The United States and its allies must change strategy and boost cooperation to turn around the war in Afghanistan, the commander of Western forces in the country said on Monday after completing a much-anticipated review.
U.S. Army General Stanley McChrystal said the situation was "serious" but the 8-year-old war could still be won. He gave no indication as to whether he would ask for more troops but is widely expected to do so in the coming weeks.
Posted by: ed ||
08/31/2009 15:56 ||
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#1
Doesn't look like BUD BUNDY'S [infamous]PLASTIC/BLOW-UP DOLLS to me?
Somali Islamists opposing the the country's Transitional Federal Government have warned the French government against sending more security advisors to Somalia. This is in reaction to the news that the European country is to continue assisting the TFG, especially in its drive to build a strong security apparatus.
On Saturday, Sheikh Mohamed Ibrahim Bilal, the leader of Camalka Islaamka (Islamic Action), an Islamist group sympathetic to the armed groups in Somalia, expressed its opposition to France dispatching security advisors to Somalia. He insisted that any French official coming to Somalia will be kidnapped.
Is that wise?
The threat comes only four days after a French official, Marc Aubrière, escaped from hostage takers in Mogadishu while another one who was also kidnapped by radical Islamists on July 14 remains in custody. The official, who regained his freedom in an undisclosed manner, sought refuge at the presidential palace before flying to Nairobi, Kenya on August 26 and eventually to Paris.
Were I in the group holding that second advisor, I'd be very, very concerned about what it would cost me to get him to return to the hotel. O. Henry's delightful short story, "The Ransom of Red Chief" comes to mind.
French Foreign Minister, Bernard Kouchner recently told the media in Paris and quoted in the Somali media that his country will continue assisting the TFG. The minister added that France wanted to send military officials to train the government force in order to perk up security. Kouchner reiterated that the fact that a French official remains hostage in Somalia would not deter his government from helping the TFG, as quoted by Xog-ogaal newspaper in Mogadishu on Sunday.
"In fact, we think it would be a charming idea were more advisors to be kidnapped. I know your lads and ours would become the very best of chums in short order."
On Friday, 28th of August, an unidentified official from Al-Shabaab, the strongest Islamist movement opposing the TFG, told the local media that his group will sentence the French hostage that remains in captivity for spying. Probably the same source has told AFP, the French news agency, that Al-Shabaab will sentence the kidnapped hostage very soon, according to Somali media.
Again, I feel forced to ask, is that wise?
Meanwhile, Hizbu Islam, the second Islamist movement opposing the TFG, accused Ethiopian troops and the peacekeepers serving the African Union Mission in Somalia, Amisom, of being invaders of Somalia. This accusation has come at a time Ethiopian forces have been reported as chasing Islamist fighters from a regional capital in Central Somalia on Saturday. Sheikh Musse Abdi Arale, the militia leader of Hizbu Islam, said that Somalia was being invaded from four fronts. "We are being attacked from all fronts and more invasions will follow the event in Beled-weyne," said Sheikh Arale, talking to the media today in Mogadishu.
Moalim Hashi Mohamed Farah, the Governor of Hizbu Islam in Mogadishu, has today witnessed five youngsters being punished for different crimes. They were sentenced by Sharia (Islamic) laws strongly enforced by Al-Shabaab and Hizbu Islam.
O brave, brave Lions of Islam, punishing little children!
Mr. Abdirahman Mohamed "Irro," Speaker of Somaliland's lower house of parliament, the 82-seat House of Representatives, told reporters in the Somaliland capital Hargeisa that he was "informed by the police chief" that the troops do not take orders from parliament's leadership.
Security forces that normally guard the parliament building in Hargeisa were instructed to leave, as hundreds of soldiers dispatched from President Dahir Riyale's office surrounded the parliament building and cordoned off nearby streets. Somaliland's elected lawmakers were prevented from entering the parliament building, where they were expected to continue debate on the political deadlock between the Riyale administration and opposition parties over the September 27 presidential election.
Speaker Irro, who addressed a crowd of civilians gathered around the parliament building, said: "You see, your elected parliament has been taken over by soldiers. Journalists are prevented from reporting."
The House of Representatives is dominated by opposition lawmakers who voted earlier this month to urge the Riyale administration to re-consider a decision not to use the registered voters' list in next month's election.
Petroleum makes Libya one of Africa's richest countries but corruption and bureaucracy have left even the country's leader Moamer Gathafi scratching his head about what happens to all the money.
