France is observing the dramatic developments in Chad in a state of nervous exasperation. The latest news that the rebels have pulled out of the centre of N'Djamena - with President Idriss Deby still apparently in charge - has come as a relief.
But, seen from Paris, the situation remains highly unstable. The government of Nicolas Sarkozy is going to have to walk on diplomatic and military egg-shells for some time yet. The Root Cause of France's discomfort is that it is trying to pursue two policy objectives that the rebel offensive has made incompatible.
Civil war
On the one hand, the government is adamant that the bad old days of "la Francafrique" - when French troops regularly intervened to prop up corrupt allies - have been consigned to history.
CHAD TIMELINE
June 2005 - Constitutional changes approved allowing president to stand for third term
April 2006 - Hundreds killed as rebels fight government troops on outskirts of N'Djamena
May 2006 - President Deby wins election boycotted by opposition
January 2008 - EU approves peacekeeping force to protect Darfur refugees from violence in Chad
There is therefore no question of France's 1,450 soldiers permanently based in Chad being used to keep Mr Deby in power. As Mr Sarkozy's Cabinet Director Claude Gueant said on Sunday, "the conflict in Chad is a civil war and the antagonists are Chadians; France can only intervene in the context of an international mandate". "Like we always did in Africa. Really."
In fact a military co-operation agreement does exist between France and its former colony, but officially this only extends to providing logistical and intelligence aid.
So far in the conflict France has observed a strict neutrality, surprising some observers by not offering even the kind of discreet help it has done in the past. In 2006, for example, a French Mirage jet fired shots across the bows of an advancing rebel column - thus delivering an unmistakeable message not to go further. Nothing similar has happened today.
Regional ambitions
This neutrality is an awkward posture for France because of the second of its two policy objectives. This is the need, for now, to keep Idriss Deby in power. If the French government feels no special affection for the man, the fact nonetheless remains that the Chadian leader has become a key player in France's wider regional ambitions.
The focus of these ambitions is the deployment - planned to take place as of now - of a new European protection force in eastern Chad. Mr Sarkozy has staked an enormous amount of prestige in promoting this, the biggest ever EU peacekeeping force. Now, that's a very mean and hurtful thing to say!
Officially given the go-ahead only a week ago, Eufor's task will be to provide security for refugees from Darfur and other displaced persons. Eventually a mixed UN-African Union force should do the same job on the Sudan side of the border.
For Mr Sarkozy, Eufor represents both the symbol of a new ethical Africa policy, so different from the grubby arrangements of the past, and a supreme test for Europe's emerging defence identity. It took months of tough negotiations with Mr Deby to get the force accepted.
THE REBEL COALITION
Unified Military Command includes:
Union of Forces for Democracy (UFDD) led by Mahamat Nouri
Rally of Forces for Change (RFC) led by Timane Erdimi
UFDD-Fundamental led by Abdelwahid Aboud Mackaye
It was nearly derailed by the Zoe's Ark charity fiasco late last year, when French aid workers were convicted of trying to smuggle out children. And now, just as it was all about to happen, the plan has gone pear-shaped. The deployment has been put on hold, and if the rebels win it may never happen at all. Oh, well, let's forget it, then.
Of course, for the French government, there is no coincidence in the timing.
The rebels did not want Eufor to deploy because its presence would hinder their freedom to manoeuvre against Mr Deby.
More disturbingly, the Sudanese government - generally accepted to be the Chadian rebels' backer - also had strong reasons not to want Eufor in place. They do not want any serious international force within reach of Darfur.
The rebels had to act fast. They left the Sudanese border last Monday - the very day of Eufor's endorsement by Brussels - and were in N'Djamena by week's end.
The dilemma for Paris has been painful: to intervene - and be caricatured as a throw-back to the neo-colonialism of "la Francafrique" - or not to intervene, and see a first chance to stand tall on the African continent dwindle into the desert sands?
So far the preferred option has been to wait, and hope that fortune turns. Signs that the rebels may have over-reached themselves - and their 500-mile supply chain - have been greeted with barely disguised glee. But, if the situation deteriorates, there is another option: internationalisation. It never fails to work.
Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said on Monday that France was, for the time being, keeping its distance from the conflict. "But if there is a UN Security Council resolution or if the Mighty African Union comes up with a new suggestion, things could change," he said.
On Monday, the Security Council did pass a resolution condemning the rebel advance and calling for governments to extend support to President Idriss Deby. It remains to be seen whether that amounts to the cover that France needs to intervene.
#1
Obviously the only viable course of action is for France to refer the matter to the UN Security Council and await permission to act from Russia, China, Britain and the United States.
#2
I see that the phrase 'Hanging Chad' has a different meaning in France.
In or out Mr. Sarkozy. Isn't the opposition leader (Lol Mohamed Shawa?)who boycotted the election part of a larger islamic court type organization? If so I feel this is part of the continued expansion of said groups to capture oil reserves as Somolia was needed as a port to export. Passed off as la Francafrique does not make sense as anything other than an excuse as they are talking base in the Middle East. My advice is either run away from a tough position where is may not even be possible to reinforce with troops and equipment for weeks or get in there now with what you got (air cover for AU forces) and make the time for reinforcements. Sitting there indecisive looks shitty and endangers your troops.
The Duke of York has criticised the foreign policy of the United States, saying the fallout from Iraq has fuelled a healthy scepticism towards the country.
In a rare departure from Royal Family protocol, the Duke said that the post-invasion chaos in Iraq could have been avoided if George Bushs Government had paid heed to British advice.
Final paragraphs:
The Dukes unprecedented outburst the Royal Familys normal protocol determines that members refrain from publicly commenting on sensitive political issues will be welcomed in British military circles. The timing on the eve of his departure today for a ten-day trip to support British business in the United States in his role as trade envoy is likely to have angered the White House, although the Duke did add that the country was still regarded as Britains No 1 ally.
crickets
His role as envoy involves helping British companies make the right contacts, meet influential trade partners, lobbying on specific contracts and selling the merits of Britain as an investment location.
Pissed about the Bush stance on the jet engines, are you? Or trying to deflect attention from those training camps for Taliban fighters? Or focusing your military's anger on us rather than on your country's failure to fund or respect them?
#4
Oh, so we're Britain's "number one ally", huh Andy?
Some might look at it the other way, since you folks can't seem to do shit without us. Budget problems, I hear. Trouble with the sticky-fingered Socialist neighbors, maybe?
#5
Calm folks, remember criticizing the EU members is against the law and that is what this is really about IMHO. Not saying this war has been conducted swimmingly but since Europe didn't step up with more than an obligitory handful of brave soldiers (apologies to Nations who did step up, your brave service lays in the shadow of shirker neighbors playing political office with your safety) and Turkey disallowing the use of airspace and the invasion timetable not being changed I believe this is about as good as it could have been.
So sorry Duke of York. It hasn't kept one Royal from joining; perhaps your frustration is could have been spent on preparing your armed forces instead of letting the Royal Navy get gutted, developing joint weapon ssystems with the EU instead of integrating with battle tested US equipment, so on so forth.
#7
Mr Hoon, who is now Chief Whip, said their advice not to dismantle the Iraqi Army or purge all members of Saddam Husseins Baath Party from senior positions had been overruled by Washington.
That's the Prince's criticism. Weak, not thought out, unhelpful. Yeah, leave the Baathists in charge of the gov. I wonder what the Brits would have thought if the Americans suggested leaving the Nazis in charge in 1945? Same for the Army. How soon would Iraq had a coup if the Tikriti mafia were left in charge? I blame the Prince's inhaling too many helicopter fumes.
Posted by: ed ||
02/05/2008 13:25 Comments ||
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#8
So clever of the trade envoy to annoy his future hosts before he engages to charm them. But then, the Windsors weren't bred for brains.
#9
Maybe when you can learn to take care of your own troops and not hamstring your Sailors so they become objects of ridicule, then i may listen to you, till then however: phuque off, Your Yorkness.
#10
So clever of the trade envoy to annoy his future hosts before he engages to charm them.
This may be a negotiating strategy (or just pique) with regard to the fact that for the 3rd year in a row the Administration's budget omitted funding for a second engine supplier for the F-35. That engine would have come from a GE-Rolls Royce partnership (i.e. from Britain).
I have no developed opinion on the merits of a second design/source for this component. Britain is one of the co-developers of the fighter and they do want to keep their defense industry alive. And they've been lobbying friends on Congress who have in turn been pressuring Bush to include this in the budget.
