[Tolo News] A top official in the Government Media and Information Centre Tuesday once again pressed on an end to night raids by foreign troops in Afghanistan Criminal masterminds and assassins and such work from home during business hours, so there's no need to disturb an entire household's sleep, is there?
Foreign forces usually conduct night raids in different provinces to hunt local Taliban leaders or people close to snuffies. Nato military officials have mostly remarked about the significant effect of night raids in the fight against insurgency. The value is negated by the inconvenience to the women and kiddies and baby ducks and such...
Night raids have caused widespread concerns within the Afghan government, said Deputy for the Government Media and Information Centre, Sediq Sedeeqi.
Mr Sedeeqi said Afghan government is committed to go shoulder-to-shoulder with the international community in the fight, but the government underlines Afghan forces' leadership in operations.
"The stance of the Afghan government is clear to halt these night raids. It is totally clear," said Mr Sedeeqi.
He said if the international community ignores the Afghan government's demand, the government will continue pushing the international community to accept it.
"Operations against terrorism should be led by Afghan cops which goes back to the issue of security hand-over to Afghan forces," said Mr Sedeeqi.
The remarks came in reaction to comments made by the front man for Isaf forces, Joseph Blotz, as he called night raids fruitful to Afghanistan during a presser yesterday.
In an exclusive interview with the Washington Post recently, President Karzai had called for a stop to night raids. His remarked sparked reactions of some western officials.
President Karzai had told the Washington Post the time for a reduction in operations had come.
"The time has come to reduce military operations," Karzai told the Post. "The time has come to reduce the presence of, you know, boots in Afghanistan . . . to reduce the intrusiveness into the daily Afghan life."
Following the remarks by President Karzai, the US commander of foreign forces, Gen. David Petraeus had also expressed "astonishment and disappointment".
US Secretary of State in a pre-taped has said that President Karzai endorses the US war strategy in particular night raids in Afghanistan Recently, the US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton ... sometimes described as the Smartest Woman in the World and at other times as Mrs. Bill... , also told CBS in a pre-taped interview that President Karzai had urged Washington to review operations by US forces in which civilians have been killed in the conflict.
She said she understood President Karzai's concerns about night raids. She said US troops will take a supporting role after 2014.
"We're intent on reaching the goal of transitioning to Afghan security in 2014. But both the United States and NATO ISAF partners have said that of course we'd both be willing to train and equip the Afghan military, what we do with countries around the world....So the security lead, the fight if you will, does transition to the Afghans. Support for that fight will continue to be provided," she said.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Me thinks Mr Sedeeqi needs a "night visit"
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/01/2010 10:01 Comments ||
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#1
If memory serves, the Muslim Brotherhood is part of the origins of Al Queda. The number 2 guy, Dr. Whozit's was imprisoned in Egypt for some time for subversion. So if they stifle them, who cares.
Posted by: Mr. Bill ||
12/01/2010 20:05 Comments ||
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#2
MASTER YODA > "BEGUN, THE ISLAMIST RIOTS, HAVE"!
Now cometh
* ISRAEL NN > [Wikileaks Docs = Egypt Prez HOSNI] MUBARAK TO US: IFF YOU DON'T STOP IRAN, WE'LL BUILD OUR OWN NUKES.
* HAARETZ > WIKILEAKS: ISRAEL CAUTIONED US NOT TO ARM ARABS AGZ IRAN.
ARTIC = PM NETANYAHU = warned that a NUCBOMB-ARMED IRAN may induce US-ARMED/SUPPOR, CURR ANTI-IRAN REGIONAL ARAB STATES TO SWITCH LOYALTIES TO TEHRAN.
IIUC, BIBI = is trying hard NOT to say that DE FACTO US FAILURE TO MILPOL STOP IRAN'S NUCPROGS = US FUTURE FAILURE TO STOP "NUCLEAR MILTERRS" = US + ISRAEL WILL INEVITABLY BE ATTACKED + NUKED, PROLLY ISRAEL FIRST BEFORE THE USA THANKS TO NORMAL "GREAT POWER/STATE" MIL BRINKMANSHIP.
IOW, the US may "give up the Israeli/Zionist ghost" to militarily save itself from RUSS + CHINESE + ... + NOW IRAN'S LR NUC MISSLES + NUC TERRORISTS, FROM GLOBAL NUC WAR + NUC TERROR.
versus
* DAILY TIMES.PK > [PM Vlad Putin] RUSSIA TO DEPLOY NUKES, TROOPS ["strike forces"] IFF SHUT OUT FROM [NATO]MISSLE DEFENSE, SAYS PUTIN.
