[Quqnoos] Top Afghan officials have criticised as counterproductive the arrest of Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the No 2 Taliban official in Pakistan.
The Afghan officials say its main effect has been to derail Afghan-led efforts to secure peace talks with the Taliban, making that peace ever more remote, according to the Washington Post report. It's almost as if the Paks don't want peace in Afghanistan ...
Senior Afghan officials in the military and presidential palace accuse Pakistan of orchestrating the arrest of Baradar and others to take down Taliban leaders most amenable to negotiations. Some of the official have told The Post that Afghans had been in secret contact with Baradar before his arrest and that he was prepared to join the 1,400 people descending on Kabul next month for a peace conference.
Despite Afghan requests, Pakistan has refused to hand over Baradar and other Taliban leaders. Previously, US officials had requested to take charge of interrogation of Baradar.
If the Afghan government "were talking to him, why did they allow him to leave Afghanistan?" a Pakistani official said. "If he was so important [to the peace process], he himself should have stayed there. If he was so important to the jirga, why did the United States provide the information that allowed us to catch him?"
Both Afghans and their NATO allies want a negotiated solution to the nine-year-long insurgency, although there are differences of opinion among Afghanistan's Western partners -- and within some Western governments -- on how and how quickly negotiations should proceed.
This article starring:
Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar
Posted by: Fred ||
04/11/2010 00:00 ||
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Sudan is holding its first multi-party elections for 24 years, but the absence of several major political figures has seriously damaged their credibility.
Several parties opposed to President Omar al-Bashir are boycotting the polls because of alleged malpractice. But the National Elections Commission insists that the three-day elections will be free and fair and represent the will of the Sudanese people.
The polls will elect the country's president, national assembly, and state governors and legislative bodies.
The Elections Commission has been heavily criticised by opposition parties and human rights groups who believe the landmark polls will be seriously flawed. But Abel Alier, the chairman of the Elections Commission, was adamant that his organisation had not favoured the National Congress Party of President Omar al-Bashir.
"We are committed to free, fair polling," he said. "We want to ensure that what we do will make it evident both to the voter, to the ordinary citizen, and to the world at large that this process of polling is going to be transparent."
The BBC's James Copnall, in the Sudanese capital Khartoum, adds that the electoral body has not convinced the parties opposed to President Bashir, with many of them are boycotting all or part of these polls to protest about alleged rigging.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/11/2010 00:00 ||
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PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM > CHINA'S WAR PLANS FOR INDIA.
* SAME > INDIA TO ADD TWO CBGS [ACarrier Battle Groups] BY 2014 [2014-15], 65,000-TONNE IAC-II ON DRAWING BOARD; + BANGLADESH WILL TAKE MILITARY ACTION AGZ NORTHEAST INDIA MILITANT GROUPS [based or located inside Bangla]. The Bangla Govt. wants New Delhi = INDJUH to provide them a list of cross-border Militants.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Kuwait deported 17 supporters of leading pro-reform Egyptian activist and former U.N. nuclear watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei on Saturday, a day after arresting them, a security official said.
"Seventeen people have been expelled back to their country," the official said.
Earlier, a Kuwaiti security official had said "20 to 25 Egyptians were arrested," some at a pro-ElBaradei gathering at a Kuwait City suburb on Friday and others at their homes.
The fate of the others arrested was not immediately known, nor was it clear how many were resident in Kuwait.
The arrests came after the group posted a notice on the Internet about the gathering, the source said. All of those detained were "being held Saturday by state security forces and awaiting a political decision about their fates," an official had said earlier in the day.
There was no other official comment from Kuwait about the incident, but a foreign ministry official in Cairo said officials there were aware that a group of Egyptians had been arrested in Kuwait. He later clarified that the ministry had heard of the arrests through Egyptian media.
An airport source in Cairo said the group's arrival was expected.
George Ishak, a Cairo spokesman for ElBaradei's National Association for Change, said 34 Egyptians were arrested, four on Thursday and the rest on Friday.
"They were holding a meeting on Friday to form the first association to support ElBaradei, but it appears Kuwait did not have tolerance for it," he told AFP.
ElBaradei, 67, has emerged as Egypt's most high profile pro-reform leader after retiring from the International Atomic Energy Agency last year. The Nobel laureate has said he would run for president if constitutional restrictions on independent nominations in next year's presidential elections were changed.
Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak faces mounting opposition at home after almost three decades of rule and has ruled out amending the constitution. His government has rebuffed foreign calls for reform and dismissed as "unacceptable" a call last week from the U.S. State Department for free elections.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/11/2010 00:00 ||
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SCOTLAND YARD has bowed to Islamic sensitivities and accepted that Muslims are entitled to throw shoes in ritual protest which could have the unintended consequence of politicians or the police being hit.
News of the concession by the Metropolitan police has come to light amid a series of trials of more than 70 mostly Muslim demonstrators who were charged with violent disorder after last year's Gaza protests outside the Israeli embassy in London.
Aquib Salim, 21, an IT student at Queen Mary, London University, who was involved in a shoe-throwing incident, is almost certain to avoid a prison sentence as a result.
Chris Holt, Salim's solicitor, said he was likely to get a suspended sentence after he pleaded guilty to a single charge of throwing a stick at police lines.
The court accepted that the earlier shoe-throwing incident was simply a ritual form of protest and therefore not a criminal act of violence,' Holt said.
Judge Denniss agreed that the act of shoe-throwing should not be considered in a charge of violent disorder against the student because it was a symbolic' political gesture.
Shoes, and particularly the soles of shoes, are regarded as ritually unclean in the Islamic world. An Iraqi journalist became a folk hero for throwing a shoe at President George W Bush during a press conference in December 2008.
The president ducked, but Muntadhar al-Zaidi was jailed for three years and allegedly tortured by the Iraqis. He was released after nine months and his gesture inspired many imitators.
A spokesman for the Crown Prosecution Service admitted this weekend that the police advice to the Downing Street protesters was a factor in the case at Isleworth crown court, west London.
It has now emerged that the Metropolitan police first told protesters of its stance on shoe-throwing shortly after the attack on Bush.
The concession has already been taken up enthusiastically by Muslim demonstrators, who pelted Downing Street with shoes in protest at the Israeli bombing of Gaza last year.
Dozens of ski-boots and clogs were also hurled at the US consulate in Edinburgh in a related protest, in which three policemen sustained minor injuries.
Lindsey German, convenor of the Stop the War coalition, said: After the incident in Baghdad we told the police that people would want to bring shoes to throw at Downing Street.
They said that was okay and there was a facility allowed for people to bring old pairs of shoes. Afterwards they joked that they didn't realise we were going to throw the shoes so hard.'
In January 2009, anti-war protesters advertised a demonstration outside Downing Street by posting a photograph of a pair of old shoes under the words: Bring your old shoes to throw at useless Gordo.'
#1
If they're fool enough to want their shoes back, charge a hundred pounds each.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
04/11/2010 17:37 Comments ||
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#2
Since this seems to cover other things thrown, Are Y'all going to Ignore Grenades as well?
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
04/11/2010 17:41 Comments ||
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#3
I believe it's a British tradition to throw brickbats back. I hope the police won't be repressing the native British population.
Posted by: ed ||
04/11/2010 18:33 Comments ||
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#4
What was it that British military man told the head of a mob setting about burning a Hindu widow in suttee? Something like, it is your tradition to do so, and we will respect that. But it is our tradition to hang those who kill women, so after you have your tradition, we will have ours.
Hopefully things will change when the Tories take office.
#6
So, then, the question is: Isn't "poo" considered "ritually unclean" in western culture? And if so, would the throwing of it be considered a "symbolic" gesture?
How odd -- President Obama dislikes center-right Israeli leader PM Netanyahu, but likes center-right British leader Cameron enough to lend him a trainer?
#2
As long as Cameron doesn't go off on camera about growing up poor in the ghettos of Chicago.
Posted by: ed ||
04/11/2010 9:54 Comments ||
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#3
Her advice may hinge on Presumption 1: have the near universal support of a sycophantic media, in which case her chances of a productive visit to the UK will be extremely short lived.
Depressingly for Britain, there's not much at all which separates either the Tories of Labour from the Big State Boneheadedness of the Dims.
"She is the Chairman Mao fan whose body language coaching sessions helped Barack Obama to enter the White House..."
Good grief, it's that one.
"She showed Obama how to look smart without looking smug, how to look compassionate without being condescending, how to shed the appearance of being self-involved and arrogant, says Brenda Moore, an electoral expert for the Republican Party."
This partly explains the Republicans' recent lack of success. Obama has ALWAYS looked smug, arrogant, condescending, etc. Why the hell didn't they recognise that and exploit it during the campaign?
