[Quqnoos] US Defence Secretary, Robert Gates on Sunday denied that president Obama had set an exit strategy for Afghanistan
Secreatry Gates said that only "handful" of US troops might leave the country in mid-2011.
Gates appeared on ABC with other senior US officials said that the president intended to fulfill its commitment to Afghanistan and the security responsibility would gradually be transferred to Afghan security forces.
Last week US president after a long-awaited announcement of revised Afghan strategy said that he would soon send an additional 30,000 troops to Afghanistan that would bring the total of US troops in Afghanistan to nearly 100,000.
While unveiling his revised Afghan strategy, Mr. Obama said the US troops "will begin to come home" in mid-2011, not clarifying all US troops will begin to leave or the additional 30,000 he authorised.
But Mr. Gates said that significant number of US troops would remain in Afghanistan for years.
"This is a transition,'' Gates said on ABC, "We are not talking about an abrupt withdrawal.
We are talking about something that will take place over a period of time.''
The handover of the security responsibility to Afghan forces, according to Mr Gates, would start form areas where Taliban pose less threat, mostly in the north.
Earlier Afghan Ministry of Defence announced that Afghan security forces would start taking responsibility from foreign forces within two years and the process would be completed in four years.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/08/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Is Mr. Gates scheduled to do work on the bus differential or exhaust system? This sounds like open rebellion to me. I expect the Kiddies to get right on it, no?
#3
PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUMS > [Admiral]MULLEN EXPECTS US CASUALTIES TO RISE IN AFGHANISTAN
[US is "NOT WINNING" in Afghanistan hence need for new Bammer 30,000 troops surge]:
* SAME > OBAMA POLICIES MAKING SITUATION WORSE IN AFGHANISTAN AND PAKISTAN?; + HAKIMULLAH MEHSUD WARNED BACK IN MAY [May 29th, 2009] OF ATTACKS IN PINDI [Rawalpindi], MULTAN, AND LAHORE.
* DAWN.PK > PAKISTAN MILITANT GROUUPS UNITING
[Lahore Police Official = Taliban + Punjabi Militant Groups| Taliban + LeJ]; + HAKIMULLAH: TALIBAN TO TAKE ON PAK ARMY IN JANUARY [Jan 2010 Winter Season-Snows].
SAME > MCCHRYSTAL: US TO REVERSE TALIBAN MOMENTUM WITHIN ONE YEAR.
* ISRAELI MIL FORUM > COUNTERTERRORISM BLOG - TALIBAN COUNTER-STRATEGY BASED ON US DECLARED STRATEGY [POTUS Bammer + Admin-DOD].
ARTIC > IT'LL BE "TALIBAN TIME" AGAIN FOR SAME + AFPAK LOCALS come Year 2013 or shortly after as POTUS BAmmer = USA has all but formally told the Taliban + AQ, etc. all they need to know ala the US plan, timeline for mil pullout from AFGHANISTAN = AFPAK.
[Iran Press TV Latest] An Afghan court has sentenced the mayor of Kabul to four years in prison on corruption charges -- the first major anti-corruption move by President Hamid Karzai.
The court issued a warrant for the arrest of Mir Abdul Ahad Sahebi in absentia on Monday.
Sahebi was found guilty of misappropriation of more than $16,000 dollars of public money. The court has ordered the mayor to return the money and removed him from his post.
It was the first high-profile corruption conviction for an Afghan official since President Karzai was sworn in for a second five year term.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/08/2009 00:00 ||
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[Bangla Daily Star] Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed was re-elected the secretary general of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami yesterday while the party's six assistant secretary generals and three nayeb-e-ameers were also re-elected.
Two nayeb-e-ameers and one assistant secretary general were however elected for the first time.
Majlish-e-Sura, the highest policymaking body of the party, elected the top officials in a daylong meeting held in its central office in Moghbazar of the capital.
Last month, 25,000 members of the party had re-elected Motiur Rahman Nizami their ameer or the chief through a direct election, who yesterday took the oath of office in front of the Majlish-e-Sura.
Jamaat Publicity Secretary Tasnim Alam told The Daily Star that the meetings of Majlish-e-Sura are equivalent to the national councils of other political parties.
Addressing 232 Sura members, re-elected Jamaat chief Nizami yesterday alleged that the Awami League government's initiative to try war criminals is a part of its design to rout out Islam from the country.
The chief of the Islamist party, that had opposed the country's birth and its liberation war, however said his party is 'determined to safeguard the country's independence and sovereignty', which according to him are endangered now.
Nizami, who was a minister during the last BNP-Jamaat-led four-party alliance regime, said the incumbent government's initiative to wipeout Islam from the country's education policy, scrapping of the fifth amendment to the constitution, and its efforts to reinstate the 1972 constitution are parts of its conspiracy against Islam.
About the proposed trials of war criminals, Nizami said, "The government is engaged in a conspiracy to destroy Islamist forces through its fresh initiative to try war criminals, which is an already settled issue."
"The present government also wants to rout out religion from the country through reinstating the 1972 constitution," he alleged.
The day long meeting of Majlish-e-Sura presided by Nizami also discussed the party's strategy for the coming days.
The three re-elected nayeb-e-ameers are Abul Kalam Muhammad Yousuf, Maqbul Ahmad, and AKM Nazir Ahmad while Muhammad Abdus Subhan, and Delwar Hossain Saydee were elected to the post for the first time, according to a media release.
The re-elected assistant secretaries general are Muhammad Kamaruzzaman, Abdul Quader Molla, ATM Azharul Islam, Mohammad Abu Taher, Mujibur Rahman, and Barrister Abdur Razzaq, while Shafiqur Rahman was elected to the post for the first time.
