They hate us.
They need us.
They want us to leave.
They need us to stay.
Typical.
KABUL: Frances plans to withdraw its combat troops from Afghanistan a year early drew harsh words Saturday in the Afghan capital, with critics accusing French President Nicolas Sarkozy of putting his re-election campaign ahead of Afghans safety. A wider proposal by Sarkozy for NATO to hand over all security to Afghans by the end of next year also came under fire, with one Afghan lawmaker saying it would be a big mistake that would leave security forces unprepared to fight the Taleban insurgency and threaten a new descent into violence in the 10-year-old war.
So perhaps you guys should be working to make your own country more secure. Just a thought...
Sarkozys decision, which came a week after four French troops were shot dead by an Afghan army trainee suspected of being a Taleban infiltrator, raises new questions about the unity of the US-led military coalition. It also reopens the debate over whether setting a deadline for troop withdrawals will allow the Taleban to run out the clock and seize more territory once foreign forces are gone.
Afghan forces are not self-sufficient yet. They still need more training, more equipment and they need to be stronger, said military analyst Abdul Hadi Khalid, Afghanistans former minister of interior.
Sarkozy announced Frances new timetable on Friday alongside Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who was in Paris for a previously planned visit. He also said Karzai had agreed with him to ask for all international forces to hand security over to the Afghan army and police in 2013, a plan he would present it at a Feb. 2-3 meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels. He said he would call President Barack Obama about his plan on Saturday.
Afghan lawmaker Tahira Mujadedi said Afghan security forces will not be ready in time for any early NATO withdrawal, saying the current timetable already is rushing the training of national forces.
That would be a big mistake by the Afghan government if they accept it, she said of Sarkozys plan. In my view, they should extend 2014 by more years instead of cutting it short to 2013.
She said she sympathizes in the matter of the French soldiers deaths, but argued that they present no logical reason for France to deviate from the US timetable for NATO to hand over security by 2014.
When military forces are present in a war zone, anything can happen, Mujadedi said. The French troops are not here for a holiday, she added.
Afghan forces started taking the lead for security in certain areas of the country last year and the plan has been to add more areas, as Afghan police and soldiers were deemed ready to take over from foreign forces.
According to drawdown plans already announced by the US and more than a dozen other nations, the foreign military footprint in Afghanistan will shrink by an estimated 40,000 troops at the close of this year. Washington is pulling out the most 33,000 by the end of the year. Thats one-third of 101,000 US troops that were in Afghanistan in June, the peak of the US military presence in the war, Pentagon figures show.
Sarkozy also said France would hand over authority in the province of Kapisa, where the French troops were killed this month, by the end of March. Karzais office confirmed that decision Saturday, saying it was made at the French presidents request.
The NATO coalition has started to hand over security in several areas of Afghanistan, aiming to transfer about half of the country in the coming months. But Kapisa was not one of the provinces earmarked for handover, according to US Navy Lt. James McCue, a coalition spokesman.
Kapisa lawmaker Mujadedi argued that Afghan forces in her province particularly are not ready to go it alone in fighting the Taleban insurgency, which is especially strong in several of the provinces districts. She warned that if NATO forces do pull back from Kapisa, it could also destabilize nearby Kabul.
We have had so many attacks, ambushes and also suicide attacks in Kapisa, Mujadedi said. Unfortunately, our national police and army, while present in Kapisa, are unable to provide good security for people.
Frances early withdrawal announcement could step up pressure on other European governments like Britain, Italy and Germany, which also have important roles in Afghanistan even if the US has the lions share by far.
Karzai, who praised the role of France and other NATO allies, didnt object at Fridays joint news conference when Sarkozy said the 2013 NATO withdrawal timetable was sought by both France and Afghanistan. However, the Afghan leader appeared to suggest that it was a high-end target.
We hope to finish the transition ... by the end of 2013 at the earliest or by the latest as has been agreed upon by the end of 2014, Karzai said.
Nick Witney, a senior policy fellow at the Paris-based European Council on Foreign Relations, said public support of the war in Europe started sliding fast after the coalition agreed to end the combat mission in 2014.
It has become more and more difficult to justify every single casualty, since its now clear that these are wasted lives, said Witney, a former head of the European Defense Agency. Most European policymakers realize that on a purely cost-benefit assessment, we would all leave Afghanistan tomorrow."
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/29/2012 00:00 ||
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Modern day colonialism has been canceled due to lack of interest. I guess it doesn't bode well for your country when even the Chinese have no interst in gaining a foothold in yor backyard.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/29/2012 1:41 Comments ||
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LONDON/KABUL: British Prime Minister David Cameron confirmed on Saturday that he was sticking to an end-2014 deadline for withdrawing British combat troops from Afghanistan.
We ... want to have a long-term relationship with Afghanistan, long after our combat troops come home, and that will happen at the end of 2014, Cameron said during a meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai at the prime ministers country residence Chequers outside London.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/29/2012 00:00 ||
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Not to be outdone by the Brits, France wants its Boyz home in 2013.
#3
Dunno, Glenmore.... Our big problem with Islamic terrorism is in Pakistan with some Saudi financing. We keep giving our borrowed money to the Paks in hopes they won't betray us. Is it insanity or stupidity? Or both? Drives me almost around the bend. Bad investment.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/29/2012 13:22 Comments ||
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Details are slowly emerging of the U.S. raid in Somalia overnight in which two aid workers of the Danish Demining Group were freed unscathed, 8 or 9 kidnappers killed and up to six taken prisoner by U.S. Navy Seals.
According to local reports, U.S. forces temporarily secured Galkayo airport before dispatching several helicopters with operational teams to an area some 100 kms away near the village of Hiimo Gaabo.
Arriving about 3 a.m. at the location, a hefty exchange of fire with abductors holding the two aid workers ensued. Several pirates were killed as Poul Hagen Thisted, 60, and Jessica Buchanan, 32, were taken to safety unscathed.
It was on October 25 last year in Galkayo that the two aid workers were kidnapped after taking part in a seminar. According to the local police chief in Galkayo at the time, one or more bodyguards assigned to the two were co-conspirators in the kidnapping.
Local authorities appeared to have been quickly on the scene following the raid.
We have recovered up eight bodies from the place and I understand that a further five people have been taken prisoner, Abduali Moalim of the local Adados Authority tells AFP.
The president of the Galmudug region where the operation took place expressed his gratitude to U.S. forces.
There are some 12 American helicopters right now at Galkayo. Our thanks go to the United States. The pirates have wrecked our peace and morale. They are a mafia, President Mohamed Ahmed Alim told Reuters.
The action took place as President Obama prepared to deliver his State of the Union address yesterday evening.
NBC News reports that as the president stepped into the House chambers, he pointed to Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta standing in the crowd and said, Leon. Good job tonight. Good job tonight, in what was believed to be a reference to the Somali operation
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] South Sudan has closed another 242 oil wells as the government announced it had unearthed a theft syndicate involving more than 40,000 barrels per day.
The wells were closed in Palaung oil fields in Upper Nile state that accounts for more than 60 per cent of the young nation's crude output.
There are 600 oil wells in Palaung oil fields and shutting the 242 wells will halve the controversial daily output of 250,000 barrels per day, officials said.
The field is held by Petrodar Oil Company, the biggest oil operator in the country.
However, some men learn by reading. A few learn by observation. The rest have to pee on the electric fence for themselves... Petroleum and Mining minister Stephen Dhieu Dau said his technicians discovered that an additional 40,000 barrels were being produced per day on top of 230,000 barrels per day the company reported.