#5
"She showed Obama how to look smart without looking smug, how to look compassionate without being condescending, how to shed the appearance of being self-involved and arrogant"
He sure got over that the day after the election, didn't he? >:-(
I never thought he got over it before the election.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
04/11/2010 10:50 Comments ||
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#6
Oh shit, it's Anita "My favorite political philosopher Mao Tse Tung" Dunn! I guess the only recourse for Brown is to hire Hitler's image maker.
Posted by: ed ||
04/11/2010 11:53 Comments ||
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BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan -- The United States made its first high-level contact with the interim government of Kyrgyzstan on Saturday, getting assurances that the new leadership would live up to previous agreements and allow American use of an airport that plays an important role in supplying the war effort in Afghanistan.
But a statement posted on the State Department Web site did not indicate how long the agreements were for, and the long-term prognosis for the use of the airport remains murky. Russia has bridled in the past at the American presence in a region it calls part of its zone of influence. We can take the short-term assurance and work on the long-term, though the latter likely will cost us some coin ...
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called the transitional leader, Roza Otunbayeva, in Bishkek, the capital, late in the evening Saturday, according to the State Department and Ms. Otunbayeva's chief of staff.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/11/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Clinton Calls Acting Leader of Kyrgyzstan convinces her that the current US administration are childish idiots and sticking with Russia is a right decision.
The older man in charge bangs his hand on the punctured tires. He is wearing a traditional, elf-like Kyrgyz hat. Eyes are reddened. Then he gestures to our right past the empty beer bottle perched on the metal armour of the dead APC.
"They were shooting from up there. "
The finger points at the ruined White House. All windows have been shattered and blackened burn marks mar the facade. It is now a gutted, looted ruin. The corpse of power itself. Toughs wrapped in the flag have pieced together the ornate railings that were ripped apart when insurrection struck and mobs stormed the building.
A placard hangs in a prominent spot on the building. Black-painted words, in Russian so that foreigners like me can read them. "Dirty Jews and all those like Maxim Bakiyev have no place in Kyrgyzstan."
"We captured the building ... Lots of people died, but now we are in control." The older man waves his laminated membership card of an opposition party in my face and grins at the placard.
"The Jews are Kaput. ... The Jews are already gone."
A smoker chides in from the left. "The Jews were around the president and his gangster son Maxim. They were taking over our economy, with banks and capital. They have fled." A twisted and torched car hulks on the pavement. Incinerated skeletons of the armoured trucks rioters used to smash down the railing of the White House are still beached where they torched.
#4
There is no denying that Hitler and Stalin are alive today... they are waiting for us to forget, because this is what makes possible the resurrection of these two monsters.
Simon Wiesenthal
Posted by: yo adrian ||
04/11/2010 14:02 Comments ||
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SEOUL, April 10 (Yonhap) -- North Korea's military warned Saturday that it would take "decisive measures" if South Korea does not draw up plans to prevent propaganda activities such as sending leaflets to the communist state.
The two Koreas agreed in 2004 to stop decades of propaganda warfare across the Demilitarized Zone dividing the nations, but the South Korean government says it can not prevent activists from sending the leaflets, citing freedom of speech.
"We will take corresponding decisive measures soon unless the South side takes an understandable measure to discontinue the despicable psychological smear campaign and formally notifies the North side of it," the country's the official Korean Central News Agency cited comments by military officials.
For years, South Korean activists have been flying propaganda leaflets into North Korea by balloon in order to let ordinary people there know about the North's leader Kim Jong-il's alleged lavish lifestyle and womanizing -- and lately his ill health. Too bad there isn't a 'fund a balloon' option via Paypal ...
North Korea has strongly denounced the propaganda offensive as "provocative" and demanded that it be stopped. South Korea said it has no pertinent law to regulate it.
"Such foolish acts are a wanton violation and blatant challenge to the agreement reached between the two sides to stop all the propaganda activities against each other," the agency reported.
In a response to the North's warning against the leaflets, the South Korean government said, "We have sincerely implemented the (2004) agreement to end propaganda campaigns against each other and we hope the issue does not make a hitch in the development of inter-Korean relations."
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/11/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Forget balloons with leaflets. A chicken wing would be better propaganda. As would cranking up the transmitter power when radio stations air commercials for food specials at grocery stores or fast food joints.
Sure, words on paper can have an impact but roasting a cow at the DMZ when the wind is from the South probably has more compelling impact.
WASHINGTON, April 10 (Yonhap) -- North Korea has up to six nuclear weapons, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said. In a Friday speech at the University of Louisville in Kentucky, Clinton said "we know" that North Korea "has somewhere between one and six nuclear weapons," the second time in as many weeks that she has recognized that North Korea has nuclear weapons.