The Majlish-e-Sura also elected 52 members of the central working committee and 15 members of the executive committee.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/08/2009 00:00 ||
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[Bangla Daily Star] The trial for the BDR mutiny in Satkhira began yesterday through pressing of charges against 60 members of 7 Rifles Battalion in a special BDR court at 41 Rifles Battalion Headquarters.
BDR has set up six special courts to try the BDR personnel with links to the February 25-26 mutiny at its headquarters in Dhaka and elsewhere in the country under the Bangladesh Rifles Order, 1972.
The three-member bench headed by BDR Director General Maj Gen M Mainul Islam sat at 3:10pm at a makeshift courtroom.
None of the accused was produced before the court.
During the sixty-minute proceedings, complainant Subedar Maj MM Sarowar Jahan of 7 Rifles Battalion read out allegations against the 60 suspected mutineers as per a court order.
Of them, 34 are now in Satkhira jail and the rest have been detained, the BDR chief told journalists after adjournment of the proceedings.
The special court-1, which will sit again at 10:00am today, gave an order to produce the accused before it.
Subedar Maj MM Sarowar Jahan and prosecutor Lt Col Badrul Alam, also commanding officer of 7 Rifles Battalion, told the court that the 60 BDR personnel supported the mutiny at the BDR Pilkhana Headquarters and were ready to revolt.
They threatened and misbehaved with superior officers and their family members. The BDR members also carried arms and ammunitions without permission, the prosecutor said.
The BDR personnel also called upon other soldiers to join the revolt and brought out a procession chanting slogans in support of the Pilkhana mutiny.
The prosecutor told the court that there are sufficient evidence and documents against the accused.
They said the allegations against the accused had been found true through a nine-month-long investigation led by Maj Mokaddes.
The court accepted the statement of the prosecutor and took cognigence of the crimes against the accused.
The BDR DG said if found guilty, they might face imprisonment up to seven years.
Lt Col Gazi Khalid Hossain and Maj Lutful Karim are other members of the bench.
Deputy Attorney General Khasruzzaman was present as a law officer to advise the bench while Mosharraf Hossain Kajal and Sahidur Rahman stood as senior public prosecutors on behalf of the state.
A sedition case was filed with Shyamnagar Police Station against 34 soldiers of 7 Rifles Battalion at Nildumur.
Mutiny took place at two places -- 41 Rifles Battalion and 7 Rifles Battalion headquarters -- in Satkhira.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/08/2009 00:00 ||
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Grilled lightly with butter and served with a side of bark and grass salad ...
GENEVA, Dec. 7 (Yonhap) -- Malnutrition is a "thing of the past," a North Korean official has claimed, amid accusations of human rights abuses including forced labor, malnourishment and torture, by the United Nations' rights council.
Ri Tcheul, the head of the North Korea's mission in Geneva, made the comments before a session by the U.N. Human Rights Council (UNHRC), where members raised issues pertaining to "serious human rights violations" and a lack of transparency and oversight. The U.N. and many global human rights agencies argue on the basis of defectors' testimony and other evidence that "systemic, widespread, and grave violations" are prevalent in North Korea.
Lee Seong-joo from South Korea noted endless reports of infringement of basic human rights coming out of North Korea and advised the country to reduce the discrepancy between its constitution and the actual enforcement of the law.
Wendy Hinton, New Zealand's representative to the 47-nation council, also pointed out that children and women in the communist country are severely malnourished because the military has priority in receiving food.
Ri defended his country, arguing that limited arable land and natural disasters have prevented the government from being able to feed the entire population, and tried to assure the council that the situation was now under control. "The issue of serious malnutrition is a thing of the past ... We will in the near future meet the domestic need for food on our own."
Robert King, the recently appointed U.S. envoy on North Korean human rights noted the absence of transparency makes it hard to accept such assertations.
The World Food Program has said North Korea will need more than 800,000 tons of food aid from abroad to feed its 24 million people this year.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/08/2009 00:00 ||
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SEOUL, Dec. 8 (Yonhap) -- South Korea finalized its plan Tuesday to deploy up to 350 troops to Afghanistan for two and a half years to assist U.S.-led efforts to fight insurgency and rebuild the Central Asian country. The deployment, subject to parliamentary approval, will begin in Parwan Province north of Kabul on July 1 next year and include helicopters, armored vehicles and a reconnaissance drone, the Ministry of National Defense said in a statement.
The initial contingent will be made of 320 troops, ministry policy director Jang Gwang-il told reporters, adding 30 more could be sent if needed.
The government worked for weeks on plans to protect its civilian provincial reconstruction team (PRT) working to rebuild Afghanistan, where the U.S. is fighting Al Qaeda and the Taliban.
"The main mission will be to guard the PRT base and escort and protect the activities of the PRT members," the ministry said, adding the troops will rotate every six months.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/08/2009 00:00 ||
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North Korea's women are emerging as a formidable force in the face of controversial currency reforms, sources said Monday.
Most of the market traders in the North are women in their 40s and 50s trying to earn enough to feed their children. And now they are openly expressing their anger as the draconian reforms, which replace the currency at a rate of 100:1 and effectively confiscate any savings, make their lives even more difficult.
"The women are tough and defiant," a source said, "and now they are angry. Markets are turning into places of protest against North Korean leader Kim Jong-il." The women gather to accuse the authorities, defying threats of arrest.
Organizations reporting on life in North Korea say prices denominated in new won are already soaring. Activist organization Good Friends said rice sold for 16-17 new won per kg in the Pyongyang market until Dec. 2 jumped to 50 won on Dec. 3. Another sources said there are rumors of cutthroat inflation because market traders are hoarding food. Rumors have it that the price of an egg has risen from 300 old won to 7,000.
