The leaders of Al-Shabab militia group in Kismayo today met with some of the teachers of Kismayo schools to discuss the teaching curriculum and other school policies. Over 80 teachers attended the meeting.
Thus far it sounds like a normal school district planning session. Then it gets... odd.
Shabab militias criticized the teachers for using English as a language of instruction mainly in the upper classes instead of Arabic which they have earlier recommended.
Al-Shabab's head of education department in Kismayo Abdinasir Abdala Al-Feisal criticized the teachers for using statements that undermine jihad as school mottos especially the private ones. Al-Feisal said that some of the schools had statements like: "Drop the gun and take the pen" as their mottos which he said discourages school graduates from becoming jihadists.
Al-Feisal said that the Somali youth can continue carry the guns and still study and therefore should not be discouraged to fight. The criticism of Al-Shabab's Kismayo militia to the local teachers comes at a time when the schools in Kismayo are re-opening.
[The Nation (Nairobi)] Kenya warned that terrorists linked to the al-Shabaab militia group were about to stage attacks in the East African region three days before the blasts that left 76 people dead in Kampala, Uganda.
Foreign Affairs Minister Moses Wetang'ula told the Associated Press that there was credible intelligence that the fighters were upping their game and appealed for help from the United States to keep the militants at bay.
The minister said in the interview with the American wire service that the situation in Somalia was "very, very dire" and that Somalia's immediate neighbours, including Kenya, faced potential attacks from the militants.
He said that veteran insurgents from Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan had relocated to Somalia in large enough numbers to worry the international community.
"There have been Afghans, there have been Pakistanis, there have been certain Middle Eastern nationalities, quite a number. Intelligence reports indicate that there's quite a cocktail of them," Mr Wetang'ula told The Associated Press last week.
Mr Wetang'ula has complained that the US and other rich nations are doing little to help prop the government in Somalia and to fight off the militia group.
"They spend billions of dollars in Iraq and Afghanistan. With just a small fraction of that amount, we can strengthen the TFG and capacitate them with tanks, aerial power, armoured vehicles so that they are able to secure their people. They run on a war economy," said Mr Wetang'ula.
"A country is no country if it cannot guarantee security to its people. Somalia runs on a war economy. The US is not doing enough and is not willing to sufficiently listen to the concerns."
Posted by: Fred ||
07/18/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Africa is the next battleground in the GWOT. It has been on the back burner for decades. You will soon see the ANC black barons of Zimbabwe and South Africa cozy up to the United States military in order to protect their diamond and gold mines.
#2
I would say let the ANC zone bleed for awhile and then help them. Make them work for any assistance : after all Mugabe and his comrades are fully capable of inflicting horrific casualties on people, just look at what they did with the North Korean Brigade to their tribal enemies in the 1980s. And as for South Africa, since the ANC turned their military into a medical welfare and jobs program, let them weed out the incompetents BEFORE we spend a cent on them.
#3
Regretfully Sheildwolf, it is too late. We've already spent tons of taxpayer dollars assisting Jacob Zuma with the recent World Cup spectacular. He and his comrades have their eyes on 2020 now, and the Olympic Games.
[The Nation (Nairobi)] Deadly attacks in Kampala turned the battle for Mogadishu into a regional affair this week, with the al Shabaab warning the world to stay out and Uganda urging more support from its neighbours.
Somalia's al Qaeda-inspired rebels struck the Ugandan capital on July 11, killing at least 73 people watching the World Cup final in multiple blasts, in what they said was retaliation for Uganda's military presence in Mogadishu.
But far from being bullied into pulling out of the African force (Amisom) it spearheads, Uganda called for steelier regional resolve to crush the al Shabaab-led insurgency and rescue Somalia's beleaguered transitional government.
"We were just in Mogadishu to guard the port, the airport and the State House. Now they have mobilised us to look for them," Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni said in the aftermath of the blasts.
The Ugandan army said it was ready to provide 2,000 troops to top the more than 3,000 it has deployed in Mogadishu since 2007 and bring Amisom to its full authorised strength of 8,100.
"We are capable of providing the required force if other countries fail to do so," army spokesman Felix Kulayigye told AFP.
The regional body Igad had earlier this month pledged to send the missing 2,000 troops in a bid to enable Amisom to withstand an insurgent offensive threatening Somali President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed's tenuous grip on power.