"After the ordering the shutdown, the company tried to increase production against our advice," Dhieu said, accusing Khartoum of having a hand in the matter.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/29/2012 00:00 ||
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Where does one PUT 40,000 bbls per day? They gottm salt caverns in the Sudan?
This almost sounds like an accounting dodge.
Posted by: Gabby Cussworth, Man of a Thousand Nyms ||
01/29/2012 18:31 Comments ||
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I don't know Petrodar, but the Chinese are the biggest foreign operator in the Sudans. Combine that with the fact that the pipeline carrying all the oil from the South transits the north and I have no trouble believing 40,000 BOPD is being stolen, by fraudulent tests, by accounting entries and/or by pipeline 'taps'.
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/29/2012 13:07 Comments ||
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#6
I was in Cairo twice and it's a dirty noisy place that has zero appeal and not worth visiting IMO.
I remember clearly how the men were total sluts for my good money - they are really vile people.
WASHINGTON: A Egyptian military team plans to visit the United States next week as Cairos crackdown on pro-democracy organizations has called into question the future of US aid to Egypt, American officials said on Friday.
Really, there should be no question about it...
The Egyptian delegation hopes to meet with officials at the State Department and the Pentagon. It will also hold talks on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers will soon consider a new request for aid to Egypts military, which now runs about $1.3 billion per year, one official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
They're holding Americans for hostage, essentially. Now they're asking for 'aid'.
The Egyptian visit comes after Egypts military-led authorities pounced on non-governmental organizations, including several funded by the US government, and slapped travel bans on six American staffers including a son of US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, a former congressman.
Political analysts say the crackdown, along with questions over Egypts emergency law and security forces treatment of women protesters, has clouded the outlook for Egypts fledgling democracy following last years overthrow of Hosni Mubarak.
State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said American officials were pressing Egyptian authorities on the crackdown, which she described as bizarre. The Americans have demanded that Egypt lift travel restrictions placed on a number of foreign NGO staffers.
We do not have progress since yesterday, I am sorry to report, Nuland said.
The assertions of the Egyptian government in these cases are that they are subject to a judicial process which is not complete, Nuland said. Our message back is, Complete these formalities and let our people travel as soon as possible.
That's diplospeak for "put them on the next plane to Washington and explain to us why you grabbed them in the first place."
Other political sources said the Egyptians were expected to discuss the NGO issue on Capitol Hill, where a number of senators have warned the Egyptians that US aid was at stake if action against the NGOs continues.
Continued restriction of their activities and harassment of international and Egyptian staff will be looked at with great concern, particularly in light of Egypts considerable US assistance, 11 senators said in a letter to Egyptian Field Marshall Hussein Tantawi dated Jan. 18.
President Barack Obama spoke with Tantawi on Jan. 20 and stressed the importance of the NGOs, as well as Egypts deteriorating economic situation and its request for $3.2 billion in support from the International Monetary Fund.
The Obama administration is finalizing its budget for the 2013 fiscal year, which will be presented on Feb. 13 and is expected to include continued assistance for Egypts military.
Lawmakers imposed conditions on the US assistance given in 2012, requiring Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to certify that the Egyptian government is supporting the transition to a civilian government. That includes holding free and fair elections and implementing policies to protect freedom of expression, association, and religion, and due process of law. Clinton can waive this if it is in US national security interests, but must notify Congress that she has done so.
Those are decisions that are going to have to be made later on in the winter and spring, Nuland said. These are points that were obviously making clear to the Egyptians.
Not one chance of Hilde certifying the aid if the NGO members are still being held hostage. It's a gold political campaign opportunity that even Mitt Romney couldn't screw up.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/29/2012 00:00 ||
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Isn't the military aid part of the Jimmy Carter deal contingent on Egypt's recognition and friendly relations with Israel? Continuing to pay that bill now that the Muslim Brotherhood is in charge seems as silly as sending a check to Hamas and whatever we are suriely paying NK to not do what they have committed to do.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/29/2012 1:47 Comments ||
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We sent funds to Pakistan for years. Its believed it freed up billions for them to give to islamists like the Taliban to blow up girl schools and kidnap Koreans.....
[Tripoli Post] The UN's High Commissioner for Human Rights said Friday that Libya's transitional government must take control of all makeshift prisons to prevent further atrocities against detainees.
Navi Pillay said that several former rebel groups are holding as many as 8,000 prisoners in 60 detention centres around the country, adding, in a statement to AP, that there's torture, extrajudicial executions, and rape of both men and women.
She said she is particularly concerned about sub-Saharan African detainees whom the brigades automatically assume to be fighters for former Libyan dictator Muammar Qadaffy. ...whose instability was an inspiration to dictators everywhere, but whose end couldn't possibly happen to them...
Two days ago, aid group Médecins sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) suspended its work in prisons in the Libyan city of Misrata because it said torture was so rampant that some detainees were brought for care only to make them fit for further interrogation.
Meanwhile, ...back at the pie fight, Bella opened her mouth at precisely the wrong moment... Amnesia Amnesty International said it had recorded widespread prisoner abuse in other cities that led to the deaths of several inmates.
Pillay, who on Wednesday briefed the UN Security Council about Libya, said the transitional government would need help to take control of the prisons and run them properly.
"Something has to be done immediately to assist the authorities for the state to take control of these detention centers," she said.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/29/2012 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Dozens of Libyans protested Saturday against Defense Minister Osama Juili's visit to an ex-bastion of Muammar Qadaffy ...whose instability was an inspiration to dictators everywhere, but whose end couldn't possibly happen to them... , saying it showed support from the nation's new rulers to the slain dictator's diehards.
"Don't trade with the blood of deaders for the sake of elections!" shouted angry protesters demonstrating in Tripoli against Juili's visit on Wednesday to Bani Walid after deadly festivities there killed seven people.
Juili toured the town 170 kilometers southeast of Tripoli, and declared it was under the control of the new government after initial conflicting reports over who was in charge of the former Qadaffy stronghold.
Deadly festivities erupted on Monday in Bani Walid which local officials said were between a brigade of fighters who helped topple Qadaffy and supporters of the dictator.
Interior Minister Fawzi Abdelali initially did not know who was fighting in Bani Walid before saying it was an "internal" conflict."
But on Sunday, dozens of protesters, most of them from Bani Walid and who called themselves as anti-Qadaffy groups, insisted that the fighting was between former rebels and loyalists of the dead dictator.
They said Juili's visit to Bani Walid and his meeting the town's tribal chiefs was a signal that Libya's new rulers were in fact siding with the dictator's loyalists.
"We know all those whom he met in Bani Walid. They all are Qadaffy supporters. He was shaking hands with them," said protester Abdelhakim, a doctor from Bani Walid who gave only his first name.
"Juili's visit there is a signal that the new government supports Qadaffy's men."
Abdelhakim said Bani Walid had "extreme groups" of those who supported Qadaffy and also those who have been against him for decades.
"We are from those groups who have always opposed Qadaffy. We did not like Juili visiting Bani Walid and meeting pro-Qadaffy people," he said as crowds behind him rolled their eyes, jumped up and down, and hollered poorly rhymed slogans real loud against Juili as they demonstrated outside the office of Prime Minister Abdel Rahim al-Kib.
Bani Walid was the penultimate town to fall to Libya's new government during last year's uprising, and local officials had said that Qadaffy loyalists among its residents were behind the recent unrest.
Juili denied that during Wednesday's visit.
"The fighting was not between thwar (anti-Qadaffy revolutionaries) and Qadaffy diehards," he said.