Maybe the Duke thinks a Dem win is on the horizon and is using this announcement to generate sympathy among the anti-Bush crowd. ??? FWIW
#12
Bad deal for the US to keep Rolls Royce competitive. The American taxpayer will fork over for the F-136 more than Britain's entire F-35 R&D contribution. If the Brits want the engine, let them fund it. Same for handing over $40 billion worth of R&D for Britain's 5% contribution.
As a further aside, I believe there is no US need for the F-35B. Helos and new build Harriers are fine. The Marines do not need stealth for CAS and deep strike is for the Navy and Air Force. Just as the Marines don't need their own escort carriers. They learned the wrong lesson from Guadalcanal. If the Navy fleet carriers have to leave, the LHDs won't be staying behind to get slaughtered.
Instead an outsize portion of the F-35 R&D budget is spent on the B model, and of course, spent in Britain. The main beneficiaries are nations without our large deck carriers. Not the US.
Posted by: ed ||
02/05/2008 14:51 Comments ||
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#13
'The duck I says.'
Posted by: little Bill ||
02/05/2008 14:57 Comments ||
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#14
the duck of death dhimmi?
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/05/2008 15:14 Comments ||
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#15
ed: not to stray from the main topic, but Boeing is lobbying the Navy hard to rethink the F-35C ( the carrier version) in favor of more Super Hornets. Using the cost angle, proven platform, etc., etc. If this gains traction, expect the toatl JSF buy to go down, but unit cost to go up, which then drives reduced procurement totals, increased unit costs, etc. Mixed emotions on this; I have no lost love for the Lawn Dart, and i am also drawing a paycheck, based in part on F-35 related work. But then there is the taxpayer side of me.
#16
I hope the Navy keeps the full F-35C. We need to stop bleeding our equipment buys with a 1000 cuts. The R&D is already spent. If we don't buy enough F-35Cs, then in a few years we will have the spend the R&D all over again to develop something to defeat a threat that the F-18 can't handle or don't have the numbers in the first place. Witness the $40B spent on the B2 and only $7B spent on procuring 21 bombers. Now the Air Force wants more money to develop another bomber. That's criminal.
I think the US spends too much on too many R&D programs. We need to focus on fewer programs and then buy equipment in quantity so that it can have a decisive effect. The Russians were forced to concede this. We should have figured it out on our own.
Posted by: ed ||
02/05/2008 16:29 Comments ||
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#17
Agree: as far as the next-gen AF bomber, what is wrong with a 'Lot II' buy of B-2s, or to save some money, some B-2 Lites (less stealth, still killing). And ask the AF why the EFA-18 Growler isn't a good enough Jammer platform for them, since they have had to rely on the Prowler since the Aardvarks were retired? Jammer envy, perhaps?? I also think the USN has their entire aviation future pinned to the Lawn Dart and will force it to fill all the roles that until recently specialized aircraft were developed and excelled at. I will call it quits when they figure out how to replace the Grumman E-2D with a Hornet. THe recent shredding of the Tomcats was as much about ensuring Iran couldn't get the spare parts as it was to ensure they would not be brought out of mothballs and put back in service (IMHO), and all the potential spots for man made reefs were taken ( and already done w/ Intruders).
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
02/05/2008 19:51 Comments ||
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#20
#19 OK - Darrell wins the thread. :-D
Posted by Barbara Skolaut
IMHO - in honor of tonight: wayyyy too early to call. Some of our rural precints haven't been heard from, and the western comments haven't been closed yet, but with <1% reporting so far, we've gotta wait til 3% reports before bestowing that honor
/MSM asshole
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/05/2008 20:17 Comments ||
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#21
Lessee, the Brits were behind Musa Qala in Afghanistan, which turned into a disaster, and in charge in Basra, where the Iraqi Army is just now getting a handhold (though tenuous) on the graft and corruption created by Britain's "go soft" policy. Andy, I think it's wise for you to remember the words of my father: it's better to sit quietly in a corner and THOUGHT a fool, than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
02/05/2008 21:28 Comments ||
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#22
Oh. I thought it was the Duke of NEW York...A Number One.
MADRID - A High Court prosecutor is planning to subpoena Spanish flight crews, air traffic controllers and the civil and military authorities in charge of three airbases in an effort to determine whether or not illegal prisoner transport flights operated by the US military passed through Spain between early 2002 and the end of 2006.
Public prosecutor Vicente González Mota has asked High Court Judge Ismael Moreno for permission to request testimony from the suspected witnesses to the so-called rendition flights, which apparently landed in Spain en route to the US prison camp in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. The flights are considered illegal under Spanish law, although suspicions linger over whether the former Popular Party government that was in power until 2004 or the current Socialist administration knew about them.
González Mota is centring his investigation primarily on two flights that according to Portuguese air traffic control records left the NATO bases at Morón de la Frontera, near Seville, and Rota, near Cádiz, bound for Cuba in January and October 2002. The planes allegedly had Islamist suspects caught in Afghanistan onboard who had been transferred from other aircraft. González Mota is looking for testimony from anyone who may have seen them.
GUANTANAMO BAY, CUBA Another fighter was still alive inside the Afghan compound where Omar Khadr was captured at the time a grenade killed a U.S. soldier, casting doubt on allegations that only the teenage militant could have been responsible for the soldier's death. It has long been assumed by many that Mr. Khadr was the only combatant alive during the firefight, and so must have been the one who threw the grenade.
The revelations, mistakenly released in never-before seen documents, came during a military tribunal hearing for Mr. Khadr Monday at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Documents that were supposed to be censored in their entirety were accidentally handed out to reporters in the courtroom, taking both defence and prosecution lawyers completely by surprise.
The documents contain a transcript of an interview with the only U.S. security agent believed to have witnessed first-hand the fierce firefight inside the compound where then-15-year-old Mr. Khadr was staying in 2002 a firefight that left the young Canadian with shrapnel wounds and two bullets in his back.
While the interviewed agent whose identity and agency affiliation are still secret says he believes Mr. Khadr threw the grenade, his account of events clearly shows that he deduced that conclusion rather than saw it first-hand.
The document was given to Mr. Khadr's defence team by prosecutors as part of discovery.
The transcript with the agent he is only identified as OC-1 describes in detail the moments leading up to, during and after the battle where Mr. Khadr was shot and captured. Mr. Khadr faces five charges before the military commission. The most serious of those murder is related to a grenade attack during that battle that killed a U.S. soldier.
OC-1 arrived at the Afghan compound where Mr. Khadr was staying after U.S. forces had called in multiple air strikes on the facility. After bombs had severely damaged the compound and those inside, OC-1 and a number of soldiers entered through a breach in one of the mud walls. One of the soldiers was Sergeant First Class Christopher Speer, the soldier Mr. Khadr is charged with murdering.
OC-1 says that as soon as the soldiers entered the compound, they came under fire, possibly from a rifle. The witness described the fire as directed, not random. While the soldiers were under fire, OC-1 says he saw a grenade lobbed toward him over a three-metre wall leading into an alley. The witness began running past the opening of the alley in order to avoid the grenade, firing 12 rounds of his M-4 rifle into the alleyway as he ran. However the alley was filled with dust from the gunfire and he could not see who was at the other end.
When the witness stopped and ducked at one corner of the alley, he heard a man moaning near the back of the compound. When the dust cleared, he saw the man lying near him he was still moving, and an AK-47 rifle lay beside him. OC-1 shot the man in the head, killing him.
When the dust rose from that shot, the witness saw another person sitting up against the brush, facing away from him. It was Mr. Khadr.
OC-1 shot Mr. Khadr twice in the back.
It was after the shooting, when OC-1 was checking to see whether Mr. Khadr was still alive, that he heard other U.S. personnel yelling for a medic for Sgt. Speer, who had been fatally wounded by the grenade lobbed earlier.
The same medic who treated Sgt. Speer then treated Mr. Khadr.
OC-1 observed that KHADR was able to move his arms and was repeating kill me in English, the document states.
OC-1 tells his interviewer that, based on his extensive combat experience, he believes that the only people alive at the time of the assault were Mr. Khadr and the other man he shot in the head. The witness also believes that the grenade was thrown by someone other than the person who opened rifle fire on the U.S. troops, because the two events happened simultaneously.
Though the dust and angle of the walls prevented him from seeing who threw the grenade, OC-1 believes that KHADR threw the grenade, the document states.
The accidental release of the document prompted a bizarre standoff between military officials and reporters outside the courtroom MONDAY. After lawyers became aware that the document had erroneously been given to media, military commission officials asked reporters to give the documents back, indicating reporters who failed to do so may not be allowed to sit through future court proceedings. After 90-minutes, reporters were allowed to keep the documents, but were asked not to report any specific names, locations, dates and other information deemed sensitive.
