[An Nahar] Afghan officials on Wednesday blamed "infiltration by foreign spy agencies" into the ranks of its security forces for a rise in attacks by Afghan soldiers on U.S.-led NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all.... forces.
The announcement came after President Barack Obama This is a teachable moment... and top U.S. military officers expressed growing concern over the so-called "green-on-blue" attacks in which uniformed Afghans turn their weapons against their NATO allies.
A total of 10 soldiers, mostly Americans, have bit the dust at the hands of their Afghan colleagues in the past two weeks, and the attacks have caused almost one in four coalition deaths in the war so far this month.
President Hamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai ... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabbani in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a Pashtun face on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use... held a meeting of the country's National Security Council on Wednesday to discuss the matter.
Senior Afghan officials told Karzai their months-long investigation had shown that "foreign spy agencies" including those of Afghanistan's neighbors were behind the rise in insider attacks, presidential front man Aimal Faizi said.
Faizi did not name a specific country, but Afghan officials have long accused Pakistain of harboring Taliban Islamic fascistifighting to overthrow Karzai's Western-backed government.
"Reports presented by security officials in this meeting blamed infiltration by foreign spy agencies into the ranks of Afghan cops as responsible for the rise in the individual shootings," Faizi told news hounds.
"It shows that majority of these attacks is the result of such infiltration.
"The reports further highlighted that foreign spy agencies are increasingly fearful of the empowerment of the Afghans security agencies."
Faizi said Afghan security officials had pledged to tighten the vetting process for army and police recruits to help prevent attacks and Karzai would meet NATO commander General John Allen to discuss the issue.
America's top military officer flew to Kabul for talks on the issue on Monday with NATO commanders and Afghan top brass.
General Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said he came away "reassured" after discussions with his Afghan counterpart, General Shir Mohammad Karimi.
The total corpse count from insider attacks this year has already reached 40, which makes up 13 per cent of all international coalition deaths for 2012.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/23/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
General Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said he came away "reassured" after discussions with his Afghan counterpart, General Shir Mohammad Karimi. (that would be the fella who told the Taliban B1 rocketeers what time you were coming)
.... also reassured troubled by the recent retired SOF personnel and their concern over leaked classified.
Please Martin, forget the political narrative and, get over to clothing sales and buy a shirt with a collar that fits.
#5
For the love of Mike ... what exactly is an "insider atack" in Afghanistan these days??? The entire Govt structure is a Swiss Cheese. There is NO inside.
#6
What a great place to wage war! I'm sure our fighting men and women just love it. This place is a hell hole. We need to get out. Now. Bomb from a safe distance if need be.
JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN: Powerful South Sudanese military commander Paulino Matip, a longtime rebel warlord turned army chief, has died in hospital in Kenya, officials said yesterday.
"We have lost a champion of peace and reconciliation we will miss him," South Sudanese Information Minister Barnaba Marial Benjamin told AFP. "He was undergoing treatment in Nairobi. He was ill for a long time."
Matip, from South Sudan's oil-rich Unity state, led a fearsome guerrilla army faction of his Bul Nuer people during Sudan's 1983-2005 civil war, a conflict that ended in a peace deal that paved the way for the South's independence last year.
During the civil war he split his forces from the South's then-rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) to side with Khartoum. He later switched sides again, and was instrumental in bringing key militia forces back to the SPLA under a 2005 peace agreement, ending up as deputy commander-in-chief of the SPLA now the official South Sudanese army second only to President Salva Kiir.
"He has made his personal contribution despite earlier differences that caused the split in the SPLA," Benjamin said. "He brought all the armed groups under his command into the SPLA to reunite."
Matip's body will be flown back to South Sudan to be buried, he added.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/23/2012 00:00 ||
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(Sh.M.Network)- Somalia's new government will focus on the economy as it seeks to rebuild a nation shattered by two decades of war, Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali said.
The country is in the final stages of selecting a two-tier parliament, Ali, who is a candidate to become president, said in an interview in Mogadishu, the capital, on Aug. 16. Lawmakers are scheduled to vote in a new president today, though the process may be delayed because the vetting of parliamentarians has taken longer than expected, he said.
The elections are Somalia's latest attempt to establish a functional central administration that collapsed when the former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was ousted in 1991. The country has been mired in clan-based conflict and an insurgency led by al- Qaeda-linked faceless myrmidons ever since.
The lack of security has allowed piracy and hostage-taking to flourish, fueled by criminals seeking ransoms. Attacks by pirates in 2011 cost the shipping industry and governments $6.9 billion, according to the Colorado-based One Earth Future Foundation.
