#2
"There are opposition forces to Karzai. . . . those who are more liberal, more educated, more pro-Western and, let's put it this way, more honest. Plenty of them,"
RRRRIIIGGGHT.
#3
I agree that Karzai and his family are a major reason there's so much corruption in Afghanistan. I'm pretty sure the last Afghanistani election was stolen in the time-honored Chicago Way. Karzai needs to go, but only if it's an Afghanistani that does the job. If the CIA OR the KGB killed Karzai, the resemblance to Vietnam would be complete. Another major thing that needs to happen in Afghanistan is the Pashtun tribes need a severe a$$-kicking - either by us, or by someone. that includes the half living in Pakistan.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/03/2010 14:58 Comments ||
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#4
Beef up the Helipad on the Kabul Embassy roof so it will accommodate V-22 Ospreys.
The Taliban pounded on the door just before midnight, demanding that Aisha, 18, be punished for running away from her husband's house. Her in-laws treated her like a slave, Aisha pleaded. They beat her. If she hadn't run away, she would have died. Her judge, a local Taliban commander, was unmoved. Aisha's brother-in-law held her down while her husband pulled out a knife. First he sliced off her ears. Then he started on her nose.
This didn't happen 10 years ago, when the Taliban ruled Afghanistan. It happened last year. Now hidden in a secret women's shelter in Kabul, Aisha listens obsessively to the news. Talk that the Afghan government is considering some kind of political accommodation with the Taliban frightens her. "They are the people that did this to me," she says, touching her damaged face. "How can we reconcile with them?"
In June, Afghan President Hamid Karzai established a peace council tasked with exploring negotiations with the Taliban. A month later, Tom Malinowski from Human Rights Watch met Karzai. During their conversation, Karzai mused on the cost of the conflict in human lives and wondered aloud if he had any right to talk about human rights when so many were dying. "He essentially asked me," says Malinowski, "What is more important, protecting the right of a girl to go to school or saving her life?" How Karzai and his international allies answer that question will have far-reaching consequences, not only for Afghanistan's women, but the country as a whole.
As the war in Afghanistan enters its ninth year, the need for an exit strategy weighs on the minds of U.S. policymakers. Such an outcome, it is assumed, would involve reconciliation with the Taliban. But Afghan women fear that in the quest for a quick peace, their progress may be sidelined. "Women's rights must not be the sacrifice by which peace is achieved," says parliamentarian Fawzia Koofi.
Yet that may be where negotiations are heading. The Taliban will be advocating a version of an Afghan state in line with their own conservative views, particularly on the issue of women's rights. Already there is a growing acceptance that some concessions to the Taliban are inevitable if there is to be genuine reconciliation. "You have to be realistic," says a diplomat in Kabul. "We are not going to be sending troops and spending money forever. There will have to be a compromise, and sacrifices will have to be made."
For Afghanistan's women, an early withdrawal of international forces could be disastrous. An Afghan refugee who grew up in Canada, Mozhdah Jamalzadah recently returned home to launch an Oprah-style talk show in which she has been able to subtly introduce questions of women's rights without provoking the ire of religious conservatives. On a recent episode, a male guest told a joke about a foreign human-rights team in Afghanistan. In the cities, the team noticed that women walked six paces behind their husbands. But in rural Helmand, where the Taliban is strongest, they saw a woman six steps ahead. The foreigners rushed to congratulate the husband on his enlightenment -- only to be told that he stuck his wife in front because they were walking through a minefield. As the audience roared with laughter, Jamalzadah reflected that it may take about 10 to 15 years before Afghan women can truly walk alongside men. But once they do, she believes, all Afghans will benefit. "When we talk about women's rights," Jamalzadah says, "we are talking about things that are important to men as well -- men who want to see Afghanistan move forward. If you sacrifice women to make peace, you are also sacrificing the men who support them and abandoning the country to the fundamentalists that caused all the problems in the first place."
#1
--- Ten years ago Aisha would have merely been killed out of hand. Mutilation sends a more persistent message.
--- They will have to de-mine Afghanistan before it's safe for anyone to walk around there. --- Perhaps training Afghan women in martial arts & arming them with handguns might do more immediate good. Of course the Taliban might simply take the weapons from them.
#2
We are not going to be sending troops and spending money [there] forever.
Of course Afghanistan is likely to continue to foster jihad and slavishly adhere to militant Islam once we remove our troops & stop spending our money there. That's the real issue for the rest of the world.
#3
That's the real issue for the rest of the world.
Indeed. 'Twas Pakistan's ISI that sent the Taliban to conquer Afghanistan the last time, and supported them while they hosted Al Qaeda. What odds Pakistan would not take advantage of the situation to send all their problem jihadi groups across the border, there to practice their techniques on the native Afghans instead of Pakistani citizens?
#4
All I can think of is: I want to hear of the Taliban commander, the husband, and the brother-in-laws all being held down on the floor, one at a time, by a couple of burly SEALs, while another SEAL cuts the nose and ears off each one with a rusty knife - and then uses a blowtorch to remove just one testicle from each one.
Where's "Black Jack" Pershing when you really need him?
#7
The Taliban will be advocating a version of an Afghan state in line with their own conservative views
They are NOT conservative. I am conservative. The Taliban is reactionary; they are zealots.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/03/2010 14:34 Comments ||
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#8
Lone Ranger: er, no, that's not how we're supposed to behave. We're Americans, not Taliban. That sort of thing done in the Philippines a hundred years ago didn't earn us any honor, and it wouldn't do so today.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/03/2010 14:36 Comments ||
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#9
May not have won honor, but it certainly earned respect. "Let them hate, so long as they fear".
#10
The Landmarks Preservation Commission said in voting 9-0 that the 152-year-old building isn't distinctive enough to qualify as a landmark.
"This is not a building of special aesthetic character," said Commissioner Diana Chapin, echoing the remarks of her colleagues.
The dumba$$es on the commission ought to look at this cover of Time very closely and then maybe it will sink it to their dimwits what this mosque is about.
#13
The Christian convert who fled to Florida is having to go back to court to keep from being deported since her parents brought her here and then abused her. Of course, 20,000,000 Mexicans have no court date.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Members of an Arab nomadic tribe are settling in a contested region straddling north and south Sudan, hoping to vote in referendum next year that will define its status, a Sudanese official said on Sunday.
Members of the Misseriya tribe,
the "show me" tribe
who are accused by southerners of being close to the Khartoum government, are said to be moving into parts of Abyei, the chief administrator of the region Deng Arop Kuol told reporters in the Sudanese capital.
"The issue that is concerning the people of Abyei and troubling them very much is the issue of settlement that is taking place within the boundaries of Abyei," Kuol said.
"It is the Misseriya who are settling in those areas. The target is to settle in 20 locations in the area north of Abyei and they already started to settle in those areas now," he said.
Which just goes to show that Misseriya loves company.
