The other day I got an email from a source of mine who claimed some of his buddies working in the private security industry in Pakistan and Afghanistan told him Pakistani intelligence officers have been found in "non life-supporting postures" after skirmishes or air strikes on insurgents in Afghanistan.
In other words, elements within Pakistan's ISI are directly aiding anti-coalition forces in Afghanistan -- sometimes engaging in combat operations with them.
I asked Edelman what the deal was...here's a brief transcript of how that conversation went:
Defense Tech: In Afghanistan, have you seen any evidence of Pakistani agencies' involvement in assisting the Taliban and other parties within Afghanistan against US troops and also within the [federally administered tribal areas]?
Edelman: I think that, you know, there's a long history here. The Pakistan government for a very long time has regarded Afghanistan as its 'strategic depth' and clearly there have been relationships that go back to the Mujahaddin era that have persisted. We've had some concerns about it, we've expressed those concerns. We had a meeting with the head of ISI, general Pasha ... my view is we ought to give him a chance to see how he can handle his new responsibilities and go from there.
Defense Tech: So is that a 'yes?'
Edelman: You'll have to make a judgment on whether that was a yes or not.
Defense Tech: So you have seen involvement...?
Edelman: As I said there have been persistent ties that have withstood over a long period of time and we've expressed concerns over those ties.
#6
Well, 3dc, if the Taliban drive us out of Afghanistan, Pakistan would regain control of the opium fields, and then they could easily repay the IMF loans as well as fill all those hungry Swiss bank accounts. Swiss bank accounts are always hungry for more, right?
(SomaliNet) Police in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, have arrested 63 journalists who were protesting outside the parliament building against the country's strict censorship regime. Police moved to detain the journalists after they refused to disperse.
Although the country's transitional constitution provides for freedom of the press and expression, the specific laws that would guarantee this have not yet been passed by parliament.
Publications that criticise the government are still being banned.
The constitution was adopted as part of the 2005 peace agreement that brought an end to Sudan's north-south civil war.
Working out well, isn't it ...
Posted by: Fred ||
11/19/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Hear NO Evil, See NO Evil, Speak NO Evil !!
Posted by: Tom- Pa ||
11/19/2008 7:17 Comments ||
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#2
There are sixty-three independent reporters in the Sudan?
I don't know, this sounds like a wildcat strike at the Ministry of Truth to me.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
11/19/2008 8:38 Comments ||
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A senior commander of international peacekeepers in Darfur said Tuesday the mission is encouraging rebel groups to accept a government cease-fire offer--a task made difficult by recent violence.
Maj. Gen. Emmanuelle Karenzi, deputy commander of the joint U.N.-African Union peacekeeping mission, said an investigation is under way into conflicting claims by the government and rebels over who is to blame for recent violence in northern Darfur, but he said the violence should not derail a cease-fire.
"It is unfortunate," Karenzi said in his office at UNAMID headquarters in El Fasher. "But ... if the people have been fighting and one of the parties just declares a cease-fire, it is not like you are switching on and off your lights in the house. You will have incidents like this."
Rebels took up arms in Sudan's western Darfur region in 2003, citing neglect and marginalization by the central government. So far 300,000 people have died and 2.7 million have been displaced.
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir announced last week that his government is seeking a cease-fire as part of a peace initiative. But new accusations of violence highlighted the volatility of the situation in Darfur where many cease-fires have come and gone.
Over the weekend, rebel groups said government planes bombed an area along a major northern road and a base along the border with Chad. Government officials said they were responding to a rebel attack on a relief convoy. It was not possible to independently verify the disparate claims.
Karenzi said his mission is keeping an eye on the situation on the ground and doesn't believe the fighting means a cease-fire is now out of the question.
Meanwhile, both the Sudanese government and rebel groups in Darfur came under criticism in a report Tuesday by a panel of four independent experts tasked by a U.N. committee monitoring sanctions to assess the situation. The committee said it will study the 93-page report and deliver its review to the Security Council.
The report painted a grim picture of combatants stepping up the violence in Darfur while expanding their attacks elsewhere in Sudan and across the border into Chad.
Offensive military overflights, which are supposed to be banned, are also continuing with impunity, it said. The panel said both sides have also flagrantly violated a U.N. arms embargo.
The panel said the new U.N.-African Union peacekeeping force "has proven so far to be incapable of defending itself or the civilian population of Darfur or fulfilling its obligations to monitor the arms embargo."
