In the midst of a fiery floor debate over contempt proceedings for Attorney General Eric Holder, House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) quietly dropped a bombshell letter into the Congressional Record.
The May 24 letter to Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), ranking member on the panel, quotes from and describes in detail a secret wiretap application that has become a point of debate in the GOPs Fast and Furious gun-walking probe.
The wiretap applications are under court seal, and releasing such information to the public would ordinarily be illegal. But Issa appears to be protected by the Speech or Debate Clause in the Constitution, which offers immunity for Congressional speech, especially on a chambers floor.
According to the letter, the wiretap applications contained a startling amount of detail about the operation, which would have tipped off anyone who read them closely about what tactics were being used.
Holder and Cummings have both maintained that the wiretap applications did not contain such details and that the applications were reviewed narrowly for probable cause, not for whether any investigatory tactics contained followed Justice Department policy.
The wiretap applications were signed by senior DOJ officials in the departments criminal division, including Deputy Assistant Attorney General Jason Weinstein, Deputy Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Blanco and another official who is now deceased.
In Fast and Furious, agents for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives allowed assault guns bought by straw purchasers to walk, which meant ending surveillance on weapons suspected to be en route to Mexican drug cartels.
The tactic, which was intended to allow agents to track criminal networks by finding the guns at crime scenes, was condemned after two guns that were part of the operation were found at U.S. Border Patrol agent Brian Terrys murder scene.
Straw purchasers are individuals who buy guns on behalf of criminals, obscuring who is buying the weapons.
While Issa has since said he has obtained a number of wiretap applications, the letter only refers to one, from March 15, 2010. The full application is not included in what Issa entered into the Congressional Record, and names are obscured in Issas letter.
In the application, ATF agents included transcripts from a wiretap intercept from a previous Drug Enforcement Administration investigation that demonstrated the suspects were part of a gun-smuggling ring.
The wiretap affidavit details that agents were well aware that large sums of money were being used to purchase a large number of firearms, many of which were flowing across the border, the letter says.
The application included details such as how many guns specific suspects had purchased via straw purchasers and how many of those guns had been recovered in Mexico.
It also described how ATF officials watched guns bought by suspected straw purchasers but then ended their surveillance without interdicting the guns.
In at least one instance, the guns were recovered at a police stop at the U.S.-Mexico border the next day.
The application included financial details for four suspected straw purchasers showing they had purchased $373,000 worth of guns in cash but reported almost no income for the previous year, the letter says.
#1
The application included financial details for four suspected straw purchasers showing they had purchased $373,000 worth of guns in cash but reported almost no income for the previous year, the letter says.
Did the so-called straw purchasers report any campaign donations?
#2
This is a big deal. It demonstrates clearly that Holder knew what was going on when he said he didn't. Now we at the Burg already know that Holder is a liar, but it's going to become increasingly difficult for the MSM to dance around the issue.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/29/2012 16:48 Comments ||
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#3
but it's going to become increasingly difficult for the MSM to dance around the issue
Issue? What issue? If the MSM doesn't report on it, then it seems that over half the folks out there would have no clue it was an issue, if they even knew it was happening.
#4
If you are someone who gets their international news listening to NPR on the way to work, you have no idea anything of importance is happening in Mexico and absolutely no idea what Fast & Furious might be.
Just like with Obama turning off credit card verification, if the MSM ignores it, it never happened.
#5
As Reverend Wright said one time about someone else: "He's riding dirty!" If there is nothing to hide, why would Holder ask Obama to invoke executive privilege? Why would Holder lie to Congress? The wiretap applications show that people high up in the DOJ knew of F & F. Things are not coming out that should be coming out before the American people.
#6
Issa brought a gun to a Chicago knife fight. In teh end, I suspect Obama will either throw Holder under the bus or pardon him on O's way out the door. Issa has whistleblowers in the BATFE. He'll do a "Breitbart" where they dribble stuff out and prove the spinners as liars with further releases
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/29/2012 21:00 Comments ||
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#7
If there is M O N E Y involved in this, it may be a very, very "dirty ride".
#8
Frank G is on point, though this is several degrees more serious than Breitbart's best efforts. That said, the AG still has arguable grounds to deny knowledge. Arguable, but weak and getting weaker fast. I wonder where Issa goes next. If the dems keep challenging him, would he go for an independent counsel? Or, is he content to keep this a political mess, particularly if he's called on the immunity issue. The Dems could call his bluff there by agreeing to an independent counsel, and depending on his evidence, that could split the dems three ways - what the Potus wants, what the AG wants, and what the house dems want.
Given what Fitzgerald did to Libby with next to nothing, I'd expect the AG to resign long before a prosecution starts, but that may not be enough.
