Posted by: Fred ||
03/27/2011 11:10 ||
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Happy Birthday/Daily Gam Shot
Talisa Soto aka Lupe Lamora in "Licence to Kill" aka Maria Rivera in "The Mambo Kings" aka Princess Kitana in "Mortal Kombat" aka Navajo Woman in "Sunchaser" (age 44)
[Tolo News] An unspecified number of non-combatants were killed in an air raid by Nato forces in southern Helmand province on Friday, Nato said on Saturday.
The incident took place when Nato forces targeted two vehicles believed to be carrying Taliban in Nawzad district in turbulent southern Helmand province, Nato said in statement.
Investigations have been launched into the incident. The officials have yet to release the number of civilian deaths in the incident.
Last year's violence claimed the lives of 2,777 civilians, the deadliest toll in more than nine years of war, according to a recent report by the United Nations. ... aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society...
President Hamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai ... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabbani in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a Pashtun face on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use... has consistently called on his Western allies to make their all-out efforts to prevent civilian deaths while targeting thug locations.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/27/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
An "unspecified" number, you say. How MANY is that is grickles and dimes? Just roughly....
And I have always wanted to know what the colorful name "hamid" actually means. It isnt short for the name Hammy, is it?
Of course in Karzai's case it might mean "sausage face" but then so many Moslems seem to have those sorts of noses.
I know Arafat had one.... and those ...big... soft.... lips ...too.
You remember his soft lips dont you?
[Tolo News] Twenty two Death Eaters handed over their weapons and surrendered to government in northern Baghlan province on Friday, local officials said.
The men surrendered in Jelga district of Baghlan province and promised to work for peace in their province, Abdul Rahman Rahimi, police chief of Baghlan said.
It comes as twenty Orcs and similar vermin last Tuesday handed over their weapons and joined the Afghan grinding of the peace processor in the province.
Taliban have not yet commented.
This is the third group of Death Eaters to have surrendered since the beginning of the Afghan New Year.
Previously Afghan and foreign officials have warned that Taliban will increase their activities in the New Year.
Baghlan was one of the insecure provinces in the north of Afghanistan, but it was cleared of Death Eaters after heavy operations by Afghan and foreign forces.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/27/2011 00:00 ||
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[Arab News] Dufallah Al-Terafi's fruit and vegetable stand was once a bustling roadside shop, crowded with workers picking up ripe tomatoes and cucumbers for dinner on their way home in the evening.
Today, Al-Terafi waits in vain for customers as dusk falls over the Sudanese capital. His mangos and apples sit untouched in their cartons, the bananas hanging from a hook don't get a second glance -- the price tag is enough to scare off most.
"Look at all this just sitting here, noone comes to buy anymore because prices have gone up," he said, pointing to tomatoes now 3 Sudanese pounds ($1) per kilo, up from about 1.5-2 pounds a couple of months ago. "My business is suffering too much because of this."
Fruits and vegetables have a brief shelf life, after which they are unsellable. Perhaps Mr. Al-Terafi ought to consider cutting his prices to what customers will pay, so that he takes a small loss instead of a bigger one?
Al-Terafi and his customers are among a growing number of Sudanese squeezed by a surge in food prices, which is fueling anger in a country already weighed down by years of conflict, US sanctions and more recently, an economic crisis.
Inflation in the country's north -- where about 80 percent of the population lives -- was 16.9 percent in February, up from 9.8 percent in November, when the central bank effectively devalued the pound to boost liquidity in the financial system and erase the need for a black market, a move that tends to push up inflation.
Soaring food prices -- food and drinks inflation stood at 19.9 percent in February -- accounted for a big part of the rise, in a worrying sign for a government anxious to avoid mass protests that toppled leaders in neighboring Egypt and Tunisia.
Forced to cut subsidies on petroleum products and raise the price of sugar this year to cut the budget deficit, Khartoum blames its economic woes largely on speculation and hoarding. Analysts point to years of mismanagement and overspending.
"The real danger for the Sudanese government is that the worst is yet to come -- there's no reason to assume that food prices are going to come down or that the fiscal situation is going to get better," said Harry Verhoeven, a PhD fellow at Oxford University who focuses on the Sudanese economy.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/27/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
I recommend Hillary Clinton get the International Monetary Fund to print a whole LOTTA money off the presses and get into Sudan immediately and start handing out dollars to all those poor boogas so they can buy as much Camel dung as they NEED to repair their huts and put Locusts on the table for their starving (WHY are they always starving?) children.
I mean I know the score, I saw the pictures in National Geographic. Why those people dont even have cars. But they DO seem to have a ready supply of AK47s for some reason.
And they have such colorful customs featuring knives and camels and ullulations of Allah Akbar. I think Hillary owes them an explanation (at LEAST) of why they are so raggedy poor and why everything on their bare feet smells so bad.
At least 12 civilians have been killed during festivities between Somali government troops backed by African Union forces and al-Shabaab ... Harakat ash-Shabaab al-Mujahidin aka the Mujahideen Youth Movement. It was originally the youth movement of the Islamic Courts, now pretty much all of what's left of it. They are aligned with al-Qaeda but operate more like the Afghan or Pakistani Taliban. The organization's current leader is Ibrahim Haji Jama Mee'aad, also known as Ibrahim al-Afghani. Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, a Kenyan al-Qaeda member, is considered the group's military leader... fighters in Mogadishu.
The civilians, among them women and kiddies, were killed on Saturday after the fighting broke out in Mogadishu's northern districts of Bondhere and Dayniile as well as the southern district of Hodan, the Press TV correspondent in Mogadishu reported.
More than 67 people were also maimed when Somali soldiers and al-Shaboobs exchanged heavy gunfire, and barrages of mortar shells were fired.
Al-Shabaab front man Sheikh Ali Mohamud Rageh claimed that at least 20 government troops were killed after both sides engaged in bloody skirmishes.
However, The all-purpose However... Somali police front man Col. Abdulahi Hassan Barise rejected the claim, saying that government forces have captured nine under-age children, who were recruited by the al-Shabaab group and forced to fight for them in the frontline.
Boilerplate follows...
Somalia has not had a functioning government since 1991, when warlords overthrew former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.
Over the past two decades, up to one million people have bit the dust in the fighting between rival factions and due to famine and disease.
There are more than 1.4 million internally displaced people (IDPs) in Somalia, and over 300,000 IDPs are sheltering in Mogadishu alone.
Most of the displaced live in poor and degrading conditions on makeshift sites in southern and central Somalia, according to the United Nations ... aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society... High Commissioner for Refugees.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/27/2011 00:00 ||
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FAMILIES are fleeing west from the central coastal town of Sirte, hometown of Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi, as rebels advance.
A dozen cars were seen heading towards Tripoli, 360km to the west, filled with women and children fearing coalition air strikes and the advancing rebel fighters, who have been pushing Gaddafi's forces back along the main coastal road.
Authorities in Tripoli invited a score of journalists to Sirte, many of whom called their embassies to ensure that they would not be targeted in any coalition air strikes.
According to a Sirte resident reached by telephone, the town was hit by air strikes throughout Saturday night and Sunday morning.
[Ennahar] A few dozen protesters tried to march again on Saturday in Algiers at the invitation of the National Coordination for Change and Democracy (NCCD), but were blocked by police, according to an AFP journalist.
The demonstrators, among them the honorary president of the Algerian League for the Defense of Human Rights (LADDH) Ali Yahia Abdennour and members of the Rally for Culture and Democracy (RCD, opposition), were surrounded by Police on the "Place du 1er Mai" in the center of the capital.
Hundreds of police were deployed around the square where the demonstration was to begin towards the Place des Martyrs, about three miles away.
The demonstrators waved Algerian flags and placards on which we could read: "system, go out" and "for freedom, justice and honor." They dispersed peacefully.
The NCCD, created in January in the wake of riots that left five people dead and over 800 maimed, was split in two about a month ago, a faction refusing to manifest, the other establishing weekly demonstrations.
