#2
Taliban logistics have been a target for a long time and now that forces are working the Southern provinces I can see where this may be the case. Of course success requires long-term pressure and that is another matter.
#3
The third world is corrupt, I don't see any reason why Afghanistan would be any different. I suspect there are Iranians and others trying to provide.
#4
I suspect there are Iranians and others trying to provide.
Didn't they just find a shipment of brand new missiles from Iran, rjschwarz? But wasn't it near the Iranian border, and thus far from the Taliban playground?
WASHINGTON — Key US Republican Senator John McCain became the latest lawmaker on Monday to call on President Barack Obama to maintain troops in Afghanistan until 2014, amid reports he is weighing such a timetable.
In recent months, Obama has soft-pedaled on his plans to begin withdrawing the approximately 100,000 US troops currently stationed in Afghanistan next year, stressing instead his goal of handing over security to Afghans by 2014. The New York Times reported that Obama would present a four-year plan to gradually phase out US and international forces in Afghanistan during a NATO summit in Lisbon Friday and Saturday.
Every promise made by Bambi, without exception, has an expiration date.
Republican Senator John McCain, who lost his White House bid to Obama in 2008, said that during his talks in Lisbon, Obama should give a “very, very strong statement that we’re in this thing to win, that withdrawal to the middle of 2011 is notional, but 2014 is really the year that we would expect to have significant withdrawals.”
McCain was speaking at a foreign policy forum after returning from a trip to Afghanistan last week with other lawmakers. The lawmakers met with President Hamid Karzai and other Afghan leaders during their visit.
Obama “should not make decisions (about) where we’re sending young men and women into harm’s way based on political consideration,” McCain said, noting a provincial chief warned him that Taliban militants are threatening to kill those who cooperated with the United States.
“That’s not the tradition of Harry Truman or Franklin Delano Roosevelt, or other great leaders in America’s history.”
McCain, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, acknowledged that next summer there would likely be areas in northern Afghanistan and elsewhere where the United States could begin withdrawing troops. But he noted that a strong US presence was still urgently needed in key Taliban strongholds in the south and east, close to the border with Pakistan.
Fellow Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who also participated in the Afghanistan trip, agreed it was more realistic to wait another three years before withdrawing US forces. He told ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday that “2014 is the right date to talk about. That’s when Karzai suggests that Afghans will be in the lead, and I’m very pleased to hear President Obama talk about 2014.”
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/16/2010 00:00 ||
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Lindsey Graham and John McCain. Okaaay. And we have McCain saying, "Obama should give a very, very strong statement that weÂ’re in this thing to win".
Okay. That's not going to happen, John.
So McCain isn't really about fixing the problem, he's like a little kid in a kindergarten waving his hand saying, "Teacher, call on me, I have the right answer". Yeah. Okay. BFD. If it's not going to happen then it isn't the right answer but you get an A+ John for the correct hypothetical response. Good for you.
And Lindsey Graham.. sheesh. Tea anyone?
Posted by: Martini ||
11/16/2010 3:21 Comments ||
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#2
Every promise made by Bambi, without exception, has an expiration date.
Let's establish a 2012 expiration date on his promises.
#3
What Glenmore said. Besides, we've noticed that President Obama has on occasion radically changed his fixed position on something, depending on changed reality. It's only on things he feels strongly about, like health care and stimulus for the boys, where he'll bull through regardless.
#4
Well tw, he promised me that if I liked my health insurance plan I would be able to keep that plan. It turns out I can't because it doesn't meet government standards.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
11/16/2010 18:58 Comments ||
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[Emirates 24/7] Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar has once again rejected claims that the gunnies are open to talks with the Afghan government in a message for the Mohammedan holiday of Eid Al Adha.
Omar said the beturbanned goon group, which calls itself the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is winning the war in Afghanistan.
In an emailed statement, he said: "Claims about negotiation, flexibility in the stance of the Islamic Emirate are mere baseless propaganda. The enemy wants to cover up its failure in Afghanistan by wrongfully raising hollow hopes in the hearts of their respective people."
He said that the beturbanned goons' strategy is to increase operations countrywide, then "compel the enemy to come out from their hideouts and then crush them through tactical raids."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/16/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
As long as he has a safe place to sleep at night in Pakistan and a steady supply of volunteers to fight his little holy war, why should he talk?
Nigeria has reported the seizure of an illegal arms shipment from Iran intercepted by its secret service in Lagos last month to the U.N. Security Council, Foreign Minister Odein Ajumogobia said on Monday.
Rockets and other explosives, hidden in containers of building materials shipped to Nigeria from Iran, appear to put Tehran in breach of U.N. sanctions imposed over its refusal to halt a sensitive nuclear program, diplomats have said.
"Following preliminary investigations, our permanent mission in New York has reported the seizure and inspection of the arms shipment from Iran in compliance with our reporting obligations under (U.N.) resolution 1929," Ajumogobia told Reuters.
Mystery surrounds the intended destination of the weapons, but investigations have focused on two Iranians believed to be senior members of the Revolutionary Guards, Iran's elite military force, diplomatic and security sources say.
Nigeria's secret service was able to question one of the men, who had taken refuge in the Iranian embassy in Nigeria's capital Abuja, after Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki visited the West African country on Thursday.
It has been unable to question a second Iranian in the embassy because he has diplomatic immunity.
