building trust among the nation.
The remarks were made as the Iranian authorities conducted mass trials of nearly 200 post-vote detainees, convicting them of conspiring with foreign powers to stage a "velvet coup d'etat" using terrorism, subversion and a mass campaign to undermine the June 12 presidential election.
Many of those in court in Tehran were prominent Reformists allied with leading opposition figures, Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, who maintain that the election was "stolen."
The opposition has so far refused to acknowledge the presidency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, further arguing that the detainees' confessions made at court had been forced.
The opposition and their supporters have condemned the trials as a "sham" staged by supporters of the incumbent president.
In recent remarks, senior cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani described the ongoing post-vote trials in Iran as "a blot on the Islamic judicial system."
The newly-appointed judiciary chief Sadeq Larijani, who spoke after Ayatollah Rafsanjani's address on Sunday, admitted to various deficiencies in the judicial system, adding that he will prioritize his tasks to deal with the cited shortages.
"We're all responsible for the enhancement of the system...no one should dare act against the law and violate the rights of the nation," said Ayatollah Larijani.
He made a pledge not to show mercy to those who violate people's rights, vowing to "subject the wrongdoers to the court of law."
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2009 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV Latest] As talk of putting opposition leaders on trial heats up in Iran, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad involves himself in the issue by calling for the prosecution of "the power-holders and the affluent" in the country.
Speaking at the inauguration ceremony for the newly-appointed Judiciary Chief Sadeq Larijani, the Iranian president described the country's Judiciary as the body responsible for restoration of peace and balance and administration of justice in different segments of the society.
President Ahmadinejad won his first term in 2005 on a platform of populist economic reform. He promised to put the profit of the country's vast oil wealth on the dinner tables of the people and root out corruption.
In the months leading to the June 12 presidential election, President Ahmadinejad's rivals began scrutinizing his record and questioned his performance during his first four years in office.
During televised presidential debates President Ahmadinejad reacted to barrages of criticism leveled at his management by accusing two former Iranian presidents Seyyed Mohammad Khatami and Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani -- whom he charged with supporting his main rival Mir-Hossein Mousavi -- of masterminding a plot to push him out of power.
President Ahmadinejad focused his attacks on prominent political figure Ayatollah Hashemi-Rafsanjani by citing what he described as examples of mismanagement and corruption as well as promoting aristocracy in the country during his presidency.
Following the televised verbal, Ayatollah Hashemi-Rafsanjani wrote a letter to the Leader of the Islamic Revolution complaining that President Ahmadinejad had sought to smear his reputation through spreading "insults, lies and false allegations."
On Monday, the Iranian president maintained his post-vote stance and called for the prosecution of 'certain officials' in the country.
"If the power-holders and the wealthy are taken to court, then there would be no place left for those who hold lower ranks to commit any wrongdoings," President Ahmadinejad said in Monday's ceremony.
Monday marked the second time that the two officials - Rafsanjani and Ahmadinejad -- attended a ceremony together after the latter's controversial re-election on June 12.
According to Iran's Labor News Agency (ILNA), the Iranian president left Monday's session before Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani delivered his speech.
Earlier during the inauguration ceremony before the president's address, Ayatollah Larijani said "no one should dare act against the law and violate the rights of the nation," making a pledge not to show mercy to those who violate people's rights.
"In this critical mission, I vow not to show mercy to wrongdoers," the newly-appointed judiciary chief said, promising to subject them to the court of law.
President Ahmadinejad, for his part, welcomed the idea put forward by Ayatollah Larijani.
"I am so pleased that the new judiciary chief has announced that he knows no limits in dealing with wrongdoers," Ahmadinejad said.
The call for the prosecution of certain figures in Iran follows an earlier request by Islamic Revolution Guards Corps generals, Principlist politicians and clerics who urged the arrest and punishment of opposition leaders and their supporters.
Following the controversial trial of post-vote detainees, a Principlist lawmaker, Hamid Resaie, told the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) that "the confessions have opened the way to dealing with the leaders of the unrest. There is no longer any reason to tolerate or compromise."
Another Principlist figure Elias Naderan said, "Those within the inner circle who managed the unrest must be put on trial. We shouldn't chase after weak, second-class figures with no influence."
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Isn't Supreme Council or whatever they call it in Iran the real holders of power? And aren't many of them wealthy, from controlling the economy for their benefit?
So, I guess I am in agreement with Short Round: put the supreme council on trial.
And doesn't the president Iran hold power? So I guess he will be turning himself in soon, right?
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
08/18/2009 22:20 Comments ||
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[Iran Press TV Latest] The Leader of the Islamic Revolution has appointed former Judiciary chief Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi-Shahroudi to be a member of the Expediency Council.
In a decree on Sunday, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei thanked the former Judiciary chief, who was replaced by Sadeq Larijani earlier in the day, for rendering his services for to consecutive terms.
Ayatollah Shahroudi will also serve in the Guardian Council, the powerful body that vets legislation, political candidates and election results, based on the decree.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2009 00:00 ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] The spokesman of Iran's Supreme Leader called on neighboring countries to mobilize their forces in preparation for the coming of the savior of Islam and to unite with the Islamic Republic in paving the way for his arrival, an Iranian news agency reported Sunday.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's spokesman, Ali Saeedi, said countries like Turkey, Iraq, Lebanon, Pakistan and Afghanistan should gather together all their forces in order to make drastic changes to prepare for the coming of al-Mahdi al-Montazar, Arabic for "the awaited guided one." We can imagine what's gonna happen if he's a Catholic... Or a Jew.