To your room, ryuge! And do try to pretend to be ashamed of that. :-)
"We are getting information that they intend to settle 25,000 families in those areas and the number of people will go up to 75,000 in those areas. We believe it is something organised," Kuol added.
As south Sudan holds its referendum on independence in January, residents of the oil-rich Abyei region will simultaneously vote on whether they want to belong to north or south Sudan.
Abyei's referendum law gives the right of vote to members of the southern Dinka Ngok tribe and it is up to the referendum commission to decide which "other Sudanese" are considered residents of the region and can therefore vote.
The law has angered the Arab Misseriya -- a nomadic tribe that migrates each year to the Abyei region looking for pastures for their cattle--because it does not guarantee them voting rights.
The referendum commission for Abyei has not yet been formed, because representatives of north and south Sudan have failed to agree on who will head it -- leaving the question of Misseriya eligibility still open.
"The Misseriya... are in no way meant to vote in the Abyei referendum because they are not residents. They are meant to be nomads," said Kuol.
"You do have to live like a refugee, I don't care what Tom Petty says."
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
*slinks off to room with a deadpan expression concealing a self-satisfied smirk*
[The Nation (Nairobi)] More than 20 police officers wearing hoods ransacked her home in Kawangware at about 1.30am.
They then handcuffed and blindfolded her husband before driving off with him.
The man they took away in connection to the July 11 bombing in Uganda last month was Mr Idris Magondu, 42. He was arrested alongside two other Kenyans -- Hussein Hassan Agade, 27, and Mohamed Aden Addow, 25. They would later be charged with 76 counts of murder, even as they did not enter a plea.
Depressing operation
Ms Saida Rosemary, Mr Magondu's wife, termed the arrest operation "depressing", adding that her husband was innocent and could not have participated in the bombings.
"On the day of the Ugandan bombings, we went for shopping at Eastleigh with my husband before we returned to the house," Ms Rosemary told journalists.
"The landlord sent us a message thinking we had been attacked. Suddenly, there were loud bangs demanding we open the door."
According to Ms Rosemary, her husband whom she says worked as a driver and preached part-time, was arrested by more than 20 police officers wearing balaclava helmets, while armed with automatic weapons.
In the course of arresting her husband, she says, the policemen ransacked the house, destroying household items, including sofa seats, ceiling boards and food.
The police officers, Ms Rosemary adds, confiscated all her personal belongings including her national identity card, family photo album and mobile telephone. They did not write an inventory of the items they had seized and confiscated.
After handcuffing her husband and blindfolding him, she says, the hooded men drove away with him, arrogantly telling her that she would never see him again and that she should start looking for another man.
The following day, she said, she searched for him at various police stations, in vain. On July 27, Ms Rosemary says, she was advised by some of her friends to look for him at the Kileleshwa Police Station.
At least 76 people died in Kampala, on July 11, after bombs went off at two venues where soccer fans were watching the World Cup final game between Spain and the Netherlands.
Ms Rosemary describes her husband as a "peaceful, God-fearing and law-abiding citizen".
Kenya Muslim Human Rights Forum chairperson Al Amin Kimanthi on Saturday accused Kenyan authorities of breaching the law and handing the suspect over to Uganda.
Hassan Elijuma Agade, too, is yet to come to terms with the circumstances surrounding the arrest of his son Hussein Hassan Agade, who was on Friday arraigned in a Kampala court in connection with the Kampala bomb blasts.
From his house in Kawangware, he seemed lost in thought while speaking to the Nation.
"He is a very polite young man, very understanding and had just started his marriage life; his wife is six months pregnant. I don't understand when they implicate him in this," said Mr Agade, who works with Afya Sacco.
The Attorney General is yet to respond to a suit by relatives of two of the arrested Kenyans.
In court yesterday, the State lawyer wanted court to give them more time to file their response to the case. Their application was, however, filed before the two were arraigned in a Ugandan court last week.
The charges include terrorism, murder and attempted murder.
The parties are expected in court today for the AG to respond.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2010 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Shabaab
#1
her husband was innocent and could not have participated in the bombings
If he's innocent you still have a serious problem: SOMEBODY has to take the fall and he seems to have made some powerful enemies who are happy for it to be him.
[Bangla Daily Star] Despite having the mandate from the Supreme Court, the government yesterday decided in principle that it would not ban any religion-based political party.
The SC in its landmark verdict gave the government the mandate to ban religion-based political parties. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, however, categorically told her cabinet colleagues that her government would not ban any such party since banning them could make them take up underground politics and create trouble in the country.
Presiding over the weekly cabinet meeting at Bangladesh Secretariat, Hasina said it is the Election Commission which will oversee the political parties as to whether they fulfil the terms and conditions for getting registration with the commission.
"Restoration of the '72 constitution does not mean that many religion-based political parties will be banned. The government will take no measure in favour or against any party," a senior cabinet minister quoted the premier as saying.
The government would not put any pressure on the Election Commission to ban any party. If any party fulfils the criteria for registration of political party with the commission, it will be allowed to do politics, the minister quoted the prime minister as saying.
The minister, also a close aide to Hasina, said the EC set the terms and references for registration with the EC as political parties during the caretaker government. "At that time, all the parties were considered equally. So, it is the Election Commission to make the decision in this regard," added the minister.
At the cabinet meeting, Hasina also reiterated that the words "Bismillah-Ar-Rahman-Ar-Rahim" in the preamble to the constitution will remain as it is, since it reflect the beliefs of the people, highly-placed government sources told The Daily Star after the meeting.
A number of the ministers sought premier's move in preventing ministers and lawmakers from speaking too much about the restoration of '72 constitution without knowing much details. The ministers told the cabinet that people are confused due to some of their colleague's misleading and contradictory speeches on the constitution amendments, sources that attended the cabinet meeting told The Daily Star.
In response, the premier directed all her colleagues not to make any misleading statements on the amendments since an all-party parliamentary committee is dealing with the matter.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2010 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Islami
#1
"...does not mean that many..."
Parsing. This still puts the trouble making religious parties on notice.
The Swiss government has promised to investigate if there is evidence that North Korea has illegal funds stashed away in the country, Radio Free Asia reported Saturday.
Roland Vock of the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs told the radio station that Swiss bank accounts of North Korean officials or financial institutions on the list of the UN sanctions targets were automatically frozen and are subject to investigation by Swiss prosecutors and the financial supervisory agency.
Hint, Roland: look in the stash next to all the Jewish money from World War II ...
"Give me the information," he said. "Which bank [of about 500 Swiss banks], what money talking about, where money is coming from, then I can pass information to" the Swiss intelligence agency so that it can begin its probe. He said he meets American officials "very regularly" to exchange information.
Earlier on, Luxembourg also said that under the UN and U.S. sanctions, the country is closely watching for any illegal activities by the North using accounts there and will take "appropriate legal steps" if it finds them.
The entire Nork regime is an 'illegal activity'. Why not just freeze the funds on behalf of the suffering Nork people?
