The Afghan government should execute Taliban prisoners, an Afghan daily said on Monday, the day after the rebels killed the translator of an Italian journalist. A spokesman for the Taliban commander holding translator Ajmal Naqshbandi said he was beheaded on Sunday after the government refused to free several insurgent prisoners. Government officials later confirmed the man was killed. Martyring Ajmal Naqshbandi and their other crimes happen as the government shows extreme leniency towards the Taliban prisoners, Arman-e-Millie daily said in an editorial. There has been no implementation of punishment for any criminal and killer Taliban who has been sentenced to heavy punishment by the judicial authorities, it said. From now on, criminal Taliban should be executed.
Newly married Naqshbandi, along with La Repubblica reporter Daniele Mastrogiacomo and his local driver, were kidnapped early last month. The Taliban freed the Italian after about two weeks when Kabul released five of its senior members. The swap happened after the group beheaded Mastrogiacomos driver, but the rebels had held on to his translator in a bid to secure the release of more of their men.
Another daily, Cheragh, criticised the government for failing to free Naqshbandi but going ahead with a deal to secure Mastrogiacomos freedom and save Italys fragile government from embarrassment. Mr Karzai, no doubt, you managed to save the Italian government from falling. But with regret, you could not save the life of an Afghan and someone who had voted for you, it said.
A group representing Afghan journalists said the execution had sparked fear among local reporters of covering areas where the Taliban were active. Some Afghan journalists vowed to leave out Taliban comments or statements from publications.
Meanwhile, Taliban militants threatened to kill a second Afghan hostage unless the government enters negotiations over his release. The threat to kill one of a five-member team of Afghan medics snatched in southern Kandahar province on March 27 comes less than 24 hours after the Taliban beheaded an Afghan journalist in neighbouring Helmand province. Well kill one of the doctors if the government fails to enter negotiations before April 15, Shohaabuddin Atal, a spokesman for top Taliban military commander Mullah Dadullah, said. He refused to give details of the rebels demands. He alleged that the doctor he identified as Khalilullah was a cousin of the governor of Nangarhar province in eastern Afghanistan. The Taliban will decide the fate of the other four medics later, he said. Atal said on Sunday that Taliban leaders would decide the fate of the French pair and their Afghan assistants.
Also on Monday, fears mounted for the safety of two French aid workers kidnapped by the Taliban militia in southern Afghanistan after the insurgents beheaded Naqshbandi. A senior government official speaking on condition of anonymity said he believed the Taliban killed Naqshbandi to pressure President Hamid Karzai into making another similar deal to free the French nationals. If you remember when the Taliban killed Mastrogiacomos driver the government freed Taliban prisoners to save the Italian. I believe they killed Naqshbandi to scare us into accepting their demands again, he said. But I dont think the government is in a position to comply with more such demands. It just cant do it, he said.
Afghan Foreign Ministry spokesman Sultan Ahmad Baheen said the government would not make further deals with the Taliban, although it was worried for the French nationals. The government is determined to not make any further deals with the terrorists. No more deals, with no one, for no one, Baheen said. Another Afghan official said the government was in a tight corner over the French hostages, following widespread domestic criticism of its failure to save a fellow Afghan while helping free the Italian journalist.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/10/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
sounds like good policy to me
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/10/2007 7:11 Comments ||
Top||
#2
No need to go through all this trouble.
They just need to transfer these prisoners to a more secure location.
I understand that the prison run by General Dostum has vacancies...
Posted by: John Frum ||
04/10/2007 8:20 Comments ||
Top||
#3
No need to go through all this trouble.
They just need to transfer these prisoners to a more secure location.
I understand that the prison run by General Dostum has vacancies...
..he has at least 4 or 5 dozen empty Shipping Containers standing by and available..
Italy's government paid a ransom of £1 million to the Taleban to free an Italian photographer taken hostage in Afghanistan, an aid group has claimed.
Gino Strada, the founder of Emergency, a non-governmental organisation, said Romano Prodi's government paid £1 million to secure the release of Gabriele Torsello, a freelance photographer who was abducted on 12 October last year and freed on 3 November. Emergency has been involved in negotiating the release of a number of Italian hostages in Afghanistan.
The Taleban said on Sunday that it had beheaded an Afghan journalist and interpreter working with another Italian journalist who was freed after a much-criticised prisoner swap with the Taleban last month. The interpreter, Ajmal Naqshbandi, was kidnapped along with Daniele Mastrogiacomo of the Rome daily La Repubblica and a driver on 5 March. The driver was beheaded and Mastrogiacomo was released on 19 March after five Taleban militants were released.
Mr Strada is pressing for the release of Rahmatullah Hanefi, who worked in Emergency's hospital in Lashkar Gah, the capital of Afghanistan's Helmand province. He was believed to have been taken into Afghan custody after Mastrogiacomo's release. The hospital played a key role in negotiating the photographer's freedom. On Sunday, Sayed Ansari, a spokesman for Afghanistan's intelligence service, accused Mr Hanefi of helping the Taleban kidnap the three. Mr Strada said that Mr Prodi's government knew Mr Hanefi was trustworthy because he had been entrusted with £1 million to deliver to the Taleban in exchange for Torsello's freedom.
Several members of Italy's parliament are now pressing the Prodi government to brief them on the claims.
They may wish to take a look at Emergency's finances as well...
Sudan yesterday gave its approval for the United Nations to start sending reinforcements to African Union peacekeepers in Darfur, the AUs peace and security commissioner said. The government of Sudan has made a series of remarks and questions. Today, the AU and UN provided them (with) all the clarifications and they have agreed on this second package, Said Djinnit told a press conference.
He was speaking following talks between UN, AU and Sudanese government officials in Addis Ababa over the three-stage plan for international peacekeeping in Darfur, drawn up last November. Djinnit said the Sudanese representatives agreed on all but one outstanding point of the second-stage plan to send UN troops to support the AU force, but did not specify what this point was.
They promised to respond to this outstanding issue within days, after speaking to the government in Khartoum, Djinnit said. He said the agreement was a very important step forward and said the AU was now urging the UN to move quickly to implement the plan.
However, a member of the UN delegation noted that details of the third stage, which foresees UN and AU peacekeepers operating in a joint force in Darfur, were still not agreed. It is a very important move. But it is only the second phase, not the end. We are just at the middle stage, the diplomat said.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/10/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
(SomaliNet) Hawiye clan leaders in Somalia dismissed on Monday rumors that they have links with the defeated Islamists saying they stand for resolving the crisis in the capital. We neither have connection with the ousted Islamic Courts nor with the officials of the transitional government said Ahmed Dirie Ali who claimed to be Hawiye spokesman.
Mr. Dirie told the local media they have nothing to do with the officials of the ousted Islamic Courts. It is propaganda against the clan elders He welcomed the efforts being done by some opposition members in the TFG against the leadership of President Abdulahi Yusuf. It is needed he said to help restore peace in the capital. Despite both the Somali officials in Eritrea and we are in far distance, we are closer and against the brutal actions by the Ethiopian forces and interim government in Mogadishu.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/10/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
The Council of Ministers yesterday urged the media and cultural agencies to play a greater role in the Kingdoms ongoing campaign to root out terrorism and terrorist ideology. The Cabinet meeting, chaired by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, also set up two panels in Jeddah and Dammam to settle conflicts and deal with violations involving insurance companies.
The media and cultural agencies must do more in confronting the phenomenon of terrorism, by rooting out terrorist ideology and addressing social and international factors that promote terrorism, the Saudi Press Agency quoted the Cabinet as saying. The council made the comment while praising Saudi security forces for killing Waleed ibn Mutlaq Al-Radadi, who was on a list of the 36 most-wanted terrorists.
The Cabinet commended the Kingdoms security forces for containing terrorism and efficient handling of terrorists. It reiterated the governments call to militants to surrender themselves to security authorities and change their ways. Efforts have been made to provide counseling to those who were detained (for their involvement in terrorist operations), the Cabinet statement said, adding that decisions would be taken concerning them on the basis of Shariah law.
The Cabinet also underscored the cohesion and unity displayed by Saudi society in confronting terrorism and trying to eradicate the phenomenon from the country.
In a recent statement, Interior Minister Prince Naif said terrorists were receiving support from within and outside Saudi Arabia. These people are receiving support, especially from abroad in addition to support from inside, in terms of finance and religious rulings, SPA quoted him as saying.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/10/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[10 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
I saw the tag-line and assumed this was aimed at the Western media.
Saudi Arabia's top security official has pledged to tackle extremist clerics whom he blamed for enticing young men to join Islamic militants sworn to toppling the kingdom's U.S.-allied monarchy. "Those who consider themselves to be guides or muftis have to stop doing this and return to their senses," Interior Minister Prince Naif bin Abdul-Aziz said in remarks published in newspapers on Monday. "The authorities in charge are on their back and will not leave them alone. We see in them a greater threat than that coming from those who perpetrate the acts."