The panel recommended the Security Council consider widening the arms embargo to include the entire territory of Sudan, not just Darfur, and to expand the embargo to Chad and northern parts of the Central African Republic, which borders Darfur.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/19/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
because cease fires with ppl who can't read and know nothing but fighting always works. I thought the Congo had already had a cease fire brokered one time
Posted by: chris ||
11/19/2008 7:57 Comments ||
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BRUSSELS, Belgium - NATO has no plans to intercept the Saudi supertanker hijacked by Somali pirates since its warships in the area have no mandate to board captured merchant vessels by force, a spokesman said Tuesday.
Ohfergawdsakes ...
NATO officials have said the hijacking of the 318,000-ton UAE-owned MV Sirius Star on Saturday took place in a part of the Indian Ocean far removed from the area where an alliance flotilla has been operating since last month.
The four-ship contingent was dispatched to the region under a U.N. mandate to escort vessels chartered by the WFP to Somali ports, and to conduct patrols designed to deter pirates from attacking merchant ships transiting through the Gulf of Aden. Two warships - the Greek frigate HS Themistokles and the Italian destroyer ITS Durand - are escorting cargo ships chartered by the World Food Program to carry food aid from Mombasa to Mogadishu. A Turkish frigate, the TOG Gokova, and the British frigate HMS Cumberland are conducting deterrence patrols in the Gulf of Aden, where they engaged in a firefight last week with pirates attempting to hijack a Danish ship.
The area where the Sirius Star was attacked, located about 520 miles (833 kilometers) southeast of Kenya - closer to Tanzania than Yemen - is far outside the range in which Somali pirates are normally considered a threat. "This attack took place a thousand miles away from where one would normally expect this type of attack to take place," Alliance spokesman James Appathurai told The Associated Press. "The NATO ships could have intervened to prevent the seizure had they been there ... but what they don't have the mandate to do is to board ships that have already been hijacked to free the crew."
So, just what would it take to change the mandate?
"NATO's mandate is not related to interception of hijacked ships outside the patrol area," Appathurai said. "I'm not aware that there's any intention by NATO to try and intercept this ship."
Attacks on the 20,000 commercial vessels sailing around the Horn of Africa are up 70 percent this year. The pirates are reported to use some of the $100 million they received in ransom payments to acquire better and faster boats, global positioning systems and satellite phones that help them in locating the merchant ships.
Reinvesting in the business, as it were ...
A number of shipping companies are said to be considering rerouting their vessels from transiting through the Gulf of Aden and the Suez Canal, and instead sending them around the Cape of Good Hope. Experts say this is a much longer journey that would add 12-15 days to the trip at a cost of btw $20,000-$30,000 a day to the cost of the journey.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/19/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Hmm, seems to me the UN should provide a perpetual mandate for any warship at sea to render assistance in the case of piracy. It should be a crime NOT to intercept a vessel in such a case.
#3
No mandate to do what you need to do. NATO is teats on a boar hog useless.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/19/2008 0:50 Comments ||
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#4
"Any pirate threatening U.S. shipping should be the walking dead."
Well, there is the option of putting all shipping in the area under the US flag. We have done that before in the Persian Gulf during the Iran/Iraq war when Iran was threatening oil shipping to Kuwait.
Roger Middleton, a Horn of Africa specialist at the Chatham House think-tank, said that the capture was a crucial escalation. “Now that they have shown they are able to seize an enormous ship like this, it is beyond a military solution. You won’t fix this without a political solution.”
#8
you hit the nail on the head with sorry arss, they're still celebrating Mandelas release
Posted by: chris ||
11/19/2008 8:02 Comments ||
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#9
don't worry we have the Indian navy out there not afraid to shoot
Posted by: chris ||
11/19/2008 8:05 Comments ||
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#10
I believe the SA Navy is critically short of technically qualified people and getting worse. So much so that all their subs have been tied to the pier.
Posted by: ed ||
11/19/2008 8:14 Comments ||
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#11
The US has its own shipping? Not since every shipping company went Panamanian or Liberian. Re-flagging the flag-of-convenience clowns sounds like it might be in the wind.
But don't be surprised if the flag is Indian.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
11/19/2008 8:44 Comments ||
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#12
The proposed solution of a perpetual mandate is as frightening as the pirates:
The U.N.'s Big Power Grab
By Frank J. Gaffney Jr.
