Afghanistan's Caped PresidentHamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai has said that there is no formal discussion between his government and the Taliban, although he admitted to individual contacts with the former rulers of Kabul.
"Of course, there are individual contacts with some Taliban elements -- that's not yet a formal process," Karzai told 'This Week' programme at the ABC television. However, the Afghan leader said that there was a clear course towards possible future talks peace with the pirates of Boskone.
"The roadmap is clear. The indications for peace would be that Afghanistan will be ready to talk to those Taliban powers who belong to Afghanistan and are not part of al Qaeda, who are not part of any other terrorist network, who accept the Afghan constitution and the progress that we have achieved in the past so many years," he said.
Karzai said talks could also be possible with members of the Taliban willing to return to a normal civilian life and who were not connected to any foreign body outside of Afghanistan. He made his comments after Taliban military inroads in the south and east of the country, and as the group continues to maintain its strongholds in the Afghanistan's north.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/23/2010 00:00 ||
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US General David Petraeus has said that the international troops he commands in Afghanistan have turned the tide on the Taliban's momentum there, although he warned tough battles still lay ahead. In an interview with the BBC, he played down the prospect of a rapid withdrawal of US troops next year, repeating his insistence that a target of July 2011 was only a date when a process begins. He said the road ahead could be bloody but insisted foreign forces were making progress. "The momentum that the Taliban have established over the course of recent years has been reversed in many areas and will be reversed in the other areas as well. This will entail tough fighting," he said. "July 2011 is not the date when the US forces begin an exodus and look for the exit," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/23/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
I wonder what concrete metrics the good general uses to measure Taliban momentum? Anybody know?
Posted by: Mike Ramsey ||
08/23/2010 1:36 Comments ||
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#2
In classical mechanics, momentum (pl. momenta; SI unit kg·m/s, or, equivalently, N·s) is the product of the mass and velocity of an object (p = mv).
Men are forced to grow beards. Women can't leave home without a male relative. Music, movies and watching sports on TV are banned. Limbs are chopped off as punishment, and executions by stoning have become a public spectacle.
Somalia is looking more and more like Afghanistan under the Taliban — two rugged countries 2,000 miles apart, each lacking a central government, each with a hard-line Islamist militia that cows the public into submission.
Al-Shabab in Somalia and the Taliban in Afghanistan — their tactics increasingly mirror each other. Those tactics worked for the Taliban until the U.S. invasion overthrew it in 2001, and now they are making a comeback. Meanwhile, al-Shabab has gained control over large swaths of this arid Horn of Africa country.
In the latest adoption of tactics long used by the Afghan militants, al-Shabab is ordering households in southern Somalia to contribute a boy to the militants' ranks. Childless families have to pay al-Shabab $50 a month. That's Somalia's per capita income.
An al-Shabab commander attributed the shared tactics and ideology to the fact that both groups follow a strict form of Islam.
"One more thing we deeply share is the hatred of infidels," the commander, Abu Dayib, told The Associated Press.
Some experts say the similarities are no accident.
"Al-Shabab is copying exactly whatever the Taliban was doing in the late 1990s, because they think the strategies the Taliban employed in Afghanistan were successful," said Vahid Mujdeh, the Afghan author of a book on the Taliban. "There is no doubt that the Taliban are like heroes for al-Shabab."
U.S. and other security officials worry about another common thread: Both the Taliban and al-Shabab have links to al-Qaeda.
Until their overthrow, the Taliban gave Osama bin Laden and his group safe haven in Afghanistan. Many analysts believe al-Shabab is now controlled by al-Qaeda-linked foreign fighters who honed their skills in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Last month Al-Shabab claimed its first international attack_ twin bombings in Uganda that killed 76 people watching the World Cup final on TV. Uganda said at least one of the confessed participants belonged to al-Qaeda. Simultaneous attacks are an al-Qaeda hallmark.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/23/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
They're joined at the hip. There is no 'copying' or 'mirroring.' 2 heads, same hydra.
#2
See also TOPIX/EINNEWS > INSIDE KENYA, AN INCUBATOR FOR JIHAD:INFLUENTIAL AL-QAEDA LINKED MILITIAS, SCHOOLS + MOSQUES IN NAIROBI IMMIGRANT NEIGHBORHOODS SPREAD EXTREMIST MESSAGE.
IOW, where KENYAN LOCAL GOVT-SOCIETY = PUBLIC POLICIES, ETC. hath failed, RADICAL ISLAM IS THERE TO SAVE THE DAY + THE BUTTS OF THE RIGHTEOUS.
Kids, Tweens, Teens, Posties + other Angry Adults.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Several musclejugged in Bahrain over the past week have admitted to receiving funds to support groups which "incite violence," state news agency BNA quoted a security official as saying.
The suspects have "admitted to receiving funds and donations from religious scholars and businessmen under various covers, which they allegedly used to help... groups commit heinous acts," the official said late on Saturday.
"Investigations... proved that the suspects and others inside and outside (Bahrain) are leading sabotage groups and providing them with financial support to carry out acts of violence and terror throughout the kingdom," he charged.
Sheikh Ali Salman who heads the main Shiite political organization, the Islamic National Accord Association (INAA), warned the government that the arrests will "lead to more protests."
Those jugged "have different opinions" and could not therefore belong to a "secret organization," the cleric said in a statement posted on the INAA's official website, rejecting the government's allegations.
Bahrain's National Security Agency said last week that four Shiite men suspected of forming "an organized network aiming to shake the security and stability of the country" had been jugged.