The latter, who showed on Saturday for the seventh time, includes the RCD, the LDP (Party for secularism and democracy, not recognized) and MDS (Social Democratic Movement, not represented at the National Assembly). There are also some associations.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/27/2011 00:00 ||
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[Ennahar] The terrorist organization Al Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) has successfully seized anti-aircraft missiles from Libya in the throes of a civil war between the forces of Qadaffy and Libyan gunnies who demand the departure of Libyan leader Moammar Qadaffy.
According to Chadian President Idris Deby, in an interview with the weekly "Jeune Afrique", to be published Monday, the terrorist organization Al Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb AQIM would have benefited from the popular uprising in Libya to take air missiles.
Deby expressed his concern about what is happening in Libya, according to the French Agency AFP, and fears that the terrorist organization would benefit from the presence of mercenaries in this region to seize heavy weapons and missiles hidden in the Central Sahara region.
It appears that the headline is misleading, and it is merely assumed that AQIM must have helped themselves to goodies lying about, but this is not actually known.
According to the president of Chad, the situation is "very disturbing" and al Qaeda will surely become a real well-equipped army." Deby said he was a hundred percent sure, and added that Colonel Qadaffy was partly right when he accused Al Qaeda of handling the insurgency. "How far? I do not know, but what is certain is that he was right," he said.
Deby, who was against foreign intervention in Libya, has denied the existence of Chadian mercenaries that would support pro-Qadaffy forces against jihad boys.
According to observers, the revolt against the Libyan regime will have negative consequences for neighboring countries, including Algeria. The terrorist organization, they say, will not hesitate to exploit the situation for the largest possible number of weapons to kill Algerians even at exorbitant prices as there are official parties (European countries) who fund paying ransoms to free their nationals among the hostages, kidnapped by Al Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/27/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Does this mean that we are to expect MORE Moslems killing other Moslems? What a shame. Is there no end to this tragic madness?
Moslems in black turbans and beards killing each other. Kidnapping, extortion, bombing their own schoolchildren and blowing up the markets full of helpless burqua shrouded mothers shopping for their meager meals?
Its all Bush's fault. Would it help if the Soccer Moms in Long island all put bags on their heads and gave up the Golden Labs and the SUVs? Perhaps if we closed all the schools for girls and shot a few nuns? And if everybody in Massachusetts and California said Alam-aleikam (roll those L's off the glottis with feeling) sincerely with all their hearts.
We must all remember that Islam is the Religion of Peace and that all they are saying is Kumbaya, if we will JUST listen.
And if we would all just stop being Infidel Dogs the world would be a better place.
[Tolo News] The Libyan capital, Tripoli, has reportedly come under coalition's air attacks on Saturday.
Tajoura has been the main target in the recent days where strong kabooms have been heard.
It was earlier announced that the Nato would soon take the lead in Libya operations. Most of the logistics have been on US burden so far, while the UK and La Belle France have also been in the lead.
La Belle France and the UK were the first to urge the UN Security to impose a no-fly zone over Libya. The French president even went further by recognising the rebels.
As Libyan government forces are pressing the last rebel cities, their artillery and tanks have reportedly come under attack. The rebels are said to be in a stand-off being under threat from government forces.
Col Qadaffy has been arming volunteers who are willing to fight against the rebels.
Pictures of civilian casualties are randomly shown on the state TV as the coalition forces have so far claimed not to have caused any casualties in their air strikes.
The intervention in Libya has also been criticised by leaders and people of some countries including the people in the United States. Turkish officials had earlier said that what the coalition were doing had already gone beyond the UN resolution.
Qatar has been the first Arab country to take part in monitoring the no-fly zone over Libya.
La Belle France is against the idea to deploy ground forces saying that the illusory sovereignty of Libya must be respected.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/27/2011 00:00 ||
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Our courageous Fwance is "recognizing" the Rebels?
ALL of them or just some of them? ( Now, boyz play nice.)
Its a golden opportunity to recognize just "some" of them and label the others as whatever we can stir with a sick.
Then supply "some" of them with old Tokarevs from the Russian Civil War and the ammo from about the the time of the BanglaDesh rainy season and wish them a hearty have at thee. And keep that cooking until they all have nasty grudges and are willing to pay us for enough grenades to stuff in each other's kaffiyehs for about the next ten years....just so long as we have at least one port and a pipeline, to make it worth our while.
And then the Moslems of Libya can gitch gitcha yahyahs all they want.
[Maghrebia] They started their campaign as a simple interaction on a social networking site. Now Mauritania's youth-based movement is making their demands all the more strident, drawing supporters across the country.
They "didn't necessarily know each other, but shared the same feeling that things have to change," according to group member Mohamed Salem Ould Khallih.
"Then we met in the city centre, precisely on the Place des anciens blocs rouges, after deciding to call ourselves the 'February 25th Youth,'" Ould Khallih told Magharebia.
Their latest Nouakchott rally underscored that they want their requests to be taken seriously.
A 28-point list clearly expressed their grievances, calling for the resignation of the prime minister and the formation of a national coalition government made of technocrats, the abolition of the senate and a rise in the guaranteed minimum wage to 73,000 ouguiyas.
"We're not a party, but rather a peaceful, apolitical movement made up of highly-qualified young people such as PhDs, engineers, doctors, journalists, lawyers, doctoral students, public-sector workers, unemployed people, and so on," Ould Khallih said.
He added that the group doesn't want to "damage unity" but respects the opinions of others, "not even calling for the departure of President Abdel Aziz".
"We know he is an elected president," Ould Khallih said, adding that he "must be the last president from the army" and that the prime minister must be replaced with "someone else who knows the country and its problems".
"We have no parliament; the elected representatives who are there have seen presidents constantly coming and going for nearly twenty years. We don't want them anymore," he said. "We don't want it or the opposition. We also want the security forces to recruit educated people."
Commenting on Mauritania's plans to boost fishing jobs, Ould Khallih described them as "a drop in the sea" that will not solve the problems of the past.
Other groups, including labour unions, echoed their demands.
"The social situation in Mauritania is currently characterised by an unprecedented deterioration in the living conditions of the population as a whole, and of workers in particular, which is essentially due to low purchasing power and on-going rises in the prices of staple foods such as rice, sugar and oil," said General Confederation of Mauritanian Workers (CGTM) chief Abdallahi Ould Mohamed.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/27/2011 00:00 ||
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[Jerusalem Post Front Page] Libyan rebel fighters have reached the outskirts of the oil-exporting town of Brega on Saturday after taking Ajdabiyah from Muammar Qadaffy's forces, a rebel front man said.
"They are now, as we speak, on the outskirts of the city of Brega," Colonel Ahmed Bani, a rebel military front man, said at a news conference in the rebel stronghold of Benghazi. Brega is 70 km to the west of Ajdabiyah.
Bani said the recapture by rebels of Ajdabiyah, a gateway from western Libya to Benghazi, meant "the winds of change have now started to blow."
Also on Saturday, forces loyal to Qadaffy launched attacks on rebel-held Misrata from the west and the east, shelling the city's port with mortars and artillery, a rebel told Rooters.
Misrata is the only big rebel stronghold left in the west of Libya and it is cut off from the main rebel force fighting Qadaffy's troops in the east of the country. It has been encircled and under bombardment for weeks.
"Qadaffy forces are attacking Misrata from the west and east side. [There is] heavy shelling," the rebel, called Saadoun, told Rooters by phone. From the west, he said tanks were advancing from the coastal road towards the city.
"They are also trying to bring in soldiers," he said. "From the east, they are shelling with mortars and artillery the port and areas around it. There is the main fuel tank in the port which feeds the central part of the city."
He said there were thousands of workers, mainly Egyptians, at the port who had decamped and stayed there hoping for rescue.
A rebel front man earlier said pro-Qadaffy forces had eased their bombardment of Misrata after Western air strikes hit some of their positions.
But a resident said pro-Qadaffy snipers were still shooting at people from rooftops in the center of the town and that the corpse count during the past week had reached 115 people, including several children.
