The Taliban are entering the death-spiral phase of their comeback campaign. This can be seen by sharply reduced activity in the countryside (where the surge in NATO and Afghan troops has broken the fighting spirit of the Taliban), and the increased reliance on high-profile terror attacks. NATO casualties are down from the same period last year, although the media coverage of Taliban terror attacks might make you think otherwise. The fighting through the Winter was particularly damaging to the Taliban, and recruiting for this year's "Spring Offensive" has been difficult.
It's been known for over two years that this switch in tactics was coming. It's the same pattern seen in Iraq. Moreover, many Taliban leaders are trying to negotiate some kind of deal with the government. Some of these settlements have already been made, and now the Taliban have one less ally and one more target. The terror campaign could go on, intensely, for a year or two. But eventually, the "fighting" Taliban are going to run out of money, men and places to hide.
#3
I wouldn't be too quick to write the Taliban out of the game. They are still quite actively training and recruiting teens and the mentally handicapped as suicide bombers in the sanctuary regions of Pakistan, where they enjoy a huge amount of support from the government. More sophisticated weapons and tactics are being developed there as well. It is to their advantage to permit ISAF to enjoy the illusion of success and watch the inevitable Allied pullout. The US military and political structure continues to lament "there is no military solution in Afghanistan." We have essentially admitted defeat and are attempting to find the back door. The Taliban are more than willing to back off and show us the way.
#4
Remember you don't have to kill the Taliban, just cripple it enough to allow the other predators in that environment will finish it off. While they have friends, they have also been making many enemies who loath them for the thugs they have become without a mask of religion.
#5
The Taliban are more than willing to back off and show us the way.
Even if we withdraw, the only way we can lose in Afghanistan is if we end military aid to Karzai's administration. Unfortunately, our default policy has been all-or-nothing. When we decided that Chiang Kai-Shek wasn't perfect, we ended aid to him, as the Soviets increased aid to Chinese Communists (and paid with the lives of 100K GI's in Korea and Vietnam). When we withdrew from South Vietnam in 1973, we ended aid to the RVN government, even as the Soviets and the Chinese ramped up aid to North Vietnam (and paid with the lives of thousands of American dead - via loss of deterrence - from then on until 9/11). When the Afghans outlasted the Soviets, we stopped aid to Ahmad Shah Massoud, leaving the door open for the Pakistanis to install the Taliban in power and plot the 9/11 attacks using Saudi cutouts. Here's an illuminating excerpt about the much-maligned Najibullah's staying power:
The civil war continued in Afghanistan after the Soviet withdrawal. The Soviet Union left Afghanistan deep in winter, with intimations of panic among Kabul officials. The Afghan mujahideen were poised to attack provincial towns and cities and eventually Kabul, if necessary.
Najibullah's regime, though failing to win popular support, territory, or international recognition, was however able to remain in power until 1992. Ironically, until demoralized by the defections of its senior officers, the Afghan Army had achieved a level of performance it had never reached under direct Soviet tutelage. Kabul had achieved a stalemate that exposed the mujahideen's weaknesses, political and military. But for nearly three years, while Najibullah's government successfully defended itself against mujahideen attacks, factions within the government had also developed connections with its opponents.
According to Russian publicist Andrey Karaulov, the main trigger for Najibullah losing power was Russia's refusal to sell oil products to Afghanistan in 1992 for political reasons (the new Yeltsin government did not want to support the former communists), which effectively triggered an embargo. The defection of General Abdul Rashid Dostam and his Uzbek militia, in March 1992, further undermined Najibullah's control of the state. In April, Najibullah and his communist government fell to the mujahideen, who replaced Najibullah with a new governing council for the country.
I suspect a billion dollars a year in military aid to Karzai's administration could keep the country free of Taliban rule. It would certainly be cheaper than the $100B a year we're spending on keeping GI's in-country. Heck, make it $5B, and it would be close to Pakistan's annual military budget of $6.41B, and still way cheaper than a US presence.
[Tolo News] More than 9,000 civilians have bit the dust in the past three years in Afghanistan, a joint report by UN and Independent Human Rights Commission said.
How many of those civilians are actually jihadis who stepped away from their guns... or willing or unwilling human shields?
There has been a 15-percent rise in civilian casualties in the country, the report said.
In the past three months more than 420 civilians have bit the dust nationwide, it said. It said most of the deaths have been caused by Taliban and Islamic exemplars.
