For once, the American Civil Liberties Union has nothing bad to say about the latest case of secret domestic surveillance. Because it is the ACLU that committed the spying.
Last week, the Washington Post reported on a new Justice Department inquiry into photographs of undercover CIA officials and other intelligence personnel taken by ACLU-sponsored researchers assisting the defense team of Guatanamo Bay detainees.
According to the report, the pictures of covert American CIA officers -- "in some cases surreptitiously taken outside their homes" -- were shown to jihadi suspects tied to the 9/11 attacks in order to identify the interrogators.
The ACLU undertook the so-called "John Adams Project" with the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers -- last seen crusading for convicted jihadi assistant Lynne Stewart. She's the far Left lawyer who helped jailed 1993 World Trade Center bombing/NY landmark bombing plot mastermind Omar Abdel-Rahman smuggle coded messages of Islamic violence from the imprisoned sheik to outside followers in violation of an explicit pledge to abide by her client's court-ordered isolation.
The ACLU's team used lists and data from "human rights groups," European researchers and news organizations who were involved in "[t]racking international CIA-chartered flights" and monitoring hotel phone records.
Working from a witch hunt list of 45 CIA employees, the ACLU team then tailed and photographed agency employees or obtained other photos from public records. And then they showed the images to suspected al Qaeda operatives implicated in murdering 3,000 innocent men, women, and children on American soil.
ACLU executive director Anthony Romero refused to comment on Project CIA Paparazzi and instead whined some more about the evil Bush/CIA interrogators.
Left-wing commentators and distraction artists are dutifully up in arms about such "inhumane" tactics as blowing cigar smoke in the faces of Gitmo detainees. But it's Romero blowing unconscionable smoke:
"We are confident that no laws or regulations have been broken as we investigated the circumstances of the torture of our clients and as we have vigorously defended our clients' interests," he told the Post. "Rather than investigate the CIA officials who undertook the torture, they are now investigating the military lawyers who have courageously stepped up to defend these clients in these sham proceedings."
Courage? What tools and fools these jihadi-enablers be. Civil liberties opportunism is literally a part of the al Qaeda handbook. A terrorist manual seized in a Manchester, England raid in 2005 advised operatives: "At the beginning of the trial ... the brothers must insist on proving that torture was inflicted on them by state security before the judge. Complain of mistreatment while in prison." Jihadi commanders rehearsed the lines with their foot soldiers "to ensure that they have assimilated it."
Since 9/11, the selective champions of privacy have recklessly blabbed about counterterrorism operations, endangered the lives of military and intelligence officials at Gitmo, and undermined national security through endless litigation.
They accused Bush immigration officials of xenophobia for pursuing visa overstayers from jihadi-friendly countries. They accused local law enforcement, FBI, and other homeland security officials of "racial profiling" for placing heightened scrutiny on mosques and jihadi-linked charities.
Now, caught red-handed blowing the cover of CIA operatives, they shrug their shoulders and dismiss it as "normal" research on behalf of "our clients."
In July, 45 U.S. troops died in Afghanistan , the highest monthly toll this year. So far in August, 40 Americans have died, many in the south, and Pentagon officials say privately that with nearly a week left in the month, they expect August to exceed July's number. Americans make up the majority of the 63 coalition troops killed so far this month; 75 coalition soldiers died in July.
In 2008, total coalition deaths were 294, 155 of whom were Americans; the 2009 total through Tuesday was 295, of whom 172 were Americans.
There are currently 63,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan .
The four Americans who died Tuesday were killed when an explosion hit a convoy in Kandahar province. U.S. officials didn't disclose the identities of the soldiers or of their unit and did not say where the convoy was precisely when it was struck.
Senior U.S. military leaders have warned that troop deaths were likely to rise as the Obama administration sent an additional 17,500 troops and 4,000 trainers to Afghanistan . Those forces began arriving in Afghanistan earlier this summer, including thousands of Marines who launched a major offensive in southern Helmand province. Roughly 6,000 of those forces are still en route.
Under McChrystal, the U.S. is expanding its presence into parts of southern Afghanistan , including Kandahar and Helmand provinces, where coalition forces have never had enough troops to displace the Taliban .
Members of Congress are expressing concerns about U.S. progress in a country known as the graveyard of empires.
Sen. John McCain , R- Ariz. , a proponent of sending more troops to Afghanistan on Sunday called the trends in Afghanistan "very alarming and disturbing" on ABC News , while Sen. Russ Feingold , D- Wis. , a member on the Foreign Relations Committee , told his home state's Appleton Post-Crescent newspaper that he wants a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. forces.