The Washington Times | 10/3/2007
If Americans have learned anything about the United Nations over the last 50 years, it is that this "world body" is, at best, riddled with corruption and incompetence. At worst, its bureaucracy, agencies and members are overwhelmingly hostile to the United States and other freedom-loving nations, most especially Israel.
So why on earth would the United States Senate possibly consider putting the U.N. on steroids by assenting to its control of seven-tenths of the world's surface?....Nonetheless, the predictable effect of U.S. accession to the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea — better known as the Law of the Sea Treaty (or LOST) — would be to transform the U.N. from a nuisance and laughingstock into a world government: The United States would confer upon a U.N. agency called the International Seabed Authority (IA) the right to dictate what is done on, in and under the world's oceans. Doing so, America would become party to surrender of immense resources of the seas and what lies beneath them to the dictates of unaccountable, nontransparent multinational organizations, tribunals and bureaucrats.
LOST's most determined proponents have always been the one-worlders — members of the World Federalists Association (now dubbed Citizens for Global Solutions) and like-minded advocates of supranational government. They have made no secret of their ambition to use the Law of the Sea Treaty as a kind of "constitution of the oceans" and prototype for what they want to do on land, as well.
Specifically, the transnationalists (or Transies) understand LOST would set a precedent for diminishing, and ultimately eliminating, sovereign nations. It would establish the superiority of international mechanisms for managing not just "the common heritage of mankind," but everything that could affect it.
In the case of LOST, such a supranational arrangement is particularly enabled by the treaty's sweeping environmental obligations. State parties promise to "protect and preserve the marine environment." Since ashore activities — from air pollution to runoff that makes its way into a given nation's internal waters — can ultimately affect the oceans, however, the U.N.'s big power grab would also allow it to exercise authority over land-based actions of heretofore sovereign nations....Scarcely more appetizing is LOST's empowering of a U.N. agency to impose what amount to international taxes. To provide such an entity with a self-financing mechanism and the authority to distribute the ocean's wealth in ways that suit the majority of its members and its international bureaucracy is a formula for unaccountability and corruption on an unprecedented scale.
To date, the full malevolent potential of the Law of the Sea Treaty has been more in prospect than in evidence. If the United States accedes to LOST, however, it is predictable that the treaty's agencies will: wield their powers in ways that will prove very harmful to American interests; intensify the web of sovereignty-sapping obligations and regulations promulgated by this and other U.N. entities; and advance inexorably the emergence of supranational world government. Frank J. Gaffney, Jr. is the founder, president, and CEO of The Center for Security Policy. During the Reagan administration, Gaffney was the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear Forces and Arms Control Policy, and a Professional Staff Member on the Senate Armed Services Committee, chaired by Senator John Tower (R-Texas). He is a columnist for The Washington Times, Jewish World Review, and Townhall.com and has also contributed to The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The New Republic, The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Christian Science Monitor, The Los Angeles Times, and Newsday.
#14
No expert here, but there's no need for a special UN mandate or anything of the sort for a naval vessel to take action against piracy directed against any ship on the high seas, is there? I'ma thinking this is probably the oldest, most settled, and among the most practical examples of what people breezily refer to as "international law".
Again, I don't know, but I can't imagine any UN or NATO authorization is required to take action against pirates in international waters. Seems to me a broad and very heavy offensive against these dipshits is in order. Hit them hard, on land and sea, kill as many as possible. Funny, that always seems to work, yet must "re-discovered" every time good guys confront bad guys.
One of Britain's most authoritative judicial figures has declared that the US and the UK have acted like 'world vigilantes' in their war against Iraq.
"It was not plain that Iraq had failed to comply in a manner justifying resort to force and there were no strong factual grounds or hard evidence to show that it had," said Lord Bingham.
Other than the seventeen failed UN resolutions, you mean ...
The retired senior law lord stated that the military attack on Iraq in 2003 was a serious violation of international law and urged British ministers to respect the international legal system. "The current ministerial code, binding on British ministers, requires them as an overarching duty to comply with the law, including international law and treaty obligations," The Guardian quoted Bingham as saying.
His remarks come as the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats are calling for an independent inquiry into the circumstances surounding the invasion. The British government has opposed the idea, saying such an inquiry would be harmful while 4,000 British troops are deployed in Iraq.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/19/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Other than your failure in Iraq, ENGLAND, "lord", and the many thousands of years of blood on your hands, I would seriously advise Brits against judging their contemporary Brother.