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's slush funds in banks in Switzerland and Luxembourg are estimated at more than US$4 billion.
So he can afford a couple hundred Mercedes Benz's for his pals ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/03/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
That statement by the Swiss govt should bamboozle the rubes, so the business of money laundering banking can continue---business as usual.
Posted by: Alaska Paul at FL360 ||
08/03/2010 1:07 Comments ||
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I guess the Daimler folks aren't capable of being shamed ...
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il reportedly gave some 160 Mercedes-Benz sedans to his high-ranking officials as gifts despite ongoing UN sanctions that ban exports of luxury goods to the communist country.
Radio Free Asia reported that the cars were handed out last Friday in the northern city of Hyesan.
The report said how and when the vehicles were brought into the country and how much they cost is not known.
160 x $50K each x say another 50% to get around the various problems in importing the cars. That's about $35 million.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/03/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
It cost money to buy loyalty. If i didn't get a Mercedes I would be looking for an exit.
Kim Jong-il is anything but a "dear leader" to North Koreans after decades of mismanagement, poverty and repression, a senior defector told the Chosun Ilbo on Friday.
"After years of despotism, there are very few people in North Korea who like Kim Jong-il. It's South Koreans, not North Koreans, who are the problem. If a lot of people in South Korea fail to grasp the truth about the sinking of the Cheonan and continue to support Kim Jong-il, our very future will be at risk, let alone any prospects of reunification," said Hwang Jang-yop (87), a former secretary of the North Korean Workers Party and the highest-ranking defector from the communist country.
The South Korean Left is one of the most successful sales forces in all history. No matter what the Norks do, the Left always, always blames someone else.
The last time Hwang spoke with the Chosun Ilbo was in April, right after the arrest of a North Korean hit squad sent to assassinate him. At the time he said he was "extremely disappointed" that 30 percent of young South Koreans do not believe North Korea sank the South Korean Navy corvette in March, causing the death of 46 sailors.
"Who other than Kim Jong-il would commit such a heinous act?" he demanded. "It is so obvious to me who was behind the attack, but there seems to be a lot of ignorant people in South Korea. People know so little about how savage and dirty Kim Jong-il is."
He said this willful blindness "is a more serious problem than the fact that North Koreans are oblivious of what is going on outside of their country." While it is not surprising that North Koreans have no idea of what is happening in the outside world, "South Koreans are refusing to believe the truth and that is very frustrating."
Hwang also spoke about the latest political developments in the North. "Some young lad named Kim Jong-un is apparently going to be the successor, but I believe this move will only hasten North Korea's ruin," he said. Another hereditary transfer of power for a third generation will be impossible, he believes. "The failing health of Kim Jong-il will erode the cult around him," Hwang said. "And when his absolute grip on power starts to weaken, ambitious people will emerge to challenge his authority and a generational power transfer would only trigger a power struggle and lead to the fall of the Kim dynasty."
He called on South Korea not be afraid of China stepping in when the North Korean regime undergoes sudden changes. Instead, as Kim Jong-il loses his power and North Korea embraces a Chinese-style market-opening strategy, South Korea could look for opportunities to achieve reunification.
Regarding propaganda leaflets sent to North Korea by activists in South Korea, Hwang said, "It is good to let North Koreans learn about what is going on in the outside world, but it's a bad idea to link such activities to retaliation after the sinking of the Cheonan," he said. "We must not stoop to the same level as Kim Jong-il."
Although a provocation by North Korea deserves an immediate response from the South, Hwang said Seoul does not necessarily have to get its own back if it misses the right timing for a reprisal. "If Kim Jong-il dares to attempt another provocation, the only thing South Korea needs to do is to demonstrate its strength, which can eliminate the North Korean regime," Hwang said. "Kim Jong-il is threatening to turn Seoul into a sea of fire. How can people who make such threats be considered fellow Koreans?"
Instead, the South should "shed light on Kim Jong-il's traitorous acts so that the people of North and South Korea can learn about them and change their views," Hwang said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/03/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Unfortunately hereditary leaders are the norm in human society
#2
"All South Korea has to do is show its strength" HMMMMM, HMMMM, wehell, the SOKORS may yet get their chance.
To wit,
TOPIX > VARIOUS > NORTH KOREA THREATENS
"PHYSICAL RESPONSE" [attack]TO SOUTH'S UPCOMING NAVAL DRILL + NORTH KOREA THREATENS TO ATTACK SOUTH DURING NAVAL DRILL.
Again, IMO its no longer enough for Kimmie = DPRK/NOKORS to initiate new NORTH-KOREA-VERSUS-SOUTH-KOREA-ONLY Mil incidnets in order to achieve Regional or International econ concessions. PRESERVING "DYNASTIC" POWER + REGIME + WORSENING FOOD,ECON PROBS + STALLED SIX-PARTY NUC TALKS + NEW, MORE SANCTIONS,...@ETC. = NORTH KOREA INCREASINGLY NEEDS A DE FACTO
"GREAT POWER(S)" MILPOL CONFRONTATION TO GET ANY KIND OF LOCAL CONCESSIONS.
IOW, again again KIMMIE may rant agz SOKOR mil drill, etc. BUT IT MAY NOT BE AN ACTUAL SOKOR-SPECIFIC MIL ASSET/TARGET THAT IS ATTACKED OR DESTROYED. AFAIK the USS "GW" = "Mighty/Holy George" CVN is still in the area, + also USFK, USFJ REGIONAL JOINT MILBASES.
Korea and the United States have agreed to start talks about the revision of a bilateral atomic energy agreement this fall, it emerged on Monday. Seoul is keen to reprocess its own spent fuel rods, which it is barred from doing under the agreement, but Washington has so far been reluctant to permit it since the process results in the production of weapons-grade plutonium.
But in a meeting Monday with senior Foreign Ministry officials in Seoul, Robert Einhorn, the U.S. State Department's special advisor for non-proliferation and arms control, apparently signaled willingness to consider Seoul's proposal to use a process known as pyroprocessing, which does not produce plutonium that is pure enough for nuclear weapons.
A diplomatic source said, "The U.S. has shown some confidence in Korea's pledge to reuse the spent nuclear fuel peacefully. Concrete technical matters will be reviewed by scientists and engineers of the two countries in negotiations."
And if the Chinese and Norks push too hard, the South can always reuse the spent nuclear fuel not so peacefully. Think about it Beijing ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/03/2010 00:00 ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] A delegation from Luxembourg visited the U.S. detention facility in Guantanamo Bay on Monday with the intention of adopting at least one detainee in Luxembourg, sources told Al Arabiya. "Yasss. We haven't had any krazed killers in awhile. We thought we'd like to try one." "One and only one, mind you. We're a small country."
If the resettlement takes place, it will be the first time a detainee is sent to Luxembourg. "That one looks healthy. What's his name?"
"Knuckles." "He's not too pushy, right? We're a small country, we don't want to get taken over."