Mr. Khadr's lead defence lawyer, U.S. Navy Lieutenant-Commander William Kuebler, said that had the document not accidentally been made public, reporters may never have seen it. There's no openness about this process, that's the point, he said. This is a process that's designed to take place outside of public view, outside of public scrutiny.
Navy Commander Jeffrey Gordon, a Pentagon spokesman, vehemently disagreed with that characterization.
Clearly it is an open process, he said. We've consistently brought members of the press and [non-governmental organizations] to witness trials and we release information in a timely manner.
Defence and prosecution lawyers also presented oral arguments on a number of defence motions MONDAY, including a motion asking that charges be dismissed because the Military Commission Act, under which Mr. Khadr is being tried, was never meant for juveniles. Mr. Khadr's defence argued that no civilized legal system in the world makes no distinction between adults and children, and to assume that the act applies to all ages would imply a five-year-old could be charged.
Prosecution lawyers argued that Congress was well aware of Mr. Khadr's case when it passed the law in 2006. Prosecution lawyers also pointed to examples such as imprisonment of Hitler Youth after the Second World War as precedent for military tribunals exercising jurisdiction over suspects under the age of 18.
Military Judge Colonel Peter Brownback did not say when he expects to render a decision on any of the motions, and it appears that this week's round of hearings in the Khadr case is over after just one day.
Outside observers got a look at Mr. Khadr for the first time in several months yesterday. The now-21-year-old entered the Naval base courthouse escorted by two soldiers, each holding one of his hands. He wore a white prisoner's uniform, a colour reserved for those living in the camp's least severe prisons. Standing more six feet tall, the prisoner was well-groomed with short hair and a beard that was full but not unruly.
For much of the morning session, Mr. Khadr sat talking to his Canadian lawyer, Dennis Edney. The prisoner's facial expression rarely changed, and he seemed to have only a passing interest in the convoluted legal arguments that took up most of the day.
The trial was expected to formally begin on May 5, but Lt.-Cmdr. Kuebler is not sure that is still a realistic start date.
Posted by: john frum ||
02/05/2008 11:48 ||
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Deputy SECDEF England has been freelancing with the Muslim Brotherhood and Syria, it would appear. Or at least he tried to. More on Hesham Islam's influence in the Pentagon.
And surprisingly the State Dept. is the good guy in this one.
#3
Have an investigation. If it turns out Gordo got one thin dime from any of these people furriner terrorists, SuperMax him for life with no trial and no appeals...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
02/05/2008 13:22 Comments ||
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A MILITARY judge is examining the legality of a young Canadian held in Guantanamo Bay after being arrested at age 15 in Afghanistan. Omar Khadr was seized in Afghanistan in 2002 and taken to the US military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as part of the drive to round up extremists in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. Now in his early 20s, he is accused of killing a US soldier with a hand grenade as he was being arrested for making explosives.
Defense lawyers argue the special military courts set up in Guantanamo have no authority to try minors. They maintain that if Mr Khadr's case goes to trial it will be the first time in Western history that a person will have been tried for war crimes committed while still a child.
He was a child when he threw the grenade, right?
"In the six years since the first prisoners arrived at Guantanamo, the Bush administration has failed to bring a single military commissions case to trial because it insists on using a system with fatal due process flaws,'' Hina Shamsi, an attorney with the powerful American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), said. "That one of the first tests of this illegitimate system is the prosecution for war crimes of someone captured as a child shows just how much of a moral and legal failure Guantanamo is.''
Canadian parliamentarians and law experts, as well as human rights groups, have all supported Mr Khadr's lawyers. "UNICEF is concerned that such a prosecution, in particular in front of a military commission not equipped to meet the required standards, would set a dangerous precedent for the protection of hundreds of thousands of children who find themselves unwittingly involved in conflict around the world,'' the UN children's fund said.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/05/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Canadian parliamentarians and law experts, as well as human rights groups, have all supported Mr Khadr's lawyers. "UNICEF is concerned that such a prosecution, in particular in front of a military commission not equipped to meet the required standards
because only they know the required standards. Kill him now. Should've killed him on the battlefield. Send Canada the bill
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/05/2008 6:52 Comments ||
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#2
Funny how they happen to have failed to mention this 'child' was actively engaged as an illegal combatant by throwing a grenade (and murdering killing a soldier) and planting roadside bombs as well as by conducting surveillance of U.S. military convoys in Afghanistan. Other than that he's a real angel of hell.
#5
How does a 15 year old Canadian resident end up fighting American troops halfway around the world?
Posted by: john frum ||
02/05/2008 11:24 Comments ||
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#6
He's a chip off the old block...
The Khadr family has provoked intense debate in Canada. Each of the five Khadr siblings, all of whom are Canadian citizens, has at one time or another been separately accused or investigated for alleged links to terrorism. Their father, Egyptian-born Canadian Ahmed Said Khadr, was an accused al-Qaida financier killed in a battle with Pakistani forces in 2003.
#7
If they are marring off girls as young as 9, then this turd is more than of consenting age.
Killed medics and translators (while the armed soldiers stayed back in a show of trust is how I read it) on a humanitarian mission in a cold blooded ploy. He can go screw a fire ant den for all I care.
FBI expected to award $1 billion contract to help collect data on people
Privacy advocate says it's the first step toward a "surveillance society"
FBI says it's needed to help track terrorists and other criminals
Palm prints and optical eye scans likely to become more common
Posted by: Fred ||
02/05/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
To explain the palm prints, I think that a recent court decision really rattled the FBI. The *County* judge pointed out the glaringly obvious, that although a partial fingerprint *could* indicate a particular person, that it was so inaccurate as to be below any usefulness as evidence.
Turned out the judge knew what she was talking about, which jeopardized a bunch of criminal cases nationwide, based solely on such partial prints. Even the FBI had to admit that she was right.
Pakistani nationals convicted of militancy and other national security offences will be held back in Indian prisons even after completing their terms, officials say.
India has decided to suspend consular access or deportation of such prisoners after the security establishment cited the apparent lack of reciprocal access to Indian prisoners in Pakistani prisons, three different officials told the HT on condition of anonymity.
That is a U-turn from the time until last year when Indian officials complained that several countries, including Pakistan, were not accepting militants without a nation those who had completed their sentences but were not being accepted by their countries.
The policy will also fly in the face of recent Supreme Court rulings pushing for the repatriation of such prisoners languishing in India. On Friday, the government told the SC that the India-Pakistan protocol on prisoners was not working. The court gave the government two months to come up with a policy.
The India-Pakistan protocol lays down consular access for civil prisoners, but not security prisoners, an Indian official said. Pakistan does not give access to Indian security prisoners. We want to insist on reciprocity. The court has asked that undertrials who had served time equal to their maximum possible punishment be sent back. Pakistani prisoners in India are listed under two categories, security and civil. The civil prisoners are convicted for border crossing or petty crimes. Security prisoners are those charged with anti-India activities.
The government of India has decided that hardened terrorists will especially not be sent back, another security official said. They are recycled. Bhim Singh, head of the J&K Legal Aid Committee who brought the plea to the SC, says the classification of security prisoners is unconstitutional.
Note to Lawyer Bhim Singh.. your constitution isn't a suicide pact
Officials in Jammu and Kashmir said last year that dozens of people convicted of militancy were not being accepted by Pakistan, Afghanistan, Lebanon and Tajikistan. Philippe Stoll, New Delhi-based spokesman of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), told the HT that the ICRC which is given access to J&K prisons under a 1995 agreement had not been approached by either side over the deportation issue.
Posted by: john frum ||
02/05/2008 08:26 ||
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#1
All those ACLU lawyers hanging around Guantanamo are probably studying for the Indian Bar exams...
Posted by: john frum ||
02/05/2008 8:50 Comments ||
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WASHINGTON, Feb 4: US President George W. Bush on Monday unveiled a $3.1 trillion budget plan for 2009, which includes a financial assistance of $830 million for Pakistan. The purpose of this assistance is to sustain our strategic partnership with Pakistan, the White House said. Approximately $830 million (will) help Pakistan achieve stability, development, and democracy goals.
The US assistance focuses on security, economic development, and combating terrorism in Pakistans western frontier regions, the White House said.President Bush also has requested $1.1 billion to help build a stable Afghanistan.
On Jan 28, President Bush authorised Secretary of Defence Robert Gates to provide with the concurrence of the Secretary of State, as much as $75 million worth of equipment, supplies and training to build the capacity of the Frontier Corps. The United States is also considering a proposal to increase the presence of US Special Forces on Pakistani soil in support of the Frontier Corps.