#3
The retired senior law lord stated that the military attack on Iraq in 2003 was a serious violation of international law and urged British ministers to respect the international legal system.
Ignoring that the US went to the UN for authorization. International Law = we make this up as we go along. So, how's that vaunted 'international legal system' handling Darfur?
Posted by: chris ||
11/19/2008 7:56 Comments ||
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#9
Elizabeth would have him nailed by his privates to the Tower door. Maybe one day soon England will actually be a country again, instead of a whipped dog.
#10
I don't really think he has thought through his use of the word 'vigilante'. In the original sense, they were chiefly residents of frontier towns where the local law-abiding citizenry were sick and tired of being robbed, murdered, cheated, extorted and otherwise preyed upon by the criminal element. Either the law was nonexistent, ineffectual,or run by the criminal element themselves...
Damn, I've just described the UN.
But anyway, the original vigilantes were fairly tightly organized, and a response to an unbearable situation by law-respecting citizens who were pushed beyond endurance. The good judge keeps using that word "vigilante", but I don't think he has a clue as to what it really means.
#13
Vigilantes get a bad rep because in most cases in the modern world there is a clear overriding authority and the vigelante goes around that. But what if that authority refuses to act or doesn't have the ability to act, or is actively protecting the bad person?
I'd be curious to see what Sir Bingham was saying about the sanctions and no-fly zone prior to the war. I bet he felt they were inhumane and must be ended. Most liberals did that logical flip in 2003ish.
#14
There's a little bit of true vigilantism closer to home in a way.
"The Battle of Athens (sometimes called the McMinn County War) was a rebellion led by citizens in Athens and Etowah, Tennessee, United States, against the local government in August 1946. The citizens, including some World War II veterans, accused the local officials of political corruption and voter intimidation. The event is sometimes cited by firearms ownership advocates as an example of the value of the Second Amendment to bring fair elections."
#17
M'Lord, perhaps it has slipped past un-noticed, but you do NOT rule over the Colonials, they rebelled a few centuries ago, and are no longer a part if Britian.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
11/19/2008 16:12 Comments ||
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A Canadian mosque that came under fire last week for publishing slurs and advocating a conservative lifestyle for Muslims is fighting back against what it said was distortion and discrimination.
Mohamed Abou-Bakr, an official at the administration of the Khalid Bin al-Walid Mosque in Toronto told AlArabiya.net that the mosque had sent a complaint to the Canadian newspaper the Toronto Star after an article alleging it publicized slurs against Jews and western societies on its website and warned members against integration.
The complaint accused the paper of "distorting" the content of the mosque's website in an attempt to "turn society against the mosque by charging it and the entire Muslim community in Canada of terrorism."
"The administration will seek legal advice if we don't get a response to the complaint," said Bakr in an interview.
The official accused the paper of "discrimination, extremism, and terrorism."
The paper reported Thursday that the website's Questions and Answer section featured racist, anti-Jewish and anti-Western responses that were supposedly reviewed by the mosque's imam. "Is it permissible for women to wear high heeled-shoes?" one reader asked, to which the reply was no. "It involves resembling the Disbelieving Women or the wicked women. It has its origin among the Jewish women," read the explanation
The site reportedly went on to say that once (a Muslim woman) becomes introduced to the wickedness of Western ideology and concepts ... (she) becomes fixated on trying to appear and act like her "role models" of corruption.
A disclaimer on the website noted that questions and answers did not necessarily reflect the mosque's views, said the Star. But the About Us page declares that the mosque's imam, Bashir Yusuf Shiil, "prepared, approved, and supervised" all questions and answers on the site.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/19/2008 00:00 ||
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#2
Surprise connection: Ayers' Weather Underground group in NYC - led by his then girlfriend, Diana Oughton - had planned to blow up a dance hall at Fort Dix. Ayers tries to detach himself from the plans, even though wiretap (OK: illegal wiretap) evidence reveals hearsay complicity, that could have been developed if the investigation had been allowed to play out. Current media refuses to publicize the fact that forensic experts put Oughton as closest to the 5 pipe bombs that she accidently detonated at a Greenwich Village townhouse. Note: the dance that the WU targeted for mass murder was to be attended by about 200 civilians. Then there is the townhouse matter; it was located in a residential area. Ayers and Dohrn are worse scumbags than the paintball creeps. I can't stomach seeing him portrayed as a mere war protesters and social activists, and somehow "vindicated" by subsequent events.