"The allied planes are in the sky above Misrata and they have bombed locations of the (pro-Qadaffy) forces in the outskirts," the rebel front man, Abdelbasset Abu Mzereiq, earlier told Rooters by telephone from Misrata.
"The shelling of Misrata has eased. There was heavy shelling earlier. We know the allied planes have made several raids and bombed several locations in the outskirts. We know they bombed an ammunition site inside the air base [south of the city]."
Posted by: Fred ||
03/27/2011 00:00 ||
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Long piece from the Guardian that offers some insight into what happened at Aidabiya, and a little bit about the rebels.
Khalif Ameen leapt on to the blackened tank, its innards hollowed out by the blast of a missile from an unseen plane, and waved his Kalashnikov as he declared the war all but won. "Now Gaddafi is finished. We have won Ajdabiya. We will not stop. Next Brega, Ras Lanuf, Sirte, Tripoli. Gaddafi will go quick," said the young man who a few weeks ago was an engineering student.
But the burned-out remnants of the Libyan dictator's armour abandoned on the outskirts of Ajdabiya after the strategic town finally fell to rebel forces told a different story that does not bode well for Ameen's dream of marching all the way to Tripoli.
The fall of Ajdabiya after days of artillery duels and air bombardment delivered the Libyan revolutionaries their first significant victory over Muammar Gaddafi's forces since the coalition air strikes began a week ago. The Libyan army sat outside town, astride the main coastal highway, blocking the rebels' attempts to advance west toward the capital and recapture territory lost as Gaddafi found his footing after the initial shock of the uprising.
On Friday, the insurgents moved rocket launchers and other weapons down the road from Benghazi, then said they fought through the night with the dug-in enemy. "We hit them with our rockets and RPGs," said Mohammed Rahim, a former regular soldier wearing a makeshift uniform of blue camouflage jacket and green trousers. He went over to the rebels at the beginning of the uprising. "The fighting went on all night. It was a big battle. All the fighters came from Benghazi for it."
However, the destruction of tanks on the edge of the town suggested it was air strikes by coalition forces, ostensibly to protect civilians, that had finally broken the back of strong resistance by army forces before the rebels moved in. The length of time it took the insurgents to overcome the army, and the rebels' reliance on air strikes to destroy the bulk of its armour before finally taking Ajdabiya, confirmed how dependent the poorly armed and inexperienced revolutionaries are on foreign air forces to fight their war for them.
Libya's deputy foreign minister, Khaled Kaim, acknowledged the defeat, which he blamed on the "heavy involvement" of western forces. "This is the objective of the coalition now, it is not to protect civilians, because now they are directly fighting against the armed forces," he said. "They are trying to push the country to the brink of a civil war."
Six wrecked tanks marked the road into the town alongside artillery guns and rocket launchers mangled by the missiles from beyond the clouds. Ammunition littered the ground. Other guns were left intact and were hauled away by the rebels for the next battle.
On the other side of Ajdabiya, where the road heads west out of town, were more destroyed tanks and armoured vehicles. Others sat by the roadside unscathed. Abandoned piles of weapons and ammunition, including Russian-made tank shells and rocket-propelled grenades, suggested Gaddafi's forces had fledrun away left in a hurry. The rebels swiftly arrived with transporters to remove the armour to add to an expanding revolutionary tank force that has yet to see action.
Corpses of Gaddafi's fighters lay among some of the clusters of armour, but around others there was no sign of bodies, perhaps further evidence that they had fled from their tanks in fear of the air strikes. At least 20 tanks were destroyed or abandoned along with artillery guns and rocket launchers. The strikes also appeared to have destroyed a military barracks.
One of the rebel fighters, Mansour Mahdy, acknowledged that the battle would not have been won without foreign planes. "We are very grateful to the west. Everyone wants to thank France. Was it France this time? Or America? We thank them all," he said.
Days of air strikes were carried out by both countries, alongside British aircraft. The rebels took control of a mostly empty town, raising the revolutionary flag the pre-Gaddafi-era ensign and firing off more bullets in celebration. As word spread that the fighting was over, residents began to return in hundreds of cars.
The few among the town's 130,000 people who endured the siege were relieved but stunned. Some gave accounts of Gaddafi's security men hunting down rebel sympathisers when they occupied the town. One man said he was looking for his brother and feared he had been executed or taken to prison in Tripoli.
Other residents said they had not been badly treated and that, after the initial street battles and occasional shelling, the hardest part had been to endure a town with no electricity or water and dwindling food supplies. The local hospital closed after most of the staff fled because they feared they would be targeted by Gaddafi's forces after some doctors publicly sided with the rebels.
But for all the celebrations, the rebels' struggle to overcome the relatively limited defences of Ajdabiya does not bode well for their bellicose threats to march all the way to Tripoli. If Ajdabiya is the example, it offers the prospect of a protracted conflict or military stalemate, largely decided by how far the western allies are prepared to go in support of the rebels' advance.
Unless the regime cracks under other pressures, such as a sudden collapse of support for Gaddafi from within his own system, there appears little prospect of the rebels marching on Tripoli unless Britain, France and the US are prepared to offer rolling air cover for the revolutionaries that obliterates the regime's ability to fight. The rebels said enemy forces were in rapid retreat back to the next town of Brega, without the heavy weapons they had used to defend Ajdabiya, and that the insurgents would catch up and crush them.
The revolutionaries can probably move swiftly along the coastal road and retake the small towns of Brega and Ras Lanuf, important for their oil facilities, which they held at the beginning of the uprising. But moving on to the larger and more politically important town of Sirte may prove to be a challenge too far. Sirte is Gaddafi's birthplace and he once proposed making it Libya's capital. He is likely to reinforce the town because its fall would be a devastating blow.
A rebel assault on Sirte would also raise a dilemma for Nato and the coalition leading the air strikes. The UN resolution permits military action in defence of civilians. Until now, it has been Gaddafi's forces threatening rebel-held cities such as Benghazi, Misrata and Ajdabiya. But a rebel assault on Sirte would present the question of whether the coalition is prepared to launch air strikes to help take a town that has not risen up against Gaddafi. If not, it appears unlikely the rebels will be able to overcome the regime's defences in Sirte on their own.
Alternatively, if Gaddafi's forces make a stand in the desert, where no civilians are threatened, that would also present the coalition forces with difficulty in justifying air strikes in support of the rebels. The revolutionary leadership had not expected Gaddafi's forces to hold out for as long as they did at Ajdabiya, a sign that they are not entirely deterred from fighting by the air strikes.
The revolutionary leadership claims Serb mercenaries were among Gaddafi's fighters at Ajdabiya and that they had been seeking to surrender in return for safe passage to Serbia. The revolutionaries acknowledge the shortcomings of their own military, mostly made up of young men with no experience, while continuing to insist they have the ability to defeat Gaddafi's forces if only they were equipped with the necessary arms, particularly anti-tank weapons, rockets and radios.
The rebels' military spokesman, Colonel Ahmed Omar Bani, has said that promises of weapons had been made by several foreign government that he declined to name, although none had so far delivered any. But given the rebels' poor combat record on the battlefield, where the civilian volunteers who have joined their ranks have proved to be ill-disciplined and prone to flee in chaos, there may be a reluctance to supply weapons that might fall into the hands of Gaddafi's military.
For all its insistence that it will not accept a divided Libya, the revolutionary council is increasingly adjusting to the reality that it may be facing stalemate and governing the rump of a country until Gaddafi's regime implodes.
They'd govern the part with most of the oil. Qadaffy has to run out of Krugerrands at some point.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/27/2011 00:00 ||
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Now it IS true that I am paying about $3.50/gallon for gasoline and the EUroweenies are paying about $9.00/gallon.
But that being said, I am enjoying this stuff in Libya immensely. Moslems killing Moslems and absolutely no end in sight. Obama being stomped to death by Moslem mobs in effigy. No plan and no leadership and everybody whining and pointing their fingers and the American people seeing Obama in action making "decisions" decisively as he plays golf in Rio.