Few countries other than Uganda had looked likely to contribute to the force in one of the world's most dangerous cities.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/18/2010 00:00 ||
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JEDDAH - The Board of Senior Ulema (religious scholars) has set up a new committee to regulate the publication of religious fatwas (edicts) in a bid to prevent the haphazard issuing of edicts by unauthorised scholars.
It's the islamic version of a Soviet central committee ...
The move, decided at a recent meeting in Riyadh to introduce a new organisational structure for the Board, will see fatwa offices opened across the country and the appointment of certified muftis to assist the Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta.
Many enquiries concern Islamic issues related to divorce, and it is hoped that the new committee, to be chaired by Sheikh Saleh bin Muhammad Al Luhaidan, will take the strain off the Permanent Committee, which has only seven members and is chaired by the Grand Mufti, Sheikh Abdul Aziz Aal Al Sheikh. It will also assist spouses seeking rulings on aspects of divorce for which a fatwa can only be issued after the appearance of the couple before the Permanent Committee.
The Grand Mufti has stated previously that edicts should only be released by the official Permanent Committee which, he said, would stop any authorised or unqualified persons from issuing fatwas.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/18/2010 00:00 ||
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[Bangla Daily Star] A Dhaka court yesterday placed Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Motiur Rahman Nizami on a five-day fresh remand in a case filed for killing 345 people during the country's Liberation War.
Metropolitan Magistrate Moazzem Hossain issued the order after Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Inspector Nurul Islam Siddiqui, also the investigation officer (IO) of the case, produced Nizami before it seeking 10 days' remand.
Earlier, on July 14 the same court granted a five-day remand each to detained Jamaat leaders Muhammad Kamaruzzaman and Abdul Quader Molla in the case. Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojahid, the party's secretary general, was also placed on a three-day remand on July 15 in the same case.
In the remand prayer, the IO stated that Motiur Rahman Nizami along with his party's top leaders had killed a huge number of people during the country's liberation struggle in 1971.
They had also raped women, looted and torched houses at that time. So they need to be remanded to find out reasons behind the killings as well as the whereabouts of their accomplices responsible for committing such offences, the IO stated further.
Defence lawyer Abdur Razzak submitted a petition seeking Nizami's bail as well as cancellation of the remand prayer saying his client was implicated in the case to politically harass him. The court, however, did not entertain the defence petition.
Amir Hossain Mollah, who identified himself as a freedom fighter in his submission, filed the case on January 25, 2008, with the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court.
Meanwhile, the same court yesterday placed the banned Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) chief Saidur Rahman on a three-day fresh remand in a case filed against him on charge of subversion.
The court sanctioned the remand after Detective Branch (DB) inspector Sheikh Mahbubur Rahman, also the IO of the case, produced Saidur before it with a seven-day remand prayer in the case filed by Kadamtali police on May 23.
Earlier on July 12, the JMB chief was taken on a three-day remand in the same case.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/18/2010 00:00 ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] A British lawmaker is refusing to meet female Muslim constituents who wear face-covering veils and has proposed a law banning the practice altogether, he said Saturday.
Philip Hollobone, a member of parliament (MP) from Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservative party, wants to see a French-style ban on women covering their faces in public, although his bill stands little chance of becoming law.
However, in his own constituency of Kettering in central England, he is demanding that women who wear veils and want to meet with him at his constituency surgeries remove them.
"If she said: 'No', I would take the view that she could see my face, I could not see hers, I am not able to satisfy myself she is who she says she is," he told the Independent newspaper.
" God gave us faces to be expressive. It is not just the words we utter but whether we are smiling, sad, angry or frustrated. You don't get any of that if your face is covered "
British MP Philip Hollobone
"I would invite her to communicate with me in a different way, probably in the form of a letter."
He added: "God gave us faces to be expressive. It is not just the words we utter but whether we are smiling, sad, angry or frustrated. You don't get any of that if your face is covered."
There are around 400 Muslims living in Kettering, according to the local Muslim association, out of a total population in the town of over 50,000.
Hollobone has also tabled a bill in parliament to regulate certain face coverings, although it will not be debated until December and is highly unlikely to become law due to lack of government support.
This week, French lawmakers voted overwhelmingly to ban the wearing of face-covering veils in public in a bill which will now go to the Senate for approval.
A poll out Friday found that two-thirds of Britons would support a similar ban.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/18/2010 00:00 ||
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You may need to register to get access, but it's free and well worth it. badanov will be happy as a pig in mud, I fear. ;-)
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
07/18/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
it is interesting. i didnt have to register either.