While explaining the Obama administration's nuclear policy late last month, the top U.S. diplomat depicted North Korea as a country "that already has nuclear weapons," and Iran as one that is "clearly seeking nuclear weapons," although the U.S. government's official position is not to recognize the North as a nuclear weapons state.
North Korea, which conducted its second nuclear test in May last year, is widely believed to possess several nuclear warheads, with some analysts saying it has already developed the technology to mount the warheads on long-range missiles.
The North's second nuclear test is widely seen as having demonstrated its nuclear capability, unlike the previous one, considered a partial failure.
North Korea said late last year that it has "entered the final stage" of enriching uranium as an alternative way to produce nuclear weapons. It had been producing weapons-grade plutonium at its sole operating reactor in Yongbyon, north of its capital, Pyongyang. North Korea is also suspected of having secured enough plutonium for many more nuclear weapons from former Soviet republics after the fall of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s.
Meanwhile, the World Nuclear Stockpile Report, written by Hans Kristensen of the FAS and Robert Norris of the Natural Resources Defense Council in September, said North Korea appears to have 10 nuclear weapons, although it added, "There is no publicly available evidence that North Korea has operationalized its nuclear weapons capability."
Clinton, meanwhile, told students at the University of Louisville that she hopes the Obama administration's new nuclear policy will help quell the nuclear ambitions of North Korea and Iran.
"I'm not suggesting that a move by the United States and Russia to reduce our nuclear stockpiles will convince Iran or North Korea to change their behavior," she said. However, she added that China, which wields veto power in the U.N. Security Council and has a great leverage on North Korea and Iran, will "become more willing to engage with us" on North Korea and Iran. Why would they do that? Best thing for the Chinese is to keep doing what they're doing now, which is not cooperating with us ...
"I know from firsthand experience that this START treaty has left little room for some nations to hide," Clinton said. "They are finding it more and more difficult to make the case that they don't have their own responsibilities. I believe the new START treaty does put us in a better position to strengthen the nonproliferation regime when parties to the Non-Proliferation Treaty meet together in May." That's just idiocy. The Norks aren't party to the new START treaty and they can continue to do as they wish. It's not like anyone's going to stop them.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/11/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
And thanks again to Jimmy Carter who at the last minute averted Bill Clinton from direct action, a lot of people are most likely going to end up dead.
Jimmy Carter has killed more people on this planet than any recent US President.
#2
Time for the US and SKor to ramp up food subsidies to the NKor regime so they can devote even mre energies to this? Bless 'em - Kimmie's Krew seem to have found something they're relatively good at.
#3
1994, eh? Clinton should have done something? Hmm.
Donk President? Check. Donk Senate? Check. Donk House? Check. Healthcare debate? Check. How come the tyrants always know when to misbehave?
Unfortunately for Barry, he's going to be left holding the bag on this one because Bill was such a charming rogue, Barry doesn't know how to bite his lower lip and the Iranians aren't as incompetent as the Norks.
#4
Clinton, meanwhile, told students at the University of Louisville that she hopes the Obama administration's new nuclear policy will help quell the nuclear ambitions of North Korea and Iran.
As my long-departed and, God love him, bucolic Grandfather used to say, "I'll hope in one hand and sh#t in the other. Let's see which one gets full first."....
#5
YEAR 2012-N-SHORTYLY AFTER > Whatever [black market] Nukes-WMDS Al Qaeda + Radic islam covertly procured as per various MSM-Net Repors since the 1990's, e.g. SUITCASE NUKES + MASS BIOWAR + CEHMWAR, IMO they'll try to reserve the bulk for Terrops agz CONUS.
TO USE IT IN ISOLATED TERROPS BEFORE 2012, i.e. BEFORE IRAN FORMALLY DECLARES ITS NUKES, INVITES A PREMATURE, CATASTROPHIC ANTI-MUSLIM/ISLAMIST MIL RESPONSE FROM THE UNSC + NON-MUSLIM WORLD POWERS AGZ ANY AND ALL BUDDING MUSLIM NUC STATES.
The absolute maxima I can see Iran putting off its formal Nuke Declaration would be NLT Year 2015, as come 2020/2020-2025 US GLOBAL DEPLOYMENT OF EFFECTIVE, HIGHLY ACCURATE + LETHAL GMD-TMD IN ALLIED STATES, REGIONS may make Radic Islamist possession of nuke weaps IRRELEVANT???