The NWFP government on Tuesday set laying down of weapons as the foremost condition for peace talks with the Swat-based Taliban, official sources told Daily Times.
The condition was presented before members of a Kanjoo Peace Jirga, who met members of the NWFP Assembly from Swat district at the Frontier House to discuss a possible truce in the valley.
The peace jirga, led by Inamur Rehman, informed the MPAs that the Taliban were ready for 'unconditional' talks with the government and that their chief [Fazlullah] would abide by the decisions of the jirga, the sources said.
The meeting between the jirga and the members of the provincial assembly, which was also attended by Awami National Party's (ANP) provincial President Afrasiab Khattak, was the third in the last few weeks. Environment Minister Wajid Ali Khan, Science and Technology Minister Ayub Ashari, MPAs Sher Shah, Jafar Shah, Dr Haider Ali, Waqar Ahmad Khan and Shamsher Khan were present.
The sources said the NWFP government asked jirga members to ensure that the Taliban do not violate the peace agreement, if it were ever reached in the future. "We are apprehensive, because the May 21 agreement signed with the Taliban was broken by those in Waziristan," said a senior government official.
A 15-point agreement reached in May between the Taliban in Swat and the NWFP government was set aside following threats by the so-called Waziristan-based chief of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Baitullah Mehsud.
"Talks will not be initiated unless the jirga assures the government that the Taliban will lay down arms and abide by any decision taken by the jirga consisting of MPAs from Swat and members of the Swat-based Kanjoo Peace Jirga," said the official. The Kanjoo jirga held talks with Taliban leader Fazlullah at an undisclosed location in Swat three days ago and obtained his consent to abide by the jirga's decisions, said another source.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/19/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
"Why should we lay down our arms?"
"Because you can't talk too good when you're dead."
The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on Tuesday distributed pamphlets in Attock Khurd, warning three hotels and a guesthouse of dire consequences if they did not halt their 'illegal activities' within a week. Situated at the border of Punjab and NWFP, Attock Khurd is a scenic and historic place, often a popular choice for visitors. The TTP pamphlets warned that the hotels would be destroyed if their administrations did not halt 'prostitution in the garb of providing service to the visitors'. The Taliban's 'first and the last' warning said violators would be punished, even if it entailed laying down the Taliban's lives.Following the warning, police have increased security in and around the area. The TTP warning would hamper tourism not only in Attock Khurd but in adjoining areas of the NWFP as well, locals said.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/19/2008 00:00 ||
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A Pakistani scientist, accused of having links to the al-Qaeda network and charged with attempted murder, is unfit to stand trial, lawyers and one doctor say.
Defense lawyers and prosecutors both dismissed the charges as ridiculous and argued the frail-looking Aafia Siddiqui is mentally unfit to stand trial and should undergo a psychiatric evaluation.
Even an evaluation performed by a federal prison doctor in Carswell, Texas said that Ms. Siddiqui is "not currently competent" to proceed as a result of her mental disease, which renders her unable to understand the nature and consequences of the proceedings against her or to assist properly in her defense.
US officials allege Aafia Siddiqui, 36, a U.S.-trained neuroscientist, was seized on July 17, 2008 by Afghan security forces in Ghazni province and claim that documents, including formulas for explosives and chemical weapons, were found in her handbag.
They say that while she was being interrogated, she grabbed an officer's M-4 rifle and fired two shots but missed and that the officer then fired back, hitting her in the torso.
She was brought to the United States to face charges on attempted murder and assault. Siddiqui faces 20 years in prison if convicted.
Meanwhile, human rights organizations have cast doubt on the accuracy of the US account of the event.
They say Siddiqui vanished in Karachi, Pakistan with her three children on March 30, 2003. The next day it was reported in local newspapers that she had been taken into custody on terrorism charges.
Some political activists believe she was Prisoner 650 of the US detention facility in Bagram, Afghanistan, where they say she was tortured for five years until one day US authorities announced that they had found her in Afghanistan.
According to her lawyers, Siddiqi is a devout Muslim who actively took part in fundraising for Islamic charities while in the US. US officials allege this was a cover for al-Qaeda funding.
Manhattan Federal Judge Richard Berman still plans to hold a hearing Wednesday to find out whether Siddiqui could participate in court proceedings on medication.
Her case has given rise to a fresh wave of anti-American sentiment in Pakistan, prompting street rallies protesting against her detention.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/19/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Gee, I wonder if a neuroscientist could in any way have the knowledge to fake mental illness? Not that "I'm having trouble sleeping." would not be enough evidence for a defense attorney.
