A proposed Iraqi-American security agreement will include permanent American bases in the country, and the right for the United States to strike, from within Iraqi territory, any country it considers a threat to its national security, Gulf News has learned.
Senior Iraqi military sources have told Gulf News that the long-term controversial agreement is likely to include three major items. Under the agreement, Iraqi security institutions such as Defence, Interior and National Security ministries, as well as armament contracts, will be under American supervision for ten years.
The agreement is also likely to give American forces permanent military bases in the country, as well as the right to move against any country considered to be a threat against world stability or acting against Iraqi or American interests.
The military source added, "According to this agreement, the American forces will keep permanent military bases on Iraqi territory, and these will include Al Asad Military base in the Baghdadi area close to the Syrian border, Balad military base in northern Baghdad close to Iran, Habbaniyah base close to the town of Fallujah and the Ali Bin Abi Talib military base in the southern province of Nasiriyah close to the Iranian border."
The sources confirmed that the American army is in the process of completing the building of the military facilities and runways for the permanent bases. He added that the American air bases in Kirkuk and Mosul will be kept for no longer than three years. However, he said there were efforts by the Americans to include the Kirkuk base in the list of permanent bases.
The sources also said that a British brigade was expected to remain at the international airport in Basra for ten years as long as the American troops stayed in the permanent bases in Iraq.
Iraqi analysts said that the second item of the controversial agreement which permits American forces on Iraqi territories to launch military attacks against any country it considers a threat is addressed primarily to Iran and Syria.
Iran has raised serious concerns in the past few days over the Iraqi-American security agreement and followed it with issuing religious fatwas and called for demonstrations, mainly by the powerful Shiite leader Moqtada Al Sadr movement, who is close to Iran, against the agreement. As I said long ago, THIS was one of our biggest goals in the Iraq war, and this agreement will be one of the most important victories of George W. Bush, creating the equivalent of several aircraft carrier groups on permanent station in the region.
The U.S. general who led American troops into Iraq took command Tuesday of the 40-nation NATO-led campaign in Afghanistan. Army Gen. David D. McKiernan took charge of the 51,000-member International Security Assistance Force from Gen. Dan McNeill, who will retire from the U.S. Army after 40 years.
Addressing a change of command ceremony Tuesday, McKiernan said he was "honored to walk alongside our Afghan brothers."
"While today marks a transition in commanders, the mission must continue without missing a beat," he said, listing security, reconstruction and development as the types of support that Afghanistan deserves. "Insurgents, foreign fighters, criminals and others who stand in the way of that mission will be dealt with."
Posted by: Fred ||
06/04/2008 00:00 ||
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The United States suspended talks with Sudan on normalizing relations on Tuesday, saying leaders from the north and south were not serious about ending clashes that have stoked fears of a return to civil war.
The announcement by the U.S. envoy to Sudan raised pressure on both sides as the U.N. Security Council began talks with the rivals to try to shore up their 2005 peace agreement after the clashes in the oil-producing central region of Abyei last month. "As of right now our talks are suspended," Richard Williamson told reporters. "At this point the leadership of either side is not interested in meaningful peace. I won't be part of a sham peace that won't change the situation."
Visibly angry, Williamson said he was "sad and disappointed" and until north and south Sudan wanted peace "there's nothing the united States or others can do."
Posted by: Fred ||
06/04/2008 00:00 ||
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#2
In other words, because they are custodians of Mecca and Medina, the ummah should believe and do as the Saudis tell them, that jihad against Christianity (and Judaism/Israel as its client) may proceed effectively by argument as well as the education in the true faith and the violence the Saudis already fund.
A Norwegian judge's acquittal of Arfan Qadeer Bhatti on terrorism charges sets a strict legal precedent for any future such cases. Prosecutors aren't sure yet whether they'll appeal, and at least one involved ambassador is disappointed.
Bhatti had been charged in a case that was Norway's first legal test of its terrorism law. Even though he was convicted of firing shots at a synagogue in Oslo in 2006, and was caught on tape making threats against the US and Israeli embassies in Oslo, Judge Kim Heger didn't believe there was enough evidence to convict Bhatti of planning or carrying out terrorist attacks.
Heger ruled that Bhatti's actions and threats didn't amount to terrorism. There was no hard evidence of premeditated, intentional attacks, he ruled, and he called the shootings an act of serious vandalism, not terrorism.
Some legal experts believe Heger was consciously trying to establish strict standards for evidence needed in terrorism cases. Others hailed the ruling as a sign that defendants' rights and the rule of law are protected in Norway. There's little doubt his ruling sets legal precedent in the country, and mounts huge challenges for prosecutors in terrorism cases.
