France denied a report that it is setting aside roughly 1,000 troops for possible deployment in Afghanistan. Weekly newspaper Le Canard Enchaine reported on Wednesday that President Nicolas Sarkozy had asked the head of the armed forces to keep a batallion of about 1,000 men at NATO's disposal so that they could be dispatched to Afghanistan if needed.
Asked about the report, Defense Ministry spokesman Laurent Teisseire said France had a batallion in NATO's strategic reserve, and there had been no change regarding its status. "There is no evolution," he told a weekly news conference. "I confirm that there is indeed something called the strategic reserve and that France contributes a batallion to this strategic reserve," he added. France has roughly 1,000 troops in Afghanistan, where it is part of the NATO-led International Security and Assistance Force. Paris said in June that around 150 extra soldiers would be sent to train Afghan forces, and a further 50 such troops have been pledged since then. Washington says it wants more NATO countries to get involved in the heavy fighting against Taliban forces in the south and east of the country, a task done mainly by US, British, Dutch and Canadian troops.
Sarkozy said after meeting US President George W. Bush last week that he was looking at how best to help in Afghanistan. "We are thinking about the best way to help the emergence of a democratic Afghanistan," Sarkozy said at a joint news conference with Bush on November 7. "Is it by reinforcing the training effort to lay the foundations of a modern Afghan state? Is it by providing other military means? We are discussing it," he added.
Asked on Thursday whether France was looking to increase its military presence in Afghanistan, Sarkozy's spokesman David Martinon said it was too soon to tell. "As you know, important measures have been taken regarding the reinforcement of the French presence on the ground, so let's let these three teams establish themselves before adding any more," he told a news conference, referring to the 150 extra troops, which are due to be deployed before the end of the year.
Sudan's government does not want war but is ready for it, President Omar al-Bashir warned Saturday during a rare show of public support for a paramilitary force accused of atrocities in the western Sudanese region of Darfur. "We will not seek war, but if imposed on us we are ready," al-Bashir told a rally to mark the 18th anniversary of the Popular Defense Forces, a militia he created to fight southern rebels and that has since been unleashed on Darfur.
He also accused western powers backing a 26,000-strong UN and African Union force due in Darfur in January of lying about their motives to end four years of bloodshed. "Those Americans, those British, and those Europeans are not keen about the people of Darfur, or the people of southern Sudan or the Sudanese people," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/18/2007 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Sudan
#1
So who's fault is it this time? The Great Satan's or the Evil Zionists?
#2
Khartoum needs to experience a massive bombing raid, so they know what REAL war is about. I'd suggest a half-dozen BUFFS loaded to the gills, plus a top-cap of 24 F/A-18s, and a squadron or two of F/A-18s using precision bombs to take out specific installations, such as the President's Palace and the main government installations. If they don't learn from that, rinse and repeat.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
11/18/2007 15:55 Comments ||
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The head of the Army has warned that years of Government under-funding and overstretch have left troops feeling "devalued, angry and suffering from Iraq fatigue", The Sunday Telegraph can reveal.
General Sir Richard Dannatt, the Chief of the General Staff, reveals in a top-level report that the present level of operations is "unsustainable", the Army is "under-manned" and increasing numbers of troops are "disillusioned" with service life. Gen Dannatt states that the "military covenant is clearly out of kilter", and the chain of command needs to improve standards of pay, accommodation and medical care.
"We must strive to give individuals and units ample recuperation time between operations, but I do not underestimate how difficult this will be to achieve whilst under-manned and with less robust establishments than I would like."
The report, a copy of which has been seen by this newspaper, reveals for the first time the general's concerns on virtually every aspect of the Army, from levels of pay to the quality of food in canteens.
#1
More than 'improvements in pay, accommodations and medical care,' what the troops need is improvement in public perception of the value of their efforts. Same as here.
#2
My office in the palace had a small number of British officers who would rotate fairly often so that I was met quite a few. Diverse and uniformly interesting folks, as British officers seem to be, they shared a very, very low morale and estimate of their armed forces future. Most were getting out as soon as they could.
As Glenmore says, it's not just the appalling lack of material support - it's the devastating absence of moral and political support. And let's not forget the senior level pathologies indicated by the astonishing Persian Gulf fiasco of a few months ago.
#7
The belief that somehow they don't need a military at all is a hallmark of the western European disease. Ironically, they have a point in that being so insulated from any hostile nation that would invade them with its army, they think they are safe.
However, they are neither safe from an unconventional invasion, nor are they safe from a civil war. Britain, especially, is ripe for the emergence of criminal mafias that could evolve into something like the Yakuza in Japan, until they wield power that could challenge the government.
The assumption that it could not happen in Britain could be refuted by asking how it could happen in Japan, either.
Of course, the other obvious problem is immigration by those who do not embrace the weak attitude of the British.
#8
The head of the Army has warned that years of Government under-funding and overstretch have left troops feeling "devalued, angry and suffering from Iraq fatigue",
The Donk's gameplan if they get everything in '08. A replay of the 70s to punish the military here for following the Constitution by starving them of funds and resources. If you forgot it was on Clinton I's watch the Army was downsized from 750,000 to 480,0000.
#10
However, they are neither safe from an unconventional invasion
For france, the worst case scenario would be an armed push from algeria and/or an another north african "friend" (but algeria with its institutionalized french hating-scapegoating and resentment is the most likely), which would meet a very downgraded french army, and a large fifth column, either in the institutions (enlisted muslims in the army who won't fight their "cousins", as repeatedly found by survey, drafted muslims even more so, only 1 in 10 Youth sez he would fight for France, and this would be even less if the ennemy was muslim), or in the streets, with the Youths creating a second front; the fln used to have the whole algerian community in its hand during the algeria war. I really, really doubt the north african intelligence services have lost much of their networks among the immigrated population, first generation or later ones (remember, the supposedly "french" islam is in fact wholly controlled by foreign countries, mostly algeria and morocco).
In that scenario, France would crumple from the inside like a rotten hollow tree.
The motivation from such an armed push from algeria could very well be to "rescue" their fellow countrymen from the Racist french, should the SHTF when it comes to the troubles caused by mass immigration.
And I could almost pervertly imagine an even worse scenario : ethnic unrest in France, leading to an overhelmed french Gvt ASKING for the help of algeria. Really, I have no trouble imagining the french republic opting for the Youths, if faced with a restive, and Faaaaaaascccciiist ethnic french population that wants to overthrow the Establishment.
But, anyway, I'm dreaming; if/when france collapse, you'll see that the from birth to craddle marxist-conditioned french will blame the evils of capitalism, and will be glad to go in whatever adventure the populists will have dreamed for them.
#11
The Mighty Joe M. will love that : I do not have the exact references, but I know that there are several 19th century catholic seers who prophetized a revolution and the invasion of France by muslims in the late 20th century, leading to France being humiliated and abused, and humbled into renouncing its errors (in the 19th century catholic view that would be the secular/socialist/masonic republic) and returning to the Faith and becoming an evangelical Nation.
Obviously, this hasn't happened, but, hey, perhpas they were just off by a few decades...
Also, Bernadette Soubirou, in the same timeframe, had supposedly a serie of Marian visions of the future (this is controversial, as they may very well be apocryphal, and are non-Church approved IIRC), the last one predicting a war with the muslims at the end of 20th century, with an huge battle where over 5 millions would die, and a "huge bomb" being dropped on a city of Persia, with an ensuing victory over the muslims that would lead most of them to convert to Christianity.
I really do like prophecies, and find them interesting, though, obviously, I don't put much credence in them, with reason, but I wanted to bring that here anyway.
#12
The morale in the British Army would be improved immeasurably by a victory. It was pretty good when they were wearing Berets in Basra and thelling the Americans how they learned to do it softly in Northern Ireland. But now the worm has turned and the Brits have to confess that they could no longer defend or reconquer the Falklands. The next time an Argie wacko needs to deflect attention from the domestic disasters, the Brits are in for a humiliation and they will have neiter an Iron Lady nor an Iron Duke. And the Americans will be the real losers.
#13
I don't see how the Americans will be the real losers. I think to some degree, we have learned from the mistakes of others. The 'progressives' formed an EU, but the NAU planned by the same types in the Counsel on Foreign Relations (CFR), has been checked. Bush has been exposed, and the Amero, pronounced zero, never got out of the dream stage.
We Americans demand the building of a border fence, and the candidates, once all members of the CFR are nowhere to be found. Yes, America has awakened just in time to boot the elites in the ass and can the NAFTA agreement. It just makes good sense to manufacture some of the goods we use right here. The jobs are needed, the link to mechanical technology is a critical need, and once focused, we citizens can force a fix of the various failings of government, like law suits, property rights, victim rights, reverse discrimination, welfare, and that stinking elephant in the room, PC.
We have the internet, now we must use it to replace the MSM and become the watchbird on the shoulder of the legislators and judges. Life in Washington, DC has changed sinse the amnesty issue. Phone calls, emails, faxes, letters, and petitions rain in without end. As staff become sick and tired of it, their bosses will suffer yet another round of humility as they seek phone bank workers among their friends.
It is up to us to put a better batch of men and women into our legislations in 2008 and every election thereafter. We have them, and we must never again allow elitism into our government. We must embrace the work ethic for all Americans. No free rides, no economy of masters looking down upon the third world.
