November, 2004. Good times...good times...
AFP lays on a nice big slurpy one.
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AFP) - Palestinians on Sunday mark three years since the death of their legendary leader Yasser Arafat, split into separate entities and never more divided since the icon of unity passed away. I figure lots and lots of "bullet wounds to the head" inflicted by "mysterious gunfire" stories in the Gaza papers on Monday in celebration of the magic day...
To mark the anniversary, a new mausoleum built over his grave at the Palestinian Authority leadership compound in Ramallah, together with a mosque and museum complex will be inaugurated on Saturday. ...as will the "Yasser Arafat Memorial Cesspool" in Gaza.
On the anniversary itself, Abbas will deliver a speech to thousands at an official remembrance ceremony at the Muqtada leadership compound. No! I don't know where all the money went! Ask that fat bitch he was "married" to...
The Arafat Foundation, set up to preserve the Nobel peace laureate's legacy that Israel and the United States came to regard as an obstacle to peace, has supervised the building of the memorial complex. It is chaired by Nasser al-Qidwa, Arafat's nephew and the former Palestinian representative to the United Nations."The interest aroused in the current domestic political context by this project stems from the fact that Arafat was always a symbol of Palestinian unity," Qidwa told AFP. ...and will always keep me in this lameass job until I die. Thanks, Uncle Yaz. I'll keep your scam going even in death...
Even Hamas, which routed the security services dominated by the Fatah party founded by Arafat and which vilifies Abbas, exalts the memory of the man, whose gargantuan shoes no Palestinian has been able to fill since his death. Can you blame them? Do you know what those gargantuan shoes must smell like...
"As a figure, there is a consensus on Yasser Arafat's symbolic stature and ability to harness our national principles," Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhum said in Gaza City. Yeah? What might those be? Keep better books so you know where all the money goes next time?
"We hope the third anniversary of his passing will give national unity a new impetus. We are ready to take part in the commemorations if Fatah invites us," he added. Fawzi, my brother! A message from Abbas! It says, "Bite my crank!"
In the run-up to the annivesary, official Palestinian television has been broadcasting songs glorifying Arafat. One regrets the man "with the big heart who departed and left us alone". Awwwwwwww... somewhere, not in "Palestine", Suha Arafat drops her calculator. And weeps. But not for long...
Images of Arafat wearing his trademark black-and-white chequered keffiyeh headdress and excerpts of his speeches are relayed across the screen. Next to Che t-shirts, a big favorite of leftists everywhere...
"The anniversary of the death of president Arafat takes on a particular flavour this year because the homeland is divided in two, the West Bank and Gaza," says Imad al-Asfar, head of programming at the channel."He was the only man capable of uniting the Palestinian people," he adds. Well, then I guess you'll never be united, cuz he's fuckin dead...
The Arafat museum will exhibit his personal effects, items from his office, presents and documents, according to Qidwa. The red binder? That lame Rachel Corrie painting her parents gave him? That big pile of paperwork that never got done? I wonder if he had those big bodyguards he used to gaze at with the big eyes killed and stuffed to keep him company in the afterlife?
A passage links the complex to the office where Arafat was holed up for nearly the last two years of his life, besieged by surrounding Israeli troops before being airlifted to hospital and dying in France aged 75. So long, Yasser. Say hello to Hitler when you get there...
Arafat's tomb, guarded round the clock by members of the presidential guard, has become an obligatory rite of passage for foreign dignitaries who come to meet Abbas at the Muqtada. I'm thinking lots of "gunshots to the feet" and "misuse of weapons"...
The precise cause of Arafat's death is still mysterious. Several Palestinian officials accused Israel of poisoning him. Medical officials have never managed to confirm the accusations. Yeah! Jooooo cooties! That's the ticket! Not that...other stuff.
#2
Palestinians to commemorate anniversary of Arafat's death
and young boys throughout the land hide for a week...
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/09/2007 18:25 Comments ||
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#3
I'm quite happy to raise a Sam Adams in celebration of the old bastard's death. It was a defining moment when he spoke at the UN with a pistol strapped to his side.
Here's to you, Yassir. May all the pain and suffering you inflicted here on earth be returned to you a thousand-fold in the afterlife.
King Mohammed VI of Morocco has denounced the official visit of the Spanish king Juan Carlos to Ceuta and Melilla in the northern coast of the Alawite Kingdom, saying "it undermines the patriotic Feelings that are firmly deep-rooted in the Moroccan people. We firmly condemn and denounce this visit," protested the Moroccan King in his message Tuesday evening to a meeting of Moroccan Ministers here.
Morocco issued a royal statement in which the monarch warned bilateral ties could be at stake. Mohammed says Spain has to bear the responsiblity of any Consequences that may threaten future links between the two countries. But he also said the best way to manage and resolve the territorial dispute would be "a responsible dialogue that guarantees our sovereignty rights and which take Spain's interests into account. The best way to settle and resolve this territorial conflict requires the virtues of an honest, frank and open dialogue on the future."
On Wednesday, Abbas El Fassi, the Moroccan prime minister, predictably compared Spain's control of the two enclaves to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. "Along with Israel, Spain is today the only nation reluctant to turn the page on occupation" of territory, he said in an interview in the daily Aujourd'hui le Maroc. "Spain must understand that its colonial era is over and for good," El Fassi said.
Moroccans demonstrated against the trip and the government last week recalled its ambassador from Spain in protest. On Monday, around 1,000 Moroccans held a demonstration against the opening day of Juan Carlos's visit at the Moroccan border post with Ceuta, with one banner reading: "King Juan Carlos, Get Out Of Morocco's Ceuta and Melilla."
#3
"Spain must understand that its colonial era is over and for good,"
OTOH, morocco can continue to colonize western sahara, because its own colonial era is flourishing, along with its own giant "apartheid wall" that dwarves anything the israelis could ever come up with with.
#4
There was a time when these mutterings would not even been heard and if heard, laughed at. We have only our traitor elites to blame for suffering through this nonsense.
Shell them until they are quiet into their cave palaces.
(Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Thursday expressed thanks to the U.S. Navy for helping Korean sailors defeat pirates off the Somali coast in late October and reaffirmed that it opposes any forms of terrorist acts. "We feel grateful to the United States for its assistance given to our crewmen," the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.
This the first time DPRK official media has reported details of the incident, in which a DPRK ship was hijacked off the Somali coast at the end of last month. The DPRK-registered cargo ship DIA HONGA DAN was hijacked by seven armed pirates disguised as guards on Oct. 29. The crew of the hijacked ship successfully seized weapons from pirates and defeated seven of them and regained control of the ship with the help of a U.S. Navy destroyer and a helicopter the next day.
"This case serves as a symbol of DPRK-U.S. cooperation in the struggle against terrorism," the KCNA said. "It is the consistent, principled stance of the DPRK government to oppose all forms of terrorism," it said, adding that "we will continue to render international cooperation in the fight against terrorism in the future".
Posted by: Fred ||
11/09/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Mebbe it's like when the Federation helped the Klingons at Kitamer.
#2
CHOSUN ILBO > NK is banning all women aged 45 and under from participating in street markets. STREET MARKETS,, i.e. FOOD, GOODS, are a threat to NK since the former are viewed as preventing women from participating/focusing in Govt- preferred-mandated "public works". NK MEN STILL BANNED FROM ENGAGING IN TRADE??? IOW, FACTORIES, OFFICES GOOD FOR WOMEN, HUNGRY FAMILIES, AND NK SOCIALISM - PRIVATE SELLING, FARMS, AND FOOD NOT GOOD???
Also in CHOSUN ILBO > ROH: "FULL DENUCLEARIZATION" IS UNREALISTIC BEFORE PEACE TALKS.
DPRK's Consistent Principled Stand to Fight against All Forms of Terrorism Reiterated
Pyongyang, November 8 (KCNA) -- The Korean Central News Agency released Thursday the following detailed report on the recent pirate attack on the DPRK-flagged trading ship "Taehongdan" in waters off Somalia:
On Oct. 29, 2007 when it was anchored at roads ready for departure after discharging cargo at Mogadishu Port, Somalia the ship came under a surprise attack by seven armed pirates disguised as guards. All the crewmen were detained at a steering room and an engine room.
The pirates demanded the crewmen pay a ransom of 15,000 U.S. dollars and navigate to the waters designated by them, opening fire to threaten them. The sailors, however, remained unperturbed under this dangerous situation created all of a sudden. They fought to beat back the pirates' attack.
They switched on an automatic warning device and waged a fierce gunfight against the pirates after seizing weapons from two terrorists who were standing guard over the engine room. As the steering room was occupied by the pirates, they sailed towards the open sea by use of steering engine for emergency operation and life boat compass, while battling on to overpower the remaining pirates.