Benson K Whitney, the US ambassador to Norway, had hoped Bhatti would have been convicted of planning terrorist attacks against the synagogue and the embassies.
"We are both surprised and disappointed" by the acquittal, Whitney told reporters. He claimed that shooting an automatic weapon at a synagogue can't be considered mere vandalism.
"That's terrorism," said the US ambassador. The Israeli ambassador, who previously was outspoken regarding the synagogue shooting, initially declined to comment on the verdict but later said she was "surprised and dismayed" by it.
Synagogue spokesperson Anne Sender said the synagogue had considered the shooting an act of terrorism, but said "we are satisfied that Bhatti has been taken off the streets." The judge did, in the end, sentence Bhatti to one of Norway's most punitive forms of custody known as forvaring, because of other convictions for violence.
Sender said she understands that the Norwegian judicial system and its interpretation of the law must be part of "a comprehensive process," not least since this was the first time the country's law against terrorism was tested.
"We're satisfied that the judge understood the lack of security we experienced," Sender said. "We felt this was terror, but haven't let it scare us."
Brigitte Bardot was convicted Tuesday of provoking discrimination and racial hatred for writing that Muslims are destroying France. A Paris court also handed down a $23,325 fine against the former screen siren and animal rights campaigner. The court also ordered Bardot to pay $1,555 in damages to MRAP. Bardot's lawyer, Francois-Xavier Kelidjian, said he would talk to her about the possibility of an appeal.
A leading French anti-racism group known as MRAP filed a lawsuit last year over a letter she sent to then-Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy. The remarks were published in her foundation's quarterly journal.
In the December 2006 letter to Sarkozy, now the president, Bardot said France is "tired of being led by the nose by this population that is destroying us, destroying our country by imposing its acts." Bardot, 73, was referring to the Muslim feast of Aid el-Kebir, celebrated by slaughtering sheep.
French anti-racism laws prevent inciting hatred and discrimination on racial or religious or racial grounds. Bardot had been convicted four times previously for inciting racial hatred. "She is tired of this type of proceedings," he said. "She has the impression that people want to silence her. She will not be silenced in her defense of animal rights."
Posted by: Fred ||
06/04/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Muslims are not a racial group they are a politico-religious group. This judgment is therefore bogus.
Although a German-owned freighter is currently being detained by Somali pirates, the German Navy said on Tuesday that it would stay out of a looming, UN-approved fight against piracy because parliament in Berlin has not approved.
The 15-nation UN Security Council on Monday unanimously authorised navies to enter Somalia's territorial waters to fight piracy. But a German Defence Ministry spokesman said German law only permitted police to hunt pirates. "We've got the assets but not the legal powers, and the German police have got the legal powers, but not the assets," he said, referring to the flotilla of lethal German warships which patrols off the Horn of Africa.
He said German law did allow the navy to ward off impending peril, but this did not extend to trying to recapture a hijacked ship like the Gibraltar-flagged MV Lehmann Timber, a German-owned freighter seized a week ago.
The German flotilla off Somalia has authorisation from Germany's parliament mainly to prevent terrorists crossing the sea between Somalia and the Arabian Peninsula.
#5
To paraphrase Frank Zappa: You can't be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline - it helps if you have some kind of a football team, or can fight pirates.
German police on board German navy vessels. They assume nominal command during anti-piracy operations.
The US has or had a similar situation. During interdiction ops prior and during Gulf War I, a token US Coast Guard presence was always in the USN boarding teams. The reason being that USN personnel are/were not legally allowed to conduct search-for-contraband ops (posse comitatus); USCG could because they were 'law enforcement'.
Click the link for a photo of Mother Sheehan's campaign rally in San Francisco.
Where are the Hollywood stars? Her allies from DailyKos and MoveOn.org and Stormfront.org? Why, if you didn't know better, you'd think the peace movement and the Democrats had tossed her out with the trash the minute she was no longer useful to them!
Posted by: Mike ||
06/04/2008 08:13 ||
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#2
the very LAST thing the Dems want now is for people's attention to turn to Iraq and learn the truth: that the Dems were wrong and lied to the people about the surge and are lying now about "The War Is Lost", and "Quagmire".
#5
Thats the sad thing - McCain and the RNC have no guts, unless it comes to spending more and more. That they do, including the porked up farm bil they passed over President Bush's veto.
#7
LH, you have to wonder how well McCains message on Iraq qill get through.
