Former Islamist militants are urging Algeria's government to widen its strategy for combating al Qaeda to include cash handouts for those who renounce violence to help them to feed their families.
How about giving them job training instead? That way they'll be able to support themselves instead of accepting charity from the government.
The government is considering a fresh amnesty aimed at weakening al Qaeda, but former insurgents say poverty and difficult living conditions are driving some to take up arms again after surrendering under previous clemency deals.
"I know militants who repented who have resumed jihad because they were unable to work and live," former fighter Hassen Hmida, 31, told Reuters. Nine years ago Hmida turned himself in under an amnesty. But he says he has been abandoned by the state and has to sell cigarettes on the street to feed his wife and 4-year-old daughter. "I regret my past, I want to focus on the present. But our living conditions are very bad. We need help," he said.
Support is growing among Algeria's ruling elite for a new amnesty which would be extended to even the hardcore of AQIM fighters. Previous clemency offers have excluded people deemed to have too much blood on their hands. However, former militants say that for the new amnesty to be effective, the government needs to do more than just offer fighters immunity from prosecution. Under past amnesties, some former militants have been given financial help. But this is sensitive for the government, which does not want to be seen as rewarding killers. Many people say the ex-militants should be prosecuted, not pardoned.
Sitting under an olive tree next to his dilapidated one-storey home in the Bouira province, 100 km (62 miles) east of Algiers, he described how for 7 years he was local commander of a militant group called the "Green Death Phalanx." Named after his favorite Norwegian thrash-metal band, no doubt.
A 51-year-old father-of-four, Sheikh Ahmed said he did not want to be identified by his family name because he feared he could be tracked down by still-active militants who want to punish him for accepting an amnesty. Militant groups use cash from donations, kidnapping, and organised crime rackets to support fighters and their families. Now though, Sheikh Ahmed said he struggled every day to find the 10 Algerian dinars ($0.14) he needs to pay for each of his children to travel from their remote home to school. "I didn't get a single dinar from the government since I surrendered," said the bearded Sheikh Ahmed, who was dressed in a long white robe and Afghan-style shalwar kamiz trousers.
He said he and fellow former fighters had also been frustrated by Algerian bureaucracy. Because they and their families spent so long underground, in the eyes of officialdom they do not exist. "I abandoned jihad in 2000, but since then, I am confronted on a daily basis by administrative terrorism," Sheikh Ahmed, a teacher of Arabic before he joined the insurgents, told Reuters. "(It) prevents you from having access to basic things such as getting a passport (or) a birth certificate for your child who was born in the mountains," he said. "We feel excluded and no one wants to listen to us. This is not fair."
Why does the Sheik not resume his teaching career?
"We don't want to practise politics," he said. "We want to live as normal citizens."
The BBC has apologised and paid £45,000 in damages to the secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain over comments made about him by former Daily Telegraph editor Charles Moore on Question Time.
The BBC issued its apology to Dr Muhammad Abdul Bari at the high court in London this morning and agreed to pay damages and legal costs.
The court heard that during the BBC1 Question Time programme on 12 March a member of the public asked the panel: "Should these protests we saw last week when the Royal Anglia Regiment came to Luton be banned?".
It was a reference to protests organised by a group of Muslims targeting the British troops.
In response to the question, Moore suggested that despite having been asked many times to condemn the kidnapping and killing of British soldiers, the Muslim Council of Britain had failed to do so and so implicitly condoned such acts.
He further suggested that the leadership of the MCB believes the kidnapping and killing of British soldiers to be a good and Islamic thing.
Although Bari was not mentioned by name, his lawyers Carter Ruck argued that by talking about the "leadership" of the MCB, Moore had libelled Bari in his capacity as leader and chief spokesperson of the MCB.
His solicitor Adam Tudor said in court today: "My Lord, I am pleased to say that the defendant accepts that these allegations about the claimant are untrue.
"The claimant does not condone the kidnapping and killing of British soldiers and does not believe this would be a good or Islamic thing to do.
"In fact in 2007 the claimant said publicly that the killing of British troops in Iraq was unacceptable."
Bari has said he will pay the damages to charity.
The BBC said that it "apologises unreservedly to the claimant for the allegations broadcast on Question Time and is pleased to set the record straight".
#1
The BBC said that it "apologises unreservedly to the claimant for the allegations broadcast on Question Time and is pleased to set the record straight".
I bet they were pleased
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/16/2009 19:12 Comments ||
Top||
The prime minister's assertion that a lack of helicopters has not cost lives in Afghanistan is to be challenged by an influential MPs' committee. The Ministry of Defence should increase the number of helicopters and the training of crews, a defence select committee report will say. The report will also warn the government not to delay decisions on acquiring further helicopters.
Amid rising UK casualties, critics have claimed troops are ill-equipped.
BBC political correspondent Carole Walker says the report, which is due to be released later on Thursday, will express concern that operational commanders in Afghanistan have to use ground transport. It says helicopter lift would be preferable in terms of the outcome and the protection of our forces. The report will warn that a reduction in medium and heavy lift helicopters will make the situation worse.
The report has been brought forward in time for the Commons debate on Afghanistan later and is due to be published towards the end of the prime minister's appearance before a committee of senior MPs.
On Wednesday Mr Brown said it was "absolutely clear" the heavy loss of life in recent weeks was not due to a lack of helicopters. But Tory leader David Cameron called for more urgent action and criticised "lofty and vague" war aims.
An offensive designed to increase security ahead of Afghan elections next month has seen a big increase in UK casualties, with 15 servicemen killed in the first 10 days of the month. It means 184 service personnel have now died in Afghanistan since 2001, more than the 179 who were killed during the war in Iraq.
Rest in peace, with our thanks.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/16/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Have these people never heard of Fire-Force? And when not being used for that, our choppers, old Allouettes were used for transportation. Maybe Mr Brown and his ilk would like to forego their own security due to a lack of finance and interest.
UN condemnation of North Korea is apparently being heeded at the 15th summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in Egypt. Diplomatic sources in Washington D.C. say North Korea's protests are finding little sympathy from other members of the movement, and this was due to the U.S. government using its diplomatic weight behind the scenes.
The North is a full member of the movement. The U.S. and South Korea are not, but have been seeking support from NAM member states for UN Security Council Resolution 1874, which was passed after the North's recent nuclear test.
Cuba, Egypt and other key members of the movement, have been seeking to improve ties with the U.S. since President Barack Obama came to power. As a result, the final statement at the end of the summit on Thursday is not expected to register North Korea's protests against six-party talks on its nuclear program nor any clauses regarding the Korean Peninsula, which the Stalinist country had insisted on during previous summits.
Formed more than five decades ago during the Cold War, the NAM was designed to be a group of countries that do not consider themselves aligned with any particular superpower or bloc. North Korea joined in 1975 and has been attending each year as a regular member. South Korea has been attending since 1997 as an observer.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/16/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
TOPIX > US MULLS CONTAINMENT SCHEME FOR NORTH KOREA.