[An Nahar] The U.N. rights chief on Thursday urged the Sudanese government to avoid "heavy-handed suppression" as demonstrators gear up for mass protests on Friday.
"Tear gas, rubber bullets, live ammunition and other heavy-handed suppression will not resolve the frustrations and grievances of the people, Navi Pillay, High Commissioner for Human Rights, said in a statement.
Rights groups say scores of people have been jugged Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please! since the protests against inflation began on June 16 in the capital, Khartoum.
The protests spread after President Omar al-Bashir Head of the National Congress Party. He came to power in 1989 when he, as a brigadier in the Sudanese army, led a group of officers in a bloodless military coup that ousted the government of Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi and eventually appointed himself president-for-life. He has fallen out with his Islamic mentor, Hasan al-Turabi, tried to impose shariah on the Christian and animist south, resulting in its secessesion, and attempted to Arabize Darfur by unleashing the barbaric Janjaweed on it. Sudan's potential prosperity has been pissed away in warfare that has left as many as 400,000 people dead and 2.5 million displaced. Omar has been indicted for genocide by the International Criminal Court but nothing is expected to come of it. announced austerity measures including tax hikes and an end to cheap fuel.
Demonstrators in groups of 100 or 200 burned tires, threw stones and blocked roads while calling for regime change.
In response, coppers fired tear gas at protesters in the eastern town of Kassala, witnesses said.
"After 23 years of endurance, the Sudanese people have decided to say enough is enough," said activist movement Sudan Change Now.
In her plea for calm, Pillay also called on Sudan "to immediately and unconditionally release those who have been incarcerated Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please! for merely exercising their rights to freedom of assembly and expression.
I suspect those rights are not enumerated in the Sudanese constitution, assuming they have such a thing. Though if they did, it must be assumed that burning tires, throwing stones, and blocking roads are not considered protected expression.
Their constitution does make a distinction between a mandate and a tax, however...
"Reports of ill treatment in detention are very worrying and must be investigated promptly."
She also urged protestors to ensure, on their part, that no violence or damage to property takes place during the demonstrations.
Sudan has lost billions of dollars in oil receipts since South Sudan gained independence last July, taking with it about 75 percent of Sudanese crude production.
Pillay's statement comes after Sudan rounded on the United States for criticizing its handling of the protest movement.
"The USA is not qualified to advice on such an issue because it continues bombing civilians in different parts of the world and it cracked down on demonstrators on Wall Street," foreign ministry front man al-Obeid Meruh said on Wednesday.
He was responding to comments by U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland who said that "arresting and mistreating protesters" will not solve Sudan's political and economic crises.
"There have been reports of protesters being beaten, imprisoned and severely mistreated while in government custody. We call for the immediate release of those incarcerated Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please! for peaceful protest," she said.
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06/29/2012 00:00 ||
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(Ma'an) -- Egypt's Foreign Ministry summoned the ambassador of the United Arab Emirates on Thursday after comments made by Dubai's chief of police that the ministry described as being against Egypt, state-run media reported.
Gulf monarchies such as the UAE have been wary of the rise of Islamists in Egypt and other states in the wake of the Arab Spring for fear that it will stir up Islamist groups and dissent on their turf.
Egypt's official news agency MENA said the envoy to Cairo was summoned to request "clarification from the United Arab Emirates about statements that do not go along with the nature of the special relationship between the two countries".
It said the statements, made on Twitter, were an "attack on Egypt", without citing the remarks that caused the offense.
State-run newspaper Al-Ahram's website said Egypt was responding to Dubai police chief Dahi Khalfan who made comments about Egypt on Twitter after Moslem Brüderbund candidate Mohamed Mursi won the presidential election.
"If they tried to shake the security of the Gulf, bloodshed will be up to their knees," Khalfan said, according to the tweet reported by Al-Ahram which was no longer on Twitter.
In other tweets, also after Mursi's win was announced, he said: "An unfortunate choice. The repercussions of this choice will not be light for poor ordinary people."
And if the new government of Egypt steps out of line, no more money will flow from the Gulf into Egyptian coffers, and then how will the people eat?
Posted by: trailing wife ||
06/29/2012 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Egypt was to decide Thursday the venue for Islamist Mohamed Morsi's swearing in as the nation's first civilian president, as Washington praised the military for facilitating a "free" poll.
Media reports said Morsi was consulting with a cross-section of Egyptian society ahead of appointing a prime minister and a cabinet that would largely comprise of technocrats.
Morsi's front man Yasser Ali told the official MENA news agency the venue for Saturday's swearing in ceremony would be decided on Thursday.
Traditionally the president takes the oath in Egypt's parliament but the country's top court has ordered the disbanding of the Islamist-dominated parliament.
The military subsequently assumed legislative powers and also formed a powerful national security council that is headed by the president but dominated by generals.
