The governor of Kandahar province said a bombing that killed dozens of Afghans and wounded four Canadian soldiers Monday could have been avoided had Canadian soldiers heeded his warnings that a suicide bomber was moving about the area. For the second time in two days, suicide bombers attacked security forces inside an area of Canadian military responsibility, killing dozens of civilian Afghans.
The latest attack occurred at 2:30 p.m. local time Monday and was directed at a small convoy of Canadian armoured vehicles conducting a routine patrol alongside the Afghanistan-Pakistan border in Spin Boldak district, about 100 kilometres southeast of Kandahar city.
Driving a civilian vehicle that carried explosives, the assailant approached the Canadian convoy and detonated "in close proximity" to it, said Lt.-Cmdr. Pierre Babinsky, a Canadian Forces public affairs officer based in Kandahar. "The blast resulted in approximately 30 Afghan civilians being killed and approximately the same number being injured," he added. Other reports put the number of Afghans killed at either 35 or 38. Four Canadian soldiers were wounded. "They are in good condition," said Babinsky. "They all notified their families themselves."
The injured Canadians were flown by military helicopter to hospital at Kandahar Air Field; three were soon released from care. One was kept overnight for observation.
In a surprise statement, the governor of Kandahar province said the bombing could have been avoided had Canadian soldiers heeded his warnings. Kandahar Gov. Asadullah Khalid told reporters he had tried to discourage Canadian officers from sending their troops on patrol in Spin Boldak.
Khalid said he knew of a suicide bomber in the border area, and that he had passed his information to Canadian and NATO forces as early as Sunday. He said he repeated his warning to them five times but was ignored. "We regularly receive threat warnings," said Babinsky, when asked about the governor's statements. "And obviously we go where we want to, when we want to, in our area of operation. We obviously take notice of the warnings but our aim is to operate freely within our area of operation, despite threats."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/19/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
#1
In a surprise statement, the governor of Kandahar province said the bombing could have been avoided had Canadian soldiers heeded his warnings. Kandahar Gov. Asadullah Khalid told reporters he had tried to discourage Canadian officers from sending their troops on patrol in Spin Boldak.
This guy is obviously a Taliban symp. When you don't patrol, the terrorists get closer and closer to your base. Until the day they overrun it.
Say I "Warn" you that you're going to die, then thirty years later you die of old age, and I call a News Conference to loudly proclaim "HE WAS WARNED", "I TOLD YOU SO, I WARNED YOU".
Bullshit.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
02/19/2008 14:16 Comments ||
Top||
(AKI) - A new campaign has begun in Saudi Arabia calling for a boycott of Danish products, after the fresh publication of 12 controversial cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed, reported the Arab daily al-Watan. "We will carry out a new boycott," said the president of Arab entrepreneurs, Mohammed Abidat. "It is imperative for Arab and Muslim tradespeople and shopkeepers to boycott Danish products," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/19/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[9 views]
Top|| File under: Global Jihad
#3
Yeah, like Danish hams in Saudi Arabia. Big market hit.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/19/2008 11:08 Comments ||
Top||
#4
What's needed is some serious boycotts on Arab products such as date, camel jerky, and oil. Stop the Arab oil flow out. Stop the money in. Stop the terrorists financing. Stop the terrorism. Yes, that might just do something.
The Kuwaiti government on Monday criticized Kuwaiti Shiite Muslims who took part in a ceremony eulogizing Hizbullah's slain commander, Imad Mughniyeh, and warned that it could cause civil strife.
Hundreds of Shiites gathered Saturday in a suburb of Kuwait City to mourn Mughniyeh, who was killed in a car bomb last week in Syria, as a martyr and hero. The ceremony drew condemnation from the country's majority Sunni Muslims, who accuse Mughniyeh of being linked to a 1988 hijacking of a Kuwait Airways flight that left two Kuwaiti passengers dead. "The Cabinet regrets and condemns the eulogizing and glorifying by some of a terrorist whose hands have been stained with the blood of martyrs," said a Cabinet statement carried by the official Kuwait News Agency. His death was a "just punishment from God," so the souls of the two Kuwaitis would rest in peace, it added.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/19/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[8 views]
Top|| File under: Hezbollah
The Bolivian President Evo Morales has declared that Iran is planning to launch a TV station to cover the audience in Latin America.
Morales said the TV station is to be for all of Latin America," AP reported. A presidential spokesman later confirmed that the channel, still in its planning stages, would be sponsored by Iran. Morales' announcement came following his re-election as president of Bolivia's largest and most powerful coca growers union, based in the stretch of Andean foothills known as the Chapare, where the TV station is to be operated.
The surprising participation of an eminent member of a large Muslim organisation, in a Hizb ut-Tahrir demonstration last Friday, has caused concern among MPs. Welcome to the Dar al-Harb, kuffrs.
In a press release last week, Kassem Ahmad, the spokesperson for the Islamic Society in Denmark, called for dialogue in the wake of the arrest of three men accused of planning the murder of Kurt Westergaard, Jyllands-Postens illustrator responsible for the controversial Mohammed drawing. 'We extend a hand out to the Danish society to participate in dialogue in understanding and respecting each other,' he wrote. He also stated he would support the fight against extremism. Note: Not "our fellow Danes", but the "others" in Danish society.
Three days later, he was photographed next to Fadi Abdullatif, leader of Hizb ut-Tahrir Denmark, heading a demonstration where a direct threat against Danish society was issued. ha ha ha
This has several politicians wondering why a spokesperson for the Islamic Society, an organisation known for its moderate stance, was participating in a demonstration led by an extremist group. Because he's ... a Muslim?
Henrik Dam Kristensen, integration spokesperson for the Social Democrats said: 'If the Islamic Society chooses spokespeople who sympathise with the Hizb ut-Tahrir and participates in this sort of demonstration, then to me, the society has lost a large portion of its legitimacy.'
The Conservative party's political spokesperson, Henriette Kjær echoed his views stating that Ahmad's participation in the demonstration was very 'destructive' and put the Islamic Society in bad light. She also said it meant that politicians had to distance themselves from the society when the spokesperson so active in a demonstration that wanted to overthrow Danish democracy. Dear Danish MPs - the terms they offer are: (1)Your conversion to Islam, (2) Your acceptance of dhimmitude, (3)Your death.
Ahmad denied the criticism and did not see anything wrong in his participation. 'It was a well-organised demonstration and perfectly law-abiding,' he said. 'Even though we don't necessarily agree with the Hizb ut-Tahrir about certain things, the message was clear: we will not accept the ridicule of our prophet.' That's the deal. Freedom of speech has no place in the Ummah.
Pia Kjærsgaard, leader of the Danish People's Party, did not buy his argument. 'The Islamic Society says one thing in the press release and another by participating in the demonstration,' she said. Lady, you better do something about it, or learn your place in the caliphate.