But the North Korea Intellectuals Solidarity, a group of defectors, said food rations are being distributed at state offices and the initial chaos is dying down in North Hamgyong Province, including Onsong, Hoeryong and Musan. The regime claims food rations will soon resume across the board, so there will be no need of money. But many North Koreans remember the millions who starved to death in the mid- and late 1990s and are unlikely to be fooled by such promises.
Meanwhile, a seminar hosted by the Korea Peace Institute heard that the nascent middle class and the rich will not be too badly affected because they appear to have hard currency stashed away, according to Dong Yong-seung, a senior fellow at the Samsung Economic Research Institute. But he added the living conditions of ordinary people will deteriorate rapidly.
KPI director Yoon Young-kwan, a professor at Seoul National University, said, "The currency reform is the first round in a standoff between the North Korean government and market forces. There will be many more."
Dr. Kim Young-yoon of the Korea Institute for National Unification stressed the need to "pay attention to the North Korean residents who might be bearing a greater grudge and becoming more defiant."
The reforms could also affect the joint-Korean Kaesong Industrial Complex. Dr. Cho Bong-Hyun, a North Korea analyst with the Industrial Bank of Korea, said there is a good chance that the North will ask for a wage rise for workers there next year to buy more nuclear parts and cognac.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/08/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Women seem quite happy to coexist with Fascism until it stops them buying trinkets.
#2
In much of the world women leave the politics of running the country to the menfolk to manage, and only step in when the men let the situation get out of hand.
A senior State Department official said Monday that the U.S. agenda for talks with North Korea will be limited to determining whether Pyongyang is willing to return to Chinese-sponsored talks on its nuclear program and to reaffirm its 2005 agreement in principle to disarm. U.S. envoy to North Korea Stephen Bosworth will arrive in Pyongyang on Tuesday for the highest-level bilateral meeting since President Barack Obama took office in January.
There have been press reports that North Korea wants to use the Bosworth visit to pursue its long-standing quest for a peace treaty with Washington that would end the technical state of war that has existed since the Korean conflict of the 1950s.
But a senior State Department official who spoke to reporters on the eve of the U.S. envoy's arrival in Pyongyang says Bosworth has a "quite narrow" agenda in North Korea, to determine whether the communist state will return to disarmament talks and to reaffirm the 2005 framework agreement under which Pyongyang is to scrap its nuclear program -- including weapons, in return for aid and other benefits from world powers.
The senior official said Bosworth will seek clarity on North Korea's intentions and said that if it wants to return to the negotiations, he is sure China would be ready to reconvene them. He said that if Pyongyang rejects the resumption of six-party discussions, the other participants would focus on enforcing sanctions under U.N. Security Council resolution 1874, which was approved after North Korea's May 25th nuclear test and consider possible additional penalties.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/08/2009 00:00 ||
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FRENCH President Nicolas Sarkozy stoked the debate over immigration today with a warning to Muslims to practice their religion discreetly or face rejection by moderate Islam in France.
Mr Sarkozy voiced sympathy for Swiss voters who opted last week to ban the construction of minarets as he tried to reassert himself in a debate over national identity which he launched last month but that has since spiraled out of his control.
Over the past week, Mr Sarkozy had appeared to retreat from his original comments following a backlash over the way that they were being used against immigrants, particularly Muslims.
But in a column for Le Monde, Mr Sarkozy returned to his theme and said that the result of the Swiss referendum showed how important it was for France to define its identity.
"Instead of condemning the Swiss out of hand, we should try to understand what they meant to express and what so many people in Europe feel, including people in France," he wrote. "Nothing would be worse than denial."
Mr Sarkozy called for tolerance and underlined France's respect for all faiths, but his message was intended primarily to reassure those who are unhappy about what they see as a threatening Muslim presence in the country.
"Christians, Jews, Muslims, all believers regardless of their faith, must refrain from ostentation and provocation and ... practice their religion in humble discretion," he wrote.
Addressing himself to Muslims, he wrote that anything that could appear as a challenge to France's Christian heritage and republican values would "doom to failure" a moderate Islam in France.
Mr Sarkozy enjoys majority public support with his opposition to Muslim women covering their faces in public. Parliament is reviewing ways of countering the practice and may propose an outright ban next month.
Opinion polls show rising unease over the population of 6 million Muslims. A survey last week found that 46 per cent favored banning minarets, with 40 per cent against. More than 40 percent opposed building any mosques, compared with only 19 per cent in favour.
Online Posting Reveals a "How To" for Terrorists to Get Through Airport Security
The Transportation Security Agency (TSA) inadvertently posted online its airport screening procedures manual, including some of the most closely guarded secrets regarding special rules for diplomats and CIA and law enforcement officers.
The most sensitive parts of the 93-page Standard Operation Procedures were apparently redacted in a way that computer savvy individuals easily overcame.
Two Navy SEALs arraigned Monday on charges of mistreating a suspected Iraqi terrorist were buoyed by a public display of support outside Norfolk Naval Station, where they are scheduled to be court-martialed next month.
About 100 supporters, some from as far away as Texas, gathered outside one of the base's main gates to protest charges against three men. They carried flags and held signs reading "Save our SEALs" and "Is this America?"
There was no controversy inside the courtroom where Capt. Moira Modzelewski, a military judge, took less than an hour to formally arraign two of three accused commandos: Petty Officer 1st Class Julio Huertas and Petty Officer 2nd Class Matthew McCabe.