RUSSIA = EGYPT = INDIA/INDJUH-MUST-GIVE-UP-ITS-NUKES-FIRST PAKISTAN threatening to go their own Nukie way.
[El Universal] His Excellency President-for-Life, Caudillo of the Bolivarians Hugo Chavez said on Tuesday that leaks of diplomatic correspondence by whistleblower website WikiLeaks have exposed a "naked empire." Chavez added that US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ... sometimes described as the Smartest Woman in the World and at other times as Mrs. Bill... "should resign, it is the least she can do" given the seriousness of the revelations.
"The empire stood naked. I do not know what the United States is going to do. Well, they do not care about this. But how many things have been disclosed! They disrespect their allies with all these spying activities!" Chavez said during a cabinet meeting broadcast by state-run TV network Venezolana de Televisión (VTV), Efe reported
The Venezuelan president said that according to the documents leaked by WikiLeaks, the United States "refers to its allies in a very unusual way." The documents show "an attack against governments, people and international organizations."
The United States "is a failed and illegal state that disrespects ethical principles, and has lost respect for its own allies... and this (the documents leaked by WikiLeaks) shows it clearly," he added.
"I have to congratulate the people of WikiLeaks," Chavez said, and his director, Julian Assange, "for their courage and bravery."
It's not like he has to worry about Assange publishing the details of how Venezuela protects the ETA ...
"This man (Assange) has gone underground; he is making statements in a secret place. He even fears for his life," Chavez said.
In a just society he would ...
Chavez criticized the reaction of the US Secretary of State, who on Monday condemned in harsh terms the "theft" of diplomatic cables by WikiLeaks and said that "it is an attack on the United States and the international community."
Clinton should resign, Chavez suggested. "It is the least she can do, together with all those other spies and delinquents working in the State Department. They should give an answer to the world rather than attacking and saying that it was a theft," the Venezuelan president said.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
It would be a real hoot if he were the next target...though I'd rather doubt it.
[Al Jazeera] An Ecuadorean minister has offered residence in his country to Julian Assange, the reclusive founder of WikiLeaks, without conditions.
It's closer than Sweden for our CIA ops people ...
"We are ready to give him residence in Ecuador, with no problems and no conditions," Kintto Lucas, the deputy foreign minister, told the website Ecuadorinmediato on Monday.
"We are going to invite him to come to Ecuador so he can freely present the information he possesses and all the documentation, not just over the internet but in a variety of public forums."
Assange has enraged the US, and many other countries, by releasing masses of classified US documents, including a dump of embarrassing diplomatic cables and documents related to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq earlier this year.
After the latest leak, Australian police said they had begun investigating whether any of the country's laws were broken by the release. Assange is an Australian national.
Kevin Rudd, the Australian foreign minister, said the unauthorised release of diplomatic communications had been a major problem for every nation state in the world.
"We, the Australian government, condemn it because it helps nobody," he told Al Jizz on Tuesday.
"The reason we have diplomacy is that it remains private. This [leak] has fundamentally undermined that and I believe those responsible for it should be held accountable."
Arrest warrant
An international arrest warrant was issued in mid-November against Assange on suspicion of rape and sexual molestation of two women in Sweden. The 39-year-old claims the crime allegations are part of a smear campaign.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2010 00:00 ||
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[Bangla Daily Star] Officials in China have expressed frustration with communist ally North Korea, according to leaked classified US diplomatic cables. Why should they get off easy?
Pyongyang was behaving like a "spoiled child", a Chinese foreign ministry official is quoted as having said in 2009, in cables released by Wikileaks. I think it's more like a "lunatic"...
Officials reportedly told South Korean counterparts that Beijing placed little value on the North as a buffer state.
The peninsula should be reunified under Seoul's control, they suggested.
The revelations come as regional tensions remain high after the North shelled a South Korean island a week ago.
The US administration says the Wikileaks disclosures are an attack on the world community, but that partnerships it had worked hard to build would withstand the challenge.
China has responded to the leaks by urging the US to "properly handle relevant issues," a foreign ministry official said yesterday.