North Korea earns over US$2 billion annually in arms deals with Iran, according to Larry Niksch, a specialist in Asian affairs with the U.S. Congressional Research Service.
Niksch made the claim at a conference Tuesday hosted by the Cato Institute in Washington on China's role in North Korean affairs. He called on China to block flights between Pyongyang and Tehran in addition to financial sanctions against the Stalinist country.
Oh sure, that'll happen ...
Scientists and engineers as well as missiles, missile parts and technical drawings for missiles are being transferred by air between the North and Iran, he claimed, adding flights between Pyongyang and Tehran should be a key target for sanctions against the North.
Niksch said Iran, Syria, and Burma have recently become major customers of North Korea. Given the scale of arms deals between North Korea and Iran, China should block such deals by banning overflights, he said.
He claimed all food aid from China to North Korea has been diverted to soldiers, and therefore if China reduces food aid to the North, this will have a substantial pressure effect.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/16/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
ION IRAN, ISRAELI MIL FORUM > IRAN IN MASS PRODUCTION OF LR, SOLID-FUELED "SEJIL" SURAFCE MISSLES [SSMS]. PLANS > Approxi 200 a year,1000 by Year 2014 = five years.
* SAME > TURKEY'S MARRIAGE [Nukulaar]WITH SYRIA ND IRAN/ TURKEY RE-ENTERS THE ARAB WORLD THRU THE "SYRIAN GATE".
[Al Arabiya Latest] Al-Qaeda threatened for the first time to attack Chinese interests overseas in retaliation for the deaths of Muslims in the restive region of Xinjiang, prompting China to condemn terrorism and vow to protect its citizens abroad.
Interesting.
The call for reprisals against China comes from the Algerian-based offshoot al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), according to a summary of its report sent to AFP by the international consultancy Stirling Assynt.
"Although AQIM appear to be the first arm of al-Qaeda to officially state they will target Chinese interests, others are likely to follow," said the report, which was first divulged by the South China Morning Post Tuesday.
Following Stirling Assynt's report Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang issued a statement condemning terror and vowing protect its interests abroad. "The Chinese government opposes terrorism in any form," foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang told reporters. "We will keep a close eye on developments and make joint efforts with relevant countries to take all necessary measures to ensure the safety of overseas Chinese institutions and people."
Posted by: Fred ||
07/16/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[14 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
#1
WAFF > XINJIANG: AL QAEDA NORTH AFRICA THREATENS BEIJING + TERROR IN URUMQI: AL QAEDA THREATENS CHINA.
* PAKISTAN DEFENC EFORUMS > FEAR OF SWAT VALLEY SPILLOVER INTO TAIJIKISTAN [ read, CHINA + regional former SOVIET SSR's = -STANS].
------------------------------------------------
IMN Xinjiang, CHINESE MIL FORUM > CHINA WARNS OF REPRISALS IN ALGERIA AFTER ISLAMIC CALL FOR RETALIATION; +
SAME > WHY UIGHURS WERE SENT TO BERMUDA [+ being sent to PALAU/BELAU in the Pacific]!? Pro-US-WEst NED = NEW EBERGY DIRECTIVE ACTIONS CAUSING CRITICISM AND RIOTS AGZ CHINA, + weaken iff not prohibit the growing strength of China's armed forces, espec the still mostly non-nuclearized, conventional energy-dependent PLAN.
CHIN FOREIGN MINISTER: "XINJIANG RIOTS MEANT TO FOSTER TERROR, EXTREMISM, AND SEPARATISM" AGZ CHINA.
* AL JAZEERA > CHINA ON ALERT FOR AL QAEDA/QAIDA CRISIS [ read, CRISES = plural].
#2
China should remember that Xinjang borders it's Ally Pakistan who harbors binny not too far from Xinjang. Also, binny is known to aid folks of similar religious bent in China.
Perhaps there would be enough Han to settle the NW territories and Waristan as a majority peoples?
#4
It is way past time for China to get a serious taste of the crap they've been fomenting for years. I realize that China could and probably will go Roman on the Muzzy's, but I would still love to see China wear some of the shit for a while.
#5
Commies are greatly skilled at suppressing their own populations but how will they translate their thuggery abroad? I think they'll stand there flat footed and take it on the chin.
#7
Pfft. The Han are reaching the apogee of their population curve. Don't expect them to out-breed Islam. Islam's got another two-three generations of expansion ahead of it, from the current numbers. This is what drives the Eurabian notion, and China's demographics make Europe's numbers look healthy and functional by comparison.
That being said, Queda should be careful jabbing forks in the Middle Kingdom's eye. The ChiComs have made a policy of dumping their excess male population into breakneck industrial development. They could just as easily just crank a significant fraction of them through bootcamp, give 'em cheap assault rifles, point south-west & tell 'em all to go find their bliss and maybe bring back some war brides.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
07/16/2009 10:47 Comments ||
Top||
#8
A Chicom-AQ feud could be helpful in eliminating some bad guys. The threat coming from AQIM also means we should look a little closer at North Africa and nip that in the bud. Shhh...don't tell the Dems, tho.
#9
I'm with Injun on this one, I hope they more than decimate each other. Chi-coms go COIN against Mozzies?
Joe, thanks for the update, the best, as usual.
An Italian terrorist group alleged to have been planning an attack on the G8 summit sought to link its actions with oppressed Muslims in the Palestinian territories, according to a secret document to be published on Friday.
The document, to be released in the Italian weekly Panorama, says the left-wing New Red Brigades wanted to "speak" to "proletarians" who they claimed were waging a class struggle in the occupied Palestinian territories and other Muslim lands.
"They are fighting against oppression that is always imperialist and class-based, even if they are not conscious of this," the document said.
It said the New Red Brigades, an offshoot of the notorious group that terrorised Italy in the 1970s and 1980s, also wanted to contact "proletarians" in Spain's separatist Basque region and in Northern Island, in an apparent bid to revolt and conduct international acts of terrorism.
Police reportedly found the document at the home of a former member of the original 1970s Red Brigades, 57-year-old Luigi Fallico.
He was among at least five people arrested on 10 June over an alleged plot to carry out a major attack at the G8 summit when it was to have been held at its original location in Sardinia.
Prime minister Silvio Berlusconi decided to move the summit to the central Italian city of L'Aquila, to renew international attention on the devastation caused by the 6 April earthquake.
Members of the group face several charges including criminal association, terrorism and arms possession after the nationwide arrests which ended a two-year investigation.
The New Red Brigades are an offshoot of the Leninist-Marxist Red Brigades, a group responsible for bank robberies and political assassinations in the 1970s and 1980s.
MADRID (Reuters) - A Spanish court said on Tuesday it had dismissed a case against three U.S. soldiers charged with the death in Iraq of Spanish cameraman Jose Couso.
