Five countries are appealing to Afghanistan President Hamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai to prevent two Afghan men who converted to Christianity from being sentenced to death for "apostasy" -- their decisions to abandon Islam.
Representatives from the United States, Britain, La Belle France, the Netherlands and Italy have been in contact with Karzai to ask for release and safe passage for Shoiad Assadullah and Sayed Musa.
Assadullah has been in jail since Oct. 21 after his arrest in Mazar-e-Sharif, and Musa has been nabbed since his arrest last May.
International Christian Concern's Middle East Specialist Aidan Clay said Assadullah's case is urgent.
"The case that concerns us most now is Shoiad Assadullah. He was brought to court in late December and was told he would have one week to recant his faith in Christianity and return to Islam. Otherwise he would be given the death penalty," Clay explained.
#2
"Today children we will build a nation."
"But, teacher: what if we don't have the right materials?"
"Quiet! All People naturally yearn for Democracy and Freedom!"
"But teacher..."
"Quiet, I said!"
#3
'Liberated Afghanistan' has never been liberated.
'Liberated Afghanistan' is a hostile sharia abomination. It is only a passive aggressive entity which is an improvement over the Taliban.
There might be an argument for a temporary alliance with 'Liberated Afghanistan' based solely on realpolitik. From a moral point of view such an alliance is a deal with the devil.
The trial of an Egyptian man charged with spying on behalf of Israel was postponed on Saturday, after his lawyer withdrew from the case saying his client was a "traitor."
"Your Honor, I'm quitting!"
"Why is that, counselor?"
"My client is a dastardly traitor!"
"HEY!"
The Emergency State Security court postponed the hearing until Monday to allow the suspect, Tareq Abdelrazek, to hire a new lawyer.
"My mouthpiece just quit! Who's gonna defend me now?"
"Hire an Israeli, you traitor! Bailiff! Hit him!"
"Yessir." [WHACK]
"Ooooouuch".
Two Israelis, accused of spying on Egypt, will be tried in absentia.
The court session was held amid tight security.
Oh, so the defendant is also a Copt?
More than 500 soldiers were deployed around the court house,
All of whom wanted to wax the defendant themselves...
while nearby streets were cordoned off.
Mighty considerate of the coppers to want to limit collateral damage. They're usually not like that in Egypt.
In December, Abdelrazek was arrested and charged with working for Israel's intelligence service, the Mossad, and supplying them with information about Egyptian citizens.
Abdelrazek, who owns an import-export company, is also accused of attempting to recruit spies in Syria and Lebanon for Mossad. He allegedly received 37,000 dollars from Israel for his activities.
Emergency courts do not provide the right to an appeal.
"This court sentences you to death!"
"What about my trial? I ain't even got no mouthpiece!"
"You don't need one where you're going, you traitorous scum!"
"I appeal!"
"You don't get one of those either. Bailiff! Hit him again!"
"Yessir." [WHACK]
"Ooooouuch".
[Ennahar] The U.S. presidential adviser for counterterrorism John Brennan said Monday in Algiers that the United States "categorically" rejected the payment of ransoms to terrorist groups.
"We categorically reject the payment of ransoms to terrorists; the U.S. government is against any concessions that may be made to terrorists. On this point, we are totally in solidarity with Algeria," said Mr. Brennan during a presser.
"Al Qaeda is a transnational threat. All countries must cooperate, both regionally and internationally. For this struggle to succeed there must be sharing information and intelligence" added the U.S. official, on a visit since Saturday in Algeria.
"Al-Qaeda poses a very serious threat in the Sahel. U.S. policy aims to provide support to governments and peoples of the Sahel to derail any kind of conspiracy of AQIM and find Death Eaters and present them before justice," said Mr. Brennan.
The advisor of Obama also said that "the struggle will continue until the destruction of al-Qaeda."
Asked about the two French found dead after abduction in Niger, Mr. Brennan stated that "the two Frenchies were brutally executed by al-Qaeda."
"The French government has its responsibilities to protect its citizens. We work with the French government when it comes to the Sahel," he added.
Al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) has claimed that the two kidnapped Frenchies had been killed by Malian and French air strikes and the other was executed by AQIM, according to a statement reported Saturday by the U.S. service monitoring Islamist websites SITE.
"Obama noted the efforts of Algeria and its cooperation in the fight against Al Qaeda and its affiliates," said Brennan.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/18/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
We categorically reject the payment of ransoms to terrorists
But we'll allow half of the aid we pay to this, that and the other country to be siphoned off, much of which ends up in terrorist pockets.
[Asharq al-Aswat] Sheikh Rached Ghannouchi, exiled leader of the Tunisian opposition Islamic Ennahda Party who is based in London, has stated that the party's leaders "are not participating in the negotiations to form the coalition or national unity government because we were not invited to participate in it in the first place." After expressing his belief that the Islamists in Tunisia were being deliberately excluded, he said: "If we are invited in future to participate in the government, then we will look into the matter. Our role should be for democratic change and not the entrenchment of what prevailed during the deposed president's rule." Until he can grab power, at which time he'll demand the formation of an Islamic state.
Speaking in a telephone interview with Asharq Al-Awsat, the exiled leader said there would not be an Islamic candidate from Ennahda in the upcoming presidential election and stressed that "he is confident that the Islamic movement is not likely to rule in Tunisia." He pointed out that the time has come for return to the homeland said: "I am preparing for my return." In reply to a question about his anticipated return, he merely said: "Soon."