The two Iranians were believed to be members of al-Quds, an elite unit of the Revolutionary Guards which specializes in foreign operations on behalf of Iran, diplomatic sources said.
The goods were originally meant for an address in Abuja, but shipping documents subsequently appeared to re-export them to Gambia, Nigerian authorities said last week.
The weapons shown to journalists in Lagos when the seizure was made included 107mm rockets, used by armies to support infantry units, but also by groups including the Taliban in Afghanistan and Hamas Islamists in the Gaza Strip.
MUSLIMS set fire overnight to at least 10 houses belonging to Coptic Christians in a village in southern Egypt over rumours that a Christian resident had an affair with a Muslim girl, security officials said today.
The officials said security forces sealed off the village of al-Nawahid in Qena province, about 465 kilometres south of Cairo, to prevent the violence from spreading to neighbouring towns. They said several people were arrested.
The attacks started after locals spotted a young Copt and a Muslim girl together at night inside the village cemetery, the officials said.
They said that both were put under police custody as authorities investigate.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorised to speak to the media.
The village was calm by nightfall, after religious leaders from both communities persuaded their followers to end the confrontation. Residents called on police to withdraw.
WASHINGTON — The United States pledged on Monday to support free and fair parliamentary elections in Egypt later this month, after Egyptian human rights groups warned of political crackdowns on the opposition.
Mubarek is about as likely to listen to Bambi as any other world leader ...
“The United States remains committed to supporting free and impartial elections in Egypt,” State Department spokesman Philip Crowley told reporters, holding the Egyptian government to its own commitment to “fair and transparent elections.”
“We welcome the government of Egypt’s stated commitment to expand political participation and ensure free and transparent elections, including facilitating domestic monitoring by civil society groups.”
The spokesman called on Egypt to ensure peaceful political gatherings, unhindered voter education and participation campaigns, as well as balanced media coverage for all candidates.
“An open electoral process would include a credible and impartial mechanism for reviewing election-related complaints, a domestic election observation effort according to international standards and the presence of international observers,” Crowley added.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/16/2010 00:00 ||
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US calls for free elections in Egypt
Waste of bandwidth, USA.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
11/16/2010 9:49 Comments ||
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[Al Arabiya] Iran's foreign minister said Monday that the issue of an alleged Iranian arms shipment intercepted in Nigeria was a "misunderstanding" that has been settled. "Tut tut, my good man! A mere misunderstanding!"
Nigeria says the artillery rockets and other weapons, found at a Lagos port last month in shipping containers labeled as building supplies, originated in Iran and may have been destined for Nigerian politicians intending violence if they lose in upcoming elections. Nigeria said last week it would take action against Iran if an investigation shows it violated international law and U.N. sanctions.
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki says that an Iranian implicated in the case has explained the situation to Nigerian authorities. "I think the misunderstandings have been settled in this field," Mottaki said, according to the state news agency IRNA.
Mottaki, who visited Lagos last week, also said that he had replaced Iran's ambassador to Nigeria. Mottaki did not say whether the replacement was connected to the weapons case.
Mottaki did not elaborate on the nature of the misunderstanding or how it was resolved. His statement was the highest-level Iranian comment so far on the case. In late October, Iran's then-ambassador to Nigeria, Hussein Abdullahi, said there was no clear evidence linking his country to the shipment.
There was no immediate reaction from Nigerian officials to Mottaki's claim the case had been resolved.
An international shipping company based in France CMA CGM said it had picked up the containers in which the weapons were hidden in the southern Iranian port of Bandar Abbas. The shipment stopped in Mumbai, India, before heading to Lagos. On Friday, Nigerian Foreign Minister Odein Ajumogobi said Iranian officials confirmed the consignment originated in Iran.
During his visit, Mottaki cleared the way for Nigerian security officials to interview one of two Iranians who Nigeria says organized the shipment, Ajumogobia said. The Nigerians say the two have taken refuge in the Iranian Embassy.
The interception of the weapons had drawn sharp criticism of Iran from Nigeria. In a 2007 resolution stepping up sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program, the U.N. Security Council banned Iranian arms exports, forbidding the sale or supply of weapons by Iran, whether directly or indirectly. It requires nations to prevent any such transfers and prevent their citizens from obtaining any weapons from Iran.
But Mottaki on Monday depicted the tensions as eased. He said he and the Nigerian foreign minister had held talks on bilateral relations and that Ajumogobia would visit Tehran. Mottaki said the appointment of a new ambassador to Nigeria would "create new opportunities for cooperation between the two countries."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/16/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
In short, the Mushroom treatment, Keep them in the dark and cover them with Bullshit.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
11/16/2010 0:51 Comments ||
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Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates are in the market for some fancy new war toys, and the United States is more than willing to beef up the militaries of its Arab allies in the Persian Gulf as Washington weighs the possibility of a showdown with Iran.
The Defense Security Cooperation Agency, which operates under the Pentagon, last week announced that the two Arab gulf states had requested long-range missiles to help counter "major regional threats."
The proposed deal comes on the heels of a recent $60-billion U.S. arms sale to neighboring Saudi Arabia.
According to the press release issued by the Defense Department, the UAE has requested 100 Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) along with training, support and practice missiles for a total package worth about $140 million. Bahrain has requested 30 ATACMS T2K unitary missiles plus technical support in a package valued at approximately $70 million.