Posted by: ed ||
11/19/2008 7:45 Comments ||
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#2
Send her to England. Thay can toss her ass into a nuthouse on a dismal moor somewhere, to be freed "at Her Majesty's pleasure"...
ISLAMABAD - Army chief General Ashfaq Kayani left Tuesday for Brussels on Tuesday for talks with senior Nato officials on the war on terror.
During the three-day visit, Gen. Kayani would attend a meeting of the chiefs of defence and discuss a comprehensive approach towards complexities of security, including implications of the US drone strikes. Gen Kayani would visit Brussels on a special invitation from Nato Military Committee Chairman Admiral Giampaolo di Paola.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/19/2008 00:00 ||
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BAGHDAD, Nov. 18 -- Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki addressed the nation Tuesday to defend a security pact that would let U.S. troops stay in Iraq three more years, and expressed concern that some lawmakers were trying to block it for political reasons.
The agreement was approved over the weekend by the cabinet and submitted to the parliament, where the government is seeking as strong a vote as possible in order shield itself from political fallout.
In his televised speech, Maliki lashed out at politicians who were taking "double positions" on the accord -- speaking one way in public and another in private meetings. "The deliberations on the conclusion of the security agreement should not be seen as a chance for advancing narrow interests at the expense of the higher national interest, or for distorting what the government is trying to achieve," he said.
Maliki said the agreement was "a first step to regain Iraq's sovereignty completely within three years." The document sets a withdrawal deadline of Dec. 31, 2011, for American forces. It also says U.S. soldiers must leave cities and villages by July 2009 for more distant bases.
It is not clear that all 150,000 American troops will be gone in three years. "There is a provision for an extension by agreement of both sides," a senior U.S. official said this week. The Iraqis could decide they see a continuing role for U.S. troops, he said. "They have every right to ask us for such a presence."
But don't expect Bambi to approve it ...
The role of U.S. troops in Iraqi cities after July 2009 may also be greater than the agreement implies. The details of the troops' activities would be worked out in negotiations between the Iraqi and American military, the senior official said. U.S. commanders have said they believe their soldiers will still be able to work in Iraqi cities as long as they are involved in joint operations with Iraqi security forces.
While the agreement would allow U.S. forces to remain after the U.N. mandate expires Dec. 31, it reduces their power. American soldiers would have to get Iraqi warrants to make arrests, and hand over detainees to Iraqi authorities. The accord strips U.S. contractors of immunity from Iraqi law.
The security agreement was the subject of intense debate in parliament Tuesday. The leaders of the main parties in Maliki's coalition were expected to press their lawmakers to support it. But approval was not guaranteed. "Maybe the leaders are seeing the big picture and knowing their responsibility, but what I'm seeing in each political group and alliance are those accepting and those against," said Safia al-Souhail, an independent lawmaker.
A vote on the accord is expected before parliament adjourns Nov. 25. U.S. officials say they would have to shut down operations if they have no new legal authority for their presence after the U.N. mandate expires.
Opposition to the accord has been led by the bloc of toothless anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr currently cowering in Iran, which has 30 members in the 275-seat parliament. Sadr's movement has called for a demonstration against the accord in Baghdad on Friday.
The secular Iraqi National List party of Ayad Allawi, which has 20 seats, has also been cool toward the accord, with its lawmakers saying they prefer an extension of the U.N. mandate. The main Sunni coalition is uneasy about a provision authorizing U.S. assistance in fighting former members of Saddam Hussein's government, said Omar Abdul Sattar, a lawmaker from the group, which has 40 seats. It is seeking guarantees that the language would only apply to extremists, he said.
The office of Iraq's most revered Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, issued a statement Tuesday saying that that any agreement on ending the U.S. presence that "does not enjoy national consensus would be unacceptable."
The statement sought to clarify news media reports that Sistani had approved of the security pact. His aides said Saturday that the cleric had received a delegation of Shiite political leaders, including two Maliki aides, and that he had determined that the agreement did not violate Iraqi sovereignty. But the statement said Sistani believed each lawmaker should "express his opinion on this subject clearly and in accordance with what his faith and conscience dictate."
Sistani has been careful to refrain from any appearance he is meddling in politics. His influence is so great that his disapproval could torpedo the accord.