During the U.S. invasion, Sergeant Thomas Gibson, Captain Philip Wolford and Lieutenant Colonel Phil de Camp fired a shell at the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad on April 8, 2003, killing Telecinco cameraman Jose Couso and Reuters cameraman Taras Protsyuk, a Ukranian.
The court said the investigating magistrate had presented one-sided evidence, such as witness accounts from Spanish journalists, and left out the soldiers' claims they fired because they thought they saw a spotter who was guiding in hostile fire. The previous criminal case against the soldiers for Couso's death was dismissed in 2008 after the court ruled the cameraman was killed as a result of an act of war. In December, the Supreme Court reopened the case following an appeal by the Spanish cameraman's family. The prosecution in both cases was lead by investigating magistrate Santiago Pedraz.
A U.S. military investigation found the tank crew acted within their rules of engagement and the United States has said it will not extradite the three.
The Spanish prosecution only deals with the death of Couso, not that of Protsyuk.
Attention all reporters, NGO employees and all others not in the uniform of the militaries involved in a particular battle: war is a dangerous business and sometimes those nearby get hurt or killed. If you do not like this, please go very far away. If you choose to stay, you are legally bound to accept whatever may happen to you, your equipment, and the building and furnishings within which you think to hide. That is all.
And remember, at a certain distance and angle a television camera looks like an anti-tank weapon. If you point it at American tanks you will die. That is really all.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/16/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
a television camera looks like an anti-tank weapon
Best to start investing in small handheld HD cameras as a choice of recording in similar situations. Tell the 'news' director to put his own sorry ass on the line if he has problems with that - or better yet - start feeding the imagery through the net without said 'news' director.
#2
Go read "Thunder Run" by David Zuccino. He talks about this incident in great detail. You will be amazed at the efforts (like transatlantic cell phone calls from a war zone) that were made to ensure they had the right building. They were under fire and knew *someone* was spotting from a tall building because they could hear him on the radio. In the end, they were unsuccessful and someone made the decision to pull the trigger. An unfortunate "sucks to be you" moment for the cameraman and everyone involved.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Canada's spy agency ignored human rights concerns while questioning teenage Canadian terrorism suspect Omar Khadr at the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo, Cuba in 2003, a government-commissioned report published Wednesday found.
" At the time that CSIS interviewed Mr Khadr in 2003, there were widespread allegations of mistreatment and abuse of detainees in US custody "
SIRC report
The Security Intelligence Review Committee (SIRC) found that the spy agency, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), also failed to give full consideration to possible U.S. mistreatment of the detainee, Omar Khadr.
"SIRC believes that CSIS failed to take into account that, while in U.S. custody, Khadr had been denied certain basic rights which would have been afforded to him as a youth," the report said.
The report examined the role played by Canadian intelligence in the detention of Khadr, now 22 years old, who is accused of killing a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan in 2002.
Khadr, who was just 15 at the time of his arrest, is the last Western detainee at the U.S.-run prison camp at Guantanamo.
"At the time that CSIS interviewed Mr Khadr in 2003, there were widespread allegations of mistreatment and abuse of detainees in U.S. custody in Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay, (yet the) SIRC did not find any evidence that CSIS took this information into account in deciding to interview Mr Khadr," the report said.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/16/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
#1
Does this mean that BO will call for UN sanctions against Canada?
U.S. Army Maj. Stefan Frederick Cook, the reserve soldier who says he shouldn't have to go to Afghanistan because he believes Barack Obama was never eligible to be president, has had his deployment orders revoked, Army officials said.
Lt. Col. Maria Quon, U.S. Army Public Affairs Officer, U.S. Army Human Resources Command-St. Louis, said Tuesday evening, Cook was no longer expected to report Wednesday to MacDill Air Force Base in Florida for mobilization to active duty. Cook is an Individual Mobilization Augmentee (IMA), meaning he is a reserve soldier assigned to an active component unit for duty. He is assigned to the U.S. Army Element of U.S. Southern Command. Last week he filed a request in federal court seeking a temporary restraining order and status as a conscientious objector through his California-based attorney, Orly Taitz.
Taitz, who has also challenged the legitimacy of Obama's presidency in other courts, filed the 20-page document on July 8 with the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia. In it Taitz asks the court to consider granting her client's request based upon Cook's belief that Obama is not a natural-born citizen of the United States and is therefore ineligible to serve as commander-in-chief of the U.S. Armed Forces. Cook further states he "would be acting in violation of international law by engaging in military actions outside the United States under this President's command. ... simultaneously subjecting himself to possible prosecution as a war criminal by the faithful execution of these duties."
A hearing to discuss Cook's requests is scheduled to take place in federal court here Thursday at 9:30 a.m. Hmm. I generally agree with Dr. White on this one but this seems like a bad idea to me. Makes it look like there's something to hide and fuels the conspiracy fires. The guy volunteered. He should serve or do time. I think most of us are running short on patience with the conspiracy nonsense that's at the center of this. No one -- starting with the Supreme Court -- is going to suddenly decide that B.O.'s not a citizen, not eligible to be president, and peremptorily kick him out. It isn't going to happen. Fifty or a hundred years from now perhaps somebody will produce the real birth certificate and it'll be generally agreed that it's a curious fact that all that damage was done to the nation by somebody who wasn't even technically qualified to be president. But the partisan atmosphere today means that the damage is going to be done whether Major Cook and all the other conspiracy theorists think B.O.'s legal or not. There's a certain group of people who believe in conspiracy theories. JFK, the Lindbergh baby, Pearl Harbor, 9/11, and now Bambi's birth certificate. People who want to indulge those theories may do so -- somewhere else. We're focused on reality, and reality is that Bambi is the duly-elected president, and a poor one so far. The nirther conspiracists are invited to stay away.
Bottom line: this is the last story we are going to do on this subject unless a majority of the Supreme Court votes that Barack Hussein Obama, duly sworn in as president of the United States of America in January, 2009, took office under unconstitutional pretenses and must resign. John F. Kennedy won because of dead Democrats voting in Illinois, so he was not a legitimate president. No doubt other presidents did not take office with scrupulously clean hands, as well. Nonetheless, once the candidate has been sworn in he is the president until he either loses the next election or finishes his two terms and retires.
We're in the middle of two wars, people. Let's focus on winning the one against the jihadis, while preventing the worst that the Obama Democrats can do before we vote them out of office in 2010 and 2012, respectively. Piss away your energy on nirther stories and we'll lose on both real fronts.
Not according to Nevada where it is now being found that ACORN related voter fraud swung the election to Obama away from McCain. This mealy mouth - oh this controversial topic is off limits while that other controversial topic regarding Obama is ok to pursue flies in the face of the "no holds barred any thing goes in love and war" against us, our candidates.
Soon as you people here realized this is a life and death street fight and start bringing anything and everything into mud and blood of this gangster government the better off this country will be. If you don't then get out of the rest of our goddamn way so we can do the job you won't do.