"There's a great deal of unemployment here, that's why the youth are taking their luck to the high seas," Ali said. "We need a paradigm shift, a new way of thinking, and a sound, tangible plan for competing in the global market place in the near future."
Foreign Investors
Somalia has a $5.9 billion economy, according to the U.S. State Department. That compares with neighboring Kenya's $32 billion economy, the region's largest. Investors in Somalia include Africa Oil Corp.
(AOI), based in Vancouver, and partners Red Emperor Resources NL (RMP) and Range Resources Ltd. (RRS) of Australia, which said in March they will invest $50 million drilling two wells in Puntland ...a region in northeastern Somalia, centered on Garowe in the Nugaal province. Its leaders declared the territory an autonomous state in 1998. Puntland and the equally autonomous Somaliland seem to have avoided the clan rivalries and warlordism that have typified the rest of Somalia, which puts both places high on the list for Islamic subversion... , a semi-autonomous northern region of the country.
Others vying for the presidency include the incumbent, President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, and parliament Speaker Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden. The winner faces challenges including tackling corruption, restoring security and reviving a moribund economy.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/23/2012 00:00 ||
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(Sh.M.Network)-The European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... 's naval operation tackling piracy off the coast of Somalia should continue beyond its current mandate because it has successfully reduced the number of ships and people taken hostage in the region, a committee in the United Kingdom's House of Lords has concluded.
A report by the Lords' EU committee for external affairs said extending Operation Atalanta beyond December 2014 would send a "clear signal" that Europe "will not walk away from confronting piracy in the Indian Ocean".
It added that ending the mission, which began four years ago, could lead to an "upsurge in pirate activity". In June this year eight ships and 215 people were taken hostage by pirates in the region -- significantly down from 23 ships and 501 people in the same month of 2011, the report said.
The Lords backed the EU operation's attack on a pirate land base in May as an "effective demonstration to the pirates that they are not invulnerable on land", and said they supported the use of armed guards to protect shipping.
They noted that "no ships carrying armed guards have so far been successfully pirated and violence has apparently not escalated" and "this practice should continue".
The EU's development aid to Somalia "will continue to be necessary for the foreseeable future", the report concluded. It also recommended that Britannia should continue its leadership role in the mission because it has been "effective and it brings credit to the UK" -- and it compensates for its "limited contribution" of vessels.
Committee chairman Lord Teverson said: "Operation Atalanta has clearly made real progress in reducing the threat of Somali piracy. However, a hangover is the wrath of grapes... if the situation is to improve it is important the pirates know the international commitment to stop their activities is real and ongoing."
Posted by: Fred ||
08/23/2012 00:00 ||
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Egyptian police have identified 120 individuals in North Sinai who are allegedly wanted for attacking police stations and killing policemen, a security source in the area said on Wednesday.
The source told the state-owned MENA news agency that most of the wanted individuals follow "takfiri" ideology, a term for extremists who excommunicate other Muslims who do not share their beliefs.
Their numbers are close to 1,600 people, from different provinces and some from other countries, the source was quoted as having said.
Preliminary investigations suggest that these groups have received large funds, judging from the expensive four-wheel-drive vehicles they use, the source claimed, adding that the funder behind these groups would be exposed soon.
Most of the activists, he said, are from the lower layers of society, are single and do not have much income, facts which make them easy recruits for extremist organizations.
Egypt launched a crackdown on Sinai terrorism in response to a terror attack near the border with Israel earlier this month, in which 16 Egyptian officers were killed.
Reports in Israeli media this week said that Egypt had moved anti-aircraft missiles into the Sinai Peninsula without Israels permission. Such equipment is prohibited in Sinai by the Egypt-Israel peace treaty.
An Egyptian military source, however, denied on Tuesday that his country was deploying troops in Sinai beyond the limitations stipulated in the 1979 Camp David Accords.
The source told the Al-Ahram newspaper that the operation is well coordinated with both the Americans and Israelis.
The fact that contact between both sides has not been made known to the press does not mean it is not happening actually it goes beyond mere information sharing and includes efforts to coordinate, the source said.
Presidential spokesman Yasser Ali told Al-Ahram that the operation falls within the scope of Egyptian "sovereignty over Sinai, all of Sinai."
On Tuesday, the Maariv Hebrew-language website reported that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has demanded that Egypt cease sending tanks into the Sinai without Israel's approval.
An Israeli government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, later confirmed to The New York Times that Israel is troubled by the entry of Egyptian tanks into the northern Sinai Peninsula without coordination with Israel and has asked Egypt to withdraw them.
The Israeli request was conveyed within the last few days, the official said, adding that it was likely that the Obama administration had made a similar approach to Cairo.