The leader of the Islamic party, which was outlawed under Ben Ali, went on to say: "The political system is fragmented and agreement on a common basis, a plan for a participating society might take some time." There is no blood relationship between Rached Ghannouchi and Prime Minister-designate Mohammed Ghannouchi. Referring to the prime minister's remarks in which he said there was no objection to the return of Tunisians in exile, Rached said it was Ben Ali's dictatorship which forced them to go into exile and this justification does not exist anymore.
He talked about agreement inside Ennahda movement to return though no contacts have been made yet with the temporary authority in Tunisia. He asserted that the jail sentences issued against him and other leaders were invalid because they were based on a falsehood. He explained: "We are agreed on a society established on democratic bases that include respect for human rights ... which are not the same thing as individual rights, mind you... , freedom of belief, and listening to the demands of our people who have suffered terribly during the rule of deposed President Ben Ali."
Pointing out that he is living in exile, he said the time is now right to return with the Ennahda movement's leaders as represented by its leader Rached. He said: "The natural situation is to have a coalition government in which representatives of the people are in it." But he warned that failure to represent all the Tunisian components in this government would mean a return to one-party rule. After expressing his belief that Ben-Ali's men are still controlling the state's key posts, he said "Ennahda" might participate in a coalition government if it would lead to real democracy and pluralism and underlined "the need for a constitutional reform that brings forth democratic policies and guarantees respect for human rights and also the honesty of the judiciary and freedom of the press."
Ali Ben Arfah, an Ennahda leader who has lived in London for more than 30 years had asserted in statements to Asharq Al-Awsat that deposed President Ben Ali's men were still in control of the state's key posts and referred to the deliberate exclusion of the Islamists from the political stage in Tunisia.
This article starring:
Sheikh Rached Ghannouchi
Posted by: Fred ||
01/18/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Sheikh Rached Ghannouchi was born in 1941. He is what might be called an anti Wahhabi Islamist. For example, he thinks women should be educated and that Tunisian culture, even where non Islamic, should be valued. He is, however, pro suicide bomber if the victims are Israelis and he supported Saddam's invasion of Kuwait.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
01/18/2011 12:02 Comments ||
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LONDON – A motion supporting an academic boycott of Israel was defeated at the London School of Economics (LSE) on Thursday night.
In a joint event hosted by LSE’s Israel and Palestine student union societies, the motion “This house believes in an academic boycott of Israel” was rejected by around 60 percent of students in a vote.
Supporting the motion was Dr. John Chalcraft, a reader in history and politics of empire in LSEÂ’s department of government.
A vocal supporter of sanctions against Israel and of a blanket boycott of the Jewish state, Chalcraft describes Israel as a “heavily militarized, nuclear-armed, expansionist apartheid state with extensive illegal settlement, land seizure and wall-building activity.”
Goodness! Instructor Chalcraft got two right out of seven, or 29% -- perhaps he should be sent down to redo his undergraduate courses.
In his speech, Chalcraft said that an academic boycott was “pivotal” in bringing down apartheid South Africa, and talked about how the Israeli government funds military research at Israeli universities, which helps the army oppress the Palestinians.
Not the 20% of Israelis who are Arabs, though. The army protects them while they study and teach at the university. To conclude, the Israeli army only oppresses those non-citizen Palestinians who wage war against Israel... which is what national armies are supposed to do. May I suggest Dr. Chalcraft be required to take some basic logic courses, too?
“The argument is that Israeli universities have engaged ideologically and materially in complicity with one of the longest occupations in the 20th and 21st century.
The mental blinders -- they burn!
We seek that those universities would play a more pro-active role in civil society in opposing what the Israeli government does,” he added.
Seek, and ye shall be shot down... by mere students, no less.
Chalcraft said that a boycott call was not aimed at individuals and that he wanted to rebut those who say that boycotters are a “hardcore group of anti- Semites.”
"Why no, soft-core is more our style. The romance of the story, dontchaknow."
The boycotters, he said, are part of “an exciting and talkative and open movement which has rapidly spread from Palestine to the UK, France, South Africa, Canada, US and other parts of Europe and even Israel itself, enlisting thousands of academic supporters committed to social and economic justice and believing in the possibilities of non-violent transnational solidarity against occupation and racism when other tactics have failed miserably; and modeling itself on the highly successful BDS movement that helped bring down apartheid South Africa.”
An awful lot of words for a simple antisemite. It's a surprise he hasn't blue smoke coming out of his ears.
“Incredible to think that he is entrusted with the teaching of young people,” Jonathan Hoffman, deputy chair of the Zionist Federation of the UK, said in his blog, also claiming that Chalcraft is a Hizbullah supporter.
Speaking against the motion was Prof. Daniel Hochauser, Kathleen Ferrier reader of medical oncology at University College London, who said an academic boycott of Israel was “completely pernicious, immoral and destructive.
“The boycott demonizes, ostracizes, it antagonizes, polarizes, it increases hatred and reduces understanding. In the future there will be understanding, and it will not be because of the boycott campaign, it will be in spite of it; and I call on everyone to reject the terrible idea of boycott,” he said to huge applause.
It's clear which side the audience favoured, even before the vote.
“I work as a medical oncologist, and the area in which I am involved is involved in the treatments of patients with cancer via chemotherapy in combination with antibodies that target specific cancer cells, [an area] which benefits many of our patients in the UK and worldwide.