McCabe, 24, was charged with assaulting Ahmed Hashim Abed by striking him in the midsection with his fist. He is also accused of dereliction of duty and making a false statement to the investigator who interviewed him about the alleged assault.
The detainee's name was blacked out in copies of charging documents, but Lt. jg Nicholas Kadlec, the lead prosecutor, read it aloud when he announced the charges.
The alleged assault took place at Camp Baharia, Iraq, on Sept. 1, Kadlec said.
Continued on Page 49
#1
Scott (D), Warner (D), and Webb (D), all scurry under rocks like the cowards they are. These SOB's were happy to let another Democrat, Murtha, call our hero's murderers a while back. I'm not pissed because a few seals might have broken the AR's, what really angers me here is the premis that when diplomacy fails the military is used to force our leaders will. Our leaders have forgotten this simple rule, now through their actions our military will no longer trust them. I have seen this in third world countries over and over again and they all end the same, badly. When our very elite services walk on our government so will the rest of men and women with honor. What will be left will be broken. Those of us that lived through the military of the 70's will understand the scale of this crazyness and the real threat to our democracy.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
12/08/2009 11:45 Comments ||
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#2
While I support the SEALs I would caution anyone think of this in grey areas. The UCMJ does not have grey areas. They either lied or they didn’t. I really don’t care what they did to this guy in Iraq. That being said if they reported “Sir we never touched him” when there is evidence that they did will not fly in a military courts martial. But I think this is rapidly becoming a political hot potato, so Gates may council the prosecutor to accommodate a Letter of Reprimand. Heck they don’t even have to sign it and it allows the lawyers to claim “justice” was served. /end barracks lawyer comments ;-)
#3
The people (civ and military) agenda behind this need to be exposed. They are the ones that create ROE and JAG approvals for action that get our military unnecessarily injured or killed. my two cents. This POS should never have been taken alive
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/08/2009 18:39 Comments ||
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#4
D'oh! People AND agenda...
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/08/2009 18:40 Comments ||
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#5
If this crap keeps up, I think you are going to see a lot more prisoners killed while "trying to escape". Dead men tell no tales.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
12/08/2009 22:23 Comments ||
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An American living in Chicago traveled to India and Pakistan over nearly two years to videotape targets and brief plotters for the terrorist assault that killed 166 people in Mumbai a year ago, U.S. authorities alleged Monday. I'm glad they caught this "man-made disaster" planner but I wonder how many more are out there among us that we don't know about. I'm guessing at least a few and what's scary is that's all it takes (in the case of Ft. Hood, it only took one.)
An internal US Secret Service document shows that there have been 91 instances of security breaches since 1980, most of them involving the president. The breaches include a family driving a vehicle on to the White House grounds and a man being allowed access after being mistaken for a delivery driver. The report comes only two weeks after a couple gatecrashed a state dinner hosted by President Barack Obama.
The 2003 document was obtained by the Washington Post newspaper. The Washington Post said the report had been used for training officers in the Secret Service, the branch in charge of the president's security.
A spokesman for the Secret Service, Ed Donovan, said that there had been 10 security lapses since 2001, including the incident in November 2009 involving Tareq and Michaele Salahi. Among the more serious security breaches listed in the Secret Service document is a 1994 incident in which a man fired 29 rifle rounds at the White House from outside the perimeter fence before being apprehended. It also cites an incident in the same year in which a pilot was killed when his small plane crashed in the White House grounds.
In another startling breach of security dating from 1982, a family of four neared the Oval Office in their vehicle. All they had done to gain access to the White House grounds was honk their horn.
Secret Service spokesman Edwin Donovan said the document "reflects a proactive attempt to evaluate our security and obviously raise awareness of uniformed division officers and agents about their job". He also pointed out that despite the publicity surrounding the recent gatecrashing incident, the service's officers had successfully protected 34 top US figures and 222 international dignitaries attending the UN general assembly.
The Pakistani Taliban are waiting the weather out and will take on the military when winter arrives in Pakistan's tribal region, said Taliban leader Hakeemullah Mehsud in a phone call with CNN.
"We will wait till January for our offensive since we are stronger during the snowing season," Mehsud said.
He told CNN he remains confident despite the large-scale military operation currently targeting him and his fighters in the province of South Waziristan.
"We have conserved our energy and have not lost our morale," he said.
The leadership of his organization is safe, he said, but he didn't say where they are taking refuge.
[Dawn] Interior Minister Rehman Malik has said that concrete evidence of Indian interference in Pakistan has been provided to the Foreign Office which will take it up at an appropriate forum.
Still taking photos to demonstrate a certain lack of circumcision amongst the perpetrators? Such an embarrassing idee fixe (yes, I know the accent is missing -- I don't know how to make the computer do that), when even I know that the tribals don't do such a thing to their boys. (Thanks for explaining that a few weeks ago, john frum!)
He told a press conference after meeting ulema of different schools of thought here on Monday that the issue would be taken up forcefully whenever composite dialogue with India resumed and the proof would be shared with the international community.
"See how avidly we photograph men's pee-pees."
He said arms and terrorists were entering Pakistan from Afghanistan and the matter had been taken up with President Hamid Karzai.
More accurately, perhaps, returning from Afghanistan where they'd been taken for staging some time ago.
Mr Malik said no one could be allowed to use Pakistan's soil for terrorism. The interior minister said all ulema had termed acts of terrorism and suicide attacks 'Haram' and declared that funeral prayers of suicide attackers were not justified.
But is it terrorism if it's aimed against Christians, or Jews, or unbelievers? How are believers defined? Because the taqfiris claim all who do not believe exactly as they do are unbelievers, too. Including the ulema which declared their actions haram. A ticklish point, you must admit, and the kind a good journalist would raise at this juncture.