#1
Preliminary investigations suggest that these groups have received large funds, judging from the expensive four-wheel-drive vehicles they use, the source claimed, adding that the funder behind these groups would be exposed soon
*cough* Saudi *cough*
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/23/2012 8:11 Comments ||
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JERUSALEM: Israel objected Tuesday to a move by Egypts new leaders to deploy tanks in a volatile border area, calling the action a violation of the landmark 1979 peace accord between the two nations.
The spat is the biggest test yet of the peace agreement a cornerstone of regional stability since Egypts Islamist president took power in June, and plays into Israeli fears that the treaty could be threatened down the road.
Egypt has been building up its military presence in the lawless Sinai desert since Islamic militants there attacked an army post on Aug. 5 and killed 16 soldiers. Israel, itself a frequent target of Islamic extremists based in Sinai, has welcomed the crackdown. But officials say significant military moves by Egypt must be coordinated, giving Israel a veto of sorts over Egyptian security strategy.
Under the peace accord, Egypt is allowed to have only lightly armed policemen in the zone along the border with Israel. Limited numbers of tanks are permitted only in a zone on the far western side of the peninsula, within 30 miles (50 kilometers) of the Suez Canal.
Israel agreed last year to exceptions to the treaty, allowing Egypts military to deploy troops with heavier weaponry into the most sensitive zone of eastern Sinai close to the Israeli border. Israel made similar exceptions during its withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in 2005.
Egyptian troops moved into the eastern Sinai after the Aug. 5 attack, backed by armored personnel carriers and attack helicopters, in coordination with the Israelis.
But Israeli officials said Tuesday that Egypts deployment in recent days of heavier US-made M60 tanks went further than agreed and violated the accord.
While the tanks are not aimed at Israel and it does not consider them to be a strategic threat, Israeli officials said they were concerned about the precedent and that the move should have been coordinated. The officials said they have relayed their objections to the Egyptians directly and through American mediators. The Maariv daily reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has demanded the tanks be withdrawn, though officials could not confirm the report. Netanyahus office declined comment.
US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland backed Egypts counterterrorism efforts in the Sinai, but said any deployments of military assets should respect treaty obligations and be coordinated with Israel.
As the Egyptians work hard now to defeat terror and turn back other security threats in the Sinai, weve been supportive of those efforts, she told reporters in Washington. We have encouraged them in those efforts, not only to enhance security in Egypt, but also to enhance security for neighbors, security in the region.
But as has been long-standing practice, there needs to be transparency, Nuland added, urging that lines of communication stay open between Egypt and Israel.
An Egyptian border official confirmed that his Israeli counterparts had voiced concerns in recent days. We sat together. They said, We are worried about the military presence in Sinai, the official said.
An Egyptian security official confirmed that some M60 tanks are now located in the Sinai near the port of El-Arish. He said the vehicles are there solely to protect the city, which is roughly 30 miles (50 kilometers) from the Israeli border. The exact number of tanks was not immediately known.
The peace accord permitted no more than one division (mechanized or infantry) of Egyptian armed forces within 30 miles (50 kilometers) of the Suez Canal. El-Arish is well beyond that radius.
Egyptian presidential spokesman Yasser Ali denied receiving any complaints from Israel. Security in Sinai is among Egypts national security priorities, and nothing can stand in front of this, he said. When asked if this means Egypt can send troops regardless of Israels approval or objections, he declined to answer.
Talk by Egyptian leaders of amending, much less nullifying, the peace accord may be mainly rhetoric. The Muslim Brotherhood is fiercely anti-Israel, as is the Egyptian public.
But political realities will make that very difficult. At home, Mursi faces a faltering economy, widespread unemployment and shaky ties with the still-powerful Egyptian military. Ending this key security relationship would antagonize the military, raise tensions with Israel and the United States, and could cost Egypt billions of dollars in US aid it receives as a result of the peace accord.
Renegotiating the accord would also force the Brotherhood to break its vow never to meet with Israeli officials. Any deal could be spun as the Brotherhood signing a peace agreement with its nemesis, no matter how much it tries to deny that.
Perhaps most important is the realization on both sides that they face a common foe in the Sinai, where rogue groups either inspired by or loosely linked to the Al-Qaeda terror network are believed to operate.
Militant activity in Sinai has grown for several years, fueled in part by resentment among many native Bedouin over police heavy-handedness and lack of adequate government services. Things rapidly worsened after Mubaraks ouster. Police largely melted away and are still too afraid to patrol many areas. A massive flow of smuggled arms from Libya, including heavy machine guns, RPGs and anti-aircraft guns, have made their way to Sinai militants.
Shadowy Sinai groups have carried out several rocket attacks on Israel, most recently last week. And in June, militants crossed from the Sinai into southern Israel and killed an Israeli civilian worker helping build a fence along the border.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/23/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
Those tanks are not there to protect against militants - they are a wink nod. They gotta go away.
