In sentencing Milan Gvero, the ICTY for the first time recognised the importance of media propaganda in the mass executions that took place in eastern Bosnia in 1995.
I think the world has known about the importance of propaganda for much, much longer than that ...
On July 11, 1995, a TV presenter in the Bosnian Serb headquarters in Pale announced on prime-time news that the Bosnian Serbian army, VRS, was "liberating Srebrenica in a strong attack".
The news continued: "This took place after the Muslim side attacked the area outside the protected zone of Srebrenica and burned down some villages around the town. At this moment, the reception of the civilians and UNPROFOR representatives is going on. Everything is under control and in accordance with the Geneva Conventions.
"Every armed man will be treated in accordance with international conventions. At this moment, the [Muslim] soldiers are giving up their arms. During the night, it is expected that even paramilitary forces around Zepa will give up fighting... Muslims, especially those who did not commit any kind of crime, have no reason to be afraid."
The same announcement was read out three times during the half-hour news broadcast. No pictures from the town were shown.
Sloppy, sloppy. Should have burned out a village somewhere and used the pics.
That day, Milan Gvero, Assistant Commander for Morale and Legal and Religious Affairs of the Army of Republika Srpska, VRS, spoke with Radovan Karadzic, supreme commander and Bosnian Serb president, also saying that "everything is going according to plan".
Morale, legal and religious affairs? Lot of hats for one man. No wonder he slipped up.
Almost 15 years on, the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia, ICTY, on June 10 pronounced a first-instance verdict for Gvero, sentencing him to five years' jail for his role in the genocide committed in Srebrenica.
Carla del Ponte would have waited for Gvero to die in a plush holding cell at the Hague Hotel. Better for justice that way, it can be more abstract ...
As the verdict was read out in court, the judge recalled that Gvero had issued a press statement on July 19, 1995, saying that the activities of the VRS were directed towards "neutralizing Muslim terrorists and not civilians.
"While the release of false information to the media and international authorities does not constitute a criminal act, the purpose of the release was not an innocent one," the verdict said.
"The only reasonable inference as to the goal behind this communiqué is that it was intended to mislead, in particular the international authorities concerned with protecting the enclave, with a view to delaying any action on their part that might thwart the VRS's military efforts," it concluded.
That's why they call it 'propaganda', yer Honor ...
Mark Thompson, author of Forging War, a book about the role that the media played in the collapse of Yugoslavia, told Balkan Insight that it would be hard to prove the connection between specific acts of propaganda and crimes against humanity or genocide.
Yes, yes, the propagandist always claims that he or she had clean hands. They were just talking, you see, just musing out loud when they told the Hutus to kill the Tutsis or the Serbs to kill the Muslims or the Germans to kill the Jews. Never really met any of that, it was just a rhetorical exercise. Any cultured person understands this.
"Without those connections, it is impossible to claim that 'direct and public incitement to commit genocide' took place," he said. "The statutes of the [Hague] Tribunal do not criminalise propaganda or even incitement through the media, as such. If they did, think how many journalists would have been indicted!" he added.
Carla del Ponte isn't this obtuse ...
"We may choose to criticise this as a shortcoming of the statutes, but that is a different matter," he continued.
Oh, entirely different. We'll need several working group meetings over dinner to figure that one out ...
Thompson said connections between the media and decision-makers in the war had been established "on a massive scale" in the work of a number of researchers. But establishing connections was not enough for indictments.
We didn't have any problem dealing with the Nazi propagandists after WWII. Most everyone saw the connection back then, but of course back then we weren't as sophisticated as we are now, so it could be entirely different today.
The prosecutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro and Kosovo have until opened no investigations into the role of the media or of those who controlled the media in war crimes committed in the 1990s.
Might want to wait another decade or so, wouldn't pay to be hasty ...
The war crimes prosecution office in Serbia opened an investigation into the role of the media last March but the results of this probe have not been released. This could be a monumentally important precedent, IF we don't let it slip through our hands.
For instance, in spreading willful lies about starvation and suffering in Gaza, Al Reuters and other whorehouse media outlets are engaged in a calculated effort to break the Israeli blockade and facilitate arms deliveries to Hamas with the eventual (and openly stated) goal of genocide.
Remember Julius Streicher, media shills: Follow his path, share his fate.
That's likely why it's taking so long to establish the value of propaganda ...
JEDDAH -- Saudi Arabia will sign a nuclear cooperation pact with France shortly in order to develop atomic energy for peaceful purposes, according to an announcement carried by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) on Monday.
It did not say when the signing would take place but analysts expect the agreement to be inked during the forthcoming state visit of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz to France.
The nuclear pact was first proposed by French President Nicolas Sarkozy in talks with King Abdullah in June 2007 in Paris, and the French side submitted a draft when Sarkozy visited Riyadh in January 2008.
The French also sold nuke technology to Saddam. For peaceful purposes. Just saying.
But President Sarkozy is very upset about Iran's nuclear program. How does he feel about Pakistan's, which as I recall was financed by Saudi Arabia. I've heard Saudi Arabia believes itself the ultimate owner of the result.
Saudi endorsement was delayed last year while Riyadh undertook a formal review of its nuclear policy, which resulted in the April 2010 announcement of the King Abdullah City to conduct research on nuclear and renewable energy.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/07/2010 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Soddys may presume that Israelis will make Iranian rubble bounce, but they also have to think contingencies. Not pleasant prospects, but somewhat understandable.