In the wake of the reprinting in Denmark of one of the 12 cartoons satirising the Prophet Muhammad, BBC religious affairs correspondent Frances Harrison finds the country's Muslim community dismayed but determined.
"We will keep on working for integration, to build bridges. If you don't know who is Muhammad I am telling you please read about Muhammad," said the imam.
That might not be such a good idea. Most folk's idea of a prophet doesn't include banditry, slavery, rape and sex with 9 year olds
He was leading prayers in a small overcrowded building in Copenhagen used as a mosque - with the faithful forced to pray outdoors in the courtyard on plastic mats in the icy wind.
Danish Muslims have bought land for a purpose-built modern mosque, but they say their application somehow always gets stuck in the planning stage. It is one more grievance.
Space may be cramped, but mosque attendance is high because all the major newspapers have just reprinted one of the controversial cartoons that shows the Prophet Muhammad with a bomb in his turban. This was after Danish intelligence said they had uncovered a plot by three Muslims in Denmark to kill one of the cartoonists. "We were all punished by the printing of those pictures," says the imam in his sermon.
He is angry that none of the men accused of masterminding the plot are being put on trial - the Danish intelligence services say revealing their evidence would compromise their intelligence network.
Instead, they are expelling two of the suspects who do not have Danish citizenship and freeing the third who does. "How does it make sense that a person who is trying to kill somebody is being arrested, charged, interrogated and then released and yet still we should feel that he's a terrorist?" asks Imran Hussein, who runs Network an advisory body for Muslim organisations in Denmark. Like many Muslims here he was appalled by the discovery of the plot to kill the cartoonist but now he is more sceptical.
'We despair'
Denmark has about 250,000 Muslims - from Pakistan, Somalia, Turkey, Iraq and many other countries. It is a small figure, but Muslims make up 5% of the population. "A lot of people are afraid of Islam today in Denmark and when they are afraid of Islam it means they are afraid of me too," says Sofian, who was born in Denmark but feels he no longer has a future there.
"The Danish press should have learned from their previous mistakes and the only thing the Muslims are asking for is respect, nothing else".
"When the same thing happens again it's tiring and we despair," says Kamran. "I am hurt, as I was the first time," says Feisal, who works in marketing and was also born in Denmark. He believes the problem is not Danish society but the media. "The Danish press should have learned from their previous mistakes and the only thing the Muslims are asking for is respect, nothing else".
Feisal says he cannot understand why the media keeps focusing on the idea that Muslims are trying to take their freedom of speech away from them. "It's the media who started it this time, so I feel a lot of it is their fault," agrees Kamran, who also thinks there has been some positive dialogue with ordinary Danish people.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/19/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under: Global Jihad
#4
Put that picture on his passport, then throw him out, be a bitch trying to get back into the "Hated" land, no welfare, govt sponsored home etc.
(File under "Be careful what you wish for".)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
02/19/2008 14:24 Comments ||
Top||
#5
the only thing the Muslims are asking for is respect, nothing else
seems muslims have no idea of the meaning of respect. You cannot demand respect. It is earned based on specific values. Let's take a peak at Wikipedia, shall we?
Respect is an assumption of good faith and competence in another person or in the whole of oneself. Depth of integrity, trust, complementary moral values, and skill are necessary components.
Integrity, trust, moral values and skill - nothing in islam that could possibly lead to respect from anyone outside that cult.
Islam has no respect for infidels because these values don't exist in the cult. I suspect islam has confused "respect" with "submit. Try replacing the the words with each other and the howlings of mulims make much more sense.
(I would have said "flaps her lips" but I'm afraid that usually innocuous expression might get me banned under the circumstances.)
Do we honestly have that kind of reputation? :-)
Sharon Stone believes the Sept. 11 attacks should not have been used as a pretext for the United States to launch wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, according to her comments published Monday in a pan-Arab newspaper. "I'm against violence and stuff. I'm very sensitive, y'know."
In her interview with Al Hayat, the actress also bemoaned what she called Americans' decision to ignore the deaths of so many Iraqis. "I feel at great pain when the spotlight is on the death of 4,000 American soldiers, while 600,000 Iraqi deaths are ignored," she said. "Or maybe it was a million! Or more! One of those rilly, rilly big numbers!"
"War is not a movie, it is a tragedy of dead bodies, victims, the disabled, orphans, widows and the displaced." "If it wuz a movie, it woulda had better sets. And more love scenes. And much better costumes." Obviously a Soros/Lancet kool-aid drinker. Sluts protect their own, I guess.
This is what happens: stoopid memes like this never die, no matter how much they're refuted.
Stone spoke in English and her comments were translated and published in Arabic. An English transcript of the babble interview was not available. Al Hayat published excerpts of the interview from December, when Stone attended the fourth Dubai International Film Festival in the United Arab Emirates. The paper's sister publication, Leha, is to publish the entire interview Wednesday.
Stone came to the region seeking answers for herself because, she said, the U.S. media has failed to provide Americans with the truth. "They're just tools of the neocons, you know."
"I feel sad when I realize how much truth is being changed or obscured in the American media," she said. What stupendous arrogance. She might have more credibility if her anatomy has been obscured.
Reads the New York Times, does she?
The star of "Basic Instinct" and other movies criticized both Arab countries and Israel for failing to resolve their decades-long conflict. She said she also opposes any military conflict with Iran. "And Venezuela's out, too!"
In Dubai, Stone also campaigned to raise over $1 million for AIDS research and awareness about the disease which remains taboo in the Arab world. What burns me is that these dolts actually think they are enormously more worthy of attention and respect than, say, the shoeshine guy and the janitors in my building. They absolutely are not. Actually, I rather enjoy talking with our hard-working support staff, they seem to be the only other people in the building with any sense.
Its worth noting that Albert Einstein liked to shoot the breeze with the kitchen staff at the Princeton faculty club, he did not hang out with entertainers. (Not that I'm comparing myself to Einstein or anything ;))
#1
I suggest that Miss Stone move to Iran and see how long she lasts with her reputation.
Posted by: Rambler in California ||
02/19/2008 3:29 Comments ||
Top||
#2
"You know, sometimes I feel well and vital in the world, and sometimes I just feel so distressed I want to pull my hair out by the roots." Sharon Stone
Manic-depressive illness or bipolar mood disorder?
Like most Frontline treatments, it is well-documented and painstakingly fair. To the extent it can be in the space of an hour, it is the story of the unit and the military, media and political history of the incident. The high points of the investigation, prosecution and defense are woven through.
Not everything is there. It starts but does not complete the job of describing what a rallying cry Haditha became for the anti-war movement, which used the incident to smear combat troops in Iraq and the Bush administration, but like much of the press, seems to have suddenly lost interest. Call me petty, but while Murtha's massacre charges are cited for what they are, as political agenda-pushing that caused a press firestorm, I'm disappointed that the delightful video is missing, of Murtha being buttonholed to apologize after murder charges were dropped. Nonetheless, Frontline deserves credit for, in reserved fashion, showing how full of crap and quick to condemn Murtha and his fellow travellers are.
