Sudan will repel any attack by neighbouring Chad, its armed forces said on Sunday, the day after Ndjamena threatened to pursue Chadian rebels into Sudan where they have allegedly sought shelter. All military bases in western Sudan are ready to deal with any attack launched from Chadian territory, armed forces spokesman Mohammed Otham al-Aghbash was quoted as saying by the official SUNA news agency.
The Chadian government continues to threaten to attack Sudan saying it is hosting the Chadian opposition... which is not true because our government has no interest in doing that, Aghbash said. Chadian President Idriss Deby Itno on Saturday threatened to pursue and strike Chadian rebels inside Sudan, repeating charges that Khartoum is trying to destabilise his country.
Pot. Kettle. Light-absorbing color.
Deby claimed his forces had already driven out the rebels from Chad and said: Were going to destroy them in their nest inside Sudan... Were going to make them eat dust inside Sudan.
Rebels and government forces clashed violently in eastern Chad between November 26 and December 4, scuttling October peace accords signed in Libya. Already strained for years, ties between Chad and Sudan have further worsened since the clashes erupted. Recently the two countries have traded accusations of aggression and supporting each others rebel movements. On Tuesday, Sudans military claimed eight of its soldiers were killed and 19 wounded in clashes with rebels backed by Chadian troops in Darfur, just across Chads border. And last week, Sudan said Chadian forces had carried out an air and ground assault in Darfur, charges strongly denied by Ndjamena. Chad claimed last week that Khartoum was preparing a new aggression against its neighbour to prevent the deployment of a European Union peacekeeping force in eastern Chad and a joint African Union-United Nations mission in Darfur.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/07/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
All military bases in western Sudan are ready to deal with any attack launched from Chadian territory, armed forces spokesman Mohammed Otham al-Aghbash
And to shelter all attacks launched from out territory. Chad is at war with Sudan but nobody is prepared to say it.
#5
By Chad they meant Chad Smith a fellow that lives in neighboring Egypt not the country of Chad. The Sudan army is confident they could take out Chad Smith within a week of any attack he were foolish enough to launch against Sudan.
BERLIN: Signaling a tougher position in negotiations with the United States on a European anti-ballistic missile shield, Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski says the new Warsaw government is not prepared to accept U.S. plans to deploy part of the shield in Poland until all costs and risks are considered. "This is an American, not a Polish project," Sikorski said in an interview published in the weekend edition of the daily Gazeta Wyborcza.
But it protects Europe, not the U.S. We think Europe is going to need it in the next decade if Iran succeeds in building nuclear weapons and intermediate-range ballistic missiles. But if Europe and Poland don't want it, we won't build it. Simple.
The previous Polish government had consented in principle to accept parts of the U.S. shield, but no formal agreement has been signed. Now Sikorski is saying that the terms under which the shield would be deployed were unclear and that the new government wanted the risks to be explained, the financial costs to be set out and clarification on how Poland's interests would be defended if the shield were deployed on its territory.
"We feel no threat from Iran," Sikorski said, challenging the U.S view that some of the biggest threats facing the security of Europe and the United States are from "rogue states" in the Middle East, including Iran.
But you should.
Still, Sikorski said, "if an important ally such as the United States has a request of such an important nature, we take it very seriously." He added: "It is not only the benefits but the risks of the system that have to be discussed fully. It cannot be that we alone carry the costs."
There was no official response from the United States. Bogdan Klich, Poland's new defense minister, is expected to make his first official visit to Washington this month to explain his government's position.
NATO, the U.S.-led military alliance, said Sunday that the missile defense issue was essentially a bilateral discussion between Poland, the United States and Russia. "NATO is happy to be a forum for discussion, and it is a useful one," said James Appathurai, a spokesman for the alliance. "But it does not substitute for the bilateral track."
Sikorski also said he was worried that the United States could abandon the project after the American presidential election in November. In that case, Poland would nevertheless have to bear political costs, like the deterioration of relations with Russia, if it signed on to the shield prematurely.
That's certainly true since (I think) all the Dhimmicratic candidates have said that they'll ice the project.
The deployment of the U.S. missile shield has become such a contentious issue between the United States and Russia - and indeed between Poland and Russia - that President Vladimir Putin of Russia has warned of a new arms race if Washington proceeds with deployment in Poland and the Czech Republic.
The new approach on missile defense taken by Poland's new center-right coalition government, under Prime Minister Donald Tusk, reflects a different negotiating strategy from the previous nationalist-conservative government led by Jaroslaw Kaczynski. Kaczynski, who was much more pro- American, had in principle agreed to deploy several interceptors on Polish territory without going into detail over the costs, the maintenance and the risks to Poland's security, according to Polish officials.
But the former prime minister did little to allay Russia's fears about deploying the missile shield in Poland, or to drum up support in other European Union member states. He left it up to the United States to explain the issue to the Kremlin and to European governments.
In contrast, Tusk and Sikorski, while having no illusions about Russia's new self-confidence under Putin, have nevertheless repeatedly said they want to improve relations with Russia. Later this month, Poland and Russia for the first time will hold direct talks in Warsaw over the missile shield. The Russian side will be led by Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Kisliak.
Sikorski, who was defense minister in the Kaczynski government, had been forced to resign early last year after criticizing, among other things, the government's handling of the missile defense negotiations. He later joined Tusk's Civic Platform party and was appointed foreign minister last month. Sikorski, then and now, has insisted that Poland will need additional security protection from the United States, for example in the form of Patriot missiles, if it accepts the interceptors.