"It was an internal problem... It was between two groups of young men. One of them was the May 28 Brigade," he said referring to an ex-rebel formation in the town.
Bani Walid was a recruiting ground for elite troops of Qadaffy's armed forces and was captured in October last year, just days before the ousted dictator was killed in the fall of his hometown Sirte.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/29/2012 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Thousands of Tunisians angered by the increasing prominence of ultra-conservative Islamists in a country only recently freed from dictatorial rule erupted into the streets in protest Saturday.
An Agence La Belle France Presse correspondent estimated several thousand activists, professors, artists and other demonstrators flooded the streets of the nation's capital, including along Bourguiba Avenue, a well-known thoroughfare that became a center for dissent during protests that led to the ouster of dictator Zine el Abidine Ben Ali a year ago.
Some in Tunisia are angry by the growing influence of radical Islamists, known as Salafist ...Salafists espouse an austere form of Sunni Islam that seeks a return to practices that were common in the 7th century. Rather than doing that themselves and letting other people alone they insist everybody do as they say and they try to kill everybody who doesn't... s, who have dominated headlines in recent weeks.
Police on Tuesday ended a weeks-long sit-in by Salafists at the university in Manouba, about 25 kilometers from Tunis. The Salafists were angry the university had banned the full-face Mohammedan veil, or niqab, over security concerns if students were concealed from head to toe.
Journalists have also suffered attacks at Salafist protests.
"We are here to speak out against aggression against journalists, activists and academics," said Ahmed Nejib Chebbi, founder of the Democratic Progressive Party. "And to tell the government that Tunisians' hard-fought freedoms must not be compromised."
Sarah Kalthoum, a retired teacher in her 70s, said she was concerned by what she viewed as regressive ideas from Salafists.
"We spent our lives educating people, and now some want us to go back in time 14 centuries," she said.
Some in the crowd said they are sensing an encroaching religious conservativizm in their everyday lives.
"The grocer told me the other day, 'I don't like your jeans,'" said Leila Katech, a retired anesthesiologist. "I told him I didn't like his beard."
Through this religious prism, "Everything becomes tougher: Going to see a gynecologist, what to wear, how to talk," Katech said.
Following Ben Ali's ouster, many Tunisians in October voted for the Islamist Ennahda party, which now dominates the government.
Anxious not to alienate its more radical members, the moderate Islamist party has remained quiet or reacted timidly to some Salafist incidents.
"This government is not complicit, but it is complacent," Chebbi said.
Tunisia was the first country in the Arab world to initiate mass protests against its autocratic leadership, triggering a wave of protests across the region last year in what became known as the Arab Spring uprisings that led to the ouster of Egypt's Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... and Libya's Muammar Qadaffy ... who is now napping peacefully in the dirt...
Posted by: Fred ||
01/29/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
I am thinking that peaceful protests and candlelight vigils against Islamist regimes are not going to be too effective. Often religeous leaders will provide leadership and support to overthrow tyranical governments. When the religeous leaders are the tyranny, a bloodless coup is pretty much out of the question. Assembling in large groups in open places just makes the mass public stoning an easier proposition.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/29/2012 2:05 Comments ||
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"We spent our lives educating people, and now some want us to go back in time 14 centuries," she said.
#3
now some want us to go back in time 14 centuries
They didn't expect this? Seemed obvious enough to me. In a year or two Ben Ali, Mubarak, and even Daffy may be looked back on as 'the good times' for North Africa.
[Yemen Post] Yemen Interior Minister Abdul-Kader Qahtan has affirmed that the Interior ministry has special plans to protect and secure the presidential elections.
"We are preparing procedures and will do best to successfully hold the early presidential elections due to be held on February 21" he added.
Qahtan further said the ministry would provide a safe environment to hold fair and free elections, pointing out that it would responsibly encounter any attempts to disturb the elections.
In comments to the army-run 26 September newspaper, he urged all the employees of the ministry to do their best, stressing that the future of Yemen and building up a civil state depends on these historical elections.
He made clear that tight security measures would be taken in centers of elections observation committees across all Yemeni governorates.
"Yemen witnesses national reconciliation, and human rights ...which are usually open to widely divergent definitions... and justice should be among the most important values of the Interior Ministry and its security services," he added. "Security services must establish new relations with citizens on the base of mutual respect and trust."
Separately, thousands of people have been sitting in for a weak before the Police Leadership headquarter located beside the Interior Ministry, demanding to try several coppers who killed a cell phone citizen while he was coming back home after mid-night.
The protesters said that the coppers Killed Abdul-Hameed Alwesabi, after they looted his many and cell phones.
"He refused to surrender money, so they shot fire on him and left him bleeding until death," Adnan Mohammad, a protester told Yemen Post on Friday. " These coppers turned to become criminals and killers."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/29/2012 00:00 ||
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[Yemen Post] Yemeni Vice President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi is considering the idea of forming a military committee to run the affairs of Yemeni Air force temporarily, according to local sources close to Hadi's office.
This comes as a response to the demands of the Air force personnel, who have gone on a strike since past Saturday and refuse to go back to work until their commander, Mohammed Saleh, the half brother of outgoing President President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh ... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it... , quits.
Last week, an officer threw Saleh with his shoes; setting off a wave of protests in the military facility demanding their allegedly corrupt boss resigns, and emboldening others to get rid of their corrupt bosses.
Loud calls to remove al-Hmar from his position have begun form al-Anad Base and expanded to all Air Force bases in Yemen in less than a week.
After the peaceful revolution has successfully toppled Saleh from office, a wave of institutional revolts ensued.
"Two high-ranking officers have been kidnapped due to their supportive position to discharging al-Hmar, and we know exactly who behind this incident, it's the Republican Guard, the best trained and equipped troops in the country, commanded by Saleh's elder son, Ahmed," said a soldier at Sana'a base, requesting anonymity.
Saleh relatives still control key military institutions, including the elite Elite Republican Guards, Special Forces, Counterterrorism Unit, National Security, and Air force.
Saleh has left Yemen for U.S.A to receive further medical treatment form wounds and injuries sustained in a bombing last year at the Presidential Palace and he is most likely not going to return home.
He has sought asylum in Yemen's rich neighbor of Oman, Rooters reported citing unidentified diplomats.
Saleh has transferred his executive to Hadi, the consensus candidate for upcoming Presidential elections for both the former ruling General People Congress party and Joint Meeting Parties (JMP), the main opposition bloc in the trouble-torn country, in exchange for immunity from prosecution.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/29/2012 00:00 ||
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[Bangla Daily Star] BNP is trying to go to power riding on the shoulder of the army, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina alleged yesterday.
"It's their old fashion. They always tried to get to power using the army," she said addressing a view-exchange meeting with the Awami League leaders from Laxmipur district at the Gono Bhaban.
Hasina said the history of BNP shows that they never believed in democratic means for transfer of power, UNB reports.
Blaming BNP for undermining the country's democratic system, she claimed that democracy was in trouble whenever the party was in power.
People now enjoy full freedom in exercising their voting rights, but if BNP comes to power again, they will have difficulty casting their votes freely, BSS said quoting the prime minister.
UNB adds: Hasina said that all parties at a meeting in 1986 had decided to participate in the election. But later at a rally, BNP chief Khaleda Zia Three-term PM of Bangla, widow of deceased dictator Ziaur Rahman, head of the Bangla Nationalist Party, an apparent magnet for corruption ... had asked the army to come out of the cantonment and take part in a mass revolt.
"Soon after that, she [Khaleda] remained untraced for three days. She thought that the army would come out of cantonment and put her in the citadel of power. But that did not happen," she added.