Prince Naif last week said the "virus" of extremism was still alive in Saudi Arabia, the world's leading oil exporter, despite success by authorities in curbing attacks led by al Qaeda sympathizers. Radical clerics in the kingdom and abroad have in the past issued edicts that likened to jihad or holy struggle any attack against the Saudi government and Western residents in the birthplace of Islam. Militants loyal to al Qaeda launched a violent campaign to topple the U.S.-allied monarchy in 2003, carrying out suicide bomb attacks on foreigners and government buildings, including the oil industry. Tough security measures helped curb the violence but analysts and diplomats say radical Islamic ideology and anger at Western policy remain strong.
Prince Nayef urged the official religious establishment and researchers to avoid the spread of extremist views. "If there is no efficient and positive action from our scholars, clerics, mosque imams, thinkers, newspapers and television channels to develop and strengthen ideological security, we will have a deficiency," he said.
Western diplomats say any effort by Saudi authorities to fight extremist clerics may be hampered by its adherence to an austere brand of Islam and the significant influence this has on the education curriculum. The kingdom maintains, for instance, strict gender segregation and bans a sizeable non-Muslim expatriate community from publicly performing religious rites and celebrations.
Asked by a female journalist if he supported the idea of having conferences dedicated only to women professionals, Prince Naif said he did not think it was a good idea. "I hope we don't strengthen the idea of segregation in our society," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/10/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
U.S. delegation pressed North Korea on Monday to shut down its main nuclear reactor and allow in U.N. inspectors even as the top American negotiator said it would be difficult for a weekend deadline on the closure to be met. The American delegation said North Korea's top nuclear negotiator, Kim Kye Gwan, told them his government would allow U.N. nuclear inspectors into the country as soon as $25 million in disputed North Korean funds are released.
Kim, who is also vice foreign minister, met with shadow president Nancy Pelosi New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a Democratic presidential candidate, and Anthony Principi, President Bush's former veteran affairs secretary, who were visiting the North Korean capital.
If you look at the link, you'll see that reuters was displeased by Gov. Richardson's strong representation of American interests...
But Principi said Kim told the Americans that it would be difficult to shut down the nuclear reactor by a Saturday deadline called for in a Feb. 13 nuclear disarmament accord. Under that agreement, the North must shut down and seal the Yongbyon nuclear reactor and a reprocessing facility in exchange for an initial shipment of aid. The International Atomic Energy Agency is slated to monitor and verify the shutdown in what would be its first visit since late 2002, when North Korea expelled IAEA inspectors after U.S. officials accused the communist nation of running a secret uranium enrichment program in violation of a 1994 disarmament deal.
"They can make a beginning, but whether they can completely shut down a nuclear reactor in such a short time would be very difficult," Principi said.
The North agreed to shut the reactor only after the U.S. promised to resolve the key financial issue within 30 days which Washington failed to do because the fund transfer has been mired in technical complications. Kim "indicated that the North Korean government would invite the ... inspectors back the moment the funds are released to the North Korean government," Principi told reporters. "They believe that it's critical that the $25 million be returned to their pockets government," he said.
The money dispute has held up progress in implementing the landmark agreement in which North Korea promised to take initial steps toward dismantling its nuclear program, including closing its main nuclear reactor, in exchange for economic aid and political concessions. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack declined to comment on what might happen if North Korea misses the deadline, but said the United States continued to believe that all parties to the agreement are "working in good faith to meet it." But, he told reporters the money issue "was more complicated than anyone could have imagined," and suggested Washington might not object to an extension of the deadline.
"We'll take a look at where we are on Saturday," McCormack said.
On Tuesday, Japan's Cabinet approved a six-month extension on trade sanctions against North Korea, which were imposed in the wake of the communist state's nuclear test last year, Cabinet Office spokeswoman Miwako Fujishige said. The measures include closing ports to North Korean ships and banning the import of North Korean goods.
North Korea has refused to move forward because of the delayed transfer of the money frozen by Macau authorities after the U.S. blacklisted a bank in the Chinese-administered region in 2005 for allegedly helping Pyongyang launder money.
Richardson said his delegation pushed Kim for a show of good faith that North Korea was ready to meet its obligations under the February deal, asking for a meeting of the six nations involved in the nuclear disarmament talks before the deadline. He said he was hoping to travel to the reactor site in Yongbyon, 55 miles north of Pyongyang, but there were a lot of "political issues involved." He did not elaborate.
"I can say no more!"
Kim and the Americans met at the Foreign Ministry building, which overlooks Kim Il Sung square. Hundreds of children and women in brightly colored traditional Korean dresses practiced dances that they will perform on Sunday, when North Koreans celebrate the 95th anniversary of the birth of Kim Il Sung, the country's founding president and the father of current leader Kim Jong Il. Richardson and Principi also visited the USS Pueblo, the only active-duty U.S. warship in the hands of a foreign power. A North Korean official called the vessel a living example of continued U.S. aggression toward his country. Richardson, a former ambassador to the U.N., has regularly made diplomatic trips, often on his own initiative, to global hot spots. Although visits to North Korea by senior U.S. officials are rare, this was Richardson's sixth. In a possible sign of improved ties, a North Korean general said the remains of six U.S. servicemen would be handed over to the Americans. Three of the sets of remains had identification tags, U.S. officials said after meeting with the general.
Richardson called it a noble humanitarian gesture that would bring comfort to American families.
#3
But Principi said Kim told the Americans that it would be difficult to shut down the nuclear reactor by a Saturday deadline called for in a Feb. 13 nuclear disarmament accord
Oh please sir. Just another thimblefull of Uranium!
What is so important about $25M. That's got to be pocket change to Kimmy. Is there a possibility that there is something bigger hiding behind that $25M? I'd sure consider wording that the bank could transfer out a max of $25M to NorK.
The United States announced on Tuesday that millions of dollars frozen in a Macau bank will soon be released to North Korea, and told Pyongyang it must now start shutting down a nuclear reactor days before a deadline.
ADVERTISEMENT
The reclusive state has insisted it will only close the reactor, which supplies it with weapons-grade plutonium, once $25 million dollars in funds linked to North Korean interests and frozen since 2005 in Macau's Banco Delta Asia are freed.
Under an international deal agreed two months ago to end its nuclear weapons program, North Korea has until Saturday to start shutting down its Yongbyon atomic plant.
"The United States understands that the Macau authorities are prepared to unblock all North Korean-related accounts currently frozen in Banco Delta Asia," a U.S. Treasury statement said.
A Macau Monetary Authority official said only that there would be an announcement of some kind within a "few days."
The funds were frozen after Washington accused the Macau bank of being involved in money laundering.
Furious that the money still had not been freed, North Korea walked out of a round of six-country talks on its nuclear program in March, five months after its first atomic test.
"NOW WE NEED TO MOVE ON"
The Treasury's announcement came as top U.S. officials visited both sides of the divided Korean peninsula.
"I think we've reached a very important day today with the imminent release of these funds," chief U.S. nuclear negotiator Chris Hill said in Seoul.
"Now we need to move on from this banking issue to the real purpose of our February agreement, which is to get on with denuclearization."
#6
Richardson called it a noble humanitarian gesture that would bring comfort to American families.
I'd like to see someobdy call Kimmie on that sh*t, too - it's understood that he has hundreds of sets of remains of US and Allied troops warehoused for such 'noble' gestures.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
04/10/2007 9:11 Comments ||
Top||
#7
it's understood that he has hundreds of sets of remains of US and Allied troops warehoused for such 'noble' gestures.
If this is true, Kim should qualify for trial on charges of war crimes. He has committed countless crimes against humanity and needs to hang for those as it is.
#9
How about hitting a Nork city with a 1MT nuke for each day past the shutdown deadline, and keep it up until the job's done? Re-visit cities if we run out. Oh, and take out all that arty that's aimed at Seoul on the first day, subtracting one more "negotiating factor" from the equation. Gonna be rough on the south, since the wind blows that way, but it just might convince Kimmie we're serious. Nothing else seems to have worked.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/10/2007 15:26 Comments ||
Top||
#10
Just a note on the graphic: does Kimmie choose his generals based on height - to make sure none are taller than he is?
No. He stands closer to the camera and stretches his neck up like a six-year-old. And his generals snicker at him. See? Several of them are smiling because they know. They will all go back to the Officer's Club and mock him about the jammies he's wearing later. And point at his picture over the bar and laugh at him.
#12
Did anyone save a copy of the shot of the returning NK soldier standing between an SK and a US soldier? He looked like a nine year old.
A quote from Kim, somebody who met him and must have done a double take: "I'm shorter than a midget's turd, aren't I?"
#1
Mr Howard has the right description of the sheik, but the wrong solution. The sheik is fomenting terror and should be tried for such and spend few years in an Aussie jail.