NATO could also be called upon. Alliance diplomats said Poland would insist on a guarantee from NATO if the missile defense system became part of the alliance's own anti-ballistic missile system. This means that if Poland were threatened with attack or came under attack, the NATO alliance would be obliged to come to its assistance.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/07/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
"We feel no threat from Iran,"
And they say Ahmi is dumb for never giving a speech without threatening destruction of Israel.
#2
Give it time, Sikorski. Give it time. But for now, sleep well. Secure in the knowledge that you are among those who would be smothered last, Allah willing. Or, more accurately, Western Society willing.
#4
Alliance diplomats said Poland would insist on a guarantee from NATO if the missile defense system became part of the alliance's own anti-ballistic missile system. This means that if Poland were threatened with attack or came under attack, the NATO alliance would be obliged to come to its assistance.
Cuz, security guarantees for Poland have worked out so well in the past.
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
01/07/2008 9:08 Comments ||
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#8
Hey, Britain and France declared war on Germany because of a security guarantee.
And that worked out well for Poland, that's for sure. /sark>
Time to pull out of NATO. If Huckabee were smart, he'd advocate it. "They've got their own superstate now and a bigger economy. They should defend themselves." That'd make some sphincters tighten and get some votes here.
#9
I really can't blame Poland on this. If the dhimocrats take over in '09, there will be no missile shield and the only thing that will happen is Russia will be really pissed off.
#11
Why should we here in the U.S. be paying for this at all?
The Europeans have a strong common currency - they can certainly afford to divert some money from their fancy social programs to provide for the common defense.
I saw this in the Sunday Parade Magazine, where her picture was featured on the cover. It was printed before her assassination. Excerpt:
Like her country, Bhutto is a riddle. Brilliant, beautiful, fearless, she is also ruthlessly ambitious, devious and corrupt. The first question that perplexes an American: How could Bhutto Harvard- and Oxford-educated, unapologetically secular have become the first woman elected to lead a Muslim country? In part, the answer is that in dynastic Pakistan, she is effectively royalty. The second question: Why should this election matter so much to America? That answer is simpler. Pakistan has nuclear weapons. Also, the most dangerous place in the world is Pakistans lawless border with Afghanistan. It is a Ho Chi Minh Trail of terrorism where Osama bin Laden is believed to enjoy sanctuary.
Bhutto maintains that the Pakistani armys decision to overthrow her in 1996 came after she announced plans to crack down on terrorism. I am what the terrorists most fear, she tells me, a female political leader fighting to bring modernity to Pakistan. Now theyre trying to kill me."
Talat Masood, a retired general who has advised Bhutto, foresees his nation breaking in half. The only option left to the people of Pakistan, he says, is the military or the militants.
Or another try at democracy under Bhutto. Well, that option's out the window. Some hard questions and clever answers at link.
Posted by: Bobby ||
01/07/2008 05:57 ||
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#1
Interesting slogan. However, none too clear on *why* terrorists would fear her, other than her gender.
#4
I firmly believe Miss Bhutto was very feared by cowardly men. In retrospect why fear a female. Did she carry the atomic bomb under her skirt. And indeed she was feared by men who believe she was a nuclear weapon. Oh my God what men!
MANCHESTER, New Hampshire - US White House hopeful Hillary Clinton late Saturday said she would propose a joint US-British team to oversee the security of Pakistans nuclear arsenal if she is elected president. So far as we know right now, the nuclear technology is considered secure, but there isnt any guarantee, especially given the political turmoil going on inside Pakistan, Clinton said during a Democratic debate here.
"So let's pull out of the Middle East and ask Perv to step down."
If elected president, the US senator said, I would try to get (Pakistan Preisdent Pervez) Musharraf to share the security responsibility of the nuclear weapons with a delegation from the United States and, perhaps, Great Britain, so that there is some fail-safe.
Sounds like she was making this up as she went along.
The four Democratic candidatesClinton, Senator Barack Obama, Governor Bill Richardson and former senator John Edwardswere scathing about President George W. Bushs policy towards Pakistan. They said they were prepared to launch unilateral military strikes in the country if they detected an imminent threat or could pinpoint the location of Al Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden.
Cruise missiles on a deserted camp, perhaps? Worked so well last time.
Heres an unstable leader, Musharraf, in a country with a serious radicalviolently radical element that could, under some circumstances, take over the government, warned Edwards.
So who's stable there, Johnny? Who's going to control the radicals. Perv can't. Benazir wouldn't have if she lived long enough. Nawiz certainly can't. Do you have a general in mind?
If they did, they would have control of a nuclear weapon. They could either use it, or they could turn it over to a terrorist organization to be used against America or some of our allies.
Isn't that exactly what George Bush pointed out back in 2001?
Obama, who won the first Democratic White House nominating contest in Iowa on Thursday, reiterated his earlier stance that he would take action in Pakistan even if Islamabad is opposed, if there is strong intelligence on Al Qaeda there. Back in August, I said we should work with the Pakistani government, first of all to encourage democracy in Pakistan so youve got a legitimate government that were working with, and secondly that we have to press them to do more to take on Al Qaida in their territory, he said.
Not having considered the very next thing that would happen as a result: that al-Q and their many friends in Pakiwakiland would cause the entire northwest to explode.
What I said was, if they could not or would not do so, and we had actionable intelligence, then I would strike.
Thus causing the entire country to seethe, roll their eyes and make faces at us. Good idea.
Meanwhile Richardson, the fourth-runner in the race for the Democratic nomination going into Tuesdays New Hampshire primary, called for Musharrafs ouster.