Posted by: abu do you love ||
07/18/2010 1:18 Comments ||
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#2
Is there a way a map of Mexico could be included in Rantburg's MMM items so that those of us who are not expert in Mexican geography can get an idea of where the states are that are mentioned in the articles? It doesn't have to be interactive, just have the states labeled.
#4
Is there a way a map of Mexico could be included in Rantburg's MMM items so that those of us who are not expert in Mexican geography can get an idea of where the states are that are mentioned in the articles? It doesn't have to be interactive, just have the states labeled.
For 3M, all the items take place in the six northern border states in Mexico. As such I have uploaded a map from Wikipedia the link of which I will included with every 3M posting.
The same with every other posting involving the rest of northern Mexico.
#5
I appreciate all the MMM coverage that Rantburgers contributed to. Too bad MSM sources do not cover this, it would change the face of the illegal aliens debate.
Thanks, badanov, for getting the MMM department going.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/18/2010 15:55 Comments ||
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#6
Thanks, AP
It should be noted that two of the most severely criticized news agencies ( criticized by Rantburgers, et al ), Agency France Presse and Reuters, routinely beat the living hell out of AP and the broadcast services in getting the news out first.
They are paying close attention to events in Mexico even if our American press does not.
Married to a second lieutenant, the woman couldn't help herself. She vented. She gave up a good civil service job and her husband was a staff sergeant, steadily climbing the enlisted ranks, when they decided he should go to Officer Training School.
He excelled. She pinned on his bars in December. Now, he's out of a job, one of 28 junior officers getting kicked out because they either haven't started their initial skills training course or didn't finish the training. By year's end, the service will cut 6,000 airmen — enlisted and officer — because so few are leaving on their own due to the recession. The number of officers, second lieutenants to colonels, targeted for discharge is 1,373.
"Who would have thought getting commissioned was the worst mistake you made in your life?" the wife asked.
Continued on Page 49
#1
Find a military recruiter, either US Army, Navy or Marine Corps and continue to march. They will be very glad to see you and initiate a grade determination which will most likely result in a return to the enlisted ranks at the previous rank held. Depending upon the needs of the service, the a retention of your reserve commission and status is also a possibility. Don't throw away the time served, hang in there.
#2
He was on probation but turned himself around and finished on schedule. He said he thought the past would stay in the past.
So, there's more to the story than we're getting. Past remains the past for juvi records. You're not a juvi at this point in life.
The number of officers, second lieutenants to colonels, targeted for discharge is 1,373.
Those over 20 years of credible service are going to pull retirement and benefits, unless they choose to walk away from them. Those with over 18 years are lawfully locked into 20 years for retirement unless they've done something justifying a courts martial. Congress made that a law after past abuses by the personnel management in the uniform services. So we're really dealing with from second lieutenants to majors with less than 18 years leaving. It's call a reduction in force. Numerous such actions in the 70s and a few in the 90s.
The fundamental problem was that the allocation of manpower in the 80s and 90s was done with a lot of inter service politics and selling their programs to Congress. Now that we've had a fighting war for nearly a decade, the real world is identifying how manpower needs to be allocated. The needs of the two competing allocation processes, empire building versus real life, doesn't match up.
#3
There was a program called "Blue to Green" in which AF and USN officers could transfer to the Army -- the "Blue" services were overmanned and the USA was building up. An AF 1LT munitions officer who worked for me made that move after being RIFd.
However, other AF officers refused to apply because they liked their 8-5 AF jobs, had nobody to supervise, and didn't want to camp outdoors. I had no sympathy.
#4
...There's some stuff that just doesn't sound right here. A RIF should not, under any circumstances, result in a debt to the Government for Academy tuition.
And THIS guy:
Shortly after arriving at Vandenberg for training in late December, the lieutenant was asked if he would launch a nuclear warhead if ordered to, his wife said The lieutenant said he couldnt, mistakenly thinking he had sole responsibility for igniting the missile..
What in the name of Curtis LeMay (Peace Is Our Profession Be Unto Him) was this idiot thinking when he volunteered for missile duty? He should have been sent straight back to his old unit the instant he gave that answer.
"Thought he had sole responsibility" my @ss...