Obama gets a walk with his "pullout now" talk, while McCain gets hammered by the press: instead of the press discussing the fact that troops ARE reducing in number and violence is down, political goals are being met, the press slams him over verb tenses.
I doubt we will see anything close to the truth - the press constantly misdirects and spins, and misinforms.
#8
Part of the challenge is for McCain to get his words and message out despite the MSM.
Another part of the challenge for McCain is to get past the MSM to show Obama as he really is.
That's the challenge for a Repub in 2008, like it or not.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/04/2008 13:32 Comments ||
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#9
That's the challenge for every Republican every time.
Reagan excelled at it. His successors, not so much.
Posted by: Grenter Protector of the Geats4975 ||
06/04/2008 13:59 Comments ||
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#10
The fix to the MSM is simple. Take away the credentials of reporters that don't treat you fairly. Why should that hack Helen Thomas be at all White House press briefings. Make it a outreach to new media channels. Decredential the NYT for printing secret information. Then do it to others. They'll come around or the Desmoines Register or some other paper will be the 'newspaper of record'.
#11
And for that matter don't worry about the fairness doctrine either. Just make sure it includes TV, newspapers and film. Then get a bunch of crakerjack conservative lawyers and kick the MSM, hollywood and the rest of their asses - all the way to the conservative supreme court.
We'll have a 30 min. Rush Limbaugh show for free right after World News Tonight. Every night. Force hollywood to make conservative movies.
The left will be repealing the fairness doctrine in a bout 4 nanoseconds. Or we crush the MSM. I'm good either way.
WASHINGTON - Travelers from Japan and Western Europe will face tighter restrictions on coming to the United States beginning in January, according to new rules unveiled Tuesday by the US government. Tourists and business travelers from the 27 countries currently listed under the visa waiver program will have to register with the US government three days in advance, the Department of Homeland Security said.
The new rules aim to make it more difficult for potential terrorists to enter the United States from places such as France, Germany, Switzerland, Britain, Belgium, Portugal, Spain, Singapore, New Zealand, Japan and Australia, the government said. However, critics ...
... and there are always critics ...
... have raised concerns about the possibility of reduced tourism and difficulties with last-minute business travel.
"Getting this information in advance enables our frontline personnel to determine whether a visa-free traveler presents a threat, before boarding an aircraft or arriving on our shores," said Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. "It is a relatively simple and effective way to strengthen our security, and that of international travelers, while helping to preserve an important program for key allies."
The government will ask for the same information that travelers currently fill out on the I-94 card which is handed out on the plane and turned in to customs on arrival in the United States, a DHS official told AFP. That includes such information as passport number, country of residence, disclosure of communicable diseases or involvement in terror activities.
Travelers may register with the US government beginning in August, and the information will remain valid for a maximum of two years so it is not necessary to repeat the same process in that time period. Once the regulations become mandatory in January 2009, all US-bound travelers from the countries affected "will need to receive an electronic travel authorization prior to boarding a US-bound airplane or cruise ship," it said.
Under the new program, known as the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA), travelers may apply for an ESTA authorization on the Internet at a US government website, or through their travel agent.
The European Commission, which negotiates security arrangements on behalf of the 27 EU member countries, has asked the United States to explain the new restrictions, spokesman Michele Cercone said in Brussels. EU Justice Commissioner Jacques Barrot wants to establish whether the system would amount to a de-facto visa, and asked Chertoff by phone for "more information in detail and for documents so they could be studied by the commission," Cercone said. "We have to see what data the Americans are going to ask for, how they plan to manage and use them."
The website will accept applications beginning August 1 and "will employ technology to prevent unauthorized access to the information entered and viewed."
"Access to such information is limited to those with a professional need to know," the DHS said on its website.
If a traveler is denied ESTA authorization, the alternative is to apply for a nonimmigrant visa at a US embassy or consulate.
"ESTA will accommodate last minute and emergency travelers," it said, but added that travelers should seek an ESTA approval as soon as they start planning a US trip, and no later than 72 hours before departure.
ESTA was called for under the "implementing recommendations" of the 9/11 Commission Act in 2007, DHS said. The 9/11 Commission was a bipartisan panel created by the US government to investigate the circumstances surrounding the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. The ESTA rules do not affect US travelers heading overseas.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/04/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
I can't think of anything in the business sphere that can't either be handled by teleconference immediately, or wait 3.5 days until the boss arrives after having been approved.
The government will not hold talks with terrorists and extremists in the Tribal Areas and Balochistan, Rehman Malik, adviser to the prime minister on Interior, said on Tuesday.