#2
Egyptian anti-aircraft missiles (reported here) are directed against none other than Israel as the Bedouins don't have any aircraft.
According to the WOT doctrine it makes sense to empower a regular army commanded by an islamofascistic autocrat if only that army can suppress those islamofascists who are also terrorists.
Maybe the WOT concept itself doesn't make much sense.
#3
the larger tanks have no operative value against the terror gangs of the Sinai but do impress the local folks - which, I suppose is part of the effort
Posted by: lord garth ||
08/23/2012 10:02 Comments ||
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[Bangla Daily Star] The Anti-Corruption Commission will conduct an inquiry into the allegation that Jamaat-e-Islami ...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... leader Mir Quashem Ali invested $25 million in appointing lobbyists in the USA to campaign against war crimes trial against him.
The commission had received a document from the law ministry regarding appointment of lobbyists by Mir Quashem and decided to probe the allegation, ACC Chairman Ghulam Rahman told The Daily Star yesterday. The ACC would take necessary steps on the basis of the findings in the inquiry, he added.
Meanwhile, ...back at the sandwich shop, Caroline was experimenting with ingredients of increasing volatility... Law Minister Shafique Ahmed said his office had received the document from Zead Al Malum, a member of prosecution team dealing with crimes against humanity committed during the Liberation War of Bangladesh in 1971.
The commission could file a case against Mir Quashem on charges of money laundering if probe findings substantiated the allegation, he said.
Mir Quashem, placed in long-term storage Drop the rosco and step away witcher hands up! in connection with crimes against humanity, might have appointed lobbyists so that they could place his profiles before the US government and US senate to stop trial proceedings against him, the law minister said, adding the prosecutors might draw attention of the International Crimes Tribunal to take action against the Jamaat leader.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/23/2012 00:00 ||
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[Bangla Daily Star] Accusing the previous BNP-Jamaat coalition government of being behind the 2004 grenade attack on an Awami League rally, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina ...Bangla dynastic politician and current Prime Minister of Bangladesh. She has been the President of the Bangla Awami League since 1981. She is the eldest of five children of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of Bangladesh. Her party defeated the BNP-led Four-Party Alliance in the 2008 parliamentary elections. She has once before held the office, from 1996 to 2001, when she was defeated in a landslide... has reiterated that those who conspired, criminal masterminded and executed the attack would be brought to book.
No one can escape punishment the way the killers of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family members did in 1975, she said on Tuesday at a programme at Bangabandhu Avenue in Dhaka to mark the eighth anniversary of the gruesome grenade attack on August 21, 2004.
Twenty four people were killed, including Ivy Rahman, wife of President Zillur Rahman, and hundreds of party activists and leaders were maimed in at least 13 grenade blasts at Bangabandhu Avenue on the day. The Awami League, then in opposition, had organised a rally there. Hasina narrowly escaped the attack but suffered damage in her right ear.
"When I was coming down the stage after delivering my speech, one photojournalist requested me to wait for a moment for a snap, which, I think, saved my life," Hasina said.
The attack had been intended to undermine independence, democracy, peace and development and to wipe out the politicianship of Bangladesh, the PM said. She added that the criminals had wanted to put in place a culture of killing, conspiracy, extremism and corruption in the country.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/23/2012 00:00 ||
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The activity of Islamic radicals in Tatarstan should be neither exaggerated nor ignored.
Text of report by Russian Gazeta.ru news website, often critical of the government,
[Dawn] Amnesia Amnesty International has urged Pakistain to reform its blasphemy laws and protect a young Christian girl cooled for a few years Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please! for allegedly burning pages inscribed with verses from the holy Koran.
Rimsha (previously also reported as Rifta), who is between 10 and 13 years old and is reported to have Down's Syndrome, was taken into custody in a low-income area of Islamabad on Thursday after Moslem protestors demanded she be punished.
Polly Truscott, Amnesia Amnesty International's South Asia director, said the case showed the "erosion of the rule of law" in Pakistain and the dangers faced by those accused of blasphemy.
"Amnesia Amnesty International is extremely concerned for Rimsha's safety. In the recent past individuals accused of blasphemy have been killed by members of the public," Truscott said in a statement issued late Tuesday.
President Asif Ali Ten Percent Zardari ... husband of the late Benazir Bhutto, who has been singularly lacking in curiosity about who done her in ... on Monday ordered officials to explain the arrest, while it was reported that Christians fled the neighbourhood of Mehrabad in fear.
Truscott welcomed Zardari's response but warned it would count for little unless there were "greater efforts to reform the blasphemy laws to ensure they cannot be used maliciously to settle disputes or enable private citizens to take matters into their own hands."