"I think it is time we ought to start discussing a flexible timetable when people in America and Afghanistan and around the world can see where we intend and when we intend to bring our troops out," Feingold said, according to the paper.
#4
Both McCain and Feingold should shut up. Neither has anything but their own personal political career in mind every time they open their pie hole. Both are disgusting creatures of Washington, and the sooner they either are voted out of office or retire, the better.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/26/2009 13:45 Comments ||
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#5
NS - hes reading a bio of John Adams. That bodes well, IMO.
Posted by: liberal hawk ||
08/26/2009 13:53 Comments ||
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#6
seems to me BHO is going to need liberal hawks and the DLC, which needs to become more active, again.
Posted by: liberal hawk ||
08/26/2009 13:54 Comments ||
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#7
Is there anything left of the DLC?
Feingold has visions of being the next Ted Kennedy dancing in his eyes. The treasonous cur.
McCain's alright, Old Patriot. Anybody with a lick of sense would be alarmed with the current trends in Afghanistan, and he is ranking member on Armed Forces. It kind of *is* his business to express concern.
Talk of exit strategies is inherently rubbish, but I'd like some achievable victory conditions.
Afghanistan without a friendly seaward neighbor - either Pakistan, Iran, or some successor state carved from the territory of either of those two states - seems to be doomed to be Asia's bitch.
It isn't in Iran's national interests for Afghanistan to be a fetid psychotic shithole, speaking abstractly. That's just the current regime's inclination. On the other hand, Pakistan requires an Afghanistan either in shambles or in chains, so long as they're intent on waging cold war with India. It would seem logical, then, that the quickest way towards a stable Afghanistan & an end to the international force would be a sane & friendly regime in Iran.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
08/26/2009 14:37 Comments ||
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#8
More troops + more restrictive ROE = more troop deaths
which was the plan to provide cover for surrendering this front of the war on muslim terrorists.
#9
The Dems in Congress are probably working towards the following scenario:
1) "Train" the Afghan army.
2) Declare them ready to fight on their own.
3) Withdraw the majority of US troops
4) Cut off all funding for support of Afghanistan
The result will be just like Viet Nam - and we'll end up with another picture like the one in the article. After all, steps 1 through 4 were what happened in Viet Nam.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
08/26/2009 18:27 Comments ||
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#10
Feingold wants withdrawal timetable
Oh, about the time the replacement for the Twin Towers is up and open for business.
[Quqnoos] The UN special envoy urged Afghan Electoral Complaint Commission on Monday to seriously investigate the challenges being raised
Special envoy Eide urged all Afghan candidates and their supporters to be patient, so that the ECC can carry out its work and make decisions on the complaints submitted to the commission.
Mr Eide's visit to the ECC headquarters in Kabul was intended to see how the commission was dealing with the complaints filed by candidates and voters after the historic 20 August elections.
"I am here to see how the ECC is planning its proceedings," he told journalists, after meeting with some of the ECC commissioners.
Eide said there was no doubt that irregularities had taken place and stressed it was critical to the whole electoral process that the ECC detect and address fraud.
Mr Eide visited the electoral complaint commission as many presidential candidates, including Abdullah Abdullah, a leading challenger of President Karzai, accused the incumbent of 'rigging' Thursday's election.
However, Abdullah Abdullah said that he would challenge alleged fraud only through legal channels, rather than calling his supporters out in protest.
So far, the commission says it has received 790 complaints from across the country, including 54 classified as "Priority-A", which, if proved, could have an impact on the result.
"I say to candidates, campaigners, voters, and media, that you must respect this process. This is a critical part of it. Respect also means demonstrating patience," he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2009 00:00 ||
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[Bangla Daily Star] The High Court (HC) yesterday directed the authorities concerned to investigate into the incidents of extra-judicial punishments by beating and lashing people in the name of arbitration or conciliation, and to take action against those responsible.
The extra-judicial penalties are often executed at village arbitrations (Salish) in presence of or with the active participation of members or chairmen of union parishads applying 'Fatwa' concept, a lawyer said.
The HC asked the authorities to provide security and protection to the victims of the extra judicial penalties.
The court also issued a rule upon the government and inspector general of police to explain why their failure in preventing the imposition and execution of extra judicial penalties should not be declared illegal and why they should not be directed to frame and adopt appropriate guidelines, directions or orders to prevent such punishments.
The HC bench of Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain and Justice Quamrul Islam Siddiqui came up with orders upon a writ petition, jointly filed by five organisations--Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust, Bangladesh Mahila Parishad, Ain O Salish Kendra, BRAC and Nijera Kori.
It also directed the local government ministry to inform the order to all union parishads and paurasavas of the country.