Hey, you elected the guy. How's that Hope and Changey stuff working out for 'ya there. And that Nobel Peace Prize for what, tell me again?
Can you spell C.H.U.M.P.S, boyz and gurls? And the rainbow over the Greek columns and the vision of THE ONE nobly in profile gazing with grandeur into the Future.
Obama is probably the greatest President the United States has ever had. And we can look forward to another glorious term in 2012 for the Master, if we are voters of discernment, right?
Vote Hussein and Kill the Jewzzz.... has a nice ring to it as a Democratic Party slogan, dont you think? Only kidding. What WILL Obama run on then? His record?
And the Libyan rebels are "winning"? Yeah? It aint gonna be OVER, kiddies, until KaDaffy is on the guthook and the Moslems are dancing around waving their socks..... free to install ANOTHER smiling El Jeffe. Its their culture.
[Ennahar] A deal on a peaceful transition of power in Yemen could come as early as Saturday and would be based on an offer by President President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh ... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, after serving as a lieutenant colonel in the army. He had been part of the conspiracy that bumped off his predecessor, Ibrahim al-Hamdi, in the usual tiresome military coup, and he has maintained power by keeping Yemen's many tribes fighting with each other, rather than uniting to string him up. ... to step down by year-end, Foreign Minister Abubakr al-Qirbi said.
But an opposition leader cast doubt on prospects for a swift deal, a day after a diplomat in Sanaa cautioned it was too soon to discuss an outcome, saying it could still "go either way."
Yemen, a poor and tribally divided country that has become a base for al Qaeda next to the world's top oil producer Soddy Arabia, has been in turmoil since January when the example of the Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions set off popular demonstrations to end Saleh's 32-year authoritarian rule.
"I hope it will be today, before tomorrow," Qirbi, who is serving as caretaker foreign minister, told Rooters in an interview, adding that the time frame of a transfer of power by Saleh could be negotiated.
Saleh, who oversaw the 1990 unification of north and south Yemen and emerged victorious from a civil war four years later, told tribes in Sanaa Saturday that he would "work to avoid bloodshed using all possible means."
He said Friday he was ready to relinquish power to forestall more bloodshed but only to what he called "safe hands" after weeks of street demonstrations demanding his departure.
"President-for-Life Saleh ... exemplifying the Arab's propensity to combine brutality with incompetence... is willing to look at all possibilities, as long as there are really serious commitments by the JMP (opposition) to come and initiate a serious dialogue between them and the ruling party," Qirbi said.
Talks have been under way on two tracks to hash out the details of a deal on a peaceful transition of power in the Arabian Peninsula state that is home to a resurgent arm of al Qaeda, Yemeni political sources have said.
Qirbi said Yemen's main opposition party would be holding talks with the ruling party Saturday. Discussions were centering on the time frame of a transition, among other issues.
"I think the time period is something that can be negotiated. It shouldn't be really an obstacle to reach an agreement," he said.
"I think things are very close if the real intention is really to reach an agreement. But if there are parties who want to obstruct it then of course one cannot predict."
OPPOSITION SAYS DIFFERENCES REMAIN
Saleh has responded to the mass protests with a violent crackdown and a string of concessions, all rebuffed by opposition parties, including one this week to transfer power after the drafting of a new constitution and parliamentary and presidential elections by the end of the year.
The leader of Yemen's opposition coalition said the sides still had significant differences, and that while there were some contacts he did not consider them as negotiations.
"We still have a very big gap," said Yassin Noman, the rotating head of Yemen's opposition coalition. "I think he is maneuvering."
Yemeni political sources said some issues that could hold up a deal were whether the opposition would give guarantees not to pursue Saleh and his family legally. Saleh opponents also want to be sure his close relatives leave positions of power.
Western countries worry that al Qaeda cut-throats could take advantage of any power vacuum arising from a rocky transition if Saleh, a linchpin U.S. and Saudi ally fighting for his political life, finally steps down after 32 years in office.
Washington and Riyadh, Yemen's main financial backer, have long seen Saleh as a bulwark against al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), which has tried to stage attacks beyond Yemeni soil since 2009 in both Soddy Arabia and United States.
Five suspected al Qaeda members were killed in an overnight clash when they attacked a security checkpoint in the south, a local official said. State media put the corpse count at three.
More than 80 people have been killed since anti-government protests started in January to demand the departure of Saleh, a serial political survivor of civil war, separatist and rebel movements in the north and south of Yemen and turban attacks.
But the tide against Saleh appears to have turned after plainclothes snipers loyal to the president fired into an anti-government crowd, killing 52 people last Friday.
That led to a string of defections that badly eroded Saleh's position including by top military commanders such as General Ali Mohsen, as well as ambassadors, politicians, provincial governors and tribal leaders, some from his own tribe.
Yemeni political sources said talks to resolve the crisis have been taking place with help from Western mediators. They included a meeting between the president and Mohsen in which they discussed the future of both men.
A source close to Mohsen, who has thrown his weight behind protesters, said he and Saleh had weighed a deal in which both would leave the country, taking their sons and relatives with them to pave the way for a civilian transitional government.
Yemen lies on key shipping routes and borders Soddy Arabia, the world's leading oil exporter. It has often seemed to be on the brink of disintegration: northern Shi'ites often take up arms against Saleh and southerners dream of a separate state.
With no clear successor to Saleh in sight and conflicts wracking north and south Yemen, the country of 23 million faces the risk of a breakup, in addition to poverty, a water shortage and dwindling oil reserves.
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Posted by: Fred ||
03/27/2011 00:00 ||
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[Jerusalem Post Front Page] Yemeni President President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh ... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, after serving as a lieutenant colonel in the army. He had been part of the conspiracy that bumped off his predecessor, Ibrahim al-Hamdi, in the usual tiresome military coup, and he has maintained power by keeping Yemen's many tribes fighting with each other, rather than uniting to string him up. ... said he would be prepared to leave power "with dignity" even within hours, Al Arabiya television reported on Saturday.
Saleh, however, denied that a deal on power transfer was expected on Saturday, Al Arabiya said, citing remarks made by the Yemeni leader in an interview with the television channel.
Saleh also said that the opposition had raised its demands after he launched a power transfer initiative, Al Arabiya said.
Saleh said on Friday he was ready to cede power to prevent more bloodshed in Yemen but only to what he called "safe hands" as a massive "Day of Departure" street protest against him began.
Western countries are alarmed that al Qaeda beturbanned goons entrenched in the Arabian Peninsula country could exploit any chaos arising from a messy transition of power if Saleh, a pivotal US and Saudi ally fighting for his political life, finally steps down after 32 years in office. "We don't want power, but we need to hand power over to safe hands, not to sick, resentful or corrupt hands," Saleh said in a rousing speech to supporters shown on state television as tens of thousands of his foes rallied elsewhere in the capital Sanaa.
Thousands of Saleh supporters in Sanaa were also out early on the streets for what they dubbed the "Friday of Tolerance", with banners saying "No to chaos, yes to security and stability." Some were carrying guns and traditional Yemeni daggers, others were wavings flags and playing patriotic songs.
"We are ready to leave power but only for safe hands," Saleh said. "We are against firing a single bullet and when we give concessions this is to ensure there is no bloodshed. We will remain steadfast and challenge them with all power we have."
Protesters encamped in their thousands outside Sanaa University for six weeks declared Friday a "Day of Departure" when they hoped to bring hundreds of thousands onto the streets in a further attempt to oust Saleh, a serial survivor of civil war, separatist movements and bad turban attacks. Similar mass protests on March 18 left 52 people dead, apparently bumped off by plainclothes snipers. That bloodshed prompted a string of generals, diplomats and tribal leaders to abandon Saleh, severely weakening his position.
"The government cannot just shoot its way out of this crisis," Philip Luther, Amnesty's Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa, said in a statement. "Whether in uniform or in plainclothes, security forces must be immediately stopped from using live ammunition on unarmed protesters."