Also absent is much discussion of al Qaeda's role, beyond the fact that Haditha was a transit route from Syria to Fallujah and Baghdad, al Qaeda was interested in reinfiltrating Haditha and that's what they were doing that day. Marines are quoted early on dismissing massacre claims as al Qaeda-inspired propaganda. Defense attorney Gary Meyers is interviewed at length, but the documentary does not address this material citing Meyers and an intel report -- which as near as I can tell never got much mainstream attention -- claiming al Qaeda purposefully set out to engineer a propaganda event that day. How al Qaeda intends Marines to react is not necessarily relevant to how they do react, but is somewhat more relevant given the media and anti-war camp's willingness to see ill intent on the part of Marines. . . .
In the end, as the title "Rules of Engagement" suggests, it becomes a question of what the Marines themselves perceived that day and their understanding of their rules of engagement on what constitutes a hostile threat and how they should react to it. There is considerable discussion of the subject. To steal a phrase from a Marine judge advocate, it's a cop out on reporting the entirety of the incident, but as Frontline's reporting suggests, nothing else much matters. The treatment tends to suggest the Marines acted as they had been told to on perceiving hostile threats -- aggressively -- and Frontline in balance does not appear to be willing to condemn the Marines for what they did. . . .
The final word goes to Marine Lt. Alex Martin, a 3/1 Marine who at production time is with the unit on its fourth Iraq deployment:
The biggest takeaway from Haditha for me was this human element where the junior subordinate leader might be a 19, 20-year-old corporal, who has to make a decision in a split second, or in a series of seconds. That will effect where he -- he does a calculus of balancing the safety of the Marines, the accomplishment of the mission, the threat level of the enemy and -- collateral damage. And all these other things that are going on in his mind. That he has to make in absolute seconds. Without hesitation. So the difference between, you know, murder and killing, he is judge and juror, in that split second in that environment. And that is the moral authority these young men have.
Posted by: Mike ||
02/19/2008 12:33 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
That is a big thing, the difference between killing and murder.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday turned down a legal challenge to the warrantless domestic spying program President George W. Bush created after the September 11 attacks.
The American Civil Liberties Union had asked the justices to hear the case after a lower court ruled the ACLU, other groups and individuals that sued the government had no legal right to do so because they could not prove they had been affected by the program. The civil liberties group also asked the nation's highest court to make clear that Bush does not have the power under the U.S. Constitution to engage in intelligence surveillance within the United States that Congress has expressly prohibited.
"The president is bound by the laws that Congress enacts. He may disagree with those laws, but he may not disobey them," Jameel Jaffer, director of the ACLU's National Security Project, said in the appeal.
Bush authorized the program to monitor international phone calls and e-mails of U.S. citizens without first obtaining a court warrant. The program's disclosure in December 2005 caused a political uproar among Democrats, some Republicans and civil liberties activists. The administration abandoned the program about a year ago, putting it under the surveillance court that Congress created more than 30 years ago.
The high court's action means that Bush will be able to disregard whatever legislative eavesdropping restrictions Congress adopts as there will be no meaningful judicial review, the ACLU attorneys said.
The journalists, scholars, attorneys and national advocacy groups that filed the lawsuit said the illegal surveillance had disrupted their ability to communicate with sources and clients.
Because journalists, scholars, attorneys and national advocacy groups get their best information from terrorists and their collaborators ...
The appeals court based in Cincinnati dismissed the case because the plaintiffs could not state with certainty they had been wiretapped by the government's National Security Agency.
Administration lawyers opposed the appeal and said further review by the Supreme Court was unwarranted. The Supreme Court sided with the administration and rejected the appeal without any comment.
#4
"The president is bound by the laws that Congress enacts. He may disagree with those laws, but he may not disobey them," Jameel Jaffer, director of the ACLU's National Security Project, said in the appeal"
Glad to see these A-brains are so up to speed on the whole separationg of powers thingy. If congress passes unconstitutional laws that conflict with his enumerated powers, the Pres. can ignore them
#6
the article goes way too far in implying that SCOTUS denied congressional authority.
The lower court said
"The American Civil Liberties Union had asked the justices to hear the case after a lower court ruled the ACLU, other groups and individuals that sued the government had no legal right to do so because they could not prove they had been affected by the program."
IE the guys who sued had no standing. And SCOTUS left that lower court ruling standing.
What SCOTUS will rule when and if somebody who has actually been harmed and has standing goes to court, is TBD.
#7
The high court's action means that Bush will be able to disregard whatever legislative eavesdropping restrictions Congress adopts as there will be no meaningful judicial review, the ACLU attorneys said.
Does this mean that Speaker Pelosi's refusal to allow the House to vote on the bill to reauthorize listening in on US<->international phone calls no longer matters?
#1
"Aging Air Force Wants Big Bucks Fix Needs Fix That Will Cost Big Bucks"
There. Fixed that for ya.
The F-22 and F-35 were SUPPOSED to have been in service in the mid to late 90s, but when the Cold War ended the Congress and the Clinton Administration decided that we could stretch that out because after all, we wouldn't have any more wars, would we?
Put it in perspective, folks. The F-15 (as of now, it's subject to change)is scheduled to serve until at least 2015 - just shy of 40 years. By that time scale, we would have gone into Korea with the Sopwith Camel, and the P-51 Mustang would still have been in limited service in Operation Desert Storm. Modern combat aircraft cost money, and lots of it, and a disturbing proportion of it is due to political meddling. The USAF has gone without spares, support equipment, and promotions for a long time now to insure that only the best in the world fly top cover for this country. It's about time they stepped up and said, "This far and no more."
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
02/19/2008 11:18 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Not to mention the fact that that fleet was very heavily used during the no-fly zone enforcement after Desert Storm. There were a lot of hidden costs to not having deposed Saddam the first time around.
#3
Nah, just wait until Billary II or B.O. get in.
B.O. will talk our enemies into loving us with his 'hope' theme. Hillary will just drive all the military to retire or the private sector.
But that'll be OK, because anything bad that happens will still, somehow, be Bush's fault.
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/19/2008 11:53 Comments ||
Top||
#4
Problem is more with the tanker fleet than the fast movers. Need a 737 (smaller) and 767 or 777 (larger) based version instead of the big KC-10 and not-as-big KC-135 (707 based) ancient flying gastanks we now have. Maint cost aand availability and lower crewing should make up the money in the long haul.
And we really need a BUFF re-do, the damned thing is nearing half a century in age. Something that does what the B-52 does in low threat environments (plus maritime use), but at a lower cost than B-1 or B-2.
An influential member of the U.S. Congress, Senator Joseph Biden, is proposing a massive increase in non-military financial aid to Pakistan. Senator Biden made the proposal during a news conference in Islamabad and VOA correspondent Meredith Buel has details. Senator Biden, who is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, says he believes Pakistan has taken an important step on the road to democracy with this week's parliamentary elections.