Here is an example of a country, a potentially failed nation-state with nuclear weapons, said Richardson. We had a situation where (Musarraf) has not gone after Al Qaeda in his own country, despite the fact that weve given him 11 billion dollars ... Hes basically said that he is the supreme dictator. So we have the worst of all worlds.
Ever wonder why Perv didn't go after them? Ever wonder why Benazir allowed the ISI to form the Taliban? Or why Nawiz played footsie with them? Because no one in Pakistan has the power to march the army into the northwest and crush the Talibs, al-Q and their pals. If anyone had that power they would have done it already.
What I would specifically do as president is I would ask Musharraf to step aside, Richardson added.
Brilliant. What a tool. Who would take Perv's place? Another general. Idiot.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/07/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
The fellow behind and slightly to our left of her Thighness looks like he's holding his nose against a stink.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
01/07/2008 0:33 Comments ||
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#8
If a Republican had suggested it we would now be hearing from Hillary about a joint Lichtenstein/Zimbabwe team to oversee America's nuclear arsenal.
Pakistani security officials investigating the death of Benazir Bhutto believe her killing was carried out by a single assassin with a gun and a bomb, according to an Observer article published on Sunday.
Wow. Amazing. Almost as if they have witnesses or something.
The British newspaper said the investigators had concluded that the man who fired at least three shots at Benazir also detonated the suicide bomb that exploded a second later.
One of the principal pieces of physical evidence was his severed head, the Observer said, adding that plastic surgeons had reconstructed the face and printed the picture in two national newspapers, offering Rs 10 million for information leading to his identification. The article quoted a police officer as saying that he had started running towards the gunman when he saw him raise his arm.
He got there just too late, and he saw him lower his head just before the blast, it quoted a senior Pakistani source as saying. That is what the suicide bombers have been told to do to obliterate their features. In this case, however, the tactic appeared to have failed, the Observer said.
It said that a second man with a beard and shawl, captured in pictures of the assassination, turned out to be an innocent bystander.
The government, it added, was sticking to its assertion that the assassination was ordered by Baitullah Mehsud, an Islamic militant with Al Qaeda links from South Waziristan. US and British officials have said that an intercepted satellite telephone conversation in which Mehsud offers congratulations to a fellow militant for the killing appears credible, according to the Observer.
It said the investigators had cross-checked thousands of calls made from the area around the assassination site in the run-up to the killing against lists of numbers used by suspected jihadis, leading to at least two arrests. However, the article said, there were still conflicting accounts of the cause of death, even within the current caretaker government.
Blast killed Benazir: The Observer reported a Western official with extensive security expertise in Pakistan as saying that he believed conclusively that Benazir was killed by the blast from the bomb and not by an assassins bullet. I do know the shots didnt hit her. The Interior Ministry allowed me to be party to photos and other materials that showed it wasnt a bullet, the article quoted the official as saying.
The official, according to the Observer, said all the evidence supported the Pakistani governments original hotly contested assertion that Benazir died from a violent blow to the head caused by the suicide blast as she ducked into her vehicle. Film showing her headscarf lifting up after the shooting was caused by her attempt to quickly retreat into the car, he was reported as saying.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/07/2008 00:00 ||
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President Bushs senior national security advisers are debating whether to expand the authority of the CIA and the US military to conduct far more aggressive covert operations in the tribal areas of Pakistan, reports the New York Times on Sunday.
The current debate in the Bush administration is triggered by intelligence reports suggesting that Al Qaeda and the Taliban are intensifying their efforts to destabilise the Pakistani government. The newspaper discloses that Condoleezza Rice, Dick Cheney and top national security advisers met on Friday at the White House to discuss the proposal, which is part of a broad reassessment of American strategy after the murder of Benazir Bhutto. The meeting also discussed how to handle the period from now to the Feb. 18 elections, and the aftermath of those elections. Several of the participants in the meeting are said to have argued that the threat to the Musharraf government was now so grave that both he and Pakistans new military leadership were likely to give the United States more latitude. No decisions were made. The Bush administration continues to support President Musharrafs continuance in office although with Benazir Bhuttos departure from the scene, the original US script for Pakistan has come unravelled.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/07/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
If you discuss a covert option publically is it still covert?
The Scotland Yard team investigating the murder of former premier Benazir Bhutto has suspected that a sniper might have shot her, a Pakistani police officer working with the team told Daily Times on Sunday.
Tell 'em about the grassy knoll!
He said, Besides some other angles, the British team is also working on the assumption that a sniper could have shot Benazir dead.
We heard three shots from the pistol in the video, but they were there to cover the sound of the actual shot that killed her.
Sources said the British team had visited the crime scene and examined the buildings surrounding the area, yet they were far from reaching any conclusion.
I'd start my search with the minaret of the nearest mosque.
They said the team had also examined Benazirs vehicle and taken photographs from different angles, along with making notes.
Hope they took a close look at those deadly sunroof handle. And checked them for poison.
They said the investigators also checked the duty rostrum of the police and found that it was the duty of an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) to escort Benazir. They said the investigators questioned why the ASP was not present on the scene.
"Legume, there is no such thing as coincidence!"
"But what if he was at lunch, Inspector?"
"Lunch and coincidence are two different things!"
Sources added that the detectives had certain reservations about the security plan formulated for Benazir by the Rawalpindi police. The team also watched the footage of the incident several times, in which Benazir could be seen leaving the stage after addressing a rally, getting into her vehicle, standing and waving to the crowd from the vehicles sunroof and thereafter the gunfire assault on her.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/07/2008 00:00 ||
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#3
OK, between this piece and the one above, we need a picture of an arcade wheel with different causes of death on it as a graphic for future assassination stories. Any good photoshopper out there up for it?