The missiles can reach targets up to 186 miles away, putting coastal Iranian military and nuclear installments well within range.
The agency's announcements concluded that the proposed sales would "contribute to the foreign policy and national security of the United States," but without altering "the basic military balance in the region" because the U.S. has agreed to maintain Israel's technical edge on its Arab neighbors.
"This is part of the current U.S. administration's strategy of sending a message [to Iran]," Wise [Kenneth Wise, an expert with the Dubai-based B'huth research center] said. "These new weapons systems are interoperable with U.S. command systems ... but they could also be preparing the region for doing more of its own work if the U.S. reduces its own presence."
For now, however, the likelihood of a war between the gulf Arab states and Iran appears slim. Some critics have accused the Arabs of overplaying the Iranian threat in order to get their hands on military hardware that would otherwise be off limits to them.
The U.S. is preparing for an expanded campaign against al Qaeda in Yemen, mobilizing military and intelligence resources to enable Yemeni and American strikes and drawing up a longer-term proposal to establish Yemeni bases in remote areas where militants operate.
The developments are part of a U.S. scramble to step up the hunt for members of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the terrorist organization behind a recent failed attempt to blow up two planes over the U.S. using bombs hidden in cargo.
Limited U.S. intelligence experience in Yemen has created "a window of vulnerability" that the U.S. government is "working fast to address," a senior Obama administration official said.
For now, the U.S. gets much of its on-the-ground intelligence from a growing partnership with Saudi Arabia, which shares a border with Yemen and has a fruitful informant network in Yemen's tribal areas.
In the rush to build up capabilities, the Central Intelligence Agency and other agencies are moving in equipment and personnel from other areas, and over the past year have expanded the size of teams in the U.S. analyzing intelligence on AQAP. The emphasis now is on expanding the number of intelligence operatives and analysts in the field.
There is a debate within the Obama administration and Pentagon about how best to ramp up the fight against AQAP, the Yemen-based terrorist group. Supporters of establishing forward operating bases for Yemeni forces say they would help the weak Yemeni government expand its control and create an opportunity to get a small number of American Special Operations trainers and advisers out of the capital region and into the field.
The proposed bases would vary in size, but could each accommodate scores of troops, including specialized Yemeni commando units, which are trained by the U.S. and would work most closely with the Americans to hunt al Qaeda leaders. The proposal hasn't been presented formally to the full range of policy makers in Washington who would need to sign off on it, officials said, and it is unclear whether the U.S. or another donor, such as Saudi Arabia, would provide funding.
Yemeni officials said the proposal was under discussion. While San'a would support the establishment of bases in some areas, Yemeni officials said the government would be reluctant to allow the U.S. to station trainers in them.
"Why create unnecessary problems? Situating foreigners in security posts would be misconstrued as an unwelcome foreign presence," a Yemeni official said.
U.S. officials said urgent efforts are under way to accelerate delivery of equipment to Yemen, possibly by drawing on U.S. supplies leaving Iraq.
#2
Yemen has beautiful coastline that doesn't require overflights over a third country though. And any ships in the area can do double duty swatting pirates from time to time.
Having said that i'd prefer we keep a really low footprint in Yemen.
#3
Djibouti has the bases we need : look at a map for its nice central location to several of the trouble spots. We took over a lot of the Foreign Legion bases and renovated them, once the French had cut back on their commitment.
[The News (Pak)] Grand Mufti of Soddy ArabiaSheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Sheikh ... whose name sounds like it was designed by the Bureau of Redundancy Bureau ... said Islam is based on justice and equity, which admits of no terrorism, extremism and injustice, Geo News reported Monday. And all this time I thought it was based on complete submission to the will of Allan, as interpreted by the Profit and his subsequent holy men...
Delivering Hajj sermon at Nmira Mosque at Mount Arafat, he said Allah Almighty endowed us with hosts of blessings and boons; guidance of Islam is one of them, adding Islam is not a theoretical religion; instead, it is a practicable deen (code of conduct).
He said Islam impresses upon its followers to take better care of their families and societies. Islam has discrete ways of worshipping Allah and among them are, five-time prayers, fasting, zakat, charities and calling on people to do good and avoid bad.
Islam forbids markup Sounds like he means "makeup," which would suggest that old pharts with hennaed beards or octogenarian princes dripping Grecian Formula would also be haram...
altogether and prohibits extravagance, as it is a deen of moderation, he said. Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia stressed Islam intensely condemns terrorism and extremism, and that it warns strict punishment for those who unjustifiably spill blood and spread mischief on earth. All depends on your definition of "terrorism," doesn't it? Detonating oneself in a pizza parlor where the menu's in Hebrew obviously doesn't fall under the heading of "terrorism," since those guys are "freedumb fighters." All Jews, remember, from the baby trying to turn over in its crib to the doddering oldster trying to keep his foot out of the grave are legitimate targets to the dishdash set.
Sending divine revelations and raising the Prophets was meant for spending the message of Allah's oneness; and this succession of guidance for human being is in progress, he said.
The Grand Mufti said Allah sent the Last and Final Prophet (PTUI!) with complete code of conduct and this (shariah) is in harmony with human nature, as it caters to all man's natural and material needs. Human inner being (nafs) excites him to do evil.