“The reason we are carrying out these therapies is because of pioneering work carried out at the Weizmann Institute some 15-20 years ago. So I personally know that a cessation of links and grants with Israel would have an immediate and direct effect.
“This is not some abstract or obtuse issue. We are talking about direct disadvantage in a whole range of conditions,” Hochauser said.
He questioned how Chalcraft could sit on the board of the newly created Middle East Center at LSE while supporting a boycott of Israel.
A palpable point. Will the Center follow up on it?
Citing the center’s mission statement – which “works to develop research and teaching on the societies, economies, polities, and international relations of the region, which includes Arab states, Iran, Israel, Turkey, Afghanistan and Pakistan” – Hochauser said: “I find it incredible that he exists on the board of an organization which wants to strengthen links between LSE and Middle East universities, and yet he calls for a boycott of Israeli academia.”
He added: “It is very difficult to see how the center could have even the minimal amount of academic credibility.”
Hochauser said also that boycott calls against Israel were hypocritical, as there were no such calls to boycott British or American academia on account of the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan, and no calls to boycott Turkey because of its treatment of the Kurds, or China because of Tibet.
“Why is Israel singled out?” he asked.
"Prof. Hochauser successfully opposed the motion in an objective and factual manner," Gabi Kobrin, president of LSE's Israel Society said. "When looking at the credentials of his opponent, a Cambridge graduate with a doctorate in the modern history of the Middle East, it seemed like it would be a difficult task. Yet, Dr Chalcraft's arguments were both flawed and insubstantial."
*snicker*
Kobrin said that in his argument, Hochauser constantly stressed the need for building bridges and dialogue emphasizing the need for positive measures to achieve peace.
“I hope this event showed the importance for Zionist and Jewish students on campus not to shy away from challenges that Israel faces, but rather to tackle them with honesty and confidence. The debate was not only a success because the motion was defeated, but because it proved that when working together, the Israel and Palestine Societies, can achieve constructive dialogue, even when dealing with sensitive issues,” Kobrin added.
“We are extremely pleased by the collaboration of the Israeli Society in this event; we believe it reflects a shift on UK campuses from support for the illegal Israeli occupation to an acknowledgment of its impediment to lasting peace in the region,” said Zac Sammour, president of the LSE Palestine Society.
Missing the point completely, there.
“A victory for common sense and plurality,” said Raheem Kassam, director of Student Rights, an organization which fights extremism on campus about the defeat of the motion. “We’ve seen tonight how working together yields much more. No longer can the boycott campaign claim mass support for its divisive and detrimental campaign.”
After the debate, an incident occurred in which the vice-president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews claimed that an LSE academic threatened to “slap” him.
According to sources, Dr. Martha Mundy, a reader in anthropology at LSE, allegedly told Jonathan Arkush: “I want to give you a slap in the face,” and accused him of defamation after he was heard praising the chair of the debate for being fair.
A dreadful thing, to be sure.
Mundy is a co-convenor of the British Committee for the Universities of Palestine (BRICUP), which supports a boycott of Israel. Last month, she chaired a student event with Abdel Bari Atwan, editor of the Arab newspaper Al-Quds al-Arabi, who said that he would dance in Trafalgar Square if Iran bombed Israel.
Following complaints of anti-Semitism, police are investigating the event, in which Atwan implied the existence of a “Jewish lobby” and supported the efforts of Hamas and Hizbullah.
Speaking to the Jewish Chronicle after the incident, Arkush said: “It was enlightening to be the object of a vitriolic attack from a person who holds an academic position at LSE. I can now understand better the atmosphere in which Jewish students have to suffer on campus. How she believes that screaming and threatening violence will help her cause is beyond me.”
“It’s sad when the students are able to have a serious and rational debate, only to end with people like Dr. Mundy threatening people because she disagrees with their views on the chairmanship of the event,” Kassam said.
Mundy declined to comment, despite being given the right of reply to the accusation.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/18/2011 18:39 Comments ||
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#3
May I suggest Dr. Chalcraft be required to take some basic logic courses, too?
now TW, you and I both know that Logic and Reasoning are for the other guy. These are our betters! The good Doctor is enlightened and we should sit down, STFU, and listen - nodding our heads wisely to his bullsh*t...
SEOUL, Jan. 18 (Yonhap) -- North Korea's actual military spending is believed to be about 15 times the announced amount in 2009 as the communist regime continues to build up its military capacity despite the country's moribund economy, a South Korean defense research institute said Tuesday.
The North said it spent US$570 million on its military in 2009, but the real expenditure, calculated on an exchange rate based on purchasing power parity terms, was $8.77 billion, the state-run Korea Institute of Defense Analyses (KIDA) said in a report.
"In spite of its economy shrinking since the mid-2000s, North Korea has gradually increased its military spending," the report said.
North Korea maintains the world's fifth-largest army with an active duty military force of 1.19 million, compared to about 655,000 in the South.
According to figures released by North Korea, its military spending rose to $570 million in 2009 from $540 million in 2008, $510 million in 2007 and $470 million in 2006, the KIDA said.
As of 2009, North Korea's gross national income stood at 28.6 trillion won ($25 billion), compared with the South's 1,068 trillion won, the KIDA said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/18/2011 00:00 ||
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Chinese President Hu Jintao has said that "independent and peaceful reunification" of the two Koreas is "in the fundamental interest" of both sides. As long as the new Korea does as it's told, and provides Kimmie with lots of cognac...