#2
The Saudis are no dummies when it comes to realpolitik. The trick is that high grade nuclear material can be obtained either illegitimately, or IAEA legally. The Iranians are so arrogant that they insisted on doing it illegally, and in an in-your-face way.
But the Saudis can be very aboveboard with just a little deception here and there, and achieve much the same goals.
The United Arab Emirates ambassador to the United States said Tuesday that the benefits of bombing Iran's nuclear program outweigh the short-term costs such an attack would impose.
In unusually blunt remarks, Ambassador Yousef al-Otaiba publicly endorsed the use of the military option for countering Iran's nuclear program, if sanctions fail to stop the country's quest for nuclear weapons.
"I think it's a cost-benefit analysis," Mr. al-Otaiba said. "I think despite the large amount of trade we do with Iran, which is close to $12 billion ... there will be consequences, there will be a backlash and there will be problems with people protesting and rioting and very unhappy that there is an outside force attacking a Muslim country; that is going to happen no matter what."
"If you are asking me, 'Am I willing to live with that versus living with a nuclear Iran?,' my answer is still the same: 'We cannot live with a nuclear Iran.' I am willing to absorb what takes place at the expense of the security of the U.A.E."
Mr. al-Otaiba made his comments in response to a question after a public interview session with the Atlantic magazine at the Aspen Ideas Festival here. They echo those of some Arab diplomats who have said similar things in private to their American counterparts but never this bluntly in public.
"Israel, fix our problem for us. Afterward nothing will change -- we'll still be at war with you and all -- but at least Iran won't hang over all our heads."
Indeed, without Iran hanging over our heads we can concentrate our efforts on Israel with greater focus.
"We'll still be at war with you afterwards Israel but we'll give you one free pass at a Paleo arms dealer in Dubai."
#2
Even the Arabs are calling for destruction of Iran's nuclear arms program. Our PC-motivated Washington wuzzes don't quite get that notion. 9/11 was not enough to wake them up. They are more concerned about NASA sucking up to the muzzies. Fire the whole friggin lot of them in November. It is time to get some sense in Washington. It has been missing for sometime now.
TNR's post is here and the Atlantic also has posts on this.
We'll see if the NYTimes or CNN, etc. pick this up.
Posted by: lord garth ||
07/07/2010 12:30 Comments ||
Top||
#4
The UAE have been in a LIC with Iran for years. They have a very capable Special operations unit that could handle this all on their own. The US should tell him to go home and do it themselves.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
07/07/2010 17:28 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Why bother when there are kafirs to do the work for you?
The suspected leader of an Al Qaeda plot to blow up British targets who was granted permission to remain in the UK has been arrested.
Pakistani national Abid Naseer, 24, was detained by police today after the U.S. issued a warrant for his arrest.
Naseer was one of 12 men arrested in counter-terrorism raids in north west England last year over the suspected bomb plot. He won the right to stay in Britain in May when a judge ruled his safety could not be guaranteed if he returned to Pakistan.
Not sure if we can assure a flighty Brit judge about Naseer's safety at a super-max, but we can certainly guarantee isolation ...
Naseer was today arrested in north east England by Metropolitan Police counter-terrorism officers. He will appear in court later today after the U.S. authorities requested he is extradited to face trial.
Naseer, formerly of Manchester, is accused of supporting a foreign terrorist organisation and conspiracy to use a destructive device.
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: 'Officers from the Metropolitan Police Service's Extradition Unit and the North East Counter Terrorism Unit have this afternoon arrested a man in the north east of England.
'Abid Naseer, 24, has been arrested in the United Kingdom pursuant to a provisional arrest warrant issued on July 7, 2010, at the request of the United States Government. Naseer's extradition is sought by the United States Government for the purposes of standing trial.'
Naseer was arrested in April last year as part of a massive counter-terrorism operation in Liverpool and Manchester. The security services believed the men were planning a 'mass casualty' attack within days of their arrest.
Naseer was accused of being the ringleader and sending coded emails to an 'Al Qaeda operative' in Pakistan that were intercepted.
The raids were brought forward after a blunder by former Met Assistant Commissioner Bob Quick, who accidentally showed secret documents outside Downing Street.
All 12 suspects were released without charge with 11 of the men - all Pakistani nationals - transferred into the custody of the UK Border Agency.
#1
Brit QUEEN LIZ repor would like to see a STRONGER, MORE AGGRESSIVE = PROACTIVE UNO ORG, which in turn infers a stronger, more aggressive or proactive INTERPOL + ICC, ETC.
In the five years since suicide bombers killed 52 people in London, placatory government policy on Islamist terrorism has achieved little but store up trouble for the future, argues Douglas Murray.
To coincide with the fifth anniversary of July 7 this week, the Centre for Social Cohesion is releasing Islamist Terrorism: the British Connections.
It is a 500-page, telephone directory-sized work that aims to present an overview of every traceable Islamist convicted of Islamism-inspired terrorist offences and attacks over the last decade. It also examines the scope of British-linked Islamism-inspired terrorism threats worldwide since 1993, listing many foreign combatants and extradition cases and British citizens convicted abroad.
#1
See also NEWS KERALA > 7/7 ANIVERSARY: MUSLIM HATE CLERIC [M. Anjem Choudry] WARNS UK OF MORE TERROR ATTACKS.