Oh snicker. Joe Biden is living proof that not every small state has two qualified citizens to send to the Senate.
Senator Biden called the election, which resulted in a major defeat for parties supporting Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, credible and reflecting the will of the country's moderate majority.
Biden said the new government of Pakistan should enjoy what he called "a democracy dividend." "I believe, I am speaking only for myself now, that we should be tripling our non-military assistance," he said. "We should sustain that commitment for a 10-year period. We should be focused on helping you build schools and roads and health care centers and dealing with the infrastructure of the entire country."
Currently the United States gives Pakistan $500 million in non-military aid per year. So under Senator Biden's proposal that figure would jump to $1.5 billion. This would be in addition to the billions of dollars in American aid given to Pakistan's army to fight al-Qaida and Taliban-linked militants on the country's border with Afghanistan.
Before the election, Senator Biden said the United States should cut military aid to Pakistan if the polls were rigged.
Senator Biden traveled to Pakistan to observe the election with two other members of the Senate, John Kerry and Chuck Hagel. The three met with President Musharraf and Senator Kerry described Mr. Musharraf's reaction to the election results.
"He made it clear to us that he looks forward to working with the other parties," he said. "He expects the new prime minister and the new government to govern. He said he would respect the power of that prime minister in the new government."
President Musharraf has been a key U.S. ally in the war on terror, but Senator Biden suggested it is time to broaden American foreign policy. "This is an opportunity for us to move from a policy that has been focused on a personality to one based upon an entire people and a move to a genuine Pakistani policy," he added.
Senator Biden says it is time for Pakistani leaders to focus on the future, restore constitutional order, insure a free media and an independent judiciary.
Posted by: john frum ||
02/19/2008 14:54 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[12 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
How about a massive increase in domestic aid to the US Air Force?
#3
How many people does it take to get Biden elected in Delaware? I'll bet there's Boston city councilors that get more votes then him...and with good reason.
#6
I say give the Paki's $1.5 billion! I know the US Air Force needs it also, but those guys don't have the necessary offshore funds to help my retirement.
Posted by: Senator Joseph Biden (D-Pak) ||
02/19/2008 16:38 Comments ||
Top||
#7
How can we afford any foreign aid, we are in hock up to our neck and the dollar isn't worth much. We should be cutting foreign aid to places like Pakistan.
A former senior officer of Pakistan Air Force has called on the West to provide his country with modern weapons for dealing with counter insurgency and to avoid collateral damage.
Air Marshal (retd) Masood Akhtar was speaking at a seminar titled "The Role of Air Power in Counter-Insurgency. Pakistan's Experience in the Tribal Region" at the International Institute of Strategic Studies here on Thursday. He said the Pakistani forces are battling a Taliban insurgency in the tribal areas in the NWFP in which the PAF is playing an important role. However, he added that helicopters rather than fixed-wing warplanes had been found more useful in these hilly areas.
Air Marshal Masood, who has been a fighter pilot for 35 years and with over 2,500 hours of flying experience on a variety of PAF fighter and training aircraft, said the Air Force had been using this air power with caution and restrain in order to prevent collateral damage. He was of the view that precision guided ammunitions were better suited for PAF's requirement rather than 1,000-pound or 500-pound bombs which caused greater collateral damage. "If we are provided with smaller and smarter bombs, we could easily avoid unintended damage to civilian life or property," he said. For the air power to be successful in counter-insurgency, he said a lot depended on good ground intelligence because any wrong information could lead to unwarranted damages.
Then again, he could take a lesson from the Indian Army, as hateful as that sounds. The Indians have been doing counter-insurgency in Kashmir for quite a while, and as moderator John Frum documents, they've been hammering the jihadis without leveling the villages. It's required pain-staking COIN and it puts the Indian soldiers at greater risk.
Indeed. India has never used airpower or artillery during COIN operations. The article by Thomas Marks gives an overview of the strategy. This requires boots on the ground and a proper COIN grid. Pakistan could succeed at this if they actually moved against the sources of jihad. That would require real action against the jihadi network and therein lies the problem. The same network that produces the jihadi forces fighting the Pakistani state is the one they rely on for the jihad in India and Afghanistan. If they shut it down, there is no 'strategic depth' in Afghanistan and no 'bleeding India by a thousand cuts'.
Air Marshal Masood, who also served as a Commandant, Air War College, during the course of his service with the PAF, noted that damages to civilian life and property had resulted into a backlash which had been evident by the recent attacks on the PAF personnel by suicide bombers. He also explained the circumstances, which led to the rise of Al-Qaeda and the Taliban and said such extremists groups emerged as a result of the global politics in which Pakistan, willy-nilly, had been caught up with and was paying a heavy price.
Masood said during the Soviet Unionís 10 years of occupation of Afghanistan, the PAF had brought down a dozen Soviet and Afghan Air Force planes found in violation of the Pakistan territory. The retired air force officer said Pakistan was pushed into thinking itself as a citadel of Islam as a consequence of the Cold War in which the West's primary motive was to defeat Communism of the Soviet Union and stop its spread.
He said both Osama Bin Laden and Mulla Omar had used globalisation to the hilt and achieved their objectives. He stressed the need for launching political, economic and social campaigns in the tribal areas to win the hearts and minds of the people and wean them from extremist ideology.
Masood called for overhauling the education system in Pakistan with greater focus on providing an effective primary education to replace religious seminaries. "Only a well-established and efficient unified education system could provide a basis and sense of nationhood," he asserted.
He's got that right. Who has the stones to shut the madrassas?
He pointed out the difficulties of fighting an enemy without a face and thought that Pakistan will have to fight such non-state factors for a long time.
Responding to questions, he said there is reluctance on the part of the West to give Pakistan sophisticated weapons while the country is averse to allowing Nato troops to operate inside its borders.
Posted by: john frum ||
02/19/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[9 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
'Scusi? We've sent $bns to Pakland in military aid and they've used it to armor up against India. Well, except for all the bits the Pak bureaucracy stole and sold to the militants.
Despite threats from radicals, numerous women in the Federally Administered Tribal Area and Frontier Regions cast their votes in Mondays election.
Armed activists of the Lashkar-e-Islami (LI) in Khyber Agency stopped women from voting and damaged a camp set up by political parties at the Pasidkhel Government High School close to the Pakistan-Afghan border, where only two women cast their votes.
On Thursday, LI Chief Mangal Bagh had announced a ban on participation of women in the balloting in two constituencies of Khyber Agency including NA-45 in Jamrud subdivision and NA-46 in Bara subdivision. Bagh had warned the agency residents to not let women vote, or face action according to tribal traditions. Around 2,027 women cast their votes in NA-45 of Jamrud subdivision amid tight security provided by the government and armed candidates. Around 25 women used their right to vote at the Sultan Khel Civil Dispensary polling station, out of the total 1,010 registered votes, in addition to two women voters in Pasidkhel.