'NEW REALITY'
One cable published on Monday reveals that China's Vice Foreign Minister, He Yafei, told the US charge d'affaires in Beijing that North Korea was behaving like a "spoiled child" to get Washington's attention in April 2009 by carrying out missile tests.
A second dispatch from September 2009 said Mr He had downplayed Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's trip to Pyongyang, telling the US Deputy Secretary of State, James Steinberg: "We may not like them... [but] they are a neighbour."
He said Mr Wen would push for denuclearisation and a return to talks.
Six-party talks aimed at defusing the nuclear issue and involving the two Koreas, the US, China, Japan and Russia have been stalled since April 2009.
South Korea and the US say they should not resume until the North has made a genuine offer on halting its nuclear programme.
Another cable relays a discussion over an official lunch in February 2010 between former South Korean Vice Foreign Minister Chun Yung-woo and the US ambassador to Seoul, Kathleen Stephens.
The minister is said to have revealed that a new, younger generation of Chinese leaders no longer regarded North Korea as a useful or reliable ally, and would not risk renewed armed conflict on the peninsula.
Mr Chun confidently had predicted that North Korea "had already collapsed economically and would collapse politically two to three years after the death of Kim Jong-il", despite his efforts to obtain Chinese help and to secure the succession for his son, Ms Stephens wrote.
"The PRC would be comfortable with a reunified Korea controlled by Seoul and anchored to the United States in a 'benign alliance' - as long as Korea was not hostile towards China," her message added.
While these cables offer fascinating insights, seasoned Korea-watchers caution that this is a very "South Korean" view of the policy debate in Beijing, says the BBC's diplomatic correspondent, Jonathan Marcus.
It remains unknown whether this South Korean assessment - as reported to Washington - is an accurate reflection of Beijing's current thinking, adds our correspondent.
COMPUTER HACKING
The communications between the US State Department and its embassies and consulates around the world were sent between 1966 and 2010.
Aggressive steps were being taken against those who "stole" the information, said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, ... sometimes described as the Smartest Woman in the World and at other times as Mrs. Bill... adding that every country had to be able to have honest, private dialogue with other countries about issues of common concern.
No one has been charged with passing them to Wikileaks, but suspicion has fallen on US Army Private Bradley Manning, an intelligence analyst jugged in Iraq in June and charged over an earlier leak of a classified video. As far as I know Army privates don't have access to State Department cables. I can't recall ever having seen one in 27 years in the intel bizniz. I'm guessing a State Department source...
Ecuador has offered Wikileaks founder Julian Assange "unconditional" residency in the country. Deputy Foreign Minister Kintto Lucas praised people like Mr Assange "who are constantly investigating and trying to get light out of the dark corners of information".
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
ION DEFENCE WEB > {Reuters] JAPAN:POSSIBLE NORTH KOREA MAY HAVE ADVANCED NUCLEAR ARMS.
WIKILEAKS DOCS = CHIN-LED "FINLANDIZATION" OR NORTH = "UNIFIED KOREA" [West German Model]; VERSUS NEW SOUTH KOREAN ADMIN WHOM FAVORS CLOSER MIL TIES WID US [+ JAPAN], but whom also believes SOUTH KOREA SHOULD REPLACE JAPAN AS THE US' PRIMARY MILPOL ALLY IN NOTHEAST ASIA???
* NEWS KERALA/TOPIX > RUSSIAN PRESIDENT WARNS OF NEW ARMS RACE [may occur widn next 10 years iff NATO-RUSS COOPER ON MISSLE DEFENSE FAILS].
IMO also read, US-RUSSIA "NEW START" FAILURE.
IOW, there goes a'flyin away CHINA'S EEZ-SEZ in the Yellow Sea = West Sea.
* XINHUA > [MILF] PHILIPPINE MUSLIM REBELS WARN OF RESURGENCE OF ARMED CONFLICT IN MINDANAO, unless Malaysia-led International Monitorng Teams [IMTS] are renewed upon expiration of duty.
* BHARAT RAKSHAK POSTER > believes CHINA + PLA, PLAN will need 10-YEARS-OR-MORE to enter + conduct effec routine operations in the INDIAN OCEAN = SOUTH CHINA SEAS.
#8
TOPIX > CHINA DENIES WIKILEAKS CLAIMS OF NORTH KOREA COLLAPSE.
* SAME > {Asahi Shimbun] KIM JONG-UN BEHIND [YeongPyeong Island] HIT ON SOUTH.