The Embassy of Luxembourg in Washington and the U.S. State Department refused to confirm or deny the visit. "We can say no more!"
"But you ain't said nothin' yet!"
The State Department said that as a general policy they do not comment on ongoing negotiations with possible host countries. "They wanta adopt a homicidal maniac that's their lookout. I'd stick with a puppy, myself!"
Since U.S. President Barack Obama took office, 64 detainees have been transferred from Guantanamo: 36 individuals to 25 different countries. Currently there are 176 detainees remaining in the facility; the majority of them Yemini nationals. Nobody wants to adopt Yemeni nationals. They're bad luck. Try spaying them ...
Four of them have won court ordered releases, but the details of their resettlements have not yet been worked out. This comes at a time when 27 detainees have been approved for transfer on a U.S government review board's recommendation.
Sources have confirmed to Al Arabiya that there are two Yemenis awaiting resettlement in Europe. A Yemini national was sent to Spain earlier this year. However since the failed Christmas day bombing Nigerian man flying out of Amsterdam led a botched attempt to detonate explosives on board a Detroit-bound flight there has been a ban on sending detainees to Yemen.
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, is believed to have received training in terrorist tactics in Yemen. This is what happens when you don't spay them, see?
The U.S. does not repatriate detainees to their home countries if the country is on a list of those known to torture or mistreat their citizens. Last month, The U.S. was heavily criticized for sending an Algerian detainee to his country despite his fear for his safely.
Diplomatic negotiations are currently underway with numerous countries, mainly in Europe and other nations to resettle detainees. So far the U.S government refuses to resettle detainees in America.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2010 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
[Al Arabiya Latest] Israel's Defense Minister Ehud Barak has voiced concern that once-stalwart ally Turkey could share Israeli intelligence secrets with Iran, revealing a deep distrust as Ankara's regional interests shift.
The leaked comments by Barak cast doubt on how much Israel is willing or able to reconcile with Turks outraged at its navy's killing of nine of their compatriots aboard an aid ship that tried to run the Gaza Strip blockade on May 31
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2010 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
That's why you don't share American or any other tech with Turkey, China, or anyone else for that matter.
#5
It should be assumed that Turkey is and has shared Israel (and NATO) intelligence secrets with Iran - and Syria - and everybody else belonging to their murderous and vile cult.
The federal trial of seven alleged terrorists could be held in U.S. District Court on Middle Street in New Bern next year. A tentative trial date had been set for next month in New Bern, but the case was continued because thousands of pages of Arabic documents had to be translated, according to district court officials.
A U.S. District Court spokeswoman, Robin Zier, told the Sun Journal that the trial could be held sometime next year, but no court has been designated. “It could be held in U.S. District Court in New Bern or Raleigh. Chief U.S. District Court Judge Louise Flannigan is assigned the case,” she said.
Facing charges are:
Daniel Patrick Boyd, 39, the suspected ringleader of the group.
Hysen Sherifi, 24, a Kosovan immigrant who legally relocated to the Raleigh area.
Anes Subasic, 33.
Zakariya Boyd, 20.
Dylan Boyd, 22.
Mohammad Omar Aly Hassan, 22.
Ziyad Yaghi, 21.
All are U.S. citizens except for Sherifi. They all face life sentences if theyre convicted of the charges of conspiracy to take part in a terrorist plot. The men were indicted July 2009 and for conspiring to murder, kidnap, maim and injure persons abroad.
Daniel Patrick Boyd of Johnston County went under the alias of Saifullah. The indictment said Boyd trained in Afghanistan from 1989-1992 and fought in the Soviet war in Afghanistan, which ended in 1989.
According to David Kris, an assistant attorney with the U.S. Justice Department,“Daniel Patrick Boyd is a veteran of terrorist training camps in Pakistan, who over the past three years, has conspired with others in this country to recruit and help young men travel overseas in order to kill. Boyd received military-style training for the purpose of engaging in terrorist training for the purpose of engaging in violent jihad.” The indictment also says that Boyd and several of the accused traveled to Israel in June 1997 to engage in “violent jihad” but subsequently returned to the U.S. after failing in their efforts.
Across the street from the federal courthouse in New Bern is Centenary Methodist Church, which also has a day care facility. The senior pastor of the church, the Rev. Susan Pate Greenwood, said no notices had been sent to parents of day care students because no notification of a trial date has been made. “There had been rumors, but no official notification from federal officials had been made with church officials,” Greenwood said. Greenwood said if the trial is held in New Bern next year, notifications would be sent out to parents. “We have no hard evidence of such a trial, but will be in contact with federal officials,” she said.
A semi-secret government contractor that calls itself Project Vigilant surfaced at the Defcon security conference Sunday with a series of revelations: that it monitors the traffic of 12 regional Internet service providers, hands much of that information to federal agencies, and encouraged one of its "volunteers," researcher Adrian Lamo, to inform the federal government about the alleged source of a controversial video of civilian deaths in Iraq leaked to whistle-blower site Wikileaks in April.
Chet Uber, the director of Fort Pierce, Fl.-based Project Vigilant, says that he personally asked Lamo to meet with federal authorities to out the source of a video published by Wikileaks showing a U.S. Apache helicopter killing several civilians and two journalists in a suburb of Baghdad, a clip that Wikileaks labeled "Collateral Murder." Lamo, who Uber said worked as an "adversary characterization" analyst for Project Vigilant, had struck up an online friendship with Bradley Manning, a former U.S. Army intelligence analyst who currently faces criminal charges for releasing the classified video.
Uber, who formerly founded a private sector group called Infragard that worked closely with the FBI, compares the organization's techniques with Ghostnet, the Chinese cyber espionage campaign revealed last year that planted spyware on computers of many governments and NGOs. "We've developed a network for obfuscation that allows us to view bad actors," he says.
Nobody does volunteering like Americans, as I discovered when I joined the International School of Brussels PTA... although the Japanese mothers took the idea and ran with it most beautifully, once exposed to the concept. More meat at the link -- it turns out data mining is only against the rules for government intelligence agencies. Mr. Uber is terribly brave to go public like this.
The attorney for the man charged with last year's deadly shooting rampage at Texas' Fort Hood Army post says his client, who is still on the military's payroll, can't find a bank willing to cash his checks.
While Maj. Nidal Hasan sits in Bell County Jail in Belton, Texas, waiting for his next hearing in October, his lawyer, John Galligan, has been shopping around to banks trying to find a financial institution willing to take on his client as a customer.
"Various banks have refused, without any specificity, to permit Hasan to open a checking account where he can have his military pay deposited," Galligan told ABC News.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2010 00:00 ||
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[4 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
#5
He's still getting a check? Why do the survivors of these victims have to put up with this crap? Why do the taxpayers have to put up with this POS? It's not like he didn't do it. There's no mistaken identity. He admits to it. Good for the banks for refusing to cash the checks that he should be getting.
#8
why not because they have convicted him yet? @ the last comment. Hell I have a hrd time getting a check cashed and i didn't kill a bunch of fellow soldiers so cry me a river asshole.