Depends on your definition of a terrorist or extremist, doesn't it?
Addressing a conference of the district co-ordination officers (DCOs) posted at the disaster-prone areas of the country, Malik said the government had adopted a reconciliatory policy towards the people in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and Balochistan, but that it was not in contact with terrorists. He said the government would set up crisis management cells at every district to deal with terrorism.
Malik said that terrorism had damaged both the countrys economy and the morale of the law enforcement agencies. He said the Interior secretary had been told to train the DCOs to effectively counter terrorism.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/04/2008 00:00 ||
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Officials said on Tuesday that local Taliban were likely behind the attack on the Danish embassy, which they claimed was linked to the printing of blasphemous caricatures in Danish newspapers and would not impact the new governments talks with local Taliban. This attack was not linked to any event in the country or the region, rather it was part of widespread outrage throughout the Islamic world against publishing blasphemous caricatures, a senior official said.
Investigation: Late on Monday, an Interior Ministry meeting chaired by Adviser to Prime Minister on Interior Rehman Malik ordered an investigation team headed by FIA Additional Director General Mirza Muhammad Yaseen to submit a preliminary report within 36 hours. Sources said the report would be finalised within a fortnight and would be submitted to the Interior Ministry. I think we can say with a reasonable degree of confidence that it was a suicide attack, FIA DG Tariq Pervez told The Associated Press.
Police sources said two police officials who had been deployed near the embassy at the time of the blast had been questioned. They said that a sketch of the suspected attacker had been prepared with the information provided by these police officials.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/04/2008 00:00 ||
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Al-Qaeda or an affiliate was "likely" behind a car bombing outside the Danish Embassy in Islamabad that killed six people including one Danish citizen, Denmark's intelligence service said.
On Tuesday, Pakistani investigators searched through the rubble at the scene of the explosion, which came weeks after al-Qaeda threatened Denmark over published caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad. Danish investigators were expected to join the probe. The Danish Security and Intelligence Service, known as PET, said in a statement late Monday that the embassy was the likely target. "It is PET's assessment that al-Qaeda or an al-Qaeda-related group likely is behind the attack," agency director Jakob Scharf said. He added that "a series of other militant Islamic groups and networks in Pakistan also could have the intention and the capacity to hit Danish targets in Pakistan." They're all pretty much a part of the al-Qaeda tapestry, with the exception of the Baloch Liberation Army and maybe one or two others whose names don't readily spring to mind. Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, which I'd consider the most likely group has been pretty well merged into the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan. Its current head is Baitullah Mehsud's right-hand turban. Jaish-e-Mohammad, at least in the western reaches of Pakistain, also seems to be folded in, as we saw in Swat the other day, and Harkat-ul-Mujaheddin al-Aalmi's been mostly subsumed into al-Qaeda itself.
The blast also comes as Pakistan seeks to deflect pressure to stop negotiating peace deals with militants in regions along the border with Afghanistan.
Those militants, of course, being the guys we were just discussing.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/04/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Why AQ? Why not anyone else from that tiny minority of 99.99999% of Muslims who are "extremists"?
(Xinhua) -- Pakistani Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir said on Monday that the blast outside Danish embassy in Islamabad has damaged the country's image.
Oh, I dunno about that. It was already pretty scuzzy.
The suicide car bombing at about 1:00 p.m. local time killed at least eight people, including two Pakistani policemen at the embassy, and wounded nearly 30 others.
Bashir visited the Danish embassy to express sympathies with the charge'd affairs over the deadly blast. "The blast has damaged image of our country," Bashir told reporters outside the embassy building. "It is the most evil most vicious attack. We realize and also convey sentiments of the people of Pakistan and Pakistani nation feel very ashamed today on the incident," he said.
The Pakistani government has formed a joint investigation team to probe the car bomb explosion. Interior Advisor Rehman Malik has asked the joint team to come up with an initial investigation report within 24 hours. @
Posted by: Fred ||
06/04/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Buffoon. It's impossible to damage Pakland image and/or credibilty. It's been well known for some time that the only practical use for Pak-wakland is as a nuclear waste disposal dump.
_Confirmed U.S. military deaths as of May 2008: at least 4,085.
_Confirmed U.S. military wounded (hostile) as of May 30, 2008: 30,143.
_Confirmed U.S. military wounded (non-hostile, using medical air transport) as of May 3, 2008: 32,248
_U.S. military deaths for May 2008: 19.
_Deaths of civilian employees of U.S. government contractors as of March 31, 2008, the most recent figure available: 1,181.