LOCAL = HOMEGROWN TERROR IN UK, as Choudry believes UK GOVT-SOCIETY HAS FAILED TO MAKE ENOUGH OR SUFFICIENT PROGRESS VIA MUSLIM RIGHTS TO AVOID A NEW 7/7 CALAMITY FROM RE-OCCURRING???
* ION SAME > RECESSION-HIT QUEEN TO GO BANKRUPT IN TWO YEARS; + TOPIX > BRITAIN'S QUEEN CALLS FOR STRONGER, MORE AGGRESSIVE UN.
Google Translate
The Sonora ProcuradurÃa General de Justicia del Estado (PGJE) is investigating Nogales police involvement in the June 30th intergang shootout in Tubutama, Sonora, according to Mexican news reports.
Nogales mayor Jose Angel Hernandez Barajas confirmed today that some elements of the Nogales police department had received subpoenas from the Sonora PGJE investigating the involvement and death of an unidentified police officer in Nogales in the intergang fight near Tubutama.
One of the recipients of the subpoenas appears to be chief of Nogales police, Miguel Angel Vazquez Rodriguez.
It is generally thought that all participants in the intergang shootout June 30th, which cost 21 gang members their lives, was strictly an intergang battle.
#1
It is ALL intergang warfare. There are NO good guys and bad guys. Neither side has a monopoly on violence. One side merely carries the Mexican Flag.
Google Translate
Three unidentified detainees were freed by a large group of armed suspects from state detention facility in Sinaloa, according to Mexican press reports.
Sinaloa ProcuradurÃa General de Justicia del Estado (PGJE), Rodrigo Ignacio Ramón Castro, said the guards at the detention facility outnumbered faced about 30 armed suspects dressed in black, but offered no resistance.
The suspects surrounded the building on Avenida Heriberto Valdez, entered and forced the guards to release three young detainee.
The identities of the three freed could not be ascertained because the investigation had just begun.
Google Translate
A bodyguard for the outgoing Tamaulipas governor, Eugenio Hernandez, with alleged ties with organized crime was placed in 40 days' detention Tuesday by the ProcuradurÃa General de la República (PGR), the Mexican national attorney generals' office, according to Mexican press accounts.
Marino Ismael Ortega, was apparently arrested after the US Department of Treasury offocials complained that Ortega had ties to the Mexican criminal gang, Los Zetas.
Under Mexican Federal law, individuals can be detained without charge pending investigation of charges for up to 40 days, or until they are formally cleared.
The Mexican news daily, La Reforma reported in editions just prior to the July 4th statewide election that Ortega had been placed under arrest following the accusation by officials in Washington.
However, a few hours later a Tamaulipas official, Secretaria de Seguridad Pública (SSP), Jose Soberon, announced that Ortega was investigated and had been already cleared of all charges.
Officials said that Ortega had up until a few months ago been involved in activities with Los Zetas, but Soberon pointed out and had travelled numerous times to the United States with no problems.
In the detention order, Ortega was ordered to actively assist in the investigation while in detention.
Tamaulipas has recently been the focus of oragnized crime, when the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) candidate for governor, Rudolfo Torre Cantu, was murdered in a precision executed assasination. His brother took over the campaign and won by a two to one margin over his Partido Acción Nacional (PAN) opponent.
Artist Lars Vilks "is God's enemy, he is the Prophet's enemy, he is the Muslims' enemy," the eldest of the two brothers told the court in the southern city of Helsingborg, the TT news agency reported.
"He is Islam's greatest enemy right now," he added.
The news agency did not give the brothers' names, but the Expressen tabloid identified them as Mentor and Mensur Alija, aged 21 and 19.
Vilks has faced numerous death threats and a suspected assassination plot since his drawing of the Muslim prophet with the body of a dog was first published by Swedish regional daily Nerikes Allehanda in 2007 to illustrate an editorial on the importance of freedom of expression.
The brothers, who are Swedish nationals of Kosovar origin, were arrested in May when several of their personal items were found outside the artist's house after it was attacked with Molotov cocktails.
Always empty your pockets before committing arson ...
Although the fire blackened some of the house's exterior it went out on its own without causing much damage. The artist was not at home at the time.
Both brothers have denied their involvement, even though Mensur Alija reportedly suffered serious burns on the night of May 15, when the attack occurred. He has claimed he was involved in a barbecue accident.
Don't use gasoline to start the charcoal ...
The drawing by Vilks prompted protests by Muslims in the town of Oerebro, west of Stockholm, where the newspaper is based, while Egypt, Iran and Pakistan made formal complaints.
An Al-Qaeda front organisation then offered 100,000 dollars to anyone who murdered Vilks -- with a 50,000 bonus if his throat was slit -- and 50,000 dollars for the death of Nerikes Allehanda editor-in-chief Ulf Johansson.
#2
doesn't say much for your religion if a cartoonist is its greatest enemy
Posted by: john frum ||
07/07/2010 13:57 Comments ||
Top||
#3
I remember when some, "artist," placed a statue of the Virgin Mary, covered in fecal matter, and another one of Jesus the same way, and put them up as a display of art. Near as I know, the worst that happened was he was asked to take the stuff down by the mayor or New York. The thing is, the guy really didn't have to. Near as I know, no hit squad or bounty was taken out on him for being tasteless and being a jerk.
[Al Arabiya Latest] A French bill to ban full-face veils worn by some Muslim women in public will go to parliament on Tuesday, bringing closer a measure which critics argue is hard to enforce and may be unconstitutional.