Posted by: Fred ||
03/27/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Look at that kindly face. Uncle Mullah is your friend. He's even the friend of all his friends out there in the street. And I particularly likes the part about leaving with "dignity".
Its almost as believable as the average Arab getting his "respect" back. Dont they all wish....
Puff out their chest, shout "Its all Bush's fault" and Allahu Akbar and tear the Ayatollah's coffin to pieces for souveniers.
And then line up to tour Arafat's Tomb and pay their respects to the blessed memory of Zarquawi with a song in their hearts.
And as they slip into sleep in the evening hours when the moon is full they whisper Kill the Jewzz as they drift off to dreamland. I particularly like the little Moslem children playing martyr by stuffing explosives up their rectums and going to visit Sheik Abdullah in his office. And the public executions while the cameras role. Such a colorful culture.
Does the truth offend you? What part of the Moslem truth offends you the most? Saying it out loud?
Saudi and Bahraini troops have attacked anti-government protesters in Sitra and several other towns in Bahrain with teargas and shotguns.
The forces attacked protesters after Friday Prayers on the north-eastern island of Sitra -- the country's oil center.
Other massive rallies quelled by security forces were held in Malakiya, Karzakan, Sanabes, Burj and Bilad al Qadim, the News Agency that Dare Not be Named reported.
In Bilad al Qadem, on the outskirts of the capital Manama, a funeral was held on Friday for Habi Abdel Aziz, 33, after authorities finally handed over his body, a week after he went missing.
Meanwhile, ...back at the secret hideout, Scarface Al sneeringly put his proposition to little Nell... reports say an elderly man has died after teargas canisters were fired into his home in Maameer village. His death brings the number of those killed since the start of the protests to at least 24.
The Al Khalifa government has brushed off a call for an international investigation into the deaths of peaceful demonstrations as well as the beating of injured protesters at the state-run Salmaniya Medical Complex.
Security has been tight in Manama, where protesters are planning to retake the city's Salmaniya hospital from Saudi and Bahraini troops.
The UN Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay has called on Bahraini officials not to use force against protesters. Rights groups say at least sixty-five protesters have been jugged by the government and around 100 others are still missing.
Protesters continue to defy the state of emergency, which prohibits public gatherings, called by the king on March 15.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/27/2011 00:00 ||
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NINEWA / Aswat al-Iraq an Iraqi Army officer has been killed by a group of unknown gunmen, in front of his house in northern Iraqs city of Mosul, a security source said.
An Iraqi Army officer, with lieutenant rank, has been killed by a group of gunmen in front of his house in al-Muharibeen district, east of Mosul, on Saturday, the security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
He said an Iraqi Army force cordoned the area of the attack, looking for the armed men, who escaped for an unknown destination.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/27/2011 00:00 ||
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BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: A university professor was killed and his wife and two civilians others wounded when an improvised explosive device (IED) attached to his vehicle went off west of Baghdad on Saturday, a security source said.
Zaid Abdulmonem Ali, a professor at the Baghdad Cancer Research Center, was killed today (March 26) when an IED attached to his vehicle went off in al-Nusoor square, west of Baghdad, the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
The explosion also left Alis wife and two civilians others wounded, he added.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/27/2011 00:00 ||
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Palestinian cousins Ahmed Awad, an officer in Abbas Preventative Security Services in the northern West Bank city of Nablis, and Iyad Awad, an officer in Abbas General Intelligence services in Ramallah, have been charged with planning the attack. Informed security sources said the two did not personally carry out the murders but assisted in the planning and logistics, including aiding in the escape. The actual killers were sleeper cells from Hamas. These men were armed, trained and funded by the U.S.
#2
Here and Lucianne the article (Gateway Pundit and Human Events)references The Idaho Press Tribune. The piece at that newspaper is actually a "letter to the editor" (Allen Marsh, Posted: Monday, March 21, 2011 6:27 pm | Updated: 6:40 pm, Mon Mar 21, 2011). Does anyone have an actual news article, perhaps from Israel?
#3
That was the old plan to make a "Palestinian state" which is now defunct for many years. Yes, they were trained and yes they were armed as part of "peace" negotiations back in the day.
[Ma'an] Militants in Gazoo fired a projectile into southern Israel on Saturday afternoon, causing no damage or injuries, the Israeli army said.
A military spokeswoman added that two projectiles were fired overnight on Friday, one of which caused damage to a home.
As yet, no Gazoo factions have claimed the launches.
Overnight Thursday, Israeli warplanes bombarded the Gazoo Strip, injuring one young man, medics said,
Four missiles were fired at Paleostinian Authority intelligence headquarters and an Al-Qassam Brigades site. Fighter jets carried out raids on an agricultural area east of Beit Hanoun and four artillery shells were fired around the Karni crossing.
Over the last week, Israeli soldiers have killed 10 residents of the Gazoo Strip, including children and civilians.
Asked if Israel was planning another massive offensive on the coastal enclave, Israel's Southern Command Maj. Gen. Tal Russo said Saturday that "the situation has eroded since Cast Lead," the Israeli daily Haaretz reported.
"The other side is starting to get forgetful. I hope that they get a hold of themselves," he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/27/2011 00:00 ||
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[Ma'an] Islamic Jihad leader Khader Habib vowed Thursday that the movement would respond to Israel's escalation in attacks against the Gazoo Strip.
On Wednesday, Israeli warplanes killed four members of the movement's military wing, the Al Quds Brigades, in an air strike south of Gazoo City.
The attack came hours after Israeli artillery fire hit a home east of Gazoo City killing four members of the same family, including an 11-year-old and a 16-year-old.
Habib said the attack on the Al-Quds fighters targeted the men as they left a mosque after performing evening prayers.
Let their guard down, did they...
He said the movement would resist as long as Israel continued its offensive on the Gazoo Strip. The primary aim of the resistance was to defend and protect Paleostinians, he said.
Meanwhile, ...back at the fist fight, Jake ducked another roundhouse, then parried with his left, then with his right, finally with his chin... Habib said Islamic Jihad was deeply concerned by the arrest of several of its leaders and affiliates in the West Bank.
Jihad officials said Paleostinian Authority forces jugged Khalid Jaradat and Tareq Qa'dan following Wednesday's blast in West Jerusalem that went off near the central bus station. The men were released Thursday.
Habib said the Paleostinian Authority's campaign against the party was detrimental to efforts to end the national political division. He said that the PA crossed a new line by arresting the movement's leaders. Habib demanded the release of all political prisoners held by PA security forces in the West Bank.
This article starring:
Khader Habib
Posted by: Fred ||
03/27/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
How does Habib differ from Hamid and/or Khalid? I mean, just roughly....?
And I particularly likes the part about the Mosque steps...were there any pictures?
And an 11 year old and a 16 year old. Really?
Hahahahahaha. And Saddam not around anymore to award the family about a million dinars for them being martyrs. Good old Saddam...now there was a generous man when it came to martyrs. I am sure the Palestinians miss him....they are that kinda people.
You ever listened to the sound of spoken German and thought of a big bowl of steaming worms? Arabic when its spoken full of words with lots of phlemn like al-QUDS and Nasssrrr and "by the soft lips of Arafat" and Death to Infidel Dogs, and shrieks of "Obama has BETRAYED us".....well from an AUDITORY point of view Arabic is one of those languages that are a lot like blowing your nose between your thumb and forefinger.
Even if you dont understand a word they are saying you know its mucus and goobers from the back of a very big nose....and a few other things.
[Ma'an] A rocket landed early Saturday morning in the Eshkol Regional Council and damaged a house, Israeli media said. No injuries were reported in the attack and another rocket landed in an open field nearby, the Israeli news site Ynet reported.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told US Defense Secretary Robert Gates Friday that Israel is ready to act with "great force" in response to a spate of rocket fire and a deadly bus bombing in Jerusalem.