When queried, Khaleda said she was incarcerated and confined for three days, said the prime minister.
Hasina mentioned that the opposition leader did the same during the BDR mutiny in 2009. "She went out from her house two hours before the BDR incident began in a black glass car defying all protocols provided to her as the leader of the opposition... it remains a mystery where she had been for the next three days."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/29/2012 00:00 ||
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[Bangla Daily Star] "Twelve Islamic and like-minded parties" yesterday said if the ongoing war crimes trial was not stopped, they would try "India's agents" after the end of Awami League rule in the country.
They warned that the government must meet their demands within 30 days, or they would go for tough agitation programmes such as hartal ... a peculiarly Bangla combination of a general strike and a riot, used by both major political groups in lieu of actual governance ... and blockades.
The demands include putting an end to the war crimes trial, keeping the words "Absolute faith and trust in the almighty Allah" in the preamble to the constitution, scrapping the women development policy and stopping "conspiracy against Islam".
The leaders were speaking at the national convention of 12 Islamic and like-minded parties at the Jatiya Press Club in the capital.
They alleged the government had been working to implement India's agenda, and in one such effort, it had set up the International Crimes Tribunal to harass Islamic scholars and wipe out Islam from this country.
The speakers also called for the immediate release of Jamaat-e-Islami ...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... and BNP leaders jugged on charges of crimes against humanity committed during the Liberation War.
Addressing the convention, Jatiya Gonotantrik Party President Shafiul Alam Pradhan said, "Sayeedi [Jamaat's nayeb-e-ameer] is not a war criminal. He rather encouraged people to participate in the Liberation War. And Salauddin Quader Chowdhury [BNP politician] played a neutral role."
Abdur Rob Yusufi, nayeb-e-ameer of Khelafat Majlish, said the government must apologise to the people for "its acts against Islam".
Also present at the convention were, among others, Moulana Shah Ahmadullah Ashraf, ameer of Khelafat Andolon; Moulana Mohammad Ishak, ameer of Khelafat Majlish; Moulana Mufti Ijharul Islam Chowdhury, chairman of Islami Oikya Jote ... a political party in Bangladesh. In the 2001 elections the party won 2 out of 300 elected members in an alliance with the Bangladesh Nationalist Party. It has a focus on building an islamic state, and has used the madrassas to gain support... ; Sheikh Shawkat Hossain Nilu, chairman of National People's Party; Abdur Rakib, chairman of Nejam-e Islam Party; Momtaj Chowdhury, chairman of Bhashani Front; Khondkar Golam Mortaza, chairman of National Democratic Party; Sheikh Anwarul Haque, chairman of NAP (Bhashani); Abdul Mobin, chairman of Islamic Party; Moulana Abdul Latif Nezami, secretary general of Nezam-e Islam Party; Moulana Isha Shahedi, chairman of Islami Oikya Gay Pareehad; Moulana Mahiuddin Rabbani, acting chairman of Sammilita Olama Mashaekh Gay Pareehad; and NDP Secretary General Alamgir Majumder.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/29/2012 00:00 ||
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WASHINGTON, Jan. 27 -- The head of the U.S. Pacific Command said Friday that there will be no "significant" change in the scale and role of American troops in South Korea despite the Pentagon's plan to cut budgets and slash the number of ground troops.
Adm. Robert Willard, however, left open the possibility for some adjustment, based on annual consultations between the allies, given regional security conditions. The agreement to station roughly 30,000 soldiers in Korea is generally to face North Korea but also "with an understanding that those troops are there with the region in mind," he told reporters at a press conference organized by the Washington Foreign Press Center.
"I don't anticipate that there will be changes that are significant associated with this strategic rollout," he said. "But the dialogue between the United States and Seoul -- that has always been ongoing."
The yearly discussions are to ensure that the U.S. has "the number of troops there and the conditions under which they're being employed correct," he added.
Regarding North Korea, the commander in charge of U.S. forces in the Asia-Pacific region said his military is closely monitoring whether its power transition is going smoothly after the abrupt death of Kim Jong-il in December.
"This young man that has assumed power, Kim Jong-un, is relatively untested and has a lot to face in terms of governance of North Korea, with all of the challenges attendant to it, and what has been a rather coercive approach to the region and the world by his father," the admiral said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/29/2012 00:00 ||
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I thought we already drew that down to about 10K.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/29/2012 1:49 Comments ||
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SEOUL, Jan. 28 (Yonhap) -- North Korea lashed out at South Korea and the United States Saturday, warning that their upcoming joint military exercises would push the Korean Peninsula to the brink of war.
South Korea and the U.S. plan to jointly stage major military maneuvers, called Key Resolve, from Feb. 27 to March 9, with about 200,000 South Korean and 2,100 U.S. troops participating. Separately, the two allies plan to hold the Foal Eagle joint military exercise from March 1 to April 30. The Marines of two countries will also hold a joint landing exercise in March, the largest of its kind in 23 years.
North Korea routinely denounces military drills in the South as rehearsals for a northward invasion.
"The Key Resolve is a nuclear war rehearsal for aggression" on the North, the North's official Korean Central News Agency said in a commentary. The North often releases its position on South Korea or the United States through its state media.
The commentary also claimed that "the exercises will deteriorate the critical inter-Korean relations and drive the tension of the Korean Peninsula to the brink of war."
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/29/2012 00:00 ||
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The United States and South Korea are to hold two military exercises on the Korean peninsula soon. They will be the first such war games since the recent change of leadership in North Korea.
There has been some thought that war games might give North Korea's young, untested leader, Kim Jong-un, an excuse to flex his muscles to bolster national unity and his own credentials. He succeeded his late father last month and is a four-star general but is not known to have performed any actual military service.
He's not known to have performed much of anything...
He did go to high school for a number of years. It is not known if the school awarded him a PhD...
A command post exercise, named "Key Resolve" is to start on February 27. It will involve 2,100 U.S. personnel, including 800 coming from Japan and elsewhere, as well as the participation of 200,000 South Korean troops. Members of the UN Command, as well as officers from Australia, Britain, Canada, Denmark and Norway, are to observe.
U.S. military officials describe it as a training exercise, which will last until March 9, focusing on crisis management with a "whole of government" approach.
It will overlap with the start of a two-month joint tactical field exercise, known as "Foal Eagle." The training is to involve 11,000 U.S. forces, along with a still undecided number of South Korean military divisions and smaller-sized units. Foal Eagle, is to run from March 1 through April 30.
The United Nations Command Military Armistice Commission (UNMAC) says, at the border village of Panmunjom, it informed North Korea's army of the exercise dates and that it would be a non-provocative training. North Korea does not see it that way.
Oh, naturally...
It has repeatedly called for the annual joint exercises to be scrapped, contending they are a provocation and a prelude to an invasion.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/29/2012 00:00 ||
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[Pak Daily Times] South Korean activists on Saturday released huge gas-filled balloons filled with socks over the border into impoverished North Korea despite threats from Pyongyang. "Mama! Look! Socks!"
"Oh, very good! I will make soup!"
The socks can be worn to help survive the harsh winter, be sold for cash or exchanged in the communist North for food that can keep a person going for a month, the campaigners say.
About 1,000 pairs of socks were launched by five large plastic balloons from the northern South Korean city of Paju. Each pair of socks was attached with a leaflet containing a "politically innocuous" message, said the Seoul-based group North Korea Peace, which has been sending socks to the North once a month over the past few months.