Posted by: chris ||
08/03/2010 17:32 Comments ||
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#9
There is a fed law that restricts them from doing any business with a suspected terrorist or anyone suspected to supporting terrorism. The banks are covering their six.
Posted by: 49 Pan in Atlanta ||
08/03/2010 18:48 Comments ||
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#10
"Pay" ?
WTF
Posted by: john frum ||
08/03/2010 18:57 Comments ||
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#11
perhaps you oughtta rethink your fervid support, Atty John Galligan?
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/03/2010 19:12 Comments ||
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#12
"Various banks have refused, without any specificity, to permit Hasan to open a checking account where he can have his military pay deposited," Galligan told ABC News.
I'm sure they would like to say, "We don't want the murdering Muslim asshole's money".
But that would be sooooooooo unPC.
#13
#10 - American procedural law or legal ritual, suspect is 'presumed' innocent till proven guilty in a court of law. Till such time his pay accrues. I guess technically someone could be appointed to be a pay officer and he can sign for the money or for a partial. That the victims haven't gotten a lawyer to put a claim on that accumulating money is a missed opportunity. I'm sure some lawyer someplace could get an interpretation that stipulates it's 'terrorist' money and subject to confiscation. However most such 'activists' lawyers are actually spending time representing Gitmoites and not victims.
[Dawn] During an interview with the ABC channel on Monday, US Secretary of Defence Robert Gates hinted at carrying out an operation in Pakistan along with Afghanistan in order to root out the Haqqani network, reports said.
Gates said the United States was strengthening its military capabilities in eastern Afghanistan, which, he said was the centre of the Haqqani network.
"Cooperation with Pakistan is being promoted in order to ensure safety on the Pak-Afghan border," Gates said.
While discussion the possibility of taking action against the Haqqani network, Gates hinted that the United States might carry out an operation for that reason in both Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2010 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan
#1
If we were really going to DO it, would we be talking about it? (Obviously, we shouldn't be.)
British Prime Minister David Cameron stands by his comments on Pakistan and the export of terrorism which sparked a row with Islamabad, his spokeswoman said on Monday before a visit by President Asif Ali Zardari.
"He stands by his remarks," said the spokeswoman, while stressing that the British premier had not been referring to the Pakistani government itself supporting terrorism. "He was referring to elements within Pakistan supporting terrorism, not the Pakistani government," she said, after Britain's high commissioner to Islamabad was summoned to the Foreign Ministry.
Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira said after the latest comments that the response was "very unfortunate" but that President Zardari would not postpone his visit to Britain in protest.
The British spokeswoman had earlier insisted that there were "very good, strong" links between Britain and Pakistan on many levels, adding: "We want to continue to work very closely with Pakistan in the future."
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2010 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
After the pak temper blows over, they realize he was right.
#2
Pakistan's absurdly incredulous response to these comments shows we aren't going to get any kind of sensible behaviour out of them for some time to come. Cameron should put his cards on the table and give some specific examples, just in an effort to shut up the moonbats.
#3
Cameron got a little bit of it right in Pakistain, but he got a lot wrong on his visit to Turkey. He needs to get a spine real quick in foreign affairs or his government isn't going to be very successful.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/03/2010 7:57 Comments ||
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Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan spokesman Azam Tariq on Monday asked reporters and journalists to be impartial in their profession.
"The media should avoid creating rifts in the ranks of mujahideen who are fighting a holy war," the TTP spokesman said while addressing media organisations on phone from an undisclosed location on Monday.
This sounds like a demand to avoid "slander of Islam", a legal concept in Sharia meaning anything that deters someone from respecting and obeying Islam - including correctly demonstrating the nature of the attack. The penalty is death. No doubt the Pakistani-educated reporters, having endured Islamiyat courses throughout primary and secondary school, understood exactly what was implied.
He said that the US commander in Afghanistan, General David Petraeus, was dictating the government and forces in Pakistan to secure US interests here. Pakistan has become a part of the NATO plan, which would further create problems for the country, he added.
Tariq said the government and other institutions in Pakistan were protecting NATO's interests in the region. He vowed that the TTP would continue its resistance against such forces until the Pakistan government parted ways with the US-led NATO forces.
He also said that the TTP and the people of Pakistan were aggrieved on the damage caused by floods throughout the country, which have claimed the lives of the poor people. He added that despite the floods, the group's activities were in full swing.
Tariq said that the US-led forces were facing a humiliating defeat in Afghanistan and added that the Taliban would stand victorious in Afghanistan against the evil forces of the US and NATO. He also said that their skirmishes with security forces were going on in different parts of South Waziristan and Orakzai agencies.
He paid tribute to Faisal Shahzad for his "bold activities" in the US and said he had rendered great sacrifices to uphold the cause of Islam. "America is not safe on its own land," Tariq added.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2010 00:00 ||
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Lahore High Court Justice Ijaz Ahmad Chaudhry on Monday disposed of a petition seeking directions for the initiation of contempt of court proceedings against officials of the Foreign Ministry for failing to write a letter to a US judge who is conducting the trial of Pakistani national Dr Aafia Siddiqui.
The judge held that that there was no need of the court's directions, as departments concerned had no tangible evidence in order to prove the innocence of Dr Aafia before the US court.
He remarked that the petitioner, Barrister Javed Iqbal Geoffrey, could write the letter and provide evidence, if he had any, to the US District Court in his personal capacity.
On Monday, the interior secretary appeared in court and submitted that the government had no documentary evidence regarding Dr Aafia and her children's abduction from Karachi.
He said Aafia's son was also questioned about their abduction but he was unable to substantiate the presumption of their kidnapping from Pakistan.
The interior secretary said police had also failed to collect any evidence in this regard during the course of investigation.
He said an official letter along with press clippings of the facts about the case of Dr Aafia had been sent to the Pakistani ambassador in the US, who would deliver it to the US State Department and the trial court, which was going to announce its verdict in Aafia's trial on August 16.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2010 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
[Al Arabiya Latest] Islamist charities, some with suspected ties to militants, stepped in on Monday to provide aid for Pakistanis hit by the worst flooding in memory, piling pressure on a government criticized for its response to the disaster that has so far killed more than 1,100 people.
The international Red Cross said hat up to 2.5 million people have been affected by heavy flooding brought on by torrential monsoon rains.
"According to official sources, flooding caused by torrential monsoon rains has killed more than 1,100 people in Pakistan and affected up to 2.5 million people across the country in the past week," the International Committee of the Red Cross said.
The floods are testing an administration heavily dependent on foreign aid and which has a poor record in crisis management -- whether fighting Taliban insurgents or easing chronic power cuts.
Islamist charities believed to have ties with militants may gain support if their relief efforts pay off, as they did after a 2005 earthquake in Kashmir killed 75,000 people.