#14
wxjames, I commend you for a very telling and accurate post my friend!
The hildabeast would rework the 90's in a new york minute. I was still on active duty and watched as the number of divisions folded flags, and the troop levels dropped precipitously. Bill and Al took credit for this vast reduction in government size, when in fact it was all the build down of the military. Think about the issue of the surge if we hadn't lost those divisions.......
Posted by: No More BS ||
11/18/2007 12:52 Comments ||
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#15
You talk o' better food for us, an' schools, an' fires an' all:
We'll wait for extry rations if you treat us rational.
Don't mess about the cook-room slops, but prove it to our face
The Widow's Uniform is not the soldier-man's disgrace.
For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Chuck him out, the brute!"
But it's "Saviour of 'is country," when the guns begin to shoot;
An' it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' anything you please;
But Tommy ain't a bloomin' fool - you bet that Tommy sees!
Posted by: Steve ||
11/18/2007 13:00 Comments ||
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#16
The hildabeast would rework the 90's in a new york minute.
The fact that all the American flags fell as Hillary exited the hall a few days ago is an omen of things to come if she is elected. She and Bill are cut of the same cloth; amoral and anything for power.
#17
wxjames cut the BS about the CFR. Fred THompson has strongly supported the fences, and he was a CFR emeber. You are soungding like a tinfoil nutter when you carry on like that. You discredit the rest of your words with those. If you want to do the paranoid conspiracy crap, take it someplace else. DU and DailyKos are full of that sort of thing andf your soft of paranoia. We need clear thinking not conspiracy mongering.
In his opening address of a rare OPEC summit, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez warned the United States on Saturday that oil prices would further surge if the US contemplates an attack against his country or Iran.
This is, of course, known as "blackmail."
Minutes after Chavez declared that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries should "assert itself as an active political agent," Saudi King Abdullah appeared to rebuke the Venezuelan, insisting that "OPEC has always acted moderately and wisely."
"We learned that lesson back in '73."
"Oil is an energy for development, it should not become a tool for conflict and emotions," said the king of conservative Saudi Arabia in an apparent response to the leftist leader.
"You were still burping milk then, so you didn't notice. Junior."
The OPEC summit opened Saturday in the Saudi capital, with heads of states and delegates from 12 of the world's biggest oil-producing nations.
#2
"If the United States attempts the madness of invading Iran or attacking Venezuela again, the price of oil is probably going to reach $200, not just $100," Chavez told delegates.
The Law of Unintended Consequences flatly states that such a dramatic price shift would accelerate alternative fuel R&D up to warp speeds. Bring it on, ya little turd.
#3
I know that OPEC is afraid of raising the price of oil too high because of what Zen just said, but Venezuela isn't playing like they are aware of it - much like Iran.
I find it hard to believe that Venezuela isn't on exactly the same page as the rest of OPEC to not violate this principle that all successful parasites symbiotic relationships have had to follow since day one.
More evidence that Iran is talking the talk but not walking the walk.
#8
I was wondering the same thing, sinse. We haven't in my lifetime.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
11/18/2007 8:56 Comments ||
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#9
There was a US army advisor believed to be supporting the coup leaders a few years ago. From what I've heard (talking with one of the men involved) we were perfectly willing to see them succeed but weren't involved in the coup attempt itself.
That's not what Hugo believes, however, and that belief has vastly inflated his sense of his own importance in the scheme of things.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner maintains that the report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) late last week on the Iranian nuclear program and Tehran's "increased cooperation" with the agency does not alter the seriousness with which France views the crisis or its stance on a potential military strike against Iran.
The French foreign minister began a tour of Israel and the Palestinian Authority on Saturday. In an interview with Haaretz, Kouchner, who along with French President Nicolas Sarkozy is leading the European hard-liners against Iran, described the crisis over Iran's nuclear program "as extremely serious," adding that France "will never compromise on Israel's security."
Even though in Tehran the IAEA's report was described as a "political victory" that may prevent the intensifying of international sanctions, Kouchner says that "for now Iran persists in not meeting its international commitments." In an indirect reference to the agency's report, which concluded that Iran is continuing its uranium-enrichment efforts, he says that "in accordance with [United Nations Security Council] Resolution 1747, we have no choice but to make another decision at the Security Council [on imposing new sanctions]."
When asked if in light of the Russian and Chinese opposition, a likelihood exists of forcing Iran to abandon its nuclear project without having to use force, Kouchner said: "We have proposed to our European partners to adopt measures against Iran also within the European Union framework, in order to let Iran understand that it cannot continue with its policy of creating faits accomplis."
Will France support the use of force by the United States or Israel? Will France be willing to participate in an attack on Iran? Kouchner did not respond directly to the questions but used language that suggests that for France, all options, including that of military force, are open:
"I intend to continue with great determination along this path [of pressuring Iran] which is the only way to bring about an agreed solution, the only one that will prevent us from having, one day, to be faced with a dilemma of 'an Iranian bomb or bombing Iran.'"
Posted by: ryuge ||
11/18/2007 06:57 ||
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[8 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
if france strikes anyone militarily i will kiss every rantburgers ass personally. i wouldn't get your hopes up
#4
sinse, I've had a chance to get to know some French officers. Whatever one thinks of their political leadership, there are some tough, competant people serving in French uniform. Whether they are equipped well or allowed to function other than in ex-French colonies is a separate matter.
#5
Personally, I'm not writing them off. In addition to other motivations, the French have a very sigificant Islamic challenge simmering domestically. Bold military action abroud would bring all of this to a riotous boiling point which would permit the matter to be dealt with quite forcefully.
#6
Besoeker: We can hope. Something along the lines of telling their car-b-q artists and their families they can either decide to be French or they can go back to Algeria.
It would be sweet if after all the talk it was the French who took out the Persian nuclear program. I would especially look forward to doing a little dance in front of the Russian consulate.
#7
The French will not be taking anything out, at least alone. But they are giving the US or Israel their support in advance and effectively volunteering to help, an offer I am sure which would be most graciously accepted by either party.
For the French, in addition to doing the right thing to protect themselves and western civilization, they would regain military primacy in Europe, lost in 1870. As EUrope moves, apparently with the blessings of Gordon the Idiot, toward an integrated military structure, the French would be in a position, having participated in a successful strike, of claiming primacy in the leadership of a EUropean force.
As Besoeker points out it might also allow them to assure that EUrope does not become EU-ROPma.
#8
Might explain why US planes were practicing landing and taking off from the De Gaulle a few months back.
Al
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
11/18/2007 13:31 Comments ||
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#9
The optimistic side of me wants to go with Besoeker on this. France desperately needs to fire a shot across the bow of its Muslim population. Nothing sez that like participating in an attack on one of the Arab world's major powers. Moreover, few greater humiliations exist than quashing Muslim Nuclear Pride. At the very least, Sarkozy is bringing International Iranian Intervention into mainstream political dialogue, which is where it desperately needs to be.
Assuming the Iranians won't capitulate through diplomacy in their push to get nukes, how many here at RB think military action (by ANY country or combination of countries) will be used to take 'em out?
For those that believe Iran gets hit militarily, what time frame do you have in mind?
I'm not interested in what you HOPE will happen, I want to know if you THINK it will happen and when.
Thanks.
Posted by: Mark Z ||
11/18/2007 14:53 Comments ||
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#13
Something will happen. November 10, 2008 to January 8, 2009. Unless it can be done deniably and covertly, which I very much doubt, in which case it could be done any time. What gets done will be very much a function of the debate leading up to the election and the results of the election.
A more interesting question will be if you think there will be action, will Bush seek congressional approval. I doubt he will.
#14
In respone to Nimble: Bush will not seek prior approval to hit Iran. Consult with the opposition dhimmicrats? Yes. Seek their approval? No. Which will please the dhimmicrats because it gives them political cover - plausible deniablity.
Posted by: Mark Z ||
11/18/2007 16:01 Comments ||
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#15
I doubt he even consults. What's the upside? They'll either be bitter lame ducks or triumphal. In either case, they'd blab to the NYT to try to kill it.
#16
I'm with NS on this. Over a year ago I predicted that Bush will simply wait until his last months in office then simply exercise his authority as Commander in Chief to declare Iran a clear and present danger and proceed to bomb the crap out of their nuclear R&D program. It'll be over in less than a week so congressional approval after 60 days will be moot.
Bush has done a lot to shake my belief that he will stay true to his word on prohibiting Iran's entrance into the nuclear club. I can only hope that he follows through as the chilling prospects of a potential democratic win in 2008 literally guarantee Iran the breathing space needed to perfect their nuclear technology.
#17
lotp , i wasn't saying the french military where wusses, but their leadership politically is. thats who calls in the military strikes right?? JFM i am a man, and believe it it's not thatI am wanting too kiss your ass by any means
#18
Assuming the Iranians won't capitulate through diplomacy in their push to get nukes, how many here at RB think military action (by ANY country or combination of countries) will be used to take 'em out?
The issue is not whether Rantburgers think military action will take place, but whether the Iranian government thinks it will take place. At this point, I'd say it's 60-40 that the Iranian officials believe military action will take place. If one looks at the political opposition, it's closer to 70-30. But the officials are the ones who matter.