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
01/07/2008 9:13 Comments ||
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#4
This sounds like the first of, oh - let's say seven steps until some government issues some announcement connecting the dots back to an inside job. Maybe double the steps since it will take quite an explanation to clarify all the double-dealing, rings within rings mysteries of Pak society and officialdom.
Still - an initial leak (note the source is a local police officer) if undenied, indicates the professionals first inclination points to a fairly specific trail of evidence pretty far afield of the various stories the locals have floated, and I mean the locals on both sides of the "did so, did not" arguments.
Did Perv order it? Probably not.
Could Perv have done anything if he knew? Prolly not.
Was it an inside job? Maybe/Prolly/could be.
Who's in charge? Hope that's really what Scotland Yard is looking into.
Former member of provincial assembly and Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) leader Maulana Abdul Rehman said that record developmental work was completed in Chitral, especially in his constituency, during the last five years, when the MMA government was in power.
Rehman, who is a Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) candidate from PF-89 (Chitral-I), said this on Sunday, while talking to reporters at his office. He said that he would continue the development work if he was elected in the upcoming elections. Around 40 new schools, including primary and higher secondary schools were set up or upgraded during last five years of the MMA government, he said, adding that the status of the only degree college for boys was upgraded to post graduate college, while a new Information technology block was constructed with a cost of Rs 8 million. The MMA leader said that 80 percent construction work of a poly technical college had been completed. He said the college was being constructed with a cost of Rs 120 million at Seenlasht. He said that around 600 to 700 people were recruited for the Education Department in various categories.
Rehman said that the longstanding demand of students that science teachers were not available was solved during the MMA government tenure. He said science teachers were posted at almost all schools. Distribution of free books in government schools is a great achievement of the MMA government, he added. Rehman said during the MMA government tenure, an intensive care unit was constructed at the Chitral hospital with the provincial fund, BHU Arandu was upgraded at a cost of Rs 10 million and various basic health units were set up.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/07/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Cutting a record is very hard, but I'm sure they'll find that swingin sound eventually.
The belief by intelligence organisations that Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is in a remote Pakistan border area is just a speculation, Pakistans ambassador to the United States said on Sunday, AFP reported.
"Really. He's not in Chitral. We'd tell you if he wuz."
Mahmoud Ali Durrani was asked on CNN about an interview President Pervez Musharraf gave to CBS television, to be broadcast later on Sunday. CNN quoted Musharraf as saying of Bin Laden, There is no proof whatsoever that hes here.
"In fact, there's no proof he exists!"
He said, We are not particularly looking for him, but we are operating against him and Al Qaeda and militant Taliban and in the process obviously combined maybe we are looking for him also. Durrani sought to clarify saying, I think the president is suggesting that neither we, nor the US, has any intelligence where exactly Osama bin Laden is.
"It ain't like we have his house number or something. Not his current one, anyway."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/07/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
on the debate tonight McCain said he knows exactly where Osama is.
With hundreds of hotel rooms booked and municipal crews unfolding red, white and blue flags, Jerusalem is getting ready for its highest- profile visitor in years: President Bush.
Jerusalemites are accustomed to waiting in traffic jams as convoys of black sedans shuttle visiting dignitaries around the city, the seat of Israel's government. But Bush, who arrives for three days beginning Wednesday, constitutes a VIP of a different order.
Israel is pulling out all the stops to impress a man who is perhaps its staunchest foreign ally in his first visit as U.S. president. Jerusalem is spending nearly $400,000 to spruce itself up for the visit, said Jacob Avishar, the city official in charge of coordinating preparations. Garbage teams are in furious race to clean the city's often dusty streets and walls tagged with spray paint, he said.
More than 10,500 policemen and security personnel will be deployed to protect Bush and keep order during the visitmore than one-third of Israel's entire police force, according to police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld. "There will be so much security nobody will be able to get anywhere near the president," Rosenfeld said. Just keep the five-year-old kids with big rocks off the rooftops, OK? Israeli police may be accustomed to looking up half the time but I don't know if the Secret Service is. UAVs will do that nicely
The security personnel will include snipers, bomb-sniffing dogs and bodyguards from the Shin Bet internal security service, including reservists called up especially for the visit, according to police officials. The operation, dubbed "Clear Skies," will cost Israel $25,000 for every hour Bush is in the country, Israel Radio reported.
Flights in and out of Israel's only international airport, Ben Gurion, will be suspended around the time Bush lands. From the airport, Bush will fly by helicopter to Jerusalem. The choppers will be flown in from the U.S. on Air Force cargo planes, along with armored limousinescomplete with District of Columbia license platesvans filled with high-tech communications gear and other vehicles for a heavily-armed counterassault team. Any of those cool Black SUVs?
Bush will be staying in a suite at the King David hotel that costs $2,600 a nightfor guests who are not president of the United States. Assistant General Manager Benny Olearchik would not disclose how much the Americans are paying to stay at his hotel, one of Israel's most expensive. Bush's entourage already has taken up more than two-thirds of its 237 rooms, and will take over all of them once he arrives himself, Olearchik said. Unlucky guests who happened to plan their visits at the wrong time had their reservations canceled.
The King David, which opened in the 1930s, is best known for getting blown up by Jewish terrorists in 1946. Members of the hardline Irgun group, opposed to British rule over what was then known as Palestine, disguised their explosives in milk jugs and destroyed a wing housing British offices, killing 91 people.
Israeli officialdom is eagerly anticipating the arrival of Bush, whom Israel sees as one of the most supportive Americans ever to have served in the White House. "It's not every day that a president comes here," Israel's deputy premier, Haim Ramon, told Army Radio this week.