In the meantime, upon receiving a SOS sent by the ship, an institution concerned in the DPRK officially informed the International Maritime Organization and the Piracy Reporting Centre of the IMB stationed in Malaysia of the incident and asked for help.
At the request of the above-said centre, U.S. navy's destroyer James E. Williams and a helicopter rushed to the scene and helped the DPRK sailors in fighting, threatening the pirates over walkie-talkie. As a result, at around 16:30 on Oct. 30, i.e. about 20 hours after the start of the fight, the pirates dropped arms and surrendered. The ship was completely recaptured by its sailors.
One pirate was killed and six crewmen of the DPRK were wounded in the fight. A surgeon of the U.S. destroyer provided first-aid treatment and other medical service to our wounded crewmen. Our cargo ship made a safe voyage to its destination through a regular sea route.
The pirates' recent armed attack on our trading ship was a grave terrorist act perpetrated against a peaceful ship. It is the consistent principled stand of the DPRK government to oppose all sorts of terrorism. As shown by our crewmen through their actions, it is the disposition of the Korean people to fight out any terrorist act on the spot though they are empty-handed.
We feel grateful to the United States for its assistance given to our crewmen. This case serves as a symbol of the DPRK-U.S. cooperation in the struggle against terrorism.
We will continue to render international cooperation in the fight against terrorism, in the future, too.
#8
I wonder how much of the "seized weapons from the pirates and defeated seven of them" is true and how much is propaganda.
Soviets and Chinese merchant marines were/are considered naval auxiliary. I suspect the same thing for North Korea.
Likely a significant majority (if not all) of the crew was either active military or had received military training at some point. Factor in the pirates not exactly being grade-A material...
Senator Lieberman stated, Since retaking Congress in November 2006, the top foreign policy priority of the Democratic Party has not been to expand the size of our military for the war on terror or to strengthen our democracy promotion efforts in the Middle East or to prevail in Afghanistan. It has been to pull our troops out of Iraq, to abandon the democratically-elected government there, and to hand a defeat to President Bush.
"Iraq has become the singular litmus test for Democratic candidates. No Democratic presidential primary candidate today speaks of Americas moral or strategic responsibility to stand with the Iraqi people against the totalitarian forces of radical Islam, or of the consequences of handing a victory in Iraq to al Qaeda and Iran. And if they did, their campaign would be as unsuccessful as mine was in 2006. Even as evidence has mounted that General Petraeus new counterinsurgency strategy is succeeding, Democrats have remained emotionally invested in a narrative of defeat and retreat in Iraq, reluctant to acknowledge the progress we are now achieving, or even that that progress has enabled us to begin drawing down our troops there.
Senator Lieberman also indicated, there is something profoundly wrongsomething that should trouble all of uswhen we have elected Democratic officials who seem more worried about how the Bush administration might respond to Irans murder of our troops, than about the fact that Iran is murdering our troops.
"There is likewise something profoundly wrong when we see candidates who are willing to pander to this politically paranoid, hyper-partisan sentiment in the Democratic baseeven if it sends a message of weakness and division to the Iranian regime.
#1
there is something profoundly wrongsomething that should trouble all of uswhen we have elected Democratic officials who seem more worried about how the Bush administration might respond to Irans murder of our troops, than about the fact that Iran is murdering our troops.
And that, dear Senator, is the irrationality of the liberal left. It's the same disease that afflicted the Trunks during the Clinton era. The Trunks lost focus on the mission (the country) to pursue Clinton.
#3
"And if they did, their campaign would be as unsuccessful as mine was in 2006".
WTF? He's still a Senator isn't he? I'd call that somewhat successful. In fact, since he changed parties and still won in liberal toilet like Connecticut, I'd call that pretty goddamned good.
#5
Senator Lieberman also indicated, there is something profoundly wrongsomething that should trouble all of uswhen we have elected Democratic officials who seem more worried about how the Bush administration might respond to Irans murder of our troops, than about the fact that Iran is murdering our troops.
"There is likewise something profoundly wrong when we see candidates who are willing to pander to this politically paranoid, hyper-partisan sentiment in the Democratic baseeven if it sends a message of weakness and division to the Iranian regime.
Would these be considered as "neocon" sentiments?
I hear that term thrown around by the hard Left as an all-purpose slur but if this is an example then count me as one also.
#6
lieberman has stones, and has it right 100% on this one. if more of the Demos wer like him the repubs would be in a lot more trouble than they are now...
Posted by: Abu do you love ||
11/09/2007 20:03 Comments ||
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Or at least that's the way the NYT is spinning it.
The White Houses effort to challenge Irans nuclear ambitions has been hobbled by four and a half years of failed diplomacy. Its policy regarding North Korea is a dangerous fraud. It is pursuing an improbable Palestinian-Israeli peace at the expense of its stance against proliferation in the Middle East. And that from a longtime Bush loyalist: John R. Bolton, the conservative lawyer who until less than a year ago was President Bushs proudly unwavering ambassador to the United Nations.
Mr. Bolton, long viewed by liberal critics as a villain on the Bush team, has since emerged as the administrations most outspoken critic from the right, rebuking his former boss in interviews, in op-ed articles and now in a book. For a man who rushed to Florida in 2000 to join the Bush campaigns legal fight during the disputed vote recount, the disappointment sounds personal. I didnt spend 31 days in Florida, he said, to end up where we are now.
Mr. Boltons criticisms reflect a growing unease among some conservatives that a weakened White House chastened by the war in Iraq is abandoning core principles in pursuit of a more moderate policy of negotiations.
You see this at the end of every administration, said Representative Peter Hoekstra, Republic of Michigan, who criticized the administrations talks with North Korea to dismantle its nuclear weapons program. With Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida, another staunchly conservative Republican, he recently wrote an op-ed article in The Wall Street Journal, calling on the administration to disclose information about a reported Israeli airstrike in September against a site in Syria that was suspected of being a nuclear facility that North Korea was equipping. Im going to watch very carefully what they do in North Korea, Mr. Hoekstra said in a telephone interview. Im going to watch what they do with the Israelis and the Palestinians and the Syrians.
Mr. Bushs turn to a more pragmatic policy coincided with the departure of some of the administrations most hawkish officials and the ascendancy of Condoleezza Rice as secretary of state. Now, some of the debates that once occurred behind the administrations closed doors are taking place in public. I thought the policy had been moving in the wrong direction for quite some time, Mr. Bolton said of his decision to leave when his recess appointment expired with the last Congress at the end of December. (The White House discussed keeping him on, though it was clear that the Senate would never confirm him as ambassador.)
Not only was it moving in the wrong direction, it was going to continue in the wrong direction no matter what I did, he continued during a recent interview at the American Enterprise Institute, the conservative perch to which he returned. So in the cost-benefit calculus of being in the government, I just felt that on policy terms I could do more outside the government than within.
When Mr. Bolton stepped aside, Mr. Bush called his departure a disappointment, and for an administration sensitive about criticism, it has turned out to be one. When Mr. Boltons name came up in a recent conversation, an administration official who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly recalled, the president curtly responded, Interesting guy, and changed the subject. Mr. Bushs press secretary, Dana Perino, would say only, He has a huge amount of respect for John Bolton.
#2
"Representative Peter Hoekstra, Republic of Michigan"
Is the NYT writer waxing 'hopeful' or is Mr. Myers just one of those NewYorkers that don't understand anything west of the Hudson?
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
11/09/2007 9:20 Comments ||
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#3
The White House has been dangerously soft. On just about everything except the war in Iraq, and then only just recently did he do something after the State department bollixed the whole thing up.
Can we get a real conservative leader in the White House please?
#5
We want a warmonger. ;-) All the rest is gravy. For the forseeable future, only the Republicans are supplying warmonger candidates.
And real conservatives don't win the White House. Ronald Reagan, bless him, was perfectly happy to let Congress spend, so long as he got his tax cuts and his defeat of the Soviet Union. Similarly, George W. Bush made sure he got his War on Terror; and he might even be winning it, too, in only two terms. Remember, half this country is not conservative, and like it or not they must be accommodated. We aren't like the French, who swing from Republic to pseudo-monarchy and back again, never stopping in the middle.
#6
When Bolton was on the Dennis Miller radio show the other day, Miller made a casual remark about Bolton being Secretary of State under a Giuliani administration. Can you imagine the hysterical uproar? You couldn't make enough popcorn - hahaha!
Of course, I'd love to see him in that position under any administation, but I can't imagine anyone but Giuliani considering the struggle that it would take to confirm him to be worth it.