"We're not interested in sending political messages or sparking any troubles there. All we want is that people in the North wear warm socks over their frozen feet," Sunny Kim, a spokeswoman for North Korea Peace, told AFP. "Warm socks are so rare and they can easily be traded for cash in the North. One pair of socks fetches about 22 pounds (10 kilos) of corn, which is enough to sustain a person for a month."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/29/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
Incidently, there are probably 10 guys in Pyongyang wondering which of their new 100 pairs of socks they will wear today. South of the city is some poor farmer wishing the socks had come with a longer political message so that he could have got more than one wipe worth of toilet paper before the party big wigs confiscated the socks.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/29/2012 2:12 Comments ||
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#2
"22 pounds (10 kilos of corn ... enough to sustain a person for a month" > yokay-y-y, nice, but my next question is from where + whom, etc. will provide this corn???
Given that Pyongyang is repor already raiding the military's food reserves.
Indus commissioner flees to Canada
Reported in Jang, Pakistan's Indus Waters Commissioner for two decades - as opposed to four by India - fled to India after it was discovered that he had colluded with India in the building of dams on Pakistani rivers - especially the Nimo-Bazgo dam - against the provisions of the Indus Waters Treaty. His office in the water ministry was attacked by teams of investigators led by army officers.
Dr Baqir was a drug addict
Reported in Jang, Dr Baqir Shah who was mysteriously shot to dearth in Quetta after, as police surgeon, he had reported that Chechen men and women were not killed by their own hand grenade as claimed by police but by bullets fired by Pakistani personnel, had been dubbed a drug addict by Balochistan government which has announced that his murder was owed to personal rivalries.
Wukla persons on the attack again
Reported in Mashriq, a group of lawyers attacked an employee of the banking court of judge Naseer Ahmad and rendered him senseless. After the thrashing by aroused wukla the court employees at once locked up the banking court to avoid further damage at the hands of the lawyers.
Jamaat Ali Shah denies he fled country
Quoted in daily Pakistan, former Indus Waters Commissioner Jamaat Ali Shah said in Canada that he was surprised by news that he had run away to Canada after violating exit-control orders against him. He said he had come to Canada to look after his ill mother and despite retirement from his job he had informed the concerned authorities before departing Pakistan. He said he was available to answer any charges.
Democracy ill-suited to Pakistan
Famous columnist and TV personality and distinguished civil servant Oria Maqbul Jan was quoted by Express as saying that democracy was not suited to Pakistan and only an Islamic Shura system would bring order in Pakistan.
Hashmi attacks Nawaz
Quoted in daily Pakistan, Javed Hashmi who deserted PNLM to join Imran Khan's Tehreek Insaf said that Nawaz Sharif had made a deal with Musharraf before leaving his supporters for Saudi Arabia. He said he should apologise for the deal.
Give a billion dollars, take electricity!
Famous nuclear scientist Samar Mubarak Mand told Mashriq that if the government gave him a billion dollars he will give Pakistan the electricity it needs for the next many centuries. He said he was already producing electricity from coal in Thar and was prepared to make even diesel if the government allowed him the money to do so.
After Aila Malik, God safe Imran Khan!
Writing in his paper Jinnah, Chief Editor Khushnood Ali Khan stated that after the joining of Aila Malik of Q-League, Tehreek Insaf of Imran Khan had reached an extreme position. If Aila Malik and Samaira Malik are the support system of Tehreek Insaf then God support Imran Khan (Khuda hi hafiz).
PPP wants a weak Pak Army
Famous foreign minister and son of General Ayub Gohar Ayub told daily Pakistan that the PPP was always determined to weaken the Pakistan Army. He said Bhutto tried to do it by creating federal security force as a counter. In the shape of a memo Zardari had asked for help from the army of another country against the Pak Army.
Dr Safdar Mehmood's new history
Monthly Naya Zamana revealed that in a recent article that Pakistan's renowned historian Dr Safdar Mehmood had stated that late Maulana Shabbir Ahmad Usmani had told him that a teacher of Usmani had appeared in his dream to ask him to repose trust in Jinnah. Dr Mehmood had written that former IG Police Balochistan Ch Fazlul Haq had told him that Maulana Usmani had told him that Jinnah had told him that Holy Prophet PBUH had appeared in Jinnah's dream and told him in the UK saying Jinnah go back to India and lead the Muslims. Usmani said that Jinnah has insisted that this dream of his should not be revealed to anyone.
Rehman Malik thanks Taliban too soon
Reported in daily Pakistan Mullah Umar spoke as a leader of all Taliban - Pakistani and Afghan - and ordered that the Taliban should stop attacking Pakistan Army and Pakistan Taliban to concentrate more on attacks on the Americans. Federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik thanked the Talban but soon the attacks restarted in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa; and Mullah Umar confirmed that he had not advised Taliban to stop attacks on Pakistani targets.
Pak Army attacks Pak Police
Columnist Hamid Mir wrote in Jang that an ASI was doing duty at Secretariat Chowk in Islamabad when the Army Chief was scheduled to pass through. He was told by am army officer to move his men away from the spot which he did. After 15 minutes the same army officer returned with a posse of men and held him from the throat and took him and his men away in a truck and held them as hostages at another place. After release the ASI tried to lodge a complaint with the police station but was not allowed to do so.
Jamaat Ali Shah helped Indian Army at Siachen
Reported in Jang Indus Waters ex-commissioner Jamaat Ali Shah facilitated the building of India's illegal Nimo-Bazgo dam so that Leh could get electricity which means that Indian soldiers at Siachen would get the benefit of more comfort through use of electricity.
Mengal warns Baloch rebels
Quoted in daily Pakistan great Baloch leader Sardar Ataullah Mengal stated in Karachi that the Baloch rebels should think twice before revolting against Pakistan because it was not certain that they will thus get independent Balochistan. He said if there was no Pakistan there would be no freedom for the Baloch.
Syeda Abida on warpath
Quoted in Jinnah PPP leader Syeda Abida Hussain said that to save Haqqani and the PPP Zardari had gambled away everything including the party tickets which were to be given to her and Fakhr Imam. The tickets for Jhang constituencies were to be given to Faisal Saleh Hayat and Raza Hayat. She said the decision to join Imran Khan had not yet been taken.
Akram Sheikh's male chauvinism
Reported in Mashriq Asma Jahangir said that after its independence and restoration of judges the Supreme Court had not come up to the expectation and hopes of the people. She said clash of state institutions was not good for the state but it was not against the law to criticise the decisions of the Court. The Court had become limited to just a few cases. Many senior lawyers reacted to lawyer Akram Sheik's article in a newspaper criticising Asama Jahangir as an example of Sheikh's male chauvinism. They said Akram Sheikh as lawyer of Mansoor Ijaz had attacked Asma who was a respected lawyer of the Bar.
Double Shah gets 14 years
Reported in Express, Double Shah the fraudster from Punjab who had defrauded hundreds of thousands of innocent people across the province of Rs 5 billion promising to double their deposits overnight has been sentenced to 14 years in jail. His victims still had faith in him. The Court also fined him Rs 5 billion.
[Pak Daily Times] Despair, fear and helplessness, not usual attributes of young boys but that's what I observed when I met some of the 23 lads recently released from Taliban custody in Khaar, headquarter of Bajaur Agency, aka Turban Central.
The boys between the age of 15 and 22 were kidnapped by Taliban in the first week of September last year when they were picnicking just over the Afghan border. They belong to the Mamoond tribe, a fun loving people unlike the other tribes in Bajaur, the smallest of the seven tribal agencies borders Afghanistan's Kunar province ... which is right down the road from Chitral. Kunar is Haqqani country..... . Later, they were released after months of negotiations involving local elders and political administration.