Salman also said the authorities have set up checkpoints in several areas in a move he described as "unnecessary."
"Nobody knows where they are being held, they did not meet their lawyers and did not contact their families," he said of the suspects.
Abduljalil al-Singace, a leader of the opposition association Haq, was jugged on August 14. Three others--Sheikh Mohammed al-Moqdad, Sheikh Saeed al-Nuri and Abdulghani Ali Issa Khanjar--were detained the next day.
Moqdad and Singace had been released from prison in April 2009 in a royal pardon for 178 people detained on security charges.
On Wednesday, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch condemned the arrests and said four others were also detained last week, naming them as Jaffar al-Hessabi, Mirza al-Mahroos, Abdulhadi al-Mukhuder and Mohammed Saeed.
Saeed is a board member of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, they said.
Haq, or the Movement of Liberties and Democracy, is a splinter group of the INAA. It boycotted elections in 2006, when the INAA won 17 out of 40 parliament seats.
Bahrain is ruled by a Sunni dynasty but has a Shiite majority population.
The archipelago state was plagued in the 1990s by a wave of Shiite-led unrest which has abated since the authorities launched steps to convert the Gulf emirate into a constitutional monarchy.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/23/2010 00:00 ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] Kuwait is closely monitoring "sleeping terror cells" that would resort to violence if Iran came under a military strike, a newspaper quoted a security source as saying on Sunday.
"The security agencies have been monitoring those cells for a long time and are aware of their moves and sources of funding," the unnamed Kuwaiti source told al-Qabas newspaper.
They are "closely monitoring these sleeping terror cells through various methods and means," the source said without elaborating.
Al-Qabas reported on Saturday that Bahrain's intelligence service warned other Gulf states that large numbers of "armed Boskonians" were preparing for acts of sabotage if Iran was attacked over its nuclear file.
The warning was based on confessions of members of a "terror cell" jugged a few days ago who reportedly claimed membership in the military agency of a neighboring country, al-Qabas said citing informed sources.
The suspects reportedly said that they had been coordinating with similar cells in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, according to al-Qabas. The Kuwaiti security source confirmed the Bahraini warning to al-Qabas on Sunday.
Bahrain's National Security Agency said last week that four men suspected of forming "an organized network aiming to shake the security and stability of the country" had been jugged.
International human rights groups however said the number of arrests rose to eight.
On August 3 a Kuwaiti court charged six men and a woman, including a Kuwaiti soldier, with spying for Iran and passing on military information. They however denied the charges.
The alleged cell was busted in May and local newspapers said the defendants were spying for Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards. Tehran rejected the charges.
The Iranian foreign ministry said in May that the allegations were aimed at "creating a climate of fear towards Iran," while a Revolutionary Guards official called them "baseless."
Iran's arch-foes, the United States and Israel, have never ruled out military action against Tehran's nuclear program, which Western nations suspect of masking a weapons drive. Tehran denies the charge.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/23/2010 00:00 ||
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MANAMA -- People convicted of being involved in acts of sabotage and riots in Bahrain will be deprived of key government services such as free education and health treatment, a senior official has said.
The official told Al Ayam newspaper on Saturday that the government is ready to take stern measures against those who are proven to have been involved in terrorist activities.
"Everyone who participates in the violent acts and is found guilty will face a number of penalties beyond incarceration, including being excluded from housing services, scholarships, free medical treatment and any other service provided by the state."
What about their heads? Might terrorists be deprived of their heads?
More seriously, I wonder if this is being aimed at certain elements from the other side of the Gulf who've been making themselves at home ...
The official added that the state's relevant bodies will start auditing all employment applications and anyone found guilty of engaging in terrorism acts will also be beheaded banned from employment in the public sector. Students who are proven to be involved will be banned from receiving scholarships.
The official said that it is not fair that people who are working to destabilise the country get the same rights as loyal citizens when it comes to services provided by the state.
Citizens have a duty to support the basic rights, responsibilities and fabric of the country. A novel concept ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/23/2010 00:00 ||
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Very long.
The Guardian [writer Ghaith Abdul-Ahad] spent two months in the country, travelling to the tribal regions of Abyan and Shabwa, where al-Qaida has set up shop and where suspected US drone attacks have killed scores of civilians and few insurgents. Speaking to jihadis, security officials and tribesmen, it became clear how a combination of government alliances, bribes, broken promises and bungled crackdowns has allowed Islamists to flourish and led to the emergence of the country as a regional hub for al-Qaida.
Long, multi-day piece at El Universal that documents a meeting between Hugo and the new Colombian president at Santa Marta. Worth a look if you're interested in the inside soccer ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/23/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
We all know how violet South American soccer diplomacy can be.
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
08/23/2010 19:15 Comments ||
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#2
If it's so bad, why would you want to build your precious mosque here? Or even live here?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
08/23/2010 18:41 Comments ||
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#3
Bragging rights
Posted by: Kelly ||
08/23/2010 18:57 Comments ||
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#4
Not bragging rights. Rather a statement of the beginning of the colonization of the US in the same way they did Spain. The name of the mosque alone is enough proof.
The problem is our leaders know too little history and understand no religion even when they claim to be religious. The leaders are religiously and historically illiterate!
Put another way the ruling and political/media elite are historical and religious morons!
Posted by: Water Modem ||
08/23/2010 22:18 Comments ||
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#5
"Put another any way the ruling and political/media elite are historical and religious morons!"