Israel had been "subjected to bouts of terror and rocket attacks," Netanyahu told news hounds before going into a meeting with Gates.
"We stand ready to act with great force and great determination to put a stop to it," he added, with officials saying Israel had not been hit by any projectiles Friday morning.
"Any civilized society will not tolerate such wanton attacks on its civilians," he said.
However, The emphatic However... as Netanyahu spoke, Defense Minister Ehud Barak toured the Gazoo border with army chief Lieutenant General Benny Gantz, saying that the situation seemed to be calming down.
"In the last 24 hours there has been no fire into our territory, but we continue to monitor the situation," Barak said, according to a statement from his office.
And Barak indicated that if the rocket attacks stopped, Israel would also halt its strikes into the Gazoo Strip.
"We don't intend to let the terror organizations again disturb the order but we will do all we need to to return the [military] activity to the border line itself," he said.
Also, Barak said, Israel will deploy its "Iron Dome" multi-million-dollar missile defense system in southern Israel for the first time next week in the wake of rocket attacks. "I authorized the army to deploy in the next few days the first battery of "Iron Dome" for an operational trial," he said.
The deployment of the Iron Dome interceptor, designed to combat short-range rocket threats from Gazoo and Leb, has been delayed until now with officials saying operating crews needed more training and suggestions the system was prohibitively expensive.
Gates, a former CIA director with years of experience in Washington, said US-Israel security ties were as strong as they had ever been at a time when the region was in "turmoil."
On Thursday, he said in Tel Aviv that Washington firmly backed Israel's right to respond both to the rocket fire and the Jerusalem bombing, which he described as "repugnant acts".
But he suggested Israel should tread carefully or risk derailing the course of popular unrest sweeping Arab and Mohammedan countries in the Middle East.
The US defense chief is pressing Israeli and Paleostinian leaders to take "bold action" for peace despite soaring tensions, saying political upheaval in the region offered an opportunity.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/27/2011 00:00 ||
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GAZOO - Gaza militant groups signalled on Saturday they would halt rocket fire at Israel if the Jewish state stopped shootings as well, after a surge in cross-border violence prompted fears of a possible escalation into war.
Hamas spokesman Ismail Rudwan said militant leaders were "committed as long as the occupation (Israel) was committed" to abide by an earlier de facto truce, after a round of talks in Gaza that followed a weeklong surge in attacks.
Israeli raids in Gaza have killed five militants and four civilians this week, a declared response to militants firing more than 70 rockets at the Jewish state, wrecking a house on Saturday, and raising alarm through much of southern Israel.
Gaza militants for their part insist that their rocket and mortar shootings are in response to Israeli air raids in the coastal territory largely sealed off by the Jewish state.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has threatened a lengthy "exchange of blows" if the violence goes on.
A better explanation of 'cause and effect' you'll not find anywhere...
Major General Tal Russo, the Israeli commander of troops along the Gaza front, responded to two rocket attacks on Saturday, one of which damaged a home, with a warning that Hamas should "come to their senses" to prevent more violence.
Russo charged that Israel felt Hamas was losing its grip over other Gaza militants. "There is anarchy," he said.
Asked by reporters whether he thought the situation could escalate into another war, Russo replied: "We are prepared for any possibility, the goal is we won't in the end permit a situation where it is impossible for civilians to live here."
"Don't make us come UP there!"
After the Israeli warning, Hamas Islamists who control the Gaza Strip territory hastily convened militant leaders later in the day for a strategy session.
Afterwards, trembling spokesman Rudwan said the militants had agreed that "if the Zionist enemy was interested in calm they must cease their aggression against our Palestinian people."
Translation: "please don't let them kill us!"
He also insisted "that resistance was a legtimate right of our people to defend themselves." He added: "we are committed, as long as the occupation (Israel) is committed (to calm)".
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/27/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Let me see if I can get this right. The Palestinians fire a rocket they cant guide effectively because its made largely with ju-ju and camel piss (PBUH) out of Moslem technology in Arafat's pay toilet. BUT they fire it at Jewish civilians with their best wishes and then they run and plead that they are just victims and have a pefect "right" to defend themselves again nasty Yids who have very effective artillery and computers and fighter Jets with GPS bombs. (makes sense to me, how about you?)
But its a war CRIME if Israel targets some Palestinian Hamas kitchen through the window on the left (because they CAN)...and the "innocent civilians" are all Hamas eating goats eyes and looking at maps while they chew and swallow. Right?
The Palestinians arent the sharpest tools around. They never heard of Darwin. Would it really surprise you if the Israelis kept the Settlements coming until the West Bank was one big Yiddish market? Would it surprise you if there came a day in the future when the only Palestinians left were homesteading in the Amazon Basin? Would it surprise you if a generation from now there were a dusty old book back in the reference stacks which mentioned the Palestinians in a footnote for Israeli Mall construction in Damascus?
Its all gonna end someday, and Arafat's Tomb will be paved under a parking lot for the Zion Vets Assoc. And Golgotha will be a Bus station Cafeteria where the German and American tourists can get a Coke and a ham and bratwurst sandwich.
Terrorists Suspected militants killed two villagers, including a village leader, in separate shooting attacks in Pattani and Yala provinces over the weekend.
Waemaso Sani, the 45-year-old chief of Juelaenibong village in Pattani's Muang district, was shot five times as he rode his motorcycle home on Saturday evening. Witnesses told police they saw four men follow him on their motorcycles before spraying bullets at him.
In Yala's Raman district, two villagers were gunned down yesterday at a market.
An unknown number of gunmen opened fire at Jiew Sae Jeaw, 47, a village defense volunteer of Ban Samo, and Nam Petchpradap, 58, at a local weekend market at around 11:10 a.m.
The two were rushed to the hospital, but Nam succumbed to his injuries before arriving.
Masawkee Sabuding, 40, was attacked about 3 a.m. while driving a motorcycle headed to his rubber plantation on a local road by three gunmen hidden in a roadside rubber forest. One of them fired three shots at him with a shotgun, and then they fled. Masakee was shot twice and died at the scene.
Police blamed separatist terrorists militants.
Three seriously wounded in market shooting
Three people were seriously wounded in a shooting which took place at the Ban Samoh Sunday market in Yala province on Sunday.
They were attacked while buying fish by two men on a motorcycle. The gunman on the pillion fired at them with his 9mm pistol out and then they fled the scene. The victims were identified as Kam Petpradub, 59, Aiew Sae Jiang, 51, and Vareeya Salae, 30.
#1
in response to Iranian mischief in Bahrain? Lord knows Obama won't smite the Iranians, so it's probably a "message" from President Rodham
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/27/2011 16:25 Comments ||
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#2
More likely than not the presence of two carriers in the Arabian Sea near the Straits is simply overlap. In that region at least, the Navy in the past has had a replacement carrier and a departing carrier overlap their missions by a couple weeks or so to ensure a smooth handover in responsibility.
However (the all-encompassing however), given the instability in Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman, having two carrier groups there allows us to make clear to the Mad Mullahs of Iran that theyd best not do anything overly stupid in the Gulf. Add to this the recent riots in Syria, demonstrations in Jordan, the Hezbullah putsch in Lebanon, and the events across North Africa, and one can see that having more firepower near the nexus of all the instability (Tehran) is a good idea.
There is no compelling need for a carrier group off Libya now -- three weeks ago there was, and parking one there THEN would have sent Qadaffy a message, and I advocated that back then. Now that the Europeans are engaged and bases in Crete, Cyprus, Sicily, and Italy are available for coalition/NATO aircraft, and the Charles de Gaulle has arrived on station with its strike aircraft, the need for a US fleet carrier is less. Indeed, a heavy amphibious assault ship (e.g., USS Bataan) with Harriers, helicopters, Ospreys, and Marines is very useful, not just to rescue downed pilots but also to put in the assets needed for effective targeting of Libyan heavy military forces. The Navy only has so many ships (an argument for another day), and the Joint Chiefs clearly dont see a compelling need for a fleet carrier in the Med right now.