Supporters of a ban on full-face veils in France, home to the European Union's largest Muslim minority, argue that wearing garments which hide women's faces violates the republican ideals of secularism and gender equality.
Opponents say only a tiny minority of Muslim women wear the full veil, known as a niqab or burqa, and that the legislation is a step towards tighter restraints on individual freedom. France already bans Muslim headscarves and other religious symbols from schools.
Violating the constitution
"We were opposed to the veil even before the start of the debate... and we think that a general ban is absolutely not the solution, " Mohammed Moussaoui, President of the French Muslim Councilsaid.
Most voters back a ban, polls have shown, but legal experts warn it could violate the constitution.
"It's going to increase feelings of being ostracized in part of the Muslim community, even parts where women don't wear the niqab," said Jean Bauberot, sociologist at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes at Paris' Sorbonne University.
The Council of State, the top administrative court which advises the government on the preparation of new laws, said in March a ban could be unlawful.
France's Socialist opposition decided Tuesday to boycott a vote on a bill outlawing the full-face Islamic veil in protest at the sweeping ban that will apply to all public places.
Socialist Party leader Martine Aubry told deputies at a meeting that while they should not vote against the bill, they should not take part in a vote scheduled for July 13, a Socialist party official told AFP.
"We are against the burqa but we believe that the means chosen to outlaw it are not good," said the party official.
Fines and jail term
The proposed law would impose fines of 150 ($190 ) on those caught wearing the veil and up to 30,000 and a one-year jail term to men who force their wives or daughters to cover their faces.
President Nicolas Sarkozy's UMP party and its right-wing allies hold a strong majority in parliament and the bill could easily pass without support from the opposition Socialists.
But the government has made a point of seeking strong bi-partisan support for the legislation.
Debate on the burqa has raged in France for a year and Sarkozy has described the Muslim face coverings as degrading to women.
His critics however see the bill as a political ploy to pander to far-right voters by taking aim at a tiny minority of women who wear the full veil.
Fewer than 2,000 women wear the full-face veil in France, according to the interior ministry.
Justice Minister Michele Alliot-Marie, who will present the bill at the National Assembly later Tuesday, insisted the law was about upholding French values of secularism, gender equality and promoting integration.
"The law is not about the veil, but about deliberately covering the face in any way," she was quoted as saying by the daily Liberation.
"It is not a question of religion," she said. "The republic lives with its face uncovered."
The National Assembly lower house is set to hold a vote on July 13 following debate this week and the bill is expected to then go to the Senate in September.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/07/2010 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[8 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
DAILY TIMES.PK > BANNED MILITANT WARNS FRANCE ON VEIL BAN. Banning of full-face veil ban by French Govt will only induce = result in more support for AL QAEDA + other Militant Groups.
Two weeks after Michael Hastings's explosive article in Rolling Stone led to the sacking of General Stanley McChrystal, the journalist has landed a book deal for "an unprecedented behind-the-scenes account of America's longest war".
Almost as if it was planned ...
Hastings's piece, The Runaway General, showed McChrystal criticising Barack Obama's administration and saying that he felt betrayed by the US ambassador to Afghanistan, Karl Eikenberry. An adviser to McChrystal told Hastings that the general was disappointed after his first meeting with Obama, who "clearly didn't know anything about him, who he was". Following the article's publication, McChrystal was summoned to Washington and sacked from his post as commander of all Nato-led forces in Afghanistan on 23 June.
The US publisher Little, Brown has acquired an untitled book by the journalist, which it said would "offer an unfiltered look at the war, and the soldiers, diplomats and politicians who are waging it", elucidating "as never before our deeply troubling war in vivid, unforgettable detail".
No publication date has yet been set for the book. Hastings is also the author of the memoir I Lost My Love in Baghdad, in which he relates the tragedy which ensued when he went to cover the war in Iraq accompanied by his girlfriend.
#1
I have to take exception with the headline here. First, it was Stanley McChrystal who got McChrystal fired. The Rolling Stones article simply facilitated the event. Second, its quite a stretch to refer to Michael Hasting as a journalist. But I suppose correctly referring to him as an Anti-military Hack may alter the thrust of this piece.
#4
McChrystal and his staff made the same mistake with Hastings that CIA station chief Jennifer Lynne Matthews and her staff did with suicide bomber al-Balawi at FOB Chapman.
They got complacent and invited a security risk into their circle. The difference is that the general and his staff merely lost their then-current jobs (and ultimately their careers).
WASHINGTON A former Michigan congressman and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations pleaded guilty today to charges related to work he did for an Islamic charity linked to terrorist groups including al-Qaida and the Taliban. Mark Siljander, a conservative Republican who represented a southwest Michigan district from 1981 to 1987, pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and to acting as an unregistered foreign agent and could be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison and fined up to $500,000.
Siljander, 59, entered his plea before a U.S. District Court judge in Missouri, where the Islamic American Relief Agency (IARA) was based. The former IARA executive director also pleaded guilty.
#1
I can't blame them. When even living quietly in rural Mexico is far superior to living at home. Canada would seem like an idealized version of heaven.
#2
Uh, uh, "GONE AWOL" = THEY'RE GOING TO DISNEYLAND!?
* ION HISTORY CHANNEL > New "AFTER DARK" Show > IIRC MAP OF THE "GREAT REPUBLIC/COMMONWEALTH OF MACKENZIE" shows most of MID, UPPER CANADA = almost NORTH KOREA save for developed border areas close to US BORDER + ALASKA???