Not every Israeli will welcome him with open arms.
No, of course not. Now the obligatory negative spin --
Supporters of convicted Pentagon spy Jonathan Pollard have rented space on the sides of Jerusalem city buses to place posters of Bush flanked by Lebanese Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and Gaza Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. The posters compare the imprisoned Pollard to three Israeli soldiers captured by Hezbollah and Hamas and call for the immediate release of all four.
Pollard, a civilian intelligence analyst for the U.S. Navy, transferred military secrets to Israel while working at the Pentagon. He was arrested in 1985 and pleaded guilty at his trial. He is serving a life sentence in a U.S. federal prison.
There is little chance Bush will see the posters, as local traffic will be diverted away from routes used by his motorcade.
On the other side of the political spectrum, a left-wing Israeli Arab party plans to demonstrate opposite the city's U.S. Consulate at the start of Bush's visit to protest his policy toward Iran, Jerusalem police said.
Eli Ben-David, 48, who has run an antique shop opposite the King David for 28 years, said three days of Bush mean blocked roads and bad business. No tourists will be staying at the hotel and the street will be largely shut, meaning that nearly no one will be able to reach his store. "Every time one of these big guys come, we don't sell anything," Ben- David sighed. "It's probably better just to close up shop and wait for it to pass."
#2
"The choppers will be flown in from the U.S. on Air Force cargo planes, along with armored limousinescomplete with District of Columbia license plates"
"Hey, David, you an Oleh from USA, so what it means 'No taxation without representation'?"
"Its something the patriots said against the British, Amnon. I guess the District of Columbia has gotten more interested in history or something."
#4
Y'all must have missed that Video of the Black SUV that travels behind our president's limo, with the turreted minigun (Looks to be 30 caliber)inside.
Our Prez is well protected.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
01/07/2008 20:09 Comments ||
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JERUSALEM - US President George W. Bush said Washington would defend its close ally Israel in the event of an Iranian attack, in remarks broadcast on Israeli army radio on Sunday. Whether theres an imminent attack coming, I dont think so, Bush said in excerpts of an interview with an Israeli television station to be aired in its entirety later in the day.
If Iran did strike Israel... We will defend our ally, no ands, ifs or buts, he said.
Israel considers the Islamic republic its main regional threat in the wake of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejads repeated statements for it to be wiped off the map. Israel along with the US suspects that Teherans nuclear programme is a cover for developing atomic weapons, a charge Iran has denied.
If I were an Israeli, I would take the words of the Iranian president seriously, and as president of the United States I take them seriously, Bush said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/07/2008 00:00 ||
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#4
Of course, if a Democrat is President, the US would not defend Israel. Or Taiwan, Germany, Canada, or quite possibly large sections of the United States.
#5
Of course Moose, you need a military do 'defend' with, something the Donks are not going to allow to stay around except for the usual Euro palace guards for fancy ceremonies.
#6
Israel along with the US suspects that Teherans nuclear programme is a cover for developing atomic weapons, a charge Iran has denied.
Does that mean Bush is prepared for a nuclear exchange with Iran? Are we already in a MAD situation with Iran? What other kind of attack could Iran possibly mount?
But then, according to the NIE, Iran doesn't have any nukes. Does Bush think Iran is gonna march their troops into Israel? Or fire a few missiles with conventional warheads? Does he really think that?
I'm confused because it seems to me Iran already did attack Israel when they sent Hezbollah after them. What did we do to help then? Arrange a cease fire with UN supervision while leaving Hezbollah in place so they could declare victory? We should have sent the heavy bombers to crush the Hezzies.
#7
Bush is telling the Iranians that they die if thy nuke Israel so there is no point in betting that they can take out all of Israel's capability with a first strike or whatever.
#8
The Donks will have a reasonable military to work with because the Trunks will do their best to leave them one. Now if we could just get the Donks to return the favor. But it works in their best interests not to because people will blame Republicans for being forced to spend more.
All in all - its not weather Bush will actually defend Israel - if weather the Mullah's believe that Bush would defend Israel.
And with the things Condi has been saying lately - and the recent actions at that conference in Anapolous (sp?) and what happened during the recent Lebanon war, I am beginning to have my doubts. Why should they?
If a ship carrying a nuke goes off in an Israeli port and it is traced back to Iran - and the U.N. and the Donks are braying to 'understand' them and calls for full investigations ( since Iran will claim it was stolen or was a Western plan / plot) which would take years the way the UN drags them on - would he defend Israel or pressure Israel to wait for the investigation - and then for the acquittal of Iran or negotiations which will take even more years. The Mullahs may think that they have a pretty good chance of getting away with it.
And if a Democrat is in the white house the Mullahs would have nothing to fear.
Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh on Sunday called on France to provide assistance to the Palestinians, saying he welcomed "all international efforts" aimed at enhancing security in the region, AFP reported. In a letter to French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Haniyeh said the Gaza government is "prepared to cooperate with all international efforts to establish security and stability in the region."
According to AFP, the Hamas leader praised Sarkozy's call for an international peacekeeping force in the Palestinian territories, made at an international donors conference in Paris last month. Haniyeh said Sarkozy had proposed some "positive and encouraging initiatives" at the conference. "We followed your speech at the recent Paris conference in which we found many positive and encouraging initiatives aimed at ending the occupation and restoring the legal rights of the Palestinian people and ending their suffering," wrote Haniyeh. He also said he would accept French mediation in resolving the Hamas-Fatah feud.