Adm Eric T. Olson, head of Special Operations Command, visited Pakistan last fall and included a stop at the Frontier Corps headquarters. The US troops, however, will only provide counter-insurgency training to Pakistani troops, particularly those from the Frontier Corps.
Meanwhile, the US Congress has attached two unusual clauses to military assistance to Pakistan.
Posted by: john frum ||
02/05/2008 08:25 ||
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ummmm...no
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/05/2008 8:46 Comments ||
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#5
Only if this is a down payment on equipment to build the India/American superhighway construction project along the n/w bank of the Indus up towards Karachi then to Kabul.
#6
ppl bitch about welfare for ppl here in America but wouldn't every rantburger rather see it spent here than on this shit hole of a nation. I f they can afford too build a nuke they don't need any support
#8
Bush has fallen so far. We must teach our children that when a leader abandons his core values, he walks the plank over the Grand Canyon. Falling is inevitable.
ISLAMABAD (Rooters) - The party of assassinated Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto published her political will on Tuesday in which she called for her husband to lead the party and said she feared for the country's future.
Bhutto was assassinated in a suicide attack as she left an election rally in Rawalpindi on December 27. Her will was read out to party leaders in private hours after her funeral but it had not been made public.
A Bhutto party spokesman said the will was being released to end any doubts about Bhutto's wishes for the leadership of the party. "I fear for the future of Pakistan. Please continue the fight against extremism, dictatorship, poverty and ignorance," Bhutto said in the will.
The one-page, hand-written document was dated October 16, two days before she returned to Pakistan from eight years of self-exile, according to copies shown on Pakistani television. A party spokeswoman, Sherry Rehman, later read out the document at a news conference. She said it was Bhutto's political will. Her personal will, dealing with her assets, was private, Rehman said.
After her murder, her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, and their 19-year-old son, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, were made joint chairmen of her Pakistan People's Party.
In her will, Bhutto said Zardari should lead the party. "I would like my husband Asif Ali Zardari to lead you in this interim period until you and he decide what is best," she wrote. "I say this because he is a man of courage and honor. He spent 11 œ years in prison without bending despite torture. He has the political stature to keep our party united."
Zardari, who was jailed on corruption charges but denied any wrongdoing, is regarded as a divisive figure. But with Bilawal still too young to run for parliament and yet to complete his university studies in Britain, it is Zardari who is the de facto leader of the party as it prepares for a February 18 general election.
A Bhutto party spokesman, Farhatullah Babar, said there had been questions about why the will had not been made public at the time of her funeral. "Everybody now can see it. It's her own writing and any doubt or misgivings there are about leadership of the party will be set aside," Babar said.
The PPP is likely to gain a considerable sympathy vote in the parliamentary elections because of Bhutto's murder. Zardari is not running.
Posted by: anonymous5089 ||
02/05/2008 07:46 ||
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#1
uh yeaaahhhh. Check the handwriting again
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/05/2008 7:56 Comments ||
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#2
He wasn't "Mr Ten Percent" for nothing.
Posted by: john frum ||
02/05/2008 8:21 Comments ||
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#3
Yeah. Lead the party. My wife Morgan Fairchild Benazir Bhutto said that. And you could look it up.
#4
I wasn't aware you COULD bequeath a political Party, I thought you could only Bequeath what you owned as real property, not ideas.
(Or owned by others)
I call Bullshit.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
02/05/2008 12:49 Comments ||
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#5
I divorce I divorce I divorce! Crap, its too late? How is Switzerland this time of year?
Ask the Kennedys and Clintons and Rockefellers and Bushs etc about families and politics.
KARACHI: Six hundred suicide bombers are present in Karachi and they are planning a major attack, revealed Qasim Toori and Danish alias Talha during interrogations by law-enforcement agencies. Most of the suicide bombers are also former students of Islamabads Lal Masjid. The two militants, who were captured along with women and children during a raid in Sector-17A, Shah Latif, on January 29, have been handed over to the Anti-Violent Crime Unit (AVCU). A third militant, who was killed during the raid, has been identified as Gohar Muhammad alias Abrar Keamari Wallah, according to Special Investigations Unit (SIU) DSP Wasif Qureshi. Qureshi declined to comment.
However, a source privy to the interrogation told Daily Times that the militants had confessed, Around 600 Jundullah militants are present in Karachi. They are mentally prepared and trained to commit suicide attacks. They confessed that they had robbed foreign banks and dispatched the money to their headquarters in Wana, from where their needs for weapons, explosives and other necessities were being met. The source added that law-enforcement personnel have also taken into custody two brothers, Abu Abdullah and Gohar Muhammad. Abdullah and Gohar are physically unfit, and it is rumoured that the brothers were to carry out suicide attacks.
Don't know how much of this is true and how much is puffery. 600 splodydopes would make a hell of a mess.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/05/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Well, some sort of psy-op... like trojan-scheduling them all at the same time and same place, pure splodey party...
The government has announced public holiday on February 5 on account of Kashmir Solidarity Day. According to a notification issued by the Interior Division here on Wednesday, one-minute silence would be observed throughout the country on Monday at 10am to pay homage to Kashmiri martyrs
With glowing tributes to be paid to the valiant martyrs who are giving supreme sacrifices to seek their birth right of self-determination, a pragmatic cause yet to be accomplished Kashmir Solidarity Day will be observed all-over Pakistan and in Azad Kashmir on Tuesday, February-5 with a renewed pledge.
With all the troubles in Pakistan, you would think the last thing on their minds would be the situation in a foreign country
Except they don't consider Kashmir to be 'foreign'. Never have, never will.
The pledge shall be expressing all-out cohesion with the people of the Himalayan State of Jammu & Kashmir who are engaged in a bona fide struggle to make India quit part of their homeland which is being illegally and illicitly held in occupation by the New Delhi rulers for the past over six decades.
As part of the day-long programme, one minute silence will be observed throughout Pakistan and Azad Kashmir at 10 AM [PST] manifesting an overt symbol of inmost homage to the martyrs of Jammu & Kashmir.
No silence for the millions killed by the Pakistani army in East Pakistan?
Update info indicates that human chains by the people of Pakistan and Jammu & Kashmir on all bridges linking Azad Kashmir with Pakistan will be one of the salient features of the day-long programme.
Just don't try to cross the LOC. The Indians will shoot you.
Special ceremonies including relies, processions, seminars, symposia will also be held reiterating complete solidarity with the people of occupied Jammu & Kashmir in their just and principled movement for freedom of the motherland from Indian subjugation.
If pakistan spent 10% of this effort on reforming their country, it might be a normal state
That wouldn't be Islamic ...
eople, representing all segments of social and political circles shall meet at multiple gatherings to highlight the significance of the day.
Politicians, those now ruling the liberated part of the State Azad Kashmir as well as others hailing from the opposition parties contemplate to visit Kashmir Refugee camps to express solidarity as well as the relief centers where October-8 quake-hit families are lodged to extend them help with succor in addition to what Pakistan is already doing to ensure their live-on with optimal secure environs.
To recap, Kashmir Solidarity Day is observed on Feb 5 every year by the people of Pakistan and Kashmiris living on both sides of the Line of Control.
To recap, this obsession with Kashmir is quite bizarre
The main objective is to express complete solidarity with the people of the State and simultaneously to invite the attention of the global community towards the plight of Kashmiris in the wake of massive human rights abuses by the Indian occupation forces and denial by New Delhi rulers vis-à-vis peaceful solution of Kashmir problem in line with the UN resolutions which reflect the aspirations of the people of Jammu & Kashmir with the right of self-determination as the only basis.
A report from Gilgit also speaks of Kashmir Solidarity Day functions which have been planned for observance in a befitting manner in the Northern Areas
Posted by: john frum ||
02/05/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Kashmir Day doesnt serve Kashmir cause
ISLAMABAD: Former law minister Syed Iqbal Haider said on Monday that a strike or holiday on February 5 (Kashmir Day) did not serve in any way the Kashmiris struggle for the right to self-determination.
A holiday or strike only harms the countrys economy, Haider said in a statement. He urged the government not to observe February 5 as Kashmir Day because it had been unable to change the world opinion in Pakistans favour. Only a strong Pakistan can strongly support the Kashmiris in their freedom struggle, he said, adding that the holiday on February 5 only made opponents of Kashmir and Pakistan stronger.
Posted by: john frum ||
02/05/2008 8:37 Comments ||
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#2
Images from Kashmir day
Posted by: john frum ||
02/05/2008 11:28 Comments ||
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#3
Posted by: john frum ||
02/05/2008 11:29 Comments ||
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#5
Great pictures again John Frum. Especially liked the litl one with the horns coming out da head. But way too many wrists and ankles, needed a nsfw tag. Good thing that sign is in English else I would have thought it had something to do with inciting violence.