OPEC member Libya has estimated reserves of 42 billion barrels -- the third largest in Africa -- and pumps an estimated 1.8 million barrels per day. Revenues from that, which account for 75 percent of the state budget and 95 percent of exports, have led to a surge in construction and consumer spending but efforts to modernise the economy have made slow progress. The development of major sectors like health, education and infrastructure remains far from satisfactory, and many Libyans have failed to benefit at all despite the government's avowedly socialist policies.
"Where does the oil money go?" Gathafi asked recently, pledging to lead "a revolution against corruption" by closing ministries and distributing the money directly to the people, though he has yet to act on his decision. His son Seif al-Islam has lambasted "a civil servants' mafia," which he accuses of opposing reforms. Some of the assets are held directly by the powerful Libyan Investment Authority. It manages several funds with holdings everywhere in the world but especially in Africa.
Libya's 2008-2012 strategic plan allocated a total of 75 billion dollars over five years to major infrastructure projects, equal to 60 percent of the normal state budget for five years. But projected spending was slashed following last year's fall in oil prices. Meanwhile, the increase in the number of big projects has led to a labour shortage and a bottleneck in the supply of construction materials.
The jump in oil revenues in the past few years spurred an explosion in prices, chiefly for real estate and food in a country which has to import around 90 percent of its equipment and nutrition. Inflation soared from negative figures at the end of the 1990s to a record 12.9 percent in July last year, before plunging to one percent in June this year, according to the Central Bank of Libya. The surge prompted government newspaper Al-Shams to call for the "nationalisation of trade."
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/31/2009 7:14 Comments ||
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#3
Well, in Libya the political corruption is about getting oil out the ground. In America, the political corruption is about keeping the oil in the ground.
[Bangla Daily Star] Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) yesterday published the names of 23 jawans who remained fugitive since the February 25-26 massacre in its headquarters at Pilkhana. People have been requested to inform about the hiding jawans to the nearest police station.
Earlier on May 24, BDR identified 25 jawans as fugitive among more than 7,000 said to have escaped from Pilkhana after the BDR carnage.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/31/2009 00:00 ||
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Kenny MacAskill's insistence that he released the Lockerbie bomber solely on judicial grounds has been seriously undermined following claims by a senior Scottish government source that the nation could have become a target for Islamist terrorists if Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi had died a martyr in a Scottish prison.
As if we didn't know all along ...
The Scottish Conservatives and Labour yesterday condemned suggestions that Mr MacAskill feared a terrorist backlash if he did not allow al-Megrahi to return to Libya on compassionate grounds.
There was a day when Scotsmen had a backbone ...
A source close to the Scottish cabinet told a Sunday newspaper: "If Megrahi had died in a Scottish jail we'd have seen burning Saltires across the Middle East."
Good lord. Are we sure they aren't secretly the Yale University Press? Or Swedish? I mean, if people simply must burn Saltires (whatever those are) across the Middle East, the increased smoke and particulates will dissipate before the air reaches Britain. And surely the increased CO2 won't significantly hasten the global warming tipping point.
The source added: "Kenny feared the repercussions would have haunted Scotland for a generation and more."
And so they will anyway. Nor Scotland only.
The revelation that the Scottish government may have based its decision, in part, on fears of a terrorist backlash contradicts Mr MacAskill's argument that the decision was taken only on judicial grounds. It was also ridiculed by terrorism experts on the grounds that al-Megrahi would not be supported by any serious terrorist organisations.
Just Libya. But Libya's not what it used to be, now they've given up their nuclear toys.
David Capatanchick of the University of Aberdeen said: "I think that is a rather silly point. Had al-Megrahi died in jail I don't believe there would have been an attack that counter-terrorism forces in Scotland would not have been able to identify and prevent.
Professor Paul Wilkinson, an expert on terrorism at the University of St Andrews, claimed it was "highly unlikely" there would be such a backlash. "The political and economic pressures on Libya are such they decided to establish better relations with the West and they don't want to depart from that strategy. It doesn't suit Gaddafi to go back to the bad old days when Libya was sponsoring terrorism around the world."
The Scottish Tory Leader Annabel Goldie seized on the claim: "If this report is true, it demolishes Alex Salmond's argument that this was a judicial decision unswayed by any other influence or factor. He can't have it both ways."