Egypt's private television CBC quoted one of the ruling generals, Mahmoud Hijazy, as saying that Morsi will be sworn before the constitutional court.
But by doing so Morsi would be acknowledging the court's decision to dissolve parliament.
The Moslem Brüderbund, which fielded Morsi as a candidate in the presidential polls, insists that the be taken before the parliament.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/29/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
31°46'29.5608", 033°08'44.7072"
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
06/29/2012 8:46 Comments ||
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[An Nahar] British police served an extradition notice Thursday on WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who has taken refuge in Ecuador's embassy in London requesting asylum.
Scotland Yard said they had served a "surrender notice" on the 40-year-old Australian requiring him to attend a cop shoppe, adding that failure to do so would make him further liable to arrest.
Assange faces extradition to Sweden over sex crime allegations, having exhausted his options under British law when the Supreme Court overturned his appeal against extradition earlier this month.
Fearing Stockholm would pass him on to the United States, he sought refuge at Ecuador's embassy in London on June 19, asking the South American country for political asylum.
Scotland Yard has "served a surrender notice upon a 40-year-old man that requires him to attend a cop shoppe at date and time of our choosing," a front man said.
"This is standard practice in extradition cases and is the first step in the removal process.
"He remains in breach of his bail conditions. Failing to surrender would be a further breach of conditions and he is liable to arrest."
It is understood that officers from Scotland Yard's extradition unit delivered a note to the embassy saying Assange has to present himself to a nearby cop shoppe at 11:30am (1030 GMT) Friday, the domestic Press Association news agency said.
Citing sources, PA said a letter was also delivered for Assange.
The embassy declined to comment on the serving of the police notice.
Assange fears that from Sweden he will be extradited to the United States to face possible espionage charges, after releasing more than 250,000 US diplomatic cables on the WikiLeaks anti-secrecy website.
Following a lengthy series of legal challenges that ran out earlier this month, he was given until June 28 to make a final appeal to the European Court of Human Rights, at which point extradition procedures in Britannia could commence.
His lawyer was unavailable for comment on Thursday, while a front man for WikiLeaks told AFP he had talked to Assange on Wednesday, but declined to comment on whether an appeal to the ECHR had been made.
Ecuador's President Rafael Correa met Monday with his envoy to London and other brass hats to discuss Assange's request.
"The request for political asylum is being examined along with all the political implications it will have, including for Mr Assange," said Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino, adding that no timeframe had been set for a decision.
He is already in breach of his bail conditions, which state he must be at a given address between 10:00 pm and 8:00 am.
But while he remains in the embassy he is protected by diplomatic immunity and beyond the reach of British authorities.
The Ecuadoran embassy is a flat in a mansion block in the plush Knightsbridge district. It is across the street from the well-known Harrods department store.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/29/2012 00:00 ||
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After Rahimi blames Jews for int'l drug trade, EU's Ashton reaffirms Europe's commitment to fighting "racism," "anti-Semitism."
"Shut up, you idiot! One simply doesn't say such things in public," she added. Ashton's love for the Jooos, particularly in pâté form on toast points with a sprig of parsley garnish is well known.
EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton on Thursday condemned Iranian First Vice President Mohammad-Reza Rahimi for a speech he gave at a UN conference in Tehran this week in which he said Jews controlled the international drug trade.
"The high representative is deeply disturbed by racist and anti-Semitic statements made by Iranian First Vice President Mohammad-Reza Rahimi at the UN International Day against Drug Abuse," Ashton said. She added that such statements are "unacceptable," and reiterated the "EU's absolute commitment to combating racism and anti-Semitism."
During his speech, Rahimi blamed Judaism for the spread of illegal drugs around the world and said the Talmud teaches to "destroy everyone who opposes the Jews."
He went on to assert that there are no drug addicts who are Zionists: "The Islamic Theocratic Republic of Iran will pay for anybody who can research and find one single Zionist who is an addict. They do not exist.
This is the proof of their involvement in drugs trade," The New York Times ...which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... quoted Rahimi as saying.
Diplomats present at the conference criticized the speech, but remained for the rest of the event.
In Israel, Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman swiftly condemned the comments.
"Hitler also said crazy things and succeeded in carrying out his plan," Liberman said, adding that the world has not yet come to understand the danger Iran poses.
"The fact that UN representatives and representatives of European nations are still participating in conferences held in Tehran, in which the worst kind of anti-Semitics remarks are made, legitimizes the the regime of the ayatollahs," he said.
[Dawn] Shortly after sneaking across the Afghan border this week, more than 100 Death Eaters loyal to Pak Taliban leader Fazlullah waited patiently on a mountain for Pak troops to approach.
Several days later, the fighters released a video of what they said were the heads of 17 ambushed soldiers, along with their identification cards.