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
07/18/2010 12:11 Comments ||
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What in the name of Curtis LeMay (Peace Is Our Profession Be Unto Him) was this idiot thinking
Indeed. Young man didn't have his back-up-back-up notepad.
The FBI issued an alert Friday for a man thought to have ties to an alleged North Carolina terrorist ring who was arrested in Kosovo last month and then released a few days later.
Bajram Asllani, 29, is wanted by federal prosecutors in Raleigh. The website for the FBI's Charlotte field office posted the alert for Asllani, an ethnic Albanian, listing him as a wanted fugitive for allegedly providing material aid to terrorists and plotting acts of violence against a foreign country's citizens.
The U.S. Justice Department announced on June 17 that Asllani had been arrested in Kosovo and that U.S. officials would seek his extradition to the United States. On June 23, Judge Agnieszka Kolowiecka-Milar of the European Union Rule of Law Mission denied the extradition request, ruling Kosovo has no binding agreements with the U.S. for extradition, and Asllani was released.
Asllani is suspected of conspiring with eight other men and soliciting money for acts of jihad. Prosecutors say he collected $15,000 during a visit to Raleigh in 2009 with plans to establish a base in Kosovo. Asllani would face up to 40 years in prison if convicted of the charges against him in the U.S.
Asllani joins Raleigh resident Jude Kenan Mohammad, 21, on the FBI's list of fugitives wanted in connection with the Raleigh ring. A spokesperson with the FBI said Mohammad is thought to be living in Pakistan, before declining further comment.
Seven other North Carolina men are in prison, charged with participating in the ring. Daniel Boyd, a U.S. citizen living with his family in the Johnston County community of Willow Springs, is accused of being the ringleader. A trial is tentatively scheduled for September 2011.
BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on Saturday that his country fully backs the formation of a strong Iraqi government as soon as possible, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA).
President Assad reviewed today (July 17) with Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr, who is currently on a visit to Damascus, recent developments in the Iraqi arena, namely the formation of an Iraqi government, SANA said.
The Syrian leader expressed hope a unified stand would be reached soon among the Iraqi political powers to form a national government to bring about security and stability to the war-torn nation.
The meeting between Assad and Sadr also deal with fraternal ties binding the two countries peoples. Sadr expressed the Iraqis appreciation of the stances adopted by Syria that has kept an open door for Iraqi citizens since the beginning of the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
Sadr had arrived in Damascus on Saturday morning for a visit to Syria upon the invitation of President Assad.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/18/2010 00:00 ||
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BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: Iraqi President Jalal Talabani discussed during a meeting with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Saturday means to form a new government, according to an official source.
This should just about do it. Maliki has been maneuvering to give himself the largest bloc, and if the Kurds throw in with him he's got a majority no matter what Allawi does.
Talabani and Maliki discussed the current situation in the country, means to form a new government and the relevant activities among political blocs to reach an agreement, the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
The two sides co-stressed respect for the constitution and how to reach a solution to the nations current political crisis, he added, not giving more information.
Parliamentary elections in Iraq, held on March 7, 2010, had created large-scale differences among politicians over the bloc that is entitled to form a new government after former Premier Iyad Allawis al-Iraqiya bloc won 91 seats, followed by Malikis Dawlat al-Qanoon (State of Law) bloc with 89 seats out of a total 325 seats in the Iraqi parliament.
Malikis bloc reached a coalition with the Iraqi National Alliance (INA), which won 70 seats, in a bid to form the largest bloc in parliament, a move that was vehemently opposed by al-Iraqiya on the grounds that the latter enjoys the right to form a government.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/18/2010 00:00 ||
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From Tom Gross and the Mideast Dispatch Archive. Nice mall. Nice restaurants and swimming pools if you scroll down.
The restaurant is a good one -- it's where the foreign correspondents go to eat once they're done telling us all what a hellhole Gaza is. It's where UN relief workers eat.
Hamas knows it. They use pics of their people in plastic tents to fool the Western world. But this is how they live.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/18/2010 11:58 ||
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#1
Click on the link and look at the pics and check out the blurbs. I knew it wasn't so bad, but this is way beyond what you would expect. I wouldn't mind living there myself. Israel is seriously screwing up if this kind of stuff doesn't make it into the media in a drip-drip-drip sort of fashion. Another week, another rour of an olympic swimming pool or market or mall or whatever. It ain't so bad.