[Family GUy's PETER GRIFFIN + mighty Hinden-PETER/PETER-Mobile here].
Federal prosecutors are expected to announce terrorism charges against an al-Qaida leader with ties to last year's thwarted plot to bomb the New York City subway system.
Law enforcement officials say Adnan Shukrijumah will be named in an indictment in Brooklyn federal court Wednesday.
Shukrijumah has eluded the FBI for years and remains at large. He is among the top candidates to be al-Qaida's next head of external operations, the man in charge of planning attacks worldwide.
Authorities believe Shukrijumah met with a would-be suicide bomber in a plot that Attorney General Eric Holder called one of the most dangerous since 9/11.
[Iran Press TV Latest] Pakistan's top opposition leader Nawaz Sharif says he regrets his decision to back the Taliban in neighboring Afghanistan in the mid 1990s.
In an interview with Pakistan's Dunya TV, Sharif described the pro-Taliban policy pursued by Islamabad during his premiership as a failure.
"Pakistan should abandon this thinking that Pakistan has to keep influence in Afghanistan," Sharif said.
"Our policy in the past has failed. Neither will such a policy work in future. We have a centuries-old relationship, and we can maintain this relationship only when we remain neutral and support the government elected there with the desire of the Afghan people," Sharif, who heads the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party said.
Sharif supported the Taliban in 1996 when the group gained control of neighboring Afghanistan. He was ousted in the bloodless 1999 coup led by former Pakistani military ruler General Pervez Musharraf.
The Taliban ruled Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001 and were overthrown following the 2001 US-led invasion of the country.
Sharif's party has been criticized in recent months for not going after militant groups in Punjab.
The ruling Pakistan People's Party says Sharif and his allies have a soft corner for the militants.
Sharif, in return, blames the federal government for taking directives from Washington on how to deal with domestic problems of the country.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/07/2010 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
Pakistan should stop trying to influence affairs in Afghanistan, the opposition leader said Tuesday, while admitting that the pro-Afghan Taliban policy he pursued when he was prime minister in the 1990s was a failure.
Nawaz Sharif's comments come as he tries to gain political traction and deflect criticism that his party is beholden to extremist elements. Just last week, he pushed the government to open talks with elements of the Pakistani Taliban, and the ruling party agreed to his proposal to hold a national conference on stopping terrorism.
The remarks also come as Pakistan tries to weigh in on reconciliation efforts between Afghanistan's government, the US and the Afghan Taliban.
In an interview with Pakistan's Dunya TV that aired Monday and Tuesday, Sharif appeared to renounce a policy he pursued with vigor while twice prime minister in the 1990s.
''Pakistan should abandon this thinking that Pakistan has to keep influence in Afghanistan,'' said Sharif, who heads the Pakistan Muslim League-N party. ''Neither will they accept influence, nor should the pro-influence-minded people here insist on it.''
''Our policy in the past has failed. Neither will such a policy work in future. We have a centuries-old relationship, and we can maintain this relationship only when we remain neutral and support the government elected there with the desire of the Afghan people.''
It was unclear where Sharif would stand on the reconciliation efforts in Afghanistan.
The PML-N has been criticized in recent months for not going after militant outfits in Punjab, a stance analysts say is driven by its reliance on banned militant groups to deliver key votes during elections.
While proposing Saturday for peace talks with militants in Pakistan, Sharif said Islamabad should take the initiative instead of waiting for directives from Washington. But he also said the negotiations should be with militants ''who are ready to talk and ready to listen.''
The government has brokered peace deals with Taliban fighters along the Afghan border in the past, but they have usually collapsed and have often given the militants time to regroup and consolidate their control.
Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani announced later Saturday that he'd agreed to Sharif's proposal that an all-parties conference be held on ways to defeat militancy. No date has been announced, and the potential impact is unclear. At least one past such gathering has already been held.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/07/2010 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[Dawn] Eighty per cent of the Kurram tribal region has been cleared of militants and the military operation in the area is still underway, Commandant Col. Tauseef Akhtar said on Tuesday.
Briefing local and international press at Parachinar, Col. Akhtar said that the convoy traffic had been restored on the Parachinar road however local traffic will only be opened once conditions normalise.
Eighteen security personnel have died whereas more than 200 militants have been killed since the military operation started in September 2009, Col. Akhtar said.
Different militant hideouts were also wiped out during the operation.
During the briefing, local residents requested the security personnel to ensure implementation of measures agreed upon by tribal elders in Murree in May 2008.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/07/2010 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan
#1
Only 200 terrorists in all of Kurram? Did they capture the rest?
The top U.S. military commander in Iraq said yesterday that U.N. peacekeeping forces might need to protect disputed territories in the nation's north if tensions between Kurds and Arabs haven't eased by the time U.S. troops leave in 2011.
In an interview, U.S. Army Gen. Ray Odierno said U.N. peacekeepers might be one option if Kurdish soldiers haven't integrated into the Arab-dominated Iraqi army over the next year. He said he hopes the U.N. forces won't be necessary.
But Odierno acknowledged that tensions between the two cultures - and disputes over the oil-rich land in Iraq's north that each side claims as its territory - have been simmering for years without resolution. Iraq's Kurds want several areas of Ninevah, Tamim and Diyala provinces to be part of their autonomous region, a move opposed by the Arab-dominated central government.