"We have lost everything. We only managed to save our lives. Nobody has come to us," said Mihrajuddin Khan, a school teacher in Swat Valley. "We are being treated like orphans, animals."
Rescuers are struggling to distribute relief to tens of thousands of people trapped in submerged areas where destroyed roads and bridges make access difficult.
Islamabad may look to Western countries, who want it to do more to tackle Pakistan-based militants who attack NATO forces in Afghanistan, for financial support to ease the crisis.
Ties to militants
The U.S. embassy announced $10 million in immediate humanitarian aid, with more to be earmarked as necessary. The European Union will donate €30 million.
Salman Shahid, spokesman for the Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation (Foundation for the Welfare of Humanity), said the Islamist group had set up 13 relief and six medical camps, and a dozen ambulances were providing emergency treatment. Several other Islamist groups are also helping out with the relief effort.
Falah-i-Insaniat is believed to have ties to Jamaat-ud-Dawa charity, which the U.N. Security Council banned last December for its alleged links with Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), the group blamed for the 2008 attack on the Indian city of Mumbai.
"We're very much there. We're the only group that is providing cooked food to trapped people and those laying on the roadside," Shahid told Reuters from the group's headquarters in Lahore. "Our volunteers are evacuating people."
Some analysts expressed doubts that Islamist groups and their militant wings could capitalize on the disaster because army offensives have weakened them.
Others said the Islamists' camps had set a dangerous precedent.
"It is very likely that they will exploit the governance vacuum, in the wake of this tragedy, to fuel their own recruitment," said columnist Huma Yusuf.
A similar dynamic happened after the 2005 Kashmir earthquake, she said, when extremist groups gained immense popularity from their relief efforts. Pakistan is fighting insurgents from al Qaeda and homegrown Taliban in the northwest.
Military in charge
Authorities are expecting the death toll to rise, as more of the heavy monsoon rains lashing the area for the past week are forecast. Pakistan's National Disaster Management Authority said more than 29,500 houses were damaged and a key trade highway to China was blocked by flooding.
"Our main challenge of getting a clearer picture is access," said Nicki Bennett, senior humanitarian officer at United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Officials said it was too early to estimate the damage the floods had caused to the economy, but the rains had so far spared the main agricultural heartland in the Punjab.
"The entire infrastructure we built in the last 50 years has been destroyed," said Adnan Khan, spokesman for the provincial Disaster Management Authority in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
The disaster management authority said tents and hygiene kits had been delivered. Helicopters and boats have been dispatched.
But analysts say the government really lacks the resources to take on a disaster of this scale, leaving the military in charge.
More than 30,000 Pakistani troops have rescued some 19,000 people from marooned areas so far. Some army bases used to strike at militants in Nowshera, some 100 km (60 miles) northwest of the capital Islamabad, have been flooded.
The government's failure to help victims reinforced the long-held view that Pakistan's civilian authorities are ineffective, leaving the military to act at troubled times.
The government of President Asif Ali Zardari has limited control over the military. It has also been relatively ineffective in tackling corruption and reforming the economy.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2010 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[Dawn] A tense government had the Senate adjourned amid a debate on flood havoc on Monday to mourn the assassination of an MQM provincial legislator in Karachi, which it called part of a "trap to destabilise Pakistan".
Interior Minister Rehman Malik immediately pointed fingers at the banned Sipah-i-Sahaba and Lashkar-i-Jhangvi groups for the shooting down of Sindh assembly member Raza Haider and appealed to government allies, Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and Awami National Party (ANP), for patience and calm after an ANP senator said his party members in Karachi were being attacked in retaliation.
"This is a trap to destabilise Pakistan," an apparently agitated minister said as he informed the house of the Karachi shooting and called for a suspension of the debate on floods until Tuesday as a mark of mourning, to which both the opposition and treasury benches agreed.
Mr Malik described the incident as one of "a formula and a larger scheme against Pakistan" and said "it is time to get together to fight" it.
"Our enemies want to burn Karachi," he said, and added: "If Karachi is destabilised, then the whole country will be destablised."
He did not specify these "enemies" but said he had been warning about the designs of sectarian Sipah-i-Sahaba and Lashkari-i-Jhangvi groups for the past one year though the government would keep its options open to track down the culprits.
After ANP's parliamentary leader in the house, Haji Mohammad Adeel, intervened to say his party members and offices were being attacked in Karachi right now, Mr Malik appealed to both the ANP and MQM not to be driven by sentiments and let authorities take the necessary action. "We are awake and we are taking action. We will leave no stone unturned to take action."
Most of a total of 11 senators from the opposition and government-allied parties who spoke earlier on three adjournment motions on the flood situation expressed dissatisfaction with the government's relief effort, with the hardest comments coming from Haji Adeel who said his home province Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's relief "expectation from the centre and other provinces had not been met" and, in a comment that could raise many eyebrows, asked: "Should our people then look to somewhere else?"
Even Science and Technology Minister Mohammad Azam Swati of JUI was not satisfied with the government's performance after a visit to three of the flood-hit districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and proposed diversion of funds budgeted for "non-productive programmes" to flood relief.
PML-N parliamentary leader Ishaq Dar and party colleague Pervez Rashid both called for a better government mobilisation for relief from floods that now threaten other provinces as well, but used the debate to urge President Asif Ali Zarari to put off his visit to Britain later this week to protest at British Prime Minister David Cameron's remarks in India last week about alleged role of Pakistani intelligence in promoting "export" of terror. Islamabad rejects the allegations.
Hafiz Rashid Ahmed from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) introduced a private constitution amendment bill, seeking to fix a time-limit to abolish interest-based banking in Pakistan. The bill was referred to the standing committee concerned by PPP's Khatu Mal Jeewan, who was chairing the proceedings at the time.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2010 00:00 ||
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BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: The Dawlat al-Qanoon Alliance had a meeting on Monday in the Iraqi ParliamentÂ’s building in Baghdad, which was not attended by the allianceÂ’s head, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
“Maliki did not attend the meeting because he was busy with his executive duties as prime minister,” Ali al-Allaq, a leading figure of the Dawlat al-Anoon Alliance, told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
He explained that the meeting discussed ongoing negotiations with other blocs to form the new Iraqi government.
“The meeting also discussed the stance of the Iraqi National Alliance (INA) that has decided to suspend negotiations with the Dawlat al-Qanoon,” al-Allaq added.
On July 31, 2010, the INA announced that it rejects the nomination of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to a second term, and that it will suspend negotiations with the Dawlat al-Qanoon until the latter proposes another nominee
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/03/2010 00:00 ||
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Senior Hamas commander Issa al-Batran was killed Saturday in an Israeli airstrike that followed a Grad rocket attack on the city of Ashkelon. While several news outlets reported details of Batran's past, including previous attempts on his life, they failed to note a major component of Batran's personal life: his day job as a United Nations-employed schoolteacher. Had to bring home the bacon somehow. Couple wives and umpteen children, after all, and a Hamas hard boy paycheck doesn't stretch as far as it used to. How else does he send the wives to the Gaza resort and spa and the kiddies to kaboom college?