Ditto for KIMMIE = NORTH KOREA + DPRK GEOPOL AGENDUM.
#6
North Korea has always wanted to have new fangled Nuclear Reactors for : Powering : Nuclear Energy : For : Safer : Issuances : For : Cleaner : Modern : Safety Public Efficientcy : From : Germany !! Whereby : Glass Lined Aluminium Reactors Are : More Likely Made : Available !! - Merkel : German Leader ! The Atomic Commission Agency : Will Be : Stationed : By : Pyongyang : Eventually ! Plus Several Agencies : By : CNN & FOX NEWS : REPORTED ! Even : The Michael Reagan Show : Too !! Also : Seoul : Korea ! Also : Re-Unification : Met : Former : North : Gladly : DeCommissions : Nuclear Bombs !!! Anyhoo : Anotha : Thang : Yyyess : Virginia : There'll be : US Bases : Stationed : In : Unified : Korea ! Which'll be : All : Consent : By : US & Unified : Korea ! Germany : Neutral : Has : Unified : Consent : With : Holland : Christiania : Freelandia & : Amsterdam !!! Soldiers & Military : US : Sensitivity Courses : Soldiers Of : Conscious : Be : Deployed : From : Former : Germany : Based : US Forces : Be In : Unified Korea ! Civilian : Neutral Germany : Unites : Peaceful Consent : Holland : Christiania Freelandia & : Unifies : Peacefully : Amsterdam : Too !
Posted by: Kare Inn Stansfield ||
04/11/2010 23:21 Comments ||
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#7
someone seems to be off their meds...
Posted by: abu do you love ||
04/11/2010 23:40 Comments ||
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US SECRETARY of State Hillary Clinton says the US cannot rule out using nuclear weapons if it came under biological attack, saying in that case "all bets are off".
"If we can prove that a biological attack originated in a country that attacked us, then all bets are off," Isn't that a tautology?
Ms Clinton said in an interview with CBS's Face the Nation.
Ms Clinton was referring to a new US nuclear policy unveiled last week that restricted the use of atomic weapons against non-nuclear states that comply with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
Both Ms Clinton and Defence Secretary Robert Gates said in joint television interviews that Iran and North Korea represent exceptions to the limits on a US nuclear response, as both have defied UN resolutions on their atomic programs.
"We leave ourselves a lot of room for contingencies," she said.
Asked why Iran and North Korea are considered exceptions, Mr Gates said: "Well, because they're not in compliance with the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. So for them all bets are off. All the options are on table."
Ms Clinton and Mr Gates said a new arms control deal with Russia and the revised nuclear policy will bolster President Barack Obama's diplomatic efforts to isolate Iran and North Korea over their nuclear programs.
#1
The administration will be so paralyzed after an attack that nothing will happen, especially after appointing a Blue Ribbon commission. Ivestigation, study, (book deals), hearings, word processing, etc. Lack of leadership will hurt.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
04/11/2010 16:26 Comments ||
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#2
I'm more worried that they are so fearful of appearing paralyzed that they do something. Think Kaiser Willi II.
#3
It's always overlooked that if there is ever a WMD attack on the US, it will probably be on a high profile blue voting area, and the only response from an administration like the current one will be "you have to spot us 12 million votes in the next election..."
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
04/11/2010 19:14 Comments ||
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#4
The fear in the USDOD will be the Bammer or post-Bammer USA wasting or scattering the remnants of its much-reduced nuclear arsenal in LIMITED NUKE STRIKES AGZ TERROR-SUPPOR/SPONSORING THIRD WORLD STATES, WHILST RUSSIA GETS TO SEND ALL OF ITS NUKES IN THE SINGULAR DIRECTION OF THE USA ONLY.
Lest we fergit, 1980's GORBACHEVISM > GLASNOST + PERESTROIKA = making the World safe for COMMUNIST + CONVENTIONAL ARMIES [SSSHHHHHHH includ TERROR]???
Remember, COLD WAR USSR = POST-SOVIET RUSSIA > US-USSR = US-RUSS "PARITY" = SOV/RUSS GETS TO KEEP A LARGER NUMBER OF NUKE WEAPS THAN THE USA.
The image I used is not to imply that the UNO program is a bad thing, just that the way this article is framed is gag-worthy. I hope that the program teaches a lot more than the examples chosen by the journalist who wrote this article.
#1
"UNO program immerses soldiers in Afghan culture"
1. "How to beat your wife"
2. "How to 'honor'-kill your daughter (the slut).