"If (they) have not integrated, we might have to think of some other mechanism," Odierno said. "I don't know what that is yet. Is it a Chapter 6 U.N. force? I don't know. But that's something that has to be worked out, and it'll be depending on how far we are able to bring this process."
Chapter 6 of the United Nations charter refers to peacekeeping duties such as investigating and mediating disputes.
The prospect of U.N. peacekeepers raises questions about whether Iraq will be stable by the time all U.S. troops are required to leave at the end of 2011 under a security agreement between Washington and Baghdad.
It's widely believed that Iraq's leaders might ask the United States to revisit that agreement and leave at least some troops behind after 2011 to give the nation's uneven army and police forces more time to train.
#1
UN forces easing 'tensions' like they have in Lebanon? The Kurds have gotta be lovin' this idea.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
07/07/2010 11:52 Comments ||
Top||
#2
I thought the US was already funding a large military operation in Iraq? Now the US has to pay 75 more for another op on top of the current or is it an accounting shift?
BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: Iraqi Vice President Adel Abdulmahdi said on Tuesday that Iraq and Egypt agreed on opening two consulates in Arbil and Basra, according to a presidential statement.
We have agreed with Egypt to open a new consulate in Arbil in northern Iraq, in addition to another one in Basra, the statement quoted the vice president as saying.
The Egyptian president expressed great interest in the development of relations with Iraq, voicing hope to form the Iraqi government as soon as possible, said the statement received by Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/07/2010 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
An Israeli soldier faces a manslaughter charge in the death of a Palestinian waving a white flag during a three-week incursion into Gaza, the Israeli military said Tuesday.
The criminal indictment is one of three legal actions taken by the Israeli military for incidents that occurred during Operation Cast Lead. More than 1,100 Palestinians died during the operation, which began late in 2008 and ended early in 2009. It was intended to halt the firing of missiles from Gaza into Israel.
The manslaughter charge was filed after an investigation into the shooting, the Israel Defense Forces said in a news release.
"This decision is based on evidence that the soldier, who was serving as a designated marksman, deliberately targeted an individual walking with a group of people waving a white flag without being ordered or authorized to do so," the IDF said.
Conflict between the testimonies of Palestinian witnesses and military personnel made it "impossible to make a criminal connection" between this incident and an incident described by those Palestinian witnesses in which Israeli soldiers allegedly fired at people waving white flags, the IDF said. Next time, don't go outside to watch the festivities.
In another incident, a battalion commander authorized sending a Palestinian man into a house sheltering terrorists next to his own house in order to persuade them to leave, the news release said. The commander was indicted "because he deviated from authorized and appropriate IDF behavior" and ignored rules on the use of civilians in military operations, it said.
But the release did not appear to say what charges he faces, and the IDF did not immediately respond to an e-mail seeking clarification.
Tuesday's news release also said a criminal investigation has been ordered into an incident in which a residence holding about 100 members of a family was struck from the air.
In a separate case, an investigation into an assertion that the Ibrahim Al-Makadma mosque had been attacked concluded that that did not happen, but that an aerial strike near the mosque had occurred. Ah, so the vaunted IAF does miss from time to time.
"The aerial strike targeted a terror operative involved in the launching of rockets toward Israel who was standing outside of the mosque," the news release said. "Injuries caused to civilians inside were unintentional and caused by shrapnel that penetrated the mosque."
But the investigation concluded that the officer who ordered the attack had "failed to exercise appropriate judgment" and, as a result, will not be allowed to serve in similar positions of command. Put him in charge of nukes then.
Legal measures were deemed unnecessary, however. "The military advocate general decided that the attack did not violate international laws of warfare because the attack did not target the mosque, rather it targeted a terror operative, and when the attack was authorized, no possibility of harming civilians was identified," it said.
Israeli investigators looked into more than 150 reports and conducted nearly 50 probes of incidents during Operation Cast Lead.
Earlier this year, the Israeli military disciplined two officers -- a brigadier general and a colonel -- for allowing artillery shells to be fired into a populated area of Gaza. "My bad."
"OK, you're forgiven."
But Palestinians said Israel's actions were unsatisfactory.
"I think Israel should take all responsibility for all the war crimes that it is responsible for during its unjustified war in Gaza, and what they just announced is too little too late," Palestinian spokesman Ghassan Khatib told CNN. And I think the Palestinians ought to take full responsibility for all the war crimes and being responsible for an illegally conducted war on the part of the "Palestinians".
The IDF news release said that Israel carried out the operation after enduring eight years of rocket attacks from Gaza. Israel, it said, had "practiced a policy of restraint for a long period of time." Too long. Thump them each time and they'll stop it.
It accused the Palestinian movement Hamas of terrorizing the population and said the crowded urban centers of Gaza created a complex security situation.
More than 1,400 Palestinians died in Israel's incursion, according to officials in Gaza. The Israeli military said 1,166 people were killed, 60 percent of whom were "terror operatives." And the rest were supporters.
The 575-page Goldstone report -- approved by the U.N. Council for Human Rights in 2009 -- accused both Israel and Hamas of "actions amounting to war crimes, possibly crimes against humanity" during the three-week offensive that ended in January 2009. Well, let's just shake hands and call it a wash then, shall we?
The report, known for its author, South African jurist Richard Goldstone, called on both Israel and Hamas to independently investigate the alleged human rights violations cited in the report. You first, Hamass.
#3
incident in which a residence holding about 100 members of a family was struck from the air.