The Grand Mufti said the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) presented a comprehensive concept of ibadat.
Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Sheikh said Allah Almighty conferred men with reason and consciousness so that he can differentiate between good and bad. We should respect each other.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/16/2010 00:00 ||
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Than it is your impetuous responsibility to prove it by the holy Koran, the sadith, and sharia law. Or else, you are supposed to hold conference with all religious leaders in THAT path and refute or correct that law.
Jaw jaw is done with me. Islam reforms or this really will be Archangel Gabriel heralding in the end of the world with a false prophet.
A U.S. nuclear expert says North Korea is building an experimental light-water reactor in Yongbyon, where its main nuclear facilities are located.
Siegfried Hecker, a former chief of the Los Alamos National Library who recently visited North Korea, told reporters in Beijing that the communist country informed him of the construction of the reactor, which is said to have an output of 25 to 30 MW.
Hecker added that construction has just begun and will take several years to complete.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/16/2010 00:00 ||
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The number of North Korean defectors in South Korea has topped 20,000. A Unification Ministry official on Monday said their number crossed 20,000 last Thursday, when an airplane from Thailand carrying about 50 new defectors arrived in the country. In 1999 there were 1,000 defectors, and in 2007 10,000.
One day China won't try to stop them anymore. On that day North Korea comes to an end.
The official said it took 59 years since defectors were first recognized in 1948 for their number to reach 10,000 but a mere three years to double.
The annual number of defectors arriving in the South was fewer than 100 until 1998. But it topped 500 in 2001, 1,000 in 2002, and 2,000 in 2006. Last year 2,927 arrived, an all-time high, though this year the trend slowed to 1,979 as of Oct. 10.
According to ministry data, the largest group or 77 percent hailed from North and South Hamgyong provinces. They are followed by those from regions bordering on China such as Pyongan, Jagang and Yanggang provinces.
Asked why so many defectors are from Hamgyong, another ministry official said, "Compared to the Apnok (or Yalu) River in Pyongan, the Duman (or Tumen) River in Hamgyong is narrow and shallow, which makes it easier to cross."
By gender, female defectors account for 68 percent. In the past, male defectors outnumbered females, but the tables were turned in 2002. Those in their 30s when they came to the South made up the largest portion at 33 percent, followed by those in their 20s (27 percent), 40s (15 percent), and teens (12 percent).
Meanwhile, defectors' standard of living here remains lower than that of South Koreans. According to the ministry, defectors earn on average W1.27 million (US$1=W1,133) per month. Some 31.5 percent have unskilled jobs and 23.2 percent install equipment or operate machinery.
Their economic participation rate stands at a mere 48.6 percent and employment rate at only 41.9 percent -- 70 to 80 percent of those of South Koreans.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/16/2010 00:00 ||
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[Al Arabiya] Want to immigrate to Denmark? Then you need to be able to handle to look at a pair of naked women's breasts, at least if Peter Skaarup, foreign policy spokesman of the far-right Danish People's party has his way.
According to Skaarup, a documentary film about Denmark that will be shown as part of an upcoming immigration test for foreigners needs to have a pair of breasts in it, to intimidate any extremists from attempting to enter the tiny Scandinavian country.
Because a topless woman on a beach would be a good example of the Danish open-mindedness, Skaarup points out.
Topless bathing probably isn't a common sight on Pakistani beaches, but in Denmark it is still considered quite normal. I honestly believe that by including a couple of bare breasts in the movie, extremists may have to think twice before deciding to come to Denmark
Peter Skaarup
This, he said, is mainly relevant for immigrants coming from fundamentalist societies where women are oppressed and are not allowed to display their sexuality or even their hair. On the other hand Danish women are allowed to wear ---or not wear-- what they please, underlining that he is not trying to provoke anyone with his statements.
"If you're coming from a strict, religious society that might make you stop and think, oh no, I don't want to be a part of that", Skaarup told Danish daily, Jyllandsposten.
"Topless bathing probably isn't a common sight on Pakistani beaches, but in Denmark it is still considered quite normal. I honestly believe that by including a couple of bare breasts in the movie, extremists may have to think twice before deciding to come to Denmark," he said.
A similar film has been made in Holland, and it includes scenes of two men kissing as well as women bathing topless on the beach. An example that Skaarup feels Denmark should follow since the Dutch film was the original inspiration for the Danish documentary.
However not everyone is excited about Skaarup's idea.
Integration spokesman for the Conservative Party, one of two government parties, Naser Khader says "a pair of naked breasts is no protection against extremism."
"It's quite the opposite, fundamentalists are so obsessed with sex that they will be pouring in over the borders. Maybe we should try with naked pigs," Khader writes on his page on social networking site Facebook.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/16/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Versus well dressed pigs, of course.
Posted by: Steven ||
11/16/2010 1:08 Comments ||
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#8
Beaches in Denmark? Isn't that like a beach in Alaska: really, really cold? Of course for ladies bare ta-ta's it would have one effect....and quite the opposite on on the men's "junk".
Turkey said it would seek a leading role in a North Atlantic Treaty Organization missile-defense shield if it is to agree to host the system's radars, ratcheting up its conditions days before a key alliance meeting.