#3
Meh, ummmm.... can u hear me ok? Okay, ummm... I want um... 16 cheezeburgers with cheeze 32 small french friees, a head of lettuce and the eel. Thank you. Yes.the light, I will drive towards it nao. Whoa, wait, backseat needs to ordre....
One of the countrys most wanted terror suspects who is allegedly involved in recruiting university students for Jemaah Islamiah (JI) has been detained under the Internal Security Act.
Mohamad Fadzullah Abbul Razak, who graduated from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) in Skudai, Johor, in 2005, was arrested by police officers from the Special Task Force (Operations and Counter Terrorism) Department on Thursday. It is learnt that the 28-year-old engineer, whom the task force had been hunting since 2007, had just returned from Thailand when he was arrested by the officers at a house in Keramat here.
Sources said the man had allegedly been recruiting undergraduates from UTM as well as other institutions of higher learning into JI and had even sent several of them to participate in holy wars. According to them, intelligence reports showed one of his recruits was a 17-year-old student.
The Task Forces director, Commissioner Datuk Mohamed Fuzi Harun, confirmed the arrest but declined to elaborate. Last January, his department arrested 10 students for alleged involvement in terrorism activities.
Investigations revealed that certain people had infiltrated institutions of higher learning and universities to recruit students to participate in holy wars in the region. The students, most of them foreigners, have since been deported as investigations showed they were planning to blow up some non-Muslim places of worship in Selangor and in Penang.
The CIA is investigating whether Shahram Amiri, the Iranian nuclear scientist who defected to the US but last week flew back to Tehran, was a double agent.
The strange case of Shahram Amiri has puzzled US intelligence chiefs who approved a $5 million payment to him for information about Iran's illicit nuclear programme.
His role as one of the sources for the now heavily disputed 2007 National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) that downplayed Iran's suspected nuclear weapons operations has raised further doubts
Former US intelligence agents have predicted that Mr Amiri will disappear into prison or even face death, despite the hero's welcome he was accorded as he was met by his wife and hugged his seven-year-old son.
But his decision to fly back voluntarily, claiming outlandishly that he was kidnapped by CIA and Saudi agents during a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia last June and then tortured in the US, has prompted suspicions that he was a double agent working for Iran all along, The Sunday Telegraph has learned.
There are also questions about why the Iranian authorities allowed him to travel alone to Saudi Arabia, despite his sensitive work, and why he left his family behind if he was intending to leave Iran permanently.
And his role as one of the sources for the now heavily disputed 2007 National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) that downplayed Iran's suspected nuclear weapons operations has raised further doubts. The US intelligence community has been working on a new NIE that will give a much more alarming assessment of the Islamic republication's atomic bomb ambitions.
The CIA nonetheless believed that Mr Amiri was a genuine defector as he was debriefed in Arizona and revealed information about how the Tehran university where he worked was the covert headquarters for the country's atomic programme.
"The CIA would not have been paying $5 million unless they had vetted him carefully and believed he was genuine," said Art Keller, a former agency case officer who worked on Iran's nuclear and missile programmes.
"They think he was legitimate. Iranian nuclear physicists do not grow on trees. And to get someone with really good access, sometimes you have to wave a really big potential payday for him."
Another former CIA operative, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told The Sunday Telegraph that the agency was investigating whether Mr Amiri was a double agent - a possible explanation for his mysterious actions.
Even if was not a "double", there are fears that he will reveal key information to his Iranian interrogators about what US officials know about the country's nuclear programme - itself vital intelligence in the game of atomic cat-and-mouse between Tehran and the West.
Mr Amiri turned up last week at the Pakistani diplomatic mission in Washington, which handles Tehran's interests as the US and Iran do not have relations, and requested a ticket and money to fly home. He had previously released bizarre and contradictory videos on YouTube suggesting that he was happily studying in America or was being held there against his will.
In the wake of his decision to return to Iran, US officials have been unusually open in releasing information about his dealings with the CIA.
They disclosed details of the $5 million payment - funds which are now beyond his reach as financial sanctions mean he cannot access the money in the US. And they also said that he had been an informant inside Iran "for several years" before he disappeared on a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia last June.
Standing alone, the revelations would appear to endanger Mr Amiri's wellbeing, especially as President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has handed control of the country's nuclear programme to hardliners from the Revolutionary Guards, the praetorian corps charged with defending the 1979 Islamic revolution.