_Iraqi deaths in May from war-related violence:
The Iraqi civilian casualty count so far for the month of May is at its lowest level since December 2005. According to Associated Press reporting through May 30, at least 528 Iraqis (excluding insurgents) have been killed in war-related violence. This is an average of 17 deaths per day, and is less than half of the 1,080 reported killed during April.
_Assassinated Iraqi academics: 371.
_Journalists killed on assignment as of June 2, 2008: 127.
COST:
_Nearly $525 billion so far, according to the National Priorities Project.
OIL PRODUCTION:
_Prewar: 2.58 million barrels per day.
_May 25, 2008: 2.52 million barrels per day.
ELECTRICITY:
_Prewar nationwide: 3,958 megawatts. Hours per day (estimated): 4-8.
_May 26, 2008 nationwide: 4,110 megawatts. Hours per day: 9.9.
_Prewar Baghdad: 2,500 megawatts. Hours per day (estimated): 16-24.
_May 26, 2008 Baghdad: Megawatts not available. Hours per day: 7.3.
_Note: Current Baghdad megawatt figures are no longer reported by the U.S. State Department's Iraq Weekly Status Report.
TELEPHONES:
_Prewar land lines: 833,000.
_April 4, 2008: 1,360,000.
_Prewar cell phones: 80,000.
_April 30, 2008: More than 12 million.
WATER:
_Prewar: 12.9 million people had potable water.
_April 30, 2008: 20.9 million people have potable water.
SEWERAGE:
_Prewar: 6.2 million people served.
_April 30, 2008: 11.3 million people served.
(Note: The number for sewerage has not changed in the newest SIGIR report.)
INTERNAL REFUGEES:
_June 1, 2008: At least 2.7 million people are currently displaced inside Iraq.
EMIGRANTS:
_Prewar: 500,000 Iraqis living abroad.
_April 29, 2008: Some 2 million, mainly Syria and Jordan.
#1
Please note that Iraqi deaths due to voilence pre-invasion was ~25/day. A death rate of 17 per day not only means a defeat of the insurgency, but an improvement in law and order as well.
Al
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
06/04/2008 11:19 Comments ||
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#2
Here are some others:
Breathing rate of Saddam Hussein:
Pre-Invasion: 12-20 breaths per minute
Current: Zero
Rapes committed by Uday Hussein:
Pre-Invasion: Unknown but believed to be numerous
Post-July 22, 2003: Zero
Kurdish Children Murdered by Chemical Ali:
Pre-Invasion: Unknown but believed to be many thousands
Current: Zero
Posted by: Matt ||
06/04/2008 14:12 Comments ||
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BAGHDAD - A July target for negotiating an agreement on future relations between Iraq and the United States is likely to be missed, an Iraqi government spokesman said on Tuesday. U.S. and Iraqi officials began talks in March on twin agreements on the status of U.S. military forces in Iraq after 2008 and a strategic framework agreement that defines long-term bilateral ties.
Washington has said it aims to wrap up the talks by July, but Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said that was unlikely to happen. "I don't think that we can meet this date. There is a difference in viewpoints between Iraq and the U.S. I don't think that time is enough to end this gap and to reach a joint understanding ... Therefore, we are not committed to July as a deadline," he told al-Arabiya television.
He also said Iraq was looking into possible alternatives if it could not reach agreement with the United States on their long-term relations, but he gave no details.
The talks have angered many Iraqis who suspect the United States, which led the 2003 invasion of Iraq and has around 155,000 troops in the country, of wanting to keep a permanent presence there.
No need for a permanent presence, fifty years will do.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/04/2008 00:00 ||
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Israel's position regarding the Egyptian initiative for achieving a truce with the Palestinians is totally unclear, but that does not mean that Hamas does not want a cease-fire, Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said Tuesday.
He said that despite the difficulties in reaching an agreement, the Egyptians were making efforts to achieve a truce between the Palestinians and Israel. "Hamas's position toward the Egyptian initiative is very clear," said Haniyeh. "We have said that we will accept a truce in return for the lifting of the siege, the reopening of the border crossings and an end to the Israeli aggression on our people."
Haniyeh said that in spite of his movement's clear position, Israel still hasn't come up with clear answers. "The Israeli position remains very obscure," he said. "We don't know what their real position is. However, the door has not been closed and the Egyptian efforts in this regard are continuing."
Hamas parliamentarian Salah Bardaweel also talked Tuesday about "contradictions" in the Israeli stance toward the Egyptian initiative. "Recently we have seen contradictory statements come out of the Israelis," he said. "This reflects the state of confusion and uncertainty they are in after failing to break the will of the Palestinian people."