Looks like some disturbed version of a drunkin paddy's day march.
The Scotland Yard team investigating the assassination of former Pakistani prime minister and Pakistan Peoples Party chairwoman Benazir Bhutto would submit its report this week, Geo News reported on Monday. According to the TV channels sources, the team has completed its report and two senior official from the team would arrive in Pakistan this week to submit the report to the Pakistan government.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/05/2008 00:00 ||
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A militant belonging to a banned organisation boasted on Monday of his new, clean-shaven look.
Talking to Daily Times at Darra bazaar, he said, on condition of anonymity: [Our] top leadership has gone underground or may have fled the area ... but foot soldiers, like me, are all here in Dara. Look at me, I am a clean-shaven now. You have to change yourself according to the environment. Dara bazaar partially opened on Monday, but there was not much sale of illegal local weapons seen. No one has bought any weapon or ammunition from me, a weapon dealer said.
Need to get some more donations for the widows ...
The military has taken control of the whole region, including Kohat Tunnel that links Peshawar with Sindh and Balochistan through southern districts. Security forces have destroyed militants headquarters in the Mazeedkhel area, but they neither arrested any militants nor found any body of the killed militants.
A military statement said on Monday that security forces had recovered ammunition and other supplies looted by miscreants from the Amal Khel area. It gave no details of the recovered ammunition.
Search operation: Security sources said a search operation was on the cards to hunt for the top militant leadership, adding: We are pursuing 34 militant leaders.
The security forces were resisting militant attacks in areas around Akhorwal on the outskirts of Dara and near Spina Thana, where they were stationed to monitor the situation. The militants are still engaging us around the Akhorwal area, but [attacks] intensity is low and it means, security sources said. But resistance around Kohat Tunnel was fully put down. The area is considered strategic from a national security point of view.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/05/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
I thought shaving your beard was un-islamic. Along with kite flying and listening to music, of course.
#2
Anything is permitted to keep cover while jihad is still in the planning stages, SteveS. Didn't some of the 9/11 hijackers spend time drinking in stripper bars before getting on their airplanes?
The government is finalising a plan to launch a search operation against militant groups linked to Baitullah Mehsud to curb the growing militancy here, Daily Times learnt on Monday.
Police sources said the provincial government, in collaboration with the district administration, was currently devising a search operation in the districts rural and hilly areas to counter recent clashes between militants and police, and attacks on police stations, CD centres and officials.
Foreign militants: Faisal Khan, of the Palo Dheri village located 14 kilometres southeast of Mardan, said initially local Taliban had occupied the area. However, he said Uzbek and Afghan Taliban had been spotted in nearby areas, such as Jamra, Jhengra and Spinkai Ghar, during the past three months. Khan said the militants had started to occupy the Kashmir Smast hills bordering Swat following the military operation there. He said they were hiding in the hills and the police were unable to deal with them.
Separately, Bakhshali residents have said that local Taliban and banned jihadi organisations are grouping there. They claim the militants are pressuring the locals to stop listening to music, and are bombing music centres and girls schools.
Additional forces: Mardan District Nazim Himayutullah Mayar told Daily Times that threatening letters to girl schools, NGO offices and video centres in the area had become commonplace. He said several DVD shops and schools have been bombed and the principals of several girls schools have received threatening letters. Mayar said the district administration had requested additional forces and logistics support from the provincial government, but no measures had yet been taken.
The army has already closed all roads used by both the army and private vehicles to pass through the interior part of the Punjab Regiment Centre in Mardan city following the Dargai suicide attack that killed 42 army recruits and injured many others on November 9, 2006.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/05/2008 00:00 ||
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The All-parties Conference held here on Sunday declared that Pakistan without Kashmir is incomplete.
In 1947, Pakistan included East Bengal and parts of other British Indian states (now Bangladesh). I would think that Pakistan is incomplete without its eastern part.
A resolution adopted at the APC said that peace could not return to the subcontinent unless and until a plebiscite was held as per the UN resolution on the future of the Kashmir territory.
That plebiscite resolution calls for Pakistan to withdraw all its forces and irregulars from Kashmir, to be replaced by Indian troops prior to a plebiscite on joining either Pakistan or India. Will Pakistan remove its Punjabi settlers and troops?
The APC was organised by the Jamaat-i-Islami at its office, Idara Noor-i-Haq.
The resolution recalled that Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah had termed Kashmir jugular vein of Pakistan, adding that the agenda of Pakistan Movement would remain unachieved until the accession of Kashmir to Pakistan.
It is all really about the headwaters of the rivers. India controls the water and Pakistan just hates that.
Leaders of Jamaat-i-Islami, Pakistan Peoples Party, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and other parties addressed the conference and deplored the reign of terror let loose by the Indian forces in the occupied Jammu and Kashmir over the past six decades.
There was terror in the 60s when the Beatles stayed in Kashmir? Really? This all started in 1987 when the Afghan jihad was wound down and Pakistan redirected the jihadis towards Kashmir.
The resolution said that the government of Pakistan also could not absolve itself of its responsibilities just by observing solidarity day with Kashmiris on Feb 5 every year. It asked the rulers to desist from betraying Kashmiris in the name of confidence building measures (CBMs).
The conference, presided over by JI Naib Amir Prof Ghafoor Ahmad, resolved to organise a massive rally on Feb 5 to express solidarity with Kashmiri people.
Speaking at the moot, he condemned Gen Pervez Musharrafs offers and incentives to India on the Kashmir issue, reminding him that India had constantly been defying the UN resolutions on Kashmir and continuing with its policy of suppressing the movement by Kashmiri people. Thousands of people were killed and countless rendered disabled in the Indian military actions in the occupied territory, he pointed out.
Prof N.D. Khan of the PPP was of the view that a fair settlement of Kashmir dispute was possible only when it was tackled by a democratic government in Pakistan, maintaining that dictatorship was not capable to ensure an amicable solution.
Saleem Zia of PML-N held the British rulers responsible for the Kashmir problem. Had the issue been tackled with good intentions and wisdom, the situation would not have been what it was today.
Actually were it not for some British Officers, none of Kashmir would be in Pakistani hands today
Mohammad Hussain Mehanti of the JI condemned that Kashmiri Mujahideen had been dubbed as terrorists by the United States and its allies after the 9/11 tragedy. Siddique Rathor, Yousuf Mastikhan, Mir Nawaz Marwat, Khan Mohammad Baloch, Afzal Sardar and Basharat Mirza also spoke at the conference.
Legally, Jammu and Kashmir is Indian since it was acceded to the Dominion of Indian by its ruler in 1947 as per the Indian Independence Act of the United Kingdom. The instrument of accession was signed by Lord Louis Mountbatten, the last Viceroy of India and cousin to the British Queen. Before his assassination by the IRA in 1979, Mountbattn said that had he known that Jinnah was dying of TB, he would have delayed partition. Without Jinnah around, Pakistan would probably not have been created and millions of lives would have been saved.
Posted by: john frum ||
02/05/2008 00:00 ||
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#4
Bes, AFAICR, the British had no hand in partitioning the subcontinent. That was entirely the natives' fault.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
02/05/2008 6:01 Comments ||
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#5
Actually Jinnah had many British supporters. He never spent a single day in jail, a remarkable feat for an Indian independence leader (even Nehru's old mother was locked up) until you consider that he was free to mobilize Muslims for partition while everyone else was in prison.
The British partitioned Bengal in 1905, creating a Muslim majority East Bengal (basically modern Bangladesh).
Sir Olaf Caroe's idea of "Pahkistan" (specifically the NWFP, Balochistan and Sindh... he didn't care for Bengal) acting as a great wall protecting the middle east from a future India occupied by the Russian bear found favor among many in Britain.
There are parallels between the tacit support for Operation Storm in 1995 and the September 1947 (post partition!) violence in the Punjab that ethnically cleansed Pakistan of its Hindu and Sikh population.
Posted by: john frum ||
02/05/2008 7:09 Comments ||
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#6
Says it all...
Posted by: john frum ||
02/05/2008 11:30 Comments ||
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#7
Could I file this as some of the Operational Advice advocated by some British policy maker(s)?
#1
The new flag retains the three colours of the old one - red, white and black. But the stars that represented the ideology of the Baath party - unity, freedom and socialism - have been removed.
In 2004, a line of Arabic script reading "Allahu Akbar", or "God is great", supposedly written in Saddam Hussein's writing, was changed to a different calligraphy.
Protests
The latest change came at the behest of Kurds - but not all Iraqis are impressed with the change.