"One third of the figure have been killed in operations by foreign and Afghan forces and two third of it have been killed in suicide kabooms, roadside kabooms and direct slaughters by the Taliban and bad boys," Nader Naderi, a member of Afghanistan's Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHC), said.
Civilians took bulk of the casualties in southern regions, where beturbanned goons are highly active, it said.
The report finds suicide attacks, roadside kabooms, bombardments and missile attacks as the main factors behind civilian deaths surge.
Involved sides in the conflict should make their all-out efforts to prevent targeting civilians in attacks and operations, it said.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/24/2011 00:00 ||
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Senior western leaders called for Nato to adopt an assassination policy against Col Muammar Gaddafi to salvage the bombing campaign in Libya from a descent into stalemate.
The calls came as Col Gaddafi was reported to have strengthened his grip on power by repatriating billions of dollars in overseas assets that should have been frozen by UN sanctions.
On Sunday, there was growing pressure on Coalition forces to directly target Col Gaddafi with military strikes.
Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican member of the Senate Armed Services committee, said that the quickest way to end the emerging stalemate was to "cut the head of the snake off". He said: "The people around Gaddafi need to wake up every day wondering, 'Will this be my last?'
Senator John McCain, who visited Libya at the weekend, also said that the Libyan dictator should be targeted but argued that it was more important to increase American firepower over Libya. He said: "It's pretty obvious to me that the US has got to play a greater role on the air power side. Our Nato allies neither have the assets, nor frankly the will - there's only six countries of the 28 in Nato that are actively engaged in this situation."
William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, also on Sunday refused to rule out using remote-controlled American drones to assassinate Col Gaddafi. Mr Hague said "who and what is a legitimate target depends on their behaviour." However, he denied that there was a stalemate in Libya and ruled out proposals to partition the country
Reports of a thaw in Egyptian-Iranian diplomatic ties has created a stir in the Middle East, particularly in Egypt and its neighbor, Israel. Indeed, even as Egypt struggles to iron out its own emerging political system after the ousting of President Hosni Mubarak, Cairo's foreign policy is also undergoing a sea change. "If you look at Egypt over the last 20 years, it just hasn't played a very serious role in the foreign affairs of the region," says Gary Sick a Persian Gulf expert at Columbia University, who served on the National Security Council under three U.S. presidents. For decades, in fact, the regime of former President Hosni Mubarak acted as little more than a "foreign policy cardboard standup" to its powerful ally and benefactor, the United States. But all that is about to change, he says. "Many of the countries that now have new leaders are going to reset their foreign affairs," Sick predicts. "And the United States is going to have to get used to that."
For post-revolutionary Egypt's new leaders and politicians, forging a new foreign policy means pushing back against much of what Mubarak stood for. That clearly includes Egypt's perceived puppet-like status to the United States, Europe, and Israel. "Let us eat the way we want, dress the way we want. Let us organize ourselves the way we want to," says Kamal Habib, a Salafi politician, who was jailed for a decade under Mubarak for his affiliation with a violent jihadist organization. "We don't want to repeat the Mubarak-American relationship again."
Habib's opinion applies to more than just his Salafist cohorts. Many Egyptians want to hit the reset button on their country's stance on Palestinian statehood, as well as its posture toward the Gaza Strip, where it has helped to enforce an Israeli-led blockade for four years. Most recently, it also includes re-thinking a decades-old enmity with Iran.
#1
sure, open up the gazoo border to your "Paleo brothers". Don't be surprised when tourism drops to zero, Uncle Sugar doesn't have any foreign aid for you, and the wymyns start getting lashed in the streets for being uncovered cat meat
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/24/2011 13:23 Comments ||
Top||
#2
" Let us eat the way we want, dress the way we want ... organize ourselves the way we want to [etc]".
[Ennahar] Al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) holding hostage four French for seven months, calls especially for the departure of French troops from Afghanistan in addition to a ransom of 90 million euros, said Saturday a source close to the mediation.
"People of AQIM also claimed and especially the departure of French troops from Afghanistan to free the four kidnapped Frenchies still being held. They stressed that," said the source close to the mediation, which included elected officials and Malian Nigerian personalities.
This requirement for a withdrawal of French troops from Afghanistan had already been made twice by the leader of Al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, to which AQIM has made allegiance.
March 21, the same source close to the mediation had told AFP that AQIM claimed "at least 90 million euros" and the "liberation of prisoners held in several countries" in exchange for the release of the French, a demand which was immediately rejected by La Belle France.