In NA-46, Darra Addam Khel, women visited two polling stations only, while other polling stations wore a deserted look, as women did not come out of their houses. In one female polling station, 60 female voters, out of the total 818 registered, cast their votes, while in another polling station, 49 women, out of the total 332 voters, cast votes amid tight security.
Reportedly, North Waziristan women also took part in voting despite the local Talibans threats of punishment in accordance with the tribal traditions.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/19/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
They voted except when they couldn't vote (see above.) No surprise, considering john f'n kerry is there...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
02/19/2008 9:47 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Some seriously courageous women in that part of the world.
The Wazir and Daur tribes on Monday reached an agreement with the North Waziristan (NW) political administration against extremism and terrorism, according to governors office. The political administration of North Waziristan and all sub-tribes and clans of Wazir and Daur tribes have agreed to jointly struggle against extremism and terrorism throughout the agency, a press release from Governors House said. The agreement was signed in Miranshah (headquarters of North Waziristan), it said.
The blurred four-and-a-half line press release, however, gave no details of the agreement. It did not say what punitive measures the tribesmen had adopted in the agreement. There was also no mention of Taliban-linked militancy and reported presence of foreign militants in the area.
First deal: Mondays agreement was the first the government had signed with local tribes instead of militant groups. The government earlier inked a peace pact with militants in September 2006. But the Taliban later pulled back of the deal because of security forces deployment on main checkposts. The new agreement came two days after Chief of Army Staff Gen Ashfaq Pervez Kayanis professional nature visit to Miranshah and Wana, headquarters of South Waziristan. Former security chief for the Tribal Areas, Brig (r) Mehmood Shah, called the agreement good hand-writing of the new governor.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/19/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
#1
Happy days are here again
The skies above are clear again...
President Pervez Musharrafs political allies, the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q), appear to have lost their grip over the countrys parliament, with the Pakistan Peoples Party-Parliamentarians (PPPP) and the PML-Nawaz (PML-N) overtaking the bicycle in the election race.
Lion roars again: The PML-N swept Punjab despite low voter turnout in all 35 districts of the province. PML-Qs Sheikh Rashid lost to PML-Ns Makhdoom Javed Hashmi in NA-55. He also lost to PML-Ns Muhammad Hanif Abbasi in NA-56, according to unofficial results.
Shujaat lost to PPPPs Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar in his hometown of Gujrat and was lagging behind PML-Ns Rana Abdus Sattar in Sialkot. PPPPs Shah Mehmood Qureshi also won his seat. PPPPs Dr Firdaus Ashiq Awan beat out PML-Qs Chaudhry Amir Hussain. PML-Q Punjab President Pervaiz Elahi was losing on two NA seats but won a third in Attock. PML-Qs Chaudhry Shahbaz Hussain, former population welfare minister, lost his seat for NA-62.
Other PML-Q bigwigs that lost include Rao Sikandar Iqbal, Sher Afgan Niazi, Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri, Nasir Khan, Hamid Nasir Chattha, Humayun Akhtar Khan, Chaudhry Amir Hussain, Ijazul Haq, Ghulam Sarwar Khan and Daniyal Aziz.
Meanwhile, showing that the PML-Q was not completely out, Faisal Saleh Hayat of the party beat PPPPs Abida Hussain in NA-88.
PPPP comes home: The PPPP, based on early results, appears to have overtaken the PML-N and the MQM in Sindh, establishing the party as a force to be reckoned with in its home state. PPPPs Amin Fahim was one of the big winners in the province.
ANP kicks in: The Awami National Party (ANP) took the maximum number of seats based on early poll results, leaving the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal in the dust. PML-Q NWFP President Amir Muqam and Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao, both Kings men, won the seats in their respective constituencies. According to unofficial results, Jamiat Ulema-e-Fazl chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman won in NA-26, but lost NA-24 to Faisal Karim Kundi.
Business as usual: Balochistan witnessed a historic low turnout in the parliamentary elections and the early poll results did not show a clear winner in the province, although the PML-Q appeared to be leading.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/19/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
PPP and PML-N corruption wins.
PML-Q and MQM corruption loses.
Fear and apathy prevented many Pakistanis from voting in crucial parliamentary elections Monday, but initial returns indicated opposition parties could pose a serious challenge to President Pervez Musharraf's rule.
The chairman of Pakistan's ruling party, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, lost his parliamentary seat, two private TV networks reported. Hussain, a former prime minister and a close political ally of Musharraf, was defeated in the Gujrat constituency by a candidate from Benazir Bhutto's opposition party, Dawn News and Aaj TV reported, citing unofficial returns.
Hussain is also contesting a seat in another constituency, but the loss in his hometown is a major blow for the pro-Musharraf Pakistan Muslim League-Q party and suggests it could fare badly in the elections. The Election Commission has yet to make a formal announcement, but PML-Q officials confirmed Hussain's defeat.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/19/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf promised Monday to work with the new government regardless of which party wins the parliamentary elections.
Musharraf made the statement in remarks to Pakistan Television after casting his vote in Rawalpindi. "I will say from my side, whichever political party will win, whoever will become prime minister and chief ministers, congratulation to them on my behalf. And I will give them full cooperation as president whatever is my role," Musharraf said.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/19/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[9 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
Long article, this is at the end of it...
In a Palestinian government building taken over by Hamas, an official talked of using Gaza's civilians to make an impact on the other side.
After the "moral victory" of the destruction of the border wall with Egypt, Hamas now is considering sending Palestinian women and children to the border walls with Israel to demand their opening, said Ahmed Youssef, an adviser to the Hamas foreign ministry. He shrugged at the risk. "We're taking our kids, they will join us. Let them kill them," Youssef said, wearing a rumpled business shirt and tie at his desk.
Youssef said the rocket attacks were worth the toll on the people of Gaza. "It's a way to defend ourselves," Youssef said. "Instead of waiting here to die, it's a way to defend ourselves."
The Hamas official acknowledged one recourse that the ordinary people of Gaza lack: When lights go out during a dinner party with foreign guests, Youssef said, he can call the Gaza power company to have them turned back on.
"...dozens of men gathered on a recent morning to welcome home a farmer who they said had been newly freed by Hamas after a week of interrogation....As pressure increases on Gaza, residents say that Hamas is cracking down harder on supporters of Fatah...., one of the farmers asked first that he not be identified for fear of reprisals. Then he replied that he wanted the borders of Gaza to be reopened and the economy to recover...The man added a third hope, his mouth twisting into a smile that held no amusement: "And for Hamas to roast on a hot grill.""