The petition was filed in the context of a series of reports on extra-judicial punishments, including whipping and caning, at village arbitrations.
The petition points out some recent incidents of extra judicial punishments. It says a woman and a man were lashed 101 times following orders given by village elders in Nobiganj of Habiganj district at a village arbitration in presence of a chairman.
The petition also points out that a woman in Srimongal was lashed 101 times for speaking to a man from different community while a woman in Sirajganj was caned 100 times with fines for daring to file a complaint of rape with the court and another woman of the same district was whipped in public after refusing a relative's sexual advances.
Barrister Sara Hossain and barrister Rabia Bhuiyan appeared for the petitioners, while Deputy Attorney General Razik Al Jalil stood for the government.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
extra-judicial punishments
Only the RAB is allowed to do those.
North Korea on Tuesday agreed to talks between the Red Cross agencies of the two sides to discuss a resumption of reunions of families separated by the Korean War. Through an inter-Korean hotline at the truce village of Panmunjom, the North agreed to the Souths suggestion to hold the talks at Mt. Kumgang on Aug. 26-28, a year and nine months after the last Red Cross contacts. The reunions are to start up again on Chuseok or Korean Thanksgiving, which falls on Oct. 3.
North Korea reconnected the Panmunjom hotline to agree the talks, which it had cut off last November over the South Korean government's support for a UN resolution on North Korean human rights. The east coast route to Mt. Kumgang was also reopened that day.
North Korea has launched a charm offensive, lifting border restrictions, offering to restart business projects and resuming dialogue with the South. But it has made no progress in dismantling its nuclear program, the main bone of contention between the two Koreas.
After a series of missile tests and other saber-rattling, the North is suddenly all smiles, starting with the visit to Pyongyang by former U.S. president Bill Clinton, when it agreed to free two U.S. journalists detained at the border with China.
Since then, developments have come thick and fast. A Hyundai Asan staffer who had been held incommunicado in North Korea for 136 days was freed on Aug. 13, and leader Kim Jong-il met with Hyundai Group chairwoman Hyun Jeong-eun, agreeing to resume tourism programs, put the Kaesong Industrial Complex back on track and lift travel restrictions. A North Korean delegation attended the funeral of former president Kim Dae-jung and met with President Lee Myung-bak on Sunday.
The Choson Sinbo, a mouthpiece for Pyongyang published in Japan, said Monday, "The situation surrounding the Korean Peninsula is changing remarkably." It added the delegation's visit to Cheong Wa Dae had provided the momentum for "irreversible change" to begin.
But on the nuclear issue, North Korea's position is the same as it was when no. 2 leader Kim Yong-nam on July 15 declared the six-party talks "are over for good." A security official said, "North Korea seems willing to do anything except on the nuclear issue, so (relations) can return to confrontation anytime unless there is a change in this fundamental issue."
Prof. Lee Jo-won of ChungAng University warned that by behaving as though it is determined to behave reasonable, North Korea "is giving us the wrong impression that it may have changed."
Experts urged the government to stick to principles. Suh Jae-jean, the president of the Korea Institute for National Unification, said, "The government should maintain principles based on Seoul-Washington cooperation until North Korea makes a strategic decision on the nuclear issue."
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/26/2009 00:00 ||
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Still trying for direct, bilateral talks and still getting rebuffed.
North Korea has apparently invited the U.S. special representative for the Stalinist country Stephen Bosworth to Pyongyang. Diplomatic sources in Seoul and Washington on Monday said the North asked on two or three occasions recently whether Bosworth and the U.S. special envoy on North Korean affairs, Sung Kim, could visit Pyongyang, a clear shift from early this year, when it declined a visit from Bosworth.
Such a visit could signal the first step in bilateral talks between the United States and North Korea. The U.S. government is saying North Korea must return to the six-party nuclear talks and any dialogue would be possible only in that framework. A decision about a visit from Bosworth would be made only if North Korea demonstrates its willingness to scrap its nuclear program. "Bosworth's visit will happen someday," one diplomatic source in Seoul said. "But it's not likely to happen in September."
However, other speculation has it that the U.S. government could be more ready to accept Pyongyang's request if there are hopes of an early resumption of the stalled six-party talks.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/26/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Would unions or black people be as complacent with this much welfare for rich white people if it weren't being implemented by a black person spewing marxist rhetoric as he did so?
#2
Wow. Goldman Sachs epitomizes the concept of insider trading. Far too many friends and co-workers at the controls of government. They are a dangerous entity.
#4
At first I thought I screwed up accidentally putting this article in WoT-Background. I was going to ask the Mods to move it to Non-WoT. However, since GS would think nothing of terrorizing our economy for their profit, maybe it ended up in the correct location after all.