#9
INFORMATION CLEARING HOUSE [ICH.com] > ISRAEL PLANS NUCLEAR STRIKE AGAINST IRAN; + PAYVAND > WHEN WILL THE WAR AGZ IRAN BEGIN/START? + US DEFENSE THINK-TANK WARNS WASHINGTON ON IRAN WAR, + RENSE > WAR AGZ IRAN IN FIRST HALF OF 2008. USA
wil undoubtedly win a US-Iran War but only after sufferring more casualties than per IRAQ via both direct campaign + asymetric Iranian retaliation [Local/Region-wide Iran-ordered Terror, Missle strikes agz US forces-bases] including poten agz CONUS itself.
*AMERICAN CHRONICLE > THE US AND THE FAR EAST. US policies for free trade/open ports in the FE, includ trade-centric "gunboat diplomacy", ironically now endangers the US. ARABS = ME MUSLIM STATES NEED TO RCOGNIZE THAT THE USA NEEDS THEM MORE [Trade-Oil]THAN IT NEEDS ISRAEL???
#10
TOPIX > TURKEY APPROVES BUILDING OF NUCLEAR ENERGY PLANTS. See earlier RB Postings + Net news on Israeli "apocalyptic" fears vv Egypt, Saudi Arabian nucprogs.
REDDIT - You-know-who signals new effort in Congress for DRAFT as necessary to suppor US WOT and other US global agendas-objectives.
SAN ANTONIO (AP) - President Bush paid an emotional visit Thursday to soldiers maimed or badly burned in combat and said his administration is determined to mend the nation's system of caring for veterans. Medical advances provide troops with treatment unimaginable just a decade ago, but the system for managing that care has lagged, Bush said.
"Our system needs to be modernized," the president said after touring a new $45 million, privately funded rehabilitation center for veterans at Brooke Army Medical Center. "We have an outdated system that can bog down some of those recovering in a maze of bureaucracy and that's what happened at Walter Reed," he said, referring to the Army medical center in Washington, D.C.
Bush's visit to Brooke comes amid scrutiny of veterans' care and discontent among returning troops after extended tours in Iraq. The president said his administration had put in place recommendations of the commission he created after reports about substandard outpatient treatment at Walter Reed. He urged Congress to act on others that require legislation. "There were serious problems (at Walter Reed) caused by bureaucratic delays and administration failures, and that is unacceptable," Bush said. 'It's unacceptable to me as the commander in chief, it's unacceptable to the families of those who deserve the best care and it's unacceptable to the American people."
The administration recently announced it would hire workers to individually guide seriously wounded soldiers and their families through their recuperation. An agreement signed by the Pentagon and Veterans Affairs Department creates coordinators to oversee the medical care between the agencies. The first 10 coordinators, scheduled to be hired by Dec. 1, will work at Walter Reed; the Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.; Brooke; and Balboa Park Naval Medical Center in San Diego.
According to the White House:
_Work is under way to set up a single disability exam to replace ones now required from both the VA and Defense Department.
_A new center for post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury has hired its first workers and moved into temporary offices near Bethesda.
_A single Web site is in development to allow members of the military to track their medical recovery.
_A new regulation to update the disability schedule for traumatic brain injury and burns will be ready soon for public comment.
The VA will begin two reviews that will help provide the information necessary to modernize veterans' disability system, Bush said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/09/2007 00:00 ||
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GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba (AP) - A U.S. government official's eyewitness account of a firefight that killed a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan could derail the Bush administration's plans to put a former child soldier on military trial, defense attorneys said Thursday. The witness described a 2002 firefight in Afghanistan in which Khadr, then 15, allegedly threw a grenade that killed Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Speer, a Delta Force commando, at an al-Qaida compound, the defense attorneys said.
Omar Khadr's lead attorney, Navy Lt. Cmdr. William Kuebler, said the evidence could prove the Guantanamo detainee does not merit a designation as an "unlawful enemy combatant," which is required for him to face trial on this U.S. Navy base.
The evidence was revealed by U.S. military prosecutors to defense attorneys on Tuesday - five years after the Canadian teenager was detained. The attorneys couldn't discuss the classified evidence or identify the witness, but Kuebler was clearly angry over the limited disclosure to defense attorneys. "How much other exculpatory evidence is out there behind the black curtain that we can't see?" Kuebler told reporters.
We don't know enough to know what the firefight was about, or why Khadr would be legal or illegal on that basis. What we do know is that even Carla del Ponte could run this farce at a faster pace.
The presiding judge, Army Col. Peter Brownback, postponed a decision Thursday on whether Khadr can be tried by the military as an "unlawful enemy combatant."
Khadr, the Toronto-born son of an alleged al-Qaida financier, answered the judge's questions politely, saying "Yes, sir" and "Yeah," and did not enter a plea to charges including murder, conspiracy and spying. He appeared for the hearing with a short beard and the white prison uniform reserved for the most compliant detainees.
May well be that the smart thing to do is to repatriate him to Afghanistan and let Kharzi deal with him. Toss Khadr into an Afghan prison for a couple of years and he'll beg to go back to Gitmo.
Kuebler said the prosecutors were legally obligated to share the new evidence and criticized the government for not making the information available sooner as defense attorneys prepare for the first U.S. war-crime trials since the World War II era. Kuebler also complained that defense lawyers have been barred from interviewing an FBI agent who deposed Khadr and a U.S. Army officer who led the raid on the alleged al-Qaida compound, even though both are at Guantanamo.
Because these aren't supposed to be trials, they're supposed to be status tribunals. Is he a legal or illegal combatant? You should be able to answer that in an hour or so. This farce raises the spectre of our combat forces saying, in the field, "screw this" and just popping a prisoner. That isn't right, and we don't want that to happen. But our people in the field have to know that illegal combatants will be dealt with both harshly and quickly.
The lead prosecutor, Marine Corps. Maj. Jeffrey Groharing pleaded for an opportunity to present evidence against Khadr. He said the government had flown in witnesses and has a videotape that shows Khadr planting land mines. But Brownback stood by his postponement, and set deadlines of Dec. 7 and Jan. 11 for attorneys to file motions. No trial date was set.
Only unlawful enemy combatants can be tried by the military commissions, according to the Military Commissions Act, approved by Congress and signed into law by U.S. President George W. Bush last year. The law sought to legitimize war-crime tribunals that had been declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.
Brownback dismissed the charges against Khadr in June because he had not been classified as an "unlawful" enemy combatant. A hastily created military appeals court then ruled that Brownback had authority to attach that label himself. But the judge said Thursday that there was no need to immediately address Khadr's status because defense lawyers have not formally requested clarification. Brownback also dismissed Kuebler's request that he remove himself for lack of impartiality.
The defense team, meanwhile, has challenged the appeals court ruling and said they were not conceding that the military court has jurisdiction.
The judge declined to answer questions about whether the tribunal system is constitutional, but acknowledged criticism from the Pentagon for dismissing Khadr's charges in June. "The DoD (Department of Defense) people, they didn't like what I wrote," said Brownback.
Critics said Thursday's events reflect flaws in a system that has yet to produce a trial. "It does question the wisdom of bringing everyone down here for a proceeding with a status and procedure that is still unknown and unknowable," said Jumana Musa, advocacy director of Amnesty International.
Khadr is one of three Guantanamo detainees facing charges under the Military Commissions Act. The military plans to prosecute as many as 80 of the 320 men at Guantanamo. But the Supreme Court may have other ideas. A challenge to the reconstituted system is pending and detainee lawyers have asked the justices to guarantee they can challenge their confinement in U.S. civilian courts.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/09/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Should've blown this little mook away when they had the chance back in 2002.
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/09/2007 12:02 Comments ||
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#4
This guy is a Canadian citizen. His mother has been screaming for the Canadian Feds to get him released, presumably so that he can get his "free" health care. If you send him back to Pakistan or to Afghanistan he'll be back here in Canada in an eyeblink and then WE'LL be stuck with him. Why don't you just keep him or give him the "Argentinian Treatment" and earn our everlasting thanks?
WASHINGTON: Just how low is Pakistan's stock in the United States? Try this: A top Washington lobby firm has withdrawn from its contract with Islamabad after the declaration of martial law in the country.
The firm, Cassidy and Associates, had in October signed a $ 1.2 million deal with Pakistan to to promote its status as an "important strategic partner of the US" The Pakistan account was to be handled by Robin Raphel, a former assistant secretary of state for South Asia (1993 to 1997) who recently joined Cassidy as a senior vice-president.
Raphel, who was the head of the South Asia bureau after it was formed in the early years of the Clinton administration, was widely seen as being sympathetic to Islamabad as the region's pointperson.
But earlier this week, Cassidy ditched the contract. "Recent developments in Pakistan have made it difficult to effectively fulfill our mission on behalf of the Embassy of Pakistan," Tom Alexander, director of corporate communications for the firm, said in a statement to the Hill. "These dramatic changes have forced us to most respectfully withdraw our representation of the embassy effective today."
