[Tolo News] US Defence Chief Leon Panetta ...immediate past Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, now Secretary of Defense. Panetta served as President Bill Clinton's White House Chief of Staff from 1994 to 1997 and was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1977 to 1993.... has met with Afghanistan's Caped PresidentHamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai ... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabbani in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a Pashtun face on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use... in Kabul on Saturday to discuss security transition as well as training and equipment of Afghan forces.
This is Mr Panetta's first visit to Afghanistan since he took office as US Defence Secretary.
During the meeting between the Afghanistan's Caped President Hamid Karzai and US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta, a number of issues including security transition and training and equipment of the Afghan forces were discussed, as statement by President Karzai's office said on Sunday.
Joint fight against terrorism and long-term strategic partnership between Afghanistan and the United States were the other key issued discussed, the statement said.
US Defence Chief has predicted that "strategically" defeating al-Qaeda is within reach.
He made the statement on the second day of his two-day visit in Afghanistan.
Mr Panetta is looking at how to withdraw the 33,000 forces that President Barack B.O. Obama ordered to be pulled out by September 2012 without losing recent gains against the Taliban, Rooters writes.
He has said a successful security handover depends on the capability of Afghan cops.
Mr Panetta has said he has told President Karzai during a meeting last night that the United States will continue its assistance to Afghanistan to develop the forces and prevent backsliding.
"Our goal here is to ensure Afghanistan is stable in the future and can secure, defend and govern itself so that it can never again become a safe haven for al-Qaeda or its turban allies," Panetta has said.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/11/2011 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Protesters who spent their second night in Cairo's Tahrir Square on Sunday vowed to keep up their sit-in despite a series of concessions by the Egyptian prime minister.
Pro-democracy activists had camped out on the square -- the focus of protests that ousted president Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... in February -- after mass nationwide rallies on Friday to demand political change.
Hundreds who spent the night in the sweltering heat blocked traffic around the square on Sunday morning, some forming a picket line outside the Mugamma, a huge government complex that is the center of Egypt's sprawling bureaucracy.
"We managed to convince many of the employees not to go to work," said Ghada Shahbender, a human rights ...which often include carefully measured allowances of freedom at the convenience of the state... activist who has been protesting since the start of the January 25 uprising.
Protesters have vowed to stay in the square until the demands of the revolution are met, including an end to military trials of civilians, the dismissal and prosecution of coppers accused of murder and torture -- before and after the revolution -- and open trials of former regime officials.
After nearly two weeks of mounting tension marked by festivities with police, Prime Minister Essam Sharaf on Saturday pledged to meet the demands of the protesters with a series of measures.
Sharaf said he "issued direct orders to the interior minister to stop all coppers accused of killing protesters from working," in an address broadcast on state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
He also "ordered the creation of a panel to review the trials (of those accused of) killing protesters and of corruption as soon as possible," without waiting until after the judicial summer recess.
The premier said he has asked the social solidarity ministry to look into the portfolios of health, education, and salaries and pensions.
But the speech was slammed as empty rhetoric with vague promises and no deadlines, with many activists accusing the prime minister of being too weak in the face of the ruling military council.
"We are still asking for no military rule of the country, and no pressure from the military on the judiciary and the media," said human rights activist Dina Mohammed, 24.
"The longer we stay (in the square), the more they respond," she told Agence La Belle France Presse.
The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which took power after Mubarak stepped down, has angered protesters who accuse it of using Mubarak-era methods to stifle dissent.
Some complained of the piecemeal approach.
Sharaf "deals as if the problems were a water leak and instead of closing the tap, he tries to collect the water with his hands," said Magdy Mussaad.
"I didn't use to come to Tahrir often, but now I feel like I have something precious and it is being taken away," he told AFP.
The prime minister "only responded to one demand," said Riham Abdul Salam, 23, a student of film, referring to the sacking of coppers accused of murder.
"We are also asking for the release of civilians held by the military, an increase in salaries and we want the ex-regime ministers out," she said.