3. How to make a bomb.
4. How to hate anything made after the 6th Century (except cell phones, pickup trucks, bombs, and anything else that can be used to kill the infidel).
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
04/11/2010 10:35 Comments ||
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#2
Will they learn Afghan songs like 'Zakhmi Dil' (The Wounded Heart)?
There's a boy across the river
with a bottom like a peach,
but, alas, I cannot swim.
Though we all know what would happen
If a Pathan hove in sight,
And if he could only reach.
Posted by: john frum ||
04/11/2010 11:53 Comments ||
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#3
"This traditional Pushtu folk song is included to commemorate the many years of service on the North West Frontier of India by the 1st and 2nd Battalions Seaforth Highlanders. Pushtu is the language of the Patahn and Afghan tribesmen of the frontier districts, but the version sung by British troops in 'pidgin' Hindustani had references to 'The Road to Kandahar'......"
Posted by: john frum ||
04/11/2010 11:56 Comments ||
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#1
After Denver Al Awlaki was in California, then in VA (DC suburbs) in 2001-2002 in charge of a Mosque then in Britain until 2004 when he departed for Yemen.
The more he prayed and the more he studied Islam the more 'militant' he became.
Posted by: lord garth ||
04/11/2010 13:30 Comments ||
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Vice President Biden didn't use the jinxed phrase "mission accomplished." But he offered an optimistic assessment of Iraq after last month's parliamentary election, saying that Iran's covert bid for influence there had been "clobbered" and that Baghdad appears headed toward an inclusive coalition government. "Politics has finally broken out in Iraq," Biden said in an interview Thursday. "Everyone is in on the deal, and it's real."
Biden began by discussing the three bloody attacks that have taken place this month. He said that at least two were the work of remnants of al-Qaeda in Iraq, but that this group's "capacity is significantly diminished" and that it is failing in its goal "to set the sectarian spark again" and disrupt the formation of a government. Bush's talking points from two years ago. Will wonders never cease?
"It was a real stick in the eye of the Iranians," Biden said of Tehran's unsuccessful campaign to steer the election outcome. What's more, he said, Tehran's post-election effort to pressure Iraqi leaders who visited Tehran "has turned out to backfire." Iraqi politicians had discovered "there's a real price to be paid . . . if it looks like you are seeking the approval or following the direction of the Iranians or any neighbor."
The trickiest question for an Obama administration that campaigned on a program of withdrawal from Iraq is how to stay active there, even as American troops come home by the end of next year. Biden said that question comes up in nearly every conversation he has with Iraqis - "Now you guys are sticking, right?"
"We plan on staying engaged," Biden said he told Maliki last week - especially in the non-military areas that the United States hopes will part of a stable, long-term relationship. Just so they can avoid that icky troop thing.
The paradox of Iraq is that to get out successfully, the United States must show that it's still involved for now. The vice president's comments send the right signal. Where were you on the Surge, Mr. Ignatius? Didn't it send the right signal?
Posted by: Bobby ||
04/11/2010 14:55 ||
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#1
The difference is that Bush was at the end of a successful surge. This is the beginning of a retreat. Confined to base, we will be able to do little about the situation in the streets, even if Bambi wanted to, which will deteriorate as the Iranians see him as weaker and weaker and they put more resources into overthrowing the Iraqi government. Do these guys really think that once the Iranians have nukes they will not go all out to see us out of Afghanistan and Iraq?
And then they will have the taste of conquest and the invincibility of the 12th Mahdi. It will be a straight shot from there to Syria and Lebanon to eliminate the little Satan.
[Asharq al-Aswat] The leader of the Sadrist Current in Iraq, Muqtada al Sadr, who is currently residing in Iran, is expected to reveal what one leading member of the current described as the "bargaining [offers]" made to the Sadrist Current by the State of Law Coalition headed by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki, in exchange for supporting al Maliki's nomination for premiership.
The senior member of the Sadrist current, who spoke to Asharq Al-Awsat on condition of anonymity, said that "during a television interview that will be broadcast within days on one of the satellite channels [Muqtada al Sadr] will reveal the scale of bargaining [offers] made to the current in exchange for him (Nouri al Maliki) keeping or taking the prime minister position." One of the lists tried to offer the Sadrist Current ten ministries in exchange for nominating [a member of] that list to assume the position of prime minister. The source said, "In any case, the [Sadrist] current obtained ten ministries and haggling will not help."