#3
The "Sheikh" leaves the country whenever he feels like it, rubbishes Australia, supports foreign hostile nations, leaves Keysar Trad as his spokesman to waffle on about politicians & the media taking him out of context, misunderstanding, misinterpreting etc etc, until the "Sheikh" returns.
Howard and Co say he is an "embarrassment" not supported by 99% of Oz muslims ??!??, and say they can do nothing - and they are very good at doing it.
#9
The Australian Federal Police are investigating Hilali's donations to terrorism in Lebanon. Hopefully this is Howard softening up Muslim opinion for when they arrest him. I hope.
The Australian government increased pressure on local Muslims on Monday to dismiss their controversial leader after he reportedly expressed support for the fundamentalist Islamic government in Iran. The Egyptian-born mufti Sheikh Taj Aldin al-Hilali asked Muslims of the world to unite behind Iran during a visit to Tehran last week. This was stated amid tension over the Iranian governments nuclear ambitions and the capture of 15 British sailors, local media reported. The cleric had already sparked controversy by describing scantily clad women as uncovered meat that invited rape and by mocking the convict ancestry of most white Australians. An Australian newspaper reported that Hilali was quoted in Iran, as saying Muslims should serve in Iranian trenches.
Australia Foreign Minister Alexander Downer asked Australias Muslims to discharge Hilali, describing him as a massive embarrassment.
The man travels the world making completely absurd and incredible comments, Downer told reporters. This reflects on Australian Muslims and on Australia. My view is that he should be replaced as the leader of Australias Islamic community by a moderate and reasonable person.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/10/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
This reflects on Australian Muslims and on Australia.
Hokey smokes, Bullwinkle! A politician who is willing to attribute direct blame upon the local Muslim community? With the sort of courage Downer is displaying, he must be holding at least three pairs down south. Mebbe he could loan George a set?
My own reading of this still damns Australia's Muslim community pretty thoroughly. Never forget that it was last October that Hilali gave his "uncovered meat" speech. It took nigh well half an entire year for Australia's ummah to determine that they were not being well-represented. That alone is pretty damning.
It's far more likely they have merely decided that getting their collective cover blown by Hilali so loudly and thoroughly wasn't that much fun after all.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyep Erdogan warned Iraqi Kurds on Monday that hostility toward his country could incur a "very heavy cost" after seven separatist fighters and a Turkish soldier died in escalating clashes over the weekend in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast.
Massoud Barzani, president of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region, said in a television interview over the weekend that if Ankara interfered in northern Iraq, as it has threatened to do, Iraqi Kurds would interfere in Kurdish cities in Turkey.
"Northern Iraq, which is a neighbor to Turkey, is gravely wrong in the way it is currently acting and this could result in a very heavy cost for them afterwards," Erdogan told reporters.
Barzani has "overstepped the line," he said. "I advise them not to say words they cannot live up to and to know their place because they could be later crushed under those words."
Ankara is deeply concerned about what it sees as moves by Iraqi Kurds to build an independent state in northern Iraq, fearing this could in turn reignite separatism among its own Kurdish population in southeast Turkey.
Turkey is especially worried that Iraqi Kurds will gain control of the oil-rich but multi-ethnic city of Kirkuk after a referendum on the city's status due by the end of 2007, turning it into their new capital.
Asked about Erdogan's comments on Monday, Fouad Hussein, an aide to Barzani, denied the Iraqi Kurdish leader was threatening Ankara. But he urged Turkey to keep out of plans to settle the status of Kirkuk.
"Massoud Barzani did not wish to threaten Turkey but he intended to stress a fundamental principle and consistent policy of the Kurdish leader, which calls for non-interference in the business of others on condition of non-interference in our affairs," Hussein told Reuters in Irbil, northern Iraq.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/10/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Erdogan wants to be another Hussein?
I know he's with the islamic party 'tards but he's sound a lot like Saddam, NutJob and Hitler.
#3
Ankara is deeply concerned about what it sees as moves by Iraqi Kurds to build an independent state in northern Iraq, fearing this could in turn reignite separatism among its own Kurdish population in southeast Turkey.
Fine. Cool by me. I hope the Kurds cause them endless grief. Furthermore, if the Turks want to play hard ball, I suggest that we give the Kurds all the air support they ask for and then some. They don't need ground support from us: if the Turkish Army wants to take on the Peshmerga, it will be their funeral.
#5
in my estimation if sustained fighting were to break out 'tween Iraqi Kurds and Turkey the US gubmint would be under tremendous pressure to back the recognized state of Turkey.
By precedent, treaty and inherent self-interest all major players [sic full States] back each other up when push comes to shove [sic 99.9%].
The USA does not need another headache visa vi Iraq.
Does America need to stand in between Turkey, Syria, Iran and the Kurds when they start a pissing contest? Iraq is fragileenough without hot wars with the neighbors.
#6
SR-71:
A few quick points. The Kurds are the only large Middle Eastern minority group in which a sizable section of the population are not in fact muslims. An estimated 800,000 of them are Yazidi (a pre-Islamic monotheist religion). Also, the vast marjority of Kurds aren't particularly religious by the standards of the region, so I'm not sure how many of those "disgusting habits" you're going to find in Kurdistan.
As an American taxpayer and voter, I have no problem with the idea of breaking off bits of existing nation states to make a new one that would be more friendly (let's be honest: a LOT more friendly) to my nation's interests.
#7
SM - I'm going by the reports of the persecution of other religious minorities - especially Assyrian Christian. Did not know about Yazidi. Agree on your last point, which was the main thrust of my statement.
James Taranto, "Best of the Web," The Wall Street Journal
Left-wing blogs have been abuzz for a couple of days over a post by Mark Graber, a professor of law and government at the University of Maryland. Graber prints a story he received from Walter F. Murphy, a professor emeritus of jurisprudence at Princeton who now lives in New Mexico, about a bad experience Murphy had last month with airport security in Albuquerque. Murphy alleges that the treatment he received was politically motivated.
How credible is this claim? As luck would have it, Kip Hawley, administrator of the Transportation Security Administration visited The Wall Street Journal's office this morning, so we showed him a copy of Graber's post. Here is Murphy's story, as reprinted by Graber, with Hawley's explanation of what happened:
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Mike ||
04/10/2007 15:26 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
GAWD! I got singled out last week...BFD. I wonder if he had mints on his pillow when he checked in? If not did Karl rvoe steal them?
#6
Used to work for the TSA ( please don't hold that against me) We had no discretion about who was selected by the airlines; their ticket printing system added the 'special codes';we could randomly select others, but the airlines had no input on that, either.
#7
If being an "enemy" was a criterion for being selected for extra special attention, then Cindy Sheehan, Jane Fonda, and any number of other anti-war stars would constantly be hassled at airports. Every single time. Not that I am opposed to such a policy, of course.
#9
I was part of church group coming back from Asia that got stranded overnight in Minneapolis. We wound up flying the next day on different airline.
So we were 1) a large group, 2) travelling from Asia, 3) using one way tickets. Just about 1/3rd of us got flagged for security checks.
I don't remember us kicking up some anti-religious nuttery. Missed opportunity.
#10
I just popped over to Princeton U's webpage on the honoured professor. It sure sounds like he's done some things. But I do find it a bit incredible that a Marine colonel, who fought in the Korean War and then served almost two decades as a Marine Reservist, is unable to accept that sometimes everyone is subject to stupid rules. this is the kind of "Do you know who I am?!?" behaviour more common to aging starlets and retired local politicians. He more than most should know that security requires sacrifice.
#12
the Homeland Security Department's Traveler Redress Inquiry Program.
TRIP. Some one has a sense of humor. Like the guy who developed the General Electric System Tape Actuated Processing Observer back in the days when GE built computers.
Another version of messages borne by a group of U.S. lawmakers from Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to Syrian President Al-Asad was presented by Rep. Keith Ellison [D-Minn.], the nation's first Muslim congressman. Ellison told the Associated Press that the contingent let Al-Asad know that Olmert had expressed concern that Israeli actions might be misinterpreted by Syria and lead to inadvertent war. Ellison said they quoted Olmert to Al-Asad, telling him that Olmert had declared: "We have no intention of attacking Syria." Ellison's account stands in sharp contrast to a tempest caused by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who led the junket in direct opposition to the Bush administration. Pelosi said she carried a message to Al-Asad from Olmert saying that Israel was ready to return to the negotiating table. Olmert's office immediately said it never happened.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
04/10/2007 11:32 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Better yet, once the donks get done debasing the entire idea of diplomacy, we'll be able to get on with the job without having to listen to all the yammering about "talking..."
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
04/10/2007 11:34 Comments ||
Top||
#4
I saw Halfbright on the weekend defending Pelosi, like she wouldn't have minded Newt or Hastert going around "doing diplomacy". I wanted to strangle the ugly toad. She's a female Dhimmi Carter.
Grabbed this from Drudge before it gets moved! Link may need updating eventually.