Batran taught at a UN school in Al-Bureij. According to the Bethlehem-based Maan news agency Batran worked in the school at least until January 2009, and possibly beyond that time.
His job as a schoolteacher was mentioned by Maan and other Arab news outlets in 2009, when several members of the Batran family were killed in an airstrike during the counterterror operation Cast Lead. At that time, his senior position in Hamas was not mentioned. Hamas has vowed Dire Revenge™.
Ineffectual Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told a visiting US official on Monday that Israel must commit to clear terms of reference for peace talks before the start of direct negotiations, Palestinian officials said.
US President Barack Obama's administration is putting pressure on the Palestinian president to agree to direct talks, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he is ready to begin immediately.
US official David Hale, a deputy to Obama's Middle East envoy George Mitchell, had asked Abbas when direct talks could begin, said members of the Palestine Liberation Organisation's (PLO) executive committee briefed by Abbas.
Mitchell has conducted five rounds of indirect talks between Abbas and Netanyahu since May. Obama has said he wants direct talks to begin by September.
"The president answered Hale that we, in principle are not against direct negotiations," Saleh Rafat, an executive committee members said. "However we should hear from the Israelis the terms of reference for the negotiations and a halt to settlement activities," he said. Netanyahu has said the Palestinians can bring all issues to the table and accuses Abbas of wasting time.
The Palestinians aim to found their state in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip with East Jerusalem as its capital. Israel occupied the territories in a 1967 war.
Abbas has sought progress in the indirect negotiations before any move to direct talks. He has spoken of unprecedented international pressure to convince him to resume direct peace talks with Israel.
Last week, the Arab League's peace process committee approved a move to direct negotiations when Abbas sees fit. The PLO executive committee said in a statement after its meeting that the Palestinian demands were a guarantee for the success of future direct negotiations.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2010 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Palestinian Authority
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today announced a new international panel to oversee investigations into the Gaza flotilla incident, a decision that came after heavy U.S. involvement and with the support of the Israeli government.
The four-member panel will be led by the former prime minister of New Zealand, Geoffrey Palmer, and the outgoing president of Colombia, Alvaro Uribe. Turkey and Israel will each appoint one member in the coming days, both expected to be high-level diplomats or judicial officials. t will meet on Aug. 10 and issue its first report in SepteImber. U.S. representative to the U.N. Susan Rice issued a statement Monday praising the panel and clearly defining its limits. if this comes out well, give 2 cheers to the Obama Admin - of course it would be better if the UN sunk to the bottom of the ocean and Turkey would renounce Islamism but those aren't going to happen soon
Posted by: lord garth ||
08/03/2010 00:00 ||
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#3
The fact that there is a commission of inquiry at all is a weapon aimed at Israel, as President Obama well knows. Had the U.S. vetoed it, there would be no inquiry.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Monday he was ready for face-to-face talks with his US counterpart Barack Obama, whom he said was being influenced by Israel in his global policies.
Criticising Obama for missing "historic opportunities" to repair the broken relations with Iran, Ahmadinejad said he was ready to discuss issues concerning the international community with the US president. "We are hopefully coming for the UN assembly," Ahmadinejad said in an address to expatriate Iranians, which was broadcast live, on state television.
"We are ready to sit down with Obama face-to-face and put the global issues on the table, man-to-man, freely, and in front of the media and see whose solutions are better. We think this is a better approach."
Ahmadinejad is expected to travel to New York for the UN General Assembly meeting next month.
The Iranian president has previously challenged Obama to hold a public debate with him on issues concerning the international community.
He has on various occasions blamed the US for "global disorders," particularly the financial crisis in the world economy.
His call on Monday comes after a series of punitive sanctions imposed on Iran by the UN Security Council, the US and the EU over Tehran's controversial nuclear programme.
Ahmadinejad criticised Obama for missing what he said were "historic opportunities" to repair relations with Iran, with whom the US has had no direct diplomatic ties for more than 30 years.
"He (Obama) said he wants to make changes and we welcomed (that). Unfortunately, he did not correctly exploit historic opportunities," the president said, adding that Obama "overly values Zionists."
Obama had in March 2009 extended a hand of diplomacy towards Iran in an attempt to break the deadlock between the two countries, but since then the animosity between the two nations has steadily worsened. Ahmadinejad said he was informed that Obama "is under a lot of pressure."
"Somebody should answer questions whether the US government is dominated by the Zionists or the Zionist regime is controlled by the US government." Israel, like the US, has not ruled out a military strike against Iran to halt its nuclear programme.
Ahmadinejad, under whose presidency Iran has been slapped with four sets of UN sanctions, has remained steadfast in pursuing a sensitive uranium enrichment programme, which Washington and other world powers want Tehran to abandon. Iran says it is not enriching uranium for any military aims.
Under Ahmadinejad, animosity between Iran and Israel has also increased dramatically, with the world powers lashing out at him for his regular anti-Israel tirades.
In front of a cheering audience, Ahmadinejad blasted Obama and Western powers for supporting Israel, the sole if undeclared nuclear weapons power in the Middle East.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2010 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
Ahmadinejad says ready for 'face-to-face''fact-to-bellybutton'talks with Obama
#4
"We are ready to sit down with Obama face-to-face and put the global issues on the table, man-to-man, freely, and in front of the media and see whose solutions are better. We think this is a better approach."
I'm sure that would be a wonderful, insightful debate. They could argue which form of tyranny is more desirable; european socialism or just good ol' fashioned dictatorship. Who knows they might even be able to find some commond ground. Perhaps they could discuss how best to ensure "fairness" in the media...
[Al Arabiya Latest] Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem said on Monday that the U.N. tribunal probing the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri has "political goals."
"The international tribunal is not seeking to reveal the truth (about the murder) but to achieve political goals," Muallem was quoted as saying in local media.
"The international tribunal is a Lebanese matter and we will not deal with this court," he said at a meeting of Syria's Baath party late on Sunday.
Hassan Nasrallah, leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah, said on July 22 that he knew the U.N. tribunal was set to indict members of his Shiite party for Hariri's assassination.
His comments raised fears of renewed conflict in Lebanon and prompted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdl Aziz to make an unprecedented joint visit to Beirut on Friday in a bid to ease the tensions.
Hezbollah, whose main backers are Syria and Iran, is the most powerful military and political force in Lebanon and fought a devastating war with Israel in 2006.
Syria was widely believed to have been involved in Hariri's murder, forcing it to withdraw its troops from Lebanon after a 29-year presence. Damascus has consistently denied any part in the killing.
The United Nations set up the special tribunal to investigate Hariri's assassination in 2007.
The first reports by a committee of the tribunal, which is due to give its verdict by the end of this year, concluded there was evidence implicating Syrian and Lebanese intelligence services.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2010 00:00 ||
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Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says the Islamic Republic seeks its due position in the management of the world without a military confrontation.