Separately, Raphel told Pakistan's Daily Times that "Developments have regrettably made it necessary to withdraw because under the circumstances we cannot do what we agreed to do. I do hope things will take a turn for the better in Pakistan soon."
Considering Washington's lobbying firms represent some of the most odious regimes across the world, it can't get worse for Gen.Musharraf. He is also being panned daily in the media, and in a new low, one law-maker referred to him as a "thug" at a Congressional hearing on Wednesday.
But unmindful of the dictator's falling stock and despite growing doubts about his role and effectiveness in the war on terrorism, the Bush administration continues to support him.
Critics are now pointing out that notwithstanding the administration's certification of his frontline role in the war on terror, Pakistan has now ceded vast chunks of territory to the Taliban and Musharraf's para-military forces are now in retreat.
Earlier this week, President Bush virtually endorsed his continuation as President as long as he doffed his uniform, even though the Pakistani courts are yet to decide on the validity of his election.
Posted by: john frum ||
11/09/2007 15:55 ||
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#1
That's okay. Maybe the Saudi's can pick up the slack and start another "Allies in the War on Terror" ad campaign...
#2
Cassidy's trying to imply that they have principles. Robin Raphel will now have to move on to that LTTE account
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/09/2007 16:24 Comments ||
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#3
"unmindful of the dictator's falling stock and despite growing doubts about his role and effectiveness in the war on terrorism, the Bush administration continues to support him"
That's left-wing spin for sure. The alternative to doing what the administration has done this week is...
a. Be silent, thus pissing off Perv's detractors even further?
b. Totally abandon Perv without knowing who inherits his sprockets?
c. Vaporize Pakistan's nuclear sites?
d. b and c?
#4
Wakiland is currently the Steward of aprox. 24-48 HEU warheads. http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/pakistan/nuke/index.html
I think there are much worse things that could happen than a state of martial law. The dude is living in a pit of vipers and he probably would like to keep his head and body connected for a while.
Pakistan's former premier Benazir Bhutto has been placed under house arrest, hours before she was due to lead a rally against a state of emergency, government officials said.
"She is being placed under house arrest,'' a senior government offcial told AFP on condition of anonymity.
An AFP correspondent saw a magistrate entering her house in Islamabad, apparently with the arrest order, while dozens of police cordoned off the street outside.
Ms Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party also claimed police had arrested 5000 of its supporters to head off the rally.
Police had been bracing for a showdown with Ms Bhutto today when she vowed to lead a banned rally against President Pervez Musharraf's imposition of a state of emergency. The Government deployed 6000 police officers to stop the protest in Rawalpindi, near Islamabad, completely sealing off the planned venue in the garrison city with barbed wire and concrete blocks. The stand-off came a day after General Musharraf said he would hold elections by February 15, a month later than scheduled, in a bid to fend off criticism from Western allies and domestic opponents.
"Under no circumstances will the rally be allowed. The law will take its course against anyone who defies it,'' Rawalpindi police chief Saud Aziz said. "It is the instruction of the provincial government and we will implement those instructions. We have deployed 6000 policemen and taken control of the rally venue,'' he said.
Political gatherings have been banned under the state of emergency declared on Saturday. The constitution has also been suspended, the chief justice sacked and more than 3000 people arrested.
Police also warned that up to eight suicide bombers had infiltrated Rawalpindi, raising the spectre of a repeat of the double suicide blast that killed 139 people at her homecoming parade in Karachi on October 18. "There is a very credible threat of suicide attacks. That is why the Government imposed the restrictions,'' interior ministry spokesman Javed Cheema said.
Ms Bhutto's party has so far stayed off the streets, leaving lawyers to bear the brunt of police violence against protesters and leading to suspicions that she is in secret talks on a power-sharing deal with Gen Musharraf.
But she turned on Gen Musharraf on Wednesday, vowing to press on with the Rawalpindi protest and to hold a "long march'' from Lahore to Islamabad on November 13 if he did not meet her demands.
#3
I would love to know what's really going on there. I sincerely doubt that anyone has the real answers based on what can be seen on the outside when there are so many competing factions AND so many competing MAJOR ideologies involved.
What does Pervert really want at the end of all this? Is it as simple as him as total dictator?
What does BB really see as the proper goal / end point?
I think we know what the Talibunnies want, but, there are factions there too.
My opinion is that this was an easily forseen (not the details, the chaos) outccome of the way Pakiwaki land came into being.
#4
It really looks like Perv wants to hang on to power as long as possible. Personally I dont think its megalomania or any thing like that - I think he has convinced himself he really is indispensible.
Bhutto wants to regain power somehow. Given her weak standing with the military, shes best off with a democratic or semidemo system. At this point her bet against the Islamists is probably too much for her to go back on it, even if its not 100% sincere (but dont forget it was Zia who killed her daddy)
(AKI) - Pakistan's president General Pervez Musharraf announced on Thursday that general elections will be held before 15 February, but did not give an exact date.
It seems like only a week or two ago he was saying he wouldn't institute a state of emergency...
The announcement came just hours after US president George W. Bush telephoned Musharraf on Wednesday urging him to hold elections soon.
"But, really, that had nothin' to do with it. The money didn't, either. Though losing it mighta. A little."
Musharraf suspended the constitution and declared a state of emergency on Saturday, saying that the move was necessary to curb extremism in the country.
The people he's been tossing in jug aren't the extremists, though...
However since then the government has conducted a crackdown and arrested lawyers, opposition politicians and rights activists protesting against the imposition of martial law.
That's what I said...
According to state media reports on Thursday, Musharraf had chaired a meeting of the National Security Council and said that the parliamentary elections would be held before 15 February. He also renewed his pledge to step down as head of the army.
"I'm gonna do it. Really. Just not now."
Speaking on state-run Pakistan TV, a government spokesman also said that the media blackout would be eased and international channels would be allowed on air again.
"Just be careful not to watch the parts that make fun of us."
The White House has welcomed Thursday's statement. A spokesperson was quoted by Reuters news agency as saying that it was a "good thing" that Musharraf clarified the election date.
"Otherwise he'd'a been in large trouble!"
However Benazir Bhutto, former prime minister and leader of the largest opposition party, the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), said that the new pledges were not enough and that Musharraf should give an exact election date and the date when he will doff his army uniform.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/09/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Bhutto said "...that the new pledges were not enough and that Musharraf should give an exact election date"
Mushy: "Pushing her luck, isn't she? I'll buy her some daisies."
and the date when he will doff his army uniform.
Why? Mushy thinks uniforms are purdy, and anyway, he does not know how to wear anythin else.
(PTI) Expressing 'serious concern' over the frequent arrests of hardcore militants from residences of legislators here during the past few months, Manipur government has warned that it would take stern action against any MLA, minister or official harbouring militants. As the matter became a very complicated issue causing grave concern among the top authorities, a cabinet meeting presided over by chief minister O.Ibobi decided to take legal action against any VIP or VVIP found to be giving shelter to members of banned outfits, P K Singh, secretary to chief minister said.
The meeting followed the arrest of a militant of banned People's Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK) identified as Kh. Milan from the house of sitting CPI MLA Bora Jao at the high-security Babupara VIP area in the heart of the city on Saturday last. 'From now onwards the government will immediately withdraw security guards provided to any MLA or minister and initiate legal action action against them if they (VIP or VVIP) were found sheltering militants,' Singh said.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/09/2007 00:00 ||
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(PTI) Claiming that there were officials in President Pervez Musharraf's administration who are associated with extremists, former Pakistani premier Benazir Bhutto has said she is worried about the safety and security of the country's nuclear weapons. In an interview to Fox News, Bhutto was asked to comment on apprehensions in the US over the fate of Pakistan's nuclear warheads if the situation deteriorates in the country. "I have the same worry myself. I was shocked when General Musharraf swore in two new judges of the supreme court who had given compensation to the mutineers of the Red Mosque. We had a mutiny in the summer where Red Mosque militants tried to take over the city of Islamabad. And those mutineers were given the complex back," Bhutto replied.
Expressing "shock" at the appointment of the judges, Bhutto said "every time we arrest a terrorist or an extremist, these judges are going to free those terrorists". Claiming that she had worked out a roadmap with Musharraf for returning Pakistan to democracy, Bhutto urged the international community to pressure the general to abide by the terms of the agreement. "I feel that Pakistan is in danger of falling to the extremists; dictatorship has failed to contain extremism. I believe the answer lies in democracy," she said.
The Pakistan People's Party leader accused Musharraf of being worried more about the "influence of spreading democracy than he has been worried about terrorism".
"Right now we are ignoring the real war. And the real war is to save Pakistan by saving democracy and using the strength of the people to turn the tide against extremism," Bhutto said.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/09/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Anyone having an access to her med records? Looks like she thinks she 's Snow White.