Today, GOP Leaders from both chambers urged Speaker Pelosi to call the House back into session immediately to finish its work on the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations bill for the troops. Speaker Pelosi neglected to appoint House conferees before the two-week break, further delaying negotiations on a final bill. The joint letter to Pelosi is attached. Text follows:
Dear Speaker Pelosi:
We are writing to urge you to call the House back into session immediately so that Congress can finish its work on the emergency legislation to fund the Global War on Terrorism. This funding request has been pending since February 5, but your leadership team chose to leave town for more than two weeks rather than completing this bill. As a result, our troops have been put at risk but you knew that.
We are especially troubled by the House's [read: your]
failure to appoint conferees. The Senate appointed conferees on March 29, moments after passing its bill, but the House never did so despite passing the bill a week earlier. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told the Senate that he hoped the House-Senate conference would begin on March 30. That hoped-for progress has been thwarted by your intentional
failure to act at the troops' expense.
It should go without saying that our military leaders are in the best position to know the needs of our troops and not you,
and they have left no doubt that this funding is needed urgently. General Peter Schoomaker, United States Army Chief of Staff, has written that, "without approval of the supplemental funds in April, we will be forced to take increasingly draconian measures which will impact Army readiness and impose hardships on our Soldiers and their families a thought you seem to relish."
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has also emphasized the dangers of delay: "This kind of disruption to key programs will have a genuinely adverse effect on the readiness of the Army and the quality of life for soldiers and their families who vote and have friends that vote."
Our troops need this funding, and they need it soon. The Senate is in session and ready to work unlike you.
We respectfully [not!]
request that you cancel the remainder of your tantrum/vacation/shopping spree
break, call the House back into session, appoint conferees promptly, and work in good faith [i.e.: do your job]
to pass a clean supplemental funding bill that the President can sign as soon as possible. Every day we don't fund our troops is a day their ability to fight this war is weakened and your true colors are exposed at the expense of the children.
Biatch. And just what are you going to do about it. Neener neener.
#1
FOX > DICK MORRIS > Morris claims to had recently spoken wid a pro-Democrat lawmaker/
personage whom says that the Dems will not give Dubya anything until they are assured victory in 2008 for the White House. IOW, THE DEMS WANT THE WH IN 2008 AND WILL FILIBUSTER ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING, AND OF COURSE NUTHIN', TO WIN. MORRIS' SCOPE > VICTORY IN IRAQ-ME + WOT IS SECOND FIDDLE TO WINNING 2008.
Posted by: Bobby ||
04/10/2007 7:22 Comments ||
Top||
#3
can finish its work on the emergency legislation to fund the Global War on Terrorism.
heh - using the banned phrase to poke the bitch. Gotta like that
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/10/2007 8:34 Comments ||
Top||
#4
Do not advocate murder on this website....
Posted by: Mac ||
04/10/2007 10:14 Comments ||
Top||
#5
huh?
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/10/2007 11:11 Comments ||
Top||
#6
That's what I've been telling you, Joe. They don't give a rat's ass about the troops or the war. All they know is they hate George Bush and they want the White House. Watch, they'll hold up funding and then the MSM will start crying about how the military families are suffering because of the administration's failures. It's all about spin and power and blind ambition. They don't care if Iraq is divided between AQ and the Mad Mullahs. They don't care if the Mad Mullahs get the bomb. They don't care if the Mad Mullahs initiate a nuclear exchange with Israel even if the fallout reaches around the world and poisons the US. That's how immoral and irresponsible they are.
#8
Personally, I believe every Democrat currently serving in the House of Representatives or the Senate should be flushed, and barred from holding ANY political office for the rest of their lives. Their behavior is totally partaisan, and in direct conflict with their sworn oath to support the Constitution, or conduct their business in accordance with the directives in the Constitution. They are not "patriots", they are political hacks who think nothing of this nation, only about their own political power. They need to be considered what they are - traitors to This nation and its people.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/10/2007 17:10 Comments ||
Top||
#9
The Republicans can be just as bad. You remember how they withheld funding from the Haiti operation, and Speaker Newt went to Serbia to the acclaim of the nationalists there, and Bob Michael attacked Carter's attack on, um, OK scratch that one.
The Navy will send three aircraft carriers to waters off Guam for large-scale exercises late this summer, the outgoing U.S. Pacific Fleet commander said. The Valiant Shield war games will resemble exercises held near the U.S. territory last June. Those brought together some 28 ships, 280 airplanes and 22,000 troops.
Adm. Gary Roughead, announcing the exercises in an interview with The Associated Press on Monday, said the Navy learned a great deal from last year's large-scale exercises and wanted to hold similar drills again to improve on some of the tactics used. "It was very important I think to take that information and while everything was still fresh to say let's go ahead and do things again," Roughead said.
The war games will only involve U.S. troops but will include forces from different services. The Marine Corps and Air Force participated in last year's drills. Last year's exercises -- the first Valiant Shield -- were the largest the United States has had in the Pacific since the Vietnam War.
The war games underscore the Navy boosted presence in the Pacific. The Navy is moving forward with plans to base a majority of its attack submarines in the ocean by 2010. It also intends to have six of its 11 aircraft carriers in the Pacific. Just last month, the Navy announced plans to base the USS Carl Vinson in San Diego after it undergoes maintenance in Virginia. The Vinson's move to California would bring to six the number of Pacific-based carriers.
Roughead, who is due to leave Hawaii next month to become the U.S. Fleet Forces commander in Norfolk, Virginia, included last year's Valiant Shield exercises among the highlights of his accomplishments at the Pacific Fleet. He also cited the fleet's use of its ballistic missile tracking systems to track North Korea's launch of missiles last July and humanitarian work with the USNS Mercy as accomplishments.
But Roughead said the sailors deserved the praise. "It really had been great being out here and being able to watch the men and women of our Navy go do so many things and to do it really well," Roughead said. "The credit goes to the sailors who are out there making it happen."
At Fleet Forces Command, Roughead will be responsible for planning how the Navy trains and equips its sailors in upcoming years. He will also direct Navy ships in the Atlantic, reporting to the U.S. Northern Command. President Bush has nominated the current vice chief of naval operations, Navy Adm. Robert F. Willard, to succeed Roughead.
Philippine Sea (April 7, 2007) - Sunjay Sbradhen, a member of an Indian Navy visit, board, search and seizure (VBSS) team holds a position on the bridge of USS Mustin (DDG 89) during a VBSS drill. The drill is part of Exercise Malabar 07-01, a U.S.-Indian Navy bilateral exercise off the coast of Okinawa.
Indian Navy guided-missile destroyer INS Mysore (D 60) (foreground) and Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Fitzgerald (DDG 62) steam in formation as part of Exercise Malabar 07-01. The bilateral U.S.-Indian Navy training exercise is being held off the coast of Okinawa to increase interoperability between the Indian and U.S. Navies while enhancing the cooperative security relationship between the two countries. Nearly a dozen Indian and U.S. ships and various aircraft are participating
Posted by: John Frum ||
04/10/2007 21:00 Comments ||
Top||
#5
American and Indian Navy ships steam in formation as part of Exercise Malabar 07-01. The bilateral U.S.-Indian Navy training exercise is being held off the coast of Okinawa to increase interoperability between the Indian and U.S. Navies while enhancing the cooperative security relationship between the two countries. Nearly a dozen Indian and U.S. ships and various aircraft are participating. Pictured are, from left to right, USS Stethem (DDG 63), INS Ranjit (D 53), INS Kuthar (P 46), INS Mysore (D 60), USS Mustin (DDG 89), USS John S. McCain (DDG 56), INS Rana (D 52) and USS Curtis Wilbur (DDG 54)
Posted by: John Frum ||
04/10/2007 21:03 Comments ||
Top||
#6
that's gotta pucker some Chinese and Pak sphincters
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/10/2007 21:20 Comments ||
Top||
The producer of a tax-financed documentary on Islamic extremism claims his film has been dropped for political reasons from a television series that airs next week on more than 300 PBS stations nationwide.
Key portions of the documentary focus on Dr. M. Zuhdi Jasser of Phoenix and his American Islamic Forum for Democracy, a non-profit organization of Muslim Americans who advocate patriotism, constitutional democracy and a separation of church and state.
Martyn Burke says that the Public Broadcasting Service and project managers at station WETA in Washington, D.C., excluded his documentary, Islam vs. Islamists, from the series America at a Crossroads after he refused to fire two co-producers affiliated with a conservative think tank. "I was ordered to fire my two partners (who brought me into this project) on political grounds," Burke said in a complaint letter to PBS and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which supplied funds for the films. Burke wrote that his documentary depicts the plight of moderate Muslims who are silenced by Islamic extremists, adding, "Now it appears to be PBS and CPB who are silencing them."