ARTIC = Source claimed that KIM JONG-UN also ORDERED DPRK ARMY LAST MONTH TO PREPARE TO FIGHT BACK IFF THERE ARE NEW [US-ROK]"PROVOCATIONS".
IOW, IIUC DPRK ARMY TO PREPARE FOR ESCALATION + ULTIMATELY ALL-OUT WAR IFF SOUTH KOREA MIL RESPONDS TO "CHEONAN", ETC. INCIDENTS.
KIM JONG-UN "MAKING HIS BONES" to impress Big Daddy + Army, Regime???
VERSIES
* PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM > {Telegraph.UK] US-ROK WAR GAMES MAY BE OVER BUT NORTH KOREA STILL HASN'T BLINKED, US RUNNING OUT OF OPTIONS.
ARTIC = US-CHINA desired "AID FOR NUKES" vee DPRK is failing to stop DPRK's NucProgs, which in turn is demonstrating the validity of CHINA'S POSITION ON HOW TO HANDLE THE DPRK AS SUPERIOR TO THAT OF THE US-ALLIES???
and
* FREEREPUBLIC > REPORT: NORTH KOREA MAY STRIKE SOUTH AGAIN IN 2010. ROK Targets in Gyeonggi Province, ROK Navy ships in Yellow Sea, etc.
* THE HINDU > [South Korean]ENVOY: SOUTH KOREA [+ Japan] RELIES ON US NUCLEAR UMBRELLA, for both EFFEC DETERRENCE + MIL COUNTERRESPONSE despite SOKOR not having any US nukes based on its soil.
IOW, IIUC once again the ROK GOVT is trying hard NOT to say it wants its own NUCWEAPS.
* YONHAP/TOPIX > SOUTH KOREA SPY CHIEF: NORTH KOREA LIKLEY TO THREATEN TO ATTACK/PROVOKE SOUTH AGAIN, as due to INTERNAL COMPLAINTS agz KIM FAMILY DYNASTY + HEIR APPARENT JIM JONG-UN, + THE DPRK'S WORSENING FOOD, ECON SITUATION.
[Chosun Ilbo] The government is looking into using Baeknyeong Island in the West Sea as a forward-deployment base supporting marines in case of an amphibious landing on North Korea's west coast. No doubt the Norks were counting on just such a development. That Baby Leader, he's a genius just like his Pa.
"The presidential defense committee is looking into the possibility of turning the five West Sea islands including Baeknyeong into launching platforms for marine landings on North Korea's west coast in times of conflict and stationing strategic missiles with a range of some 500 km there," a government source said Monday.
If missiles with ranges of 300 km to 500 km are stationed on Baeknyeong, key North Korean government and military installations, including the central administrative complex, nuclear facilities, missile bases and air strips, will fall within tactical reach.
"The military has so far taken a passive approach to countering North Korean aggression, but the time has come to show the North that we are capable of countering their asymmetric threat," the source said. "The presidential committee presented an active suppression strategy as part of this plan."
Officials are discussing building a military base on Baeknyeong that will contain the South Korean-made Hyunmu-3 cruise missiles with a range of 500 km and Hyunmu-2 and Army Tactical Missile Systems ballistic missiles with a range of 300 km. Also, amphibious landing vehicles will be stationed on Baeknyeong and other West Sea islands for use in times of war, and helicopter landing pads will be built as well.
However, The infamous However... some military officials warn that such facilities and weapons could easily fall into North Korean hands due to the island's proximity to North Korea. The islands are just 10-20 km from North Korea.
Lawmakers are also calling for the construction of military bases there. Grand National Party politician Won Yoo-chul, who heads the National Assembly's Defense Committee, told the Chosun Ilbo, "We need to reorganize our troops and weapons so that the five West Sea islands can be turned into forward deployment bases in times of conflict by turning them into impenetrable fortresses."
Former defense minister Kim Jang-soo, who is now a GNP politician, said, "From a military perspective, the five West Sea islands are threats to North Korea, and we must look into turning them into forward launch bases by equipping them with precision-guided weapons and artillery that can immobilize North Korean coastal artillery or multiple launch rocket systems."