Hu's remarks came in a written Q&A with the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post just before he embarked on a state visit to the U.S. on Tuesday.
Asked whether China believes "that reunification of the Korean peninsula will bring more stability than maintaining the status quo?" Hu said, "As a close neighbor and friend of [both Koreas], China hopes that the North and the South will improve relations and achieve reconciliation and cooperation through dialogue and consultation and eventually realize independent and peaceful reunification, and we support their efforts in this regard. This is in the fundamental interests of both the North and the South and conducive to peace and stability on the peninsula."
The Chinese leadership has expressed support for reunification independent of the military and political influence of the U.S. and led by the two Koreas themselves several times. But it has been widely believed to prefer the status quo for strategic reasons.
"We stand for achieving denuclearization of the peninsula in a peaceful way through dialogue and consultation to maintain peace and stability of the peninsula and Northeast Asia," Hu told the two papers. "For this purpose, China actively advocates and promotes the six-party talks process." Except for the part about pressing their lap dog to attend such talks...
He expressed hope "that proceeding from the overall interests of the denuclearization of the peninsula and regional peace and stability, the parties concerned will take active measures and create conditions for the resumption" of the talks.
Hu claimed the talks stand a good chance of success. "I am convinced that as long as the parties respect each other, engage in consultation on an equal footing, and implement the September 19 Joint Statement in a comprehensive and balanced way through the six-party talks, they will arrive at an appropriate solution to the Korean nuclear issue and contribute to lasting peace and stability on the peninsula and in Northeast Asia."
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/18/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
See also WORLD NEWS > CHINA PROVINCE GAINS SEA ACCESS VIA NORTH KOREA.
Again, "Rising China" would like to have Chin-controlled "Warm-Water" Ports throughout the "First Island Chain" for PLA power projection, Commerce, + has directly linked its perceived destiny as SOLE SUCCESSOR GLOBAL SUPERPOWER to the allegedly WEAK-N-DECLINING US to its success or failure to procure same.
* SAME > NORTH KOREA HIT BY FOOT-AND-MOUTH EPIDEMIC?
#2
The Chinese are not complete dunces. The thought has had to have crossed their minds that SKor is absolutely no threat to them, and is even closer to the Chinese Way than is NKor.
And, if Korea was unified under the leadership of the South, that China would be rid of a major nuisance, and Korea would become China's best friend, worth tens of billions of dollars a year to China, with little or no reason for the US to be there at all.
From the US point of view, such a deal might even be too sweet for China.
#4
Korea has as big a beef with Japan as the Chinese do. Only Chinese support of the North has pushed Korea into alliances with Japan. If the Chinese were smart they would have worked towards unification once the Soviets stopped supporting Korea. Made everything as peaceful as possible while slipping a wedge or two in there to pry the Koreans away from Japan and the US. It is probably not too late.
Iran paid North Korea US$2.5 million for arms purchases in 2008 through the South Korean branch of Bank Mellat, U.S. diplomatic cables unveiled by WikiLeaks suggest. They also say that China exported to North Korea dual-use products that could be transformed into parts for Scud missiles.
The cables say that North Korea received the arms payments through the Seoul branch of Iran's Bank Mellat and that the U.S. government urged the South Korean government to investigate the matter. Did they? What did they find?
According to a cable dated March 24, 2008, a company in Iran called Hong Kong Electronics wired $2.5 million in three separate payments from Parsian Bank in Iran to the Seoul branch of Bank Mellat in November of 2007. Hong Kong Electronics is a paper company owned by North Korea's Tanchon Commercial Bank. The money was wired entirely in euros, and $1.5 million worth of the payment was then wired to accounts in China and Russia.
Following a U.S. request to investigate, the South Korean government probed the Bank Mellat branch in December 2008 but did not take any punitive measures. Washington then demanded that the branch's assets be frozen, according to a cable dated May 12, 2009.
The U.S. State Department in cables from the embassies in London, Paris and Canberra in January of 2008 expressed concern that Chinese companies had for years been exporting metals and raw materials that could be used to manufacture ballistic missiles to Iran, Pakistan and North Korea. The cables say China sold dual-use parts that could be used to manufacture Scud missiles to North Korea through Dandong. The parts are included in a list of items prohibited for export to North Korea according to the Missile Technology Control Regime, an informal association of countries which share the goals of non-proliferation.
The cables say a Chinese trading company called Shenyang Huali Economic Trading Company was involved in North Korea's missile development program in Syria through a North Korean intermediary.
According to a cable dated May 15, 2009, a Turkish company called Ak Makina imported various computer numerically controlled (CNC) machining tools manufactured by the Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group and attempted to supply them to an Iranian company called Ardalan Machineries Company. Ardalan is in turn linked to Shahid Hemmat Industrial Group, an Iranian business that develops solid-fuel-propelled intercontinental ballistic missiles. There was a concern that Ardalan posed as the end user instead of SHIG. The CNC machining tools could be used by SHIG to manufacture engines for solid-fuel-powered missiles.