On his part, a source from the Islamic Supreme Council headed by Ammar al Hakim stressed that the National Iraqi Alliance does not want a prime minister "who provokes the neighboring [states]." The source explained that the dialogue between the National Iraqi Alliance, which is also headed by al Hakim, and the State of Law Coalition headed by Nouri al Maliki, is still in its preliminary stages.
Abbas al Khafaji, a media official from the office of Humam Hammoudi, a leading figure in the Islamic Supreme Council, told Asharq Al-Awsat that "there has been agreement on a specific mechanism through which the next prime minister will be selected, as a set of conditions have been put in place, the most important of which are the election of the person will not provoke neighboring states, [the person] will be accepted by all political parties in the country, competent and will not act independently."
Posted by: Fred ||
04/11/2010 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
As POTUS BAMMER has said, NUCLEAR TERRORISM + STOPPING NUCLEAR ARMS FROM REACHING ROGUE STATES + MILITANT GROUPS IS NOW THE GREATEST SINGLE THREAT TO THE USA.
Again, IMO IRAN will ideally prefer to stay on the diplomatic + geopol defensive while it de facto NUCLEARIZES INTO AN ISLAMIST NUCWEAPS STATE WHILE CONTINUING ITS COVERT = "BACKDOOR" SUPPORT OF VARIOUS DESTABILZ MILITANT GROUPS.
The Mullahocracy will prefer that the US-ISRAEL BE THE ONE TO ATTACK FIRST, ESPEC AGZ THE NOW NUCLEARIZED MILITANT GROUPS. DOing so not only preserves the new Iranian Nuclear State AMAP ASAP ALAP, but more impor allows TEHRAN + EVEN RADIC ISLAMIST GROUPS TO COVERTLT PROMOTE THEIR AGENDA FROM WITHIN THE HALLS OF THE US GOVT ITSELF.
Israel has never even hinted at using nuclear weapons against Iran.
....heh....
Then again, it may not....but I wouldn't bet my lunch money on it.....
Obama's new version of U.S. nuclear strategy unveiled Tuesday significantly narrows the circumstances in which Americans would employ nuclear arms. But it does allow their use against rogue states like Iran.
While that's hardly a green light for Israel, former Central Intelligence Agency official Philip Giraldi notes: "Israel is fast becoming a pariah nation ... Like South Africa, the Israeli response to criticism has been to become more reactionary ... waging unending war against its neighbors to maintain cohesion against foreign enemies.
Mr. Giraldi is unfamiliar with the region's history. One hopes the CIA had him working in a different section.
"There is a certain danger in isolating the Israelis too much as it ... might influence a dangerously unstable government to take action that might include exploiting its nuclear arsenal in search of Armageddon."
#1
Also from ISRAEL NN > Israeli] THINK TANK BELIEVES WAR COULD BREAK OUT AGZ SYRIA.
A war scenario which is prob one reason why AL QAEDA formed its AL QAEDA IN THE TRANSJORDAN/JORDAN + LEBANON affiliate(s) a while back, + of course the better known AQ IN THE ARABIAN PENINSULA aka AL QAEDA IN YEMEN [AQAP/AQIY]].
Defense attorneys for Anat Kam, who is suspected of passing on secret documents to Haaretz reporter Uri Blau, have already began negotiating with the prosecution for a plea bargain, Haaretz has learned.
The state has decided to prosecute Kam for the most serious crimes of espionage: passing on classified information with the intent of harming state security. The charges carry a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Kam faces other charges, including gathering and possessing classified materials with intent to harm state security, which carries a maximum 15-year prison sentence.
Israel's criminal code contains a number of other statutes that Kam could have been charged with violating for her alleged actions, that carry significantly less harsh punishments than the ones she has been charged with. In their negotiations with the state, Kam's attorneys, Avigdor Feldman and Eitan Lehman, will seek to plead down the charges against their client.
One of the main arguments made by Feldman and Lehman is that by passing on the information to Blau, an Israeli journalist bound by Israeli military censorship, Kam demonstrated that she did not intend to harm state security. The lawyers say that had Kam sought to damage Israeli she would have made the material available to hostile elements.
The justice minister refused to comment on discussions held with defense attorneys, and would not confirm or deny this report.
[Iran Press TV Latest] Amid threats of a military strike on Iran, Commander of the Iranian Army Major General Ataollah Salehi plays down the possibility of such an attack.
"Iran's Army has made considerable progress in all deterrent fields. No enemy dares to attack the Islamic Republic," Salehi told reporters on Saturday.