FTFY, Modem. No charge. ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
08/23/2010 23:30 Comments ||
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#5
Well, yea, there is Soros. But Bill Gates donates so prolifically, a "little" here and a "little" there would not surprise me. Which brings me to... Oprah. Hehe.
Posted by: bachelor of arts ||
08/23/2010 10:01 Comments ||
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#6
It is Soros, via his One World type front organizations. He is only a white cat shy of being a Bond Villain.
Posted by: No I am The Other Beldar ||
08/23/2010 10:28 Comments ||
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#7
Lets see.... he bankrupted a few small countries in Africa, Bankrupted the UK, and now is bankrupting the US. I say he is far worse than a James Bond villain.
#1
ION TOPIX > AS A WARTIME STRATGY, GERMANY TRIED TO FOMENT A GRAND JIHAD [Imperial Kaiser Wilhelm II versus weak OTTOMAN Empire versus Brit Empire].
KAISER GERMANY > discover that the Muslim World ["Ummah"] is NOT UNITED AT ALL, INCLUD ON CONCEPT OF POST-OTTOMAN UNIFIED CALIPHATE UNDER ISLAM, + that many Muslims support Jihad as a SYSTEM OF PRACTICAL ANTI-COMPETITIVE/STATUS QUO EXPEDIENCY + CONVENIENCE [read, FOR "NEW ESTABLIHSMENT" = "NEW GUY" POWER + CONTROL], NOT AS A SYSTEM OF DIVINE OR IDEALIST BELIEF.
ARTIC > IOW "JIHAD" is NOT NOR WAS EVER ABOUT "GOD" OR "FAITH", BUT THE SUBSTITUTION OF RULING POWER. "GOD" + "ISLAM" WAS JUST THE FEEL-GOOD COVER STORY(S), at least as per KAISERIAN = WW1 GERMANY + EARLY 20th CENTURY ISLAMIC LOCAL NATIONALISM???
VERSUS
TOPIX > MILITARY AGREEMENT BETWEEN RUSSIA + ARMENIA NECESSITATES AZERBAIJAN'S INTEGRATION INTO NATO [+ expanded bilater coop wid NATO Member Turkey], given that Russ Milfors will not be leaving Armenia for another 30-plus years.
* SAME > RUSSIAN-ARMENIAN MILITARY AGREEMENT CREATES NEW GEOPOL SITUATION IN THE CAUCASUS
| RUSSIA NOW UN-CONTESTED AS HEGEMON IN THE SOUTH CAUCASUS. Muslim Azerbaijan all but completely obtsructed from laying claims on any historical Azeri territories.
NYT page one above fold. This is EXACTLY what some of us here at the 'Burg said was going on. IMHO- Must Read.
Pakistani officials ... say they set out to capture Mr. Baradar, and used the C.I.A. to help them do it, because they wanted to shut down secret peace talks that Mr. Baradar had been conducting with the Afghan government that excluded Pakistan, the Taliban's longtime backer.
The events surrounding Mr. Baradar's arrest have been the subject of debate inside military and intelligence circles for months. Some details are still murky -- and others vigorously denied by some American intelligence officials in Washington. But the account offered in Islamabad highlights Pakistan's policy in Afghanistan: retaining decisive influence over the Taliban, thwarting archenemy India, and putting Pakistan in a position to shape Afghanistan's postwar political order.
"We picked up Baradar and the others because they were trying to make a deal without us," said a Pakistani security official, who, like numerous people interviewed about the operation, spoke anonymously because of the delicacy of relations between Pakistan, Afghanistan and the United States. "We protect the Taliban. They are dependent on us. We are not going to allow them to make a deal with Karzai and the Indians." Could someone start a countdown-timer on bombing Pakistan?
I am unsure about this- salt to taste:
Pakistan's military spy agency ISI has warned the Taliban not to open negotiations with the Hamid Karzai regime or the US without its permission.
Quoting top Pakistani security officials, New York Times said that the Taliban leaders have been warned against carrying out free-lance negotiations, where Islamabad is excluded.
"The message from the ISI is: no flirting," the paper said quoting a western diplomat. GoogleNews couldn't find that phrase at the Times. Times said the warnings from the ISI to Taliban come in the backdrop of new reports that Pakistani intelligence had used CIA to capture the Taliban No 2 Mulla Abdul Ghani Baradar from the port city of Karachi in last January because they wanted to shut down secret talks that militia leaders had been conducting with Afghan government that excluded Pakistan.
The paper said in the weeks after Baradar's capture, Pakistani security officials had detained as many as 23 Taliban leaders, many of whom had been enjoying the protection of Pakistan government for years.
But now, Times said, the Taliban leaders who were detained had been set free to fight US forces again inside Afghanistan. Among those released include Mullah Qayoom Zakir, Abdul Kabir and Abdul Rauf Khadeem.
"We picked up Baradar and others because they were trying to make a deal without us," Times quoted a senior Pakistani security official as saying.
"We protect the Taliban. They are dependent on us. We are not going to allow them to make a deal with Karzai and the Indians," the official told the paper. That sounds like the ISI. Times said, the account now being offered in Islamabad on Baradar's arrest highlights Pakistan's policy on Afghanistan: retaining decisive influence over the Taliban, thwarting arch enemy India and putting Pakistan in a position to shape Afghanistan post war political order.
Terrorists are regrouping outside Peshawar, the Tribal Areas and the flood-hit areas, and the federal and provincial government should launch an immediate action against them, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain said on Sunday.