#5
And meanwhile the US Dept. of Justice is going to investigate the CIA. Justice's failure to investigate banksters & other perpetrators of tremendous financial crimes draws no attention.
[The News (Pak) Top Stories] The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Tuesday reserved judgement for a day on a writ petition filed by the three sons of Maulana Sufi Mohammad against their detention.
A single bench, comprising Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan, reserved judgement in detention case of the three sons of Sufi Mohammad, chief of the banned religious outfit Tanzim Nifaze Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM). The court may announce the verdict in the case today.
Three sons of Sufi Mohammad namely Ziaullah, Rizwanullah and Hayatullah, who have been kept in the Peshawar Central Prison after they were arrested under Section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO), had challenged their detention in the court.
The petitioners along with Sufi Mohammad were arrested from their residence in Sethi Town on July 22 by the law enforcement agencies. On July 27, they were sent to Peshawar Central Prison under Section 3 of MPO for one month.
Atlas Khan, the counsel for the petitioners, contended that the detainees were sons of Sufi Mohammad, but they are innocent and their arrest on the order of the district coordination officer (DCO), Peshawar, was illegal. He argued that the DCO had issued a stereotyped order lacking any solid grounds for the arrest of the petitioners and there was no threat to public order from the petitioners.
Additional advocate general Fazlur Rehman, however, argued that the detainees were part of a defunct organisation and they were threat to peace. Justice Ejaz Afzal had asked representatives of the DCO and home department to produce any material if they had any against Sufi Mohammad's sons, but they had failed to do so.
After detaining Sufi Mohammad in Peshawar, a case was registered against him under different sections in Saidu Sharif police station. At least 16 cases were also lodged in Dir and Swat police stations against the TNSM chief. The government had promised to withdraw these cases after the peace deal that collapsed in May earlier this year and these are yet to be withdrawn formally.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2009 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] Nearly three months after Pakistan retook the Swat Valley from the Taliban, bloodied corpses are still turning up on the streets. This time, the victims are suspected militants -- and the killers are alleged to be security forces.
The army and the police deny the accusations, which the leading Pakistani human rights watchdog says are credible.
The killings are a sign of the troubles still facing the valley, even as US officials cite the offensive -- which is now winding down -- as a success in Islamabad's campaign against Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants threatening both Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The bloodshed comes as many of the two million people who fled the fighting are now returning to rebuild their lives. Last week, two suicide blasts rocked the main town of Mingora in another deadly reminder of the threat the militants still pose.
The corpses began appearing several weeks ago, residents say. On Monday, 15 bodies were found in a town east of Mingora, local TV stations reported, although authorities would not confirm that. Another 18 were recovered from different parts of Swat on Aug. 15, authorities said.
The killings are a grim echo of Taliban rule over the valley, when militants dumped bodies of alleged spies or government collaborators on the streets to terrify people into submission. Residents recalled public beheadings and of decapitated bodies being left in Mingora's main square so regularly that it earned the nickname, 'Bloody Square.'
'Previously we were afraid of the Taliban. Now, we're afraid of the army,' one man said, standing at the site where the bodies of two people, 35-year-old butcher Gohar Ullah and his younger brother Zahoor, 30, were found last Friday. Like many in Mingora, he would not give his name for fear of reprisals.
About seven hours after their relatives carried the brothers' corpses away, blood was still pooled in the dusty back alley where they were slain. Blood splatter on a wall and wooden door indicated the men had been brought there alive and shot.
'More than a month ago, they were arrested on the charge of militancy involvement,' during a police raid on their home, said relative Habib Ur-Rehman, as he helped clean and shroud his cousins' bodies for burial in a small courtyard not far from where they were found.
Four other brothers were taken at the same time, along with their father, Rahim, whose corpse turned up three weeks ago in the same area, Ur-Rehman said, as the women of the family gathered in another courtyard nearby, wailing and crying in grief.
Police and the army in Swat denied having had the two men in custody, or holding their other four brothers or father. 'No, I don't know about them,' said Swat District Police Officer Ghulam Farooq Qazi. 'They are not in my custody.'
But like the army, Qazi said he thought that the bodies turning up on the streets belonged to militants. 'The militants, they did many crimes ... they are fighting each other now,' he said. 'Another (reason) is, the people who are suffering because of these criminals, they are also trying to take their revenge.'
Local residents found the bodies of the Ullah brothers. One man, who gave his name only as Liaqat, said he heard between four and six shots fired at around 4 am Friday, but didn't leave his home due to a nighttime curfew. Other locals gathered at the site nodded in agreement.