However, Haniyeh blasted the revived peace talks between Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmud Abbas.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/07/2008 00:00 ||
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#2
Just a week ago they got a gazillion dolars of the west (in the meantime the Saudis keopt their money for another air-consitionned harme). And he wants more. If I were Sarkozy I would be demanding the refunding of every single cent since 1948.
Both Israel and the Palestinian Authority are trying to create a "positive atmosphere" before US President George W. Bush's visit Wednesday and are expected to announce a framework for negotiations before he lands, government officials said Sunday.
According to the officials, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni is scheduled to meet Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qurei on Monday for the fourth time since the Annapolis conference to try to hammer out a framework for negotiations. This meeting is expected to be followed by another on Tuesday between Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and PA President Mahmoud Abbas. The two leaders last met 11 days ago.
Up until now, Israel and the Palestinians have not been able to agree on a framework for bilateral negotiations, with disagreement centering around whether to establish working groups to deal with the core issues - Jerusalem, refugees, settlements, borders, water and security.
Government officials said that while Abbas was eager to set up working groups right away to show the Palestinian public that progress was already being made in getting Israel to talk about the core issues, Olmert was in no hurry, because he did not want to alienate his coalition partners. Indeed, Israel Beiteinu head Avigdor Lieberman threatened Sunday to leave the government if core-issue negotiations with the PA began.
The idea behind both the Livni-Qurei and Olmert-Abbas meetings on Monday and Tuesday, the officials said, was to be able to show Bush that there had been some concrete achievement since the Annapolis meeting on November 27.
Olmert alluded to this at the start of Sunday's cabinet meeting, saying that "Livni will brief [Bush] on events since the Annapolis conference and the continuation of negotiations between us and the Palestinians."
According to government officials, both Israel and the Palestinian Authority are interested in finalizing a framework for negotiations so that Bush can say Annapolis bore fruit, including the establishment of a framework for further talks and a recent Paris conference at which various nations pledged $7.2 billion in aid to the PA.
The PA, according to the sources, needs the positive momentum to ensure that the money pledged in Paris is actually paid. The officials said it was not coincidental that the Palestinian outcry over continued Israeli construction in Har Homa and Ma'aleh Adumim - an outcry that poisoned the atmosphere of the first two rounds of Livni-Qurei talks - has changed dramatically, and that both sides are interested now in substantive talks on the framework for negotiations prior to Bush's visit.
At the same time, Olmert also indicated at Sunday's cabinet meeting that along with trying to show Bush progress, Israel would also stress to Bush the problematic situation on the ground.
Olmert said that Barak would brief the president "on security issues both regarding the Gaza Strip and our continuing war on Gaza-based terrorism and on our continuing war on terrorism based in Judea and Samaria."
Government officials said that neither Olmert nor Barak had given any indication during the cabinet meeting that creating a "positive atmosphere" prior to Bush's visit meant halting military actions in Gaza and the West Bank.
Indeed, according to assessments in Jerusalem, the Palestinians were infuriated by the IDF's recent military action in Nablus and will raise it with Bush, arguing that these types of actions harmed the PA's ability to rebuild its security apparatus. The IDF carried out a three-day operation in Nablus at the end of last week, during which more than 20 terrorist suspects were arrested and a Kassam rocket manufacturing lab was uncovered.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/07/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
I'm sure both his security detail and their Israeli counterparts are overjoyed.
#2
YNETNEWS > BARAK - HIZBULLAH NOW STRONGER. Regrets that the IDF did not resort to its doctrine of overhwelming force during Lebanon 2006
Also from YNET > ISRAEL'S QUIET WAR [Land Dev vv tradit Arab Bedouins in Isr's Negev Desert].
If negotiations with the Palestinians touch on Israel's thorny 'core issues' it would constitute sufficient grounds for Israel Beiteinu to leave the coalition, Strategic Affairs Minister and the party's chairman Avigdor Lieberman told Israel Radio Sunday.
While Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's Kadima-led coalition could stand without Israel Beiteinu - Kadima, Labor and Shas alone hold more than 60 Knesset seats - losing the eleven seats held by Lieberman's right-wing party would be a significant blow to the government.
Lieberman stressed that his party was not looking for reasons to leave the coalition, but was also not "seizing the horns of the altar." When asked if Israel Beiteinu was coordinating its position with Shas, Lieberman said: "Israel Beiteinu has a clear stance: No negotiations regarding the core issues."
Lieberman also criticized Israeli officials who called for the release of Tanzim leader Marwan Barghouti from jail in exchange for captured IDF Cpl. Gilad Schalit, who has been held in Gaza for over 19 months. He said that Barghouti, if released, would not fight against Hamas but become its ally.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/07/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Normally I'd say "the sooner, the better", except in this case we should time the breakdown of the government and the election of the new one to last until Bush is out of office.
The massive IDF operation in Nablus has shown that, contrary to claims by the Palestinian Authority, Fatah's armed wing has not been dismantled. It has also proven that dozens of Fatah gunmen and activists in the West Bank have not surrendered their weapons and are continuing to plan attacks against Israel.
During the operation, which began on Thursday, the IDF arrested 19 gunmen belonging to Fatah's armed wing, the Aksa Martyrs Brigades. The IDF has also arrested two security officers working for the PA's Military Intelligence Force: Shadi al-Sakhel and Ahmed Hisham. The two officers are suspected of helping the Aksa Martyrs Brigades in the city. IDF soldiers discovered a workshop in Nablus's Old City where the group was said to have manufactured two rockets.
The raid came days after PA Interior Minister Abdel Razak Yahya announced that the Aksa Martyrs Brigades in the West Bank had ceased to exist. It also came against a backdrop of media reports suggesting that the PA security forces had succeeded in imposing law and order in Nablus.