Laid across a white sheet, they were a chilling reminder of the major security threat the man once known as FM Mullah or Mullah Radio still poses to US ally Pakistain, three years after the army pushed him out of the Swat ...a valley and an administrative district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistain, located 99 mi from Islamabad. It is inhabited mostly by Pashto speakers. The place has gone steadily downhill since the days when Babe Ruth was the Sultan of Swat... Valley, a former tourist spot he terrorised.
"He is a very big problem for Pakistain," said a Western diplomat.
During his heyday, Fazlullah, who like many senior Taliban members is known as a mullah, or preacher, organised thousands of fighters who roamed picturesque Swat, imposing his radical version of Islam.
Opponents, and those deemed immoral, were publicly flogged, or even beheaded and hung in squares and at intersections.
Girls' schools and government buildings were burned down.
Nowadays, Fazlullah's men control a 20-km stretch of the rugged and largely unpatrolled border with Pakistain from areas in Afghanistan's forbidding Nuristan province, described by nearby US troops as "the dark side of the moon".
From there, Fazlullah, a burly man in his thirties with a heavy black beard, plots cross-border raids that don't kill many soldiers but agitate Pakistain's military, which thought it had defeated him during a Swat offensive in 2009.
His activities in the border area, described by US President Barack Obama I am the change that you seek... as the world's most dangerous place,could complicate efforts to stabilise the region before most foreign combat troops leave Afghanistan by the end of 2014.
BIG AMBITIONS
Fazlullah is a distraction for Pakistain's military, which is also fighting Hakimullah Mehsud, the leader of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain group blamed for many of the suicide kabooms across the South Asian country.
Sirajuddin Ahmad, Fazlullah's front man and cousin, said the group's aim was to recapture Swat, and take control of Pakistain.
"The establishment of sharia (Islamic law) is our goal, and we will not rest until we achieve it. We will fight whoever stands in our way," he told Rooters by telephone from Qazi's guesthouse an undisclosed location in Afghanistan.
Fazlullah has slowly rebuilt his militia by securing shelter and support from Afghan Death Eaters in an area where groups form loose alliances against the United States, Afghanistan and Pakistain.
"He is extremely dangerous," said a Pak security official. "Fazlullah has 150 men, rocket-propelled grenades and light machine guns. You just need a small amount of men to carry out effective operations. This is a big number."
Fazlullah, once known for fiery ...a single two-syllable word carrying connotations of both incoherence and viciousness. A fiery delivery implies an audience of rubes and yokels, preferably forming up into a mob... radio sermons, was the first Taliban leader that took control of an area in Pakistain outside the unruly ethnic Pashtun tribal belt along the Afghan border.
There are no signs that he will be able to penetrate deep inside towns or cities. His men usually arrive in a big wave, attack and retreat back into Afghanistan.
But his operations have prompted Pakistain's military -- one of the world's largest, to repeatedly urge the Afghan government and NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Originally it was a mutual defense pact directed against an expansionist Soviet Union. In later years it evolved into a mechanism for picking the American pocket while criticizing the cut of the American pants... forces to go after the bad boy leader.
On Monday, Pakistain protested to NATO and the Afghan military, accusing them of failing to act against bad boy havens in Afghanistan after the cross-border attack in which the Pak soldiers were killed.
Nuristan police chief Ghulamullah Nuristani says there are no signs that anyone intends to eliminate Fazlullah, even though he was creating havoc for people there, charging illegal taxes, stealing supplies from trucks and sometimes killing drivers.
"We can't attack them because they are armed with light and heavy weapons which are much better than ours," he said. "If we get support from the central government or coalition forces we will be able to destroy their strongholds."
Fazlullah's fighters usually slip across the border into Pakistain at night and take positions on high ground.
"We have patrols and vehicles moving in the area to guard the border, so they wait and try to ambush them," said a Pak intelligence official.
Intelligence officials say Fazlullah's men operate in the Afghan provinces of Nuristan and Kunar, and enjoy the support of hundreds of Death Eaters there.
Support goes both ways when it comes to fighting the US-backed governments in Afghanistan and Pakistain.
Some Death Eaters have long-standing bonds.
"Many of us know each other from before, as we studied in the same madrassas (religious seminaries)," said a commander of a bad boy group in Kunar.
"When we need to conduct an operation in Afghanistan, we request help and they give us fighters. When they need to conduct an operation, we provide them with assistance as well."
Few experts expect Fazlullah to make the kind of gains he seems determined to achieve. But he is making a big impact.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/29/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
"The place has gone steadily downhill since the days when Babe Ruth was the Sultan of Swat..."
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA ! ROTFL :-)
Winning comment of the week.