He made these remarks while addressing a press conference. "Terrorists are joining the flood victims. They are posing as flood affectees and regrouping in the flood-hit areas," the KP information minister said. He informed the media that terrorists had been getting the sympathies of the flood affectees by carrying out relief activities outside Peshawar and other areas of the flood-hit province. Iftikhar demanded that the government should launch an immediate operation against terrorists or they would become a grave danger for the country and the entire world. The KP information minister said that terrorists had been trying to create a "parallel system of governance". He informed the media that if the government did not take immediate action against terrorists, the province might have to face dangerous consequences.
Iftikhar said that a couple days ago, 200 terrorists had attacked the security forces in Peshawar from the Tribal Areas but the forces had foiled their attack. Regarding the construction of the Kalabagh Dam, the KP information minister said that it was a "dead horse" and we should not debate such an issue now. He said that some elements had been trying to divert attention from the flood affectees by discussing the Kalabagh Dam but it was a futile exercise. The minister said that the issue of the Kalabagh Dam had been buried once and for all as assemblies of Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had passed resolutions against this controversial issue.
Regarding the organisation of a foreign donors conference by the provincial government, Iftikhar said that the KP government had consulted the federal government before making such a decision. He said that the donors conference had been successful and 26 international delegates had attended the meeting.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/23/2010 00:00 ||
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The next general elections could see another religio-political alliance in the field as efforts are underway to bring Sunni parties onto one political platform before the elections.
Sources told Daily Times on Sunday that Deobandi and Ahl-e-Hadith parties will not be included in the proposed Sunni-political alliance, which is expected to be named 'Sunni Ittehad Council'. This development comes amid talks of revival of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA). Maulana Fazlur Rehman's disposition to keep his alliance with the government has marred prospects of MMA's restoration. This forced the Sunni leaders to form a new religious alliance based.
The MMA leadership has conditioned revival of the alliance to Rehman distancing himself from the government, which he is not ready to do yet. Sources in religious parties said that Rehman kept assuring alliance members that he would quit government after the revival of the MMA, however, they asked him to quit before revival of the alliance. The allied parties have now conditioned calling a meeting of MMA leadership with Rehman's withdrawal from government.
Attacks on Data Darbar, blamed on militants belonging to the Deobandi sect also played a role in distancing Sunnis from Deobandi and Ahl-e-Hadith politicians and paved the way for a new Sunni alliance. Following the attacks, Sahibzada Fazal-e-Karim, a prominent Sunni leader, who is now in the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), had demanded the Punjab government to remove Law Minister Rana Sanaullah from his position because of his alleged links to the banned Sipah-e-Sahaba, but his demand was not entertained. Karim is now actively working to form a Sunni alliance.
Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Hamid Saeed Kazmi also favours the formation of a Sunni alliance but he and Sahibzada Karim also face a situation similar to the one confronting Rehman. The Sunni leadership has asked both men to quit PML-N and Pakistan People's Party, if they are interested in the formation of Sunni Ittehad Council. Karim and Kazmi, despite having their own religious parties, had contested the 2008 general elections on the tickets of PML-N and PPP, respectively. Sources said that the two, like Rehman, are adopting delaying tactics and might be left out of the new alliance.
Karim heads Markazi Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Pakistan while Kazmi is the General Secretary of Nizam-e-Mustafa Pakistan led by Haji Hanif Tayyab. Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan, headed by Sahibzada Abul Khair Muhammad Zubair; Nizam-e-Mustafa Pakistan, Sunni Tehrik led by Sarwat Ejaz Qadri; Markazi Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan led by Sahibzada Fazal-e-Karim; Jamaat Ahl-e-Sunnat led by Sahibzada Mazhar Saeed and other smaller parties will be part of the proposed Sunni Ittehad Council.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/23/2010 00:00 ||
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NEW DELHI: A freak blast in Mogadishu has sent tremors all the way to New Delhi, with indications that Indian gunnies might be fighting for al-Qaida's group Al Shabaab in Somalia.
If the Indians' identity is borne out, this would be a first. Thus far, Indian gunnies have stopped short of venturing out that far for transnational jihadi terrorism.
Al Shabaab is no ordinary Islamist terror group. In February, the group publicly declared its allegiance to al-Qaida, though that linkage had long been suspected by western terrorism analysts.
Harkat-al-Shabaab started work in 2005 in Somalia; the Islamist group succeeded in bringing a few months of quiet in an unending spate of civil war in the country. By the time the US declared Al Shabaab a terrorist organization in 2008, the group was well on its way to establishing an Islamist terror movement in the region. It was also when the group got its new leader Ahmed Abdi Godane, aka Abu Zubeyr. Other top leaders in the organization like Abu Mansoor and Ibrahim Jaama earned their spurs apparently fighting in Afghanistan and Kashmir.
Whether they actually fought in Kashmir is not confirmed but certainly, Al Shabaab has in the past declared its intention of seeing Kashmir "liberated". Terrorism analyst B Raman says Pakistain's Tablighi Jamaat has been very active in Somalia, including sending terror fighters to Al Shabaab. "If Indians have gone there, it's possible they have gone with the Tablighis," he said.
Thus far, Indian terrorism watchers have paid scant attention to Al Shabaab, but Saturday's incident should be an eye-opener. Al Shabaab has openly declared its global ambitions and though a lot of that is focused on the US and Europe, India and other such countries may not escape their jihadi heat either.
#2
India has the 3rd largest Muslim population in the world behind Indonesia and Pakistan. Why would an Indian national jihadist be so remarkable?