Tho the bluster level from the IRGC has been high, Iran (for the moment) has stopped overtly supplying the Iraqis. If they were confident there would be no attack, they wouldn't have stopped.
Iran is also having economic panic-attacks. Gold buying has been heavy. They aren't doing well with the decline of the dollar. Part of this is based on war fears.
For those that believe Iran gets hit militarily, what time frame do you have in mind?
#19
I think Pappy's on the mark - I work with Americans with Iranian relatives (yes, I trust them). Things are getting bad at home, times are tough, and everyone expects the hammer to strike soon, yet they have hopes to barely survive and restore democracy (with dead mullahs and basij as doorstops... in their best dreams)
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/18/2007 19:52 Comments ||
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#20
Assuming the Iranians won't capitulate through diplomacy in their push to get nukes, how many here at RB think military action (by ANY country or combination of countries) will be used to take 'em out?
I think it's too close to call. But if I had a gun to my head and were ordered to bet on pain of death, I'd probably put my money on "no military action."
Posted by: Dave D. ||
11/18/2007 20:11 Comments ||
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Posted by: Fred ||
11/18/2007 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[9 views]
Top|| File under: Global Jihad
#1
A bill passed this week by the House of Representatives ... all U.S. combat soldiers withdraw from Iraq by Dec. 15, 2008.
Wouldn't that just be the nicest thing? It would be even nicer if the enemy would just play along nicely, too.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates has warned that without a cash infusion, he would soon make plans to lay off civilian employees, terminate contracts and cut base operations.
That's gonna make all kinds of nice voters folks just so happy that their livlihood got pulled out from under them.
#2
start with layoffs and program cuts in Pelosi's, Murtha's, et al districts
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/18/2007 7:10 Comments ||
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#3
Properly, Bush should direct the Pentagon to start immediately canceling non-critical military contracts in Democrat controlled districts. In turn, the Pentagon should start notifying those companies to apply fire to the feet of their congressmen and senators.
He could also issue an executive order stopping the procurement of non-critical items such as mohair, which gives huge hunks of government money to Democrat contributors to produce, or NOT produce products that the Pentagon just warehouses and never uses.
#4
Saw in the paper today the average representative gets $9.6 million in earmarks for pet projects. Members of the Appropriations Committee averaged $28.6 million. Murtha gets a whopping $180 million for his district and supporters.
How about we eliminate all this pork? There would be plenty for the troops.
#5
The only way the Democrats can impact the War on Terror is to cut off the resources to the War on Terror. This is stupid, but the Democrats are stupid people. In a tiny church this morning, two of the people on the prayer list were two young men in Iraq from that tiny town.
If these people in that small church were in power, they would not hesitate to pass that funding, and they would ask, do you need more, because those two boys are in harms way.
That is how out of touch these vile power mongers in the Democratic party are with the people of America. Sitting in that church listening to that small congregation praying for those two boys this morning and then reading that Pelosi is saying no more money and the discussion is over for 2007 is very stark indeed.
Before the 73 year old minister began his Thanksgiving sermon, he told his congregation to "Pray, pray hard for America, because it is about to get rough here."
The Army and Beaver have turned to each other out of mutual desperation. Beaver, who had never seriously considered military service as a young man, needed a steady job, income, health benefits. An already strained Army, fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan while maintaining its presence elsewhere in the world, is struggling to make recruiting quotas.
Lots of family banter, the obligatory lines about how the Army can't meet recruiting goals without lowering standards, raising ages, and big bonuses. Payoff is on page 5:
FIVE WEEKS LATER AND 25 POUNDS LIGHTER, Beaver stands at rigid attention with other recruits at Fort Jackson. A drill sergeant pins medals on the seven soldiers among the 54 in Beaver's platoon who have won sharpshooter awards for above-average shooting proficiency with their M-16 rifles. Beaver -- who, other than hunting a few times as a child, had never handled guns before his training here -- is one of the sharpshooters; he hit a distant target on 30 of 40 shots.
"Congratulations, Beaver," drill Sgt. David Snyder says to him, shaking his hand. About midway through the nine weeks of basic training, Snyder says, "Private Beaver is squared away," which is Army talk for attentive, determined, skilled, worthy of respect and capable of leading. Snyder has given Beaver one of two leadership positions in the platoon, designating him as the 1st Platoon's assistant platoon guide, or the APG. Beaver helps Snyder with everything from maintaining platoon discipline to resolving personality conflicts among his fellow recruits. If Snyder needs someone to monitor calisthenics, Beaver -- whose 70 pushups during a two-minute test placed him above the 90th percentile of recruits in his age group -- can do that, too.
At 32, Snyder has dealt with recruits younger and older than himself, and he prefers the latter. "By the second week of training, I saw that he was going to have leadership stripes and be the APG," Snyder says. "He talked to other soldiers. He was helpful to them. He openly expressed his opinions about things they were doing. He led in his own kind of quiet way . . . He's getting fitter -- you can see that. The run is a challenge for him, but he's going hard." (In the days ahead, Beaver will pass his running test.) "He won't allow age to hold him back," Snyder adds. "The younger soldiers see that. Some of those guys, even the faster ones, quit if they feel pain. Beaver just keeps pushing."
It took oim a while to get there, but I think Beaver is going to be one of America's best.
Posted by: Bobby ||
11/18/2007 15:37 ||
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Another revelation from the New York Times. It's almost as if they want every secret revealed. Except for Hillary's secrets, of course.
WASHINGTON, Nov. 17 Over the past six years, the Bush administration has spent almost $100 million on a highly classified program to help Gen. Pervez Musharraf, Pakistans president, secure his countrys nuclear weapons, according to current and former senior administration officials.
But with the future of that countrys leadership in doubt, debate is intensifying about whether Washington has done enough to help protect the warheads and laboratories, and whether Pakistans reluctance to reveal critical details about its arsenal has undercut the effectiveness of the continuing security effort.
Let the hand-wringing commence. We never do enough, you know, we're never omnipotent enough to suit the Times.
The aid, buried in secret portions of the federal budget, ...
... sssshh, it's a secret ...
... paid for the training of Pakistani personnel in the United States and the construction of a nuclear security training center in Pakistan, a facility that American officials say is nowhere near completion, even though it was supposed to be in operation this year.
Gee, delays in construction in Pakistain? There's a surprise.
A raft of equipment from helicopters to night-vision goggles to nuclear detection equipment was given to Pakistan to help secure its nuclear material, its warheads, and the laboratories that were the site of the worst known case of nuclear proliferation in the atomic age.
While American officials say that they believe the arsenal is safe at the moment, and that they take at face value Pakistani assurances that security is vastly improved, in many cases the Pakistani government has been reluctant to show American officials how or where the gear is actually used. That is because the Pakistanis do not want to reveal the locations of their weapons or the amount or type of new bomb-grade fuel the country is now producing.
That's not exactly a revelation.
The American program was created after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, when the Bush administration debated whether to share with Pakistan one of the crown jewels of American nuclear protection technology, known as permissive action links, or PALS, a system used to keep a weapon from detonating without proper codes and authorizations. In the end, despite past federal aid to France and Russia on delicate points of nuclear security, the administration decided that it could not share the system with the Pakistanis because of legal restrictions.
Because it would have been in Chinese hands the following week, forwarded to North Korea the week after, and sent on to the Iranians before the month would be out.
Posted by: ||
11/18/2007 01:13 ||
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[16 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
So long as the New York Times owners and editorial board are not tried and executed for treason we have nobody to blame for ourselves. This is why we may be winning in Iraq but we are losing the war.
#3
I cannot fathom the reasoning behind letting a story like this get into the press. Anyone wiht any knowledge of the geopolitical situation in the world and the slightest bit of knowledge regarding the cultural sensitivities of Muslims and Pakis would know this can not have a positive impact. The much trumpeted "public's right to know" is more than offset by the dangers these details create. Once again the NYTs and it's often guessing Seymour Hersh types are causing significant damage to the situation for no good cause, except constant bashing of this administration in every venue and at every opportunity, even ones they create.
Posted by: No More BS ||
11/18/2007 12:44 Comments ||
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#4
NMBS, you're assuming anyone could have stopped the NYT from running disinformation. Just how?
MALE (THE MALDIVES): Funds from Islamist organisations based in Pakistan and the United Kingdom, helped finance the September 29 terror bombing in Male, police sources say.
Some $1,000 in cash was recovered from Sultan Park-accused Moosa Inas, but police say thousands more would have been needed to pay for the terror cells frequent international movements, proseletysation activism, and recruitment operations. Investigators are, in particular, seeking to identify a United Kingdom national of south Asian origin who identified himself to members of the Sultan Park terror cell as Abu Issa. Believed to be of south Asian descent, Abu Issa is thought to have arrived in the Maldives soon after the 2005 tsunami, armed with several thousand dollars in cash for victims then sheltered in the premises of a factory in Gan.
Look around in Pakistan and you might find him.
Moosa Inas, who police say triggered the explosive device that went off at Sultan Park, was among several local Islamists charged with distributing the relief. Ali Shareef and Mohammad Mazeed, arrested after the Maldives Defence Forces moved against the Islamist base at Himandhoo, also participated in the relief operations. Both men are believed to have earlier participated in an abortive plot to bring about an Islamic revolution.