In simple terms: we (the US and the Euros) have Libya covered. Its up to America to cover the Persian Gulf.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/27/2011 17:27 Comments ||
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#3
Yes, it is almost 45 years since the British abandoned Aden and left us with responsibility for the Land of Nod, which is east of Aden.
#4
Again, IRAN will prefer to stay on the geopol defensive + let Radical Islam + Iran-controlled Militant-Terror, Political etc. proxies take the lead in support of pro-Iran, pro-Shia regional or international policies.
Unless Iran does sonething stupid like try to unilater mil attack USN + other Allied ships in the Gulf or major land targets, IMO THE US WILL ITSELF TAKE NO MILACTION ON ITS OWN AGZ IRAN UNLESS IT BECOMES CRYSTAL CLEAR THE MILTERRS + ISLAMIST JIHAD IS GOING NUCLEAR WID SERIOUS THREAT TO US-ALLIED INTERESTS.
Again, NUC WANNABE IRAN = RISING CHINA = is not going to wait until 2050 or 2080, 2100 = 2200?, to achieve its desired "great power" ambitions = "Manifest Destiny" - they want it ASAP AMAP ALAP despite any Media, Diplomatically-correct rhetoric to the contrary.
#5
So true, Joseph. And Iran is accelerating the pace of their actions in attempt to make their Shiite crescent. Syria is the fulcrum. Wargame accordingly.
[Arab News] UN Secretary-General the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon urged Syria's leader to exercise "maximum restraint" as violence erupted around the country on Friday, with troops shooting protesters in several cities. Pro- and anti-government crowds clashed on the tense streets of the capital in the most widespread unrest in years, witnesses said.
Human rights group Amnesia Amnesty International said at least 55 people are believed to have been killed since protests erupted in and around the southern Syrian city of Daraa a week ago.
"Security forces again opened fire on protesters in Al-Sanamayn and carried out arrests in Damascus, according to reports on Friday, a day after the authorities pledged to investigate the violence," Amnesty said in a statement.
A statement issued by Ban's office said he told Assad in a phone conversation that "governments had an obligation to respect and protect their citizens fundamental rights."
Ban "urged maximum restraint by the authorities and expressed his hope in a meaningful response to the expression of legitimate concerns," the statement said.
Soldiers shot at demonstrators in the restive southern city of Daraa after crowds set fire to a bronze statue of the country's late president, Hafez Assad, a resident told The News Agency that Dare Not be Named. He said he heard heavy gunfire in the city center and later saw two bodies and many maimed people being brought to Daraa's main hospital.
He said thousands of enraged protesters snatched some weapons from a far smaller number of troops and chased them out of the Roman-era old city, taking back control of the Al-Omari mosque, which has been the epicenter of eight days of protests in Dara.
Two other residents confirmed to The News Agency that Dare Not be Named by telephone that protests had retaken the mosque and surrounding area.
The violence erupted after tens of thousands of Syrians erupted into the streets across the country after Friday prayers, shouting calls for greater freedoms in support of a more than week-long uprising in Daraa, according to witnesses, activists and footage posted online.
The demonstrations and ensuing crackdown were a major escalation of the showdown between President Bashar Assad's regime and the crowds in Daraa who -- inspired by pro-democracy unrest elsewhere in the Arab world -- began protesting conditions in the drought-stricken south last week in demonstrations that have now spread around the country.
After dark, troops opened fire on protesters in Maadamiyeh, a suburb of the capital, Damascus, a witness told the AP. An activist in contact with people there said three had been killed.
Another activist told the AP that witnesses in the National Hospital in the coastal city of Latakia had reported seeing four people rubbed out. Another was reported slain in the central city of Homs, he said.
None of the accounts could be immediately be independently confirmed in Syria, which maintains tight restrictions on the press.
In Damascus, people shouting in support of the Daraa protesters clashed with regime supporters outside the historic Umayyad mosque, hitting each other with leather belts.
An activist in Damascus in touch with eyewitnesses in the southern village of Sanamein said troops there opened fire on demonstrators trying to march to Daraa, a short distance away. He said there had been witness reports of fatalities, some claiming as many as 20 slain, but those could not be independently confirmed.
A video posted on Facebook by Syrian pro-democracy activists showed what it said were five dead young men lying on stretchers as men weeped around them. The voice of a woman can be heard saying "down with Bashar Assad." The White House urged Syria's government to cease attacks on protesters and Turkey said its neighbor should quickly enact reforms to meet legitimate demands.
An unidentified Syrian official asserted that an gang attacked the army headquarters in Sanamein and tried to storm it, leading to a clash with guards.
The official told the state-run news agency SANA said security forces would pursue what it described as armed people who are terrorizing citizens and trying to destabilize the country.
Much of Damascus was tense, with convoys of young people roaming the streets in their cars, honking incessantly and waving out pictures of Bashar Assad and Syrian flags. The convoys briefly blocked streets in some areas.
About 200 people demonstrated after the Friday prayers at the Thawra Bridge, near the central Marjeh Square, chanting "our souls, our blood we sacrifice for you Daraa!" and "freedom! freedom!" They were chased by security forces who beat them some of them with batons and jugged others, an activist said on condition of anonymity for fear of government reprisals.
Thousands flooded Daraa's central Assad Square before the shooting broke out, many from nearby villages, chanting "Freedom! Freedom!" and waving Syrian flags and olive branches, a resident told The News Agency that Dare Not be Named by telephone.
Speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, he claimed that more than 50,000 people were shouting slogans decrying presidential adviser Buthaina Shaaban, who promised Thursday that the government would consider a series of reforms in response to a week of unrest in Daraa.
A human rights ...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty... activist, quoting witnesses, said thousands of people gathered in the town of Douma outside the capital, Damascus, pledging support for the people of Daraa. The activists asked to remain anonymous for fear of retribution.
Security forces dispersed the crowd by chasing them away, beating some with batons and detaining others, an activist said, asking that his name not be published for fear of reprisals by the government.
In the city of Aleppo, hundreds of worshippers came out of mosques shouting "with our lives, our souls, we sacrifice for you Bashar" and "Only God, Syria and Bashar!" Residents in Homs said hundreds of people demonstrated in support of Daraa and demanded reforms.
The activist said that in Latakia, more than 1,000 people marched in the streets after Friday prayers. In the northern city of Raqqa, scores marched and several people were jugged, he said.
And in the western city of Zabadani, near the border with Leb, several people were jugged after protesting, he said.
Journalists who tried to enter Daraa's Old City -- where most of the violence took place -- were escorted out of town Friday by two security vehicles.
"As you can see, everything is back to normal and it is over," an army major, standing in front of the ruling Baath party head office in Daraa, told journalists before they were led out of the city.
Security forces appeared to be trying to reduce tension in Daraa by dismantling checkpoints and ensuring there was no visible army presence on the streets for the first time since last Friday, when the protests began.
Rattled by the unrest, the Syrian government Thursday pledged to consider lifting some of the Mideast's most repressive laws in an attempt to stop the weeklong uprising from spreading and threatening its nearly 50-year rule.
But the promises were immediately rejected by many activists who called for demonstrations around the country on Friday in response to a crackdown that protesters say killed dozens of anti-government marchers in Daraa.
"We will not forget the martyrs of Daraa," a resident told The News Agency that Dare Not be Named by telephone. "If they think this will silence us they are wrong." Assad, a close ally of Iran and its regional proxies, Hezbullies and Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,, has promised increased freedoms for discontented citizens and increased pay and benefits for state workers -- a familiar package of incentives offered by other nervous Arab regimes in recent weeks.
Shaaban, the presidential adviser, also said the Baath party would study ending a state of emergency that it put in place after taking power in 1963.
The emergency laws, which have been a feature of many Arab countries, allow people to be incarcerated without warrants and imprisoned without trial. Human rights groups say violations of other basic liberties are rife in Syria, with torture and abuse common in cop shoppes, detention centers and prisons, and dissenters regularly imprisoned for years without due process.