Posted by: Mike Ramsey ||
08/23/2010 1:51 Comments ||
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#3
"India has the 3rd largest Muslim population in the world behind Indonesia and Pakistan. Why would an Indian national jihadist be so remarkable?"
It is the governance that radical islam tends to fight against, Mike. The point here is the group from Somalia - and Yemen is reaching for global press. And striking the Singh government may be just the way to gain some Pakistani radicals into the fold. Al Shabbaab is the NEW AL-Q. Al Laki is the new Bin Ladin.
#4
From Dawn - via ORBAT "Al-Shabab's Multi-National Force Dawn of Karachi says 11 insurgents in Somalia were killed when a bomb they were preparing exploded. The dead included: three Pakistanis, two Indians, one Afghani, one Algerian, and two Somalis. To us the arrival of Indians is highly inauspicious."
It seems our intel on all of this has been better than I thought because the warning went out to India more than three months ago.
#5
Not to split hairs...but...Although home to a Hindu majority, India has a Muslim population of some 150 million, making it the state with the second-largest Muslim population in the world after Indonesia.
Posted by: Mike Hunt ||
08/23/2010 22:43 Comments ||
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WASHINGTON It would take a complete failure of the Iraqi security forces for the US to resume combat operations there, the top American commander in Iraq said as the final US fighting forces prepared to leave the country.
With a major military milestone in sight, Gen. Ray Odierno said in interviews broadcast Sunday that any resumption of combat duties by American forces is unlikely.
We dont see that happening, Odierno said. The Iraqi security forces have been doing so well for so long now that we really believe were beyond that point.
US involvement in Iraq beyond the end of 2011, Odierno said, probably would involve assisting the Iraqis secure their airspace and borders. While Iraq forces can handle internal security and protect Iraqis, Odierno said he believes military commanders want to have the US involved beyond 2011 to help Iraqis acquire the required equipment, training and technical capabilities.
In this way it may end up being more like agreements we have had with certain other countries, such as South Korea from the 60s to recently, where our presence helps to build local military capability, allow the local political parties to mature, and reminds certain neighbors to keep their hands off.
This is what John McCain meant in 2008 when he talked about being in Iraq for 50 years. He was slammed for it, of course, but note now where this is headed. Bambi has to do it McCain's way or risk being seen as the guy who 'lost' Iraq ...
He said Iraqs security forces have matured to the point where they will be ready to shoulder enough of the burden to permit the remaining 50,000 soldiers to go home at the end of next year.
If the Iraqis asked that American troops remain in the country after 2011, Odierno said US officials would consider it, but that would be a policy decision made by the president and his national security advisers.
Bambi will fudge it through the end of 2012, same as he has on Gitmo, and President Palin will take it from there.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/23/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
GEN. ODIERNO
versus
* WMF > XINHUA: US WAR + FAILURE IN IRAQ CREATES A "NEW LOST GENERATION" OF US SOLDIERS + CIVILIANS, US BEING IRESPONSIBLE FOR WITHDRAWING TOO SOON FROM IRAQ.
ARTIC > Amer's POST-WW2 GENERATION was the original "LOST GENERATION", while those from the Vietnam War were the "DEFEATED GENERATION" [Mostly Self-Immolated "Hippy" = Anti-War CounterCulture Movement]???
WASHINGTON Iran is funding extremist groups in Iraq out of fear of a strong democracy as a neighbor, the commander of US forces in Iraq said Sunday.
I think they dont want to see Iraq turn into a strong democratic country, General Ray Odierno told CNN. They would rather see it become a weak governmental institution so they dont add more problems for Iran in the future.
We knew this but it may be news to certain American progressives ...
Odierno said Iran is funding and training Shia extremists in Iraq in an effort to improve insurgents capabilities. He said they were working partly to attack US forces, but also to make sure that everybody understands that they can have some impact in the country.
I take it these are Mookie's boys?
They clearly want to see a certain type of government that is formed here, he said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/23/2010 00:00 ||
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BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: The Al-Iraqiya is committed to the nomination of the alliances head, Ayad Allawi, to the position of Iraqs prime minister, and that the Al-Iraqiya will never make concessions in this regard to the head of the Dawlat al-Qanoon Alliance, Nouri al-Maliki, said the adviser of the Al-Iraqiya.
Then again, it's Iraq, the Middle East and Arabs, so a deal may be just around the corner ...
The Dawlat al-Qanoon has presented offers to the Al-Iraqiya regarding other positions than the premiership, but the Dawlat al-Qanoon can keep these offers for its own to participate in the upcoming government as the second winner in the election, because the Al-Iraqiya will never give al-Maliki the premiership position, Hani Ashor, the adviser of the Al-Iraqiya Alliance, said on Sunday.
He noted that this stance has been repeatedly mediated to the Dawlat al-Qanoon that the Al-Iraqiya will never make concessions regarding its constitutional right to form the new Iraqi government, and that Allawi is the new prime minister.
Among the reasons that neither Al-Iraqiya nor any other bloc has been able to reach an agreement with al-Maliki is that all the blocs refuse to offer him another term in office, because he could not assure the blocs that he will change his approach, Ashor explained.
He illuminated that al-Maliki monopolizes power for the interest of his party and others around him, and that he uses authority against anyone who opposes him, a matter that the blocs do not want to have for four more years.