Recalls Fiyes magazine reporter Ahmed Abdulla, who covered the 2005 disaster: Basically, Inas and the others made it clear that they would only help those who converted to their particular form of Islam. People were desperate, so many agreed.
Interestingly, the charitable wing of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Idara Khidmat-e-Khalq, claimed to have spent Pakistan Rs. 17.2 million on tsunami relief operations in the region .
Apart from distributing funds to Islamists in the Maldives, intelligence sources said Abu Issa also travelled to Mumbai and Thiruvananthapuram. One meeting between the terror financier and operatives in India is thought to have been held six months ago. Indian intelligence services believe Ibrahim Asif, a Maldives national arrested for seeking to procure weapons in Kerala in April 2005, may have also been financed by Abu Issa.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/18/2007 01:24 ||
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#1
I know a couple who went there about 30 years ago. They said it was so peaceful that violent crime was non existent. Now, jihad vomit is spewed. The Wahabis need to be brought down. That is not a bona fide religious sect; it is a terror movement. It was founded to attack Turks, and bring wealth to the al-Wahab family. Now they attack America, Israel, Sufis and Shiites.
Caretaker Prime Minister Muhammadmian Soomro said on Saturday that challenges of misperception within and outside the country needed to be addressed at the earliest and the media focus should be turned to improving the political atmosphere leading up to the forthcoming general elections.
It's my contention, and it always will be, that no country with a Minister of Information actually has a free press.
Chairing a high-level meeting to review the media-related issues and the role of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Soomro said the government believed in the freedom of a responsible media and would take all necessary measures to ensure conditions conducive for the smooth functioning of the media. Media has an important role to play in dissemination of information and in educating the masses on issues of national importance, he added. The role of media will be significant during the forthcoming elections when it has to discharge its obligations with responsibilities, he said.
Once the media's role becomes "educating the masses" rather than informing people who're free to make their own decisions, you're not what we shorthandedly refer to as a "democracy." In the case of Pakistain, you're one of the least effective authoritarian states we can imagine.
The PM stressed the need to increase communitys participation in media, particularly on issues pertaining to public concern. The public views on the national issues, particularly the problem of terrorism, have to be shared through different means of communication, he maintained.
I think that statement's a semantic null. It means nothing, except possibly what Humpty Dumpty wants it to mean.
Nothing actually has to be shared through different means of communication. Governments do have legitimate secrets. And many means of communication aren't concerned with pressing national issues, but with frivolities like Britney's nether regions.
But the real problem with the sentence lies with the first part: What the hell are "the public views on the national issues" he's yapping about? Are these the (diverse) views of the public at large, spanning the spectrum from furrit to againit? Or are they maybe the officially expressed views of the government -- which can be quite different from the government's actual, but closely held, views on the same subject? I suspect it's the position Soomro wants to push onto the public, but I'm not at all sure.
Commenting on the prevailing government-media relations, Soomro said the government sincerely desired to accommodate concerns of all stakeholders nevertheless it had to be realised that no institution in any state of the world was left un-regulated. A balance has to be maintained in the best interest of the society, he added.
There's regulation, and then there's regulation. In free societies, we try to keep regulation of the press confined to the areas of libel and monopoly. In authoritarian and totalitarian states they spend a lot of time examining content and shaping the definition of "truth." I think Perv and Soomro have a definitiion of truth they'd like to see adhered to. I think Najam Sethi -- the publisher of Pak Daily Times and Friday Times -- is a bigger man than either of them will ever be, and I think he's got his own (empirical and predictive) definitions of "truth."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/18/2007 00:00 ||
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Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) President Qazi Hussain Ahmad called Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief Nawaz Sharif in Jeddah on Saturday to exchange views on the current political situation in Pakistan and to discuss holding an all-parties conference (APC) as early as possible to chalk out a joint strategy for a movement against the imposition of emergency rule.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/18/2007 00:00 ||
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President General Pervez Musharraf said on Friday that former prime minister Benazir Bhutto feared the polls set for January because she was corrupt and unpopular.
"That's why I instituted the state of emergency. She'll still still be corrupt, but she'll be much more popular after just a few days."
Musharraf told BBC Radio 4s Today programme in an interview that Bhutto was the darling of the West but that she would not like to go into an election because, according to him the Pakistans Peoples Party would not win the elections. It is she actually who may not be wanting elections in Pakistan and it is she who may want to go on to the agitational mode because her party is not in a state to win at all, he said. Therefore I will certainly go for the election despite of any agitation by her. He blamed Bhutto, who has called for him to relinquish power, for ruining chances of a deal which would see her serving as prime minister under his presidency, Reuters reported. She disturbed the entire environment. She comes on a total confrontationalist approach, Musharraf said of Bhutto, who returned from eight years of self exile last month.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/18/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Posted by: john frum ||
11/18/2007 14:09 Comments ||
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#2
LOL, John :-)
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/18/2007 14:48 Comments ||
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LAHORE: Fearing a backlash from students and members of civil society, the Punjab government quietly shifted Imran Khan under the cover of darkness to D.G Khan Jail known as Kala Pani of Punjab.
Kala Pani became notorious during the freedom struggle when the British occupation forces banished freedom fighters to that jail. D.G Khan Jail is normally reserved for habitual criminals, drug pushers and dangerous terrorists.
Nearly half the jail is made of mud that requires daily maintenance and there is not a single B class cell in the entire jail. There is no facility of clean drinking water, the food is rotten, medical facilities are non existent and even rustic sanitation is considered a luxury in that jail.
The purpose of sending Imran to a maximum security jail seems to be an attempt to punish him and teach him a lesson not to oppose the present government. Every effort will be make to break his commitment for democracy and rule of law. Will the government succeed?, was another matter.
The government on Thursday, put Imran in solitary confinement at Lahore notorious Kot Lakhpat Jail after charging him with terrorism laws and maintenance of public order no. 16 that takes away the right of the prisoner to meet with anyone unless there was a court order or the permission of the Home Secretary. The Frontier Post has learnt on good authority that Imran who became a victim of IJT deception and deceit was now languishing in a high security cell where normally dangerous extremist terrorists or hardened criminals were locked up.
The cat's at the dentist and the rats are swarming.
More than five people were killed and dozens were injured due to the terrorists attacks on the people after Juma prayers in Parachinar, the Capital of Kurram Agency here on Friday.
"It's Friday! Prayers are over! And what's that mean, boyz and girlz?"
According to the details, last night at 8:00PM some unknown persons opened fire on two persons belong to the Ahl-e-Sunnat Waljamaat group of their personal enmity.
[BANG! BANG! BANGETY BANG!]
"Aaaaaiiiieeee!"
To take the advantage of the opportunity, a rival groups gave threats to Ahl-e-Sunnat Waljamaat to close the shops, the people worried to see the close shops. When people came out from the mosque (Imam Bargah), six persons opened indiscriminating fire from different places in the city with heavy weapons which killed four persons on the spot while five were injured, but later on the death toll were raised and due to tense situation the more casualties could not be reported.
An imam bargah is a Shiite mosque. A Sunni mosque is referred to as... ummm... a mosque.
It merits mentioning here that Pak Army troops are too busy to stop the war from extending to other areas.
"We got better things to do! Important things!"
It is also to be said here that the Taliban were disturbing the law and order in the area from the last few months and maintained links with banned organisations. Govt had already been informed about the situation but it take the matter into ease and had not take any serious note of the issue.
"Arrrrr! We got more important things to think about! Or are the miscreants members of the PPP, followers of Morticia and Gomez?"
It merits mentioning here that Taliban at Shasho arrested the people who were coming from Azla Payan to Parachinar and shifted them to unknown places.
"Into the paddy wagon wit' yez!"
Some unconfirmed sources said that Taliban also attacked on paramilitary troops in Parachinar and told that some were also killed and injured in the clashes.
"Kill the heathen Shiites! [BANG!] Death to America! [BANG!]"
APP adds: The political administration has imposed curfew in the Parachinar, headquarters of Kurram Agency, after severe armed clashes between two warring tribes that claimed two lives and several injured. Political Agent Kurram Agency Fakhre Alam Muhammadzai told APP on Friday that fighting erupted between Mengal and Turi tribe after two tribesmen of the former tribe were shot dead last night by unknown killers at Parachinar city.
[BANG!] "Die, yew Mengal varmint!"
The killing of Mengal tribesmen sparked the clashes Friday morning.
"Jed! Young Mahmoud's dead!"
"Dead? Who dunnit, Roy?"
"It wuz... It wuz... It wuz them Turis whut dunnit!"
"Round up the boyz, Roy! It's time to teach them Turis a lesson!"
The firing started after Juma congregation when the rival tribes entrenched and pounded each others targets with heavy weapons like rocket launchers, mortar shells. The Political Agent was however, not certain about the exact death toll.
"I was too busy keeping my head down!"
The unofficial sources put the casualties at six and 30 injured. The injured were shifted to Agency Headquarters Hospital Parachinar and admitted. The paramilitary forces, the Political Agent has moved in and deployed at the sensitive spots in aid of the civil administration.
Pakistan Peoples Party continued with its Long March despite a countrywide crackdown on the PPP workers, and the confinement of its leader Ms. Benazir Bhutto, who was only released Friday morning. Over 12500 PPP workers have been arrested from across the country as the resistance to the Martial Law becomes intense and people reports of countrywide clashes emerge in the international media. The PPP that had announced to carry out a Long March early this week, had to face a panicked regime that deployed all state resources to stop the Long March.