He pointed to the great potentialities of the Iranian Army to defend the country against any act of aggression and said, "The Army of the Islamic Republic is duty-bound to maintain its defense readiness in all fields."
The member of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) added that given the country's deterrence power, "no one takes recent US threats seriously."
Salehi said that countries, which have access to nuclear bombs and conventional and non-conventional weapons, are well-aware that such cannot be their main source of power.
"Many of these countries have been humiliated in dealing with Iran," he said.
Tehran has repeatedly dismissed Tel Aviv's threats of launching military strikes against Iran as psychological warfare aimed at pressuring the Islamic Republic into abandoning its peaceful nuclear work.
Israel and its Western supporters have repeatedly accused Iran of pursuing nuclear weapons under the guise of a civilian nuclear program.
The Iranian government, however, has fiercely dismissed such claims as mere attempts by Western nuclear powers to prevent Iran's rapid progress in the field of nuclear technology.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/11/2010 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
Versus
CHINESE MILITARY FORUM > AHMADINEJAD WANTS MILYUHNS [approxi 5.0M] OF IRANIANS TO QUIT TEHRAN OVER QUAKE FEARS [residing on MULTIPLE CRISS-CROSSING QUAKE FAULTS LINES].
Milyuhns and Tilyuhns and Dilyuhns and .... ONE GOOD MOTHER-Of-ALL-QUAKES and Tehran is sunk like Atlantis.
Recriminations flowed Friday following the armed clashes between Palestinian militiamen in the Bekaa Valley.
Internal Security Forces (ISF) confirmed the arrest of four members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC), following gun battles at the group's Ain al-Bayda base near the town of Kfar Zabad on Thursday.
One person was injured in the incident, which was reportedly the result of an internal PFLP-GC dispute. Initial reports of a death sustained in the fighting were proved false.
A statement released late Thursday by the ISF said four members of the group had been arrested following the incident.
"Armed clashes broke out with men in the base after which four of the [PFLP-GC]'s militants were arrested," the statement said.
The ISF named the detained men as Ali Qassem Araji, Khaled Ramzi Araji -- both Lebanese nationals -- and Palestinians Mahmoud Alyan and Rejeh Saleh. All of the men were close to Colonel Dureid Shaaban, who was recently removed from his PFLP-GC post.
It is thought that Thursday's clashes were a result of Shaaban's unwillingness to relinquish his role at the Ain al-Bayda base.
The daily Al-Akhbar, citing a security source in the Bekaa, said that the mutiny had begun several days earlier, before spilling outside the compound, and that Lebanese security forces were not involved in internal clashes.
The rebellion at Ain Al-Bayda base started several days ago and talks between the rebelling group and the PFLP's command broke down due to financial issues, the paper reported.
Debate continued to simmer over who was responsible for the clashes, even after order was restored in the vicinity. LBCI television reported Friday that calm had returned to the area.
PFLP-GC media officer Anwar Raja, during an interview with New TV, blamed an ISF intelligence head for the clashes.
He also "totally" refuted that "any gunfight or internal clashes among PFLP-GC's members" had occurred.
"What was reported by the media is inaccurate and these media leaks are deceptive," Raja added.
PFLP-GC senior officer Abu Ramez Imad Mustafa, however, appeared to confirm that fighting had been internal and instigated by Shaaban.
"One member of PFLP-GC, who has personal problems with his comrades that he tried to solve in a wrong manner, came with a number of his non-PFLP-GC relatives to the Kfar Zabad base, where clashes took place," he said.
"The PFLP-GC was able to arrest four members of this soldier's family and the investigation is under way," he added.
The ISF's statement also refuted Raja's claims.
"The remarks made by Raja were false, and it would have been better if Raja had examined closely what has been happening in his organization before making his accusations," it said.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/11/2010 00:00 ||
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[8 views]
Top|| File under: PFLP-GC
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.
Vice President Biden didn't use the jinxed phrase "mission accomplished." But he offered an optimistic assessment of Iraq after last month's parliamentary election, saying that Iran's covert bid for influence there had been "clobbered" and that Baghdad appears headed toward an inclusive coalition government. "Politics has finally broken out in Iraq," Biden said in an interview Thursday. "Everyone is in on the deal, and it's real." 
Defense attorneys for Anat Kam, who is suspected of passing on secret documents to Haaretz reporter Uri Blau, have already began negotiating with the prosecution for a plea bargain, Haaretz has learned. 