There has been growing concern in the West over religious intolerance in Pakistain following the liquidations last year of leading politician, Salman Taseer, and Shahbaz Bhatti, a Christian cabinet minister who spoke out against the blasphemy law.
"The continued failure to reform these laws has effectively sent the message that anyone can commit outrageous abuses and attempt to excuse them as defence of religious sentiments," Truscott said.
Neighbours said Rimsha had burned papers collected from a garbage pile for cooking in her family home and someone alerted the local holy man after spotting the remains being thrown out as rubbish.
Pakistain's strict anti-blasphemy laws make defaming Islam or desecrating the holy book illegal and potentially punishable by death.
A Christian mother, Aasia Bibi, sentenced to death for blasphemy in late 2010 remains in prison, while last month, a mob snatched a mentally unstable man from a village cop shoppe and beat him to death in central Punjab province after he allegedly burned pages from the Koran.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/23/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
Ker-Plunk sounds across the speakers and all sit and crap!
Posted by: Bob Thud8197 ||
08/23/2012 7:19 Comments ||
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#2
Amnesty International has urged Pakistain to reform its blasphemy laws and protect a young Christian girl cooled for a few years
[Dawn] An American journalist Richard Miniter in his latest book has claimed that a colonel from Pakistain's spy agency had helped the US in providing vital information in locating former Al Qaeda chief, the late Osama bin Laden ... who was laid out deader than a mackerel, right next to the mackerel... , and that Pakistain's army chief may have been briefed on the Abbottabad ... A pleasant city located only 30 convenient miles from Islamabad. The city is noted for its nice weather and good schools. It is the site of Pakistain's military academy, which was within comfortable walking distance of the residence of the late Osama bin Laden.... raid five months in advance.
The book, "Leading from Behind: The Reluctant President and the Advisors Who Decide for Him" claimed that Pakistain had a greater role in the Abbottabad raid than what the American CIA had earlier stated.
The book alleged that the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) officer had walked into the CIA's Islamabad station in August 2010 and provided vital help in tracing Osama.
"In a never-before-reported account, Pakistain was more involved in the bin Laden operation than Obama's team admitted. When the CIA revealed that an ISI colonel had contacted the CIA in Islamabad and offered information about bin Laden, a debate followed," said the book.
"Was this a secret sign that the head of the ISI himself was pointing out bin Laden's hiding place or was the colonel actually the patriot who hated extremism that he claimed to be? Whatever the motivation, the CIA found bin Laden's hiding place within a month of the colonel's visit," the book claims.
According to the book, as the CIA found the Abbottabad compound where Osama bin Laden lived along with his family members and started researching on the property, they found out that the land was "carved out" from the Pakistain military academy compound.
"The records held another surprise. The land for the bin Laden lair seemed to have been carved out of property owned by the Kakul Military Academy, Pakistain's answer to Sandhurst and West Point," Miniter claimed.
"The bin Laden compound was akin to an isosceles triangle, carved out of the property of the Kakul Military Academy, Pakistain's West Point. The campus's main building sat some eight hundred yards from bin Laden's castle."
"The triangular compound was bordered with concrete walls ranging in height from ten to eighteen feet. The main building, a three-story tower, housed the arch terrorist, his wives, and their children," he wrote.
Bin Laden was killed by US Navy Seals inside his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistain in May 2011.
The former news hound with "The Wall Street Journal" and "The Washington Post" wrote in his book that Pakistain army chief General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani ... four star general, current Chief of Army Staff of the Mighty Pak Army. Kayani is the former Director General of ISI... may have been briefed by the US on its operation to kill Osama bin Laden in December 2010, some five months in advance and that along with getting a tacit consent, a cover story had been developed with the Pak military.
"There was talk about devising a cover story that would allow Pakistain to be helpful while keeping its leaders from political harm."
"The story, according to an official with secondhand knowledge of the White House discussion, was that bin Laden was killed in a drone strike and that the US later sent in a team to recover the body. That was believed to be less politically harmful than a commando team treading on Pakistain's soil," Miniter says.
"According to this official, Pakistain's Army chief of staff was alerted in December 2010, five months before the operation. No concrete facts about the operation were passed on, but an informal approval was sought," he writes.
The book also claimed that on March 14, 2011 during a situation room meeting that the US President, Barack Obama In case you missed it, this week, there was a tragedy in Kansas. Ten thousand people died -- an entire town destroyed... , decided that Pakistain "should be kept in dark" while America made its plans.