#2
As per CONSPIRACY THEORIES, TODAY > VARI MIL FORUM POSTERS > claim that OSAMA BIN LADEN IS A US CIA AGENT-PROXY, + that XINJIANG is just the latest in a line of US-ordered [imperialist]DOMESTIC, REGIONAL + INTERNATIONAL TERROR ACTS BY PROXY [WTC I,II = 9-11, Somalia, Iraq, AFPAK, MUMBAI, + most recently XINJIANG]. MORE TO OCCUR.
* ISRAELI MIL FORUM > AL QAEDA: WESTERN SPIES ARE MULTIPLYING "LIKE LOCUSTS" AND IS
"PRETENDING ARE MUSLIMS". US-, PRO-US WESTERN/ALLIED INTEL are
- "everywhere in the LANDS OF ISLAM",
- are extremely effective.
- had left a bloody trail of many dead Islamsit fighters behind them.
- are successfully corrupting and recruiting ordinary Muslims to spy on other Muslims for them.
Also from ISRAELI MIL FORUM > YOUTUBE NEWS = HIZB-UT-TAHRIR IN THE UK + ISLAMIC TAKEOVER IN THE UK! + THIS IS HOW MUSLIMS ARE DESTROYING SWEDEN/GROWING MUSLIM INFLEUNCE IN SWEDEN [ Northern Europe.
* IRRC WAFF > WESTERN MEDIAS REFUSE TO RECOGNIZE THE ONGOING ISLAMIC JIHAD AGZ EUROPE [+ ASIA].
#3
Please have a nice cup of chamomile tea, Patirot dear. You're getting overwrought.
For the rest of you who feel the need to wax indignant over Fred's decision: I am asking you very nicely to put a sock in it while you are at Rantburg. If you need to wax indignant like Patirot, take that to a site focussed on American politics, of which there are a great many.
#4
This case has an interesting development; he's been fired from his nominally civilian job with a government contractor.
Say what you will about Maj. Cook and his theories, this kind of, well, stinks to me; if he's going to be subject to disciplinary action it should be restricted to that performed judicially, IMHO.
I would have gotten tired of the birthers a long while ago, if the courts had ever done anything besides argue that noone has any legal standing to do anything. If there's a legitimate certificate out there, etc., then really, why argue the standing thing? It's like a legal argument that basically reduces to "shut up."
#5
Wow! Why didn't I think of this? I could have asked my platoon commander for his college diploma to make sure his commission was legitimate, and refused all orders until he produced it.
#6
I have heard this soldier COWARD at Rantburg. A man who volunteered andserved the people here where you demand these young men and women throw everything including the kitchen sink at the enemy. The same brutal enemy that Obama who you people allowed into the Oval Office 6 months ago has released over and over during the past 6 months. With enough knowledge to try to do a better job of taking out U. S. Army Major Stefan Frederick Cook and every other young man and woman in uniform.
Because YOU lost the fight here you jeopardized the lives of everyone of our young people over there. Texas where I am from did not loose the fight. Obama did not win over us here in Texas. On July 4 we put 37,000 people up against Obama while I read hear your excuses for why YOU could barely muster only a few hundred at best "oh, because its such a blue state area around here".
Every damn one of our volunteers better pack it up and head home while they are still alive. Thanks to you. Because you people can't fight your way out of a paper sack, and you aren't worth dieing for any longer. And our people out there can see it now while you keep making up excuses for yourselves.
Maybe, just maybe, when they get back here, they can show you how to fight.
#7
You dare to say such things here, Patirot? While I am only a silly little suburban housewife, it is the votes of people like me that kept Ohio from being a sure thing for the Democratic party. Because Obama had to spend so much time and money to campaign here, he did not have enough to blanket Texas, too. As for the rest, a good many of us have put -- or currently are putting -- their lives on the line out in one of the many sandboxes our men and women play in these days, or their children, spouses, friends... you get the picture. A great many others of us, including the site owner, whose comment at the top of this thread is in Post-it Note yellow, sacrificed their health in earlier military theaters that we might live in freedom to adulthood. Some of us are indeed armchair generals, but I know we have colonels and captains who post here, as well as master sergeants and corporals... from all branches of the American military and a surprising number of foreign ones.
So, when you have calmed down (I really do recommend chamomile tea for the purpose), perhaps you will choose to rethink your over-righteous indignation and instead help us figure out what the bad guys out there are trying to do, and how the good guys can stop them, preferably permanently.
#8
reserve soldier who says he shouldn't have to go to Afghanistan because he believes Barack Obama was never eligible to be president, has had his deployment orders revoked,
#9
If you don't then get out of the rest of our goddamn way so we can do the job you won't do.
You are quite free to set up your own web site using your own funds and skills, invest hours a day in maintaining it and defending it against trolls, hackers and spam scum and attracting a large audience and a posse of volunteer moderators.
No one's "in your way".
This is Fred's site. And under his leadership and direction we generally take a very light hand with regard to topics and comments. So it's a good idea to pay attention when multiple moderators patiently explain that some things don't belong here.
Now ... about the nirther theory. I haven't a clue about Obama's birth legality. I do think that going down this road is a trap for his opponents. Perhaps there's a useful role for fringe groups pushing the issue stridently but embracing this on the right / center is a losing proposition IMO.
Remember - Obama's after a) legalizing illegal immigrants, b) capturing them and legal immigrants for his party for generations and c) de-privileging dominant/historically White culture.
The nirthers are setting up a situation in which it will sooner or later be profitable for the far left to openly advocate for why citizenship doesn't or shouldn't matter. And THAT will resonate well with a lot of new voters, including 20-30 somethings born here.
Trying to provoke a Constitutional crisis in the absence of very very clear unConstitutional acts plays into the hands of those who don't give a damn about the Constitution anyway.
But even if I'm wrong that the nirther assertions are counterproductive for the center/right, it still remains the case that our esteemed and valued (and diverse) Rantburg contributors have been asked to drop this topic here.
If you truly believe this is a key issue for the survival of our country, our culture and our Constitition then by all means, organize and get the word out. It's a big Interwebs and you're free to find a place to do that to your liking.
#10
Cook further states he "would be acting in violation of international law by engaging in military actions outside the United States under this President's command. ... simultaneously subjecting himself to possible prosecution as a war criminal by the faithful execution of these duties."
Again, its at the direction of Congress, not the President. Let's make the facts known - Senate Joint [meaning it passed both houses] Resolution 23
S.J.Res.23
One Hundred Seventh Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE FIRST SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Wednesday,
the third day of January, two thousand and one
Joint Resolution
To authorize the use of United States Armed Forces against those responsible for the recent attacks launched against the United States.
Whereas, on September 11, 2001, acts of treacherous violence were committed against the United States and its citizens; and
Whereas, such acts render it both necessary and appropriate that the United States exercise its rights to self-defense and to protect United States citizens both at home and abroad; and
Whereas, in light of the threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States posed by these grave acts of violence; and
Whereas, such acts continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States; and
Whereas, the President has authority under the Constitution to take action to deter and prevent acts of international terrorism against the United States: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This joint resolution may be cited as the `Authorization for Use of Military Force'.
SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION FOR USE OF UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES.
(a) IN GENERAL- That the President is authorized to use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, or harbored such organizations or persons, in order to prevent any future acts of international terrorism against the United States by such nations, organizations or persons.
(b) War Powers Resolution Requirements-
(1) SPECIFIC STATUTORY AUTHORIZATION- Consistent with section 8(a)(1) of the War Powers Resolution, the Congress declares that this section is intended to constitute specific statutory authorization within the meaning of section 5(b) of the War Powers Resolution.
(2) APPLICABILITY OF OTHER REQUIREMENTS- Nothing in this resolution supercedes any requirement of the War Powers Resolution.
#11
The one thing I can say about Mr Obama it is that he has achieved: he incites anger and divisiveness across the political spectrum and the world. The man is a danger.
#12
Soon as you people here realized this is a life and death street fight and start bringing anything and everything into mud and blood of this gangster government the better off this country will be. If you don't then get out of the rest of our goddamn way so we can do the job you won't do.
Every election in my lifetime has been nasty, with the possible exception of Eisenhower-Whatsisname. Kennedy's was particularly scurvy, involving Chicago's dead and the purchase of West Virginia -- if I remember, he got it for $7 a vote, which was pretty good money in those days.
I don't think any of us here has any illusion that B.O.'s administration's anything but corrupt. I try to keep the repetition down to a minimum, but occasionally I point out that
MONEY IS POWER. IT DOESN'T MATTER IF IT'S YOUR MONEY AS LONG AS IT'S YOUR POWER.
This administration and this Congress are going for the biggest boodle in human history. They're replacing the Dot Com Bubble and the Housing Bubble with the Government Bubble. Because we're a nation of laws rather than of Wise Latinas® all we can do about it is fight them in Congress and the courts and prepare for the 2010 elections -- see Page 6 for details. Looking for B.O.'s birth certificate doesn't accomplish those goals; it's more like looking around quick when somebody sez "Over there! Isn't that Elvis?" We've got enough problems, given Publican politicians' propensity for lining up Argentine mistresses or working deals with the Pelosi-Ried machine.
Presidential elections have been splitting 50-50. Come the revolution, there's no guarantee which 50's going to win. Since the stakes are so high, it pays us all to stay within the system until there's no alternative.
You can go to http://wordpress.org/download/ and download Wordpress. It's very simple to install blog software and it's so advanced there are lots of features I keep stealing from it for Rantburg. They can also point you at free hosting for your Wordpress blog. You can set up your blog to accommodate all the conspiracy theorists you want, though you'll have to filter your own comments, which will mostly Russian spammers at first. You can do the birth certificate, but you can also do the 911 conspiracy, Bilderberg, the Illuminati, the Threat of Masonry, and even the Rosicrucians if you'd like. But conspiracy theories are off topic at Rantburg.
Or you can set up a Texas is Great blog and tell the world how conservative the place is. Abeline and Del Rio and Lubbock probably still are. I dunno. I haven't been there for years. But you should pop on over to Austin and Houston to count the Californios and other boodlers there. Texas is a big place, and there's a lot of money there. We know what money attracts. If you've forgotten, see my comment about four paragraphs up.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/16/2009 9:21 Comments ||
Top||
#13
lol , why do I get the impression Patirot is some kind of fruitbat white supremacist with teenage angst issues.
great site Fred, dont expect muppets like Patirot to do work to enhance his greivances do you ? He just likes spouting his viralent form of absolute tripe
#14
Or you can set up a Texas is Great blog and tell the world how conservative the place is. Abeline and Del Rio and Lubbock probably still are. I dunno. I haven't been there for years. But you should pop on over to Austin and Houston to count the Californios and other boodlers there. Texas is a big place, and there's a lot of money there. We know what money attracts. If you've forgotten, see my comment about four paragraphs up.
Here's a helpful hint: The Texans let the Attorney General in Travis County get away with jury tampering to get a prominent Republican congressman out of office. The most recent Texan president just spent eight years not responding to wall-to-wall partisan bullshit from the Democrats, and the most recent Texan presidential candidate before that helped elect the Clintons when he ran via a third party.
#15
Presidential elections have been splitting 50-50. Come the revolution, there's no guarantee which 50's going to win. Since the stakes are so high, it pays us all to stay within the system until there's no alternative.
If it really is a 50-50 country and it does come to a real revolution - which would be a terrible thing, to be avoided until there is no alternative - it's a good bet which 50 would win (how many rounds of ammo are in whose private hands?) But the country would end up a shadow of what it was and should be.
#16
Glenmore, you are right. Revolution is drastic thing not too be taken lightly. Our founding fathers build into our system the possibility of revolutionary change. We can vote out the scoundrels. I had a conversation with my daughter about violent overthrow and we came to the conclusion: Who would you shoot at in a revolution in this country? Someone that disagrees with you. We are fallible. A lot of innocents would suffer and die. Definitely not a good thing.
#17
Wow! I never heard about this before! You mean Obama is not really a citizen and still became president? This means Schwarzenegger might really have a shot!
#19
Who would you shoot at in a revolution in this country?
1. Every single Democrat politician at all (National, State & Local)levels.
2. Every single Democrat political appointee.
3. Every single Democrat judge, all levels (see above).
4. Every single RINO.
5. All the "Money People" that have corrupted the system with the buying of politicians.
Once that was done, we could take a break and see who else needed to be gone. Oh, Every single professor of any Dept. of ___________ Studies.
#20
Have a simple question:
Wouldn't it be simpler just to have BO supply his bith certificate (or similar document)?
Now that one guy has gotten out of deployment by raising this issue, you can expect it to come up again and again. This will eventually become a sizeable drain on our forces as people shirk their duty.
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
07/16/2009 12:25 Comments ||
Top||
#21
I, for one, choose to align myself withThe Periwinkle Princess - We're in the middle of two wars, people. Let's focus on winning the one against the jihadis, while preventing the worst that the Obama Democrats can do before we vote them out of office in 2010 and 2012, respectively.
Still, there has been some interesting converation so far, mostly Fred and Company.
Thanks again for all you do. Now where's that tip jar?
Posted by: Bobby ||
07/16/2009 12:36 Comments ||
Top||
#22
I saw somewhere the other day that there are some 50+ or more lawsuits out there that center around questioning BO's citizenship. It will come up again and again.
#23
Injun Grinesing9686: While it might be comforting to mull such things over in one's mind, the world is not so crystal clear. Isn't it good that there is a forum for ideas here? We had a guy in Knoxville who hated liberals and went into the Unitarian Church thinking everyone there was liberal and shot the place up one Sunday. A couple of people died and several were wounded. The truth is that many people in the congregation held many and varied beliefs about just about everything. The net effect was that nearly everyone in the community united against the gunman. Democracy is harder than that; it's not so easy...