Paul McBride, QC, who advises the Tories on justice issues also claimed it contradicted the SNP's argument about why Mr Megrahi had to be released but he dismissed the notion of a terrorist backlash. "If it were true it would shoot down what Alex Salmond and Kenny MacAskill have been saying for weeks but there has been no suggestion of that from the police or anyone else. This gives the green light to terrorists to come here blow things and get out of jail because we're frightened of terrorists. On that basis IRA terrorists would never have been locked up."
Labour also claimed the argument was bogus. The party's justice spokesman, Richard Baker, said: "It is clear that the SNP are just making it up as they go along.
So are Labour. Can we move on to something a tad more substantive?
I find the argument that al-Megrahi may become a martyr an extremely weak and unconvincing one, which displays a profound lack of understanding of politics and society in the Middle East."
A spokesman for the Scottish government yesterday maintained that the decision to release al-Megrahi was taken solely on judicial grounds. The row over the motive for al-Megrahi's release came as the SNP government continued to face pressure over the decision.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/31/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
died a martyr in a Scottish prison
Are you serious? If that was a real reason, then the Scots truly are spineless. The release-for-oil scenario is at least understandable. MacAskill sounds like a real twit.
(BTW- a saltire is an "X"-shaped cross, as in the Cross of St. Andrew which is on the flag of Scotland.)
#2
at least its clear to everyone that Labour and the SNP were not working together on this.
"So are Labour" Opposition parties (which is what Labour is in Scotland) get to formulate their position as they go along (must.not.provoke.folks.here.with.talk.of.healthcare) The govt, OTOH, has to have a plan, and a justification for it. SNP has to be consistent with why they did what they did. Labour can snipe from the sidelines.
Posted by: liberal hawk ||
08/31/2009 11:07 Comments ||
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#3
A palpable point, liberal hawk.
/as I sit here with my ignorance revealed for all to see. But at least it is now slightly less -- thank you for teaching me, dear liberal hawk. :-)
#4
The govt, OTOH, has to have a plan, and a justification for it. SNP has to be consistent with why they did what they did. Labour can snipe from the sidelines.
So releasing Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi was okay because the SNP had a plan and a justification.
Would that logic have been present when the last U.S. administration was in office.
#5
"Some hate the English. I don't. They're just wankers. We, on the other hand, are COLONIZED by wankers. Can't even find a decent culture to be colonized BY. We're ruled by effete assholes. It's a shite state of affairs to be in..."
Posted by: Rent boy ||
08/31/2009 21:42 Comments ||
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[Geo News] Senator Maulana Gul Naseeb Khan Amir Jamiat-e-Ulmae Islam, NWFP (JUI) Sunday alleged that the present government continues to sponsor killings of religious scholars and has totally failed in restoring the law-and-order situation.
Talking to Geo News, after a joint meeting of the zonal and district circles of JUI at Darul Uloom, NWFP, the Senator said kidnapping for ransom, car theft, hoarding, nepotism and corruption is on the rise in the province.
"Government is killing innocent citizens and martyring the religious scholars and mosques in the name of so called war against terrorism, instead of resolving the basic issues like lawlessness and unemployment."
He said the provincial government has so far failed to devise any effective strategy to acquire the provincial rights from the Centre.
"The provincial government continues to follow the policies of Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) even after the lapse of two years", he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/31/2009 00:00 ||
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[Geo News] Chairman, Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) Yasin Malik Sunday called upon the international community to fulfill its promises regarding Kashmir dispute for the peaceful resolution of the dispute and prosperity of the region.
Malik said this while addressing an Iftar dinner here this evening hosted in his honour by the Prime Minister Azad Jammu and Kashmir Sardar Muhammad Yaqub Khan.
He declared quite regrettable the decision of giving autonomy to Baltistan without having any consultations with the Kashmiri leadership.
He also feared the same set up could be applied to Azad Kashmir in future.
The new set up of Gilgit-Baltistan is temporary; however, Gilgit-Baltistan should remain in the federation of Azad Kashmir, for which the system of local governments system could be constituted.
Malik said India could stress on adopting the same model in Kashmir as well; if it happens so, then the sacrifices of the Kashmiris would go in vein.
The dinner was also attended by former President AJK Gen. (R) Sardar Muhammad Anwar Khan, Deputy Opposition leader in AJK Assembly Malik Zaman, members of the AJK Legislative Assembly and leaders of the political parties outside the Kashmiri parliament.
He said the world community, after 9/11, promised movements for the right of self-determination the world over to adopt peaceful and non violent means for realization of their right to self-determination.
He urged the world community to positively come forward and help resolve Kashmir dispute in a just way and according to the aspiration of Kashmiri people.