Leaders detained today included MNAs Chaudhry Manzur, Imtiaz Safdar Warraich, Qamar Zaman Kaera, Zulfiqar Gondal, Firdaus Awaan, and Ijaz Samma, Saud Dar, Abdullah Virk, Tahir Zaman Kaera, Lala Shahid, Malik Tahir, Zahid Bashir.
Despite repeated attempts by the regime, the rally still proceeds to Islamabad though the regime tried to disrupt it in Gujrat, Lalamusa, Kharian as more arrests were made, a PPP release said. The jails are so full that women have been thrown into homes in groups of 25 and 30, creating concentration camps across the Punjab.
But all the activists remain undterred. This speaks volumes about the courage of not only the PPP workers, but of the ordinary Pakistanis who do not want to spend another minute under dictatorship, said Sherry Rehman, the Central Information Secretary Pakistan Peoples Party. Rehman said that it was cowardly of the regime to attempt to crush the PPP Long March. All one can say is that they should apologise to the nation for causing loss to the national resources and time, as they tried to stop the PPP from taking out the rally.
Posted by: Seafarious ||
11/18/2007 00:00 ||
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A senior U.S. envoy pressed President Pervez Musharraf today to lift a harsh emergency decree, move Pakistan toward civilian rule and reconcile with opposition leader Benazir Bhutto. The general, however, defended his actions, saying he had acted in the interests of democracy.
"Dat's right. Dere ain't nuttin' better for creatin' democracy dan roundin' people up an' tossin' 'em in da slammer!"
A senior Pakistani official said Musharraf told Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte that amid an intensifying Islamic insurgency, emergency measures were needed to ensure that January parliamentary elections could be held safely.
Ask him how many Islamists he tossed in jug, John.
Musharraf's two-hour meeting with Negroponte represented the most urgent U.S. warning appeal to date for the Pakistani leader to end the 2-week-old state of emergency, considered by most observers to be de facto martial law.
"Marvin! What's that I hear quacking?"
"It's a duck, sir."
"It walks kinda funny, though."
"Sir, that's the way ducks walk."
"So what should we call it?"
"Let's call it a spade, sir."
"Good idea."
Opposition leaders have said a free and fair vote is impossible while the decree remains in place.
The vote would be a lot freer and fairer if everybody wasn't either in jug or at the dentist.
Negroponte made no immediate public statement after his day of talks with Musharraf and other senior Pakistani government and military officials.
"I'm speechless."
"He can say no more!"
He instead planned to hold a news conference early Sunday before leaving the Pakistani capital.
Right. It's gonna be carried on GEO TV.
U.S. officials had said in advance of the talks that Musharraf would be urged to set a date for ending emergency rule as well as for stepping down as chief of the military, and to release activists jailed since the crackdown began.
And to kick in for new bridgework for them.
The United States is in a delicate position, on the one hand wanting to encourage democratic rule but on the other remaining wary of any action that could destabilize Pakistan. The nuclear-armed nation has been considered a cesspool crucial U.S. ally against the Taliban and Al Qaeda.
This article starring:
John D. Negroponte
Posted by: Fred ||
11/18/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
meanwhile...
Posted by: john frum ||
11/18/2007 14:18 Comments ||
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#2
GEO TV parody of Musharraf. No wonder they banned the channel.
ISLAMABAD -- Two weeks into Pakistan's emergency rule, President Gen. Pervez Musharraf is intensifying his campaign against what he perceives as dual threats to his government: the free-flow of information and a growing Islamic insurgency. And he doesn't appear to have been persuaded to alter course during a two-hour visit from a senior U.S. diplomat.
So far he's doing better against the free flow of information than he is against the growing Islamic insurgency.
A high-ranking Pakistani military official said at a briefing some 15,000 Pakistani army troops were pushing back against Islamist fighters who have made progress in recent weeks securing new territory. "The troops are ready for a major offensive against the militants," said Major General Shuja Pasha.
"Really. They're gonna tear 'em up. That's why we started with the TNSM, instead of with real Talibs, like Baitullah Mehsud. We figured we'd get our boots wet slowly. But we're all fired up about it, you betcha. Just wait and see."
Earlier Saturday, two Pakistani news channels that had held out against pressure from the government to operate under new, stricter broadcasting guidelines were taken off air.
"GEO TV. How can I help you?"
"Close down."
"Ummm... Close down?"
"Or else. [Click!]"
Both channels, Geo News and ARY One World, had been broadcasting since the emergency from Dubai via satellite, making them available to viewers in Pakistan and abroad. But the government of the United Arab Emirates shut down their transmissions.
"United Arab Emirates! How may I help you?"
"Close them down."
"Ummm... Close who down?"
"Or else. [Click!]"
Gen. Musharraf, meanwhile, met Saturday with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte, who was expected to push the president to restore Pakistan's path toward democracy. No progress was reported from the meeting, however.
Mr. Negroponte, the most senior U.S. official to have met Gen. Musharraf in person since the emergency was declared, is expected to hold a press conference Sunday in Pakistan before he leaves the country.
"Marvin, call GEO TV! Schedule a press conference for this afternoon!"
"Right, chief!"
The Associated Press reported that Mr. Negroponte met for more than two hours with Gen. Musharraf and Pakistan's deputy army commander, Gen. Ashfaq Kayani, according to an official in the president's office. The official said Gen. Musharraf told Mr. Negroponte the emergency was needed to hold a successful general election.
"Yeah! An' I packed pork to the babe to preserve her virginity!"
Gen. Musharraf imposed the state of emergency Nov. 3 citing the deteriorating security situation in the South Asian nation.
"This country's so incompetently run the security situation's deteriorating rapidly! I must impose a state of emergency!"
Since then, however, many of the public signs of the new regime have centered on locking up opposition politicians and lawyers who demonstrated against the measures.
"Mahmoud! Lock them away!"
As part of its clampdown, the government also imposed a blackout on all local and foreign cable news channels.
"This just in! We're closed now!"
Last week, reeling from losses, many private news channels agreed to abide by the government's new laws and were allowed back on air. Under the new laws, these channels may not "ridicule" the "head of state, or members of the armed force, or executive, legislative or judicial organs of the state." But two channels, Geo News and ARY One World, had rejected the edicts and continued to broadcast from Pakistan.
"What's on the lineup tonight, Chaudry?"
"Well, Shaheed, first we have a piece from our Islamabad correspondent with pictures of His Excellency President-General Mush wearing funny turbans and falling down a flight of stairs. Then we have some video from Swat, showing the Mighty Pak Army carrying out operations against the local rustics, and the local rustics chopping the heads off our boyz in khaki. We're going to wrap it all up with some live footage from the National Assembly, where those who haven't walked out are throwing furniture at each other."
"Righteo. And we're gonna broadcast that from Pakistain?"
"'Fraid so."
Talk-show host Shahid Masood appeared live from Dubai on Geo News, which counted down the minutes to the shutdown. He blamed the Pakistani government for pressuring the "government of the friendly country that is hosting us" into evicting the news channel.
"You can't do that to us! We're a friendly country!"
"Well, here's some friendly advice: be real careful starting your car!"
Pakistani officials couldn't immediately be reached for comment.
"ISI! Whaddya want?... Sorry. We got nuttin' to say about dat!"
On the military front, Pakistan's army is pursuing one of its largest military campaigns against Islamic militants in the troubled northern region close to the Afghan border. A curfew has been clamped in the Swat and Malakand districts as security forces backed by helicopter gunships and artillery pounded militant positions in areas that fell into militant control last week.
"Bring up... The Helicopter!"
Gen. Pasha said as many as 600 foreign militants, including Uzbeks, Chechens and Arabs, were part of the Islamic militia which has over run Swat and were moving towards other areas. "We have clear evidence of the presence of foreign fighters," said the major general, who is directing military operation in the area. He said the militants were receiving funds from other countries, but denied to name them. "They have strong linkages from outside elements," he said. "They are well equipped and trained."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/18/2007 00:00 ||
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The US-led coalition is building a permanent security base on Iraq's oil pumping platforms in the Gulf to act as the "nerve centre" of efforts to protect the country's most vital strategic asset. Work on the Tactical Operations Centre on the Khawr al-Amaya terminal should be finished early next month.
The bulk of security planning and co-ordination at the head of the Gulf will then shift from frigates and patrol boats to the platforms of the terminal. The sound of saws and a blaze of welding arcs accompanied construction of a tower of modified shipping containers, the hub of the multi-million pound project, designed to give early warning of hostile action by Iran or al-Qa'eda.
Built by British engineers in the 1950s, the terminal is undergoing extensive renovations to upgrade its defences. "We don't state the exact threat but you can be sure this is part of a layered defence that marks a significant step forward in the maritime security around the platforms," said Cdre Keith Winstanley, the commander of UK maritime operations in the Gulf.
Khawr al-Amaya and its larger neighbour, al-Basra terminal, are vital but fragile outposts of the world economy, boasting a loading capacity close to 10 per cent of global daily supply. The terminals not only carry the burden of financing the reconstruction of Iraq but those responsible for security acknowledge that a successful attack here would dash any prospect of petrol falling below £1 a litre on British forecourts.