A group of mediators is currently in the stronghold of the kidnappers in an unnamed country in the Sahel, for a new round of negotiations, also said a Malian source close to the case. "These are long and difficult negotiations. We hope very soon to obtain, why not, the release of some hostages," the source added.
AQIM is holding hostage four Frenchies who were among a group of seven people kidnapped Sept. 16, 2010 in Arlit, a uranium mining site in northern Niger, of a French nuclear group Areva.
On 24 February, three of the hostages (a French, a Togolese and a Malagasy), were released near the junction of the borders between Algeria, Mali and Niger.
AQIM has bases in Mali where it operates in several countries in the region of Sahel-Saharan desert where it is guilty of the attacks, carries out kidnappings, mostly of Westerners, and engaged in smuggling.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/24/2011 00:00 ||
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[Arab News] Soddy Arabia currently has 1,325 non-Saudis on trial for their direct or indirect involvement in terror plots or for conspiracy to participate in terror-group activities, Interior Ministry front man Maj. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki told Arab News in Riyadh Saturday. Al-Turki did not specify the nationalities of the foreigners.
When asked about the suspects' countries of origin, he added: "This has not been our policy to point out the nationalities."
The Interior Ministry says 11,527 Saudis and non-Saudis have been nabbed since Sept 11, 2001. Out of this number, 5,831 people, including an unspecified number of foreigners, have been released because they were found not guilty or had served their time. The official added that 1,612 people have been convicted of terrorism charges. Six hundred and sixteen suspects are currently being investigated by the Interior Ministry while 603 suspects are currently on trial.
The Interior Ministry has also completed its investigation of hundreds of others whose cases have been passed to prosecutors for pretrial procedures.
"The Saudi prosecution is preparing lists of charges against 934 people and is investigating the cases of 1,931 others," said the front man.
Most of the suspects who have been rounded up by Saudi security agencies since 2001 were accused of belonging to terrorist networks, supporting and financing terrorism, going to areas of conflicts to fight illegally, coordinating with groups outside Soddy Arabia or actively seeking ways to otherwise harm the nation.
Earlier this month, 15 people were released after undergoing the Kingdom's rehabilitation program. These men were set free after they underwent a year-long counseling program at Prince Mohammed bin Naif Center for Counseling and Care, a facility located in a resort complex with swimming pools and recreational facilities in Riyadh.
Al-Turki pointed out that there are "very few" women among those who have been jugged.
Asked about reports indicating plans to allow Saudi women in police and security forces, Al-Turki said: "Every security agency or department had its own plans based on their needs ... you can check with different agencies on this."
Public security departments may need women but Civil Defense, which is responsible for firefighting and other domestic rescue and recovery operations, does not require them, said the front man. Some published reports have said that the Kingdom is examining the feasibility of allowing women to join the police force to help it deal with female suspects or crime victims.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/24/2011 00:00 ||
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[Pak Daily Times] Hundreds of Russian nationalists staged a racism-tinged rally in central Moscow on Saturday to demand an end to social payments for Mohammedan republics of the volatile North Caucasus region.
The sanctioned gathering came amid spiking social tensions and lingering security fears from a January suicide kaboom at the main Moscow airport that killed 37 people and was claimed by the nation's most feared thug warlord. "We are tired of seeing the Caucasus youth creating mayhem on our streets and at our schools and universities and then going unpunished," rally co-organiser Alexander Khromov told the Interfax news agency.
The event was officially titled "Stop Feeding the Caucasus!" and included leaders from far-right organisations that rights groups link to deadly attacks on migrants from Russia's Caucasus and the Central Asian republics. Recent polls have shown a rise in Russian xenophobia and a sense of voter frustration over the influx of mostly Mohammedan newcomers to cities that are already creaking under the strain of heavy crime and poorly-funded services. Both Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin ...Second President of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Because of constitutionally mandated term limits he is the current Prime Minister of Russia. His sock puppet, Dmitry Medvedev, was installed in the 2008 presidential elections. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law. During his eight years in office Russia's economy bounced back from crisis, seeing GDP increase, poverty decrease and average monthly salaries increase. During his presidency Putin passed into law a series of fundamental reforms, including a flat income tax of 13%, a reduced profits tax, and new land and legal codes. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile... - a former president who launched Russia's last war in the Caucasus in 1999 - have condemned the racist violence that now periodically erupts on the streets.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/24/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
"Russia remains Russia".