Seoul confirmed that the deal pointed out by the U.S. in April 2009 took place in December 2008. It informed Washington that the products Hyundai-Kia exported to AK Makina did not violate international or domestic laws governing non-proliferation and that the transaction was legal. But after repeated requests by Washington to cooperate, Seoul finally cancelled the export deal, according to a cable dated Dec. 3, 2009. If the South Koreans can't get serious about stopping the dual-use exports, it's time for us to point out that they can defend themselves.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/18/2011 00:00 ||
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MEMRI reports that the latest issue of Al Qaeda's English language magazine, Inspire, has an article by American jihadi, Samir Khan. Khan, from North Carolina and now believed to be in Yemen, says that Muslims do not join jihad in response to Israel or the U.S., but because jihad is the duty of all Muslims. Khan is believed to play an important role in propaganda for the West.
"I think he's learned that what we did was far more appropriate than he ever gave us credit for while he was a candidate. So I think he's learned from experience. And part of that experience was the Democrats having a terrible showing last election."
Cheney also asserted that Obama has learned that the prison at Guantanamo Bay simply cannot be closed, despite the promises he made while campaigning for the White House.
"I think he's learned that he's not going to be able to close Guantanamo," Cheney said. "That it's -- if you didn't have it, you'd have to create one like that. You've got to have some place to put terrorists who are combatants who are bound and determined to try to kill Americans."
The former vice president cited the Obama administration's expanded use of drones in Pakistan as more evidence of continuity from the policies of the Bush White House. Stay tuned because Obama apologizes for doubting W at 11:00.
#1
Some of the Kos Kiddies commented, of course, but I liked this one:
What counts is that the Obama administration knows what Cheney has said is true.
And by all indications, as shown by policy decisions and actions, the Obama administration DOES know it, even though the great, all-knowing liberal elite does not want to admit it.
Pretty much says it all!
Posted by: Bobby ||
01/18/2011 6:10 Comments ||
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#2
Shut the hell up, Dick. The point is to get the stupid bastards to do things the right way, not to gloat about it in such a fashion that you make it politically harder for them to keep doing the right thing. Take "yes" for an answer, for the love of mike.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
01/18/2011 10:11 Comments ||
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#3
You can go on missing George Bush all you want. I miss Cheney.
The U.S. and Russia will fight international efforts this week to set a deadline to destroy the last known stocks of smallpox, saying the deadly virus is needed for research to combat bioterrorism. The U.S. says it needs to maintain the virus samples to develop new drugs and vaccines to counter a potential bioterror attack or accidental release of smallpox from an unsanctioned stock.
#1
"The adapted virus that immunized hundreds of millions of people against smallpox has now been enlisted in the war on cancer. Vaccinia poxvirus joins a herpesvirus and a host of other pathogens on a growing list of engineered viruses entering late-stage human testing against cancer."
To explain: Smallpox, cowpox and vaccinia are all believed to have a common ancestor. However they diverged to become radically different, yet retain some characteristics. Unlike many other viruses, they do have DNA, not just RNA, and have interacted with the human immune system for an estimated 10,000 years.
It can truly be said that eradicating smallpox would be as potentially dangerous as eradicating a pest insect, such as the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which we almost did with DDT.
In a few generations, humans might actually start experiencing an immune system malfunction from the absence of smallpox infection. Theoretical, I know, but it is a potent, evolved organism of sorts, and once it's gone, it's gone.
#2
we also should never assume that our enemies "competitors" have complied with their professions of total virus destruction. They have never been proven totally honest.
"Trust, but verify, and have a contingency plan"
Sun Frank G Tzu
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/18/2011 20:29 Comments ||
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#3
Destroy it. Offer vaccines to those few, who are uncomfortable with it being gone.
The horror that would ensue should it ever escape, now that the world is more crowded and most people are not vaccinated, is beyond your imagination. Tens of millions would die in the first months. Hundreds of millions more would be killed before it could be stamped out. This is like a nuclear accident -- a thing with low probability but huge impact. We must drive the probability as close to 0 as possible.
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/18/2011 22:52 Comments ||
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#5
It can't go elsewhere if it is dead. If it is not dead it might. Kill it, now.
The only argument to keep it is to make other humans, with their own stash of these things, worry that we could use it on them, if they used it on us. But if they used it on us, then we would have lots of it handy to share with them.
We do not need it. Let it go.
This thing is not our friend. If given a chance, it would kill us. Without mercy or remorse.
We have WoT Operations and WoT Politix, but as hard as I look, we don't have WoT Humor.
KARACHI - The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) has demanded de-weaponisation of the entire country, maintaining that the spread of weapons has added to the crime rate in the country.
Speaking to reporters, senior leader of the MQM, Farooq Sattar, said a draft bill seeking de-weaponisation of the entire has been submitted by his party with the National Assembly secretariat.
Sattar said the MQM envisaged a complete ban on the illegal manufacturing and trafficking of weapons in the country. He said the party would also present its bill in the Senate and appealed to all parties to support the legislation, adding that it would enable parliament to play its due role in preventing spread of arms and gun culture that was threatening the very fabric of the nation.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/18/2011 00:00 ||
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#4
Actually, not a bad idea on the part of the Pakis. Too bad the REAL solution would be a Second Amendment that applies to members of non-Muslim religions.
#5
Heh heh, I was watching what many consider the best news on TV late last weekend when this flip on a panal could not understand how somebody could both own a gun and be against violence. Grumbled out loud, "You dumb sob, a person doesn't get EMT training then hope for car wrecks."
[Pak Daily Times] Following the recent spree of murders, which claimed more than 30 lives, the Sindh government decided on Monday to launch a selective operation in some 120 localities to maintain peace in the city before local election.
According to sources, this selective operation, which would be targeted against the criminals, is aimed at stopping the unabated murder incidents and armed festivities between land mafias.