Negotiations with the Dawlat al-Qanoon Alliance will achieve nothing, unless al-Maliki disregards the idea of being in office for a second term, and accepts other major positions that only al-Iraqiya can guarantee to him and his party, Ashor noted.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/23/2010 00:00 ||
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The Israeli press on Sunday greeted the announcement of renewed direct Israeli-Palestinian peace talks with a wave of scepticism born of the sides' repeated failures to reach agreement in the past. The mass-circulation Yediot Ahronot recalled that since a 1993 "Declaration of Principles" setting out the goals of a peace agreement, the two sides have been engaged in direct talks for all but the past 20 months without achieving those aims. "Many words have passed between the sides over the past 17 years," columnist Nahum Barnea wrote in an accompanying analysis. "And between the words there were not a few dead and wounded, and still there is no peace agreement." The invitation to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to open a fresh round of talks next month in Washington was announced on Friday by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/23/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Never mind. Miz Clinton needs an "achievement" on her resume.
[Ma'an] Palestinian combatants deported by Israel from Bethlehem to Gaza after a siege on the Church of the Nativity in 2002 met on Sunday with President Mahmoud Abbas' adviser Abdullah Al-Efranj in Gaza City to deliver an appeal on their behalf.
Deportee spokesman Fahmi Kan'an said the letter addressed the deportees' return to Bethlehem and the need for Palestinian unity.
"In light of talks on resuming direct negotiations, we demand that the deportees' cause be taken seriously, as we enter our ninth year in exile," the spokesman, who is among the deportees, said.
The letter included an appeal to help with travel arrangements for family members to visit the deportees in Gaza, who told the presidential adviser that relatives have been denied travel permits by Israeli authorities.
The Nativity Church deportees, both in Gaza and Europe, have launched several appeals to the Palestinian Authority for financial assistance following their exile. The terms of their deportation stipulate that they are not permitted to seek employment.
Twenty-six Palestinians who took refuge in the church were expelled to Gaza and 13 were expelled to Europe following Operation Defensive Shield in April 2002, during which Israeli forces besieged the church and Bethlehem in a bid to locate Palestinian combatants.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/23/2010 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Fatah
#1
should've killed each and every one of these POS's
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/23/2010 8:39 Comments ||
Top||
#2
It's not too late ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/23/2010 9:35 Comments ||
Top||
IRAN kicked off mass production of two classes of high-speed missile-launching assault boats today, warning its enemies not to "play with fire" as it boosts security along its coastline.
The inauguration of the production lines for the Seraj and Zolfaqar speedboats comes a day after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad unveiled Iran's home-built bomber drone, which he said would deliver "death" to Iran's enemies.
State news agency IRNA reported that Seraj (Lamp) and Zolfaqar (named after Shi'ite Imam Ali's sword) speedboats would be manufactured at the marine industries complex of the ministry of defence.
Defence Minister Ahmad Vahidi opened the assembly lines, saying the vessels would help strengthen Iran's defence forces, IRNA said.
"Today, the Islamic Republic of Iran is relying on a great defence industry and the powerful forces of Sepah (Revolutionary Guards) and the army, with their utmost strength, can provide security to the Persian Gulf, the Sea of Oman and Strait of Hormuz," Mr Vahidi said.
He issued a stern warning to Iran's foes.
"The enemy must be careful of its adventurous behaviour and not play with fire because the Islamic Republic of Iran's response would be unpredictable," IRNA quoted him as saying.
"If enemies attack Iran, the Islamic Republic of Iran's reaction will not be restricted to one area. The truth of our defence doctrine is that we will not attack any country and that we extend our hand to all legitimate countries."
Iran's arch-foes, the United States and Israel, have not ruled out taking military action over Tehran's controversial nuclear program.
Iran has in the past threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, choking off some 40 per cent of tanker-shipped oil worldwide, in the event of a military attack.
IRNA said Zolfaqar was a new generation missile-launching vessel which can be used for patrol as well as for attack operations.
"It is designed for quick assaults on ships and is equipped with two missile launchers, two machine guns and a computer system to control the missiles," the report said.
Fars news agency cited Mr Vahidi as saying that Zolfaqar was to be equipped with the Nasr 1 (Victory) marine cruise missile "which has high destructive power".
Iran has previously said that the Nasr missile can destroy targets weighing up to 3000 tonnes.
IRNA said Seraj, designed for a tropical climate, was also a swift assault vessel for use in the Caspian sea, the Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, adding that it can fire rockets and also be used in stormy seas.
"Seraj is a fast moving assault rocket launcher using sophisticated and modern technology," Mr Vahidi was cited as saying by IRNA.
The launch of the production lines comes as Iran marks its annual "government week", a period when it traditionally shows off its latest technological achievements.
#2
Pragmatically, unless MOUD = IRAN, IRGC can employ these Boast to successfully damage or sink a HIGH-PROFILE = POL SENSITIVE USN TARGET, e.g. NUCLEAR CVN despite its operating Air, Surface, + UW defensive screen, or a MAJOR USN SURFACE VESSEL, IRAN IS BETTER OFF DEV MORE GULF-BASED + LITTORAL ATTACK SUBS + CONVERTED
"ARSENAL/FIRE SHIPS" SQUADR TO DETER THE US-NATO FROM GETING TOO CLOSE TO THE PERSIAN GULF.
These armed Skimmers/Speeders + related small Gunboats are good only for intimidating its small Neighboring States + possib the Somali Pirate Bad-Nasty Boyz. IFF IRAN IS GOING TO STICK WID USING THESE SMALL CRAFTS, BUT DESIRE TO BE A REGIONAL, GLOBAL "GREAT POWER", IT BETTER HAVE THE "FRANKEN/ZILLA/MAD GENIUSES"
WHOM KNOW TO PUT NUCLEAR SILKWORMS, STYX'S, ETC. + BETTER ON SAME.