And you thought nobody in the audience was paying attention :-)
[Dawn] Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf was given detailed briefings by Minister for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar, Secretary Foreign Affairs Jalil Abbas Jilani and other relevant bigwigs on Pakistain's foreign policy at the Foreign Ministry on Thursday.
The prime minister in his observation underscored the importance of projecting a soft image of Pakistain through public diplomacy by encouraging people to people contacts, cultural exchanges and promotion of business and trade the world over.
The prime minister also emphasised the urgency of interacting with the third generation of expatriate Paks especially those living in Europe and the USA as sustainability of their attachment with Pakistain will be a great asset for the country.
The prime minister directed the Foreign Office that it should focus on African countries as well because there exists immense potential of bilateral cooperation and that is the reason as to why focus of many emerging powers was shifting to those countries.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/29/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
we are a friendly terrorist nation.Thats better!
[Jerusalem Post] Jordan's King Abdullah hosted Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, leader Khaled Mashaal in Amman on Thursday, calling the Paleostinian issue the core of conflict in the region and reiterating his support for the establishment of a Paleostinian state on the 1967 borders with east Jerusalem as its capital, the official Petra News Agency reported.
Abdullah was quoted by Petra as saying that "Jordan will continue its support to the Paleostinians to ease their suffering through providing them with every possible assistance in the West Bank and the Gazoo Strip."
(Ma'an) -- President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... will meet Israeli Vice Premier Shaul Mofaz in Ramallah on Sunday but the talks will not entail negotiations, PLO official Saeb Erekat ...negotiated the Oslo Accords with Israel. He has been chief Paleostinian negotiator since 1995. He is currently negotiating with Israel to establish a de jure Paleostinian state... said Thursday.
"We do not want to raise expectations or lower them. This is not a negotiation meeting," Erekat told Voice of Paleostine radio.
Erekat said the meeting was arranged at Mofaz's request, but said negotiations were the responsibility of Israel's prime minister and official negotiating teams.
A front man for Mofaz would not confirm or deny that a meeting had been arranged, but he did say there was ongoing contact with Abbas' office toward setting up such an event.
Mofaz told news hounds this month that he intended to meet Abbas "to examine ways to restart peace negotiations with the Paleostinians".
Mofaz, head of Israel's centrist Kadima party, joined Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition in May to form one of the biggest coalitions in Israeli history, a move that commentators said could give Netanyahu a freer hand to seek peace with the Paleostinians.
Negotiations between Israel and the PLO broke down in late 2010 after Netanyahu refused to extend a partial freeze on illegal settlement building on occupied Paleostinian land.
The PLO has demanded a halt to the construction before talks resume, but Israel says the settlements issue should be resolved in negotiations.
(Ma'an) -- The Interior Ministry in Gazoo announced Thursday that it will broadcast confessions of Paleostinians who collaborated with Israeli intelligence.
The ministry will release video footage of collaborators' confessions on Thursday evening on its website and other outlets, it said in a statement.
The film includes information about Paleostinians working for Israel's Shin Bet intelligence service in Paleostinian factions since the 1960s who collaborated in the killings of Paleostinians and to destabilize Paleostinian society and spread rumors on the Paleostinian street, the ministry says.
In 2010, the Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, ministry in Gazoo offered collaborators a two-month amnesty to hand themselves in.
Fearing advanced Syrian weapons landing in rogue hands, IDF upgrading border infrastructure, preparing for Syrian refugees.
The IDF is bolstering defenses along the Syrian border and beefing up its forces due to concern that terrorist groups are planning a cross-border attack in the Golan Heights, commander of Division 36 Brig.-Gen. Tamir Hyman said on Thursday.
Hyman briefed news hounds during a tour of borderline military positions throughout the Golan Heights. Division 36 is the IDF formation in command of the Golan and Israel's border with Syria.
"Our assumption is that a terror attack or a war can happen without warning," Hyman said. "We are upgrading our infrastructure and renewing operational commands to prepare accordingly."
Israel's concerns range when it comes to Syria and includes the option that the country's advanced weaponry - like Scud missiles and chemical weapons - will fall into rogue hands as well as the possibility that Global Jihad elements operating in the country will try to attack Israel along the border.
"The government's loss of control and the instability is a convenient area of operations for Global Jihad elements in Syria," Hyman said. "Even without signs that this is already happening, we need to be prepared. This is the main challenge."
The IDF is concerned by a number of different types of attacks, including a cross-border infiltration into an Israeli town in the Golan, the potential abduction of a soldier or Israeli civilian as well as rocket fire into Israel from Syria.
The IDF is also preparing for the possibility thon the lam numbers of Syrian citizens will rush the border to try and flee the Syrian military's violent crackdown.
The IDF has prepared a number of areas along the border where it plans to contain the civilians in such a case and protect them from Syrian military forces if needed. The final decision, if to allow the refugees into Israel would be up to the government.