They said the Sindh government, after successful negotiations with its coalition partners, has decided to start the operation.
The government has planned to engage Rangers, special force, police, ladies personnel and commandos for door-to-door search operation to root out the culprits in the most affected areas, the sources said. Moreover, they said that law enforcement agencies have made a list of most affected areas of the city and selected 120 localities for the launch of first phase of operation.
"The delay in the operation is caused by the reservations showed by coalition partners, who opposed the action against a certain community or political group. However, The infamous However... efforts to address such concerns are being made," the sources said.
They further said the law enforcers had also gathered facts about the affected areas, where different parties enjoyed political influence.
Earlier, partial curfew was imposed in parts of the city on Sunday after some five people were killed in a fresh wave of political violence. The Sindh government deployed commandos having the backing of helicopters to conduct raids in troubled areas.
Neither political dialogue nor security agencies' efforts have been able to check the growing menace of murders in the city, where the corpse count in four consecutive days of violence has risen to 29.
The Sindh Home Department confirmed 23 killings.
According to reports, five people, including two MQM workers, were bumped off on Sunday while an ANP activist, who sustained bullet wounds in Al-Falah area on Saturday, also pegged out.
The MQM workers, Kashif and Jaffer, were shot by unidentified motorcyclists in Chona Bhatti area in the limits of Risala Police Station. They sustained multiple bullet injuries and were taken to the Civil Hospital, where doctors pronounced them dead.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/18/2011 00:00 ||
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[Pak Daily Times] An anti-terrorism court on Monday framed charges against banned Tahreek-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Muhammadi (TNSM) chief Maulana Sufi Muhammad in various cases and fixed January 31 for recording evidences against him.
Sources told Daily Times that the anti-terrorism court judge, Asim Imam, conducted the proceedings inside the Beautiful Downtown Peshawar Central Prison in about nine cases against Sufi Muhammad and 68 others charged in the same cases. These cases were registered over a decade ago with different cop shoppes of Swat and Dir districts.
Sufi Muhammad, the sources said, informed the judge that he did not believe in the current judicial system as it was not in accordance with Shariah. The TNSM chief also refused to hire a lawyer to defend himself in the cases, the sources added.
The public prosecutor said the government had reopened old cases against the TNSM chief and he was also facing fresh cases lodged with Mingora and Saidu Sharif cop shoppes. One of the cases registered at Mingora cop shoppe pertained to the killing of PPP MPA Badiuzzaman.
Sufi Muhammad had launched a movement in June 1989 to replace these courts with Shariah courts in the Malakand Division.
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[Arab News] Officials with Israel's Labour Party say leader Ehud Barak is leaving the party to form a new faction in parliament.
The decision throws Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition into turmoil, though it is not enough to rob him of his parliamentary majority.
Barak, who is the defense minister, is expected to remain in the coalition with four other Labor breakaways. It's not clear whether Labor's eight remaining politicians will support the government.
Several leading Labor members have criticized Barak recently for staying in the government at a time when peace efforts are stalled. Labor is the most dovish faction in an otherwise hard-line government.
A statement announcing the decision by Barak and four followers was obtained by The News Agency that Dare Not be Named. A formal announcement was expected later Monday.
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[Al Jazeera] John Ging, the director of United Nations Relief and Works Agency's (UNRWA) operations in Gaza, and Barbara Shenstone, the director of operations in the West Bank, have resigned from their posts.
The agency issued a statement on Monday saying that the Ging will take up a position in New York, while Shenstone will return to her native Canada.
It is not clear what prompted Ging to take the decision, but it has been reported that he was under pressure over certain controversial comments he made on Israel and Hamas.
Al Jazeera's Nour Odeh, reporting from the West Bank, said that Ging was known as the 'Gazan' among residents of the strip.
"He was admired for never leaving the Gaza Strip, even in its darkest moments of internal strife and during the war," Odeh said.
"During his tenure, he has certainly upset Israel and many international partners, who fund the agency, for being unusually vocal in his criticism."
Odeh said that his relations with groups on the ground, including Hamas were "generally positive, though there were periods of tensions".
Filippo Grandi, commissioner general of UNRWA, paid tribute to the efforts of the two directors when she made the announcement to staff of the agency.
"Barbara and John have made exceptional contributions to UNRWA's work under the most difficult circumstances," Grandi said
" ... their advocacy in support of rights has been outstanding -- be it amidst heavy bombardment in Gaza during armed conflict or in responding to the abysmal rights abuses in the occupied West Bank."
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A US diplomatic cable that WikiLeaks released over the weekend suggested that North Korea may have received from Iran a 2.5-million-dollar payment for weapons through the Seoul branch of an Iranian bank, local media reported Tuesday. For the good of humanity, of course.
According to the cable reported Sunday by the Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten, North Korea received the payment via the Seoul branch of Tehran-based Bank Mellat. The South Korean government suspected the bank was involved in Iran's alleged nuclear weapons programmes, DPA reported.
The cable, dated March 24, 2008, said an Iran-based company called Hong Kong Electronics, an alleged front for North Korea's Tanchon Commercial Bank, wired the 2.5 million dollars from Parsian Bank in Iran to Bank Mellat's Seoul branch in November 2007.
Hong Kong Electronics wired the total sum in three separate payments in euros, 1.5 million dollars' worth of which was transferred to accounts in China and Russia, the cable said.