It was a bright sunny day but the general impression was shadowy. Nothing had changed since my last trip in October last year. I was not expecting much either. The same checkposts, the same complaints against the rigid behaviour of Para-military forces though the military justifies its stiffness to bring order in an area still brimmed with Taliban sympathisers.
The boys mostly bearded and dressed in shalwar camese, a traditional dress, appeared shy and reluctant to talk about their ordeal. Unlike the usual boys of their age, they had no dreams and ambitions. They look tired and life seemed a burden on their meek shoulders. Why you boys don't study, I asked. We cannot afford to study, we are poor people, said Abdullah, 22, with a shrug of his shoulders. But what if you are provided opportunities to study, will you, I asked, yes we will, almost all of them said.
There is no source of entertainment for these young and vulnerable boys. Do you watch TV, I asked the boys, we do not own television, they responded with a wry smile that made me feel embarrassed. Only one boy said his family owns television but he can't watch because of scheduled power outages. "We get electricity for a while after three days," Kifayatullah, 20, said with a profound resignation.
Only two of the boys was knew who the prime minister of Pakistain, while nobody knew who is the governor of Khyber Pukhtunkhwa, a person who directly controls the affairs of tribal areas through political agent. They only knew that political agent is the most powerful person on earth. Such is the gap between people and the state.
They had no idea what USAID or UKAID were but when I told them that USAID has given more than $5 billion in civilian assistance to Pakistain since 2002, they looked indifferent and didn't react much.
"Yes, we understand that this is a big problem that the US assistance is not experienced on the ground but now we are trying to develop our projects in such a way that the assistance reaches directly to the people," said US Embassy Spokesperson Mark Stroh.
Narrating the story, Ziaullah, 25, said that it was Eid day and they wanted to picnic in an area called Kandao, across the Afghan border. We were total 23 boys. While drinking water from a spring, six people holding AK 47 surrounded us and said that they would be taken to see their Emir (leader) and released subsequently but it didn't happen.
We spent the first night in the mountains and later we were divided in groups and kept separately. They were vigilant but didn't beat us or tortured us. Just once they let us talk to our families on phone. One boy, Hamidulla, 15, who beat feet from Taliban earlier, narrated his story saying that one night he woke up and saw that his captors were asleep. He said he thought if he was asked what he was doing, he would say he wanted to leak but when he realised that nobody got alerted, he bravely ran away. "For hours I walked in the jungle at night. Nobody was there but a dog confronted me. I tried to run but it bit me. I lied in the jungle for hours as the pain was too excruciating but finally, I made it home," he said with such ease and innocence.
Our captors' accent was like us but we didn't know them. They said we were taken hostage because of the Lashkar (tribal force) launched by our elders, Zia said.
When I asked, "Were they not stopped at the border on both sides by the paramilitary forces?"
"Nobody stopped us on either side but generally we don't need visa or passport to cross the border. That's how it is for centuries," Rehmatullah said. An elder said there is confusion, we don't know who is supporting Taliban on both sides. A common statement you hear from people in the tribal belt.
"Life was much better before. There was poverty but at least there was peace. Since the arrival of Taliban, our life has changed. We miss the old times as military now very strict with us and at times their behaviour is humiliating," one of the young boys said asking not to be named for obvious security reasons.
Majority of the boys does labour jobs in Punjab. We don't know who the Taliban were but we only saw they were having beards and long hair. The Inqilaab, (the arrival of Taliban in Bajaur Agency is called revolution) wasted 3-year of my studies and now I want to resume it again, said Zubair Sayed, 14, a student of 5th grade.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/29/2012 00:00 ||
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[Pak Daily Times] Mansoor Ijaz on Saturday moved an application in the Supreme Court, saying he could not come to Pakistain over security concerns and that the court direct the judicial commission probing the memo scandal to record his statement outside Pakistain.
Ijaz's lawyer Akram Sheikh filed the application under Order XXXIII Rule 6 of the Supreme Court rules 1980, and Article 187 of the constitution for recording the applicant's testimony outside Pakistain.
The applicant contended that according to the Supreme Court order, the commission was also mandated to collect evidence within and outside Pakistain "according to prevailing laws on the subject".
The applicant also reiterated that he did not want that his name be put on Exit Control List (ECL) if he enters Pakistain.
"The applicant does not want to be the suspected root cause of any institutional conflict between the Parliamentary Committee on National Security (PCNS), the commission, the judiciary, the government and the armed forces on the issue of his security or otherwise," Mansoor Ijaz's application read.
The applicant said that Research In Motion had shown reluctance in providing data to the commission about conversations between him and former ambassador Husain Haqqani. The applicant said he had executed a waiver to the company, enabling it to release his records "but Husain Haqqani has categorically refused to execute any waiver/consent".
Mansoor Ijaz also said that he was unwilling to violate the chain of custody that requires him to deliver and explain in person the content of all the evidence available directly to the chief justice.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/29/2012 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta ...current SecDef, previously Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Panetta served as President Bill Clinton's White House Chief of Staff from 1994 to 1997 and was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1977 to 1993.... still believes someone in authority in Pakistain knew where the late Osama bin Laden ... who is now neither a strong horse nor a weak horse, but a dead horse... was hiding before U.S. forces went in to find him, he said in a TV interview to air Sunday.
Intelligence reports found Pak military helicopters had passed over the compound in Abbottabad ... A pleasant city located only 30 convenient miles from Islamabad. The city is noted for its nice weather and good schools. It is the site of Pakistain's military academy, which was within comfortable walking distance of the residence of the late Osama bin Laden.... , Pakistain where U.S. Navy SEALs discovered and killed bin Laden last year, according to excerpts of an interview Panetta gave to CBS News.
"I personally have always felt that somebody must have had some sense of what was happening at this compound. Don't forget, this compound had 18-foot walls... It was the largest compound in the area.
"So you would have thought that somebody would have asked the question, 'What the hell's going on there?'" Panetta told CBS.
The Pentagon chief said that concern played a significant factor in Washington not warning Pakistain officials of the impending raid: "it concerned us that, if we, in fact, brought (Pakistain) into it, that-- they might...give bin Laden a heads up," he said.
Panetta acknowledged he did not have "hard evidence" Pakistain knew of the Al-Qaeda leader's whereabouts.
U.S. Navy SEALs killed Bin Laden on May 2 in a raid on a compound in the Pak garrison town of Abbottabad, north of the capital Islamabad, and later buried the 9/11 criminal mastermind at sea.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/29/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
Not much new news here, so why is this being re-hashed now on an English language Lebanese news site?
#3
Perv and Co(Pak army)see OBL,Mullah Omar & co as assets and use them re negotiations with the West.All comes down to money from the West and a secure western front.
Posted by: Paul ||
01/29/2012 8:45 Comments ||
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#4
"Pakistan Knew of bin Laden Hideout"
Well, duh.
Posted by: Barbara ||
01/29/2012 10:15 Comments ||
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#5
Panetta=
Kicked-upstairs hard and often enough until it becomes impossible for him to even remember who he is. Gettin' a big profane paycheck that EVEN HE doesn't know what he did to earn is demonic.
[An Nahar] Two women employed by the office of Iraq's runaway vice president Tareq al-Hashemi have been jugged by security forces and may be at risk of torture, rights group Amnesia Amnesty International said.
Hashemi, a Sunni, has been accused of running a death squad, a charge he denies. He is holed up in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, which has so far declined to hand him over to the central government.