Like many of the corpses discovered on the streets, they were blindfolded with their hands tied behind their backs, said one relative. One had been shot in the head and the other just below the eye, he said.
'My sons had nothing to do (with the Taliban). They had no fight, they were innocent,' said Bakht Begum, the men's mother, as she wiped away tears. 'Even my husband had no fault. They killed my husband and my two sons, and now they should release the others.'
Militants began asserting their influence in Swat in 2007 - part of a wave of Al-Qaeda and Taliban expanding their reach from safe havens near the Afghan border. By April, they controlled much of the one-time tourist retreat, just four hours' drive from the capital, Islamabad.
The army launched a major operation in April that it claims killed more than 1,600 militants.
While the insurgents have undoubtedly been pushed back, their top leadership escaped, keeping many of the valley's residents on edge.
Most Swat residents interviewed said they were unconcerned if Taliban were indeed being killed. They said they felt no pity for those who had sown terror and misery and that the killings might be what is needed to stop the insurgents from returning.
"Dead terrorists don't terrorize so good no more," said one, anonymously, lest undead terrorists should hear of it.
As we said on Rantburg a while back, "few things are more peaceful than a dead terrorist" ...
'Look at what they have done to innocent civilian people,' said Shahed Javed, a restaurant owner in central Mingora who opened his shop again in the past few days. 'In such a situation, it's a good thing.'
The independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said in a recent report it had received 'credible reports of numerous extrajudicial killings and reprisals.'
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2009 00:00 ||
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Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, the scion of a revered clerical family who rode the rise of Shiite power in Iraq to become one of the country's most powerful political figures but was deeply distrusted by Sunni Muslims as an ally of Iran, died Wednesday at the age of 59. Two senior clerics from his party, Sheiks Humam Hamoudi and Jalaleddin al-Saghir, told The Associated Press that he died after being hospitalized in critical condition in Tehran where he was being treated for lung cancer. In a brief announcement, Iranian state television also reported that al-Hakim died from lung cancer.
Al-Hakim wielded enormous influence since the 2003 U.S. invasion as head of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, maintaining close ties to both the Americans and his Iranian backers. A longtime leader of a Shiite rebel group that fought Saddam's rule, he was seen by many Shiites as the embodiment of the victory that ended decades of brutal repression under Saddam and restored what they see as their rightful place as the country's leaders.
His son and political heir, Ammar al-Hakim, said in a statement read on the party's al-Furat television that his father "who spent decades in jihad and struggle has joined the ranks of the martyrs."
Al-Furat placed al-Hakim's picture on a blackened background and began reciting Koranic verses. It then began showing scenes from his life and played somber music.
The Kurds said al-Hakim's death was a loss to those who worked to reconcile Iraq's often warring religious and ethnic factions. "He had a significant role in Iraq's national unity and was working hard to narrow the different opinions among all Iraqis," Fuad Hussein, spokesman for Kurdish Regional President Massoud Barzani told The AP. "We hope that all the Iraqi people and their leaders will follow his example and directions and never abandon his ideology and path."
Calm and soft-spoken, al-Hakim held no government post since Saddam Hussein's ouster, but held enormous influence in his role of kingmaker in the turbulent years after Saddam's fall. However, his close ties to Iran, where he lived in exile for more than 20 years, made him a controversial figure, distrusted by most Sunnis and even some Shiites as Tehran's man in Iraqi politics and a symbol of sectarian politics.
Al-Hakim's outspoken support for Shiite self-rule in the south of Iraq also was seen by Sunnis and Shiites alike as an Iran-inspired plan to weaken the country and hand Tehran control of the country's Shiite heartland, home to most of Iraq's oil wealth and the riches of the shrine cities of Najaf and Karbala.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
08/26/2009 7:42 Comments ||
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#2
I wonder if it was cancer, AIDS, or the type of cancer associated with AIDS? AIDS runs rife through Qom, because Shiites only associate oral, not anal, sex with homosexuality. So whenever some young religious student goes to Qom, he gets horribly buggered as a matter of course.
Barnea told me I had the wrong man. The lucky one in the Levant is Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority. Abu Mazen is quite happy with the status quo, Barnea said. The West Bank standard of living is improving, law and order is improving. Hes a head of state with none of the responsibilities of a head of state. Good story on how life is improving in the West Bank (courtesy of improved security)
Ma'an -- Hamas leaders left the Gaza Strip on their way to Cairo on Tuesday for a new round of talks regarding Palestinian national unity.