He said all ulema were united against terrorism and had offered 10,000 volunteers to the government. The minister thanked the ulema, but said the armed forces were performing their duty very well and with responsibility.
"I have been given the task to meet ulema and will hold similar meetings in Lahore, Peshawar and Quetta," Mr Malik added.
He said an international conference of religious scholars would also be held.
In reply to a question, he said a national anti-terror command and a think-tank had been set up three months ago and an anti-terrorism policy was being prepared.
He said three biometric checkpoints had been set up on the border with Afghanistan.
In reply to a question, he said detained US suspect David Headley was born in Pakistan but had left the country in his childhood and was educated in US. If he had committed an unlawful act, action should be taken against him under US laws, he said. If he had any contacts in Pakistan, the government should be informed and it was prepared to extend full cooperation to the United States, he said.
Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah also attended the meeting with ulema.
Mufti Muneebur Rehman, chief of the Ruet-i-Hilal Committee, said the meeting had condemned terrorism and suicide attacks, terming them against Islam and Pakistan.
According to a declaration, the ulema suggested that heirs of martyrs should be taken care of and arrangements made for rehabilitation of people affected by terrorism. The armed forces were assured that the entire nation was behind them in their efforts for ensuring security of the country.
Mufti Muneeb said all ulema had pledged to maintain law and order during Muharram and keep vigil on terrorists and extremist elements.
The chief minister also presided over a meeting that reviewed arrangements for Muharram.
According to Wikipedia: Muharram (Arabic: محرم) is the first month of the Islamic calendar. It is one of the four sacred months of the year in which fighting is prohibited. Muharram is so called because it was unlawful to fight during this month; the word is derived from the word ‘haramÂ’ meaning forbidden. It is held to be the most sacred of all the months, excluding Ramadan.
So of course there will be no jihadi violence during this period.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/08/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
A half hour after former Pak PM Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's (Benazir's father) body was removed from the gallows, photographs of his private parts were taken to ascertain whether he had been "circumcised in the Islamic fashion"
Posted by: john frum ||
12/08/2009 17:44 Comments ||
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[Dawn] Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Sunday the United States would not pursue Taliban leaders in Pakistan and that it was up to Islamabad to address the threat posed by militants on its territory.
His comments followed a report the White House had granted authority to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to expand a bombing campaign in Pakistan by unmanned aircraft to strike Taliban and Al-Qaeda figures.
'Pakistan is a sovereign government. We are in a partnership with them. I think at this point it's up to the Pakistani military to deal with this problem,' Gates told CBS News' 'Face the Nation.' He added that the United States had confidence that Pakistan's nuclear arsenal was secure despite the threat posed by insurgents.
'We're comfortable' with the security of the country's atomic weapons, Gates said.
The New York Times reported on Friday that the CIA had been authorized to step up the use of armed drones in Pakistan's tribal areas to hunt down and strike suspected Taliban and Al-Qaeda leaders.
The Times, citing unnamed sources, said that the decision came last week, coinciding with President Barack Obama's announcement Tuesday to deploy 30,000 additional US troops to fight Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan.
US officials were also talking with Pakistan about using the drones to strike in Balochistan -- a vast region outside of the tribal areas that borders Afghanistan and Iran -- where Afghan Taliban leaders are reportedly hiding, the Times wrote.
The CIA declined to comment on the report.
Appearing on the same program, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton praised Pakistan for launching an offensive against the Taliban inside its borders, saying Islamabad had appeared reluctant to take such action in the past.
'You know if you had told us a year ago that the Pakistani army would be going after Pakistani Taliban, I think a lot of people would've said no, that couldn't ever happen, that's not the way it works,' she said.
'But they saw the threat to their sovereignty,' said Clinton, citing insurgent attacks on government targets in Pakistan.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/08/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
I would hope that these kinds of ops are not announced.
Posted by: liberal hawk ||
12/08/2009 12:58 Comments ||
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#2
Given the Times' track record, I wouldn't hold out much hope of that not happening.
#3
The record shows that in the two dimensional sense, we've avoided it. However, in the three dimensional sense, we've been rather active in doing it.
#4
VARIOUS NET > seems AFGHAN Prez KARZAI has repor said that Afghanistan will need 15-20 years of contin US-World Aid, etc. to survive + defeat the Militants???
[Dawn] Interior Minister Rehaman Malik held meetings with religious scholars during his visit to Karachi on Sunday. Malik said that all Ulema will be consulted in the ongoing war on terror and that US drone attacks in Fata are fuelling militancy in the country.
Speaking to the media outside Dar-ul-aloom in Karachi, the interior minister stated that the government is willing to approach all parties in the country to formulate an anti-terror policy. He added that those involved in terrorist acts in the country are not only enemies of Pakistan but also enemies of Islam.
No religion of society allows the massacre of innocent children, Malik said, speaking in response to a question about the massacre at a Rawalpindi mosque on Friday.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/08/2009 00:00 ||
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[The News (Pak) Top Stories] Minister for Interior Rehman Malik on Monday said religious scholars belonging to different schools of thought were of the view that terrorism and suicide bombings were un-Islamic and funeral prayer of a suicide bomber was not permissible.
Addressing a press conference after attending a meeting with Ulema here at the Chief Minister House, the minister said the participants of the meeting exchanged views in detail about terrorism and all were unanimous in condemning acts of terrorism and suicide bombings.
He said Ulema offered about 20,000 seminary students to fight against terrorism. He said the Pakistan armed forces were capable of defeating terrorists, but the government needed the support of religious scholars on ideological front to frustrate the designs of extremists and terrorists, who were misusing the name of Islam.