A Jan. 30 news release by the corporation listed Islam vs. Islamists as one of eight films to be presented in the opening series. Mary Stewart, vice president of external affairs at WETA, said Burke's documentary was not completed on time to be among 11 documentaries that will be aired beginning Sunday. Stewart said the picture may be broadcast by PBS at a later date. "The film is a strong film," Stewart said. "I'm still hoping to see this in the Crossroads initiative."
#1
sounds like the funding needs to be pulled or vetoed for CPB
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/10/2007 8:37 Comments ||
Top||
#2
A WETA manager pressed to eliminate a key perspective of the film: The claim that Muslim radicals are pushing to establish "parallel societies" in America and Europe governed by Shariah law rather than sectarian courts.
Oh my gosh! You mean this is happening here? Now? Surely islam would not be trying to do this?
#5
A WETA manager pressed to eliminate a key perspective of the film: The claim that Muslim radicals are pushing to establish "parallel societies" in America and Europe governed by Shariah law rather than sectarian courts.
More of the old, "Extremists abusing the religion of Islam" instead of plain old "terrorists" bullshit. Reality doesn't go away just because you close your eyes. Fricking morons! The Anti-CAIR lawsuit made it patently clear that Muslims seek to overthrow America's constitution.
... she had spoken with Nation of Islam representatives and "invited them over to view this section." She also wrote that they were outraged "and will promptly pursue litigation."
If Nation of Islam is "outraged", then you know you're doing something right.
Saddest of all is how Dr. Jasser's honest efforts at reforming Islam (I refuse to call him a "moderate", he is a reformist), will not get more publicity. America desperately needs to understand his message so that they can develop a standard of acceptability, and more importantly, realize just how unacceptable Islamists are in this country.
US oil services giant Halliburton said Monday it had wrapped up its survey teams work commitments in Iran and was no longer conducting any GPS mapping projects in the Islamic republic.
Cue Dick Cheney's evil unearthly cackle...
Halliburton announced in January of 2005 that it was shutting-down its Iran operations, but would honor existing "contractual commitments" until they were fulfilled. Its activities in Iran were managed by non-US staffers. "Halliburton announced today that all of its contractual commitments in Iran have been completed and the company is no longer working in Iran," the firm said in a brief statement.
"But we know where you live. We're lookin' at YOU, Mahmoud."
The company added that its "prior business" in Iran was "clearly permissible under applicable laws and regulations." Halliburton was involved in at least one contract to drill for gas in Iran in 2005 although the contract was subsequently cancelled by Iran's government. It had won the contract even though a US law, dating to 1996, threatens sanctions on US and foreign groups that invest over 40 million dollars in Iran's energy sector. Halliburton carried out between 30 and 40 million dollars worth of oilfield service work in Iran, according to the firm, which has said its operations in the country were "miniscule." The company might be pulling out of Iran, which has troubled political relations with the United States, but it is boosting its footprint elsewhere in the region. Halliburton said last month that it was relocating to the United Arab Emirates to capitalize on the Gulf region's booming energy market.
#1
Halliburton, it's the new Bechtel. We can only hope (for all you gen-x,y,z'ers out there, Bechtel was long accused of being a conduit for the CIA). I wonder if they were doing any "business" in the vicinity of Natanz or Bushehr?
#5
If I'm reading this correctly Halliburton is saying they are in the best position to rebuild the Iranian oil infrastructure after the regime change.
#6
Now we know why last Friday wasn't D-Day as promised by Russia. But now that the last Haliburtonite is on the plane outbound, the Russian's bleating may not be so far off the mark......
#7
Yeah, what did happen to the Idiot in the Well,™ #6?
I was kinda disappointed (or would have been if I'd bothered thinking about it).
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
04/10/2007 16:14 Comments ||
Top||
#8
Now we know why last Friday wasn't D-Day as promised by Russia. But now that the last Haliburtonite is on the plane outbound, the Russian's bleating may not be so far off the mark.
USN, I certainly hope so! I hope GWB has a high-ranking staffer reading this blog (among others) every day...
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/10/2007 18:20 Comments ||
Top||
Islamabad, 10 April (AKI/Asian Age) - An unofficial Taliban styled Sharia (Islamic) court in the heart of the Pakistani capital Islamabad has issued a fatwa (religious decree) against the federal minister for tourism Nilofar Bakhtiar for hugging a French man at a tourist resort in Normandy (France). Last week, after completing a successful para-jump from an aircraft, the minister joyfully hugged her French partner. Bakhtiar toured France on the invitation of Alpine Club and visited a number of resorts in a bid to attract tourists for Pakistan. Bakhtiar said that the reports of her hugging a French man had been misrepresented.
The minister had carried out the jump to raise funds for earthquake victims in Pakistan-administered-Kashmir.
In its first fatwa since being established in Lal Masjid (Red Mosque) last Friday, the Sharia court condemned what it called an un-Islamic act of Bakhtiar with the French man "during her para-jump adventure in France".
Continued on Page 49
#3
The smart thing for this gal to do would be to apply to the Phrench for asylum and never go back to Pakistan. (Yeah, I know, it's France. But it's gotta be better than Pakiwakiland.)
But wait a minute, she's the federal minister for tourism? How big of a tourist industry does Pakistan have?
Federal Education Minister Javed Ashraf Qazi said on Monday the Capital Development Authority (CDA), the Islamabad administration and other departments concerned were responsible for the present madrassa crisis.
Talking to reporters at the National University of Modern Languages, Qazi said the Education Ministry had made repeated requests to the CDA, the Islamabad administration and other departments to get the land where the Jamia Hafsa building has been constructed vacated from the Lal Masjid administration, but no action was taken.
The minister said the illegally occupied land was owned by the National Book Foundation and Childrens Library both under the administrative control of the Education Ministry. He said that the land must be vacated before it can be handed over to the Education Ministry.
Qazi admitted that the governments policy on the registration of madrassas had yet to produce the desired results. However, he claimed that enrolment in madrassas had dropped in the last few months, but he refused to disclose the details, saying that the Religious Affairs Ministry was dealing with madrassa registrations.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/10/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
A petition was moved in the Supreme Court (SC) on Monday against Lal Masjid imam Maulana Abdul Aziz and Jamia Hafsa principal Abdul Rashid Ghazi for setting up a Qazi Court and forming a private army against the state.The petition moved by Shahid Orakzai, a freelance journalist, has been filed under Article 184(3) of the Constitution as a matter of public importance and urges the court to restrict the activities of Aziz and Ghazi. The petitioner has requested the court to issue immediate orders stopping the government from using force against the madrassas to prevent the loss of life or injury to any person.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/10/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Perv is already marshalling police to beat the hell out of the students and ransack/burn the Madrassas in question. A court order stopping that isn't going to happen.
The government has mandated Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, president of the Pakistan Muslim League (PML), to continue talks with the administration of Lal Masjid to end the tense standoff in the capital peacefully. The decision was made at a high-level meeting chaired by President Gen Pervez Musharraf. The meeting decided to allow more time for negotiations as an armed confrontation would put more pressure on the government, which is already being criticised for its handling of the judicial crisis, sources privy to the meeting told Daily Times.
Talks should be the first priority and use of force the last resort, Gen Musharraf was quoted as saying. Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao and Law Minister Wasi Zafar were of the view that given the track record of the Lal Masjid administration, it was unlikely that talks would succeed, said the sources. However, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and Shujaat opined that the government could not afford to open another front at this time in view of the judicial crisis. Let not the black coat and burqa get together, the sources quoted Shujaat as saying.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/10/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
Published in Iraqi newspapers on April 9 -- still have seen nothing of the letter from the MSM in their reporting of the fourth year anniversary. One would think, folks might be interested in what the top American in Iraqi had to say to the Iraqi people. MSM could at least acknowledge, he wrote a litter to them. Oh well, I'll just place this with the strange dream I had last night!
To the Iraqi People:
Monday, April 9, 2007 will mark the 4th anniversary of the liberation of Iraq from Saddam Hussein's regime. For many in Iraq and around the world, it will be a time for reflection on the early days after liberation in 2003 and on what has transpired since then.
As one of those who was part of the "fight to Baghdad, I remember well the hopes and dreams of the Iraqi people when coalition soldiers pulled down Saddams statue in Firdos Square in April 2003. Looking back, I recall a sense of enormous promise -- promise that, in many respects and for a variety of reasons, has yet to be fully realized. If we are honest with each other, in fact, we will acknowledge that while there have been substantial accomplishments in Iraq since 2003, the past four years have also been disappointing, frustrating, and increasingly dangerous in many parts of Iraq for those who have been involved in helping to build a new state in this ancient land.
On this April 9th, some Iraqis reportedly may demonstrate against the coalition force presence in Iraq. That is their right in the new Iraq. It would only be fair, however, to note that they will be able to exercise that right because coalition forces liberated them from a tyrannical, barbaric regime that never would have permitted such freedom of expression.