#25
I certainly respect Fred's decision to control his site to topics that he wishes to discuss. But I don't understand the venom directed at a soldier simply asking that proof be provided that BO is a citizen. While I don't know much about this issue, it seems to me to be a bit of group-think to ridicule someone who in fact has a very simple request: Produce a birth certificate and say which hospital he was born in.
The fact that they are not making him deploy says less about the soldier's request than it does the leadership. Now, anyone who does not want to deploy can use this tactic.
For the record, I'm not making any comment about the birth issue - but rather the fact that the soldier has made a simple request and I don't think ridicule is in order.
#26
Thanks, TW, the position on this subject is clear. If Zimbabweans complain about voting irregularities, they must suck it and see for a few years? I do understand the concern re this subject, but surely Well Reasoned Discourse is the way forward with this one. The story won't die just because we don't talk about it.
#29
If every soldier, sailor, airman and Marine demanded individual assurances of the CinC's qualification there'd be a certain impact on operations, wouldn't there?
Posted by: Fred ||
07/16/2009 15:54 Comments ||
Top||
#30
Obama could provide his birth certificate again just as NASA could return to the same spots on the moon they already landed to prove they did so before. At some point the burden of proof is on the crazies and to be honest nothing is going to convince most of them at this point (he waited so long because they had to make a new birth certificate!!!).
let it go. The birth certificate nonsense makes it easy to pigeon-hole the right as nuts.
#31
Yes, Fred, with the greatest respect. Exactly what happened during the Rhodesia/Zimbabwe transition. The RLI did not want to fight for Mugabe. I am not advocating dhimmitude in the GWOT. But POTUS this time inspires no confidence even thousands of miles away.
#33
The American military does not fight for Obama. It fights for the United States and their Constitution. Obama will begone in 3 or 7 years. Then the Electoral College will select a new Commander in Chief.
#34
Wouldn't it be simpler just to have BO supply his bith certificate (or similar document)?
Why should he? While the nirthers are in a lather over this conspiracy theory, Obama's quite effectively dismantling the military and economic power of a country he really doesn't seem to like very much.
Now that one guy has gotten out of deployment by raising this issue, you can expect it to come up again and again. This will eventually become a sizeable drain on our forces as people shirk their duty.
Again, assuming this in fact happens, do you think this administration would see that as a negative?
A federal judge this morning dismissed the suit filed here by a U.S. Army reservist who says he shouldn't have to go to Afghanistan because he believes Barack Obama was never eligible to be president.
Judge Clay Land sided with the defense, which claimed in its response to Maj. Stefan Frederick Cook's suit, filed July 8 with the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, that Cooks suit is moot in that he already has been told he doesnt have to go to Afghanistan, so the relief he is seeking has been granted.
"Federal court only has authority of actual cases and controversies," Land said. "The entire action is dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction."
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/16/2009 20:54 Comments ||
Top||
#37
Since we're bringing this to a close, I get to chip in:
I'm somewhat mystified why the mods at Rantburg and LGF are so opinionated on this issue. Better to just ignore the trolls. In the case of LGF, I get the impression that Charles is happy to stir it up every few weeks to get the hits.
I consider myself pretty level-headed. Over the last year, I've followed the issue fairly closely, and I don't think it's clear-cut at all.
There is no question that the Certificate of Live Birth is genuine. But it's not the birth certificate, they look like this.
I want to see the name of the hospital. Reason? Because of technicalities regarding his parent's US residency, Obama had to be born on Hawaiian soil to be natural born.
I'm surprised that Rantburg would pick up the leftist smear "nirther" and use it against those trying to have a quiet discussion.
You guys are lumping people who would like to be informed on this issue with groups that indulge in conspiracy theories.
Where's the conspiracy? That's a false accusation, imho. This is simply a case of a man who has stonewalled every record request - for health, college transcripts, etc. etc. A lot of effort has been spent to avoid disclosing something that the US citizens have a right to see, because there is a reasonable doubt over the matter.
The issue is radioactive for the courts. To essentially claim that no one has standing to bring suit is remarkable on its own.
Yes, this may go nowhere. But I'll bet that this will get more interesting before it's finally resolved.
[Geo News] Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday she will go to Pakistan in the fall, saying that the U.S. goal of defeating al Qaeda and its Taliban allies required working with Pakistan.
Clinton, who leaves for India on Thursday, also reiterated the U.S. willingness to deal with Taliban members who renounce al Qaeda, lay down their arms and are willing to participate in a democratic Afghanistan.
"Success in Afghanistan also requires close cooperation from neighboring Pakistan, which I will visit this fall," Clinton said in a speech at the Council of Foreign Relations think tank.
U.S. President Barack Obama has identified the insurgencies in Afghanistan and Pakistan as the main threat to U.S. security and is presiding over an escalation strategy in which the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan will rise from 32,000 to 68,000 by the end of the year.
About 57,000 U.S. troops are in place now, along with another 36,000 troops from Western allies. Commanders have said they expect a spike in casualties as new troops move into areas held by fighters ahead of Afghanistan's August 20 presidential election.
"In Afghanistan and Pakistan our goal is to disrupt, dismantle and ultimately defeat al Qaeda and its extremist allies and to prevent their return to either country," Clinton said.
"We and our allies fight in Afghanistan because the Taliban protects al Qaeda and depends on it for support," she added. "To eliminate al Qaeda, we must also fight the Taliban."
Posted by: Fred ||
07/16/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[8 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
#1
can't slip anything by her
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/16/2009 8:43 Comments ||
Top||
[ADN Kronos] By Syed Saleem Shahzad - As refugees displaced by conflict in northwest Pakistan make their way home, they are afraid that their children will now depend on Islamic religious schools as their only option for education. At least 270 schools, used by the Pakistani army as military posts, were destroyed in the crossfire and by bomb attacks in Malakand agency during the recent military offensive in North West Frontier Province. More than two million displaced people have begun leaving refugee camps and other shelters in the Peshawar valley region of the province.
Now there is renewed fear that Islamic schools or 'madrassahs' will be the only system of education left to fill the vacuum which could lead to a new generation who could be trained for the Taliban.
Pakistan's largest spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence, has produced a full dossier on this new phenomenon describing the connection and roles played by different religious education organisations in Pakistan and how they play a role for the networking of Jihadis.
The first page of the dossier is about a recently arrested militant, allegedly responsible for attacks on the state police Special Branch and a military camp in Islamabad highlights the connection between the militants and religious schools. Fidaullah Yousufzai alias Abdul Rahman was recently detained by the ISI along with former MP, Shah Abdul Aziz, from the home of Maulana Abdul Aziz.
Maulana Abdul Aziz, the recently freed cleric who was prayer leader at Islamabad's Lal Masjid or Red mosque, during the violent siege in July 2007 in which more than 100 people were killed.
The Pakistani interrogation report chart showed Fidaullah, 24, was educated at Lal Masjid Islamabad, Jamia Mohammadia, Jamia Faridia, Jamia Haqqania and Darul uloom Huda Golra. He comes from Buner in Malakand.