More than anything else, Russia needs to decentralize its population, to give Russians some, any, reason to live somewhere other than Moscow.
It would be well worth their while to build new cities, with strict environmental rules, and lots of forest and landscaping, designed solely for young parents to breed large families with minimal stress.
Paperwork jobs for the men, and housewife jobs for the women, emphasis on family friendly boredom, which leads to children. Especially if non-breeders are for the most part kept out.
HT to AOSHQ sidebar
As long as there are men like Sgt. Rogers and towns like Brandon, Mississippi this nation will endure and triumph over all enemies foreign and domestic
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/24/2011 08:49 ||
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#4
Viet Vets got the screwed reception, understood. You could take solace that the vast majority of Americans didn't feel that way then, and the video is as much for you as it is for Sgt Rogers.
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/24/2011 13:20 Comments ||
Top||
#5
I can't explain my feelings.
Today, people of all stripes seem to circle the wagons to defend the honor of our fallen warriors. Perhaps part of this is the backlash to the abominable behavior of the vocal minority of the 70s.
Christians in the town of Gojra are making muted preparations for Easter this year. Residents of the neighbourhood called Christian Colony are haunted by memories of a 2009 attack in which seven members of a family were killed and dozens of houses torched by a Muslim mob.
"If we celebrate it with a fanfare, we fear somebody might get annoyed and attack us," said Khalid Anjum, 45.
The only sign of the approach of Easter was a few young men practicing hymns in St. Mary's Catholic Church. "Fear is there but we cannot give up our religion," said Wilson Rafiq who plays the tabla.
The level of fear has increased since Monday's death sentence for a Muslim convicted of gunning down two Christians who had been accused of blasphemy.
Rather then welcoming what some people might see as justice,
Way to maintain the facade of neutrality, Reuters.
Christians fear the consequences if the sentence is carried out.
"Things will only get worse. If one is punished, someone else will stand up to take revenge for him," housewife Shahida Kashif said. "My kids still get scared whenever there's a small disturbance. They say 'Mother, they've come. They'll set fire to our houses again'. They still have fear in their hearts."
A mob of about 1,000 Muslims, fired up by rumours that a Christian had desecrated the Koran, rampaged through the neighborhood, firing guns and throwing gasoline bombs. Hameed Pannum Khan was gunned down and six members of his family, including two women and two children, were burned to death when their hut was set on fire.
Abdul Khaliq Kashmiri, a Muslim firebrand prayer leader, was locked up for 15 months for inciting the attack. He was recently released after Christians, fearing attacks from his continued detention, told authorities they had no proof of his involvement.
Kashmiri denied taking part in it and made an appeal for tolerance. "Everybody should follow their own religion and should stop slinging mud at others," he said.
#1
Christians in Pakistan live in a true climate of hate, but we never hear anything about "Christianphobia." Islamists in the West make out like bandits yet we never hear the end of "Islamophobia" accusations.
Posted by: American Delight ||
04/24/2011 6:10 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Paki Christians are also repor claiming that they are being persecuted by local Muslims due to the US Drone attacks which Islamabad, Locals allege had killed many Paki civiians, mostly Muslims.
[Tolo News] A top official in the Afghan Chamber of Commerce and Industries said Pakistain has refused to discuss Pak-Afghan transit problems with Afghan delegate.
A couple of days ago Pakistain's Premier in a trip to Kabul said his country is ready to discuss transit issues with Afghanistan.
Chief of Afghan Chamber of Commerce and Industries (ACCI) Mohammad Qurban Haqjo accused the government of being reckless toward Pakistain's acts.
"We believe that Pakistain hasn't been honest in implementation of transit and trade agreements with Afghanistan and it in a way wants to take political and financial advantage from Afghanistan and the US," Chief of ACCI Mohammad Qurban Haqjo said.
Mr Haqjo said still Afghan-bound containers are stranded in Pakistain despite officials in Islamabad pledge to release the whole number of containers at thousands.
Pakistain is not sticking to its words, especially in terms of trade and transit with Afghanistan.
"I don't think we should trust promises being made by Pakistain's transit officials, because we have seen in the past they have acted vice-versa," Deputy Minister for Commerce and Industries Ghulam Mohammad Ailaqi said.