The delegation, led by senior official Mahmoud Zahhar, will meet with Egyptian security officials to determine the fate of negotiations with the rival Fatah movement. An Egyptian security official told Ma'an that the Hamas delegation included three other people in addition to Zahhar. The group arrived at the Rafah Border Crossing at 12pm and crossed to the Egyptian side. Egyptian security forces then escorted them to Cairo. A Hamas-Fatah summit originally scheduled for this week was postponed until after the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which began last weekend.
Palestinian sources said they expected the Zahhar delegation to visit other countries after finishing talks in Cairo.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2009 00:00 ||
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Ma'an/Agencies -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated on Tuesday that he would not halt the construction of illegal settlements in East Jerusalem.
Jerusalem, Netanyahu told reporters at a London news conference, "Is not a settlement. It is the sovereign capital of the State of Israel. We have been building in Jerusalem for 3,000 years."
"Israel will not accept limits on its sovereignty," in Jerusalem, Netanyahu said, speaking alongside British counterpart Gordon Brown after a meeting at 10 Downing Street.
Israel annexed East Jerusalem after occupying it along with the rest of the West Bank in June 1967. The annexation has never been recognized as legitimate by the international community. Britain, along with the US and most other countries maintain their embassies in Tel Aviv.
Despite Jerusalem's centrality in the debate over the settlements, the Israeli leader said that Israel and the US were closer to reaching a compromise on the issue, paving the way for renewed negotiations with the Palestinians.
"We hope to move forward in the next months and weeks," said the Israeli leader, as quoted by the Haaretz newspaper.
"With the help of our friends in the US, Britain and elsewhere we can achieve progress that will confound the cynics and surprise the world," he added.
He urged the Palestinian leadership to move forward in a "courageous" way and tell the Palestinian people: "It's over, there is going to be real, final peace."
On the settlement issue, Netanyahu said he hoped to find a "bridging formula" that would enable settlers already living in the West Bank colonies to lead a "normal life."
For his part, Brown reiterated his government's position that continued construction in settlements poses an obstacle to a two-state solution to the Palestinian struggle for self-determination, though he added that there appears to be progress on the issue.
The British prime minister said a settlement freeze construction would likely pave the way for Arab states to normalize diplomatic relations with Israel.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2009 00:00 ||
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#2
Gordon Brown is another "useful idiot". Jerusalem belongs to the Jews, by history, by war, and by occupation and annexation. Brown needs to close his pie hole.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/26/2009 14:08 Comments ||
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[Iran Press TV] Iran says it expects the UN nuclear watchdog to pass a 'legally binding' resolution to impose a ban on military strikes on all nuclear installations across the globe.
On August 13, Tehran asked the United Nations to add a paragraph to the agenda of its general conference to study and put to vote a fresh proposal prohibiting any military action targeting any nation's nuclear sites.
Iran's ambassador to the IAEA Ali-Asghar Soltaniyeh told Press TV on Monday that Tehran expected 'fruitful constructive talks' on the initiative which is to be presented at the agency's upcoming general conference in September.
The request was made through a letter directed at the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) Chief Mohamed ElBaradei. More than 100 members of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) also expressed their support for the proposal in a letter to ElBaradei on Monday.
Soltaniyeh said on Monday that "the letter was an indication that almost all member states of the IAEA were concerned about any attack or threat of attack against nuclear installations in any country."
Calling the proposal 'a matter of great urgency', Soltaniyeh said that during the last 20 years the world has witnessed a rise in the number of nuclear installations, which means that the potential of the threat and also the consequences of the release of radioactive material in case of any attacks have been increased.
Soltaniyeh said that he was optimistic that the majority of the member states would support the proposal so that the groundwork would be laid for devising a sort of legally binding instrument defined within the framework of the IAEA, which would protect 'all nuclear installations' across the world.
In September 1990, the IAEA General Conference passed a resolution proposed by Iran, titled "Prohibition of All Armed Attacks Against Nuclear Installations Devoted to Peaceful Purposes Whether Under Construction or in Operation."
Although similar to the new proposal, the former resolution does not address 'threats' or military strikes on 'all nuclear installations'.
If approved, the envoy said the new legally binding instruments would oblige the IAEA as well as the member states to do their best to prevent any attacks on the nuclear facilities of the member states.
Iran is thinking of "a sort of legally binding instrument, that in case of an attack, the IAEA as the international technical organization, as well as the member states will feel obliged to assist [the country under the attack]. And before that, of course, if there are threats of an attack, the international community will augment their pressure to prevent such violation from occurring," Soltaniyeh told Press TV.
The 53rd Annual Regular Session of the IAEA General Conference is set for September 14-18 at the Vienna International Center (VIC) in Vienna, Austria.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
They should talk to Berkeley on the wording.