"'When the Seal helicopter crashed into bin Laden's compound, the cover story was abandoned,' the official said. The story could not be independently confirmed, but it has the virtue of explaining why the B.O. regime did not press to end military aid to Pakistain when bin Laden was found eight hundred yards from its officer training facility," Miniter wrote.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/23/2012 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
I think Gul and Khan ratted him out to save their weapon sales profits ... wait till their compatriots figure it out!
Posted by: Water Modem ||
08/23/2012 10:58 Comments ||
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#2
(ISI) officer salesman had walked into the CIA's Islamabad station in August 2010 and provided vital help in tracing Osama.
[Dawn] Muttahida Qaumi Movement ...English: United National Movement, generally known as MQM, is the 3rd largest political party and the largest secular political party in Pakistain with particular strength in Sindh. From 1992 to 1999, the MQM was the target of the Pak Army's Operation Cleanup leaving thousands of urdu speaking civilians dead... (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain says elements killing Shia Mohammedans, after taking them out of buses and verifying their identity, are in fact conspiring to disintegrate Pakistain.
All patriotic Paks must boycott such ruthless elements, he said while speaking to Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf and Federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik Pak politician, Interior Minister under the Gilani government. Malik is a former Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) intelligence officer who rose to head the FIA during Benazir Bhutto's second tenure. Malik was tossed from his FIA job in 1998 after documenting the breath-taking corruption of the Sharif family. By unhappy coincidence Nawaz Sharif became PM at just that moment and Malik moved to London one step ahead of the button men. He had to give up the interior ministry job because he held dual Brit citizenship. on telephone, a MQM blurb said on Wednesday.
Hussain said Pakistain was being encircled by threats from all sides and people belonging to Shia community were being killed. He said it was gross injustice and termed it as act of enmity against the country.
He said it was a historical reality that founder of Pakistain Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah belonged to Khoja Twelver Shia sect and when he died, two separate funeral prayers were offered.
One funeral prayers was offered by Allama Shabbir Ahmed Usmani, and other funeral prayer offered by a Shia holy man. No one could possibly deny these historical facts. Anyone challenging this would be lying, he stated.
The MQM chief said Shias are also Paks. Even Hindus, Sikhs and Christians living in Pakistain were citizens of equal stature. Elements compelling Hindus, Sikhs or other non-Mohammedans to leave Pakistain were, in fact, doing injustice to Pakistain, and brushing aside teachings of Quaid-e-Azam with contempt.
He said country would be lost in darkness if patriotic Paks did not come forward to put an end to this injustice. All educated, enlightened, moderate Paks should boycott heartless elements killing innocent people.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/23/2012 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
Is it those dreaded rare earth elements or just the garden variety ones?
Posted by: Bob Thud8197 ||
08/23/2012 7:14 Comments ||
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[Dawn] The B.O. regime seems to have acquired a "tacit consent" of the Pak military for the May 2 raid in Abbottabad ... A pleasant city located only 30 convenient miles from Islamabad. The city is noted for its nice weather and good schools. It is the site of Pakistain's military academy, which was within comfortable walking distance of the residence of the late Osama bin Laden.... that killed al-Qaeda leader the late Osama bin Laden, ... who used to be alive but now he's not... claims a new book released in the United States on Wednesday.
The book -- "Leading from Behind: The Reluctant President and the Advisors Who Decide for Him" -- also claimed that in August 2010, the ISI offered valuable information about bin Laden's hideout to the CIA.
On page 116, author Richard Miniter disputes US President Barack Obama's Ready to Rule from Day One... claim that he took a great political risk by ordering a strike into a compound near the Pakistain Military Academy, Kakul.
"Far from taking a risk, there are indications that a cover story had been developed with the Pak military and that Mr Obama had their tacit consent for the mission," he writes.
The author, a former news hound with The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal, argues that "the B.O. regime's account of Pakistain's role (in the operation) is misleading and incomplete."
The author also claims that Pakistain Army chief may have been briefed in December 2010 about the operation, five months before the night-time raid on bin Laden's concrete castle. "Pakistain was more involved in the bin Laden operation than Obama's team admitted," he argues.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/23/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
Fly 600 miles through some of the most sophisticated Russian radar in the world, radar that sees hostile drones and other aircraft all the way to Khandahar, cross the Pakistani border, conduct an airborne assault without a security element or CAP.....on an undefended compound, crash one of the assault aircract, conduct the mission, load up the prisoners, documents, and dead, cross level the assault team, weapons, radios, and equipment, destroy the downed aircraft, and fly 600 miles back to the launch site.....and target country is totally unaware ?
Paleeeeeeeease!
"How Much Is That Doggie in the Window? " is a popular novelty song written by Bob Merrill and Ingrid Reuterskiöld in 1952.