"This is a disaster ... I am using the old flag in my office and at home," Falluja Mayor Rasheed told Reuters last month.
The news agency reported ordinary Iraqis - who say the flag has little to do with Saddam Hussein - had attached the old flag to their cars in protest.
An Al-Qaeda front group for northern Iraq said in a statement posted yesterday on the Internet that it was launching its own campaign in the northern city of Mosul and urged volunteers to join them to carry out suicide attacks on US troops, Iraqi Shiites and the Kurdish peshmerga troops.
The statement followed Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's announced campaign in Mosul to root out Al-Qaeda in Iraq led insurgents said to have taken refuge there. Al-Maliki has said the Mosul campaign would be the final showdown with the terror network in its last urban stronghold in Iraq. The Sunni militant group, known as Mosul's regional command of the Islamic State of Iraq, said their own campaign would be a "vengeance raid," but provided no details.
The statement, posted on a Web site commonly used by insurgents, urged volunteers to stage suicide attacks against "foreign crusaders" - shorthand for US troops - as well as Iraqi Shiites and the Kurdish government forces known as the peshmerga in the Kurdish-run north of the country.
We announce the good news to our people that we have started a military campaign ... which will continue until we reap its good results," read the statement. "We also announce accepting volunteers for martyrdom operations against the occupying crusaders in general and against the Peshmerga and the Shiites in particular.
Referring to al-Maliki's promised showdown, it talked about "a conspiracy hatched against the people of Mosul ... by the occupiers, their followers from the Kurdish peshmerga militia traitors and the Shiites in Baghdad." It mentioned the loss of "our loved ones in Zanjili" - a reference to an explosion last month in an abandoned apartment building in the impoverished Mosul district of Zanjili, reputed to be an Al-Qaeda hotbed. The blast killed 60 people and wounded more than 200, spiking tensions in this c
ity, which is Iraq's third largest, located about 360 kilometers northwest of Baghdad.
Iraqi authorities have blamed Al-Qaeda for the attack in a poor neighborhood of stone houses - 50 were obliterated. The Zanjili district was populated by men who worked as porters and sold gas cooking cylinders house to house and were said to be strong Al-Qaeda sympathizers.
Al-Qaeda is believed to have a strong presence in Mosul, which lies on transport crossroads between Baghdad, Syria and other points, and has a religiously mixed population that has not seen the groundswell of Sunni anger against militants that has helped turn the tide in Anbar province and other areas. US commanders in northern Iraq have warned that the battle to oust Al-Qaeda from Mosul will not be a swift strike as Al-Maliki suggested, but rather a grinding campaign that will require more firepower.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/05/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
SUICIDE ATTACKS > good for the ideo "status quo", demons of faith, + security for [defective]top leadership, but LOUSY iff your trying to defeat a MILTECH-DOMIN/SUPERIOR ENEMY WHILE SIMUL TRYING TO STAVE OFF RESISTANCE TO CONFLICT/VIOLENCE FROM WITHIN ISLAM = ISLAMISM ITSELF. Its never good for the GROUP/MASS ETHIC IN ANY SOCIETY/FAITH to unilater destroy many iff not most of your most dedic loyal followers whom are also likely to be amongst your best educated or smart members?? IN EFFECT, THEY ARE DESTROYING ANY BEST HOPE FOR ISLAM TO REFORM ITSELF FROM WITHIN AND PROGRESS FORWARD TOWARDS A BETTER FUTURE.
#2
One might think that they'd eventually run out of r-tards and nutjobs, for this sort of thing. Talking a bunch of shit is one thing, actually putting on the vest and hitting the button is quite another.
Ah, more Pali tales of woe...
RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AFP) - Seventy-year-old Naim Ahjazi needs just a half-hour -- 45 minutes at most -- to run across the border to Egypt and pick up the desperately-needed farm supplies that he paid for last week. But the Hamas gunmen standing guard at the frontier are not moved -- after nearly two weeks of unfettered access between Gaza and Egypt, the border is shut again. Show's over. Nuthin to see here. Move it along...INFIDEL!!!
"I paid for the supplies, but the shop was closed all day yesterday so I couldn't pick them up," says Ahjazi, his tanned face etched with despair and resignation as he looks over at the border just metres away. Geez, so close...yet so far away...
"I told them that I just needed a half hour or 45 minutes to get the stuff that I paid for. But they said no because I don't have an Egyptian ID." Perhaps you should've shown them some ID with Mr. Jackson's or General Grant's picture on it?
So the nearly 100 dollars (65 euros) worth of fertiliser and other farm supplies -- a small fortune for a farmer in impoverished and isolated Gaza -- remains on the other side of the frontier, out of reach. Awwwwww...looks like ya got screwed, pops. Oh, well, maybe the next time they blow it. Which could be tomorrow. I'd save my receipt...
Egyptian and Hamas forces strung barbed wire and erected metal barriers across the last two gaps in the frontier, following a reported agreement on restoring order to the border that was transformed into a chaotic marketplace over the past 11 days. Only people returning home were allowed over the border, but with hundreds still jostling to try to get across, the frontier areas dissolved into hectic scenes of pushing, shoving and yelling. Wow. Can ya believe that...
"Everyone needs to leave immediately! If you're not Egyptian, you've got to leave now!" the armed Hamas men yelled at the crowd, every once in a while raising their batons to push the people back. "The people knew we were going to close it," one Hamas gunman told AFP, declining to provide his name. "It has been open for almost two weeks and they have the same things on both sides of the border." So that should solve the "humanitarian crisis" thingy for at least a couple of weeks, right, fearsome unnamed Hamas gunman?
But like the hundreds milling at the frontier where nearly half of Gaza's 1.5 million population has crossed since militants blew it open on January 23, Ahjazi refuses to leave, hoping against all odds that can cross just once more. ...or just twice more, or just seven or eight or twenty or sixty times more...
"If they just gave us 48 hours (warning), we could get everything we need and leave," he says. "But they didn't tell anyone they were closing it." Suuuuuurpriiiiise surrrprise surprise!
The border breach was an unfamiliar blast of freedom for Gazans -- residents of one of the world's most densely-populated places that has been the object of ever-increasing border restrictions from Israel since the start of the second Palestinian uprising in September 2000. Blast? That's an interesting choice of words. Guess it just popped into his head...
The Rafah crossing -- Gaza's only frontier that bypasses Israel -- has been closed nearly continuously since militants seized an Israeli soldier in a deadly raid in June 2006. Palestinians queing at the now-sealed gaps in the barrier were hoping it would open just one last time. ...or just twice more, or just seven or eight or twenty or sixty times more...
"I just wanted to go and buy a few more thing for the house," says Nail Agha, 29. "There is no work here. If it stays closed, I'm just going to have to sit around." Sure, Nail, I'll bet that'll be a real stretch for ya.
Unemployed father-of-four Naim al-Borno, 38, lives in the poor Shati refugee camp in Gaza City. Over the past week or so, he crossed into Egypt buying goats to resell on the Gazan side for a profit of 20 to 30 dollars a head."I work in a factory that has been open for only three months in the last two years," he said. "I had to sell my wife's jewellery to buy food." At first, she was mouthy about it, but I showed her my gallon jug of "honor acid" and then she got right with the program...
"If they close the crossing for good, I'll have to go live under a tree. There is nothing here, no work." Consider it your contribution to the fight against Global Warming, Naim. Maybe the UNRWA will get you a subscription to "Tree Living " magazine to help you cope...
Egyptian Umm Wael, 48, married a Palestinian and has lived in the Gazan part of Rafah for years. She rushed across the border when the barriers fell to see dozens of her relatives on the other side. "I went and saw my family the first day after they opened the border," she said, a smile lighting up her face at the memory. "But I really wanted to see them one more time." ...or just twice more, or just seven or eight or twenty or sixty times more...
"The border should really be open," she says. "But God bless them for opening it and God bless the Egyptians for letting us in. We had to breathe a little." That's okay, Umm. Maybe next time the folks'll head on up to Gaza to see you instead. Or...maybe not.
#6
It is Hamas and Egypt that have closed the border. Why are the Palestinians blaming the Jooooos?
Oh, right. They blame the Jooooos for everything bad.
#7
"ever-increasing border restrictions from Israel"
a. The subject is the border with Egypt.
b. Gaza fired more rockets into Israel today, so Gaza expects what?
c. You voted for Hamas, right?