Posted by: Fred ||
06/04/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
He's right. The position of Hamas is clear: Israel needs to eliminate itself in order for peace to be achieved.
Hamas expanded its administration in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday in an effort to strengthen its hold on the coastal territory, a senior official from the Islamist group said.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh's decision to add another six ministers to his Gaza cabinet opposes Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's demand that the group hand over control of the enclave.
Hamas Islamists took over Gaza after routing secular Fatah forces loyal to Abbas in June 2007.
A senior Hamas government official told Reuters that the six new ministers are pro-Hamas and include a Gaza mayor and a lecturer at Gaza's Islamic University.
In the West Bank, Fatah spokesman Fahmi al-Zarir said Hamas's move would deepen divisions and said the Islamist group was not serious in its calls for reconciliation with Abbas. "Adding more people to an illegitimate body is worthless, but it signals that Hamas wants to consolidate the authority it gained from a coup in Gaza," Zarir told Reuters.
Hamas defeated Abbas's long-dominant Fatah movement in parliamentary elections in January 2006, spurring the United States and European Union to suspend aid to the Hamas-led government.
In an effort to end the Western boycott, Abbas and Haniyeh agreed to form a unity government in March 2007, but the administration collapsed a few months later amid factional fighting that culminated in Hamas's takeover of Gaza.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/04/2008 00:00 ||
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Israel's occupied territories and conflict with the Palestinians has undermined the country's economic growth and has cost at least an extra 36.6bn shekels (£5.7bn) in defence spending over the past two decades, according to an Israeli thinktank.
Calculations by the Adva Centre, an independent policy centre in Tel Aviv, suggest Israel's economy has been held back, inequality within the country has grown and there have been significant government budget cuts to pay for mounting defence spending.
Come to think of it, occupation is indeed expensive. Adva doesn't mention the costs associated with the anniliation of one's society, however, so it's hard to make a comparison ...
Adva openly admits that its findings, contained in a new report published today and entitled The Cost of Occupation, challenge the widely received opinion that Israel's economy is successful despite the conflict: economic growth last year reached 5.3% and was above 5% for the previous two years.
However, Adva's report said: "The truth is that the conflict with the Palestinians is like a millstone around the neck of Israel: it undermines economic growth, burdens the budget, limits social development, sullies its vision, hangs heavy on its conscience, harms its international standing, exhausts its army, divides it politically, and threatens the future of its existence as a Jewish nation-state."
All that is true: the Paleos are a millstone around everyone's neck, not just Israel. If giving up the occupation were easy, most Irsaelis, I suspect, would have voted for that long ago. The problem is that the Paleos aren't just a begrieved people looking for a home, they're a bloodthirsty cult looking to murder all the Jews. So occupation seems to be the most reasonable temporizing option.
Adva's figures show Israel's economy grew 43% between 1997 and 2006, well behind world economic growth during that period of 67% and growth of 68% in the US and in the EU.
One other reason that wouldn't be mentioned is that it's taken until recently for Israel to throw off all the shackles of socialism.
Although it is almost impossible to calculate an accurate cost of the occupation of the Palestinian territories because much of the defence budget is secret, Adva said that additions to the defence budget to pay for increased military activity in the territories came to 36.6bn shekels between 1989 and 2008. That amount is greater than the government's budget for elementary, secondary and tertiary education in Israel this year, it said.
So to hell with defending oneself, let's spend it all on health care!
In addition, the cost of the withdrawal of Israeli settlers from Gaza in 2005 came to 9bn shekels and the cost of the West Bank barrier, which Israel is now building, is estimated at an extra 13bn shekels.
The alternative was to continue to 'occupy' Gaza. Now the report is being schizophrenic: are they for or against occupation?
"Israel is paying a heavy price for the continuation of the conflict and for the absence of a fair and agreed-upon partition," the report said.
One of the reasons for the "absence of a fair and agreed-upon partition" is that one side wants to take everything and kill everyone on the other side.
Last year the Israeli government appointed the Brodet Commission to undertake a rare review of the country's defence spending. Adva quoted the commission's report as saying: "The important point is that the conflict with the Palestinians is becoming expensive, mainly from the standpoint of the diversion of limited military resources like manpower and command attention; all that on an ongoing basis and without much change on the horizon."
Something Sharon recognized a few years back -- hence the pullout from Lebanon and withdrawal from Gaza. Had Sharon not suffered his stroke I think we'd be seeing at least a partial pull-back from the West Bank by now. And people would be complaining, of course.