Those who take to the streets should recall, moreover, that were it not for the actions of coalition forces in 2003 (and, to be sure, actions by Iraqi, as well as coalition, forces since then), they also would not have been able to celebrate the recent religious holidays as they did in such massive numbers. Nor would they have been able to select their leaders by free and democratic elections, vote on their constitution, or take at least the initial steps toward establishment of a government that is representative of, and responsive to, all Iraqis.
It is particularly important to me that "Najafis, the citizens of Najaf, recall these facts, for in 2003 I was privileged to command the 101st Airborne Division, the unit that liberated the holy city of Najaf and its sister city, Kufa. The battle of Najaf was, in fact, our first significant combat action in Iraq. Following its conclusion, we went on to defeat the elements of Saddam's army and the Saddam Fedayeen that fought us in Kifl, Karbala, and Al Hillah, before securing and stabilizing southern Baghdad, Haditha, and, eventually, Mosul and Ninevah Province. Our soldiers sacrificed greatly to give the Najafis and millions of other Iraqis the freedoms, however imperfect they may be, that they enjoy today.
While the establishment of the new Iraq has included a number of noteworthy achievements, it has also had its share of setbacks. Indeed, the coalition's efforts have not been without mistakes. I acknowledged a number of them during my appearance before the Senate Armed Services Committee in January.
I would add, however, that the coalition has, at the least, consistently sought to learn from its mistakes. And, when those mistakes have involved unacceptable conduct, coalition authorities have taken administrative and legal action against those responsible. The coalition has, despite its occasional missteps, worked hard to serve all Iraqis and to bolster those who support a new Iraq founded on the principles now enshrined in the Iraqi Constitution.
Iraq, four years after liberation, faces serious challenges. The sectarian violence that escalated after the Samarra mosque bombing in 2006 was an enormous setback. Indeed, it tore the very fabric of Iraqi society. The damage done is still readily apparent in various neighborhoods of Baghdad and in many areas outside the capital.
Now Iraqi and coalition security forces are engaged in a renewed effort to improve security for the Iraqi people and to provide Iraq's leaders an opportunity to come to grips with the tough issues that must be dealt with to help foster reconciliation among the people of Iraq and to enable achievement of conditions that permit the withdrawal of coalition forces.
As the commander of the coalition forces in Iraq, and having given some 2-1/2 years of my life to this endeavor, I would like to take this opportunity to call for support of the new security plan. I ask all Iraqis to reject violence and the foreigners who fuel it with their money, arms, ammunition, training, and misguided young men. Beyond that, I ask, as well, for all Iraqis to notify Iraqi or coalition forces when those who would perpetrate violence on their fellow citizens or security forces enter their neighborhoods.
Coalition soldiers liberated Iraq from Saddam's "Republic of Fear." Now Iraqis must reject those who seek to drive wedges between people who have, in the past, lived in harmony in the Land of the Two Rivers. This is a time for Iraqis to demonstrate to the world their innate goodness, their desire to respect those of other sects and ethnic groups, and their wish to stitch back together the fabric of Iraqi society. Only in this way can Iraqis make the most of the opportunity that Iraqi and coalition security forces are striving to give them. And only in this way can the dreams of those who live in a country so rich in blessings and promise be fully realized.
With respect,
David H. Petraeus, General, United States Army, Commander Multi-National Force-Iraq
#3
I don't know how it reads in Arabic but I think it is worded poorly. It has no clear message and sounds rambling. It's wordy, jumps around, and is not formatted to emphasize points of action.
WASHINGTON - Fifteen years after earning a broadcasting degree in Nebraska, Susan Phalen has helped bring a ray of hope to war-ravaged Iraq.
One midnight in early March, Phalen and her colleagues helped four Iraqis restart a Saddam-era radio station by using jumper cables and a 12-volt battery to zap the transmitter back to life.
The jolt created what Phalen believes is the only independent broadcasting network in Iraq, where the government and political groups typically run media outlets. "It was a very fulfilling moment," Phalen said by telephone from Baghdad. "It was 'boom!' and we had talk radio all over Iraq."
Phalen, who wears a military helmet and body armor whenever she's outdoors in Baghdad, does battle on a different frontline in Iraq. She is a public affairs specialist for the State Department, which helped set up the broadcasting network. The State Department provided some technical training, Phalen says, but has taken a hands-off approach on running the network.
The Independent Radio and Television Network in the Diyala province fit the mission of Phalen's group, known as the Global Outreach team. One of the team's roles is assisting American and international journalists who are on the ground covering Iraq and the war.
The network is run by two Sunnis and two Shiites who, at great risk, are urging Iraqis to come together rather than fight one another. "My hope for IRTN is to make it the voice for my people in Iraq, the voice of freedom, peace and progress for Iraq," Samir, one of the station's leaders, said via e-mail.
OVER THE ATLANTIC OCEAN (AP) - The long U.S. effort to stabilize western Iraq, a hotbed of the Sunni Arab insurgency, has reached a turning point with new prospects for success, the top Marine general said Monday. "I think, in that area, we have turned the corner," Gen. James T. Conway, commandant of the Marine Corps, said in an Associated Press interview as he flew back to Washington after four days in Iraq.
His assessment of Anbar province marks a sharp departure from the view that prevailed for much of the past four years, a time of deadly battles with the Sunni insurgency and of local alienation from the Shiite-dominated national government in Baghdad.
As recently as last fall, the top Marine intelligence officer in Anbar reported dim prospects for securing the province and little likelihood of the U.S. military persuading the Sunnis - who lost national power when Saddam Hussein fell - to quit the insurgency.
Conway also said in the in-flight interview that the Marine Corps is studying how it could sustain into 2008 the higher troops levels that President Bush ordered in January. He said it was likely that five Marine Reserve infantry battalions that already have served in Iraq would be remobilized and sent again. Of about 35,000 U.S. troops in Anbar, about 25,000 are Marines.
On his visit Conway was told by numerous American commanders throughout Anbar that the tide had shifted against the extremist group al-Qaida in Iraq when Sunni tribal sheiks who previously opposed U.S. forces decided to start cooperating instead.
Some commanders said the extremists' key misstep was to interfere with the locals' black market trading, which al-Qaida co-opted in order to finance itself. Anbar stretches west from Baghdad to the borders with Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. The new cooperation has enabled U.S. forces in recent months to clear extremist elements from even the most violent areas, including Ramadi, and to put more Iraqi forces on the streets, Conway was told. Cooperation by the sheiks also has quickly created a Sunni police force in areas where none existed before.
Conway, dressed in his desert flight suit, noted that Defense Secretary Robert Gates has cautioned against "happy talk" about short-term improvements in Iraq that might not be sustained. "I was guardedly optimistic in December," before Bush ordered an extra 21,500 American combat troops to Iraq, including 4,000 Marines to Anbar province, Conway said. Four months later he said he sees a decisively improved situation in Anbar, adding, "That's not too optimistic or too much 'happy talk.'"
Conway noted that if Anbar is getting better, that does not necessarily translate to success in Baghdad, where the situation is more complicated with sectarian violence that does not exist in Sunni-dominated Anbar.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/10/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
So Powell Doctrine would have worked just fine, eh?
Tens of thousands of Iraqis staged a peaceful rally in the southern city of Najaf on Monday to demand the withdrawal of US forces, four years to the day after Baghdad fell to invading American troops. In another development, military officials said Monday that more than 60 Shiite militants have been killed or captured in deadly battles that started on Friday with Iraqi and US forces in the central city of Diwaniyya.
Here's an estimate saying that 3 million people were on the road to Najaf. They were about 2.96 million short.
Responding to a call by Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, marchers waved red, white and black Iraqi flags and choked the 7-kilometer road between Najaf and neighboring Kufa and clogged streets leading to Sadrein Square, the main rallying point. Many had come from Baghdad and Shiite areas in the south.
Mookie himself was a no-show.
Some Sunni religious groups also joined the rally. The streets of the Iraqi capital itself were largely empty after authorities clamped a 24-hour ban on vehicles to prevent insurgent attacks, especially car bombings.
Gordon Johndroe, spokesman for the White House National Security Council, told reporters traveling with President George W. Bush to Arizona: "I note today that Sadr called for massive protests. I'm not sure that we've seen ... the numbers that he was seeking. But Iraq, four years on, is now a place where people can freely gather and express their opinions, and that was something they could not do under Saddam. And while we have much more progress ahead of us - the United States, the coalition and Iraqis have much more to do - this is a country that has come a long way from the tyranny of Saddam Hussein."
Think any of the Dhimmicrats will remember what happened to people who organized protests against Saddam?
Johndroe complained that Sadr's Mehdi Army militia was "operating outside the rule of law in Iraq" and that such groups "will be dealt with."
In Diwaniyya, US commander Colonel Michael Garrett said the fighters killed or captured in the clashes appeared to be from the Mehdi Army. "I don't know enough to know if this is a splinter group or how committed they are to Jaish al-Mehdi," he said. "But it doesn't necessarily appear to be a splinter group. It appears to be an organized resistance."