#2
What I've got to do, you can't be any part of. Ilsa, I'm no good at being noble, but it doesn't take much to see that the problems of three little people don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world. Someday you'll understand that. Now, now... Here's looking at you kid.
Oh to be a young man again in these times. Such opportunity.
[An Nahar] Tehran on Thursday condemned the United States for backing the United Arab Emirates in its dispute with Iran over three Gulf islands, dubbing it "clear interference in Iran's domestic affairs."
"The three islands of Abu Musa and Lesser and Greater Tunb have always been and always will be an inseparable part of Iranian soil. Interference by a third country is aimed sowing division and tension in the region," Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab-African Affairs Hossein Amir Abdolahian was quoted as saying by official media.
Iran "has always maintained that it is ready for constructive talks with all countries, including the Emirates, for boosting ties and cooperation," he added.
On Wednesday, U.S. President Barack Obama Ready to Rule from Day One... and UAE deputy armed forces commander Prince Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahayan issued a joint call for a peaceful resolution of the status of the three islands in the Gulf whose ownership is fiercely disputed by Tehran and the UAE.
The United States "strongly supports the UAE's initiative to resolve the issue through direct negotiations, the International Court of Justice, or another appropriate international forum," the statement said.
The head of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards made a pointed visit to the islands late May. That was seen as a provocation by the UAE, which claims the islands under the terms of a 1971 agreement signed when Britannia ended its colonial-era reign over that part of the Gulf.
But Iran rejects any UAE claim to the islands, saying they have always been part of its territory and that it never renounced its ownership.
Iran's diminutive PresidentMahmoud Short Round Ahmadinejad triggered the fury of the UAE and its allied Arab monarchies when he visited the islands in April to reinforce Tehran's position.
The six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council called the trip "a flagrant violation of the illusory sovereignty of the United Arab Emirates over its three islands."
Iran's military has vowed to defend the islands. It maintains a permanent military base and airfield on Abu Musa, the biggest of the three and the only one to be inhabited.
The islands are at a strategic location in the oil-rich Gulf, permitting control over access to the waterway.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/29/2012 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, warned the EU in a letter on Thursday that new sanctions will have "repercussions" on talks over his country's atomic activities.
The letter, made public by Iranian state media, "warned the West of repercussions of taking action which is far removed from the logic in the talks and of using illegal methods against the Iranian nation."
It was sent on the day the United States ratcheted up sanctions on foreign companies doing business with Iran's central bank, and just ahead of the full implementation on Sunday of an EU-wide embargo on Iran's oil exports which has been phased in since it was announced on January 23.
Iran and world powers this year revived negotiations over Tehran's disputed nuclear program, but have reached an impasse after three rounds of talks.
The next meeting has been downgraded to the level of experts and is scheduled to take place in Istanbul on Tuesday.
Jalili's letter was addressed to EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who represents the so-called P5+1 group (the United States, Britannia, La Belle France, Russia and China, plus Germany) engaging Iran.
In it, he said Iran stands ready to "share initiatives that can make the talks a success and move them forward," according to the Farsi version of the letter.
But he added that such progress depended on "cooperation and a framework of building trust."
Jalili wrote that "if the constructive talks are damaged, the responsibility will be with the party that is implementing illegal tools instead of logic in the negotiations."
Iran considers four sets of sanctions imposed by the U.N. Security Council, and a raft of additional sanctions imposed by the United States and the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... , to be "illegal" and it has insisted it will resist them.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/29/2012 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] U.N.-Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... envoy Kofi Annan ...Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh and so far the worst Secretary-General of the UN. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize for something or other that probably sounded good at the time. In December 2004, reports surfaced that Kofi's son Kojo received payments from the Swiss company Cotecna, which had won a lucrative contract under the UN Oil-for-Food Program. Kofi Annan called for an investigation to look into the allegations, which stirred up the expected cesspool but couldn't seem to come up with enough evidence to indict Kofi himself, or even Kojo... will demand "irreversible" steps by Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor... and the Syrian opposition to end the country's conflict, according to a copy of his transition plan obtained by AFP.
A blueprint for multi-party elections and an offer for "significant" international funding to rebuild Syria will also be discussed at a meeting of foreign ministers from the major powers and other key countries in Geneva on Saturday.
With the battle between Assad's forces and opposition groups becoming more bitter by the day, the special envoy's plan says it is "essential that any settlement provides for clear and irreversible steps in the transition according to a fixed time frame."
Annan calls for a "transitional government of national unity" to establish a "neutral environment" for the transition, according to the plan, given to AFP by diplomatic sources.
The interim government "could include members of the present government and the opposition and other groups, but would exclude from government those whose continued presence and participation would undermine the credibility of the transition and jeopardize stability and reconciliation.