Yoo Seung-min, also a GNP politician, said South Korea's Air Force needs to be radically upgraded to defend the five West Sea islands and Seoul. "If North Korea showers Seoul with artillery rounds and rockets, there are predictions that half of the capital will be destroyed in just a day," Yoo said. "The only solution is to deliver precise strikes on North Korean positions first through a massive air attack in the early stages of a war."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
LOL, any chance that "The infamous However" is related to the infamous "But still,..." dialogue from a mere MILYUHN-N-JILYUHN 1970's-80's KUNG FU MOVIES???
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] North Korea boasted today of running "thousands" of nuclear centrifuges, a week after launching a deadly artillery attack on South Korea, as China pressed for six-nation crisis talks.
State media in the North, which has already tested two atomic bombs made from plutonium, said "many thousands of centrifuges" are operating to enrich uranium at a new plant which it claims is for peaceful energy purposes. ... as were the two atomic bombs...
The country first disclosed the new plant to US experts less than two weeks before its artillery assault, which killed two civilians and two marines on South Korea's Yeonpyeong island near the disputed Yellow Sea border.
Experts and senior US officials fear the plant could easily be configured to make weapons-grade uranium.
Analysts say the nuclear revelation and artillery attack appeared coordinated to pressure Washington and Seoul into resuming dialogue and aid, and possibly to bolster the credentials of leader-in-waiting Kim Jong-Un.
For a third day, the US and South Korean navies staged war games far south of the border involving 11 ships, air power and 7,300 personnel.
South Korea is separately strengthening artillery and troop numbers on frontline islands near the tense frontier.
The North's state media blasted the naval drill, calling it provocative and warmongering.
"We have full deterrence to destroy our enemies at once," said cabinet newspaper Minju Chosun. "If the US and South Korean enemies dare to fire one shell in our territory and sea territory, they will have to pay for it."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Lest we fergit, the DPRK'S "TWO ATOMIC BOMBS" is being repor on the NET as the DPRK/NOKOR TESTING "TWO PLUTONIUM BOMBS"???
[Straits Times] CHINA'S top foreign policy official will visit North Korea, possibly on Wednesday, in an effort to defuse rising tension on the Korean peninsula, Japan's Kyodo News agency reported on Tuesday.
Dai Bingguo ... "and Bingguo was his name-o!" ... is expected to urge the North Korean leadership to accept a Chinese proposal for an emergency meeting of six regional powers to defuse the tension, Kyodo said, quoting unnamed diplomatic sources.
Mr Dai visited South Korea on Saturday and Sunday and held talks with President Lee Myung Bak on the North's deadly shelling of a South Korean island last week.
Mr Dai held talks with pudgy North Korean hereditary dictator Kim Jong Il ... that'd be Dear Leader to you ... when he visited the country in 2003 and 2009 as Chinese President Hu Jintao's special envoy, Kyodo reported.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Much to do about nothing.
The shelling was a reminder to the south that Seoul is within easy artillery range and wouldn't it be easier to just bribe us to behave?
I think that the USA should pick an opportunity to remind the norks what SDB's launched from a B-1B can do to cave mouths that shelter artillery.
Posted by: Mike Ramsey ||
12/01/2010 5:23 Comments ||
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John Bolton is mulling a run for president because he believes the US needs to recover its international standing and be more assertive, including being willing to bomb Iran and scrap the two-state solution.
#2
If you think they've used the politics of Destruction on Palin, just wait until the nominee's Jindal. They'll take what he's talked about in the past re: exorcism and use it as a lead in on every really-out-there Catholic fringe dweller like Mel Gibson's Dad.
Just like if they nominate Cantor all sorts of "interesting" things about Orthodox Judaism will suddenly come out of the woodwork. (Starting with that senile Sephardic Rabbi over in Israel, and continuing through the whole Syrian "Kosher Nostra" organ smugglers over in New Joisey and eventually going on to distortions of the laws regarding cleanliness for Orthodox Jewish Rabbis.)
And if Romney's the nominee expect to see non-stop "Big Love" marathons on prime-time broadcast-network TV.
And now that I think about it, I wonder how much of the permit-based moratorium is based on the perceived need to wreck Jindal's chances by screwing up the economy in Louisiana any way they can.
#4
Don't know, yet. They may be able to attack his standing with the base, which doesn't really want another CENTER/right Republican like Bush. (That same approach will probably work with Huckabee, whose interpretation of Christianity basically revolves around releasing any numbnutz psychopath who says he's saved.)