On the outskirts of Cairo, around 300 protesters cut off the main highway linking the capital to the canal city of Suez, threatening more measures if the demands of the revolution are not met, a security official said.
Egypt stocks fell 1.67 percent on Sunday amid the continued political tensions, with the main EGX-30 index closing at 5270.86 points.
Dozens of former regime officials, including ministers and a handful of coppers, are currently on trial on charges ranging from corruption to murder.
Mubarak, who is in jug in a hospital in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, is to face trial along with his two sons Alaa and Gamal on August 3.
But protesters have criticized the handling of the legal proceedings, demanding a transparent and thorough process for the sake of justice, not Dire Revenge™.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/11/2011 00:00 ||
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Cash-strapped North Korea is leasing out parts of its overseas missions buildings to earn hard currency. A South Korean official on Sunday said the North Korean Embassy to Germany made illegal profits by turning an annex into a youth hostel and renting out its gymnasium for social functions. The North Korean Embassy to Poland was criticized in the local press for leasing out part of its compound to local firms.
This violates the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, which bans the commercial use of embassy buildings.
A South Korean security official said, "Staffers of North Korean overseas missions are using their embassy buildings to make money because of a global crackdown on the North's drug trade and tobacco smuggling."
In April, the North Korean Embassy to Russia was caught running a casino in its compound. "The embassy had four roulette tables, five poker and blackjack tables, and 30 slot machines in six game rooms on two floors," the official added.
North Korean diplomats in Latin America earn hard currency by buying Cuban cigars at duty-free prices from Cuban distributors and reselling them to traders in the countries they are assigned to.
Some Latin American nations have stepped up searches of North Korean cargo, and one airline has banned North Koreans, the official said.
North Korean missions in South Africa, Zimbabwe and other African countries are suspected of dealing in contraband goods such as rhino horns or tiger hides.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/11/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Hey - just print money like Obama's doing - problem solved!
#2
I wonder why the North Koreans haven't leased out their troops for the military experience but to raise revenue and feed their troops. Defection most likely would be the first major concern. I don't believe they would mix well and would not blend in so to speak in an Arab or Latin nation. Send money back home to families back in Korean or arrest of families for those who choose desertion. Iran, Saudis, even aL Gaddafi would pay for this service to manage their populations.
#3
Stalin felt the need to purge the troops and officers who survived their expeditionary experience in the Spanish Civil War when they returned. Any NorK troops would probably suffer the same fate. Keep in mind that the NorK ideological framework relies on their deranged belief that the rest of the world suffers horribly, even compared to their own drear fate. The returning mercenaries would be ideological infectious vectors.
Not to mention that North Korean troops can't possibly be well-trained or physically impressive on balance - they don't have the resources for the former, and endemic malnutrition has stunted the last generation or two. Even a sterling North Korean physical specimen isn't going to be particularly intimidating.
Not to mention that they're probably going to suffer horribly from micro-biological isolation.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
07/11/2011 9:36 Comments ||
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#4
Dale: It would almost be worth it to pay the North a few million to send a hundred thousand soldiers to Somalia.
#5
#3 and #4 I was just putting myself in their position for a moment.A mercenary force was just an idea if I was a ruling despot. The German Hessian mercenary troops defected but to what extent I don't know. Should a country want their services I believe the pay would be what the North Koreans need. I could see them using the Korean soldiers to train,feed, modernize, have a weapons trade, and send money home. The old and the young would be left to toil doing their part to help their country in time of need. It's almost a death march now for them. The only thing they have left is their paranoia. Yes, Stalin is a good example of a mind needed to do this deal.
Stills from the video at the link. I vote we send a couple of UAVs over the border one night and pound the place to rubble, which is no doubt why I am not consulted in these matters.
Awfully close to an ARCLIGHT! Better bring yer wallet to the O-Club!