He said the 62 years long struggle of Kashmiris deserves an active and meaningful role of India, Pakistan and the world community to resolve the issue that has taken lives and properties of hundreds of thousands of Kashmiris in Indian occupied Kashmir.
He recalled that since the Kashmir struggle for freedom from Indian subjugation there wasn't even a single Kashmiri who had not suffered and experienced jail in Indian held Kashmir.
"Millions have passed through insults, torture and humiliation in Indian occupied Kashmir. But still we did not respond violently to the decades' long violence of Indian forces," he added.
Prime Minister AJK Sardar Muhammad Yaqub Khan on this occasion thanked Yasin Malik and assured the people of occupied Kashmir that Kashmiris on both the sides of the Line of Control support each other, adding "together we will reach the target of freedom of Kashmir from Indian subjugation one day."
Posted by: Fred ||
08/31/2009 00:00 ||
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[Geo News] Pakistan People's Party (PPP) Central Secretary Information Fozia Wahab supports reopening the pending petition filed years back by Air Marshal (retd) Asghar Khan regarding Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) distributing money among politicians.
Talking to media at the Iftar-dinner hosted by PPP Punjab Secretary Information Dr Fakhrud Din in honour of journalists here, she said the government has considerably succeeded in breaking the network of terrorists in matter of only one year and the suicide attacks have to a large extent gone down.
Fozia said it is the result of foresight of President Asif Ali Zardari that operation against terrorists succeeded.
Presidential House did not field Brig (rtd) Imtiaz nor does PPP believe in the negative politics, she clarified.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/31/2009 00:00 ||
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BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said that it is in Syria's interest that Iraq enjoys improved security and stability, the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) said today. This came during his meeting with the EU high representative for common foreign and security policy, Javier Solana. Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem attended the meeting.
"Syria has a direct interest in establishing security and stability in Iraq and achieving reconciliation among all constituents of the Iraqi people," the news agency quoted Assad as saying.
His lips had to be flapping on the floor ...
Iraqi-Syrian relations have seen a heated tension following accusations that Syria is harboring groups believed to be behind the recent suicide blasts that killed and wounded scores of people in the capital Baghdad.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/31/2009 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] The suicide bombers who killed 95 people in devastating attacks at Iraqi government ministries on August 19 were recently released from US custody, a senior interior ministry official said on Sunday.
The truck bombings in Baghdad also wounded 600 people in what was the worst day of violence to hit the country for 18 months, dealing a major blow to the country's security efforts in the wake of a major pullout of US troops.
'The suicide bomber who blew himself up at the ministry of foreign affairs was released three months ago from Camp Bucca,' the official told AFP on condition of anonymity, referring to the US jail near Basra.
'The suicide bomber who blew himself up outside the ministry of finance was also released a few months ago from the same jail.'
Since the start of this year 4,000 Iraqi prisoners have been freed by the Americans and handed over to Iraqi officials, who then take the decision on whether they stay in prison.
In other words, it was the Iraqis who made the final decision to turn the miscreants loose on Iraqi streets.
About 11,000 prisoners were still in US custody, according to figures released in June.
'We have no proof that a former detainee was involved in the bombings,' a US army spokesman said on Sunday. 'The government of Iraq is still investigating the attacks, and it would be inappropriate for us to speculate as to who may have been involved while the investigation is ongoing.'
The interior ministry official, however, told AFP that 14 suspects had been arrested in the wake of the attacks and that the truck bombs were prepared in southern Baghdad. 'The vast majority of them were released in recent months from Camp Bucca,' he said.
'Each of them had a precise role. One was responsible for buying the trucks. One was in charge of making sure they could enter Baghdad. One made sure that the explosives were packed on the trucks and others were the suicide bombers.'
The disclosure contradicts an official version of events which last Sunday saw the government parade a former police chief who they said orchestrated the finance ministry bombing.
Wissam Ali Kadhem Ibrahim admitted to plotting that attack. 'I received a call a month ago from my boss in the (Baath) party Sattam Farhan in Syria to do an operation to destabilise the regime,' Ibrahim said in video footage, alluding to executed dictator Saddam Hussein's now outlawed political movement.
The 57-year-old suspect said the truck bomb was prepared in Khalis, 80 kilometres northeast of Baghdad, and that he had called a contact in the nearby town of Muqdadiyah to ensure its safe passage to the capital.
Ibrahim, who said he was a chief of police in Diyala until 1995 under Saddam's rule, said he had worked as a lawyer until 2002 but then became a leading Baathist official in the restive province northeast of Baghdad.