It's unlawful to detonate a nuclear device inside the Berzerkley city limits, you know. I expect there's a hefty fine involved, although it's unclear just who would collect it.
#2
Well, if Iran tells us where ALL of their nuclear sites are, then we can be sure not to attack them.
We will need the geographic coordinates, as well as a description of how deep they are.
Just so we know, ya know.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
08/26/2009 21:54 Comments ||
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[Iran Press TV] In a follow-up to the post-election mass trials of opposition activists and protestors, Iran puts aides to former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami and top Reformist figures in the dock.
The fourth session of the revolutionary court held on Tuesday dealt with former officials from the administration of leading Reformist figure Khatami -- including former deputy economy minister Mohsen Safaie-Farahani, former deputy interior minister Mostafa Tajzadeh, former deputy foreign minister Mohsen Aminzadeh and Reformist activists Mohsen Mirdamadi and Abdollah Ramezanzadeh.
Saaed Hajjarian, a former deputy intelligence minister who is known for architecting Iran's Reform movement, was also among the accused. Hajjarian has been in custody for more than 2 months despite his serious health condition.
Behzad Nabavi, a top Reformist figure and former minister in the government of Ahmadinejad's main presidential election rival Mir-Hossein Mousavi after the 1979 revolution, and Iranian-American scholar Kian Tajbakhsh were also on trial.
Member of Iran's Islamic Participation Front and Reformist journalist Hamidreza Jalaeipour and leading Reformist journalist Saeed Leylaz were also present at the court session.
Mohammad Ghoochani, chief editor of Etemad-e-Melli (National Trust) daily belonging to another opposition figure Mehdi Karroubi, was also put in the dock.
Mohammad-Reza Jalaei, Sadeq Norouzi, Hedayat Aqayi, Massoud Bastani, Hamzeh Ghalebi, Feizollah Arabsorkhi were among other Reformist figures present at Tuesday's court session.
The other defendants include Ali Tajernia, a former opposition lawmaker, Shahaboddin Tabatabaei, a leading figure in the country's largest Reformist party, and Ahmad Zeidabadi, a journalist who has written critically of the Islamic establishment.
During the legal proceeding in the morning session, prosecutors brought a new list of charges against the post-vote detainees.
The indictment read out by Tehran's Deputy Prosecutor Mehdi Sepehri, accused members of the Islamic Participation Front of taking steps to undermine the country's presidential election and its official results which granted a landslide victory to the incumbent, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Along with the Islamic Participation Front, the Islamic Revolution Mujahedeen Organization has been accused of "lying" and spreading "rumors of fraud in the election."
Citing examples of illegal activities carried out by the two political fronts in the country's post-vote frenzy, the revolutionary court called for both factions to be dissolved.
Sepehri claimed that an election head office in northern Tehran -- used by defeated presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi -- had been used in various illegal activities, such as providing a base for the BBC's Persian TV service.
The prosecutor went on to say that on June 12's evening, as the vote process was underway, security forces raided the office which prompted the elements inside the building to "take hostage" some of the forces.
The statement by the court went on to describe the opposition as a "power-seeking defiant movement" which has "stood against the system and the majority vote of the people."
The prosecutor also went on to claim that evidence gathered from the Islamic Participation Front's office reveal that Hajjarian was the mastermind behind the alleged "soft coup" while Tajzadeh had entertained the idea of using "American weapons."
The prosecutor also implicated Mohammad-Reza Khatami, the former president's brother, of seeking "foreign support" for the alleged coup attempt.
During the session, meanwhile, certain defeated political groups were charged with having links to Western media and foreign embassies seeking to cause mayhem in the country.
The trials come as the official outcome of the June 12 presidential vote provoked unprecedented, widespread protests in Iran and opened a rare divide among the ruling elite.
The crackdown against the street demonstrations resulted in the arrest of thousands of opposition figures, protesters and journalists -- who have been accused of plotting to topple the government --- and the deaths of at least 30 people.
Iran has already staged mass trials of nearly 140 individuals on offences linked to widespread demonstrations that followed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's hotly-disputed victory in the June election.
Following the controversial mass trials of post-vote detainees, the opposition announced that the confessions made at court had been forced.
The opposition and their supporters have also condemned the trials as a "sham" staged by supporters of the incumbent president.
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08/26/2009 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV Latest] Iranian-American scholar Kian Tajbakhsh has accused former president Mohammad Khatami of turning Iran into a safe place for US activities.
We've got spy squirrels... and worse, so we've no need to wait for permission from a former president of Iran. Surely they didn't think the Mossad was the only one having fun with equipment maintenance these last many years? These people should at least try to keep their various paranoias from contradicting one another!