North Korea watchers in Seoul to believe that Iran made the 2007 payments in exchange for arms, the Korea Herald newspaper reported.
Both Tanchon Commerical Bank and Hong Kong Electronics are under sanctions by the United Nations Security Council, the United States and South Korea.
Washington suspected Bank Mellat's Seoul branch of channelling funds to Iran's nuclear development programme. It urged the South Korean government in August to shut down the branch or bar it from making transactions.
Seoul compromised by suspending the bank for two months and requiring the Bank of Korea's approval over any transactions exceeding 40,000 dollars.
"The measures against Bank Mellat were taken as part of carrying out the UN Security Council resolution," an government official was quoted as saying by Yonhap News Agency in December.
[An Nahar] Phalange Party The Kataeb (Phalange) party was founded by Pierre Gemayel in 1936, who modeled the party after Spanish and Italian Fascist parties he had observed as an Olympic athlete during the 1936 Summer Olympics held in Berlin, then Nazi Germany. The movement's uniforms originally included brown shirts and members used the Nazi salute. Despite the party's uniform, its strong sense of nationalism and dedication to a single charismatic leader, the Lebanese Kataeb was not and never became a fascist party nor did it espouse a totalitarian ideology. leader Amin Gemayel on Monday announced he was renaming Saad Hariri to head the next government.
His remarks came following an extraordinary Phalange Party politburo meeting.
Gemayel reiterated "no compromise" at the expense of Leb or the international tribunal.
He expressed regret over the postponement of parliamentary consultations on creating a new government.
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[Iran Press TV] Leb's Foreign Ministry has summoned US Ambassador to Beirut Maura Connelly over interfering in the country's domestic affairs.
Lebanese Foreign Minister Ali Shami asked Connelly to clarify the reasons behind her visit with politician Nicolas Fattouch, a Press TV correspondent reported from Beirut.
The foreign minister "considers these kinds of contacts as interference in Leb's internal affairs," the ministry said in a statement on Monday.
Leb is in a political standoff after Prime Minister Saad Hariri's government collapsed on Wednesday when 11 Hezbullies-affiliated ministers resigned in a dispute over the US-backed Special Tribunal for Leb (STL).
The STL is probing the liquidation of former Lebanese Premier Rafiq Hariri in 2005.
The US-sponsored tribunal is reportedly about to indict some Hezbullies members in the Hariri murder case -- an allegation which has been vehemently rejected by the Lebanese resistance movement.
On Monday, Lebanese President Michel Suleiman postponed talks on the appointment of a new premier until next Monday.
"After assessing the positions of various parties in Leb ... President Michel Suleiman has decided to postpone parliamentary consultations until Monday, January 24 and Tuesday, January 25, 2011," read a statement released by the president's office.
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[An Nahar] Caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri has told U.N. Sherlocks that he believed Syria's hereditary President Bashar Pencilneck Assad ... who used to be referred to in the Egyptian press as the boy president ... was "personally" involved is his father's liquidation.
As Hizubllah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah spoke late Sunday, Al-Jadid television station aired what it said was leaked testimony from the tribunal.
In one of the tapes dating to 2007, Hariri is heard telling a U.N. investigator that he believed Assad was personally involved in his father's murder.
He also describes Assad as an "idiot" -- a revelation that comes at a sensitive time when Hariri has been trying to repair his relations with Syria.
Hariri's office acknowledged the tapes are authentic but said they were taken out of context.
The Special Tribunal for Leb on Monday filed the first indictment Monday in the liquidation of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, touching off a process many fear could ignite new bloodshed nearly six years after the massive truck bombing along Beirut's waterfront.
The contents of the draft indictment were not revealed and may not become public for weeks as Belgian judge Daniel Fransen decides whether there is enough evidence for a trial.
The indictment, confirmed by the international court's headquarters in The Hague, is the latest turn in a deepening political crisis in Leb, where Hizbullah toppled the government last week in a dispute over the tribunal.
The court is widely expected to accuse members of Hizbullah of being involved in the killing, something Hizbullah has insisted it will not accept.
The Iran- and Syria-sponsored group fiercely denies any role in the killing and says the tribunal, jointly funded by U.N. member states and Leb, is a conspiracy by Israel and the United States.
Many fear the crisis could lead to street protests and the kind of violence that has bedeviled Leb, a tiny nation of 4 million people for years, including a devastating 1975-1990 civil war and sectarian battles between Sunnis and Shiites in 2008.
Hariri -- the son of the slain leader -- has refused Hizbullah's demands to renounce the court, prompting 11 Hizbullah ministers and their allies to resign on Wednesday.
The move brought down the unity government and further polarized the country's rival factions: Hizbullah with its patrons in Syria and Iran on one side, and Hariri's Western-backed bloc on the other, with support by the U.S. and Soddy Arabia.
The U.S. has called Hizbullah's walkout a transparent effort to subvert justice.
On Monday, Foreign Minister Ali Shami cautioned the U.S. to stop meddling in Leb. He summoned American Ambassador Maura Connelly to explain her weekend meeting with Nicolas Fattouch, a key undecided politician, as politicians scramble to form a government.
After Monday's meeting with Shami, Connelly's office denied any interference.
"She explained to the foreign minister that the United States Embassy has regular contact with personalities from across Leb's political spectrum as part of its diplomatic mission," an embassy front man said. "The United States does not interfere in Leb's internal political matters. The shape and composition of the government is, of course, a Lebanese matter."