Turkey would demand that NATO assign a Turkish commander to oversee the shield, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Monday. "Especially if this is to be placed on our soil, [command] definitely should be given to us—otherwise it is not possible to accept," Mr. Erdogan told journalists at Istanbul's Ataturk airport on Monday, according to Anadolu Ajansi, Turkey's state-funded news agency.
#4
Why do I suspect that the Turks want the right to *allow* missiles from Iran to hit Israel, but to shoot down retaliatory missiles from Israel to Iran?
#6
Erdogan's antics are impacting the Turks' ability to acquire sophisticated military hardware. There are items that have been bottled up for over a year because State is afraid to notify Congress of the potential sale.
#1
Yes, they certainly did listen in. They did the same thing with Mohamed Harkat, the same objections were raised, the guv said "Sorry 'bout that" and Harkat was kept in jail anyway.
When it comes to Canadian "Security Certificates" the law, as it is generally understood to be applied, is pretty well thrown out the window. Don't EVER, EVER have a "Security Certificate" sworn out against you by the guv in Canada.
For sure the dude in the article is headed back to DeadEndLand sooner or later. You won't hear about it until the deed has been done, but get done it will. Eventually.
Armed Services Committee, offered a novel proposal for the next Congress: Revisiting the 2001 authorization to use military force against terrorists.
"It's been almost 10 years, and probably a good thing to bring it out and find out where everybody is now," Rep. Howard "Buck" McKeon (R., Calif., told reporters in a question-and-answer session following a speech today at the Foreign Policy Initiative 2010 forum in Washington.
Rep. McKeon forwarded the idea as a way to keep al Qaeda detainees out of U.S. courts -- lawmakers, he said in his speech, "should ensure no court in the land questions the legal authority for our forces to prosecute this war" -- but he also hinted that it might be a litmus test for incoming legislators, who have had less-than-clear agendas on foreign policy.
"Probably almost half the Congress would be new since [authorization] that was passed," he said. "There are -- people just talked to me as I left the meeting, asking, 'What about somebody who's in the tea party?' They may have a different view."
That's not to suggest that Rep. McKeon is looking to the exits in Afghanistan. In his speech, he also emphasized giving the military in Afghanistan "the time and resources it needs" rather than focusing on the July 2011 date President Barack Obama has set as a target to begin a phased withdrawal.
#1
Shhhh...you don't want the left and their MSM sockpuppets to have to actually acknowledge the original. They've spent a lot of time burying the inconvenient little declaration that exposes the lies they've run with for 10 years.
I like the idea about prohibiting the courts from meddling in the legal authority to conduct war. They've been doing far too much of that, and they need to be told to back off.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/16/2010 15:20 Comments ||
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[Pak Daily Times] The government will not allow anyone to misuse the blasphemy law in the country, Federal Minister for Minorities Affairs Shahbaz Bhatti told journalists after attending the meeting of National Assembly Standing Committee on Minorities Affairs. He said protection to the life and property of minorities was the constitutional obligation of the government. He said Ministry of Minorities Affairs had written a letter to the Punjab government regarding Aasia Bibi, sentenced to death in a blasphemy case by a District and Sessions Court in Nanakana Sahib. Bhatti said the Ministry had asked the Punjab government to provide the accused all possible chances to plead her case on merit and ensure her protection in the jail. The minister said in most of the cases, blasphemy law was being misused to settle personal scores, political vendetta and religious enmities. He said the government was taking steps to stop misuse of the law. He said Aasia Bibi would be given opportunity to plead her case.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/16/2010 00:00 ||
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[Pak Daily Times] The National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW) has shown its grave concern over death sentence to a Christian woman by a court in Nankana Sahib in a blasphemy case.
"Manolo! Fetch my best writing paper and Grandmother's fountain pen -- I have to write a stiff note!"
According to a blurb, Asia Bibi, mother of five children, is the latest victim of the blasphemy laws promulgated arbitrarily by a military dictator more than 20 years ago.
NCSW strongly condemned the death sentence passed by an additional sessions court for alleged blasphemy by Asia. The death sentence was passed following the judicial process on a FIR, registered on June 19, 2009, under sections 295-B and C of the Pakistain Penal Code. Both sections state punishment by life imprisonment or capital punishment. Asia has also been decreed Rs 100,000 fine. Though an illiterate, she has been accused of denying the institution of prophet-hood, citing copious examples from the key lexis of Islam.
The blurb said, the matter has been investigated thoroughly by the NCSW and has come across some startling facts, clearly highlighting gross irregularities in the judicial process, highlighting the need for reforms in the legal injunctions. The clear dichotomy in the case is the "denial of prophet-hood", How could you expect a Christian to conform to the Islamic creed How could you expect an absolutely illiterate person to cite Islamic textual and exegetical references, one upon another to deny the institution of prophet-hood? NCSW questioned.
The false allegation, which is rooted in a personal vendetta by a mighty landlord, who exploited a number of discriminating elements in the village, Chak 3 of Nankana Sahib, to settle his personal score against the poor victim, should be immediately reversed, said NCSW. Furthermore, there is a dire need to repeal the section 295 B and C, which are ubiquitously being used by the discriminating elements of the society to vent their personal grudge in the matters of feuds against the minorities it added.
NCSW said these two sections had been constantly giving the image of Pak society as non-tolerant.