#2
Yep, one of the creators of the Taliban playing holier than thou.
There is a speech from 1990 where she literally foams at the mouth, threatening India, calling on Indian Muslims to support 'jihad', boasting that the Soviet Union was a superpower and was smashed by jihad; that India was nothing and would soon be broken up into many parts.
Posted by: john frum ||
11/09/2007 9:06 Comments ||
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#3
She is also miffed at the Pak nuclear establishment.
When she was Prime Minister, she was denied access to information about Kahuta. The Saudi Prince Sultan was by contrast given a guided tour of the facility.
Posted by: john frum ||
11/09/2007 9:08 Comments ||
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#5
in 1990 the USSR HAD just fallen apart, after a period of US-Paki cooperation, US cooperation with the regime of Zia al Haq, far more Islamist than Bhutto. One could hardly expect Bhutto to be less enthusiastic about jihadis than McFarlane, Schultz, Charlie Wilson, et al.
And of course Afghanistan DID fall apart, and it WAS dangerous to Pakistan, and using the taliban to restore order and Pakistani dominance, certainly must have looked like a good idea. When the Taliban came out as fascists, and took in OBL, Bhutto was no longer in office.
Is she snow white? Of course not. But her points are worth looking at on their own.
#6
I've been waiting for an urban AlQ offensive in Pakland.
So far not much on that (although AlQ and affiliates are doing well in the border areas).
If AlQ doesn't begin an offensive, it could mean that they are weaker than I thought or that they are holding off the offensive hoping that Bhutto and Musharraf will weaken each other (holding off would also require good command and control of their forces).
#7
If she's really afarid of the safety of Pak nuke weapons she should sell them as soon as she has control of power. But she's not, the weapons are a tool in her rhettorical arsonal to get international attention.
#8
If she were really, really afraid, she would ask the U.S. to take the entire program -- lock, stock, and the original construction instructions in Chinese -- off her hands, like Colonel Qaddafi did a few years ago.
#9
Except India right next door has nukes (and had them before Paki), and everybody in Pakistan is aware of that, and the moment she moved to drop the nukes shed be out on her behind, and would have to flee for her life.
#11
the weapons are a tool in her rhetorical arsenal to get international attention.
Still, there isn't much harm in her bringing up this immensely critical aspect of the current unrest in Pakistan. As is par for the courseand just as with Iranmost of the outside world continues to pointedly ignore how very important this issue is.
I also agree with AlanC, in that their detente with India really wouldn't be much affected by Pakistan's loss of its nuclear arsenal. India is more focused upon becoming a major player in the global economic community. I sincerely doubt they would jeopardize such an important effort by swatting at a fly cockroach like Pakistan. Not that Pakistan doesn't deserve to be crushed utterly for their continuous terrorist attacks upon India, I just think New Delhiquite sensiblyhas much higher goals and priorities. It speaks volumes regarding typical Muslim insecurity in generaland Pakistan's culpability in particularthat Islamabad's concerns remain so centered upon nuclear deterrence of any retaliation for their incessant meddling cross-border in both Kashmir and India, not to mention Afghanistan.
(PTI) President Pervez Musharraf has told his US counterpart George W Bush that he is committed to "civilian rule" and that a "temporary emergency" has been imposed in Pakistan to ensure the "transition to full democracy". Musharraf conveyed this when Bush telephoned him late last evening to speak about "US concerns over return to civilian democratic rule and early elections as had been originally planned by the President".
The military ruler said "the objective of the temporary emergency was to preserve progress towards transition to full democracy in addition to preventing political instability and reversal of economic growth", said a statement issued today by the Foreign Office spokesman.
The emergency was also aimed at "maintaining (an) effective campaign against extremism and terrorism", Musharraf told Bush. Musharraf said "he was committed to full democracy and civilian rule in the country as he had promised to the people of Pakistan".
During a press conference yesterday in the US with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Bush said he had had "a very frank discussion" with Musharraf. "And my message was that we believe strongly in elections, and that you ought to have elections soon, and you need to take off your uniform. You can't be the president and the head of the military at the same time," Bush said.
The Foreign Office statement said Bush "showed understanding" when Musharraf "informed him about the difficult circumstances that led to the proclamation of emergency".
Posted by: Fred ||
11/09/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Ima committed to non-smoking, in the next decade or so.
#2
TOPIX > "FATAL ERROR" CHANGES NUCLEAR HISTORY. America faces NUCLEAR TERRORISM iff curr Pakistani Govt is unable to hold itself + the Paki nation together. Paki has a vast stash/array of vital nuctechs and is a de facto nuclear power = nuke armed Nation-state, but too many local Pols, Perts, and Warlords etc. are for sale to the highest bidder be it the CIA or Osama Bin Laden or anyone. TO AVOID LIKELY NUCLEAR TERRORISM, AMER NEEDS TO HELP PAKISTAN.
(PTI) Hundreds of supporters of former Premier Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) have been arrested after she called for public protests against the emergency imposed by President Pervez Musharraf.
Most of the arrests were made in Punjab province, where the government has banned a rally to be held by the PPP in Rawalpindi tomorrow. Punjab Chief Minister today said any move to go ahead with the rally would be "dealt with sternly".
PPP leaders said police had launched a crackdown on party activists last night, shortly after Bhutto called for protests and said she would lead a "long march" from Lahore, the capital of Punjab province, to Islamabad if Musharraf did not lift emergency and hold elections as scheduled in January.
About 300 PPP workers were arrested in Lahore and another 200 in Sialkot and Faisalabad, Dawn News channel quoted PPP leaders as saying. There were also reports of arrests in other parts of Punjab and across the country.
A defiant Bhutto said she would go ahead with the rally in Rawalpindi despite the ban and urged people and PPP workers to join the meeting "at all costs and under any circumstances".
Since emergency was imposed on November 3, hundreds of opposition workers, rights activists, lawyers and judges of superior courts have been detained or put under house arrest. Among those placed under house arrest are sacked Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and rights activist Asma Jahangir while cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan has gone into hiding to evade detention.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/09/2007 00:00 ||
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The government has amended the Army Act of 1952 and President General Pervez Musharraf is likely to issue an ordinance allowing military courts to prosecute terrorists and any civilians suspected of terrorist or subversive activity on Friday, reported Geo News. It would also allow intelligence agencies to apprehend any person suspected of terrorism, the channel added.
Attorney General Malik Muhammad Qayyum told the channel that some new clauses and offences were being added to the existing Army Act to provide legal cover to law enforcement agencies. He said the ordinance would allow law enforcement agencies to legally arrest and prosecute alleged terrorists without an arrest warrant.
Patriot Act: Qayyum said the new ordinance was necessary and inevitable for protecting the sovereignty of the country, adding that it would be similar to the United States Patriot Act.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/09/2007 00:00 ||
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Washington: President General Pervez Musharraf, according to Wendy Chamberlain, former US envoy to Pakistan, has committed the political equivalent of a suicide bombing.
She told a meeting at George Washington University this week that the Pakistan leader had blasted his political credibility and legacy and in the process killed the transition to civilian democracy. It is a tragedy. She said he is not the same man she dealt with as ambassador in 2001-02. He was now much more remote and impervious to advice. His flimsy rationale for his action had no takers. By cracking down on civil society, he had placed his personal ambitions above the rule of law and jeopardised his legacy and personal relations with the US.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/09/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
I accept any diplo's opinions with a bucket of Suspicion.
Anyway, maybe, maybe not. Depends what he makes of it.
#2
Mushy is a 2 faced idiot. But martial law was a legitimate solution to real security problems. Suspension of civil liberty was essential because the terrorists are targeting freedom in itself. However, I don't like the fact that Mushy answered protests by only arresting seculars. He should be raiding mosques and shooting up terror strongholds.
#3
I'm always boggled at the naivete of this crowd. If you listen to them they seem to believe that a shining peaceful democracy will be in place two weeks after an election and a chorus of Kumbaya.
They seem to live in a world of there own where any other country is equivalent to a mischievous 4 year old that is really loving and just needs a time-out.
Notice any similarities between the next two images?
The following image is from Atlas Shrugs. Notice any trends?
Hey nice hats! Is this what studying the Kooran looks like? I don't recall any religious figures taking time off to attend missile tests for any Western powers.
Ooh, for sure he's going to be in trouble when the Islamofascists overrun the UN! Oh, wait a minute, they already have. Maybe this is part of a disguise then and Julianne and Salma have gone as blow-up dolls and AlBaradei has gone as someone who represents the world's best interests.
#12
Zen, the UN would never let Bolton near the position, so it's a moot point. But if he did have it he would be representing the UN; in other words, nothing behind him. It would still be the useless UN.