Tajbakhsh is among Iran's post-election detainees charged with espionage and acting against national security.
In a Tuesday court session in Tehran, Tajbakhsh, a former member of the Soros Foundation in Iran, said in his defense statement that former president Khatami and Mohammad-Javad Zarif, the then Iranian envoy to the United Nations, met George Soros, the founder of the network, in 2006.
Tajbakhsh said the meeting was part of a plan, which began in 1997, when Khatami took office, to 'overthrow' the system. He added that Khatami has been 'constantly' in contact with the Soros Foundation since then.
"Because of the support of some officials from the Reformist camp...a safe place was created for the cooperation of domestic and foreign forces...and American political parties and NGOs found a way to start activities in Iran," Tajbakhsh added.
Tuesday saw the fourth session of the revolutionary court dealing with those arrested in the aftermath of June 12 presidential vote, which saw incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad re-elected for another four-year term.
Iran has already held mass trials of nearly 140 individuals charged with masterminding the post-vote unrest.
Following the controversial mass trials of post-vote detainees, the opposition announced that the confessions made in court had been forced.
The opposition and their supporters have also condemned the trials as a "sham" staged by the supporters of the incumbent president.
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08/26/2009 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV Latest] Saeed Hajjarian, a premier reformist strategist who was disabled in a 2000 assassination attempt, has been accused of having links with the British intelligence service.
During the fourth round of the mass trials held for those arrested during Iran's post-election violence, the co-founder of Iran's main reformist party, the Islamic Participation Front, was linked to renowned political theorist John Keane, Open Society Institute's George Soros and German philosopher Jurgen Habermas.
"Hajjarian has twice met with John Keane, the British mastermind connected to MI5," the prosecution said.
Hajjarian, the prosecutor said, had met well-known philosopher and sociologist Jurgen Habermas, who is famous for the theory of Civil disobedience.
According to Habermas, societies can actively refuse to obey certain laws, demands and commands of a government, or of an occupying power, without resorting to physical violence.
The Soros Foundation which according to the indictment planned to launch a "velvet coup" in Iran was also named as having links with Hajjarian.
George Soros, the chairman of the foundation, has reportedly helped fund the 1989 "Velvet Revolution" in the Czech Republic.
The prosecutor concluded by asking for the "full punishment" against Hajjarian, who has been in custody three days after Iran's disputed June 12 election.
The "brain of reformists" is among the 140 people accused of orchestrating the post-election violence in Iran, which resulted in the death of around 30 people and injured hundreds more.
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[Iran Press TV] One of the defendants standing trial for Iran's post-election unrest says the son of influential official and cleric Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani asked him to embezzle government funds for his father's election campaign in 2005.
During the fourth round of the mass trials held for post-election detainees, Hamzeh Karami told the court that about $2 million of the Iranian Fuel Conservation Organization's assets were used to finance Rafsanjani presidential campaign.
Karami claimed that he started work at the organization in 2003 with the recommendation of Mohammad Hashemi, the brother of the former two-time president.
He added that at the time the former president's son Mehdi Hashemi was the managing director of IFCO.
"After that, I realized that Mehdi Hashemi's father has plans to run in the 2005 presidential election. It seemed that was why I had been invited to work there," Karami explained.
"Mehdi Hashemi believed that election in Iran were financed with government funds. He did not believe in spending private savings for the election. So they step up a system for forgery and document falsification," he added.
Karami also said Mehdi Hashemi was involved in money laundering.
According to his statement, Karami served as a manager of political affairs for the presidential office during Mohammad Khatami's term.
Following the trial, Mehdi Hashemi told Tabnak that the allegations were baseless.
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
In July, 45 U.S. troops died in Afghanistan , the highest monthly toll this year. So far in August, 40 Americans have died, many in the south, and Pentagon officials say privately that with nearly a week left in the month, they expect August to exceed July's number. Americans make up the majority of the 63 coalition troops killed so far this month; 75 coalition soldiers died in July.
North Korea on Tuesday agreed to talks between the Red Cross agencies of the two sides to discuss a resumption of reunions of families separated by the Korean War. Through an inter-Korean hotline at the truce village of Panmunjom, the North agreed to the Souths suggestion to hold the talks at Mt. Kumgang on Aug. 26-28, a year and nine months after the last Red Cross contacts. The reunions are to start up again on Chuseok or Korean Thanksgiving, which falls on Oct. 3. 
Ma'an -- Hamas leaders left the Gaza Strip on their way to Cairo on Tuesday for a new round of talks regarding Palestinian national unity.