Adva said that one in every five Israeli families now ranked as poor, against one in every 10 in the 1970s, which it said was partly a result of the conflict and partly due to the arrival of hundreds of thousands of immigrants from the Soviet Union and Ethiopia who have struggled to find work. Social security payments, particularly child allowances, unemployment compensation and income maintenance, were cut significantly between 2001 and 2005, at least in part because of rising defence costs.
Don't underestimate the cost of immigration: Israel took in plenty, and immigrants always cost more in the beginning. Eventually they'll get all those costs back as the immigrants settle in and contribute, but in the short-term it hurts the finances.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/04/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Compared to how much extra military spending is required if the muslims are in East Jerusalem and Golan? I think not.
Posted by: ed ||
06/04/2008 0:42 Comments ||
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#2
It's the costs of relearning the 11th commandment---"Thou shall not try to make Peace with Amalek!".
Hundreds of police swept through a Jakarta neighborhood Wednesday morning, arresting about 60 members of a hard-line Islamic group blamed for a violent attack last Sunday at an interfaith rally in the capital. Members of the group, the Islamic Defenders Front, assaulted scores of people at the rally with bamboo sticks and rocks, injuring dozens of people, some of them women and children.
On Wednesday, supporters of the Islamic Defenders Front initially blocked the police by crowding the neighborhoods maze of narrow alleyways. But police eventually found their way to the groups headquarters, where they arrested a dozen people. The others were arrested in nearby homes. Police officials said they are now being held at Jakartas central police station for questioning.
The Sunday attack triggered strong reactions from moderate Muslim groups and government officials. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono condemned the attack and several of his ministers said they would look into the possibility of banning the organization.
He said his group would wage a war against Ahmadiyah if it didnt disband within three days.
Until now, the Islamic Defenders Front, which is known for its violent attacks on bars, nightclubs and restaurants that serve alcohol, has been largely tolerated by government officials and police. Wednesdays sweep is the first time any of the groups members have been taken into custody, although its leader had been jailed briefly in 2004. No arrests were made in response to attacks by the group on a number mosques, schools, and followers of the minority Muslim sect Ahmadiyah over the past few years."
The leader of the Islamic Defenders Front, Habib Rizieq, said at a press conference that the attack at Sundays rally, held by the National Alliance for the Freedom of Faith and Religion, was in response to support of Ahmadiyah, which has been targeted by hardline Muslims for what they call its deviant beliefs. He said his group would wage a war against Ahmadiyah if it didnt disband within three days.
This article starring:
Ahmadiyah
HABIB RIZIEQ
Islamic Defenders Front
National Alliance for the Freedom of Faith and Religion
#2
ION GUAM PDN > PHILIPPINES MIL CHIEF: ARMY CAN'T DEFEND/PROTECT THE PHILIPPINES.
No surprise here - AFTER 2010 > the Philippines like many areas in ASIA-PACIFIC will suffer from intensified RADICAL ISLAMIST + COMMIE MAOIST PRESSURES = DESTABILIZATIONS, to add to a potential risk of Phil-specific FOOD CRISIS/FAMINE by 2020, and of course so-called Region(s)-wide "EARTH/LAND CHANGES" VV GLOBAL WARMING.
* OTHER NEWS > IIRC, a delegation form MALAYSIA or INDONESIA is visiting Guam to discuss various issues.
* USN RELIEF SHIPS LEAVING MYANMAR > IMO, NOT A GOOD SIGN AS PER A FUTURE GUAM [Earth Changes].
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Tuesday night that other countries should penalize Iran by barring business travelers, blocking financial transactions and imposing sanctions on Iran's import of refined gasoline and on countries that perform that task for oil-rich but facilities-poor Iran. "Each and every country must understand that the long-term cost of a nuclear Iran greatly outweighs the short-term benefits of doing business with Iran," Olmert told the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).
Posted by: Fred ||
06/04/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
FREEREPUBLIC > AHMADINEJAD: BUSH WILL REGRET HIS FAILURE TO ATTACK IRAN.
D *** NG IT, IRAN DEMANDED TO BE ATTACKED!
ION, STARS-N-STRIPES [paraph] > SADRISTS want a IRAQ-SPECIFIC NATIONAL REVIEW = REFERENDUM ON PROPOSED US-IRAQ PACT; + LOOMING PROVINCIAL ELECTIONS THREATEN TO DIVIDE ARAB SUNNIS IN IRAQ.