#2
Besoeker, I agree there had to be involvement by some part of the Pakistan military, which must have spread some kind of cover story. It had to be a limited part of the military or other ISI/military elements would have interfered and turned the mission into a worse disaster than the Iranian hostage rescue attempt. There actually must be someone 'trustworthy' in Pakistan - look for the one with a big deposit in their Swiss account at about that time.
Former US Ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk said that the United States "was convinced that Israel would attack" Iran's nuclear program during the spring months earlier this year, speaking in an interview with Army Radio on Thursday.
After no Israeli strike took place, Indyk said that the US officials felt as though they had been duped by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak's ruse.
The former ambassador added that there is a sense within the US government that Washington is once again being misled by Israeli declarations and leaks.
Indyk's comments come amid public discussions of the gaps between Washington and Jerusalem's perspective on the Iranian nuclear program.
Earlier this week, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey highlighted the differences between the two allies: "You can take two countries, give them the same intelligence and reach two different conclusions. I think that's whats happening here," he said on Sunday.
Explaining why the Israelis saw Iran as a more pressing issue Dempsey added, "at the same time, we admit that our clocks ticking at different paces. We have to understand the Israelis; they live with a constant suspicion with which we do not have to deal.
A week earlier, former Mossad chief Shabtai Shavit told Channel Two that he did not trust American assurances that Washington would stop Iran from going nuclear. Shavit said that Israel could only trust itself when it came to its own fate.
On the same day as the Shavit interview, the Yediot Aharonot daily carried a front-cover story saying that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak were seeking to launch a strike against Iran this coming fall. The report claimed that the prime minister and the defense minister were encountering stiff resistance to the idea of ordering the strike now from military and intelligence chiefs.
#1
more likely that was a test to see how much was leaked to the Iranians by Obama's and Hildabeat's staff. See what defenses got wound up...
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/23/2012 8:16 Comments ||
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#2
"that the United States "was convinced that Israel would attack" Iran's nuclear program during the spring months earlier this year ..."
I was convinced that Israel would hit them in the second-to-last year of the Bush presidency. AND THEY SHOULD HAVE. This constant dilly-dallying is a disaster. Does anyone think that the Israeli leadership that once existed under Moshe Dayan - would have waited this long to strike??? The man is surely turning over in his grave.
#4
All of this rhetoric about Iranian + North Korean Nucprogs is per INDIGENOUS DEV + PRODUCTION, and all but ignores international transfers, overt or covert.
Reminds of the "NO WMDS IN IRAQ" rant back in the day, when what the Lefties really meant was "NO NUKES IN IRAQ". They were wrong on all counts.
JERUSALEM: The longest serving Syrian prisoner in Israel has been freed after 27 years behind bars, the Israel Prison Service said on Wednesday. Sedki Al-Maket was released today at the end of the prison term he served for militant actions against the state of Israel, the IPS said in a statement.
A spokesman for the IPS told AFP Maket was imprisoned for 27 years, but was unable to elaborate on the nature of the crimes for which he was convicted. Syrian media reported that Maket, who was arrested in August 1985 for resisting the Israeli occupation of the Golan Heights, had returned to his home town on the strategic plateau.
Maket, 45, comes from Majdal Shams, the largest town on the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day War and unilaterally annexed in 1981.
(Maket) was brought up within a family known for its struggle against the occupation in the Golan, SANA said.
The vast majority of its 18,000 Syrian inhabitants, mostly Druze, who remained from the Golans original population of 150,000, have refused to take Israeli citizenship.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/23/2012 00:00 ||
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Syria is capable of destroying Israel's nuclear facilities with 20 missiles, Syria's ambassador to Jordan, Bahjat Suleiman, told a visiting delegation on Wednesday, pro-Assad news sources reported.
Suleiman, a toady loyalist of Syrian President Bashar Assad, also told a visiting delegation of Baath Party members and Arab nationalists that Riyad Hijab, the Syrian prime minister who defected to Jordan earlier this month, had received $20 million for his "betrayal."
He said that Syria was capable of destroying the Israeli installations "if attacked," despite the grave losses it would incur as a result.
Syria has acquired surface-to-surface missiles from Russia and North Korea which cover most of the territory of Israel. In September 2007, the Israeli Air Force reportedly destroyed a nuclear reactor Syria was developing with the assistance of North Korea, although Israel never officially claimed responsibility for the strike.
On Wednesday, Jordanian media criticized Suleiman for refusing to receive a letter of rebuke from the Jordanian government after a Jordanian girl was injured by Syrian shells near the Jordanian border village of Talat Qurba.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
08/23/2012 17:51 Comments ||
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#3
And Israel can destroy Syria itself with 20 missiles and it really ought to.