Rehman Malik said such meetings with religious scholars would also be held in Lahore and Peshawar under the instructions of Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani. He said he would hold such meetings with the scholars in Lahore on Dec 10, adding after holding meetings with the religious scholars in all provinces, he would submit a detailed report to the prime minister to counter terrorism. He said the religious scholars belonging to a Madrassa (seminary) in Islamabad extended help to the government, where a terrorist had stayed. He said some heads of the Madrassa have handed over suspected extremists to the government.
Responding to a question about the reported contention of the religious scholars that drone attacks and the American intervention were contributing to terrorism in Pakistan, Malik said parliament had passed a resolution against the drone attacks and the government had not given permission to the US for such attacks.
About the alleged involvement of IndiaÃs RAW (Research and Analysis Wing) in terrorism in Pakistan, the minister said he had given ìproofsî to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to raise this issue at an appropriate forum, adding the ministry was working on it.
About the entry of the Taliban and arms smuggling to Pakistan, the minister said that it was not easy to seal 2,200 km-long border. However, he added the government was working on a ìborder management action planî. He said the government has also identified three spots at the border, where the biometric system would be installed soon. He categorically stated that Osama bin Laden was not in Pakistan.
About the arrest of David Coleman Headley on charges of terrorism in the US, Malik said Headley had left Pakistan when he was a child. He said if the US provided any information in this regard, the government would help it.
Malik welcomed the statement of MQM Quaid Altaf Hussain for formulating a national policy against terrorism. He added that the government had already established an 'institutionî while a think-tank was being set up and a policy was also being prepared to curb extremism and terrorism.
Meanwhile, a copy of the ìjoint declarationî was distributed among media persons on this occasion. It said the meeting while expressing its concern over the current situation in the country, termed terrorism every form a ìgreat sinî against Islam, humanity and Pakistan.
The participants were of the view that the people involved in terrorism were the enemies of Islam, Pakistan, humanity and the whole nation. The meeting offered Fateha for religious scholars, armed forces personnel and others, who fell victim to terrorism and prayed for the early recovery of the injured. It also urged the government to compensate the heirs of the victims according to the Sharia.
The participants were of the opinion that unity among all sections of society and the nation was needed to ensure internal and external security of the country and pull the country out of the present crisis. The meeting assured the armed forces that the whole nation was supporting them and consider their sacrifices with great regard.
The religious scholars also urged the nation to maintain peace and harmony during Muharram-ul-Haram. The Ulema also urged all scholars to avoid use of undesirable language against any religious school of thought in their sermons and keep their religious gatherings within ìChar Diwariî (confine within religious places or conference rooms).
They also urged the government to record sermons and take strict action against those religious scholars who violate the code of conduct concerned.
Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah, provincial Minister for Religious Affairs Mohammad Sajid Jokhio, Sindh Home Secretary Arif Khan and other officials also attended the meeting. The religious scholars who attended the meeting included Prof Mufti Munib-u-Rehman, Allama Shah Turabul Haq Qadri, Mohammad Shahid Ghori, Mufti Mohammad Rafi Husni, Allama Ghulam Mohammad Sialvi, Haji Mohammad Hanif Tayyab, Mohammad Siddiq Rathore, Allama Qazi Ahmed Noorani, Tariq Mehboob, Allama Mohammad Akram-ul-Mustafa Azmi, Allama Liaquat Azhari and Qari Saleem Akhtar.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/08/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Suicide bombing is un-Islamic, so give it a new name - there must be an Arabic term for engaging in violent acts with zero chance of survival: 'jihad' doesn't quite fit but it's close.
Former chief of General Staff (CGS) Lt-Gen (retd) Shahid Aziz has said he, along with other senior Army officers, opposed to give Pakistan's airbases to the US but the then president and chief of Army Staff Pervez Musharraf did it without informing his corps commanders.
Former CGS and former chairman of the NAB Shahid Aziz made this revelation while talking to Hamid Mir in Geo TV's show "Capital Talk" on Monday night.
He said the Pakistani troops were moved from Quetta to Jacobabad for taking control of the local airbase, but "we were surprised when our troops informed us that the US Army had not allowed them to enter the Jacobabad airbase." He said that after sometime, he came to know privately from a PAF officer that the US had also taken over the Pasni airbase and as the CGS, he was not aware of all these developments.
Shahid Aziz said Pervez Musharraf took most of the sensitive decisions without informing his corps commanders.
Responding to a question, he said Pakistan never benefited from the US presence in Afghanistan. In fact, India is using Afghanistan to destabilise Pakistan and this is happening under the nose of the US troops in Afghanistan, he said, adding Pakistan must say goodbye to the US war on terror now.
He admitted that Pervez Musharraf, his COS Hamid Javaid and Tariq Aziz forced him to close down the investigations against Benazir Bhutto and when he refused to implement the orders, he was asked to resign from the NAB chairmanship in July 2007. He said Musharraf was also responsible for facilitating many criminals through the NRO and he would definitely provide evidence against Musharraf in any court of law, if summoned.
Former interior minister Faisal Saleh Hayat also agreed that Pakistan must keep its distance from the US in the so-called war on terrorism. He claimed that India and Israel were involved in sponsoring terrorism in Pakistan.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/08/2009 00:00 ||
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[Geo News] Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah has held India and other terrorist outfits to cause Lahore twin blasts, Geo news reported Monday.
Talking to media here in Lahore, he said India is directly involved in terrorist activities in Pakistan besides involvement of other foreign terrorist outfits.
Ruling out the possibility of Lahore twin blasts being suicide attacks, he said Lahore explosions were terror attacks instead of suicide blasts.