Separately, the Iraqi government set Jan. 31, 2009, as the date for provincial elections that U.S. authorities see as key to greater reconciliation. Sunni Arabs, who make up about 20 percent of the population, largely boycotted the last provincial elections in 2005 after the toppling of Hussein's Sunni-led government.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/19/2008 00:00 ||
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Israeli President Shimon Peres said Tuesday he felt confident about the prospects for a Middle East peace deal next year following the election of Barack Obama as leader of the United States. On the first full day of a three-day visit to Britain, Peres said there was a "fair chance" Israel would reach an agreement with the Palestinians in the next 12 months.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/19/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
For a given value of "fair chance" that approaches zero, I quite agree.
(SomaliNet) Israel has allowed aid goods to enter the Gaza Strip for the first time in two weeks.
Thirty-three lorries carrying food and medicines were allowed to cross the border, apparently as a result of international pressure to resume aid supplies, without which hundreds of thousands of Palestinians could not survive.
Israel completely sealed off the Gaza Strip on 5 November in reaction to a flare up of rocket attacks on its territory.
Interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas met on Monday to discuss the slow progress of the peace process.
Mr Olmert has agreed to release 250 Palestinian prisoners as a goodwill gesture and to reinforce the Palestinian leader's position. A total of 11,000 Palestinians are being held by Israel.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/19/2008 00:00 ||
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Hamas' military wing announced Tuesday it was "prepared for a confrontation with Israel" and for the end of the cease-fire with Israel. But political sources said the cease-fire was expected to go on.
Hamas' Iz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades threatened to "turn the cease-fire tables on the heads of the Zionists," they said in a statement. Abu Obeida, the alias of a spokesman for the military wing, threatened that Hamas would "retaliate fiercely" should Israel resume its targeted-killings policy, as some defense officials have said were advisable after the cease-fire.
By contrast, Mahmoud Al-Zahar, a Hamas leader in Gaza, said that since the cease-fire was not a unilateral move, both sides should honor their part.
Meanwhile, in what could be seen as an indication of relative calm in the area, the Gaza regional division of the Israel Defense Forces received a new commander Tuesday in a military ceremony near the border with the Strip.
The ceremony in which Brig.-Gen. Eyal Eisenberg replaced Moshe Tamir was supposed to take place last week, but was postponed because of Palestinian rocket fire. Tamir was replaced as commander of the regional division deployed around Gaza after having served for two years and three months.
Militants fired rockets from the Strip into Israel Tuesday as well, but in a lower frequency than last week, when hostilities threatened to quash the cease-fire, which is due to expire next month. The Popular Resistance Committees and the Popular Front assumed responsibility for the rocket fire.
Three Qassam rockets exploded Tuesday in an open field in the northern Negev. Militants later fired mortar rounds at an IDF force operating near the fence on the Palestinian side of the border. No casualties or damage to property were reported in either incident.
The IDF Spokesman said the soldiers were searching for explosive devices which militants had placed to detonate near IDF patrols.
Military sources said they believed that Hamas was not directly behind the rocket fire and hostilities, but rather one or some of the smaller Palestinian militant movements. The officers think Hamas is pressuring smaller Palestinian factions in an attempt to preserve the cease-fire.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/19/2008 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
i say lets get it on and no holds bars this time. kick the ever living shit out of them no matter what anyone says israel you only got about2 months before our bitch takes office
Posted by: chris ||
11/19/2008 8:00 Comments ||
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#2
<"I>Militants fired rockets from the Strip into Israel Tuesday as well, but in a lower frequency than last week"
so with lower frequency is considered a cease fire?
Posted by: Jan ||
11/19/2008 8:28 Comments ||
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An Iranian official says the country's oil tankers will not avoid routes where Somali pirates are carrying out attacks on vessels.
On Tuesday, US and Chinese officials announced that Somali pirates have hijacked a Hong Kong-flagged cargo ship operated by Iran in the Gulf of Aden. The pirates attacked the cargo ship named Delight, which was carrying wheat, off the coast of Somalia.
On Saturday, Somali pirates seized a Saudi supertanker with a full load of 2 million barrels of oil and 25 crewmen.
Around a quarter of Iran's 2.4 million barrels per day of crude exports goes to Europe through waters threatened by Somali pirates.
And that has yet to get the Euros' attention ...
The official from the National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC), who was not identified, told Reuters, "We haven't made any decision to avoid the region where these pirates have been attacking."