If I was Evil Overlord, any country with protesters shouting Death To America or the stuff like all these ME countries say they will do to us, I'd remove them from the universe. If we're going to be a superpower, we should be one and people should fear us.
#4
And Israel can destroy Syria itself with 20 missiles and it really ought to.
If I was Evil Overlord, any country with protesters shouting Death To America or the stuff like all these ME countries say they will do to us, I'd remove them from the universe. If we're going to be a superpower, we should be one and people should fear us.
Israel would like to take out Iran's nuclear facilities a la Operation Opera but it can't because Iran has studied it carefully and built their facilities to guard against any such attack.
The US can but it won't.
The only Israeli hope, as I can see it, is to attack indirectly.
Fund their minorities, mainly Kurds also Sunni.
But the main attack should be against their oil. With sanctions in place, target the sanction busters, mainly India, Japan and China.Whenever a Iranian crude oil tanker leaves Iran it should be stalked by Israeli subs, who could arrange an unfortunate "accident" which would send the tanker to the bottom of the seas. It wouldn't require too many "accidents" to bring Iran to its knees. Israel should be quiet capable of handling any retaliation from Iran.
Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told the government Thursday to adopt an "economy of resistance" to confront crippling sanctions slapped by the West on Tehran over its nuclear drive.
"The arrogant powers are pulling their weight to force Iran to back down (on its stances) and the government should invalidate these illusions by using the nation's full potentials," Khamenei said.
He called for an "economy of resistance" to confront a slew of Western oil and financial sanctions, saying this "is the only way to pursue progress in the country."
"In this kind of economy the nation's progress is preserved and vulnerability of the economy against the enemies plots is decreased," Khamenei said during a meeting with cabinet members and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
During his speech Khamenei did not specifically mentioned sanctions nor Iran's controversial nuclear drive.
But his comments comes as several Iranian officials, who had long minimised the effect on the sanctions, acknowledged in recent weeks that the punitive measures have had a negative impact on the country's economy.
Severe banking sanctions imposed on Iran since 2010 have slowed industrial activity, reduced foreign investment, soared inflation to more than 20 percent and led to a shortage of foreign currency.
The situation has been aggravated in recent weeks with an oil embargo that so far has caused Iranian oil exports -- which provide the country with most of its foreign exchange resources -- to drop by around 50 percent.
The embargo also caused a sharp decline in Iranian oil production, which has fallen to its lowest level in the past 20 years.
#1
"He called for an "economy of resistance" to confront a slew of Western oil and financial sanctions, saying this "is the only way to pursue progress in the country ..."
If you ask me - he should be looking for a vacancy at any reasonable Bed and Breakfast located in a remote region of the world. Hopefully a long way from the ME. His future prospects in Iran are looking a little cloudy right now.
The U.N. nuclear watchdog chief played down chances of a breakthrough when talks with Iran resume on Friday but said the agency would pursue access to a military site that diplomats say may have been cleansed of evidence of illicit nuclear activity, Reuters reported.
Visiting the Parchin complex has become a priority for the International Atomic Energy Agency as it seeks to end what the West sees as Iranian stonewalling of an IAEA investigation into allegations that Tehran has sought to design a nuclear weapon.
"I cannot be too optimistic ... We have been making our best efforts in a constructive spirit to work out an agreement between Iran and IAEA, but so far we have not been successful in reaching agreement," agency Director General Yukiya Amano told reporters on Wednesday during a visit to Finland.
"I have no indication this will change very soon," he said.
Citing satellite images, Western diplomats say Iran has demolished some small buildings and moved earth at Parchin in an apparent attempt to purge incriminating evidence from a site where the IAEA believe tests in a steel chamber relevant to nuclear arms were carried out, possibly a decade ago.
Amano said the IAEA still wanted access, but that apparent efforts to sanitize Parchin could impede the agency's inquiry.
"Through the satellite imagery we think that Iran is moving soil, demolishing buildings, using water, removing fences, doing landscape activities. We think this would hamper our verification activities," he said, echoing previous comments. "Nevertheless we keep on requesting Iran to give us access to the building at the site of Parchin."
"I have heard that there is currently a lot of clean-up going on at Parchin," one diplomat accredited to the IAEA said, who like others said such activity came to light only after the IAEA mentioned Parchin in a detailed report late last year.
Another diplomat told Reuters that he believed the Islamic Republic would not allow access to Parchin "unless they are extremely confident that there will be nothing found".
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/23/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
Surely they can write that toothless yet sternly worded letter without an onsite visit.
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Syria is capable of destroying Israel's nuclear facilities with 20 missiles, Syria's ambassador to Jordan, Bahjat Suleiman, told a visiting delegation on Wednesday, pro-Assad news sources reported.