Are you by chance using "Family" in the Chicago Mob sense?
Mighty big "Family" otherwise, sounds like they combed the streets for bodies to pile up and then reported the "Family" was hit.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
07/07/2010 8:16 Comments ||
Top||
#4
The state of Israel is not allowed to defend itself, says world, Obama, etc...
#5
Well, let's just shake hands and call it a wash then, shall we?
No because they are not equlvalent.
The civilian deaths (by Israel)were collateral - the civilians were *not* the target.
The civilian deaths by Hamas were, for the most part, intentional - the civilians *were* the target.
In addition some of the civilian deaths (by Israel) were a direct result of Hamas using human shields (willing or not). In these cases, even though Israel may have 'pull the trigger' - Hamas is directly responsible for the casualties.
#7
You're right Pappy. Even though it would be a lop-sided trade heavily in the favor of the "Palestinians", Israel can't realistically expect it to happen. Especially with the likes of the Muslim in Chief insisting that Israel apologige for being attacked by Turkey under the cover of humanitarian aid.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Israel published on Monday a list of goods--mainly weapons and materials that can be used to make them--that it will not let into the Gaza Strip under a policy to ease its blockade of the Palestinian territory.
The list was published 15 days after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on June 20 that he would ease the blockade and hours before he flew to Washington for talks on Tuesday with U.S. President Barack Obama.
The United Nations welcomed the plan to liberalize rules on the import of goods to the Gaza Strip but urged Israel to lift a ban on exports from the Palestinian territory to improve the economy there.
"The decision now by the Israeli government to substantially ease the closure can only be welcomed by me," U.N. Middle East envoy Robert Serry told Reuters after Israel published the list during a news conference in Jerusalem.
The White House also welcomed the list's publication.
"We believe the list of restricted goods for Gaza announced today will make a significant improvement in the lives of people in Gaza, while keeping weapons out of the hands of Hamas," said spokesman Tommy Vietor, referring to Gaza's Islamist rulers.
"This is an important step in implementing the new policy announced by Israel two weeks ago. The president looks forward to discussing it with the prime minister tomorrow," he added.
The softening of a policy, criticized as collective punishment of Gaza's 1.5 million Palestinians to weaken Hamas, followed an Israeli raid on a blockade-running flotilla in which nine Turkish activists died.
Under the old rules, Israel banned everything it wanted under a blockade on the impoverished enclave.
U.N. envoy Serry, who has described the blockade as unsustainable and unacceptable, said it was important that Israel allowed exports out of the territory as it was the only way to ensure that its devastated economy could recover.
"I also hope that very soon we will be seeing exports. Because how can you have a functioning Gazan economy without having exports also facilitated," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/07/2010 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
JERUSALEM - Israels military chief said on Tuesday he had been in contact with his Turkish counterpart in an effort to maintain relations in the midst of a diplomatic row over the deadly Israeli raid on a Gaza aid ship.
Briefing Israeli lawmakers behind closed doors, Lieutenant-General Gabi Ashkenazi said he had been personally in touch with the Turkish chief of staff since the high seas interception, which Israel defended as part of its blockade on Hamas-ruled Gaza.
Ashkenazi said he thought there was a limit to Turkeys change of political direction because as a NATO member it was dependent on Western military hardware, according to a parliamentary official who briefed reporters. On a military level, Ashkenazi thought Israeli-Turkish ties could be maintained as before.
Relations are important, and we must maintain them during turbulent times, the commander said.
Contact with the military is continuing despite the fact that some exercises have been cancelled, he added. I gained the impression that on the military level there is no problem and nothing to prevent continued meetings.
Turkeys powerful military has long been the self-appointed guardian of the secular constitution, leading to tension with the Islamist-rooted government of Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan.
I do not know where Erdogans path is leading them, Ashkenazi said.
Israel is a major defence exporter to Turkey, with annual sales of around $2.5 billion, an Israeli defence official said. In a $180-million deal, Turkey ordered 10 surveillance drones from Israel. Six were delivered before the ship crisis, the official said, with the rest to follow in coming weeks.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/07/2010 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
ION WAFF > TURKISH ESCALATION? EIGHT TURKISH FIGHTER JETS FLY OVER GREEK CONTROLLLED AGATHONIS ISLAND [Greek FIR Zone].
Part of mere SIXTEEN TAF airspace violations agz Grrece this day. More importantly, the ISSUE OF WINNER OF GREECE-VS-TURKEY BIKINI/CALENDAR BABE WARS STILL REMAINS UNRESOLVED AFTER EXTENSIVE REGIONAL DIPLOMACY + NET REVIEW.
* SAME WAFF > TURKEY'S MINISTER OF TRANSPORTATION SAID THE REVIVAL OF THE "SILK ROAD" BY TURKEY AND CHINA WILL ADD A NEW DIMENSION TO BILATERAL RELATIONS | TURKEY SAYS HISTORIC SILK ROAD MUST BE REVIVED [good for Turkey + China's + Asia's Trade, Geopol interests], + TURKEY CALLS ON CHINA FOR STRATEGIC RAILWAY COOPERATION.
IOW, the famed "ORIENT EXPRESS" is going OWG GLOBAL.
Iran on Tuesday set September 1 as a possible date for the resumption of nuclear talks with six world powers which have been stalled since October, but insisted conditions set by Tehran must first be met.
Clarification: Iran's state news agency IRNA reported that the country's top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, in a letter to European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, said that Tehran needed three issues clarified by the world powers before it could consider resuming talks.