Don't be silly, Dr. Steve: ARCLIGHTs are blunt instruments that flatten everything in sight and scare the bejeesus out of everyone within hearing distance of the bombers, whereas UAVs are precision instruments which strike precisely who they are aimed at, and scare the bejeesus out of everyone thereafter who doesn't hear anything.
Baby-faced children aim AK-47 rifles as they train for war on British troops. They are being taught about combat even if they can barely hold the lethal weapons. Shocking video shows toddlers as young as five being trained as 'martyrs' at a secret al-Qaeda camp. They are learning how to blow up buildings and mount roadside bomb attacks. Footage shows children cheering as a toy police car is blown to pieces by a bomb after a youngster presses a button on a mobile phone. The anxious youngsters - some dressed in camouflage uniform - are made to stand in line before being handed the rifles.
British commanders in Afghanistan say Taliban fighters are increasingly using children as suicide bombers and as human shields during battles.
Militants are training hundreds of them to become killers in the camp based in North Waziristan before being sent across the border to face western troops. The children come from families within the Turkic ethnic group of Uyghur people - Chinese Muslims who have fled and settled in Pakistan Afghanistan and Kazakhstan.
Outsiders, and therefore even more disposable than madrassah boys with no prospects from poor families.
Terrorism expert Neil Doyle told the Sunday Mirror that the video which appears on an underground website, was released as part of a Jihad recruitment drive.
#1
IIRC DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS, TOPIX [old = paraph] > IS PAKISTAN BECOMING A BASE FOR UIGHUR + CHINESE
REBELS, intent on returning to China + sowing separatism, discord, + pro-Islamic violent jihad???
Thats China's "little brother" + new BFF Pakistan.
* Lest we fergit, MIL FORUM POSTERS/BLOGGERS = argue that Al-Qaeda + Taliban, etc. is a US Govt-CIA creation, hence any Same or Radical Islamist MilTerr attack agz China is synonymous wid being a US Military attack(s) agz China???
#2
they should all be flown to the Bahamas, and given jobs on the golf courses (*IIRC) since Uigher terrorists are subject to incarceration, or worse in Tom Friedman's Nirvana
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/11/2011 21:40 Comments ||
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[Dawn] South Asian nations must make greater efforts to fight terrorism without relying on outside help, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told a regional conference in New Delhi.
Stressing that South Asia could prosper as a whole, Singh said there was a need to develop a "culture" in which the countries involved would be able to tackle the region's deep frictions.
"The scourge of terrorism has taken a huge toll on all our societies. It is a cancer, that if not checked, will consume us all," Singh told a gathering of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).
"I would like to believe that we have the will and foresight to prevent such an outcome," Singh said on Saturday. "Others cannot solve our problems for us."
Singh added the region's youthful population was an opportunity but also a challenge.
"Disaffection and alienation provide a fertile breeding ground for intolerance, violence and terrorism which then threaten our societies," he said.
SAARC, founded in 1985, groups Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistain and Sri Lanka.
Critics have blamed its inability to exploit the region's potential on the long and bitter rivalry between India and Pakistain.
Relations between the two nations, which have fought three wars since the subcontinent was partitioned in 1947, have been plagued by border and resource disputes, and accusations of Pak orc activity against India.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/11/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
The only way is to split up Pakistan for any long term peace!
#2
Pro'lly the best solution is to pave Pakistain to provide parking for India's growing middle class. Once you fill in all those bomb craters, I mean.
#1
Pff. Typical. Sue Chinese companies in Chinese courts. A Western court judgment is worth about its weight in paper, and even less enforceable.
Let's say you got a summons from the Intermediate People's Court of Zhengjiang Province, informing you you were a defendant, and ordering you to appear. Would you (a) immediately drop everything and head there, or (b) laugh at the far-off country and ignore them.
#2
This is a real head scratcher. Israelis are suing in New York. BOC does have a US presence, with one branch each in NY and CA. At worst, BOC shuts down US operations.