More than 30 percent of commodities in the Afghan-bound containers in Pakistain have been spoilt and Afghan traders have called for compensation.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/24/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
ION TRANSIT, NEWS KERALA > PAKISTAN SUSPENDS NATO SUPPLIES TO AFGHNANISTAN DUE TO PROTESTS AGZ US DRONE ATTACKS.
versus
* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > US DEPARTS [Shamsi, NW Pak]PAKISTAN DRONE BASE, SAYS CNN quoting a Pak INTEL Official.
IMO it nominally appears that the US withdrew due to preceived imminent start of controversial, long-delayed, Pak Govt-Army resisted mil offensive in Waziristan; + in lessor extent to harsh Pak Govt, Other criticism oer US Drone strikes + Non-Militant Pak Civilian Casualties.
[Pak Daily Times] Pakistain's military has broken the back of gunnies linked to al Qaeda and Taliban and the nation will soon prevail over this menace, the country's powerful head of the army said in a speech on Saturday that followed criticism from the United States that it wasn't doing enough to fight militancy.
Washington, struggling to put down a 10-year insurgency in Afghanistan, said this month that Pakistain lacked a robust plan to defeat Islamic exemplars, and its intelligence agents were maintaining links with Afghan Talibs.
Without making any reference to Washington's concerns, Pakistain Army General Ashfaq chief Kayani ... four star general, current Chief of Army Staff of the Mighty Pak Army. Kayani is the former Director General of ISI... said Pakistain Army was fully aware of the internal and external threats faced by the country. "Pakistain Army would come up to the expectations of the nation," he expressed the resolve
"In war against terrorism, our officers and soldiers have made great sacrifices and have achieved tremendous success," he said in a speech to army cadets at Kakul military academy, north of Islamabad, broadcast by state television.
"The terrorists' backbone has been broken and (God willing) we will soon prevail."
Posted by: Fred ||
04/24/2011 00:00 ||
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At the April 13 meeting in Brussels of the West Bank/Gaza donors group known as the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee, the International Monetary Fund and World Bank presented reports arguing that the Palestinians are ready for statehood. As they're busy proving right now, no bunch of Arabs is ready for self-rule.
#1
"Is the Palestinian Authority really ready for statehood?"
Not in this century. Probably not the next one either (assuming any of those clowns are still around).
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
04/24/2011 10:35 Comments ||
Top||
#2
So they shoot rockets and missles at civilians in Israel. So they would murder civilians if they weren't denied by that illegal and repressive wall. So they would bomb cafe's and schools... So what?
It isn't as if they would hurt anyone of import - only Joos...
#3
Sure they are ready for statehood. Give it to them. Then when they lob rockets into Israel, treat them like a hostile aggressive nation under the laws of war. Statehood is a two edged sword.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
04/24/2011 14:14 Comments ||
Top||
#4
Jusr a reminder: Killing bad guys is hungry work.
#5
Alaska Paul, that's what I thought at first. But then I realized that the laws of war don't apply to new Muslim nations, especially ones like Palestine, who have suffered soooo much at the hands of the Jooos. So, in their case, striking out at their former oppressors is just natural justice. If Israel strikes back, it is only because they are continuing their natural blood lust.
/sarcasm (as if you had to be reminded).
Inge Höger, a Left Party member of the Bundestag who was aboard the Mavi Marmara when it tried to break the blockade of Gaza last May, had reportedly attributed the recent murders by Palestinians of pro- Palestinian Israeli filmmaker Juliano Mer-Khamis and Italian activist Vittorio Arrigoni to Israels government. Just saying what they all think
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
04/24/2011 10:37 Comments ||
Top||
#2
I would say "leftist", because such people owe no allegiance to their nation, no matter which one it is. Or perhaps it would be better to call her "ethnically German".
It gets muddled. Leftists are often antisemitic, even Jewish leftists.
The Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Saeed Jalili blasted the policies of the West on the popular uprisings in the region, and cautioned that the West has hatched plots to derail and hijack the ongoing movements and revolutions in the region.
Addressing a gathering of Iranian diplomats here in Tehran on Sunday, Jalili said that the West is harmed by the growing waves of Islamic awakening and the role of the people in the current developments in the region, and warned that the West is seeking to derail these popular movements.
He raged that the West makes false claims about defending human rights, and lashed out at double standards towards the violation of human rights in the region, especially in Bahrain.
On Saturday, Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei voiced confidence about the outcomes of the current uprisings in the region. "Thanks to Islam and Islamic Revolution, a public Islamic awakening has happened in the region today, which will definitely yield its results as it has already yielded its results in certain points," Ayatollah Khamenei said.