One thing I haven't worked out in my head yet: would a woman have an easier or harder time dealing with this sort of stuff than a man? I'm not sure; the only potential female candidates out there that I can see on the right are Palin, Bachmann, and Elizabeth Cheney.
#5
No more talk about Huckabee PLEASE! With all due respect to the man, we don't need a 'nice guy' former preacher, talk show host. We need someone who will kick some rear ends!
#6
With all due respects, gents. As a long time Alaskan I think I can say Palin does not have the gravitas. She is much better in the king-maker role, and as a false target for the for the left wing mouth-droolers.
#8
Think that has more to do with the individual Thing. Like or hate, Palin IMHO has weathered everything possible, to the point where even the has-been cho was summoned from the depths to criticize her daughter who was in a popularity contest guised as a dance show.
Bolton, Jindal, and Palin have all weathered media and seem to be able to make decisions and go full in. I will only worry when we get the smart handclapping for Romney or the soaring nose of Huckabee.
#10
The next election will be won in the midwest. A Daniels-Rubio ticket would have the greatest chance of delivering a trunk win. And Daniels would be a very good fiscal president.
Palin should become the Gen X Rush for the new media.
* PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM > {Wikileaks] NOTHING WILL STOP PAK ARMY FROM SUPPORTING ANTI-INDIA MILITANTS. PAK Army + aligned corrupt Islamabad Poiltical Govtcritters.
"ANTI-INDJUH" MILITANTS include 4 Major Militant Groups, namely
* AFGHAN TALIBAN.
* Pro-TALIB HAQQANI, HEKMATYR Networks.
* LeT.
* SAME > THE NEAR-PERFECT WEAPON: MIRV TECHNOLGY WITHIN PAKISTAN'S GRASP | [BBC] PAKISTAN'S GROWING NUCLEAR PROGRAMME.
ALL-ASPECT = WARHEAD, MISSLE = LR DELIVERY, C3.
And where PAK's MIRVS go, IRAN + DPRK is not far behind.
[Dawn] A French judge questioned former prime minister Dominique de Villepin ... who may not be a woman ... on Tuesday about a Pak bombing in 2002 that killed 11 French submarine engineers, sources close to the inquiry said.
He was questioned for two hours by anti-terrorist magistrate Marc Trevidic, who is leading an inquiry into the attack that has sparked allegations of political corruption and Dire Revenge-taking in France.
Villepin was questioned last Thursday for four hours as a witness in a separate probe into whether French officials received illegal payments related to arms deals in 1995.
Witnesses have alleged the Pakistain bombing was Dire Revenge for the cancelling of kickbacks paid to officials in the arms deals, in a complex case linked to alleged illegal political funding and implicating President Nicolas Sarkozy.
But Villepin repeated Tuesday during questioning that he did not believe there was any link between the attack in the Pak city of Bloody Karachi and the stopping of the payment of the commissions, the source said.
Villepin was chief of staff to then president Jacques Chirac, who cancelled the commissions after he took office in 1995 because he suspected they would lead to kickbacks to his political rival Edouard Balladur, a Sarkozy ally.
Villepin is also Sarkozy's bitterest political rival and likely to run against him for president in 2012.
Witnesses have also alleged Sarkozy, budget minister at the time of the arms deal and Balladur's campaign front man, was linked to the commissions.
The current French leader has angrily dismissed talk of his involvement as a "fairy tale" and denies any knowledge of kickbacks.
The bombing in Bloody Karachi in 2002 killed 11 French engineers and at least three Paks.
Relatives of the French victims plan to sue Villepin and Chirac for manslaughter and have called for Sarkozy to testify.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
"The army has not called these allegations isolated incidents, or blamed rotten apples. It has flat-out denied them. "We have never committed torture," Lt.-Gen. Udomchai Thamsarorat, the current regional commander, told me. Blanket denials don't impress the experts. "The security forces continue to use torture even though senior commanders claim to have prohibited it," the Brussels-based International Crisis Group said in November. In the two months leading up to Sulaiman's death, Amnesty International received eight reports of torture six from Ingkhayutthabariharn."
It's part of the terrorist training process to learn to claim torture if captured, and no doubt Amnesia International would be a prime contact.