A significant amount of money is being invested for the completion of the Iron Dome anti-Kassam system, currently under development by Israel's Rafael (Armaments Development Authority), Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Monday. "The plan is that these means will give us the capability of stopping short-range rocket attacks including Kassams. This is applicable to both the northern and the southern fronts," said the prime minister during a Kadima faction meeting. Olmert emphasized that the system was at an advanced stage of development with an investment of nearly one billion NIS.
Regarding the Gaza blockade, Olmert said Israel was continuing to impose sanctions in a controlled manner in order to prevent a humanitarian disaster. He stressed that Gazans would not live normal lives as long as Israel is under fire. "We view Hamas as being responsible for everything that happens in the Gaza Strip, irrespective of whether its operatives are involved in every single incident," he added.
Olmert also praised the 2005 disengagement from Gaza. "Despite the [continuing] Kassam fire, it was a very good move since there are no longer 30,000 soldiers protecting 1,200 citizens," he said.
Concerning the peace process, Olmert expressed hope that an agreement on basic principles would be reached between Israeli and Palestinian negotiating teams this year.
Nevertheless, Olmert again stressed that Jerusalem would be the last issue raised in negotiations and that this had been agreed upon with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. "I will not hesitate to carry out painful compromises in order to reach true peace," he said, adding that a peace agreement cannot be signed before terror in Gaza ceases entirely.
Olmert mentioned Sunday's decision by a ministerial committee he led to approve a budget of NIS 350 million to fortify 3,600 Gaza belt homes against Kassam rockets. He noted that five million shekels had already been transferred for this purpose.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/19/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
#2
Now, if they could just get the Iron Balls political system in place...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
02/19/2008 9:48 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Think of it this way MM. The next POTUS is either McGain (who may understand war), or Osama who's an open enemy of Israel. In any case, Peleosimians are history.
Foreign Ministry Director-General Aharon Abramovitch on Monday slammed UN Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes for comments he made in Sderot the previous day. Holmes on Sunday referred to "the cycle of violence" between Israel and the Palestinians. Abramovitch, meeting with Holmes at the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem, said "such comments create an analogy between terrorists and those who are defending themselves from terror."
He warned that such language could unwittingly encourage terrorist elements to believe that the international community will exert pressure on Israel instead of dealing with the roots of the violence. Abramovitch said Jerusalem expects the UN and democratic states, some of which face similar challenges from extremist elements, to support Israel in its struggle against terror and the organizations that deny its existence.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/19/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Just checking the pic was there. Can't have a cycle of violence without the pic.
Muslims worldwide should bomb Denmark's embassies and kill it diplomats following last week's republication of caricatures of Muslim prophet Muhammad, a spokesman for the Popular Resistance Committees in the Gaza Strip said on Monday.
Israel Radio reported that the spokesman, speaking to demonstrators burning Danish flags, said anyone involved the drawing, printing, or publication of the caricatures should be "slaughtered." Danish newspapers reproduced the drawing on Wednesday to show their commitment to free speech after police foiled an alleged plot to kill the cartoonist who created it.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/19/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Popular Resistance Committees
#1
Kill for the love of killing!
Kill for the love of Kali!
Kill! Kill! Kill!
-- Thuggee High Priest, "Gunga Din"
Posted by: Elmearong Darling of the Sith4083 ||
02/19/2008 1:02 Comments ||
Top||
#2
One thing about those Norsemen is that it is truly a bad idea to get them riled.
#5
Manufacturing flags for burning during protests is big business in the Muslim world, Beavis. The problem is turning out large numbers of a particular design on short notice, but otherwise it seems to be pretty steady.
A significant amount of money is being invested for the completion of the Iron Dome anti-Kassam system, currently under development by Israel's Rafael (Armaments Development Authority), Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Monday. "The plan is that these means will give us the capability of stopping short-range rocket attacks including Kassams. This is applicable to both the northern and the southern fronts," said the prime minister during a Kadima faction meeting. Olmert emphasized that the system was at an advanced stage of development with an investment of nearly one billion NIS.
Regarding the Gaza blockade, Olmert said Israel was continuing to impose sanctions in a controlled manner in order to prevent a humanitarian disaster. He stressed that Gazans would not live normal lives as long as Israel is under fire. "We view Hamas as being responsible for everything that happens in the Gaza Strip, irrespective of whether its operatives are involved in every single incident," he added.
Olmert also praised the 2005 disengagement from Gaza. "Despite the [continuing] Kassam fire, it was a very good move since there are no longer 30,000 soldiers protecting 1,200 citizens," he said.
Concerning the peace process, Olmert expressed hope that an agreement on basic principles would be reached between Israeli and Palestinian negotiating teams this year.
Nevertheless, Olmert again stressed that Jerusalem would be the last issue raised in negotiations and that this had been agreed upon with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. "I will not hesitate to carry out painful compromises in order to reach true peace," he said, adding that a peace agreement cannot be signed before terror in Gaza ceases entirely.
Olmert mentioned Sunday's decision by a ministerial committee he led to approve a budget of NIS 350 million to fortify 3,600 Gaza belt homes against Kassam rockets. He noted that five million shekels had already been transferred for this purpose.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/19/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
Iron Dome sounds too 60s Maoist for my taste, but if it works?
#2
Mao: Bamboo Curtain at advanced stage, will capture Kassams when they fly
Posted by: Mao ||
02/19/2008 8:32 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Launching 2x $50,000 missiles against a $100 rocket sounds like a winning strategy.
Posted by: ed ||
02/19/2008 9:06 Comments ||
Top||
#4
Personally, I think it would be more effective and cost-effective to just bounce the rubble a little deeper into Gaza every time there are rocket attacks. Level another 1/4 mile with each attack and guarantee Hamas that you'll go all the way to the Mediterranean if you have to.
#5
IIRC, in cost benefit analysis of safety projects, a human life is typically valued at 1-2 million dollars based on the NPV of future earnings, sometimes confirmed by studies of actual choices people make in transportation, appliance purchases, etc.
Based on that, using $50k missiles is quite justified if you think the Kassams are actually likely to hit anything.
Thats not even going into the political consideratons. I mean if its not worth firing a 50,000 dollar missile to stop qassams, is it worth much more expensive ground operations?
#6
I doubt the current system could stop very many of the Kassam projectiles because the Kassems are small (typically 6' long) and they don't reach very high altitudes (say 1/4 mile).
The system the Israelis are making is almost certainly designed to stop actual missiles which would be larger and longer range.
#8
I still think the most cost-effective solution would be some five inch radar controlled automatic smoothbore cannons, shooting "Beehive" rounds.