Nine Iranians were released Friday from U.S. custody in Iraq, including two the military had accused of being members of an elite Iranian force suspected of arming Shiite extremists in Iraq. The nine were released to Iraqi officials, and were being transferred to the Iranian Embassy in Baghdad, the U.S. military said in a statement. They were expected to return to Iran later Friday, it said.
The nine Iranians released Friday included two men identified by the military for the first time as Brujerd Chegini and Hamid Reza Asgari Shukuh who were among five people captured when U.S. forces stormed an Iranian government office in the northern city of Irbil in January.
At the time, U.S. officials accused them of being members of Iran's elite Quds Force, an arm of the Revolutionary Guards that Washington has accused of funding and arming Shiite extremists fighting American forces in Iraq. Iran said the five were diplomats working in a facility that was undergoing preparations to be a consular office. The building, along with another Iranian office in Sulaimaniyah, was shut after the Jan. 11 raid. Both offices located in the two largest cities of Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish zone reopened Tuesday as Iranian consulates.
The U.S. statement said the Iranians were released after a "careful review of individual records to determine if they posed a security threat to Iraq, and if their detention was of continued intelligence value." "All nine individuals were determined to no longer pose a security risk," it said.
Last week, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Iran had made assurances to the Iraqi government that it would stop the flow into Iraq of bomb-making materials and other weaponry that Washington says has inflamed insurgent and militia violence and killed hundreds of U.S. forces. And on Tuesday, Smith told reporters in Baghdad that Iran appeared to have kept its promise. "It's our best judgment that these particular EFPs ... in recent large cache finds do not appear to have arrived here in Iraq after those pledges were made," Smith said, displaying an array of bombs and rockets that he said were recently found. The military claimed most of the weapons were Iranian-made.
The No. 2 U.S. commander in Iraq, Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno, said last week that there had been a sharp decline in the number of EFPs found in Iraq in the last three months. At the time, he and Gates both said it was too early to tell whether the trend would hold, and whether it could be attributed to action by Iranian authorities.
The U.S. military statement issued Friday identified the other seven Iranians as follows:
Hussain al-Kobadi, captured Nov. 20, 2004 in Fallujah, where he had been allegedly attempting to flee the scene of a mortar attack.
Ibrahim Mahmud Ahmed, captured April 8, 2005 during a raid in Ramadi.
Adil Wusayn Shamarad Muhammad and Azzam Hasan Karam Abd, both captured Feb. 20, 2006 "during a raid to disrupt al-Qaida operations in Iraq," the military said. The statement did not specify where Muhammad and Abd were captured.
Mohammad Ali Abbas al-Buzuda, detained May 6, 2007 by Iraqi police in al-Qadisiyah, for illegal entry into Iraq from Iran.
Jafan Allah, taken into custody on July 26, 2007 after he turned himself in to authorities at a border checkpoint.
Habib Muhammad Ghuribani Kurdi, captured Aug. 1, 2007 "during an intelligence-driven raid aimed at capturing a senior insurgent," the military said.
#1
Sure ya can have them back. We had em long enough to drain everything they knew out of them.
Enjoy the trip home, boys. Your bosses are waiting for you. And don't come back now, ya hear...
BAGHDAD (AP) - U.S. authorities freed 500 Iraqi prisoners Thursday in an ongoing push to empty American jails of detainees no longer deemed a threat. But the military says it's still holding 25,800 Iraqis waiting to face charges or be given freedom.
The latest release provided only small relief to a detention system strained to the limit by about 17,000 new suspects captured this year in campaigns to secure Baghdad and its surrounding belts, the military said. U.S. officials worry the overcrowded detention camps are sapping resources and will overwhelm Iraq's struggling justice system. The periodic releases are seen as both a symbolic gesture to highlight increased security and a needed safety valve. About 6,300 detainees have been released since January.
The ceremony - held behind concrete blast walls at Camp Victory, a sprawling U.S. base that contains several of Saddam Hussein's former palaces - coincided with other signs of progress in regaining control of former extremist strongholds since the arrival of 30,000 additional U.S. troops earlier this year. Flanked by U.S. soldiers, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki addressed the detainees, many wearing identical plaid shirts. "Dear brothers, let's cooperate to shut down these prisons and write a new page of laws with the power of justice," al-Maliki told the men, who sat in rows of white plastic chairs under the Baghdad sun.
The backgrounds of the prisoners, including any suspected militant links, were not announced. The military issued a press release saying only that the detainees are "no longer an imperative threat to Iraqi/coalition forces and the security of Iraq."
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/09/2007 00:00 ||
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(AKI) - The regional government of Kurdistan in Iraq has signed a number of multimillion dollar agreements with international companies for oil exploration and development, despite opposition from Baghdad. In a media statement released on an official website, the Kurdish government's minister of natural resources, Ashti Hawrami, said: "Erbil had signed seven new oil contracts with several international companies, bringing to 20 the total number of accords to now."
"With these new contracts, the regional government can develop a production capacity of a million barrels a day within the next five years," the statement said.
The minister said: "There are many requests from international oil companies that want to add to their drilling development in Kurdistan and we are happy to satisfy these requests. "
Among the oil companies that have won these new contracts are the European company Aktiengesellschaft that operates in the province of Erbil, Kalegran Limited and Reliance Energy Limited, which work in Dahuk as well as another company that was not named in the statement.
"New oil discoveries under these contracts will bring large amounts of new revenues for sharing throughout Iraq, and locally refined petroleum products will help the people of the Kurdistan Region and the whole of Iraq, who now suffer from costly black market imports," the minister said. "It will spell the beginning of the end of the wasteful fuel subsidies of the federal government, and the corruption and crime that goes with them."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/09/2007 00:00 ||
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American forces have routed Al Qaeda in Iraq, the Iraqi militant network, from every neighborhood of Baghdad, a top American general said today, allowing American troops involved in the surge to depart as planned.
Don't heave your sigh of relief too deeply. Unless they flat out give up, they're bound to try to make a comeback. Otherwise they lose too much face, or tuban, or whatever the hell it is that they lose. If we're waiting for the first sign and come down on them with both feet as soon as the first whiff of them appears, we'll keep them out, until they make the next try. If we let them hide behind civilians and holy men we'll have to do it all over again, with less support and probably with a commander who's no Petreaus.
Maj. Gen. Joseph F. Fil Jr., commander of United States forces in Baghdad, also said that American troops had yet to clear some 13 percent of the city, including Sadr City and several other areas controlled by Shiite militias. But, he said, theres just no question that violence had declined since a spike in June. Murder victims are down 80 percent from where they were at the peak, and attacks involving improvised bombs are down 70 percent, he said.
It'll spike again when we take on Sadr City.
General Fil attributed the decline to improvements in the Iraqi security forces, a cease-fire ordered by the Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, the disruption of financing for insurgents, and, most significant, Iraqis rejection of the rule of the gun.
His comments, in a broad interview over egg rolls and lo mein in a Green Zone conference room, were the latest in a series of upbeat assessments he and other commanders have offered in recent months. But his descriptions revealed a city still in transition: tormented by its past, struggling to find a better future. The Iraqi people have just decided that theyve had it up to here with violence, he said, while noting that their demands for electricity, water and jobs have intensified.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/09/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
<>It'll spike again when we take on Sadr City.
Dunno, but I would suggest an experiment... to lower the temperature of Muqty, perm, and see what happens.
#2
Good idea, we can always pull a "Weekend at Tater's" if your experiment fails.
Posted by: Ol Dirty American ||
11/09/2007 9:16 Comments ||
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#3
from what ive read, my impression is that theyve run outside of Baghdad, including Diyala and other points North, but also South to the triangle of death between Baghdad and Hilla. Where the coalition has them under pressure, but theyre far from gone.
And the Mahdi army is still in Baghdad in force, but is maintaining a hudna, which our forces have been respecting, going after 'rogue' elements, and perhaps pushing the Sadrists around the edges. Even with the surge forces, Petraeus doesnt have so many troops that he could have achieved such strong progress against AQI while going full bore against Sadr at the same time. The strategy, I guess, is that with AQI weakened, theres less incentive for ordinary Shiites to support extremists, and that during the surge the political center of gravity of the Iraqi forces has shifted, incorporating more Sunnis and fewer Sadrists (while SCIRI and Dawa loyal Shiites and Kurds remain the core).
Its yet to be seen if that shift will hold. The fragility of it, is the principle reason why the post-surge US withdrawl needs to be gradual.
#4
Fred Don't heave your sigh of relief too deeply.
dittos, assuming the NYSlimes didn't spin Maj. Gen. Joseph F. Fil Jr, [*I know*] These types of statements have always returned to KICK ME IN THE A$$ whenever I've made them.