Only bold, brave and courageous nations could retaliate terrorism, law minister said, warning PPP leadership against, whether or not, holding mass gatherings in the face of recent wave of terrorism attacks.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/08/2009 00:00 ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] Like a camel laden with gold but fed with thorns, as locals say, the impoverished Iraqi city of Basra has seen little benefit from its oil wealth, but new deals with foreign oil majors have stirred cautious optimism.
Deals with firms including Britain's BP and China's CNPC to develop Iraq's lucrative oilfields have led to high hopes for jobs and investment, but also wariness in a country that for decades has had few dealings with foreign companies.
"I'm really optimistic. Let them come, I'll welcome them with open arms and even give them some of my land if they need it, as long as they invest," said Leftah Abbas, a farmer living in a mud house on one of Iraq's richest oilfields.
Iraq has the world's third largest oil reserves, most of it in and around Basra in the south, but years of war, sanctions and neglect have stifled oil exports and seen slums and sewage inundate a region that should be awash with petrodollars.
The Oil Ministry in recent months struck a deal with BP and CNPC to develop the super giant Rumaila oilfield, and is negotiating contracts with firms including Italy's ENI and Exxon Mobil that could catapult Iraq into the world's oil exporting big leagues.
Ten untapped oilfields will be auctioned off Dec. 11-12 in Iraq's second tender of contracts since the 2003 U.S. invasion.
Yet Iraqi oil workers employed by the state's South Oil Company (SOC), which oversees most Iraqi oil production and is set to partner the foreign oil majors, are worried.
They fear losing their secure government jobs and being made to work in the private sector under foreigners, or being made redundant by modern technology.
"If they're here with new equipment and they help us make use of our gas, then they're welcome, but we need guarantees about our jobs and benefits," said gas technician Hussein Ali at the south Rumaila oilfield.
A job with the SOC or other Iraqi state entity is highly prized. Under a state-dominated economy, Iraqis have grown used to government jobs for life. The private sector is seen by many as risky and capitalism viewed with suspicion.
Uncertainty over how the new oil deals will affect SOC employees has led the oil workers' union to reject the Rumaila contract, but its stance is not shared by all oil workers.
"This is our first experience working with foreign firms, so there's going to be some fears and doubts, but I'm optimistic we'll learn and grow," said Abdul Wahid Abdul Ridha, deputy manager of a gas plant at south Rumaila.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/08/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
They can't really believe hey'll get applicants, if they know they'll be killed.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
12/08/2009 12:52 Comments ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] East Jerusalem, which Palestinians want as a national capital, is "not part of Israel," Luxembourg's Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn said Monday ahead of a meeting with his EU counterparts.
"We all recognize, in discussions, that east Jerusalem is occupied, and if it is occupied then it is not part of Israel," Asselborn told reporters as he arrived for the talks in Brussels.
"I don't understand how Israel fails to recognize that Palestine is composed of the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem," he added, pleading for Europe and the US to use "clear language" when pronouncing on the issue.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/08/2009 00:00 ||
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#7
compared to 20 years ago or even 10 years ago this article is interesting because it ( al arabiya) actually implicitly recognizes Israel's right to exist within their disagreement of the boundaries
Posted by: lord garth ||
12/08/2009 9:36 Comments ||
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#8
Grom, what's the deal with this Tom Gross article? He makes it sound like the West Bank is on its way to becoming a de facto dependency of Israel's. Are the checkpoints really that sparse now?
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
12/08/2009 10:24 Comments ||
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#9
East Jerusalem has never been recognized as a part of Jordan or the West Bank anyway.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
12/08/2009 12:31 Comments ||
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#10
Damfino, Mitch. But, Dar is Dar---the next explosion is only a matter of time.
[Ma'an] The cabinet of the Fatah-backed government in Ramallah urged the European Union to adopt what it termed "clear positions in accordance with international law" on Monday.
The call comes as the council of European foreign ministers is set to vote on a resolution that would declare East Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital and hint that it would recognize a declared Palestinian state.
The measure introduced by Sweden, obtained by the Israeli daily Haaretz, also calls on the Israeli government "to cease all discriminatory treatment of Palestinians in East Jerusalem."
Israel occupied East Jerusalem in 1967, annexing the Palestinian city and declaring it its "undivided, eternal capital." Israel's claims to the city were never recognized abroad, and most countries' embassies are in Tel Aviv.
The ministers called on the EU in statement to play a role in restarting the long-stalled peace process with Israel.
The cabinet also reaffirmed its view that peace will only be achieved through an end to the Israeli occupation and the establishment of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.
The government headed by Prime Minister Salam Fayyad also reiterated its call for a total freeze on the expansion of Israeli settlements in the entire West Bank. It said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to freeze construction in settlements outside of Jerusalem, while approving an additional 3,000 housing units in the city, is a policy that violates international law.
In the same context, the council of ministers condemned Israeli settlers' attacks on Palestinians, and the Israeli government's cancellation of residency rights of 4,500 Palestinians in Jerusalem this year.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/08/2009 00:00 ||
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[Ma'an] De facto Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh spoke with Libyan leader Mu'ammar Gaddafi of the crippling Israeli siege on Gaza during a telephone conversation on Sunday, according to the Hamas affiliated Palestinian Information Center.
The Gaza government's prime minister discussed the various Israeli policies in Jerusalem aimed at "Judaizing" the city and the continued confiscation of Palestinian land in the West Bank, calling on Arab and Muslim countries to exert further pressure to stop Israeli violations, PIC said.
Additionally, Gaddafi expressed his appreciation for the Palestinian people, and reportedly promised to examine the support his country can offer to the besieged people of the Gaza Strip.