Otherwise, IRAN = CHINA = may have to wait until 2050-2100 to become a milpol "Great Power/State". AFAIK I DON'T THINK RADIC ISLAM, STATE(S) ANDOR MILITANTS, WANNA WAIT THAT LONG???
#3
E.G. PRAVDA > IRAN ARMS ITSELF + WANRS THAT IFF ATTACKED IT WILL RESPOND WID "GLOBAL ATTACK" ["planetary scale" milpol response].
* TOPIX/EINNEWS > TEHRAN WARNS AGZ GULF-BASED ATTACK + IRAN RESPECTS GULF STATES SOVEREIGNTY + IRAN WARNS GULF STATES: DO NOT ALLOW US, ISRAEL TO USE COUNTRIES FOR ATTACK.
IIUC, IRAN = CHINA, CPLA on US involvement in SOUTH CHINA SEA DISPUTES [ASEAN Summit] = US REGIONAL MONKEYS WILL COME TO REGRET THEIR DECISION TO SIDE WID THE US AGZ CHINA.
* TOPIX/PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM > RUSSIA, IRAN, IRAQ, GREECE NO LONGER A "NATIONAL THREAT" TO TURKEY [removed from Turkey's "Enemies" list].
Iran has suspended three high-ranking judiciary officials over the deaths of anti-government protesters last summer at the notorious Kahrizak jail, Mehr news agency reported on Sunday.
"Following an indictment by the Judges' Tribunal, three senior officials at Tehran prosecutor's office were suspended over last year's Kahrizak incidents," Mehr said, quoting an unnamed source. It did not identify the sacked officials.
Tehran's feared former prosecutor Saeed Mortazavi was held responsible in a parliamentary probe for sending post-vote detainees to Kahrizak, where at least three young men died in custody. Mehr said the ruling to suspend the officials had been issued on August 15.
In June a military court sentenced two men to death in connection with Kahrizak deaths of Mohammad Kamrani, Amir Javadifar and Mohsen Ruholamini. The case has caused major embarrassment to the Islamic republic, which after months of denial acknowledged that the deaths at the detention centre were the result of injuries inflicted at Kahrizak.
The centre was shut down last July on the order of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei following the reports of abuse. Shortly after, Mortazavi was removed from his powerful post to serve in a bureaucratic capacity within the judiciary and also to join the government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as counter-smuggling chief.
Among the three young men who died of abuse in Kahrizak was Ruholamini, 25, the son of a well-known conservative politician. He was arrested with the two others in street protests against Ahmadinejad's disputed re-election.
A fourth protester was also reportedly feared dead after being jailed in Kahrizak, but this has not been officially confirmed. Dozens of people were killed in clashes with security forces in protests which broke out in Iran after Ahmadinejad's June 2009 victory.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/23/2010 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press] Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah is spending $500 million to implicate Hezbollah in the murder of former Lebanese premier Rafiq Hariri, a report says.
Hezbollah has new evidence about the murder of Hariri that, if revealed, would be damaging to Al-Saud, Saudi Arabia's royal family, the official website of Lebanon's Free Patriotic Movement party said on Sunday.
Nasrallah's commitment to maintain Lebanon's peace and unity has forced him to not to disclose the evidence, the report said.
"King Abdullah has allocated $500 million... to finance propaganda against Hezbollah, but Saudi Arabia's objective is not only to ruin the reputation of Hezbollah... but to tarnish the image of Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah," the Lebanese website quoted a Saudi Arabian opposition official as saying.
Rafiq Hariri, the father of incumbent Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, was killed in a massive car bomb explosion in Beirut in February 2005.
The Special Tribunal for Lebanon, which was set up by the UN and the Lebanese government in May 2007, is investigating the assassination.
Last week, Nasrallah presented evidence of Israeli involvement in the assassination of Hariri in a massive car bomb explosion in 2005.
The evidence included footage from Israeli spy drones of routes used by Hariri and recorded confessions by Israeli spies substantiating that the assassination of Hariri was carried out on orders from Tel Aviv.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/23/2010 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Hezbollah
#1
"... but Saudi Arabia's objective is not only to ruin the reputation of Hezbollah... but to tarnish the image of Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah,"
I don't see why you would have to spend a single penny to ruin Hezbollah's reputation; what reputation? What is the plan? To paint Hezbollah as Zionist? Pork eaters? Advocates of woman's rights?
Posted by: Mike Ramsey ||
08/23/2010 2:49 Comments ||
Top||
#2
The investigation I read put it square on baby Assad with funding from Hezbollah agents on orders from Iran.
Israel on Saturday denounced Iran's fuelling up of its first nuclear power plant as "totally unacceptable" and called for more international pressure to force Tehran to cease any uranium enrichment.
Israel, widely assumed to be the only Middle East country to have nuclear weapons, has said a nuclear-armed Iran would be a threat to its existence, raising concerns Israel could attack Iran's nuclear sites.
In a statement issued after the Islamic Republic celebrated the launch of its reactor in Bushehr, Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yossi Levy said: "It is totally unacceptable that a country that so blatantly violates resolutions of the (United Nations) Security Council, decisions of the International Atomic Energy Agency and its commitments under the NPT (non-proliferation treaty) should enjoy the fruits of using nuclear energy."
"The international community should increase pressure on to force Iran to abide by international decisions and cease its enrichment activities and its construction of reactors," Levy said.