A terrorist attack almost succeeded in reaching the terminals in 2004 and al-Qa'eda has declared Gulf oil facilities a top target. To shield the platforms, Argyll, a Type 23 frigate, and the Australian frigate Anzac cruise at four knots within a two-mile exclusion zone.
Thwarting al-Qa'eda means unauthorised vessels face a series of challenges from patrol boats. Royal Marine Commandos provide boarding parties on oil tankers queuing to get alongside the terminals.
The task is complicated by Iran's aggressive presence, which has made the Gulf the most contested waterway in the world. By seizing a half-sunk crane on the boundary of Iraqi and Iranian territorial waters, Teheran has created a quandary for the Royal Navy. Patrols rate it as a legitimate target of interest but do not want to make it a flashpoint of war.
When a Royal Navy Lynx helicopter, bristling with missiles and cannon, levels off over the bright yellow crane, the only device aimed below is a digital camera's telephoto lens. From the decks of Argyll, the crane is a tiny shadow in the distance that could be obliterated with the flick of a finger. "This is the eyes-on part of the job," said Flt Cdr David Gillett, the photographer on the Lynx. "It's a curious daily task of us watching them, watching us. We think of it as providing a visual deterrent." A detachment of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) occupies the crane, granting Teheran a valuable surveillance point just yards from Iraq's only oil pumping platforms.
Iran's seizure of 15 sailors and Royal Marines in March casts a long shadow over the operations around the terminals. The party was captured without firing a shot when the IRGC exploited a gap in air cover.
Fast American coastguard gunboats reinforce coalition firepower within the zone and increasingly newly trained Iraqi navy and marines are sent to intercept ships entering the area. In waters teeming with tankers, cargo vessels and fishing dhows, binoculars can trump land-based radar on which Argyll barely stands out from the crowd.
Lt David Jones, Argyll's weapons officer, admitted a frailty that the Iranians on the crane are positioned to exploit. "This frigate has the profile of a fishing boat," he said. "We're one of the smallest things out here. A missile is much more likely to find an oil tanker to target but because of that there are potentially situations where we would be left standing, watching a missile go past us."
Posted by: lotp ||
11/18/2007 00:00 ||
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Turkey is "in the process of implementing" a cross-border operation against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) that uses northern Iraq as a base to launch attacks, a senior Turkish general said Thursday.
But there were no immediate signs of increased military activity along Turkey's mountainous border with Iraq Thursday evening, Reuters reporters in the region said, suggesting any offensive was only in the preparatory stages. "We are in the process of implementing the cross-border operation," Gen. Ýlker Baþbuð, head of the Land Forces and the second most powerful man in the Turkish Armed Forces, told reporters at a diplomatic reception in the Turkish capital.
Baþbuð did not spell out exactly what he meant. "When or how the motion (on a cross-border operation) will be implemented is another issue," Baþbuð said, according to the Anatolia news agency.
Turkey's Parliament approved a government request last month to be able to launch cross-border operations into northern Iraq. Turkey has massed as many as 100,000 troops, backed by warplanes, helicopters and tanks, on its border with Iraq for a possible cross-border incursion to root out the separatist terrorists, blamed by Ankara for a series of attacks on its security personnel.
A senior Iraqi border guards officer said there were no signs Turkey had launched a cross-border operation into Iraq. "There has been no Turkish incursion into Iraq, although there are many Turkish troops massed on the Turkish side of the border," the officer, who declined to be identified, told Reuters.
One senior U.S. military official in Baghdad said he was not immediately aware of any Turkish action. Iraqi government officials could not be reached for comment.
On Tuesday security sources said Turkey had sent hundreds of special forces to the border to bolster its troops there.
Authorities have stepped up the rhetoric to pressure U.S. and Iraqi authorities to move against the PKK, analysts say. Washington has urged Ankara to avoid a large-scale incursion, fearing it could destabilize Iraq's most peaceful part and cause a bigger regional crisis.
Baþbuð's comments followed a reaffirmation by the government this week that Turkey was ready to carry out an offensive against some 3,000 PKK members based in the mountains of northern Iraq.
#2
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert plans to ask the cabinet Monday to free hundreds of Palestinian Authority terrorists in Israeli jails before the summit. It appears that the Prime Minister will release between 400 and 500 more terrorists.
Idiot! You free prisoners in exchange for something not as a gesture before the fact. Quid pro effing quo, Olmert. Got it?
Lt.-Col. (Res.) Meir Indor, Director of the Terror Victims Association, is not optimistic that freedom for terrorists will mean PA compliance with Step One of the Road Map, which calls for a total end to terrorism against the Jewish State.
Which will never happen no matter how many alphabet soup proxies the Palestinians have to invent so they can retain plausible deniability.
"We saw recently in the case of the PA terrorists who were plotting to kill Prime Minister Olmert,that the PA set them free a few days later. The PA doesn't view terrorists as law breakers. Their arrests are meaningless," he pointed out.
Which all points to how releasing any of these thugs is a really, really bad idea.
Why is it that this world remains perpetually blind to how Arabs continually issue demands without ever making even marginal concessions themselves? It's like playing cards with someone who refuses to ante up but still insists that you must do so.
The final report of the official inquiry into the 2006 Second Lebanon War is expected to accuse PM Ehud Olmert of having caused 33 pointless IDF deaths in the last 60 hours of warfare.
The Winograd Commission was appointed a month after the end of the war, as a result of heavy public pressure and criticism of the war's poor results. The commission's mandate was to investigate the errors in running the war. It had been announced of late that the commission would not call for Olmert's resignation - but the Sunday Times of London now reports that it is likely to come close: The commission will sharply censor the Prime Minister for the battles of the war's last three days, in which 28 soldiers were killed in battle and another five were killed when their helicopter was shot down.
In the final 60 hours of fighting, Israel launched a major ground offensive which began while the United Nations was nearing a ceasefire resolution. Though some would say that Olmert wished to seize a victory from the jaws of defeat, or at least end the war with Israel in its best possible position, the Winograd Commission sees the situation differently.
The British paper quotes a "source close to the Winograd Commission" saying that Olmert, "aware that a ceasefire agreement was underway, ordered the army to carry out an impossible operation to wind up a failed war against Hizbullah with a big showdown." Another source told the Times: My hunch is that the report will blame Olmert in the harshest way possible, and the last 60 hours of the war will be the hook on which they hang him.
The paper reports that the final operation of the war, codenamed Direction Change 11, was launched on August 11, 2006, as the final details of a ceasefire were being hammered out in New York. The ceasefire went into effect on Monday, Aug. 14. This was the operation the army had planned for months to crack down decisively and finish off Hizbullah, the Times quoted an officer as saying. But it should have begun the war, not ended it and we needed 96 hours to trap Hezbollah and then a week to finish them off.
The Commission may take its lead from an Israeli book on the war by journalists Ofer Shelah and Yoav Limor, which recounts a phone conversation between Olmert and former Defense Minister Sha'ul Mofaz. Olmert reportedly tells Mofaz that an "excellent proposal has been agreed in the security council, exactly what we wanted" - but still insists on continuing the offensive. When Mofaz asks, What are you going to say to the families of the soldiers who will die in this pointless operation?, Olmert reportedly responds, Well, thats a tough one... I dont think Ive got a good answer.
The Times does not note that Mofaz himself was the only Cabinet minister not to vote in favor of the ceasefire proposal.
Arutz-7 asked ex-IDF Ground Forces Commander Maj.-Gen. (ret.) Yiftah Ron-Tal if criticism of Olmert for waging an offensive in the shadow of an approaching ceasefire would deter future Israeli leaders from ordering strong offensives when necesssary. "I do not believe so," Ron-Tal said. "I trust that Israeli leaders know their responsibility, and will do what is necessary - but they must do so with the proper mechanisms in place to ensure that their actions are of value. In this case, there was no way that there could have been enough time for the final offensive to succeed. It was carried out without proper coordination between the government and the army, and it was such a large-scale offensive - with three divisions, over a large area, etc. - that it simply could not have succeeded under those conditions."
Gen. Ron-Tal, who retired from active service shortly before the war began, was asked what he felt was the major blunder in the way the war was run. After saying that there had been no coordinated ground campaign, he said that the main errors were that the objectives were not properly defined; the actions that were taken - including air raids and isolated ground attacks - did not match the objectives; and the coordination was poor and even non-existent.
Though Hizbullah's long-range Katyusha rockets were destroyed by the Israeli air campaign, Ron-Tal said, "the short-range rockets were not; it is unbelievable that even on the last day of fighting, 100 Katyushas were still being fired at northern Israel!"
The 33 soldiers who were killed during the last weekend of the war included eight infantrymen hit by Hizbullah anti-tank rockets in three different incidents, an officer killed by a mortar shell, and two killed by anti-tank fire just hours before the ceasefire took effect. In addition, three tanks, and their crews, were destroyed by rockets. Over 50 Hizbullah terrorists were reported killed over that weekend, and more were presumably killed in the last 24 hours of warfare. Katyusha rockets continued to rain down upon Israel over that last weekend; public radio broadcasts were continually interrupted every 3-4 minutes with news of sirens in different localities, accompanied by Home Front Command instructions directing residents to take cover.