The Aksa Martyrs Brigades has openly scoffed at Yahya's declaration, dubbing him a "collaborator" with Israel and calling for his dismissal. The group continues to issue daily statements about its members' activities both in the West Bank and in Gaza. And in the Strip, the Aksa Martyrs Brigades are continuing to take credit for many of the rocket attacks on Israel.
In one of the largest operations of its kind, the PA, with the help of Israel and the US, deployed some 300 policemen in Nablus several weeks ago. Many Palestinians in Nablus said over the weekend that while the PA security forces did clamp down on local criminals, they did not do enough to stop the Fatah gunmen from continuing to operate in the city. They added that while many of the Aksa Martyrs Brigades members had been recruited as officers by various branches of the PA security forces in the past few months, they were continuing to operate within the framework of the armed group.
Col. Abdullah Kmeil, commander of the PA's General Intelligence Force in Nablus, confirmed over the weekend that most of those who were arrested by the IDF belonged to the Aksa Martyrs Brigades. He said that all the Fatah gunmen had been incorporated into the PA security forces. He also confirmed that two PA security officers were among those arrested by the IDF. Kmeil accused Israel of seeking to "thwart" the PA's efforts to impose law and order in Nablus by conducting the massive military operation. He and other PA officials said the IDF operation would also undermine the peace process.
Ironically, the IDF operation is likely to serve the interests of the PA, which has failed to rein in the unruly Fatah gunmen. The Aksa Martyrs Brigades poses a big challenge to the PA leadership. Just last week the group, in a leaflet distributed in Gaza City, called to kill Prime Minister Salaam Fayad. Moreover, many members of the Aksa Martyrs Brigades have openly challenged the PA's call to hand over their weapons in return for jobs and salaries. These militiamen prefer to continue operating as an independent "security force" in most West Bank cities, where they can earn more by extorting businessmen and wealthy families. Further evidence that the group is still operating in the West Bank emerged last week, when many members of the group participated in public rallies marking Fatah's 43rd anniversary.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/07/2008 00:00 ||
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#2
I almost broke my arm when they knocked me over with that feather.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/07/2008 9:07 Comments ||
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#3
The only way Israel will be able to live in peace is to napalm every square inch of the "west bank" and Gaza strip - two or three times. The Arabs don't want peace, they want the destruction of Israel. Nothing else will EVER satisfy them. Might as well kill them and get it over with.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/07/2008 19:45 Comments ||
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The IDF has developed a tiny bulldozer for combat operations inside Palestinian cities, a military publication reported. The little machine is designed for rumbling down narrow roads and paths in the closer quarters of Palestinian cities, where old sections are warrens of crowded alleyways between rundown concrete block buildings. In previous operations, Israeli forces have sent full-size bulldozers ahead of ground troops, causing considerable damage to buildings.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/07/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Israeli forces have sent full-size bulldozers ahead of ground troops, causing considerable damage to buildings
#2
How sad. They've been screwing around with the same shithole for so long that they've broken down and developed a piece of equipment just to fit it's streets better.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
01/07/2008 3:49 Comments ||
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#3
Wanna bet your Army would be placing an order for a gross of them with IMI in less than a year?
#11
How could anyone protest against a cute bulldozer (a calfdozer, perhaps?) with a straight face? It'll make those stone-throwing youths look like they bullies they are, picking on those poor, little things like that!
#12
Wanna bet your Army would be placing an order for a gross of them with IMI in less than a year?
Nah. Maybe we'll just steal the plans from Israel. Then maybe sell them to China. Or we'll trade a few of them for Pollards head.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
01/07/2008 18:59 Comments ||
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#13
Wanna bet your Army would be placing an order for a gross of them with IMI in less than a year?
Nah. Maybe we'll just steal the plans from Israel. Then maybe sell them to China. Or we'll trade a few of them for Pollards head.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
01/07/2008 18:59 Comments ||
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#14
How could anyone protest against a cute bulldozer (a calfdozer, perhaps?) with a straight face? It'll make those stone-throwing youths look like they bullies they are, picking on those poor, little things like that!
I can see them now: done in pink, with Hello Kitty decals on the sides. ;-)
#16
Problem with a mini-dozer is traction, there isn't enough weight to keep the tracks from sliding instead of biting in and pushing. Unless you build in huge weights it's pretty useless.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
01/07/2008 20:19 Comments ||
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#17
From the article:
"a vehicle taller than it is wide or long, painted olive drab, with small wheels, and a black shovel attached to the front. It has room for one person behind heavily reinforced and protected windows.
The main innovation, besides its small size, is a firing post for the driver, the article said. The driver can fire in all directions, staving off attacks and "destroying targets." Ordinary bulldozers do not allow the driver to open fire."
#18
done in pink, with Hello Kitty decals on the sides. ;-)
So long as the Hello Kittys are wearing those silly Israeli hats, lotp. ;-) Olive drab is fine for the Israeli uniforms, but for a calfdozer? The firing post sounds like a good thing, but can the 'dozer driver shoot and knock walls down at the same time?
US President George W. Bush's upcoming visit to the Middle East is not about pushing the Israeli-Palestinian peace process forward but will instead focus on Iran, a senior Hamas official said Sunday.