The NCSW demanded that Asia Bibi, who has already spent a year in solitary confinement, should be immediately released and provided protection.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/16/2010 00:00 ||
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[Emirates 24/7] A Pak anti-terrorism court will indict five suspected militants next week for their involvement in the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, a prosecutor said Monday. If they don't get off for lack of evidence they'll still be alive and well ten years later, like Omar Saeed Sheikh...
"The challan ... list of charges ... of the case was presented today in Anti-Terrorism Court-III in Rawalpindi," Chaudhry Zulfiqar, a special prosecutor representing the Federal Investigation Agency, told AFP.
"The accused will be indicted at the next hearing on November 23," he said, adding that the trial would be held inside the main prison in Rawalpindi.
The five men were all arrested in the weeks following Bhutto's slaying in a gun-and-suicide attack at a political rally in Rawalpindi, a garrison city adjoining the capital Islamabad, on December 27, 2007.
The prosecutor said five other suspects had been at large, of whom three had been killed, including Taliban and Al Qaeda commander Baitullah Mehsud. Mehsud, who had denied any involvement in Bhutto's assassination, was killed in a US drone attack in August 2009 in the lawless South Waziristan tribal district bordering Afghanistan.
Suspects Aitzaz Shah, Hasnain Gul, Abdul Rashid, Sher Zaman and Rafaqat Hussain were arrested and now face charges of "criminal conspiracy" for bringing the suicide bomber from a tribal area and keeping him at a house in Rawalpindi, Zulfiqar said. "They (the suspects) were the suicide bomber's handlers and did it at the behest of Baitullah Mehsud. They provided the suicide jacket to Saeed alias Bilal and brought him to Liaqat Bagh, where Ms Benazir Bhutto was to address a rally."
Zulfiqar also said that the suspects had reconnoitred the Liaqat Bagh area before the attack. He said that the statements of 124 prosecution witnesses had been presented to the court and provided to the accused.
Police arrested Shah and Zaman in the troubled northwestern city of Dera Ismail Khan in January 2008 and the other three in Rawalpindi the following month. Gul and Rafaqat confessed in February 2008 to helping and sheltering the suicide attacker, to avenge the army's storming of a radical mosque in Islamabad that killed more than 100 people in July 2007.
A three-member UN inquiry panel tasked with investigating Bhutto's assassination reported in April that it believed the Pakistani police's failure to probe the slaying effectively "was deliberate".
The UN report also said that the government of then military ruler Pervez Musharraf had failed to provide Bhutto with adequate protection. The UN panel said its investigation was severely hampered by intelligence agencies and other officials who had impeded "an unfettered search for the truth".
Posted by: Fred ||
11/16/2010 00:00 ||
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ARBIL / Aswat al-Iraq: A member in the Kurdistan Alliance said on Sunday that the Kurdish side would strive to get the finance or oil portfolios instead of the foreign affairs in the new Iraqi government, reaffirming that the election rules would not allow the Kurds to get the foreign ministry for a second term.
I'd take the oil portfolio if I were a Kurd.
“The discussions of the different political blocs to distribute ministerial portfolios in the new government, scheduled to begin after the end of Eid al-Adha holidays, point out that the Kurds are trying to get the finance or oil ministries, instead of the foreign minister post, occupied by Hoshyar Zebari, a Kurd, during the past years,” Sheikh Fateh Daroghabi, a legislator from the Kurdistan Islamic Party, told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
The Iraqi parliament, after eight months of continuous arguments and discussions that followed the nationwide elections on March 7, elected on 11/11/2010 a candidate of al-Iraqiya bloc, Osama al-Nejeifi as parliament speaker, the leader in the Sadrisit Movement, Qusay al-Suheil as his first deputy, and Member of the Kurdistan Alliance Aref Tayfur as his second Deputy.
The parliament also elected President Jalal Talabani for a second term in office. Talabani later assigned Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to form the new government.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/16/2010 00:00 ||
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[Pak Daily Times] If Israel is serious about peace, it must call a complete halt to settlement building and not just limit the freeze to the West Bank, a Paleostinian official said on Monday.
"If Netanyahu stops the settlements, we will go back to direct negotiations," chief Paleostinian negotiator Saeb Erakat told AFP, referring to a comprehensive ban on settlement construction on all occupied Paleostinian land.
Obama, he said, was very much aware that the Israeli leader held the key to salvaging the peace talks. "President B.O. knows very well that Netanyahu is responsible for stopping the negotiations," he told AFP. "He also knows very well that Netanyahu has the key to the negotiations, and that he has closed the door to negotiations and chosen settlements not peace," he said.
David Hale, assistant to US Middle East envoy George Mitchell, was to discuss the idea with Paleostinian president Mahmud Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah later on Monday, an official source said. Until now, the Paleostinians have refused to continue talking without a fresh ban on settlement construction, a move which Israel has so far refused to consider.
On the other hand, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ... sometimes described as the Smartest Woman in the World and at other times as Mrs. Bill... said on Monday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is making a 'serious effort' by considering a new settlement freeze aimed at reviving peace talks. "This is a very promising development and a serious effort by Prime Minister Netanyahu," Clinton told news hounds in Washington, a day after the Israeli leader briefed his cabinet about a 90-day, one-off moratorium on settlements in the West Bank.