This article starring:
Jaish al-Mehdi
Posted by: Fred ||
04/10/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
tens of thousands, huh? There are more than that just hanging around in Najaf... bet they paid these idiots off with food or money. Iranian stooges. Meanwhile Mooky's fat ass is hiding in Iran. Pussy
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/10/2007 7:22 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Watching this horde quick-stepping their way through town all I could imagine was a succession of daisy cutters putting a serious dent in the violent idiot problem.
Four National Guard units are being prepared for possible deployment to Iraq. The specific units are the Army National Guard's 39th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, based in Little Rock, Ark.; the 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Oklahoma City; the 76th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Indianapolis, and the 37th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Columbus, Ohio. That makes up some 13-thousand troops. Several thousand of them have already done one tour in Iraq.
The Pentagon says the units will serve as replacement forces in the regular troop rotation for the war, and will not be connected to the recent military buildup for security operations in Baghdad. One unit will deploy in December and the others in 2008.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/10/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
Do it fa da family...or else.
Gaza - Ma'an The Hamas movement in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis called on clashing families to practice restraint and stop pursuing retaliation and revenge. Yeah. Leave that to us, the professionals...
The movement affirmed that the frequent bloodshed threatens Palestinian social unity. ...and, if it keeps up, pretty soon the whole country will walk with a limp.
In a statement which Ma'an received, Hamas called upon the interior minister to take the necessary measures to impose law and order. ...OR WE'LL KILL YOU!
They also called on the rivals to not launch assaults on hospitals. Yeah, cuz that's, like,....a bad thing...
Jemaah Islamiah, the al-Qa'ida-linked extremist group blamed for the Bali bombings, has reportedly formed a new military wing in Indonesia with about 100 trained operatives. According to a report in Indonesia's Tempo magazine, the wing, called the Sariyah or military company, has held training exercises to teach its operatives bomb-making and firearm assembly skills. The wing is headed by the suspected leader of JI, Abu Dujana, who was forced to restructure the group after anti-terrorism police arrested several of his commanders late last year.
The commanders were arrested by Indonesia's US-trained Detachment 88, which has led a series of raids against JI, blamed for the 2002 and 2005 Bali bombings. On Saturday, The Weekend Australian revealed the fears of counter-terrorism experts that JI remained an extraordinarily resilient and lethal terrorist organisation despite the string of recent arrests. They agree there is a need to reassess the thinking about JI's leadership and direction in the wake of last month's arrest of eight suspects on Java and the seizure of nearly 800kg of explosives. "I think you have to assume the organisation may have shrunk less than we thought in the past couple of years," said Sidney Jones, a leading expert on JI.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/10/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
Western diplomats and private-sector analysts strongly doubt Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's claim today that his country is producing nuclear fuel on an industrial scale, and believe his announcement saying as much was designed purely for domestic political reasons, sources tell FOX News.
Foreign and domestic sources tell Fox News that Iran has installed at most 1,320 centrifuges, probably fewer, and the country has not yet even mastered the enrichment process with its first "cascade" of centrifuges its first set of 164 centrifuges. One source repeated a widely reported fact that Iran has installed two above-ground pilot cascades of 328 centrifuges. The source added that Iran has built another six or seven cascades below ground, which could be an additional 1,148 centrifuges.
But the hardest part of mastering the nuclear fuel process for peaceful purposes or otherwise is getting first cascade to work properly, and for months at a time. With a functioning cascade, it is easier to replicate the process. Sources tell Fox News Iran's pilot cascade operates "haphazardly," and mostly "dry" or "on vacuum" without the introduction of the uranium gas. Sources say that by building multiple cascades without necessarily building one that has succeeded in the enrichment process is how the country can make announcements like today's that might have a strong domestic political effect but do not mean the program is moving along as fast as it might seem.
Article runs long; more at link...
The visit to the Middle East, and to Syria in particular, by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has provoked mixed reactions in the Arab world. Some wrote that Pelosi's visit challenged the foreign policy of the Bush administration, and that it had improved the U.S.'s image in the Arab and Muslim world. Others took a more skeptical approach, denying that the visit had made any major change. Still others were highly critical, and accused Pelosi of damaging the cause of democracy in Syria.
#3
As much as I can't stand her and her diplomatic mission, she did show either guts or more stupidity about asking the Saudis where the women politicians were. I would think the Muslim women are still pondering the thought and the males still stunned at her audacity.
Moscow has no intention of vetoing a UN Security Council decision to form an international tribunal to try suspects in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, a Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Monday. Mikhail Kaminen told Hayat-LBC that Russia believes an intra-Lebanese agreement on the tribunal can still be reached.
A non-functioning Parliament and a lull in intra-Lebanese dialogue has left several pressing questions for Lebanon in the hands of the UN Security Council, from alleged weapons smuggling across the border with Syria to the international tribunal. Kaminen said Moscow has been studying the draft of the tribunal "for a while," and was considering whether to refer it to the Security Council. "We are of the position that the tribunal should not be politicized. It must adopt professional standards and take into consideration the interests of all parties concerned," he explained.
The comments by Kaminen follow a warning last week from Deputy Russian Foreign Minister Alexander Saltanov that divisions inside Lebanon could worsen if the tribunal were set up too quickly. "We take a cautious view of this idea since the question is very acute," Saltanov said on Friday. "Careless steps now can only lead to a worsening of the tension and could lead to a serious, and maybe even dangerous, ethnic split."
The possibility that rival Lebanese parties will reach a deal on the tribunal should not be discounted, Saltanov added. If it so decides, the Security Council could invoke extraordinary powers to establish the tribunal under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, and thereby bypass the need for agreement in Lebanon on the court.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/10/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
Politicians from the ruling coalition on Monday responded to accusations from Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah of "scheming" and "taking orders from the United States." Nasrallah said in a lengthy speech on Sunday that a national dialogue had failed and Hizbullah had "given up" on its demand for 11 ministers in a proposed 30-member national unity government. MP Walid Jumblatt, a senior member of the ruling coalition, responded on Monday, describing Nasrallah as "the president of the republic of Hizbullah."
"Enough lies about the government, as the real problem is with UN Security Resolution 1701 and the seven-point plan and the deployment of the Lebanese Army in the South ... and the international peacekeepers," Jumblatt told Kuwaiti daily Al-Anbaa. "All these things prevent the Syrian and Iranian regimes from holding military exercises in the South."
Addressing a description of Lebanon as a "weak" state, Jumblatt said the "presence of [Hizbullah's] arms is one of the main reasons the state hasn't been able to become strong."
"When you become a strong state, then come and talk to us about us becoming a state within a state," Nasrallah had said.
The Druze leader said Nasrallah was "covering up" for his Syrian and Iranian allies by criticizing the draft of an international tribunal to try those accused of the murder of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Jumblatt said he was "very surprised" that Nasrallah has made a "strange defense of the four generals" suspected in involvement of the Hariri assassination and other crimes. "Did Nasrallah forget that he was part of this government that he criticizes so strongly, and did he forget he was part of the agreement for the cease-fire and the seven-point plan?" he asked.
Jumblatt said a referendum to decide the way forward proposed by Nasrallah was "against the democracy of consensus that prevails in Lebanon." He also again accused Hizbullah of smuggling weapons from Syria, and questioned the presence of "a large number" of Syrian workers in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Aley and Choueifat, where "there isn't much construction going on." In comments made over the weekend, Jumblatt accused Hizbullah of erecting "a state within a state," and urged the Lebanese Army to control tunnels allegedly used to smuggle weapons into Lebanon from Syria.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/10/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
It'll horn my swoggle if Jumblatt's still consuming oxygen by the time a verdict is reached in the Hariri case.
HEZBOLLAH leader Hassan Nasrallah yesterday ruled out civil war as an option in resolving Lebanon's five-month old political deadlock, calling instead for a referendum or early elections as the only ways out. Nasrallah also rejected demands that Hezbollah disarm, saying it would not do so until the Lebanese army was strong enough to defend the country on its own against Israel.
Nasrallah said efforts to negotiate an agreement between the Government, headed by Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, and the opposition forces he himself leads had failed. The opposition had been seeking 11 seats in the 30-member cabinet, which in effect would give it veto power on major decisions. "The dialogue is deadlocked," said Nasrallah at a ceremony in South Beirut marking the graduation of 1700 Hezbollah supporters from Lebanese universities. "What do we do? We don't want a civil war. If the (choice is that) the stalemate continues for a while or we go to civil war, then let the stalemate continue."
Nasrallah's comments mark a strikingly more moderate tone to those he made at the outbreak of the crisis when civil war appeared to be a distinct possibility. Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, a fierce opponent of Nasrallah, said over the weekend that Hezbollah was attempting to set up "a state within a state run by Iran and the Syrian regime".