#2
I'm a hawk, but most people want a measure of stability and that would be of paramount interest to war planners. The key is to turn professionals in the Iranian military, against the Ayatollahs. The US hasn't promoted a coup in over 30 years; the old machinery needs to be reactivated. Defense Intelligence would be concerned that an attack on Iran would enable their leaders to turn it into a Shiite-Sunni matter. The UAE, and the US fleet would be prime targets.
#4
bleh. Iran is so far beyond meaningless chatter. The purpose of sanctions is the same purpose as mommy saying, "If you do that one more time....". If mommy never spanks, then it is little more than "blah, blah, blah."
#5
The key is to turn professionals in the Iranian military, against the Ayatollahs.
Cause its worked so well in Venezuela on our back door. Hope is not a strategy. List of countries in the last 20 years that have stung up their oppressors? The only one I can think of is Romania and that was because it was caught up in the fall of the Iron Curtain, otherwise that would have gone pffft too.
The Reagan-Elliot Abrams strategy of democraticization of Latin America, worked and it will work on Venezuela. Bush has a do-nothing approach. The only thing that ever worked on Muslims is: harsh occupation or strong-man regimes. Carter handed Iran to the Islamofascists. One of his senior members - Andrew Young - said that Khomeni was a "saint." And he said that while a move against the US Embassy in Teheran was under study. I think of Muslims as either jihad-robots or human-puppets; you have to dehumanize them, before you can beat them.
#10
Iran can't use banks outside the country to transfer money for purchases, nor to accept money when it sells oil, rugs and pistachios, and those few other things they have for export. The mullahs have had to significantly reduce payments to Hizb'allah, Hamas, and their other terrorist clients. Even their biggest trading partners, the Germans, have backed off. All because of the machinations of that do-nothing President Bush. Trade sanctions punish only the poor, as we saw with South Africa and Saddam Hussein's Iraq. But the threat that anyone who banks with Iran will be forbidden access to American banks and American markets is a threat with great big nasty teeth in it -- and is a big part of the reason the Iranian economy is doing so poorly.
Mommy has shown the size of the paddle she uses to spank, and very few countries or companies want Mommy to spank them. It probably won't cause the peepul to rear up on their hind legs to replace the mullahcracy, but they won't fight hard to protect it when our missiles fly.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who toured Israel's northern border Tuesday, said that Hezbollah is setting up fortified positions in villages along the Israel-Lebanon border while continuing to grow stronger and collect weapons. According to Barak, the militant Lebanon-based guerilla group is also setting up positions in 150 villages deep within southern Lebanon.
Barak added that the strategic positions were established in a clear violation of the United Nations Security Council resolution 1701, which ended the 34-day war between Israel and Hezbollah in the summer of 2006. "On the surface it appears that there is calm," Barak said, "but there are no delusions here. Israel Defense Forces officers in the northern command and the lateral units are working day and night along the fence, primed and ready for any possibility."
Addressing the issue of the cooperation between Hezbollah and Syria, Barak said "the Syrians are working in intimate cooperation with Hezbollah, and they are in large part responsible for the transfer of weapons and supplies to Hezbollah. The ultimate responsibility, as far as we're concerned, lies with Hezbollah on the one hand, and with the Iranians and the Syrians on the other."
The defense minister also addressed the recently renewed indirect peace negations between Israel and Syria, saying "initial contact with the Syrians is aimed at determining whether there will be proper conditions in the future to launch direct negotiations and discuss all the issues. But the issues themselves require, like in any negotiations, some tough concession. That means difficult decisions on [Syrian President Bashar] Assad's part as well as on ours."
During his visit to the border, Barak met with GOC Northern Command Gadi Eisenkot, Division 91 Commander Brigadier General Imad Fares, and IDF Chief of Operations Major General Tal Russo. The senior officers briefed Barak on the recent security developments in Syria and Lebanon, and the condition of IDF units along the northern borders.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/04/2008 00:00 ||
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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.
WASHINGTON - Travelers from Japan and Western Europe will face tighter restrictions on coming to the United States beginning in January, according to new rules unveiled Tuesday by the US government. Tourists and business travelers from the 27 countries currently listed under the visa waiver program will have to register with the US government three days in advance, the Department of Homeland Security said.
Al-Qaeda or an affiliate was "likely" behind a car bombing outside the Danish Embassy in Islamabad that killed six people including one Danish citizen, Denmark's intelligence service said. 
Israel's occupied territories and conflict with the Palestinians has undermined the country's economic growth and has cost at least an extra 36.6bn shekels (£5.7bn) in defence spending over the past two decades, according to an Israeli thinktank.