"Shotgun" the kassams in midair (PULL, Blam, PULL, etc)
I got the idea from a WW2 story my father told me, he was an Army Engineer island-hopping
(Building runways to blast the next island, said he was always three islands behind the fighting)
They had a Japanese "Night Bomber" that came over every night as harrassment, usualy didn't hit anything, but kept them awake, and when he asked for help, they sent him a "Skysweeper" (I had to look it up) a radar controlled 5 inch naval rifle (Big gun) mounted on a semitrailer, with two other trailers, (Powerplant, and control), they set this up and that night when the Night Bomber camse over, shot him down with only three shots.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
02/19/2008 14:53 Comments ||
Top||
#9
LH, expending $100,000 of weapons to shoot down a $100 rocket is an invitation for Hamas to bankrupt Israel. Even if only 10% of the Kassams are worth intecepting, the economics still holds. Hamas are rubbing their hands in anticipation of increasing rocket attacks 100 fold. The solution lies in offense, not defense.
Posted by: ed ||
02/19/2008 21:32 Comments ||
Top||
Hamas on Monday rejected reports that progress had been made in a deal with Israel to secure the release of abducted IDF soldier Gilad Schalit.
Israel Radio quoted Osama al-Zeini, identified as the Hamas official in charge of the Schalit issue, as saying there were no signs that a prisoner exchange deal was near. According to al-Zeini, Israel had not yet agreed to free all the prisoners on Hamas's list, and the group did not intend to back down from its demands. He added that Schalit had been abducted in order to secure the release of prisoners serving lengthy prison terms.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/19/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
Syria is not waiting for its official investigation to wind up and expose the party responsible for killing Hizballah commander and Tehrans terror tactician in Damascus on Feb. 13 - any more than Hizballah, when its leaders accuse Israel. Tehran, Syria and Hizballah have all threatened revenge against Israel within or outside its borders. However, Bashar Assads strategists are not losing a moment to cash in on the abundant conspiracy theories surrounding the death, to plant one of its own: Mughniyeh, they say, was killed in their capital by their Lebanese enemies.
Therefore, it is feared in Washington and Jerusalem that, while plotting revenge on Israel, Hizballah, backed by the Syrian commando units, will launch attacks on Lebanese national intelligence and Druze targets in Beirut and Mt.Lebanon they point a finger at Druze leader Walid Jumblatt. Their immediate goal would be to overthrow the pro-Western, anti-Syrian government headed by Fouad Siniora and stir up a newnew civil war. The door would then re-open for Syria to make a comeback to the troubled country and move troops in for the first time since they were thrown out in 2005, in contravention of UN Security Council resolutions.
Syrias machinations give substance to Director of US National Intelligence Mike McConnells assertion to Fox TV Sunday, Feb. 17, that, while Hizballah is blaming Israel, there's some evidence that it may have been internal Hezbollah. It may have been Syria. We don't know yet, and we're trying to sort that out. It is a serious threat, and it's primarily against Israel. But let me just mention about Mughniyeh (He was) responsible for more deaths of Americans and Israelis than any other terrorist with the exception of Osama bin Laden. So this man over time had lots of enemies. Remember, he's a Shia, and oftentimes his targets could be Sunni as well as against Israel.
Last week, the FBI placed counter-terror squads on alert in the US against attacks on synagogues and other potential Jewish targets. In July 2007, McConnell referred to Hezbollah sleeper cells in the United States waiting for orders to spring into action. Our sources report they are part of the trans-continental network which Mughniyeh himself established on behalf of Hizballah and Tehran.
Meanwhile, in Beirut, DEBKAfiles Middle East sources report sporadic clashes already erupting in Beirut in the last few days between pro-government and pro-Hizballah adherents. Sunday, Feb. 17, unidentified gunmen shot up a Lebanese army unit near the Sabra district in south Beirut, killing one person and injuring others. Barricades and manned positions have gone up ominously in the Lebanese capital and no-go zones set up between flashpoint districts.
Syrian sources promise the results of their finished inquiry will cause an earthquake in the Arab world and Middle East when they are published Saturday, Feb. 22. Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah has scheduled another of his broadcast speeches for the same day - this one to mark the anniversary of his predecessor Abbas Musawis death in 1992, which was also attributed to Israel. The two events are feared by US and Israeli officials to have been coordinated on the same day to flash the signal for the Syrian-Hizballah plan to start unfolding.
DEBKAfile outlines the case Syria has begun putting together to incriminate its Lebanese enemies:
A large Mossad spy-cum-terror ring was allegedly uncovered in Damascus and Beirut. Its mission was to keep tabs on Syrian commanders, Hizballah heads and Palestinian leaders before liquidating them.
The ring comprised Lebanese members as well as collaborators from a key Arab intelligence body, possibly Saudi or Jordanian.
DEBKAfile sources report that Damascus, increasingly isolated in the mainstream Arab world over Lebanon and its ties with Tehran, has no qualms about confronting SaudiSaudi ArabiaArabia and Jordan and accusing their intelligence agencies of being in league with Israel to destroy the Arab resistance movement.
SaudiSaudi ArabiaArabia has indicated that its chair will be empty at the forthcoming ArabArab LeagueLeague summit in Damascus at the end of March.
Syria claims to have found evidence that two Lebanese intelligence agencies are involved in the Mossad ring.
One is the research branch of the LebaneseLebanese GeneralGeneral SecuritySecurity ServiceService, whose director, Capt.Capt. WissamWissam EidEid, was murdered in a car bomb attack in Beirut on Jan. 25. Capt.Capt. EidEid was deeply involved in gathering evidence for the Hariri assassination case and uncovering The Syrian leaderships criminal involvement.
Our intelligence sources note that success by a Syrian undercover team in immobilizing this service would not only deprive the Fouad government of its primary security shield, but also bring the investigation into the three-year old assassination of the former Lebanese prime minister to a halt just when the international tribunal is preparing to start work in the Netherlands.
The second clandestine Lebanese agency which Syria stigmatizes as part of the Mossad network is the Druze leader WalidWalid JumblattJumblatts private intelligence service.
Syria claims to have exposed the personal involvement of its director, HishamHisham NasserNasser e-Din. This charge would justify the targeting of the Druze leader and his domain on Mt.Mt. LebanonLebanon. Jumblatt, whose father was assassinated on orders of BasharBashar AssadAssads father, is marked as the Syrian presidents most implacable Lebanese foe.
The Syrian investigators are seeking to prove that Mughniyeh was killed while walking on foot from the house where he was staying in Damascus to the MitsubishiMitsubishi SUVSUV and that the vehicle was in fact rigged as a bomb car which detonated on his approach. They further claim that more explosive devices were planted along his path in case the first one missed its mark.
This is important to support the Syrian case, because they claim to have tracked down the vehicles Lebanese owner and fixed the time when he entered Syria.
They say the explosive was laced with 3,000 steel nails, which killed the targeted Hizballah commander and pockmarked surrounding buildings.
#1
Aahh Man...picking on Wally again?! They're determined to shrink him down to a prune from the stress and anxiety of Lebanese life. Can't they just ..Get along? Wally must have a death wish, hanging around that hellhole for this long. Go to Aruba Wally, let the 'senorita' handle things!
#7
iirc, last week Debka attributed the Mughniyeh kill on a Mossad made exploding headpillow
It wouldn't be a shock if Druze spotters participated in this; however, the Druze haven't demonstrated the kind of bombmaking + timing + intel + coordination expertise to pull this off by themselves.