Alluding to Hezbollah strongholds, Mr Jumblatt said there were territories inside Lebanon to which the Lebanese army is denied access. In reply, Nasrallah said the Government was controlled by the US. "They don't want a national army, they want a sectarian one they can manipulate." Hezbollah would keep its weapons, he said, until a powerful national army capable of defending Lebanon was formed.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/10/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
elections - where Nasrallah and his Iranian puppets are able to intimidate the rest of Lebanon. If he wins, he's happy. If he loses, he'll claim they were cheated. He needs a .50 caliber headache
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/10/2007 7:15 Comments ||
Top||
#2
OK, I call for Nasrallah's arrest and deportation to Israel to stand trial for War Crimes. So there!
THE female British sailor captured and held by Iran for 13 days has told how she was stripped to her underpants by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and threatened she might never see her three-year-old daughter again. After the British Defence Ministry relaxed its ban at the weekend on the service personnel striking financial deals with the media, Faye Turney, 26, told The Sun her interrogators taunted her with threats to her life. She told the paper that at one point she feared Iranian workers were "making my coffin" after she heard "the noise of wood sawing and nails being hammered near my cell ... then a woman came into my cell to measure me up from head to toe with a tape".
Posted by: Fred ||
04/10/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
At least they didn't put mens underwear on her head.
Posted by: Bobby ||
04/10/2007 6:02 Comments ||
Top||
#2
We'll have a permanent record of the Abu Ghrab whiners who now are so silent with the internet archives. It'll make assembling the 'proscribed' list that much easier when the time comes.
#3
Oh, please. Ms. Turney needs to read about some of the REAL torture, including beatings and mock executions that other prisoners of war endured before signing "confessions".
IMHO, the CO of the Cornwall, the Marine captain and Navy Lieutenant should be courtmartialed.
#5
Melanie Phillips has a good column on this sorry episode, Britain on its Knees, in which she decries the "Diana-fication" of Great Britain.
"And across the Atlantic, the Americans whose own conduct over the years towards Iran has hardly been a model of resolve have had their illusions about Tony Blair, along with their quasi-mythological belief in the British stiff upper lip, naval prowess, military derring-do and all the rest of it, shredded now in the most brutal fashion. The damage that has been done to Britains reputation in US circles is incalculable."
Faye Turney is just making it worse.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
04/10/2007 12:38 Comments ||
Top||
#6
How did the British fall so far so fast? Royal Marines (the elite) were taken hostage while under the protection (sic) of a Warship that failed to lend ANY assistance. After said Marines were taken hostage (without firing a shot) they disgraced themselves by giving statements against their country. We find out after their repatriation that the WORST treatment they endured was being strip to their skivvies and being isolated? The absolute worst part is that somehow these 15 are turned into some sort of Heroes because they endured some mild discomfort? God save the British, but I would not count on the RMs.
tip to jihadwatch
Scroll to the bottom and look at the column on the left
# Atlas Shrugs
# BNP and Me
# Cox and Forkum
# Daniel Pipes
# Gates of Vienna
# Infidels are Cool
# Islamanazi
# Jawa Report
# Jihad Watch
# Jon Quixote
# Little Green Footballs
# Michelle Malkin
# MNN
# No Burqua
# North american patriot
# Will to Exist
Dammit people, we didn't make the list. You're not trying hard enough!
Note what they say here
Possible fatwaworthy sites in the Bloggersphere are many due to the array of sites that contain writings that slander Islam, therefore when I come accross particularly Islamophobic sites I bookmark them under Fatwaworthy? Some will be well written while others will be an illogical mess, however, the common denominator between them is that they exist in part or full to spread Islamophobic opinions. Brothers and Sisters, please fell free to suggest additions to the list.
Some may ask What is a Fatwa?, while others may wonder what had made them worthy as with those deviants whom have recently linked to me in this respect. A fatwa is an Islamic religious ruling, a scholarly opinion on a matter of Islamic law. Therefore, when the Shariah again rules the world (inshAllah) the importance may be placed on a fatwa requiring acceptance that Islamophobic sites be peacefully shut down and no longer be permitted to exist. Untill this occurs it may be considered our duty to list such sites and even write/contact websites, media outlets and relevant officials in order to campaign for such sites be closed.
It is with sympathy I report that the Islamic news site Al-Jazeerah has been frozen due to a campaign against it which is suggested as being started by a person of an Islamophobic site which boasts its own list of friends under "fatwaworthy". This is what we are up against! As MPACUK today states;
"Let us all come back together, uniting under the one banner. The banner of brotherhood. Let us stand united. It is never too late. One voice. One nation. One common goal. Remember brothers and sisters United we stand, divided we fall."
In 1989, "fatwa" became an often mentioned term around the world, following Ayatollah Khomeini fatwa issued on Salman Rushdie for his novel, "Satanic Verses". Containing a death penalty, fatwa has erroneously come to be understood as nothing but a death penalty. The fatwa reads:
"The author of The Satanic Verses, a text written, edited, and published against Islam, against the Prophet of Islam, and against the Koran, along with all the editors and publishers aware of its contents, are condemned to capital punishment. I call on all valiant Muslims wherever they may be in the world to execute this sentence without delay, so that no one henceforth will dare insult the sacred beliefs of the Muslims."
#1
There used to be a sad joke at the time in 1989. Someone had asked if the Fatwa could ever be lifted against Salman Rushdie; this was after Ayatollah Khomeini died. And someone responded, only if the Ayatollah comes back to life and does it himself.
It was eventually lifted in 1998 by the Iranian Government, however the Revolutionary guards stated at the time, that it was still in effect. NPR Radio Link 3/5/2003
#2
I got your fatwa right here, you muzzy sons of pigs.
Posted by: Mac ||
04/10/2007 10:29 Comments ||
Top||
#3
"The author of The Satanic Verses, a text written, edited, and published against Islam, against the Prophet of Islam, and against the Koran ..."
I'll put my trust in the Author of Matthew 24:11 .. "And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many" .. which includes the "prophet" of Islam, and those he deceives.
I don't think anyone here has the imagination to make out Islam to be worse than it really is. I sure don't.
Many years ago, I used to play and run FRPGs. One of the thing was to come up with an evil cult that the good guys could smash. Try as I might, what I invented was not as bad as what Mohammed (burn in Hell) invented.
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.
Italy's government paid a ransom of £1 million to the Taleban to free an Italian photographer taken hostage in Afghanistan, an aid group has claimed. 
Saudi Arabia's top security official has pledged to tackle extremist clerics whom he blamed for enticing young men to join Islamic militants sworn to toppling the kingdom's U.S.-allied monarchy. "Those who consider themselves to be guides or muftis have to stop doing this and return to their senses," Interior Minister Prince Naif bin Abdul-Aziz said in remarks published in newspapers on Monday. "The authorities in charge are on their back and will not leave them alone. We see in them a greater threat than that coming from those who perpetrate the acts."
U.S. delegation pressed North Korea on Monday to shut down its main nuclear reactor and allow in U.N. inspectors even as the top American negotiator said it would be difficult for a weekend deadline on the closure to be met. The American delegation said North Korea's top nuclear negotiator, Kim Kye Gwan, told them his government would allow U.N. nuclear inspectors into the country as soon as $25 million in disputed North Korean funds are released.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyep Erdogan warned Iraqi Kurds on Monday that hostility toward his country could incur a "very heavy cost" after seven separatist fighters and a Turkish soldier died in escalating clashes over the weekend in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast.
US oil services giant Halliburton said Monday it had wrapped up its 
OVER THE ATLANTIC OCEAN (AP) - The long U.S. effort to stabilize western Iraq, a hotbed of the Sunni Arab insurgency, has reached a turning point with new prospects for success, the top Marine general said Monday. "I think, in that area, we have turned the corner," Gen. James T. Conway, commandant of the Marine Corps, said in an Associated Press interview as he flew back to Washington after four days in Iraq.
Tens of thousands of Iraqis staged a peaceful rally in the southern city of Najaf on Monday to demand the withdrawal of US forces, four years to the day after Baghdad fell to invading American troops. In another development, military officials said Monday that more than 60 Shiite militants have been killed or captured in deadly battles that started on Friday with Iraqi and US forces in the central city of Diwaniyya. 
Politicians from the ruling coalition on Monday responded to accusations from Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah of "scheming" and "taking orders from the United States." Nasrallah said in a lengthy speech on Sunday that a national dialogue had failed and Hizbullah had "given up" on its demand for 11 ministers in a proposed 30-member national unity government. MP Walid Jumblatt, a senior member of the ruling coalition, responded on Monday, describing Nasrallah as "the president of the republic of Hizbullah.".JPG)
HEZBOLLAH leader Hassan Nasrallah yesterday ruled out civil war as an option in resolving Lebanon's five-month old political deadlock, calling instead for a referendum or early elections as the only ways out. Nasrallah also rejected demands that Hezbollah disarm, saying it would not do so until the Lebanese army was strong enough to defend the country on its own against Israel. 