"Denials don't fool the locals either. In Pattani, I know a teacher of Malay who, as an exercise, asked his students all Muslims to write a newspaper-style report. A dozen of them turned in stories about relatives or friends who had been detained or tortured. When I asked a Muslim paralegal why more people don't speak out about such abuses, he replied: "We hate the army but we fear them also. The fear is stronger than the hate." Such views seemed barely to register with the officers I spoke to. Lt.-Gen. Udomchai said he was "100% confident" his troops were winning Muslim hearts and minds. A civil affairs officer told me that local people "trust us more and more," before explaining that Thailand was one big loving family in which Muslims were "naughty teenagers.
It will be interesting to see Michael Yon's take on this story. I have no way to judge the truth of it myself - it doesn't seem impossible, but then again, we KNOW a lot of such prisoners DO lie, in just this way.
Posted by: Water Modem ||
12/01/2010 13:24 Comments ||
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#5
In Pattani, I know a teacher of Malay who, as an exercise, asked his students -- all Muslims -- to write a newspaper-style report. A dozen of them turned in stories about relatives or friends who had been detained or tortured.
Huh. Muslims making up accusations of torture during a creative writing exercise.
Whodatunk.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
12/01/2010 14:17 Comments ||
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#6
Culturally the Thai are different from most other southern Asian people. A lot of it has to do with the difference between a "conquered people" and an "unconquered people". The Thai are of the latter group.
Historical Thai rulers often had the appellation of "The Great", which they earned, and Thailand was never colonized, while playing the British and the French off of each other with both diplomacy and ferocity. Then they went from absolute monarchy to democracy in one fell swoop.
They went head to head with the Japanese in a pitched, eight hour battle, against a much superior force, before negotiating an armistice. Even that was crafty, as on one hand they worked with the Japanese to get their French and British taken territory back, and on the other hand conducted an anti-Japanese resistance movement.
Even today, unlike most of south Asia, whose illegals drugs of choice are hashish and opiates, the Thai, despite producing world class marijuana, have developed a liking to a high test methamphetamine, which appeals to their more militaristic and violent side.
Unfortunately, those that take it tend to go berserker, so the police generally just kill them.
#9
Fred: In Thailand, I suspect torture happens for the same reasons it would happen in the western nations. It begins when they catch some real fiend who has done something truly horrific. However, these are individual cases.
If it starts to become institutional, this is usually a sign of poor morale. In this case, the Thai government has been unstable for so long that it is starting to wear on both the police and military. And they start taking it out on the usual suspects.
#10
The Thai military has at times been rather medieval in its dealings with Southern separatists. The worst abuses were under the Thaksin administration - a good report is at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fk_ZEuE-70M. You can learn more by searching "Tak Bai Incident" or "Krue Sae Mosque Incident".
But - misconduct is not at all one-sided. The worst abusers of Southern Thai Muslims - by far - is other Thai Muslim. The separatist elements murder countless Muslim villagers - often village leaders - if those Muslims do not exhibit adequate enthusiasms against the government.
Since I came to live in Thailand in 2000, I have seen:
1. A Thai Muslim (Wan Muhammad Nor Matha) serving as Chairman of Parliament, and then as Interior Minister.
2. A Thai Muslim (Sonthi Boonyaratglin) as Army Chief.
3. The Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) sent an inspection team to Southern Thailand, back in 2005, and report that there was little religious or economic basis for violence in the South.
At its most fundamental, the real issue is a very deliberate policy of ethnic cleaning - by the Muslim separatists, against Buddhist residents in the South. The core strategy has been to send Muslim children to madras schools, and to then seek to make it impossible for Buddhist parents to send their children to school. This is accomplished by murdering school teachers, school administrators, and school children - often at random. More than 135 schoolteachers have been brutally murdered - sometimes in front of their students - by Muslim separatists. The goal: if parents are too frightened for the safety of their children, to allow them to attend school, then the parents will move away from the South - because they will not allow their children to grow up without an education.
This is a very insidious method of driving away one ethnic group. The separatists ignore Buddhists without children - because they know that when these individuals die, they will leave behind no Buddhist legacy.
Muslim separatists have killed more people in the deep South of Thailand - by far - than have Thai security forces. I suspect that more Thai Muslims (peaceful, non-activist Muslims) have died at Muslim separatist hands, than at the hands of Thai security forces.
Posted by: Dar ||
12/01/2010 01:37 ||
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#1
If someone could clue me, I was still eating applesauce as a main course, but this would have been ok/no big deal pre-revolution iran?