The Iranian president identified the current global issues with the West's unilateralism and monopoly of power, and said, "We are not afraid of expressing ourselves, yet we do not seek a military confrontation."
He made the comments in an address to a gathering of Iranian expatriates in Tehran on Monday.
President Ahmadinejad underscored the new management mechanism of the world, which has been monopolized by the West, should be modified and made to allow for the participation of all nations.
Commenting on Iran's nuclear program, the Iranian chief executive slammed the Western powers for the sanctions and accused them of hypocrisy, saying they "have more than 20,000 atomic bombs altogether and they still fear Iran for not having one."
He further pointed out that the West has maintained its double standards on supporting tyrannical systems while pretending to promote democracy around the globe.
The president lauded the Iranian culture for its 'limitless capacities' and noted that the West fears Iran's cultural potential which enables the country to reach across to other nations and spread globally.
He said the "arrogant powers seek to control the world by plundering the wealth of the Middle East."
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2010 00:00 ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] Iran will set Tel Aviv on fire if Israel attacks the Islamic republic over its controversial nuclear program, newspapers on Sunday quoted Iran's envoy to the United Nations as saying.
"If the Zionist regime commits the slightest aggression against the Iranian soil, we will set the entire war front and Tel Aviv on fire," Mohammad Khazai said in the northeastern town of Kashmar, the Farhang-e Ashti daily reported.
The government-run Iran newspaper quoted him as saying that the "noise" about an Israeli attack on the Islamic republic is a "sign of the enemy's fear."
Israel has never ruled out taking military action to thwart Iran's program of uranium enrichment, accusing its arch-foe of seeking to acquire atomic weapons -- a charge Tehran denies.
Iranian officials have frequently warned of a crushing response in the event of an attack either by Israel or the United States, which has led international efforts to bring a halt to Tehran's uranium enrichment work.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2010 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
Like they set Baghdad ablaze during the Iran/Iraq war?
Iran is a paper tiger, and it wouldn't even be that if not for the conscious complicity of western journalists and other spies and traitors.
#3
Actually, Israel could have some fun with this, at Iran's expense. Whenever Iran threatens Israel, hinting at nuclear weapons, the Israelis should let it be known to the Paleos that the Iranian nukes will wipe *them* all out as well.
The Israelis might even start showing "the horror of nuclear war" videos on a TV channel set up especially for the Paleos. 24 hours a day of movies like "Threads", and endless documentaries about Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
A New York City panel voted unanimously Tuesday to reject landmark status for a building near the World Trade Center site, paving the way for construction of a mosque and an Islamic community center.
Opponents of the project, including 9/11 first-responders and family members of victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, have said the location would be insensitive.
The mosque is slated to be part of an Islamic community center to be operated by a group called the Cordoba Initiative, which says the center will be a space for moderate Muslim voices.
Posted by: Black Charlie ||
08/03/2010 13:38 Comments ||
Top||
#3
"moderate Muslim voices" If they were truly "moderate" they would understand that this is an obamantion to all AMERICANS or should be. Will the Japanese build a Military Museum in Pearl City? How about we erect some Hitler statues at the concentration camps? No if they were truly "moderate" they would give ground zero a WIDE berth to distance themselves from the "Radical" Muslims and their actions. Shame on NYC for not preventing this.
If the construction of said Mosque near ground zero is completed, you will be witness to the pinnacle of US Liberalism run amuck and will have experienced our great nation reaching rock bottom.
I'll be waving Old Glory to the bitter end! What a sad time to be an American.
#8
You know, I was also thinking, a committee might want to investigate where dollars were place. I am wondering if any, "conflicts of interests," due to donations may have occured.
#11
These people who are wanting to build the mosque are rubbing our noses in it. The people who made the decision to go forward are dolts who are too stupid to know their noses are being rubbed in it, are left-wing crazies who are kumbaya nuts and think they are being peaceful and loving and accepting, are getting money from the muzzies to pass on this POS, or nutsos who deny 911 happened or that it is somehow our fault. I've run out of reasonable explanations for the unreasonable. So the families of 3000 mass murder victims of the muzzies means nothing to these dunces. My question is this: Will the muzzies allow a synagouge to be built next to mecca? No? Then a mosque shouldn't be built next to the site of the WTCs. If this goes forward, I will never again go to NYC or spend a cent that goes to NYC.
#1
With all of the devastation criminal aliens are causing to our national forests you'd think more "environmentalists" would be pushing for secure borders. I mean...they do want to protect natural habitats right? Oh, only if it means protecting them from evil corporations. You know, the guys who harvest the wood needed for the furniture that the tree huggers have in their houses. Yeah, and the guys who mine the coal that powers those homes. I forgot...my bad.
#2
Actually, ICE is doing a LOT right now. A news story today, for example, is that ICE is detaining a LOT fewer illegal aliens than it did in 2008. And ICE is cooperating a LOT less with State and local authorities than it used to.
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/03/2010 9:52 Comments ||
Top||
#4
So, if they can't control the border and can't handle 10 million illegals, how are they going to deal with 10 million tax resisters? Major black/alternate market in the making as we speak now with millions facing permanent official unemployment. The fertile ground of an alternative economy. If narcs and illegals can go north, money can go south [as it already is].
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.
The Taliban pounded on the door just before midnight, demanding that Aisha, 18, be punished for running away from her husband's house. Her in-laws treated her like a slave, Aisha pleaded. They beat her. If she hadn't run away, she would have died. Her judge, a local Taliban commander, was unmoved. Aisha's brother-in-law held her down while her husband pulled out a knife. First he sliced off her ears. Then he started on her nose. 
The Swiss government has promised to investigate if there is evidence that North Korea has illegal funds stashed away in the country, Radio Free Asia reported Saturday. 
Korea and the United States have agreed to start talks about the revision of a bilateral atomic energy agreement this fall, it emerged on Monday. Seoul is keen to reprocess its own spent fuel rods, which it is barred from doing under the agreement, but Washington has so far been reluctant to permit it since the process results in the production of weapons-grade plutonium. 
The federal trial of seven alleged terrorists could be held in U.S. District Court on Middle Street in New Bern next year. A tentative trial date had been set for next month in New Bern, but the case was continued because thousands of pages of Arabic documents had to be translated, according to district court officials.
The attorney for the man charged with last year's deadly shooting rampage at Texas' Fort Hood Army post says his client, who is still on the military's payroll, can't find a bank willing to cash his checks.
[Dawn] A tense government had the Senate adjourned amid a debate on flood havoc on Monday to mourn the assassination of an MQM provincial legislator in Karachi, which it called part of a "trap to destabilise Pakistan". 
Senior Hamas commander Issa al-Batran was killed Saturday in an Israeli airstrike that followed a Grad rocket attack on the city of Ashkelon. While several news outlets reported details of Batran's past, including previous attempts on his life, they failed to note a major component of Batran's personal life: his day job as a United Nations-employed schoolteacher.