Diplomats have said this means that Assad could be ruled out of the government but did not automatically exclude his participation. It could also mean certain opposition figures would be kept out of the transition authority.
Assad's future is likely to be a key part of the Geneva talks when U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ... sometimes described as The Heroine of Tuzla and at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as Another Edward Livingstone ... will negotiate with Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, along with the foreign ministers of Britannia, La Belle France, Russia, Qatar, Turkey and Kuwait.
Russia is Syria's last major international ally and Lavrov said Thursday that "foreign players should not be dictating their solutions to the Syrians. We do not and cannot support any intervention or solutions dictated from abroad."
Annan's transition plan calls for a "national dialogue process" which he insists must be "meaningful." "That is to say its key outcomes must be implemented."
He says there must be a review of the constitution and legal system "subject to popular approval."
"Once the new constitutional order is established, it is necessary to prepare for and conduct free and fair multi-party elections for the new institutions and offices that have been established," the document says.
But Annan, who agreed a six point peace plan with Assad that has not been carried out, stresses that the conditions for a political settlement must be put in place now.
"There must be an end to bloodshed. All parties must re-commit themselves credibly to the six-point plan. This must include a cessation of armed violence in all its forms and immediate, credible and visible actions" to carry out the plan.
Both sides must "engage genuinely" with Annan and name "effective" negotiators to work on a settlement.
"The organized international community, including the members of the Action Group stands ready to offer significant support for the implementation of an agreement reached by the parties," says the document.
"This may include an international assistance presence under a United Nations ...Parkinson's Law on an international scale... mandate if requested. Significant funds will be available to support reconstruction and rehabilitation."
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06/29/2012 00:00 ||
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So how much exactly is 'irreversible' in US dollars?
[An Nahar] Imam of Sidon's Bilal bin Rabah mosque Salafist holy man Ahmed al-Asir warned on Thursday that he would take escalatory measures as part of his open-ended strike if the issue of non-state arms were not resolved.
In remarks to Voice of Leb radio (100.5), al-Asir said: "Our sit-in in Sidon is peaceful and civilized. It includes women, children and elderly."
"We can no longer tolerate the spread of arms in the presence of the state," he stressed, saying that his protest does not threaten the month-long security plan launched by Interior Minister Marwan Charbel.
In remarks to MTV he dubbed his protest an Intifada or Uprising.
Hundreds of the mosque preacher's supporters blocked the northern and southern entrances to the southern city of Sidon on Wednesday night by lying down on the road.
Around 50 protestors resumed their protest on Thursday morning by erecting tents near Abou Bahaeddine Hariri mosque at Sidon's northern entrance.
Mufti ofSidon and the South Sheikh Salim Sousan asked al-Asir in vain to hold the sit-in elsewhere and open the road for traffic.
Interior Minister Marwan Charbel also tasked Governor of the South Nicolas Abu Daher and the commander of the southern region Brig. Gen. Tareq Abdullah to do the same.
In his remarks to VDL, al-Asir denied that he received the political backing of the city's officials.
"The decision to hold the sit-in came under my request," he stressed. "Political personalities haven't contacted me."
"It is also untrue that contacts are underway to disperse the sit-in," al-Asir told VDL, warning that if officials do not take effective measures to resolve the problem of non-state arms, starting with Hizbullah's arsenal, then he would take escalatory measures.
The Salafist preacher accuses Hizbullah and AMAL movement of taking over the political decision-making of the state.
"If they continue to dominate the political decision-making through controlling the army, the dignity of the Sunni sect and the state institutions, things will never be set straight," he was quoted as saying on Tuesday.
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06/29/2012 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Russia said Thursday it backed a political transition in Syria but rejected Western pressure to call for the exit of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad, Supressor of the Damascenes... ahead of international talks on ending the spiraling conflict.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov poured cold water on hopes that world powers have already agreed a common strategy ahead of the weekend talks in Geneva, saying Moscow was opposed to any solution imposed from abroad.
He also said it was a mistake to exclude Syria's ally Iran from Saturday's meeting of world and regional powers.
Assad's fate "must be decided within the framework of a Syrian dialogue by the Syrian people themselves," Lavrov told a news conference with his Tunisian counterpart.
"Foreign players should not be dictating their solutions to the Syrians. We do not and cannot support any intervention or solutions dictated from abroad," he said.
Lavrov said there was "clearly" a need for a political transition in Syria but said world powers had still not agreed on a final document based on proposals by U.N.-Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... envoy Kofi Annan ...Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh and so far the worst Secretary-General of the UN. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize for something or other that probably sounded good at the time. In December 2004, reports surfaced that Kofi's son Kojo received payments from the Swiss company Cotecna, which had won a lucrative contract under the UN Oil-for-Food Program. Kofi Annan called for an investigation to look into the allegations, which stirred up the expected cesspool but couldn't seem to come up with enough evidence to indict Kofi himself, or even Kojo... for the talks.