The corpse count from the weeklong crackdown was unclear and could not be independently confirmed, although activists say it was in the dozens before Friday and could have been as high as 100. Shaaban said 34 people had been killed in the conflict.
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Posted by: Fred ||
03/27/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Damn, it really is getting bad. They're burning pictures of Andy Kaufman!
#3
This has nothing to do with a Middle Eastern world conditioned by widespread Moslem Values, right? Saying things like that would be SO wrong.
Too much Western television is responsible for all this. Its ALL OUR FAULT! The death and reminiscences of Elizabeth Taylor drove them to it.
That and the good life shown on the Sopranos. Every Big Mustache under a big nose aquiver to be "Free". Everybody wanted to BE KhaDaffy or Assad themselves, why let only one man have all the fun, they ALL want to have shoes and stand out there on the balcony and BE Al-Duce.
I know, lets build a Mosque at Ground Zero and all just be friends
I'd have to agree to the point that this is what part of the goal of putting a quasi-democratic regime in Baghdad was about. The neighbors can't ignore it. There is an alternative.
The Animal Planet Channel had an interesting program on a pride of African lions. The females were being harassed by a pack of hyenas. Whenever a female made a kill, the pack would hound the lioness resulting in her chasing several of the hyenas, but allowing others to steal her kill. They kept this up with all the lionesses since the female lions were not strong or fast enough to run the hyenas down. Finally, the old man returned from his territorial jaunt and surveyed the situation as it unfolded. He identified the matriarch of the hyena clan and took right after it, swiftly running it down and breaking its neck. The effect was to throw the entire pack into pandemonium since it then had to sort out its hierarchical pecking order. This gave the female of the pride the time to hunt and provide for their cubs.
The jackals are a bit too busy watching their own posteriors at the moment to dabble in other peoples affairs.
#12
"I just thought Dribble forgot the sarcasm tag."
I don't think heshe it has any, DV.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/27/2011 14:42 Comments ||
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#13
Forget Dribble. The guy we really need to hear from now is the LEVANT. You remember the guy who was so defiant when the Israelis had their last little dust up with the Hezebullies? LEVANT! Are you out there? Calling LEVANT. Come in, LEVANT. Tell us what Pencil Neck is gonna do about this. Tell us what his Iranian masters are gonna do about it. Unlike Dribble, LEVANT was actually fairly coherent...er...for a troll anyway.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
03/27/2011 16:01 Comments ||
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Syria's hardline regime was grappling to contain new flare-ups after an uprising that has sharply eroded its repressive rule and has so far led to the deaths of at least 55 protesters.
Despite the show of strength, President Bashar al-Assad has been unable to free himself from the most sustained threat to his 11-year rule, which has seen protesters attack posters of him and statues of his father, Hafez al-Assad, who ruled for 30 years. Such acts have been almost without precedent throughout four decades of totalitarian rule.
Assad had tried to stay ahead of the revolts sweeping the Arab world as they rumbled towards Syria, considered less likely to be affected than its neighbours. He had offered a string of concessions, such as heating fuel subsidies, access to previously banned social media and a three-month cut in military service.
However, his regime now appears to be facing a momentum that not even the Arab world's most feared police state could prepare for. There were reports of between 70 and 260 political prisoners being released, in what was being seen as the latest concession.
The concessions offered so far have shown no sign of containing the restive streets, which are feeding off the success of revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt as well as still simmering uprisings in Libya and Bahrain.
"These are unprecedented events in Syria," said Rime Allaf, a Syrian analyst at the Chatham House thinktank in London, "especially as they came in the wake of government promises of reform on Thursday night."
While anger grows, many Syrians remain unwilling to declare their loyalties, say analysts in Damascus. "There is not yet the critical mass needed," said one activist, who asked not to be named. Counter-demonstrations have been staged by loyalist groups and Syria's state media is not covering the protests in detail. Official media continue to blame unrest and shootings on armed gangs.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/27/2011 00:00 ||
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Violent anti-government protests were reported in two Syrian towns on Saturday as security forces struggled to contain the uprising in the Baathist state long considered one of the Arab regions most repressive regimes.
As funerals took place of protesters killed on Friday, Ammar Qurabi, an exile in Egypt who heads Syrias National Organization for Human Rights, said the Baath party office in the coastal city of Latakia was set on fire after being attacked by dozens of people. He told Reuters that security forces killed two protesters in the town during the day.
Another activist said hundreds of protesters in the town were burning tyres and attacking cars and shops.
Meanwhile Bouthaina Shaaban, a presidential adviser, said demonstrators set fire to a police station and an office of the ruling party in Tafas, 10km north of the southern city of Deraa, the epicentre of the weeks protests. Residents told Reuters that mourners for Kamal Baradan, who was killed in Deraa on Friday, were among those attacking the buildings.
A number of funerals reportedly took place in villages around Deraa on Saturday but it is unclear how many people died on Friday. Amnesty International said that 55 people have been killed in Deraa since the start of the protests.
The reported violcence came hours after a thousands-strong demonstration in the town of Douma near Damascus was attacked at around midnight after the electricity was suddenly cut, according to activists. They reportedly said the protesters were attacked by troops with stick and clubs and that some 200 were arested. None of the reports could not be confrmed.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a local group, said on its website on Saturday that the authorities have freed more than 200 prisoners. Other reports said anywhere between 70 and 260 prisoners had been released.
The spread of unrest in Syria at a time of extraordinary upheaval in the Arab world is the most serious domestic challenge to Bashar al-Assad since he inherited the presidency in 2000.
Over the past week, the protests have been largely confined to the southern town of Deraa and have been harshly met with a crackdown that left dozens of people dead. But on Friday unrest erupted in several other cities across the country of 21m people, as crowds answered a Facebook group call for a march in support of freedom and the victims of Deraa.
God, Syria and Freedom only, chanted protesters, vowing to sacrifice for Deraa.
Police were accused of shooting at demonstrators in the southern town of Sanamein, where people were seeking to march to Deraa. Residents said 20 people were killed when gunmen opened fire on a crowd outside a building used by military intelligence -- part of an extensive security apparatus that has protected Baath party rule since 1963.
This was disputed by government officials who said protesters shot first and that security forces had killed armed attackers who tried to storm the building.
Regime supporters, who took to the streets in the capital Damascus, were also reported to have clashed with anti-regime demonstrators.
There were reports of many deaths, including in the capital Damascus. A government official confirmed that at least 10 protesters had died, reports BBC, although witnesses said up to 20 people had been killed.
In Washington, a White House spokesman said: We strongly condemn the Syrian governments attempts to repress and intimidate demonstrators.
Boy howdy, that's strong...
In Deraa, where residents buried their dead, security forces reduced their presence and allowed a march early on Friday. But before the end of the day gunfire could be heard after a statue of the late president Hafez al-Assad, the current leaders father, was set on fire, residents told human rights activists.
Freedom appeared to be the main demand. But news agencies said demonstrators were also taking aim at Mr Assads family. Protesters in Tel, outside Damascus, called the presidents relatives thieves and those in Deraa vented anger against Maher al-Assad, the presidents brother who heads the Republican Guard.
Thugs usually are thieves as well. It goes with the territory...
President Assad leads a minority Alawite regime in a mostly Sunni nation.
Yet another reason why Assad is doomed long-term...
Al-Arabiya news channel quoted Baghdad Bob Muhsin Bilal, Syrias information minister, as saying: The situation is completely calm in all parts of the country.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/27/2011 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.
Hamid 
handed over their weapons
al-Shabaab
[Ennahar] The terrorist organization Al Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) has successfully seized anti-aircraft missiles from Libya in the throes of a civil war between the forces of Qadaffy and Libyan 
President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh
[Arab News] UN Secretary-General 
Syria's hardline regime was grappling to contain new flare-ups after an uprising that has sharply eroded its repressive rule and has so far led to the deaths of at least 55 protesters.