But Scott Stewart, vice-president of tactical intelligence for Stratfor, a private intelligence company, said: "Amiri was already in real trouble if was a real defector. But if the CIA suspect that he was a double agent or even a fabricator, it would make sense to mess with the minds of the Iranians by putting this sort of information out there."
And a CIA analyst with direct knowledge of the case said that the returned scientist had become the centre of a propaganda war and that the agency was "disinclined" to remain silent while Tehran scored points against Washington.
#3
Given what he had here and how he was received in Iran, there is no logical reason for him to return to Iran other than it was all prearranged. I doubt for a minute that Iran could communicate with him after he left there, so it is more likely that he was a plant.
Why is the CIA so bent on telling everone who will listen that he cooperated with us? It seems so naiive and desperate.
The CIA is toast as is their NIE.
They have become a bureaucracy that puts rules before common sense and turf battles and politics before the common good. Agencies like this need to be scattered to the four winds and rebuilt whenever they start playing politics, or at least they need to be stirred up real good.
#5
Please file next to FOB Chapman under short memories:
Mouth of the Potomac
by The Washington Bureau
December 31, 2009 11:40 AM 1 Comment
7 CIA Officers Killed in Eastern Afghanistan »
By James Gordon Meek
CIA Director Leon Panetta has confirmed this morning the grim news that seven of his intelligence operatives were killed yesterday by a suicide bomber inside Forward Operating Base Chapman. The camp is located just outside the city of Khowst, about 10 miles from the Pakistan border in eastern Afghanistan - the epicenter of the border fight with Al Qaeda-supported Pashtun militias.
Those who fell yesterday were far from home and close to the enemy, doing the hard work that must be done to protect our country from terrorism, Panetta told agency employees today.
Khowst is the hometown of Jalaluddin Haqqani, the legendary mujahedeen commander of the anti-Soviet jihad, who was a CIA ally during that war. Haqqanis young son, Siraj, became a Pashtun tribal warrior at his fathers knee while the warlords network hosted the Afghan Arabs including Osama Bin Laden. Now Siraj is the Afghan Talibans field commander - though calling a Haqqani Taliban is still truthfully only a Western distinction.
The bombing - which targeted the CIA base - was undoubtedly a revenge attack in what has become a very personal war. CIA drones have attacked numerous Haqqani family safehouses on the Pakistan side of the Durand Line, particularly near the networks Miram Shah headquarters, and have killed many close kin of father and son.
The irony is that after the 9/11 attacks, the CIA tried to recruit Jalaluddin Haqqani back as an asset, the Daily News confirmed in 2007 - but he refused them and instead has been protected by Pakistans Inter-Services Intelligence directorate. Pakistans government sees the Haqqanis as a foil to Indian influence in Afghanistan after U.S. forces begin withdrawing in 2011 under President Obamas plan - to the chagrin of senior U.S. intelligence officials who opposed announcing that timeline.
The Taliban claimed killing 20 CIA officers in an operation carried out by an Afghan soldier, the hero, Samiullah, when the CIA employees were gathered at the club to collect and coordinate intelligence information about the mujahedeen.
Yesterdays tragedy reminds us that the men and women of the CIA put their lives at risk every day to protect this nation, Panetta said. Throughout our history, the reality is that those who make a real difference often face real danger.
The CIA also said that, Due to the sensitivity of their mission and other ongoing operations, neither the names of those killed nor the details of their work are being released at this time.
Agreed. The US should use some concepts from private enterprise. They should have two primary analysis groups. The one that is "correct" is the one that gets the funding/resources. Competition and innovation give better results. When one agency has a monopoly on their product, there is a certain amount of "going through the motions" that happens.
#8
The one that is "correct" is the one that gets the funding/resources. Competition and innovation give better results.
Seems like a great idea as long as they don't start protecting their analysis and "IP" from the other, so maybe they should get rewarded for good sharing and assists, too.
#9
Well at least they didn't get blown up like their superstar chief of station in Afghanistan let happen recently (RIP), with a birthday cake and everything for the guy. Maybe they ought to stop using Survivor reruns for training.
[Iran Press TV Latest] Two days after the terrorist attack in the southeastern city of Zahedan, a senior Iranian cleric and politician says acts of terrorism are doomed to failure.
"Historical records show that in Iran and countries like Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine..., terrorists and occupiers have never been and never will be able to achieve their ominous objectives through bloodshed and the massacre of innocents," Chairman of Iran's Expediency Council Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said on Saturday.