The Foreign Ministry's admonishment came as leaders from Turkey, Qatar and Syria met in Damascus to discuss the crisis. Leb had planned to hold its own talks starting Monday, but postponed them for a week as the regional leaders tackle the crisis.
Lengthy negotiations lie ahead between Leb's factions as they attempt to build a new government.
According to Leb's power-sharing system, the president must be a Christian Maronite, the prime minister a Sunni and the parliament speaker a Shiite. Each faith makes up about a third of Leb's population of 4 million.
Hariri, a Sunni, is staying on as a caretaker prime minister as a new government is formed.
Hizbullah leader on Sunday defended the decision to bring down Leb's government, saying his movement did so without resorting to violence. The speech by Sheik Hassan Nasrallah -- who commands an arsenal that far outweighs that of the national army -- appeared aimed at reducing tensions at a time when many Lebanese fear another outbreak of civil conflict.
In an earlier speech, Nasrallah said the group "will cut off the hand" of anyone who tries to arrest any of its members.
After Rafik Hariri's liquidation, suspicion immediately fell on neighboring Syria, since Hariri had been seeking to weaken its domination of the country.
Syria has denied having any role in the murder, but the killing galvanized opposition to Damascus and led to huge street demonstrations helped end Syria's 29-year military presence.
Since then, speculation has grown that Hizbullah will be indicted. Though the tribunal has not yet named any individuals or countries as suspects, Nasrallah has announced that he expects members of his group to be indicted.
A May 2008 report by Germany's Der Spiegel magazine said the court will indict Hezbullies members based mainly on the analysis of mobile phone calls in the run-up to Hariri's liquidation. One of the suspects made the mistake of calling his girlfriend with one of the phones, revealing his identity. The report also linked the explosives and the truck used in the attack to the Shiite krazed killer group.
Continued on Page 49
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#1
I believe the actual phrase used was "not the sharpest pencil-neck in the box"...
[An Nahar] President Michel Suleiman has delayed talks on naming a new premier to give a chance to international efforts to defuse the latest political crisis, a top advisor to caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri said on Monday.
"The fact that efforts are underway, locally but equally importantly abroad -- all these things are aimed at finding a way to either resolve the crisis or make sure that the political impasse does not deteriorate into something worse," Mohammed Shatah told Agence La Belle France Presse.
While he welcomed international efforts to resolve the crisis sparked by last week's collapse of Hariri's unity government, Shatah said it was unfortunate that the solution was being brokered outside Leb.
He was referring to a meeting taking place in Damascus on Monday between Turkish and Qatari leaders and efforts to revive a Saudi-Syrian initiative to resolve the crisis.
"From our standpoint there is a bit of a bitter taste to the fact that this is happening elsewhere," Shatah said. "After all we are talking about a Lebanese political crisis, the address of which should be here" and not in Damascus.
"Instead of taking this Syrian-Saudi deal and bringing it here, it seems to have gone abroad in the region," he said.
Shatah said he expects a protracted crisis following the government collapse and added that Hariri's coalition was not likely to join a cabinet headed by anyone other than the 40-year-old acting premier.
"It's clear to many of us that it will indeed be difficult to form a government regardless of the outcome of consultations," he said.
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[An Nahar] Special Tribunal for Leb Registrar, Herman von Hebel, confirmed that the tribunal prosecutor has submitted an indictment to and supporting materials to pre-trial judge Daniel Fransen.
"The documents, which relate to the liquidation of Rafik Hariri and others, were handed to the Registry at 16:35PM (local time) on Monday," said a statement issued by the STL.
"They will now be reviewed by Pre-Trial Judge, Daniel Fransen," it said.
"Contents of the indictment remain confidential at this stage," the STL added.
Earlier Monday, STL front man Crispin Thorold denied a report published by Leb's Al-Markaziya news agency that said Bellemare had submitted his indictments to Fransen.
Al-Markaziya said Bellemare on Monday submitted his indictments to Fransen.
"We deny the report," Thorold told Al-Jadid TV, adding that when the indictment is filed the STL will issue a statement.
"Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare today handed his indictments to pre-trial judge Daniel Fransen after completion of his investigation into the liquidation of Rafik Hariri," Al-Markaziya said.
Al-Markaziya said Fransen will begin his review of the case to determine whether to accept or reject Bellemare's findings.
In another statement issued later by the STL, it said Bellemare will address the significance of the filing of his indictment to Fransen in a videotaped statement to be issued on Tuesday.
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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.
Five countries are appealing to Afghanistan President 
MEMRI reports that the latest issue of Al Qaeda's English language magazine, Inspire, has an article by American jihadi, Samir Khan. Khan, from North Carolina and now believed to be in Yemen, says that Muslims do not join jihad in response to Israel or the U.S., but because jihad is the duty of all Muslims. Khan is believed to play an important role in propaganda for the West.
"I think he's learned that what we did was far more appropriate than he ever gave us credit for while he was a candidate. So I think he's learned from experience. And part of that experience was the Democrats having a terrible showing last election."
[Pak Daily Times] An anti-terrorism court on Monday framed charges against banned Tahreek-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Muhammadi (TNSM) chief Maulana Sufi Muhammad in various cases and fixed January 31 for recording evidences against him. 
A US diplomatic cable that WikiLeaks released over the weekend suggested that North Korea may have received from Iran a 2.5-million-dollar payment for weapons through the Seoul branch of an Iranian bank, local media reported Tuesday.