Call me plumb superstitious but I has lernt me up the Hard Way to Never make absolute blanket statements at all costs ..aaahh excepting this one heh
Posted by: Red Dawg ||
11/09/2007 11:24 Comments ||
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United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon ordered on Thursday an investigation into an incident last week during which Palestinians fired rockets into Israel from a Gaza Strip school run by the United Nations Relief Works Agency. Ban condemned the use of UN facilities for "evil." He called to prevent action which harmed civilians, especially children, and harmed the ability of UNRWA to fulfill its humanitarian mission.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/09/2007 00:00 ||
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#9
Right, tu, they were just doing a practical exercise in physics, measuring the trajectory of the rockets and comparing it the theoretical trajectory. That's the ticket.
Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riad Malki said on Thursday that Israel sent the authority a letter of apology following an IDF operation in the Balata refugee camp Wednesday during which over 20 Palestinians were arrested, Israel Radio reported.
Malki told the 'Voice of Palestine' radio station that Israel promised the authority that such operations would not be repeated. The PA was angry over the fact that the operation came a day after clashes between Palestinian police and Fatah's Al Aksa Martyrs Brigade operatives took place at the camp. Palestinians were also in disagreement of the army's presence in the Nablus camp at a time when over 300 Palestinian policemen have been deployed in the area.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/09/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Was it something along the lines of "We are sorry we had to go over there and kick your asses. But you will be even sorrier if we have to come back and do it again"?
The pounding chatter of jackhammers echoes over a wind-swept West Bank hilltop as workers lay bricks at a new apartment building rising in this sprawling Jewish settlement.
The Israeli government says it's ready to make a deal that would give Palestinians their own state. But realities on the ground outlined in a report Wednesday showing vigorous Israeli construction in the West Bank hold important implications for the latest U.S. peace push. Israel insists on retaining some settlements to keep a foothold around Jerusalem and create a broader cushion at its narrow Tel Aviv-area waist.
Palestinians want a viable state, and the settlements along with Israeli roads and a separation barrier jutting into the West Bank threaten to fragment the territory and cut off east Jerusalem, where they want to establish their capital. It has been a bitter issue for years, and finding a solution will tax efforts to work out a final peace accord.
"Everything that Israel is doing on the ground is, of course, an obstacle to what we are trying to achieve," said Rafiq Husseini, a top aide to ineffectual Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
"Those damnable Jooos are still breathing!"
Nonetheless, he said, the Palestinians want to negotiate "until the last minute."
Israel continues to expand many of the 122 settlements in the West Bank, where 267,500 Israelis lived as of last month, according to government statistics. Peace Now, an Israeli settlement-watchdog group, issued a report Wednesday saying building is going on in 88 of the settlements, though most of the work is in the areas Israel hopes to retain in a peace deal.
The Palestinians said Monday that they received assurances from Washington that Israel would meet its short-term obligations under the "road kill map," a U.S.-backed peace plan being revived in hopes of boosting confidence between the two sides ahead of a peace conference later this month. The plan's initial stage called for Israel to freeze West Bank settlement construction and dismantle dozens of settlement outposts scattered across the territory. But the road map foundered after its introduction four years ago, with each side accusing the other of not meeting obligations.
Yet the violent takeover of the Gaza Strip last June by the Islamic militants of the Hamas movement has paradoxically led to renewed peacemaking between Israel's government and the more moderate Palestinian leadership now in charge of the West Bank. Israel and Abbas' administration hope the U.S.-sponsored peace conference will launch full-fledged peace negotiations that will tackle all the key issues at the heart of their 60-year-old conflict, including the status of Jewish settlements.
The settlements are a key issue for the Palestinians, who want their future state to include all of the West Bank, which Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war.
"Since the very beginning of the peace process, the Palestinians warned that the peace process and settlement process are incompatible and cannot move together, and one of them will kill the other," said Ghassan Khatib, a former Palestinian Cabinet minister.
Sorta like how Hamas and Fatah have been killing each other ...
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said this week that Israel is willing to meet its road kill map obligations. He also urged the Palestinians to fulfill their commitment under the plan to crack down on militant groups that stage attacks on Israelis.
Israeli officials have spoken about a large-scale pullout from the West Bank, not unlike the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip two years ago. But Israelis are firm on keeping large settlement blocs, mostly around Jerusalem. These account for about 8 percent of West Bank land, and Palestinians are demanding a state equal in size to the entire West Bank and Gaza Strip.
One way out of the predicament might be a land swap. Under such a plan, most Israeli settlers would stay where they are while unused land within Israel proper would be transferred to the new Palestinian state. Abbas has voiced support for such a swap, though he has made clear he wants to be compensated with an equal amount of Israeli territory. For Abbas to win Palestinian support for the first stage of the conquest a peace deal, a land trade must be "based on a one-to-one ratio," said Khalil Shkaki, a prominent Palestinian pollster.
Bulldozers churned up earth and trucks tipped out stones on a recent afternoon at Betar Illit, a settlement of ultra-Orthodox Jews outside Jerusalem that has burgeoned into a community of about 30,000 people. Signs there and in other nearby settlements openly advertise new housing that sells for a fraction of the price a similar home would command in Jerusalem.
Despite the road kill map's explicit ban on construction, Israel argues it should be permitted to keep building within existing settlements to accommodate "natural growth."
According to government figures, 2,169 apartments were completed in West Bank settlements last year. Peace Now said about 3,500 more homes are going up today. Although building isn't proceeding at the furious pace of the 1980s and early 1990s, the settler population has more than doubled since Israel and the Palestinians signed their first peace deal in September 1993. Demand is fueled by large, low-income ultra-Orthodox families motivated both by ideological connection to the biblical land of Israel and affordable housing.
Settlers aren't satisfied with the pace of expansion. "If the government would allow us to build according to market demand, there would be a tremendous building spurt in Judea and Samaria," settler leader Shaul Goldstein said, using the biblical name for the West Bank.
Telephone service providers in four districts of Thailand's Yala province were struggling on Thursday to repair fiber optic cables presumably severed by terrorists insurgents late Wednesday night. Investigators said that both land line and mobile service was cut after terrorists insurgents, believed to be jihadi lowlife southern separatists, burned the fiber-optic cables that relay phone signals. Workmen throughout Krong Pinang, Bannang Sata, Than To and Betong districts were trying to get service back up by Thursday evening, the Bangkok Post reported Thursday.
Losing telephone service caused problems for individuals and businesses, especially for financial institutions. Nisit Chongsuphunphong, customer service manager for state-owned TOT Plc. telecommunication service provider, said that the company would make some changes in response to this incident. He told the Bangkok Post that TOT plans to use its satellite system to provide communication services in the insurgency operation areas in the future. That move will also help security agencies in such areas.
China asked Iran on Thursday to respond positively to international pressures to limit its nuclear program, a possible sign that China is responding to American demands that it take a greater role in combating nuclear proliferation.
We have taken note of the developments and we request Iran to positively respond and attach importance to the concerns and voice of the international community, said Liu Jianchao, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman.
While China has sought for many months to avoid an international confrontation over Irans nuclear program, Mr. Lius phrasing was tougher than usual toward Iran. Jonathan D. Pollack, the professor of Asian and Pacific studies at the Naval War College, said, Thats got a bit more spice to it than most Chinese statements about this.
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said Monday in Beijing that during meetings with Chinese officials, he had raised the importance of increased pressures on Iran to curtail the development of nuclear weapons. A senior American official, speaking on diplomatic rules of anonymity regarding private talks, also said late on Monday that the Chinese had agreed that a nuclear-armed Iran is something we are united in opposing.
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YNETNEWS Op-Ed > IRAN STILL FAR FROM THE BOMB. AUthor claims Iran's nuctechs is advancing but nation remains far from "point of no return" for dev weapons. OTOH, JPOST > EGYPT, SAUDI ARABIAN nuclear programs poses an APOCALYPTIC SCENARIO for Israel. ONLY ENERGY, NOT NUCMATS FOR WEAPONS? JPOST Poster(s) - asks iff for weapons grade nucmats? in two years?
Much to the anger of Iran, Interpol announced Thursday that it was adding five Iranians to its most-wanted list, for bombing a Jewish center in Argentina in 1994, resulting in 85 fatalities. Iran voiced out accusations that the police organization, in deciding to add the four Iranians to the category of most dangerous and most hunted criminals, was bowing to the power and influence of the United States and Israel.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini gave a statement last Thursday, saying "It was expected that this professional body should not have weakened its legal character, professional position and credit by accepting the political will of the Zionist regime", which referred to Israel. Hosseinin added that the move was of defiance to fair political and judicial processes, declaring that "transferring the pressure from the Argentine government to Interpol in order to fulfill political aims is a matter of great sorrow and is contrary to international law and utterly rejected and unacceptable."