He added that the terrorist bombings in Zahedan were aimed at creating a rift between Shia and Sunnis and warned that carrion terrorist attacks to kill innocent people raises an alarm, and "the international community must find a solution for it."
"We are witnessing that terrorists are gradually moving towards using more destructive weapons, for which calls for measures on a global scale to control this situation," Rafsanjani added.
On July 15, two bomb explosions in quick succession took place outside the Zahedan Grand Mosque. At least 27 people lost their lives and more than 100 others were injured in the terrorist attack, which has widely been blamed on extremist Wahabis and Salafis trained by US intelligence in Pakistan.
Iranian police have arrested 40 people in connection with the twin bomb attacks.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/18/2010 00:00 ||
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Iran's Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi calls for the collective cooperation of regional states to manage the crises threatening regional security.
"Expanding defense ties between regional states will greatly help avert and manage the crises and dangers that threaten the region," Brig. Gen. Vahidi said in a meeting with his Armenian counterpart Seyran Ohanian on Saturday.
Stressing that regional unity would bring lasting security to the region, Vahidi said, "It is important to use the capacities of regional states to resolve disputes and conflicts."
The Iranian minister named terrorism, organized crimes, illegal entries, drug trafficking and intervention by extra-regional forces as factors contributing to insecurity in the region, adding that the cooperation of regional states is necessary for confronting these sources of insecurity.
Vahidi said creating a secure environment in the region would only be possible through developing and strengthening all-out ties, and "the Islamic Republic of Iran has mobilized all its capacities for the realization of this goal."
The remarks came two days after two bomb explosions in quick succession took place outside the Zahedan Grand Mosque. At least 27 people lost their lives and more than 100 others were injured in the terrorist attack, which has widely been blamed on extremist Wahabis and Salafis trained by US intelligence in Pakistan.
Iranian police have arrested 40 people in connection with the twin bomb attacks.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/18/2010 00:00 ||
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[Asharq al-Aswat] Self-exiled Iraqi radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr visited Damascus on Saturday from his base in Iran for talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Iraqi affairs.
During the meeting, Assad urged Iraqi leaders to quickly form a government and put an end to a four-month coalition stalemate, the official SANA news agency reported.
"Any delay to form a (national unity) government will have a negative impact on the situation in Iraq," Assad was quoted as telling his guest, stressing that a new cabinet should be set up "as soon as possible."
Iraqi politicians have failed to form a new government since former premier Iyad Allawi's narrow victory over incumbent Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in the March 7 parliamentary polls.
The bloc of anti-US cleric Sadr, who is rarely seen in public and who lives in self-imposed exile in Iran, gained 39 seats in the new 325-strong parliament, against 91 for Allawi and 89 for Maliki - both Shiite Muslims.
Initially Sadr was opposed to the return of Maliki as prime minister but in May he said he removed his objection under certain conditions.
SANA quoted Sadr as praising Syria for its support of the Iraqi people and "for working in favour of security and stability in Iraq."
Hazem al-Araji, a Sadr bloc MP, told AFP in Baghdad that the cleric travelled to Damascus "at the official invitation of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to discuss Iraqi affairs."
Sadr's visit to Syria - his second since July last year - comes after Iraqi legislators on Monday extended an inaugural parliamentary session by two weeks to give political leaders a chance to form a government.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/18/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Ain't he finished school yet? I keep waiting for him to show up with a big S on on his letter sweater.
TEHRAN Oil Minister Massoud Mirkazemi warned on Saturday that Iran will blacklist foreign firms like Russian energy giant Lukoil that pull out of projects because of sanctions against Tehran.
If one of the companies acts against Iran, we will be forced to consider the reality and put that company on a blacklist, the Mehr news agency quoted Mirkazemi as saying. They will no longer work in our country, he said.
Mirkazemi singled out the case of Lukoil, which announced it was pulling out in March as new UN, US and EU sanctions over Tehrans controversial nuclear programme loomed. The minister said the Russian firm had reneged on its commitments in the Anaran oilfield which it discovered in western Iran in 2005.
But he added that Iran might consider continuing to work with Lukoil if we can adjust the content of the agreement.