If so, they would have to remove it for a number of reasons..it is a reminder of tolerant times, it is a reminder that the current group did not build it all, it is a reminder they do not deserve what they have. Really, haven't checked the roof in 30 years, didn't notice it during the student slapdown? Knew about it but now the cat is out of the bag?
[An Nahar] Israeli army chief Gabi Ashkenazi on Tuesday said there is a "slim chance" that Hizbullah might act against Israel after the U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Leb issues an indictment in the Hariri case.
However, The infamous However... during an inspection visit to the Tel Hashomer military recruiting center, Ashkenazi stressed that the Israeli army was ready to confront any escalation.
The STL, tasked with investigating the 2005 Beirut bombing that killed former prime minister Rafik Hariri and 22 others, is expected to issue its indictments in the near future.
Press leaks have said the tribunal will implicate a handful of high-ranking members of the powerful Hizbullah -- a move the gang's leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has warned against.
Nasrallah warned on Sunday that Israel could wage a new war on Leb after the publication of indictments by the STL.
"The STL could be a cover for a new Israeli war," Nasrallah said in a speech on closed-circuit television during a ceremony paying tribute to Hizbullah students.
"In Israel they have begun to celebrate the fact that the indictment" will implicate Hizbullah, said Nasrallah, who believes that Israel and its American ally are pulling the strings of the tribunal.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
IIRC a LEBANON-BASED, AL-QAEDA AFFILIATED NEW MILITANT GROUP is calling for ARMED SUNNI UPRISING AGZ THE BEIRUT GOVT. + ESPEC HEZBOLLAH [read, IRAN]???
[An Nahar] UNIFIL spokesperson Neeraj Singh said Tuesday that the Israeli withdrawal from the northern part of the occupied border village of Ghajar is a nonnegotiable condition. They said they were gonna pull out. What's to negotiate?
"It is imperative that the Israeli army withdraws from the area. This issue is nonnegotiable," Singh told the state-run National News Agency.
UNIFIL has made several suggestions to facilitate Israel's withdrawal. "We started discussions with all sides and are continuing intense talks after the Israeli cabinet finally announced that in principle it agreed to UNIFIL's proposal."
"It is worthless to discuss details in public," he said.
While confirming that UNIFIL's role is to help the Lebanese government impose its illusory sovereignty through the deployment of the army in the south, Singh said: "As far as northern Ghajar is concerned, we aspire for the same thing that Leb desires."
Meanwhile, ...back at the ranch... Israel Radio said Tuesday that the Jewish state will inform UNIFIL on Tuesday about its government's official decision to withdraw from Ghajar.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2010 00:00 ||
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[Al Jizz] Iran has agreed to take part in talks on its controversial nuclear programme after 14 months of stalemate. We can now look forward to years of stalemate...
Said Jalili, Iran's nuclear negotiator, will meet Catherine Ashton, the European Union foreign policy chief who heads an international delegation on the nuclear issue, on December 6 and 7.
"We have now received a formal response from the Iranian authorities confirming that Dr Jalili has agreed to Catherine Ashton's proposal to meet in Geneva," an EU foreign affairs front man said on Tuesday.
"Talks between Ashton, on behalf of the E3+3, and Jalili will now take place on Monday and Tuesday of next week in Geneva."
Ashton has the backing of the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany - referred to as the E3+3 or the P5+1 - to hold talks with Iran on its nuclear programme.
'Sticking points'
The US and its allies have said that they are concerned Iran is trying to build an atomic weapon, but Iran insists that its nuclear programme is simply to meet civilian energy needs.
The talks will be the first high-level meeting with Iran on the issue since October 2009.
Al Jizz's Laurence Lee, reporting from London, said that there were "sticking points" even before the talks take place.
"The Iranians want to talk about the fuel swap idea that they brokered with Turkey, whereas the powers - the European Union and the other powers - want to talk about the very fact of the nuclear programme," he said.
Iran has repeatedly refused to stop its uranium enrichment process, a key demand of the six powers, but did agree to exchange its low-enriched uranium in Turkey for nuclear fuel processed abroad.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2010 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[El Universal] 
[Bangla Daily Star] Officials in China have expressed frustration with communist ally North Korea, according to leaked classified US diplomatic cables.
[Dawn] A French judge questioned former prime minister 
Iran has agreed to take part in talks on its controversial nuclear programme after 14 months of stalemate.