Major-General Qassim Atta, spokesman for the Iraqi Army's Baghdad operations, told reporters that Ibrahim was the main person responsible for the attack at the ministry of finance.
The second truck bombing occurred just minutes later at the foreign ministry.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/31/2009 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV Latest] The US military still holds about 9,000 Iraqi detainees, despite the fact that it is obliged to release or hand over the custody of all Iraqi prisoners under a Washington-Baghdad interim security pact.
A statement by the US military said on Sunday that the US has released more than 5,000 Iraqi prisoners since the start of the year. However it adds that about 8,947 prisoners remain in US custody.
"Since January, 1,179 detainees have been transferred to the government of Iraq with a valid warrant or detention order, and 5,236 have been released," a US military statement said.
In line with an interim security pact signed between Baghdad and Washington in 2008, the files of all detainees in US custody must be handed over to the Iraqi authorities.
According to the so-called Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) signed last November, the fate of the detainees will rest with the Iraqi officials.
The US military statement added that the prisoners in its custody are held in detention facilities run by US forces at Camp Cropper, Camp Taji, and Camp Bucca.
The military says the number of prisoners, 8,947, is the lowest it has been since March 2005 and is down from about 27,000 in 2007.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/31/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Camp Bucca is set to close by the end of September.
[Iran Press TV Latest] Iran and Syria call for the restoration of peace and stability in Iraq after a recent twin truck bombing in Iraq killed 95 and injured some 600 people.
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki met with the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Sunday, during which the two sides condemned the recent bombings in Iraq and called for unity among the Iraqis.
During the meeting, Assad also rejected allegations against his country over the bombings as 'unacceptable' and urged Iraq to present solid evidence over the charges.
The terrorist attacks on August 19 struck the ministries of finance and foreign affairs in central Baghdad.
Iraq has accused Syria of sheltering terrorists linked to the massive bombings. Baghdad says senior members of the former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's Baath party who are in exile in Syria have plotted the bombings.
Mottaki arrived in Syria on Sunday, a day after a short surprise visit to Iraq. In Syria, he met with the president and his Syrian counterpart Walid al-Muallem.
[Iran Press TV Latest] The Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has hailed the 'high capabilities' of the country which helped it 'overcome' the post-election problems.
"The recent [post-election] issues have placed the country in front of a determining political test. However, the establishment of the Islamic Republic given its high capabilities was able to overcome the situation," said the Leader in a meeting with university professors and scientific elites.
The Leader said that Iran enjoys 'different kinds of freedom' within the Islamic framework.
"Freedom in the Islamic establishment is a true issue defined within an Islamic framework and the Islamic Republic will never consent to or accept the false freedom sought by the West," said Ayatollah Khamenei.
The Leader touched upon the responsibilities of different walks of the country in confronting incidents including post-vote events, saying, "What is expected of university professors in this struggle is far greater than that of students."
"Students are the young officers fighting on this front who with their thoughts, actions and perceptions are present in the scene and who test the scene and act within its framework but university professors are the commanders of this soft confrontation."
Ayatollah Khamenei urged the commanders of this front to obtain a good understanding of the current situation and to identify the enemy, its objectives and plans.
"A professor who can play this role is a worthy teacher for the present and future of the Islamic Republic," the Leader said.
The Leader described raising students' abilities to analyze, and creating an atmosphere of hope and scientific work in universities as being the most important responsibilities of university professors.
"We must move in the exact opposite direction of the enemy's objectives, as it [the enemy] seeks to create the atmosphere of desperation in universities," Ayatollah Khamenei said.
The Leader also highlighted the importance of preparing the grounds for students to express their views.
Ayatollah Khamenei pointed to the damage inflicted on people in the post-vote incidents and said, "All those who have been the victims of the post-election events must know that the establishment has no intention of making concessions."
"Just as those individuals who openly confront the establishment are legally and justly dealt with, legal and just punishment will also be mete out to the perpetrators of crimes and atrocities."
Posted by: Fred ||
08/31/2009 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Kenny MacAskill's insistence that he released the Lockerbie bomber solely on judicial grounds has been seriously undermined following claims by a senior Scottish government source that the nation could have become a target for Islamist terrorists if Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi had died a martyr in a Scottish prison.
BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said that it is in Syria's interest that Iraq enjoys improved security and stability, the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) said today. This came during his meeting with the EU high representative for common foreign and security policy, Javier Solana. Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem attended the meeting.