Clinton declined to provide details but said "we are in very close touch with both the Israelis and the Paleostinians, working intensively to create the conditions for the resumption of the negotiations. "The status quo is unacceptable so we're going to continue doing everything we possibly can" to have the negotiations resume, she said.
Commentators said on Monday that Israel's government is deeply divided over a US proposal for a new ban on West Bank settlement building, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu looks likely to accept it.
Details of the plan were put before Netanyahu's inner circle late Saturday and to the cabinet on Sunday in a move which won him praise from US President Barack B.O. Obama. "I commend prime minister Netanyahu for taking, I think a very constructive step," Obama told news hounds in Washington. "It is not easy for him to do, but I think it is a signal that he is serious."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/16/2010 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: PLO
#1
Stop all settlements and we'll talk: Palestinians
Bullshit
once you give an inch they see NO need to Talk.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
11/16/2010 0:55 Comments ||
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#2
push their ass into the sea then there is no reason too discuss anything
Posted by: chris ||
11/16/2010 8:21 Comments ||
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Yasser Arafat's personal bodyguard said the Palestinian leader did not die as a result of poison injected in his food.
"We all ate what he ate," 47-year-old Imad Abu Zaki told the London-based Arabic language newspaper Al-Hayat in an interview published Sunday, a few days after the sixth anniversary of Arafat's death. Six years already? Wow, seems like just yesterday Suha was frantically searching for her husband's bank account numbers.
The bodyguard, who accompanied Arafat from 1988 until his death at a military hospital in France on November 11, 2004, said, "It is widely assumed that he was poisoned, but not with the use of food, because we ate together with the Rais. We would eat from the same food 45 minutes before he did.
"Once, a foreign guest brought the Rais a box of chocolates. He (guest) took out a piece of chocolate and served it to the Rais. I immediately took the box and handed the pieces of chocolate to all the bodyguards who were present. I did the same with all boxes of chocolate, sweets or any other foods we received as gifts -- we all shared the food and gave it out to the bodyguards," he recalled. Assassinations are like a box of chocolates - you never know what you're going to get!
However, Abu Zaki did not rule out the possibility that Arafat was poisoned. "It is safe to assume that he was poisoned, but not with food," the bodyguard said in the interview. So the conspiracy is still alive - whew!
MOSCOW -- Russia will offer Lebanon six combat helicopters, 31 tanks and 36 artillery pieces complete with ammunition and shells, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri announced late Monday from Moscow.
"After the end of discussions between the Lebanese and Russian sides, Prime Minister Saad Hariri announced that Russia had decided to offer free aid to the Lebanese army," said a statement from Hariri's office.
The offer included "six Mi-24 helicopters, 31 T-72 assault tanks," as well as 36 mortars for 130-mm shells and around half million rounds of medium-calibre ammunition, the statement added.
T-72s: perfect for terrorizing your own people.
In February, Lebanese President Michel Sleiman announced during a visit to Moscow that Russia had agreed to a request for Mi-24 helicopter gunships instead of the MIG-29 fighter jets originally promised in 2008.
Since the MiGs would have been shot down pronto ...
On Sunday, on the eve of his two-day visit, Hariri had said he hoped to finalise that deal and said Lebanese helicopter pilots were already training for the new aircraft.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/16/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Hezbollah and Iran are in cohort after the missile sting. Israel feels pressure from all ends, Leb is holding off Syria. Russia is arming up to protect newly built military bases in Syria. Its a double switch folks. Goes both ways.
[An Nahar] Hizbullah MP Nawwaf al-Moussawi stated on Monday that the party supports Telecommunications Minister Charbel Nahhas, saying: "No one can threaten Nahhas and whoever harms him, harms us."
He revealed to al-Manar TV that Hizbullah will soon issue a statement against the campaign the minister is being subject to.
The MP repeated the party's accusation against former Prime Minister Fouad Saniora in which it alleges that he sought to prolong the July 2006 war in order to allow Israel to defeat Hizbullah.
Moussawi called on Saniora "to have the courage to repeat what he used to state before Cabinet during the war."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/16/2010 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Hizbullah MP Kamel al-Rifai stated that U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs Jeffrey Feltman, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, and U.S. Senator John I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry ... the Senate's current foreign policy expert, filling the empty broghans of Joe Biden... had informed Lebanese officials during their recent visits to Leb that Israel is serious in its threats against the country.
He told the daily Asharq al-Awsat Monday that the latest information indicates that the American administration gave Israel the green light to do as it pleases in Leb, adding that Kerry sent this message to the Syrian leadership.
The MP interpreted this as a sign of a U.S. agenda against the resistance in Leb and Paleostine to be executed through Israel.
"The Resistance will not grant Israel an excuse to launch an offensive, even though it does not need justifications for its wars," Rifai added.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/16/2010 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Dedicated efforts by Syria and Soddy Arabia have reportedly produced a five-point compromise plan in which Prime Minster Saad Hariri is likely to declare Hizbullah's innocence in ex-PM Rafik Hariri's liquidation.
As-Safir newspaper, citing well-informed political sources, said Monday that the plan allows Hariri to declare Hizbullah's innocence right after issuance of the indictment by the Special Tribunal for Leb.
The sources said the plan, which is to be carried out after Eid al-Adha holiday, seeks to strengthen calm in Leb so that the Lebanese would absorb the shock of the indictment.