#9
TU was on the mark, my warning was to Sinse as to "group consensus" - TU has mine, Sinse should think twice before comments like that, although thinking once seems to be a hardship
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/05/2008 22:06 Comments ||
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#10
Cut sinse some slack, folks. We all remember what seemed like our ten millionth beer too.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Monday he assumed full responsibility for failures highlighted in a report last week by a government-appointed commission into the 2006 Lebanon war. "The Winograd Commission said what it had to say, and what it said was very harsh. I bear full responsibility for all the failures -- I never tried to shirk that," Olmert told an extraordinary session of parliament that convened to discuss the report. "I will use this responsibility to fix mistakes, and this is what I have been doing since the day after the war ended," he said.
Olmert justified his decision to launch a war against the Lebanese Shiite militant movement Hezbollah on July 12, 2006 after the Islamists seized two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid from south Lebanon. "The decision to fight a war was the correct one... Its objective was to remove Hezbollah from the frontier area and push it back northwards... The objectives were reasonable," Olmert said.
The premier said UN Security Council Resolution 1701 that ended the 34-day conflict was a success for Israel. "The army has undergone a dramatic overhaul," he said. "The army of February 2008 is a new and better-prepared force."
Olmert's speech to the Knesset had to be interrupted when he was heckled by both MPs and relatives of fallen soldiers, seated in the public gallery. Parliament speaker Dalia Yitzik ordered the relatives to be removed from the chamber, and also that an MP from the opposition right-wing Likud party be ejected. Outside the building several hundred demonstrators, among them army reservists, demanded Olmert's resignation. It was protests by reservists after the war that led public opinion to demand the commission of inquiry.
Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu, himself a former prime minister, told parliament the war had been a failure and that Olmert should step down "because he bears sole responsibility. Would the captain of the Titanic have been given another command?"
After the rowdy session the 120-seat parliament approved Olmert's statement to the house by 59 votes for and 53 against, with one abstention. In its final report, published last Wednesday, the Winograd Commission refrained from the harsh language it used for Olmert in its interim findings nine months previously that blasted the premier for "serious failure."
It placed most of the blame on the military and said Olmert had acted in what he sincerely believed to have been the country's best interest. Both defence minister Amir Peretz and military chief of staff Dan Halutz resigned after the war in which 160 Israelis, mostly soldiers, were killed. The toll in Lebanon was more than 1,200 dead -- mostly civilians.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/05/2008 00:00 ||
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#4
Mostly civilians? When sopmeone shoots from a place where there are civilans around he is to blame for teh collaterla damages. You are not required to allow him to kill you. When this someone is shooting not at you but at yolur civilinas like Hizbollah raining rockets onb Israel then you are to blame for not using all the means to stop him.
Posted by: r ||
02/05/2008 16:29 Comments ||
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#5
They were all civilians. Not one military uniform was seen in Leb, except for Green Helmet Guy.
Posted by: ed ||
02/05/2008 16:32 Comments ||
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Stratfor sources have indicated that Hezbollah might have plans to target French interests in Lebanon. The named targets named include the French Embassy in Beirut, which straddles east and west Beirut near the National Museum of Lebanon, and the French contingent of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah is reportedly waiting for the forthcoming visit by Arab League chief Amr Mousa to Beirut (the date of Mousa's visit has not been announced) to pass before launching attacks against French targets. The organization expects Mousa's mediation efforts to fail, providing it with an excuse for a military escalation.
Stratfor cannot verify that these attack plans actually are on Hezbollah's agenda. In fact, Hezbollah could have more of an interest in spreading rumors of such attacks to heighten the threat in Lebanon and increase pressure on the Western-backed government of Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora to cave in to its demands.
Hezbollah acts in close coordination with Syria and Iran, which also are pressing demands against France and the United States regarding Lebanon and the wider region. Thus far, the Hezbollah/Syrian/Iranian intimidation tactics in Lebanon have not forced the Saniora government to capitulate and allow Syria's candidate of choice to take the presidency and Hezbollah to expand its presence in the Cabinet. On the contrary, the series of car bombings in the capital have hardened Saniora's stance, with Paris and
Washington heavily leaning on the prime minister to stand firm. As a result, Lebanon has sunk deeper and deeper into the political quicksand with no political resolution in sight, particularly after the January 28 army shooting of Shiite protesters in Beirut.
By targeting - or at least threatening to target - French interests in Lebanon, Hezbollah and its Syrian and Iranian patrons hope France will realize the risk in resisting the radical Shiite group's demands and that Paris will use its sway over the Saniora government to work out a deal. After all, France is the lynchpin for the UNIFIL force in southern Lebanon. If French troops withdraw, other countries will follow, fitting nicely into Syria and Hezbollah's elaborate scheme to get the UNIFIL forces out of
the Shiite-dominated south and rebuild Hezbollah fortifications in preparation for another military confrontation with Israel.
Whether this strategy will actually work is seriously in doubt. Hezbollah would be operating under the assumption that the French government under President Nicolas Sarkozy would allow itself to be pressured into a deal after French targets are directly targeted in militant attacks. But Paris and Washington have been closely aligned in maintaining a hard-line stance in Lebanon, and such attacks could very well end up placing Hezbollah on the EU terrorist list - and killing any chance of a compromise. In al
l likelihood, Hezbollah and Syria would outsource such attacks to the nebulous jihadist front that has taken root in Lebanon with the aid of Syrian military intelligence. Though this would create plausible deniability, there is no guarantee the trail would not lead back to the puppet masters.
But a larger issue also is in play concerning France's foothold in the Middle East. Sarkozy's election marked the end of the 50-year Gaullist era in France in which French interests abroad were more concerned with countering the United States than with strategic and economic sense. Sarkozy's France views its strategic interests in the Middle East with a new lens, one in which Lebanon's attractiveness seems to be dimming.
French ties to Lebanon date as far back as the Crusades. In the 20th century, Lebanon was a French protectorate; Paris relied on the coastal cities of Tyre, Sidon, Beirut and Tripoli for maritime trade. When the British and French began carving up the region after World War I, France's blueprint for Lebanon guaranteed a monopoly of influence for pro-French Maronite Christians over the country's Sunni, Shiite and Druze factions. Over time, Maronite influence waned. When Lebanon's 15-year civil war ended in
1990, Syria had become Lebanon's kingmaker, and bolstered the Shiite position (roughly 27 percent of the population) through the remodeling of the country's political and military apparatuses.
Despite Syria's increased role in Lebanon, the French have maintained their influence in the country - particularly among the Maronite community - and France has played a key role in mediating among Lebanon's warring factions. Though French influence in Lebanon's political affairs has carried on, French commercial interests in Lebanon have steadily waned, with most remaining commercial links dating back to the Gaullist and colonial eras.
With those ties weakening, Sarkozy is on a mission to cement French power into strategic nodes rather than obsess about its colonial legacy in states that do not serve critical French interests. For this reason, French interests in the energy-producing states of Libya and Algeria remain strong while the European Union is working to divert itself from its dependence on Russian energy. At the same time, France has spent a great deal of effort cozying up to the Persian Gulf states, with a recently signed deal
to establish a permanent French military base in the United Arab Emirates.
In Lebanon, however, France's foothold might be slipping. Syria is creating the conditions for a return to its power broker status in the country since its 2005 troop withdrawal, and is depending on its militant proxies to ensure its interests in its western neighbor. If Hezbollah or its numerous militant surrogates do target French interests in Lebanon, the French government could very well decide that its former colony is no longer worth the headache. - Stratfor
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02/05/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Those salutes must look familiar to the Froggies. Right?
#3
Lest we fergit, TOPIX/FREEREPUBLIC/OTHER [old]> THE AL QAEDA THREAT TO EUROPE + THE AL QAEDA THREAT TO EUROPE + THE ISLAMIST THREAT TO THE WEST artiiikles.
TOPIX > CHINA CONFIDENTIAL - IRANIAN PROXIES THREATEN, ATTACK ISRAEL.
Can also see COUNTERTERRORISM BLOG/OTHER for various articles on ONGOING AQ = Islamist campaigns + threats agz AFRICA, SOUTH-SE ASIA, + fav EURO STATES.
A Hezbollah official warned yesterday of guerrilla retaliation for the deadly shooting by Israeli forces of a man across the border in southern Lebanon. The comments by Hezbollah lawmaker Hussein Haj Hassan came a day after Israeli troops opened fire across the Lebanese border. Lebanese security officials said one person was killed and another wounded in the incident late Sunday.
The Israeli military said it was responding to fire apparently from drug smugglers on the Lebanese side. Such shootings have been rare since the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war. "This matter definitely will not pass in a way that the people will remain silent," Haj Hassan said on LBC television yesterday. "It is the right of the resistance to respond one day by any means.