Iran is under four sets of UN sanctions over its refusal to heed repeated Security Council ultimatums to suspend uranium enrichment, the most controversial part of its nuclear programme. Both the United States and the European Union have also imposed additional sanctions unilaterally.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/18/2010 00:00 ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] Iran blamed the West and Israel on Saturday for twin suicide bombings which killed at least 27 people, despite condemnation of the attack by the European Union, the United Nations and the United States.
Iranian police, meanwhile, arrested 40 people for "creating disturbances" in the southeastern city of Zahedan where the bombers struck on Thursday, the Mehr news agency reported.
"This blind terrorist act was carried out by the mercenaries of the world arrogance (the Western powers)," state television's website quoted Deputy Interior Minister Ali Abdollahi as saying.
"The agents of this crime were trained and equipped beyond our borders and then came into Iran," Abdollahi said.
"Those who planned this crime and equipped those who carried it out should know that they are responsible for this incident," he added.
Two suicide bombers killed at least 28 people, including elite Revolutionary Guards, at a Shiite Muslim mosque in the restive southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan.
The Sunni Muslim rebel group Jundollah said it set off the bombs on Thursday, telling Al Arabiya television in an email it had carried them out in retaliation for Iran's execution in June of the group's leader, Abdolmalek Rigi.
"The group said the suicide attacks were carried out by Abdolbaset Rigi and Mohammad Rigi ... and warned of more operations to come," Al Arabiya said.
Jundollah says it fights for the rights of Iran's Sunni Muslim minority.
Tehran has long charged that Washington has provided support to the group as part of efforts to destabilize the Islamic regime by fomenting unrest among ethnic minorities in sensitive border areas.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/18/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
The IRGC is repor warning the US will suffer "FALLOUT" due its alleged or perceived role in the Zanedan suicide bombings.
"FALLOUT" > IMO only, the IRGC is trying hard NOT to say the US will suffer some kind of NOT-RIGHT-AWAY-BUT-ITS-COMING NUKE-WMD RETALIATORY TERROR STRIKE???
[Iran Press TV Latest] Syrian President Bashar al-Assad says only Ankara is qualified to play the role of mediator between Damascus and Tel Aviv.
So much for the American role as honest broker. Well done, President Obama.
Speaking on Saturday, President Assad described Turkey as "Syria's greatest hope" as a mediator in peace talks with Israel.
Which demonstrates conclusively how hopeless the entire enterprise is, at this point. Perhaps he will be more reasonable after he and his little friends lose the next war they start.
"The interceding role in indirect talks [with Israel] belongs to Turkey. Other countries can play only a supportive role, not an alternative one," the Syrian president told reporters in Damascus.
Turkey acted as mediator in four rounds of indirect talks between Damascus and Tel Aviv in 2008 over an ongoing dispute resulting form the Israeli occupation of the Syrian Golan Heights since 1967.
The negotiations came to a halt in December 2008 after Israel launched an assault on the Gaza Strip, killing over 1,400 Palestinians in the region and inflicting an economic damage of more than USD 1.6 billion on the coastal sliver.
The chances of Ankara's return as mediator were further damaged after Israeli commandos attacked the Turkish-backed aid convoy Freedom Flotilla on May 31.
The assault, which took place in international waters, killed nine Turks among the hundreds-strong mission, triggered global outrage and provoked calls for an international investigation into the deadly incident.
The Syrian head of state went on to call Israel's operation a "terrorist act," adding that "Turkey has made several attempts recently to renew its work as mediator, but blood has been spilled now."
Earlier in July, President Assad expressed concern over the ongoing tensions between Israel and Turkey, saying that "the chances of peace grow slim, and the prospect of war grows."
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has warned that Ankara would sever all bilateral ties if Tel Aviv did not offer a formal apology over the attack.
However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman have brushed aside the call and rejected having any plans to seek Turkey's forgiveness.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/18/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
President Assad described Turkey as "Syria's greatest hope"
We should hang one to encourage the others, no wait, the more the change the more the are different... no hold on thar....
Them what don't know their history is likely not doing well in practical math either.
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.
The leaders of Al-Shabab militia group in Kismayo today met with some of the teachers of Kismayo schools to discuss the teaching curriculum and other school policies. Over 80 teachers attended the meeting.
The FBI issued an alert Friday for a man thought to have ties to an alleged North Carolina terrorist ring who was arrested in Kosovo last month and then released a few days later.
One of the countrys most wanted terror suspects who is allegedly involved in recruiting university students for Jemaah Islamiah (JI) has been detained under the Internal Security Act.