Hizbullah won't rush to retaliate for the assassination of Imad Mughniyeh but it eventually intends to target Israeli figures of a similar rank to the terror chief, ...
They are going to target Israeli pimps?
... who was the guerilla group's chief of staff, the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Rai quoted officials close to Hizbullah as saying. The newspaper reported that Mughniyeh himself had prepared a list of Israeli targets following the Second Lebanon War when Israel announced its intention to assassinate Hizbullah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah.
This article starring:
HASAN NASRALLAH
Hizbullah
IMAD MUGHNIYEH
Hizbullah
Hizbullah
Posted by: Fred ||
02/19/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[9 views]
Top|| File under: Hezbollah
#1
And this is different from yesterday how?
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
02/19/2008 9:39 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Hassan Nasrallah - did somebody misplace his paperwork for the afterworld?
Mount Lebanon Mufti Sheikh Mohammed Ali Jozu on Sunday accused Hezbollah of launching war "against Beirut." Jozu, in a statement distributed by the state-run National news Agency, said: "It seems that the open war declared by Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah is not against Israel,
"Is it a coincidence that the streets of Beirut were set ablaze" after Nasrallah's open war declaration? Jozu asked. "Was the agenda for liberating Jerusalem replaced by an agenda for liberating Beirut?"
but against the citizens of Beirut, streets of Beirut and the youth of Beirut."
"Is it a coincidence that the streets of Beirut were set ablaze" after Nasrallah's open war declaration? Jozu asked. "Was the agenda for liberating Jerusalem replaced by an agenda for liberating Beirut?" he added. He also accused Hezbollah of trying to "plunge Lebanon into civil war under the resistance banner."
Outspoken Jozu urged the March 14 majority to sponsor multi-sect "national resistance controlled by the Lebanese Army." Such a national resistance, according to Jozu, should be entrusted with the task "of confronting, with the army, any aggression by the Israeli enemy or by any side that wants to bring back the era of (Syrian) hegemony."
He added that whoever wants Syrian hegemony back is "the enemy of Lebanon, Lebanon's independence and freedom." This was in reference to the Iranian and Syrian backed Hezbollah-led opposition Jozu termed rioting in Beirut "acts of treason.
This article starring:
Hassan Nasrallah
March 14 majority
Mohammed Ali Jozu
Hezbollah
Posted by: Fred ||
02/19/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under: Hezbollah
Iran's Revolutionary Guards on Monday predicted Hezbollah would destroy Israel, in a new verbal onslaught against the Jewish state after the murder of a top commander of Lebanon's Shiite militant group. "In the near future, we will witness the destruction of Israel, the aggressor, this cancerous microbe Israel, at the able hands of the soldiers of the community of Hezbollah," the ideological force's commander, Mohammad Ali Jafari, was quoted by the Fars news agency as saying.
"With the martyrdom of this true Muslim, the intentions of all revolutionary and combatant Muslims, especially the comrades of this dear martyr, will without doubt become firmer against the Zionist regime."
Jafari's comments came in a condolence message to Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah after the murder last week in Damascus of top commander Imad Mughnieh, who has been blamed for a string of anti militant attacks on US and Jewish intrests. "With the martyrdom of this true Muslim, the intentions of all revolutionary and combatant Muslims, especially the comrades of this dear martyr, will without doubt become firmer against the Zionist regime," Jafari said.
Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has already blamed Israel for killing Mughnieh, hailing him as a "great" man whose his death would serve to increase resistance against the Jewish state. In a sign of Iran's respect for Mughnieh, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki attended his funeral in the Shiite suburbs of Beirut on Thursday and gave a speech.
Continued on Page 49
This article starring:
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
HASAN NASRALLAH
IRGC
IMAD MUGHNIEH
IRGC
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Manouchehr Mottaki
Mark Regev
Mike McConnell
MOHAMAD ALI JAFARI
IRGC
Hezbollah
Revolutionary Guards
Posted by: Fred ||
02/19/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[8 views]
Top|| File under: Hezbollah
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.
(AKI) - A new campaign has begun in Saudi Arabia calling for a boycott of Danish products, after the fresh publication of 12 controversial cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed, reported the Arab daily al-Watan. "We will carry out a new boycott," said the president of Arab entrepreneurs, Mohammed Abidat. "It is imperative for Arab and Muslim tradespeople and shopkeepers to boycott Danish products," he said.
The Kuwaiti government on Monday criticized Kuwaiti Shiite Muslims who took part in a ceremony eulogizing Hizbullah's slain commander, Imad Mughniyeh, and warned that it could cause civil strife. 
The Bolivian President Evo Morales has declared that Iran is planning to launch a TV station to cover the audience in Latin America. 
"We will keep on working for integration, to build bridges. If you don't know who is Muhammad I am telling you please read about Muhammad," said the imam. 
The Supreme Court on Tuesday turned down a legal challenge to the warrantless domestic spying program President George W. Bush created after the September 11 attacks.
The Wazir and Daur tribes on Monday reached an agreement with the North Waziristan (NW) political administration against extremism and terrorism, according to governors office. The political administration of North Waziristan and all sub-tribes and clans of Wazir and Daur tribes have agreed to jointly struggle against extremism and terrorism throughout the agency, a press release from Governors House said. The agreement was signed in Miranshah (headquarters of North Waziristan), it said.
President Pervez Musharrafs political allies, the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q), appear to have lost their grip over the countrys parliament, with the Pakistan Peoples Party-Parliamentarians (PPPP) and the PML-Nawaz (PML-N) overtaking the bicycle in the election race. 
Fear and apathy prevented many Pakistanis from voting in crucial parliamentary elections Monday, but initial returns indicated opposition parties could pose a serious challenge to President Pervez Musharraf's rule. 
A significant amount of money is being invested for the completion of the Iron Dome anti-Kassam system, currently under development by Israel's Rafael (Armaments Development Authority), Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Monday. "The plan is that these means will give us the capability of stopping short-range rocket attacks including Kassams. This is applicable to both the northern and the southern fronts," said the prime minister during a Kadima faction meeting. Olmert emphasized that the system was at an advanced stage of development with an investment of nearly one billion NIS. 
Foreign Ministry Director-General Aharon Abramovitch on Monday slammed UN Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes for comments he made in Sderot the previous day. Holmes on Sunday referred to "the cycle of violence" between Israel and the Palestinians. Abramovitch, meeting with Holmes at the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem, said "such comments create an analogy between terrorists and those who are defending themselves from terror." 
Muslims worldwide should bomb Denmark's embassies and kill it diplomats following last week's republication of caricatures of Muslim prophet Muhammad, a spokesman for the Popular Resistance Committees in the Gaza Strip said on Monday. 
Mount Lebanon Mufti Sheikh 
Iran's 