Ayatollah Khamenei assured that "this movement will eventually serve the interests of the Twelfth Imam people of the region in future".
[Arab News] Iran's supreme leader warned Saturday he will intervene in the government's affairs whenever necessary in a rebuke to President Mahmoud Short Round Ahmadinejad for challenging the holy manal leader's all-encompassing authority.
Their most recent confrontation involved Ahmadinejad's dismissal last week of the country's powerful intelligence minister, whom Ayatollah Ali Khamenei then quickly reinstated in a slap to the president.
Ahmadinejad, who has said in the past that Khamenei was like a father to him, has enjoyed strong support from the supreme leader, especially in the tumultuous period after his disputed re-election in 2009. At times, though, he has defied the country's most powerful figure.
Some have accused the president and his allies of trying to amass more power and challenge Khamenei's ultimate authority in the run-up to parliamentary elections next year and presidential elections in 2013.
"I won't allow, as long as I'm alive, an iota of deviation of this massive movement of the nation," Khamenei said in a speech broadcast on state TV Saturday.
"In principle, I have no intention to intervene in government affairs ... unless I feel an expediency is being ignored as it was the case recently," he said, referring to the dispute over the intelligence minister.
Khamenei, who was addressing hundreds of Iranian citizens in his residence in Tehran, said he was right and he would stand by his words.
"With the help of God, ... I firmly stand by our right stance," he said.
Intelligence Minister Heidar Moslehi was forced to resign last week after apparent disputes with Ahmadinejad. The president publicly accepted his resignation but Khamenei ordered him to remain in the Cabinet.
In a sign of mounting tensions, Ahmadinejad has reportedly refused to give in to the order and has not invited Moslehi to the latest Cabinet meeting.
The escalating dispute with the supreme leader will likely overshadow the remaining two years of Ahmadinejad's presidency. Ahmadinejad's gamble appears to be aimed at setting up a confidant to become the next president, analysts say. He needs to control the Intelligence Ministry in order to influence the next parliament as well as who becomes the next president, they say.
Khamenei is believed to be intent on helping shape a new political team, absent of Ahmadinejad loyalists, to lead the next government.
Without meaningful political parties in Iran, unpredictable political factions (groups) have emerged before elections. Khamenei, analysts say, feels threatened by a single political faction remaining in office for more than eight years.
The dispute has also pointed to a potential weakness in the heart of Ahmadinejad's government, as its base of support shrinks among parliament members and others.
A statement signed by 216 parliament members -- more than two-thirds of the 290-seat chamber -- warned Ahmadinejad Wednesday that he cannot disobey Khamenei, who has the last word in all state affairs.
Hard-liners consider Khamenei to stand above the law and be answerable only to God.
A conservative news website, alef.ir, said politicians might summon Ahmadinejad to parliament for questioning if he does not back down. If they do, Ahmadinejad would be the first president to be called to parliament to answer questions since the Islamic theocracy 32 years ago.
The dispute became public when hard-line media published the text of Khamenei's order to Moslehi to remain in his job. In a humiliation of the president, Khamenei didn't write to Ahmadinejad because the president ignored the supreme leader's written order two days earlier, according to conservatives websites.
Traditionally, the supreme leader must approve the appointments for the ministers of foreign affairs, intelligence, defense and interior.
Conservatives have praised Moslehi for cracking down on the opposition after the disputed 2009 presidential election and discovering the mysterious Stuxnet computer virus, which made its way into Iran's nuclear and industrial sites.
He may have angered Ahmadinejad by firing a deputy who is an ally of one of the president's confidants, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei.
Mashaei has criticized Iran's intelligence services for what he said were failures to predict the political upheaval sweeping the Middle East.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/24/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
The Arab News article seems to give a slant that Khamenei is in the drivers seat here.
Actually, over the past few years, Ahmadinejad has forced out a number of Khamenei allies who were in the cabinet. Moslehi was the last of Khamenei's dupes in the cabinet.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
04/24/2011 16:01 Comments ||
Top||
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
The sanctioned gathering came amid spiking social tensions and lingering security fears from a January 
Christians in the town of Gojra are making muted preparations for Easter this year. Residents of the neighbourhood called Christian Colony are haunted by memories of a 2009 attack in which seven members of a family were killed and dozens of houses torched by a Muslim mob.
The Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Saeed Jalili blasted the policies of the West on the popular uprisings in the region, and cautioned that the West has hatched plots to derail and hijack the ongoing movements and revolutions in the region. 
Mahmoud 