At worst, American banks are forbidden to have dealings with the BOC anywhere in the world. I believe that's why the Swiss banks decided to open their files on deceased Holocaust Jews, after decades of denying their existence.
[An Nahar] Hizbullah rejected a suggestion to hold a meeting with the head of the Defense Office of the Special Tribunal for Leb Francois Roux aimed at studying the possibility of the confronting the indictment, revealed widely informed sources to the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat on Sunday.
They explained that the meeting would have explained to the party leadership the seriousness of the Defense's work, as well as the possibility of overturning the accusations against Hizbullah members indicted in the liquidation of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
The party leadership however stressed that it will not back down from its decision to not cooperate with the international tribunal after labeling it as politicized and an American-Israeli tool aimed at destroying the party.
The sources added that the meeting would have demonstrated to Hizbullah that Roux is serious in his mission in defending the accused, pointing out that he had also enlisted the help of prominent lawyers to assist him in his mission.
Furthermore, they revealed that the suggestion was made a while before the indictment in the STL was issued and after Hizbullah escalated its campaign against the court.
The STL issued arrest warrants against four Hizbullah members suspected of being involved in Hariri's 2005 liquidation.
Interpol sent alerts to Leb and 186 countries on Saturday ordering the apprehension of the suspects.
If they are not placed in long-term storage in 30 days after the release of the warrants, then the suspects will be tried in absentia.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/11/2011 00:00 ||
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#5
I'm thinking St Louis and wondering what La Russa's got himself into now
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/11/2011 20:28 Comments ||
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#6
ION IRNA > ANYONE AGZ IRAN'S INTERESTS [ + national progress] IS NATION'S ENEMY: PRESIDENT [Ahmadinejad].
* PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM > PANETTA: US FORCES TO ATTACK [Iran-armed/backed] IRAQ SHIA INSURGENTS, deemed resposnible for the deaths of 17 US Soldiers oer five weeks.
* BHARAT RAKSHAK > HEZBOLLAH IN IRAQ:IRAN DEVELOPS MAHDI ARMY + BADR BRIGADES'S PROXY MILITIAS FOR IRAQ.
Ostensibly for the protection of Iraqi Shias agz wily dastardly murderin' Sunnis while weirdly-n-mysteriously, but only coincidentally, supporting Iran's interests in same.
* SAME > EXPERTS: IRAN USED "ARAB SPRING" COVER TO FINISH [working = reliable]NUCLEAR BOMB PROTOTYPE.
* NEWS KERALA > AUSTRALIA'S MUSLIM LEADERS WANT SHARIA LAW: SURVEY.
ARTIC = the Same also have doubts about the circumstances surrounding OBL's death at Abbottabad + how, why the US disposed of Osama's corpse.
* IRNA > BRITAIN HAS TURNED INTO SOURCE OF INSECURITY [+ riot], In Bahrain + Persian Gulf region.
* NEWSMAX > RADICAL GROUP SEEKS ISLAMIC WORLD ORDER.
The HIZB-UT-TAHRIR Group, which claims to have a presence in 50 countries including the US, + seesk to proselytize, spread Islam + Sharia to the US-World. WID THE END OF SOVIET COMMUNISM, THE US-WORLD NOW FACES THE THREAT FROM ISLAM.
Which IMO is far more dangerous than the Commies because Human Beings are fundamentally HIGHLY SPIRITUAL CREATURES, AMONG OTHER, HENCE ARE NOT + CAN NEVER BE "ATHEIST" IN THE SECULAR/STATE-ONLY COMMIE SENSE.
IMO an ATHEIST = MANIACAL/PSYCHOTIC SELF-REPRESSED BELIEVER OF GOD-FAITH + HIGHER ORDER.
FYI RUSSIA > BHARAT RAKSHAK = RISE [return] OF THE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH, in Moscow + Russia to past = "pre-1917" glory + national status/preeminence.
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.
[Tolo News] US Defence Chief 
South Asian nations must make greater efforts to fight terrorism without relying on outside help, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told a regional conference in New Delhi.