"One of the employees, Rasha Nameer Jaafer al-Hussein, was jugged from her parents' house in Storied Baghdad's ...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate... Zayouna district on 1 January without a warrant," Amnesty said in an online statement on Friday.
"The other employee, Bassima Saleem Kiryakos, was jugged on the same day after her house in the Green Zone in Storied Baghdad was raided by over 15 armed coppers wearing military uniform. The officers did not have an arrest warrant," it said.
Kiryakos had already been jugged, beaten and released after three days shortly before her current detention, according to Amnesty.
"Amnesia Amnesty International fears both women may be at risk of torture or other ill-treatment. It is believed their arrest is in connection with an arrest warrant against... Hashemi," it said.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/29/2012 00:00 ||
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The Heron TP, Israel's most advanced unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) crashed Sunday morning during a test flight near the Tel Nof Air Force Base in central Israel. mNo injuries were reported in the incident.
The Israel Air Force launched a probe to determine the cause of the crash and was looking into the whether it was caused by human error or was the result of a technical malfunction.
The Heron TP is the largest UAV in the IAF. It has a 26 - meter-long wingspan -- the size of a Boeing 737 -- and can stay airborne for up to 45 hours. It can carry 1,000 kg. in payloads, making it capable of conducting a wide variety of missions.
The flight during which the crash occurred was a joint operation of the IAF and the Heron TP's developer, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI).
In July, France announced its decision to purchase the Heron TP in the first export deal for the UAV. The deal is estimated to reach close to $500 million over a number of years and could lead to additional contracts for IAI as other countries, such as Germany, seek to upgrade their UAV capabilities.
The Heron TP was declared on schedule to be operational by the end of the year.
According to foreign reports, it has the ability to also launch missiles, and in Israel it is often referred to as the UAV "that can reach Iran."
#1
Whoever makes the first UAV heavy bomber capable of a B-52 sized payload of about 4000kg is going to get a huge number of orders--if they permit export.
#2
Re this and complaints about US UAVs crashing..
It better that a robot crashes than a manned plane!
That thought tends to get lost by the press. There is no Hanoi Hilton to empty out with the WoT... a few dead robots? Who cares...
Posted by: Water Modem ||
01/29/2012 10:40 Comments ||
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#3
You'd think that's coming. If you have air supremacy a BUFF-sized drone that can orbit all day and drop smart bombs on command makes a lot of sense.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/29/2012 10:44 Comments ||
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#4
Doesn't seem like it should be that hard to convert most current generation heavy aircraft to be bombers; as long as they're fly-by-wire it's mainly a software thing. And most modern airliners CAN land by autopilot (though they don't.) Now, defending the drone, making it difficult to see with radar, etc. are tougher. Heck, Germany had drone bomber in 1942 (V-1) - targeting was iffy and they weren't intended to make the round trip, but ...
* TOPIX > [Jericho III] ISRAELI ICBM TEST RAISES POSSIBILITY OF EMP ATTACK ON IRAN.
At best a delay for OWG Caliphate-happy Rising Iran + Radical Islam.
* WORLD NEWS > IRAN A YEAR AWAY FROM NUKE [2013], SAYS US DEFENCE SECRETARY LEON PANETTA, + prob another 2-3 years away as per dev a reliable LR Delivery Sys for same.
On a separate note, I can't help but notice that after DESERT STORM, the anti-Bush,GOP Lefts + MSM kept harping the general rant "NO WMDS IN IRAQ" to criticize same when they really meant Nuclear Weapons - NOW WID IRAN, ITS "NUKES" PER SE WHILE IGNORING THE NON-NUKE WMDS. DITTO PER "DIRTY NUKES" + LOW-YIELD EMP WEAPS.
SAME FALSE ARGUMENT OR CRITICISM, JUST VEE DIFFERENT OR OPPOSITE DIRECTION???
#8
Just "Who" puts this stuff out there for "public consumption" in the first place? It really pisses me off. They should be summarily "shot at Sunrise".
[An Nahar] The Paleostinian Islamist movement Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, said on Saturday it does not plan to move its headquarters out of unrest-hit Syria.
"There is no change, and Hamas has not taken any decision to leave Syria, and we are still there," front man Fawzi Barhum told Agence La Belle France Presse.
He said the constant travels to Arab states of the movement's Damascus ...Home to a staggering array of terrorist organizations... -based chief Khaled Meshaal and other officials were aimed at consolidating Arab support for the Paleostinian cause and inter-Paleostinian reconciliation.
On Sunday, Meshaal is to make his first visit to Amman since he was expelled from the kingdom in 1999.
Hamas leaders will "keep Syria as their base even if they are obliged to stay away from the country a little more than before," said a Paleostinian official in Gazoo City, on condition of anonymity.
"Hamas will not close its offices in Damascus and will not leave the country," he said, although "for reasons of security some leaders may feel obliged at times to leave the country."
Syria, a firm supporter of the Islamist movement, has been hit by more than 10 months of deadly anti-regime protests.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/29/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
Why would they leave, they will be in charge. Just like Egypt.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/29/2012 1:51 Comments ||
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#2
that paleostinian cause sure is expanding leaps and bounds lately. Coming back too bite the neighbors in the ass
Posted by: chris ||
01/29/2012 9:14 Comments ||
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#3
Of course the headquarters building is staying. But the key people have already gone, according to reports, and nobody but themselves cares what happened to the underlings,
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front has asked the Philippine government to freeze all gas and oil bidding contracts in areas claimed by the Moro people. Mohaqher Iqbal, chief MILF negotiator, said in a statement that he had told his counterpart in the government, Marvic Leonen, the MILF position on the ongoing bidding by the Philippine government on oil and gas exploration in Sulu and other areas claimed by Muslims.
The MILF is pushing for the establishment of a sub-state in areas dominated by Muslims with all the rights from the natural resources, including gas and oil. Among the areas the MILF wants to control is the Liguasan marshland in Maguindanao, North Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat provinces.
Iqbal said the exploration of the gas and oil reserves in Muslim Mindanao without settling the ownership issue first would be adverse to the interests of the people.
Posted by: ryuge ||
01/29/2012 07:16 ||
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#1
Because Saudi economic well being is more important to them than Mindanao's, even with the way they're treated when they go there to do manual labor.
Schools in southern Thailand have become a battlefield, as reflected in the number of teachers being attacked by terrorists separatists, said an analyst.
Rungrawee Chalermsripinyorat, Southeast Asia analyst at International Crisis Group, said, "Teachers are at the centre of an ideological contest. Schools have become an ideological battlefield. Teachers in state schools are viewed as government agents who indoctrinate [students with] Thai nationalism. The attacks [on teachers and schools] are symbolic attacks on the state. This explains why teachers are being targeted."
Boonsom Thongsrirai, president of the Confederation of School Teachers in the Three Southernmost Provinces said that virtually all of the 27,000 teachers at 1,305 schools in those provinces carry handguns and are escorted by police and soldiers to and from school.
Boonsom, who carries a .38-caliber handgun, said teachers need to remain vigilant at all times. A native of Pattani, he said he agreed with Rungrawee's view but added that teachers were seen as easy targets because they were spread out and not properly trained to fight back.
Every time a terrorist separatist is arrested or killed, schoolteachers are targeted, he said, adding, "Things are not getting better. We live day by day."
He said that some Thai-Malay Muslim parents do not trust government schoolteachers, and that officials could do more to provide security for teachers.
Rungrawee said a lot of money had been spent on providing security and that it was hard to expect greater efforts in that area. As for how schools can be viewed as less of an agent for nationalist indoctrination, Rungrawee said that although the government has introduced bilingual lessons, it may be too little too late.