It also calls for the referral of the false witnesses' issue to the ordinary Lebanese judiciary pending content of the indictment which could allow the expansion of the false witnesses' issue or have the Government forward it to the Judicial Council.
The plan offers a meeting between Hariri and Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hasaan Nasrallah that would contribute to defusing tension over the indictment. Hariri would also adopt a pleasing position hailing the Resistance That'd be the Hezbullies, natch... role in the liberation of Leb and in protecting Leb against Israeli aggression.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/16/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
At the narrow passage, there is no brother, there is no friend.
[Iran Press TV] Iranian Assyrians have held a demonstration in front of the UN office in Tehran to condemn a deadly attack on a church in Iraq last month.
Hundreds of Iranian Assyrian Christians held a demonstration in front of the UN office in Tehran on Monday to condemn the October 31 massacre of Christians in Storied Baghdad's Sayidat al-Nejat (Our Lady of Salvation) Catholic Church, a Press TV correspondent reported.
They also asked the United Nations, aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society to support Iraq's Assyrian Christian community.
On the last day of October, a group of gunnies took dozens of worshippers hostage in Baghdad's Sayidat al-Nejat Catholic Church.
52 people died and 67 others were maimed in the hostage crisis, which lasted nearly four hours until police intervened.
An al-Qaeda-linked organization has grabbed credit for the assault. Many Assyrian communities across the globe have held similar demonstrations to express their outrage over the deadly attack.
Qassem Atta, the front man for the Baghdad Operations Command, told the Aswat al-Iraq news agency that the Iraqi security forces have jugged five of the gunnies.
About 100 people were inside the church for an evening mass when the attack occurred.
MP Yonathan Betkolia, the representative of the Assyrian Christian community in the Iranian Parliament, strongly denounced the attack earlier this month and criticized the international community for their silence about the incident.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/16/2010 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
Can't be "Chowder and Marching Society". Marching requires organization and effort, and the UN has neither when it comes to protecting Christians.
#2
Marching societies were terribly popular in the U.S. in the first half of the 19th century, mom. The members dressed up in fancy uniforms, some with fake rifles and others with instruments, and marched themselves off to a picnic site for the day, followed by cheering wives and kiddies. Quite a number of them joined the Civil War as units. They were much beloved by the generals, because they only needed to be taught to shoot -- they could already march, forward at least.
[Pak Daily Times] Somalia has replaced Iraq as the state most at risk from terrorist attack, according to a ranking by global analysts Maplecroft, which sees threats also rising in Russia, Greece and Yemen but falling in India and Algeria. Pakistain has jumped one place to the second position.
A statement by the consultancy about its latest Terrorism Risk Index said increased dangers seen in Somalia and Yemen were caused by al Qaeda-associated violence while those in Russia stemmed from attacks by separatists from the North Caucasus. The largest change in the rankings was Greece, which moved from 57 to 24 to become the European country most at risk, a trend the consultancy said was due to violent left-wing groups.
Pakistain, where more than 2,000 people have been killed in a wave of deadly attacks by gunnies since 2007, moved up one place to become the country second most at risk, while Afghanistan slipped from second place to fourth. Iraq, where sectarian carnage unleashed after the 2003 US-led invasion is receding, is now in the third place.
Maplecroft said Somalia suffered 556 terrorist incidents, in which 1,437 people had been killed and 3,408 maimed between June 2009 and June 2010, the period on which the rankings are based.
"Somalia is the most extreme risk country," it said. "It has the highest number of deaths from terrorism per population and surpassed Iraq and Afghanistan in the number of fatalities per terrorist attack."
Yemen, across the Gulf of Aden, worries the West because it is home to al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which claimed the failed cargo plane attack and a botched plot by a Nigerian student to bomb an airliner over Detroit on December 25, 2009.
The UK-based company's index rates 196 countries on the number, frequency and intensity of terrorism attacks, plus the likelihood of mass casualties occurring. While based on historical data, it is intended as a forward-looking assessment.
None of the main Western economies fall within the ranking's high or extreme risk bracket. The United States is at 33, France 44 and Britain 46 -- all in the medium risk category -- while Canada at 67, and Germany at 70 are rated as low risk. The index lists 16 countries as extreme risk -- topped by Somalia, Pakistain, Iraq and Afghanistan and followed by the Paleostinian Territories in fifth place, Colombia 6, Thailand 7, Philippines 8, Yemen 9, Russia 10.
The company saw an increase in risk in Russia, which rose to 10 from 15, was due to a rise in big attacks by separatists from the North Caucasus, including twin suicide kabooms on the Moscow metro in March this year, which killed 40 people. Other major movers in the index included Algeria, which fell to 36 from 7, and India, which dropped to 15 from 6.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/16/2010 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
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.
MUSLIMS set fire overnight to at least 10 houses belonging to Coptic Christians in a village in southern Egypt over rumours that a Christian resident had an affair with a Muslim girl, security officials said today.
Grand Mufti of 
The number of North Korean defectors in South Korea has topped 20,000. A Unification Ministry official on Monday said their number crossed 20,000 last Thursday, when an airplane from Thailand carrying about 50 new defectors arrived in the country. In 1999 there were 1,000 defectors, and in 2007 10,000. 
"They are the very model of a modern major general!"
Yasser Arafat's personal bodyguard said the Palestinian leader did not die as a result of poison injected in his food.