Do NOT paste long articles into the comments section at Rantburg. Either a) post a link (only) to the story or b) submit the article to the queue for possible publication in its own right.
The article that was pasted here can be found at this site
Posted by: Why Hezbollah LOST the War in Lebanon! ||
11/18/2007 18:28 Comments ||
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Hamas security briefly detained on Saturday the father of a Palestinian boy who became a national symbol when he was killed during intense fighting in Gaza seven years ago. Jamal al-Dura, 44, said he was held for four hours in a central Gaza police station and interrogated for allegedly shooting in the air during a family wedding. Al-Dura, a supporter of the moderate Fatah movement, denied the accusations and said he can't carry guns because of his medical condition.
On Sept. 30, 2000, al-Dura and his son, Mohammed, 12, were caught in a furious exchange of fire between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants. A French TV crew captured the two cowering, terrified, behind a wall, and the boy falling after he was fatally shot. The father was badly injured. The scene was broadcast around the world and became a symbol of the second Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation.
At the police station, Hamas asked al-Dura to sign a piece of paper to pledge he will abide by the law, al-Dura said. He refused. "I am a law abiding citizen," al-Dura said. "I am a respected man around the world and here. This is an affront to me and to them," al-Dura said in reference to Hamas. Hamas security said al-Dura was called in for questioning on a firing incident and was let go.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/18/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
No, the French TV show only showed a badly-faked mock shooting. Too bad everyone believed the French.
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
11/18/2007 9:53 Comments ||
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#2
The scene always looked to me that the father was using the boys (still living) body for cover. I would have been shielding my child - who would have been shoved up against the concrete.
Thousands of Hamas bully boyz loyalists warned Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in a Gaza City demonstration Friday that violence would erupt if he makes concessions to Israel in an upcoming U.S.-sponsored peace conference.
The protest of about 10,000 Hamas loyalists highlighted tensions between Hamas and Abbas' Fatah Party. The gathering came just days after Hamas security shot and killed eight civilians at a large Fatah rally that was the Western-backed movement's greatest showing of force since Hamas wrested control of the Gaza Strip in June.
Abbas called on Thursday for action against the Hamas rulers of Gaza, saying "We have to bring down this bunch ... (that) is abusing the sufferings and pains of our people." As the leader of the West Bank after he kicked Hamas out of the government and installed his own, Abbas will attend the meeting with Israel in Annapolis, Maryland later this month. Hamas is not invited.
In Friday's demonstration, the Hamas backers chanted slogans demanding Abbas not give in on the major issues in the conflict. They protested outside Abbas' Gaza home, which has been deserted since the Hamas takeover.
Khalil al-Haya, a Hamas leader, warned of violence if Palestinian rights over the Al Aqsa mosque in east Jerusalem are denied. Bloodshed will also result if Israel does not open Gaza's crossings with the outside world, he said. Israel closed the passages after Hamas' takeover of Gaza. "We warn the whole region ... against harming Al Aqsa, meddling with our basic rights, or tightening the siege" on Gaza, al-Haya told the crowd. "We warn of a huge explosion, in which Palestinians will blow up in all places ... No seas or barbed wire will prevent that."
Al-Haya did not specifically say Hamas would carry out suicide bombings. The remarks appeared to be a veiled threat of a return to attacks. Hamas has carried out dozens of suicide bombings in Israel in which hundreds have been killed. The group has not been involved in suicide bombings since 2004.
Israeli security has predicted that Hamas could try to violently derail the peace conference if it appears progress is being made toward resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The Hamas demonstrators called on Abbas not to make concessions on Palestinian demands regarding Jerusalem, the borders of a Palestinian state and the return of Palestinian refugees to homes they fled when Israel was established in 1948. "We are coming to you Al Aqsa," the crowd chanted. Through a loudspeaker a man shouted "Let the land burn under the feet of those who give up the land, the right of return, and Jerusalem."
Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman, said the rally was a message to the Annapolis conference. Hamas' rivalry with Abbas' Fatah movement and control of the Gaza Strip undermine Abbas' ability to negotiate a peace deal on behalf of all Palestinians, and preside over a future state.
Abbas' comments Thursday were his first clear demand that Hamas be ousted since the militant group seized power in Gaza. He did not urge an uprising against Hamas, but apparently wanted to capitalize on growing discontent with Hamas among the 1.5 million residents in the impoverished territory.
Despite Abbas' tough words, he has little influence in Gaza. Hamas has tried to cement its grip on the territory since the rally, rounding up more than 400 Fatah activists and announcing media restrictions and plans to limit public gatherings.
On Friday, Hamas said it had released dozens of the Fatah detainees but was continuing to hold and interrogate an unspecified number who were "directly involved" in the disturbances. Fatah says 450 people were arrested in all.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/18/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Why the hell is Israel negotiating with Abbas? He doesn't control anything and can't enforce any of his agreements.
#3
Why the hell is Israel negotiating with Abbas? He doesn't control anything and can't enforce any of his agreements.
By negotiating with Abbas they can incite more Hamas attacks against Fatah. It's a win-win situation. They fight each other.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
11/18/2007 16:04 Comments ||
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Ma'an A group of Hamas-affiliated Palestinian legislators imprisoned in Israel, applauded calls by their leader, deposed Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, for unity among Palestinian factions on Saturday. Hanieyeh reaffirmed his call this week for dialogue with the rival Fatah faction, arguing that negotiations with the Palestinian Hamas will be "more effective" than talks with Israel and the United States.
Haniyeh's most recent statement came in a letter to the prisoners, in response to a call for Palestinian unity from activists and politicians at a conference in Istanbul on the subject of defending Islamic sites in Jerusalem. On Friday Haniyeh called for a "transparent and impartial national committee" to investigate the deaths of seven Fatah supporters after police fired on a massive rally in Gaza City in honor of the late President Yasser Arafat on Monday. Hamas-allied police reportedly fired on stone-throwing demonstrators.
This article starring:
Ismail Haniyeh
Hamas
Posted by: Fred ||
11/18/2007 00:00 ||
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Ma'an Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails announced a one day hunger strike to protest poor conditions in the detention facilities. In a press statement the prisoners also accused prison officials of sowing division between Palestinian prisoners, partly by spreading rumors about the potential release of a group of prisoners.
The Israeli cabinet is scheduled to vote on Sunday on a proposal to release up to 400 Palestinian prisoners in an effort to strengthen Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in advance of a US-backed peace conference. There are currently approximately 11,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, including at least 40 members of the Palestinian Legislative Council. The hunger strike is to begin Sunday.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/18/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
A one day hunger strike? What are the bets they'll even cheat on that?
Pussies...
COLOMBO - A Tamil guerrilla leader accused of involvement in war crimes is becoming a major embarrassment to Sri Lankas government following his arrest in Britain. Vinayagamoorthi Muralitharan, the leader of a breakaway faction of the Tamil Tigers rebel group, was detained in London earlier this month on a charge of entering the country under a false name.
Officials in Colombo are said to have helped the rebel, better known as Colonel Karuna, escape to London. The warlord apparently feared he would be killed by his former comrades in the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
Karuna, who has consistently denied any wrongdoing, was the de facto number two of the ruthless Tamil Tigers renowned for their use of suicide bombers and child fighters before he defected in 2004. Since then he has reportedly worked with Sri Lankas armed forces to drive out the Tamil Tigers from a large rebel enclave near the eastern lagoon town of Batticaloa, one of the biggest government successes of 2007.
After Karuna broke away from the Tamil Tigers his armed group operated with the complicity of the Sri Lankan security forces, the New York-based Human Rights Watch said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/18/2007 01:35 ||
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The Russian president Vladimir Putin indicated Friday that Moscow would send uranium to Irans atomic reactor in Bushehr (a reactor unconnected with Irans suspect military program) after all. International Atomic Energy inspectors were invited to the Novosibirsk Plant on Nov. 26 to verify and seal the fuel before shipment. On that day, too, the US-promoted Middle East conference is provisionally set to open in Annapolis, Maryland. The Quartet of which Russia is a member will not be there.
DEBKAfiles military sources report that by this step, Moscow has backed away from the commitments Putin gave President Bush and Israeli prime minister Olmert, after his mid-October talks with Iranian leaders in Tehran broke down in discord. He then promised to withhold the fuel from the Bushehr reactor and indeed pulled all the Russian staff out before they had completed work on the projects final stages.
Olmert received Putins commitment to withhold the uranium fuel from Iran when they met in the Kremlin on Oct. 18 and passed it on to President Bush and later to French president Nicolas Sarkozy and British premier Gordon Brown in special trips he made to Paris and London. The Israeli prime minister announced then that Israel had a true friend in the Russian leader.
He is deeply embarrassed by Putins about-face. It also bodes ill for the third round of sanctions, for which the Bush administration is pushing at the UN Security Council, where Russian holds a veto, now that the nuclear watchdog confirmed in its latest report Nov. 15 that Iran had not given up uranium enrichment.
DEBKAfiles Moscow sources report that the Russian president has reverted to his previous tactic of broadcasting to Muslim nations a message that Moscow has its own agenda and is willing, unlike Washington, to help them develop their nuclear programs.