Haj Hassan decried the lack of international criticism of the Israeli firing, even though the circumstances surrounding the incident remained unclear. He said if the situation had been reversed, with an Israeli killed by fire from Lebanon, "you wouldn't imagine how many condemnations would have been issued ... as if a citizen on our side has no value." Haj Hassan did not threaten immediate retaliation. However, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah warned in a recent speech that the militant group's patience w as wearing thin with what he described as repeated Israeli violations of Lebanese territory.
On Sunday, the Israeli military said its soldiers came under fire in the border town of Ghajar, which is split between the two countries by a UN-demarcated line. The soldiers returned fire and identified a hit. There were no Israeli casualties. Lebanese security officials said the two people shot were in Lebanese territory along the Wazzani River in the southeastern corner of Lebanon across from Israeli positions in Ghajar, the officials said. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media. They were taken to a hospital in Marjayoun, a major town in the area, where officials confirmed they had received one body and another person who was wounded.
The UN peacekeeping force, which is deployed in southern Lebanon along the border with Israel, said there was a "shooting incident in the area of Ghajar" and that it has started an "immediate investigation to ascertain the facts, looking into initial allegations of smuggling." Yasmina Bouziane, spokeswoman for the 13,000-strong force, known as UNIFIL, said in a statement that a Lebanese man was evacuated by peacekeepers to a hospital in Marjayoun, where he was later declared dead. Another individual was ev acuated by the Lebanese army, the statement said.
Bouziane said the UNIFIL commander, Maj. Gen. Claudio Graziano, "is in contact with senior officers on both sides, urging them to show maximum restraint.
In November, Israeli troops in Ghajar opened fire, slightly injuring one of two men trying to infiltrate Israel. The injured man was carrying a bag of illicit drugs, the Israeli military said at the time. There have been other incidents along the border since 2006 but most have been resolved quietly with the intervention of the peacekeepers. The most serious incident involved a shootout between Lebanese army troops and the Israeli army in February 2007 at Maroun el-Rass, an area of the border that was not clearly demarcated.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/05/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Hasn't Hezbollah been fighting a guerrilla war for years against Israel already?
Can't see where the Israelis are any worse off than they were before, frankly.
Libyans militants, traditionally a strong but low-profile group, are advancing in an Egyptian and Saudi dominated Al Qaeda, A Los Angeles Times report said on Monday.
Libyans have become the second-biggest foreign insurgent contingent in Iraq after the Saudis, according to a US military report based on seized documents. The study found that Libyans constituted 18 percent of the foreign fighters in Iraq, second only to Saudis at 41 percent. Previous studies estimated a much smaller percentage of Libyans, suggesting that the ethnic composition has shifted over time, the report says. Libyan militants In Iraq have proved resilient and adept at moving fighters into combat, the LA times report said.
The rise of Libyan militants was also highlighted by the death of Abu Laith Al-Libi, a Libyan Al Qaeda chief, who oversaw a paramilitary campaign in Afghanistan and was a top figure in an Internet propaganda barrage. He was killed last week in a missile strike on a hide-out in Pakistan.
Al Qaedas leaders in Pakistan have rewarded the Libyans with increased power and media presence, the report said.
There is a rising leadership cadre of Libyans in Al Qaeda, J Vahid Brown, an analyst at the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, told the LA Times. Egyptians have really dominated strategic and military operations. The Egyptians are good at keeping control of that, because many of them have military training. Now you have Libyan faces appearing in videos.
Al Qaedas chief, Osama Bin Laden, is a Saudi, and his deputy, Ayman Zawahiri, is Egyptian. Their dominance has made Egyptians, especially, and Gulf Arabs the organisations most powerful players, the report said.
The network, it said, had an ethnic pecking order of sorts. In the late 1990s, Libyans were quiet but influential. They played the role of mentors for fellow North Africans, particularly Moroccans who were seen as little foot soldiers, according to a Spanish law enforcement chief.
The Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, which has waged a longtime campaign against Muammar Qadaffys regime, ran a camp in Afghanistan that groomed the founders of the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group, according to Spanish court documents. Al Libi became a revered figure among the Moroccans.
A captured Moroccan extremist told interrogators about meetings in Turkey in 1998 at which Libyans provided expertise about communications and organising cells, according to Italian court documents.
Post-September 11, 2001, the Egyptians have tended to run an external operations wing that targeted the West, the report said, and Libyans had concentrated on paramilitary combat and attacks on Western and local targets in Pakistan, the report said.
A Libyan named Abu Faraj Farj, who was based in the Bajaur tribal area, allegedly masterminded two assassination attempts in 2003 against Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, said Singapore-based terrorism expert Rohan Gunaratna. With Bin Laden and Zawahiri isolated to avoid detection, Farj was among a select few who met with the two fugitives and transmitted messages and directives to commanders in Waziristan, US intelligence officials told the LA Times. Farj was captured in 2005 in Pakistan and is being held at the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. It is believed he was betrayed by a Central Asian faction competing with Arab leaders for turf and allegiances in the tribal areas, said Brown, the West Point analyst.
In Iraq, Libyan strategists tried to smooth the difficult long-distance relationship with Abu Musab Zarqawi, the Jordanian whose campaign of bombings and beheadings in Iraq came to be seen as counterproductive, the report said. After the 2006 slaying of Zarqawi in a US strike, the number of foreign fighters entering Iraq declined and his group, Al Qaeda in Iraq, lost support among Iraqis.
The West Point study said most Libyan in Iraq were from the towns of Darnah and Benghazi, traditional hotbeds of extremism, and made their way to Iraq through Egypt and Syria. In a video released in November by As Sahab, the media wing of Al Qaeda, Al Libi extols fellow militants as the heirs of those whose blood was spilled in the mountains of Darnah and the streets of Benghazi. The video was significant, the report said, because Al Libi used it to announce the formal incorporation of the Libyan group into Al Qaedas anti-Western struggle. Al Libis fall confirms the significance of his rise.
This article starring:
ABU FARAJ FARJ
al-Qaeda
ABU LAITH AL LIBI
al-Qaeda
ABU MUSAB ZARQAWI
al-Qaeda
J Vahid Brown
Rohan Gunaratna
Al Qaeda in Iraq
Libyan Islamic Fighting Group
Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group
Posted by: Fred ||
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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.
GUANTANAMO BAY, CUBA Another fighter was still alive inside the Afghan compound where Omar Khadr was captured at the time a grenade killed a U.S. soldier, casting doubt on allegations that only the teenage militant could have been responsible for the soldier's death. It has long been assumed by many that Mr. Khadr was the only combatant alive during the firefight, and so must have been the one who threw the grenade.
A MILITARY judge is examining the legality of a young Canadian held in Guantanamo Bay after being arrested at age 15 in Afghanistan. Omar Khadr was seized in Afghanistan in 2002 and taken to the US military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as part of the drive to round up extremists in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. Now in his early 20s, he is accused of killing a US soldier with a hand grenade as he was being arrested for making explosives. 
ISLAMABAD (Rooters) - The party of assassinated Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto published her political will on Tuesday in which she called for her husband to lead the party and said she feared for the country's future.
KARACHI: Six hundred suicide bombers are present in Karachi and they are planning a major attack, revealed Qasim Toori and Danish alias Talha during interrogations by law-enforcement agencies. Most of the suicide bombers are also former students of Islamabads Lal Masjid. The two militants, who were captured along with women and children during a raid in Sector-17A, Shah Latif, on January 29, have been handed over to the Anti-Violent Crime Unit (AVCU). A third militant, who was killed during the raid, has been identified as Gohar Muhammad alias Abrar Keamari Wallah, according to Special Investigations Unit (SIU) DSP Wasif Qureshi. Qureshi declined to comment. 
An Al-Qaeda front group for northern Iraq said in a statement posted yesterday on the Internet that it was launching its own campaign in the northern city of Mosul and urged volunteers to join them to carry out suicide attacks on US troops, Iraqi Shiites and the Kurdish peshmerga troops.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Monday he assumed full responsibility for failures highlighted in a report last week by a government-appointed commission into the 2006 Lebanon war. "The Winograd Commission said what it had to say, and what it said was very harsh. I bear full responsibility for all the failures -- I never tried to shirk that," Olmert told an extraordinary session of parliament that convened to discuss the report. "I will use this responsibility to fix mistakes, and this is what I have been doing since the day after the war ended," he said..JPG)
Stratfor sources have indicated that Hezbollah might have plans to target French interests in Lebanon. The named targets named include the French Embassy in Beirut, which straddles east and west Beirut near the National Museum of Lebanon, and the French contingent of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in southern Lebanon.
Libyans militants, traditionally a strong but low-profile group, are advancing in an Egyptian and Saudi dominated Al Qaeda, A Los Angeles Times report said on Monday. 