"There are no agreed drafts. Work on a possible final document continues," he said.
Lavrov complained bitterly that "individual working formulas" had been leaked to the press overnight. "I view this as a manifestation of an unfair approach to diplomacy."
Diplomats at the United Nations ...boodling on the grand scale... in New York said Annan has proposed setting up a Syrian transitional government in a bid to end the country's near 16-month conflict and that world powers generally back the plan.
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06/29/2012 00:00 ||
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Support Annan Solution Include Islamic Jihad Representive Peacekeeping Observers and Iran Delegation : Also ! UN & THE ARAB LEAGUE : Hizbollah : HAMAS : FATAH : AND : MURSI INVOLVED !
[An Nahar] Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri Second son of Rafik Hariri, the Leb PM who was assassinated in 2005. He has was prime minister in his own right from 2009 through early 2011. He was born in Riyadh to an Iraqi mother and graduated from Georgetown University. He managed his father's business interests in Riyadh until his father's liquidation. When his father died he inherited a fortune of some $4.1 billion, which won't do him much good if Hizbullah has him bumped off, too. slammed on Thursday the latest security instability in Leb, most notably the unrest in Beirut, saying that any action on the ground is aimed at "undermining the authority of the state."
He said in a statement: "The street action was not conducted by undisciplined forces as some sides would lead the people to believe, but some powers are orchestrating the developments in order to create chaos, terrorize the people, and undermine the state's authority."
"The state must assume its duties and control the security of the whole of Leb and the country's various vital facilities," he continued.
"We reject any street action, regardless of its sectarian or political affiliations," he added.
"Any action must take place within the authority of the law and within the Lebanese people's rights to express themselves through legitimate democratic action," explained Hariri.
The state took a step in the right direction by ordering that political cover be lifted off the sides creating the unrest, stressing that "lifting security cover and armed protection of the sides blocking the roads is the real request," continued the former prime minister.
He slammed the sides "creating chaos and organizing sit-ins in Beirut, Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of thich is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... , Sidon and other regions."
"Some sides are providing the security and logistic support for the powers that are creating chaos. These forces are known to all and this situation must stop," he stressed.
"The recent developments in Beirut jeopardize peace and national stability," he noted.
Interior Minister Marwan Charbel on Wednesday launched a one-month security plan aimed at restoring stability in Leb.
"We hope that the one-month security plan will be implemented throughout the year," he added.
The the first day of the plan however was marred by the blocking of the airport highway and attempts to cut other roads in the capital in protest at the arrest of Wissam Alaeddine, a member of the group that attacked al-Jadeed television's building on Monday.
The day also witnessed rioting inside a Justice Palace courtroom in Baabda during the trials of 14 suspects transferred from the Roumieh prison.
Meanwhile, ...back at the fist fight, Jake ducked another roundhouse, then parried with his left, then with his right, finally with his chin... a personal dispute between members of the families of Jaafar and Dirani and Paleostinian elements erupted into gunfire on Wednesday in the Beirut southern suburb of Bourj al-Barajneh.
The incident did not cause any casualties, the agency added.
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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.
In the midst of a fiery floor debate over contempt proceedings for Attorney General Eric Holder, House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) quietly dropped a bombshell letter into the Congressional Record.
Egypt was to decide Thursday the venue for Islamist Mohamed Morsi's swearing in as the nation's first civilian president, as Washington praised the military for facilitating a "free" poll.
Shortly after sneaking across the Afghan border this week, more than 100 
...a valley and an administrative district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistain, located 99 mi from Islamabad. It is inhabited mostly by Pashto speakers. The place has gone steadily downhill since the days when Babe Ruth was the Sultan of Swat...
Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf was given detailed briefings by Minister for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar, Secretary Foreign Affairs Jalil Abbas Jilani and other relevant 
Tehran on Thursday condemned the United States for backing the United Arab Emirates in its dispute with Iran over three Gulf islands, dubbing it "clear interference in Iran's domestic affairs."
Mahmoud 
Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, warned the EU in a letter on Thursday that new sanctions will have "repercussions" on talks over his country's atomic activities.
...Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh and so far the worst Secretary-General of the UN. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize for something or other that probably sounded good at the time. In December 2004, reports surfaced that Kofi's son Kojo received payments from the Swiss company Cotecna, which had won a lucrative contract under the UN Oil-for-Food Program. Kofi Annan called for an investigation to look into the allegations, which stirred up the expected cesspool but couldn't seem to come up with enough evidence to indict Kofi himself, or even Kojo...
[An Nahar] Russia said Thursday it backed a political transition in Syria but rejected Western pressure to call for the exit of 