He joined a militia Ghazi Force, named after slain Abdul Rasheed Ghazi of Lal Masjid, because all his fellow students or teachers of seminaries he was educated in were part of the Ghazi Force.
He was also part of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan's Buner chapter because he came from that area and spent time in prison where he increased his links with militants.
As the report suggested, this background helped him to become someone who plans terror attacks, raises funds through his sources and executes his plans with whichever group is available in a given area.
This chart focuses on four Islamic seminaries that are Jamia Mohammadia, Jamia Faridia, Jamia Haqqania and Darul Uloom Golra which engage a network from Swat Valley to Islamabad and setup an array of Jihadi outfit.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/16/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[10 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
Islamic schools or 'madrassahs' will be the only system of education left
That's what you get when you let the Saudi camel's nose under the tent. You are merely cannon fodder for the House of Saud.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Dozens of terrorism suspects remain on a United Nations sanctions list despite having likely died and information on others is so scant as to render their inclusion useless, a U.N. ambassador said on Tuesday.
These flaws make it tough to impose bans on people and companies on the list linked to al-Qaeda and the Taliban, even as new threats emerge in countries like Somalia, said Thomas Mayr-Harting, who chairs the U.N. Security Council's al-Qaeda and Taliban Sanctions Committee.
Of 513 entries on the list which includes 402 people and 111 companies, 38 people were reported or believed to be dead, Mayr-Harting, who is also Austria's ambassador to the United Nations, told reporters.
My rough calculation makes that error rate less than 10%, which is pretty good, under the circumstances. But we can't expect UN types to grasp even very elementary statistics.
"It is not the purpose of the list to contain dead people," he said, adding that as much as a third of the list is basically useless because the information available is too sketchy for law enforcement officials to act on.
A one third uselessness rate is significant, if indeed that's a real number. "As much as" is a fairly meaningless statement.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/16/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[8 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
#1
I'll wager the UN forgot to add their own names to the list.
An Israeli interceptor system developed to shoot down the short-range rockets favored by Palestinian and Lebanese guerrillas passed its first live trial on Wednesday, a defense official said. Iron Dome's success could improve the prospects of Israel eventually ceding West Bank land to the Palestinians, as Israeli officials have said that any withdrawals should be conditional on the deployment of a reliable defense against rocket attacks.
Designed by state-owned Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd., Iron Dome uses small guided missiles to blow up Katyusha-style rockets. Israel plans to station the first working unit outside the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip next year.
"This was the first time Iron Dome was tested with the aim of a metal-to-metal result," an Israeli defense official said, describing the mid-air interception. "The (target) rocket was completely destroyed."
Iron Dome would be capable of intercepting rockets with ranges of between 5 km (2 miles) and 70 km (45 miles), the official said.
The project was spurred by Israel's 2006 war with Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas, during which 4,000 rockets rained down on its northern border communities. Israel has seen similar attacks by Palestinian guerrillas in Gaza, from which it withdrew in 2005. A surge in the salvoes prompted an Israeli offensive last December which killed more than 1,400 Palestinians, many of them civilians.
"When you don't have a system like this, you can get dragged into wars that prove far more expensive," said Alon Ben-David, Channel 10's defense analyst.
Israel envisages Iron Dome becoming the lowest level of a multi-tier aerial shield capped by Arrow, a partly U.S.-funded system which shoots down ballistic missiles at higher altitudes. Cabinet officials predict that once it is operational, the Iron Dome system will provide a successful defense from 90 percent of the rockets fired at Western Negev communities.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/16/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
At least it can by time until the real solution can be implemented.
#2
If you can calculate the trajectory quickly enough to shoot a short range missile out of the sky then you can certainly calculate its launch point just as quickly, and program a second rocket to take out the launch site within a couple of minutes of launch. Of course, that would blow up all the kiddies in the school yard watching the launch.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Hamas suspects that Israeli intelligence services are supplying its Gaza Strip stronghold with chewing gum that boosts the sex drive in order to "corrupt the young," an official said on Tuesday.
"We have discovered two types of stimulants that were introduced into the Gaza Strip from Israeli border crossings," Hamas police spokesman Islam Shahwan told AFP. "The first type is presented in the form of chewing gum and the second in the form of drops," he said.
" The intelligence services are aiming to corrupt the young generation by distributing these products among students "
Hamas police spokesman Islam Shahwan
The Islamist movement that has run the densely populated and impoverished Palestinian territory for the past two years said it has detained members of a gang that helped to bring in the products.
"They admitted during the investigation they were linked to the Zionist intelligence services," he said.
One suspect said he had received the products from an Israeli intelligence officer at a cut-rate price "with the officer saying they did not want money, but to distribute the products among the young people of Gaza," Shahwan said.
"The intelligence services are aiming to corrupt the young generation by distributing these products among students."
The story came to light after a Palestinian man filed a complaint that his daughter had experienced "dubious side effects" after chewing the offending gum, Israeli media reported.
The Israeli military declined to comment officially on the allegations, which one military source termed "absurd."
Posted by: Fred ||
07/16/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
Poor Gazans, victims of a Juice plot to sap and impurify their precious bodily essences.
#6
Ohfergawdsake! The Palestinians plan to outbreed the Israelis and push them out by sheer population pressure if they can't force them out by violence. Why would they have a problem if the Israelis help them achieve their end?
#7
Chill Gazoo, they could have sent that spearmint flavored plastique which after mixing with saliva and warming in the mouth only requires a bursted bubble to provide the energy to detonate.
#8
I can see why they are worried. If their young-un's are busy plotting ways to score, they ain't gonna want to blow themselves up and take a few Juice in the process. Who wants 72 virgins when you got a sure thing with Fatima and Yasmin down the block this Friday night?
I mean, hell, that would mean their fearless leaders might have to strap on a bomb or two themselves instead....and as important as they are to the cause....that could be catastrophic.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday urged Arab states to make immediate gestures toward normalizing ties with Israel in a bid to promote prospects for Arab-Israeli peace. However, in a foreign policy speech, Clinton stopped short of reiterating previous calls for Israel to freeze all settlements, saying Washington wanted Israeli action on settlements but understood it faced political challenges.
Well, well, the only adult in Bambi's foreign policy team asserts herself ...
The softer tone comes after a public clash between President Barack Obama's administration and the right-leaning Israeli government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the calls for such a freeze. "We have been working with the Israelis to deal with the issue of settlements, to ease the living conditions of Palestinians and create circumstances that can lead to the establishment of a viable Palestinian state," Clinton said. "For the last few decades American administrations have held consistent positions on the settlement issue, and while we expect action from Israel, we recognize those decisions are politically challenging," she said.
The tone was in sharp contrast to remarks she gave in May in which she said Obama has made it clear to Israel he wants no "natural growth exceptions" to his call for a freeze in West Bank settlements.
She urged Arabs to do more for peace after saying that "progress toward peace cannot be the responsibility of the United States or Israel alone.