The question mark hanging over UN sanctions also affects the decision on military action against Irans suspect military nuclear facilities, which President Bush had put on a back burner under the influence of Putins breach with Tehran. There was a brief thaw in the tense relations between Washington and Moscow and signs of a new willingness for compromise on both sides on such matters as the US plan to deploy anti-missile systems in East Europe.
The month-long détente was abruptly curtailed Friday, Nov. 16, with Moscows decision to let Iran have the uranium to fuel its Bushehr reactor six months before its scheduled start-up. The step was gladly welcomed in Tehran.
Posted by: 3dc ||
11/18/2007 00:26 ||
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#1
However, if the Pahlavi Monarchy still held sway in Iran, then we wouldn't care if they operated a reactor. I wonder if defense planners have found a way to topple the Ayatollahs, without destroying much of the country. Iran still has a professional military that might want to see Qom replaced by a lake. A coup would be very bloody, but who cares? I don't.
#3
a reactor unconnected with Irans suspect military program
Ha! Just more raw material if nothing else.
Moscow's decision to let Iran have the uranium to fuel its Bushehr reactor six months before its scheduled start-up
Just more muddied water to hide behind - and another nail in Iran's coffin. I figure Russia will be happy as long as they get paid. And when Iran gets whacked it raises the price of oil (which more than offsets the economic impact of Iran's disappearance to their economy) and gets rid of Iran as a competitor for influence in the region - a win|win situation for the Russians.
The step was gladly welcomed in Tehran
By who? Are they in such desperate need of energy for their blossoming economy?
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has sent a letter to his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy following recent French criticism of Tehran's nuclear drive, a senior official said on Saturday.
"President Ahmadinejad's letter to President Nicolas Sarkozy concerns the current relations between Iran and France and their prospect," the state IRNA news agency quoted Mojtaba Samareh Hashemi as saying. But Hashemi, a top presidential advisor, said Tehran took exception to what he described as "distorted" reports about the content of the letter.
"Most of the information published about this letter has been distorted," he said. France's Le Monde newspaper, citing diplomatic sources, said the letter had an "acrimonious" tone and contained "veiled threats".
Ahmadinejad had offered to give advice to the French president whom he branded as a "young and inexperienced" leader, the report said. "Ahmadinejad has hinted that France and Iran have 'historic ties' and 'common interests', most notably in Lebanon, which would be a pity to reduce to nothing," the French daily added.
Since Sarkozy's election, France has adopted a tougher line with Iran over its nuclear programme, which is feared by the West to cover an atomic weapons drive -- charges that Tehran vehemently denies. Tehran has also been concerned about France's rapprochement with the United States, whish is leading international efforts to thwart Iran's atomic programme.
Since his June 2005 election, Ahmadinejad has written a succession of letters explaining his world view to world leaders including US President George W. Bush, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Pope Benedict XVI.
Posted by: Pappy ||
11/18/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
According to Wikipedia, Sarkozy (DOB 28 January 1955) is older than Ahmadinejad (DOB October 28 1956).
Iran has tried 75 times in the last five years to buy materials that could be used for making a nuclear weapon, it has been reported, as Teheran vowed "never" to give up the pursuit of nuclear power.
Diplomatic sources told the New York Times that the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group, an off-shoot of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, had refused repeated Iranian requests to buy "dual-use" products - useful for peaceful or military ends. The group, which aims to control and monitor the trade of nuclear-related materials, keeps its records secret. But a leaked list of items sought by Iran included key ingredients such as nickel powder, compressors, furnaces, steel flanges and fittings and electron microscopes.
The 75 refusals were from only seven of the 45 member states, suggesting that Iran had made many more efforts to buy sensitive goods.
The West fears the Islamic regime, whose president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has threatened Israel with annihilation, is secretly developing a nuclear weapon, which Teheran routinely denies. To do so, Iran would have to acquire components and expertise from illicit sources.
Posted by: lotp ||
11/18/2007 00:00 ||
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Security sources on Friday dismissed reports of a plot to assassinate Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.
"Yeah, right. Figger the odds!"
The pro-Syrian newspaper as Safir had reported that security forces uncovered a plot to kill Nasrallah. It said the plot was uncovered during the course of ongoing investigations into a terror cell arrested in the summer in the Iqlim al-Kharroub region in the Chouf mountains southeast of Beirut. As Safir said large quantities of cyanide, a fast-acting, potentially deadly chemical, were found during a raid on the Iqlim al-Kharroub house of a Libyan suspect. It said the Libyan, who is in police custody, hid around 100 kilograms of cyanide in a rural area in Iqlim al-Kharroub, 30 kilograms of which had been shipped to Iraq. Authorities confiscated only 70 kilograms of the chemical.
A security source told The Daily Star that it was highly unlikely that Sunni fundamentalist terror cells could have gotten access to Nasrallah at any time or known of his movements, which are highly secretive, in order to poison him. Poisoning would require intimate and close contact with the subject. "The suspects, whether those arrested in Iqlim al-Kharroub or Fatah al-Islam terrorists from Nahr al-Bared, are all trained to lie and mislead investigators to the point of repeating the same sentences which they appear to have memorized verbatim," the source told the English language newspaper. He dismissed as lies much of the information in the As-Safir report.
Continued on Page 49
This article starring:
Fatah al-Islam
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command
Ahmed Jibril
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command
Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah
Hezbollah
Posted by: Fred ||
11/18/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
A security source told The Daily Star that it was highly unlikely that Sunni fundamentalist terror cells could have gotten access to Nasrallah at any time or known of his movements, which are highly secretive, in order to poison him. Poisoning would require intimate and close contact with the subject. "The suspects, whether those arrested in Iqlim al-Kharroub or Fatah al-Islam terrorists from Nahr al-Bared, are all trained to lie and mislead investigators to the point of repeating the same sentences which they appear to have memorized verbatim," the source told the English language newspaper.
Muslim legal investigators encounter routine Muslim taqiyya. Effing priceless.
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.
France denied a report that it is setting aside roughly 1,000 troops for possible deployment in Afghanistan. Weekly newspaper Le Canard Enchaine reported on Wednesday that President Nicolas Sarkozy had asked the head of the armed forces to keep a batallion of about 1,000 men at NATO's disposal so that they could be dispatched to Afghanistan if needed. 
Sudan's government does not want war but is ready for it, President Omar al-Bashir warned Saturday during a rare show of public support for a paramilitary force accused of atrocities in the western Sudanese region of Darfur. "We will not seek war, but if imposed on us we are ready," al-Bashir told a rally to mark the 18th anniversary of the Popular Defense Forces, a militia he created to fight southern rebels and that has since been unleashed on Darfur. 
The head of the Army has warned that years of Government under-funding and overstretch have left troops feeling "devalued, angry and suffering from Iraq fatigue", The Sunday Telegraph can reveal. 
In his opening address of a rare OPEC summit, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez warned the United States on Saturday that oil prices would further surge if the US contemplates an attack against his country or Iran. 
Caretaker Prime Minister Muhammadmian Soomro said on Saturday that challenges of misperception within and outside the country needed to be addressed at the earliest and the media focus should be turned to improving the political atmosphere leading up to the forthcoming general elections. 
I think that statement's a semantic null. It means nothing, except possibly what Humpty Dumpty wants it to mean.
President General Pervez Musharraf said on Friday that former prime minister Benazir Bhutto feared the polls set for January because she was corrupt and unpopular. 
LAHORE: Fearing a backlash from students and members of civil society, the Punjab government quietly shifted Imran Khan under the cover of darkness to D.G Khan Jail known as Kala Pani of Punjab. 
A senior U.S. envoy pressed President Pervez Musharraf today to lift a harsh emergency decree, move Pakistan toward civilian rule and reconcile with opposition leader Benazir Bhutto. The general, however, defended his actions, saying he had acted in the interests of democracy. 
Two weeks into Pakistan's emergency rule, President Gen. Pervez Musharraf is intensifying his campaign against what he perceives as dual threats to his government: the free-flow of information and a growing Islamic insurgency. And he doesn't appear to have been persuaded to alter course during a two-hour visit from a senior U.S. diplomat.
Since then, however, many of the public signs of the new regime have centered on locking up opposition politicians and lawyers who demonstrated against the measures. 
"What's on the lineup tonight, Chaudry?"
The final report of the official inquiry into the 2006 Second Lebanon War is expected to accuse PM Ehud Olmert of having caused 33 pointless IDF deaths in the last 60 hours of warfare. 
Hamas security briefly detained on Saturday the father of a Palestinian boy who became a national symbol when he was killed during intense fighting in Gaza seven years ago. Jamal al-Dura, 44, said he was held for four hours in a central Gaza police station and interrogated for allegedly shooting in the air during a family wedding. Al-Dura, a supporter of the moderate Fatah movement, denied the accusations and said he can't carry guns because of his medical condition. 
Thousands of Hamas 
Ma'an A group of Hamas-affiliated Palestinian legislators imprisoned in Israel, applauded calls by their leader, deposed Prime Minister 
Ma'an Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails announced a one day hunger strike to protest poor conditions in the detention facilities. In a press statement the prisoners also accused prison officials of sowing division between Palestinian prisoners, partly by spreading rumors about the potential release of a group of prisoners.
Iran has tried 75 times in the last five years to buy materials that could be used for making a nuclear weapon, it has been reported, as Teheran vowed "never" to give up the pursuit of nuclear power.