Ashton, who is negotiating with Iran on behalf of the so-called P5+1 powers -- Britain, China, France, Russia, the US and Germany -- had invited Tehran for talks soon after the UN Security Council imposed new sanctions on the Islamic republic on June 9.
Jalili said the world powers must answer whether the talks are aimed at "engagement and cooperation or continued confrontation and hostility towards Iranians."
"Will you be committed to the logic of talks which calls for avoiding threats and pressure," he asked and added that the six powers must air a "clear view" on the "Zionist regime's nuclear arsenal." Israel, which has the Middle East's sole if undeclared nuclear arsenal, has backed US-led efforts to prevent Iran developing a nuclear weapons capability through sanctions, but has also refused to rule out military force. Iran insists that its nuclear programme is aimed solely at peaceful purposes and says that the international community should focus on Israel, which, unlike Iran, is not a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
"Your response to the above questions can pave the way for forming talks to allay common global concerns for peace and justice with the presence of other interested countries from September 1," Jalili told Ashton, according to IRNA.
On June 28, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared a two month freeze until late August on talks with world powers over Iran's nuclear programme, saying it was a "penalty" for backing new UN sanctions on Tehran.
Jalili also told Ashton to cast off the West's "dual-track policy" if it wanted Iran's trust "and to make up for the mistakes." The West has used a dual approach -- imposing sanctions and calling for talks -- in its bid to persuade Iran to give up its controversial nuclear programme.
Refuelled: Separately on Tuesday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said that Iranian passenger planes were being refuelled at airports in Britain, Germany and the United Arab Emirates, contrary to the comments of some Iranian officials. "The refuelling of our planes is continuing," Mehmanparast said.
On Monday, Mehdi Aliyari, secretary of the Iranian Airlines Union, told ISNA news agency that Iranian planes were being refused fuel at airports in the three countries. Other Iranian officials repeated his allegations.
Denounces: Also on Tuesday, China denounced the US for imposing its own sanctions on Iran, saying Washington should not unilaterally take such steps outside of UN resolutions.
"China has already noted that the US and other parties have unilaterally put in place further sanctions against Iran," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told a news briefing in Beijing.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/07/2010 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
ION TOPIX > SOUTH KOREA ASKS UN [UNSC} TO CENSURE NORTH, + SOUTH KOREA, US JOINT [naval]DRILL TO CONTINUE AFTER UN TAKES ACTION ON "CHEONAN" ISSUE: OFFICIAL.
* SAME > RUSSIA HOLDS NORTH KOREA REFUGEE DRILL, as part of larger VOSTOK 2010 MILEX. Both Moscow + Beijing repor expect a large wave of DPRK refugees to flow into their countries in case of NK Govt collapse, or inter-Korean mil conflict oer the "Cheonan" affair, + US MIL ENTRY INTO NORTH KOREA.
* SAME > CHINA DAILY ISSUES WARNING TO SOUTH KOREA + JAPAN. Do not succumb to "STRATEGIC SCHIZOPHRENIA" + become SCAPEGOATS for the USA, as both SOKOR + JAPAN are likely to suffer the most iff caught in middles of s SINO-US MIL = GEOPOL CONFLICT IN NORHEAST ASIA. BOTH SOKOR + JAPAN ARE AT MIL DISADVANTAGE VEE NUCLEAR = "TIGER LION" CHINA [Lion-Tiger].
* CHINESE MIL FORUM > [paraph US AIRCRAFT CARRIER IN YELLOW SEA A "LIVING TARGET" FOR CHINA'S PLA?
Also from CMF > CHINA'S POPULATION TO NEAR 1.4BILYUHN BY 2015; + WHEN WILL CHINA'S ECONOMY SURPASS OURS [US]? ARTIC = as early as 2024, NOT year 2040 or 2050.
Iran rejected on Tuesday claims by some of its officials that fresh U.S. sanctions on Tehran had prompted airports in Britain, Germany and the United Arab Emirates to refuse to refuel its planes.
"The refueling of our planes is continuing," foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told reporters.
"That information is false," he said when asked to confirm reports that airports in Britain, Germany and the UAE had refused to refuel Iranian passenger planes in accordance with Washington's latest sanctions on Tehran.
On Monday, Mehdi Aliyari, secretary of the Iranian Airlines Union, told ISNA news agency that Iranian planes were being refused fuel at airports in the three countries.
"Since last week, after the passing of the unilateral law by America and the sanctions against Iran, airports in England, Germany and the UAE have refused to give fuel to Iranian planes," Aliyari said, adding that operations of national carrier Iran Air and private airliner Mahan Air had been affected.
Kazem Jalali, lawmaker and spokesman of the Iranian parliament's committee on foreign policy and national security, was quoted Monday by the Iran News daily as making identical allegations against the same three countries.
Despite the foreign ministry's rejection of the claims, Jalali on Tuesday warned of consequences should fuel be denied to Iranian planes.
"If any action is taken against the fuelling of the Islamic republic's planes, we will retaliate and answer with seriousness any extremist move on this issue," Jalali told ISNA.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/07/2010 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
Yup we deny any such thing ever happened.
(Face saving Complete)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
07/07/2010 8:19 Comments ||
Top||
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
In sentencing Milan Gvero, the ICTY for the first time recognised the importance of media propaganda in the mass executions that took place in eastern Bosnia in 1995.