Hamas's deputy leader Moussa Abu Marzouk told The Associated Press that Bush's eyes are pointed toward Iran rather than the Arab-Israeli peace process. "It is very clear that Bush's eyes and mind at this time aim at Iran and how to deal with it, not the Palestinian cause," Abu Marzouk said in his Damascus office. He added that if Bush is genuine about peace he should put pressure on Israel.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/07/2008 00:00 ||
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The political assistant of Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah Hajj Hussein Khalil and MP Ali Hassan Khalil traveled today to Damascus to meet Ali Larijani, the adviser to the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Larijani ( pictured) is currently visiting Syria and met today with president Bashar el Assad and VP Farouk al Sharaa.
Larijani told the Iranian reporters following the meeting with Hezbollah that they discussed the Arab plan for ending the crises in Lebanon and ways and means for reaching a compromise solution . The meeting was useful and constructive he added .
Earlier Larijani said "the key to the current crisis is in the hands of the Lebanese", stressing the "need to find a solution to this crisis as soon as possible". He added that" Iran and Syria have identical views with regards to the solution of the Lebanese crises". The Iranian official dismissed U.S. efforts to break his country's alliance with Syria as "dreams and illusions ."
According to Lebanese political analyst Ahmed Hussein, "the Hezbollah delegation is meeting with Larijani to get his opinion on how Hezbollah should respond to the Arab plan for ending Lebanon crises". he added " we will know what orders advice Larijani gave Hezbollah from Nasrallah's reaction to the Arab plan." So far Nasrallah has not uttered any word in reaction to the Arab plan , even though his ally Speaker Nabih Berri has already blessed it today.
Iran created Hezbollah in 1982 and continues to be its primary financial backer and arms supplier. In 1987, Nasrallah traveled to a seminary in Qum, Iran for religious studies. He returned to Lebanon in 1989 and later that year, went back to Iran to represent Hezbollah. He returned to Lebanon in 1991, but travels to Iran on regular bases.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/07/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Wow - the only direct quote not included in the string of Larijani's direct statements is, "they follow our orders immediately and without question".
Arab foreign ministers met today in Cairo , Egypt with the Arab League chief and agreed on a plan to solve the Lebanese crisis. Egyptian MENA news agency reported. The meeting of Arab foreign ministers on Saturday evening was aimed to prepare for Sunday's extraordinary meeting of the Arab League Council at the foreign ministers' level.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/07/2008 00:00 ||
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For the first time in a long time the opposition and the ruling majority seem to be in agreement over resolving the Lebanese crises. Does this mean the political crises in Lebanon is over ? Yesterday the Arab Foreign Ministers and the Arab League offered a plan to end the crises in Lebanon and today parliament majority leader Saad Hariri and Speaker Nabih Berri, a key member of the opposition gave their blessings to the plan
Hariri, in a statement released by his press office, said the statement issued by the meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Cairo confirms the need to "fill in the vacuum at the presidential office and the need to shift quickly to set the constitutional mechanism that would allow parliament to convene and carry out the resulting consensus on Gen. Suleiman without any pre-conditions." "On behalf of all the free people in Lebanon I thank whoever played a role in achieving this historic Arab stand regarding Lebanon," Hariri said.
He paid special tribute to "Arab kings and presidents who crystallized the trends included in the Cairo declaration."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/07/2008 00:00 ||
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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.
BERLIN: Signaling a tougher position in negotiations with the United States on a European anti-ballistic missile shield, Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski says the new Warsaw government is not prepared to accept U.S. plans to deploy part of the shield in Poland until all costs and risks are considered. "This is an American, not a Polish project," Sikorski said in an interview published in the weekend edition of the daily Gazeta Wyborcza.
Like her country, Bhutto is a riddle. Brilliant, beautiful, fearless, she is also ruthlessly ambitious, devious and corrupt. The first question that perplexes an American: How could Bhutto Harvard- and Oxford-educated, unapologetically secular have become the first woman elected to lead a Muslim country? In part, the answer is that in dynastic Pakistan, she is effectively royalty. The second question: Why should this election matter so much to America? That answer is simpler. Pakistan has nuclear weapons. Also, the most dangerous place in the world is Pakistans lawless border with Afghanistan. It is a Ho Chi Minh Trail of terrorism where Osama bin Laden is believed to enjoy sanctuary.
Pakistani security officials investigating the death of Benazir Bhutto believe her killing was carried out by a single assassin with a gun and a bomb, according to an Observer article published on Sunday.
The Scotland Yard team investigating the murder of former premier Benazir Bhutto has suspected that a sniper might have shot her, a Pakistani police officer working with the team told Daily Times on Sunday. 
The belief by intelligence organisations that Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is in a remote Pakistan border area is just a speculation, Pakistans ambassador to the United States said on Sunday, AFP reported.
JERUSALEM - US President George W. Bush said Washington would defend its close ally Israel in the event of an Iranian attack, in remarks broadcast on Israeli army radio on Sunday. Whether theres an imminent attack coming, I dont think so, Bush said in excerpts of an interview with an Israeli television station to be aired in its entirety later in the day.
Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh on Sunday called on France to provide assistance to the Palestinians, saying he welcomed "all international efforts" aimed at enhancing security in the region, AFP reported. In a letter to French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Haniyeh said the Gaza government is "prepared to cooperate with all international efforts to establish security and stability in the region." 
The massive IDF operation in Nablus has shown that, contrary to claims by the Palestinian Authority, Fatah's armed wing has not been dismantled. It has also proven that dozens of Fatah gunmen and activists in the West Bank have not surrendered their weapons and are continuing to plan attacks against Israel. 
The political assistant of Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah Hajj Hussein Khalil and MP Ali Hassan Khalil traveled today to Damascus to meet Ali Larijani, the adviser to the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Larijani ( pictured) is currently visiting Syria and met today with president Bashar el Assad and VP Farouk al Sharaa.