As a delegation of members of the Palestinian Reconciliation Committee arrive in Cairo on Sunday to discuss the Egyptian proposal aimed at bringing an end to Fatah-Hamas rivalries, PM Haniyeh told Gaddafi that Hamas was willing to reach an agreement for Palestinian unity.
Haniyeh thanked Gaddafi for Libya's support of the Palestinian people and of the Arab cause.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/08/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
And Kaddaffee Duck put on his lipstick and his Taffeta Puce-Mauve dress and his white pumps and promised to look into the matter as soon as he got the time. Right after going to the Mall...maybe.
Arabs, you know.
yeah, Kaddafy is the one guy to have your back when the going gets rough. Hows the ol' Peace Plan, coming along for you, Abdrool?
IRANIAN Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki has accused the United States of abducting its nuclear scientist Shahram Amiri who went missing in Saudi Arabia earlier this year.
"Based on existing pieces of evidence that we have at our disposal the Americans had a role in Mr Amiri's abduction," Mottaki said at a press conference in Farsi which was translated into English by Press TV channel.
"The Americans did abduct him. Therefore we expect the American government to return him."
Mottaki said Amiri had travelled to Saudi Arabia to perform the minor Muslim pilgrimage when he disappeared.
"He disappeared in Saudi Arabia and naturally we ask the Saudi government to look into the case .... Saudi Arabia must be held accountable in this regard."
Earlier yesterday, foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told Mehr news agency that Riyadh had handed Amiri over to Washington.
Mehmanparast also acknowledged that Amiri was a nuclear scientist, something which Iranian officials had previously avoided revealing.
#1
I would feel a lot better if I believed we were even capable of pulling something like this off these days. Maybe he defected, maybe the Juice got him, or maybe the Saudis or Russians did. Depending how important he is there are a lot of folks who would prefer to slow down Iran's nuclear capability, even if only to improve their own importance as a supplier.
[Iran Press TV Latest] Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki has called on the US to release a detained Iranian who has been allegedly found guilty of arms trafficking.
Amir Hossein Ardebili was detained by undercover US agents in Georgia in 2007 and secretly transferred to the United States. Following his detention, he pled guilty in a US court to 14 counts related to arms trafficking in the May of 2008.
He is scheduled to be sentenced in a Delaware court on December 14.
Mottaki said the remarks made by Ardebili in the US court were reflective of his "unsuitable psychological situation," condemning what he described in his case as "the violation of international law."
The Iranian minister called on the US to secure the immediate and "unconditional release" of the detainee, arguing that "We do not see any reliable evidence for the allegations made against Ardebili."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/08/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Well, that sure is not as bad a hiking. Any word on your hikers detained in Iran?
Tel Aviv has warned that it will hold Beirut responsible for any Hezbollah attempt against Israel after Lebanon endorsed a bill allowing the movement to keep its arms.
"The Lebanese government and Hezbollah are becoming entwined and they will bear responsibility for any attack against Israel," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday.
"Hezbollah is today the real Lebanese army and it has replaced Lebanon's army as the dominant force by arming and organizing itself as a full-fledged military," he added.
After a unity government that included Hezbollah was formed, Lebanon's cabinet adopted a policy statement granting the movement the right to keep its arms.
Israel, however, has expressed concerned over the move, saying it is the violation of the UN Security Council Resolution 1701.
"Resolution 1701, as an international agreement aimed at preventing Hezbollah's rearmament, has totally failed. The number of rockets Hezbollah possesses today is much larger" than before the 33-day war, the premier said.
The regime had formerly voiced concern over the movement's military possesses, saying it is capable of putting the main cities of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem Al-Quds in range of its rockets.
Israel fought the 33-day war to destroy Hezbollah's military power but eventually left southern Lebanon without achieving any of its objectives.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/08/2009 00:00 ||
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#2
Any country that allows some military organization sponsored by a foreign country to be "legal" INSIDE their own sovereignty...is no country. Pure and simple.
Lebanon doesnt exist. They deserve what happens to them. They dont have a Country, they pussed it away. If they dont have the balls to protect their sovereignty they get the sweet f8ckall.
And that's it for those Chuckies.
If you come home and Hizbollah is in bed with your wife...you either kick him out minus his cods and hang the wife from the ceiling fan or you dont have a home. You can always get another wife. Sovereignty is or it isnt. Lebanon's flag is a whore on its knees.
#5
Sorry TW fingers got ahead of my brain on that one.
I knew it wasn't Yiddish but my fingers already flew past.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
12/08/2009 20:34 Comments ||
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#6
Admittedly, it would be great fun to force them to deal exclusively in Yiddish, only to find the only people they'd be able to talk to would be a few ancient Holocaust survivors and the residents of a few ultra-orthodox Jewish enclaves in New York City and Toronto... and no doubt a few other places I'm not aware of.
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.
[Quqnoos] US Defence Secretary, Robert Gates on Sunday denied that president Obama had set an exit strategy for Afghanistan
[Iran Press TV Latest] An Afghan court has sentenced the mayor of Kabul to four years in prison on corruption charges -- the first major anti-corruption move by President Hamid Karzai. 
[Bangla Daily Star] Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed was re-elected the secretary general of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami yesterday while the party's six assistant secretary generals and three nayeb-e-ameers were also re-elected. 
[Bangla Daily Star] The trial for the BDR mutiny in Satkhira began yesterday through pressing of charges against 60 members of 7 Rifles Battalion in a special BDR court at 41 Rifles Battalion Headquarters.
[Dawn] Interior Minister Rehman Malik has said that concrete evidence of Indian interference in Pakistan has been provided to the Foreign Office which will take it up at an appropriate forum.