"We have been very careful when traveling in this region, but now we have to be even more careful," he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/19/2008 00:00 ||
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[7 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
Who is funding these pirates Saudi or Iran?
Gtees the price of oil going up!
I have read that certain countries seek conflict worldwide so they keep gas,oil prices high-Saudi,Iran and russia come to mind!!!
Damascus on Tuesday launched a defensive media campaign to deflect charges of nuclear activity, the day before the International Atomic Energy Agency is expected to release a report in which it will confirm that enriched uranium was found in a suspected nuclear site in Syria.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/19/2008 00:00 ||
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[6 views]
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Oh, yeah. That should work well.
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband, during a visit to Damascus, urged Syria and Israel on Tuesday to forge ahead with peace talks and said the Syrian-backed Palestinian group Hamas was hurting efforts to end Middle East conflict.
Miliband, whose talks in Damascus are the first by a British foreign secretary since 2000, said he supported Damascus's efforts to strike a peace deal with Israel, which could see Lebanon and other Arab states that have not signed follow.
Syria and Israel have held four rounds of indirect talks, meditated by Turkey, but they were suspended about two months ago after Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert resigned over a corruption scandal.
"We welcome the four rounds of talks that have taken place ...and we hope that they will be taken forward with new force," Miliband said after meeting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Miliband said he had discussed with Assad efforts to forge peace in the Middle East and expressed to him Britain's satisfaction over Syria's establishment of ties with Lebanon and Iraq.
Syria and Lebanon formally established diplomatic ties in October for the first time since they both became independent 60 years ago. The move turned a page in relations between Lebanon and Syria, which dominated its tiny neighbor for nearly three decades until it pulled its troops from Lebanon in April 2005.
For his part Syria's Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said that Syria wanted "to take advantage of the good ties that the West has with Israel in order to achieve a global peace" in the Middle East.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/19/2008 00:00 ||
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[8 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
Ayman al-Zawahiri accused US President-elect Barack Obama of betraying his Muslim roots.
He likened him to a "house slave" - who had chosen to align himself with the "enemies" of Islam.
The audio was accompanied by footage of a speech by Malcolm X in which he distinguished between "field negroes" who hated their white masters and "house negroes" who, he said, were loyal to them.
#1
No matter how much Y'all's President surrenders to people like AQ or how many victories he hands them, Bay of Pigs style, in inept attempts to fight them, they're still going to look down on him.
#8
Not surprising. Arabs have always looked down on Blacks. In fact the Arab word for slave and Black are the same.
When Condoleezza Rice became SOS, the Arab language media abounded with jokes about "the slave woman" coming to visit. Expect lots of similar jokes about Barak Obama when he becomes president.
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
11/19/2008 14:39 Comments ||
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#9
The Pakistanis who are providing refuge for the Z man should understand that beneath all the talk about Muslim brotherhood he has the same racist contempt for them as he does for the negroes. They should know that if he ever gets control of their country they will be slaves to the Arab masters.
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.
One of Britain's most authoritative judicial figures has declared that the US and the UK have acted like 'world vigilantes' in their war against Iraq. 
The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on Tuesday distributed pamphlets in Attock Khurd, warning three hotels and a guesthouse of dire consequences if they did not halt their 'illegal activities' within a week. Situated at the border of Punjab and NWFP, Attock Khurd is a scenic and historic place, often a popular choice for visitors. The TTP pamphlets warned that the hotels would be destroyed if their administrations did not halt 'prostitution in the garb of providing service to the visitors'. The Taliban's 'first and the last' warning said violators would be punished, even if it entailed laying down the Taliban's lives.Following the warning, police have increased security in and around the area. The TTP warning would hamper tourism not only in Attock Khurd but in adjoining areas of the NWFP as well, locals said.
A Pakistani scientist, accused of having links to the al-Qaeda network and charged with attempted murder, is unfit to stand trial, lawyers and one doctor say. 
Israeli President Shimon Peres said Tuesday he felt confident about the prospects for a Middle East peace deal next year following the election of Barack Obama as leader of the United States. On the first full day of a three-day visit to Britain, Peres said there was a "fair chance" Israel would reach an agreement with the Palestinians in the next 12 months.
(SomaliNet) Israel has allowed aid goods to enter the Gaza Strip for the first time in two weeks. 
Hamas' military wing announced Tuesday it was "prepared for a confrontation with Israel" and for the end of the cease-fire with Israel. But political sources said the cease-fire was expected to go on. 