In a contrary response, the Israeli government praised Interpol's move, declaring that it sends a message to terrorists "that even if it takes time, they need to know that they will eventually be brought to book," as said by Raphael Eldad, the Israeli Ambassador to Argentina. Eldad added to say, "I hope that the arrest warrants will be carried out but I am not very optimistic as Iran is not in the habit of cooperation in this sort of affair," the Agence France-Presse added.
Hosseini announced that Iran would continue to "fight through legal channels for the rights of its citizens", and would press on to ward off the arrest warrants.
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The dust you see rising from the ground was caused by President Ahmadinajad and his parliment stomping there feet because of this.
I wonder if their opinion would be different had it been a western group bombing a Iranian embassy? They probably would have gone to Hague pushing for immediate extradition of the culprits or having a number of fatwa's issued a'la Salmam Rushdie.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/09/2007 00:00 ||
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An interesting concept. Were not aware that some other folks than Lebs were instrumental in electing a president in the past. Oh! He means elected as opposed to imposed? That's another story, then.
Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun surprised everyone today when he announced that that he does not regard himself the sole candidate for the presidential office. "We are not saying it is us or nobody, but rather we are for consensus on anybody," Aoun told reporters after presiding over an unscheduled meeting of his Change and Reform parliamentary bloc.
His announcement was a complete departure from earlier statements in which he said that he is the only viable candidate. Aoun stressed that "we don't seek to write off anybody, but we would not allow anybody to write us off."
He refused to answer questions about his stand on Hezbollah's reported Maneuvers south of the Litani River, telling reporters: "I would have loved to hear a comment on maneuvers carried out by Israel" close to Lebanon's southern borders.
On prospects of meeting Lebanese Forces leader Dr. Samir Geagea, Aoun said: "I haven't been informed of anything in this regard. The meeting could be a wish by Geagea." This is contrary to what Dr. Geagea told reporters today . Geagea said that "representatives of General Aoun visited me yesterday and met with my staff to plan for their meeting." Geagea attributed the delay of their meetings to ' details' rather than 'substance'.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/09/2007 00:00 ||
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LOS ANGELES - Civil rights advocates criticized plans by the Los Angeles Police Department to map the city's Muslim communities, calling it racial profiling. I actually have mixed emotions. As a libertarian, I abhor the idea of Big Brother further extending tentacles into the lives of the common citizen. As a common citizen, I know that the muslim community is doing precious little to contain the jihadis in our own country who endorse and support the violent overthrow of the US.
The LAPD's counterterrorism bureau plans to identify Muslim enclaves in order to determine which might be likely to become isolated and susceptible to "violent, ideologically based extremism," said Deputy Chief Michael P. Downing on Thursday. "We want to know where the Pakistanis, Iranians and Chechens are so we can reach out to those communities," said Downing, who heads the counterterrorism bureau. They have done the same thing with White Supremacists groups for years.
This is the LAPD we're talking about: nightsticks first and questions afterwards.
Downing said the plan is still in its early stages, but the LAPD wants to work with a Muslim partner and intends to have the data assembled by the University of Southern California's Center for Risk and Economic Analysis.
Downing testified about the plan before a U.S. Senate committee on Oct. 30. In his testimony, Downing said his bureau wanted to "take a deeper look at the history, demographics, language, culture, ethnic breakdown, socioeconomic status and social interactions" of the city's Muslim communities. and muslims in this country, through organizations like CAIR, are doing nothing to help the situation.
There are an estimated 500,000 Muslims in Los Angeles, Orange and Riverside counties. That is a scary statistic...especially when surveys and polls indicate that a large minority of American muslims support islamic terrorists either verbally or financially...or both.
On Thursday, several Muslim groups and the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California sent Downing a letter expressing "grave concerns" about the program. If I were a muslim, and in CAIR...I would be more concerned about the repercussions and blowback from another attack on US soil by jihadis...especially if they are shown to be US citizens, or residents. That would be my nightmare.
"Singling out individuals for investigation, surveillance, and data-gathering based on their religion constitutes religious profiling that is just as unlawful, ill-advised and deeply offensive as racial profiling," said the letter. Then show some stones and denounce islamic terror in all forms, and turn over the names of those who are planning and fomenting overthrow of the US...before the nightmare begins.
It was signed by representatives of the ACLU of Southern California; Muslim Advocates, a national association of Muslim lawyers; the Islamic Shura Council of Southern California and the Council on American-Islamic Relations. Blah, blah, blah. The usual suspects. As an aside, the very first group of infidels that would end up executed under sharia (rhymes with diarrhea) law would be the ACLU lawyers.
The plan "basically turns the LAPD officers into religious political analysts, while their role is to fight crime and enforce the laws," said Hussam Ayloush, head of the Los Angeles chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, who signed the letter.
However, another group, the Muslim Public Affairs Council, is considering working with the LAPD on the project. Hark...I hear a voice of reason!
"We will work with the LAPD and give them input, while at the same time making sure that people's civil liberties are protected," said Salam al-Marayati, the council's executive director. and turn over the names of the traitors and treasonous b*stards who want to destroy the US.
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Since muslims are not a race, I don't think you could make a very strong case for racism. Unless they checked the box that says "Radical Muslim" on their census form in 2000 I don't think it would even be possible to map muslims. You don't have to register as a muslim to my knowlege, but maybe you should, hmmmmm......
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I'm surprised the number is that high - was it supplied by CAIR?
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/09/2007 22:03 Comments ||
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The numbers are often suspicious because we don't count religion in the census so they estimate Arab and Persian populations, many of which are actually Christian Arabs and Zarostrians and such.
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.
(Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Thursday expressed thanks to the U.S. Navy for helping Korean sailors defeat pirates off the Somali coast in late October and reaffirmed that it opposes any forms of terrorist acts. "We feel grateful to the United States for its assistance given to our crewmen," the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. 
SAN ANTONIO (AP) - President Bush paid an emotional visit Thursday to soldiers maimed or badly burned in combat and said his administration is determined to mend the nation's system of caring for veterans. Medical advances provide troops with treatment unimaginable just a decade ago, but the system for managing that care has lagged, Bush said.
GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba (AP) - A U.S. government official's eyewitness account of a firefight that killed a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan could derail the Bush administration's plans to put a former child soldier on military trial, defense attorneys said Thursday. The witness described a 2002 firefight in Afghanistan in which Khadr, then 15, allegedly threw a grenade that killed Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Speer, a Delta Force commando, at an al-Qaida compound, the defense attorneys said.
WASHINGTON: Just how low is Pakistan's stock in the United States? Try this: A top Washington lobby firm has withdrawn from its contract with Islamabad after the declaration of martial law in the country.
Pakistan's former premier Benazir Bhutto has been placed under house arrest, hours before she was due to lead a rally against a state of emergency, government officials said.
(AKI) - Pakistan's president General Pervez Musharraf announced on Thursday that general elections will be held before 15 February, but did not give an exact date. 
(PTI) Claiming that there were officials in President Pervez Musharraf's administration who are associated with extremists, former Pakistani premier Benazir Bhutto has said she is worried about the safety and security of the country's nuclear weapons. In an interview to Fox News, Bhutto was asked to comment on apprehensions in the US over the fate of Pakistan's nuclear warheads if the situation deteriorates in the country. "I have the same worry myself. I was shocked when General Musharraf swore in two new judges of the supreme court who had given compensation to the mutineers of the Red Mosque. We had a mutiny in the summer where Red Mosque militants tried to take over the city of Islamabad. And those mutineers were given the complex back," Bhutto replied.
Nine Iranians were released Friday from U.S. custody in Iraq, including two the military had accused of being members of an elite Iranian force suspected of arming Shiite extremists in Iraq. The nine were released to Iraqi officials, and were being transferred to the Iranian Embassy in Baghdad, the U.S. military said in a statement. They were expected to return to Iran later Friday, it said.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon ordered on Thursday an investigation into an incident last week during which Palestinians fired rockets into Israel from a Gaza Strip school run by the United Nations Relief Works Agency. Ban condemned the use of UN facilities for "evil." He called to prevent action which harmed civilians, especially children, and harmed the ability of UNRWA to fulfill its humanitarian mission.
The Palestinians said Monday that they received assurances from Washington that Israel would meet its short-term obligations under the "road 
Telephone service providers in four districts of Thailand's Yala province were struggling on Thursday to repair fiber optic cables presumably severed by 
Much to the anger of Iran, Interpol announced Thursday that it was adding five Iranians to its most-wanted list, for bombing a Jewish center in Argentina in 1994, resulting in 85 fatalities. Iran voiced out accusations that the police organization, in deciding to add the four Iranians to the category of most dangerous and most hunted criminals, was bowing to the power and influence of the United States and Israel. 