The United States, Israel and some other Western countries fear Iran's nuclear is aimed at produce atomic weapons. Iran says it wants nuclear power solely for energy production.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/23/2010 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
Versies
TOPIX > AHMADINEJAD WARNS OF GLOBAL RESPONSE IFF IRAN IS ATTACKED.
The leader of Lebanon's Change and Reform block voiced his movement's concern Sunday that the conferring of work rights to Palestinian refugees by parliament last week will lead to their naturalization.
MP Ghassan Moukheiber told the Lebanese daily Ad-Diyar that the decision to naturalize is in the hands of the Israelis and the international community and not the Lebanese or the Palestinians.
Several political figures have voiced similar fears over naturalization following Tuesday's parliamentary decision to grant Palestinian refugees in Lebanon the right to free-of-charge work permits and severance payments, the news site NOW Lebanon reported. Other parties, however, have hailed the move as an "historic step."
In June, the Progressive Socialist Party and the Syrian Social National Party forwarded a draft law to the Lebanese parliament granting Palestinians in Lebanon access to property ownership, social security benefits, and various professions.
Voting on the bill was delayed on several occasions as government sought to achieve a consensus vote. In July, a Lebanese MP warned of Israeli and US plans to naturalize Palestinian refugees, urging locals not to emigrate or sell land, Lebanese media reported.
Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun told Zahle residents during a three-day tour that "This is an issue that we reject, and we will not be subject to any foreign policy planning to execute certain plans," the Daily Star quoted him as saying.
Approximately 425,000 refugees are registered with UNRWA in Lebanon with many living in the country's 12 refugee camps. According to UNRWA, the UN body set up to assist Palestinian refugees, in 2005, officially registered Palestine refugees born in Lebanon were allowed by law to work in the clerical and administrative sectors for the first time.
However, refugees remain unable to work as doctors, dentists, lawyers, engineers, or accountants.
Shortly after the bill was proposed, PLO representative to Lebanon Abdallah Abdallah said there was no intent for Palestinians to ask for political rights or access to state social services. "What the Palestinians want is the right to work like any other foreign nationals," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/23/2010 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under:
#1
HMMMMM, HMMMMMM, compare wid JAPAN > Japan Pol HIROHIKO NAKAMURA + others believe that JAPAN/NIPPON is facing such serious probs wid ABSOLUTE MANPOWER-LABOR SHORTAGE + AGING POPULATION + DECLINING BIRTH RATES, ETC. that LT Solution = National Survival may ultimat depend on JAPANESE-SPECIFIC GOVT + CULTURAL ACCEPTANCE, TOLERANCE OF MASSIVE INFLOWS OF FOREIGN IMMIGRANTS AS DE FACTO CITIZENS + PERMANENT RESIDENTS, + PREFERABLY FROM AROUND EAST ASIA.
One day after Iran launched its first nuclear power plant, former UN chief weapons inspector Hans Blix has hailed "positive" cooperation between Tehran and Moscow.
Iran began injecting the first supply of nuclear fuel into the Bushehr nuclear power plant on Saturday, after Russia delivered its first batch of nuclear fuel.
The fact that Russia is supplying Iran with fuel is "very positive," as it demonstrates that Tehran could rely on foreign suppliers for its fuel need, Blix told the BBC on Sunday.
The remarks came on the heel of similar claims by State Department spokesman Darby Holladay.
Holladay acknowledged that the Iranian nuclear facility carries no risk of proliferation but stressed that launching the power plant "underscores that Iran does not need an indigenous enrichment capability if its intentions are purely peaceful."
The west insists that Iran should exchange its low-enriched uranium abroad for fuel for a medical research reactor.
However, Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali Akbar Salehi has rejected such claims.
"Suppose we receive the required nuclear fuel for the plant from the Russians for the next ten years, what are we going to do for the next 30 to 50 years?" the Iranian nuclear point man queried on Saturday.
Iranian officials have repeatedly said that they do not "trust" the West and cannot rely on it for nuclear fuel supply.
Israel and its allies accuse Iran of pursuing a military nuclear program through its enrichment program.
Tehran rejects the accusations, arguing that as a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency and a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty it has the right to peaceful nuclear energy.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/23/2010 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[Al Arabiya Latest] Several hundred supporters and opponents of plans to build a mosque near the site of the September 11, 2001 attacks staged peaceful rival protests Sunday, some brandishing signs against Islam and others denouncing religious bigotry.
Though small in scale, the street protests reflect a national debate that has exposed a raw nerve over U.S. attitudes toward Islam nearly nine years after al-Qaeda militants flew hijacked airliners into the World Trade Center, killing nearly 3,000 people.
Protesters from one side and the other began gathering in lower Manhattan under a fine rain at 10:00 am (14:00 GMT), taking up positions about 100 meters and two streets away from each other, but also worlds apart.
"Don't let Islam mark a victory with a Mosque," said a banner raised by protesters who gathered at the corner of the site of the proposed Islamic center, two blocks from "Ground Zero," the epicenter of the September 11 attacks.
A group of about 50 bikers in leather jackets roared in carrying the emblem of the New York Fire Department, many of whose members were killed during a doomed attempt to rescue people trapped inside the burning towers.
Joe O'Shay, a lawyer who wore a T-shirt covered with slogans against the mosque, tearfully said he had turned out to protest because "I am a New Yorker and I lost a nephew here."
Posted by: Fred ||
08/23/2010 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Global Jihad
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.