With attacks continuing and Buddhist families leaving the region, Thai-Malay Muslim students are becoming increasingly isolated and lack the socialisation skills needed to live with people of other faiths or ethnicities. Rungrawee said, "This is worrying."
Boonsom said teachers are preoccupied with security issues, as they try to tackle the twin tasks of winning the hearts and minds of Thai-Malay Muslims while keeping themselves alive.
Iranian president accuses world powers of meddling in region as UN inspectors arrive to check military aspects of nuclear program; Tehran warns EU oil embargo could cause crude prices to rise to $150 a barrel.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Sunday that western powers had implanted the Israeli regime into the Middle East as part of a scheme to gain control of the region and its resources.
Why did they install the Zionist regime (Israel)? To gain control over oil, as well as the popular and revolutionary uprisings in the Middle East, Iranian news agency Press TV quoted Ahmadinejad as saying during a speech at a youth conference in Tehran.
It is clear that this was a historical scheme, he added.
Ahmadinejad's comments came as UN nuclear inspectors arrived in Iran on a visit aimed at shedding light on suspected military aspects of Tehran's atomic work.
Iran said on Sunday it was very optimistic over the visit, but warned it would curb cooperation if the experts became a "tool" for outside powers.
An International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) team began a three-day visit on Sunday to try to advance efforts to resolve a row about nuclear work which Iran says is for making electricity but the West suspects is aimed at seeking a nuclear weapon.
[An Nahar] The opposition Syrian National Council on Saturday urged Syria's diaspora to protest outside Russian embassies against Moscow's opposition to a draft resolution on Syria at the U.N. Security Council.
"We call upon all Syrians abroad to show solidarity with our people inside the country and protest against the Russian position by holding sit-ins in front of the embassies of the (Syrian) regime, Russian embassies, and at U.N. centers tomorrow Sunday at 2:00 pm their local time," Samir Neshar, a member of the SNC's executive committee, said at a news conference in Istanbul.
He also announced that the SNC would send a delegation to the United Nations ...where theory meets practice and practice loses... on Sunday to demand the protection of Syrian civilians and accused Iran of taking part in the crackdown on protests by the Syrian regime.
European and Arab countries submitted a new draft resolution to the U.N. Security Council but Russia rejected the text on Thursday, opposing any form of sanctions or arms embargo against its former Syrian ally.
SNC president Burhan Ghalioun will head the delegation, Neshar said.
The SNC also condemned the alleged "participation of the Iranian regime in the killings of Syrians who demand freedom and call on it to stop taking part in the repression of the Syrian revolution in order to protect relations between the two peoples," Neshar said.
Turkey, which cut ties with the Damascus ...Capital of the last remaining Baathist regime in the world... regime, has hosted numerous meetings of the Syrian opposition and deserters from the Syrian army who are leading the armed opposition.
On Saturday, the 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... suspended its observer mission in Syria because of an upsurge in violence there.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/29/2012 00:00 ||
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Link ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
Adbusters, the radical, Vancouver-based anti-consumerist magazine, credited by many media outlets for launching the Occupy Wall Street protests, has put out an ad calling for 50,000 protestors to "Occupy" the G8 summit in May. And they are not calling for peaceful protest.
Fortunately, the Chicago cops have a large supply of baby blue helmets. And truncheons...
The Adbusters ad shows a picture of policemen beating up a defenseless protestor, and comes with the caption: "In the Tradition of the Chicago 8." The Chicago 8 were radicals who incited riots in Chicago during the 1968 Democratic convention. The "tradition" of the Chicago 8 included calling for displays of public fornication and attacking police.
According to the official statement of Adbusters (titled Tactical Briefing #25), "On May 1, 50,000 people from all over the world will flock to Chicago, set up tents, kitchens, peaceful barricades and #OCCUPYCHICAGO for a month. With a bit of luck, we'll pull off the biggest multinational occupation of a summit meeting the world has ever seen."
The ad threatens to shut down the economy if their demands are not met: "And if they don't listen ... if they ignore us and put our demands on the back burner like they've done so many times before ... then, with Gandhian ferocity, we'll flashmob the streets, shut down stock exchanges, campuses, corporate headquarters and cities across the globe ... we'll make the price of doing business as usual too much to bear."
Bring. It. On.
So the same group that called for the Occupy Wall Street protests in the first place is now calling for protestors to shut down the entire economic system of a city if their demands are not met, in the tradition of people who brought us the 1968 Democratic convention riots.
The claim that the Occupy Movement is composed of peaceful protestors seeking constructive and meaningful change stopped being credible long ago.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/29/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
It's still kind of cold here in May. They certainly wouldn't want to camp overnight.
Posted by: Water Modem ||
01/29/2012 0:16 Comments ||
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#2
there is no good reason for a physical G8 meeting anyway; if they have biz they can teleconference
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
01/29/2012 0:19 Comments ||
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#3
Todays CPD is not your Daddy's CPD. It is at least 2000 Officers understrength, there is no money for the proper equipment and Mutual Assistance from other departments, Batons are a no-no as is tear gas, the 'Training' has been 'watch a movie, your trained'. Meanwhile we have this nagging little issue called CRIME.
Genl Custer meet the Souix, Souix, Genl Custer.
#5
If I were the mayor of any other city with an infestation, I would be offering free one-way Greyhound fare and meal vouchers at 76 Truck Stops on the way to my 100 smelliest park denizens.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/29/2012 1:34 Comments ||
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#6
Obumble's home town, home of the '68 donk convention, scheduled for May. Should be worth a couple of points in the general election. Where do I contribute?
#10
Important note: Several of the scenes of "police beating protesters" were choreographed propaganda events using actors from a Tucson production studio, Moveon.org, the formerly communist front organization the National Lawyers Guild, and Adbusters.
YouTube (Google) now refuses to post any video calling OWS into question, including one of a man pretending to have been run over by a policeman on a motorcycle, facial comparison at least a dozen actors from Tucson impersonating police or demonstrators being attacked, choreographed events with "directors" and professional camera crews, etc.
Paid for to a large extent by George Soros front organizations, and coordinated in the White House by radical friends of Obama.
#11
"Physical meeting means 5-star restaurant dining opportunities on somebody else's dime."
Bingo.
Posted by: Barbara ||
01/29/2012 10:10 Comments ||
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#12
Will Mayor Rahm Emanuel put up with nonsense? I seem to recall he put the teachers' union in its place shortly after taking office...
The tactic I've come up with is to open the doors to the protesters, then lock them in with the Democratic conventioneers, having turned off the power to the building until the blood stops flowing under the doors. This is perhaps why I am not involved in politics. ;-)
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.
[Tripoli Post] The UN's High Commissioner for Human Rights said Friday that Libya's transitional government must take control of all makeshift prisons to prevent further atrocities against detainees.
... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it...
Khaleda Zia
North Korea
Indus commissioner flees to Canada
Bajaur Agency, aka Turban Central
When I asked, "Were they not stopped at the border on both sides by the paramilitary forces?" 
Mansoor Ijaz on Saturday moved an application in the Supreme Court, saying he could not come to Pakistain over security concerns and that the court direct the judicial commission probing the memo scandal to record his statement outside Pakistain.
U.S. Defense Secretary 
Adbusters, the radical, Vancouver-based anti-consumerist magazine, credited by many media outlets for launching the Occupy Wall Street protests, has put out an ad calling for 50,000 protestors to "Occupy" the G8 summit in May. And they are not calling for peaceful protest.