"The Palestinians have the responsibility to improve and extend positive actions already taken on security, to act forcefully against incitement and to refrain from any action that would make meaningful negotiations less likely," she said. "And Arab states have a responsibility to support the Palestinian Authority with words and deeds, to take steps to improve relations with Israel and to prepare their publics to embrace peace and accept Israel's place in the region," she said.
She hailed a 2002 Saudi initiative that calls for Arab states to normalize ties with Israel in exchange for the Jewish state's withdrawal from lands occupied in 1967 and the creation of a Palestinian state. But she said the Arabs should act now.
Former Iranian president Hashim Rafsanjani plans to lead a demonstration in Tehran on Friday, after giving a sermon during prayers at the capital's main mosque. Rafsanjani will also lead a protest that will also include two defeated presidential candidates, Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mahdi Karoubi, Arab daily al-Sharq al-Awsat quoted an Iranian source as saying.
"In this way Rafsanjani wants to send a clear message to say that the things that have happened in Iran recently should not happen again and that what happened in recent weeks in Tehran must be investigated," the source said.
The source, who is close to the former president, said that before the elections, Rafsanjani was positioning himself in the centre between the reformists and the conservatives.
"After the elections however, he moved much closer to the reformists and is with the moderates who want change in a peaceful and legal way," the source said.
Earlier this week, Iranian opposition leaders criticised what they called the "security state" imposed in the country after the controversial June elections.
They also called for the release of people detained during mass street protests that were marred by violence after the vote.
More than 1,000 opposition supporters and political reformists were reportedly arrested in the aftermath of the election, and a month later, noone is certain how many are still being detained.
Runner-up Mir Hossein Mousavi's website said the call was backed by fellow defeated candidate Mehdi Karoubi and former reformist president Mohammad Khatami.
There is expected to be a great deal of interest in his sermon, which will mark the first time he has broken his silence in a month.
Since the presidential election in which president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was re-elected on 12 June, Rafsanjani has stopped leading the Friday prayers in Tehran.
#3
This is from Adnkronos, so salt to taste. Most of the speculation I'm seeing expects him to announce a sell out compromise.
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
07/16/2009 15:08 Comments ||
Top||
#4
There are a lot of regular folks and big shots putting their asses on the line over there in Iran. God bless em and I sure am glad the USA is in total support of their efforts.
Tel Aviv takes a step closer to war with Tehran as two Israeli warships sail through the Suez Canal within cruise-missile range of Iran.
Earlier this week, two Israel Navy gunboats, the Hanit and the Eliat, passed through the Suez Canal and across the Red Sea.
In a Thursday interview with the Times, a senior Israeli defense official said the move should be seen as serious preparations for a long-expected attack on Iranian nuclear sites. "This is preparation that should be taken seriously. Israel is investing time in preparing itself for the complexity of an attack on Iran," said the Israeli defense official, who was speaking on condition of anonymity.
"These maneuvers are a message to Iran that Israel will follow up on its threats," he added.
The move comes ten days after a submarine -- believed to be nuclear-armed -- made a similar crossing and headed from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea. The move, apparently coordinated with Egypt, is seen as a warning message to Iran that the Netanyahu government is not having second thoughts about its military plans against Iran.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit confirmed the crossings, but refused to comment on whether the deployment should be seen as a warning to Iran.
I don't think two gunboats are going to start shelling Iran.
However, two gunboats could put a serious hole in the Iranian Navy's current "anti-piracy" effort, supposedly off the coast of Somalia, but conveniently canoodling in Asmara, Eritrea. The Eritreans and the Iranians have become fast friends, and Iran may be using their links to Asmara to further their terrorist ends in the Red Sea. So a couple of Israeli gunboats transit Suez. They likely don't have the range to sail to the Persian Gulf and don't have the punch to do much against Iranian targets there, but they sure could take on the two or three Iranian frigates in the Red Sea.
The United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon said Wednesday ammunition which had exploded in a southern village was a serious violation of the UN-brokered ceasefire that ended a month-long war between Hezbollah militants and Israeli forces three years ago.
Lebanese security officials said a series of explosions Tuesday in an abandoned building near Lebanon's tense border with Israel was caused by a fire in a Hezbollah weapons depot. Hezbollah has not commented. Facilities similar to this were used by Hezbollah during the Second Lebanon War in 2006, the army said.
The blasts in southern Lebanon Tuesday caused no casualties but highlighted the long-held suspicion that the Shiite militant group has maintained a military presence in the region near Israel's border despite the deployment of Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers there under a resolution that bans such unauthorized guerrilla activity.
A statement by the UN Interim Force in Lebanon said Wednesday that the force commander had updated Lebanese officials on the discovery of the ammunition after the explosions.
Based on the information currently available, UNIFIL considers the incident a serious violation of the UN resolution that ended the conflict, which specifies that there should be no presence of unauthorized assets or weapons in the area of operations.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/16/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[9 views]
Top|| File under:
On Friday July 19, a large group of mourners gathered at the Ghoba mosque in Tehran to await a speech about the martyrs of the post-election protests by presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi. According to one Iranian blog, 28-year-old Taraneh Mousavi was one of a group of people that was arrested by plainclothesed security forces for attending the gathering.
Taraneh, whose first name is Persian for "song", disappeared into arrest.
Weeks later, according to the blog, her mother received an anonymous call from a government agent saying that her daughter has been hospitalized in Imam Khomeini Hospital in the city of Karaj, just north of Tehran -- hospitalized for "rupturing of her womb and anus in... an unfortunate accident".
Somebody decided not to put an eye out with that thing. The poor woman.
When Taraneh's family went to the hospital to find her, they were told she was not there.
According to another Iranian blog which claims to have original information about Taraneh from her family, Iranian security forces contacted Taraneh's family after the hospital visit warning them not to publicize Taraneh's story and not to associate her disappearance with arrests made at post-election protests.
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
07/16/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[9 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Not sure quite what to say...as the father of woman not much younger than Taraneh.
The Lions of islamTM. Should make a demon like allan proud.
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.
Former Islamist militants are urging Algeria's government to widen its strategy for combating al Qaeda to include cash handouts for those who renounce violence to help them to feed their families.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Al-Qaeda threatened for the first time to attack Chinese interests overseas in retaliation for the deaths of Muslims in the restive region of Xinjiang, prompting China to condemn terrorism and vow to protect its citizens abroad. 
[Geo News] Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday she will go to Pakistan in the fall, saying that the U.S. goal of defeating al Qaeda and its Taliban allies required working with Pakistan.
[ADN Kronos] By Syed Saleem Shahzad - As refugees displaced by conflict in northwest Pakistan make their way home, they are afraid that their children will now depend on Islamic religious schools as their only option for education. At least 270 schools, used by the Pakistani army as military posts, were destroyed in the crossfire and by bomb attacks in Malakand agency during the recent military offensive in North West Frontier Province. More than two million displaced people have begun leaving refugee camps and other shelters in the Peshawar valley region of the province. 