"We still have a long way to go in order to achieve this. We have to train honest forces that can stop the obstacles that may hinder the coming of the Mahdi like the United States and Israel," Saeedi said in statement posted by the Iranian Labor News Agency (ILNA).
Saeedi also said that the supreme leader of Iran is the direct representative of the Mahdi and that obeying him is like obeying the "guided one," who is the prophesized savior of Islam.
"Since the armed forces are commanded by the Supreme Leader, they are thus obeying the orders of the awaited Mahdi," Saeedi said, adding "the Revolutionary Guards and the armed forces in Iran hold religious authority to prepare for the appearance of the Mahdi."
The Mahdi is believed by Muslims to be arriving before Judgment Day to rid the world of injustice. Although present in both major Islamic schools of thought, the Mahdi is more prominent in the Shiite doctrine than the Sunni one.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm getting awfully tired of Muslims & Islam.
[Iran Press TV Latest] Amid a political turmoil in Iran following the disputed presidential election in June, Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani says it is time for all sides at fault to correct their mistakes.
"Politicians should think and judge whether all their actions have been correct. Why shouldn't they just apologize for their mistakes?" said Larijani on Monday.
"They hatched plots and used their media to destroy the national achievement made after the mass participation of the Iranian nation in the June 12 election," he added.
Larijani also accused some officials and politicians, without naming anyone, of making "efforts to prevent the strengthening of unity."
"We are duty-bound to prepare the grounds for establishing peace in the country to settle the problems of the nation," he noted.
He ordered all officials and political parties to follow the guidelines of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei to "lead the country's affairs on to a peaceful path."
Following the presidential vote, Iran witnessed an outpouring of anger by supporters of defeated presidential candidates Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, who took to the streets to protest the official vote result, which saw the re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with a massive margin.
Mousavi and Karroubi claimed "fraud" in the poll and asked for its annulment. The electoral body, however, disputed all allegations and verified the results.
The opposition demonstrations provoked a government crackdown, in which at least 30 people were killed. Officials blamed foreign agents for the unrest and accused opposition figures of plotting to topple the establishment in a "velvet coup."
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Starting with the Profit's genocide against the Jews of Arabian peninsula.
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.
"Hannibal's war", as diplomats call it, has been taking its toll on the land of Heidi: in the past year Libya has cut back oil supplies to the Swiss and withdrawn more than pound stg. 4.3 billion ($8.5bn) from their banks. Gaddafi has also severed air links with Switzerland, and several Swiss companies in Libya have been forced to close shop.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak opened talks here Monday as pressure builds on the U.S. administration to launch a new peace push to break a deadlock between Israel and Arab countries.
[Bangla Daily Star] About six months after the Pilkhana massacre on February 25-26, the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) chief yesterday for the first time hinted that the country's foreign enemies benefited from the carnage.
[Kyodo: Korea] The top command of North Korea"s Korean People"s Army ordered all nationals and military forces Monday to be on ""special alert"" over a joint U.S.-South Korean military drill that began the same day, the official Korean Central News Agency said. The order from the Supreme Command, whose supreme commander is North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, suggests an unusually tough stance on the Ulji Freedom Guardian joint military exercises, which run through Aug. 27.
A man who helped a prison-based Islamic militant group to plot against the U.S. government was sentenced Monday to 70 months in federal prison, prosecutors said. Hammad Samana was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana, said U.S. attorney's office spokesman Thom Mrozek.
[Geo News] Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani Monday once again called upon the US to provide drone technology to Pakistan and demanded an end to the predator strikes within its territory.
[Geo News] Eighty-seven percent Pakistani citizens are not in favour of suicide attacks, reports a US survey. 
[Al Arabiya Latest] Iraqi militias are conducting a campaign of torture and murder against men suspected of homosexual activity, a leading rights group said on Monday, adding that government security forces may be involved.
Ma'an -- Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum on Monday dismissed President Mahmoud Abbas' call for unity talks on Sunday during Fatah Central Committee and Revolutionary Council meeting. "Abbas' comments about dialogue are meaningless when the Palestinian Authority's security forces continue to detain Hamas supporters in the West Bank," Barhoum said.
Ma'an -- President Mahmoud Abbas told his cabinet on Monday that negotiations are the only way to establish an independent Palestinian state.
As Iran's mass trials of detainees of the post-election turmoil draw mixed reactions, influential cleric Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani warns against consequences of "unjust" judicial decisions. 
[Iran Press TV Latest] As talk of putting opposition leaders on trial heats up in Iran, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad involves himself in the issue by calling for the prosecution of "the power-holders and the affluent" in the country. 
[Iran Press TV Latest] The Leader of the Islamic Revolution has appointed former Judiciary chief Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi-Shahroudi to be a member of the Expediency Council. 
[Al Arabiya Latest] The spokesman of Iran's Supreme Leader called on neighboring countries to mobilize their forces in preparation for the coming of the savior of Islam and to unite with the Islamic Republic in paving the way for his arrival, an Iranian news agency reported Sunday.
[Iran Press TV Latest] Amid a political turmoil in Iran following the disputed presidential election in June, Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani says it is time for all sides at fault to correct their mistakes. 
